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There was a man and a woman. 
They were driving down the road.

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They've been married for a 
while. 

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He was driving. 
She was in the passenger seat. 

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And as they were going down the 
road, the lights flashed in the 

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rear view mirror, the blue and 
red. 

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And the husband pulled over and 
the patrolman walked up and he 

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came to the window and said, so 
I guess you know why I pulled 

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you over. 
The man said, no, officer, I'm 

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sorry, I don't know why you 
pulled me over. 

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The officer said you were doing 
75 in a 55. 

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The man said, officer, no, no, 
no, there's no way. 

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I was going above 65 miles an 
hour. 

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His wife leaned over and said 
you were going 80 miles an hour.

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My husband glared at her and the
patrolman said, well, since I 

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pulled you over, I'm going to 
have to give you a citation for 

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your broken taillight as well. 
And husband said broken 

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taillight, that I didn't know I 
had a broken taillight. 

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That must have just happened. 
And his wife said, what are you 

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talking about? 
That tail lights been broken for

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weeks glared at her again. 
This time he said, now look 

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woman, you better shut your 
mouth or I'm going to shut it 

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for you. 
The officer said, now hold on 

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Sir, shouldn't talk to her that 
way. 

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And the officer leaned in and 
said, Ma'am, does he talk to you

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like this all the time? 
She said, no officer, only when 

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he's drunk. 
There, there is such a thing as 

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too much honesty, right? 
Sometimes, Sometimes, sometimes 

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it's good to tell a little white
lie. 

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Sometimes you tell people the 
haircut looks great, even if the

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haircut doesn't look great. 
Sometimes you say those clothes 

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fit even if they're a little 
snug. 

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I don't know. 
That's just, we do those kinds 

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of things at time to protect 
people's dignity and and not to 

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shame them in some way. 
And I think that's, I think 

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that's a godly thing, a good 
thing. 

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But today we're talking about a 
whole different category of 

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deception, which are lies and 
deceptions that are told for our

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convenience, for a short term 
gain that might have long term 

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consequences that are negative. 
Leyben and Jacob both understood

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this. 
They both had that as part of 

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their part of their lives. 
This, this legacy of lies they 

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were, they were well acquainted 
with deception. 

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Laban who, who was Rachel and 
Leah's father, you know, and 

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Jacob got there and he fell in 
love with the younger Laban's 

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younger daughter Rachel and said
I want to marry your daughter, 

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work for me for seven years then
you can marry my daughter. 7 

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years of labour came, the 
wedding night came and Laban 

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deceived Jacob and sent in his 
older daughter Leah to be 

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married to him instead. 
And so Leah married Jacob. 

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Jacob was angry, Leah was not 
happy either, and Rachel 

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certainly was not happy. 
But Layman said oh worries just 

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work for me another seven years 
and you can go ahead and marry 

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my daughter Rachel as well was 
lies, lies and deception. 

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And then years later, Jacob who 
had been again working for well 

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over 14 years for Layman, I 
think by the time of the events 

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of the story, it's close to 20 
years. 

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And and his flocks, Jacob's 
flocks have grown dramatically 

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and Labans have shrunk and 
shrunk and shrunk. 

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And Bible tells us that was 
divine intervention that God was

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doing that. 
And then Laban was now not real 

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happy with Jacob. 
And he decided, well, Jacob had 

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a dream in which God said it's 
time for you to go back home, 

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time to go back to Canaan, time 
to go back to your father Isaac.

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And Jacob was worried that his 
wives would not want to leave 

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their father and this place 
where they had lived their whole

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lives. 
And so we called them out to the

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fields where he was, and he 
explained what God had said to 

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him. 
And this was their response. 

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Not only has he sold us, Leah 
and Rachel said, but he has used

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up what he paid for us. 
Surely all the wealth that God 

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took away from our Father 
belongs to us and our children. 

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So do whatever God has told you.
You want to leave here. 

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That is fine with us. 
Our Father is nothing to us. 

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Our Father sold us and then 
squandered what He got for us. 

