WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 And I said, Jesus, how do I reach these people? 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:07.700 Speak, Lord, your servant's listening. And just 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:11.179 like when you see an animal get branded, that's 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:14.140 the only way I can describe it. I felt the branding 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:17.940 of God's voice on my soul. I want you to make 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:20.100 a large wooden cross and begin walking through 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:31.269 the streets of Tulsa on Good Friday. God promises 00:00:31.269 --> 00:00:35.390 in Joel 2 .28 to pour His Spirit out on all humanity. 00:00:36.270 --> 00:00:38.950 Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend 00:00:38.950 --> 00:00:41.810 for that promise outpouring, we equip for that 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:45.250 outpouring, so that we may engage in that very 00:00:45.250 --> 00:00:48.670 outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss. 00:00:48.729 --> 00:00:51.789 Welcome to the podcast today. We are so delighted 00:00:51.789 --> 00:00:55.170 to have with us a friend who is very, very dear 00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:57.009 to our hearts. We haven't seen each other for 00:00:57.009 --> 00:01:00.340 many years, but his name is Keith Wheeler. Perhaps 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:03.240 you've heard of him. Maybe you haven't. But he 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:07.799 is a man of God that has taken up his cross and 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.609 followed Jesus, literally. Jesus challenged him 00:01:11.609 --> 00:01:14.769 to take up his cross, to build a 12 -foot cross 00:01:14.769 --> 00:01:19.109 and carry it around the world. And he has been 00:01:19.109 --> 00:01:23.829 doing that now for many years. And he's going 00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:26.790 to share some of his testimonies on this episode. 00:01:26.909 --> 00:01:30.170 And you're going to be really blessed with how 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:34.829 the Lord has led him in his work. That is Jesus' 00:01:34.950 --> 00:01:41.879 work. Thanks so much for joining us today. We 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:45.780 are so encouraged with the goodness of God in 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:48.060 this episode. You're going to really enjoy it. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:49.900 But before we get started, we want to encourage 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.019 you, if you haven't already done so, that you 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:55.060 go out to our website, globaloutpouring .net, 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.879 and make sure that you have subscribed to our 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.719 email lists and that you take the opportunity 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:05.319 to leave us some feedback or write us an email 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:09.669 at feedback at globaloutpouring .org. Enjoy the 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:12.169 things that we have out there on our website. 00:02:12.389 --> 00:02:15.289 And I think this is one of those episodes that 00:02:15.289 --> 00:02:17.509 you're going to want to share with others. So 00:02:17.509 --> 00:02:20.550 share this on social media or send a text with 00:02:20.550 --> 00:02:23.310 a link to it to your friends. This is going to 00:02:23.310 --> 00:02:28.039 be a life changing episode. Keith Wheeler, it 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:31.020 is such a delight for us to have you with us 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:35.400 on this Global Outpouring episode. I'm so delighted. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.379 It's been really a long time since we've been 00:02:38.379 --> 00:02:40.439 connected, but we've been connected for many 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:44.240 years. Yes. So welcome. Welcome to this episode. 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:47.479 What a treat. Thanks for the gift of your all's 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.979 time. I really appreciate it. We appreciate the 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:53.500 gift of your time because we know that, well, 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.900 you're just getting ready to go on another long 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:59.159 walk. But we'll get to that in a minute. Let's 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:02.300 just go back for a moment. You were raised not 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:06.080 so very far from here, just in the big town nearby. 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:08.900 We're in the little town south of little town 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:12.319 of Jasper, which is population about 500. So 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:16.110 Harrison is. Not quite three times bigger. About 00:03:16.110 --> 00:03:19.069 13 ,000. Anyway, we're just so delighted that 00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:22.050 you're here. And just tell us a little bit about 00:03:22.050 --> 00:03:24.610 how we got connected in the first place and how 00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:28.810 long ago was that? It was a long time ago. Once 00:03:28.810 --> 00:03:31.710 again, thank you, guys. It's such an honor to 00:03:31.710 --> 00:03:35.169 be reconnected with you all. I grew up and went 00:03:35.169 --> 00:03:38.770 to Harrison schools, but I grew up out in the 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:41.360 country more. on the north side of Harrison, 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:45.300 out toward Bergman and Bled Hill. My nearest 00:03:45.300 --> 00:03:48.800 neighbor was two and a half miles away. Wow. 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:52.939 So I really grew up out in the country. Went 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:56.740 away to school. I tell people my short story, 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.500 and I hope this makes sense, is I was a Christian 00:03:59.500 --> 00:04:04.199 for 20 years, and then I met Jesus. Okay. Or 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.120 you could say that I loved Jesus for 20 years. 00:04:07.689 --> 00:04:12.050 And then I fell in love with him. Oh, yes. There's 00:04:12.050 --> 00:04:16.189 a number of other ways of saying that. And out 00:04:16.189 --> 00:04:19.389 of that, he gave me the beautiful invitation 00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:22.730 eventually of carrying a cross, of walking together 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:25.910 with him and carrying a cross. And I try to always 00:04:25.910 --> 00:04:29.410 be really clear up front. I'm often introduced 00:04:29.410 --> 00:04:31.709 as this is a guy who's carried a cross around 00:04:31.709 --> 00:04:34.920 the world. And I said, if that's... true, if 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.839 that's all it is, then I'm just a Christian tourist, 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:41.439 a spiritual adventurer. Because the cross without 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.839 Jesus is meaningless. The cross without Jesus 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:48.540 is, minus Jesus, it's still the greatest device 00:04:48.540 --> 00:04:52.279 of torture, the most heinous thing that mankind 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:56.399 has ever come up with. But with Jesus and his 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:59.779 redemption of the cross, it becomes the greatest 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:03.439 symbol of hope and peace and unconditional love. 00:05:03.949 --> 00:05:07.769 of faith that there ever has been. And my journey, 00:05:07.790 --> 00:05:10.170 if I'm just a guy who's carried a cross around 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:14.670 the world, minus Jesus, then that's all I am 00:05:14.670 --> 00:05:17.209 is a Christian tourist. But if he can redeem 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:19.810 the cross, then that means he can redeem me. 00:05:20.350 --> 00:05:23.449 And if he can redeem me, then he can redeem others. 00:05:23.589 --> 00:05:27.829 And I don't call it his commission or his commandment. 00:05:27.990 --> 00:05:31.550 It's his invitation. The creator of the heavens 00:05:31.550 --> 00:05:33.870 and the earth. The one who breathes stars and 00:05:33.870 --> 00:05:36.730 calls them by name is the one and the one who 00:05:36.730 --> 00:05:39.230 knows how many hairs are on my head. Right. He's 00:05:39.230 --> 00:05:42.990 the one who has invited me to sit on the front 00:05:42.990 --> 00:05:45.850 row center stage and watch him do what he does 00:05:45.850 --> 00:05:50.949 best. Oh, I love that. And he blesses. He changes 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:53.649 people's lives forever. He touches them. He heals 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:57.899 them. He saves them. He delivers them. And the 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:00.680 world pays premium prices to sit front row center 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:03.319 stage, whether it's 50 -yard line at the Super 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:07.839 Bowl or midcourt, seventh game, NBA finals, or 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:11.259 whatever your favorite recording artist is or 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:15.160 band. But here's the creator of all, the king 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.920 of all. And he says, I want you to sit here and 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.379 I'm going to do it and I'm going to let you watch 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:23.860 me do it. That's beautiful. So he did. In 1985, 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:27.620 on Good Friday, he invited me to begin carrying 00:06:27.620 --> 00:06:29.620 the cross and walking together with him. How 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:31.480 did that happen? How did that happen? Tell us 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:33.959 the story. Well, I'll back up just a little bit 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:36.480 to get to that first question. That was kind 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.319 of a long introduction. Sorry. That's a good 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:42.480 introduction. But it was five years into celebrating 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.279 that. I was invited by some local pastors in 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:49.819 the Jasper area. to come celebrate five years 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:53.000 of carrying the cross. And one of those pastors 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.519 was a pastor by the name of Earl Bergman. And 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.120 he pastored there in a little community church 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:00.439 right there at the bottom of the hill of Highway 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:05.540 7, just south of Jasper. It was my first time 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:09.180 ever speaking in a church. He had heard me. First 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:13.839 time ever. Now, just to give context, Earl Bergman 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:17.389 was Gwen Shaw's brother. Correct. They're both 00:07:17.389 --> 00:07:21.449 in heaven now. And that's where I was going because 00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:25.129 his sister happened to come to the service that 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:30.449 night and attend. And after the service, my first 00:07:30.449 --> 00:07:33.910 sermon, she came up to me and she said, young 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:36.730 man, I would love for you to bring the cross 00:07:36.730 --> 00:07:40.670 to Washington, D .C. and speak at our international 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:44.529 convention there in Washington, D .C. And I think 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:48.819 that was in... 96 or 97 when I got to do that. 