You know,
that's a dangerous worship song if we really
mean it.
Come and awake us from our spiritual slumber,
awake us from our sleep.
I think many people might be shocked if
that really happened.
Because everything would change.
You'd love God with all your heart, with
all your soul, with all your mind.
The Word would come alive.
Worship would feel like it's descending from the
portals of heaven.
Prayer would not be something that's rushed.
When God awakens your soul, you are radically
changed.
And I would encourage you this morning to
pray that prayer.
God, awaken my soul.
Return, I want to return to that first
love.
Some of you, do you remember what it
felt like when God was everything?
We couldn't get enough of God.
We would go to church three or four
times a week.
We would worship, we would pray.
And then somewhere along the way, we've left
that first love.
That's why Jesus said, come back.
Come back to me, church, in Revelation.
Come back to me.
You've left your first love.
Return to that heart of worship.
Awaken.
It's a dangerous song if you mean it.
Blow through the caverns.
You know what caverns are?
Empty, just empty.
Think of a gold mine.
It's just empty.
Sometimes in our soul, we get empty and
dry and dead and lethargic.
And we pray that.
We better mean it.
God, come and fill those empty caverns again.
Come and refill me with that joy and
that peace.
Let the joy of my salvation return.
Three cautions from the book of Acts.
Three cautions from Acts 11.
What a caution is.
You know what a caution is, right?
You see the caution lights or the caution
signs.
And there are cautions throughout the entire Bible.
Cautions.
Don't do this.
Do this.
And God warns and God instructs and God
leads, ultimately, sometimes through cautions.
See, we love grace and we love mercy,
but grace and mercy without the cautions is
dangerous.
Because we need to know when the road
is ending.
We need to know when the bridge is
out.
And there's three we can pull from Acts
11, chapter 11, verse 22.
Now, to put this in context, if you
haven't been here, you can go back and
listen to the messages prior.
But the Holy Spirit was moving in the
church.
And in case you are unaware, we are
not afraid to mention the Holy Spirit here.
We're not into weirdness, but we are into
power.
We're not into bizarre things, but we are
into unction and anointing.
God moving among his people.
We see the Holy Spirit moving throughout the
entire area of Judea and Antioch and up
through Jerusalem.
And in this whole area, we see that
God's Spirit was continuing to move out west
and east and pushing.
And that's how it eventually encompassed the whole
globe.
That's why there's not an Acts 29, as
we are Acts 29.
The book of Acts continues.
God moving among his people, moving in the
church.
So what happened is the Holy Spirit was
leading the church in many different areas.
People were being set free.
They were being healed.
They were being delivered.
And then we pick up in verse 22.
Then the news of these things came to
the ears of the church in Jerusalem.
And they sent out Barnabas to go as
far as Antioch.
So he's going up from Jerusalem.
He's going up toward Antioch.
When he came and he had seen the
grace of God, he was glad.
And encouraged them.
This is what Barnabas did.
He saw the Christians in Antioch.
He encouraged them with a purpose of heart
that they should continue with the Lord.
Now I can only speculate here, but when
the Bible says he encouraged them, I have
a feeling that some of them were discouraged.
Have you ever been there?
Come on, let's be honest.
Discouragement comes into all of our lives.
Even you, Shane?
Oh, you have no idea.
Because new levels bring new devils.
Have you ever heard of that?
As soon as the church wants to start
doing more, here comes the discouragement.
And God wants to do more, here comes
the discouragement.
And what discouragement is, when you're encouraged, you're
walking a certain direction, aren't you?
You're going forward.
You're encouraged in the way of the Lord.
You're strengthened in the way of the Lord.
And as you're being encouraged, you're walking in
what God wants you to do.
Discouragement is meant to sidetrack you and go
out the exit.
And then we go out the exit and
we get discouraged.
And we fall.
And we fail.
There's shame.
There's guilt.
There's condemnation.
And we can never seem to get back
up on track, some people.
And they fall again.
That's why you'll notice a lot of times
in addiction recovery, the word relapse means that
people who were very encouraged became very discouraged.
And they relapsed.
They fell back away from that encouragement.
So He is encouraging the church, which tells
me that we need encouragement.
It's not all about just wonderful things all
the time.
Sometimes people are dealing with a lot of
different things in the church.
Failed marriages.
Kids are going south when they should be
going north.
And these problems at work and losing jobs
that we should have held the rest of
our lives.
And retirement's not working out.
And our kids are sick.
And maybe we are going through health challenges
and we get discouraged.
And it's funny here.
He says, with purpose of heart, be encouraged
that purpose of heart you should continue with
the Lord.
This is one of the best things you
should learn when it comes to your walk
with God.
Is no matter what comes, that you stay
encouraged.
Because it's very easy to stay encouraged when
things are going well, isn't it?
Everything's going well, I'm very encouraged.
But when things go the wrong direction, we
get discouraged.
So He says, be encouraged, purpose of heart,
continue with the Lord.
No matter if you're going through the valley
or up on the mountaintop.
No matter if you have a good doctor's
report or a bad doctor's report.
Stay encouraged in the Lord.
Because discouragement is where the enemy gets a
foothold.
Remember we talked about what a foothold is.
You open the door and the enemy puts
his foot right there.
You ever do that with your kids?
No, you can't close the door.
Sorry, there's a foothold.
You gave me a foothold.
You can't close this door.
And the enemy looks for that foothold of
discouragement.
And then he begins to walk in.
Have you failed God before?
And fell back into sin?
It's usually when there's a foothold, right?
There's an opening.
There's a discouragement there.
I often comment to people, and it's the
truth.
We can leave here Sunday afternoon.
We are just so full of the Holy
Spirit.
Things are going great.
The enemy, you have no, no, you have
no, you can't even move me today.
I'm so encouraged.
I'm strengthened.
Then come Monday afternoon or Tuesday or Wednesday.
It's like, what happened to all that encouragement?
I am discouraged.
So keeping focused on the Lord.
That's why you have to, when you stay
in his words, you get re-encouraged.
That's why God says, though you walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, you
will fear no evil because I am with
you.
Though the storm will come.
Jesus said the storm comes to the man
who built his house on the rock and
the man who built his house on the
sand.
And when the rain came and the wind
blew and it beat upon that house, it
did not fall because it was founded upon
the rock.
I feel like preaching a little bit this
morning.
So you might want to back up.
If you're in these front rows, you might
want to back up.
