WEBVTT

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So I'm going to tell you guys something you already

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know. Your pastor's a really great guy. We met

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over the phone for like 30 minutes, and I'm going

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to be honest with you, don't tell anybody I said

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this, okay? But there's some people I got to

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talk to for 30 minutes, and I'm like, please,

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Lord, when's it going to end? But your pastor,

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I sat down with him and I was like, man, it's

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already been an hour. You want to just go get

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a cup of coffee real quick and talk a little

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bit more and get to know each other? He's a great

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guy. And pastor, I just thank you for the opportunity

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to come and speak before your people. It's a

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privilege and an honor. And I'm really going

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to hope and pray that I don't fall off this thing

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because I am a little ADHD and don't pay attention

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to all the details often. So I come to you from

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a holy land with my wife. Stand up, Sydney. This

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is my beautiful wife. And this holy land is known

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as Springfield, Missouri, the Mecca of the Assemblies

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of God. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Me and my wife

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lived in Arkansas. I moved to Arkansas when I

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was 12 years old. We raised our budget. We've

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still got just a little bit to raise, but we're

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just right at the finish line. We raised it enough

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to start doing the ministry full time there.

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And we've just went full send for the call of

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God. How many of you have heard of the World

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Prayer Center? Just a few of you guys last night,

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right? That's what I was hoping for. So the World

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Prayer Center is a brand new ministry that the

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Assemblies of God is doing. Is it okay if I step

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down off of this thing? Okay, okay. I didn't

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want a full -blown manifestation. You know, some

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people are like, don't step out of the box, man.

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You know, it gets a little wild some places.

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So the World Prayer Center is a brand new ministry

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started by the Assemblies of God. And pretty

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much the way this began is we began to look at

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our culture, the United States of America, and

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the place that was once known as the great gospel

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enterprise is no longer the great gospel enterprise.

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See, nowadays you look around and you can see,

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I mean, in Pennsylvania, they have a beautiful

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city block that is now dedicated where people

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can go together and do fentanyl and heroin and

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whatever they want to do legally. They don't

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have to worry about it. You go to California,

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you've got Skid Row. It's the same kind of situation

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in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have the first ever

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legal brothel, a house of prostitution. America

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has fallen from grace. She's no longer the place

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where the gospel is front and center. She's now

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the place where the LGBTQ agenda has infiltrated

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the church. She's the place where the church

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is no longer talking about the gospel. They're

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talking about politics. And she's the place where

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prayer is now outlawed in some schools, but they

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want to vote for Sharia law from the Islamic

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religion. And places like Texas and New York

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City, America is no longer centered around the

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gospel that we were built upon. And even though

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the forefathers were not perfect godly men, they

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knew what it was to bring Judeo -Christian values

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into a culture and build a culture off of that.

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And one of the things we see is, as I said last

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night, is it's like the book of Judges, where

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after Joshua had brought Israel into the promised

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land, there was a generation that grew up that

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did not know what God had done for the generation

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before them. And it was simply because mom and

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dad didn't sit down and take care of their daughters

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and their sons and begin to tell them about the

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God that they knew from the beginning. As a matter

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of fact, they sat down and they got comfortable

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and they said, let's look at all of our blessings.

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Let's look at all the good things God is doing

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and we'll just hope that our kids learn it by

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proxy, by osmosis. And the thing about humans

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is maybe we can all agree is, you know, maybe

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not you, but humans are dumb by nature. We're

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forgetful. We're selfish. And so what began to

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take place in America was when we got a little

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comfortable and we sat down, we moved away from

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the foundation of the Christian life. I want

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you to hear me, friend. The Christian life is

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not about being a good person. You can't do it

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even if you tried. You're bound just like the

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rest of us. The Christian life is not about how

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many pages of the Bible you read every day. The

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devil knows Scripture better than any of us.

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And he's not saved. The Christian life is about

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a right relationship with God. And that comes

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through the place of prayer. And when we look

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at the culture today, we can see that the number

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one problem, the number one reason we began to

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fall away from the Christian values that we were

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founded on, the number one reason this nation

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that used to be known as the great gospel enterprise

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has now crumbled into pagan idolatry and secular

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humanism and all sorts of other issues is simply

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because people in the church quit praying. They

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quit worrying about relationship with God. Well,

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how do you know this, Travis? Well, the Assemblies

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of God statistician, his name is Mike Clarenshaw.

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You guys can look him up. He's released a statistic.

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Now, a little fun fact about the Assemblies of

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God before I say this is we were built as a group

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of people who prayed. There was a one -eyed African

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-American man who was a former slave. All the

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cards were stacked against him. He had no hope

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of doing anything really in the culture. Because

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of the color of his skin, he was not allowed

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to sit in a Bible college classroom. He had to

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sit outside of the door. And that man prayed

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for eight hours a day until a move of God hit

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America called the Azusa Street Revival. And

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that's when the Pentecostal movement really exploded,

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what it was born out of. We were built as a people

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of prayer. But now the statistic is that we have

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85 million people in the United States of America

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that attend an Assemblies of God church, and

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only 2 -4 % of them pray monthly as a body. We've

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fallen. We've simply forgotten what it is to

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know God. We've grown comfortable with His activity.

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with his hand, but we missed his face. And just

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as I told some of the individuals last night,

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one of the problems in America is that we can

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enjoy the benefits of someone's past relationship

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with God and still not know him. I can enjoy

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the benefit of the carpenter that built this

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building, the benefit of the concrete worker

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that paved the road outside. I can enjoy the

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work of their hands and recognize it, but it

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doesn't mean that I know the one who did it.

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And when you have a group of people who they

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come and they go to church and they don't even

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pray together, I do have to ask a simple question.

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And we were having fun earlier and I'm about

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to suck all the fun out of the room for a minute.

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But I have to ask a very simple question. Do

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you even know Christ? If you can't sit and be

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with Him. And so at the World Prayer Center,

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our mission is to take the level of prayer in

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America and raise it up even just a little bit.

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And we do this in three ways. The first one is

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we invite pastors and staff and laity, everybody

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from the church to come to the prayer center

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in Springfield, Missouri. And we have a day of

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training and prayer. Now when I say a day of

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training, a lot of prayer conferences are six

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hours of preaching and then 20 minutes of praying.

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We don't do that. We're going to talk to you

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for an hour, hour and a half tops, and you're

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going to go pray for two or three with us. And

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we've got, everybody loves the room. It's got

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this giant 600 square foot LED floor connected

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to Google Earth. I told your pastor we need to

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get you guys to come sometime, so maybe if you

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bug him enough, he'll get something scheduled

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with me. The other way we do this, Because what

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I'm doing right now, we travel as evangelists

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across the nation. Anywhere that wants to invite

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us, we come, we preach on prayer, and we try

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to just bring the level of prayer up by giving

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people a burden to pray and teaching them what

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prayer does in a culture. And the third way is

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by hosting what we're calling prayer sieges based

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off the ministry of Charles Finney. Charles Finney

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was a man. He was probably one of the greatest

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evangelists to ever live. He's known as a grandfather

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of revival. He would go into a city 30 days after

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his intercessors, Daniel Nash and Abel Cleary.

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They would go in, they would pray for 12 -hour

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shifts for 24 hours. How many of you guys would

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like that job? That'd be a difficult job. They'd

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pray for 12 hours apiece. And then when they

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would get done praying, they would tell Finney,

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the Lord has come. And when Finney would go into

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a city, it wasn't like, you know, in this time

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they didn't have Instagram or Facebook or TikTok.

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They didn't post flyers. They didn't have printers

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to really do all this kind of stuff. At this

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time, Finney would go into a city and he would

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just go wherever God led him. And the effect

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his ministry would have after he left was astronomical.

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Fifteen years after Finney had been to a city,

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Evangelists would come in and they would ask

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a question, has Finney come here? And if they

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said yes, they'd go, pack the bags, boys. We're

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going down the road. And when people asked why,

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they would call it burn over grounds. Because

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even 15 years later, the bars would still be

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closed down. 15 years later, the crime rate would

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still be down. People would actually be selling...

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selling their businesses and their buildings

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and giving the money to the church so the church

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could expand to fit the people that were coming

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in. But here's the fun part. Finney's ministry

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only lasted 10 years. His ministry ended when

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Daniel Nash and Abel Cleary died. He said, when

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the intercessors were gone, my ministry didn't

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matter anymore. So he dedicated the rest of his

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life to teaching students at Oberlin College.

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And he began to teach them about prayer and evangelism,

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about intercession, and even theology about revival.

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And many of his students went on to partake in

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the Second Great Awakening, which changed the

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culture in the United States. So at the World

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Prayer Center, we go to any city that wants to

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have us, and we pray for 10, 12 hours a day as

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a team. And we host revival type services and

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we see God move. And we're hoping that combining

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all three of those things together, we can begin

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to get people excited for the place of prayer

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again. How many of you guys think that's an awesome

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ministry? Wonderful. Wonderful. So a little bit

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about me. You know, I'm not a preacher's kid.

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I didn't grow up in ministry. As a matter of

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fact, if you look at my life, you would think,

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how in the world did that guy end up at a pulpit?

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I grew up in a house where my father was absent.

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My mother was a raging alcoholic and a drug addict.

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And by the way, I grew up in a land not too far

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from here. Not too far from Illinois. Some of

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you guys would call it a mission field. It's

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a place called Springfield. How many of you guys

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have been to Springfield? Yeah. Yep. And so in

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Springfield, my mom, although she really tried,

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she was not a great mother. Is that okay? Is

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that acceptable for me to say that? Can we just

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be honest for a minute? She's probably watching

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the live stream right now. I love you, Mom. Do

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what? Yeah, she's great now. I was getting there.

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I was getting there. My wife is trying to be

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like, smooth it out a little bit. Smooth it out.

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Damage control. But she wasn't that great. She

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tried, but she was broken. She grew up in a home

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where when their father died, they kind of celebrated

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on Christmas Day. He was not a good man. He beat

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their mother. He beat the kids. So in my home,

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we didn't really do much with Christmas. Jesus

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was never mentioned. As a matter of fact, in

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my home, I would say Jesus was a cuss word. The

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only time you heard his name is when somebody

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stubbed their toe or you turned on TV and somebody

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was blaspheming him as a joke. We didn't go to

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church. I'd never heard the gospel. And so growing

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up, there was no message or idea of hope in my

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life. Dad wasn't around. Mom was cruel. And add

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on top of all of that, we grew up and we were

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dirt poor. I'd go to school and kids would make

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fun of me because my shoes would be falling apart.

