1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,720 Hello and welcome back to the PHSA Podcast. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:11,720 My name is David Bigford. 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:13,580 I'm the pastor here at SalmonArm. 4 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:17,760 This is a very special podcast series where I'm going to be sharing with you messages 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:23,280 from our most recent conference in Prescott, Arizona, the Beyond Limits Conference with 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:30,600 a theme of to preach the gospel in the regions beyond from 2 Corinthians 10-16. 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:37,000 I'm going to share all of the sermons from this conference series to include Greg Mitchell, 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:44,600 our head pastor, Joe Campbell, Richard Ruby, Tom Payne, and many, many others during this 9 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:45,600 series. 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,160 So I'll be sharing these with you over the next couple weeks, and I hope you really enjoy 11 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:51,160 these messages. 12 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:58,000 If you'd like to see these messages in a video format, you can go to PrescottPottersHouse.com 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:04,360 where all of these will be available for you to view in a video format. 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:09,280 So without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and move on to the messages, and I hope you 15 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,280 enjoy them. 16 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:11,280 God bless. 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:17,960 It's such an honor to be able to be here and be able to hear the outstanding preaching 18 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:22,440 that we've had this week, and it's just a great privilege to be able to contribute. 19 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:23,440 Amen. 20 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:29,080 I was hoping that Pastor Olson would leave one of the bags here accidentally. 21 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,280 And amen. 22 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,000 You know, I am not surprised that God is supernaturally helping you. 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,000 Amen. 24 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:37,000 And amen. 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:38,000 I believe that. 26 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,000 What a tremendous blessing. 27 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,960 We're going to go to the book of Judges, chapter 2. 28 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:50,520 You know, over the last few months, many of us, particularly here in America, were disturbed, 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:02:00,120 I will say, to watch as these pro-Palestinian college kids raced through campuses around 30 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,960 America. 31 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:09,200 We all saw the videos and the anti-Semitism, the anti-Jewish hatred. 32 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,200 Jewish hatred is a demon spirit. 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,800 It's the same spirit that drove Hitler. 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:20,520 It's the same spirit that caused the Roman general Titus to surround Masada. 35 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:22,840 There's something, it's a demon. 36 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:29,440 And that demon is alive and well in America and is operating in political parties. 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,920 It's operating in media. 38 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:36,480 And we all saw this, and it's like, this is amazing. 39 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:43,360 I cannot believe that in America in 2024 that a Jewish student is being told not to wear 40 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:48,080 anything that might indicate that you're Jewish, lest you be targeted. 41 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,440 How many know that shouldn't happen in America? 42 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,200 And yet here it is. 43 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,720 And so while this is going on, there was a particular protest. 44 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:08,600 I believe this one was at New York University, NYU, and you had the same group of kids and 45 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,880 professionals who were protesting through the campus. 46 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:19,680 And what they did is they left the campus and they began to move out onto the street. 47 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,080 And this particular campus, as I understand, is not far from Central Park. 48 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,520 And they went through Central Park. 49 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,960 And as they did, they came across a monument. 50 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:37,720 It's a war monument dedicated to the National Guard that is based there in New York City 51 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,880 and has been there since the Civil War. 52 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:48,280 This particular monument was to dedicate and honor their soldiers that fought in World 53 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,320 War I, and they defaced it. 54 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:51,320 Put up the picture. 55 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:52,840 I gave you the picture there. 56 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,160 You can see this for yourself. 57 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:56,600 They spray painted it. 58 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:01,720 You can see some of the things there, free Palestine, and they did this. 59 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:12,280 And so the moment I heard that, I began to get inspired about this sermon because immediately 60 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:18,280 I asked myself, who are these men? 61 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:19,640 What's this monument all about? 62 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,020 I've never been to Central Park. 63 00:04:23,020 --> 00:04:24,560 And I began to think about it. 64 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:32,040 And then the second thought I had is I'm absolutely certain the protesters who defaced this monument 65 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,680 have no idea who these men were. 66 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,720 Okay, you can bring that down. 67 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:45,760 It was George Santayana that said the famous words, he that cannot remember the past is 68 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,080 condemned to repeat it. 69 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:53,520 I want to preach a message this morning that I've, or this evening rather, that I've entitled 70 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:55,120 history lessons. 71 00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:02,960 The judges chapter two, verse 10, when all that generation had been gathered to their 72 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:09,960 fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which 73 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,600 He had done for Israel. 74 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:18,680 Verse 11 says, then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served 75 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:19,680 the bales. 76 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,480 Father, I ask you to help us tonight. 77 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:28,880 God, that you remind us that we will be a people who appreciate what you have done, 78 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:34,640 that we will not forget the battles that have been waged before us, that allow us to do 79 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,920 what we're doing and see what we're seeing today. 80 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,000 In Jesus' name, amen. 81 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,760 So let's begin to talk about history first of all. 82 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,080 Now here is the book of Judges. 