Or let me move this back a little
bit.
Because this is so important.
The enemy will start to sidetrack through discouragement.
He will lead kids away through discouragement.
When the waters come upon you, throughout the
Old Testament, when the waters come upon you,
that was a sign of, uh-oh, that's
not good.
God said, I will be with you.
When you walk through the fire, the flame
will not scorch you.
I will be with you.
I will uphold you with my hand.
Though you fall, you will not be utterly
cast down because the Lord upholds him and
you with his right hand.
He doesn't have a right hand.
It's a sign of strength and encouragement.
The right hand of God is a place
of authority and power.
And you have to stay encouraged.
I think that's why most of us are
here today, right?
Did any of you say, I'm going to
come to church today and be very discouraged?
No, nobody did.
We want to be encouraged.
What does encouragement mean?
It's a persuasion to do or to continue
something.
I'm persuaded to continue to do something.
So the first caution that we can get
from Acts through this is we must stay
encouraged.
Stay encouraged.
The most powerful thing you possess is right
here.
You have to strengthen yourself in the Lord.
Sometimes, you know what, let me just shoot
you straight.
Sometimes, you've got to encourage yourself.
Your friend's not going to encourage you.
Your spouse isn't going to encourage you.
Your family, your husband, your wife.
Those things that sometimes we rely on might
not encourage you.
Sometimes, they might discourage you.
There's just three things on this area of
discouragement I want to impart to you this
morning.
When you're feeling discouraged and when you're trying
to get back on track, many times we
look to the wrong voice.
Always look to what does God say?
What does God say?
And get encouraged and strengthened back again.
The best thing you can do is stop
listening to secular advice for your children.
The Bible says, train up a child in
the way they will go.
And when they are old, they will not
depart from it.
There is hope for the prodigal son.
There is hope for the wayward daughter.
Through prayer and fasting and petitioning God and
relying on His promises.
Lord, Your Word says, I take God to
task all the time.
It says right here, if I seek You
with all of my heart, I will find
You.
It says right here, if I draw close
to You, You will draw to me.
I don't feel like it, but I'm going
to hold You to Your Word.
I'm going to encourage myself through Your Word.
What does God say?
And encourage yourself.
Think about how many times have you watched
dead, dying, violent, gross movies.
And you go, I am so discouraged.
I'm more down than when I watch this
thing.
I'm more down when I listen to the
wrong person or watch the wrong thing.
And we discourage ourselves.
So God says, encourage yourself by looking to
My Word.
What does My Word say about your situation?
Just prayed for a lady at the first
service.
Just found out she lost her job.
What does God say?
I've got you.
Just wait on Me.
Just wait.
What does the world say?
Take Him to court.
You go show Him.
You throw your weight around there.
You get out applications.
I know you shouldn't work there, but you
do, you do, you do.
Get it.
Go, go, go.
And God says, just wait.
Just wait.
Now He might lead you to put out
applications.
He might lead.
But wait on God, and you will renew
your strength.
Because when a person says, Lord, I don't
know why this happened, but guess what I'm
trusting in you?
You're going to show me.
God's not going to go, nope, I'm throwing
you a curveball.
You're toast now.
You're going to lose your house.
You're done.
Well, I won't use that word, stupid, right?
Can't say it from the pulpit.
But He's going to say, okay, that's a
person I can guide.
That's a person, the humble, I teach my
ways.
I can lead that person because they're listening
to me.
Not listening to the voice of secular reasoning.
Just be careful who you're listening to.
This drives me crazy in the area of
people are looking for advice and they go
to friends who aren't even Christians.
Don't ever go to friends who aren't Christians
for marriage advice.
Because here's what they say.
You should take him for all he's worth.
Or she shouldn't treat you like that.
You should take her to court and get
full custody.
That's what you should do.
Yeah, and we leave there all empowered by
the world.
And there's no fulfillment.
What does God say about you and your
situation?
Stay encouraged.
I just got this report from the doctor.
What did they say?
Stay encouraged.
It's funny, I forget the king's name.
I think it was, I don't want to
say the wrong one.
Maybe not Manasseh, Jehoshaphat.
I was reading 2 Chronicles this week a
lot.
And the Bible says that he sought physicians
instead of the Lord.
And he died of that infirmity.
Now, I'm not putting down physicians, obviously.
I think people should get their blood work,
blood tests, and know what's going on to
some degree.
But who do we trust in?
What does God say?
What does God say in His Word?
Who's encouraging you?
You know, because this might upset some people
too, but the world cannot encourage you.
If we're looking to the world and ungodly
things, they can't encourage you.
They might tell you something temporary that encourages
you temporarily.
Ultimately, though, we have to look to what
God says in His Word.
Also, here's another way to stay encouraged.
What do spirit-filled believers say?
What do spirit-filled believers say about a
situation?
If you're feeling discouraged, what are those who
are filled with the Spirit of God, what
do they say about it?
Are you seeking godly counsel?
Are you getting direction?
Because we only see one side of the
equation, don't we?
They can look in and see all angles
of something and speak into our lives and
encourage us and help possibly get us back
on track.
And the final thing here on staying encouraged,
I can't say this enough, but prayer encourages
and strengthens.
You see the light at the end of
the tunnel.
Just even this morning, not wanting to be
here, I didn't want to get here early
and didn't want to pray, but after five,
ten minutes, uh-oh, watch out, because now
we're encouraged.
Now we're strengthened.
Now we're calling down heaven.
Now we're casting down arguments and every high
thing that exalts itself against God.
Here's why.
For though we walk in the flesh, we
do not war according to the flesh.
So you don't even fight with this.
I wish we did sometimes, right?
That'd be a little, I can knock that
guy out, but I can't knock him out
spiritually.
I have to pull down strongholds.
That's what prayer does, and you get encouraged
again.
When the Bible says pulling down strongholds, a
stronghold is something that comes in, have you
ever had this?
Where you just can't get rid of this
thing.
It's the tree in the backyard whose roots
keep growing.
You ever pull out something?
Like where did that come from?
Now it's even stronger.
And the enemy comes in, he's got a
stronghold.
And we pray for a few days and
we give up.
And that stronghold remains.
But keep fighting against that stronghold, fighting him
piece by piece, layer by layer, it begins
to unravel.
Casting down arguments and every high thing that
exalts itself against God.
What is an argument?
It's, you know what it is, it's the
defense attorney within.
