1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,560 Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:06,920 from St. Augustine, FL. 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:17,400 Now enjoy this message. For the past 4 1/2 years, I have 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,040 had the honor and privilege to serve our state as the 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:21,720 Governor's liaison for faith and community. 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,960 That's amazing. I have. 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,560 To tell you there's two things I really always hope that people. 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,080 Hear when I hear say that title one, I would love for you to 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:32,439 know I think it's the best job in the state. 10 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,000 There's 110,000 state employees. I think governor's liaison for 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,320 faith and community is the best. But here's what's more important 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,800 is that you should be, as Floridians, extremely proud that 13 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:43,840 that position even exists in the state of Florida. 14 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,640 Not, not that I'm in it because that's irrelevant, but the fact 15 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,640 that there's only 14 or 15 states in the whole country that 16 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,240 have put an emphasis on faith and community. 17 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,680 So it's a It's a big deal. It's a big deal. 18 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,560 So what is my role? Well, my role is to be the 19 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,000 governor's voice from the executive office of the 20 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:03,120 governor. By the way, we're the only one. 21 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,400 Arkansas is about to change that, but we have been the only 22 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,440 one that has that role embedded in the executive office of the 23 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:09,480 governor. Arkansas is about. 24 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,920 To join us and and what that means is that I get to be his 25 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:18,960 voice to the 20,000 faith institutions in Florida 20,020 26 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:22,240 thousand. There's 105,000 nonprofits and 27 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,920 we get to be his voice to them. But more importantly, and this 28 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,720 is super important, is that I have been invited into a table 29 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,200 of his senior leadership that we get to be your voice to him, 30 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,520 which is, which is super important because as you know, 31 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,320 you know, one of the things I, I find it difficult to stand on a 32 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:39,960 stage like this and not at least touch on this thing that's 33 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:42,160 talked about all the time is what is the separation of church 34 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,040 and state. So we're just going to dive in 35 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:45,560 for one second because I want to really preach a message. 36 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,480 So we're going to get this out of the way and say The thing is, 37 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,480 is that what Thomas Jefferson meant when he wrote a letter 38 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,600 about the separation of church and state is imperative. 39 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,400 It means that government is not to ever form a national church. 40 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,800 And it means that government is not supposed to interfere with 41 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:01,560 the work of the church. That's great. 42 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:03,640 That's great. But the misinterpretation of 43 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,320 that has led to a separation between faith and government 44 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,759 that is not healthy. And ultimately who loses in that 45 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:11,720 process is our most vulnerable populations. 46 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,200 And so we're going to, we're going to break some of that down 47 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,920 today. Let me see as I go through these 48 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:22,360 little pieces of my journey and probably because my voice, I'm 49 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,120 going to need as much affirmation as possible. 50 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,920 So I didn't know till we start doing worship that was not going 51 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,960 to be a problem in this church. And so I'm grateful for you, but 52 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,880 let's just walk through because I got a few things that I'm 53 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,320 going to stop at and I'm going to say. 54 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,840 How many of you know that? So let's just start. 55 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,800 With an easy one. How many of you know that having 56 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,960 Jesus as savior is a lot easier than Jesus as Lord? 57 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,880 So as I as I start my testimony, I need you to know I I I knew 58 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:53,040 Jesus early as savior. Why would I not? 59 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,200 He's the only way. It's an eternal path. 60 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,760 It's a destination to heaven. Like why would I not Lord? 61 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,200 So my life started in Boca Raton FL Boca Raton FL whatever. 62 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,520 You know it as one thing it does is it created in me a real heart 63 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,240 to think that the world was about power and money. 64 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,440 And so as I went into the University of Florida, as I came 65 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,320 out of the University of Florida, my path was a pursuit 66 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,960 of those two things. And and again, the Lord was in 67 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:19,760 tow because I appreciated my salvation. 68 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:21,160 But there was no reins handed over. 69 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:23,680 There was no leadership from the Lord at that point in time. 70 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,920 And so I just would say to you, how much easier is it to pursue 71 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:28,560 the things of the world than the things of the Lord. 72 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:31,280 It's just easier. I tell people all the time, 73 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,160 Christianity is not easy. It's worth it. 74 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,600 It's not easy. And so as I as I came out of 75 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,360 school, I got into the college bowl business. 76 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:41,960 And so I won't spend too much time here, but I spent 12 years 77 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,280 working up at the Gator Bowl. Actually was blessed. 78 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,080 When I was 26, they put me in charge of starting the ACC 79 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,880 Football Championship. And that was awesome, except I 80 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:53,360 was a Gator and don't like the ACC. 81 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,960 So it was less awesome and so, but that's God's sense of humor. 82 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,120 You know, he does things like that. 83 00:03:58,600 --> 00:03:59,960 But I had this opportunity to do that. 84 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:04,200 And then a few years later, my wife introduced A sermon to me. 85 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,720 It was done by Francis Chan. It was called lukewarm and 86 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,840 loving it. And as I watched that sermon, I 87 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,440 realized that my life in the college bowl business, in the 88 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,840 pursuit of money, as Jesus, as savior but not Lord, was a life 89 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,720 of being lukewarm. And so I have to tell you, there 90 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,800 was a major intersection in my life right then, right there. 91 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,160 That day I took a couple days off work. 92 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:25,240 I started to pray about that. I said, Lord, I'm, I'm out of 93 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:26,920 whack. I'm out of alignment. 94 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,240 And three days later I went back to work and my boss said, hey, 95 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,400 let's take a drive. And my boss offered me to be his 96 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,600 heir apparent to take over football in Northeast Florida. 97 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,520 Which which was awesome, except for it made me forget everything 98 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,320 I've been thinking for three days because I'm not that 99 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,200 strong. And so all of a sudden I had 100 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,960 this opportunity with more power and more money and I had 101 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,040 forgotten what was the point again. 102 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,320 Now here's the problem. The Holy Spirit will never stop 103 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:57,880 being a nag in the nicest way possible. 104 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,840 Like. And so all of a sudden, I'm, I'm 105 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:03,240 like, OK, I I just need to quiet this voice. 106 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,480 And you start to realize, and I know there's many of you in this 107 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:07,320 room that have realized that the thing that you thought was the 108 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,960 thing of life is not the thing. And when you realize that thing 109 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,680 is not the thing, you're in a real problem because you've got 110 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,000 to figure out what is the thing. And so as as I'm going through 111 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,240 this time, I start to realize, I better figure out a way that my 112 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:20,680 vocation and my life better start looking a lot more like 113 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,280 Jesus as Lord instead of Jesus as savior only. 114 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,920 And so this led to this career conundrum. 115 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:29,800 Which many of you have probably faced. 