83 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,680 I know I'm preaching at a Bible conference, but maybe we can all agree that this is the 84 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,960 saddest book in the whole Bible. 85 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:54,960 Think about it. 86 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:01,840 Israel at this point has reached the fulfillment of a 500-year-old promise. 87 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:05,320 God has delivered them from 400 years of bondage. 88 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,920 He has brought them through a wilderness. 89 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,560 Joshua and his generation have taken the land. 90 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:19,720 By the time we come to our text, we have a nation that is young and brimming with potential. 91 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:27,480 All that God has done, all that he has permitted them to inherit, but unfortunately, that is 92 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,280 not what takes place. 93 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:34,640 Right then, when they are at the precipice of incredible blessing and enlargement, it 94 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:40,480 says these words, when all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another 95 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:48,160 generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which he had done for 96 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:49,920 Israel. 97 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:55,520 So you have Joshua's generation, the generation that went into the land. 98 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,200 The Bible says then after that, there was a leader named Othniel, which was Caleb's 99 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:05,520 son-in-law, and he led another generation as they continued to establish dominion in 100 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:06,520 the land. 101 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:14,880 But then you come to our text, the third generation, and we find this sad statement that the Bible 102 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:23,200 says that this generation came and this generation did not know their history. 103 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,600 Pastor Mitchell, years ago, preached a sermon in our conference. 104 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,760 Remember that the third generation sells the farm. 105 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:35,440 I want you to think about that because it tells us something tonight, and that is that 106 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,840 history matters. 107 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,640 It matters that we know what happened. 108 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:49,320 That you and I are not left to guess or wonder what happened, but apparently something broke 109 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:50,480 down. 110 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,440 I want to make a statement this evening. 111 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,280 Number one, our kids don't have to backslide. 112 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,600 Don't believe the lie that our kids are all going to backslide. 113 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,180 They're not going to live for God. 114 00:08:03,180 --> 00:08:04,640 Let me tell you something else. 115 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,240 Our churches don't have to plateau and then begin to shrink. 116 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,640 And we somehow get to a certain point, but you know how it is, at some point they're 117 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:15,320 going to lose momentum. 118 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:21,560 Our fellowship doesn't have to go the way of every other move of God and dissipate. 119 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,600 I believe we can keep this thing going. 120 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,720 Can you say amen? 121 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,080 But if you're not careful and you don't know history, if you're not, you start thinking 122 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,680 that things are inevitable. 123 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:35,960 You start thinking that, well, you know, it's going to happen. 124 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,120 It's just a matter of time. 125 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:39,120 Come on, brother. 126 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:40,120 Move of God. 127 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,440 Every, you know, every, you know, they tell me there's actually a doctorate degree in 128 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,560 revival ology or whatever they want to call it. 129 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,000 And they want to give you all this. 130 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,000 I don't care. 131 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,960 I care about what God says. 132 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,440 And the reality, beloved, is that you and I need to know history because we don't have 133 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,000 to go the way of every other movement. 134 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,240 The Bible says they did not know the Lord nor the work which he had done. 135 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:12,880 You know, the operative word tonight are the words did not know. 136 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:17,200 What happened could be traced back to three words. 137 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,800 They didn't know their history. 138 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,600 They didn't know what happened. 139 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,900 They had no appreciation for it. 140 00:09:24,900 --> 00:09:30,000 And I want to tell you, when Moses was standing on this side of the Jordan River and he was 141 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:37,440 giving his five day farewell sermon called the Book of Deuteronomy over and over again, 142 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:45,080 he emphasized you better make sure your kids know their history. 143 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:49,200 Deuteronomy six, these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 144 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:54,120 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your 145 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:59,680 house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up, he said, you've 146 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,160 got to let them know their history. 147 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,740 You've got to let them know what God has done. 148 00:10:04,740 --> 00:10:09,040 They have to have that installed in their mind. 149 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:14,120 Somehow Moses understood that, yeah, for a generation or two, it's going to be great. 150 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:15,200 But you know what? 151 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,640 After that, it's going to get, it's going to go south. 152 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:23,280 If you don't know your history, you can read Psalms 78. 153 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,880 It says the words, I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known. 154 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:32,880 Our fathers have told us we will not hide them from their children. 155 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,400 Now when you read Psalm 78, it's the second longest Psalm in the Bible. 156 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,320 It's a lament. 157 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:45,600 If you read the Psalm, it begins with this emphasis, make sure your children know, make 158 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,840 sure the next generation knows. 159 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:53,320 But yet you read the whole Psalm, it's just this constant up and down and up and down. 160 00:10:53,320 --> 00:11:01,440 It's a lament of generations that didn't know, that never embraced or understood what God 161 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,280 had done. 162 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,760 Now the question, church, is this the failure of the parent? 163 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:15,120 Is this the failure of the first generation not to pass it on to the next generation? 