July 31, 2024

Why God Used

Why God Used

A discussion about whom God uses and why

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A discussion about whom God uses and why

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Wednesday, July the thirty first, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently eleven three am Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, I'm going to

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ask this question, and this question is specifically directed at

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this moment in this episode. This question is specifically directed

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at this very moment to those of you who sit

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in the pew, not to those who stand behind a

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pulpit or sit in front of a microphone to broadcast,

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you know, philological podcast or to do ministry somehow online.

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I'm talking to the average member. You go to work

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and then on Sunday you go to church. You sit

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in the pew. You have a family, you have a life,

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You have a career, you have hobbies, you have things

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you like, things you dislike. Just as you live your normal,

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everyday life. Do you ever, in any way, shape or form,

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ask yourself the following questions? Do I want to be

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used by God? Do you ever ask yourself this question?

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Do I really want to be used by God? I

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want to be used by God. Maybe maybe you don't

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ask it as a question, maybe you say it in

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a more a dogmatic way. You just kind of make

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the claim, I want to be used by God? Do

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you ever think that way? Say that? Do you ask this?

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Do you ask yourself this question? Do I really want

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to be used by God? Maybe you say this in

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a again in a more affirmative way, or maybe you

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ask it as a question, do you want to do

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great things for God? Or do you say, God, I

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want to do great things for you, I want to

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be used by you. I want to do great things

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for you? Or do you sometimes just ask yourself the

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question do I really want to be used by God?

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Do I really want to do great things for God?

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Or do I want to do this or this or this?

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And you have other things that you tend to focus on.

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Do you ever ask yourself this question? Or or do

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you ever maybe in a more dogmatic way, kind of

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just assert or question what does it really look like

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to be used by God? What does it mean to

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be used by God? Now it's hard for me to

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know how those who sit in the pew would kind

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of answer this question, because basically from the night I

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became a Christian. I mean literally, I felt like within

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a week, within two weeks, I was already trying to understand. Okay,

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so you know what does it mean to be a pastor?

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How do you become a pastor? I mean I was

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a teenager at the time. I was already starting to

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basically contemplate and question and look for ways to minister

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within weeks of my salvation. I mean, it wasn't like

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something I had to, you know, think about. It was like, Okay, God,

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how how can I be used by you? What can

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I do? How? How can I do great things for you?

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What does it look like to be used by God

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in a mighty way? Like? How does this work? So

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for me, it's always been all right, I want to

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be used by God. I want to do great things

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for God. And you do this by being in ministry.

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That's basically been my entire Christian life. That's that's the

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way it's it's always been. So I immediately started looking for

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every opportunity. I'll do this, I'll do this, I'll do this,

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I'll try to do this, I'll try to do that.

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And then, you know, as many of you know, even

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before I became a pastor, I was recording, you know,

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case tapes and sending them all over the world. I was,

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you know, I was doing recordings, putting them on cassette.

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And then I was just where we put an ad

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in the sort of the Lord newspaper, and then anyone

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who wanted the cassettes, they would send send us a

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you know, either contact us via email or through normal

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mail back then, and then we would just each month

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send out so many cassettes, and we were sending them

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all around the world, all around for free. Then we

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went to local Christian bookstores and I said, hey, can

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I put up a little fish bowl here, and I'm

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going to put cassette tapes in there of my ministry,

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of my teaching. And then anyone who comes into the

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Christian bookstore and goes up to the cash register will

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see see the fish bowl of cassettes and they can

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take them for free. Now we're not going to ask

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for any money. So I've been doing things like that.

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So I always felt like to be I want to

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be used by God, and to be used by God

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basically was ministry. Now I do know I have had

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people ask me. I think it's to be honest, I

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think it's typically women. It's it's it's not typically Christian men.

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It's Christian men are kind of this is what I

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have typically seen. When Christian men start thinking about living

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a life to be used by God, they almost inevitably

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move towards, you know, ministry. They typically they're going to

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go to Bible college, They're going to go to seminary.

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They kind of move towards ministry. But a lot of

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times it's Christian women who are like, well, how can

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I be used by God? What does it mean to

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be used by God? What can I do? And I've

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only been asked by a few, but you can tell

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because a lot of times I think if you're sitting

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in the pew, you hear sermons about being used by

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God doing great things for God, and I think sometimes

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in the pew you're like, so what does that mean

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for me in my everyday life. I go to work,

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I'm going to school to get a degree so that

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I can do this. I can do this, I can

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do that. I'm raising my family, I'm doing that. Well. Typically,

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what you will be told is, hey, you are being

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used by God your ministry. You're doing great things for

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God by raising your family or by doing this or

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by doing that. And so then you're like, okay, so

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what does it actually mean to be used by God?

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So maybe for this next little while, this discussion, it

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may be more for those of us who pursue ministry. Well,

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I'll try to relate it to you as well. But

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here's what happened. Let me try to explain why I'm

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asking these questions and trying to kind of bring this

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subject to the forefront today because this is kind of

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where what I'm really thinking about. And here's what happened.

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All right. So I got the latest edition, the latest

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issue of the sort of the Lord newspaper. Remember last

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summer I told everyone to get a subscription. Well, I

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got the latest edition of the sort of the Lord newspaper. Now,

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at the very top, on the right hand cord, the

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very top, it says celebrating ninety years ministry, and I'm like, wow,

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that's They've been making a big deal about that. And

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then right underneath that, the first one of the first

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articles is the Sword's ninetieth year. Ninety years, nine decades,

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nine tenths of a century, anyway you say it. It

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is a long time in the human Arena at the

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same time. It happened very quickly. The actual date is

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September the twenty eighth, nineteen thirty four. The actual date

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is September the twenty eighth, nineteen thirty four. That was

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the beginning of the Sword of the Lord newspaper. That's

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ninety years of ministry, ninety years of publishing this paper,

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and I have been reading this paper basically almost consistently

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for a good portion of my Christian life. I can't

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remember the first time I picked up a copy. I

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may have been at time. It may have been a

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little after I was changer it. Maybe when I was

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in Nebraska, so it may have been after I had

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joined the military and I was in Nebraska. I think

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we had gone to someone's house to visit. I can't

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remember why we were there, and they had a stack

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of sort of The Lord newspaper, and I picked one

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up and was like, because that's typically what I do

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if there's people to talk to. If I could talk

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to people or read something, I'm probably going to pick

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up the thing to read versus talking to people. I know,

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I'm kind of very anti social that way, but they

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saw my interest in like, oh, you can take a

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bunch of those. So I grabbed a bunch and took

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them home, and like, well, how do I get a

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subscription to one of these? This is pretty this is interesting,

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this is awesome. Right, So I've been I've been getting

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you know, the sort of The Lord newspaper basically off

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and on for the most part of my adult life.

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So but ninety years, ninety years, would they say that

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they're being that they wanted to be used by God?

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I'm assuming they did. Do they want to do great

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things for God? I'm assuming they did. And what does

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it look like to be used by God? Well, I

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think they would say, We've been publishing a paper for

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ninety years that's been read by who knows how many

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people around the world, and I bet you they get

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letters of telling them, people telling them how great the

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paper has impacted their lives. They've probably have received all

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kinds of testimonials. There's churches that do sort of the Lord,

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you know, like little meetings so that they can promote

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the paper. The Sword of the Lord has a national

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conference on and on all the things that they've done.

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They could say, we wanted to be used by God

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and we want to do great things for God, and

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they would say, how do we know we've been used

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by God? Well, we've been publishing a paper for ninety years,

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we have conferences, this paper has been read by millions

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of people around the world. We have all of these

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testimonials of how this paper has impacted their life. They

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have been used by God. So that kind of got

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me started thinking about this subject. So then I started thinking, well,

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do you want to be used by God? And I

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remember going way back, way way back as a young Christian.

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I wanted to be used by God. I definitely I

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wanted i God use me. I want to be used

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by you. I want to do great things for God.

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Now I kept trying to process what does it look

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like to be used by God? But I was, at

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least from my experience, I was taught that to be

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used by God, if I want to be used by God,

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if I want to do great things for God, that

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I had to meet very specific requirements and if I

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did certain things, then I could possibly be be used

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by God. I wanted to be but I had to

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do certain things in order to be And then even

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though maybe some of some of the things I was

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influenced by in the past, maybe they would deny this,

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but I think for the most part, I was taught

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the way I would know I'm being used by God,

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the way I could measure this would be on the

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basis of the success of what I was doing. So

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if I was doing a cassette ministry, well, then the

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way I would know I'm being used by God would

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be the number of people who ask for those cassettes, right,

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And how many people would send a message or a

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letter or an email saying, oh, whow you transform my life,

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you change my life, you help me here. This is

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such a blessing. So it would I hate to say it,

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but it would almost be numbers, right, numbers. How do

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you know you're being used by God in ministry because

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your church is growing. If your church is not growing,

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something is wrong spiritually, there is a deadness. You need

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to be revived, You need repentance because something is holding

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it back. I remember I remember even early on, even

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early on, where if a revival service, if a lot

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of people weren't coming forward to the altar, they would

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look for a reason. Why, Hey, why why is this?

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Why is this not working? What is happening? Look, I

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I could tell you some crazy stories about this, but

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I can remember people being asked not to come back

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to the revival service because it was understood that there

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was something like not right with them spiritual, spiritually, and

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they were hindering the move of God in the revival.

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Literally being told, don't come back to the Revival service

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because you are hindering the move of God. There's something wrong.

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And you're like, whoa. Because the way you knew God

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was moving was based on numbers. Numbers, how many people

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were coming to the revival service. How many people were

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coming forward to the altar. So I my early influence

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was I want to be used by God. I want

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to do great things for God. And what does it

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mean to be used by God? Well, I know people

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would deny this, but it came down to numbers. How

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many people listened, how many people showed up, how many

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people gave positive, you know, feedback, how many people went

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to the altar, how many people did this, how many

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people made a profession of faith. That it was always numbers, numbers, numbers, number.

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I know Christians constantly say no, no, no, no, no,

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it's not about numbers. But I'm telling you you have

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two churches. One church is growing. There seems to be

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a sense of excitement. People are talking about it. Yet

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and then people will say, see, God is moving. You

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see another church. People are leaving. It's getting smaller. It's

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getting smaller, it's getting smaller. Inevitably, people say that church

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is dead. God is not moving, God is not happy

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with it, God is not Immediately it will be spoken

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of in a negative way. Now at the same time,

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those very same people who will praise the one church

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and condemn another, then they will look at other churches

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that are very, very big and say, well, that's because

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they have compromised and because they're easy believism, and they're

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seeker friendly and they're purpose driven or whatever thing they

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want to accuse them of. So it's really weird, like,

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on one hand, that church is dying, God is not moving.