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Not knowing that when I went home that day, I

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would either be without electricity or water,

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and I wouldn't know when my next meal came in

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outside of school. How many of you guys know

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that that creates a catastrophic mindset growing

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up? When I was 12 years old and we moved to Arkansas,

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you would think things got better because we

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moved to the Bible Belt. You know, the Bible

00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:56.960
Belt is not so fascinated with the Bible. See,

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we were surrounded by Assemblies of God, Pentecostal

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churches, but nobody had ever shared the gospel

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with me. And when my mom got down there, you

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know, we moved to a dry county, so I don't know

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how many of you guys know what that means, but

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you can't just go to the store and buy alcohol.

00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:12.740
Like, you've got to go a distance to do that.

00:14:13.649 --> 00:14:16.169
So my mom found a drug called methamphetamine.

00:14:17.129 --> 00:14:18.409
How many of you guys have heard of that one?

00:14:19.590 --> 00:14:25.370
That one's wild. She began doing meth. She began

00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:28.049
selling a little bit of meth. And then on top

00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:29.830
of that, she would just drive an hour away to

00:14:29.830 --> 00:14:31.450
get a bunch of alcohol and sell that too from

00:14:31.450 --> 00:14:36.149
the house. We had all kinds of fun. I say that

00:14:36.149 --> 00:14:39.269
sarcastically. When I was 12 years old, I had

00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:40.769
a kid at school come up to me and he was like,

00:14:40.809 --> 00:14:42.450
hey man, you seem like you're one of us. And

00:14:42.450 --> 00:14:43.850
he said, here, he's an older kid. He was like,

00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:47.549
here, let's smoke some weed together. Cool. Might

00:14:47.549 --> 00:14:50.090
as well. I'm already drinking on the weekends.

00:14:51.149 --> 00:14:55.470
Already partying. So 12, you know, getting drunk

00:14:55.470 --> 00:14:58.470
on the weekends, smoking weed every day. And

00:14:58.470 --> 00:15:00.230
then they started introducing me to things like

00:15:00.230 --> 00:15:03.820
Oxycontin. You know, I took eight 100 -milligram

00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:06.120
Seroquel one day, overdosed in class, and they

00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:08.159
were like, we cannot have this kid in here anymore.

00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:13.620
He is out of hand. By the time I was 14 years

00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:16.879
old, I was already arrested a few times. Now,

00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:18.919
the cops had mercy on me because they knew who

00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:20.799
my mom was, so they would just take me back home

00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:23.220
and take whatever they found on me. But when

00:15:23.220 --> 00:15:26.679
I was 15 years old, that grace ran out. They

00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:33.409
did not care. Didn't care. And so, at 15 years

00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:38.909
old, my mother goes to jail for 30 days. And

00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:41.409
I was staying with some cousins and, you know,

00:15:41.429 --> 00:15:43.090
I told them to take me back home because I was

00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:44.950
scared people were robbing what little that I

00:15:44.950 --> 00:15:50.450
had. And they did. I walk in my house and the

00:15:50.450 --> 00:15:53.509
door on my trailer is ripped open. All of my

00:15:53.509 --> 00:15:56.070
clothes are everywhere. Doors are kicked in,

00:15:56.129 --> 00:15:58.820
dresser stuff gone. They'd effectively raided

00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:00.460
my house because they knew our tax money came

00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:01.820
in, and they were looking for the four grand

00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:05.019
my mom got from the government. They found it.

00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:09.679
And so I began hopping from house to house, from

00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:12.460
couch to couch, trying to figure it out. You

00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.480
can't get a hold of mom. She's in jail. She was

00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:17.759
in there for 34 days, and she had an ulcer rupture,

00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:21.240
so they cut her open from rib down to below her

00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:24.080
belly button. They did an experimental surgery

00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.610
and saved her life. While she's in the hospital,

00:16:27.669 --> 00:16:29.889
she decides to pick up a Bible, a Gideon's Bible,

00:16:30.009 --> 00:16:31.909
and start reading in the book of Psalms. Now

00:16:31.909 --> 00:16:36.049
listen, for the life of me, I don't know why

00:16:36.049 --> 00:16:38.110
you would pick up a book and start reading it

00:16:38.110 --> 00:16:41.330
from the very beginning, or from the middle.

00:16:41.389 --> 00:16:43.029
I would assume that you would pick it up and

00:16:43.029 --> 00:16:44.809
start reading from Genesis, but I think that

00:16:44.809 --> 00:16:46.529
would have confused her more. So she's reading

00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:49.429
Psalms, and in one second, David's really happy,

00:16:49.490 --> 00:16:51.250
and in the very next page, he's like, I want

00:16:51.250 --> 00:16:54.879
to die. And she's like, what is going on with

00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.759
this guy? And so she starts doing some Googling

00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.519
and finding out this is a guy that's known as

00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.980
a man after God's own heart. He was a king. He

00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:04.779
was chosen. And, you know, he committed adultery

00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:06.859
and then murdered a lady's husband. And she's

00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:08.940
like, man, this guy is just about as messed up

00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:11.619
as I am. Now, I think he probably would have

00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:12.980
said, Teresa, you're a little bit worse than

00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:15.779
me. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Again, mom,

00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:21.680
I know you're watching. I love you. But she begins

00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:23.559
reading and she begins wrestling with this idea

00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:25.880
of this man known as a man after God's own heart

00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:29.200
is suffering. And she thought if there was a

00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.380
God, he must not be real because he doesn't love

00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:37.039
me and I am suffering. And so what she does is

00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.380
she decides to pull all the tubes out of her

00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:43.759
stomach and walk home from the hospital. Because

00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:45.920
she just can't handle what's going on inside

00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:48.079
of her. God had effectively begun doing a work

00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.500
in her that she was not comfortable with. And

00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:52.700
she ends up miraculously meeting a woman that

00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:56.329
was preaching to her in the jail. And she sits

00:17:56.329 --> 00:17:58.750
down and has dinner with our pastor. She gets

00:17:58.750 --> 00:18:00.589
saved, gives her life to Christ. And I mean,

00:18:00.609 --> 00:18:03.609
it wasn't like, oh, she's saved, but she's being

00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:05.690
sanctified. You know, whenever we make excuses

00:18:05.690 --> 00:18:07.990
for the new Christian sin, you know, they're

00:18:07.990 --> 00:18:09.609
saved, but they're still sleeping with their

00:18:09.609 --> 00:18:11.630
boyfriend or their girlfriend because they're

00:18:11.630 --> 00:18:16.029
new. I mean, she got saved. She got saved. I

00:18:16.029 --> 00:18:17.650
mean, you came home and she wasn't drinking a

00:18:17.650 --> 00:18:19.309
beer anymore. And I was like, bro, I've never

00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:21.369
known my mom to not drink one day in her life.

00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:24.099
What's going on? She came home and the meth was

00:18:24.099 --> 00:18:26.259
gone. When they came to the house to get dope,

00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.319
she was like, you got to leave. I don't do that

00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:29.720
anymore. When they came into the house to buy

00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:31.759
alcohol, she was like, no more. She looked at

00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:33.759
me and said, you can't smoke weed in this house

00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.640
anymore. I mean, she was not playing games. She

00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:40.490
got saved. When she got saved, the TV got saved,

00:18:40.670 --> 00:18:43.750
the library got saved, the house got saved. I

00:18:43.750 --> 00:18:46.609
mean, everything got saved. Everything. There

00:18:46.609 --> 00:18:49.410
was nothing there anymore that could not, you

00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:51.809
know, like she was all in for God. And me and

00:18:51.809 --> 00:18:54.490
my sister are thinking, what is this? Who possessed

00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:59.009
you? And I had a problem because I was angry.

00:18:59.450 --> 00:19:01.930
See, by the time I was 15 years old, I'd tried

00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:03.930
to commit suicide on three separate occasions.

00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:06.960
I didn't want to live. I thought about death

00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.519
more than life. There was no hope for me. There

00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:11.900
was no hope for anyone else. And I knew that

00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:14.500
I was not a good person. I was mean. I was hateful.

00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:17.119
I got in fights for fun. I was already on my

00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.440
way to juvenile detention. Heck, one day prison

00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.039
if something didn't happen. I was not a great

00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.160
person. You didn't have to convince me of that.

00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:27.599
If I would have believed in a hell, I would have

00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:31.160
been like, yeah, and I'm going to burn. None

00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:34.460
of that. You didn't have to convince me. And

00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:36.759
so my mother walks in the house, and she thinks,

00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.839
hey, we're going to go to church. And I was like,

00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:42.559
I bet you are. I bet you are. You're right. You're

00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:44.299
going to go. You're going to go alone. And so

00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:46.640
I had really long hair back then, okay? I had

00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.720
really long hair. I got married, and it started

00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.099
falling out. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Don't

00:19:52.099 --> 00:19:57.220
look at her. Don't look at her. She never travels

00:19:57.220 --> 00:19:58.839
with me, so I get to pick on her a little bit

00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:01.779
now. She never has the time. My mom kept the

00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:07.720
girls. So anyway, she's like, she's a totally

00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:10.819
different person. I used to watch my mom go to

00:20:10.819 --> 00:20:12.839
the kitchen and drag knives across her arms.

00:20:17.259 --> 00:20:21.140
I mean, she was a different person. There we

00:20:21.140 --> 00:20:22.660
go. We sucked the fun out of the room again.

00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:29.500
Something happened to her. And so she began grabbing

00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:32.119
me by my hair and yanking me to that church building.

00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:36.019
And here's the problem is now this youth pastor

00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:38.420
is like, I have a 15 -year -old punk kid who

00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:41.180
won't listen to anybody. I mean, he's respectful

00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:42.920
enough to sit down in the back, but, you know,

00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:46.759
leave him alone. Don't talk to him. You might

00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:50.440
set him off. He's volatile. And they don't know

00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:51.900
what to do with me, man. Like, they don't know

00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:53.460
what to do with me. I get arrested for stealing

00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:56.319
stuff from Walmart, and they come to the court

00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:57.880
and, like, please make them do community service

00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:01.420
with us. So they gave me 72 hours of community

00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:03.579
service at the church, and the whole time I'm

00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:06.759
digging a ditch that's already dug because they're

00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:08.640
trying to figure out what to do, cleaning chairs,

00:21:08.900 --> 00:21:10.619
vacuuming floors, and they're preaching to me.