We talked about last week.
Do you know you have a defense attorney?
He lives right in here.
Defending everything.
Oh no, Shane, you can do that.
He's our defense attorney.
Every time God's convicting, defense attorney comes in
and says, your honor, but he's this and
it's a hard day.
And he deserves this and they shouldn't, and
your defense attorney's defending.
He's arguing for you to continue in that
destructive pattern.
So when you pray, you cast down not
only strongholds, arguments, your defense attorney is silent.
You put that duct tape on his mouth.
So the arguments are silenced.
Strongholds are beginning to evaporate.
Casting down every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God.
Your thoughts are being brought into obedience to
Christ.
You are encouraging yourself through prayer.
Jesus said, my house shall be called the
house of, come on, balcony, I didn't hear
anybody up there.
My house shall be called the house of
prayer.
Not preaching, not worship, not ministry, not feeding
the homeless, not the kids connection, not all
this fellowship.
My house shall be called the house of
prayer if my people pray and humble themselves.
See, even preaching must bow at the foot
of prayer.
Even worship must bow at the foot of
prayer.
Even ministry.
What good is a worshiper if they don't
pray?
Because they can just pray or they can
just worship and nothing changes.
Their hearts, there's a lot of people worshiping,
trust me, throughout our nation that are not
truly broken before God.
And it's the worshiping, this sounds good, but
prayer is the catalyst.
If my people pray, my house shall be
called the house of prayer for all nations.
Because it starts with that.
Here's why, you have to take those thoughts
captive and you begin to pray and you
get the foundation right.
That's how you encourage yourself.
But, but, but, but, encouragement doesn't mean tell
me what I want to hear, does it?
Encouragement, sometimes we think, because people say, you
know, church is pretty discouraging today.
Because they didn't hear what they wanted to
hear.
So encouragement doesn't always mean tell me what
I want to hear.
There's an interesting story in 2 Chronicles of
Jehoshaphat.
He was a good king.
He would rely on God and then he
would go back.
Then he would rely on God, then he
would trust in armies.
He's an interesting guy to watch.
You can think of yourself in his story
sometimes.
He'll say, Lord, you know, I trust you
against the Egyptians.
And he'll beat the Egyptians.
And they'll say, oh, the Assyrians are coming.
I better get a big army.
And he won't trust God and be overcome
with the Assyrians.
And Ahab, do you know who wicked king
Ahab is?
Just think of Jezebel.
That ring any bells?
You know any kids named Jezebel?
Or Ahab for that matter.
Any boys named Ahab?
No, because he was a bad king.
The only worst, I don't know if I
can say the worst king grammar-wise.
Let's say the only king that didn't do
well, that was worse than this man Ahab,
was Manasseh.
And these guys were wicked.
But Ahab had an alignment with Jehoshaphat through
marriage.
Now, whew, this could take a minute.
Let me just try, just the basics.
You had the children of Israel.
When they came out of Egypt, they were
governed by judges.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua.
Judges.
They would judge the people for hundreds of
years.
And then the people said, give us a
king.
Give us a king like all the other
nations.
And so they got Saul.
From Saul, David.
From David, Solomon.
But then the kingdom of Israel was broken
up into a northern kingdom and a southern
kingdom.
The southern kingdom did better.
They didn't get judged for 150 years after
Israel did.
This wicked northern kingdom was bad news.
But this kingdom down here, the southern kingdom
of Judah, had Jehoshaphat and other kings.
Rehoboam, Jeroboam, all these kings.
Asa, Ahaz, Ahaz.
You hear these kings.
But it's interesting, if you follow the storyline
and see how it works, these kings aligned
themselves.
Ahab and Jehoshaphat came together.
And Ahab said, will you join me in
battle?
And Jehoshaphat said, well, is there a prophet
among you that we can get advice from
and seek the Lord?
And he said, oh, there's a whole bunch.
And they came in and gave all this
wonderful advice.
Go, you're gonna beat the Syrians at these
horns.
He had even, this one guy had, I
think they called him Sears, S-E-E
-R.
They had these horns.
He said, just like these horns, you're gonna
crush Syria.
And they got all dramatic.
And Jehoshaphat said, wait a minute, isn't there
another prophet?
And King Ahab, yes, said, yeah, but he
hates me.
He doesn't tell me anything I want to
hear.
He doesn't like me.
And this person's name is Micaiah.
And I was remember, it reminded me of
also Elisha.
Remember, have you heard of Elisha?
With the J, not the Elisha.
That gets confusing too.
But Elisha would go and King Ahab hated
this prophet.
And he actually said, oh, you troubler of
Israel.
And all he's trying to do is get
the people to turn back to God.
But see, they viewed this encouragement as discouragement
because they didn't want to be challenged in
their sin.
So long story short, Micah, they go, okay,
go find this prophet.
Bring him back to King Ahab.
Offer advice on what we should do.
Should we go to war?
And so the guys who came and got
Micaiah to prophesy, they told him this, please,
please, please, only say encouraging things.
All the other prophets have been saying encouraging
things, encouraging things.
Please, only say encouraging things.
And it's funny, at first he came back
and said go to war, you'll win.
Like kind of sarcastic.
And the king said, no, how long will
I tell you not to lie against me?
What did the Lord say?
And Micaiah said this, as the Lord lives,
whatever my God says, that I will speak.
See, that's true encouragement.
Encouragement doesn't always mean telling people what they
want to hear.
It also means telling people what they need
to hear.
This is one of the, you asked my
wife about this, this is one of the
funniest things we've ever seen at a church,
and it's mainly at this church for the
last seven years.
We're running to people, you know, because I
live here, and this, I was so encouraged.
So, my gosh, I'm on fire, my marriage
is restored.
Then you run to somebody else, like I've
only been twice, I'm never coming back, that's
so discouraging.
Wait a minute, what's the difference?
Let's be honest, what's the difference?
Open heart.
They were ready for open heart surgery.
This person was not.
So, what they took, what should have been
encouragement through God's word, they were offended because
they don't want to change their ways.
And, you know, I do get emails about
this, and I'm going to say it again.
One of the reasons why I say in
these dire times that our nation is going
through, Joel Osteen type sermons aren't going to
cut it is because people can't always just
be encouraged and not confronted with their sin.
That's not going to cut it.
People, we need to be challenged.
We need to be convicted.
That's where change takes place.
