WEBVTT 00:00:01.479 --> 00:00:04.320 My name is Bob. I'm one of the pastors here at 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:06.960 Heights, and I want to take a second to welcome 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:10.599 Pauldin, Baghdad, and anyone watching. It's so 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:13.779 good to have you all here today. What do you 00:00:13.779 --> 00:00:20.519 think of the new shirt? Pastor John is making 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.940 us wear these if we speak on stage. It wasn't 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:25.800 really my choice, but I will say I noticed something 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:31.120 with this picture. The way his hair is, uncanny 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:35.759 resemblance to Ellen DeGeneres. I'm pretty sure. 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.939 Don't be mad, John. I will say another thing 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.159 about it though. Unlike Pastor Ben or Pastor 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.799 Todd, I make this shirt look good. And again, 00:00:47.859 --> 00:00:50.899 it's so good to be with you today. And as you 00:00:50.899 --> 00:00:53.619 see. Celebration weekend, we're gonna do some 00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:56.719 baptisms. Super exciting. So a couple of weeks 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:59.899 ago, when Pastor John asked me, would you speak 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:02.479 in two weeks? I said, celebration weekend, count 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.439 me in. It's my favorite. And there are so many 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.200 things that we have at Heights to celebrate through 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.200 the church. And I also just got back last month 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.700 from Dominican Republic on a missions trip. And 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:17.340 we're gonna talk about that in a little bit too, 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:19.159 because there's a lot to celebrate just from 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:22.310 that trip. But I want to share a few things that 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:25.390 I think God has been laying on my heart and teaching 00:01:25.390 --> 00:01:27.950 me that I've learned from Dominican Republic 00:01:27.950 --> 00:01:31.510 trip and also that I've learned through a recent 00:01:31.510 --> 00:01:36.329 collection of talks, just camping. And it has 00:01:36.329 --> 00:01:38.730 been life -changing for me. I don't know, like 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:41.269 I internalize a lot of stuff and I'm thinking 00:01:41.269 --> 00:01:43.469 through these messages and it really did affect 00:01:43.469 --> 00:01:48.890 me a lot. And I guess as I thought through it 00:01:48.890 --> 00:01:52.680 anyway. As I was quiet with God, my wife even 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:53.959 said at one point, she goes, you're super quiet. 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:57.760 She goes, is your back hurting or whatever? And 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:00.180 I said, no, no, I'm just thinking. And it's been 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:03.780 about this. And that collection of talks, just 00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:06.099 camping, really hit me hard. Made me think and 00:02:06.099 --> 00:02:08.360 reevaluate a lot of things. And if you're new 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:11.659 here and you have not listened to that, please 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:13.819 go online. I think there's only like nine messages 00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:17.080 on there. Even if you've heard it before, I would 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:19.039 listen to it again because I do think it's really, 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.840 really a great series. And I'm gonna say this 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:26.599 too, like through that trip and through those 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:29.560 talks, the one thing that keeps coming back to 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:32.360 me that I'm learning is that the only thing that 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.500 really matters is people and relationships. And 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:37.900 it just keeps getting laid on my heart heavier 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:40.659 and heavier all the time. And the part that stood 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.180 out to me most, the first week of just camping, 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:47.400 Pastor John said, reminding us that the only 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:49.560 thing we take to heaven when we leave this earth 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:54.120 is people. We're leaving everything else behind. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:57.840 And then I go to Dominican and I'm kind of hit 00:02:57.840 --> 00:02:59.860 with the same thing because we're meeting these 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:02.139 people and the people and their stories in the 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:05.740 Dominican are amazing. And then I'm realizing 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:07.580 how great these people are. I hear all this stuff. 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.599 And some of the people that we met in public 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:12.360 high school gave their life to Jesus for the 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:18.389 very first time. Amazing. And then we're working 00:03:18.389 --> 00:03:21.389 alongside these students and I'll talk about 00:03:21.389 --> 00:03:24.689 them a little bit later, but we're doing ministry 00:03:24.689 --> 00:03:26.889 right alongside them. We're raising them in leadership, 00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:29.530 but then doing the ministry with them. And then 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:32.490 it hit me as we're doing this, I'm like, this 00:03:32.490 --> 00:03:35.129 is all about people and relationships. I'm gonna 00:03:35.129 --> 00:03:38.030 spend eternity with these people that just gave 00:03:38.030 --> 00:03:40.729 their life to Christ and the people that we're 00:03:40.729 --> 00:03:44.900 doing ministry with. And the Holy Spirit just 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:47.259 kept revealing, Bob, it's all about people. It's 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:49.240 all about relationships. That's what really matters. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:55.580 And yet I'm not sure we or I live our lives with 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:57.960 that importance of people. I don't know that 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.099 my life reflects that because I don't know about 00:04:00.099 --> 00:04:01.780 you, but I can get pretty caught up in myself, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:07.840 what I need, what I want. How can I improve myself 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.030 and make myself a little bit better? And then 00:04:11.030 --> 00:04:13.250 I lose sight of what really matters, other people 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:16.649 and God. And I think we're so concerned with 00:04:16.649 --> 00:04:19.769 contentment and how happy we are, that again, 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:21.870 it takes us away from the most important thing. 