i'm pastor stephen brooks welcome today
to morning glory
our midweek bible study i'd like for you
to take your bibles
and meet me today in the gospel of
mark and we want to talk about
those moments when there are certain
things
you can do and these would be areas
where god even
uh would give you the green light to
move ahead if you do
if you choose to do so but
you have to you have to consider certain
things that even when the
answer is yes things you need to think
about
beforehand because once you move
forward on some things it's very
difficult to
reverse them should you get into it
and think you know i'm not sure if i
should have done this
praise the lord and that's what we're
going to talk about today
and it's something that the children of
israel they
ventured into certain things having
permission to do so
but the end result was not good
and we don't want to make the same
literal mistake praise god so today
we're going to be in mark chapter 10.
let's start in verse 50
and let's open up in prayer heavenly
father thank you for your word
that your word is a light a guide for
our path
in life and that as we navigate through
your word
it will safely get us to our destination
which is moving forward with you and we
ask that you would continue
to mold this into the image of your son
and we thank you
that one day we'll stand before you and
we are endeavoring to hear
those words well done good and faithful
servant
and that we're also expecting that as we
live for you
there will be the appropriate rewards
awaiting on the other side we thank you
for this father we give you all the
praise
thank you for helping us in jesus name
amen praise god
now you do understand that when you get
to heaven you've reached the final
destination
and then you'll see all things clearly
so it's not like at that point you can
say
well lord i didn't know it worked like
this let's go back
uh give me another chance to redo it
maybe the last 20 years of my life or
whatever the case might be but there's
no
second takes just in case you're
watching this and you happen to
catch this message i need to let you
know that reincarnation is a lie
there is no other go around either in a
higher or lower form
this is it this is your one journey
through this life
here on earth and the way you live your
life down here
determines your eternal outcome the way
you live and the choices you make
primarily the number one choice to
receive christ as your lord and savior
all right so let's jump into this today
we're in mark chapter four
and of course uh this would be the story
of bartimaeus
who has been blind and he wants the lord
to do something about that
praise god verse 50 the lord has called
him
and it says throwing aside his garment
he
that would be bartimaeus rose and came
to jesus so jesus answered and said to
him
what do you want me to do for you now we
all
have a list you have a top ten
if you boil it down you could get it i'm
sure without any
struggle you could get it into the top
three but even
with the top three as you kind of shake
it around a little bit
you can shake out that number one
request and particularly
in situations like this where there
would be a driving
direction to go towards uh one thing
that you really need i mean if you're
blind
you know what you're really wanting is
your sight so
you can get it down to that lowest
common denominator
of what it is that you really want the
lord to do for you uh
but it is true that there are certain
things that we want god to do for us
we're human
and there is an uh an element of that
equation where
god has baked that into our humanity of
wanting certain things the ability to
reach and grasp
that is of the lord that's why we have
arms and hands and fingers
so we can take hold of certain things
and we have faith
to to implement it but with that we have
to understand
uh all the variables that could be
involved in this
okay the blind man said to him for bone
eye that i may
receive my sight then jesus said to him
go your way
your faith has made you whole or some
translations say your faith has made you
well basically what you're receiving
what you've asked for what you're
receiving is a byproduct of your faith
so in other words the lord has the
anointing how many of you know god's got
the power that's never the question
that's never the issue that power is
always available
you could say that it's always on tap so
the way that we connect with the power
of god
the way that we connect and and that
power is identified in scripture as the
anointing
the way you connect with that is through
your faith praise the lord
so he said go your way your faith
has made you whole and immediately he
received his sight
and followed jesus on the road obviously
jesus
had no problem with this man receiving
something that as a child of god
legally belongs to him healing is the
children's
bread the children of the covenant and
under the old covenant
healing was included in that covenant
now in what we now have as saints
living in the new covenant we have a
better covenant than the old because it
includes eternal life
uh it includes forgiveness of sins
without having to have a temple system
where
uh you know every year you've got to go
up to the temple in jerusalem three
times to
have atonement made for your sins well
that was done once and for all
by christ the high priest who entered
once
uh and it was uh into the holy of holies
his blood was poured out
and his blood was shed for the remission
of our sins so the whole covenant is
better but even in the new covenant
there's healing praise god there's
healing in the new covenant now there
are christians who don't understand that
that don't
don't know that and because of that they
are not able to
use their faith to receive what
rightfully belongs to them
your faith will not work beyond your
knowledge of the word of god
okay so that's why even if it belongs to
you if you don't have knowledge of it
you can't appropriate or use that faith
because
faith uh it's not just you know it's not
like it's mythical or
ethereal it's real and it's based on
something not a cloud but it's based on
the word so your knowledge
your working knowledge of the word is
what gives you the key
to turn the lock go in and take what
belongs to you
but let me say this with your faith your
faith
has a very wide latitude
in what it can receive what it can
possess
and the promised land that lays before
you
has a lot of options now i would say
that
anything that god has on the table for
you
you need to be busy with your faith
going into the land the promise and
receiving
all that rightfully belongs to you and
if that includes healing
and you need god to get you up and get
going because something is not right
with your body
then by all means use your faith and
take advantage what jesus paid such a
heavy price for on the cross
to redeem you from not just sin and
if that were it that would be more than
enough but
because god is more than enough the new
the new covenant does not only include
remission of sins or the taking away of
sins but it also includes healing
it includes provision it includes
everything that you need
in this life to be comfortable
to be safe to be protected and to
to do what god has called you to do
praise god
now having said that that still leaves a
lot of other stuff out there
that potentially you could pursue
and you could go after uh but just
because
maybe you want to go down a certain path
doesn't mean that
that would be god's wisdom there are
in the in the earth rabbit trails and uh
many a dog has gotten themselves into a
lot of pain
because they they chase the rabbit and i
was walking my dog one time
uh when we lived in southern california
we lived in newport beach
and there was a very nice walking path
and i i took my dog out
uh on on the walking path and that day
there was nobody out there so it was
just beautiful day and you know it is in
southern california it's like it hardly