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Hey see things are happening, people are coming here. It's growing.

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God is moving. But then they'll look at another church

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and say, well, they're so big because they're compromising and

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they're seeker friendly, and then they're not godly. So wait

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a minute. So sometimes growth means God, sometimes it doesn't,

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and you get to decide when it is and when

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it is it really can be maddening. It can be maddening.

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So I've always been trying to kind of figure this out,

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and I'm gonna be honest with you, there were times

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I've kind of gone through different phases in this, all right,

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So let me try to explain. There was the younger

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me who I desperately wanted to be used by God.

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I wanted to do great things for God, and I

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felt that the way to accomplish these great things for God,

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or the way I would know I'm being used by

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God and doing great things for God, would have something

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to do with numbers. Right now, when I look back,

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oh boy, this is gonna this is confession time, all right,

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ladies and gentlemen, this is confession time. Are you ready

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for this? When I look back, I think my desire

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to be used by God. I think my desire to

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do great things for God, and me trying to figure

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out what it looks like and what it means to

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be used by God. I think all of that was

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being done. Oh boy, you ready for this? For my

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own ego, my own selfishness, and my own insecurity. I

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think I looked at my life right as messed up

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as my life was, and I'm like, well, where do

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I Where am I ever going to accomplish something? Where

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am I going to ever be good at anything? What

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am I ever going to do? Like, you know, I'm

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not going to have this opportunity because of the way

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I'm being raised. I'm not going to have this opportunity.

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Everyone's got this. They can accomplish this, they can accomplish that.

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I'm never going to be this. I'm never going to

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be that. I'm never like I basically kind of came

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to the point, like you know, I hate to I'm

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just going to be very blunt. Basically I'm a loser

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and I don't even know why I'm alive. I should

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probably just die. There's no point in living. And then

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when I kind of like, Okay, this Christian I'm gonna

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I'm gonna use it more fleshly terms. Okay, this Christian thing,

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this is where I'm gonna find purpose, This is where

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I'm gonna find identity. This is where I can be

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better than everyone else. I can read more than everyone else,

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I can know more than everyone else. And it became

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more about me than it did about God. So then

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I'm like, I want to be used by God. I

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want to do great things for God because while everyone

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else and then I could be very like sanctimonious and pious.

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While everyone else is pursuing a career in this and

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they're doing this, and they're getting the girl, and they're

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getting the car, and they're getting the house. Well they're

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or they're doing all these fleshly things. Look at me,

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I'm doing things for God. I'm I'm I'm pursuing God.

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And so it became almost a way to build myself up,

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for me to be successful, for me to accomplish things. Oh,

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you've got a degree, Well guess what I've got three.

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You've got a degree from these big fancy universities. Well

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maybe so, but I've got three degrees, and I got

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a degree in biblical studies and religious education and philological studies.

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And so it became about finding It became about building

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me up. And I think sometimes it can be very

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dangerous when we say we want to do great things

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for God and we want to we want God to

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use us. I think it's sometimes because we want to

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be elevated. We can find purpose, we can find meaning

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in that. Hey I may not accomplish that, but look

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what I'm doing for God. I look, there's no way

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for me to deny that. There's no way for me

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to deny that now. And I think I became painfully

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aware of that. I do. I think I became painfully

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aware of that because early on in my ministry, early on,

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you know, I became very like, Okay, here's what I'm

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going to I'm not going to I'm not going to

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use my name, right, I'm going to try to hide

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my name. I'm not going to use a photograph of myself.

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I'm going to hide my name. When I became a pastor,

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my name is not going on the church sign. I'm

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not going to do any of this or early days

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even broadcasting on Cermonadio. I did not want my picture.

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I did not want my name. But then I had

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some rule that if I wanted to be able to

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do this, that I had to use my name and

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I had to submit a picture. I'm like, I don't

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want to submit a It was really weird because I

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and it's not because I was godly. It was the opposite.

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It's because I knew deep down what a lot of

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my motivations were, right, I knew what a lot of

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my motivations were and I, and so I had to

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try to combat it. I had to try to fight it. Right,

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don't make it about you as much as though I

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wanted to be about me, Right as much as I

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wanted it to be about me. So I did things like, okay,

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do not do not put up your diplomas all of you.

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Don't put them in a box. I don't even know where.

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Most of them are in a box in my garage.

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I do not have them on a wall. I don't

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want them. Because it became I don't want to make

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it about me. So I knew I was internally fighting this,

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but at the same time, I wanted to be used

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by God. And at the same time, how do I

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know I'm being used by God? Because look at how

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many people listen to my podcast, listen to how many

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people download it, Look at how many people are coming

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to my church. My church was in the located in

359
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the middle of nowhere, and next thing you know, it

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was full. Okay, So then I was like I'm accomplishing something.

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There was a little bit, there was a brief time

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where I felt like I was, but then over time

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things change because the one thing now, the one thing

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I was good at. The one thing I was good

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at also became detrimental to me. And then what it

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became detrimental to me is, even when I started finding success,

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I would not just maintain the course to maintain that

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success or to build upon it, I kept continuing to

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think and to challenge theological conclusions, and not just learn theology,

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but do theology, creating a philological hypothesis, challenging things, testing things,

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changing things, constantly develop growing in my understanding and being

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willing to change. Well, I used to believe this, Now

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I believe this, which then ultimately began to become massively

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detrimental to my success. And then, little by little, well

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and my own failures in the midst of all of

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those changes. Well, next thing, you know, you wake up

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one day, I look around and many of you know,

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you know, we're basically at the end of Victory Baptist Church.

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It's basically over. There's a big for sell sign and

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it's you know, we're waiting for someone to buy the building.

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And for all practical purposes, it's over. The end. The

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end is nigh, the end is near. So is that

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a failure? Well, in some ways, you know, it's twenty

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three twenty four years. I don't know. Is that a failure?

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You can look at it, I guess from a human perspective.

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It would be from a human perspective if you look

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at my podcast and my ministry. I mean, it's not like, well,

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you know, what are you really accomplishing? Yeah, I don't know.

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So now I can't say, like, I think there was

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a good portion of my Christian life for I want

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to be used by God. I want to do great

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things for God. And here's how I measured that success.

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And now I'm kind of like, well, was I average

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really used by God? Did I ever really do eight

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things for God? Based on everything to say around me,

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it's complete and total failure. How do you measure that?

397
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How how do you measure if you're being used by God?

398
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So then I started so so as I was contemplating

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all of this, I flipped over the paper. So you've

400
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got the sword's ninetieth year, right, So I started thinking

401
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about their ninety years and what was that successful? They've

402
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been used by God? Started just trying to all of

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those things I just discussed. Was kind of kind of

404
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bouncing around my mind. So I flipped over and then look,

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what is right here. I would show you if I

406
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had a camera. It is why God used DL Moody.

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And I'm like, oh, this is interesting. So my mind

408
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has already started going this way, and immediately I flip

409
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over and on the other side of this why God

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used DL Moody, here's an article about why God used someone.

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So we're going to be reading through that in just

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a minute. But I want to go so kind of

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the three things I wrote down, do you want to

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be used by God? Do you want to do great

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things for God? And what does it mean to be

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used by God? So I'm going to kind of go

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to that last part, how do you measure success? Because

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I started thinking about the following individuals? Are you ready?

419
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So there are several men in the Bible who had

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ministries that, from a human perspective might be considered absolute

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and complete failures. Now I've mentioned one many times because

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we spent a good portion of time studying this individual

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and his book, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was known as the Weeping Prophet.

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He had a ministry that spanned over forty years, during

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which he warned Judah of and pending judgment due to

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their idolatry and disobedience to God. Despite his persistent effort,

427
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the people did not listen to him, and he faced

428
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significant persecution. If you look at the book of Jeremiah,

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you kind of have the calling and commission. It was

430
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called to be a prophet at a very young age.

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And then if you look at basically a good portion

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of the book, he is giving warnings and prophecies to

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the people of judgment, and for the most part he's

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completely ignored by the people. Then he's in prison, thrown

435
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into a cistern, and face threats of his life. Jeremiah,

436
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from a human perspective, his ministry was an abysmal and

437
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absolute failure. He didn't build a large church, he didn't

438
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build a large following. Nobody listened to him. Everyone ignored him,

439
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and they persecuted him. So Sith, was he used? Did

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he want to be used by God? Well, whether he

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did or didn't, he was used by God. Did he

442
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do great things for God? I don't know how do

443
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we measure great things? Because his ministry from any perspective,

444
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we would have been like, see, God's not moving, God's

445
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not using him because look, nobody's following him, nobody's listening

446
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to him. Nobody's going to his church. Isaiah's ministry included

447
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powerful messages of judgment and hope. He warned the people

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of Judah about their sins and called them to repentance.

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Despite his profound prophecies and visions, he faced a resistance

450
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and was largely ignored during his lifetime and ultimately, according

451
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to some tradition, that Isaiah was sawed in half under

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King Manassa's reign, so he was largely ignored. All these

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great prophecies who but ultimately he was ignored at least

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during his lifetime. Ezekiel prophesied during the Babylonian exile, delivering

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messages of judgment and restoration. His ministry involved dramatic symbolic

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acts and visions, but he faced largely an unresponsive audience.

457
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Noah's ministry involved building the Ark and warning people of

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the impending flood. Despite his faithfulness, it was met with

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ridicule and disbelief from his contemporaries, resulting in only his

460
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family being saved. Everything Noah did ultimately just his family.

461
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Everyone else dies. These men and their ministries, they were ignored,

462
00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:43.640
they were persecuted, they were ridiculed. Yet we would see

463
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:46.640
them as they did great things by God, they were

464
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:49.440
used by God. So then what does it mean to

465
00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.359
be used by God? See, in my mind as a

466
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:54.319
young person, I want to be used by God. I

467
00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:56.440
want to do great things for God. And then that

468
00:27:57.000 --> 00:27:59.519
in my mind would mean I'm going to have a

469
00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:04.160
church of four hundred people, one hundred people, two hundred people.