So, so many people say, I'm encouraged, I'm
so encouraged.
Other people say, I'm never coming back there
again.
I'm so discouraged.
The reason they're discouraged is because they were
enjoying their sin, and their sin got challenged,
brought to the light, now they're upset because
they don't want to give it up.
So, be careful how you define encouragement.
Also, important note, encouragement is found in obedience.
Encouragement is found in obedience.
As you obey the Word of God, that's
another word we're not scared to talk about.
You know all those words that churches don't
want to talk about?
Obedience, disciplines, judgment, righteousness, holiness.
Oh, goodness gracious.
Well, this is another wonderful one because encouragement
is found in obedience.
The more I obey the Word of God,
the more I obey the Word of God,
the more encouraged I become.
It kind of just, it just comes out
of you.
So, I'm encouraged as I obey the Word
of God.
Second Chronicles, but you, but you be strong
and do not let your hands be weak
for your work shall be rewarded.
So, God says, don't give up, look up.
Be encouraged.
Be strengthened.
Your hands will be rewarded.
Somehow God will see you through.
But Shane, I've been waiting and waiting.
Yes, it's a battle.
It's warfare.
Whoever told us that microwave Christianity applies to
us?
It doesn't.
You don't put, one minute, one minute.
Okay, God, I'll give you two days.
Two days.
Right?
And then I'm not gonna be encouraged because,
and it's not really joking matters even though
it's ironic, but I've seen so many people
get mad at God because he doesn't move
quick enough.
There are people, I mean, I've been preaching
now probably 17 years.
The church is seven years.
But I see so many people just use
the example marriage.
Man, they're at the altar.
They're praying.
They're crying out to God.
They're waiting on him.
And then two months go by.
I'm not waiting anymore.
Let me grab that six pack and go
to plan B.
Hit some clubs down in Vegas.
I'm done waiting.
See, what was wrong there?
See, that's conditional.
And I often wonder if God makes us
wait to get all out of us and
let the genuine faith come through.
Because as you're waiting, you will serve him.
As you're waiting, even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I'm
going to wait upon you, God, until I
breathe my last breath.
I'm praying.
I'm waiting on you.
Whether I see the fruition of some of
my prayers or not, I'm waiting on you.
Daniel set his heart to fast and to
pray for 21 days.
Have you ever tried to fast for 21
days?
Wow, try one.
Try one day.
Bagels, nope.
Cookies, nope.
Panera bread, nope.
Keep going, nope.
In-n-out burgers, nope.
Nope.
Sharkies, nope.
Anything, nope.
Just fast and watch.
But Daniel said, I set my heart to
pray and for 21 days.
And the Bible says, Daniel, from the first
day, from the first day you set your
heart to pray, I release that anointing.
But he was held up by the prince
of Persia.
It's an interesting concept there.
That there was a demonic influence.
A demonic realm was holding back the answer
to that prayer.
And as Daniel prayed and fasted and prayed
and fasted and prayed and fasted, it finally
came.
What about if he says, this isn't working?
When God tells us to do something, stand
by it.
And he will see you through.
So what steps can you take today to
stay encouraged?
What steps can you take today to stay
encouraged?
Everything I just talked about in 20 minutes.
Pull something out of there and be encouraged.
Because I think God wants to encourage us.
The whole reason, you look to the Bible
for hope.
We look to the Bible for redemption.
We look to the Bible for purpose in
life.
For everything.
There is tremendous encouragement if we look to
the right source.
And then verse 25.
Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.
And when he had found him, he brought
him to Antioch.
Now we think with cars and airplanes, he
found him the next day.
If you add a map up here, you
can show you it's a long journey.
Weeks, if not longer.
He found Saul.
They went to Antioch.
They're in Antioch.
They met believers in Antioch.
So it was that for a whole year,
they assembled with the church and taught.
And taught a great many people.
See, that's what you do.
You bring the word of God to people
and you teach them.
The Old Testament, 2 Chronicles.
So they taught in Judah and had the
book of the law of the Lord with
them.
They went throughout all the cities of Judah
and taught the people.
And the fear of the Lord fell upon
the kingdoms and on the lands all around
Judah.
You see, when you bring the word of
God, you teach the word of God.
Fear will fall upon the people.
That's why they don't want to teach the
word of God.
That's why they want to remove it.
They brought the word of God in.
So here's the second point.
Three cautions.
The Bible encourages us to stay grounded in
the word.
Stay grounded.
Always be teaching.
That's one thing I love about the mind,
but I also hate about the mind.
Is it's always going.
And if I'm not fueling it with the
things of God, if I'm not teaching it
with the word of God, oh, a scripture
comes to mind.
Renew, right?
Renew your mind with the word of God.
If we're not doing this, it's renewing itself.
And guess what it renews itself with?
The things of God and the Holy Spirit
and all this goodness and righteousness?
No.
The Adamic nature takes over, and by default,
it starts to get corrupted again.
That's why you have to renew your mind.
We take a shower every day, but when
it comes to reading the Bible, it's like,
no, no.
Some people take longer showers than they spend
in the Bible.
And we need that spiritual cleansing to renew
the mind, to renew it.
That's why it says he taught them for
a whole year.
And the disciples were first called Christians in
Antioch.
Okay, guess what?
That's where the title started.
You'll remember that now, right?
Christians, we were first called Christians in Jerusalem?
No, Antioch.
It's above Jerusalem, Antioch.
What were Christians?
Christ followers.
The main difference at that point between Jews
and the Jews who became Christians were the
Christians acknowledged that Christ was the coming Messiah.
Therefore, they were Christ followers, hence the word
Christian.
That's where it came from.
And they were first called Christians in Antioch.
Now, I think this is important.
I did this in the first service.
I think it's important to do here as
well.
The first Christians, first century, second century, we
were all pretty much on the same boat.
We were all Christians following the same word.
And around the fourth century, fifth century, you
hear names like Augustine.
And you can even go back to first
century, second century, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Ignatius, all these
guys that were church fathers.
And then Constantine who became an emperor and
made Christianity the formal religion.
I think that was around the end of
the third century.
I'm sorry, end of the fourth century.
Don't quote me on any of this.
I didn't research it.
I'm just going off memory.
And then you have this one church.
Okay, guess what?
It was called the Catholic Church.
Uh-oh.
Nobody's leaving yet.
That word just means, Catholic means universal.
So it was a universal church.