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:55.500 And that actually set the stage for me many years 00:07:55.500 --> 00:07:59.680 later. But on either that first or second Washington, 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:03.620 D .C. event that I got to attend and speak at, 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:08.019 which it just shows what an incredible lady Sister 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:12.199 Gwen was. But she could see things that... The 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:14.279 rest of us couldn't because I was definitely 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:17.920 a shepherd boy out in the backside of the wilderness. 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:22.519 And she saw something that even I had no idea. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:26.100 And I still don't really see myself as a speaker. 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:28.600 I think that's why God called me to carry the 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:30.959 cross. He said, you know, he's not a great speaker. 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:33.279 He's not real handsome. He can't sing for sure. 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:36.340 But he loves me. He loves people and he can carry 00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:39.279 wood. And he's given me that privilege. But it 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.789 was out of that that... She and I developed a 00:08:41.789 --> 00:08:45.029 beautiful friendship, and I got to come to your 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:48.129 events. But on that second one, I think in Washington, 00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:51.610 D .C., she said, I have a place for you to stay. 00:08:51.830 --> 00:08:54.549 And I said, well, that's great. And it was the 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:59.490 Iranian embassy. Seriously? I mean, how many 00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:03.049 Americans actually have gotten to sleep in the 00:09:03.049 --> 00:09:06.370 Iranian embassy? And I thought, if I can sleep 00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:08.470 in the Iranian embassy, I can carry the cross 00:09:08.470 --> 00:09:11.820 in Iran. And shortly after that, maybe a year 00:09:11.820 --> 00:09:14.440 or two later, I actually carried the cross in 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:18.799 the nation of Iran for 19 days. Wow. That all 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.700 goes back to my journey with her. The journey 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:24.679 with the cross in answering your question is, 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.240 as I said, I was Christian. I was a good Christian. 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:32.940 And we have a saying there in the hills that 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:35.000 says just because there's paint on the outside 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.259 of the barn doesn't mean there's not manure on 00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:43.460 the inside. That was truly a story of my life. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.000 I tell people my story and it's important to 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.779 listen closely or you miss something really important. 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:53.259 My parents were hippies when I was growing up. 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:55.899 I don't know if they were hillbilly hippies or 00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:59.980 hippie hillbillies. But things were pretty crazy 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:02.899 at my house. But my parents always believed in 00:10:02.899 --> 00:10:05.220 me and believed in my dreams. And I was an athlete. 00:10:06.069 --> 00:10:08.789 And they sent me to a Christian athletic camp. 00:10:08.929 --> 00:10:11.730 And there I heard about being a Christian. And 00:10:11.730 --> 00:10:15.309 they told me about the beauty of heaven, the 00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:19.570 horror of hell. And I think any seven -year -old 00:10:19.570 --> 00:10:23.809 boy would say, I choose heaven. Anybody in their 00:10:23.809 --> 00:10:26.529 right mind will. I'm going to become a Christian. 00:10:26.710 --> 00:10:29.850 It was really quite an easy decision. They said, 00:10:29.889 --> 00:10:33.679 next step, you need to go to church. There's 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:35.679 a lot of choices. And if your parents don't go 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:38.860 to church, where do you go? Especially if you 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:41.679 live in the country. Yeah. But I knew a girl 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.779 that I kind of liked, and she was Catholic. And 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:48.259 so I decided I would become Catholic. I went 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:50.840 through catechism, through confirmation classes. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:54.000 And in order to be baptized, though, I had to 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.799 drive all the way over to Siloam Springs, where 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:59.460 the bishop was. And I was baptized in Siloam 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:02.500 Springs. But there was another pretty girl and 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:06.659 she went to the Episcopal Church. So you got 00:11:06.659 --> 00:11:09.980 to cover your bases. And I went through their 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:12.779 confirmation classes and was baptized and had 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:16.340 communion in the Episcopal Church. I played basketball 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:18.700 with a friend who went to the Lutheran Church. 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.220 And so I went through their classes, met his 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:25.019 pastor. We've gone past priests now. And I was 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:28.049 baptized in a Lutheran Church. Played football 00:11:28.049 --> 00:11:30.789 with a friend who went to the Presbyterian Church. 00:11:31.289 --> 00:11:34.429 So those are just the ones that you have to have 00:11:34.429 --> 00:11:36.950 confirmation classes. But I was also baptized 00:11:36.950 --> 00:11:40.289 in the United Methodist, the Disciples of Christ, 00:11:40.509 --> 00:11:43.710 Evangelical Free, Assemblies of God, Independent 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:46.750 Charismatic, American Baptist, Missionary Baptist, 00:11:46.830 --> 00:11:49.870 and multiple times in the Southern Baptist Church. 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:56.309 So whatever your theology is, I'm covered. I've 00:11:56.309 --> 00:11:59.210 been sprinkled, splashed, dunked, held under 00:11:59.210 --> 00:12:03.909 bubbles. Either the wettest or the cleanest Christian 00:12:03.909 --> 00:12:05.929 you've ever met. And then they said, now you 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:09.070 have to pray. And I've always been an overachiever. 00:12:09.429 --> 00:12:13.169 And so I said, how much? And they said, well, 00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:16.500 one hour. And the baptism I didn't mention. was 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:18.799 I was baptized before those baptisms because, 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:21.539 as I said, my parents were hippies, and they 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:23.940 did transcendental meditation. So my parents 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:26.700 had made us be baptized into transcendental meditation, 00:12:26.779 --> 00:12:31.480 actually by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. And I 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.720 got sprinkled, and I got a mantra. And you're 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.840 not supposed to tell your mantra to anybody. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:43.309 Mine was not om. Mine was ing, I -N -G. shared 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:45.190 with my sister. Well, she got the same one. So 00:12:45.190 --> 00:12:47.649 I'm wondering if they didn't distribute ings 00:12:47.649 --> 00:12:50.690 to everybody that day. I don't know. But we had 00:12:50.690 --> 00:12:53.850 to go to our room for an hour. My parents wanted 00:12:53.850 --> 00:12:56.889 us to go meditate for an hour. And I had to say 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:02.269 the word ing for an hour. You just come up with 00:13:02.269 --> 00:13:05.330 different ways of inging. So when they said that 00:13:05.330 --> 00:13:08.169 I need to pray for an hour, praying was much 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:16.159 easier than inging. So that was easy. They said, 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:18.100 now read your Bible every year from cover to 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:21.120 cover. And I love to read. So I did that every 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.200 year. And one year I made it through three times 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:26.700 in a year. And then they gave me the don'ts. 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:29.460 Don't smoke while I was training for the Olympics. 