116 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,320 Yes, during that time I had met a little football player. 117 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,920 Not little, he's not little, but a football player named Tim 118 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,480 Tebow. And so yeah, yeah, he's. 119 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:41,320 I guarantee there's a few fans in the room. 120 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,480 Tim was graduating from school and asked if I'd come start his 121 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,640 foundation. And the truth is, how many times 122 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,240 do we, you know, Paul says it so beautifully, but how many times 123 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,080 do we know what we want to do? But we can't seem to do it. 124 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,160 And what we don't want to do, we seem to be able to do very 125 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,080 easily. And so even knowing that I knew 126 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,760 this thing wasn't the thing and this could be the thing, the tug 127 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,760 of war was still real. I never want to glaze over that 128 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,280 because I think, like, sometimes we act as Christians, like it's 129 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,880 just easy and it just happens and it didn't happen like that. 130 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,040 And so, Long story short, I turned Tim down for four months. 131 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:13,160 The part of the store. I want you to hear and that is 132 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,400 that one day in the middle of the night, I had a true 133 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,160 intersection with the Lord where he's like, what is it? 134 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,880 Which is it going to be? And I woke up that morning, I 135 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:21,800 sat with my family all but the one that's here. 136 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,880 I mean, they were all together and we said, hey, are we. 137 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:25,400 No, that's not true. Two of them weren't born. 138 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:26,920 I should take that back. I'm looking. 139 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,600 There's so many kids there. Some of them have. 140 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:30,960 Some of them have to be yours. I there's kids. 141 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,720 So. And so we we, we prayed and we 142 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:36,560 came out and said we're going to, we're going to do that. 143 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,960 And when we said we're going to do that, I called the guys that 144 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:40,320 were running it and Tim and I said. 145 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:42,680 Hey, I think we're going to take the role. 146 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,840 And it's that's great because. We're going to up the salary and 147 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:47,200 allow you to pick what city it's in. 148 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,480 How many of you know that there are things that God is 149 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:50,640 withholding till you're obedient? 150 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,240 I'm not. I have to tell you, that was the 151 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,640 first time I learned that. First time I learned that, which 152 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:57,840 is there's times when God's got it. 153 00:06:57,840 --> 00:06:59,600 He's got the great thing right around the corner from you. 154 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,000 But until you take the step of obedience, he's not going to 155 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,600 give it to you. And so that was a major moment 156 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,080 in my life. I started running Tim's 157 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:07,920 foundation. For the next 8 years I would run 158 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,880 the Tim Tebow Foundation started in our guest room. 159 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:12,080 We built a lot of different things. 160 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,640 I want to be very real with you in the middle of that, that as I 161 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,040 started to run it, everything felt of the Lord. 162 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,280 It was the first time I was experiencing spiritual warfare. 163 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,040 I wore that as a badge because in the bulb business there's not 164 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,520 a lot of spiritual warfare. I don't think the devil cares 165 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,920 that we do college football and so and so all of a sudden I'm 166 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,400 experiencing that except we're doing great things guys. 167 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,920 We're we're we built a we built a Children's Hospital in the 168 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:35,920 Philippines. I'm running multiple orphanages. 169 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,640 We're doing wish granting. And in the midst of that and 170 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:41,120 it's OK. I she, I have permission. 171 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,720 In the midst of that my wife looks at me one day and says, 172 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,520 hey, I think we should talk about a divorce. 173 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,560 Now why is that? Because I had made my calling my 174 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,080 vocation more than her, more than them. 175 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,360 I had changed it. So I I need you to know and I 176 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:56,480 have to share that part of the story. 177 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,000 Not because it's the fun part of the story. 178 00:07:58,200 --> 00:07:59,520 It has been redeemed. She's here. 179 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,240 We have a better marriage than we've ever had in our life. 180 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,480 Yeah, that's the praise God. But I don't. 181 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:06,360 Ever. I don't. 182 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,720 I don't love when people go into something and they forget that 183 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:10,600 they're heading into a battle, so they don't put their armor 184 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,200 on. Just because you're serving the 185 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,960 Lord doesn't mean the battle's not fully real, right? 186 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,400 And I I went into that role of thinking, these decisions aren't 187 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:18,120 hard. Who has to? 188 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,080 Who has to pray about opening orphanages and building 189 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:21,360 hospitals? And she should. 190 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,440 She should love me because the press releases say that I'm 191 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,560 awesome, right? Doesn't work that way. 192 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,160 It doesn't work that way. And so I I share that to say 193 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:32,760 that that was the the next thing I learned. 194 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,640 The other thing I was learning during that time was this idea 195 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,320 that I was in Haiti. And a woman walks up to me and 196 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,000 she puts her finger in my chest and she says, I want you to know 197 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:42,240 you'll never Unsee what you've seen. 198 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,880 And I remember thinking, oh boy, she's right. 199 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,280 And I got to tell you, that became an anthem of my life. 200 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,320 So many moments. We see something that God will 201 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,080 never let us Unsee that is not on accident. 202 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,240 If I were to tell you that I was hoping that something would come 203 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,600 out of today's time from me to you would be something that you 204 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,440 see that you can't Unsee. I think it's so powerful because 205 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,200 then God and the Holy Spirit take over. 206 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,000 It's not my problem anymore. It's his. 207 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,600 And so I did that for eight years with Tim. 208 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,320 During that time, we built something called Night to Shine. 209 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,120 It's a prom for people with special needs. 210 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:14,800 It's become. When I left. 211 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:19,360 So I left him in 2017, We had 500 locations in 18 countries 212 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,040 and 50 states, and I think now it's like 30 something 213 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:23,200 countries. It's happening this Friday 214 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,560 night. And I'll tell you what I learned 215 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:28,520 in That was where my calling was. 216 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,000 My calling is seeing the Capital C Church set down their 217 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,520 denominations and banners long enough to realize the power of 218 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,480 the Capital C Church. And guys, it's not easy. 219 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:39,840 I'm going to tell you it's not easy. 220 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,480 Sometimes just because we look different, but sometimes just 221 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,440 because there's all the sins of the world coming to church, just 222 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:46,720 like they do into normal business. 223 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,560 Someone asked me one time, they said, how hard is it working in 224 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:51,400 government? And I said, well, I don't know 225 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,880 that it's any more political than the church, which is just I 226 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,400 was being snarky. But at the same point in time, 227 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,800 there's challenges that happen. You may know that. 228 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,240 So I want to share with you that I'm starting to learn these 229 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,760 pieces. I I leave Tim and I left him 230 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:06,960 ultimately. If you guys are wondering why 231 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,080 would you ever leave, well, one because I had to go home and be 232 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,360 a husband and a father. That year that I left him, I 233 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,320 flew a 200,000 miles just on Delta. 