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Whatever we can get from him 
now, whatever you can get for 

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Him for us to use, we're OK with
that. 

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We are happy to leave and take 
as much of His wealth with us as

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we can. 
Laban's lies, while giving him a

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short term gain cost him a 
relationship. 

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Multiple relationships. 
Relationships with his 

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daughter's, relationships with 
his grandkids. 

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Laban's lies broke his family 
and he paid the long term 

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consequences for that. 
Jacob had a right to be upset 

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with Laban for his deceptions in
his lies, but Jacob certainly 

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couldn't throw stones because 
Jacob was definitely living in a

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glass house. 
Jacob was there because of his 

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own lies. 
God had promised his mother that

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he, the younger of the two 
twins, Jacob and Esau, he would 

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rule over the older. 
The older would serve the 

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younger, but they weren't 
patient. 

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They didn't trust God enough to 
let God make that happen. 

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And so when Isaac was old and 
blind and wanted to give his 

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blessing to his oldest son, 
Esau, when Esau had gone out in 

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the fields, Jacob, you know, 
Isaac had said, hey, I want you 

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to prepare this Stew for me. 
And he knew what kind of animal 

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he saw went out to hunt and kill
the animal to prepare the Stew. 

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And in the meantime, with his 
mother's help, Jacob disguised 

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himself as his brother, went 
into his father's tent 

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pretending to be his brother, 
deceived his father, and his 

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father gave Jacob his brother's 
blessing, A blessing of wealth, 

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adult blessing of power, a 
blessing of legacy, of ruling 

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over his younger brother. 
This lie also for short term 

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gain, also showing a lack of 
faith in God to care for him and

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also destroying relationships. 
This is how Esau responded. 

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Esau held a grudge against Jacob
because of the blessing his 

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father had given him. 
And Esau said to himself, the 

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days of mourning for my father 
are near. 

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My father is an old man and will
die soon. 

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In other words, then I will kill
my brother Jacob. 

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That's about as broken as a 
family can get right there. 

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Short term gain, short term 
benefit leads to the long term 

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shattering of families and 
relationship and trust. 

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Simple fact is the common and 
increasingly challenging problem

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of deception. 
Deception is I don't know the 

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people lie anymore today than 
they used to lie. 

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Our tools for lying are much 
better now than they used to be.

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We've got really good tools for 
lying and deceiving people. 

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Now you can get a phone call and
hear the voice of someone you 

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know very well asking you for 
help. 

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Just send money. 
Just send a card. 

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Just wire some cash. 
And it's someone whose voice you

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know and its voice you 
recognize. 

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But it's a total fake computer 
generated. 

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Now we can watch videos on TV 
and not know whether they're 

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real or not. 
They're that good. 

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Most of them are still, you can 
tell that at least the at least 

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the one I, I don't know. 
The ones I can tell, I can tell.

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Maybe there's some on there that
I can't tell. 

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Within five years we won't be 
able to tell, period. 

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There's videos out there now 
that are relatively harmless. 

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Animals doing crazy or silly 
things or babies doing crazy or 

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silly things that if you think 
about it, yeah, this is probably

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not real. 
But when you realize people can 

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do that with any news story at 
any time now, they can make 

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anything look real. 
They can make anyone say 

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anything, anyone do anything in 
the digital world. 

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And it's so real, we can't tell 
the difference. 

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And if that's happening across 
the country or across the world,

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how do we know? 
How do we know what's real and 

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what's not? 
The level of lying and 

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deception? 
Again, I don't know that there's

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any more of it now than there 
ever used to be, but it is so 

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much easier in the digital world
to lie and deceive, and so much 

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harder to really get to the 
truth of what's going on. 

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One of the challenges is that 
sometimes we glorify this kind 

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of lying, deception and fraud. 
You ever heard of Frank Abigail 

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Junior? 
He's a con man was very popular 

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a few years ago. 
They made him. 

