it's been so much prayer and praised and
joy in this house this day I could look
over there and I could see a smile from
ear to ear on her brother because he's
just received something special from God
it really is our portion we actually can
anticipate that and just be a part of
what our hearts not only yearn for but
in an appropriate way not not in a way
where were we're we're looking as as
though God's got to bless me you know we
never want to be presumptuous about the
presence of the Lord you know there's
illustrations in the Bible that are
clear that figures in the Bible didn't
even know they weren't aware that the
Spirit of the Lord had departed from
them and so we want to always be in a
posture of appreciation of valuing what
the presence of God can bring to be in
that appropriate posture of expectation
saying lord I know you have something
for me today I didn't just come here I
didn't just sit in this seat I didn't
just find myself in this moment because
it's part of the drill and it's part of
the routine but Lord you have a purpose
and you've brought me here in your
purpose to be able to be in a place of
receiving from him
so we just enter into this day from that
kind of a posture and we say holy spirit
continue continue in us Father I ask
that you would put salt on our tongues
the salt the Spirit gives that salt that
causes us to be thirsty you know we're
not always thirsty we sometimes feel
very satisfied but this morning would
you just join me in asking the Lord to
rekindle the thirst that our souls would
thirst after him because he says those
at hunger and thirst shall be filled
shall be filled so father we just thank
you that it is your desire it is your
pleasure to Minister your life to assist
your people but Lord we ask that you
would put that salt on our tongues
father that our spirit man would begin
to internally rise up and reach out and
lay hold on the truths lay hold on the
things that you want to give us God we
just ask father that you would
accomplish this because you can and Lord
we can be on the receiving end we've
done it before we know it's available
and so lord I just pray that you will
just settle in this place Holy Spirit
you're the teacher you said that we
would have no need that any man should
teach us
but you Holy Spirit would be the teacher
so we invite you to come into this place
and be our teacher thank you Father
thank you Father in fact I'm going to
give you a charge right now you have the
Liberty in this place not to listen to
me I want you to listen to the spirit of
god you don't have to hear one word that
I say what I say doesn't matter I'm not
saying it's not important I'm saying
what is important is what the Spirit of
God wants to speak to you if your mind
goes elsewhere as guided by the Holy
Spirit I rejoice with you go go get what
God has for you today so that your inner
man will receive what he wants to give
and what he wants to deliver into you
and to your soul so that you will be
rich rich by hearing and hearing the
Word of God now for those of you that
need a little bit direction i will share
a message and in this message I want to
just go back to the year was nineteen
eighty-four I had pastored for about six
and a half years in western New York had
planted our first church that I was
actually the pastor off and had come to
what was the end of that season about to
come over to from Grand Island New York
over to quincy massachusetts where I'd
been called to pasture in an assembly of
god church over over there and and we
put in about eight years over there but
we were in this period of transition and
and the Lord opened this opportunity for
me to go down to Brazil and I had the
privilege of being actually sent there
by if you can believe this of all things
the Rotary Club who would know the
Rotary Club they sent me to study the
ministry in Brazil for five weeks and if
any of you know anything about Brazil I
mean we know a little bit about it
because what's happened there the last
the last month or so but anybody knows
much about Brazil you would know that
there is really some phenomenal things
that are happening they're spiritually
and they were happening there
spiritually at that time as well I I
remember preaching in this in this
church in rio de janeiro and the
missionary old brother Olsen who had
brought me was sitting on this side of
me and the pastor of the church was
sitting on this side of me and before I
preached I leaned over and I was talking
to the pastor who spoke very broken
English and I asked him I says how many
do you have in your congregation and he
said 700,000 and I mean the church was
big but it wasn't that big and it was
like I didn't get it so I leaned over to
the other side and I said to old brother
Olsen I said he says he's got seven
hundred thousand in his church how many
does he really have and he said well
give or take a hundred thousand he's
about right
give or take a hundred thousand how do
you get your head around that well the
way I got my head around it was simply
to find out but that was a mother church
in what they count as everything that's
come out of that church all these
daughter churches they are part of that
church there under that church and