234 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,520 That meaning that I flew on many other airlines, but we didn't 235 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:17,880 measure those because that would be too much. 236 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,160 And so it was time to go home. And I went home and I did 237 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,880 nothing other than start to invest in my family and invest 238 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,080 in my marriage. We did that through a motorhome, 239 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,200 which is if you really wanna see how your family dynamics work, 240 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,040 get in 100 square feet and hit the road. 241 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,000 It was healing for us, ironically. 242 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:35,680 I don't know how. I can't really, on paper that 243 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,160 doesn't make any sense. But it was load a bunch of kids 244 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,240 in and and during that time I did nothing other than be 245 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,240 obedient with what I thought God had in front of me, which was to 246 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,040 be a husband and a father and let that try to become my 247 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:48,640 identity. Because how many of you know 248 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,480 that our identities are wrapped up in our jobs. 249 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,320 And if our identity is wrapped up in our job or the thing we 250 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,560 volunteer, the thing we do, it's going to be a fall. 251 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:57,080 And it was for me. And so I had to learn. 252 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,280 Can my identity as husband and father be enough? 253 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:00,920 And I'm going to talk about that more in a minute. 254 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:02,200 That's why I leave you there on that. 255 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,720 A year later to the month. I got a call from a guy named 256 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,760 Chris Tomlin. Chris is a worship singer. 257 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:11,960 And Chris said, hey, would you come start my foundation? 258 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,760 I said, man, I don't know. I'm kind of kind of in a mental 259 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:17,960 space right now of just trying to figure out who I am and pour 260 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:19,560 into my family. And he's like, well, would you 261 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:20,680 consult? And I said what do you want to 262 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:21,920 do? He says, I want to, I want to 263 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:23,880 change foster care and adoption in our country. 264 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,960 Chris has a real heart for the fact that every Christian 265 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,560 concert, if you've been to one in the last 20 years, stops 266 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:32,120 somewhere in the middle of the concert and usually talks about 267 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,560 World Vision, compassion, food for the hungry, and there's one 268 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:37,520 other. And he said, man, I think that's 269 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,720 great and that certainly is part of the metrics of the Christian 270 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,160 counselors these days. But it's killing me that we 271 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,280 don't talk about the kids that are right outside that arena. 272 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,920 And so Chris starts this foundation called Angel Armies. 273 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:49,600 I've become his consultant to that. 274 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,280 And a couple months later, my buddy calls and. 275 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:56,080 Says Hey Eric, I just was. I was just asked to be the 276 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,000 secretary of the Department of Children and Families. 277 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,160 Now to tell you how much I know about government, I'm like, like 278 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,080 what is the secretary of department Sharing Families. 279 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,880 He's like, well, we I, I'm going to be the head of department 280 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:07,600 sharing families. I'm like, OK, well, what's that 281 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,360 dude? He's like, he goes, I don't 282 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,200 know. He's like I, he said. 283 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,400 I I know it has to do with foster care, adoption and the 284 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:14,920 opioid crisis, which is so funny. 285 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:16,880 Because that's this. Big in what it's about. 286 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,240 But anyways, that's what he knew and that's what that was enough 287 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,960 for him to obediently say yes. And he says, hey, the governor 288 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,480 just said that he wants faith to become a priority in our state 289 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,640 and he's looking for somebody to come over and kind of speak. 290 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,680 Faith, because you might need to know that it's a bilingual 291 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:33,200 nature. Between government and faith. 292 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,200 There's two different languages happening, not necessarily in a 293 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:37,800 bad way. It's just to be almost like a 294 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:39,240 slang language and a regular language. 295 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,000 So as an example of that, you don't use the word orphan in the 296 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,440 States. That's like a very, very taboo 297 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:45,600 word. We would never say that. 298 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,120 But here on this pulpit, I promise orphan said a lot, 299 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:49,960 right? And so sometimes just 300 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,440 understanding foster care is orphan. 301 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,040 It just little translations, little silly things like that. 302 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,360 And so they said, would you come over and do it? 303 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:57,960 I said sure, I'll come over and do it. 304 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,720 And what the question I asked immediately is, are they serious 305 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,800 about it. I mean I just want you to know 306 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:06,640 and and and honestly because here's what I wasn't going to 307 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,200 do. I wasn't going to be the Tebow 308 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,400 Tomlin guy that all of a sudden was held up at the state and 309 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,640 said, hey, look, we care about faith and we don't. 310 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:16,760 And so the early days now I do think God gave us a weird gift. 311 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,200 And I don't know that this word and gift come together very 312 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,480 often. But we went into COVID almost 313 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,640 immediately and and the fact that we went into COVID 314 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:25,040 immediately made a bunch of faith leaders. 315 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,560 And really, really, I mean right now made a bunch of faith 316 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,640 leaders vulnerable, made a bunch of faith, made a governor 317 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,240 vulnerable, transparent. Like all of a sudden things 318 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,240 started to change. The communication levels started 319 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,000 to change. Obviously I'm super proud of 320 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,360 where our state went as far as keeping churches open. 321 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,080 That yeah, that. That. 322 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,240 You talk about changing and having denomination. 323 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,760 I mean political lines drop instantly. 324 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,240 When that happened, every church across the state was willing to 325 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:52,800 talk and and see how things were going, figure out how we were 326 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:57,080 going to lead together. And so as I share that one of 327 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,920 the major questions I had was will the local church be the 328 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,840 answer? Because the local church is the 329 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:03,840 answer. I just was curious. 330 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,160 I was just curious if government knew that the truth is, and 331 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,560 again, I will make this zero political, if you know me, I'm, 332 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,320 I'm zero political. But I needed to know that our 333 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,560 leaders felt that way, and they did. 334 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,680 And so the objectives I was given in the early days were to 335 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,280 thank and build relationships so that we could then show people 336 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:25,240 things they could not Unsee, so that then they could absolutely 337 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:26,480 make a difference in their state. 338 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:29,200 What I what? I want to share with you. 339 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:30,480 Next is. I've got a. 340 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,080 Bible verse, this thing. I'm going to tell you something. 341 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,480 Everything. Everything in my world right now 342 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:38,040 seems to be messing around a little bit. 343 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:39,400 There we go. My notes got moved. 344 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:40,720 My voice is gone. It's going to be a good one. 345 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:48,480 Would you mind putting up there first Samuel 16 Guys, I'm going 346 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:50,960 to share 2 verses, 2, two different verses, two different 347 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:52,800 chapters with you today from two different books. 