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He wrote a book, wrote an auto. 
He went to prison, got him for, 

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you know, passing bad checks, 
went to prison for a few years, 

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wrote an autobiography and 
telling about his exploits and 

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and owning up to all sorts of 
things he done pretending to be 

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a doctor, working in a hospital 
and providing healthcare to 

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people. 
That movie they made about him 

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was Catch Me if you can, Tom 
Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

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It's a really good movie. 
Pretending to be an attorney, 

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passing the bar down South, but 
not having an attorney's 

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license. 
Purdue, but practicing law 

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without a license. 
He he obtained a uniform from a 

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major airline, a pilot's uniform
and pretended to be a pilot and 

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got free flights around the 
world. 

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After he got out of prison, he 
got he got hired by the FBI and 

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worked for the FBI to help 
uncover fraud. 

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He also did the talk show 
circuit. 

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You can find interviews with him
when he was on The Tonight Show 

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with Johnny Carson, interviewed 
by Johnny Carson should have 

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going through some of its 
exploits and some of the things 

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he did, lying and deceiving and 
cheating people. 

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And he was kind of hailed as a 
folk hero, victimless crimes. 

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Isn't this amazing what he did? 
Now there's two things. 1 is 

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most of it was an absolute lie. 
People didn't Fact Check quite 

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as much back then as they do 
now, particularly when it came 

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to books who would confess to 
doing criminal things that they 

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didn't really do well. 
Frank Abagnale Junior did. 

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They fact checked. 
There was 0 evidence he had ever

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worked in a hospital anywhere, 
much less the hospital he 

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claimed to work in. 
There was. 

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He had never taken the bar, much
less past the bar. 0 evidence 

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00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,000
he'd ever acted as an attorney. 
Zero evidence they did ever 

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actually fooled an airline into 
thinking that he was a pilot and

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gotten a bunch of free flights 
back and forth across the 

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country. 
He had passed a few bad checks. 

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He'd gone to jail. 
He manufactured an autobiography

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and made a lot of money doing 
it. 

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He was celebrated for that as a 
con man, became a folk hero. 

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00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,240
Abby Allen tells a different 
story from the other side of 

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dealing with con men. 
She wrote a book called Duped a 

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few years ago, and she had 
fallen in love with a man who 

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presented himself to be one 
thing. 

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00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,800
And there was a lot of evidence 
that was out there that some of 

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what he was saying was real and 
true. 

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And, and, but, but she was taken
in. 

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00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,200
And it wasn't until months 
later, after she was engaged, 

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00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,680
that she began to see him for 
what he really was, which was 

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full of lies and dishonesty and 
deception. 

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00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,720
And the emotional and spiritual 
and psychological toll it took 

197
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on her was devastating. 
When we lie and deceive, we hurt

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00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,320
people. 
When we lie and deceive, we 

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00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:17,440
break relationships. 
When we have a culture in which 

200
00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,800
lying and deception is so easy 
and so common that we really 

201
00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:27,560
don't know what's true and 
what's not, I don't know how we 

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00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,640
have a functioning society 
within that. 

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00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,360
Within 10 years, when the deep 
fakes are so easy and so 

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00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,960
believable that we can't tell 
what's real and what's not, I 

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00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:46,000
don't know how we will function 
as a culture and as a society. 

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00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,120
It's a challenge that's only 
going to grow in the years that 

207
00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,400
come. 
And there's more to this than 

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00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,600
just don't tell lies. 
There's more at stake here than 

209
00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,080
just follow the rules, tell the 
truth, don't tell lies. 

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00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:06,920
What's at stake is, is trust. 
It's love, it's community, it's 

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00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:13,960
connection. 
What's at stake is, is, is to be

212
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:18,320
able to have the opposite kind 
of relationships that Laban had 

213
00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,360
with his family, that Jacob had 
with his family. 

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00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,680
For people to be able to live 
and trust and walk and work and 

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00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:32,800
laugh and play together without 
wondering is it real or not. 

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00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,880
I don't know where all this is 
going. 

217
00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:37,800
I don't think anyone really 
knows where all this is going. 

