1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,600 I want to share the title of this message today. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,240 It is called Strengthening your fortitude. 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:11,560 Strengthening your fortitude. So what is fortitude? 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:18,280 Well, fortitude is courage in pain or adversity. 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:24,200 It is strength of mine that enables a person to encounter 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:29,080 danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,680 God wants to give you courage. Amen. 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:39,520 God wants you to be a man, a woman of faith that others can 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,880 look to and say that is what a true disciple of Jesus looks 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,400 like. Not just from what comes out of 11 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,920 their mouth or what's in their head, but how they live their 12 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,520 life and how they've been living faithfully before the Lord for 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,000 years. My friend, I don't like the 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,880 evangelism that says come to Jesus so you can go to heaven. 15 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,320 That's not why we do evangelism. We do evangelism so that Christ 16 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:14,400 would be. Formed in somebody and heaven is 17 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,000 wonderful and nobody wants to go to hell. 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,280 But if we only come to God so we can go to heaven and not go to 19 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:26,280 hell, then we never allow heaven to come to us in our lives on 20 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,440 this earth. And when hell comes against you, 21 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:30,880 you don't know how to deal with it. 22 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,920 See, that's why greater is He who is in you than he that's in 23 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,760 the world. That's why Jesus taught us to 24 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,520 pray our Father, which is in heaven, hallowed be your name, 25 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:48,200 your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth in my life as it 26 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,520 is in heaven. That's what God wants to 27 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,560 accomplish in you as a disciple of Christ. 28 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,200 What does it? Mean to be strong in the Lord. 29 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,440 Recently I was at a youth conference in the western part 30 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,160 of Maryland. It was it's called firebrand. 31 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,400 And they've been doing this for many over 2 decades. 32 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:19,760 And this year the theme of Firebrand is called Forged by 33 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:25,080 the Fire and I did not. Get to speak at it, which 34 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:30,000 normally every year is. I do if I'm there, but I I was 35 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,080 kind of late and letting them know if I would be able to come. 36 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:39,240 But a really cool thing would happen is that Jonathan was able 37 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,320 to speak at it and and I think this is the second time he's 38 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,280 done this. But it was very different this 39 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,680 time because Jonathan has undergone some challenges in his 40 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,640 own life. And what really blessed me is 41 00:02:55,640 --> 00:03:02,520 that as a father, I could who's normally in front, I could watch 42 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:08,520 my son sharing his heart out of the overflow of what God's done 43 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,400 in him and hear the testimonies that come from his own life. 44 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:18,040 And the impact is so powerful. You see, that's really the goal 45 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,600 of why we have FIRE School of Ministry. 46 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,800 We had our teachers faculty meeting last night, just kind of 47 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,840 a gathering to get everybody on the same page. 48 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,720 We had a meal together. We shared the heart of what Fire 49 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,760 School's all about and just share different details that 50 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,520 would be helpful to the unity of what we can all do together for 51 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:45,560 this next semester. But I always say this about Fire 52 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,400 School. It's really just my excuse to be 53 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,680 in relationship with people that God's designing us to be in 54 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:56,320 relationship with. Because I want to pour into 55 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,320 people. And I also recognize that what I 56 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,080 have to offer to pour into people is not enough. 57 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,120 And that's why I love that we have so many different people 58 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:12,360 that pour into our students on a regular basis because I know 59 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,279 that they're going to undergo some tremendous challenges. 60 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,480 They're going to step out and do things that they've never done 61 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:26,360 before, but. On the theme of Firebrand Forged 62 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:32,080 by Fire, you could see the T-shirt right here and on the 63 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:37,440 back of the shirt says Forged by Fire and then it has a. 64 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,960 Few items here, I want you to take notice. 65 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,920 This is what's called this big piece of iron is called a anvil. 66 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,040 That's what the blacksmith uses to put the metal on so that he 67 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:57,560 can hammer away and mold that sword or piece of metal. 68 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,640 You see the sword right here, You see the hammer, and you see 69 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:10,080 the flames. In the Bible forge, the word 70 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:17,080 forge primarily refers to a physical act of shaping metal, 71 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:23,080 using heat and hammering. It also carries A metaphorical 72 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:29,320 meaning, often symbolizing God's transformative work in an 73 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,520 individual's life through trials and difficulties. 74 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,640 What you don't want to endure? God says I'll make you better 75 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,600 through. I'll make you more valuable 76 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,280 through. I will teach you how to be 77 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,360 faithful. I will teach you how to identify 78 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,080 with me better. You remember that Jesus came and 79 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:57,240 endured horrible pain. And if he didn't? 80 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,720 Endure that pain. You and I would not be free. 81 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:06,720 You and I would not be healed. Even when Jesus prayed in John 82 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:12,040 chapter 17 and he's talking to his Father about the ones that 83 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,240 he's given himself up for in the future generations that will 84 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,320 come, he said. I sanctify myself for them. 85 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,400 What does that mean? I set myself apart for them. 86 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:35,200 That means that My Holiness and my obedience and my devotion of 87 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:40,600 what you send me to the earth to do is going to benefit them for 88 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:45,160 all of eternity. As people who call ourselves 89 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:50,760 followers of Christ or disciples of Christ, we too must learn how 90 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,880 to sanctify ourself with the Word of God and with the 91 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,560 presence of God. Because if the holiest man, 92 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,240 whoever lived on the face of this earth, said, I have to set 93 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,160 myself apart, how much more should you and I. 94 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,440 And see, when we receive by faith the power of the Holy 95 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:16,720 Spirit to set our lives apart, to serve the Lord and be wholly 96 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:23,640 devoted to Him, we allow His Holiness, purity, integrity, 97 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,440 righteousness, all of these virtues of the character and 98 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,680 nature of God to become who we are. 99 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,280 And we become better. We become more like the identity 100 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:43,360 that Christ created us to look like and as we sanctify 101 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,640 ourselves. We teach the next next 102 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:52,280 generation or those whom we are pouring into to disciple of how 103 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:54,720 they too should live before Christ. 