400, 500, 600, 700.
There are some schisms and different things.
But around 1050 A.D., 1050 A.D.,
it's called the Great Schism.
The Western Church broke off and became the
Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism married with Rome
in the West.
And then this side became the Eastern Church.
Have you ever heard of the Eastern Orthodox
or the Greek Orthodox Church?
50, 60, 70 million Christians in Egypt and
a lot of them are here.
And you'll see those churches around, Coptic, Coptic
Christians, a lot of them are being beheaded
by ISIS.
That's the Eastern.
And they held to, it looked similar to
the Roman Catholic Church.
I actually met a Coptic priest at the
park in Lancaster a few weeks ago.
And he had his brown robe on and
a cross and I had a good dialogue
for a little while and asked him questions.
But they wouldn't, they reject, say, Mary as
immaculate conception or that she was free with
sin and the virgin birth and all these
things that are not in the Bible.
They're heretical.
And people get upset every time I say
it, but I don't care.
There's a lot of heretical teachings in that
form of what they would call Christianity.
It's not biblical.
We're not talking about this or that.
These are big deals.
And they also don't believe in the primacy
of the Pope.
Mass is a little bit different.
So they're more, they look more to the
Bible, but they're still, like praying to the
saints.
I asked him why they pray to the
saints and he quoted Hebrews 12.
You can read that later.
And I said, it doesn't really apply to
praying to the saints.
We have one intercessor, Christ.
We don't need to go to a priest.
So there's different things, but they came out
of that a little bit.
So you have the Eastern, the Western, and
then right in the middle, you ever heard
the word Protestant?
That word means protest.
It means protesting and going back to the
Word of God.
Now, this group, which we're a part of,
we're not perfect.
We don't walk on water.
Right?
There's mistakes.
They elevate Mary too much.
We don't elevate her at all.
They put too much emphasis in communion.
We don't put much at all.
Sometimes.
The Protestant churches in general.
But the Protestant reformation means reforming.
That whole movement was 12, 13, 14, 1500,
1600, 1700.
William Tyndale, John Hus.
Have you ever heard of a Tyndale Bible?
He developed the Bible.
Whitecliffe Bible Translation Society.
John Whitecliffe.
They all translate the Bible.
They were persecuted by the Western Church.
But they remained truthful to the Bible.
So that's why you have basically three groups
split up.
Western, Eastern, Protestantism.
And we go back to just soulless Scripture.
The inerrancy of Scripture.
We look to the Scripture authority.
Not to the papacy.
Not to the Pope.
We don't look to them as the final
authority because they decree many things that are
not biblical.
They're just not.
All you have to do is research it.
And you'll be amazed at the differences and
distinctions.
So that's the difference is when they first
called Christians, they were first called Christians in
Antioch.
They held tight for a while.
And then also part of the Roman Catholicism
is Rome, the power of Rome, the emperors
bought the papacy.
With money.
And they bought the control.
And that's where a lot of the corruption
started to come in.
And they would have like purgatory.
Which means you still need to be purged
from your sins.
Can you imagine that concept?
When I die, I still need to go
to purgatory and be purged from my sins.
I asked a priest about that recently in
Santa Clarita.
Eight months ago now.
And they said, yeah, that shame and guilt
we're dealing with, we have to be purged
of it.
I said, no we don't.
What's the point of the cross?
That's the point.
So you see, these are big differences.
And I get scolded by people on this
side.
They need to stop scolding and stop looking
to the Word of God.
If you're following a heretical system, watch out.
Watch out.
Another big issue is on the mass.
This group, this group, this group.
The mass that actually becomes the blood and
body of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
In the monstrance.
That big gold thing that they look to
and they bow to that.
They would say that they're sacrificing Jesus again.
It's an ongoing sacrifice.
And they're worshiping and looking to this gold
thing that has the real body and blood.
When we look at communion, what does the
Bible say?
Do this in remembrance of me.
But they say, well wait a minute.
It says if you eat of my flesh
or drink of my blood, yes, put that
back into context.
The bread of life.
He is the bread of life.
If you partake and have fellowship with him,
that has nothing to do with it becoming
the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Looking to Scripture and Scripture alone, that is
a heretical practice.
And that's why people were killed at the
stake for what I'm talking to you about
right now.
That's a little alarming, is it not?
You read the life of John Knox when
he fought this system in Scotland.
Mary, Queen of the Scots, was on this
side and he was on this side.
And they fought over this whole issue and
people were killed throughout history because of the
centrality of Scripture, the centrality of Christ.
So look to Scripture and Scripture alone.
We don't have it perfect.
We would never say we have it perfect,
but we can look at all these different
things and say that's not scriptural.
That has no scriptural basis whatsoever.
To say that Mary was free of sin
and that she was a perpetual virgin, that
she was always a virgin, and that we
worship her and she's our inner seater.
Be careful.
That reminds me of Babylonian religion for Tammuz
and all these things you pray to the
Mother of Heaven who's the wrong God.
See, these are big deals with big ramifications.
And we need to stop being scared and
timid.
Yes, be loving.
But also know what the truth says.
Stay grounded in the Word.
Grounded in the Word of God.
See, when there's a caution, when you're walking
a certain direction, Lord, I don't know what
to do.
What does the Word say?
I don't know what does God's Word say.
Stay grounded in that truth.
Because even me, even most of you, if
we're not grounded in that truth, our feet
are slipping, aren't they?
We don't have a sure foundation by not
doing anything.
If I depart from the Word, I depart
away from God and into the slippery sand
of relativism.
Because Jesus said, remember, I think it was
a service, where I said that the rains
descend, the floods came and beat upon the
house, and it did not fall because it
was founded upon the rock.
It was built on the foundation of God's
Word.
And then the third point is what I
played that whole video for.
You know what though, let me stay on
this point for a minute.
What steps can you take today to stay
grounded?
I don't want to remove myself from this
area real quick.
What steps can you take to stay grounded?
If you're not grounded, get this in your
heart now.
Get it on your calendar.
Make it a daily discipline.
Daily discipline.
We'll just go click on Facebook for 30
minutes.
Why not this?
It has to be on your calendar.
It has to be a discipline to get
grounded.
Also, are you even grounded?
Are you grounded?
I mean, this many people here, I don't
know a lot of you.
I don't know if you're grounded.
Do you truly know Jesus Christ?
Have you repented of your sin?
Have you believed in the only name that
saves and are you grounded?