470
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:09.599
You know, maybe my idea of success was, you know,

471
00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:12.599
not very smart, because you need far more than that,

472
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:14.960
I guess if you really want to be successful. But no, no,

473
00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:17.119
but just just that would have been to me, that

474
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:20.960
would have been awesome. But then it was like, okay, wait,

475
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:24.039
now how many people are gonna walk the eye? How

476
00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:25.519
many people are going to say a prayer? How many

477
00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:28.640
people are gonna give me positive feedback? And then I

478
00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:34.680
started thinking and all my measurements for success, what does

479
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:40.400
it look like? Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt,

480
00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:44.279
but his leadership was met with constant complaints and rebellion

481
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:48.640
from the people. Despite his significant achievement, he was denied achievements.

482
00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:51.400
He was denied entry into the Promised Land due to

483
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:55.000
his disobedience. But for the most part, I mean you

484
00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:57.880
may say he was successful. Maybe maybe not. John the

485
00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:00.720
Baptist prepared the way for Jesus though his preacher, through

486
00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.839
his preaching and baptizing. Despite his crucial role, he was

487
00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:09.079
impre imprisoned, and eventually executed by Herod. From a human perspective,

488
00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:12.599
these men faced significant opposition, rejection, and often saw little

489
00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.720
fruit from their ministries. However, their faithfulness and obedience and

490
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.799
lasting spiritual impacts faviliing God's purpose beyond their lifetimes. Now

491
00:29:19.799 --> 00:29:22.160
you may say, well, all of these men were successful,

492
00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:24.880
but during their lifetimes they would not have appeared to

493
00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:29.480
be successful. It was failure, It was rejection, ridicule, and

494
00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:39.240
being completely ignored. So do you want to be used

495
00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:42.880
by God? Do you want to do great things for God?

496
00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:47.240
What does it mean to be used by God? What

497
00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:52.839
does it actually mean? Now for some of you, again,

498
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.599
I'm going to go back. I told you there's really

499
00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:59.000
a ton of two perspectives here. From your perspective sitting

500
00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:01.440
in the pew, I don't know if this even ever

501
00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:03.480
bothers you. I don't know if you even are ever

502
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:06.359
motivated by this. I don't know. I know, I don't

503
00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:08.599
know if you just like you know whatever. Look, I'm

504
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.519
a Christian, but my focus is my job, my family,

505
00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:18.720
my finances, my retirement, my hobbies, And you don't really

506
00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.799
give much thought about doing anything for God. You're just

507
00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:23.519
kind of like, you know, yeah, I'm a Christian, so

508
00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:27.759
what I'm not here to try to do great things

509
00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:30.079
for God. In fact, your identity is more tied to

510
00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:34.319
your job, your career, your family, your degrees, your achievements,

511
00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:38.440
your your hobbies, your entertainment. Then your identity has identified

512
00:30:38.519 --> 00:30:41.119
anything with what you're doing for God or even care

513
00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:47.240
about accomplishing for God. So now let me go to

514
00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:52.960
this article why God use D. L. Moody. Now we

515
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:59.640
can see whether we agree or disagree. The article begins,

516
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:03.480
I can think of no subject upon which I would

517
00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:07.880
rather speak. I shall not seek to glorify mister Moody,

518
00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:13.039
but the God who used him so mightily. Furthermore, I

519
00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.400
hope to make it clear that the God who used D. L.

520
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:20.200
Moody in his day is just as ready to use

521
00:31:20.359 --> 00:31:27.079
you and me in this day if we do what D. L.

522
00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:32.359
Moody did, which was what made it possible for God

523
00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:41.119
to use him so abundantly. Now, when I was a

524
00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:45.240
young Christian, those words I would have written those words

525
00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:48.559
down in a notebook. I'm like, okay, I want to

526
00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:51.519
be used by D. L. Moody. I want to be

527
00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:54.039
used as God use deal Moody. I want to be

528
00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:56.200
like dal Moody. I want to be used by God

529
00:31:56.359 --> 00:31:58.839
as he used deal Moody. I want to be used

530
00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:01.920
just like this. But I have to do what D. L.

531
00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:04.920
Moody did. I have to do what he did. And

532
00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:07.480
if I do, God is ready to use me just

533
00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:10.000
like D. L. Moody. See. God is just as ready

534
00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:12.880
to use me as he did dal Moody, and to

535
00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:15.119
do the same great things he did for dal Moody.

536
00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:17.079
But I have to do what D. L. Moody did.

537
00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:18.640
So I would have been like, okay, I would have

538
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:20.279
had this my notebook and I would have been like, okay,

539
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:23.240
what are the ten things dal Moody did. I'm going

540
00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:28.759
to do all ten. Now, we could argue that the

541
00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:32.720
problem with people not being used by God is because

542
00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:35.880
we don't do the things that dal Moody did, or

543
00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:38.920
we could argue maybe it's not that simple. But this

544
00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:41.720
right here, this article, I'm gonna read it again. All

545
00:32:41.799 --> 00:32:45.319
right here we go furthermore. I hope to make it

546
00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:48.319
clear that the God who used dal Moody in his

547
00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.160
day is just as ready to use you and me

548
00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:54.279
and this day. If we do what D. L. Moody did,

549
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:56.559
which is what made it possible for God to use

550
00:32:56.599 --> 00:32:59.960
him so abundantly. So if we do what deal Moody did,

551
00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:02.880
then we can be used by God, because that's what

552
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:08.799
makes it possible. The whole secret of why he was

553
00:33:08.839 --> 00:33:13.079
such a significantly used man, as found in Psalm sixty

554
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:19.920
two eleven, God hath spoken once twice have I heard

555
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:27.119
this that power belongeth unto God. Power did not belong

556
00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:30.319
to D. L. Moody, or to Charles G. Finny, or

557
00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:33.640
to Martin Luther, nor to any other Christian whom God

558
00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:36.839
has greatly used. Now that is crazy that you put

559
00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:43.599
those three together, Moody, Finny, and Luther. We could argue

560
00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:47.880
that Finny supposedly great success was actually great failure over

561
00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.799
how all of that went down and the damage he did.

562
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:53.839
I don't think Moody and Luther would have much in common.

563
00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:57.440
Definitely not have much in common with Finny. Maybe Moody

564
00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:00.319
would have more in common with Finny than Luther would. Okay,

565
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:08.280
all right, power, the article continues, belongs to God. If D. L.

566
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:11.800
Moody had any power, he had great and he had

567
00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:14.559
great power. He got it from God. So there's this

568
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:17.639
great power, and you and I can get it from God.

569
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:20.599
We can get this power that God has. And if

570
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:23.440
we get this power, then obviously we can be used

571
00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:31.039
mightily by God. But God does not give his power arbitrarily.

572
00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:35.239
It is true that he gives it to whomsoever he wills,

573
00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:39.519
but he wills to give it on certain conditions which

574
00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:44.440
are clearly revealed in his word. So there is great power.

575
00:34:45.480 --> 00:34:46.920
If you want to be used by God. And if

576
00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:49.719
you want to do great things for God, you need power.

577
00:34:50.199 --> 00:34:53.239
You don't need your power, you need God's power. God

578
00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:57.440
gives it to whomsoever he wills. However, there are conditions

579
00:34:57.719 --> 00:35:01.039
which you must meet in order to get said power.

580
00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:08.119
Because Dial MOUDI met those conditions, God made him the

581
00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:14.360
most wonderful preacher of his generation. So if I could

582
00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:18.119
meet these conditions, I could be the most wonderful preacher

583
00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:22.360
in this generation. I just have to meet the conditions.

584
00:35:22.719 --> 00:35:28.280
Well after, well after well over thirty years of some

585
00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:36.039
form of ministry, I don't think I've ever met the conditions. Obviously,

586
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:42.599
Let's see if they outline any of these tells me

587
00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:45.559
to turn to page three. So I'm going to turn

588
00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:52.719
to page three. But how was it that he had

589
00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:56.079
that power of God so wonderfully manifested in his life?

590
00:35:56.119 --> 00:35:59.400
As I pondered this question, it seems there were seven

591
00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:03.599
things that accounted for God using him so largely as

592
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:07.400
he did. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have just stumbled

593
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:10.559
upon what it could become a series, all right, but

594
00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:17.639
seven things. Seven things that accounted for God using D. L.

595
00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:19.960
Moody in such a great way. And guess what You

596
00:36:20.039 --> 00:36:23.119
and I could be used probably by God, and we

597
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:25.480
could do great things for God if we could just

598
00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:32.480
do these seven things? Are you ready for number one?

599
00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:35.239
What do you think? Number one is? What do you think?

600
00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:41.039
Number one is? What do you think? What do you think?

601
00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:52.559
Anybody want to take a guess? Number one is? D L.

602
00:36:52.679 --> 00:37:06.960
Moody was a fully surrendered man, a fully surrendered man.

603
00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:15.880
Here's what is written in regards to this subject. The

604
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:18.519
first thing that accounts for God using D. L. Moody

605
00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:22.239
so mightily was that he was a fully surrendered man.

606
00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:26.199
Every ounce of that two hundred and eighty pound body

607
00:37:26.519 --> 00:37:34.079
of his holy belonged to God. Every ounce of his

608
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:38.199
two hundred and eighty pound body belonged to God. Now

609
00:37:38.280 --> 00:37:40.599
we could argue, I mean, I'm just gonna throw this

610
00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:55.360
out there, two hundred and eighty pounds. What does that

611
00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:58.159
stop anyone in their tracks for just a second? Does

612
00:37:58.159 --> 00:38:04.440
it at all? I'm gonna pull up some Bible verses,

613
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:21.199
Thy God, give me one second. I'm doing a searge. Okay,

614
00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:24.199
I'm gonna I'm gonna read from a couple of verses here,

615
00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:26.920
from a translation that has pulled up on here right

616
00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:30.880
all right now. The Bible addresses the issue of gluttony,

617
00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:36.440
and it presents it as a form of excess that

618
00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:39.559
is contrary to a life of self control and moderation.

619
00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:43.760
Proverbs twenty three twenty through twenty one reads, do not

620
00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:47.280
join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves

621
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:51.920
on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness

622
00:38:52.360 --> 00:38:56.559
and drowsiness clothed them and rags. The verse warns against

623
00:38:56.599 --> 00:39:00.840
the excess of eating and drinking, associating gluttony with poverty

624
00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:04.440
and laziness. Now, I just want to stop two hundred

625
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:06.239
and eighty pounds. I don't know what do you think?

626
00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:13.360
Do you think that's gluttony. Do you think that's perfectly acceptable?