348 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,920 And my, my, my hope for you would be that in reading these 349 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,800 in particular as we focus on one or two individual parts, that 350 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:04,080 you find a different level of freedom, freedom that I have 351 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,320 really been focusing on in my own life and so. 352 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,680 Let's read this together. The Lord said to Samuel, How 353 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,800 long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from 354 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,040 being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. 355 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:21,520 I will send you to Jesse the Bethemite, and for I have 356 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,560 provided for myself a king among his sons. 357 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,960 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill 358 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,040 me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer 359 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:32,680 with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, and 360 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,440 invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you 361 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,360 shall do. And you shall anoint from me 362 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,240 whom I declare to you. I just want to focus real quick 363 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,840 on just before we move on from that I will show you what you 364 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,800 shall do. How many of you know that? 365 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,080 Sometimes when God points you in One Direction, it doesn't mean 366 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:51,520 that all you're. Supposed to do is just go that 367 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,040 way you're because see here's one of my great faults is how 368 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,640 many times he's called me into something but I forget along the 369 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,240 way to stop and pray and continually make it his. 370 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,800 Like, how many times have we thought, Oh my gosh, this is the 371 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:03,160 call. God finally gave it to me. 372 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,680 I got it from here, right? And so I love that, he says. 373 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:08,800 You go and then I'll show you what to. 374 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,480 Do I think so? Many times we just missed that. 375 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:12,240 So that's not the point of what I want to talk about, but I 376 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,080 can't skip over it. So next one, please. 377 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,320 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. 378 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,280 The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said to 379 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:21,880 you, come peaceably. And he said peaceably. 380 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:23,680 I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. 381 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,680 Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. 382 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,520 And he consecrated Jesus and his sons and invited them to the 383 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:31,840 sacrifice. When they came he looked at 384 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,480 Eliab and thought surely the Lord's anointed is on him. 385 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:41,480 But the Lord said, we'll just keep going, OK, but the Lord 386 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,440 said, do not be. Do not look on his appearance or 387 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:45,560 on the height of the stature, because I have rejected him. 388 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,280 For the Lord sees not as man sees but looks at the outward 389 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:49,720 appearance. But the Lord looks at the heart. 390 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,040 Then Jesse calls a Bennett AB and made him pass before Samuel. 391 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,080 He said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. 392 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,160 Then Jesse made Shema pass by. He said neither has the Lord 393 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,160 chosen this one. And Jesse made seven of his sons 394 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,800 pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, the 395 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,079 Lord has not chosen these. I always joke with my kids. 396 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,400 It's the Cinderella story before before Cinderella. 397 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,839 So then Samuel said to Jesse, are all your sons here? 398 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:14,960 And he said, there remains the youngest. 399 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:16,359 But behold, he is keeping the sheep. 400 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:20,280 And Samuel said to Jesse, send and get him, for we will not sit 401 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,680 down till he comes here. And he sent brought him in. 402 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,000 Now he was ready and had beautiful eyes, and was 403 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,240 handsome. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint 404 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,800 him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of Oil 405 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,680 and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the spirit of 406 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,760 the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. 407 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,000 Now if you'll leave that slide up of everything. 408 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,320 I know some of that that story may be super familiar to some of 409 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,040 you, but there's one part that I've just not heard preached on 410 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,760 enough and it set me free. And it's this little part that 411 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:53,080 says then, Samuel said to Jesse, Right up here at Top Line, send 412 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,960 and bring him for. We will not sit down until he 413 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,600 comes here. Friends, can I tell you that I 414 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,160 have? Where I have messed up most in 415 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,480 life is that I think God needs me as a strategist. 416 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,560 Like I I need to tell you that the number of times that my 417 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:15,960 little strategic pea sized brain tries to come up with ways that 418 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,960 I can help the Lord accomplish what he's trying to do is off 419 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:24,040 the charts. Where that verse has freedom to 420 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:30,440 me is that if David knew because God could have shown him, if 421 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,120 David knew that the guy who was going to anoint the king would 422 00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:38,400 be in the house that day, how many of us might have tried to 423 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:43,040 leave a resume on the table? Or maybe even sneakier, because 424 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,920 maybe we just do a little picture of ourselves on the 425 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,840 table so that the Samuel has to say. 426 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,000 Well, who's that? How many of us count on 427 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,240 headhunters or other people to lean in on? 428 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,240 This person will help me get the thing that the Lord has for me. 429 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,640 See, the problem is that this verse says none of that 430 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,160 happened. This verse is that he in that 431 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,080 moment says, Do you have another son? 432 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,600 He says, yeah, I've got one. He's out in the field at this 433 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,760 point in time. Jesse is the worst headhunter in 434 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,880 the history of headhunters. Didn't bring him up, didn't talk 435 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,360 about him. And then he says we will stand 436 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:23,000 and wait. Now again, anybody who's who's 437 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,280 studied this culture, standing and waiting, the seven older 438 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,840 brothers and dad standing and waiting. 439 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,040 And again, I, I, I just this year had the privilege of going 440 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,480 to Israel. Well, last year had a privilege 441 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:33,560 of going to Israel. And I don't know where the field 442 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,680 was, but it wasn't right outside the house. 443 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,120 I know that. And so they go out and they go 444 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:41,160 find David. In this moment, Can you imagine 445 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,160 the freedom, the freedom that we could live in if we knew that 446 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,680 God fights for us, That God remembers our address, that God 447 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,920 knows where we're at, that God doesn't need our help on this 448 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,040 strategy, that God has the role for you ahead of the time that 449 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:58,440 you've tried to plan for it? Can you imagine? 450 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,280 I mean, I'm just, I, I, I I just sit there and I think he, he 451 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,600 says, And then and then this little thing at the end where he 452 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,080 says in the spirit of the Lord, rushed upon David from that day 453 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,080 forward. The greater mystery to me of 454 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,040 God's faithfulness is that not only is he, does he do that. 455 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:17,720 He then says I'll be with you. As this this is so perplexing to 456 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,840 me. Because I I, in my own life, as 457 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,920 you heard my testimony, realized I was unqualified for every role 458 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,040 I was ever given and I was not in the right place at the right 459 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,360 time and I didn't have my resume out. 460 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:34,600 And yet God faithfully continually uses us unqualified. 