164 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,720 Could they have done something different? 165 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:18,920 Is it their fault? 166 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:24,040 But I don't think so because the way it is written in our text suggests the problem wasn't 167 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,840 the parents, the problem was the kids. 168 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:34,520 It was problem was that the generation that came up looked at what the parents were saying 169 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,480 to them and they got distracted and they turned away and said, we don't really have to do 170 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:45,240 it your way. 171 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:49,560 You know, you can call this the spirit of the age. 172 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:52,720 Now I've got a German word for you right now. 173 00:11:52,720 --> 00:12:02,680 I want to go on record and say that I don't speak German, but I do like Appelstrudel. 174 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,640 The word is zeitgeist. 175 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:06,920 Zeitgeist. 176 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,240 I looked it up and that's the way you said it. 177 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:14,280 You probably said it like you're about to spit, but I'll do that. 178 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:15,400 You know what zeitgeist means? 179 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:20,000 It means the spirit of the age. 180 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,280 Zeitgeist is the spirit of the age. 181 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,240 Do you understand that every age has a spirit? 182 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,240 That every generation thinks they're cool? 183 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,040 That every generation thinks they're on the cutting edge? 184 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,480 That they've learned things that the old generation doesn't know? 185 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:44,240 That they have a better understanding of things and that spirit operates even in our generation 186 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,560 and even in our churches. 187 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:53,240 And one definition that I like is it is the danger of viewing the world from a contemporary 188 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,440 lens. 189 00:12:55,440 --> 00:13:00,840 Or you look at history through the lens of now and you judge them for all the things 190 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,760 they did wrong because they don't think the way we think right now. 191 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:09,320 How many know we're living in the age where people are getting canceled? 192 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,720 Winston Churchill is now getting canceled. 193 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:18,720 They're tearing down statues of George Washington because they look at it through a contemporary 194 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,400 lens and they want to see everything that way. 195 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:28,840 Do you realize that in the last few years, two very significant events in history, I'm 196 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:34,880 talking about a few or to take the top 10 critical events of the last 2000 years in 197 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:41,200 history, two of them had major anniversaries in just the last few years. 198 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:51,120 One of them happened on the October 31st, 2017, which was the 500 year anniversary of 199 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:58,440 when Martin Luther took the 95 thesis and nailed it to the church in Wittenberg, Germany 200 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:04,860 and declared that you and I are saved by faith and not by the work from the Catholic Church. 201 00:14:04,860 --> 00:14:11,840 And when he did that, he is recognized for having triggering the great reformation. 202 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,760 I mean, that has shifted everything. 203 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,400 That changed everything. 204 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,200 That changed Europe. 205 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,300 It changed the world 500 years. 206 00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:22,300 And you know what? 207 00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:24,080 I remember when it happened, I preached a sermon on it. 208 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,560 I remember Kevin Foley preached a sermon here at conference on it. 209 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:33,200 But the reality is the world said nothing about it because Martin Luther wasn't cool 210 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,200 anymore. 211 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,000 And the spirit of the age said, yeah, but if you go back into his writings, you're going 212 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,000 to find some flaws. 213 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:51,640 And then just a few years ago, November 21, 2020 was the 400 year anniversary when the 214 00:14:51,640 --> 00:15:01,520 Mayflower landed and brought a commitment to bring Christianity to North America. 215 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,760 And it just passed by. 216 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:10,440 Nobody said anything because the Mayflower, you know, these people were this and they're 217 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,040 that. 218 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,200 The spirit of the age says, you know, we are going to reject. 219 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,800 We don't want to know that history. 220 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:19,680 We don't want to know these things anymore. 221 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:20,960 That's not cool. 222 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,160 That's not what we're going to do. 223 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,160 They were barely mentioned. 224 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,460 And if they were mentioned at all, they were scandalized. 225 00:15:28,460 --> 00:15:32,160 Verse 12 says that they followed other gods among the gods of the people who were all 226 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:33,800 around them. 227 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,320 And they bowed down to them and they provoked the Lord to anger. 228 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,320 What happened to these people here is the spirit of the age. 229 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,000 They're there now and they're looking around. 230 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,620 They're looking at these other quote unquote cultures. 231 00:15:44,620 --> 00:15:46,760 They wanted a little bit of diversity. 232 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:52,320 And so they they've said, you know, we're not going to acknowledge what God did. 233 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,600 But we see things now. 234 00:15:54,600 --> 00:16:00,120 Charles Krauthammer wrote an excellent article many years ago, and he got inspired by reading 235 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,840 the New Yorker magazine and a writer in the New Yorker magazine made this statement about 236 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:06,840 Abraham Lincoln. 237 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:11,960 He said, Lincoln would have liked to have lived out a long life surrounded by old friends 238 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:13,240 and good food. 239 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:17,900 Now, how on earth does he know what Lincoln like? 240 00:16:17,900 --> 00:16:22,720 I think that brother would like to sit around eating food with good friends. 241 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:28,480 But somehow in his world, good people have to be like me. 242 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:29,680 They have a word for this. 243 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:30,680 It's the word solipsism. 244 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,240 You know what solipsism means? 