627
00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.199
I don't know. Now. The only reason I'm bringing it

628
00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:18.639
up is not because I would ever pick on anyone's weight.

629
00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:21.320
Only reason I'm bringing it up is the argument, is

630
00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:25.000
every ounce of that two hundred and eighty pound body

631
00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:29.719
wholly belong to God? Well, if gluttony is a sin,

632
00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:33.400
then not all of you belongs to God? You don't.

633
00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:36.039
And I don't know if two hundred and eighty would

634
00:39:36.039 --> 00:39:37.800
be considered over eight. I'm not here to get I

635
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:39.679
don't even know. I don't have the weight chart in

636
00:39:39.719 --> 00:39:41.360
front of me and have to figure out how tall

637
00:39:41.400 --> 00:39:45.320
he was, and is he considered obese or morbidly obese?

638
00:39:45.320 --> 00:39:47.679
And do we follow that chart? And is that chart accurate?

639
00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:51.519
And how does God view gluttony? Does God view gluttony

640
00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:54.000
on the basis of how much you weigh? Or we

641
00:39:54.599 --> 00:39:57.519
could go all day on this subject. I'm just saying

642
00:39:57.559 --> 00:40:00.559
I find it interesting that it's like here ever realitce

643
00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:03.320
of his two hundred and eighty pound body was one

644
00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:07.280
hundred percent surrendered to God? And immediately I'm thinking, well,

645
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:11.519
two hundred and eighty pounds, that sounds like possibly, possibly,

646
00:40:11.559 --> 00:40:16.679
and I stress possibly. I am not saying definitely. I'm

647
00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:21.199
saying possibly. Could that be an indication of gluttony? And

648
00:40:21.239 --> 00:40:23.400
if it was, then not all two hundred and eighty

649
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:32.119
pounds of his body was surrendered to God. Proverbs twenty

650
00:40:32.119 --> 00:40:35.920
five sixteen says, if you find honey and eat just enough,

651
00:40:36.079 --> 00:40:38.000
too much of it, and you will vomit. This is

652
00:40:38.039 --> 00:40:41.760
how this translation actually reads. This passage emphasizes the importance

653
00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:46.079
of moderation, warning that over indulgence can lead to negative consequences.

654
00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:51.159
Philippians three nineteen. Their destiny is destruction, their God is

655
00:40:51.199 --> 00:40:55.239
their stomach. Paul criticizes those who are led by their appetites,

656
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:02.760
and so could I could go on and find more

657
00:41:02.840 --> 00:41:07.400
verses here about possibly gluttony. Now, sometimes gluttony is considered

658
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:11.039
a sin, but most of the cases it's not. I've

659
00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:16.039
seen pastors stand behind the pulpit yelling and screaming against homosexuality,

660
00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:18.679
and yelling and screaming against this sin and against this

661
00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:23.280
sin and this sin, and they are clearly way overweight,

662
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:26.199
to the point that it's almost hard to watch them preach,

663
00:41:26.239 --> 00:41:29.199
because you can see them struggling, you can hear the

664
00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:31.880
way they're breathing, and you're like, man, you need you

665
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:35.760
may you may need a little help. But everyone else

666
00:41:35.880 --> 00:41:38.239
is a sinner but they don't see. And then they're

667
00:41:38.280 --> 00:41:40.159
like all worried about what they're gonna eat after they're

668
00:41:40.199 --> 00:41:42.880
done preaching. Now, I'm not saying this someone should be

669
00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:46.000
picked on or shamed by that, And no way, shape

670
00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:50.239
or form, what I'm trying to articulate is this articles like, hey,

671
00:41:50.519 --> 00:41:52.679
you want to be used by God, you want the

672
00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:55.639
power of God. You want it? Well, the only way

673
00:41:55.639 --> 00:41:57.480
you can get it is you've got to be just

674
00:41:57.599 --> 00:41:59.880
like D. L. Moody. And how do we know d it?

675
00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:02.320
I did D L. Moody get this power because he

676
00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:06.360
was a man completely surrendered to God, all two hundred

677
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:09.039
and eighty pounds of him, every bit of it was

678
00:42:09.079 --> 00:42:12.079
surrendered to God. And I'm like, well, wait a minute,

679
00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:20.760
are we sure? And then the very next part says

680
00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:23.480
I'm not saying that he was perfect. He was not.

681
00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:28.760
But how can you be one hundred percent surrendered to

682
00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:34.440
God and not perfect? Because the minute you sin that,

683
00:42:34.800 --> 00:42:44.960
you're not surrendered to God. If I attempted to, I

684
00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:47.960
presume I could point out some defects in his character.

685
00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:50.360
It does not occur to me at this moment what

686
00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:53.880
they were. But I'm confident that that that I could

687
00:42:53.920 --> 00:43:00.119
think of some if I tried really hard. Right, So

688
00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:02.880
he wasn't perfect, but he obviously was so close that

689
00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:04.880
it was hard to pick out any of his faults.

690
00:43:06.280 --> 00:43:08.519
I have never yet met a perfect man, not one.

691
00:43:08.920 --> 00:43:12.119
I have known perfect men in the sense that the

692
00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:14.960
Bible commands us to be perfect men who are holy

693
00:43:15.199 --> 00:43:19.519
gods and out and out for God, fully surrendered to God,

694
00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:23.400
with no will but God's will. Now again, that makes

695
00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:26.239
no sense. If the only will you have is God's will,

696
00:43:26.440 --> 00:43:29.199
then how in the world did you ever commit a sin?

697
00:43:35.840 --> 00:43:38.079
But I have never known a man whom I could

698
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:41.159
not see some defects, some places where he might have

699
00:43:41.800 --> 00:43:46.360
been improved. Right, So none of that makes any sense. Like, Hey,

700
00:43:46.519 --> 00:43:49.039
you can be completely surrendered to God, but you're not perfect.

701
00:43:49.159 --> 00:43:51.159
You can have no will but God's will, but you

702
00:43:51.440 --> 00:43:54.079
won't be perfect. I don't know within any of those

703
00:43:54.119 --> 00:44:05.719
words mean. Henry Varley, an intimate friend of doctor Moody

704
00:44:06.599 --> 00:44:10.119
or mister Moody in the earlier days of work, love

705
00:44:10.199 --> 00:44:12.719
to tell how he once said to him. It remains

706
00:44:12.760 --> 00:44:16.880
to be seen what God will up holy to him.

707
00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:20.800
Mister Moody said to him, well, I will be that man.

708
00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:23.719
So so let me read this again. It remains to

709
00:44:23.760 --> 00:44:28.400
be seeing what God will up wholly to him. Mister

710
00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:30.480
Moody said, well, I will be that man. That That's

711
00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:33.280
that's written very weird. The way I always was taught

712
00:44:33.320 --> 00:44:36.280
the quote in Bible College. The way I was always

713
00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:38.679
taught the quote in Bible College in a seminary is

714
00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:42.039
I'm gonna paraphrase that it remains to be seeing what

715
00:44:42.159 --> 00:44:47.000
God can do with a man who is wholly given

716
00:44:47.119 --> 00:44:50.840
himself to God. That's that's how I've always heard the

717
00:44:50.920 --> 00:44:54.480
quote that that this man said to D. L. Moody, Hey,

718
00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:57.599
it's yet to it's yet to be remain seeing what

719
00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:01.440
God can do to someone who is fully given himselves

720
00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:04.159
to God. And then D. L. Moody famelessly says, I

721
00:45:04.280 --> 00:45:07.559
will be that man. I'm gonna be the man who

722
00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:10.360
so fully gives himself to God. Then the world will

723
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:13.320
see finally what God can do with a man who

724
00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:16.719
has fully given himself to God. That's the way I

725
00:45:16.760 --> 00:45:19.360
was always taught it that I think that seems what

726
00:45:19.400 --> 00:45:21.559
that's referring to. And I don't know if it's a typo,

727
00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:28.440
but it's written very weird. Now, the article continues, I,

728
00:45:28.639 --> 00:45:30.840
for my part, do not think it remains to be

729
00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:33.360
seen what God will do with a man who gives

730
00:45:33.440 --> 00:45:36.559
himself up holy to him. I think it has been

731
00:45:36.679 --> 00:45:42.400
seen already in D. L. Moody. So it's like, hey, hey,

732
00:45:42.559 --> 00:45:45.880
At one point someone says to Moody, Hey, it's it's

733
00:45:45.960 --> 00:45:48.039
yet to be seeing what God can do with someone

734
00:45:48.079 --> 00:45:51.320
who's fully given himself to God. Dal Moody says, I

735
00:45:51.360 --> 00:45:53.760
will be that man. Then the writer of this article

736
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:56.039
is like, hey, we no longer have to consider what

737
00:45:56.079 --> 00:45:58.639
it looks like what will God do for someone who's

738
00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:02.039
fully given themselves to God? Because we've seen it in D. L. Moody.

739
00:46:02.199 --> 00:46:05.320
It has happened, ladies and gentlemen in history. We have

740
00:46:05.400 --> 00:46:08.559
seen what God will do with someone who has fully

741
00:46:08.599 --> 00:46:12.000
given themselves to God. And D. L. Moody is the example.

742
00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:15.920
But the answer. But the issue is God could do

743
00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:18.440
the same thing today, but you have to fully give

744
00:46:18.480 --> 00:46:28.119
yourself to God. What does that mean? To fully give

745
00:46:28.159 --> 00:46:32.800
yourself to God? Now see, this had profound impact on

746
00:46:32.880 --> 00:46:35.320
me as a young Chris. I'm gonna do it. I'm

747
00:46:35.360 --> 00:46:37.280
gonna be that man. In fact, I think I could

748
00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:42.599
go probably find a notebook somewhere, and all the hundreds

749
00:46:42.639 --> 00:46:44.840
and thousands of notebooks I have filled out in my

750
00:46:44.920 --> 00:46:47.360
Christian life, and I know that somewhere I had that

751
00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:51.519
very quote paraphrase it has yet to be seen what

752
00:46:51.639 --> 00:46:54.679
God can do to a man who has fully given

753
00:46:54.719 --> 00:46:57.599
him self to God. And I probably then paraphrase it

754
00:46:57.599 --> 00:47:00.960
and put, I will be that man. You I've yet

755
00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:04.599
to be that man, now. D. L. Moody supposedly was it.