461 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:36,480 I'll equipped people to do His work. 462 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,200 It's absolutely crazy. And so as I look at this, the 463 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,480 truth is God does not forget where you are now. 464 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,120 I do think it begs the question, what was David doing? 465 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:52,520 Because he wasn't in the right place at the right time. 466 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,800 So I the way I studied this, I see he was doing two things. 467 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,360 One is he was having a heart after the Lord, and two, he was 468 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,560 being obedient and everything put in front of him. 469 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:06,880 If I would, if I could encourage you if you said what posture 470 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:08,560 should I have. I I don't like this role. 471 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:09,840 I don't like this situation I'm in. 472 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,040 I'm looking for the Lord to Get Me Out. 473 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:12,520 I'm looking for what the Lord has next. 474 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,120 I want more purpose in my life. I want to be able to change the 475 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,120 world. I want to be able to make a 476 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:17,800 difference. I would say those two things 477 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,160 would be a very healthy posture, a heart for the Lord, obedient 478 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,720 in the things in front of you so that God will use each and every 479 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:28,320 one of those things. I combine that truth with a 480 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,440 second truth. If you don't mind pulling up 481 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:36,560 John 6. As we read John 6 together, I'm 482 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,000 going to do the same thing. Now this story, this story is 483 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,560 one that's going to be real easy for you to just glaze over 484 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:44,920 because you have heard it and I promise you have heard it. 485 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,760 The feeding of the 5000 John six one through 14. 486 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,320 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of 487 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,320 Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius, and a large crowd was 488 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,480 following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on 489 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,400 the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, 490 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,600 and there he sat down with his disciples. 491 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:03,760 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was a hand. 492 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,680 Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was 493 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,400 coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy 494 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:10,760 bread so that these people may eat? 495 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,160 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 496 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,480 Philip answered him. 200 denarii worth of bread would not be 497 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,360 enough for each of them to get a little. 498 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,080 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to 499 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,880 him. Well, there's a boy here who has 500 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,400 five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they for so many? 501 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,600 Jesus said, Have the people sit down now There was much grass in 502 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,120 the place, so the men sat down about 5000 in number. 503 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:36,760 Jesus then took the loaves, and then he and when he had given 504 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,840 thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, so also 505 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:41,040 the fish, as much as they wanted. 506 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,480 And when they'd eaten their fill, he told their disciples, 507 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,080 gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be 508 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,200 lost. So they gathered them up. 509 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,920 So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments 510 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,040 from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 511 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:57,000 When the people saw the sign of what they had done, they said 512 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,360 this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. 513 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:04,360 I know you know that story. I've heard it preached a lot. 514 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,480 You've probably heard it preached a lot, and there's so 515 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,720 many beautiful pieces of it. But I want to dissect 2 for 516 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,800 today first. That's what I feel like in state 517 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,440 government. I feel like a guy. 518 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,080 With two fish and five loaves amongst 1,000,000 vulnerable 519 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,440 problems sitting here today there are 23,000 with no, excuse 520 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:26,440 me, that's not true anymore. When I started my role, there 521 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,160 were 23,000 children in foster care in our state. 522 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,000 There were 4000 children waiting, what we call TPR, 523 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,320 terminated parental rights waiting to be adopted. 524 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:40,280 Right now, 4000, the numbers, as you look across domestic 525 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,600 violence and trafficking and juvenile justice and 526 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:45,560 corrections, as you look at the thing most upstream from most of 527 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,600 our issues, fatherlessness, the numbers aren't getting better, 528 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,480 right? And it is so easy to look around 529 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,440 and be like, what do we have that could do anything for this. 530 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,280 And so as I share with you a little bit about what's 531 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,080 happening in our state, I want you to know that my heart 532 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,960 posture has been, man, I think all we've got is 2 fish and five 533 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,560 loaves and a big God, That's it, right? 534 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,240 And so ultimately what we've done in the state was we started 535 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:08,040 asking. Questions. 536 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,360 The very first thing we did. Is that we caught the governor 537 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:12,760 and I don't think it's ever been done before. 538 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,200 The governor and the first lady and me sent a letter signed by 539 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:21,000 him and I to 40,000 faith leaders in our state and said we 540 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,840 don't even know how to say this because we don't know everything 541 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,040 you do. But thank you, thank you for how 542 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:26,760 you serve. And we said we would love for 543 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,600 you to give us one set of feedback. 544 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,760 Would you share which vulnerable populations your church is most 545 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,280 passionate about? And we sent that out. 546 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,880 And 5000 faith leaders sent back who they're most, most 547 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:39,240 passionate about, who they serve. 548 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,680 OK, now it wouldn't surprise you that the most served vulnerable 549 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:47,040 populations in our state are homelessness, hunger and the 550 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,120 elderly. I don't, I don't think that 551 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:50,880 would shock anyone. I think those are very natural 552 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:52,880 areas to serve. What should shock you? 553 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,960 Bring you a little bit of frustration, a little bit of 554 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,440 like why is that the 2nd to lowest group served in our state 555 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,840 out of 27 categories was adoption and if you went up only 556 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:03,720 four from that, so the sixth lowest. 557 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,160 Of our state was foster care. Now, doesn't that bring an 558 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,680 interesting question? Doesn't it make you start to 559 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,800 wonder how can Pastor Earl and a bunch of and the other 19,900 560 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,440 faith leaders that preach their face off, as I heard said over 561 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,440 over and over about James 127 and Matthew 25 and they tell you 562 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,000 this is our role to care for these people. 563 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:27,920 How is it possible that that 6% were caring for adoption and 11% 564 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,920 caring for foster care it? I'll tell you this, it begged 2 565 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,080 questions to me. One, what can I do to talk with 566 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:36,960 pastors about that? But more importantly is what can 567 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,120 we do as a state to change that? And by the way, what I mean by 568 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:42,240 that is I think there's only two potential outcomes for that 569 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:43,840 question. One is the pastors standing up 570 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,240 here don't really mean that, which I struggle with mightily. 571 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:48,880 More importantly is the state has made it so difficult to be 572 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,760 involved in foster care, which is already difficult that we've 573 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,120 just made it where churches aren't engaging. 