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.139 So that was easy. And putting fire in my mouth 00:13:32.139 --> 00:13:35.200 never made sense anyway. And don't drink. And 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.419 I'd done it once. And I saw how silly it made 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:41.330 some of my. parents and their friends act. And 00:13:41.330 --> 00:13:45.149 so no, thank you. And when I did drink one time, 00:13:45.190 --> 00:13:48.629 it tasted like fire. So, okay. And again, I'm 00:13:48.629 --> 00:13:51.090 training for the Olympics and don't chase the 00:13:51.090 --> 00:13:53.909 girls. That was a little bit harder, but, but 00:13:53.909 --> 00:13:56.610 I, I'm a rule keeper and I was a straight A student. 00:13:56.690 --> 00:13:58.730 I was an all American athlete. And once again, 00:13:58.850 --> 00:14:01.950 I had a beautiful coat of paint on this Christian 00:14:01.950 --> 00:14:05.340 barn, but there was manure on the inside. And 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:08.720 if you listen to my story at the first, I didn't 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.000 say anything about Jesus. I said I became a Christian. 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:14.299 I'm sure I probably would have gone to heaven 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:16.580 because, I mean, I could tell you apologetics. 00:14:16.980 --> 00:14:21.139 I mean, I met him, but I didn't know him. There's 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:25.539 a huge difference. And one night on a beach in 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:28.940 Florida, I realized, and it's a long story, I 00:14:28.940 --> 00:14:31.080 won't go into it, but it's a beautiful story. 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:33.610 Actually, I have this on my desk. I don't know 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:38.509 if you can see, but it's a railroad spike. It's 00:14:38.509 --> 00:14:40.649 about the size of the nails that must have gone 00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:43.590 through Jesus' hands. Sharp enough to penetrate 00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:46.809 the skin, but dull enough to cause as much tissue 00:14:46.809 --> 00:14:49.090 damage as possible and heavy enough to hold a 00:14:49.090 --> 00:14:52.149 man's weight. And I realized that it wasn't the 00:14:52.149 --> 00:14:54.669 Roman soldier who put him there with those nails. 00:14:55.090 --> 00:14:57.470 It wasn't the decision of the Jewish lawyers 00:14:57.470 --> 00:15:01.330 and judges. If he died for my sin, I'm guilty. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:04.799 of the murder of God in the flesh when he came 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.500 to this earth to show us his love. And yet he 00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:10.759 said, Father, forgive them. But he included me 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.379 in that. Forgive him. He doesn't know what he's 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:16.000 doing. And then he said, it's finished. And literally 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.700 he said, it's paid in full, my price. And I fell 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:23.200 in love. I fell head over heels, hopelessly, 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.000 madly, crazy, twitterpated, thunkerpated, upside 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:33.659 down in love with the king of all. And when I 00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:36.820 did that, I had been pursuing the Olympic medal. 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:40.539 I felt like he said, who is Lord, me or that 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:43.480 gold medal? I was training 12 to 14 hours a day 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.019 in the summertime. Would you be willing to give 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:48.340 me the same amount of time, energy, and training? 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:51.700 Blood, sweat, and tears. It's a no -brainer, 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:55.340 yes. So I did. I skipped nationals that year. 00:15:56.539 --> 00:15:58.700 delivered Bibles. It was still Soviet Union. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:03.279 I was arrested three times by the KGB. I didn't 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.480 have to serve it, but I did end up, it's a long, 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.820 really hilarious story, but I almost faced a 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:11.120 two and a half year prison sentence and almost 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:15.580 had to serve it in Soviet Union before there 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:20.379 was Russia. And so I saw what real faith was. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:25.409 And then I had just graduated by now. And I had 00:16:25.409 --> 00:16:27.809 this thirst to know the Bible better, transferred 00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:31.970 to, came up here for graduate school in Tulsa, 00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:34.549 Oklahoma at Oral Roberts University. If I would 00:16:34.549 --> 00:16:36.289 have known it was seminary, I wouldn't have gone 00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:40.309 because in my world, seminary was cemetery. That's 00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.389 where preachers go to die. But God knew what 00:16:43.389 --> 00:16:45.470 he was doing. And he had me there for a reason. 00:16:45.789 --> 00:16:47.789 After three days, I turned to the guy next to 00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:51.370 me. I said, bro, this is just like seminary. 00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:54.429 And he looked at me and said. son, where do you 00:16:54.429 --> 00:17:01.169 think you are? Honestly, I had no idea. And I 00:17:01.169 --> 00:17:04.049 tried to leave multiple times. Again, long story, 00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:08.289 beautiful story, but God had me there. I'm so 00:17:08.289 --> 00:17:10.250 thankful because while I was there, I had to 00:17:10.250 --> 00:17:12.789 write a paper on the Holy Spirit. Every student 00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:14.569 that attends, whether you're a graduate student 00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:16.450 or undergraduate student, you have to write this 00:17:16.450 --> 00:17:19.079 paper, whether you're in seminary or... whether 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:20.900 you're in a business class or whether you're 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:24.039 in education, everybody at the school has to 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:27.160 write a paper on who is the Holy Spirit. What 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.380 is his purpose? What is the evidence of his work 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:32.460 in our life? And if you remember my resume of 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.380 churches, I attended a lot of different perspectives 00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:38.640 on the Holy Spirit. Some said that dispensation 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.200 of the Holy Spirit, miraculous, the voice of 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:46.460 God was all past. And others say. Everybody has 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:48.500 to speak in tongues. And if you don't, you're 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:50.339 not saved. And you have to speak so loud and 00:17:50.339 --> 00:17:52.799 so many decibels and so many syllables per second. 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:59.140 And I looked and said, Jesus, what do you say? 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:02.759 And I came across a verse in Acts chapter 1, 00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:05.759 verse 8. And I would say this. I would add this. 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:08.279 I ran across this phrase. I don't know who to 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:12.140 attribute it to. They said, the issue is not 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:16.900 tongues. The issue is the tongue. And I thought, 00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:20.440 yeah, that was really powerful. But Acts chapter 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.799 one, verse eight, Jesus speaking to the disciples 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:26.839 said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.440 comes upon you and you shall. And he didn't say 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.880 a thing about speaking in tongues or not. You 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:36.759 shall be witnesses. Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.759 the uttermost parts of the earth. I don't ever 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.779 want to be a cherry picker when it comes to Bible 00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:45.650 verses, but that seemed pretty. clear. But Jesus 00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:48.269 in Luke chapter four, when he opens the scroll 00:18:48.269 --> 00:18:51.690 of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, the spirit 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:54.150 of the Lord is upon me for he's anointed me to, 00:18:54.230 --> 00:18:56.470 he didn't say anything about tongues or no tongues, 00:18:56.569 --> 00:19:02.490 preach good news. And so then as I'm following 00:19:02.490 --> 00:19:05.750 this thread, I read Mark chapter one, verse 17, 00:19:05.890 --> 00:19:10.029 follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:14.980 And so I would add this at this point of my life. 00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:17.819 He didn't say we're catchers of men. He's the 00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:21.200 catcher. We're the fishers. And I would be very 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.880 clear. I've never led anybody to Jesus if the 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.180 Bible's true. He says no one comes to the Father 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:29.619 unless he draws them. If he is lifted up, he 00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:32.940 draws all men unto himself. He's the author. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.319 He's the finisher. He who began a good work. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.460 It's not by might. It's not by power. It's by 00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:41.579 my spirit, says the Lord. In fact, I'm 65 now, 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:44.099 so I think I can say this. It's an addendum. 