ever rains so
you know perfect weather all the time
and
my dog saw a rabbit and
uh you know there was nobody around and
this was kind of like a
very large outdoor park area and i just
thought you know she's never really
chased a rabbit she's always wanted to
chase the rabbit
and i think i'll just let her off the
leash maybe she'll just get it out of
her system
well i let her off the leash and she
took off after the rabbit
and when the rabbit could see that the
chase was real
and that you know the leash is not
getting longer but she my dog
the dog's off the leash well uh she went
down the rabbit trail
and the trail went through all the
cactus and
the rabbit safely went in in between the
cactus and my dog um
stuck her head into the cactus and was
trying to get the rabbit rabbits too far
back was probably laughing at my dog
but when it was all said and done my
dog's face was covered with cactus
quills
and kelly had to pull every single
one out every single one came out
and it was you know painful for the dog
because the quills they can
they can inject like a uh like it's
it's something that causes a great
irritant anyhow
just the pain alone and so the problem
also was
how do you tell what's a whisker and
what's a quill well it's hard to tell
they all have to come out because her
face was literally in the cactus so um
yeah she had a fun time and uh i don't
really think she ever got it out of her
system
this what this thing of wanting to chase
a rabbit but we have to be careful we
can have
freedom to run we can have strength and
energy to run
but there are certain things we can walk
into run into
and we think we think it's going to make
us so happy but when it's all said and
done
even though there was nothing wrong with
it per se as it being sin
it could be something that in the end
leaves us
very empty see when we are looking at
experiences in life maybe something that
you don't have
that you want to own or want to buy or
want to get into something that
you you want to belong to really what
you're looking at
is you want that feeling
that others who have made it or have
crossed into that they have been able to
experience that feeling
and you're thinking i want that feeling
but remember
when you do eventually get to that
feeling
that feeling eventually is going to wear
off it may be the feeling i want to buy
something new
i want to buy a new pair of shoes well
you buy the new pair of shoes
uh but the moment you wear them out of
the store they're not new anymore
you know whoo praise the lord
uh it reminds me of the pastor he was
telling a funny story uh
where one of the church members said you
know you need to you need to step up
your game with your clothing you need to
get a
nicer suit so this this guy talked him
in to go out and spend
a bunch of money on suits so we went out
about and bought these two thousand
dollar
suits uh each one was two thousand
dollars
bought like five of them and uh you know
he was feeling really good
the next sunday wearing his two thousand
dollar suit and uh went uh after he
preached went back to the back room and
snagged
the pants on something uh like like a
nail that had been sticking out just a
tiny little bit the nail head
and he snagged his pants on it and it
ripped his pants
and so he took him uh he took him to the
tailor and the tailor said oh we can't
we can't work on this because of the
special type of material it is
and so nobody would repair his torn
pants so
what was eventually or actually
originally uh initially a very fun
feeling a very high feeling
you know with all the goosebumps and all
that he said it wore off
real quick when you realize you got a
stupid suit that nobody can fix if
anything ever goes wrong with it
and because we live in a fallen world
things do go wrong
with certain things so just be mindful
of that
you you're looking for that feeling and
that's understandable that that's okay
but feelings can also change and also
things
that in this phase of your life that you
think oh that's all
it whoa i want that that's all that's
what it's all about
your your desires are going to change
over time and that that's a good thing
so what you may think makes your world
go around right now
uh you know you know three months later
three years later
you may be in a place where you're
thinking you know i can't believe that
thing so moved me like that
look at it now why did i get so excited
about that be mindful of that
now of course with bartimaeus having
eyesight this is a different level you
know you get your eyesight you're like
wow
oh this is this is wonderful this is
wonderful praise god so that's beautiful
so there are things that
god wants you to be whole he wants you
to be complete in a sense
where you know you're blessed you're
happy and you're content in your heart
but you don't want to be in a place
where you're always grasping
i need something else i need the next
new thing because
you know this constant pursuit of you
know of just looking for
stuff stuff it can really it can really
wear on your soul
praise the lord hallelujah
you know there was a pastor true story
that
he wanted to own his own private jet for
the ministry
nothing wrong with that you know because
when you're busy
and he was very busy he made a lot of
international trips he just wanted his
own jet
but he wanted a 747 jet
i'm not making this up this is a true
story and he just you know
he believed god for 747 jet now that
those of you that wouldn't know that's
the big
double-decker jumbo jet you know it's
got the
the second row up at the front uh and so
you know that's pretty cool but hey you
know the
the fuel the the price the fill
one of those things up with gas you know
with aviation gas
which is more expensive than the gas
that goes in the car you know jet aid
anyhow that's very expensive and several
hundred thousand dollars just to feel
one up
well he got a 747 jet
and for a while you know uh he would
just you know say hey you know we're
going to go to africa
we're going to do some mission work in
africa and so we need to raise the money
for us to go
and you know a businessman would stand
up in the church and say okay i'll give
twenty thousand dollars
somebody else will stand up still give
thirty thousand dollars but you know you
you do that
you do that for a while every time you
gotta make a trip whoa we gotta raise
we gotta raise these hundreds of
thousands of dollars for every get off
the ground
well why don't we just talk we'll get a
business class ticket and fly over there
maybe that'll work better and there's
something wrong with the what the jet
because even in this ministry we're
believing for our own aircraft
but i think i think also when we do
certain things
you have to think it all out because
trust me
a 747 jet that's a different type of an
animal
because just getting that thing off the
ground
you're going to burn you're going to
burn within the first 10 minutes the
amount of fuel that you're going to burn
the money
the money you could buy a house just
about with the amount of fuel it's going
to take to get that thing up the
cruising altitude so
just stuff like that has to be
considered i do uh
know of one minister he was believing
god for jet
and he actually got the jet uh he was
able to buy it but you have to remember
if you buy it then you have to have a
hanger for it then you have to have
two pilots for it you never want to fly
one single pilot that's dangerous
so you have to have two pilots so you
got to pay for them then you have to
have insurance
on the aircraft and so then you have to
have maintenance on the aircraft and
it's not like just changing the oil or
changing the brake pads it's a
there's a different kind of animal
different beast so
all of those things are just things that
before you get into certain things
in case there's anybody out there you
want your own 747 jet
before you get into certain things think
it through think it all the way through