104 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,200 I want to show you a video and I forgot to mention that this has 105 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,240 sound. Do you have an ability to put 106 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,480 sound? OK, I'm going to show you a 107 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:13,480 quick video here of how a Japanese master turns sand and 108 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:15,880 he takes iron. Now I'm not showing you the 109 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,760 whole video turns it into swords. 110 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,760 Next, this is when the forging of the sword begins in a coal 111 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,120 oven with hand pumped bellows. The steel is heated until it is 112 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,640 soft and malleable. Then using hammers, the master 113 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:33,720 swordsmith flattens out the steel. 114 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:37,799 In the old days this would have been done by the swordsmith and 115 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:40,760 three apprentices. The swordsmith using a smaller 116 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,120 hammer would set the rhythm and the apprentices would use big 117 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:56,320 mallets to flatten the steel. That was terrifying. 118 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:10,000 These days electric hammers are used when the steel is flat 119 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:23,950 enough, it is then bent back on itself and it is then hammered 120 00:09:23,950 --> 00:09:27,230 again to press the steel back together into a solid block. 121 00:09:32,070 --> 00:09:35,190 So why go to all this effort flattening the steel only to 122 00:09:35,190 --> 00:09:38,190 fold it back on itself and end up with a chunk of steel the 123 00:09:38,190 --> 00:09:43,070 same size as before? Well, because folding does 2 124 00:09:43,070 --> 00:09:46,360 very important things. First, it spreads out the 125 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,560 impurities like silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus. 126 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:51,720 It spreads them out throughout the steel. 127 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,440 This ensures a uniform consistency without any weak 128 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,640 points. Second, it gives the steel a 129 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,320 grain. After folding the sword it is 130 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,880 now reinforced in the direction that it will be hit in combat 131 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,600 and as a bonus the steel is exposed to the air so there is a 132 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,400 small amount of oxidation creating a darker colored steel 133 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:16,640 which when folded makes beautiful patterns. 134 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,640 There are some swords which have more than a billion layers. 135 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,480 Now this doesn't mean the sword has been folded a billion times 136 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,640 since every fold double S the number of layers. 137 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,560 So you only need about 30 folds to get a billion layers, but 138 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:37,920 usually a sword is folded 10 to 13 times, resulting in a few 139 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:45,880 1000 layers of steel. So you could see the process of 140 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:50,360 what takes place. And Japanese swords are known in 141 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,880 the world as the strongest swords in history, but they've 142 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,320 undergone such pressure, such intense. 143 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:05,080 Heat that they get folded over and every time that he puts it 144 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:09,480 back in the fire and it gets hammered away, it pushes out 145 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:15,160 impurities. Are you hearing because one day 146 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:16,920 we want we're going to become a beautiful. 147 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:18,840 Sword in God's hand. Amen. 148 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,000 Let's go on to the next. Now I want to show you 149 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,160 something. While I was. 150 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,520 Worshiping at the Firebrandt conference and was looking at 151 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,520 somebody's T-shirt with the logo on the back. 152 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:40,080 This is what the Lord showed me. He said the anvil right here are 153 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:45,800 fathers, fathers and mothers. God's Word is the. 154 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:50,720 Hammer sons and daughters are the sword. 155 00:11:51,720 --> 00:12:02,760 The Holy Spirit is the intense heat when fathers are not a 156 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:11,400 strong anvil and you have metal sons and daughters, swords that 157 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,240 are being laid upon these anvils to be forged. 158 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:20,120 If they're not strong in the Lord, the sons and daughters 159 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,560 will not be strong in the Lord. In fact, let me give you an 160 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,240 example. I need a father. 161 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:28,760 Do we have a father? Son. 162 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,680 In here. OK, Yeah. 163 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:37,680 Come here. Come on up here. 164 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:41,960 All right, Put your phone away now. 165 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:44,520 See. Get on your hands and knees. 166 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:49,680 Right here, son. Down hands and knees. 167 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,400 Yep. OK, you're in Anvil. 168 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:55,480 OK. Come here. 169 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:58,080 Come here. Isaiah. 170 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,720 Isaiah, if you don't come now, I'm going to turn the heat up, 171 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:03,920 brother. Come here. 172 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:04,520 Come here. Come here. 173 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,200 All right? I need a stand in, son. 174 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:10,440 OK, Come here. Yeah. 175 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:13,720 OK. All right. 176 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,040 Put your phone away. It's like an extension of the 177 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,000 hand. OK, I want you to lay. 178 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,280 All right, Renante, turn the other way. 179 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:24,280 Turn. Yep. 180 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:25,400 There you go. Nope. 181 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:26,440 Nope. And face. 182 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,600 Yeah. Horizontal. 183 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:29,400 Yeah. There you go. 184 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:31,000 OK, there you go. All right. 185 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,960 Come over here. I want you to. 186 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:36,040 Nope, Nope. I want you to lay back-to-back. 187 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:37,760 OK. Yeah. 188 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:40,200 Ah. There you go. 189 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,840 And just relax. OK, Renante can hold it for a 190 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,160 while. Anybody got a Bible? 191 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,640 Anybody have a Bible on them? I'm using my computer here. 192 00:13:54,240 --> 00:14:02,800 Here's the hammer, friend. So what I want you to see here 193 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,040 is if I take this hammer like God does with His word, and I 194 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:11,520 hit, you got a little scared there. 195 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,080 Listen, when we play basketball, don't foul me, OK? 196 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:21,440 It's going to be like a hammer. OK, no, you you get the 197 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,680 impression you get the idea is that if that father is not 198 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:31,080 strong enough to hold up that son or that daughter and the. 199 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,120 Hammer of God's Word. Look, God's word is written. 200 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:39,680 It's not going to change. The problem is when we have bad 201 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:44,840 examples who are weak and cannot hold up under the sons and 202 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,960 daughters, that when the hammer of God's word comes down on this 203 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,760 generation, they become weak because they don't want to 204 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,760 endure any pain. But when they have a good solid 205 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,600 foundation underneath them of men and women who live in 206 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:06,440 holiness, you know what happens. They get hit and they feel it, 207 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:11,560 but they're able to endure and live the life of what others can 208 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,440 see. How a disciple should be forged 209 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,320 in the fire of. God, Amen. 210 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:17,800 You can get up. Thank you guys. 211 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:30,720 Fathers in the faith are the anvil, sons and daughters of the 212 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,360 sword being forged. God's word is the hammer. 213 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,400 The fire is the Holy Spirit's power. 