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:46.519 If somebody has to tell you how many people they've 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.680 led to Jesus, then hide your wallet because all 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.700 they're after is your money. But it's true. I 00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:57.079 mean, because otherwise we get glory and we use 00:19:57.079 --> 00:20:01.599 statistics and numbers to pad our ministry. I 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:05.220 don't have a ministry. Jesus does. And it's his 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:09.140 ministry. to my life, in my life, and I pray 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.700 overflowing out of my life. That's my definition 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:15.000 of ministry. It's true, real ministry is simply 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.740 the overflow of a life lived in love with Jesus. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.960 And so as I'm reading these verses, I, okay, 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:27.759 by nature, my personality type, I am probably 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:31.819 the shyest, most insecure, fearful, timid person 00:20:31.819 --> 00:20:34.920 you've ever met. Now I'm adventurous as far as... 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:38.759 climbing rocks and mountains and swinging off 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:42.339 vines and pole vaulting and all of those kind 00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:46.680 of things. But talking to strangers, I'm a hillbilly 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:49.359 boy. I'm a country boy that I would just rather 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:54.119 be out in the woods. But God didn't call me according 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:56.539 to my strength. He called me according to my 00:20:56.539 --> 00:21:00.220 weaknesses so that he might be made strong. And 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:02.980 so I remember reading those verses and I said, 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:05.450 Lord, am I even? filled with your Holy Spirit? 00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:07.869 Am I baptized with your Holy Spirit? Am I even 00:21:07.869 --> 00:21:11.690 following you? Because I'm not witnessing. I 00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:14.349 was the guy that said, my life will be a witness. 00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:16.769 Of course, when somebody tells me that today, 00:21:16.970 --> 00:21:19.029 first of all, the Bible says, how will they know 00:21:19.029 --> 00:21:23.309 unless they hear? And of course, a lot of people 00:21:23.309 --> 00:21:26.109 speak with their mouth, but not with their life. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.980 Well, that's hypocrisy. But other people speak 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:30.839 with their life, but not with their mouth. That's 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.019 confusion. Somebody might think, you know, you're 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:35.460 a vegetarian or a football player. You know, 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:42.319 how will they know unless they hear? And so I 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.480 laid down on the floor and I was there for hours. 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:48.319 And this is before Toronto Blessing made this 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.700 phrase popular. This was 1984, fall of 84. More, 00:21:53.700 --> 00:21:57.019 Lord, more. God, give me more of you. More, Lord. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:00.480 Crying and praying and repeating it over and 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:04.240 over, desperate for more of God so that I would 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.400 feel different so that I could go tell people 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:11.839 about Jesus. And after nearly four hours, I felt 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:15.900 like Jesus said to me, shut up and listen to 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:19.819 me. I felt like he said, son, I'm not a stock. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:23.680 I'm not a commodity. You cannot buy or sell or 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:28.079 trade me. I'm not a part or a parcel or a portion. 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:32.559 I'm all that I ever was. I'm all that I ever 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:36.680 will be. I'm all that I am. And when I came to 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:39.380 live with you, everything I ever was, everything 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:42.599 I ever will be, all that I am, came to live with 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.660 you. The question is not you getting more of 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:50.970 me. It's me getting all of you. And I said, OK, 00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:55.329 don't feel different. Don't look different. Probably 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:58.069 don't smell different. So I'm going to go tell 00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:01.529 people about Jesus. And I got my big Ryrie study 00:23:01.529 --> 00:23:04.890 Bible and the best tracks I could get were cartoons. 00:23:05.069 --> 00:23:08.410 And, you know, they basically said everybody 00:23:08.410 --> 00:23:11.210 else is going to hell except me. And I thought, 00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:14.549 OK, where? Remember, this is 1984. The materials 00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:16.829 we have available today weren't available then. 00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:21.619 Where are lost? people. And I thought, has to 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:23.640 be bars. Everybody always told me, stay away 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:28.119 from bars. So remember, I'm in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:32.680 And I know where the bars are. There's a section 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:35.119 of town, they tell you don't go. And in the 80s, 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.920 it was called the Restless Ribbon. And people 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.740 came from Texas and Missouri and Kansas and Arkansas 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:44.759 and would cruise up and down and bars all up 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:48.220 and down. So I've got my big Bible. Got my gospel 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:51.279 tracts and I show up at 8 o 'clock and nobody 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:56.599 was there. And I thought, you know, Tulsa really 00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:58.779 is a Christian town. There are no sinners here. 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:02.779 And they all started backsliding about 9 o 'clock. 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:04.940 And by 10 o 'clock, they were really backsliding. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:10.519 12 o 'clock is full on backslide. And the part 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:13.920 that I'm ashamed about is I'd been there four 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:16.339 hours and I didn't tell anybody about Jesus. 00:24:16.990 --> 00:24:20.910 Because I use the excuse, I don't feel led. And 00:24:20.910 --> 00:24:23.769 of course, now when people use that phrase, I 00:24:23.769 --> 00:24:26.309 said, where is that in the Bible? And what does 00:24:26.309 --> 00:24:29.670 feeling led feel like? Does it tickle? Does it 00:24:29.670 --> 00:24:34.309 shazam? Does it gotcha? The Bible says as many 00:24:34.309 --> 00:24:38.769 as are led by his spirit, not by feelings, will 00:24:38.769 --> 00:24:43.369 be called sons of God. And the word of God was 00:24:43.369 --> 00:24:47.079 written under the leadership. of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:52.119 So every word in this book, if I obey this book, 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.559 I'm obeying him. People often ask me, do you 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:57.380 have a word from God for me? I said, yes, read 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:01.319 the word and do it. And we don't have to have 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:03.500 a word. We've got the word. I'm thankful for 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:07.019 words, but we have the word. Too many of us are 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:08.960 looking for words and we're neglecting the word. 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.299 And so I was neglecting the word because I didn't 00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:15.009 feel led. Here I am just wandering around with 00:25:15.009 --> 00:25:17.930 a big Bible and gospel tracts, and my eyes are 00:25:17.930 --> 00:25:20.630 sensitive to smoke, and I've not been awake much 00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:23.910 past that. And I was looking higher and trippier 00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:25.630 than everybody coming out of the bars and the 00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:29.410 nightclubs. Two o 'clock, the bars close, and 00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:33.269 I still hadn't talked to anybody. And three o 00:25:33.269 --> 00:25:36.890 'clock, the cars were pretty much gone. And finally, 00:25:37.029 --> 00:25:39.849 and I'm looking like a glazed donut by now. I've 00:25:39.849 --> 00:25:43.190 never been awake this late in my life. And I 00:25:43.190 --> 00:25:45.609 just said, Jesus, if you want me to talk to someone, 00:25:45.690 --> 00:25:47.329 bring them around the corner in the next five 00:25:47.329 --> 00:25:49.470 minutes or I'm going home. In your name I pray. 00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.750 Before I said, man, someone came around the corner. 00:25:54.349 --> 00:25:57.490 And there was an adrenaline rush. And I definitely 00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:00.710 did not social distance. I, you know, this close 00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:03.150 nose to nose almost. Sir, if you die right now, 00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:04.269 you know, you're going to heaven. Jesus died 00:26:04.269 --> 00:26:05.329 across the edge of the blood. Always again, it's 00:26:05.329 --> 00:26:06.230 life. Praise the Lord. We're going to get saved. 00:26:06.569 --> 00:26:08.690 And here I've got my big Bible, my gospel tracks, 00:26:08.789 --> 00:26:12.289 and my big, glazy, glassy eyes. And the guy said, 00:26:12.470 --> 00:26:14.789 you've got to be kidding me. And he said some 00:26:14.789 --> 00:26:17.049 other things that weren't nice that I can't say 00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:21.269 on a Christian podcast. And he spat on my shoes. 