before you start launching into certain
stuff
praise god and then after having you
know checked off all of your checklist
of realizing
what you're getting involved in if if
that's okay
and that's okay then then you know you
can go for it because
with your faith you have you have wide
latitude of what you can do
but just be sure that what you're going
to do you've actually thought it all the
way through
there was another minister another true
story he for whatever reason thought it
would just be really cool
for his ministry to be located on an
island
and so when he saw that this property
was going to be put up for sale a resort
property
that he thought wow that would be so
cool we could move the whole ministry
onto the island
and he bought it and moved his entire
ministry
onto the island and so they they're
living on the island
you know they have they have a ministry
on an island which is kind of cool
sounds cool right but oh wow
after a few months he found out that the
electrical bill
see they had to the electrical company
had to run a separate line all the way
out to the island
just for them the elect the electrical
bill was just
off the charts i mean they might as well
have run it to the moon the bill was so
high
and then you know if you want to have a
partner conference let's have a partner
conference and bring all the partners in
but then there's the reality where uh
how are we going to get him here
are we going to like ferry him over on a
boat let's give them all a kayak
then they can row out here oh that's a
long way to roll
so you start running in all these things
that they never really thought
through and after a while the island
experience
they bailed out on it they thought no
this is not good but see i'm saying your
faith
can get you into certain things so your
your faith is very powerful
it'll work it will produce for you it'll
it'll cause blind eyes to open
it'll cause doors to open supernaturally
but you have to
you have to really stop and think it all
the way through
not just is it okay did god say okay
god well god said okay but but but look
god also expects you to use maturity and
wisdom
and to think it through before you fully
commit
because there are some things you can
get into it's very hard to get out
and you may be able to get out but it
might take you five years to get out
before you can find a buyer that wants
to buy that thing
and in the interim you're going to have
to be paid on that even if you're not
using it
praise god well i know a pastor
with a large church several thousand
members and
he he bought a race car uh a hot rod i
mean this thing was fast i think it
would go
like uh i saw him race at one time i
think it would go like close to 300
miles per hour you know what
real fast in a straight straightaway and
so uh he
he got it for the youth department you
know you he had the youth
outrage ministry there at the church and
this will bring in the youth
well i actually think he got it because
he liked
fast cars because every time
i saw him with it there were no youth
around and whenever he would take it out
to the race place to race it there was
no young people
i never saw any teenagers anywhere just
him tinkering with it working on it
and uh you know the lord never told him
no
you know it's and it's not like he's out
there sitting on it you're sitting with
her i mean
it's just a car right but um the more he
tinkered on that car and the more he
took that car out on the weekend to race
it and stuff like that
uh you know it's like the quality of his
messages
that it just didn't have that bite
didn't have that edge it didn't have
that
it didn't have a sharp word it was just
like kind of like a dud
but you know what i think you realized
what was going on that just because
you you can use your faith to grab
something and to have something
you know it doesn't mean that that's
what you should do with it praise the
lord
and so he sold the car and and that was
good and i
i think there was a recovery spiritually
but then i don't know
what happened maybe uh to replace the
car seemed like he uh you know he was
always very athletic
so um he got in the golf and uh he was
he was already kind of really good at
golf but then he's decided to you know
put a little more time and effort into
it
and so there was a large golf tournament
not with professionals but with amateur
you know guys that are really good just
below pro league
and so people came in from all over for
this big golf tournament
well he just kind of jumped into it also
you know to compete
but after the 18 holes were done
he won the whole thing he won the whole
tournament and they gave him the big
trophy and stuff like that
and then the reality hit him hey are you
a man of god are you a golfer i mean
if you do you want to go play golf or do
you want to you want to save souls and
so he was at back at a crossroads again
so i think he laid the golf down too
praise god but look these are things
that just because
you can use your faith i'm using my
faith for a good golf swing
i'm using my faith for golf membership
you know
you got to you got to start thinking
these things through because you could
end up in places
where you do go through those doors and
you do manifest it and you do
step into it and you do have it to
display and show
but you know what you're you're so empty
on the inside you're so dry on the
inside
wow hallelujah and uh
watch out for things like this praise
god there there's a lot of ministers
today
that have really gotten into the
crossfit praise god and i'm not against
that it's god
i i think it's good to take care of your
of your temple but there's a lot of them
bless their hearts that
um uh it's not like you would want to go
to them if you had a real spiritual need
man of god can you help me they're not
they're not going to be able to help you
they've got to
get their next carbohydrate meal in
they're counting calories
and they're busy taking pictures of
themselves they can post on it on
instagram without their shirt on
so they can show you how well to find
they've gotten their six-pack
and you're thinking that's the man of
god looks like a meathead to me
well you know i'm just saying there's a
lot of that going on today
and especially in the celebrity culture
of the church within the western church
where uh you know you got these pastors
you know hitting the hitting the gym
getting buffed getting strong and
then of course you've got to wear the
short sleeve shirt so you could
and then get the tan and you gotta do
all of that
listen if if you have somebody that has
stage four cancer
and they get in the healing line do you
think they care
a thing in the world whether or not your
your biceps
are rippling or you know you've gotten
stronger in the squat rack do
you think that's going to move that
cancer you think the devil is going to
have any kind of respect for that
because you know you got a better tan he
the enemy laughs at stuff like that he
he knows that's not gonna do anything
it's not gonna do anything
so there there's all kinds of
distractions
and there are things you can use your
faith i'm gonna use my faith to get in
shape praise god
but that's good use your faith but don't
don't forget what this is all about
it's very easy to drift very
easy to drift
you can go in all kinds of direct
directions with this um
i've met young people before they uh
young people
especially guys they like they like the
fast cars
pastor stephen i'm believing god for a
lamborghini
oh you are yes praise god i'm going to
get it
well i'm sure if you use your faith you
know you know
you can pull in anything with your faith
if you really have faith and believe and
you're working faith principles you can
pull anything from a 747 jet
to a uh i mean pulling a lamborghini
but you got you have to think a lot of
this stuff through
here's a scripture think about this one
this is interesting
titus chapter 1 verse 15.