actually in their authority structures
amazingly they were they actually
functioned under that authority and they
were able to like on the Monday
afterwards got together with the 300
daughter churches in Rio alone that was
there and they gave them assignments you
go here you do that you did this knew
that I don't know and off they went and
they executed it and they had they had
churches literally in every nook and
cranny of that area in fact that was one
of the 13 large quote-unquote the column
ministerios and there were 13 within the
Assemblies of God that make up the
Assemblies of God in you know in that in
that nation that's just how they do it
down there I mean it's so different it's
just different but they think that's all
their church and I was preaching and
talking with a man whose name was Don
stamps and I I went to this Hacienda
that he had on this beautiful plane and
you know you think of Brazil as being
you know hot or whatever buddy it wasn't
there it was just it was on it was
elevated and it was dry and beautiful
blue skies and these lovely clouds that
would come and just you know it was just
a really beautiful no insects to speak
of he didn't have screens he would came
out and he had as all of his books and
all of his learning and all of his
education and he was down there to be
able to write the the study notes for
the entire lat
culture in and so he was American but he
went down there he learned Portuguese he
learned Spanish and he became this
wonderful resource and and the
culminating work of his life was this
Latin American study bible and the study
note that he knew that he had to take
this work extremely seriously extremely
seriously because he recognized that
people don't just read the Word of God
but they read those notes and those
notes inform them and shape the
understandings that go along with the
scriptures and Don stamps said to me as
we along with his two sons were out on
horses riding he did this in the
evenings okay he would go out and that
would be his break that would be a kind
of enjoyment so we went out on these
horses and we're just kind of walking
got a quick pace with just kind of
walking along and he says to me he said
if anyone tells you that the Bible that
all you need to do is just read it and
it's plain and simple to understand you
said they're crazy they've never read
the Bible now that's not to suggest that
the plain reading of the Bible doesn't
make sense and I don't want to get off
into some weird doctrine or kind of get
your mind look looking like you know the
Bible is so complex it nobody can
understand it but it's not easy there
are things in the Bible but it does take
a deep sense of agonizing with wrassling
for comprehending and taking into your
spirit what is the intent of those
scriptures what is the point of those
scriptures what are those two things
that are being said at the same time
that sound opposite to each other what
is that
about i remember when i was up at some
classes at gordon-conwell and i was
driving down 128 and as I was coming
back to the church in Quincy I remember
getting this knock you off your horse
revelation anybody ever had one of those
like Paul you know where all of a sudden
you're going along you're trotting along
you're thinking that your understandings
are this way and then something happens
and B you get a whole revelation that is
transformative that happened to me on
128 as I was driving down and I we've
been wrassling in some of the classes
and in some of the understandings trying
to kind of figure out the difference and
this of course was you know the classic
one the one about justification by faith
and and and and God His sovereignty and
us and our are entering into this union
with God by the will of man and it's not
you know God's will that any should
perish but all should come to him and
and and it sounds like opposite things
and God spoke to me and he said you know
what every great truth is held in these
tension points and our understandings
because they're limited float oh we kind
of lean to one side and we kind of move
over and lean to another side in our
understandings and we need to do that we
need to do that I don't want to make it
too complex but what that's pointing to
the fact is that struggle is a part of
God's plan
format write that one down if you want
struggle is part of God's plan for man
you have to struggle Hebrews chapter 4
verse 11 says in the King James Version
I'm going to read it in three different
versions and it's also the same thing it
says let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest now isn't that in
congruent labor work to rest well it's
there again and again but it's so true
so let us say try as hard as you can
this is the English revised version try
as hard as you can to enter God's place
of rest and then the NIV says let us
therefore make every effort to enter
rest what that's talking about is this
struggle that we must partake of that we
must be a part off the struggle of
everything from the little chick inside
the egg I mean that little chick inside
the egg grows up until it can't have any
more room and it's just got to get out
and it starts pecking away just and it