214 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:43,680 Listen, the blood of Jesus is what qualifies us to do. 215 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,280 Anything in the Kingdom of heaven. 216 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:52,880 Yet whenever the church lacks authentic biblical leadership, 217 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:59,680 we begin to overlook the need for mentors, fathers and mothers 218 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:04,760 in the faith to prepare the next generation of value, what Jesus 219 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,480 gave his life for. If you don't have fathers and 220 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,760 mothers that are serious about their relationship with God, 221 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:17,440 that's why it's so hard for you to be able to accept leadership 222 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,680 from somebody else who you don't have relationship with. 223 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,640 So people coming to church and it takes years for them to build 224 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:31,200 trust and relationship with. And many times leaders are so 225 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,560 stuck on just being in platforms that they don't have any 226 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:40,600 influence in the life of those young men or young women outside 227 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,840 of the church. Therefore, we don't see their 228 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:51,960 character tested, and This is why we have youth groups full of 229 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,200 young people. We can have youth camp full of 230 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,480 people, but then you have discipleship groups that are 231 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:04,760 much smaller most of the time. Look, Jesus did two things. 232 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,800 He cast the net to the crowd and then what did he do? 233 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:15,800 He focused on meeting with those 12 men that that was his 234 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,520 purpose. I don't know what the percentage 235 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,079 was of how much public time and private time he had disciples, 236 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:28,760 but let's just say it was 5050. He poured into his disciples 237 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,200 every day. He taught them how to pray. 238 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:35,240 He taught them how to step out in faith and do things they 239 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:40,840 never thought they would do. And then they watched him go out 240 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:47,240 in public and feed thousands and forgive adulterers. 241 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:53,600 He would, you know, he would rebuke the Pharisees, religious 242 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,800 leaders who were not functioning as good anvils. 243 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:02,560 They were weak, weak. And what they knew the word of 244 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:07,240 God of what was written up to that time, because there was no 245 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,160 New Testament at their time. But what they didn't know, they 246 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:17,280 weren't applying, and So what happened was they were not 247 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:24,160 developing good disciples who make good disciples because 248 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:31,520 their anvil was not strong. When fathers do not live as 249 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:36,800 anvils of holiness, then whenever God uses His Word like 250 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,600 a hammer to forge sons and daughters in the faith, they 251 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,640 will not be prepared to handle temptation, trials, and 252 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,320 tribulations. When the anointing of the Holy 253 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:56,880 Spirit is manifested by the faithfulness of godly leaders, 254 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,360 the generation after them will have the fortitude, the 255 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:06,480 strength, the courage to demonstrate the power of God. 256 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,880 You know why people don't want to demonstrate the power of God? 257 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,600 For a couple of reasons. One is they don't know if those 258 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,880 things still happen today. And then they can't find any 259 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,920 leaders who have lived a life of integrity that talk about the 260 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,400 power of God as if it's something that they understand. 261 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,280 Let me tell you, I have not seen all the miracles and things that 262 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,360 I believe. I want to see, but I have seen 263 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:42,480 more than enough to convince me way beyond what the Word of God 264 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:49,120 has already convinced me, that God works miracles and. 265 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:53,800 I have an incredible burden. Pastor Arm and Libot Casey Buddy 266 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,040 Monette. Other leaders in this community 267 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:01,400 have an incredible burden of the Lord for you to look at our 268 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:05,240 lives and to say these people are the real deal. 269 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,000 And why do I talk about this publicly? 270 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,320 Because I want to be held accountable. 271 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,760 You have to understand my thinking. 272 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:23,080 Well over 25 years ago, here I was living in sin, addiction to 273 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,720 lust and anger and selfishness and pride. 274 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:32,080 And now I go on a trip for five weeks away from my wife and 275 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,960 family, traveling in so many different places. 276 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:43,680 I could absolutely go do things that nobody else would know or 277 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,800 wouldn't find out unless the Lord exposed it. 278 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:54,720 And let me tell you something, I have such a great honor towards 279 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,800 my wife. Because of the trust that she 280 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,760 gives me in situations like that, because you know what, I 281 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:09,600 have no desire to build a Dream Center, to have a big ministry 282 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,960 and then throw it all away because of the lack of integrity 283 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,960 issues. I am not saying I'm perfect 284 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,560 because I'm not. But will I? 285 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:25,240 I will tell you is that I desire accountability and I am not 286 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:31,280 above anybody else in this room. In fact, to me, leadership is 287 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:36,760 what Paul calls foundational stones for the building of the 288 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:40,120 church. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, 289 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,720 and you've heard me talk about this a lot, where from the 290 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,000 cornerstone comes apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and 291 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,840 evangelists, right? And then you have living stones, 292 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,280 which is all of us in this room that are built upon the 293 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,360 foundation. Why is it that we're always 294 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:03,160 telling people, oh, what great men and women of God are on 295 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,960 platforms when they really just need to be in the dirt? 296 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:11,200 What am I saying? I'm saying you don't look at a 297 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,240 foundation of a house. You look at the house that's 298 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:19,880 been built, you look at the disciples who've made disciples, 299 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,560 you look at the examples that God has raised up. 300 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,880 And some of you have been walking with the Lord for a long 301 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,400 time. And God is strengthening your 302 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,680 fortitude. He's giving you courage. 303 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:34,800 He's giving you hope. Why? 304 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,000 Because he has plans to use your life for other people to look at 305 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,360 and to say that's what Christianity looks. 306 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:52,040 Like we went to the funeral the other day of ATI Libot's father 307 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:57,760 and I heard Pastor Armin, ATI Libot and Gerald share their 308 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,000 heart. And Gerald, I want to tell you 309 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:07,240 how proud I am of you. And, and, and, and I'm serious 310 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:13,360 because it was a beautiful representation of a young man 311 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:19,600 that has surrendered his life to Jesus and shared personal 312 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:25,480 testimony of how God used him to even influence his grandfather. 