to the pure all things are pure
it's just a car right that's all it is
it's it's uh
it's fiberglass laid over
metal engine with tires rubber
wrapped around the wheels a bunch of
computer components
and a bunch of metal and plastic and
some leather for the seats
that's all it is right it's just car
to the pure all things are pure but to
those who are defiled
and unbelieving that would be the people
of the world to those who are defiled
and unbelieving
nothing is pure nothing especially a
lamborghini
but even their mind and conscience are
defiled
well that's not going to stop me pastor
stephen because i know it's pure
yeah but i've never seen anybody ever
drive a lamborghini at the speed limit
ever the only time i've ever seen a
lamborghini
not going over the speed limit it's when
it's parked
and that's the honest-to-god truth i've
never seen anybody ever drive one the
speed limit without speeding they're
always
they're always way over the speed limit
if the speed limit is 40 they're going
90 if the speed limits
60 you know they're going 120
in the city it doesn't matter it doesn't
matter
certain things have a stigma attached to
them certain things have an
image attached to them well i wouldn't
do that pastor stephen if i had it yeah
that's what you think
the moment you get into it that image
jumps on you it jumps on you they expect
you to perform
it goes with the territory of that have
you ever thought about that
well i just want to have one anyhow have
you ever thought it through
how does that make you look as a woman
of god as a man of god if you drive
something like that
um pastor stephen you're too
old-fashioned you need some
old-fashioned hallelujah you little too
modern
you little too slick a little too
polished you're a little too carnal
praise god praised
glory thank you jesus
i'll get a lamborghini when i get to
heaven i'll drive it then
hallelujah
the guys you see them driving today they
got they got the tan
the dark sunglasses shirt unbuttoned all
the way down here or no shirt at all
big gold big gold necklace um they're
ready they're ready what they're ready
to play around
they're ready to go to the club and do
some business um
you have to think about certain things
praise the lord just because you can
doesn't mean you should well pastor
steven like you said it's just a bunch
of fiberglass and plastic and wood and
you know metal that's all it is yeah yes
and no to that
yes that we know that's what it is but
people of the world look at that and
that first thing that comes into their
mind
that that's a that's a sex image it has
sexual overtones
attached to it hmm
and they'll attach it to you too if
you're in it and you're involved in well
i don't know
no no no no shoot straight with me yes
yes they will
it doesn't don't think that you can put
a gold cross on
maybe put a little clerical collar on
and they're going to look at you
different no they'll just think that
your priest is
driving that around sinning that's all
they're going to think
you're not fooling anybody
to the pure all things are pure yeah i
you know i have i have wide latitude
with faith but there are certain things
there are certain things as a minister
uh there's directions i'm not going to
go
i'd rather not go there don't need to
anyhow i've got i've got
all eternity to live praise the lord and
i don't condemn others who do
but i ain't got time for that don't
don't look for me out on the golf course
i don't condemn ministers who play golf
i think actually
golf is a god idea it was
it was originated from something from
heaven because
you have manicured lawns you have
beautiful areas and anybody's attracted
to something like that
but also golf is very technical and with
anything in life you can't really enjoy
it unless you get good at it
and you can't really get good at golf
because it's so technical unless you
play it
a lot and i don't have time for that
and you have a lot of celebrity pastors
they're on a golf course hobnobbing with
hollywood celebrities getting their
picture taken together
to boost their instagram viewership
numbers and all of this stuff
and uh there's something wrong with golf
not a sin at all when i get to heaven
i'm gonna
i'm gonna play golf but so many things
will reach for you in life and so many
things will even
lay out before you and say hey pick me
up try me out
and it doesn't mean that they're sinful
or there's anything wrong with it
but life is very very short and we are
in the last days
and we are living in a time of such
complete collapse of morality
we are living a time also of great
delusion
is it really time to just goof off hmm
or is it time to really seek the lord
and walk with the lord
because just because you can doesn't
mean
you should think these things through
think it all through
before you go out and buy your
lamborghini today i'm not saying don't
get it
i'm just saying think it through think
about how you look think
think it all through and i understand
look
understand the way a lot of churches are
today i mean
we we live in an era now we have cigar
we have cigar clubs in the church i
understand they're churches where the
senior pastor and the elders and many of
the men
that after the service is over they go
downstairs to the basement church or go
to a local
cigar club and they smoke blow smoke in
each other's face
drink expensive whiskey tell jokes and
discuss
business deals i understand i understand
the culture
i understand that but i i want to shoot
straight with you i have no interest in
stuff like that
i have no interest in things like that
praise the lord if there's those that
want to do that
well whatever but i will tell you this
there's no cigar rooms in heaven
there's none there's none in heaven
there's no there's no smoking in heaven
so certain things that people just love
to do
you know what it's all going to fade
away it's all going to fade away
praise god that made somebody really sad
maybe maybe
somebody really needed to hear that
today but you know
when god begins to move
all this stuff goes out the window that
everybody thinks is so necessary and so
important
they get themselves so tied up in when
god begins to move
all of that stuff i'm just telling you
right now it goes up in smoke
the things you have to be at i've got to
be at this four times a week
why because i i'm involved in that
that's my thing
well that'll probably be the first thing
on the altar that goes up in smoke
when there's revival praise the lord
whoo because when god begins to move
when a move of the spirit is birthed
then there is the sustaining of it
hallelujah praise god well pastor
stephen
god can do whatever he wants but by nine
o'clock at night it better be done
because we're getting out
god god doesn't work like that god
doesn't work like that
praise the lord and if he's moving we're
going to stay right there and we're
going to let him move
well i've got a tv show to watch pastor
steven at nine o'clock
[Laughter]
well looks like you've got you got a
fork in the road you're gonna go this
way going to go watch that show you're
going to stay in the glory
hallelujah praise god it's all funny
until the rubber meets the road isn't it
it's like it's kind of like all talk
it's all ethereal yes pastor stephen
well look look i'm just trying to get
you ready
i'm trying to get you ready praise god
because when it when it starts the role
it alters it alters lives it alters
activities it alters so many
different things mm-hmm
thank you lord jesus praise god
one of the primary
signs of the moving of the spirit is
deep conviction
of sin which is why
i encourage anybody anyone to get your
life right with god
now i'm not just talking about salvation
because many of you that watch me you're
already saved
but i'm talking about once you're saved
get your life your spiritual house in
order
in the sense that if god were moving
would you be doing that
would you do that would you practice
that would you carry that on
in the presence of the glory in the in
god's very pro would you
no you wouldn't do that because we don't
want ananias and sapphira type
experiences happening
but my friends you have to you have to
deal with these things because
when the lord starts moving can get real
hot and
uh it's best to have it all ironed out
beforehand
because if you get in those meetings and
you haven't gotten that ironed out
the conviction and that glory can hit so
hot so fast that many times people stand
up and they start confessing they come
under such conviction
and such grief they start confessing
publicly
publicly now there are many things that
should not be said publicly
there are many things that should be
confessed privately and uh if if it's so
grievous between you and the lord that
you're having a hard time difficult
a hard time uh working your way through
it then you should get
you know a man or woman of god to help
you walk through that in confidence
uh but there's uh there's other things
that when the spirit of god is moving
real strong real fast
you don't have time and there there are
many times people they had no intent
to let they let it out but because it
went unconfessed and they're lit they're
they're harboring that sin in their
hearts and they
they find themselves in the wrong place
at the wrong time which is in the glory
maybe it's actually the right place at
the right time they stand up and start
confessing and it all comes out
it all comes out
whoo praise the lord so it's better to
get all of that
dealt with between you and the lord
right now
right now praise god hallelujah praise
the lord
so many distractions so many
distractions
may the lord come and burn up only that
which is the
which is essential pastor stephen your
life must be very boring
no no i'll just say i'll say this
it doesn't take a lot to make me happy
i'm i'm a simple person
and it doesn't mean that i can't
appreciate nice things
but you have to understand that this
endless grasping
after one thing after another you you
think it now when i get this i'll be
satisfied
you get that two days later you're not
satisfied anymore now you're moving on
you move it on you're moving on
there has to come a point where you
start shifting your heart to the things
of the lord
and you say lord just you know you fill
me up
and i'm going after you and your
purposes and the lord just
he'll add the things that so many others
they are reaching and grasping for he'll
just add them
he'll add them praise the lord
now here's a very interesting scripture
this is from psalm 106.