00:26:21.829 --> 00:26:27.829 And I knew I missed God. That was burritos, bad 00:26:27.829 --> 00:26:30.849 burritos. It was indigestion. Could not have 00:26:30.849 --> 00:26:34.210 been God. So my car was one of the few left, 00:26:34.289 --> 00:26:37.349 and I was backed up against a wall. I put the 00:26:37.349 --> 00:26:40.259 key in the ignition. turned the car on and put 00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:43.980 it in gear. And as I started to pull out a really 00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:48.220 jacked up, kind of like a monster truck, not 00:26:48.220 --> 00:26:51.900 quite, but big truck blocked my path. Tinted 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.900 window comes down and it was that same guy. And 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:57.099 he says, are you that guy who's trying to tell 00:26:57.099 --> 00:27:03.259 me about Jesus? And I said, yes, sir. He said, 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:07.500 you really meant it, didn't you? Could we talk? 00:27:08.170 --> 00:27:10.950 And he got down, left his car right in front 00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:12.750 of mine. It wouldn't have mattered. I had to 00:27:12.750 --> 00:27:15.789 talk. We sat on the curb and talked till the 00:27:15.789 --> 00:27:19.029 sun came up. And I'd like to tell you guys and 00:27:19.029 --> 00:27:22.190 anybody listening that his life was changed. 00:27:23.130 --> 00:27:25.190 That's why I won't tell you how many people I've 00:27:25.190 --> 00:27:27.930 led to the Lord. Only God knows the stories I've 00:27:27.930 --> 00:27:30.410 prayed with lots and lots and lots and lots of 00:27:30.410 --> 00:27:33.730 people. I just don't count. But how can I know 00:27:33.730 --> 00:27:35.690 someone's heart? The Bible says, I don't even 00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:37.670 know my own heart. Only God does. My heart's 00:27:37.670 --> 00:27:41.670 deceitful above all things. But I will say my 00:27:41.670 --> 00:27:43.950 heart was changed. My heart was changed that 00:27:43.950 --> 00:27:46.970 night. Because I saw that those people that were 00:27:46.970 --> 00:27:49.869 in those bars and those nightclubs, the people 00:27:49.869 --> 00:27:52.130 that live under bridges, the people that sit 00:27:52.130 --> 00:27:55.869 on street corners with signs, those people in 00:27:55.869 --> 00:27:58.410 the gangs, those people around the world in terrorist 00:27:58.410 --> 00:28:01.789 organizations, the people in mosques. And temples 00:28:01.789 --> 00:28:04.930 that look different than me, different colors 00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:07.529 than me. Those people in the high rises downtown, 00:28:07.789 --> 00:28:10.210 the people on the other side of the fence in 00:28:10.210 --> 00:28:13.369 my backyard. They're not monsters to run away 00:28:13.369 --> 00:28:16.390 from. They're not creatures to be fearful of. 00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:20.150 They're kidnapped royalty. Exactly. Men and women 00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:23.190 created to be sons and daughters of a king. And 00:28:23.190 --> 00:28:25.250 they've just been trapped. So I started going 00:28:25.250 --> 00:28:27.630 on a regular basis. And then I got an idea and 00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:30.630 I'm almost to the cross -carrying calling. I 00:28:30.630 --> 00:28:32.609 made business cards. I should have incorporated 00:28:32.609 --> 00:28:36.210 the idea, patented the idea, because I was the 00:28:36.210 --> 00:28:39.430 first Uber service. Too drunk to drive home? 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:44.089 Call me. And it was great. I handed them out 00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:46.349 at all the bars, and I was a friend of all the 00:28:46.349 --> 00:28:48.289 bouncers because I'm getting rid of a problem. 00:28:49.130 --> 00:28:52.609 And it's good because I need practice in sharing 00:28:52.609 --> 00:28:55.430 about Jesus, and these guys need to hear what 00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:59.210 I have to say. Of course, some of them were too... 00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:04.460 drunk to tell us where to take them. So I can't 00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:06.839 tell you how many we smuggled into ORU for a 00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:13.519 night or two. So it's a different administration. 00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:20.180 I think I've got amnesty now. But now I'm making 00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:23.460 friends and I've got the front door. But then 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:26.259 I came up with another idea. And that other idea 00:29:26.259 --> 00:29:30.880 was I met owners and managers. And I said, hey, 00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:34.240 tell you what, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:37.200 I'll come in and I'll clean your bathrooms, your 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.220 toilets. I'll clean your toilets so clean that 00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:42.279 you can eat soup out of them. And they said, 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:44.900 why? I said, well, Jesus washed people's feet. 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:48.480 And I'm just here to tell you that the restrooms 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:53.460 at bars and nightclubs are pretty nasty the next 00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:56.799 day. I can imagine. But God used that. And now 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:59.470 I had friends. that were owners and managers 00:29:59.470 --> 00:30:03.569 and bartenders and bouncers. And they started 00:30:03.569 --> 00:30:06.089 having me come in and speak to people table to 00:30:06.089 --> 00:30:08.109 table. They would say, Hey, this person's going 00:30:08.109 --> 00:30:10.369 through this. Can you talk to them? Can you pray 00:30:10.369 --> 00:30:15.069 with them? And that led to even some nights when 00:30:15.069 --> 00:30:19.109 they had live music, they would close. And then 00:30:19.109 --> 00:30:21.069 they would ask me to pray, especially on Saturday 00:30:21.069 --> 00:30:23.190 night, which wasn't by now Sunday morning, because 00:30:23.190 --> 00:30:25.009 that was the only service some people would come. 00:30:25.410 --> 00:30:28.579 And I'm sure. Jesus forgave me. But I just basically, 00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:31.480 God, thank you so much that you love the world 00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:33.880 so much that you gave your only begotten son 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:36.799 that whoever believes in him, that even though 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.339 the wages of sin is death. And I was just praying 00:30:41.339 --> 00:30:44.480 scripture. And there was one little, it was a 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:46.619 little dive bar and there was a little old lady. 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:49.519 And I'll never forget her. It was right across 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:54.380 the street from the dirty movie theater. We would 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:57.759 go to her place and she would say, oh, you're 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:01.440 here. And she would unplug the guy in the corner 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.519 playing the guitar. She would lock the door. 00:31:03.579 --> 00:31:05.759 Nobody else could leave. And she would stand 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:08.559 in front of the door or unplug the jukebox if 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.619 it was playing. And I had these little red stickers 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:12.700 that say, God loves you. And she goes, do you 00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:14.759 have any of your red buttons? And she put them 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.400 on everybody. She goes, he's going to preach 00:31:17.400 --> 00:31:21.240 to you now. And then at the end, she goes, don't 00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:23.940 forget to pray that special little prayer. And 00:31:23.940 --> 00:31:25.779 if I preach too long, she goes, it's time for 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:29.619 you to pray now. Or sometimes she'd say, keep 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:32.039 going. This is good. This is good. But right 00:31:32.039 --> 00:31:34.160 across the street was the dirty movie theater. 00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:35.880 And next door to it was the dirty bookstore. 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:39.160 I made an agreement. It was a Jewish man that 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:42.599 owned it. And he let us come in in the lobby 00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:48.480 and talk with people about Jesus. And so by now, 00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:51.539 as you can imagine, my friends are starting to 00:31:51.539 --> 00:31:55.380 be. Homeless people. They're starting to be gang 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:59.240 members, people involved in prostitution, people 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:03.259 involved in drug use, drug dealers. This is my 00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:07.160 flock. And it's beautiful. And I'll never forget 00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:09.940 that it's been torn down since then. But near 00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:12.599 Denver and 15th Street here, there was a bar, 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:16.039 a little dive, and I was there one night. And 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:18.019 two of my friends, Homer and Harold, they were 00:32:18.019 --> 00:32:20.160 both homeless. They'd been drinking too much. 00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:22.900 They weren't. Drunk, drunk, but they were drunk. 00:32:23.420 --> 00:32:26.079 And they went outside and I went outside with 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:30.059 them, still talking with them. And Homer, he 00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:31.779 was staggering and he broke his bottle. He was 00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:35.900 holding it by the top. And he's joking with his 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:38.480 friend, Harold, I'm going to kill you. I could 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:43.160 kill you. I could cut you up. And in his instability, 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:47.980 he stumbles. And I'm standing 15, 20 feet from 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:50.849 what happened. The jagged edge of that bottle 00:32:50.849 --> 00:32:53.329 went into Harold's chest and Harold was gone 00:32:53.329 --> 00:32:56.509 just like that. I never had seen somebody die. 00:32:56.670 --> 00:32:59.730 I'd seen bodies prepared at funeral homes, but 00:32:59.730 --> 00:33:02.170 I'd never had seen life leave somebody, let alone 00:33:02.170 --> 00:33:06.990 somebody be killed. And it shook me. And I just, 00:33:07.009 --> 00:33:10.190 I went home and I said, Jesus, how do I reach 00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:13.809 these people? Speak, Lord, your servants listening. 