breaks open that egg and the egg which
was its protection and the egg which was
this encasement for it to grow safely
becomes a prism and it's got to break
out of it it's got to struggle it's got
to break out of it you think of the pupa
as part of the cocoon mechanism in going
from a caterpillar to the pupa stage to
the butterfly
now I've heard it said that if you
literally take and you cut open that
pupa case so as to release the butterfly
without the struggle it will die it will
die it needs the struggle in order to
get the strength you wonder why on earth
you have to go through the struggles
there are struggles in life there's no
way around it it's part of God's plan
it's part of God's work it's the way
life happens and you have to struggle if
you don't struggle you'll not enter into
his rest you've gotta work and labor to
comprehend things that are complex
things that are difficult things that
are past finding out and you know what
here's a little secret you'll never get
there in the end because it keeps
getting infinitely mysterious as part of
God's purpose isn't it odd that the God
of all creation who wants us to know him
hides from us and reveals in little bits
what we need to know in the moment to
keep us pressing in it's just how it
happens it's his wisdom and it's his
love if he gave it all to us if he gave
us full bore full revelation we'd be
dead I mean look at Moses wanting to see
God and I suppose in the Bible there's
nobody who actually saw more of God and
Moses in the physical
how did God reveal himself he says you
just stand there behind the rock and I
will slip around here so you just see
just back hurt me cuz if you get to see
all of me you can't live the holiness
the righteousness the might the power
it's just so overwhelming our flesh
can't stand in the presence of holy God
because we are carne carnal we are flesh
will fry I want to tell you about a
probably one of the greatest theological
and spiritual questions that I've had to
grapple with through the years I am
aware of and know a little bit about the
Great Commission GUI and all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature
mark 16 15 and the great commandment
which is Matthew 22 verses 37 to 39 thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart with all thy soul with all their
mind this is the first and Great
Commandment and the second is like unto
it thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself I'm even aware of the new
commandment and I don't know if any of
you have read the book that has been
written by Gaylord ends who is a pastor
and an eloquent teacher about the new
commandment that was almost a forgotten
part of our christology and our
understanding our ecclesiology of the
church but in John chapter 13 verses 34
and 35 a new commandment I give unto you
that you love one another as I have
loved you that you love one another
by this mesh al all men know that you
are my disciples if you have love for
one another I understand the Commission
the Commandant and the new commandment
but the question in my mind that I've
struggled with and I struggled with it
deeply is how could Jesus how could he
come to the earth and give the greatest
truth that the earth has ever seen and
then leave it in the hands of very
flawed broken human beings I struggled
with that a lot I struggle with it every
time I see a preacher fall I've fallen
so I know I struggle when I see the fal
ability of our humanity trying to
communicate and hold dearly these
essential truths that set the captives
free the heal the brokenhearted the do
all these mighty miracles and works
think with me about this dilemma for a
few minutes if this the most important
message to the planet given by the
creator of all things is put into the
hands of the likes of us what hope is
there or hopeless you know what I know
what we do we're we're just we're Rex
you know it's not all right I'm going
somewhere with this
but we are we are look at I want I want
you to look with me yet at Peter for
instance especially look at at Jesus
leaving his message in the hands of
Peter I mean if you were the god of the
universe and you were going to leave
your message to the earth in somebody's
hands wouldn't you look for the most
wise and brilliant articulator all that
message wouldn't you look for somebody
who was a studied individual who is
serious had a sense of gravitas whoo-hoo
really accepted the responsibility and
and shouldered it well I mean wouldn't
you do that what's wrong with God
nothing nothing
think with me about this think about
Peter here he is braggadocious Peter
saying Lord I'll never leave you I'll
never forsake you and then just a few
hours later here he comes at the trial
of Jesus and this little girl says to
him and Luke 22 verses 54 through 62 I'm
not going to read all of it aren't you
this man Jesus who is now on trial don't
weren't you with him I'm sure I saw you
with him just a while ago and then this
brash Peter who had been out there you
know defending Jesus cutting off the ear
of the high priests servant you know
think about it here we go again he says
no I never knew him I never knew and
then it happened again and and you can
read the entire set of scriptures there