574 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,600 And so I want to tell you a couple things that have happened 575 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,400 in your state. One, we're the only state in the 576 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,560 country right now that has what we call a, a pastors or faith 577 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:03,880 leaders red phone. We were talking about it. 578 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:06,200 Sean and I were talking about on the way down here. 579 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,880 The red phone is a phone where faith leaders can call and ask 580 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,240 any question they want of state government and we will get their 581 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,760 answer, their answer, their question answered from the 582 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:16,880 executive office of the governor. 583 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,720 Now let me why does that matter? Because you can't break silos 584 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,560 when you're inside silos. But what you can do is if you're 585 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:24,360 at the top, you can whack the top off the silos. 586 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,120 And So what we can do is we can take calls from faith leaders. 587 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:28,800 So when he's struggling with something that's outside 588 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,920 whatever and we can say what are you struggling with and I can 589 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:32,840 just call right over to the. Secretary of that agency and get 590 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:34,240 that question answered. And we're doing that. 591 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,520 We've done 309 calls. Yeah, it's great. 592 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,600 And if you wonder why, if you wonder why, it's because one 593 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,120 pastor said to me something that kind of, again, I couldn't see, 594 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:45,280 something you can't Unsee, he said. 595 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,840 Eric, it seems to me that the only time I ever hear from 596 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:49,480 government is when you need something from us. 597 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,600 I was like, oh, boy. And so we knew there was some 598 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,240 truth in that. And so we started this red phone 599 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,480 in the state of Florida. We serve 309 people. 600 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,760 Another thing is, right now, if you're an interested foster 601 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,000 parent, I want to tell you something. 602 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:04,000 Well, let's just start there because I really need to know. 603 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,880 I think every church in America should know this People in this 604 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:07,960 room. Right now that have a foster or 605 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,240 adopted child. Hold them high. 606 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,600 Hold them high. I know that means they're tired. 607 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:15,800 They've worked hard. Praise God. 608 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:16,600 Yeah. Thank you. 609 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,960 I. I've challenged every state. 610 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,160 I mean, excuse me, every pastor in our state to know who those 611 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,600 people are in their church. Someone one time said it to me, 612 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,520 so I can't take credit for this. But they said a foster or 613 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,200 adopted parent in our culture today is like a domestic 614 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:33,600 frontline missionary for the church. 615 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:36,560 It's the best way I've ever heard it. 616 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:38,320 And so just I want you to know, for those of you who raised 617 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,760 their hand and I, I, I, I, I know there's a lot of 618 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,080 circumstances out there. Thank you for being bold and 619 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,200 thank you. And so we found out that people 620 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,080 that were interested in fostering and adopting, if they 621 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,040 try to call our state, there were 53 different things they 622 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:51,560 could do, emails, calls, whatever. 623 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,440 And we found out that that system was broken. 624 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:55,240 So right now in the state of Florida, we've changed 625 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,320 everything. There is one call center that a 626 00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:58,920 human being answers your phone call. 627 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,080 That human being has been trained somewhere between the 628 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:03,800 customer service of Disney and Chick-fil-A. 629 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:06,200 And they're going to, they're, you know what I'm talking about, 630 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:08,840 right. And so and they're going to walk 631 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,800 you through that process. And every single person 632 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,000 answering the phone is a current or past foster parent. 633 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,200 And so that they can walk you through it. 634 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,800 And let me tell you this, the system isn't easy, but as you. 635 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,880 Walk out the system of licensing and adoption. 636 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:23,880 Licensing for foster care or adoption, We're going to be with 637 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,120 you every step of the way and that person can be called upon 638 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:30,880 again if the time is needed. So we submit these little things 639 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:32,280 to the Lord. But the biggest thing that we 640 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,880 submitted to the Lord was we realized we don't have a 641 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,320 resource issue in our churches. You already said it. 642 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,080 God has a cattle on 1000 hills. We don't have a resource issue. 643 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,960 What we have in our in our in our churches is a connectivity 644 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:46,360 issue. Right. 645 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,280 And so we realized that, see because you could say to me, 646 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,360 Eric, we don't need government to do foster care, right. 647 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:53,960 OK. And you guys are already doing 648 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,960 awesome things in that space. I would say The thing is the 649 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,200 secretary of DCF who was in this building a couple days ago knows 650 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,880 the name and story of every one of the kids in foster care. 651 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,120 She knows how to what their needs are. 652 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,000 She knows what they not needs. Like you might know if you if 653 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,200 you foster them, but I just would contend to you that 654 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,960 government and church are stronger together. 655 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,120 And so. So I just would say one of the 656 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:17,960 things we did we're we're super, super proud of this. 657 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:19,400 It's going to get talked about here in a minute. 658 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,840 We launched something in our state called Care Portal. 659 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,800 Anyone heard of it? Couple. 660 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:25,080 Well, good. A lot of you will know it in a 661 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,120 second. Here's what's happening in our 662 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,040 state. We can give you like a little re 663 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:33,200 enactment. A caseworker or CPI is called to 664 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,960 a home and they walk into that home and they're going to make a 665 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,280 judgement in that case of whether that child is removed or 666 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,440 stays. That's happening all the time. 667 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,240 Do you know that in our state and I, I've learned that it's a 668 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,400 national average, 80% of the removals of children in our 669 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,160 state, 80% are neglect, not abuse. 670 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,600 Meaning that 20% we're going to remove them because we will keep 671 00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,160 kids safe. That is one thing government 672 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:04,280 does. 80% are for neglect, meaning potentially preventable. 673 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,440 Do you know what one of the number one needs that children 674 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,840 are removed for is a lack of beds? 675 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:18,880 Now I say that, and when it first was said to me, I think 676 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,560 I'd give a bed. In a minute I could build a bed, 677 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,040 I could go buy a bed. I might have extra beds, cuz we 678 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,120 are, as the song said, living in the overflow. 679 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:37,000 But yet while that's happening, a bunch of us are gathered here 680 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:38,480 on Sunday and don't know what's happening. 681 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:41,840 You see that? That's the disconnect problem. 682 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,640 What Care Portal is, is so I think that Caseworker and CPI 683 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:47,200 the first time that there's not enough beds. 684 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,640 I think they buy a bed even though they don't make enough, 685 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,040 because who's wants to remove a kid? 686 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,320 Over a bed or a car seat. Which is another popular one. 687 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,800 And then the next time they don't have the money to do it so 688 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,040 they call uncle so and so and uncle so and so says sure, I'll 689 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:01,680 buy a bed. And then the next time after 690 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,280 that they they don't have anyone to call. 691 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:11,320 And yet we have 16.5 million people, 16.5 million people in 692 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,840 Florida that say they are faith-based, about 15,000,000 693 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,040 say they are Christian, 15,000,000 people. 