verse 15 and he
god gave them that would be the
israelites
in the wilderness he gave them their
request
oh so they made a request yes
and god said i'll grant it yes that's
exactly what happened
that's exactly what happened let me read
it again and he
god gave them the israelites their
request
but sent leanness
into their soul
sent leanness into
their soul they're so dry now they're so
empty
they got exactly what they wanted they
got it they got it yeah they got it all
right
and they used her faith for it praise
the lord
now they've got it and uh it now it
takes up all their time
now it takes all of their attention i
had a neighbor one time that
whatever reason he decided he wanted to
get a horse
you know he kind of had that western
image of the outdoors of
riding in the saddle the big leather
saddle and you know
the elevated up high off the ground and
you know feeling like a man so he got a
horse
but it wasn't enough decided to get
another one so he had two horses
and he came up to me one day and he
looked totally exasperated he looked
totally like
you know one of those like i can't take
any more tight looks
i said brother i said everything okay he
looked at me and he said stephen
he said did you know that a single horse
every month produces 2 000
pounds of manure i said no i said i had
no idea he said i've got two horses
that's 4 000 pounds of manure
every month i said isn't that wonderful
he said no i've got to shovel it all out
it's terrible i said but that's what you
wanted
but i didn't know they were going to
create so much manure
oh but i pastor stephen i asked god for
the horse and i use my faith yep there
it is and now enjoy it
and while you're shoveling manure praise
god praise god for it
god i thank you for the manure it smells
so organic
it's such wonderful fertilizer god thank
you for the manure
thank you for my horses because that's
exactly what you wanted
praise the lord think it through think
it through
he has no time to pray he's got a shovel
he's got a shovel horse mess
where is he going to put it all where do
you put
all of this mess at wow
i drove by one day in the flies wow
an army of flies pastor stephen why does
he have so many flies
because of all the manure wow
hmm see when you when you see the image
when you imagine the wonderful thing
that you want god to do now think it all
the way through
not just the not just the receiving of
it but think about
everything else think it all the way
through and then
then if you still feel deep peace
then if you still feel it will glorify
the lord
and then if you still feel it will not
distract from your walk with the lord
then by all means go right ahead
but so often that's not the case he gave
them their request
but sent leanness into
their soul
pastor steven i'm believing god for a
fishing boat i love bass fishing
i'm believing god for a boat and so you
get your boat
and now you're out fishing all the time
fishing
fishing you're really in the fish now
look you and i
both know you can go to the grocery
store and you can buy the fish
already caught already filleted the
bones taken out
sometimes already cooked all you gotta
do is heat it up in the oven
but no you want what the experience
the feeling of the fish pulling on the
line
look it's been in the poll wow it must
be a big one
very very interesting wow
so nothing wrong with the bass boat
nothing wrong with the fishing boat
praise the lord but my friends
so many things that we can use our faith
for
and pull it in but
you can overcrowd your life you can over
pack your life and before you know it
you could be in that same place where
there's leanness in
your soul praise the lord
hallelujah praise the lord
don't feel sad for the missionaries
who have left comfortable homes in
america
who passed up the potential to step into
lucrative careers and earn a lot of
money
and gave all of that up including
leaving father and mother
and went off to a distant land on the
other side of the world
maybe to live in a hut maybe to eat food
that's not their
the type of food they would prefer to
eat but they
gave up all these things to step into
that in order to preach the gospel
to those who have not heard pastor
stephen i feel so sorry for them oh
don't feel sorry for them at all
they actually feel sorry for for those
that don't understand
how glorious and wonderful it is um they
look at others who don't get it and they
actually feel compassion for those
believers that don't understand
oh yes there is sacrifice in it
absolutely but god's in it
god's in it the glory is there and
certainly the rewards will be there
praise god
lord we praise you today there is a way
to walk
there is a way to walk there is a path
that the lord has
is straight and it's it's
narrow now when jesus talked about
entering in through the gate the
straight and the narrow path and going
through
even the eye of the needle
i have heard some theologians say
that that supposed gate the eye of the
needle
actually never existed well
they were not familiar with modern
archaeology
because there was the outer wall of any
protective city
and at night for safety they would close
the main gates
when the main gates were closed there
would be
a super little tiny gate that
if you were a traveler and you showed up
at night and you weren't a bandit but
maybe you were a merchant
and for whatever reason you arrive at
two o'clock in the morning because you
didn't time your arrival very good
what you could do is that you could have
your camel
uh and your goods parked as we would say
outside but you could go in but you
can't bring all that stuff with you
why it's the eye of the needle and it
could be possible
that maybe you could bring one of your
animals with you but you would have to
completely unload him
why because he's not going to fit
through this little bitty gate
see they won't open the big gate because
if they open that there could be an
ambush it could be a sit-up
and all the bad guys would rush in so
they had a little bitty tiny gate called
the eye of the needle
so that requires
an unloading of all of these
distractions
that would strip your soul of any
fruitfulness that would strip all the
spirituality
out of your life i know some people
they're really good at making money
really good at making money i'm talking
about christians they're really good at
making money
but yet they're so dry they are
so dead on the inside
that um
it's just quite obvious but you know
what they they
they give their attention to that now
there's nothing wrong
with profiting and god wants us to be
blessed
god god wants us to have more than
enough but don't let things distract you
to where you lose the focus of what it's
all about because you can't take any of
that stuff with you
you can't take any of you of it with you
and so many of them that have it they
just keep storing it up
storing it up and it just makes makes
them feel so good that they got
so much stored up but see it's never
enough to release
it just keeps storing it up storing up
and storing it up
[Music]
see in the world you have men like
warren buffett
worth what what something like 90
billion dollars
bill gates who still has a lot of
billions not as
uh he's not not the wealthiest man in
the world in the world anymore but he
still has a lot of money
you have jeff bezos uh something like
200 billion dollars
net worth but you know jesus said what
does it matter
what does it matter what will it profit
a man if he gains the whole world
and he loses his own soul see your soul
can be bankrupt you could have all this
stuff you could have all this money but
yet your soul is bankrupt now you can be
a christian
and you can be saved thank god at least
you're saved
but you can run dry you can run dry when
you try to step into so many different
things
that'll make me happy pastor steven once
i have that
then yeah then i'll finally be happy
thank you through thank everything
through
praise god pastor stephen i'm i'm single
i want to get married
oh that's wonderful i mean marriage is
ordained and established by god it's
beautiful
but just think it through john wesley
what a great preacher think about the
flow the anointing that he was in
preaching five times a day traveling
non-stop traveling non-stop
riding on a horse preaching the meeting
get back on the horse ride to another
meeting preach there and just do that
day after day after day after day and
god was moving
god was moving in every meeting and he
got this thing
he got this thing where he wanted to get
married
and uh he he did a rush job but he got
married to a lady her nickname was molly