that I've articulated and talked about
up to up to verse 62 where it says three
times different people confronted him
and three times he denied him and then
we see how Jesus turned around and he
looked and it said his eyes caught Peter
and he realized he heard the cock crow
and said three times you will deny me
before the cock crows and they heard the
rooster do his thing the eyes met and
it's modem in the heart and he began to
weep and he turned and we know that
Peter Peter did many things of similar
foolishness it didn't just end there he
had to be challenged by Paul and I don't
want to go on and the labor Peter but
all of these people all of them
who follow Jesus they were really a
ragtag bunch they weren't brilliant
people they were fishermen they're
common now what was Jesus thinking why
was he doing this lesson number one is
it's not about us it's not about us the
brilliance of what God did with the
message of the gospel is he put the
power in the message not in the
messenger the power is in the message
that was one of those lightbulb moments
that came to me is it's not about us as
the courier's are the carriers it's
about the message it's about the truth
that is being articulated the power of
Christ is in the message it is the power
like an in Matthew 9 verse 6 the power
to heal bodies but that ye shall know
that the Son of man hath power on earth
to forgive sins then saith he to the
sick of the palsy rise take up your bed
and walk and he did the power is in the
word the power is in the message Matthew
10 verse 1 where he gave them the power
the disciples that says he gave them
power against unclean spirits to cast
them out and to heal all manner of
sickness and disease that's the power
that's in the message God said you can
do this and you can I can the power is
in the word the power is not in the
people the power is in the Word of God
and its articulation under
the unction under the anointing like all
I want is for you to be under the
anointing because the Holy Spirit will
teach you if you get under the anointing
of God's Spirit you will be alive alive
you'll be transformed you'll be changed
you'll go through metamorphose you'll
have to struggle to get there but you
become powerful in him lesson number two
although it's not about us but about the
power that is in us yet we still have
the responsibility and the pleasure of
cooperating with being led by the Holy
Spirit so that he can do his work
through us he'll do it he's waiting to
do it he actually is wanting to do it
and there's a piece and a part of it
that we play we play it because the word
gets into US and the word changes us it
transforms us it renews us it makes us
mighty and strong and lesson number
three God knew that he could leave the
gospel in the hands of inadequate people
like us because the power is in the
gospel the power is in the gospel that
my friend is truly the greatest miracle
of all time and eternity that God would
do like he does in in creation like he
does with people you know you you think
of the seed of a human being
an egg and a sperm and it becomes that
zygote and it grows and inside of a
woman's body and it becomes that fetus
and that it becomes a baby in there and
then his birth then it becomes a living
breathing human being like we all are
that is God's Way God did that by
sending Jesus into the earth and he
liked the DNA code brings that into
humankind and when we are exposed to the
Word of God when we are exposed to the
message of God when we are touched all
of a sudden it hooks up in us and we
begin to change we can't help it we can
fight it and some of us do but
ultimately the power of God and the
gospel is so irrepressible it can't stop
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his
Christ are going to come to earth and
become the kingdoms of our God and King
here and he will rule and reign for all
eternity all of creation is groaning all
of creation according to Romans is in
this tension this struggle waiting for
the manifestation of the sons of God you
know what or hey you're a son of God
when you walk in the anointing there's
power all around your life
Sheldon power power through you David
power power Steve power power Marcus
power in your life you know we we
struggle because it's like Wyatt said
thinks of logs like I don't feel
powerful and ed and we aren't we're not
different than Peter we're not but the
power of God at work in us will do the
miracles will do astounding things will
cause mighty acts Charlotte and I are
going to go this summer in we're gonna
be here next week but we're going to
leave on the monday probably we might
leave sunday afternoon or evening but
we're going to leave we're going to go
up to the gaspé Peninsula in Quebec
when we were young people we went there
and we did work with the establishing of
churches we took young people with us
from all over the United States and
Canada and we've had teams we had as
many as the smallest team was I think 25
and the largest was about 50 that we
could handle on these teams every summer
we did this summer after summer after
summer and we went and we would go in
and we do prayer in the morning and
teaching afternoon would be door-to-door