00:04:22.269 --> 00:04:24.970 And again, we learn through just camping, this 00:04:24.970 --> 00:04:29.310 life is so temporary. And to show you that, I 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:32.410 stole an example from someone, but I'll use it 00:04:32.410 --> 00:04:37.009 here. Just look at this rope and think, what 00:04:37.009 --> 00:04:40.220 if this rope is the timeline of our existence. 00:04:43.019 --> 00:04:47.139 This is your life and my life. And it goes on 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:49.079 forever. Picture this rope, like it just keeps 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:56.079 going and going. It's eternity. But picture this 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:00.160 red part. This is where your existence starts. 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.220 And this red part is our time here on earth. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.720 And yet there's all of this. And we don't pay 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.240 much attention to it. We're so consumed by this 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:14.680 part. And then we'll even break this part down 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:17.899 a little bit and go, well, right before I die 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:20.500 and I head into eternity, either in heaven or 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:22.839 hell, I wanna make sure that this part's really 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:25.480 comfortable. So I'm gonna work a lot and I'm 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:27.680 gonna do some things because I wanna have the 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:33.100 good life by the time I get right here. And again, 00:05:33.339 --> 00:05:40.550 this is so short. What about the rest? I don't 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:42.329 know that we live our lives concerned about the 00:05:42.329 --> 00:05:47.189 rest. And yet the Bible teaches that how we live 00:05:47.189 --> 00:05:51.230 our lives here determines how we're going to 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:56.290 spend eternity. It was shocking to me when I 00:05:56.290 --> 00:05:58.410 started thinking about it. And yet we're so focused 00:05:58.410 --> 00:06:01.990 on this part, on the temporary, and we lose focus 00:06:01.990 --> 00:06:05.480 of the eternal and what really matters. And it 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:07.560 took me back to that first verse. I think we 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:11.000 used it every week during just camping. In 2 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:16.620 Corinthians 5, verse 1, it says this. For we 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:19.920 know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:23.959 we have a building from God, an eternal house 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:29.060 in heaven, not built by human hands. This is 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:30.819 the tent they're talking about, this little red 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:34.389 part. And like Pastor John spoke about last week, 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:36.410 he talked about this concept of being in the 00:06:36.410 --> 00:06:39.889 middle. Some of you, I hope most of you are believers. 00:06:41.350 --> 00:06:46.389 Somewhere you made that decision, but we haven't 00:06:46.389 --> 00:06:50.129 arrived yet. We're gonna arrive at something 00:06:50.129 --> 00:06:52.449 way bigger than that. And if you're in a Christ 00:06:52.449 --> 00:06:54.870 follower, we're gonna spend eternity together 00:06:54.870 --> 00:06:59.389 in heaven on this part. But are we living our 00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:02.459 lives future focused? or focused on the temporary. 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:06.220 Because here's the thing I would say, we have 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:11.000 it so good, we don't need anything. We often 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.879 take our eyes off of God because of that. We're 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.060 very self -sufficient and we lose sight of what 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:18.939 really matters. I was recently out with a friend 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:21.660 of mine and we had lunch. His name is Jorge Lara 00:07:21.660 --> 00:07:25.579 and Jorge works as a missionary for World Map 00:07:25.579 --> 00:07:28.420 and he lives locally. So we go out and talk. 00:07:28.889 --> 00:07:30.970 And we were out a couple of weeks ago and we 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:32.949 were talking and he said that, tell me about 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:35.009 trips World Map has done. And he was talking 00:07:35.009 --> 00:07:37.490 about one where they were taking a team to China. 00:07:37.529 --> 00:07:39.610 He said it was long before he got there, but 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:40.930 he was telling me about the trip and they were 00:07:40.930 --> 00:07:43.709 going to minister to the underground church in 00:07:43.709 --> 00:07:47.370 China. And the underground church in China has 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:50.610 that name because the Chinese church is super 00:07:50.610 --> 00:07:55.189 persecuted. Up till 1976, you could be killed 00:07:55.189 --> 00:07:58.129 if you called yourself a Christian. It's still 00:07:58.129 --> 00:08:01.290 illegal for anyone under 18 to enter any Christian 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:04.790 church or establishment. And they're always persecuting 00:08:04.790 --> 00:08:06.930 the church that was there. So they were arresting 00:08:06.930 --> 00:08:10.230 pastors still all the time, making it hard for 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:12.550 other people that went to the church. So they 00:08:12.550 --> 00:08:15.430 created the underground church. I want to tell 00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:18.290 you about my almost experience with the underground 00:08:18.290 --> 00:08:21.189 church. So in 2011, Heights was going to take 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:24.360 a trip. to go minister to the underground church. 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:27.420 And our director at the time, Colby, she said, 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:29.100 we're trying to get pastors to head up every 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:31.420 trip. Would you be willing to head up this trip 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:34.000 to China? And I'm like, well, that would be great. 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:35.960 I mean, what are we doing? She goes, we're working 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:38.100 with the underground church. So she explained 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:40.779 to me why it's the underground church. And so 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:42.539 you go through all this process. So I got my 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.600 visa approved and everything's looking good. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.779 And we're doing training at Colby's house. And 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:48.919 then she said some things that were kind of troubling 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.399 or problematic to me about going on this trip. 00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:53.590 So the first thing she says is, we don't have 00:08:53.590 --> 00:08:57.909 toilets in China. And I'm like, okay. She goes, 00:08:57.950 --> 00:08:59.710 well, they have squatty potties. I don't know. 00:08:59.789 --> 00:09:00.929 I didn't know what it was. I don't know if you 00:09:00.929 --> 00:09:03.090 do. In their bathroom, there's just a hole in 00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:05.370 the ground with a pitcher of water to wash stuff 00:09:05.370 --> 00:09:08.129 down. And I'm like, I mean, I backpacked a couple 00:09:08.129 --> 00:09:10.009 of weeks in a row. I mean, I can do it. It just 00:09:10.009 --> 00:09:12.169 seems kind of wrong in a house, but it's okay. 00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:15.950 And then I learned that we're taking Bibles and 00:09:15.950 --> 00:09:17.710 that if they caught us, we could be detained. 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.679 for having bibles again didn't really scare me 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:22.200 but you kind of raise your eyebrows and go oh 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:25.240 that is a something and then she says by the 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:27.720 way the people we meet there you can never contact 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:31.080 them again because the government watches all 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:32.960 their emails and their communications and they 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:35.019 can't be connected to anything that's christian 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:39.460 then the last part she says she goes and i kind 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:41.460 of struggle with this she goes and by the way 00:09:41.460 --> 00:09:43.679 the part we're going to they hate americans and 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.399 i'm like Okay. She goes, so don't be surprised. 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:48.279 Like if we're walking down the street and pass 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:50.799 somebody, they might spit in your face. And I'm 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.000 like, Colby, that might be a problem for me. 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:56.600 And I said, here's the thing. I don't know that 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.320 I could let someone spit in my face and not react. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.360 I said, I'm not sure I'm a really turn the other 00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:04.139 cheek kind of guy. And I don't think I want to 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:08.220 find out if I am in China. And so I kept praying. 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:09.600 I'm like, God, maybe I'm not supposed to be on 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:11.580 this trip. Is there something else you have for 00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:15.080 me? kept praying, praying. I think Colby the 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:16.899 whole time thinks I'm joking because every meeting 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:18.580 we get together, I'm like, seriously, if they 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:20.740 spit on me and she's laughing, I'm like, it's 00:10:20.740 --> 00:10:23.220 not funny. I mean, I was like, I don't know what 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:25.159 happened. And I go to worst case scenario, like, 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:26.600 okay, we're walking down the street. Someone 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.399 spits at me and I do something that creates an 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:31.320 international incident. And I'm in a prison in 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:33.120 China somewhere and they won't know how to get 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.179 me out. And so I just kept praying. I'm like, 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.000 God, you show me what I'm supposed to do. And 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.460 then thank God, two weeks before we were going 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:42.730 to leave, I snapped my Achilles tendon. And I 00:10:42.730 --> 00:10:46.950 couldn't go. It was a blessing, and I know that. 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:50.809 And so instead, Colby sent me a year later to 00:10:50.809 --> 00:10:53.070 the Dominican Republic, which has been a big 00:10:53.070 --> 00:10:56.029 part of my life. But let me get back to the team 00:10:56.029 --> 00:10:58.830 that actually went to minister to the church, 00:10:59.009 --> 00:11:02.090 underground church. He said they met with them, 00:11:02.149 --> 00:11:03.610 and they were doing all this stuff with the underground 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:06.370 church. And so when it was time to go, the Americans 00:11:06.370 --> 00:11:09.169 said, hey, I want you to know we'll never see 00:11:09.169 --> 00:11:10.809 you again or probably never talk to you again. 00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:13.139 Just know that we're always praying for you. 00:11:14.179 --> 00:11:17.059 And then the underground church said, we're gonna 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:19.759 be praying for you too, that you would start 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:22.000 to be persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ. 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:25.779 They said the American church had this potential 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:28.840 to be this amazing powerhouse of Christianity 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:31.799 and make an impact on the world. They said, but 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:33.659 now you're nothing more than a sleeping giant. 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:38.379 And he's telling me that story. And to me, it 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:40.740 went right back to everything else. that I've 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:43.659 been learning from God, we're too comfortable. 00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:49.360 We're asleep. And to drive this point, like, 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.600 again, revealing to me, it's relationships, Bob. 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:54.860 You're only taking people to heaven. It's not 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:56.600 about you being comfortable and having all this 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.820 stuff. The persecution might help. And then to 00:11:59.820 --> 00:12:01.259 take the point further, when I kept thinking 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:04.620 about people and how important they are, is that 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:08.279 Jesus took 613 commandments from the Old Testament. 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:12.200 that Israel would follow. And to dumb it down 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:15.700 for people like me, he said, it's two things, 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.039 love God and love others, the great commandment. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.500 And so this morning, that's the part I wanna 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:24.240 focus on the most is loving others. And what 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.580 does that look like? So the apostle Paul was 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:31.419 writing a letter to the church in Philippi, and 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:34.360 he describes what this love looks like. And I 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:38.559 love the way he words it. He says this. Do nothing 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:42.740 out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:46.620 in humility, value others above yourself, not 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:49.519 looking to your own interests, but each of you 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:54.360 to the interest of the others. It's about others. 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:59.840 It's about valuing them above yourself. And yet 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.759 I don't know that I always hold that as a value 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:05.169 of putting people before myself. I'm not sure 00:13:05.169 --> 00:13:07.309 I lived that out. And it made me worry, am I 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:10.230 asleep? And I kept thinking, Bob, it is time 00:13:10.230 --> 00:13:12.850 to wake up because you don't know how much time 00:13:12.850 --> 00:13:15.470 you have. You don't know how long that little 00:13:15.470 --> 00:13:18.549 red tape of your life is gonna last. So what 00:13:18.549 --> 00:13:22.549 do you do about it? If people are all we take 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:26.389 with us, then that has to be the focus. And I 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:31.370 wanna live on task, be on purpose. I wanna take 00:13:31.370 --> 00:13:34.809 as many people as I can with me. I wanna read 00:13:34.809 --> 00:13:39.429 something the Apostle Paul said also about his 00:13:39.429 --> 00:13:43.590 red tape line on this earth. And he said this 00:13:43.590 --> 00:13:48.889 in Acts 20, 24. He says, however, I consider 00:13:48.889 --> 00:13:52.710 my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to 00:13:52.710 --> 00:13:55.429 finish the race and complete the task the Lord 00:13:55.429 --> 00:13:58.970 Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to 00:13:58.970 --> 00:14:03.419 the good news of God's grace. He's saying without 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:07.000 impacting others for Jesus, that his life would 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.320 have been a waste. And I think we've got to live 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.399 with that same passion, that same conviction, 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:15.220 and that same mindset. And I say all that to 00:14:15.220 --> 00:14:17.720 say, like a lot of times, like I said, when God's 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.100 laying something on my heart, and especially 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:22.360 coming off that collection talks, you might be 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:25.039 having these same thoughts. So I started to ask 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:27.799 myself, and I would ask all of us to ask ourselves 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:32.580 the same question. Am I living on mission? and 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:36.080 focused on eternity and not the temporary? Am 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.179 I focused on God and people or myself? Is my 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:45.899 attitude about my life the same as Paul's? So 00:14:45.899 --> 00:14:49.059 how do we move our focus? How do we make a change? 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:51.080 And as I was praying through this, the Holy Spirit 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:54.019 kept laying on my heart the word repentance. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:55.360 And I'm like, I don't know what repentance really 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.059 has to do with that as much. And then I felt 00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:01.039 led to look up the definition. and the definition 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:05.320 of repentance is this, a positive transformative 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:11.659 process involving a change of mind. We need to 00:15:11.659 --> 00:15:15.320 change our minds. We need to change our focus. 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:19.279 And I really believe when you set that up in 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.620 your mind, you can make today the day of change. 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:24.220 And I believe that. And part of the reason I 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:27.600 say that is it's a celebration weekend. You're 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.519 gonna see these people get baptized. You're gonna 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.879 hear stories and all this stuff. And it's like, 00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:35.419 celebration can lead to revival. It's a pretty 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:40.179 simple connection. Before we celebrate what God 00:15:40.179 --> 00:15:43.700 has done over here, I wanna talk a little bit 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:45.580 about that trip to Dominican Republic that I 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:48.600 mentioned before and some of the celebrations 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:52.080 we had there. And again, it's less than a month, 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.179 so it's still heavy on my heart. But we work 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:57.039 with an organization down there called Casa Misionera. 00:15:57.539 --> 00:16:00.220 And Casa Misionera, their mission statement is 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:03.639 training the Christian leaders of tomorrow today. 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:07.700 So Nelson, who's our contact down there, got 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.639 this vision from God to start this ministry. 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:13.360 And so what he does, he goes into public schools 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.879 and to churches throughout the entire country. 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:19.620 And he'll ask the leaders, give me one of... 