and from the moment they got married it
just never clicked and it was
it was a mess and let's not let's not
blame it on molly he
he had his own issues he had his own
independence
that he wanted to maintain he wanted to
keep traveling you know just doing his
kind of his own thing
but you know she's like hey you're
married now you're married you know
let's let's have some children let's uh
let's have a meal together he's like
well i gotta keep going that's
my calling well you know john you you
should have thought
that through before you got married or
take her with you
but you know so it just there was a
collusion there was a colliding
of two different things and you know and
when you're married hey that that means
you're
you're yielding your life you know uh
not just 50 50
you're yielding 100 and that person's
yielding 100
uh he and her and so you know you have
to work all that out
all that out and let the holy spirit
help you praise god
but you know when you're single you you
can go praise the lord just go praise
the lord you don't have to don't ask
somebody
uh you don't you don't the call or text
you could just
you just go praise the lord and i'm not
saying that marriage is not good
marriage is wonderful i i love my wife
and wouldn't change a thing it works for
me
praise the lord and i i love it but you
have you have to thank
it all through because i know a lot of
people they really wanted to get married
i'm
speaking to a lot of ladies for some
reason a lot of ladies really wanted to
get married
and they're going to get married and
they did and they did and every
i haven't met a one that really had that
pastor steven this is what will do it
this is what will do it for me they got
married and they all married
a dud a dud with no spiritual drive
sometimes no economical drive either and
i'm talking about a desire to work
and um and then they found out what real
problems really are
they found out what real trouble is but
you know what it's it can't just
you know throw the engine into reverse
and let's get out of this well hey you
know
you sign papers and you're married and
uh you know
the person's not running around being
unfaithful so hey you know
here it is enjoy well that's not what i
wanted
no that's exactly what you wanted
now look look this is what we have to be
able to do
we have to be able to go in front of the
mirror
look in the mirror
and of course we see ourselves and say
i made that choice i did that
and now here i am and you know what
it's all on me now look now look here's
the mirror okay here's the mirror you go
in front of the mirror
and you look at it and you're like lord
i uh
i can use my faith i'm a man of faith
yes that's good yeah
i know you are calm down praise the lord
and um
i believe i receive i i know praise the
lord amen
um but think it through think it all the
way through before you get your
747 think it all the way through before
you get your
load up your garages with lamborghinis
just sink it all the way through
hallelujah think these things through
well we're in isaiah chapter 30
verse 19 for the people shall dwell in
zion at jerusalem
you shall weep no more he will be very
gracious to you at the sound of your cry
when he hears it he will answer you
if somebody comes up to you i'm not i'm
not talking to ministers right now i'm
talking to you
i don't care if you're a cook if you're
an astronaut or if you are a minister
or if you are especially if you're a
minister or if you are
a uh you know the ceo of a fortune 500
company
if somebody comes up to you and ask
you to pray for them right there on the
spot and you don't have an anointing or
spirituality
to be able to pray for them with an
empowerment
something's wrong with your life if you
have to say i need a day
i need a day to pull myself together
i've been in the flesh for i can't i
can't even respond
if that's you something's wrong
something's wrong
you need to be able to respond
spiritually
spiritually to the people because
there's hurting people all over the
place
praise god for the people shall dwell in
zion at jerusalem you shall weep no more
he will be very gracious to you at the
sound of your cry
when he hears it he will answer you and
though the lord gives you the bread of
adversity
and the water of affliction sometimes
that can be good there's a lot of
teaching in that
don't don't don't spoil yourself
okay take it easy okay i understand that
kings live in king's palaces
but i understand that john the baptist
had something that we need too
that doesn't mean that you need to wear
camel skin cloak
you know and you're eating locust and
hunting and you're you know you're rough
and you're going around barefoot
i'm not saying that but i'm saying there
should be something about you where
you're just not soft all the time there
should be something where you push
yourself spiritually
and you just don't say pamper me some
more pamper me some more no no you've
had enough pampering
you need to get up and you need to go
pray in tongues and walk around do some
warfare tongues for an hour or two
you've had enough tempering praise the
lord
and though the lord gives you the bread
of adversity in the water of affliction
yet your teachers will not be moved into
a corner anymore but your eyes shall see
your teachers
your ears shall hear a word behind you
saying
this is the way walk in it whenever you
turn to the right hand or whenever you
turn to the left see you'll hear that
word this is the way walk in it so this
is what's going on with a lot of
christians today
they don't know which way to walk in
they see the celebrity pastor
with his shirt off and they see him
flaunting his body or hers
that some of the female pastors do it
too
uh and and and the church
members look at that and they think oh
okay so that's that's what we're
supposed to be like
okay the next thing you know you're
totally living your life in the flesh
[Laughter]
you know you've just i mean not only did
you follow their example
you you took it and you amped it you you
amplified it
and you're gonna you're gonna put some
extra on it well
be careful be careful
i'll never forget
i'll never forget the time where
my pastor decided for whatever crazy
reason this was
this was let's go back decades ago he
decided that
the whole church was going to go on a
cruise
how many of you know there's different
levels of cruises you have you have some
cruise lines that are uh
they're kind of like you know they're
into the the high and the experience
you know where uh you know the
transatlantic crossing and the ballroom
dancing
and uh you know more of the polished
field but you have other cruisers that
are like
that they are unashamedly hedonistic
they're nothing but drinking parties
they're they're they're nothing but
known for immorality and uh
you know that that's all they're about
well well um
somebody they're in the church that work
for a uh a travel industry
uh sold the idea to my pastor you know
what you should take the whole church on
the cruise you know life is difficult
people get stressed out
what people need is a cruise
praise the lord look there's a buyer for
anything out there right so anyhow
but bless his heart so my pastor said
you know that's right and of course the
elders you know
they thought oh yes that's wonderful
that's wonderful yes
that's what we need ministry is tough we
all need to go on a cruise
so i think 800 people uh right around
800 people
signed up and paid the full price
not just the down payment they paid the
full price to go on the cruise
now okay now watch this i'm not making
this up this is
this is so funny this is so silly it's
all
it's like it's actually sad but it's
it's kind of silly because it really was
that goofy okay so
after service after the praise and
worship and after a good message
preached
so that you can be a good christian and
live a noble life in christ
after after that's done please go over
to the desk and sign up for the cruise
okay so there was a sign up desk okay
i'm not making this up
you go over to the sign up desk
and there there was a life-size
cut out image of a woman standing there
almost completely nude
with just a couple of strings on and uh
you know like like welcome to the cruise
ship welcome to the party you know
and they had that life-size cardboard
image cut out of this nude woman
right next to the sign up desk where the
you know the the
volunteers are working to get you signed
up we'll take your for we'll take your
take your money you have to pay in full
and so
uh you'll be all signed up and you'll be
ready to go on the cruise so you can be