evangelism in some town or city that we
were focusing on and in the evenings we
would do street ministry we be out there
singing and preaching and making a noise
and people would come around to see what
these weird English people were doing in
Quebec you know and we had this this I
heard stories of this one but I wasn't
there at this
but but of this this little priest on a
scooter coming around and saying you
know don't listen to them don't listen
to them their accountant but we just
preached the gospel we just hey listen
I've come a long ways in my love for
Catholic people and so I don't think
that I'm judging Catholic people and
being negative towards them because I'll
tell you i have seen God work in
Catholic people and them be on fire for
God absolutely on fire for God in fact
i'll make an advertisement if you get a
chance to go to the lift ministries
catholic service that they have in
milton on a tuesday evening once a month
where they have a worship service you
will be blessed out of your socks so I
mean a lot of things have changed and
God's at work in a lot of different ways
and I that would take me a whole other
message to talk about what I see as as
God's divine way of doing different
things through different people through
different agencies to accomplish his
divine purpose that is really Universal
it's way beyond how we can get it but he
doesn't he doesn't but anyway here we
were out there preaching and singing and
testifying and one person who'd get a
mic and we get up and we preach and talk
and you know people come around and they
look and think you're weird and that but
but we just love them and we just
preached the gospel and you know what of
the five churches we planted for are
thriving and one of the churches that we
try to create kind of like a mission
station send out sin and the mole on the
north coast of the of the gaspé
peninsula didn't really take hold but
now it's got a church you know and so
we're going to go back and we're going
to be with these churches and these
pastors
stay at the property that we had our
outreach center at and we ended up
giving it over to them and they use it
as a camp now to be able to do their
outreach of working there and and to
bless them and as a family camp there so
we're gonna go and enjoy you know what
we were just kids went behind their ears
you know we just didn't know what we
were doing it didn't matter it really
didn't matter you know the team's going
to Honduras you can think oh who are we
you know I don't have much to say you
know I what's ya look get over it you're
carrying a treasure you're carrying a
treasure it's not about you it's not
about you by god it's not about you I
mean if it were about you who love me
what I forget it you know God and his
work and his message would never have
worked it were about us but it's not we
just have to say it we just have to tell
it we just have to point to him if we do
that you'll do the work he'll do the
work he'll do the work what do I want
you to do here in these moments that we
have left I got a couple of things that
I'd like to make us suggestions I want
you to begin to ask the Lord to help you
flee the fear of failure a lot of us
don't dispense the Word of God because
we feel like you know where either a
failure or we might fail and we might
let somebody down so i don't i don't
think i want to tell them this powerful
message that Jesus can set them free
that Jesus can heal them I'm gonna ask
you just to give some thought to that
would you would you just begin to kind
of look in your heart and ask have I
been afraid to really be bold in telling
about Jesus and his love what he can do
and if you have been I'm going to invite
you to just lay that aside reject that
and say I'm not going to give place to
any fear of failure in my life we've all
failed God we've talked about it God
uses flawed people to get his work done
so don't worry about it and I want you
to press on to know the Lord to learn
how to listen to his still small voice
and the voice of his spirit realizing
that you can blow it and that you likely
will but not have that be an inhibiting
factor then I want to ask you to begin
to be confident to take risks you know
it is attributed to Martin Luther this
statement love God and sin boldly
doesn't that seem like an oxymoron seems
like a disconnect it's not it's really a
good word it really is love God love him
and if you sin don't be afraid of it I
mean sin is not have any rule over you
under God I'm not making excuses here
don't misunderstand what I'm saying okay
don't misunderstand what I'm saying but
you know where we get trapped is that we
sin privately quietly hidden and then it
has control over us because we we don't
want anybody to know and we want to keep
that so put it out there deal with it
get God to work in your life who some
folk here with Living Waters ministry I
tell you it's a great ministry I've been
through it I've taught in it we know
that it works really you got issues in
your life just get to work but don't
stop living for God in the midst of it
don't stop administering His grace well
you have to work through the struggles
of your development if you waited until
you are all right before you declare him