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00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,000
I I think the the next, it's 
hard to know what the next five 

219
00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,600
years are going to be like what 
much less the next 45 years. 

220
00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:46,800
We don't know. 
We know. 

221
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,600
We know our jobs are going to 
change. 

222
00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:50,800
We know school is going to 
change. 

223
00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,080
We know politics is going to 
change. 

224
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,600
We know military conflict is 
going to change. 

225
00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,360
We know the church is going to 
change. 

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00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:00,040
We know all of these things are 
going to change. 

227
00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,960
We just don't know what they're 
going to become. 

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00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:07,000
We don't know where this is all 
going, but this is exactly where

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00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:13,520
the disciples were right before 
Jesus died, that night before 

230
00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,400
Jesus died. 
And he'd been telling his 

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00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,160
disciples for weeks, maybe for 
months, maybe for years. 

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00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,040
Going to go to Jerusalem. 
I'm going to be betrayed. 

233
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,280
I'm going to be killed. 
I'm going to die. 

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00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,440
I'm going to be buried on the 
third day. 

235
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,560
I'm going to rise from the dead.
And the disciples all assumed he

236
00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,360
was talking in riddles and 
parables when he was just 

237
00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:36,160
telling concrete truth. 
But that night before he said, 

238
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,160
Hey, you know, I'm going to my 
father, I'm going to prepare a 

239
00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,560
place for you. 
If that weren't true, I wouldn't

240
00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:42,680
tell you. 
And there. 

241
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,280
And he said, and you know the 
way place, right? 

242
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,080
You know the way to where I'm 
going. 

243
00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,640
And Thomas is like, we don't 
even know where you're going. 

244
00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,560
How do we know the way? 
How do we know the way? 

245
00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:03,720
And Jesus said, Jesus said, I am
the way, the truth and the life.

246
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,800
No one comes to the Father 
except through me. 

247
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,240
If you've seen me, you've seen 
the Father and you know the 

248
00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,160
Father. 
We don't know where all of this 

249
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:21,400
is going, but we know Jesus, 
just like Thomas and the other 

250
00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,400
disciples had no idea where this
whole Messiah thing was going to

251
00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,040
go. 
Not at all. 

252
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,240
They believed that Jesus, far 
from dying, he might go through 

253
00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,040
some kind of experience, but 
there's no way the Messiah would

254
00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,440
die. 
Far from dying, he was going to 

255
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,640
establish Israel again as a 
great Kingdom on earth to which 

256
00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,480
all other kingdoms would flock 
and come for wisdom and truth 

257
00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:51,560
and light. 
And instead, the next day their 

258
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:55,320
Savior was murdered and he died 
and he was in the ground. 

259
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,720
And then he rose from the dead. 
And they still didn't know. 

260
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,960
They still thought the moment 
Jesus was about to ascend into 

261
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,920
the heavens, the last question 
they asked him was, is are you 

262
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,920
going to do it now? 
Are you going to establish the 

263
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:12,000
Kingdom of Israel now? 
They were looking for a Jewish 

264
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,320
Messiah to establish a Jewish 
Kingdom that the other kingdoms 

265
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,640
would look to for inspiration 
and guidance and direction that 

266
00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,760
would be the model for all the 
kingdoms of the earth. 

267
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,760
They had no idea what God was 
really up to and where all this 

268
00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,040
was going. 
They would never have guessed 

269
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:35,960
that you and IA bunch of 
gentiles with mostly northern 

270
00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,880
European ancestry would be 
living in a continent that they 

271
00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:43,480
didn't know about, worshipping 
Jesus in a building with 

272
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,080
stainless. 
No concept. 

273
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:50,840
No concept, but God knew. 
God knew. 

274
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,720
And Jesus said you don't need to
know anything else but this. 

275
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,120
You need to know me. 
I am the way and I am the truth 

276
00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,880
and I am the life. 
And that truth is such an 

277
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:05,920
essential thing here for us 
because in a world where 

278
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,640
deception is common, where 
sometimes deception is praised, 

279
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,359
and a world where it's difficult
and sometimes impossible to 

280
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:19,440
distinguish truth from reality, 
lies from honesty, and that kind

281
00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:25,560
of world, we need to be totally 
committed to Jesus as the truth 

282
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,120
and totally committed to the 
truth. 