refreshed
life's tough life's tough okay
so everybody signs up 800 people sign up
to go on the cruise
by the way i i told i i walked over to
the desk
and one of the elders was working at the
sign up table i said elder
i said don't you think that this
this picture here of this nude woman is
something that would be displeasing to
the lord
he said now that that's why we need to
go
on this cruise stephen because it's that
type of a religious spirit
that we need to get delivered from yep
that's i'm not lying
my wife is my witness she was there when
that happened
he said yeah that's the type of
religious spirit that we need to get
delivered from
a religious spirit oh they got delivered
all right
they got delivered of their money when
the owner of the cruise company the
owner of the travel company
not not the cruise line but the owner of
the travel agency
split and left town with all of their
money
not one of them got any of their money
back not a penny
not a dollar i didn't lose any money
because i didn't sign up for the stupid
thing
pastor stephen i guess you must have ran
through the church with a banner
waving a banner saying i told you so i
told you so
no i didn't do that they were having
enough trouble with me
already because let me say this
to the davids when the lord is raising
up a david the saul's will
tried to kill you and my pastor wasn't
trying to kill me but the elders were
when i'm saying kill me they want
they're like
take him out he's a threat why he has a
true anointing and we're just a bunch of
goofballs and
he's you know and so there were a few of
us that were genuine that
you had like a couple hundred people in
the school of ministry but there were
about maybe eight or nine of us
that we were we had we had a real walk
with the lord and by the way out of the
hundreds that graduated from the school
of that ministry
only about the eight or nine of us were
the only ones that made it into
full-time ministry and are still
standing still
ministering today praise the lord okay
so come on into ministry
the water is just fine they'll try to
kill you just
am i too honest today with some of you
oh boy were there some hot people in the
church well pastor stephen the church
members
shouldn't they just be so loving and
they should be so forgiving they lost
thousands of dollars
they should just give it as unto the
lord no they're people that were mad
they wanted their money back hey we lost
our money
what a mess what a mess um
hallelujah the cruise never happened
it is kind of funny it's sad but it's
kind of funny praise the lord
thank you jesus hallelujah
whoo thank you lord this is the way walk
in it
well they're not walking in it yeah yeah
they're walking they're doing their own
thing
that's fading it's passing out i'm here
to i'm here to announce
celebrity christianity never worked in
the first place
it never worked in the first place
that's why
you have preachers today celebrity
preachers today
by the droves caving and giving in
the homosexuality to lesbianism not why
why
because their kids are growing up and
their kids are saying hey i've decided
to be gay or i've decided to you know
to go this route with my life and so the
parents now
the ministers the parents are saying oh
oh we understand
we and now we now embrace what you
believe as well and they've totally just
walked away from the faith oh they
haven't said they denied jesus
they're just saying we we now see it
differently oh
so you basically compromise yes that's
all it is that's all it is see they were
compromised the whole time
they've been compromised the whole time
they've been compromised the whole time
they've been goofing off the whole time
praise the lord like a lot of our former
presidents have
while the world has ripped us off while
china ripped us off took advantage of us
horrible trade deals
all this stuff while the eu ripped
america off
and it's the taxpayers who are paying
for it and while they laughed and mocked
at america
while the american politicians and those
various presidents
were enriched through backdoor deals
that made them all
extremely wealthy multi-millionaires
many times over
america was getting stuck with the
shorting of the stick
and finally a president said this is all
wrong
this is all wrong and so what does it do
it shows up the others who had
compromised the whole time it shows what
they were really doing the whole time
just playing games
playing political games having fun at
the expense
of others and now we're at the point
we're facing almost
total destitution in this nation we're
on the verge of an economic collapse
we are we're literally on the verge of
an economic collapse now i'm praying
and i'm believing that's not going to
happen i'm believing it's going to be
diverted
but it is a very real threat don't kid
yourself and think it's not
it is any economist knows it they all
know it they all know it
we are we're on the edge we're on the
edge of
many many problems and uh you know if
this thing
if this election coming up goes the
wrong direction
this this country cannot keep going
plunged into socialism
plunged into a really bad morphing of
leaders that want to combine radical
islam and socialism together
you'll end up with a form of atheistic
communism
also with militant islamic hatred
released upon the christians and um
and also the whole country will just
begin to collapse
but i believe god's not done yet god's
not done yet
so i'm believing for god to turn some
things around but god needs to turn the
church around
god's not concerned about the sinners
they're just doing what they do they
just sin
that's never been the issue god god's
always trying to deal with the remnant
he's trying to deal with the church
praise the lord well pastor stephen i
don't know if i can take your message
serious because you're not wearing
skinny
skinny jeans look i'm skinnier than the
pastors
wearing their stupid skinny jeans but i
don't like skinny jeans they're not
comfortable
but i'm not trying to i'm not trying to
be hip i'm not trying to be popular
and if i if you're not going to listen
to me because i'm not going to wear
skinny jeans
and run a fog machine and have the kind
of music that
you know you that they want to have the
cool setting then i don't care
i don't care praise the lord i'm just
going to keep preaching the word
praise the lord because look i know the
way i know what works but i know what
doesn't work
and celebrity christianity does not work
it will not produce the character and
image deeply within the life of a
believer
that will sustain you through difficult
times
and we saw this in china in 1930s when
you had the boxer rebellion
and uh there was a lot of persecution
against particularly the christians and
the missionaries who came over brutal
persecution but
they sowed the word and they had true
conversions
they had true conversions and those true
converts were ready
they were ready when the nation got
cloaked with atheistic communism
in the 1950s
and that's why the underground church in
china is thriving
it's thriving because they're real
conversions
because you can't be a celebrity
christian over there it won't work
it won't work praise the lord so there's
a great separation going on
right now the fire's burning fire's
burning the glory is coming
the glory is coming and i see
i see the end
of the these large
seeker-sensitive churches they're going
to begin to
they're going to begin to collapse and
they're going to go in total delusionary
deception they're going to go in the
total deception because they
so many of them have been in deception
for so long anyhow they will not preach
against sin
and there is no convicting power of the
holy spirit
that convicts of sin why won't they do
that pastor steven they won't do it on
purpose because they're more concerned
about numbers
than they are about true conversions
hallelujah so there's a lot of people
sitting in churches
that they speak the christianese but
they're not even saved
and the moment the moment there would be
true persecution you would find out
they'd walk out immediately they would
abandon the lord of the hot second
um praise god
praise the lord so this is a type of
great filtering
let the holy spirit help you filter
every request
so that that which remains is something
that will
truly remain
thank you lord we praise you father we
just thank you for
the way that you're filtering and
shaking right now this entire downtime
scenario has been a time of filtering
and shaking
let it all be shaken out in the lives of
your people
thank you lord jesus hallelujah
hallelujah we thank you that the