00:21:10.660 --> 00:21:12.440
And I'm like, listen, man, I hear you. I just

00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:17.720
don't care. I don't believe in any of it. See,

00:21:17.779 --> 00:21:20.460
I'd have inherited my mother's outlook on life.

00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:22.500
If there is a God and if he is real, then he

00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:26.440
hates me. And that's a whole lot harder to think

00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:30.369
than, ah, there is no God. I'd rather live with

00:21:30.369 --> 00:21:32.309
that than thinking that he hates me for no reason.

00:21:34.750 --> 00:21:37.009
So one day the youth pastor comes to me and he,

00:21:37.170 --> 00:21:39.730
you're the youth pastor, right? Don't ever do

00:21:39.730 --> 00:21:46.650
this. Write this down. Do not do this. Like all

00:21:46.650 --> 00:21:49.430
caps, take three pages and just tape it to the

00:21:49.430 --> 00:21:51.650
wall. Tape it to the mirror at home. He walks

00:21:51.650 --> 00:21:53.369
up to me and he says, hey man, I'm going to invite

00:21:53.369 --> 00:21:56.279
you to this youth convention. And if you come

00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:57.839
with us and you still don't believe in Jesus,

00:21:57.960 --> 00:21:59.400
I'll convince your mom to quit making you go

00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:02.400
to church on Sundays. He says, you've got to

00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:05.839
come on Wednesdays. I mean, I was drunk most

00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.180
of the time whenever she took me there on Sundays

00:22:07.180 --> 00:22:10.660
anyway. Hungover, stoned, something. I mean,

00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:12.319
everybody knew I wasn't paying attention. There's

00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:15.019
Travis in the back. We don't know what he's doing.

00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:19.440
And so he convinces me to go, and I was thinking,

00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:25.460
this is going to be perfect. Two days. Two days.

00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:30.640
I got to deal with these annoying people. I just

00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.359
got to pretend to be friendly. I got to sit and

00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.299
listen to somebody preach for a little bit. I

00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:39.579
get up, go home, and I can laugh in my mother's

00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:41.940
face, and I don't have to go to church again

00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:44.599
on Sunday. Now, I don't know what he was going

00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:48.039
to do because she wasn't going to be cool with

00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:50.940
that deal. She was going to be like, you need

00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:52.819
to tell him and repent to him for lying is what

00:22:52.819 --> 00:22:54.440
she was going to say because that ain't happening.

00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:59.579
Anyway, we go there, and the first night I'm

00:22:59.579 --> 00:23:01.019
making fun of the guy preaching the whole time.

00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:05.140
Like, this guy is stupid. Is it okay if I'm honest

00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:08.099
with you? I'm going to do it anyway. I'm just

00:23:08.099 --> 00:23:11.519
glad that now I have your blessing. I'm thinking

00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.859
this guy is stupid. Like he's never lived a hard

00:23:15.859 --> 00:23:17.819
life. He probably comes from a rich family. Look

00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:21.200
at that Rolex on his arm. Those Jordans on his

00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:25.019
feet. He's got this nice tuxedo shirt that I

00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:27.380
could never afford, that we'd never have. I can't

00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:29.000
even eat, and this guy's up here dressed like

00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:30.880
that. He's going to tell me about suffering for

00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:35.500
Christ? No. So night number one, they were like,

00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:37.460
Travis, what do you think? And I was like, Jesus

00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:41.460
is still not real. But night number two rolls

00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:46.160
around. And night number two was a little bit

00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:49.460
different. See, this guy went from, hey, guys,

00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.759
we're going to have a great weekend to, like,

00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:56.660
he went straight into Jesus died for you and

00:23:56.660 --> 00:24:00.119
you got two choices. Like, and I'm sitting here

00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:01.359
thinking, yeah, this is what these guys have

00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.559
been telling me for six months. And he does the

00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.900
weirdest thing ever. He says, I'm going to count

00:24:07.900 --> 00:24:09.859
from three to one, and when I get to one, some

00:24:09.859 --> 00:24:11.299
of you are going to be convicted you need to

00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:12.940
give your life to Christ. I want you to run to

00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:15.960
the front. We all stand, and I'm thinking, one

00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:19.359
more altar call. That's all I have to get through.

00:24:20.019 --> 00:24:25.920
One more of these awkward 20 minutes of people

00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:28.160
walking around looking at you, asking you if

00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:32.640
they can pray for you. One more. And then the

00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:37.430
guy says three. And when he says three, listen

00:24:37.430 --> 00:24:39.890
to me, I'm not one of those people. I didn't

00:24:39.890 --> 00:24:41.829
look up and see heaven and look down and see

00:24:41.829 --> 00:24:44.250
hell. You know, I didn't hear angels singing.

00:24:44.490 --> 00:24:47.009
I didn't hear a voice go, Travis, this is your

00:24:47.009 --> 00:24:49.230
guardian angel speaking. You need to give your

00:24:49.230 --> 00:24:52.450
life to Jesus. I didn't hear that. I didn't hear

00:24:52.450 --> 00:24:56.710
anything like that. But in that moment, something

00:24:56.710 --> 00:25:00.549
hit me down to the depth of my being. And I want

00:25:00.549 --> 00:25:02.650
you all to repeat this word after me. It's called

00:25:02.650 --> 00:25:07.359
conviction. How many of you guys ever felt conviction

00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.380
before? I'm talking the conviction of the Lord

00:25:10.380 --> 00:25:14.160
where you're like, I'm going to die and go to

00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.259
hell if something doesn't get right. I mean,

00:25:16.279 --> 00:25:19.640
I was sitting here laughing at the guy, and he

00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:22.119
says three, and then I just went stone cold,

00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.359
straight faced, like, oh, no. What is going to

00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.579
happen? And I'm thinking, okay, hell is real.

00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:36.440
Check. Lake of fire is real. Lovely. He says

00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:40.059
two. And I start connecting the dots. Well, if

00:25:40.059 --> 00:25:42.180
the lake of fire is real, Jesus is real, and

00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:45.240
I'm rejecting him, if I die, I'm going to go

00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:48.700
to hell. How many of you know I wasn't laughing

00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:52.480
anymore? I went from smiling and laughing and

00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:54.400
making fun of the guy to just straight -faced

00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:59.660
shaking. And then he said one. And when he said

00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:02.019
come to the front, I came to the front. Now here's

00:26:02.019 --> 00:26:04.630
the problem. There were about 500 or 600 other

00:26:04.630 --> 00:26:08.109
kids that had the same idea. So the altar's just

00:26:08.109 --> 00:26:10.369
crowded and they're like, pray. And I'm looking

00:26:10.369 --> 00:26:14.789
like this. What do you mean pray? What are you

00:26:14.789 --> 00:26:18.230
talking about? And so finally I sat there and

00:26:18.230 --> 00:26:22.170
I went, okay. Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit, I don't

00:26:22.170 --> 00:26:23.690
know which one of you is listening right now.

00:26:24.769 --> 00:26:26.809
I had no idea what the doctrine of the Trinity

00:26:26.809 --> 00:26:30.230
was. I didn't know anything. And I was like,

00:26:30.309 --> 00:26:33.420
listen, listen. I don't know what you want from

00:26:33.420 --> 00:26:38.700
me, but if you'll show me, I'll give it to you.

00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:44.180
And I heard just this gentle, gentle voice, and

00:26:44.180 --> 00:26:46.240
peace came in my soul, and he said, I'll take

00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.660
that deal. And you would think, you know, gold

00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:51.819
dust rained down, and cherubim came, and I spoke

00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:54.039
in tongues. None of that happened either. As

00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:57.019
a matter of fact, I went back home and the experience

00:26:57.019 --> 00:26:59.819
so rattled me that I ran into drugs and alcohol

00:26:59.819 --> 00:27:01.859
and all of that harder than I ever did before.

00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:08.380
Because now I don't know what to do. The entire

00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:10.680
world is different than what I thought it was.

00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:14.900
Have you guys ever been in that moment? You just

00:27:14.900 --> 00:27:16.619
start crashing out because you're like, dude,

00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:20.700
I don't know. I don't even know. And here's the

00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:23.259
interesting thing is instead of being at the

00:27:23.259 --> 00:27:26.359
front and center of the party, you know, playing

00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:30.599
beer pong or taking shots or whatever, I'd be

00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:32.599
in a dark room arguing with a guy I didn't think

00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:36.079
was there. And my friends would be like, what

00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.519
happened to that guy? His mom started going to

00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:43.279
church, man. He drank the Kool -Aid. And they'd

00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.779
peep in and they'd hear me. Why won't you leave

00:27:45.779 --> 00:27:52.420
me alone? Man, who's he talking to? why won't

00:27:52.420 --> 00:27:56.059
you quit bothering me? And I'd hear that same

00:27:56.059 --> 00:27:59.279
voice say, I thought you said you'd follow me.

00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.519
And so after about a year of doing that, I was

00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:06.880
like, you know what? You just took every bit

00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:10.900
of fun out of getting high. Like now I'm miserable.

00:28:11.259 --> 00:28:14.000
I get convicted every time. You know what? Following

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.500
you has got to be better. And so there was a

00:28:16.500 --> 00:28:20.130
day when I bent the knee to Christ. And something

00:28:20.130 --> 00:28:23.809
happened to me. The same thing that happened

00:28:23.809 --> 00:28:26.069
to my mother. The same thing that happened to

00:28:26.069 --> 00:28:28.109
many people that I've known before and after

00:28:28.109 --> 00:28:32.710
that. Where the desire to get drunk no longer

00:28:32.710 --> 00:28:37.390
permeated my being. The desire to get high was

00:28:37.390 --> 00:28:41.049
no longer there. Now I still had a whole lot

00:28:41.049 --> 00:28:43.789
of emotional baggage to work through. It's not

00:28:43.789 --> 00:28:45.670
like Jesus came and was like, let me perfect

00:28:45.670 --> 00:28:48.329
you. Which is what we typically think happens.