245 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,880 It means that everybody's like me. 246 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,280 And everybody has to be like me. 247 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:43,160 And we assume that if anybody's not like me, then they have a problem. 248 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,440 I want to tell you something this evening. 249 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:54,280 If you want to destroy a nation, just eradicate its history back in the, I don't know what 250 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:59,440 you call them, the tens back when and China and I was really blowing up in our fellowship. 251 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,560 I would go there quite often. 252 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:09,520 I remember one time I was preaching there in Guangzhou and I was there ministering for 253 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,240 Alfonso and D'Anguilindo. 254 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,300 And they took us to this little island in the Pearl River. 255 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:21,520 And they had turned it into a tourist destination. 256 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,920 And so they had like a wet market, but it was like a tourist wet market. 257 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:27,440 So it was clean. 258 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,680 And you walked in there, but you go into that wet market. 259 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,360 It's like walking into your average fries food store, but where there would be lettuce, 260 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:40,200 there would be eels and instead of tomatoes, there would be roaches and all kinds of things 261 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,920 that you could eat. 262 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:48,320 And then alongside it, they had these structures and they're the little, the little sign written 263 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,120 in English was saying these are what the homes would have been like. 264 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:57,680 There was a time when Guangzhou, which was Canton was one of them, the major city of 265 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,640 China and there, so they show you, you walk in and they show you these structures. 266 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,400 This is how people live. 267 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,320 And I remember thinking in my mind that they're trying to connect to the past. 268 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,880 And I'm like, well, why don't they just show us some actual buildings from the past? 269 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:12,820 They don't have any. 270 00:18:12,820 --> 00:18:16,400 They destroyed their history. 271 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,960 They understood if we were going to change China, then we're going to have to eradicate 272 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,880 history and there is no history anymore. 273 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:34,500 I want to talk to you then about the history of sacrifice because there is a moral dimension 274 00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:36,160 to history. 275 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:43,680 See, history creates obligations. 276 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:49,320 When you know history, then you realize that you don't have the freedom to do whatever 277 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,720 you want. 278 00:18:52,720 --> 00:19:00,440 That there's an accountability that we now have to those who made history. 279 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,960 You ever heard the term right side of history? 280 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,880 This became popular among one of the political parties. 281 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,840 I won't tell you which one. 282 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:14,160 And they said that when it came to abortion, you should be pro-abortion if you want to 283 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,240 be on the right side of history. 284 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:22,220 And when it came to climate change, you should approve the Green New Deal because you want 285 00:19:22,220 --> 00:19:24,480 to be on the right side of history. 286 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:32,080 I was very interested this week to hear that the Ayatollah of Iran has spoke said to the 287 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,840 college kids of America that they need to continue to protest so they could be on, guess 288 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,040 what? 289 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,720 The right side of history. 290 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:48,000 Well, that's a foolish statement because you and I are not going to be motivated by what 291 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,080 they may think history will become. 292 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:56,820 We are to be motivated by what history was. 293 00:19:56,820 --> 00:19:59,680 That history says something to us. 294 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:05,440 See, we know the Bible. 295 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:10,960 We know, beloved, that when you read the book of Numbers while they were in the wilderness, 296 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,400 we know all about when Moses went to the mountaintop in the golden age. 297 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:15,800 We know all the history. 298 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:17,480 We know all the bad things. 299 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,560 We know all the violations, all the everything that they did. 300 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:27,320 But somehow through all of that, God took these flawed and imperfect people and he fulfilled 301 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:34,080 this promise through them and God blessed them and brought them to this point that God 302 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:40,040 was involved with imperfect people and brought them to this place of dominion. 303 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,320 But somehow they didn't know that. 304 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,520 Perhaps all they, well, yeah, well, what about this and what about that? 305 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:52,020 And look at what these guys did here with these Moabite women and what about Korah? 306 00:20:52,020 --> 00:20:56,120 They might have known all the bad things in history, but the reality is history as a whole 307 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,880 said, God help you. 308 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:04,840 You know what history says? 309 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:11,280 History says that we are blessed because somebody else sacrificed. 310 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:18,560 That we have what we have because somebody else sacrificed. 311 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,360 You know what happens to us if you don't know history? 312 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:28,000 You take for granted what you have. 313 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,400 Go ahead and put that monument back up. 314 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:36,940 I want to tell you about these men. 315 00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:44,640 So what we're looking at here is called the 107th Infantry Regiment. 316 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:49,200 They were also known as the 7th Regiment of the New York National Guard. 317 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:57,360 And these men here were called into battle in World War I. 318 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:01,600 This battle began in 1914, had been a stalemate. 319 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:08,840 The Somme, which was the major battlefield of the war, it became a place where there 320 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:10,840 was very little advance. 321 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,400 They were only advanced for a few hundred yards. 322 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,520 Then the Germans would push back and then the English and French would push back and 323 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:22,720 they fought literally over maybe 15 football fields. 324 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,520 Years and over a million men died on that battlefield. 