283
00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,560
The church, I believe, needs to 
be a haven of honesty and 

284
00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,400
authenticity. 
And this world right now, people

285
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,800
don't know where they can go for
real. 

286
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,680
They don't know where they can 
go for, for anything that's 

287
00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,840
real, anything that's honest. 
Everyone kind of knows the 

288
00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,640
politicians lie, but what can we
do? 

289
00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,800
Everyone knows that the 
advertisements for the products 

290
00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:58,440
that we buy and use and consume 
are, are, are, are deceptive and

291
00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,040
untrue and they just don't 
expect them to be true. 

292
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,720
And pretty soon we won't know 
the folks we're talking to 

293
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,760
online or well, we already don't
know if they're real people or 

294
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,720
not. 
If you talk on social media, we 

295
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,840
don't know if the videos that we
see will be real events or fake 

296
00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,160
events, people doing real things
or fake things. 

297
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,480
We already see some of that even
among the major where there was 

298
00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,640
one of the people killed in 
Minnesota here recently, and I 

299
00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,960
believe it was MSNBC doctored 
his photo to make him better 

300
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,120
looking, believing if he were 
better looking, people would 

301
00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,880
have more sympathy for him and 
they got caught doing it. 

302
00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:45,520
That's a major news outlet 
engaging in openly engaging in 

303
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,360
deception. 
Now, part of that makes me worry

304
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:50,920
if I ever get killed, then if 
you got to be good looking to 

305
00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,280
get sympathy, I'm in trouble, in
big trouble. 

306
00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,920
But changing a photo to make 
someone look different? 

307
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,640
This is the world we live in and
it's only going to get more 

308
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,680
deceptive as time passes and 
harder to distinguish the truth.

309
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,200
And I believe we are fast 
approaching and may already be 

310
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:18,840
in a place that the one, One of 
the few things that the church 

311
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,800
can offer the world that they 
can't get anywhere else is 

312
00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,440
full-fledged honesty and 
authenticity. 

313
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,160
Or folks can say, I don't know 
if the people at McDonald's and 

314
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,320
the people at Goodyear and the 
people at Boeing and the people 

315
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,840
at Apple and the people at 
SpaceX are lying to me or not. 

316
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:39,800
But I know those folks at New 
Beginning United Methodist 

317
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:45,680
Church, those are real people. 
They're real, they're honest, 

318
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,800
they're authentic. 
I know when I get there I will 

319
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:56,920
hear truth and not branding 
'cause that's Jesus is the 

320
00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,280
truth. 
Jesus isn't a brand. 

321
00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,760
Christianity isn't a brand. 
This church isn't a brand. 

322
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,000
It's one of the I my heart goes 
out to social media influencers 

323
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:14,280
because they become a brand. 
They stop being honest, 

324
00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,920
authentic human beings and they 
become a brand. 

325
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,800
And the reality of who they are 
becomes far less important than 

326
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:23,600
who they can present themselves 
to be. 

327
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,920
In fact, they go to great 
lengths to hide anything about 

328
00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,080
the reality of who they are that
might interfere with their 

329
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:34,320
branding and disrupt their 
influence and their cash flow. 

330
00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,000
And yet they present themselves 
as authentic. 

331
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,320
So people will follow and be 
influenced by them, but they're 

332
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,560
not authentic. 
And people know it. 

333
00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:46,160
They know it, but they kind of 
play the game. 

334
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,760
And we just don't know. 
And who is real. 

335
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,800
And we can be real. 
We can be real because we don't 

336
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,080
have to be worried about 
protecting our brand because we 

337
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,960
already know that Jesus loves us
and receives us and accepts us 

338
00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:05,400
just as we are, broken, flawed, 
warts and all, with all of our 

339
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,160
failures and all of our 
successes, with all of our 

340
00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:12,080
achievements and all of our 
disasters, with all of our our 

341
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,840
accomplishments and all of our 
mistakes, all of it we can 

342
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:17,560
bring. 
And Jesus is like that. 