Are you times of refreshing coming in?
See, you can be encouraged and grounded by
embracing Christ.
Acts 3.19 says, they repented and they
believed and times of refreshing came from the
presence of the Lord.
They were saved.
They were set free.
So it begs the question, are you grounded?
Because see, if there are people here or
not and I waste an entire message and
not get back to the pivotal point of
our genuine relationship with Christ, I have failed.
Because it should lead back to that.
It begs heart examination.
And then we can look to number three.
Stay compassionate.
A giving heart is a godly heart.
Now this one steps on toes and that's
okay.
Because the devil's still got a checkbook in
many cases, doesn't he?
Oh, the nine o'clock service is a
lot more honest.
A giving heart is a godly heart.
We can't be close to God and not
have a giving heart.
It flows out of that.
Now if you're new here, guess what?
We rarely talk about finances.
We don't pass a plate.
We don't make it a big deal.
God brings in revenue.
God covers.
God does whatever He wants.
We don't make that the focal point.
However, I would be doing you a disservice
to not talk about this point.
I truly believe it.
That compassion says, oh, that's sad up there
on the video.
But empathy says, I need to do something
about that.
And that leads us to Acts 27.
1127.
And in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem
to Antioch.
Then one of them named Agapa stood up
and showed by the Spirit that there was
going to be a great famine throughout all
the world, which also happened in the days
of Claudius Caesar.
Then the disciples, each according to his ability,
see, each according to his ability.
You don't have to be forced.
You don't want $1,000 to somebody, so
$5 to somebody else.
Just each according to his ability determined to
send relief to the brethren, dwelling in Judea.
This they also did and sent it to
the elders by the hands of Barnabas and
Saul.
So on the first day of every week,
which is a Sunday, they met together and
they took a collection to send relief to
the people.
So it's very biblical.
It's very biblical to have a giving heart.
But let me just talk about four points
on giving and then I will let you
go.
Fair enough?
Now concerning the collection for the saints, 1
Corinthians, I have given orders to the churches
of Galatia, so you must do also.
On the first day of the week, let
each one of you lay aside something, storing
up as he may prosper, that there be
no collections when I come.
So there was a Sunday collection.
Everybody was giving each according to their ability.
So that's why you'll see some churches, they
pass the plate.
I've never really liked that.
We just allow people to give what God
puts on their heart.
But that's why they do it because we
come together, we give, and then we point
it in the direction God wants it to
be pointed and used, in the direction God
wants it to be used.
Also, it's not natural to give.
Have you figured that out?
It's not natural, is it?
It doesn't come on its own.
It's a spiritual discipline.
Here's what happens when my wife and I
first started to give, decided to give when
we got married, is we had to factor
it in our bills.
It had to become the number one bill.
And I don't know if it's a funny
story, it's actually not a good story, but
on this compassion, and we've sponsored kids for
a long time, our lender almost talked us
out of sponsoring.
Many years ago, four years ago actually, we
were gonna buy a house, and they said,
oh, you don't need to count that as
bills.
We can qualify you for more.
See, giving to the church, giving to those
kids, that's not bills.
You don't have to do that.
That's like a car payment.
So then you could buy this house.
Oh, if we just get rid of those,
huh?
But see, wrong advice.
Wrong advice.
And so setting that precedence early, it's not
natural, it's a discipline.
But see, it's a discipline of reaping and
sowing.
That's why I'd be doing you a disservice.
Because money can become an idol in our
hearts.
It's idolatry.
And when we begin to give it away,
don't go live out on the street, don't
give everything up and go live out in
a tent.
I'm not talking about that, but it's got
a hold on us.
When we can spend like a drunken sailor
in furlough on Hawaii, there's a problem.
We just spend and spend and spend.
So God says make it a discipline to
reap and sow.
As you sow, you will reap.
As you give, it will be given back
to you.
And also it says give cheerfully.
God loves a cheerful giver.
So when we give, we should be giving
cheerfully.
And this is so important because there's so
many people that come to church, but they
don't give.
It's like this, it's Fort Knox.
That's good when it holds gold, but bad
when it holds our heart.
Fort Knox, we don't want to give.
We don't want to give that much.
Really what it comes down to, I'll just
talk about myself, we don't trust God.
Right?
He's not going to see me through.
I've got to hold on to this myself.
So throughout all of Scripture, if you not
give, will God not open up the heavens
and you'll receive?
If you not give, that God will bless,
God will you reap, you sow.
God loves a cheerful giving heart.
It's all biblical.
You'd be very hard pressed to find where
this is not in the Bible.
And then the fourth point, serving is giving.
When I give of my time, when I
serve at the hospital homes, when you do,
serving is giving, but it does not replace
monetary giving.
If that was the case, then I shouldn't
give, right?
Right?
Starting today, me and Morgan are no longer
giving to the church.
How would that go over?
Not well.
But it's both.
It's serving with our time and giving of
our resources.
Now, I don't teach on tithing, you know,
using the word tithing much because it means
tithing from a tenth.
It's a ten percent.
It was in the Old Testament.
People say we're not under the law, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
I've noticed personal preference or personal observation of
those who like to argue this point are
the non-givers.
They just don't like to be challenged.
They don't, look, it doesn't say ten percent,
right?
So that's why you give .1 percent?
See, it's never the person who gives ten
or a little bit more that has a
problem with it.
It's always the people who don't give that
don't like that portion.
So when I talk about tithe, I just
think it's a good number to start with.
That's what we've always done in our walk.
You know, you make $4,000 a month,
you give $400.
You make $5,000 a month, you give
$500.
It's right off the top.
It hurts a little bit, doesn't it?
That hurts a little bit.
You've got to restructure some things.
You might need to put the Tiki first,
the Kingdom of God first to do that.
Now, let me ask you this question.
If you're getting irritated about this portion, why
are you?
Surely not me.
I'm just telling you what God's Word says.
And this might be an area that God
is wanting to convict us in and have
change occur in this area.
So I never force.
I don't tell people any, it's whatever.
God loves a cheerful giver.
But if we're minimizing it and it doesn't
hurt, come on.
David said, will I give God that which
costs me nothing?
Some of you guys remember the story about
the farmer who had two cows.
His cow gave birth and two cows were
right there.
Oh, look at, the Lord gave us an
extra calf.
We've got twins.
So one calf is the Lord's and one
calf is ours.