325 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:34,000 Finally America gets into the war and in all the thrill and excitement these group of young 326 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,440 men get involved in this war. 327 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:44,120 And I want to tell you that this regiment had 1,662 soldiers. 328 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:50,800 Of those 1,662 soldiers, 396 died. 329 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,320 That's almost 25%. 330 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,600 Another 753 were wounded. 331 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:06,760 You do the math, approximately 75% of these young men were casualties in that war. 332 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,520 They were also credited with helping bring about the actual breakthrough that would end 333 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:16,160 up causing the war to end two months later. 334 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:17,360 Here's the thing about these men. 335 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,040 Put that side picture back up for a second. 336 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:24,000 I want to tell you about these men. 337 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,620 You know what the nickname was for this regiment? 338 00:23:27,620 --> 00:23:32,200 They were called the Silk Stocking Regiment. 339 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:38,520 And the reason why is they were formed from the neighborhoods that were right by Central 340 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:39,520 Park. 341 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:44,040 They're actually all these men, these boys are from Park Avenue. 342 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,040 They were rich kids. 343 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:51,240 You can go all the way back to the Civil War when it was originally formed and it was taken 344 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,680 from the wealthiest families of New York. 345 00:23:54,680 --> 00:24:01,400 And in World War I when it broke out there was such a patriotic fervor that parents took 346 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,880 pride in sending their sons to war. 347 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:11,440 And the richest people of New York sent their boys to war, you know, Teddy Roosevelt, Brad, 348 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:19,120 that he sent four sons to World War I and he lost one of them over there. 349 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:27,000 These are the future lawyers and doctors and industry titans of New York City. 350 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:33,400 You can take it down. 351 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:39,960 These are the young men that had a future. 352 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,440 And they went to war and their parents willingly did that. 353 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:51,320 You know wars today are fought by poor people's kids. 354 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:58,840 I was told that in Russia that the way they supply their soldiers is they go to these 355 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:06,680 many, many poor rural farms where a worker might make $200 a month and they say we will 356 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:15,560 give you $10,000 U.S. to go to war. 357 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:22,880 Fifty times with these young men would earn in a month. 358 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,800 They understand with that money I can do this for my family. 359 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:27,800 I can do that. 360 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,680 I can have money for the first time and these young men take that. 361 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:41,160 All they got to do is go to war and die because they can't get rich people's kids to go. 362 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:49,380 Because today if you have money you don't go to war. 363 00:25:49,380 --> 00:25:54,600 And here we go back now a little over a hundred years ago and these people are sending their 364 00:25:54,600 --> 00:26:01,360 sons this monument, the sculpture of this monument was a sergeant in that regiment. 365 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:06,480 It was moved by the people who had lost their kids. 366 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,840 And here we are a hundred years later. 367 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,800 Ironically it is the rich kids. 368 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,520 All those protesters are rich kids. 369 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:21,120 Many of them from those same neighborhoods, probably relatives who simply were acting 370 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:26,800 stupid going through the park, see that and all they see are soldiers and they begin to 371 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:32,320 deface the sacrifice these families have made. 372 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:37,560 Because they don't know. 373 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:50,440 Because you are so caught up with the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. 374 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:58,560 Whose sacrifice has given you the platform you are standing on tonight? 375 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,640 Where did it come from? 376 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,560 I've used this quote here before but I like it. 377 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,680 John Adams said I study war and diplomacy that my children will be free to study commerce 378 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:14,280 and industry and their children will be free to study art and literature. 379 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:18,240 I love the words of the hymn when I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of 380 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,280 glory died. 381 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:25,560 My richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt and all my pride. 382 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:30,320 Let me say something to you tonight. 383 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,420 Our fellowship is not an accident. 384 00:27:34,420 --> 00:27:39,680 Our fellowship as well is just God's sovereign decision. 385 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,080 The blessing I'm standing here looking at a crowd of probably over three thousand people 386 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:46,620 and many more thousands watching on. 387 00:27:46,620 --> 00:27:52,400 Do you think that this just happened? 388 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,360 I want to tell you that there are people who have laid down their lives so you and I can 389 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:07,560 do this. 390 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:14,720 None of us are where we are without someone else paying the price. 391 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,280 None of us, my pastor is right over here. 392 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,840 What a tremendous sermon this morning. 393 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,680 You know if I learned how to preach I learned how to preach because I had a master class 394 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:31,560 three times a week sitting in designer's preaching. 395 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:40,880 None of us here, I'm going to say a couple things here if you'll let me. 396 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:52,520 Don't diss your pastor and don't diss your mother church. 397 00:28:52,520 --> 00:29:00,240 I do not think that I'm hot blooded or that I have a bad temper or anything like that. 398 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:07,760 I want to tell you what ticks me off is when I feel like our church gets disrespected by 399 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,760 couples we planted. 400 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:13,400 I know these people. 401 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:18,120 I've served in that church now for 36 years. 402 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:22,560 I see the sacrifices the average everyday church goer in our congregation. 403 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:27,680 I see them in their ups and downs, their ins and outs, their struggles and everything else 404 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,200 and yet there they are Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. 