694 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,280 And so this is an app that now exists on our state workers 695 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,360 phone And when they say with the with the family's permission, 696 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,920 hey, would you mind if I shared some of the needs you have, they 697 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,960 press a button, it goes to every faith and community organization 698 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,320 in the city of that of that family. 699 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,520 You're doing it. Anchor Faith is doing it. 700 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:38,920 It's going to get talked about more in a minute. 701 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,120 It will allow you to see real time needs. 702 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,600 Now here's one other thing I want to say because I just want 703 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:44,720 to shake it up a little bit for you. 704 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,320 It doesn't matter what side of Roe V Wade you land on, OK? 705 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,080 It does not matter for this statement. 706 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:58,600 There will be more children born with special needs and into low 707 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,840 income families than have been born in the last 50 years. 708 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:03,880 Now let me tell you what that looks like in state government, 709 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:05,920 in state government, that looks like down the road. 710 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:07,560 We will see more kids in foster care. 711 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,760 We will see more kids in in juvenile justice. 712 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:13,880 We'll see more kids in in in trafficking, but this is an 713 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,280 opportunity for the church to head that off at the pass. 714 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,760 We have been far. We've been praying for 50 years, 715 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,360 50 years to watch that law change and now is a time for the 716 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,400 church to be aware of how it is that they can best serve those 717 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,440 people. And so one of my favorite quotes 718 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,960 our our pastor up in Jacksonville says we can't be 719 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,880 merely pro birth. We must be pro-life. 720 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,280 Womb to Tomb. And what's going to happen with 721 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,760 this Care Portal app is we are going to have every need at 722 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,000 every stage of life coming into the people who sit here and have 723 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,680 a heart for those needs, you see how awesome it could be. 724 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,840 Let me paint you a picture real briefly in 1990. 725 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,600 In 1990. Michael Jordan's on the scene, 726 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:56,080 by the way. I know it's older people in 727 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:57,720 here, which is great. So none of you are fooled by 728 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,000 thinking LeBron or Kobe were better than Jordan. 729 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:04,040 I know this is AI can I can see this is a smart room. 730 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:08,120 And so Michael Jordan's on the scene and and Michael Jordan. 731 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:13,080 This night he's playing the Cavaliers and he goes off for 69 732 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:14,400 points. Some of you may remember that 733 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:16,640 performance. Jordan scored 69 points. 734 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,720 It's a overtime game, playoff implications. 735 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,240 It's it's just remarkable. At the same point in time, 736 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:24,320 there's another player on the. Court for the Chicago. 737 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:28,320 Bulls named Stacy King. Stacy King is a rookie and 738 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,760 during that game he takes four. He takes, he takes two shots, he 739 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,600 misses both, but he gets fouled on the second one. 740 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,400 And so he goes to the line and he misses the first free throw. 741 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,880 And I've always thought it's pretty funny because you got to 742 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,800 imagine Jordan, who's got 69 for the night, is looking at him 743 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:45,800 like, come on, man, like, I'm not. 744 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,360 I can't do it all myself. And yet he then goes back to the 745 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:50,920 line and he makes the second free throw. 746 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,920 He gets a free throw. And at the end of the game, the 747 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,000 media is frenzing because they're like, hey, we've got to 748 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:58,760 talk to Jordan. He just got 69 points tonight. 749 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:00,480 It's a historic game. They won in overtime. 750 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,560 Jordan slides right into the locker room and there's Stacy 751 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,400 King out on the court. And so the media comes over to 752 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:08,400 him and they're like Stacey, like, what did you think of 753 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:09,480 tonight? Like it was historic. 754 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:11,239 It was what we know. What's your perspective on it? 755 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,840 And he said, I will always remember tonight as the night 756 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,000 that Michael Jordan and I combined for 70 points. 757 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:24,360 True story, true story, guys. That's us partnering with God. 758 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,080 Like, like I I will tell you that bringing his bride into the 759 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:33,080 position that we bring our two fish and and five loaves is that 760 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,360 picture we except we bring less than one point and he brings a 761 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,800 lot more than 69. OK And so I I just need you to 762 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,600 know what we're presenting at government is a model where 763 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:45,120 we're just saying, God, here it is. 764 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,320 We're putting it back to your bride, back to your church. 765 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,840 We're doing things that I wake up every day and think about one 766 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,000 particular thing. What can I do that the next 767 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,960 administration can't undo? It's been real with you. 768 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:57,040 And so you know what? You know what they can't undo 769 00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:59,400 connectivity between our vulnerable populations and our 770 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,880 churches can't undo it. But I want to make that story. 771 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,560 Can you go back to that the the, the Bible verse for a second? 772 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:11,080 I want to make that story. Get one back from that. 773 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:12,800 Sorry, should have coordinated that better. 774 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,840 I want to make this. I want to make this little more 775 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,040 personal. See right here in the middle 776 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,720 verse 9, there's a lad who has five barley loaves and two fish. 777 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:23,720 But what are those for so many people Do you know else I've 778 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:26,680 never heard preached on. What do you think happened to 779 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,920 the boy? I mean, I got to be careful 780 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,040 because it's not in Scripture, but I'm going to make a small 781 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:37,840 assumption to think that he gave it over and then sat down and 782 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:42,160 listened, sat down and ate, sat down and ate in abundance. 783 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:46,560 For that matter, I think, I think sometimes we have so 784 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:51,480 messed up that we think that 1, -, 1 in God's economy equals 0 785 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,440 fish, and loaves minus fish and loaves equal nothing. 786 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,880 And we approach God sometimes with that kind of sacrifice. 787 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,280 Like God, I don't know if you know how big this is of me, but 788 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,360 here's my sacrifice. And he's like, Are you kidding? 789 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:07,080 Are you kidding? I mean, think about this. 790 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,640 I think the boy sat down. I think he ate as much as he 791 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:11,640 wanted when we know he ate as much as he wanted, 'cause there 792 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,200 were 12 baskets left when it was done. 793 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:16,360 And I just would say to you, how many times? 794 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,120 Do we approach God with this idea that that man, we've done 795 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:24,560 some great thing for you? I'll tell you something else 796 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,840 that bothers me in the church. After years of being in the 797 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,680 church. The boy could have said, well, 798 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:35,160 yeah, I have two fish in five loaves, but I don't necessarily 799 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,120 theologically agree with that guy, and he doesn't quite look 800 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:41,880 like me. And you know what, Honestly, 801 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:44,160 just for the sake of my own comfort, I'd rather keep my fish 802 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:47,080 in five loaves. And yet, guys, I'm telling you, 803 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,360 we are using division as an excuse to do nothing. 