313 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,440 It was beautiful. And, and I want to tell you what 314 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:34,880 it reminded me of. It reminded me of when I was 18 315 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:36,920 years old and my grandfather died. 316 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:47,800 My grandfather was a good man. He was from Spain, the Canary 317 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,640 Islands. And in fact, years later I found 318 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,920 out that he was not my grandfather, that my real 319 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,880 grandfather was somebody who I never met. 320 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,640 Actually, I have two grandfathers that I've never 321 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,560 met, my mom's side and my dad's side. 322 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:10,240 My dad's grandfather died or father died when he was 18, I 323 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,200 believe, years old or somewhere around there. 324 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,080 And then my mom did not grow up with her father. 325 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:23,560 But Louis Padilla sounds Filipino, right, Padilla? 326 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:24,720 Well, that's how you say it here. 327 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,520 You would never say that in Puerto Rico. 328 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:33,200 But he became my mom's stepfather. 329 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:38,160 And growing up, my entire life, I thought he was my grandfather. 330 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,880 And he always treated me like I was his real grandson. 331 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,920 And he had, he was dying from cancer. 332 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:53,280 And I remember going to visit him in the hospital and I spent 333 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,960 time and I was kind of new to the things of God. 334 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,120 And I did share with him about Jesus and talk with him. 335 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,480 I'm not really sure where he's at. 336 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,120 But what I do know is that he really did love my grandmother 337 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,440 and was a very strong and faithful man to her. 338 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:20,080 And when I left the hospital, I was just thinking about this 339 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:25,560 story because the day before I came back to the Philippines, I 340 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:31,480 started my trip back on Monday. I left a place called Albany, NY 341 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,840 and I was driving to Kingston, NY and then going South to 342 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,560 Philadelphia. In Kingston, NY is where my 343 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,840 grandfather, it was where I was actually born, and it's where my 344 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,520 grandfather was in the hospital. And as I was thinking about 345 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:53,480 that, I was remembering how the day that I left the hospital 346 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:59,160 after visiting my grandfather, I felt like I knew he had died. 347 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:05,280 By the time I got home, my parents told me that my 348 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,120 grandfather died and I had just seen him. 349 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,120 Actually, I had just got my driver's license and I went to 350 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:14,840 go see him that day. So I was able to drive by 351 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,120 myself. So I was thinking about that on 352 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:23,920 Monday, not realizing that I would be at the funeral for you 353 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,320 guys this week. I didn't know if we would make 354 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:30,160 it or, or all that. So when you were sharing, it 355 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,520 really reminded me of that. And that's going to be with you 356 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,240 as a good memory for the rest of your life. 357 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,240 Let me give you some scriptures about being strong in the Lord. 358 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:51,440 Joshua 19 Have I not commanded you be strong in the Lord, and 359 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,480 of good courage? Do not be afraid nor be 360 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,080 dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you. 361 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,960 Go Amen. Psalm 18 verse 2 The Lord is my 362 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:08,480 rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, 363 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,720 and whom I. Trust my shield and the horn, or 364 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,840 my strength of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my friend. 365 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,880 You're never going to know that the Lord is your strength unless 366 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:26,400 you lean into Him in Ephesians 610. 367 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:33,640 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His 368 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,040 might. Now I have 7 points I'm going to 369 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:42,200 quickly go through that I believe will encourage you. 370 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:47,840 First of all, prelude prepares our fortitude. 371 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,560 What does prelude mean? It's it's kind of to be the 372 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,120 beginning, the introduction of something. 373 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:01,320 When I think about that, I think about repentance introduces us 374 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,280 to the Lord's strength. If you don't know how to be 375 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,240 strong in the Lord, you've got to learn how to live a repentant 376 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,600 lifestyle. You've got to learn that 377 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,840 repentance is not a one time event, but it is a daily 378 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,520 lifestyle. And if you would understand that 379 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:22,360 you have a right to come to your Heavenly Father in the secret 380 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:26,960 place and pray and talk with Him and share your heart with Him 381 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,040 and unload your sin him. I want you to know God is not 382 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,120 intimidated by your sin. He's not. 383 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,840 He's not afraid of it. You're not the worst person 384 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,760 who's ever lived the things that you struggle with. 385 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:47,800 The enemy wants you to feel guilty, condemned, and ashamed. 386 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,920 He wants you to have fear that you will never breakthrough. 387 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,880 But here's the reality. When you learn that repentance 388 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,160 is a gift and that you could come to the Lord and unload your 389 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:06,880 heart, this is how you produce fruit and your roots go deep 390 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:12,920 into the soil of God's Word. And it strengthens you over time 391 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:18,200 because you realize that God loves you and He knows you and 392 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,120 He cares about you and He's. Provided a way for you to be 393 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,400 forgiven again and again and again. 394 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:33,160 Amen #2 Solitude. Empowers our fortitude. 395 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:38,400 What is that? It's valuing God's voice that 396 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:43,480 strengthens our prophetic voice. How are you going to learn God's 397 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:44,920 voice? You've heard me share this 398 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,160 before. You've got to read God's word. 399 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,560 I don't understand it, Eric. I get. 400 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,120 That I've been there, done that 100 times or more. 401 00:29:56,080 --> 00:30:01,440 I will tell you this, read it over and over and over again. 402 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,600 You know, there's one thing people say, you know, Filipinos 403 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,440 are amazing because of how much English they could speak. 404 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,720 It's a lot easier for people who come here as foreigners to speak 405 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,560 with Filipinos. But over the years of living 406 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:20,680 here, I recognize that some Filipinos speak 15% English, 407 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:27,160 some 30. Some 50, some 75, right or or 408 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,320 more, but some speak better than I do. 409 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:37,760 But if you want to learn English, you have to develop a 410 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:42,480 English vocabulary. And as you develop a English 411 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,160 vocabulary, you're going to start to flow with words and put 412 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:52,520 together sentences and say things that will make sense. 413 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:59,200 God's Word is our vocabulary. And if you read it even though 414 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:03,520 you don't understand it and you ask for insight from the author, 415 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,400 how many books? Do you read and you get to ask 416 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,320 the author what is he talking about? 