756
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:09.719
So all we have to do is fully give ourselves

757
00:47:09.760 --> 00:47:13.960
to God. Then we can be used by God. We

758
00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:16.440
can do great things for God, and we will know

759
00:47:16.559 --> 00:47:18.480
that we're doing great things for God because it's going

760
00:47:18.519 --> 00:47:21.199
to be clearly made manifest and all the things that

761
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:33.159
we accomplish. The article continues. If you and I are

762
00:47:33.159 --> 00:47:35.920
to be used in our sphere as He was used

763
00:47:35.920 --> 00:47:38.440
in his, we must put all that we have and

764
00:47:38.559 --> 00:47:40.800
all that we are in the hands of God for

765
00:47:40.920 --> 00:47:43.800
him to use us as he will, and to send

766
00:47:43.920 --> 00:47:47.239
us where he will, to do whatever he wills, and we,

767
00:47:47.599 --> 00:47:50.480
on our part to do everything God bids us to do.

768
00:47:52.039 --> 00:47:54.079
So all we have to do is so surrender that

769
00:47:54.119 --> 00:47:56.800
we will do whatever God tells us to do, go wherever.

770
00:47:57.079 --> 00:48:00.679
All our entire life is focusing on serving God. Serving God.

771
00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:13.159
That's it. Nothing else matters. Now. This is why, as

772
00:48:13.159 --> 00:48:21.800
a young Christian I was greatly focused, almost obsessed in

773
00:48:21.840 --> 00:48:25.639
some ways, consumed in some ways with the idea of

774
00:48:25.800 --> 00:48:29.400
being a Catholic priest. Right, not so much. This is

775
00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:32.400
what kind of drew me to Catholicism was this idea

776
00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:35.920
that how you marry yourself to the Church, you your will,

777
00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:39.599
you give up the even the pursuit of romantic love,

778
00:48:39.719 --> 00:48:43.159
physical intimacy, you give up all of that. Your focus,

779
00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:46.400
your intimacy is with Christ, the Church, the liturgy of

780
00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:51.559
the hours, prayer, confession, you you're you're, you are constantly,

781
00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:55.119
you're you're doing Mass multiple times a day, you're all

782
00:48:55.199 --> 00:48:59.400
these things that there. That's a life that's completely surrendered

783
00:48:59.400 --> 00:49:05.960
to God. That that's at least what intrigued me by.

784
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:07.800
I'm like, well, how does that work in the in

785
00:49:07.840 --> 00:49:10.519
the in the in the in the Protestant world, like

786
00:49:10.559 --> 00:49:12.840
in the non Catholic world, Because I was like, okay,

787
00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:15.000
wait a minute, So we're supposed to give ourselves fully

788
00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:18.159
to God, completely to God in the meantime, we're trying

789
00:49:18.159 --> 00:49:19.880
to find a girl today, or we're trying to find

790
00:49:19.880 --> 00:49:22.159
a wife, and then we're trying to do this, and

791
00:49:22.239 --> 00:49:23.920
then we're trying to do this, and we're well, wait

792
00:49:23.920 --> 00:49:25.559
a minute, what does that? How does that look like?

793
00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:28.119
People who truly give themselves to God? What like? How

794
00:49:28.119 --> 00:49:29.719
does that? What does that work? How does that look?

795
00:49:33.840 --> 00:49:37.760
There are thousands and tens of thousands in Christian work,

796
00:49:37.880 --> 00:49:42.719
brilliant men and women, rarely gifted, who are making great sacrifices,

797
00:49:42.840 --> 00:49:46.159
who put all conscious sin out of their lives, yet

798
00:49:46.199 --> 00:49:51.039
who nevertheless have stopped short of absolute surrender. Therefore, they

799
00:49:51.039 --> 00:49:55.679
have stopped short of fullness of power. I want you

800
00:49:55.719 --> 00:49:58.519
to hear that. See what they're calling for here is

801
00:49:58.519 --> 00:50:02.679
a surrender that goes beyond any Listen, listen how he's

802
00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:06.119
gonna describe these people that there's tens of thousands of them.

803
00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:08.800
Look how he describes them. But this is not yet

804
00:50:08.840 --> 00:50:12.880
full surrender. Are you ready? Right? There are thousands and

805
00:50:12.880 --> 00:50:15.960
tens of thousands in Christian work. So they've actually given

806
00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:22.760
their life to Christian work. They're doing something. They're brilliant,

807
00:50:23.400 --> 00:50:26.840
they're gifted in a rare way. They don't just have

808
00:50:26.920 --> 00:50:33.519
normal gifts, they're rarely gifted who are making great sacrifices.

809
00:50:34.800 --> 00:50:41.280
They're making great sacrifices. They have put out all conscious

810
00:50:41.400 --> 00:50:45.280
sin out of their lives. Every sin that they're conscious of,

811
00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:48.360
they have put out of their lives. The only sin

812
00:50:48.440 --> 00:50:51.559
that they are committing is unconscious sin. They're not even

813
00:50:51.599 --> 00:50:54.639
conscious of it. That's how godly these people. There's tens

814
00:50:54.679 --> 00:50:58.480
of thousands of people like this, right. They're brilliant, they're

815
00:50:58.480 --> 00:51:01.760
involved in the work for Chrazey, they're gifted in a

816
00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:06.039
rare way, they are making great sacrifices, and they have

817
00:51:06.159 --> 00:51:14.000
no conscious sin in their lives. Yet they have stopped

818
00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:17.920
short of absolute surrender. So even doing all of that

819
00:51:18.320 --> 00:51:21.559
is not absolute surrender. I don't know what that absolute

820
00:51:21.639 --> 00:51:26.159
surrender is absolute surrender. You can get rid of all

821
00:51:26.239 --> 00:51:30.280
conscious sin in your life, be sacrificing, doing work for God,

822
00:51:30.599 --> 00:51:34.960
demonstrate great gifts, demonstrate you're brilliant. Yet you're still not

823
00:51:35.360 --> 00:51:38.920
absolutely surrendered. So I guess absolute surrendered. I don't know what.

824
00:51:39.639 --> 00:51:42.280
I don't know that takes it to a whole new level.

825
00:51:43.679 --> 00:51:49.119
And therefore, because they're not absolutely surrendered, guess what they

826
00:51:49.119 --> 00:51:52.639
have stopped short of the fullness of power. So God's

827
00:51:52.679 --> 00:51:56.800
power is available only for those who are absolutely surrendered.

828
00:51:57.360 --> 00:52:00.480
Then you get the fullness of power. You may get power,

829
00:52:00.559 --> 00:52:02.199
but if you want great power, if you want the

830
00:52:02.199 --> 00:52:06.039
fullness of power, you have to be absolutely surrendered. This

831
00:52:06.159 --> 00:52:09.119
article never articulates exactly what that means. What does it

832
00:52:09.159 --> 00:52:25.320
mean to be absolutely surrendered? What does that look like? Now?

833
00:52:25.360 --> 00:52:32.760
I've known people when when I first joined the United

834
00:52:32.800 --> 00:52:37.440
States Military, and I arrived by greyhound bus in Omaha, Nebraska,

835
00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:40.920
in the middle of the summer. My sponsor was waiting

836
00:52:40.960 --> 00:52:43.519
for me, because in the military, when you get to

837
00:52:43.559 --> 00:52:45.480
your first base, you have a sponsor to help you

838
00:52:45.519 --> 00:52:47.119
get all settled because you don't know what in the

839
00:52:47.199 --> 00:52:49.559
world's going on, right, So you show up, you got

840
00:52:49.559 --> 00:52:52.760
your basically, you got your uniforms in a bag, some

841
00:52:52.840 --> 00:52:55.880
other a couple of other things. That's basically all I

842
00:52:55.920 --> 00:52:57.800
had with me. I didn't basically I didn't have. I

843
00:52:57.800 --> 00:53:00.280
had very little. And then I, you know, get off

844
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:02.559
the greyhound bus and next thing you know, you know,

845
00:53:02.599 --> 00:53:05.199
my military career starting. But here's my sponsor. And when

846
00:53:05.199 --> 00:53:09.199
I met my sponsor, immediately within minutes, I found out

847
00:53:09.199 --> 00:53:11.400
that he was a Christian and I begin to realize

848
00:53:11.440 --> 00:53:13.760
his Christianity was far different than all the other Christians

849
00:53:13.760 --> 00:53:17.119
I had ever met. He had very strong rules, right, Like,

850
00:53:17.159 --> 00:53:20.719
he didn't do anything for entertainment, right he believed entertainment

851
00:53:20.800 --> 00:53:22.679
had nothing to do with a life that was dedicated

852
00:53:22.719 --> 00:53:24.920
to do for God. He wanted to do great things

853
00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:27.239
for God. He wanted to be used by God. So

854
00:53:27.280 --> 00:53:30.159
if you went to his house, basically had no furniture.

855
00:53:30.559 --> 00:53:33.840
All he did was listen to sermons, read his Bible.

856
00:53:34.239 --> 00:53:37.320
He was teaching himself other languages so that he could

857
00:53:37.320 --> 00:53:41.880
minister to people. That's it. If you invited him over

858
00:53:41.920 --> 00:53:43.599
to your house, he would be like, well, I'll come

859
00:53:43.639 --> 00:53:45.480
over if we do, like, you know, a Bible study

860
00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:48.239
or a devotional or something. So he would come over

861
00:53:48.280 --> 00:53:50.639
to eat and then do Bible study, and then as

862
00:53:50.679 --> 00:53:52.239
soon as that was over, the second he was gone,

863
00:53:52.320 --> 00:53:55.000
he went back home to spend more time listening to

864
00:53:55.079 --> 00:53:58.039
Christian radio. There was no entertainment, there was no hobbies,

865
00:53:58.159 --> 00:54:00.440
there was nothing his life. He would go to work,

866
00:54:00.679 --> 00:54:03.079
but then even during lunch, he would fast during lunch

867
00:54:03.159 --> 00:54:05.679
and read his Bible. It was it was like, and

868
00:54:05.880 --> 00:54:10.199
I mean, his life was completely consumed and dedicated to God,

869
00:54:10.440 --> 00:54:13.199
I wouldn't say again, obviously he was a sinner, just

870
00:54:13.239 --> 00:54:16.559
like anyone else would be, because well, you know, I

871
00:54:16.559 --> 00:54:18.239
don't I don't believe that you can just get rid

872
00:54:18.320 --> 00:54:21.480
of all conscious sin. I think that's ridiculous, that's I

873
00:54:21.559 --> 00:54:23.559
don't even agree with that. But if there was anyone

874
00:54:23.599 --> 00:54:26.119
who came close to absolute surrender, it would be him.