00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.160
But He came and He took the things that had me

00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:55.319
bound away so that I could begin walking with

00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:59.900
Him. Now here's the problem with that. The church

00:28:59.900 --> 00:29:02.240
that I was in, the reason why we had to go somewhere

00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:04.299
else is what I said last night. Pastor, we were

00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:07.380
Pentecostal. We didn't believe in power. We were

00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:10.859
functional Baptists. It was Whitney Lane Family

00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:12.940
Worship Center on the sign and Assemblies of

00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:15.240
God was in the bottom right corner. They believed

00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:18.440
that prayer worked, but never prayed. And you

00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:23.799
heard three sermons all year round. Pray, read

00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:27.180
your Bible, don't get drunk, don't commit adultery,

00:29:27.339 --> 00:29:30.779
don't sin, have a good day. And the pray part

00:29:30.779 --> 00:29:33.140
was just ask God for whatever you have need of.

00:29:34.140 --> 00:29:36.680
There was no concept of relationship with God.

00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:40.369
There was none of that. And so I feel called

00:29:40.369 --> 00:29:42.589
to ministry at one point, and I go to Bible college,

00:29:42.750 --> 00:29:45.289
and we have to go to Mardi Gras to preach the

00:29:45.289 --> 00:29:46.930
gospel to people at the school I went to. Now,

00:29:46.930 --> 00:29:47.910
how many of you guys have ever been to Mardi

00:29:47.910 --> 00:29:52.390
Gras in New Orleans? Take their names down. Write

00:29:52.390 --> 00:29:58.789
it down. Membership revoked. I'm kidding. We

00:29:58.789 --> 00:30:00.470
had to go down there, and you want to talk about

00:30:00.470 --> 00:30:02.549
a culture shock. I mean, people are stripping

00:30:02.549 --> 00:30:04.210
naked just because you're preaching the gospel

00:30:04.210 --> 00:30:06.450
to them, throwing beer on you, spitting in your

00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:09.380
face. Like, it's a culture shock. And so we're

00:30:09.380 --> 00:30:11.819
down there, and we have meetings with the students,

00:30:11.859 --> 00:30:14.279
and this guy has this altar call, and he pulls

00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.700
200 or 300 kids up here, college kids. I mean,

00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:19.420
I'm still young compared to most of you guys,

00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:23.200
but 18 -year -olds. Pulls them up here, and I

00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:24.960
mean, some of them have serious issues, like

00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:27.400
cystic fibrosis, respiratory issues, and whatnot.

00:30:28.089 --> 00:30:30.430
He pulls them up here, and he begins praying

00:30:30.430 --> 00:30:32.329
for them. And they're just like bodies in the

00:30:32.329 --> 00:30:34.029
floor. People are getting healed. Some people

00:30:34.029 --> 00:30:36.190
are crying and screaming. And I'm over here thinking,

00:30:36.269 --> 00:30:39.609
what in the world is going on? This did not happen

00:30:39.609 --> 00:30:42.670
at my church. And so I'm asking some of these

00:30:42.670 --> 00:30:44.089
students, what's happening? And they're like,

00:30:44.150 --> 00:30:45.670
go read the book of Acts. And I'm reading the

00:30:45.670 --> 00:30:47.450
book of Acts, and people are jumping in Peter's

00:30:47.450 --> 00:30:49.990
shadow, hoping they'll get healed. Paul's got

00:30:49.990 --> 00:30:52.029
handkerchiefs that he wipes his sweat on, and

00:30:52.029 --> 00:30:54.839
they lamb on people, and demons leave. And I'm

00:30:54.839 --> 00:30:56.900
thinking, this is exactly what the Christian

00:30:56.900 --> 00:30:58.859
life is supposed to look like, healing the sick,

00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:00.799
raising the dead, and casting out demons. And

00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:03.099
so I'm sitting in school, and I interrupt class

00:31:03.099 --> 00:31:05.680
one day, and it's not even a class on anything,

00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:08.640
really. It's geography. It's the geography of

00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:13.980
Israel. Who cares about that class? And I interrupt,

00:31:14.119 --> 00:31:16.539
and I go, hey, how did that guy heal those kids

00:31:16.539 --> 00:31:18.960
in class? And the lady was like, just pray, and

00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:21.700
then moved on like it was nothing. And so I wrote

00:31:21.700 --> 00:31:26.529
that down. Check. We got to pray. Okay, so I

00:31:26.529 --> 00:31:29.349
go home and I'm sitting down when I'm off work.

00:31:29.430 --> 00:31:31.349
I'm sitting in my room with my Bible in my hand

00:31:31.349 --> 00:31:33.569
and I'm going, how do I pray? Nobody ever taught

00:31:33.569 --> 00:31:37.990
me that. That's a shame. We hope and pray that

00:31:37.990 --> 00:31:39.670
people will come into the church and we hope

00:31:39.670 --> 00:31:41.430
that they'll get saved and they'll give their

00:31:41.430 --> 00:31:43.069
life to Christ, but then we don't do anything

00:31:43.069 --> 00:31:45.490
with them. We expect them to come in and learn.

00:31:45.589 --> 00:31:47.109
I mean, you're telling people to read a book

00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:49.910
that's from thousands of years ago. Like they're

00:31:49.910 --> 00:31:51.890
going to just understand it and pick it up. And

00:31:51.890 --> 00:31:53.849
some things in the book are really simple, but

00:31:53.849 --> 00:31:56.589
some things are not. And part of the call of

00:31:56.589 --> 00:31:58.849
Christ was not to just be somebody who makes

00:31:58.849 --> 00:32:01.569
converts and fills some chairs. It was to be

00:32:01.569 --> 00:32:03.769
somebody who made disciples. And that's not for

00:32:03.769 --> 00:32:06.509
the pastor. That's for everybody. Like your call

00:32:06.509 --> 00:32:08.690
is part of the great commission is to go forth

00:32:08.690 --> 00:32:11.690
and make disciples of all nations. And a disciple

00:32:11.690 --> 00:32:15.130
is somebody who's just like you. It is your responsibility

00:32:15.130 --> 00:32:18.009
to find somebody, even if it's just your children.

00:32:18.890 --> 00:32:21.670
Teach them the ways of Christ. Your job is to

00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:27.950
teach them how to pray, not pastors. Deep breath,

00:32:27.950 --> 00:32:30.529
Travis. It's okay. I told you guys, I get a little

00:32:30.529 --> 00:32:34.470
excited sometimes. He's squirrely, guys. Just

00:32:34.470 --> 00:32:38.309
give him a minute. He'll calm down. But really,

00:32:38.410 --> 00:32:40.990
like, nobody discipled me. I would go ask people

00:32:40.990 --> 00:32:42.750
questions, and they would just say, you got to

00:32:42.750 --> 00:32:45.069
be led by the Spirit, brother. What does that

00:32:45.069 --> 00:32:49.549
mean? I don't know. then why are you telling

00:32:49.549 --> 00:32:51.289
me to do it? You don't know. You've been in church

00:32:51.289 --> 00:32:53.569
for 40 years, and you have no idea what that

00:32:53.569 --> 00:32:55.470
means, and you're telling me that I have to do

00:32:55.470 --> 00:33:00.589
it? And so I would get frustrated, man. I have

00:33:00.589 --> 00:33:02.910
nobody to teach me anything. And I'd sit there

00:33:02.910 --> 00:33:06.049
with my Bible, and I'd be like, okay, God, you've

00:33:06.049 --> 00:33:10.250
got to show me how to pray. And you know what

00:33:10.250 --> 00:33:14.410
began to happen? Over time, I went from knocking

00:33:14.410 --> 00:33:16.569
on a door hoping somebody was listening to where

00:33:16.569 --> 00:33:18.930
it just seemed like the door opened. And there

00:33:18.930 --> 00:33:22.890
was somebody talking back to me. And it took

00:33:22.890 --> 00:33:26.430
time. It wasn't something that I just picked

00:33:26.430 --> 00:33:29.029
up one day and moved on. See, God is spirit and

00:33:29.029 --> 00:33:32.930
He interacts with us in spirit. Not in the way

00:33:32.930 --> 00:33:34.829
that we're used to. You don't hear God like you

00:33:34.829 --> 00:33:37.710
hear me right now. He's inside of you. If you're

00:33:37.710 --> 00:33:39.589
saved, if you're not saved, then He's around

00:33:39.589 --> 00:33:43.210
you and you need to get saved. Given your life

00:33:43.210 --> 00:33:45.190
to Christ, the Holy Spirit is in you, and He

00:33:45.190 --> 00:33:47.710
speaks to you from deep within your being. And

00:33:47.710 --> 00:33:50.289
sometimes that's that simple conviction, and

00:33:50.289 --> 00:33:52.289
sometimes it's a thought that you just cannot

00:33:52.289 --> 00:33:54.630
get away from, that, man, I really need to go

00:33:54.630 --> 00:33:57.150
do this thing. And so I began to live my life

00:33:57.150 --> 00:34:01.730
tuning into that internal impression that I learned

00:34:01.730 --> 00:34:03.750
from prayer, and I began to follow it. And pretty

00:34:03.750 --> 00:34:06.950
soon I had pastors calling me, 20 years old,

00:34:07.089 --> 00:34:09.449
hey, we have a demon -possessed guy at our church,

00:34:09.489 --> 00:34:14.260
and we don't know what to do. That's a problem

00:34:14.260 --> 00:34:18.159
too. We got the same Bible, and you don't know

00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:22.840
how to cast a demon out? Come out. I don't know

00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.780
any other way either. Like, I don't know what

00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:28.679
to do. And so I did. I walk in here, and this

00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:30.440
lady's slithering on the floor like a snake,

00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:34.019
and I'm like, I don't know what to do, man. Well,

00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:37.159
you know, she got a group discount. All of them

00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:41.789
left for free. It was beautiful. But things like

00:34:41.789 --> 00:34:43.889
that began to happen. The sick began getting

00:34:43.889 --> 00:34:46.349
healed. I've not raised the dead yet. I really

00:34:46.349 --> 00:34:47.909
want to see that happen. That would be really

00:34:47.909 --> 00:34:53.289
cool. Kind of freaky, but cool. But the point

00:34:53.289 --> 00:34:55.210
was that it was all developed from a lifestyle

00:34:55.210 --> 00:35:00.329
of prayer. Of prayer. You know, God uses people

00:35:00.329 --> 00:35:02.309
that are available, but the only way you show

00:35:02.309 --> 00:35:05.030
that you're available is by taking that first

00:35:05.030 --> 00:35:08.869
step. Everything in the kingdom is about stewarding

00:35:08.869 --> 00:35:10.690
what you already have. You've got a relationship

00:35:10.690 --> 00:35:12.809
with the Holy Spirit. He's living inside of you.