405 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:36,080 There they are faithfully supporting world evangelism and allowing these workers to go. 406 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:37,080 They're the truth. 407 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,160 I don't want to offend you but the true ears of our fellowship are not the missionaries 408 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:51,560 it's the people who support the missionaries. 409 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,840 We're not careful what will happen is that we'll just kind of think you know we're there 410 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,280 and it's just my ministry and I'm everything else. 411 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,340 I want to tell you somebody paid the price. 412 00:30:00,340 --> 00:30:03,840 I would say something to a younger generation. 413 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:08,840 Listen we don't know who our leaders will be 15 years from now. 414 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:14,960 We think we know but go back 15 years you'll find that's not always the case. 415 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:21,640 I would say to every young aspiring leader that there are battles you're going to have 416 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:26,280 to fight because somebody fought those battles. 417 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,160 You're not going to get where you want to be. 418 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:33,040 You want to be another pastor Warner another Joe Campbell or a Kevin Foley or Mark Olson 419 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,480 or Scott Lamb or Paul Steve. 420 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,600 How do these men I want to tell you it's not just because they preach good these men fought 421 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:44,760 battles. 422 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:51,360 They went through some things they sacrificed they paid a price and if you're not careful 423 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:56,200 we'll walk by them. 424 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:01,800 And the things that we fought for you have no clue and then it's so I don't know why 425 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:06,360 I don't know why we don't have half our song services and why can't we just dance around 426 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:11,840 a little bit because you don't know the battles that we fought. 427 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,360 That's why. 428 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:22,680 Why do we have to plant churches like this or why do we have to plant churches at all. 429 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,780 I mean why do you have Sunday night services you know and everything else and Wednesday 430 00:31:26,780 --> 00:31:31,640 night. 431 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,320 You know why because you haven't fought any battles. 432 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:41,440 That's why. 433 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:50,960 History says somebody went to war for what you have something happened. 434 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,000 You know we do a boot camp in San Antonio. 435 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,520 This is our 30th year of doing it. 436 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:01,320 We had hundreds and we had hundreds and hundreds of kids again every year. 437 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:06,520 Let me tell you about when we started in 1994 our first boot camp at 36 kids and I would 438 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:13,400 say that probably 60 to 70 percent of those 36 kids were converts. 439 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:18,080 Our church was still pretty young we didn't have a lot of teenagers. 440 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,880 Boot camp today would probably be 80 percent church kids. 441 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:23,880 It's just growth. 442 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:24,920 What can you say. 443 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:26,800 Things happen and so you got all these things happen. 444 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,840 Yeah we know it happened that kids are born and and things get you know. 445 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:36,040 And so and so it's very very interesting because you have these convert kids and then you have 446 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,920 these kids that have grown up in the house of God and one of the things that happens 447 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,120 at boot camp is kids open up. 448 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,960 You know this and mom and dad if you don't want your kid to open up then you need to 449 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,960 pray because they get set free only when they open up. 450 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:54,480 But anyway these kids a lot of times they're they're they're they're they're they're not 451 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:59,040 right and all this stuff you know and their parents are too strict and this and that and 452 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,720 that having to hide stuff and a lot of times a drill instructor will talk into this kid 453 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:08,520 and then they'll call over some kid who's a convert. 454 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,840 Which just comes and he'll say to us a boot. 455 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:16,240 Tell this boot you're about your life and so this kid's all bummed out because they 456 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,800 don't get to have a TV and they don't get to go to the movies and they're not allowed 457 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:26,440 you know to have a phone and this kid will sit there and say my mom's in prison my dad 458 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,280 I don't know who they are I live with my grandmother. 459 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,520 They began to tell their lives man they began to talk about the incredible brokenness and 460 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:42,880 dysfunction of their lives and this kid over here they don't know. 461 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,720 They just know they grew up in a Christian family and that you know my mom and dad got 462 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,480 so they don't know the work of God. 463 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,920 I'm going to say to every young person here maybe you're a teenager and you're here and 464 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,760 you're here your mom and dad are safe you ought to be the first one to run to an altar 465 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:05,840 and say oh God in heaven thank you for everything you saved me from. 466 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:15,240 You have no idea you're here complaining because life is so strict you ought to be thanking 467 00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:18,040 God. 468 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,040 You don't know. 469 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:28,000 Mephibosheth had an incredible father who had a great relationship with David and he 470 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,560 didn't know it. 471 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:37,160 He grew up we all know in Lodobar he's all messed up and he doesn't know the story and 472 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:43,240 because he doesn't know the story of Jonathan and David because he doesn't he's living an 473 00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:50,760 impoverished broken life because he didn't know. 474 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:57,800 The king in the book of Esther is saved by the help of a man named Mordecai. 475 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:04,040 Mordecai the true hero of the story but somehow Haman seems to get all the credit and so the 476 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:11,080 king making all those decisions without that information is stepping and placing his entire 477 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:16,480 life in peril because God would have killed him until he found out history he read the 478 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:23,120 history and realized that there was somebody in the past I never thanked for saving my 479 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:24,120 life. 480 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:29,080 Let me ask you a question tonight is there somebody in your past that saved your life 481 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:33,100 that you've never thanked? 