875
00:54:26.559 --> 00:54:33.719
But like, was he used by God? I don't know.

876
00:54:34.320 --> 00:54:38.039
Did he have some special power that I don't even

877
00:54:38.079 --> 00:54:39.679
know where he is anymore? I don't even know where

878
00:54:39.679 --> 00:54:47.039
he is. I think he ultimately he got married. So

879
00:54:47.159 --> 00:54:50.159
I what does absolute surrender? What does that look? What

880
00:54:50.239 --> 00:55:02.519
does that even mean? Absolute surrender? I don't know. Next

881
00:55:03.599 --> 00:55:09.920
number two, absolute surrender number two a man of prayer,

882
00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:13.800
A man of prayer. Now we don't have time to

883
00:55:13.800 --> 00:55:16.320
get into this. What I'm going to do is, I'm

884
00:55:16.320 --> 00:55:18.960
gonna just give you all of these really quick. I'm

885
00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:21.880
just gonna go through all seven. So, first of all,

886
00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:25.559
the reason D. L. Moody right was God used him

887
00:55:25.840 --> 00:55:28.920
and he had such great power, it's because he met

888
00:55:28.920 --> 00:55:31.119
certain requirements. The first one was he was a fully

889
00:55:31.119 --> 00:55:35.320
surrendered man. Number two, he was a man of prayer.

890
00:55:36.079 --> 00:55:40.480
Number three, he was a deep and practical student of

891
00:55:40.519 --> 00:55:43.760
the Bible. Right, so, a man of prayer, A deep

892
00:55:43.800 --> 00:55:53.559
and practical student of the Bible. He was a humble man.

893
00:55:54.280 --> 00:55:56.679
He was a humble man. So let's go through these again.

894
00:55:56.719 --> 00:55:59.960
A fully surrendered man, a man of prayer, a deep

895
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:02.719
he been, practical student of the Bible. He was a

896
00:56:02.880 --> 00:56:13.920
humble man. He was to see again, he was a

897
00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:17.039
humble man. Did it? Was there another one here? He

898
00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:20.199
was a humble man. Okay, then it jumps to page fourteen.

899
00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:27.159
Hang on, I feel like I'm missing something. Where's number five?

900
00:56:32.760 --> 00:56:35.119
All right? So number one a fully surrendered man. Number

901
00:56:35.119 --> 00:56:37.320
two a man of prayer. Number three a deep and

902
00:56:37.400 --> 00:56:41.679
practical student of the Bible. Right, did I miss one? Here?

903
00:56:42.760 --> 00:56:48.599
Page six? Number four? Here they have a humble man.

904
00:56:49.719 --> 00:56:55.639
They do not have a number five. They do not

905
00:56:55.760 --> 00:56:57.639
have a number five. And then I go to page

906
00:56:57.679 --> 00:57:03.840
fourteen for the next part. Oh, here we go, his

907
00:57:04.320 --> 00:57:06.679
entire freedom from the love of money. There we go.

908
00:57:06.840 --> 00:57:09.199
He had no love for money. There was number five.

909
00:57:10.239 --> 00:57:14.440
He had no love for money. Number six his consuming

910
00:57:15.679 --> 00:57:20.280
passion for salvation of the lost. And number saw seven

911
00:57:20.559 --> 00:57:24.440
definitely endued with power from on high. Don't know exactly

912
00:57:24.480 --> 00:57:26.960
what that means. So let's go through these again. He

913
00:57:27.079 --> 00:57:29.599
was a fully surrendered man. He was a man of prayer.

914
00:57:29.880 --> 00:57:33.599
He was a deep and practical student of the Bible.

915
00:57:34.079 --> 00:57:37.400
He was number to go to page six, number four.

916
00:57:37.800 --> 00:57:41.199
He was a humble man. He was a humble man.

917
00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:48.159
Then he was he was free from the love of money.

918
00:57:48.639 --> 00:57:51.519
He had a consuming passion for salvation of the lost,

919
00:57:51.920 --> 00:57:55.039
and then he was definitely endued with power on high.

920
00:57:55.079 --> 00:57:56.800
I don't know how number seven is something you do

921
00:57:56.960 --> 00:57:59.840
that makes literally no sense, but okay, those are the

922
00:57:59.840 --> 00:58:03.159
things he did, and as a result he had power

923
00:58:03.320 --> 00:58:09.039
and boom, he was used by God. Now the thing

924
00:58:09.079 --> 00:58:11.519
on prayer, I've got down here next to me, the

925
00:58:11.519 --> 00:58:16.599
complete works of em Bounds. I used to take this

926
00:58:16.679 --> 00:58:18.360
book that I have next to me when I was

927
00:58:18.400 --> 00:58:21.599
a teenager and I would walk out of my house

928
00:58:21.719 --> 00:58:24.159
kind of walk down was in the middle. We were

929
00:58:23.920 --> 00:58:28.360
in the country. We were living between Buffalo Gap and Tuscola, Texas,

930
00:58:28.559 --> 00:58:30.679
in the middle of nowhere, and so I would walk

931
00:58:30.800 --> 00:58:34.599
kind of out the front door, down the steps, kind

932
00:58:34.599 --> 00:58:37.679
of through down the driveway and there was kind of

933
00:58:37.719 --> 00:58:42.360
like this just dusty dirt, little drive that would kind

934
00:58:42.400 --> 00:58:44.719
of lead to where our house was. I walked down

935
00:58:44.760 --> 00:58:49.280
that crossed the road, kind of went down this little ditch,

936
00:58:49.760 --> 00:58:51.679
kind of went climbed up this hill, and then I

937
00:58:51.719 --> 00:58:54.480
sat on top of this hill which overlooked I mean

938
00:58:54.480 --> 00:58:57.119
it was like a big drop fifteen twenty feet drop

939
00:58:57.519 --> 00:58:59.440
down to where the railroad tracks were. And I would

940
00:58:59.480 --> 00:59:02.039
sit there once the train goes by, whenever it did

941
00:59:02.079 --> 00:59:03.960
go by, and I would sit there with the copy

942
00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:06.280
of the book The Complete Works of Embounds, and I

943
00:59:06.280 --> 00:59:11.199
would sit there and read. And I was a teenager,

944
00:59:11.199 --> 00:59:13.199
and guess what I kept saying to myself, Okay, I

945
00:59:13.239 --> 00:59:17.639
want to be used by God. I want to do

946
00:59:17.679 --> 00:59:20.119
great things for God. And what does that look like.

947
00:59:20.199 --> 00:59:22.719
That's going to be like a successful ministry, and it's

948
00:59:22.760 --> 00:59:24.400
going to have all these things. And I would sit

949
00:59:24.440 --> 00:59:26.440
here and I would read the Works of the Complete

950
00:59:26.440 --> 00:59:29.599
Works of Embounds on prayer. And there were sections in

951
00:59:29.639 --> 00:59:32.440
that book, great sections where he would talk about these

952
00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:34.760
great men of God who were used mightily by God.

953
00:59:34.800 --> 00:59:38.320
And guess what they did. They prayed hours and hours

954
00:59:38.360 --> 00:59:40.880
a day. That would wake up at three am and

955
00:59:40.920 --> 00:59:43.639
pray from three am to seven am. They would pray

956
00:59:43.719 --> 00:59:45.719
this time and this time they would pray at night

957
00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:48.000
from midnight to two way, and I would be like, okay,

958
00:59:48.119 --> 00:59:50.440
if I prayed more and if I do all of

959
00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:53.280
these things, and so I had this really like I

960
00:59:53.440 --> 00:59:59.519
can be used by God, and so I would try

961
00:59:59.559 --> 01:00:03.400
everything that these books would tell me to do. I tried,

962
01:00:03.840 --> 01:00:07.480
and I tried, and in many ways from a human perspective,

963
01:00:07.559 --> 01:00:12.360
I completely messed everything up, right, because if I would

964
01:00:12.360 --> 01:00:15.800
have stayed a Baptist right, I possibly could have got

965
01:00:15.800 --> 01:00:18.639
into ministry sooner. I could have got it ordained sooner.

966
01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:21.000
But I just would not go along because I kept

967
01:00:21.039 --> 01:00:24.199
asking questions and I kept challenging theology, so that I

968
01:00:24.320 --> 01:00:27.760
ended up a Lutheran right. So I ended up a Lutheran. Well,

969
01:00:28.039 --> 01:00:30.159
there was there was talks about getting into ministry, but

970
01:00:30.199 --> 01:00:31.840
nobody could really tell me exactly how I was going

971
01:00:31.880 --> 01:00:33.119
to do so and how I was going to afford

972
01:00:33.159 --> 01:00:35.000
because in all these situations, and I had to go

973
01:00:35.039 --> 01:00:37.079
off to school somewhere, So I'm like, what am I

974
01:00:37.119 --> 01:00:40.519
going to do? So then I joined the ministry the ministry,

975
01:00:40.599 --> 01:00:43.199
I joined the military. Next thing you know, I find

976
01:00:43.239 --> 01:00:46.159
myself in Germany. Right, So I'm in Germany, and guess

977
01:00:46.199 --> 01:00:49.199
what I get confronted over some of my Lutheran beliefs,

978
01:00:49.239 --> 01:00:51.599
and I'm like, well, you know, I can't really support

979
01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:54.320
infant Baptism. So then I go back to being a Baptist. Okay,

980
01:00:54.320 --> 01:00:58.119
So then I end up in the independent Fundamental Baptist Church. Okay, great,

981
01:00:58.320 --> 01:01:01.960
Now their idea was, now that you're an independent fundamental Baptist. Okay,

982
01:01:02.000 --> 01:01:04.400
what you need to do is get out of the military,

983
01:01:04.679 --> 01:01:08.039
show that you're really committed to ministry. So get out

984
01:01:08.039 --> 01:01:10.920
of the military, go get two jobs to help support

985
01:01:10.920 --> 01:01:15.519
yourself and your family, and then attend our Bible Institute

986
01:01:15.599 --> 01:01:17.639
and then you can get in ministry. But you got

987
01:01:17.679 --> 01:01:19.079
to if you're ever going to get it. And then

988
01:01:19.119 --> 01:01:20.519
what we can do is you can go start a

989
01:01:20.639 --> 01:01:23.119
church somewhere. I'm going to go start a church somewhere.