00:35:12.929 --> 00:35:14.929
You want Him to do great things through you or

00:35:14.929 --> 00:35:16.710
in your life and in the lives of others, and

00:35:16.710 --> 00:35:18.849
you can't even steward a relationship with Him.

00:35:21.389 --> 00:35:24.150
I mean, listen, listen. We are judged according

00:35:24.150 --> 00:35:29.489
to the things we know and we do. So if we can't

00:35:29.489 --> 00:35:31.730
do the basic thing, why do we expect Him to give

00:35:31.730 --> 00:35:36.349
us more? Think about that. I think sometimes

00:35:36.349 --> 00:35:41.090
God withholds certain things as a mercy. As a

00:35:41.090 --> 00:35:43.769
mercy because He doesn't want us to be like Ananias

00:35:43.769 --> 00:35:47.170
and Sapphira where the Spirit was being poured

00:35:47.170 --> 00:35:51.190
out upon the people and they told a lie. Something

00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:54.829
that you and I think are small. Just a little

00:35:54.829 --> 00:35:57.590
lie. We got this much money instead of this.

00:35:58.210 --> 00:36:03.269
And God punches the time clock for them permanently.

00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:10.960
The more He moves, the more you and I are accountable

00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:16.320
for. Luke chapter 12 tells that. To the one who

00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:21.199
knows and does otherwise, that one will receive

00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:23.280
a greater punishment than the one who does the

00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:26.940
same and doesn't know. There were things that

00:36:26.940 --> 00:36:30.320
I had done in ignorance that when I came to the

00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:32.280
knowledge of Christ, there was no more excuse.

00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:37.400
But I only learned these things through the power

00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:41.739
of prayer. And I think a lot of people don't

00:36:41.739 --> 00:36:44.280
know how prayer really changes your life and

00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:45.940
the life of the world around you. So I'll tell

00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:50.400
you a few stories about prayer. Stories that

00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:52.320
have changed my life. And I'm a church history

00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:55.739
buff. Not necessarily, you know, 1900s on, but

00:36:55.739 --> 00:36:59.460
like 300 AD, right after the apostles and everybody

00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:03.139
else. And in 400 A .D., right after the church

00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:10.380
becomes legal, there's a man named Anthony. Anthony

00:37:10.380 --> 00:37:14.360
is just like the rich young ruler in the Gospels.

00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:17.659
Both of his parents die from sickness suddenly.

00:37:18.840 --> 00:37:22.360
They've got so much land and farmland and slaves

00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:25.719
and, I mean, money. And they leave him all of

00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:27.800
this as an inheritance. And he goes into a church

00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:32.030
for the first time at 20 years old. And he hears

00:37:32.030 --> 00:37:34.510
Jesus tell the rich young ruler from the reading

00:37:34.510 --> 00:37:37.090
of the scripture, if you want to be my disciple,

00:37:37.250 --> 00:37:44.489
sell everything. Follow me. And Anthony, just

00:37:44.489 --> 00:37:46.690
because he's just like the rich young ruler,

00:37:46.809 --> 00:37:48.710
he would have never told everybody to do this.

00:37:50.170 --> 00:37:54.050
But because he'd lived a good life, he'd heard

00:37:54.050 --> 00:37:56.110
the Christian principles and he'd followed them.

00:37:56.550 --> 00:38:01.329
Anthony knew that this was a call to him. And

00:38:01.329 --> 00:38:04.090
so what Anthony does is he sells everything and

00:38:04.090 --> 00:38:07.230
he puts his sister in a convent for nuns where

00:38:07.230 --> 00:38:09.550
she can be developed and trained by the church.

00:38:09.630 --> 00:38:12.170
And he gives her enough money to where if she

00:38:12.170 --> 00:38:14.570
wanted to leave the convent and not dedicate

00:38:14.570 --> 00:38:17.789
her life to ministry in that time, then she could

00:38:17.789 --> 00:38:20.250
go and have a good life and find a good husband

00:38:20.250 --> 00:38:22.090
and be taken care of and just continue being

00:38:22.090 --> 00:38:24.809
a Christian. But Anthony does the unconventional

00:38:24.809 --> 00:38:29.380
thing and Anthony goes into the desert. into

00:38:29.380 --> 00:38:33.119
the Egyptian wilderness. And he begins to spend

00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:36.780
12, sometimes 15 hours a day in prayer. And I

00:38:36.780 --> 00:38:38.739
hear me, I'm not fixing to tell you guys to do

00:38:38.739 --> 00:38:42.190
that, okay? But Anthony does this because when

00:38:42.190 --> 00:38:44.050
he looks at the state of the church, the church

00:38:44.050 --> 00:38:46.090
has been legal for a hundred years under Emperor

00:38:46.090 --> 00:38:48.730
Constantine. After in the middle of a battle,

00:38:48.769 --> 00:38:51.130
he sees a cross in the sky and he says, man,

00:38:51.230 --> 00:38:54.010
Jesus must be real. And the state of the church

00:38:54.010 --> 00:38:56.309
at this point is not that they were holy anymore.

00:38:56.469 --> 00:38:59.030
See, as a matter of fact, the priests and the

00:38:59.030 --> 00:39:03.050
nuns, everybody, the bishops were involving themselves

00:39:03.050 --> 00:39:08.090
in prostitution and things akin to gambling in

00:39:08.090 --> 00:39:11.219
that time. and pocketing money and leaving the

00:39:11.219 --> 00:39:14.239
poor needy. And Anthony had noticed that the

00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:19.800
church was corrupted by sin. I call Anthony the

00:39:19.800 --> 00:39:23.380
first Protestant. He was the first one to protest

00:39:23.380 --> 00:39:25.400
the state of the Catholic Church. And Anthony

00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:28.659
goes into the wilderness and he says, I'm going

00:39:28.659 --> 00:39:31.940
to pray. And every time he came back into a city,

00:39:31.980 --> 00:39:33.900
things would happen. In one instance, there's

00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:36.659
a young man on a boat who's eating rotten fish

00:39:36.659 --> 00:39:39.019
outside of his mind. His eyes are rolled in the

00:39:39.019 --> 00:39:41.159
back of his head. And they're thinking, we don't

00:39:41.159 --> 00:39:43.300
know what to do with him. He's 14 years old.

00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:45.940
How can we help him? And Anthony goes up to him

00:39:45.940 --> 00:39:47.940
and draws the sign of the cross and says, be

00:39:47.940 --> 00:39:50.699
free in Jesus' name. And that moment, at that

00:39:50.699 --> 00:39:52.800
very second, second the young man comes to his

00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:54.900
right mind. He was demon possessed and nobody

00:39:54.900 --> 00:39:57.420
knew it. In another instance, they had three

00:39:57.420 --> 00:39:59.599
philosophers come to try to prove that Anthony

00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:03.539
was an idiot. And Anthony looks at these philosophers

00:40:03.539 --> 00:40:05.760
and says, look at the dead body behind you. Will

00:40:05.760 --> 00:40:08.099
your philosophy do this? And he lays hands on

00:40:08.099 --> 00:40:12.050
the body and the woman comes back to life. In

00:40:12.050 --> 00:40:14.550
another instance, Anthony goes into a city where

00:40:14.550 --> 00:40:18.070
the emperor, Emperor Maxim, is persecuting Christians.

00:40:18.190 --> 00:40:20.170
Now some of these things I can't say in a room

00:40:20.170 --> 00:40:22.010
full of people where young people might be present,

00:40:22.130 --> 00:40:25.510
but let's just say that if you were a Christian

00:40:25.510 --> 00:40:27.969
woman, you would be forced to work for men. We'll

00:40:27.969 --> 00:40:30.590
put it that way. After you watched your family

00:40:30.590 --> 00:40:33.579
put to death by this emperor. And Anthony goes

00:40:33.579 --> 00:40:35.699
into the city and he begins healing the sick

00:40:35.699 --> 00:40:37.980
and casting out demons. And he goes to the emperor.

00:40:38.260 --> 00:40:40.519
And Anthony does the craziest thing I've ever

00:40:40.519 --> 00:40:43.260
heard of. He gets on his knee and he says, Emperor

00:40:43.260 --> 00:40:45.360
Maxim, I'm a Christian. Why don't you kill me?

00:40:47.179 --> 00:40:49.619
And the emperor looks at him and he says, Anthony,

00:40:49.780 --> 00:40:52.300
I can't kill you. And Anthony says, why can you

00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:55.019
kill my people for what they believe? But you

00:40:55.019 --> 00:40:57.639
can't kill me. And the emperor says something

00:40:57.639 --> 00:41:00.420
really profound because it shows that there was

00:41:00.420 --> 00:41:03.619
a line drawn between a fake nominal Christian

00:41:03.619 --> 00:41:06.840
and someone who knew what the gospel was and

00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:09.360
knew what it was like to live for Christ. He

00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:12.119
looks at Anthony and he says, because you're

00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:18.309
too valuable. He says, there's something special

00:41:18.309 --> 00:41:22.050
about you, Anthony. There's something on you

00:41:22.050 --> 00:41:25.090
that's not on the others. He recognized in Anthony's

00:41:25.090 --> 00:41:28.369
life that there was a touch of God. And Anthony

00:41:28.369 --> 00:41:30.909
looked at him and said, please quit hurting my

00:41:30.909 --> 00:41:33.869
people and kill me. And the emperor said, no.

00:41:36.889 --> 00:41:39.289
And Anthony said, then why don't you quit hurting

00:41:39.289 --> 00:41:45.360
them on my behalf? And the emperor made a deal

00:41:45.360 --> 00:41:49.199
for Father Anthony. You keep coming to my city.