00:33:14.390 --> 00:33:17.829 And just like. Like when you see an animal get 00:33:17.829 --> 00:33:20.230 branded, that's the only way I can describe it. 00:33:20.569 --> 00:33:24.210 I felt the branding of God's voice on my soul. 00:33:24.750 --> 00:33:27.150 I want you to make a large wooden cross and begin 00:33:27.150 --> 00:33:29.529 walking through the streets of Tulsa on Good 00:33:29.529 --> 00:33:34.049 Friday. I got up and I said, Lord, I rebuke the 00:33:34.049 --> 00:33:38.410 devil in the name of Jesus. That cannot be you. 00:33:38.569 --> 00:33:41.329 And I opened the window to get some fresh air. 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:45.200 Again, Lord, I'm so sorry I was distracted. I 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:46.759 don't know where that thought came from, but 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:50.319 speak. Your servant is listening. And once again, 00:33:50.380 --> 00:33:52.460 like fire, I want you to make a large wooden 00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:54.319 cross and begin walking through the streets of 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:57.380 Tulsa on Good Friday. Okay, Lord, that's the 00:33:57.380 --> 00:33:59.579 last time I'm eating fruity pebbles and pizza. 00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:04.420 That is indigestion. I am not going to fall for 00:34:04.420 --> 00:34:08.469 that one. And so, Lord, I love you. I love you. 00:34:08.489 --> 00:34:11.909 I adore you. I worship you. Speak. Your servant 00:34:11.909 --> 00:34:16.670 is listening. And a third time. And this time, 00:34:16.750 --> 00:34:21.889 my prayer was, Lord, there was a guy at our local 00:34:21.889 --> 00:34:26.289 Walmart. And this fella carried a cross and he 00:34:26.289 --> 00:34:29.809 had a bullhorn and he wore a toga and pretend 00:34:29.809 --> 00:34:33.190 crown of thorns. He yelled at people coming in 00:34:33.190 --> 00:34:35.110 and out. He had hand -painted scripture verses 00:34:35.110 --> 00:34:38.750 and slogans on the side of his van. Repent! The 00:34:38.750 --> 00:34:43.710 kingdom of God is at hand! I said, Lord, you 00:34:43.710 --> 00:34:49.550 got somebody. You don't need another guy. And 00:34:49.550 --> 00:34:52.010 I felt like he said, son, that's the most religious 00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:54.909 excuse you could ever give me. I felt like he 00:34:54.909 --> 00:34:57.030 said, if I called you to preach, you wouldn't 00:34:57.030 --> 00:35:00.289 say, but Lord, you got Billy Graham. You've got 00:35:00.289 --> 00:35:03.570 all those pastors and all those people you look 00:35:03.570 --> 00:35:05.869 up to. You'd be honored and you'd be really happy. 00:35:06.190 --> 00:35:08.150 You just don't want people to think that you're 00:35:08.150 --> 00:35:15.329 weird. The truth. I felt like he said, son, anyone 00:35:15.329 --> 00:35:19.150 can carry a cross. Simon carried mine. Anyone 00:35:19.150 --> 00:35:21.690 can die on a cross. Two thieves died beside me. 00:35:22.329 --> 00:35:24.969 Thousands have died through the centuries. But 00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:27.679 only I could die. for the sins of the world, 00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:29.420 and I did it for love. And I want you to take 00:35:29.420 --> 00:35:32.920 that cross and identify my message of love in 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:34.860 the highways and the roadsides of this world. 00:35:35.480 --> 00:35:37.900 And I said, Lord, that sounds like you, but I 00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:41.159 really need a sign. And almost immediately, the 00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:44.239 phone on the wall rang. It was a friend. Keith, 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:47.860 this is crazy, but I just need to tell you, last 00:35:47.860 --> 00:35:51.000 year on Good Friday, my best friend and my pastor 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:54.719 carried a cross. And I think God wants you and 00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:56.539 me to make a large wooden cross and start walking 00:35:56.539 --> 00:35:58.260 through the streets of Tulsa on Good Friday. 00:35:58.760 --> 00:36:01.619 Wow. And I said, okay, Lord, that was pretty 00:36:01.619 --> 00:36:05.059 good. But could you give me one more sign? Seriously? 00:36:05.460 --> 00:36:08.699 I know. My walk, I'm telling you, my walk has 00:36:08.699 --> 00:36:11.860 not been one of great faith. A lot of people 00:36:11.860 --> 00:36:13.960 look at me and say, oh, you've got so much faith. 00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:16.480 I said, no, it's been a walk of God's grace and 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:19.159 mercy. It's been a walk of love. I'm in love 00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:22.550 with him. And I'm choosing to follow him. No 00:36:22.550 --> 00:36:26.090 matter how hard it is or how weird it feels, 00:36:26.289 --> 00:36:29.130 no matter what people think now. But my first 00:36:29.130 --> 00:36:30.670 prayer when I picked up the cross was, Lord, 00:36:30.710 --> 00:36:34.929 don't let anybody see me. But in between picking 00:36:34.929 --> 00:36:37.829 up the cross the first time, I go to class the 00:36:37.829 --> 00:36:40.769 next day and a professor who's going alphabetical. 00:36:40.769 --> 00:36:44.889 My last name is Wheeler W. We were in the M's 00:36:44.889 --> 00:36:48.510 like the Miller, Martin, Martinez. And he said. 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:50.780 Keith, for some reason, I think you're supposed 00:36:50.780 --> 00:36:54.820 to speak next week. And normally we would select 00:36:54.820 --> 00:36:59.059 the text. But he said, no. He said, I want to 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:00.440 select the text. And I think you're supposed 00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:04.059 to speak on Mark chapter 8, verse 34. I look 00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:06.679 it up. If anyone wishes to come after me, let 00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:09.159 him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow 00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:12.480 me. Okay, I'll do it. And we started walking, 00:37:12.699 --> 00:37:16.219 prayed that prayer. And then later that day as 00:37:16.219 --> 00:37:19.440 we're finishing. And the deal was. John was going 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:21.460 to walk a mile. I'd walk a mile and we were going 00:37:21.460 --> 00:37:24.739 to alternate. John walked six miles and I walked 00:37:24.739 --> 00:37:27.880 about 30 miles with the carrying the cross. But 00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:30.840 at the end of the day, there was an elderly couple 00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:34.599 walking, beautiful couple and had a perfectly 00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:39.139 coiffed beard. She had perfectly coiffed red 00:37:39.139 --> 00:37:42.639 hair and they were just stately. And they asked 00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:45.000 if they could pray for us. And when they finished, 00:37:45.059 --> 00:37:47.719 my friend said, you guys look familiar. Are you? 00:37:48.059 --> 00:37:52.500 And he goes, T .L. Osborne, I am. And she goes, 00:37:52.579 --> 00:37:56.360 and I'm Daisy, too. And his prayer was, and Lord, 00:37:56.440 --> 00:37:59.260 send this man to the nations. And I'm praying, 00:37:59.380 --> 00:38:04.579 no, no, no, no, no. And so I walked maybe three 00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:07.719 times. And then the end of the story comes now. 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:10.739 This is the last part. Sorry to drag it all out. 00:38:10.940 --> 00:38:13.239 No, it's beautiful. But I was visiting my mother 00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:16.139 and father in Harrison. And for a weekend, I 00:38:16.139 --> 00:38:21.000 was driving back. And as I got near, the highway 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:23.019 wasn't like it is now. It was two lanes, Highway 00:38:23.019 --> 00:38:27.800 62. And as I came through a little town called 00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:30.320 Choteau, I was approaching it, coming down a 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:32.880 windy road. Sun was setting through the forest. 00:38:33.260 --> 00:38:36.380 And I don't know how to describe it, but in front 00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:38.639 of my eyes, I could still see the road, but I 00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:42.719 saw a Newsweek magazine. And the magazine had 00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:45.250 my picture on the cover carrying the cross. And 00:38:45.250 --> 00:38:47.489 it said, take the cross to Cape Town, Durban 00:38:47.489 --> 00:38:50.570 and Johannesburg. Oh, wow. And South Africa. 00:38:50.949 --> 00:38:55.110 And I like pull over, rub my eyes. I could still 00:38:55.110 --> 00:38:59.849 see it. And I woke up my friend and do you see 00:38:59.849 --> 00:39:02.369 anything? No, I don't see anything. I prayed 00:39:02.369 --> 00:39:04.309 for them like Elijah did the servant that, you 00:39:04.309 --> 00:39:06.630 know, open their eyes. There's more with us than 00:39:06.630 --> 00:39:11.570 there are against us. Nothing. And then I look 00:39:11.570 --> 00:39:14.420 and it was normal. But it was like that fire 00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:17.119 that I described earlier, just burning in my 00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:21.139 heart for two weeks. But I'm making every excuse. 00:39:21.739 --> 00:39:25.400 I'm making the excuses like, I don't have enough 00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:27.900 money to go. It's dangerous there. I've got a 00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:30.360 great job. I'm in school. What about my family? 00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:34.460 How do you get a 12 feet long cross on an airplane? 00:39:34.860 --> 00:39:38.239 God makes more sense than that, right? So it 00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:44.420 can't be God. God is logical. And so, no, I'm 00:39:44.420 --> 00:39:47.239 not going to go. And I didn't. And once I said 00:39:47.239 --> 00:39:52.099 no, that intensity of fire was gone immediately. 00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:57.800 It was normal. Two more weeks pass. And I was 00:39:57.800 --> 00:40:00.820 in part two of that class, the professor who 00:40:00.820 --> 00:40:05.019 gave me Mark chapter 8, verse 34. And our assignment 00:40:05.019 --> 00:40:07.460 was, and you have to remember, this is 1985. 00:40:08.219 --> 00:40:11.630 And there's no... internet. There's no computers. 