990
01:01:23.280 --> 01:01:25.480
So basically you want me to. And so if you

991
01:01:25.519 --> 01:01:27.639
really did that, then you really trusted God, and then

992
01:01:27.679 --> 01:01:30.559
God would use you. See, God's not going to use

993
01:01:30.599 --> 01:01:32.880
you until you show God you want to be used.

994
01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:34.519
And the way you show God you want to be

995
01:01:34.639 --> 01:01:39.239
used is by basically sacrificing your career, your job so

996
01:01:39.320 --> 01:01:41.760
that you'd show yourself. And so I watched all of

997
01:01:41.800 --> 01:01:44.920
these other men get out of the military, and next

998
01:01:44.960 --> 01:01:47.840
thing you know, they're barely able to pay their bills.

999
01:01:48.119 --> 01:01:52.119
They're working two three jobs, They're at work all the time.

1000
01:01:52.360 --> 01:01:54.679
They have a hard time even spending any time with God.

1001
01:01:54.920 --> 01:01:58.519
And I'm like, I don't know. They medical bills, they

1002
01:01:58.559 --> 01:02:02.239
got this, and I'm like, ah, no, they're working all

1003
01:02:02.280 --> 01:02:03.639
the time, and I'm like, no, I think I'm going

1004
01:02:03.719 --> 01:02:05.239
to stay in the military. I think I'm going to

1005
01:02:05.280 --> 01:02:07.079
stay in the military. Now you can say I had

1006
01:02:07.079 --> 01:02:09.800
a lack of faith whatever, but guess what, even in

1007
01:02:09.800 --> 01:02:12.559
that situation, I wouldn't just go along to get along.

1008
01:02:12.679 --> 01:02:15.760
I kept questioning and I kept challenging, and boom, next

1009
01:02:15.760 --> 01:02:18.280
thing you know, I'm having problems there. So then I

1010
01:02:18.679 --> 01:02:21.239
ended up in another independent film, Baptist Church. I ended

1011
01:02:21.320 --> 01:02:25.960
up being ordained twice in two different churches. So I'm ordained.

1012
01:02:26.360 --> 01:02:29.559
I'm going to school. After school, I'm getting I graduate

1013
01:02:29.599 --> 01:02:33.119
from Bible institutes, I graduate from Bible colleges, I graduate

1014
01:02:33.159 --> 01:02:37.679
from seminaries. I'm getting every bit of education. Okay, so

1015
01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:39.719
I'm going to be the best student because I want

1016
01:02:39.719 --> 01:02:41.239
to be used by God. I want to be used

1017
01:02:41.239 --> 01:02:43.519
by God, and I kind of rejected their idea that

1018
01:02:43.599 --> 01:02:46.519
I had to basically put my family into basically, you know,

1019
01:02:46.639 --> 01:02:49.199
poverty in order to be used by God. Because many

1020
01:02:49.280 --> 01:02:51.639
of those men who did that, guess what they got

1021
01:02:51.639 --> 01:02:55.119
out of the military. Guess what, I don't think maybe

1022
01:02:55.159 --> 01:02:58.000
out of all the men I attended Bible Institute with

1023
01:02:58.559 --> 01:03:00.760
who got out of the military today, I think only

1024
01:03:00.800 --> 01:03:03.000
one even made it to ministry. I think none of

1025
01:03:03.000 --> 01:03:05.880
the others even made it in the ministry, and they

1026
01:03:05.920 --> 01:03:09.920
only impacted themselves negatively financially. I'm like, I, so they

1027
01:03:09.960 --> 01:03:12.920
didn't get used by God greatly by doing that. From

1028
01:03:12.960 --> 01:03:15.239
a human perspective, they may have been used by God

1029
01:03:15.280 --> 01:03:18.880
in a different way. But okay, so I'm like, ah, so,

1030
01:03:18.880 --> 01:03:20.960
so then I you know, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna

1031
01:03:20.960 --> 01:03:22.519
stay in the military. I'm gonna stay the military. You're

1032
01:03:22.519 --> 01:03:24.800
going to stay in the military. Now. I was supposed

1033
01:03:24.800 --> 01:03:26.639
to then get out of the military because I was

1034
01:03:26.679 --> 01:03:29.159
going to become the associate pastor. And guess what I

1035
01:03:29.199 --> 01:03:32.719
do once again, I can't keep my mouth shut. All

1036
01:03:32.719 --> 01:03:35.079
I'm supposed to do is preach a little fifteen minute

1037
01:03:35.079 --> 01:03:38.840
sermon for pastor appreciation night where I'm supposed to say

1038
01:03:38.880 --> 01:03:42.440
all these wonderful things, but instead I use the opportunity

1039
01:03:42.559 --> 01:03:44.760
to go off on everyone, like I'm sick of these

1040
01:03:44.760 --> 01:03:48.039
little so called pastor appreciation things where we're all gonna

1041
01:03:48.079 --> 01:03:50.920
get togegether, go downstairs, shove food down our throats, give

1042
01:03:50.960 --> 01:03:53.119
the pastor a card. If you really want to appreciate

1043
01:03:53.159 --> 01:03:55.840
your pastor, how about show up to church. How about

1044
01:03:55.880 --> 01:03:58.559
be their Sunday morning, come back Sunday night, and be

1045
01:03:58.679 --> 01:04:02.000
there Wednesday. Because this church is a joke. Four hundred

1046
01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:04.239
of you show up Sunday morning and there's twenty of

1047
01:04:04.280 --> 01:04:06.840
us on Wednesday night. If you want to show appreciation

1048
01:04:06.960 --> 01:04:10.159
to your pastor, save the stupid cake and show up

1049
01:04:10.199 --> 01:04:12.360
to church. And then when you people show up, you

1050
01:04:12.400 --> 01:04:14.400
don't even show up with a Bible, and then you

1051
01:04:14.639 --> 01:04:16.920
argue and you disagree all the time. And so I

1052
01:04:16.960 --> 01:04:19.599
went off on everyone for how they treat the pastor,

1053
01:04:19.800 --> 01:04:22.440
and well, guess what, the pastor was okay, But then

1054
01:04:22.480 --> 01:04:24.599
I was told I could not become the associate pastor

1055
01:04:24.639 --> 01:04:26.400
because I had stirred up too much trouble. So you

1056
01:04:26.400 --> 01:04:28.840
probably shouldn't get out of the military. I was very

1057
01:04:28.840 --> 01:04:30.840
close to getting out of the military, but I did

1058
01:04:30.840 --> 01:04:34.400
not so then I come here, and so then I

1059
01:04:34.559 --> 01:04:37.800
moved to Texas. I'm like, okay, ministry, ministry, okay, because

1060
01:04:37.840 --> 01:04:39.440
I want to be used by God. I want to

1061
01:04:39.480 --> 01:04:42.000
do great things for God. I want to do that.

1062
01:04:42.320 --> 01:04:45.440
So then I, well, I end up becoming a pastor.

1063
01:04:45.599 --> 01:04:47.320
I get the job as a pastor, and then I

1064
01:04:47.400 --> 01:04:50.119
get on Christian radio once again. I can't keep my

1065
01:04:50.199 --> 01:04:52.760
mouth shut. So I get kicked off Christian radio because

1066
01:04:52.800 --> 01:04:55.239
I take off all the Christians because I call out

1067
01:04:55.360 --> 01:04:58.480
some of the foolishness happening in churches. Well then, okay.

1068
01:04:58.599 --> 01:05:00.320
Now I'm in a church in the middle of no nowhere.

1069
01:05:00.440 --> 01:05:03.199
But it starts growing and it starts growing, and it

1070
01:05:03.280 --> 01:05:06.360
starts growing, and I'm like, Okay, now am I doing

1071
01:05:06.400 --> 01:05:08.559
great things for God? I don't know. I don't know

1072
01:05:08.559 --> 01:05:12.039
if I'm doing great things for God. And to be honest,

1073
01:05:12.280 --> 01:05:14.840
I kind of reached a point and this is my

1074
01:05:14.920 --> 01:05:18.280
own foolishness where I felt burnt out. I felt like

1075
01:05:18.280 --> 01:05:20.159
I did. I don't even like the word burnt out.

1076
01:05:20.320 --> 01:05:23.440
I just felt like, what am I really doing? I'm working,

1077
01:05:23.559 --> 01:05:26.920
like you know, I'm working. So it's like I was

1078
01:05:26.960 --> 01:05:29.199
a full time I was a full time pastor, full

1079
01:05:29.239 --> 01:05:32.599
time in the military and basically a full time podcaster.

1080
01:05:32.920 --> 01:05:35.480
I mean I was basically working well over eighty hours

1081
01:05:35.480 --> 01:05:37.840
a week sometimes, I mean like I was working so

1082
01:05:37.880 --> 01:05:40.599
many hours a week it was not even funny, barely sleeping,

1083
01:05:40.679 --> 01:05:43.440
never seeing my family, and it just led to complete

1084
01:05:43.440 --> 01:05:46.760
and total, like spiritual collapse in my life. Like it

1085
01:05:46.840 --> 01:05:52.559
was just absolute destruction, foolishness, stupidity, sin, you can label

1086
01:05:52.599 --> 01:05:54.639
it all the different ways you want, and it was

1087
01:05:54.719 --> 01:05:58.800
absolutely devastating. Now before really I reached that breaking point,

1088
01:05:59.159 --> 01:06:01.480
what started to happening as people started leaving the church

1089
01:06:02.280 --> 01:06:04.880
Even before I reached the breaking point, people started leaving,

1090
01:06:05.360 --> 01:06:08.840
People started leaving, and people didn't like this about me,

1091
01:06:08.880 --> 01:06:10.800
and people didn't even though they showed up saying they

1092
01:06:10.840 --> 01:06:12.840
loved it. And so then I was like, Okay, if

1093
01:06:12.880 --> 01:06:15.119
I continue this way of ministering the way I think

1094
01:06:15.119 --> 01:06:17.719
I should minister, I'm losing everyone. So you know what,

1095
01:06:17.719 --> 01:06:20.760
what's the point. So I got very frustrated, and well,

1096
01:06:20.800 --> 01:06:23.960
then you know, slowly but surely, you know, I was

1097
01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:26.440
never able to I was never able to reverse course

1098
01:06:26.679 --> 01:06:28.880
to go back to growing it, and it only got

1099
01:06:28.880 --> 01:06:31.440
smaller and smaller and more and more people left because