We're gonna thank God.
Thank God.
And as a few years went by, the
husband came in the house and she said,
what is wrong?
Well, let me back up a little bit.
For the first two years, the wife was
saying, which one's the Lord's and which one's
ours?
And he goes, it doesn't matter.
Everything is God's and God's is everything.
It doesn't matter which calf is ours or
which calf is the Lord.
It doesn't matter.
Okay, that's fine.
And then he walked in sad and she
goes, what happened?
And he said, the Lord's calf died today.
Some of you will get on the way
home.
Or just listen to the CD again.
The Lord's calf died, right?
Not his.
Oh no, not his.
And throughout the Old Testament, I highlight now,
it's like, don't bring me the broken sacrifice.
Don't bring me the sacrifice that's blemished.
That's why it had to be Christ, born
of a virgin through the power of God,
to be the sinless sacrifice that stood before
us as the sinless perfect sacrifice.
Can you imagine God saying, give them my
worst?
No, God said, give them my best.
I will send not only a sacrifice, I
will send my only son without blemish, without
spot, and he will make atonement for the
sins of the people.
A perfect sacrifice.
And throughout the Old Testament, they would bring
the cow that's dying anyway, the diseased lamb,
because why?
Because idolatry in the human heart.
We do the same thing.
When was the last time you took your
best things to the second-hand store?
Come on, I do it too.
I told you the story.
Our washer was, well, we wanted a new
washer.
So let's give the old washer to somebody
who needs it.
God forbid the new one.
They're $500.
Right?
So you can do that, but don't come
down off your high horse and think you're
giving.
That's not giving.
Giving hurts a little bit.
That's the point.
I'm giving of myself, and it hurts a
little bit.
But here's what happens.
The more you give of yourself, you begin
to dethrone that idol.
The only way this idol can be dethroned
is by giving it away.
If money is your idol, and I will
tell you right now, most people in this
room struggle with it.
Most people struggle with it.
It's in our culture everywhere.
Keeping up with the Joneses is cool, right?
Look what they got.
This is what I got.
And it's this idolatry.
The best thing to do is just give
it away.
Just give it away.
Here's what people make.
Oh, Shane wants me.
I don't care.
Sponsor kids.
Give it to Grace Resources.
Give it somewhere.
The church is not begging for money.
God has opened incredible doors you don't even
know about.
We don't share it with you, but it's
like, God, what happened here?
He just pours in and pours in and
pours in.
So give somewhere.
Get rid of that hard heart and find
a cause that needs it.
Because we live on our abundance.
Everything is in abundance.
Amos.
For I know your transgressions are many and
your sins are great.
You who distress the righteous and accept bribes
and turn aside the poor at the gate.
I was just convicted about this recently.
You know, you see the guys on the
freeway or in the parking lots and we
have to be careful, obviously.
But I began to realize that I formed
an excuse.
They'll just spend it on alcohol or they'll
just...
And I just kept excusing it.
Every need I'd see.
Now granted, I don't think you give people
money.
I think you need to buy them something
that they need and talk with them.
Build that relationship.
But I'm learning, I'd rather err on that
side than a judgment and assuming that nobody
really needs help and everything's a scam.
Because that starts to create a hard heart.
Gosh, I went into a whole thing on
the first service about how to be careful
because you don't want to enable when you
give.
You want to look at the attitude of
the person you're giving to.
You want to look at their character.
You want to look at their work ethic.
For example, if I'm going to help somebody
out and I say, hey, I can do
this.
Here's some...
I found a little job for you to
do.
And they say, I don't want to do
that job.
Oh, really?
Well, guess what else the Bible says?
If you don't work, you don't eat.
See?
See, you got the flip side here.
So you got to be careful.
And I think the most...
It's disheartening for me because I would come
into contact with people.
Shane, I need my house payment made for
the church.
Okay.
And you go to their house.
They've got tons of things they can sell.
See, the church isn't your first resort.
It's your last resort.
And then when I mentioned this, I can't...
I recall this one lady.
I told her, you know, hey, we found
a job at Home Depot.
I think it was...
Where was it at?
I just said the first service.
Walmart?
Oh, you're both services.
Walmart.
Is that what it was?
And, yeah, and she goes, I'm not going
to work there.
Like, oh, so you want us to make
your house payment, but you're not going to
work here.
We have a job for you.
$10 a month.
Well, what's the disconnection here?
See, wrong heart.
Wrong heart.
So I also believe that we don't just
give and give and give.
We test the spirits.
We use wisdom.
We allow that as an opportunity, and as
soon as I said, no, we're not going
to do that, guess who?
We don't see a church anymore.
Well, isn't that interesting?
I mean, this is years ago, so I
don't think you know this person, right?
But, see, it shows the heart.
So I think we have a responsibility to
not be enablers.
You don't just, here you go.
You sit down and you listen.
And I can tell within a few minutes
if it's legitimate.
You know, there's a guy, another guy, I
think it's Wal-Mart, by the way, they
go to Wal-Mart, the parking lot, and
he's like a vet, you know, a vet,
a Vietnam vet needs help, and I have
a passion for those people as well, but
the more you talk to him, where'd you
serve?
You know, where, well, real vague.
You know, didn't know questions about the military.
Oh, really?
You know, and I got somebody involved who
knows a lot, and they said, no, this
guy, he's not legit at all.
That's his, that's his, you know, thing.
But the more I talk to him, then
I can rebuke him.
That's wrong.
You need to pray and repent, not be
begging for money out here.
You need, you know, so see, it's relationships
that God can put us in.
And it's not always, here's the dollar, it's
talking with them and praying with them, and
you, I mean, I've, I've gotten, went and
got shoes, I've went and got formula for
children, diapers, I've brought mattresses to people's houses.
When you see, and you'll see, it's a
genuine concern.
Take the time out of your busy schedule.
And don't be in a hurry.
That's part of empathy and having compassion.
So what steps can you take today to
encourage a giving heart?
Because here's the sad thing, in our pride
and our arrogance, we say, those poor third
world countries, God help them.
And often, it's God help us.
Because one thing I've noticed, I've got friends
in, in the underground church, or works with
the underground church in China, and, and the
third world countries, and the 1040 window.
There is, there is a difference in the
American church than those churches.
Many of them would rather take the poverty,
and knowing God as their all sufficient Savior
in all areas, than the rich wealth of
the American church who really doesn't know God.