00:41:50.039 --> 00:41:54.179
You keep healing my people. And I'll let yours

00:41:54.179 --> 00:42:00.000
go. One man brought peace to an emperor. Peace

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.619
to a nation. Simply because, and he did nothing

00:42:03.619 --> 00:42:05.900
but sit in what they called a cell. It was a

00:42:05.900 --> 00:42:14.730
cave. And pray. And pray. We wonder why Christians

00:42:14.730 --> 00:42:19.010
are ineffective now. While the nation is burning

00:42:19.010 --> 00:42:22.409
and nothing is changing. And I believe the number

00:42:22.409 --> 00:42:25.130
one issue is because we don't have people with

00:42:25.130 --> 00:42:27.530
a spirit of prayer on them like Father Anthony.

00:42:28.809 --> 00:42:31.150
People don't know what it's like to pray and

00:42:31.150 --> 00:42:33.269
press into God and experience Him. Did you know

00:42:33.269 --> 00:42:35.610
that every miracle Jesus did was coming out of

00:42:35.610 --> 00:42:38.320
His prayer life? He goes to a mountain and he

00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:40.519
prays all night. He comes back down and the sick

00:42:40.519 --> 00:42:42.460
are pressing against him. He looks at the disciples

00:42:42.460 --> 00:42:45.380
and says, get in the boat. They get in the boat.

00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:47.320
They get to the other side and he's met by a

00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:50.840
demon -possessed man. The Gadarene demoniac possessed

00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:54.199
by a legion of demons. And he comes out of the

00:42:54.199 --> 00:42:56.400
boat, casts the demons out of him, and the guy's

00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:58.980
like, please, can I follow you? And Jesus says,

00:42:59.059 --> 00:43:02.599
no, you have to stay in the region. Jesus needed

00:43:02.599 --> 00:43:05.960
a witness in the region. And everybody knew the

00:43:05.960 --> 00:43:10.579
Gadarene demoniac. But nobody knew Jesus until

00:43:10.579 --> 00:43:17.380
that moment. In the book of Mark, Jesus' disciples

00:43:17.380 --> 00:43:20.579
are trying to cast a demon out of a boy. They

00:43:20.579 --> 00:43:25.380
say, Lord, why couldn't we do it? He looks at

00:43:25.380 --> 00:43:27.280
them and says, this kind comes out by prayer

00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:28.940
and fasting. You know what Jesus was saying?

00:43:29.380 --> 00:43:31.280
And there's theologians that agree with this.

00:43:31.320 --> 00:43:34.400
This is not my spin. People a lot smarter than

00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:37.340
me with doctorate's degrees. They said Jesus

00:43:37.340 --> 00:43:40.579
was looking at them and saying, your prayer life

00:43:40.579 --> 00:43:43.400
is not matching the level of devil you're facing.

00:43:44.099 --> 00:43:47.579
The difficulty that's coming against you. The

00:43:47.579 --> 00:43:51.960
persecution that's this way. Your prayer life

00:43:51.960 --> 00:43:56.320
is not meeting what Satan is bringing. Think

00:43:56.320 --> 00:43:58.159
about that for a minute. You have the Holy Spirit

00:43:58.159 --> 00:44:00.960
inside of you, and you can't match the devil?

00:44:02.819 --> 00:44:10.079
Is God weak? No. But we don't do our job in stewarding

00:44:10.079 --> 00:44:14.800
that in the place of prayer. How many of you

00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:16.340
guys have ever heard of the Argentine revival?

00:44:17.840 --> 00:44:21.639
A few of you. Sweet. You three are really Pentecostal.

00:44:21.639 --> 00:44:24.219
I want you to know that. Every time I mention

00:44:24.219 --> 00:44:26.519
something, I told my wife, I'm trying to bring

00:44:26.519 --> 00:44:28.980
different stories that nobody's heard of, and

00:44:28.980 --> 00:44:33.559
you guys got every one of them. So the Argentine

00:44:33.559 --> 00:44:36.599
revival is attributed to a man named Edward Miller.

00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:40.619
Where he came and he was a missionary for 20

00:44:40.619 --> 00:44:42.320
years. And do you know what a big church was

00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:45.440
considered in Argentine? Like they thought if

00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:47.719
you had a church of this size, you were successful.

00:44:48.280 --> 00:44:50.380
This was the mega church of their day in their

00:44:50.380 --> 00:44:52.940
country. You did a great job. They're going to

00:44:52.940 --> 00:44:55.219
write you down in a book and say copy that guy.

00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:57.159
And that's only if you had a church of eight

00:44:57.159 --> 00:45:02.960
people. Because of how ineffective. The church

00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:06.659
was. Edward Miller is like, bro, this is not

00:45:06.659 --> 00:45:10.619
working. He's tired. He's worn out. He's considering

00:45:10.619 --> 00:45:14.940
quitting the ministry. He'd heard about what

00:45:14.940 --> 00:45:16.900
happened under Amy Simple McPherson's ministry

00:45:16.900 --> 00:45:18.920
because his father followed her ministry, was

00:45:18.920 --> 00:45:21.699
a part of it for a little bit. In some way, I

00:45:21.699 --> 00:45:23.320
think he served or he just went to the meetings.

00:45:25.800 --> 00:45:28.059
And so what he does is he begins to fast and

00:45:28.059 --> 00:45:34.190
pray eight hours a day. After about six months

00:45:34.190 --> 00:45:36.309
of this, Edward Miller wants to quit. He decides

00:45:36.309 --> 00:45:39.550
to take it up another notch, keep fasting. And

00:45:39.550 --> 00:45:41.250
now they say, we're going to host meetings here.

00:45:41.369 --> 00:45:45.969
And there's three women at his house. And they're

00:45:45.969 --> 00:45:49.769
worshiping and all of this. And nothing happens

00:45:49.769 --> 00:45:53.469
until one night the Spirit suddenly falls and

00:45:53.469 --> 00:45:55.150
all three women are baptized in the Holy Spirit.

00:45:55.670 --> 00:45:57.650
It's a pretty wild event. Some onlookers see

00:45:57.650 --> 00:45:59.570
it. It's like, what is going on over there? His

00:45:59.570 --> 00:46:04.170
church doubles in size from three to six. And

00:46:04.170 --> 00:46:07.389
in a place where eight people is effective, the

00:46:07.389 --> 00:46:09.789
standard three to six overnight is legendary.

00:46:10.869 --> 00:46:15.969
You just doubled your congregation. Over the

00:46:15.969 --> 00:46:18.090
next month, so many people heard about what was

00:46:18.090 --> 00:46:23.550
happening that they had to build a church. And

00:46:23.550 --> 00:46:25.250
they began to ask Edward Miller to go around

00:46:25.250 --> 00:46:29.510
city after city after city. And he goes and...

00:46:29.920 --> 00:46:32.219
Not just a few, but hundreds of people are getting

00:46:32.219 --> 00:46:34.239
saved and giving their life to Christ. And now,

00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:39.139
in South America, in the Argentine area, the

00:46:39.139 --> 00:46:41.059
assemblies of God will look at missionaries who

00:46:41.059 --> 00:46:42.820
say they feel called to go there and they'll

00:46:42.820 --> 00:46:46.460
say, no. We're not sending missionaries to a

00:46:46.460 --> 00:46:50.440
nation that's reached. You know where they will

00:46:50.440 --> 00:46:59.219
send missionaries? Here. What's your prayer life

00:46:59.219 --> 00:47:04.360
look like? I'm not saying you got to be the guy

00:47:04.360 --> 00:47:05.940
at a pulpit. I'm not saying you got to be the

00:47:05.940 --> 00:47:07.699
person at the street corner preaching to everybody.

00:47:07.780 --> 00:47:12.179
What's your prayer life look like? Are you asking

00:47:12.179 --> 00:47:16.820
God to use you? Do you pray? Do you know him?

00:47:17.579 --> 00:47:20.940
Like truly, do you know him? Jesus looked at

00:47:20.940 --> 00:47:23.000
his disciples and said, no longer do I call you

00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:27.800
servants, I call you friends. Being a friend

00:47:27.800 --> 00:47:31.440
of God is where effectiveness comes. Being a

00:47:31.440 --> 00:47:33.619
servant is where a yoke of bondage comes from.

00:47:35.800 --> 00:47:37.239
Here's the last story I'll tell you, and I'll

00:47:37.239 --> 00:47:41.099
move on. How many of you guys know about what's

00:47:41.099 --> 00:47:42.659
going on in North Georgia right now? Have you

00:47:42.659 --> 00:47:46.500
three raised your hands? Do you know about the

00:47:46.500 --> 00:47:51.139
North Georgia revival? He does? Dang it. It's

00:47:51.139 --> 00:47:52.739
okay, it's okay. We'll tell the story anyway.

00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:56.500
Pastor Todd Smith was a Southern Baptist who

00:47:56.500 --> 00:47:58.039
didn't believe that God did anything nowadays.

00:47:59.380 --> 00:48:01.619
He accidentally got baptized with the Holy Spirit.

00:48:01.780 --> 00:48:03.400
You know, they fired him, gave him the left foot

00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:05.539
of fellowship. You know how that goes. He goes

00:48:05.539 --> 00:48:07.519
and builds a non -denominational church plant

00:48:07.519 --> 00:48:09.820
in Dawsonville, Georgia, a city of 5 ,000 people.

00:48:11.139 --> 00:48:13.760
You know, your odds of getting more than 50 people

00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:19.780
are very, very slim. But now at the North Georgia

00:48:19.780 --> 00:48:23.019
Revival, the city has grown to 2 ,000 more members.

00:48:23.710 --> 00:48:25.690
They'll have more people at that church on a

00:48:25.690 --> 00:48:27.190
Sunday night than they'll have in the entire

00:48:27.190 --> 00:48:29.969
city's population any other day of the week.

00:48:32.329 --> 00:48:38.070
Here's what Todd Smith did. He repented. He sat

00:48:38.070 --> 00:48:40.409
down and realized that he was doing a lot better

00:48:40.409 --> 00:48:42.510
job teaching people how to plant a church and

00:48:42.510 --> 00:48:44.469
trying to keep his people happy than he was at

00:48:44.469 --> 00:48:48.090
trying to keep God happy. At trying to be a host

00:48:48.090 --> 00:48:53.130
of the presence. So Todd Smith realizes that

00:48:53.710 --> 00:48:56.650
One day while he's in the darkness of a dry ministry

00:48:56.650 --> 00:49:00.190
life, he accidentally bumps into God. And he

00:49:00.190 --> 00:49:06.090
says, oh, man, you were here with me. I didn't

00:49:06.090 --> 00:49:10.210
even realize that. I'm serious. I've talked to

00:49:10.210 --> 00:49:13.090
the guy. He's in ministry, what they consider

00:49:13.090 --> 00:49:15.130
successful. He's teaching people how to plant

00:49:15.130 --> 00:49:18.250
churches. He's literally making $200 ,000 a year.