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:21.720 or two of your students that are graduating high 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:25.440 school that are on fire for Jesus Christ. And 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.360 then after they go through process, if they're 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:32.000 chosen to be part of Casa Misionera, these students' 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:36.100 colleges are paid for. And they have to do a 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:38.860 four -year leadership program with Nelson to 00:16:38.860 --> 00:16:41.259 raise these kids up. Because he said, no matter 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:43.779 what their career is, he said, our goal is to 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:46.419 send them out in the workforce. Doesn't matter 00:16:46.419 --> 00:16:48.419 what workforce they're in. Doesn't matter what 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:50.840 part of the country is. but we're gonna change 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:53.659 a nation through these Christian leaders, which 00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:56.500 is amazing to me. And we got to work alongside 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:00.000 them and do all that stuff. And instead of hearing 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.539 it from me, this trip, we had a great team that 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:05.940 went on the trip. And I thought, I want you to 00:17:05.940 --> 00:17:09.579 hear the heart of someone else and what they 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:11.680 got out of this trip. So I'm gonna invite my 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.680 good friend, Tim Hayden up. And Tim and I have 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:18.430 been friends for 23 years. We did youth ministry 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:21.910 together in Ohio. I was a youth pastor and Tim 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:24.970 was a volunteer for that. I moved to Arizona 00:17:24.970 --> 00:17:26.769 and a couple of years later, him and his family 00:17:26.769 --> 00:17:32.269 did. Thank you. And we got to do youth ministry 00:17:32.269 --> 00:17:36.289 again together. And now Tim lives here. He owns 00:17:36.289 --> 00:17:40.269 and runs two Christian drug rehab centers in 00:17:40.269 --> 00:17:44.250 Prescott, making an impact. And so now I get 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:47.390 the privilege of volunteering for him. one day 00:17:47.390 --> 00:17:50.109 a week to go in there and help. So thank you 00:17:50.109 --> 00:17:51.789 for being here and being willing to share. It's 00:17:51.789 --> 00:17:53.809 crazy to think it's been 23 years. It makes me 00:17:53.809 --> 00:17:56.410 feel old. You are. But I take comfort in knowing 00:17:56.410 --> 00:18:00.690 you are much, much, much older than me. This 00:18:00.690 --> 00:18:02.150 will be your last time up here, but we'll go 00:18:02.150 --> 00:18:06.829 through this anyway. I'd been asking Tim for 00:18:06.829 --> 00:18:09.710 a couple years to go on this trip. So what were 00:18:09.710 --> 00:18:11.329 your thoughts when you finally said yes this 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:14.640 year? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, Bob. has been twisting 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.279 my arm trying to get me to go, and just timing 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:18.400 never really worked out the last few years. But 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.000 this year the timing did work out, and so I said, 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:24.500 yeah, I'll go. And I thought this is going to 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:26.799 be cool. I'll go hang with my boy Bob in the 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.980 Dominican, beautiful island. We'll get sweaty, 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.539 do some construction projects, do some prayer 00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:34.339 and testimonies. It'll be fun. But one of the 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:36.650 things that Heights does really well. is they 00:18:36.650 --> 00:18:38.609 prepare people before sending them out on a missions 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:41.650 trip. So, you know, the weeks leading up to the 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:43.210 trip, they have you come in and do training, 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:45.710 cultural training and spiritual training and 00:18:45.710 --> 00:18:48.430 make sure you're ready. And I got to talk to 00:18:48.430 --> 00:18:50.170 Pastor Nate and Jackson and some of the guys 00:18:50.170 --> 00:18:52.009 who went last year, and they kind of scared me 00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:54.089 a little bit and made it sound way harder than 00:18:54.089 --> 00:18:56.529 I thought it was going to be. And they were right. 00:18:56.630 --> 00:19:00.589 It was hard physically, mentally, spiritually. 00:19:01.130 --> 00:19:03.029 It was incredibly challenging. So it was good 00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:05.400 that we got to prepare for that. ahead of time 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:08.640 and know that I was getting into. And what's 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:10.660 unique, though, is I came back and share about 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:14.259 the trip. The kind of reoccurring theme that 00:19:14.259 --> 00:19:15.900 most people say is, oh, I bet you got amazing 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:18.859 perspective, right? Like, oh, you were putting 00:19:18.859 --> 00:19:21.759 cement floors in houses that were dirt, and you 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.119 were taking meals to people that didn't know 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.660 where their next meals came from. It must give 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:27.599 you such good perspective of how blessed we are 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.759 here. And that is true, there's a component to 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:32.940 that, but that's such a small piece of just that 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:35.440 perspective. I'd say that's about 10 % of what 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.720 I brought back with me. I know, I think a lot 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:39.299 of people think about that as a missions trip. 00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:40.900 You come back and you've got this new perspective 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:43.400 about how blessed we are and you pray for those 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:44.819 people and think about them, but that is only 00:19:44.819 --> 00:19:47.859 about 10%. So for you, what did the other 90 00:19:47.859 --> 00:19:52.420 % look like? Yeah, so hands down, it was seeing 00:19:52.420 --> 00:19:55.059 the Holy Spirit work in my life while I was there. 00:19:55.909 --> 00:19:58.069 And work in the lives of others while I was there. 00:19:58.170 --> 00:20:01.230 And I've been a Christian majority of my life. 00:20:01.349 --> 00:20:04.490 And very few times have I experienced the Holy 00:20:04.490 --> 00:20:06.490 Spirit like I did in the Dominican when I was 00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:09.710 there. And I think what it is, is going there. 00:20:09.829 --> 00:20:11.470 You know, we're also caught up in our American 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:15.170 lives that are incredibly busy. Work and kids 00:20:15.170 --> 00:20:17.529 and sports and all these things are distractions, 00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:20.190 right? And if we're lucky, we take that 10 minutes 00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:21.829 in the morning to do our devotions before we 00:20:21.829 --> 00:20:25.440 rush out the door to do our day. But when you're 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:27.380 there, it's like all that's stripped away, right? 