417 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:16,240 I I'm serious, I know when you read the book of Nahum or 418 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:21,120 Habakkuk. Write or you read something that 419 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,200 is just like, I don't understand it. 420 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:28,000 So the book of numbers, this guy begets this guy begets this guy 421 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,320 begets this guy. Chapter 12345 you know, and it's 422 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,680 like, this is hard to understand. 423 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,000 What's the value of all this? Look, I'm not telling you that 424 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,680 you're going to understand all of those things. 425 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:46,440 I still don't understand all of the genealogy stuff, but I know 426 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,200 it's important that it's in there. 427 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,800 And I and I know that there are times that God spoke to me about 428 00:31:54,800 --> 00:32:00,800 scriptures that made no sense to me, that eventually became 429 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,040 foundation stones in my walk with God. 430 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:09,120 But what does it do? It increases our vocabulary, our 431 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:13,200 biblical vocabulary. And as you devote yourself to 432 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:19,040 the word of God, you're going to become a prophetic voice. 433 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:25,880 Not just a voice, not just somebody who speaks and says I'm 434 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,880 a Christian, but somebody who applies the word of God in their 435 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:32,160 life. The Word of God renews their 436 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,640 minds. It changes the way you use your 437 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,840 time. It changes your convictions to 438 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,360 where you pay attention. I shouldn't look at this. 439 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,440 I shouldn't listen to this. Where it changes your attitude, 440 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,760 it changes is what comes out of your mouth. 441 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:52,720 And over time you become discipled by the Holy Spirit and 442 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:59,520 God's Word Himself. Listen, I believe mentors help 443 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:03,520 us tremendously. I believe these anvils in our 444 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,200 lives are so important. But Frank, can I tell you 445 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,880 something? If you were thrown in jail and 446 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,760 didn't have anybody to lean into, Jesus said I'll never 447 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,920 leave you or forsake you. The Holy Spirit is with you. 448 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:23,160 I've heard stories of the Chinese persecuted Church of 449 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:27,880 people who were given one sheet of paper with 300 different 450 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,560 scriptures on it, and they would memorize those scriptures and 451 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,120 then they would pass it on to the next person and the next 452 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,840 person and the next person and all these people would would 453 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:45,440 memorize these scriptures and they would have no physical 454 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,720 Bible. How many of us have Bibles? 455 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,680 How many of us have it on our phone, on our computer? 456 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,880 We have scriptures right in our house or, or what, what have 457 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,560 you. There's so many options that we 458 00:33:58,560 --> 00:33:59,920 have. My friend. 459 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:05,960 If you want to be a voice of strength, a voice of courage, a 460 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:10,800 voice that God uses to prophesied to others that he is 461 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:15,199 still speaking today, you've got to put your head. 462 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:23,679 In God's Word, Amen. #3 servitude responds to our 463 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:27,679 fortitude. Serving others strengthens your 464 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:31,159 faithfulness. It just does. 465 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,159 We have incredible people in this community. 466 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:39,639 We have people that serve wholeheartedly and they don't do 467 00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:42,320 it for handcuffs. We could probably bring people 468 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,440 on this platform every week and say, look at what so and so's 469 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:50,000 done, friend. It's amazing to me. 470 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,679 I was so blessed to see what Josh and the guys did with just 471 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:59,280 that little, you know, structure that was built outside for IGF. 472 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,920 And now we're getting to use it for this as well. 473 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,120 But, you know, nobody gave. John, where's Josh? 474 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:12,600 Here's your All right, let's get my hand clapped, OK? 475 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,760 And yeah, you too, you too. And just make sure you pass me 476 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:21,920 the ball later tonight, OK. But there's there's people who 477 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:25,440 come and pray before services on Sunday. 478 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:30,560 There's people who who do things financially for this church. 479 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:32,720 There's people who pray in secret. 480 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:37,760 There's people who bring others and lead discipleship groups and 481 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,800 all the all the things that happen on a regular basis. 482 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:47,440 My friend, most of the time what you do in secret, nobody's going 483 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:52,040 to give you a hand clap or a pat on the back. 4 But the reason 484 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,520 why you do it is because you do it to serve the way that your 485 00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:01,360 master served. Jesus made himself of no 486 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:08,000 reputation, taking the very nature of a servant, committed 487 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,440 himself to dying on a. Cross. 488 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:16,520 When he was not, when he had not committed any crimes. 489 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,680 See, that's our example. This is how you and I set 490 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:26,080 ourselves apart and sanctify our own lives to say God. 491 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,840 We believe in Your Word and we believe in the value of 492 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,440 faithfulness and serving when nobody else is looking because 493 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:40,080 we simply do what we do to honor the name of Jesus #4 Altitude 494 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:45,520 depends on our fortitude. You know, humility is what 495 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:51,680 strengthens your elevation. All of us want God to use us. 496 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:53,400 Amen. Who wants God to use them? 497 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:55,120 Raise your hand. Yeah. 498 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:01,280 Well, we kind of wait. On the Lord to do some things 499 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,760 for us. Sometimes we look for open 500 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,320 doors. We look for somebody to give us 501 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,280 a promotion or to recognize us. But here's the deal. 502 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,120 Positioning yourself and humility is what nobody claps 503 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:21,640 for. Some of you moms stay at home 504 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:26,400 moms, you take care of your kids, you change diapers, you 505 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:31,280 clean the house, you you cook, you work, maybe during the night 506 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:32,840 time. There's all kinds of things that 507 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:38,960 you do and nobody notices it, but you do it because you love 508 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:43,960 your family, you love the Lord, and sure you would like to go 509 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,840 out and do some things that others get to do, and you don't 510 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,400 get to do it. But God watches what you do, and 511 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,880 because you do it is unto Him and not unto man. 512 00:37:55,200 --> 00:38:02,040 God says, I will elevate you. Your humility speaks volumes. 513 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,760 You're brokenness. You're depending on Christ and 514 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:11,040 weakness even when you're not honored and respected or 515 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:15,280 forgotten or overlooked. Maybe some of you are an older 516 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:19,960 sibling and the younger one gets all the focus all the time, 517 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:20,600 right? Hannah? 518 00:38:26,890 --> 00:38:28,490 Look, I, I don't know what the issue is. 519 00:38:28,650 --> 00:38:32,010 Maybe you're you work at a job and the same person gets 520 00:38:32,010 --> 00:38:35,250 promoted all the time and you seem to get overlooked. 