00:49:18.780 --> 00:49:20.539
Teaching people how to plant churches and grow

00:49:20.539 --> 00:49:22.719
them effectively and quickly. And his model works.

00:49:22.820 --> 00:49:25.440
It's successful. And he says, I realize that

00:49:25.440 --> 00:49:32.539
I forgot about who God was. So he begins teaching

00:49:32.539 --> 00:49:34.480
his people. Here's what we're going to do. We're

00:49:34.480 --> 00:49:36.500
going to come into the sanctuary one hour a week.

00:49:38.300 --> 00:49:39.760
And we're going to pray. And we're not going

00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:43.559
to ask God to do anything. But we're going to

00:49:43.559 --> 00:49:47.380
say, Lord, I seek your face. Lord, I want to

00:49:47.380 --> 00:49:50.739
see your glory, your tangible presence. And Lord,

00:49:50.780 --> 00:49:54.320
if there's anything in me that offends you, reveal

00:49:54.320 --> 00:49:58.659
it to me that I may remove it. If you don't know

00:49:58.659 --> 00:50:04.480
where to start in prayer, start there. Put some

00:50:04.480 --> 00:50:07.139
worship music on, some soft music on, or sit

00:50:07.139 --> 00:50:09.480
in silence and begin to ask God those three questions

00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:14.400
and just wait for an hour. You'll be surprised

00:50:14.400 --> 00:50:17.960
what pops up. God might say the way that you

00:50:17.960 --> 00:50:21.820
talk to your spouse offends Him. He might say

00:50:21.820 --> 00:50:23.800
the way you treat your neighbor offends Him.

00:50:23.880 --> 00:50:25.639
He might say that you need to go to a group of

00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:28.619
people and ask them to forgive you because you've

00:50:28.619 --> 00:50:33.719
wounded them. He might say that you need to serve

00:50:33.719 --> 00:50:38.400
a little bit more in the church. He might say

00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:41.059
that you need to pray a little more for the needs

00:50:41.059 --> 00:50:45.099
of the community. But the thing that I'll promise

00:50:45.099 --> 00:50:47.440
you is, is for those who seek Him, they'll always

00:50:47.440 --> 00:50:51.099
find Him. That's God's words Himself. He says

00:50:51.099 --> 00:50:53.800
that alone. To the proud one I resist, but the

00:50:53.800 --> 00:50:55.800
humble one, that one's going to find me. The

00:50:55.800 --> 00:50:57.840
one who really seeks me is going to find me.

00:50:58.019 --> 00:51:00.340
And I think part of the problem is that we haven't

00:51:00.340 --> 00:51:04.539
really sought Him. And so here's the question.

00:51:06.860 --> 00:51:08.739
What do you need to have an effective prayer

00:51:08.739 --> 00:51:11.400
life? And I'm closing. Some of you guys are like,

00:51:11.480 --> 00:51:17.239
this guy's going on forever. I'm closing. The

00:51:17.239 --> 00:51:19.099
first thing you need to have an effective prayer

00:51:19.099 --> 00:51:21.320
life, if you want to write this down in all caps,

00:51:21.639 --> 00:51:29.860
you need to be right with God. God doesn't need

00:51:29.860 --> 00:51:33.079
to have something in your life that offends Him.

00:51:35.019 --> 00:51:37.559
God doesn't need to look at you and see that

00:51:37.559 --> 00:51:39.719
you say you're following Him and you're sleeping

00:51:39.719 --> 00:51:42.420
with your girlfriend or your boyfriend. God doesn't

00:51:42.420 --> 00:51:44.980
need to look at your life and hear you say that

00:51:44.980 --> 00:51:48.260
you follow Him. I'm just using extreme examples

00:51:48.260 --> 00:51:49.940
right now for the fun of it, but you go to the

00:51:49.940 --> 00:51:52.179
church of Satan and give them an offering and

00:51:52.179 --> 00:51:54.960
you decide to just join them for worship. That's

00:51:54.960 --> 00:51:57.360
not going to work. And we look at the extreme

00:51:57.360 --> 00:51:59.519
examples and say, of course, if I'm having sex

00:51:59.519 --> 00:52:01.539
with somebody outside of marriage or worshiping

00:52:01.539 --> 00:52:03.300
Satan, God isn't going to forgive me. But let

00:52:03.300 --> 00:52:05.840
me tell you something, friend. Even down to the

00:52:05.840 --> 00:52:07.880
things you think in your heart, if you look at

00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:09.840
a woman with lust, you've committed adultery

00:52:09.840 --> 00:52:13.000
with her. According to Jesus, if you hate your

00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:15.199
brother, you've murdered them in your heart.

00:52:16.139 --> 00:52:18.340
According to Jesus, it's not just the things

00:52:18.340 --> 00:52:20.900
you do outwardly, it's what's in here. Because

00:52:20.900 --> 00:52:23.539
out of... everything that happens in life. Out

00:52:23.539 --> 00:52:25.800
of everything that you do, it flows from this

00:52:25.800 --> 00:52:30.239
place. It's a corruption that goes down to the

00:52:30.239 --> 00:52:38.820
very soul. You've got to be right with God. Listen,

00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:40.940
there's a day coming when you and I are going

00:52:40.940 --> 00:52:45.460
to stand before the judge of all. And we're going

00:52:45.460 --> 00:52:52.079
to be alone. You don't get to lean on Your husband.

00:52:53.019 --> 00:52:55.079
I don't get to say, hey, Sidney, do you want

00:52:55.079 --> 00:52:57.500
to come stand before Jesus with me and tell Him

00:52:57.500 --> 00:52:59.639
to have a little bit of mercy? I mean, He might

00:52:59.639 --> 00:53:03.139
listen to her more than me. But I don't get to

00:53:03.139 --> 00:53:05.219
do that. I don't get to sit here and say, Mom,

00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:08.920
Dad, tell Jesus about how great I was. I don't

00:53:08.920 --> 00:53:11.519
get to say, hey, look at all this money I donated.

00:53:11.639 --> 00:53:13.659
Look at all these good things I did. In Matthew

00:53:13.659 --> 00:53:17.039
7, people come to Jesus and they say, have we

00:53:17.039 --> 00:53:20.119
not healed the sick in Your name? Have we not

00:53:20.119 --> 00:53:22.619
casted out demons? Have we not prophesied? Have

00:53:22.619 --> 00:53:25.179
we not done the great mighty works of God? And

00:53:25.179 --> 00:53:27.900
Jesus says, but you didn't know Me. Depart from

00:53:27.900 --> 00:53:30.780
Me, you workers of lawlessness. It wasn't just

00:53:30.780 --> 00:53:34.039
that they didn't know Him. It was that they worked

00:53:34.039 --> 00:53:39.019
in iniquity. They lived in sin. They lived in

00:53:39.019 --> 00:53:41.079
a way that offended Him. And listen, this is

00:53:41.079 --> 00:53:44.980
so important because Jesus Christ is not just

00:53:44.980 --> 00:53:48.099
a normal person. He's the very Son of God Himself.

00:53:48.519 --> 00:53:52.400
And He did not have to come and die on a cross

00:53:52.400 --> 00:53:58.969
for you and me. God gave me life. He gave me

00:53:58.969 --> 00:54:01.250
breath in my lungs. He gave me an earth. He gave

00:54:01.250 --> 00:54:05.409
me opportunity. And I chose, instead of stewarding

00:54:05.409 --> 00:54:08.030
that well, to spit in His face and say, I don't

00:54:08.030 --> 00:54:11.449
care what you want. I'm going to live as I do.

00:54:13.269 --> 00:54:17.250
He made me good. He made Adam and Eve good. And

00:54:17.250 --> 00:54:20.070
we decided to corrupt the goodness that He made

00:54:20.070 --> 00:54:27.329
in us. And He didn't have to redeem us. This

00:54:27.329 --> 00:54:29.150
is typically when people are like, whoa, this

00:54:29.150 --> 00:54:35.550
guy's crazy. He could have left us in our mess.

00:54:37.829 --> 00:54:39.829
And we always want to talk about what somebody

00:54:39.829 --> 00:54:41.650
deserves. You want to get what you deserve? Go

00:54:41.650 --> 00:54:45.750
to hell. That's what we deserve. I deserve to

00:54:45.750 --> 00:54:51.130
go to hell for my sins. Every one of us do because

00:54:51.130 --> 00:54:55.219
we've offended a holy God. But Jesus came because

00:54:55.219 --> 00:54:59.559
He loves us so much that He said, listen, I'm

00:54:59.559 --> 00:55:04.420
going to take your place. You and I were bound

00:55:04.420 --> 00:55:07.480
by three things. We were bound by sin. There's

00:55:07.480 --> 00:55:09.980
nothing we could do to overcome it. We were bound

00:55:09.980 --> 00:55:11.739
by the devil. There's nothing we could do to

00:55:11.739 --> 00:55:13.579
defeat him. And we were bound by death. Death

00:55:13.579 --> 00:55:16.659
will come for us all. But God did not have to

00:55:16.659 --> 00:55:18.599
experience any of those things. And when Jesus

00:55:18.599 --> 00:55:21.320
came as a man, He overcame sin on our behalf.

00:55:22.730 --> 00:55:24.889
By defeating the devil in the wilderness, he

00:55:24.889 --> 00:55:27.429
overcame Satan by casting out demons and showing

00:55:27.429 --> 00:55:30.849
how weak he was. And he overcame death by taking

00:55:30.849 --> 00:55:33.530
it on and coming back from the grave. And this

00:55:33.530 --> 00:55:35.630
is what Jesus did. He looked at you and I and

00:55:35.630 --> 00:55:39.750
said, I know you're bound. I know you're in a

00:55:39.750 --> 00:55:45.090
prison of your own making. But he said, I defeated

00:55:45.090 --> 00:55:49.730
the guards and I unlocked the door. And you got

00:55:49.730 --> 00:55:53.250
two choices. You can stay in the door until it

00:55:53.250 --> 00:55:59.969
shuts. Or you can walk out of the open door and

00:55:59.969 --> 00:56:04.969
follow me. He died on our behalf to restore us

00:56:04.969 --> 00:56:07.070
to right relationship with God and to free us.