482 00:35:33,100 --> 00:35:39,220 Are you here tonight and you've got you know you're looking sideways at your pastor when 483 00:35:39,220 --> 00:35:46,680 if it wasn't for him you'd be dead. 484 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:52,280 History has a moral dimension to it. 485 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:58,200 I want to tell you it's very unhealthy when you're a young pastor and you're like well 486 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:04,000 I don't understand why the fellowship has to do this I don't understand how come why 487 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:09,880 do we have to do that what's the significance of that? 488 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:15,280 You don't know your history. 489 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,960 The next thing you know you're going to be sitting here looking at that ministry and 490 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,000 you're going to look at them over there and you're going to think well that's pretty cool 491 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,020 well you better be careful who you're looking at because some of those guys aren't lasting 492 00:36:26,020 --> 00:36:31,040 very long right now. 493 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:34,560 Let's close very quickly making history. 494 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:39,000 How do you make history? 495 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:45,280 You pay the price for someone else. 496 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:50,240 You make history when it's you up there. 497 00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:56,200 You make history when you choose to fight righteous battles and you choose to lay it 498 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,720 on the line. 499 00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:04,040 Every one of us is writing our history book right now and we have to ask ourselves are 500 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:09,040 we making and creating a path for others to follow? 501 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:13,760 What will our fellowship look like ten years from now? 502 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:19,600 What will our leaders look like ten years from now? 503 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:21,840 We don't know. 504 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:24,700 You make history. 505 00:37:24,700 --> 00:37:29,000 You decide how you're going to live your life. 506 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:30,640 You have to decide am I going to coast? 507 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:37,280 Am I going to hope and hope and hopefully I just get a promotion? 508 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,200 Our theme is regions beyond. 509 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:44,440 Our fellowship is going to be in trouble if men are more motivated about taking a bigger 510 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:50,960 church than they are about going to regions beyond. 511 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:59,920 And then we measure success by whether or not we're preaching the Bible conferences. 512 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,960 Did you hear this interesting story? 513 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:10,360 Starbucks in St. Petersburg a while back. 514 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:16,320 Lady goes through the drive through and as she goes through the drive through it is seven 515 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:21,240 o'clock in the morning on a Wednesday and she orders a caramel macchiato she orders 516 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:26,720 her drink and then she just has this first inspiration what's the man behind me in the 517 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:30,880 car behind me having oh he's having a caramel macchiato she says well I'm gonna buy it for 518 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:38,480 him so she paid it paid it and so she left the guy came up gave him his drink sir you 519 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:45,560 don't have to pay the lady in front of you pay wow what are they having I'm gonna pay 520 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:54,120 so that he started doing that and the article says by 1 30 in the afternoon 260 people had 521 00:38:54,120 --> 00:39:02,240 paid it forward for the next person. 522 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:07,960 The workers at Starbucks have a writing it down and so when somebody would come up and 523 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:13,160 they would tell me you're paid for they would say hey look since seven o'clock this morning 524 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:25,040 every single person in line has paid for somebody else it kept on going by 6 p.m. 378 people 525 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:29,240 had paid for the person behind them. 526 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:32,640 The workers had already decided at the end of the day if there's an extra money we'll 527 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:43,040 just put it in some little charity but how many know there's always a 379th driver? 528 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:48,800 He's probably a Christian probably saying you know praise the Lord the Lord bless me 529 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:55,680 I'm gonna testify about this. 530 00:39:55,680 --> 00:40:04,200 No the truth is that they said to the guy had to be a dude man they said sir for 11 531 00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:12,640 hours everybody has paid for the person 378 people have paid there's a car behind you 532 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,520 would you like to pay? 533 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:28,440 No and the barista said I don't think he understood the paid forward concept. 534 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:38,200 My question tonight is do you understand the paid forward concept? 535 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:45,000 That you and I are collecting our caramel macchiato because people in front of us paid 536 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:52,760 for it. 537 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:57,480 Hebrews 12 says of the Lord Jesus says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our 538 00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:04,880 faith and for the joy that was set before him the joy that was set before him that's 539 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:13,440 this endured the cross despised the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne 540 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,120 of God. 541 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:24,200 You got to make history it is not going to come if you think that the next 50 years are 542 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:29,040 going to be easier than the first 50 years you're wrong. 543 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,440 If you think you're not going to have to pay the price that pastor Mitchell prayed and 544 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:42,680 pastor Greg is paying to have the ministry God has given them you're wrong. 545 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:51,400 It is in front of every man here to decide whether or not you're going to make history 546 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:57,720 by looking back at history and saying this is what they did. 547 00:41:57,720 --> 00:42:02,040 There are no shortcuts it is not easier to build a church it is not easier to pioneer 548 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:08,880 it is not easier to plan a church it is not easier to launch a missionary. 549 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,640 The question is will you make history. 550 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:20,520 You can put up that picture I gave you and I'll finish right here. 551 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:31,640 That is US Army private Robert J. Whalen August 29 1944 during the liberation of Valley Sur 552 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,880 I.N.A. in northern France. 553 00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:42,960 They were retaking this village from the Nazis and private Whalen was crossing a bridge by 554 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:48,440 a jeep when a German tank opened fire and struck him. 555 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:53,840 Twenty year old private. 