00:40:12.409 --> 00:40:15.550 There's no cell phones. There's no YouTube. I 00:40:15.550 --> 00:40:20.250 didn't have cable. I didn't have satellite. But 00:40:20.250 --> 00:40:22.989 he wanted us to watch a Christian TV show. Christian 00:40:22.989 --> 00:40:26.869 television was new in the area. And TBN had a 00:40:26.869 --> 00:40:30.030 channel nearby. It was channel 17. And I don't 00:40:30.030 --> 00:40:33.449 remember if it was UHF or VHF. And you guys remember 00:40:33.449 --> 00:40:37.510 this, but some of the listeners may not. So I 00:40:37.510 --> 00:40:41.519 had antenna. And you put Right. Tinfoil on the 00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:43.920 top and you move it a certain way. You could 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:46.079 almost move your mouth a certain way and read 00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:48.860 through what we called the snow. And I got to 00:40:48.860 --> 00:40:52.159 the channel and the first words I ever heard 00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:55.320 on Christian television. Yeah. It was, I later 00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:57.400 found out it was a Kenneth Copeland convention 00:40:57.400 --> 00:41:00.019 in Anaheim, California, Believers West Coast 00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:04.440 Convention. And Paul and Jen Crouch of TBN who 00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:08.099 owned the station that was airing this. had a 00:41:08.099 --> 00:41:11.059 guest and that guest came up and the only other 00:41:11.059 --> 00:41:13.900 guy I knew who carried a cross was the guy in 00:41:13.900 --> 00:41:16.699 my Walmart parking lot. And this guy comes up 00:41:16.699 --> 00:41:19.039 and he said, Kenneth Copeland says, what is God 00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:21.579 saying to you? And he didn't introduce him or 00:41:21.579 --> 00:41:24.400 anything. He said, well, brother Ken, God has 00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:26.420 been calling someone to take a cross to Cape 00:41:26.420 --> 00:41:29.260 Town, Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa. 00:41:29.739 --> 00:41:32.659 And they didn't go. He said, I've always asked 00:41:32.659 --> 00:41:34.380 God to call someone first. And if they didn't 00:41:34.380 --> 00:41:37.280 go, I volunteer. I'm really tired. I just got 00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:41.099 back, but I'm leaving next week to go to South 00:41:41.099 --> 00:41:43.900 Africa. The man's name was Arthur Blessed. I 00:41:43.900 --> 00:41:48.460 knew nothing about him, but he went in my place 00:41:48.460 --> 00:41:52.800 and I made a commitment. Lord Jesus, I would 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:56.679 rather miss your will trying to obey than not 00:41:56.679 --> 00:41:59.739 do anything at all. So I may get to heaven and 00:41:59.739 --> 00:42:03.630 Jesus may laugh at me and say, son. He may scratch 00:42:03.630 --> 00:42:06.070 his head. I didn't mean for you to actually carry 00:42:06.070 --> 00:42:08.369 a wooden cross. I meant for you to preach the 00:42:08.369 --> 00:42:10.889 cross around the world. But thanks for trying. 00:42:13.190 --> 00:42:19.090 So it's been that journey of walking together 00:42:19.090 --> 00:42:22.590 with Jesus, carrying a cross and getting to be 00:42:22.590 --> 00:42:26.349 front row center stages as he does bless, touch, 00:42:26.590 --> 00:42:29.429 save, deliver, change people's lives forever. 00:42:29.710 --> 00:42:32.980 And that's what it's all about. Yeah. And that's 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:35.619 why we do this podcast. We want to see people's 00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:38.460 lives changed. And we don't always hear any feedback 00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:41.599 that anybody's was. Once in a while, we get a 00:42:41.599 --> 00:42:45.159 tremendous piece of feedback about that. So does 00:42:45.159 --> 00:42:48.039 the Lord allow you once in a while to get some 00:42:48.039 --> 00:42:53.300 feedback to kind of encourage you? Well, yes, 00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:57.880 yes. But he knows I don't need it. He is my encouragement. 00:42:58.940 --> 00:43:02.099 He is my great reward. I hear people sometimes 00:43:02.099 --> 00:43:03.820 say, oh, you're going to get to heaven and you're 00:43:03.820 --> 00:43:07.760 going to see how God used you. No, I'm going 00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:09.460 to get to heaven and I'm going to get to watch 00:43:09.460 --> 00:43:13.980 how he worked. Heaven is about him. Yeah. And 00:43:13.980 --> 00:43:16.980 it's not about me getting, I mean, the reward 00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:20.199 in heaven is him. He fills heaven. True. And 00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:22.840 heaven is about him. And the only reason we get 00:43:22.840 --> 00:43:25.039 crowns is so that we can throw them at his feet. 00:43:25.300 --> 00:43:28.760 Yeah. He's the worthy one. And so he is my encouragement. 00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:31.920 One of my mottos has been, Lord, blind me to 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:35.780 what happens behind me. That way I don't, the 00:43:35.780 --> 00:43:38.460 responsibility for the success or failure, that's 00:43:38.460 --> 00:43:41.639 not mine. It's him. That's why I say it's his 00:43:41.639 --> 00:43:46.659 ministry. My role, my calling has been to be 00:43:46.659 --> 00:43:50.079 faithful. If I'm here and I've got another friend 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:52.639 that comes in the room and you guys have never 00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:55.159 met the friend. I actually have a young man staying 00:43:55.159 --> 00:43:56.960 with us. His name is Nate. He's from Norway. 00:43:57.340 --> 00:43:59.099 But you've never met him. He's not here right 00:43:59.099 --> 00:44:02.619 now. But if he comes in the room, and I would 00:44:02.619 --> 00:44:06.019 say to you guys, I'd say, Philip and Sharon, 00:44:06.179 --> 00:44:08.239 you guys have been friends for a long time. This 00:44:08.239 --> 00:44:10.559 is Nate. He's my new friend. I would tell him 00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:12.199 a little bit about you guys. I would tell him 00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:15.900 about you all. And that's what I'd get to do 00:44:15.900 --> 00:44:19.260 with Jesus. And you can't unmeet Nate after you've 00:44:19.260 --> 00:44:21.579 met him. You can't. But it's how are you going 00:44:21.579 --> 00:44:26.239 to choose to pursue that friendship? And it's 00:44:26.239 --> 00:44:28.760 only a work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. 00:44:28.980 --> 00:44:32.460 And so that's what I love is I get to watch. 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:35.239 I'll tell you a funny story that I heard years 00:44:35.239 --> 00:44:38.980 later. I was carrying the cross from Panama to 00:44:38.980 --> 00:44:42.099 Mexico. That's a long walk. And in the 1980s, 00:44:42.099 --> 00:44:44.480 there was war in every country except Costa Rica. 00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:48.519 I actually was in jail in Panama when Noriega 00:44:48.519 --> 00:44:52.820 was leading there. But the war, obviously, the 00:44:52.820 --> 00:44:55.860 big one we all knew about was in Nicaragua. You 00:44:55.860 --> 00:44:58.559 know, the drug wars were in Panama. But El Salvador 00:44:58.559 --> 00:45:02.380 had a horrible war. Honduras had spillover war. 00:45:02.460 --> 00:45:04.440 Guatemala had the longest running civil war. 00:45:05.780 --> 00:45:08.420 And eventually Chiapas. And that's where I faced 00:45:08.420 --> 00:45:11.659 the firing squad was in Chiapas State in southern 00:45:11.659 --> 00:45:15.699 Mexico. As I walked through, I don't know if 00:45:15.699 --> 00:45:18.599 it was northern Costa Rica, southern Nicaragua. 00:45:19.230 --> 00:45:23.230 This guy approaches me and he said, I'm a bad 00:45:23.230 --> 00:45:28.809 man, but I need to carry your cross. And I said, 00:45:29.750 --> 00:45:31.429 why are you a bad man? He said, I'll tell you, 00:45:31.489 --> 00:45:35.690 but I'm a bad, bad, bad man. He's crying. And 00:45:35.690 --> 00:45:38.630 anybody who wants to walk with me, I'll let them 00:45:38.630 --> 00:45:41.550 because I get that time together with them. And 00:45:41.550 --> 00:45:44.690 I knew what was happening. There's a tradition 00:45:44.690 --> 00:45:48.329 in the church there and it's called penitentia, 00:45:48.349 --> 00:45:51.619 penance. There's one called promise, and you 00:45:51.619 --> 00:45:54.059 do something to get something. I'll carry the 00:45:54.059 --> 00:45:56.860 cross so far if God will answer my prayer, or 00:45:56.860 --> 00:45:58.679 God answered my prayer, so I'm going to do this. 00:45:59.500 --> 00:46:01.679 Penitencia is the other way around. It's I've 00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:03.940 done something really bad. I need to be forgiven, 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:08.860 so I need to suffer for a while. And so he has 00:46:08.860 --> 00:46:10.960 no socks, but he takes off his shoes, and he 00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:12.840 rolls up his pants above his leg, and he starts 00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:15.519 carrying my cross. And he's crying the whole 00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:18.219 time. I'm a bad man. And he told me he was a 00:46:18.219 --> 00:46:21.659 bad man. He had beaten people up. He had shot 00:46:21.659 --> 00:46:25.480 people. He had stabbed people. He'd used drugs, 00:46:25.579 --> 00:46:29.400 sold drugs, misused drugs. He cheated on his 00:46:29.400 --> 00:46:32.539 wife. He'd raped other women. He was a bad man. 00:46:32.800 --> 00:46:37.320 And every time he would see sharp rocks, he's 00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:40.559 carrying the cross. And the cross isn't... I 00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:43.150 tell people when they say, how heavy is it? It's 00:46:43.150 --> 00:46:45.670 heavy enough to remember. It's light enough not 00:46:45.670 --> 00:46:49.190 to be a sacrifice. The goal is not to sacrifice. 00:46:49.809 --> 00:46:52.050 Number one comment around the world, you're cheating. 00:46:52.150 --> 00:46:55.809 Jesus didn't have a wheel. I said, you're right. 00:46:55.989 --> 00:46:57.750 He didn't have a wheel, but my name's Keith. 00:46:58.849 --> 00:47:02.050 And I'm not planning on dying on this cross. 