00:56:10.389 --> 00:56:12.590
Now I want you to imagine something with me.

00:56:12.630 --> 00:56:14.670
Imagine that you give everything within yourself

00:56:14.670 --> 00:56:19.530
for somebody. And they look at you and they trample

00:56:19.530 --> 00:56:24.099
on your offering. Imagine that you're the father

00:56:24.099 --> 00:56:29.699
and you give your son or your daughter. I couldn't

00:56:29.699 --> 00:56:32.980
give my daughter for people. Jesus is so much

00:56:32.980 --> 00:56:34.639
more loving than me because I would have been

00:56:34.639 --> 00:56:40.539
like, I'm not doing it. But the father gave his

00:56:40.539 --> 00:56:46.019
son on behalf of all of us to open a door back

00:56:46.019 --> 00:56:50.590
to himself. And sometimes we think that we can

00:56:50.590 --> 00:56:55.190
trample on the blood of Christ. That we can lift

00:56:55.190 --> 00:56:58.090
up hands in church. We can say the right words.

00:56:58.130 --> 00:57:00.889
We can read our Bible. But we can turn around

00:57:00.889 --> 00:57:03.090
and trample on His sacrifice and we're good.

00:57:06.809 --> 00:57:08.809
Every head bowed, every eye closed for a second.

00:57:16.110 --> 00:57:20.460
I want you to take a moment. Are you right with

00:57:20.460 --> 00:57:31.420
God? Listen, when I became a Christian man, I

00:57:31.420 --> 00:57:35.400
couldn't go party anymore. My friends would invite

00:57:35.400 --> 00:57:37.460
me to a party and I would feel convicted if I

00:57:37.460 --> 00:57:39.039
even thought about it and I had to walk away

00:57:39.039 --> 00:57:46.119
from it. I had to say no more. When I got saved,

00:57:46.219 --> 00:57:48.860
Jesus did something in me. Are you still living

00:57:48.860 --> 00:57:54.619
in sin? Are you right with God? If you're not

00:57:54.619 --> 00:57:56.860
right with God, He's not going to hear us when

00:57:56.860 --> 00:57:59.079
we approach Him. We don't get the open door of

00:57:59.079 --> 00:58:04.280
His presence. Here's my question. If you're not

00:58:04.280 --> 00:58:06.139
sure if you would die today and you'd go to heaven

00:58:06.139 --> 00:58:08.900
or hell, if you've got something in your life

00:58:08.900 --> 00:58:12.099
that you know is separating you from God, Or

00:58:12.099 --> 00:58:14.659
if you feel a holy conviction right now, like

00:58:14.659 --> 00:58:16.539
you know you need to get right with him, I want

00:58:16.539 --> 00:58:19.500
you to slip up your hand. Every head's bowed,

00:58:19.500 --> 00:58:21.739
every eye's closed. I see that hand. God bless

00:58:21.739 --> 00:58:26.059
you. God bless you. God bless you. Come on. God

00:58:26.059 --> 00:58:31.579
bless you. God bless you. Some of you right now,

00:58:31.699 --> 00:58:35.920
you feel a presence on you. And you know what

00:58:35.920 --> 00:58:42.360
that is? That's this. That's Jesus Christ knocking

00:58:42.360 --> 00:58:46.940
on the door of your heart. You know, sometimes

00:58:46.940 --> 00:58:49.059
we hear a knock on the door and we're annoyed

00:58:49.059 --> 00:58:50.559
and we don't want to deal with it because we've

00:58:50.559 --> 00:58:53.159
got other things going on. Sometimes we think

00:58:53.159 --> 00:58:54.980
that's just a worthless deal. You know, when

00:58:54.980 --> 00:58:56.820
I lived in Searcy, I had Mormons knocking on

00:58:56.820 --> 00:58:58.679
the door sometimes. And we were like, don't open

00:58:58.679 --> 00:59:01.420
the door. A delivery man comes by. I don't want

00:59:01.420 --> 00:59:03.260
to deal with him. He's not important right now.

00:59:03.280 --> 00:59:07.000
And for some of you right now, Jesus is... knocking

00:59:07.000 --> 00:59:09.019
on the door of your heart and you're treating

00:59:09.019 --> 00:59:12.380
Him like a delivery man, like a nuisance. I want

00:59:12.380 --> 00:59:15.539
you to hear me today. Hebrews says that today

00:59:15.539 --> 00:59:18.880
is the day of salvation. Do not harden your heart.

00:59:18.960 --> 00:59:21.559
If you're in this room and you're not right with

00:59:21.559 --> 00:59:24.099
God, you don't know if you were to die today

00:59:24.099 --> 00:59:25.960
if you'd go to heaven or hell. I want you to

00:59:25.960 --> 00:59:30.679
slip up your hand. Now's the day. Now's the time.

00:59:32.639 --> 00:59:34.000
Pastor, I don't know if you want to come up and

00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:35.980
play music or have them play a track in the back.

00:59:37.699 --> 00:59:42.500
Just a few more seconds. If that's you, slip

00:59:42.500 --> 00:59:54.119
up your hand. Now here's what we're going to

00:59:54.119 --> 00:59:59.699
do. Everything in Christianity is public. When

00:59:59.699 --> 01:00:01.820
you decide to give your life to Christ, it's

01:00:01.820 --> 01:00:03.480
not something that you do in a private room.

01:00:03.579 --> 01:00:05.320
It's something you do before the body of Christ

01:00:05.320 --> 01:00:09.079
and nobody judges us. If somebody judges us,

01:00:09.159 --> 01:00:10.860
then they need to come up here and be right beside

01:00:10.860 --> 01:00:13.320
you. I don't care who you are. I don't care what

01:00:13.320 --> 01:00:15.219
everybody thinks about you. If you slipped up

01:00:15.219 --> 01:00:16.900
your hand and you were serious about giving your

01:00:16.900 --> 01:00:25.599
life to Christ, I want you to stand. Stand. Come

01:00:25.599 --> 01:00:38.110
on. Come on. God bless you. God bless you. Come

01:00:38.110 --> 01:00:44.130
up here. Come on. I want to pray with you. I

01:00:44.130 --> 01:00:51.210
want to pray with you. The second thing you need

01:00:51.210 --> 01:00:53.969
for God to have an effective prayer life is persistence.

01:00:56.819 --> 01:00:59.159
Some of you in this room, you pray maybe five

01:00:59.159 --> 01:01:01.179
minutes a day, and that's a great starting place,

01:01:01.360 --> 01:01:02.840
but at some point we've got to move a little

01:01:02.840 --> 01:01:05.380
bit further. If I spent three seconds talking

01:01:05.380 --> 01:01:07.019
to my wife every day, we wouldn't have a good

01:01:07.019 --> 01:01:10.800
relationship. How many of you think you'd have

01:01:10.800 --> 01:01:12.960
a strong marriage if you spent five minutes talking

01:01:12.960 --> 01:01:16.880
to your spouse and nothing else? Sometimes the

01:01:16.880 --> 01:01:19.099
reason why we feel like our prayer life isn't

01:01:19.099 --> 01:01:21.559
working is because God's saying, I'm not answering

01:01:21.559 --> 01:01:25.489
so that you'll come closer to me. If you're in

01:01:25.489 --> 01:01:27.449
this room today and you feel convicted that you

01:01:27.449 --> 01:01:29.289
need to take your prayer life just a little bit

01:01:29.289 --> 01:01:31.469
further, I'm not saying eight hours a day. I'm

01:01:31.469 --> 01:01:33.409
not saying fast seven weeks out of the year.

01:01:33.929 --> 01:01:36.230
I'm saying maybe you spend 10 minutes with God

01:01:36.230 --> 01:01:40.230
and you need to start spending 20 minutes. Maybe

01:01:40.230 --> 01:01:42.130
you spend 30 minutes with him and you need to

01:01:42.130 --> 01:01:43.829
start giving him a little bit more time. You

01:01:43.829 --> 01:01:46.150
feel a conviction on your life to give more time

01:01:46.150 --> 01:01:47.670
to him. If that's you, I want you to come up

01:01:47.670 --> 01:01:52.670
here too. I want you to come up here too. And

01:01:52.670 --> 01:01:54.409
for those of you up here who are here to give

01:01:54.409 --> 01:01:57.289
your life to Christ, it's very simple. He died

01:01:57.289 --> 01:02:02.489
for you and he asks you to die for him. Now he'll

01:02:02.489 --> 01:02:04.429
be here, he'll hold your hand, he'll walk you

01:02:04.429 --> 01:02:06.309
through life, he'll set you free from things,

01:02:06.449 --> 01:02:09.050
but you gotta have something in you that says,

01:02:09.269 --> 01:02:15.050
I'm not gonna quit. Are you ready to do that?

01:02:15.690 --> 01:02:21.840
Are you ready to do that? Everybody in the church,

01:02:21.880 --> 01:02:23.460
join me in this prayer, and then we're just going

01:02:23.460 --> 01:02:28.760
to have a Holy Spirit moment, okay? Say, dear

01:02:28.760 --> 01:02:32.619
Jesus. Come on, come on, we can do better than

01:02:32.619 --> 01:02:35.039
that. I want us to pray out loud. Say, dear Jesus.

01:02:36.480 --> 01:02:41.880
Beautiful. I believe you are the Son of God.

01:02:43.639 --> 01:02:51.380
I believe you died on a cross for my sins. And

01:02:51.380 --> 01:02:57.199
Lord, right now, I ask you to forgive me, to

01:02:57.199 --> 01:03:03.699
cleanse me, and to help me follow you all my

01:03:03.699 --> 01:03:10.199
days. Amen. If you guys really mean that, you

01:03:10.199 --> 01:03:12.019
believe that, in this moment, I'm going to pray

01:03:12.019 --> 01:03:13.559
for you, and I believe God's going to touch you.

01:03:15.789 --> 01:03:17.409
I believe, I'm not saying you're going to fall

01:03:17.409 --> 01:03:19.090
on the floor and start laughing, but I believe

01:03:19.090 --> 01:03:20.730
that something's going to happen in you that's

01:03:20.730 --> 01:03:22.110
going to change you from this moment on.