343
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,840
You. 
I just want you more than 

344
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:21,840
anything else. 
Jesus wants from us 

345
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:26,560
authenticity, for us to be with 
him, who we really are. 

346
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,080
And then he calls us and invites
us to be the same with each 

347
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:34,840
other, to be who we are. 
Few years ago there was a well, 

348
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,560
there's still a band. 
The band Casting Crowns a few 

349
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,880
years back had a song called 
Stained Glass Masquerade and it 

350
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,840
was about how it church, so many
church people go and they they 

351
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:46,600
put on a stained glass 
masquerade. 

352
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:48,840
They pretend to have it all 
together. 

353
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,320
They pretend to be gooder than 
they are. 

354
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,800
They pretend to have all of the 
faith and all of the hope and 

355
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,040
all of the joy and all of the 
love and everything is always 

356
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,160
all right and God is good all 
the time and all the time God is

357
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:03,880
good. 
And they never show what's 

358
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:09,040
really going on on the inside 
because they feel like they 

359
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,920
won't be accepted. 
Everyone else has it together. 

360
00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:14,200
I have to look like I have 
together, too. 

361
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,960
I think if the church is going 
to survive in this country in 

362
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:24,280
the next 5 and 45 years, we've 
got to lean into the things that

363
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,760
we can do that the rest of the 
world can't. 

364
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,760
And because our God loves us, 
because our Savior died for us 

365
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,680
as broken, flawed human beings, 
we don't have to protect our 

366
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,400
brand. 
We can be honest and authentic 

367
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,960
in a way that no other 
organization in the world can. 

368
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:49,000
We can be who we are. 
One of the things I keep hearing

369
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,160
over and over again with both 
ends of the political spectrum 

370
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,120
is, is, oh, you can't say the 
quiet things out loud. 

371
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,960
We all know there's things we 
don't, we're really after and 

372
00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,280
we're really wanting to 
accomplish. 

373
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,800
We really can't tell anybody 
about those things. 

374
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,440
The church doesn't have to play 
those games. 

375
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,280
In fact, we shouldn't play those
games. 

376
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:12,360
We just go out and be who we 
are, flawed human beings, loved 

377
00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:16,720
and forgiven and received by 
Jesus Christ and allowing other 

378
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,520
people to be who they are too. 
We can be that one place in the 

379
00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,600
world where folks can come and 
say, I can be myself with these 

380
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,200
people and they will love me and
respect me and care for me. 

381
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,320
And I know that because they are
themselves with each other and 

382
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,240
they love and respect and care 
for each other. 

383
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,560
That's the gift. 
That's the calling that we have.

384
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:46,680
Lies are the tools of the devil.
The devil is the father of lies.

385
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,360
Lies are the tools of the devil.
We can't do God's work with the 

386
00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:53,880
devil's tools. 
We need to be authentic. 

387
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,280
We need to be real. 
I think I got time for one more 

388
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:57,000
story. 
I do. 

389
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,120
I do. 
It's a king. 

390
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,840
Once Upon a time was a king. 
The great Kingdom long ago in a 

391
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,880
faraway place and he was getting
old. 

392
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,680
He had no children. 
He needed to choose a successor.

393
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,720
He wanted to choose someone 
young so that they could be 

394
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,080
trained. 
And he he wanted to choose 

395
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,320
someone that would live and be 
able to lead wisely for many, 

396
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,920
many years. 
So he he decided how he would 

397
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,480
select his successor or at least
narrow down the field. 