miracles are coming
praise your lord the miracles are coming
it's a
shift it's a it's a complete shift we
thank you we're glad for it we're happy
for it
hallelujah this is the third great
awakening this is the third great
reformation and it's the last one
hallelujah praise you lord
thank you father god it's time for the
real fireworks
it's time for the real fireworks
hallelujah thank you lord
and it's not going to be smoke machines
special lighting effects
it's going to be time for the real
fireworks the real glory of god the real
miracles
the thing we really want the things the
thing we really want
hallelujah
father we give you praise bring your
glory
and bring the heat thank you father god
thank you father god hallelujah father
we pray for president trump keep him
strong hold them strong
thank you father god hallelujah
father even as president trump said it's
not me they want it's not me thereafter
he said it's you
just you christians they're the ones
that they're wanting to come after and
get
he said it's not me it's you so father
we thank you that he's a bulwark a
defense you've established
kind of rough around the edges but
that's exactly what the church deserves
church doesn't deserve somebody's sweet
and nice way past a time for that
so father let there be the true wake-up
call we ask for great mercy upon this
nation that you would spare this nation
hallelujah thank you father god there
will be a true turning back
to you and the curses would be lifted
thank you father god have your way we
believe you for that
thank you father we're praying towards
it thank you as many
many that are watching are praying we
thank you we're in agreement together in
jesus
name amen
and amen hallelujah praise god
thank you lord praise the lord
now if you're watching today's message
and you don't know jesus as your lord
and savior
let me just say this if he's not your
lord he's not your savior
you can't just take him you know on your
own terms you need to receive him
and follow him and live for him so if
you're ready to turn from your sins
and you're ready to turn to him today's
your day of salvation
pray this after me say lord jesus
forgive me of my sins
come into my heart wash all my sins away
i give my life completely to you
write my name in your book of life
thank you jesus thank you jesus for
saving me
thank you amen and amen
and if you're a backslidden christian i
know i know i'm talking to a few of you
today
you need to come back right now lest you
drift
into total darkness and then you get out
to a place where you're gone you're gone
and you don't ever wanna you don't ever
wanna play with stuff like that
come back right now to the only tower
the only safety of refuge
the lord jesus himself if that's you
if that's you wandering christian that
you pray this after me lord jesus i
repent
of getting over into sin and losing
my faith losing my weight lord jesus i
come back today
forgive me re-establish me in your work
that you called me to do
thank you jesus thank you thank you
i receive you lord thank you amen
praise god praise the lord welcome back
welcome back praise the lord
no fun living in a pig pen praise the
lord
now the lord will turn all these things
around quickly in your life as you live
for him
and he'll make your life beautiful
praise god
by the way i had hoped to have been in
the
the newly refurbished
midweek internet studio but it's not
quite done yet so thank you as you
continue to sew into that project
it will help us to complete a few final
things that we need to do we thought we
were there
but it still needed a few things to do
it the way that it should be done
so there on our website stevenbrooks.org
there is a header
called projects and you'll see that
project called studio
refresh and you're giving towards that a
special offering
will help us just finish that up and get
that get that turned on and ready
praise god thank you jesus now let's
take holy communion today
grab some grape juice and some
unleavened bread
praise the lord hallelujah praise god
thank you lord jesus praise the lord
praise the lord hallelujah
father thank you for the bread the juice
we consecrate it we set it apart as holy
we thank you this is the body and the
blood of christ our savior
we thank you father god
for a stripping away of all the silly
games
and all of the fluff so that we can have
real encounters and real experience
with you thank you father god
drive out the darkness that to be a
cleaning
of the hearts of your people thank you
father god we receive the body of jesus
with great
thanksgiving thank you for what you're
doing father in jesus name
amen let's receive
father thank you for the blood of jesus
we thank you father if there are those
ministers that
would be watching that feel convicted
that have been playing games and
and haven't been praying and they know
it
they've just been flying on professional
skill but
their prayer life is shot
thank you father for repentance and are
returning back to you
thus diverting disaster father we thank
you we receive the blood of christ with
great thanksgiving
in jesus name amen
let's receive
you know it's not just about how you
start
it's very important how you finish
let it be a sober warning
of what happened to dr cho in korea
south korea pastor of the world's
largest church
who with a legacy of decades of service
and great teaching and a great
inspiration to many including yours
truly
to a life of prayer and good books and
great
teaching materials on prayer and that
matter of fact going back about 30 years
it was one of his books on prayer
that proved the great inspiration in my
life to pursue the lord
more strongly through prayer but let it
be a warning
how even that great man began to drift
and after so many years of ministering
to so many
and through the power of the spirit
building the largest
church in the world yo yoito full gospel
church with over 1 million members
he barely escaped conviction of going to
jail of going to prison
and i believe his his sons went to
prison
and he should have gone too but the
judge basically said because you've done
so much
of an influence for good in the nation
of south korea i'm not going to send you
to prison
although he deserved to go and he was
very repentant
and he got caught up at all of the
distractions that wealth and fame and
prestige
and large ministry brought and it
uh he allowed it to cause him to drift
and he began
he could teach on prayer but he wasn't
praying anymore he could teach on
kingdom living but he wasn't living it
behind the scenes
and it really hit him it really hurt him
hard now yes he repented
and i believe the lord has restored his
heart
but um it hurt a lot of people it it
hurt a lot of people praise the lord
particularly the koreans so my friends
it's not just how you start
you have to finish right too uh be
careful
you never find yourself in one of those
positions where you're the emperor with
no clothes
but everybody's saying oh we love your
clothes but you know you ain't got no
clothes on
they know it too but they're just those
are your yes people
very very dangerous there's a lot of
that going on in the church today
there's a lot of look you know if you
think the swamp
needs to be drained in dc there's a
swamp in the church too
there's a lot of political activity in
the church hobnobbing and all that stuff
and uh that's that's why there is so
little
moving of the spirit in those type of
circles
doesn't mean that they're not god's
people doesn't mean they're not god's
ministers
but i'm just saying um what's coming
is going to be fresh and different
praise the lord
and the world miracles will not be in
atmospheres or environments
of this arrogance and pride that is it's
a great
uh disgust to the lord pride is one of
the most disgusting things to the lord
and the holy spirit he'll he'll shut off
and he'll shut down
in atmospheres where there's pride
so we want to fly low we want to fly we
want to fly high you know what i mean
but we want to be humble in hearts so
that we're low
we're low thank you father we give you
praise
thank you for the blood of jesus
hallelujah
praise god so filter everything
especially
in the season that you're in right now
when it all shakes out
what remains will be solid and you'll be
effective
and you will be focused and you won't be
just you know all frazzled because
you're going in a million directions all
at the same time
praise god all right so father bless
your people
thank you we give you praise we give you
praise father god
in jesus name amen i'll see you back
next time bye bye