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:31.599 And you get to just focus 100 % on the Holy Spirit 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:33.660 and what he's doing in you and what he's doing 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:36.539 in the lives of these other people. And also 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:37.859 while you're there, you get to work with these 00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:39.720 CASA kids that Bob mentioned that we partner 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.599 with. And these kids are absolutely impressive, 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:45.779 completely on fire for the Lord. We went there 00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:47.259 to lead Bible studies with them. And I'm like, 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:48.799 why are we leading? These kids know the Bible 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:52.839 10 times better than me. And so it's just super 00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:56.359 powerful to see them living for Christ there. 00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:59.259 And then the Dominican people, they're amazing 00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:02.720 people. There's a saying that Dominicans have. 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.559 They say Americans keep time because we're so 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:07.200 worried about what time it is and what we're 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:10.579 going to do next and ready to go, go, go. And 00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:13.279 they say that Dominicans have time. They're not 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:15.759 in a hurry, right? And so all those possessions 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.480 and wealth and all those things that we think 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:21.049 are blessings for us here. They're blessed with 00:21:21.049 --> 00:21:22.849 not having those distractions in their life, 00:21:22.950 --> 00:21:24.769 right? Their lives are incredibly simple and 00:21:24.769 --> 00:21:27.569 they get to focus so much on Christ living out 00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:29.710 their lives. They're truly blessed to have that. 00:21:29.769 --> 00:21:31.809 They're not striving to achieve something. They're 00:21:31.809 --> 00:21:35.650 just living in the moment with God. Yeah. So 00:21:35.650 --> 00:21:39.029 you say that was 10%, right? Or the other was 00:21:39.029 --> 00:21:41.509 10%, this was 90. What else did the Holy Spirit 00:21:41.509 --> 00:21:44.490 show you? Yeah, so there's probably, I could 00:21:44.490 --> 00:21:46.470 talk for an hour up here if I enjoyed public 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:51.259 speaking, but I won't. There's 10 or 15 really 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.619 cool God stories to that trip. But there's two 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:56.720 that really hit close to home for me that were 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.799 very personal. And, you know, we did tons of 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:01.779 cool things going out and delivering food, like 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:03.480 I said, and the construction projects, giving 00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:05.279 people walls that didn't have walls before they 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:06.980 had blankets in their house, putting in floors, 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:09.299 there were dirt floors, no running water, all 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:10.940 those things. Those were amazing opportunities 00:22:10.940 --> 00:22:13.619 to help people out. But one of the things we 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:16.180 got to do while we were there was the church 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:18.460 we partnered with got us into a public school. 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.400 And we basically ran a church service in a public 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:24.259 school, which that alone is amazing, right, that 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:26.619 they would let us do that. And so we went in 00:22:26.619 --> 00:22:30.299 and we got to lead worship and give testimonies 00:22:30.299 --> 00:22:32.240 right in the public school. And I think they 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.559 have a picture of it somewhere. There you go. 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:36.779 Yep. So that's the school. I was sitting in the 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:41.160 chair kind of on the side here. watching the 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:44.059 team give testimonies that day. And a little 00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:46.240 bit of a backstory before I talk about the testimony 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:49.039 that happened that day. So one of the young men 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.039 that went on the trip with us was Jackson. Jackson's 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.660 20 years old. He went through our recovery center 00:22:55.660 --> 00:22:57.839 two years prior, and I didn't even know he was 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:02.140 going on the trip. And so I knew about Jackson. 00:23:02.180 --> 00:23:04.059 He came into our program. I had the opportunity 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:06.339 to meet him the first day he came in and his 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:09.500 parents. And to be honest, we almost didn't take 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:12.099 him into our program. He had just turned 18 years 00:23:12.099 --> 00:23:16.220 old. It kind of felt like his parents were pushing 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:17.880 him to go. He didn't really want to go. He'd 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:19.519 been through multiple treatment centers before. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.279 He wanted nothing to do with Christ, and we're 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:24.599 an unapologetically Christian program. He wanted 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:26.859 nothing to do with that. He had black fingernails, 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.299 black makeup. I think at the time he had pink 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:33.640 hair. Pink hair at the time, yeah. And then he 00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:36.079 had two major suicide attempts before he came 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:40.089 in. The second being the doctors didn't even 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:41.869 think he would make it through that suicide attempt. 00:23:42.890 --> 00:23:45.289 So there was a high risk factor. So we almost 00:23:45.289 --> 00:23:47.809 didn't take him in. And he didn't seem like he 00:23:47.809 --> 00:23:50.210 wanted it or was ready. But we felt called to 00:23:50.210 --> 00:23:52.250 bring him in because we just felt like if we 00:23:52.250 --> 00:23:54.329 don't show him Christ, who is going to, right? 00:23:54.769 --> 00:23:56.450 And so we ended up bringing him into the program. 