521 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,880 Friend, you've got to convince yourself that God is watching 522 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,800 you and he's not from a distance. 523 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,000 He knows exactly how to elevate you. 524 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:55,160 Look, maybe where you are is not even about the money. 525 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:57,960 Maybe it's about winning somebody to Jesus. 526 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,520 Maybe it's something in the greater perspective of the 527 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:06,200 Kingdom of God that you just don't understand. 528 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:11,160 And if you're always questioning why you're in this situation and 529 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,760 when things are going to get better for you and all of that, 530 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,320 friend, I just want you to know you might be missing God because 531 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,280 you're not paying attention to where you're at right now. 532 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:30,160 Just fix your eyes on Jesus. Do what you do is unto the Lord. 533 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:35,360 See to me one of the greatest gifts, if not the greatest gift 534 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:37,840 that God has given a church is prayer. 535 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:43,040 And it's the most challenging thing to get Christians to do 536 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:50,760 because if you pray in secret, the pastor's not waking you up 537 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,080 saying, Axel, wake up, come on, let's go spend time with Jesus. 538 00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:58,480 Right. I'm not talking about the 539 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,160 discipleship groups. I'm not talking about church on 540 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,840 Sunday. I love meetings like this. 541 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,480 I think it's wonderful. But I want to tell you, I love 542 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:12,400 to meet with Jesus. I love to spend time with the 543 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,240 Lord. I, I, I love to hear from his 544 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:18,360 word and sometimes I do get tired. 545 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:21,960 Sometimes I do get bored. Sometimes I don't read all the 546 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,000 scripture that I wanted to read or set out to do that day. 547 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:30,320 But the fact of the matter is I keep doing it and I don't give 548 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,440 up and I remain faithful. I remember when I was in high 549 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:38,120 school and I fell in love with playing basketball and in 9th. 550 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,920 Grade I go out for the team and I get cut from the team and I 551 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:49,200 said I am going to play four or five hours a day on my own and I 552 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,000 would watch these videos on, you know, how to dribble, how to 553 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,520 handle the ball, how to shoot, how to pass and all those things 554 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:01,080 and I would do these. Same, you know, challenging 555 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:03,600 practice events every single day. 556 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:07,160 And I went out for the team. Next year I made the team. 557 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:09,800 And then I sat the bench for that year. 558 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:14,520 And then I go out for varsity my 11th year and I sit the bench, 559 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,760 and my 12th year I sit the bench. 560 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,760 And I'm so frustrated that in the middle of my senior year, I 561 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:27,600 quit because I didn't feel like anybody who I needed to take 562 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,960 notice so that I could get in the game really cared. 563 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:34,040 And I always thought the other people who played longer than 564 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:37,080 me, they have more opportunity than I do. 565 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:40,320 So I quit. But I still continue to play 566 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:43,400 because I like to play. And then I go to a two year 567 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,680 school and I only go for about a year. 568 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,760 And while I'm there, I have no direction in life and I'm just 569 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:53,000 playing intramurals in the college. 570 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,800 And the coach of the college team walks by and says, hey, you 571 00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:00,480 should go out for the team. So I'm thinking all the people 572 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:04,440 who play in college are all the All Stars from high school. 573 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:08,160 Why would I make the team? Well, I made the team and the 574 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:11,440 first game of the year that we played, I didn't start but I 575 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:16,520 played more minutes, my first. Game than I did three years 576 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:21,880 combined of high school playing time and I played and then I got 577 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:26,080 injured and I wasn't able to play and then I left and went to 578 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,600 the state of Delaware became a youth pastor kind of played in 579 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,320 and out thought that all that was over but I still love to 580 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,080 play and then we moved to Pensacola. 581 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:38,960 I don't hardly play except a little bit, and then God calls 582 00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:42,520 us to move to the Philippines. Little. 583 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:46,640 Do I know? That the number one sport in 584 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:51,840 this nation is basketball. And here I am, one day playing 585 00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,360 basketball at the House of Manny Pacquiao. 586 00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:01,760 Do you know how many people I've been able to share the gospel 587 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,400 with through basketball in this nation? 588 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:08,320 I mean, there are people I've played with congressmen, with 589 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:11,960 senators, I played with former PBA players, I've played with 590 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,760 different celebrities and stuff who I didn't know were 591 00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:19,640 celebrities. But it really doesn't matter 592 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:26,760 because my identity is not as a basketball player, it's in the 593 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,000 Lord. And and what he's been able to 594 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:34,120 do with my life has been nothing but honor and glory to Him. 595 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:37,840 Because I look at it and I go, you're allowing me to do the 596 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,760 desires, the things. That I like to do as long as 597 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,960 those things don't get in the way of my relationship with you, 598 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,040 friend. Humble yourself and God will 599 00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:51,560 lift you up. We're talking about years. 600 00:43:51,720 --> 00:43:54,440 I'm not talking about in a week's time, a month's time, a 601 00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:57,080 year. I'm talking about decades. 602 00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:00,440 God is faithful. He's watching over every area 603 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:03,400 and detail of your life. Don't give up. 604 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:07,880 Be faithful. Let God exalt you. 605 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:12,600 Let God lift you up. Let God receive the glory 606 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,440 because you were patient and waited upon. 607 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:18,000 Those of you who want to get married, I want to tell you 608 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:23,720 continue to wait, continue to walk in purity, continue to fall 609 00:44:23,720 --> 00:44:28,240 in love with Jesus and continue to meet with Pastor Buddy who 610 00:44:28,240 --> 00:44:30,200 will connect you to somebody at some. 611 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:39,800 Point, let me finish #5 Longitude and latitude directs 612 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:45,880 our fortitude. Listen, missionaries strengthen 613 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:49,480 others in Christ. Now, when I say a missionary, 614 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,760 I'm not just talking about someone like myself who moved 615 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:54,360 overseas. I'm saying everyone who calls 616 00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:59,400 himself a Christian should view themselves as a missionary, no 617 00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:01,400 matter where God's call them to be. 618 00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:07,160 But if you don't see yourself as a history. 