00:47:02.250 --> 00:47:04.269 But even if I die on this cross, I could shed 00:47:04.269 --> 00:47:06.650 all my blood and it wouldn't take away one of 00:47:06.650 --> 00:47:09.920 my sins, let alone the sins of the world. And 00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:12.079 I couldn't come out of the grave on my own. I'm 00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:15.500 walking to remind people of that. But the cross, 00:47:15.659 --> 00:47:17.579 I don't know, you probably can't see on the screen, 00:47:17.739 --> 00:47:21.199 but my collarbone has a lump there, an inch and 00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:24.099 a half of the years of the weight of the wood 00:47:24.099 --> 00:47:28.760 bearing down on my shoulder. The wood of the 00:47:28.760 --> 00:47:30.960 cross has shaped my body. And so that's what 00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:34.400 Jesus does with us. So this guy was trying to 00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:38.139 be forgiven. by carrying this cross and stepping 00:47:38.139 --> 00:47:41.559 on sharp stones. And if he'd see thorn bushes 00:47:41.559 --> 00:47:44.059 or sticker bushes, he would step on those thorns 00:47:44.059 --> 00:47:46.920 and sticker bushes. And he was just, I'm a bad 00:47:46.920 --> 00:47:49.320 man crying. And the whole time I'm telling him, 00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:51.960 you don't have to carry the cross. Jesus already 00:47:51.960 --> 00:47:54.860 carried the cross for you. He didn't just carry 00:47:54.860 --> 00:47:56.500 the cross. He died on the cross. You don't have 00:47:56.500 --> 00:47:58.380 to bleed. Jesus bled for you. You don't have 00:47:58.380 --> 00:48:01.500 to suffer. He paid the price. He suffered for 00:48:01.500 --> 00:48:04.449 you. And I mean, there was even one point there 00:48:04.449 --> 00:48:06.909 was broken glass. I mean, he stepped on twisted 00:48:06.909 --> 00:48:09.349 metal, rusty metal. There was some broken glass 00:48:09.349 --> 00:48:11.650 and he got down on his knees and he's walking 00:48:11.650 --> 00:48:14.309 across his knees on that broken glass. Blood 00:48:14.309 --> 00:48:19.190 just pouring down and he's sweating. And it's 00:48:19.190 --> 00:48:22.809 like after 12 kilometers, which is about seven 00:48:22.809 --> 00:48:25.329 and a half miles, we're on the top of, it's not 00:48:25.329 --> 00:48:28.210 a mountain, but it's a high hill that he's walked 00:48:28.210 --> 00:48:30.989 up. And it's like the light bulb went off. And 00:48:30.989 --> 00:48:33.429 he says, you mean? I didn't have to walk with 00:48:33.429 --> 00:48:35.530 you this whole way. That's what I've been telling 00:48:35.530 --> 00:48:39.289 you. And I didn't have to carry this. No, sir. 00:48:39.369 --> 00:48:41.929 Jesus already carried it for you. And I didn't 00:48:41.929 --> 00:48:45.269 have to suffer and bleed. No, sir. Jesus' blood 00:48:45.269 --> 00:48:48.989 was enough. And he's alive and I can know him. 00:48:49.710 --> 00:48:52.030 Yes, sir. That's what I've been trying to tell 00:48:52.030 --> 00:48:57.130 you. And he'll forgive even me and make me new 00:48:57.130 --> 00:49:00.900 and make me clean. You got it, sir. And I've 00:49:00.900 --> 00:49:03.440 never seen somebody get more saved. It was just 00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:08.659 beautiful. Because it takes, by now, the cross 00:49:08.659 --> 00:49:10.579 is off his shoulder. It's on his side, kind of 00:49:10.579 --> 00:49:13.199 like it's leaning. Listeners can't see it, but 00:49:13.199 --> 00:49:15.940 it's leaning on his side, almost like a pulpit. 00:49:16.719 --> 00:49:20.579 And that guy, he doesn't bow his head, close 00:49:20.579 --> 00:49:22.840 his eyes, nobody looking around, raise his hand, 00:49:22.940 --> 00:49:27.909 none of that. He didn't sign an altar card. This 00:49:27.909 --> 00:49:31.030 guy gives me the cross, jumps in the air like 00:49:31.030 --> 00:49:33.750 the old Toyota LEAP, kicks both of his heels 00:49:33.750 --> 00:49:36.849 together, hands up in the air, and he goes, Yahoo! 00:49:37.769 --> 00:49:42.250 Yahoo! At last I saw him running down a hill, 00:49:42.309 --> 00:49:46.489 both hands up. I'm free! I'm free! I'm free! 00:49:47.309 --> 00:49:49.449 Wow. That's a pretty cool story right there. 00:49:49.829 --> 00:49:53.110 First of all, how many of us got that saved when 00:49:53.110 --> 00:49:57.599 we got saved? Really? Yeah. 20 years later, I 00:49:57.599 --> 00:50:00.179 was speaking at a missions conference in Waco, 00:50:00.340 --> 00:50:05.260 Texas. And I was one of the general session speakers, 00:50:05.400 --> 00:50:08.280 but they had breakout sessions on specific areas 00:50:08.280 --> 00:50:10.739 of the world. And the speaker for Latin America 00:50:10.739 --> 00:50:13.760 wasn't able to arrive because of bad weather. 00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:15.380 And they said, well, Keith, you've walked through 00:50:15.380 --> 00:50:17.679 Latin America. How about you be our speaker? 00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:21.900 And in my talk, I included that story because 00:50:21.900 --> 00:50:25.650 of the whole idea of penance, penitentia. And 00:50:25.650 --> 00:50:29.130 how we go about reaching people in that part 00:50:29.130 --> 00:50:31.869 of the world. And afterwards, a man, obviously 00:50:31.869 --> 00:50:36.010 from Latin America, came up to me. And ear to 00:50:36.010 --> 00:50:39.510 ear, beaming, grinning. And he pokes me in the 00:50:39.510 --> 00:50:42.250 chest. He goes, you're that man. And I said, 00:50:42.289 --> 00:50:46.170 I'm sorry. He goes, that story you told, that's 00:50:46.170 --> 00:50:49.369 my pastor. Wow. And I said, I'm sorry, what? 00:50:49.789 --> 00:50:52.929 He goes, our pastor has told us that story over 00:50:52.929 --> 00:50:57.059 and over again. And he goes, and I get to meet 00:50:57.059 --> 00:50:59.780 you today. He said, I can't wait to tell that 00:50:59.780 --> 00:51:04.380 story to my pastor. So sometimes, you know, you 00:51:04.380 --> 00:51:09.219 don't know. But I don't care. I don't care. I'm 00:51:09.219 --> 00:51:12.760 free. I really am free from whether you're threatening 00:51:12.760 --> 00:51:15.599 to kill me because that's obviously happened 00:51:15.599 --> 00:51:19.099 many times. People put guns in my mouth, in my 00:51:19.099 --> 00:51:22.820 ears. One particular group had a sword to my 00:51:22.820 --> 00:51:25.969 neck. threatening to cut off my head that urinated 00:51:25.969 --> 00:51:28.849 on me, or whether you're bribing me with money 00:51:28.849 --> 00:51:34.349 or not money, or life or death, prosperity or 00:51:34.349 --> 00:51:39.670 poverty, I'm free. Praise or rejection, I'm free. 00:51:39.809 --> 00:51:44.030 My Savior loves me, and my fairy tale princess 00:51:44.030 --> 00:51:48.849 adores me, and I'm free. Beautiful. Beautiful. 00:51:49.429 --> 00:51:51.909 Well, would you pray for our listeners? Yeah. 00:51:52.489 --> 00:51:55.349 First of all, thanks again for the honor of being 00:51:55.349 --> 00:51:58.210 together with you guys. It's really a treat. 00:52:00.690 --> 00:52:06.289 Holy, holy, holy. You're so holy and beautiful, 00:52:06.510 --> 00:52:11.550 beautiful. And we adore you. You take our breath 00:52:11.550 --> 00:52:16.090 away and our hearts beat for you. I pray in this 00:52:16.090 --> 00:52:19.250 talk and this time together that... That you've 00:52:19.250 --> 00:52:21.710 allowed me to honor you and that I've lifted 00:52:21.710 --> 00:52:25.349 you up. You could be seen. I pray for those who 00:52:25.349 --> 00:52:30.130 have been hurt along the way. Maybe have gotten 00:52:30.130 --> 00:52:33.630 their eyes on other things. Their eyesight's 00:52:33.630 --> 00:52:35.409 been wounded and they can't see you as clearly. 00:52:36.070 --> 00:52:38.409 Maybe they've just gotten tired and they've let 00:52:38.409 --> 00:52:41.889 their eyes fall. But you give everybody who's 00:52:41.889 --> 00:52:45.289 listening the grace to lay aside everything. 00:52:46.409 --> 00:52:49.030 Just keeping them from running to race and fixing 00:52:49.030 --> 00:52:51.570 their eyes on you. And would you allow them to 00:52:51.570 --> 00:52:54.570 fix their eyes on you? Would you give them the 00:52:54.570 --> 00:52:58.469 love for you that they'll never, ever recover 00:52:58.469 --> 00:53:03.769 from? Yes. Would you burn the image of your face, 00:53:03.909 --> 00:53:07.690 your beautiful face, your glorious face in our 00:53:07.690 --> 00:53:13.320 hearts so that you are always before us? Would 00:53:13.320 --> 00:53:16.659 you put in us hearts that want to lean on your 00:53:16.659 --> 00:53:19.280 chest, lean our heads on your chest and hear 00:53:19.280 --> 00:53:22.159 your heartbeat? Hearts that want to wipe away 00:53:22.159 --> 00:53:25.159 the tears from your eyes today as you weep over 00:53:25.159 --> 00:53:29.000 this broken world. May we bring a smile to that 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:32.039 beautiful face. And may our hearts be with your 00:53:32.039 --> 00:53:36.860 heart. Would you not only lead each of us, everyone 00:53:36.860 --> 00:53:40.900 listening, as well as Philip and Sharon and me. 00:53:41.440 --> 00:53:44.760 Not only lead us by your voice, but by your whispers 00:53:44.760 --> 00:53:48.760 and by your heartbeat. But you promised to lead 00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:50.559 us with a glance of your eyes. May we become 00:53:50.559 --> 00:53:55.039 so intimately acquainted with you and your face. 00:53:55.780 --> 00:53:58.760 We just look to you and we're led by a glance 00:53:58.760 --> 00:54:01.840 of your eyes, as the psalmist said. So we adore 00:54:01.840 --> 00:54:06.500 you. We honor you. And we bless you. And our 00:54:06.500 --> 00:54:09.619 hearts sing. Thanks for inviting us to follow 00:54:09.619 --> 00:54:12.400 you. Thanks for inviting us to work together 00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:14.340 with you. You can do it so much better without 00:54:14.340 --> 00:54:18.400 us. And you invite us to do it with you. And 00:54:18.400 --> 00:54:21.960 even though we're weak, help us to remember it's 00:54:21.960 --> 00:54:25.320 not by might. It's not by power. It's by your 00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:29.079 spirit. It's not only your wisdom. You are wisdom. 00:54:29.639 --> 00:54:33.719 Yes. We come to you. It's the first point in 00:54:33.719 --> 00:54:35.679 your sermon where you said blessed are the poor 00:54:35.679 --> 00:54:39.860 in spirit. And we say we're poor in spirit. We 00:54:39.860 --> 00:54:44.039 need you. Would you fill us? And as you said 00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:46.739 to me so many years ago, you're more interested 00:54:46.739 --> 00:54:49.619 in reaching all of our heart than you are in 00:54:49.619 --> 00:54:52.119 all the world. Yes. Because when you get someone 00:54:52.119 --> 00:54:53.900 whose heart is completely yours, you've got someone 00:54:53.900 --> 00:54:56.239 you can reach all the world through. So we give 00:54:56.239 --> 00:54:59.420 you all of us. We don't need more of you. You 00:54:59.420 --> 00:55:01.739 need all of us. And we give you all of us, our 00:55:01.739 --> 00:55:05.380 dreams. We give you our sin and our wretchedness. 00:55:05.420 --> 00:55:08.360 We give you our problems. We give you our hangups. 00:55:09.000 --> 00:55:11.380 But we give you our dreams. We give you our vision. 00:55:11.800 --> 00:55:15.099 We give you our goals. We give you our callings. 00:55:15.500 --> 00:55:17.920 We give you everything that you've given to us, 00:55:17.960 --> 00:55:20.579 our strengths and our abilities. We give you 00:55:20.579 --> 00:55:22.679 everything. And we pray that you'd find this 00:55:22.679 --> 00:55:26.440 living sacrifice as holy and acceptable in your 00:55:26.440 --> 00:55:30.500 eyes. And we just say, we love you. We love you. 00:55:31.079 --> 00:55:34.139 In the name above all names. In the name, it's 00:55:34.139 --> 00:55:37.119 the most beautiful name. Thank you for allowing 00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:41.980 us to say it in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. 00:55:55.920 --> 00:55:58.760 Your review helps the podcasting platform suggest 00:55:58.760 --> 00:56:01.400 this podcast to other listeners who are also 00:56:01.400 --> 00:56:03.699 looking for a great move of the Holy Spirit. 00:56:03.940 --> 00:56:06.719 Check out our website at globaloutpouring .org 00:56:06.719 --> 00:56:09.559 to find out more information, read our blogs, 00:56:09.699 --> 00:56:12.539 connect with us, and donate. You can also browse 00:56:12.539 --> 00:56:15.099 our web store for life -changing anointed books. 00:56:15.519 --> 00:56:18.920 Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm 00:56:18.920 --> 00:56:21.639 Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming, 00:56:21.860 --> 00:56:22.840 loving presence.