556 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:57,600 Several town people saw what happened and though they were in hiding when they saw this 557 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:04,080 young man hit by that tank they raced out under the bridge grabbed his body brought 558 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,520 it inside the town hall and then moved it to a church for safety. 559 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:15,920 But unfortunately it was too late private Whalen died his family was notified of his 560 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:20,000 death but this is what they didn't know. 561 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:27,920 Only recently did they just find out that in since 1953 this town of Vias Sur I.N.A. 562 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:35,680 erected a monument in honor of private Whalen for his service and sacrifice and every day 563 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:46,880 on August 29th they have a celebration honoring this man for his sacrifice in 1944. 564 00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:50,960 He's a 20 year old private. 565 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:57,160 His family had no idea that every year in some little town in the other part of the 566 00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:03,800 world August 29th is Robert Whalen day. 567 00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:07,880 He made history. 568 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:11,360 Our challenge is are we going to make history? 569 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:16,240 Are you going to spend all your time questioning history? 570 00:44:16,240 --> 00:44:22,160 What's about heads? 571 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:24,320 No one moving about just for a moment. 572 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:32,360 We thank God for what he's doing here what a credible atmosphere what a privilege. 573 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:39,360 I've been coming to these conferences 44 years. 574 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:48,520 I want to tell you I have a deep appreciation for the sacrifices that so many have made. 575 00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:52,920 The battles that we have fought. 576 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:56,040 While our heads are bowed and we're before God first of all if you're here and you're 577 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:59,020 not saved you're not right with God. 578 00:44:59,020 --> 00:45:02,520 You may be someone who grew up in church. 579 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:04,720 You are in this building you're not saved. 580 00:45:04,720 --> 00:45:06,840 You even say to oh I'm not saved. 581 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:14,440 I'm not ready to get saved and yet you are in a Bible conference lost away from God miserable 582 00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:17,600 because you don't know the history. 583 00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:24,080 Jesus Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for you. 584 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:27,200 Reject that and there remains no more sacrifice for sins. 585 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:31,800 There's only one hope tonight and you need to get your heart right with God. 586 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:33,120 I say pastor that's me. 587 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:35,340 I am going to give my life to Jesus Christ. 588 00:45:35,340 --> 00:45:37,240 We believe in conversion tonight. 589 00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:40,720 We believe that it doesn't matter who you are what you've done. 590 00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:43,760 You can cry out to God and he will forgive you and he'll set you free. 591 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:48,000 If that's you just lift up your hand put it up high and say I need prayer. 592 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:49,000 I'm not right with God. 593 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,000 God bless you. 594 00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:51,000 Thank you. 595 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:52,000 Who else put up your hand. 596 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:53,000 I'm not right with God. 597 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,240 I need to get saved. 598 00:45:54,240 --> 00:45:55,240 God bless you. 599 00:45:55,240 --> 00:45:56,240 God bless you. 600 00:45:56,240 --> 00:45:57,240 Thank you. 601 00:45:57,240 --> 00:45:58,240 Who else. 602 00:45:58,240 --> 00:45:59,240 I'm not right with God. 603 00:45:59,240 --> 00:46:00,560 I need to repent all my life. 604 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:04,000 I have been blind to miracle that God can do in my life. 605 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:06,200 It's not just for your parents or your grandparents. 606 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:07,200 It's for you. 607 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:08,200 Who else. 608 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:09,200 Lift up your hand. 609 00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:13,120 I want every one of you right now just to get up from your seat just right now. 610 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:17,160 Go ahead and get up and come right to this altar and find a place to pray right now. 611 00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:18,240 You lifted your hand. 612 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:21,440 Just get up right where you are and come right now. 613 00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:22,440 Come right now. 614 00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:24,160 They're coming all over here. 615 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:25,160 Let's make sure over here. 616 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:26,160 You lifted your hand. 617 00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:31,300 I want you to come. 618 00:46:31,300 --> 00:46:36,800 The tragedy of this story is they were set up for success, but they didn't even know 619 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:40,200 it. 620 00:46:40,200 --> 00:46:41,200 You got to know the history. 621 00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:42,840 You got to know what we're part of. 622 00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:48,400 Every young pastor, instead of looking to the spirit of the age to tell us how to build 623 00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:53,800 a church, there's a rich heritage that God has given you. 624 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:59,800 There's a moral dimension that says, hey, this is how you do it. 625 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:04,560 There's some pastors here this evening that you're always tempted to try something new. 626 00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:08,520 You're more fascinated on the latest thing happening on YouTube. 627 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:17,420 Ah, Fellowship's old-fashioned, you know, that stuff was good in the 70s. 628 00:47:17,420 --> 00:47:20,840 It's a heart issue, brother. 629 00:47:20,840 --> 00:47:22,560 They just didn't know. 630 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:28,440 They just made assumptions. 631 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:31,720 I have a burden for young leaders. 632 00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:32,720 God's blessing you right now. 633 00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:33,720 He's helping you. 634 00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:38,220 You're getting expression. 635 00:47:38,220 --> 00:47:41,560 You must fight the same battles. 636 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:45,400 You cannot have the attitude, well, those battles were fought by another generation. 637 00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:49,800 Every generation has their own battles. 638 00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:57,160 If leadership isn't just flying around, traveling the world, preaching, leadership is fighting 639 00:47:57,160 --> 00:48:00,440 bad battles. 640 00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:05,160 Something in you has to say, God, I'm going to make history. 641 00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:12,600 I'm going to be part of that regiment. 642 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:14,760 You know where history is? 643 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:35,160 Something hidden behind the rages, go and find it.