619 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:12,240 Maker, as someone that God has raised up as an Ester for this 620 00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:18,120 generation, as someone that God has set apart and has given 621 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,800 testimony and who has said this is my son, this is my daughter, 622 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:27,440 and there's an anointing on your life and you've patiently walked 623 00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:30,040 with the Lord. My friend, I'm telling you that 624 00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:34,480 God will send you to places and be amongst people in different 625 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,320 locations that you would have only dreamed about. 626 00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:44,360 That's why I get excited. I'm more excited for when I see 627 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:49,960 the Filipinos that we've been able to pour into become people 628 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:56,160 that God has raised up and sent. Out, friend, God wants to send 629 00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:59,560 you, you hear me? God wants to send you. 630 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:05,320 OK, you're going to go to fire school at some point, OK, just 631 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,880 listen to your mom and dad, all right? 632 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:11,480 And then I'll take you to Army Navy when you can start eating 633 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:19,520 that type of food. OK, Number six, multitudes need 634 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:26,440 our fortitude. Multitudes, friend. 635 00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:31,280 There are billions of people who do not know Jesus. 636 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:38,760 If you're not strong, how are you going to represent what a 637 00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:43,000 true Christian looks like? I didn't say you got to be 638 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:49,920 perfect, but I'm saying be like that sword on that anvil that's 639 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,800 being hammered away, that's being bent and that's being 640 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,000 hammered again and again and again become. 641 00:46:57,280 --> 00:46:59,800 Strong in the Lord, in the power of his mind. 642 00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:04,680 Do it over and over and over again because. 643 00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:08,200 Unfortunately, there's a lot of people call themselves 644 00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,920 Christians and people who call themselves leaders that the 645 00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:14,880 world looks at and says, well, you don't even follow what Jesus 646 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,080 says, so why should I follow what you say? 647 00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:24,040 We either believe this and add it or we defame the name of 648 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:26,960 Jesus. I do not want to stand before 649 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:30,160 God and say I wish I would have been more faithful to you. 650 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:35,720 I don't because eternity is a long time. 651 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:41,080 And how many you believe that Jesus is going to be worth every 652 00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:45,080 second of our life and eternity to be given the glory and honor 653 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:51,160 that we could bring to Him? Lastly, gratitude comes from our 654 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:54,440 fortitude. You know what I've learned is 655 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:58,440 that if I'm thankful, testimonies keep coming. 656 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:04,960 Keep coming. Over and over and over again. 657 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:09,520 It always shocks me. I was when I was in the States. 658 00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:11,960 Maybe some of you saw this post on Facebook. 659 00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:18,080 I was driving a van that we had. So this white 2011 Honda van we 660 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:22,360 have in the States. Two weeks before we came back to 661 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:26,640 the Philippines in January, the engine died. 662 00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:31,240 Two weeks. We'd use it for four months. 663 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,160 And I'm thinking, you know what, just keep your peace. 664 00:48:36,040 --> 00:48:37,800 Don't say anything you're going to regret. 665 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:40,800 Trust the Lord. He's in control. 666 00:48:42,760 --> 00:48:46,080 A church that we were going to next said we're going to help 667 00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:48,480 pay for a new engine for your vehicle. 668 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:52,800 Wow. So the car sits. 669 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:57,040 I come back July 3rd, I pick up the vehicle. 670 00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:59,320 I'm like, praise God. You know, we're going to be able 671 00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:01,520 to go all over the place and do what I need to do. 672 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:04,840 And I take it to get an oil change just to get it checked 673 00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:07,720 out. And we have these creatures in 674 00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:13,800 the US called squirrels. Yes, they're cute. 675 00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:18,840 They got bushy little tails, but let me tell you, they're demons. 676 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:26,360 One of these, or maybe more than one of these squirrels, while 677 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:32,200 our van was sitting, got in and ate our air filter and our air 678 00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:35,600 conditioned filter. They made a nest out of it. 679 00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:42,520 There were acorns all throughout our engine, so we cleaned it out 680 00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,600 had. Those replaced and the car ran 681 00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:47,520 fine. Well, I'm in the state of 682 00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:49,960 Delaware. I go to a place called Rehoboth 683 00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:53,680 Beach as I'm getting some shopping things done and I'm 684 00:49:53,680 --> 00:49:56,840 going to drive back to my mom's house, which is 1/2 hour away. 685 00:49:57,160 --> 00:50:03,760 And as I'm driving this vehicle, the transmission slips and I'm 686 00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:08,120 like, Oh no, look, the most expensive thing on a car is the 687 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:10,640 engine. The second thing is the 688 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:14,520 transmission. We just had the engine replaced. 689 00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:18,480 I don't want to replace the transmission something and oh, 690 00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:21,000 no. I pull it over quickly on the 691 00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:24,080 side of the road. It's really hot outside. 692 00:50:25,240 --> 00:50:27,240 You know, I have my Christian music on. 693 00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:31,760 I had my iced coffee. I was like, oh, love you, Jesus. 694 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:34,160 As I drive in a car, everything's good. 695 00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:36,120 It's wonderful. You ever feel like that? 696 00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:38,560 And then your transmission slips. 697 00:50:40,520 --> 00:50:43,760 So I pull over and I lookout underneath my van. 698 00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:47,440 There is a puddle of transmission fluid. 699 00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:54,920 I was like, what in the world? Well, like Lord, I again, I'm 700 00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:58,440 going to keep my peace. You see, the more you develop 701 00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:02,160 testimonies, the more you learn how to respond and not react to 702 00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:06,960 situations. And so here I am saying, OK, 703 00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:11,080 every time that I walk in peace, God answers. 704 00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:13,400 So I'm going to walk in peace again. 705 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:18,080 I'm standing there trying to decide what to do. 706 00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:20,440 So I put on Facebook. I said, you know, maybe somebody 707 00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:23,160 will know a mechanic who I should take the vehicle to. 708 00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:25,840 Hey, took a picture of it. How many of you saw that 709 00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:27,080 picture? Some of you in the van? 710 00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:31,080 OK, so I I took a picture and I figured somebody would give me 711 00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:33,280 some insight. Well, the floodgates of 712 00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:39,960 mechanics open up and I5 or 6-7 different ideas from people. 713 00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:42,520 I'm like, Oh no, now I got too many ideas. 714 00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:43,960 Lord, where do you want me to go? 715 00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:48,560 And he makes it clear, this one guy who I never met before and 716 00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:52,440 while I'm standing there now I can call the tow truck to tell 717 00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:56,080 them where to take me to. So I call and they say the tow 718 00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:59,600 trucks going to be two hours before he could get there, which 719 00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:02,880 is kind of normal in a situation like that in the States. 720 00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:08,040 Well, around the corner, a young man that. 721 00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:11,680 Used to be in my youth group in the mid 1990s. 722 00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:16,920 Drives around the corner and he sees me standing there and he 723 00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:21,200 says I know that guy. And he pulls over and he goes, 724 00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:23,600 what happened? He says, get my vehicle. 