804 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,000 We are using comfort as an excuse to do nothing. 805 00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:57,800 We are using that we look different, talk different, sing 806 00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,240 different as an excuse to do nothing. 807 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,680 And that has got to end. That has got to end. 808 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,600 Because when this little boy presents this little thing, what 809 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:07,720 happens? What happens? 810 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:12,160 He sees God's economy. He gives a little, but he ate 811 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,400 fully. I want you to remember this 812 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,240 because again, I I think we just, you got to get God's 813 00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:18,760 economy is not the world's economy. 814 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,400 He eats fully. He had leftovers. 815 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,120 Yet he was part of the miracle. He was part of lives changed. 816 00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:25,560 His name is written in Scripture. 817 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:27,680 Or his title. I guess he's in his name is the 818 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,960 lad is written in scripture. Guys, we have got to approach 819 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,240 God differently as the capital C church as his bride. 820 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,840 He gave something small and a tidal wave of blessings come 821 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,560 back. Do you understand how those two 822 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,520 passages freedom if #1 if he knows where we are and he never 823 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,280 forgets it and he's got the thing in store for us? 824 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,560 If you put that next to the fact that whatever we bring in 825 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,200 obedience and whatever we bring in sacrifice, none of it's 826 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:53,840 wasted. None of it's wasted. 827 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,120 I would pray that those two things and start to really sink 828 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:58,920 in. And that daily you may meditate 829 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,720 on that thought. Because the truth is, if we were 830 00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:02,400 set that free, what would it matter? 831 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,200 We'd sacrifice everything. We'd buy the field 1,000,000 * / 832 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,000 A lot of you might wonder, should you trust him? 833 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,240 I think anytime someone says, trust me, that's a good 834 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:22,920 question. I told you I answer it for 835 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:27,920 government all the time. He is trustworthy, he is 836 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:33,200 faithful, he is good. He has a peace and joy and an 837 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,560 economy that are not comprehendible by us. 838 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:38,240 Some of us understand it, but we've only understood it because 839 00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:39,920 we went through something, that he met us there. 840 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:45,320 And then you understand it. But can I tell you that I would 841 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,240 never leave this stage without saying that all of that only 842 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:52,800 works if you know him? I mean, I don't know how many of 843 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,720 you hear the words peace and joy and God's economy and and long 844 00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:59,840 for him to know the next thing for you and long for him to 845 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,720 receive your sacrifice and and and and be part of the miracle, 846 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:06,560 be part of the blessings. We we said miracle at least 54 847 00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,960 times. So we we are, we are believers 848 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:14,600 of miracles. So I don't know if you know him, 849 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:17,720 but I'm going to tell you this changed everything for me. 850 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,240 And I don't mean to know him as just savior. 851 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,920 We need to know him as Lord. We need to act like He's Lord. 852 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:27,200 We need to give him the reins because he's trustworthy, 853 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:28,160 faithful. He's good. 854 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,400 Some of you might need to hear me say today that He is for you, 855 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:40,160 just He is for you. That we sing it, we raise our 856 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:43,280 hands. But then we leave here, and I'm 857 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,800 not sure we act like it, because if if the Creator of all things, 858 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:51,600 the God with cattle on 1000 hills, is for us, what then 859 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:53,920 shall we fear? What shall cause us? 860 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,520 Anxiety or strife? What strategy do we need to 861 00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:59,600 plan? What do we talk about, David? 862 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,240 Have a heart for the Lord, Be obedient with the things in 863 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:07,440 front of you. So do you know that we were 864 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:11,000 separated from God by sin? One of the things I've talked 865 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,280 about all these years in orphan and foster care ministry is 866 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:15,080 that. Orphans never forget that they 867 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:16,720 were orphans when they're adopted. 868 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:21,280 We as Christians forget we were orphans all the time, All the 869 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,160 time. So do you know that? 870 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:24,600 Do you know that you were separated? 871 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:28,920 Some of you are separated right now from a holy and just God 872 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,960 because of our sin. Do you know that from the 873 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:35,640 beginning of time that wasn't good enough for God, that he 874 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,000 would send his Son Jesus to come to this earth and live the life? 875 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:43,040 You couldn't die the death. You should let his blood cover 876 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:44,520 you. Cover the sins of your life. 877 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:47,760 Do you know it? For some of you, the question 878 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:49,120 isn't just do you know it? Do you live it? 879 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:53,320 Do you live like you're an orphan or were an orphan? 880 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,480 Do you look down on people, or do you see them as fellow 881 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,840 orphans in need of help, just like you needed help? 882 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:03,520 Do you know that the best news of the story is that he didn't 883 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:07,280 stay dead? The best news of the story is 884 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,800 that three days later, he rose. He conquered sin, He conquered 885 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:12,560 death. He put us in situations where he 886 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:15,080 is trustworthy and faithful. He is the almighty conqueror. 887 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:19,520 He is your creator. And the craziest part of all is 888 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:22,160 that he's willing to call us sons and daughters. 889 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:26,840 I know this is a church filled with people that love Jesus. 890 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,840 I know that. But I'm not going to let us 891 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:31,680 leave here without giving you the opportunity if you don't 892 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:33,680 know him as Lord and Savior to take that opportunity. 893 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:37,360 And I've been around a lot of denominations, and everybody 894 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,000 does it differently because there's no magic in the prayer. 895 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:44,360 There's no magic in the words. The truth is, you have to admit 896 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,080 that you are a Sinner in need of a savior. 897 00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:50,040 You have to believe that Jesus was that Savior sent by God as 898 00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:52,400 his only son on a rescue mission for you. 899 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:54,840 And then you have to confess him as Lord and Savior. 900 00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:58,600 That's it. And I'm just telling you, I'm 901 00:41:58,600 --> 00:41:59,880 honored to be able to talk about that. 902 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:02,880 I'm thrilled that that I that I can come from a government lens, 903 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:05,960 But none of that matters. I have an audience of one, 904 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,360 right? An audience of one that I know 905 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:10,640 is faithful and trustworthy and good. 906 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:11,960 And so I want to give you the opportunity. 907 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:16,320 If you've never had that moment, and I'd ask that you pray with 908 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,200 me. And some of you, by the way, 909 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:20,440 just need to get real about the fact that he needs to be Lord. 910 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:33,480 Let's pray. Thank you so much for listening 911 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:35,920 to this message. If you want more, subscribe to 912 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:39,280 our message podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and 913 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,320 SoundCloud. Rating and leaving a comment 914 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:43,480 will go a long way with helping our messages get better 915 00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:45,760 circulation. 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