Because that idol is, is such a prominent
part in our lives.
Now be thankful God has blessed us.
Would you rather have your kids living what
you saw, or having a good roof over
their head?
See, it's okay to want that, just make
sure it doesn't have you.
You can own things, but do those things
own you?
How do I know?
Are you, do you give away things often?
Do you, do you just give, here's, here's
my nice jacket I've always wanted.
Here's this, have you ever given away a
car?
Oh, man, that's a tough one, isn't it?
We fight those things, and, but God wants
us to, that, that cheerful giving heart.
So what steps can you take today to
encourage a giving heart?
What steps?
I don't know, I'm gonna let God show
you.
I'm not gonna pass a plate, I'm gonna,
we've, we've got kids out there who can,
you can, you can sponsor.
If you want to give to the church,
we can get it in the right places.
If you know of a ministry, if you
know a family's been on your heart, or
if you, if you, if you say, I
would like to help a family in need,
do you know of one?
Yes, we can point you in the right
direction.
Or just take it to Lord and say,
Lord, how can I, how can I have
that, that heart?
How about a heart of, a heart of
serving?
We need more helpers in the hospital homes.
We've got six homes now where we go
and visit patients and we don't have enough
helpers.
They wait for Sunday like a kid waiting
for Christmas.
And sometimes we don't show up because we
don't have enough helpers.
And I can't go hit all six of
them all the time.
We need people to help in there.
What about children's ministry?
We have to close classes because we don't
have enough helpers.
Shane, come on, you're convicting us.
Yes, I am.
That's exactly right.
This last minute is a promotion to get,
because I want to point you in the
right direction and say, I need to start
serving in children's ministry even if it's once
a month.
Investing in the children, investing in the kids,
I need to serve in the hospital homes
even if it's once a month.
It's the hardest thing you'll want.
I'm sitting at home getting ready to go
do a whole bunch of stuff and like,
go stop by that house.
There's three in East, there's two in East
Palmdale, two in Lancaster, one's in Rancho Vista.
I know right where they're at.
It's like, oh gosh, Lord.
But it's in those times of obedience that
then you start to be filled with the
Spirit.
It's those times of disobedience I can feel
the spiritual aspect of the day just kind
of decreasing because I'm not listening to the
voice of God, what He wants us to
do.
See, I don't know.
I'm going to end, don't worry.
But I'm just a New Testament Christian.
I believe that we can go into those
places and pray for healing.
I believe that we can pray for tumors
and cancer and depression and anxiety.
I believe that this kind does not go
out except by prayer and fasting.
I believe there's a demonic realm.
Jesus said sometimes He would heal somebody.
Think about this.
He would heal them and their body would
be healed with an arm, different things.
But other times to heal them He would
cast out the demonic influence.
He wouldn't heal their body.
He would say, demon be out.
Mute, deep, demon of mute and deafness.
Come out of that woman.
Come out of her.
So we can, I believe that we can
cast out, you can say that's a demonic
element taking place.
We can pray for them and we can
call down heaven.
I believe in New Testament Christianity.
I believe in Christians who waited upon the
Lord.
They are filled with the Spirit of God
and God would move upon them to touch
a person and to save them and to
set them free.
I believe in New Testament Christianity.
Where did that go?
That's it.
But think about this.
Because we think, oh Paul and Barnabas and
Peter and Simon and oh, they were, man,
we can never, they were younger Christians than
most of us in this room.
They were Christians for weeks or months and
the Spirit of God was working through them.
Why?
Because they were pure holy vessels set apart
by God.
They were fasting.
They were praying.
I believe this kind does not go out
except by prayer and fasting.
I believe we need to pull down heaven.
I believe we need to seek righteousness and
holiness against the all-time preachers.
The all-time preachers were not scared to
mention holiness and to mention righteousness and the
fear of God and the trembling before God
where people would come and they would weep
before God.
They would be transformed.
Healing would take place.
Hold on.
Healing would take place during worship.
Did you know that?
Healing can take place during worship and during
prayer.
We can be praying right there and cancer
can come off somebody.
I believe that because the Bible says that
the same Jesus, yesterday, today, and forevermore is
the same Christ that spoke 2,000 years
ago.
See, the problem is not with God.
It's with us.
I better stop or this is going to
turn into another sermon.
But I truly believe.
I truly believe.
And I get frustrated.
I read.
I talk to people.
Gospel for Asia.
K.P. Yohannan.
I've reached out a few times.
We talk on email.
And he talks about in India and you
can see deaf ears or deaf ears open.
You can see blind eyes.
People lame.
They're walking.
Where is that power today?
Brother, you're not fasting and praying.
You don't want it bad enough.
You don't want holiness bad enough.
When was the last time you waited all
night and said, God, heal that person in
the wheelchair.
I'm going to fast and not give up
until you answer that prayer.
And we suck God with all of our
heart and all of our strength.
Now we want God to fit on our
schedule.
If you can get here between 9.30
and 11.
Right there.
If you can make that, I will be
here.
But other than that, I'm not giving much.
I'm not seeking holiness.
I'm definitely not seeking righteousness and the fear
of God.
I'm caught in my own carnal Christianity.
And my concern is the church of America
is the church of Latter Day Sea.
When Jesus said, be hot or cold, but
if you're lukewarm, I will vomit you out
of my mouth.
See, we need that old time preaching again
to rekindle the fires.
We need to rekindle the fires.
We need to wake up that song, Fall
afresh on me needs to be sung from
the rooftops.
You need to go home, unclick Netflix, remove
filthy shades of gray, and get off Facebook
and start putting on worship so you can
worship God.
And it takes time.
You're not just going to walk out of
here and go, I'm going to pray for
healing.
Unless the heart's right.
And it's bathing.
You'll see healing when you're bathed in prayer.
Because then you know how to pray.
See, how we pray for healing now is
God, I hope it's your will.
I don't know.
I'm hungry.
Just, just, I don't know.
Set this person free.
We don't even know.
God's probably like, you know what, don't even
pray for this person.
I want you to pray for this person.
As you're praying, you're discerning there's a demonic
stronghold there.
That the enemy's got them bound in this
area.
I need you to pray directly and fast
for this person and you can fall.
You can see those scales fall.
That's where I want you to go.
But see, if we're not being led according
to God's will and by His Spirit, we're
missing.
I wonder how many prayers are missed because
you're on the wrong target.
Wrong target.