725 00:52:23,720 --> 00:52:25,640 You know, he's got the air on and everything. 726 00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:29,400 We literally have a divine appointment for two hours. 727 00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:34,480 He's pouring out his heart. I'm sharing my heart. 728 00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:38,760 And it was just so wonderful. And this young man, his name's 729 00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:41,520 Casey, spells it different than Casey. 730 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:47,520 This guy is one of the elders at the church I used to youth 731 00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:54,840 pastor at, and he was telling me some of the challenges that 732 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:58,760 they've faced lately. And you know what he says to me 733 00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:03,200 to encourage me? He says, I'm so grateful that 734 00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:08,480 you have been someone in my life for all these years, have been 735 00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:12,760 faithful because remember this, Casey was there on the day that 736 00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:14,960 I stood up in front of the church and repented. 737 00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:20,840 I let Casey down at that time. Now, he didn't tell me that, but 738 00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:23,920 I know I did, as I did many people at the time. 739 00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:30,000 But see, every year I go back to the States in October. 740 00:53:30,280 --> 00:53:34,320 I always speak at that church and you know what Casey does? 741 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:39,840 There's been about 5-4 or five pastors since I was at that 742 00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:42,280 church in the mid 90s. You know what he tells every new 743 00:53:42,280 --> 00:53:45,560 pastor that comes in? Oh, we just want to let you know 744 00:53:45,560 --> 00:53:47,640 that Eric Miller is our missionary. 745 00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:50,800 So we don't care what you want to do. 746 00:53:50,800 --> 00:53:54,200 But Eric's going to be speaking here in October. 747 00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,120 He didn't say it that direct like that, but. 748 00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:06,800 But it really means everything to me that my thankfulness for 749 00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:10,640 what God's done in my life. I could be bitter about having 750 00:54:10,640 --> 00:54:14,920 to be exposed for sin. I I could be bitter I can have 751 00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:17,000 an attitude. I could say, who are you to 752 00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:21,680 judge me? Who are you to criticize me or? 753 00:54:22,720 --> 00:54:28,080 I could say, Father, forgive me, Jesus, change me, and then watch 754 00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:30,520 what God does to mold and shape it. 755 00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:37,680 And here I am talking with KC, somebody I've known for probably 756 00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:41,760 30 years, and yet he's faithful. You know what? 757 00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:46,280 He has a. Passion for India he's gone to 758 00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:52,040 India almost every year loves missions, loves going to India, 759 00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:56,800 loves the people there, goes there and and he's in his glory 760 00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:01,000 I look at. That and I go God, only you 761 00:55:01,000 --> 00:55:04,760 could have done this. Friend, can I encourage you? 762 00:55:05,600 --> 00:55:08,760 Be. Thankful for what? 763 00:55:08,760 --> 00:55:09,560 God's. Done. 764 00:55:10,240 --> 00:55:13,560 Don't beat yourself up or let the enemy beat you up, or let 765 00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:16,960 other people beat you up with all the things that you did or 766 00:55:16,960 --> 00:55:20,840 didn't do right. Just come. 767 00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:22,920 Before Jesus. Say, Lord, I thank you. 768 00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:26,240 For being faithful, for strengthening me. 769 00:55:28,640 --> 00:55:30,760 Can you put up? The next slide, George 770 00:55:30,760 --> 00:55:33,360 Whitfield. One of the leaders greatest, one 771 00:55:33,360 --> 00:55:36,640 of the greatest preachers of all time during the the Great 772 00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:41,800 Awakening in America in the 1700s said this what get to 773 00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:45,760 heaven in your own strength. You might as well try to climb 774 00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:51,480 to the moon on a rope of sand. A rope of sand. 775 00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:53,280 What is he? Saying, he's saying. 776 00:55:54,920 --> 00:55:57,800 If you make something. Like this to the moon. 777 00:55:59,520 --> 00:56:02,000 And think. That you are. 778 00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:06,760 Going to accomplish anything in this life because of your own 779 00:56:06,760 --> 00:56:10,360 mind and power and strength, You're as foolish as trying to 780 00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:16,920 make a ladder out of sand. Friend, it's impossible for you 781 00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:20,200 and I. In our. 782 00:56:20,200 --> 00:56:25,280 Own ability. And our flesh to be successful. 783 00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:27,000 In this life. Oh, you might. 784 00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:30,040 Make money in this life. You might have a beautiful 785 00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:34,120 spouse and beautiful kids and have a nice house or car and all 786 00:56:34,120 --> 00:56:35,760 those things, but I want to tell you something. 787 00:56:35,760 --> 00:56:38,320 When you die, you can't take. Any of that with you to heaven. 788 00:56:41,640 --> 00:56:44,280 And there's nothing wrong if God blesses you in that. 789 00:56:44,280 --> 00:56:46,960 Way. But the reality is, if your 790 00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:52,080 strength comes from what you do and not who you are in Christ, 791 00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:54,600 then you're not as strong as you think you are. 792 00:56:56,720 --> 00:57:01,960 Proverbs. 20. 4 verse 10 says. If you faint in the day of 793 00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:07,080 adversity, your strength is small if. 794 00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:10,360 You faint in the day of adversity. 795 00:57:11,160 --> 00:57:14,720 Your strength is small. Can I ask everybody to stand? 796 00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:19,120 It is. Such an honor for. 797 00:57:19,120 --> 00:57:22,960 Us to be missionaries in the Philippines. 798 00:57:24,440 --> 00:57:25,840 It really is. I've I've. 799 00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:29,200 Said this for years. Nobody twists our arm to be a 800 00:57:29,200 --> 00:57:33,000 missionary here. When I'm driving to America and 801 00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:35,960 in New York where I'm from, or Delaware where we lived, or 802 00:57:35,960 --> 00:57:41,240 Florida, all these places, it's wonderful to see people, but I'm 803 00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:43,200 always looking forward to getting back here. 804 00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:48,520 This is. What God's called so and I 805 00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:49,960 always. Get asked the same. 806 00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:53,760 Question, when I'm back in the States, how long do you think 807 00:57:53,760 --> 00:57:55,200 you're going to live in the Philippines? 808 00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:59,200 Are you? Going to die there, I. 809 00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:01,600 I say, well, I really can't tell you. 810 00:58:01,600 --> 00:58:06,120 That I have no idea. I don't know if the Lord would 811 00:58:06,120 --> 00:58:10,360 call us to go somewhere else, but right now all I know is that 812 00:58:10,360 --> 00:58:14,000 where we are, we're committed to whatever the Lord wants to do. 813 00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:16,640 That's it. I. 814 00:58:16,640 --> 00:58:17,760 I. Can't make. 815 00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:22,960 Plans for the future unless I know that God is saying do this. 816 00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:26,680 Or that and all we know is that God said move to the Philippines 817 00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:33,800 in January 2003. Being here as a missionary. 818 00:58:35,120 --> 00:58:37,840 Our number one goal? Is. 819 00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:39,680 To make disciples who make disciples. 820 00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:43,920 I preach about revival. But I'm not just. 821 00:58:43,920 --> 00:58:47,160 Talking about big meetings. I'm talking about something 822 00:58:47,160 --> 00:58:51,880 taking place in your heart. I'm talking about God giving. 823 00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:56,920 You strength and courage, fortitude in your life to press 824 00:58:56,920 --> 00:58:59,960 through. Listen where you are AT and the 825 00:58:59,960 --> 00:59:02,480 hardships you might be experiencing right now. 826 00:59:02,480 --> 00:59:03,640 Look up here. Look at me. 827 00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:07,080 You're not going to be there. Forever. 828 00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:12,600 OK, you're not going to be there forever. 829 00:59:14,080 --> 00:59:18,840 Be faithful. Know the Lord's voice. 830 00:59:19,280 --> 00:59:24,320 Share testimonies. Serve wholeheartedly. 831 00:59:24,960 --> 00:59:27,960 Make yourself to be a man or a woman of God. 832 00:59:29,720 --> 00:59:32,480 Don't get caught. Up in what, everybody? 833 00:59:32,480 --> 00:59:36,080 Else is doing be caught up in God's Word, in his presence. 834 00:59:36,320 --> 00:59:38,760 Be caught up in the fellowship of the Saints. 835 00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:43,480 My friend, God has a great plan for your life. 836 00:59:44,600 --> 00:59:46,200 He absolutely does. But. 837 00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:47,160 I. Can't. 838 00:59:47,160 --> 00:59:51,760 Fulfill your plan for you. I can as. 839 00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:55,720 The other leaders here? We can give you tools on how to 840 00:59:55,720 --> 00:59:58,920 fulfill the calling God has for your life, but you got to find 841 00:59:58,920 --> 01:00:01,560 out who you are in the Lord and you got to be faithful to grow 842 01:00:01,560 --> 01:00:01,880 in it.