398
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,160
He would have a contest among 
the young people, the youth of 

399
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,200
his Kingdom. 
And he called them all together 

400
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,200
and he gave them all a seed. 
And he said, here's the 

401
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:39,000
challenge, go home, plant your 
seed next year, one year from 

402
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000
today, gather back here and 
bring with you whatever plant 

403
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:49,200
you have grown so that I can see
how you've used this seed that 

404
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,400
I've given you. 
So everyone got their seeds, 

405
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,640
they went home, they planted 
them, they water, then they 

406
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,400
fertilized. 
And there was young one young 

407
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,160
man that with with just a couple
weeks left before that one year 

408
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,240
anniversary And his mom came in 
and checked on him again. 

409
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,320
And he was like, mom, my seed 
still hasn't grown. 

410
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:08,600
I've been doing everything I'm 
supposed to do. 

411
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,800
I've watered it, fertilized it, 
I put it in the right soil. 

412
00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:14,680
I've had it in the sunlight the 
right amount of time. 

413
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:15,840
I've done everything I'm 
supposed to. 

414
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,280
And the seed hasn't grown. 
And mom said, well, you'll just 

415
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,720
have to take the empty pot. 
That is no way I'm going. 

416
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,920
I'll be humiliated. 
This is embarrassing. 

417
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:26,840
His mom said, no, no, this is 
important. 

418
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,000
You need to go. 
Just explain to the king what 

419
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:30,920
happens. 
Sometimes seeds don't go. 

420
00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:36,160
I'm sure he will understand. 
He's a wise king and so much 

421
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,920
against his own better 
judgement. 

422
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,520
With the strong encouragement of
his mother, he carried his empty

423
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,320
pot to see the king and we got 
into the audience hall. 

424
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,920
His worst nightmares were 
confirmed as he looked around 

425
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,680
the room and he saw these big 
beautiful plants, someone pots 

426
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,040
of large. 
They had to be pulled in carts 

427
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,040
by by horses, some with small 
trees in them, others with these

428
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,480
giant vining vegetables in them,
others with beautiful tall 

429
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:13,480
luxurious flowers in them. 
Everyone's smiling, everyone 

430
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,720
pleased in a big line as people 
were walking and bringing their 

431
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,760
plants forward to show the king 
one at a time and see how the 

432
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,800
king would respond. 
And the king was paying 

433
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:24,960
attention. 
He never seemed to be really 

434
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,640
super pleased or really super 
upset, but every once in a while

435
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,920
he would look up and look around
the room and scan the room until

436
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,600
finally while he was scanning 
the room, he caught sight of 

437
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,720
that young man and his empty 
pot. 

438
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:42,000
The king called for quiet and he
called that young man to come 

439
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,280
forward. 
And as the room grew silent, 

440
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,480
that young man walked forward 
and he was humiliated and 

441
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,520
embarrassed and and everyone 
could see it and kind of hope he

442
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,600
could wait till last and no one 
would notice. 

443
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,480
But now everyone could see his 
empty pot. 

444
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,800
And he walked up to the front 
and he stood before the king. 

445
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,160
And the king said, I see you 
have an empty pot in your hands.

446
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,800
Explain yourself young man. 
Young man said your Highness, 

447
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,160
I'm sorry. 
I planted your seed. 

448
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,520
I watered it. 
I fertilized it, but nothing 

449
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,320
grew. 
All I have to give you is an 

450
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:18,360
empty pot, the king said. 
I think I have found my 

451
00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:23,240
successor said. 
You see, every seed that I gave 

452
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,360
away last year, I had boiled 
first. 

453
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,400
None of them would grow 
anything. 

454
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,680
And you're the only one who has 
the had the courage to be honest

455
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,120
with me. 
And he made him the successor. 

456
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:44,760
This is what God calls us to. 
The courage to be honest, the 

457
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:49,960
courage to be authentic. 
The courage to be who we really 

458
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,760
are, flawed and broken and 
sometimes dysfunctional as we 

459
00:27:54,760 --> 00:28:01,760
may be, but also loving and 
caring and compassionate and 

460
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,600
desiring to do the best that we 
can for our Lord and our Savior 

461
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,840
and to love as best we can in 
this community. 

462
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:11,400
And that's what God wants from 
us. 

463
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,240
The courage to be honest in 
Jesus name, Amen. 

464
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:16,240
Amen.