you'll never declare him so declare him
declare his power declare what he can do
now this this week I i was i was down in
DC in fact we didn't get the entire
shoot done so i got to go back tomorrow
morning at seven-thirty and we were
we're on a site survey in baltimore
before this broadcast that is going to
be done on September the 14th it's
called star-spangled sunday it's going
to be we're going to be doing the
broadcast out of Charlotte North
Carolina vote with FRC family research
council and tony Perkins will be the
host of it he's the head of that
ministry but we were shooting pieces of
it at Fort McHenry in Baltimore because
that's where the poem was written for
the star-spangled banner
from Francis Scott Key and I don't need
to give you a history lesson right now
because it'd probably be a little longer
a little late but but how how that he
was there and he was looking in over the
British ships that were doing the
bombardment of fort mchenry and then the
flag the guy who was the major of the
garrison hoisted up this huge flag and
we actually went to the house where
Betsy Ross actually it sewed it and we
did a little piece with a reenactor and
it'll be in that you know it'll be part
of a part of the program that comes up
on the on the 14th but but anyway he's
looking and they hoist this huge flag it
was 30 feet tall and 42 feet wide and
the flag was still there in the morning
and that's what the star-spangled banner
is written around and about it comes out
of that incident and it's 200 years
since that battle on the seven September
the 14th and so that's why they're
calling a star-spangled Sunday but we
were doing a site survey and trying to
park my van and this guy who was
homeless and had had a few to drink came
up but he wasn't trying to hustle me it
was just interesting it was just
different and because I I grew up my
parents were salvation army officers and
I grew up kind of where there was a lot
of conniving that went on to get money
and they mark the salvation army and
they went there and as I as a kid kind
of gave away money to some of these
people and I felt we kind of used so I
got a little bit of a jadedness in my
heart against some of some of that the
shenanigans that sort of goes in and
around that this young man
I don't know what it was except that the
Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and he
said don't just put him off take some
time and so I I had him come with me
over I dropped off the others for lunch
and and I trot over there with this this
young man or to the place where we're
having lunch I said hey make room for
women and they're kind of looking at me
like you know what what are you doing
you know but I felt really directed of
the Lord now hear me I've never done
this before so it's not like I do this
all the time but I was directed of the
Lord for this young man's soul and we
sat down and the man who was sitting
next to me on on my right hand side this
young man J Justin was on on my left and
the and the man his name was b.o.b e al
l is his last his last name and he was
he kind of a had worked with Campus
Crusade for Christ for a lot of years
and so he and I were just in
conversation with this young man and we
began to talk and this this man this mr.
Beale he knew a fella who it worked in
the mission there in baltimore had
pastored a very large and a very
successful church and just felt like God
had something else for him and so he
just stepped down from that church and
he just started a ministry in the inner
city of Baltimore and so this young man
knew him and had a positive sense about
him so when we were sharing and talking
to him about the Lord God was at work it
was one of those God things that you
could just see actually unfolding and
actually happening so I didn't see him
make a prayer of commitment to Jesus
Christ
but I know that the gospel was planted
in his soul and he said he prays every
day you know what he's just another man
in process that's what I believe he's
just another man and process but they
were able to hook up and hook up him
with that with that man who runs the
mission and and God's gonna put his arm
around that young man just like i did to
bio a meal and gods going to Stewart and
Shepherd him through a process in life
you know why i have confidence in that
because he did it in those churches that
we planted in quebec years and years and
years ago and now we're going back to
see them that's the gospel so don't
think oh I don't have anything to say
yes you do yes you do and don't be
afraid of saying it God's gonna cause
you to be a mighty missionary you know
God had God had one son and he was a
missionary he set him to earth right
we're gonna be like him as we press in
we're going to be more and more like him
worship team would you come on up I do
want you to do that examining with me
flee the fear of failure cast your cares
on him repent of thinking that I'm not
good enough I can't articulate well
enough I can't defend the faith strong
enough I don't know how to share the
gospel effectively
just do it I like Nike huh I just do it
just do it and allow the Holy Spirit to
have his way I'll be confident in God
take risks take risks