00:23:57.450 --> 00:24:01.309 Well, it didn't go so great. He was not ready 00:24:01.309 --> 00:24:03.799 to be there. He didn't want to be there. And 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:06.200 if you ask him about it, he would say it was 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:08.579 being a total pain in the butt. And we ended 00:24:08.579 --> 00:24:10.940 up having to ask him to leave because he kept 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:14.339 repeatedly breaking the rules. And he chose not 00:24:14.339 --> 00:24:15.819 to go to a different program or somewhere else 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:19.400 to get help. He went home, fell back into depression 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:25.799 and drugs again, and ended up ultimately falling 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:30.519 into a complete pit of despair. shared with us 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:32.140 how he did a foxhole prayer. There was one night 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:34.140 he was on his knees and basically said, Lord, 00:24:34.299 --> 00:24:36.420 either take my life from me so I don't have to 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:38.480 feel this pain anymore or help me get back into 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.599 treatment. And I had never heard this story until 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:44.759 I was sitting in that auditorium as he told his 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:46.460 side of the story coming through our program. 00:24:46.779 --> 00:24:49.319 And we did take him back into the program. And 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:52.960 so through our staff and working with the Heights 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.579 Church, people like Nate and Angie that run our 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:58.430 recovery ministry. They practically adopted him 00:24:58.430 --> 00:25:02.470 like a son and discipled him and led him to Christ. 00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:06.730 And completely, he had 180 transformation. Yeah, 00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:12.650 that's amazing. So that's just the backstory. 00:25:13.109 --> 00:25:15.769 So to bring that up to speed, so now I'm sitting 00:25:15.769 --> 00:25:18.349 in the Dominican with Jackson, who I just, I'm 00:25:18.349 --> 00:25:20.750 hearing him tell his full story for the first 00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:22.470 time as I'm sitting in the side of that room. 00:25:22.789 --> 00:25:26.390 And he's talking about how he grew up as a... 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.599 kind of a misfit kid. He was bullied in school, 00:25:29.819 --> 00:25:33.160 very depressed. He fell in with a really bad 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:37.500 group of kids that were also depressed and kind 00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:41.579 of went in a downward spiral. He got into self 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:44.059 -harm, doing some really severe cutting and things 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.859 like that. So he's sharing this full testimony 00:25:46.859 --> 00:25:49.559 to these Dominican kids. It's all through a translator, 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:51.779 which actually makes it feel even more dramatic, 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.849 right? And I'm sitting on the side, and I'm watching 00:25:55.849 --> 00:25:57.529 the audience the whole time, so I'm getting to 00:25:57.529 --> 00:25:59.289 hear part of Jackson's story for the time, and 00:25:59.289 --> 00:26:01.730 I'm watching these couple hundred Dominican kids, 00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:05.549 and I'm watching tears just stream down their 00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:07.269 face. I'm watching teenage girls that are just 00:26:07.269 --> 00:26:10.029 bawling their eyes out, seeing how much they 00:26:10.029 --> 00:26:12.789 can relate to Jackson's story, right, of that 00:26:12.789 --> 00:26:14.609 depression, the struggles they're feeling in 00:26:14.609 --> 00:26:17.970 high school. I'm watching these... big Dominican 00:26:17.970 --> 00:26:20.490 high school boys that look like grown men fighting 00:26:20.490 --> 00:26:22.250 back tears as they're listening to Jackson's 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:24.470 story, completely through the translator and 00:26:24.470 --> 00:26:25.990 everything. They got it. They're sitting on the 00:26:25.990 --> 00:26:29.289 edge of the seats, hanging on every word. And 00:26:29.289 --> 00:26:31.369 as Jackson is sharing this, I'm watching these 00:26:31.369 --> 00:26:33.150 kids, and we end up doing an altar call, and 00:26:33.150 --> 00:26:35.269 there's 20 to 30 Dominican kids that come up 00:26:35.269 --> 00:26:38.009 to the front of the church and want to talk to 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:40.029 us, pray with us. And there was a number of kids 00:26:40.029 --> 00:26:42.869 that accepted Christ that day through Jackson's 00:26:42.869 --> 00:26:50.500 story. It's amazing, right? And then as we talked 00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:52.480 through, because we debrief a lot with people 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:54.140 when they get back from missions trips, because 00:26:54.140 --> 00:26:56.440 it is hard to make sure they're all doing okay. 00:26:56.900 --> 00:26:59.640 And as we talked, you said the Holy Spirit revealed 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:01.720 some other things to you too, which was amazing. 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:04.059 Yeah, absolutely. And almost to tie in with that 00:27:04.059 --> 00:27:09.539 a little bit. So the next day, Bob in typical 00:27:09.539 --> 00:27:10.960 fashion says, hey, Tim, you're going to be giving 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:12.940 your testimony tonight. I'm like, cool. I love 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:16.900 public speaking. And they had told us in advance 00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:19.779 that to be ready at any given time in the Dominican 00:27:19.779 --> 00:27:21.259 at the churches there, they're really big on 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:23.359 people sharing their testimony, and it can go 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:24.819 as long as you want. Some of the church services 00:27:24.819 --> 00:27:27.119 are hours long. But anyway, so I knew I was going 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:30.279 to have to do it. The part I didn't know is that 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:32.460 I was going to be going second that night in 00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:37.119 testimonies. And so I got to go up after Angie, 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:39.059 who was on our trip, who I mentioned, works here 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:41.319 at the Heights, and she helps run a recovery 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:44.910 ministry. Well, Angie has one of the most powerful 00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:48.529 testimonies I've ever heard in my life. And she's 00:27:48.529 --> 00:27:53.650 an amazing woman. Angie, and I did get permission 00:27:53.650 --> 00:27:56.269 to share part of her story with us today ahead 00:27:56.269 --> 00:28:00.910 of time, but Angie was sex trafficked as a child 00:28:00.910 --> 00:28:05.569 by her mother for drugs. Angie was shot in the 00:28:05.569 --> 00:28:08.769 stomach by a drug dealer in her own home. Angie 00:28:08.769 --> 00:28:11.829 had a younger sister that she was... had to try 00:28:11.829 --> 00:28:14.109 to protect from all that while she was growing 00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:17.369 up. And then she had her own struggles with that 00:28:17.369 --> 00:28:21.990 trauma and addiction throughout her life. And 00:28:21.990 --> 00:28:24.710 it's an amazingly powerful story. I hope everyone 00:28:24.710 --> 00:28:26.990 gets to hear it at some point. And, you know, 00:28:27.029 --> 00:28:28.509 the transformation that she went through from 00:28:28.509 --> 00:28:30.750 those stories to what she is today now serving 00:28:30.750 --> 00:28:32.930 and leading other people to the Lord is absolutely 00:28:32.930 --> 00:28:37.450 amazing. So Angie shares her testimony. I'm sitting 00:28:37.450 --> 00:28:38.970 there and I'm pulling back tears listening to 00:28:38.970 --> 00:28:41.079 her story. praying to God of like, how am I going 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:44.799 to share my testimony? I grew up in generational 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:46.980 Christianity. My parents' parents were Christians. 