1100
01:06:31.440 --> 01:06:34.159
I would not play along with the game. So then

1101
01:06:34.199 --> 01:06:36.639
I could ask myself, do I want to be used

1102
01:06:36.639 --> 01:06:41.960
by God? Well? I did? Now I don't know. I

1103
01:06:42.000 --> 01:06:44.400
don't even know what that means anymore. Do I want

1104
01:06:44.440 --> 01:06:46.280
to do great things for God? I do want to

1105
01:06:46.280 --> 01:06:47.760
do great things for God. I don't even know what

1106
01:06:47.760 --> 01:06:50.639
that means anymore. Now, what does it mean to be

1107
01:06:50.760 --> 01:06:52.280
used by God? I don't even know if I know

1108
01:06:52.320 --> 01:06:55.320
what that means anymore, because it sounds like what it means,

1109
01:06:56.320 --> 01:06:59.079
even though Christians say it's not. The case comes down

1110
01:06:59.079 --> 01:07:01.679
to how much your church is growing, how many people

1111
01:07:01.719 --> 01:07:04.280
love you, how many people listen to you, and how

1112
01:07:04.280 --> 01:07:07.159
many people financially support you. Because if God really wants

1113
01:07:07.159 --> 01:07:10.360
your ministry to work, if God is really in your ministry,

1114
01:07:10.480 --> 01:07:12.800
then the money's going to come in. The numbers are

1115
01:07:12.800 --> 01:07:15.039
going to be there, and it's going to be it's

1116
01:07:15.039 --> 01:07:17.880
going to look like a success. If it's failure and

1117
01:07:17.920 --> 01:07:20.559
nobody is supporting it, then take the hint. God doesn't

1118
01:07:20.599 --> 01:07:23.199
care about what you're doing. God is not in what

1119
01:07:23.280 --> 01:07:25.440
you're doing. God is not supporting what you're doing, So

1120
01:07:25.519 --> 01:07:28.119
then you view it as an Then you just have

1121
01:07:28.199 --> 01:07:30.880
to give up and realize that God was God wasn't

1122
01:07:30.960 --> 01:07:33.159
using you in the first place. But then you go

1123
01:07:33.239 --> 01:07:38.840
look at Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah. All of their

1124
01:07:38.840 --> 01:07:42.599
ministries were earthly failures. So then do you take from that? Go, well,

1125
01:07:42.599 --> 01:07:45.519
then mine, mine is actually the success. The one that

1126
01:07:46.159 --> 01:07:48.679
the success is the one everyone else deems a failure,

1127
01:07:48.840 --> 01:07:51.400
And the one everyone else deems a success is actually

1128
01:07:51.440 --> 01:07:54.039
a f failure. Well you see how self serving that is?

1129
01:07:54.440 --> 01:07:56.960
When when when yours seems to be the failure, if

1130
01:07:57.000 --> 01:07:58.679
you then look at everyone else and say that they're

1131
01:07:58.760 --> 01:08:03.480
the failure, that's self Obviously I want that theory to

1132
01:08:03.519 --> 01:08:05.679
be true because, well, then it would prove that what

1133
01:08:05.760 --> 01:08:13.280
I have done has been right. What does it mean

1134
01:08:13.320 --> 01:08:16.680
to be used by God? What does it mean to

1135
01:08:16.720 --> 01:08:19.880
do great things for God? What does it actually mean?

1136
01:08:27.199 --> 01:08:30.520
Because we're all told that our life is supposed to

1137
01:08:30.520 --> 01:08:33.560
be dedicated to serving God. Our life, remember, you go

1138
01:08:33.640 --> 01:08:35.600
to church to be equipped to do the work of ministry.

1139
01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:38.680
Everyone has ministry. This is where your focus is supposed

1140
01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:40.720
to be. Your life is supposed to be dedicated in

1141
01:08:40.800 --> 01:08:43.640
to serving God. Now for some people, they can say, well, okay,

1142
01:08:43.840 --> 01:08:47.079
my ministry is raising my family. I do that, okay, great.

1143
01:08:47.479 --> 01:08:52.439
Others Others are like, no, it's maybe it's it's you

1144
01:08:52.760 --> 01:08:58.720
have to try to figure out what it is. But

1145
01:08:58.840 --> 01:09:01.960
I'd not necessarily a fan of this idea that, hey,

1146
01:09:02.439 --> 01:09:05.760
you could be doing great things for God today. You could,

1147
01:09:06.560 --> 01:09:10.760
you could be accomplishing wonderful things, and it would be

1148
01:09:10.840 --> 01:09:13.199
clearly manifest that you're doing these great things for God,

1149
01:09:13.199 --> 01:09:15.800
that God is using you. But you cannot do that

1150
01:09:15.960 --> 01:09:24.880
unless you do what D. L. Moody did. Now I'm

1151
01:09:24.920 --> 01:09:27.439
going to stop. I'm a sixty nine minutes. I don't

1152
01:09:27.479 --> 01:09:29.840
know if any of that was even helpful. I have

1153
01:09:29.880 --> 01:09:32.880
no idea. Again, I told you that maybe it's more

1154
01:09:32.920 --> 01:09:35.720
for me just struggling with these concepts because I've been

1155
01:09:35.720 --> 01:09:37.920
struggling with these concepts in my whole Christian life about

1156
01:09:38.039 --> 01:09:39.439
want to be used by God? What does it mean

1157
01:09:39.479 --> 01:09:40.920
to be used by God? What do I gotta do?

1158
01:09:41.000 --> 01:09:42.560
What do I gotta do? What do I gotta do?

1159
01:09:42.680 --> 01:09:46.079
What do I gotta do? And everyone gives you the

1160
01:09:46.119 --> 01:09:48.399
list of things you're supposed to do, but there's people

1161
01:09:48.399 --> 01:09:50.960
who do those supposed things. Well, some of those things

1162
01:09:51.000 --> 01:09:53.399
you just nobody can do. You're just living in fantasy land.

1163
01:09:53.640 --> 01:10:00.920
But then there what are they doing? So you're saying

1164
01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:04.600
that every ministry that gets smaller, every ministry that is

1165
01:10:04.640 --> 01:10:07.760
not necessarily being supported, and every church that closes down

1166
01:10:07.840 --> 01:10:10.720
and every podcast that goes off the air because people

1167
01:10:10.760 --> 01:10:13.439
don't support it and people don't seem to care, that's

1168
01:10:13.560 --> 01:10:16.840
because God wasn't using them, and it's their fault because

1169
01:10:16.880 --> 01:10:19.359
they didn't do enough things. I say, I don't know

1170
01:10:19.439 --> 01:10:26.000
about that. All right, I'll stop there. You can email

1171
01:10:26.039 --> 01:10:30.239
me news I f Yahu dot com news I Fyahu

1172
01:10:30.279 --> 01:10:32.319
dot com. I just want you to think today about

1173
01:10:32.359 --> 01:10:35.119
what it means to be used by God? What does

1174
01:10:35.119 --> 01:10:37.399
it mean to do great things for God? What does

1175
01:10:37.439 --> 01:10:40.600
that all look like? And do you even care about

1176
01:10:40.640 --> 01:10:43.880
any of that? Have you struggled with any of this

1177
01:10:43.920 --> 01:10:46.520
in your Christian life? And if so, what conclusion did

1178
01:10:46.520 --> 01:10:51.439
you come to? I will the conclusion I have come

1179
01:10:51.520 --> 01:10:57.520
to and is just I was never used by God.

1180
01:10:57.600 --> 01:11:00.399
I never accomplished great things for God. So from a

1181
01:11:00.439 --> 01:11:10.319
human perspective, I've simply failed. And maybe spiritually that's the

1182
01:11:10.359 --> 01:11:12.920
best thing that could ever happen to me, because maybe

1183
01:11:14.159 --> 01:11:17.279
any success would have just been about me and not

1184
01:11:17.359 --> 01:11:19.640
about God. I don't know, so then I could argue,

1185
01:11:19.680 --> 01:11:21.640
then maybe it's my fault. I was never used by

1186
01:11:21.680 --> 01:11:24.239
God because I didn't have the right mentality for it.

1187
01:11:24.399 --> 01:11:26.800
Maybe that's the case. I don't how do you process

1188
01:11:26.840 --> 01:11:31.880
all of that? I don't know news I fit Yahoo

1189
01:11:31.880 --> 01:11:34.920
dot com. That's news at Yahoo dot com. I know

1190
01:11:35.000 --> 01:11:37.079
this was not probably a very good episode, and I

1191
01:11:37.119 --> 01:11:40.439
apologize for that, but it's just me trying to process.

1192
01:11:40.439 --> 01:11:42.399
And really, I mean, I've always said one of the

1193
01:11:42.439 --> 01:11:44.640
things I've said about this podcast is in many cases,

1194
01:11:44.680 --> 01:11:48.159
this podcast is about me just working out my own salvation,

1195
01:11:48.640 --> 01:11:51.880
just working out things live on the air, and if

1196
01:11:51.880 --> 01:11:53.720
you want to listen, great, and if you don't, you don't.

1197
01:11:53.880 --> 01:11:56.920
So I know this was not a great episode, So please,

1198
01:11:57.000 --> 01:11:58.920
if you want to criticize, feel free to criticize. You

1199
01:11:58.960 --> 01:12:02.680
can email me News dot com. But in reality, what

1200
01:12:02.720 --> 01:12:05.039
I just did is kind of what this podcast is

1201
01:12:05.079 --> 01:12:08.640
really about. Just a Christian who's a sinner with a

1202
01:12:08.680 --> 01:12:11.119
microphone trying to figure out the Christian life. And this

1203
01:12:11.279 --> 01:12:14.119
is just an area of things I've struggled with my

1204
01:12:14.359 --> 01:12:18.119
entire Christian life, and I still don't have answers the

1205
01:12:18.159 --> 01:12:21.920
sort of the Lord congratulation. Ninety years of producing that

1206
01:12:21.960 --> 01:12:25.800
paper ninety years. They have something that they have, something tangible.

1207
01:12:26.119 --> 01:12:29.119
They have something that they can say God has used this.

1208
01:12:29.439 --> 01:12:35.520
They could argue that they have done something great for God.

1209
01:12:36.239 --> 01:12:39.279
But what does How do we measure anything? I don't know.

1210
01:12:39.680 --> 01:12:41.720
Thanks for listening everyone, have a great day. God bless