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:49.660 I accepted Jesus in Sunday school at eight years 00:28:49.660 --> 00:28:52.559 old. I went to Christian high school, Christian 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:55.519 college, married my high school sweetheart who 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:58.059 was a Christian. First company I worked for was 00:28:58.059 --> 00:29:00.779 a Christian company. I'm like, Lord, what am 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:04.640 I going to share that even can relate after Angie's 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.720 incredibly powerful story? And so I'm sitting 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:09.940 there praying about it. And it hit me like a 00:29:09.940 --> 00:29:11.960 ton of bricks. I literally just felt the Holy 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:15.779 Spirit come over me and gave me the verse of 00:29:15.779 --> 00:29:20.180 Psalms 139. And it's the verse about, I knit 00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:23.420 you together in your mother's womb. I ordained 00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:26.940 your days. Your name was written in my book before 00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:30.000 you were born. And I just, it struck me right 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:32.579 then of that's what I'm supposed to share. 46 00:29:32.579 --> 00:29:35.839 years, I'm 46 years old. 46 years ago, God had 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.640 this plan for me. He knew that he was going to 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.779 raise me up in this Christian environment. He 00:29:41.779 --> 00:29:43.420 was going to build this strong Christian foundation 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:46.359 that allowed me to go through this corporate 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:49.279 career that was going to prepare me to open a 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:51.859 Christian recovery center one day. And at that 00:29:51.859 --> 00:29:55.420 same time, Angie's 43 years old, right? She had 00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:58.339 a completely different journey. And though it 00:29:58.339 --> 00:30:04.720 was... It was very traumatic and powerful all 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.059 at the same time. He was working in her life, 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:10.160 and God just telling me, like, did you not think 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:12.220 that I knew I was going to bring you guys together 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:15.200 one day? Did you not think I had Jackson? I was 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.819 preparing him 20 years ago. And Angie's husband, 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.039 he's 46 years old. Did you not think I was preparing 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:24.500 him 46 years ago to bring you all together? to 00:30:24.500 --> 00:30:26.700 serve in the recovery ministry in Prescott, Arizona, 00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:28.859 and that I was going to bring you together to 00:30:28.859 --> 00:30:31.140 serve in the Dominican and to lead people to 00:30:31.140 --> 00:30:33.619 Christ on the other side of the world. And I 00:30:33.619 --> 00:30:35.859 was able to share that story, right, and how 00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:37.880 we all work together as the body of Christ and 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:41.759 how God just perfectly wove us together to serve 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:50.470 his kingdom. Amazing. Thank you so much. We actually 00:30:50.470 --> 00:30:53.309 have a debrief meeting tonight for the team that 00:30:53.309 --> 00:30:55.009 went and we're going to talk through stuff. But 00:30:55.009 --> 00:30:58.769 I guess, what did you learn that you would want 00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:01.529 to say to everybody here to challenge them? Yeah, 00:31:01.549 --> 00:31:03.869 if I could challenge you, you know, I keep telling 00:31:03.869 --> 00:31:06.390 people I wish, you know, so you come back from 00:31:06.390 --> 00:31:08.210 a missions trip and life hits you in the face, 00:31:08.230 --> 00:31:09.549 all the stuff you got to deal with, right? Just 00:31:09.549 --> 00:31:12.710 normal life here in America. But I keep telling 00:31:12.710 --> 00:31:14.970 people I wish I could bottle up what I experienced 00:31:14.970 --> 00:31:16.789 there and take a sip of it each week to keep 00:31:16.789 --> 00:31:19.980 me... more in tune with the Holy Spirit. But 00:31:19.980 --> 00:31:23.240 I would challenge all of you to think about your 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:25.819 personal stories and your testimonies. Regardless 00:31:25.819 --> 00:31:27.900 of how profound you think they may or may not 00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:31.140 be, I'd encourage you to share those with people. 00:31:31.240 --> 00:31:33.480 As John's been talking about and Bob's been talking 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:36.779 about through the Just Camping series, the only 00:31:36.779 --> 00:31:39.220 thing we can take with us is people. And the 00:31:39.220 --> 00:31:41.099 only way those people are going to come to know 00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:43.220 Jesus is through us sharing our testimonies and 00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:45.539 our stories with them. So I just encourage you 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:48.190 as I'm challenging myself. to look in your daily 00:31:48.190 --> 00:31:50.869 lives every day and find ways that you can have 00:31:50.869 --> 00:31:52.769 the courage to share your personal stories with 00:31:52.769 --> 00:31:55.170 other people. Again, thank you so much for sharing. 00:31:56.250 --> 00:32:00.890 He really doesn't like speaking up front, so 00:32:00.890 --> 00:32:03.430 no one's happy when I call him and ask a favor. 00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:07.390 But I want to say, celebrations internationally 00:32:07.390 --> 00:32:10.450 are great, but we also have a lot to celebrate 00:32:10.450 --> 00:32:14.009 right here at Heights. God moved in the Dominican 00:32:14.009 --> 00:32:18.069 Republic. He is moving here too. And we're about 00:32:18.069 --> 00:32:20.750 to witness and celebrate something. We have a 00:32:20.750 --> 00:32:23.049 bunch of people getting baptized this morning. 00:32:23.250 --> 00:32:27.430 And baptism isn't something that saves you. Baptism 00:32:27.430 --> 00:32:30.190 is an outward expression of an inward commitment 00:32:30.190 --> 00:32:33.789 that you make to follow Jesus Christ. These people 00:32:33.789 --> 00:32:36.609 over here made that commitment to follow Jesus. 00:32:36.769 --> 00:32:40.289 And they want you to know that so we can be part 00:32:40.289 --> 00:32:41.950 of their lives. And they're going to share a 00:32:41.950 --> 00:32:44.500 little bit of their story. Let's celebrate with 00:32:44.500 --> 00:32:46.980 them because this is a big deal. So let's get 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.059 into it. Let's clap. Celebrate with heaven.