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Welcome to the Raising Up Fathers Podcast. We are here to champion men to thrive in their four main roles: son, husband, father, and brother.
Through testimonies and best practices. Our goal is to help you look a little more like Jesus in the areas that matter the most. Our vision is to raise up ten thousand fathers in the name of Jesus. You can find out more at raisingupfathers.com
If what you heard today encouraged you, please share it with a friend.
First, we're gonna have a testimony by mister Preston Reese. Preston's gonna hop up here. Alright. Hey. Preston came.
Speaker 1:He's been here the last two years. Got his world rocked two years ago. Transformed his life, his family. The Lord is good. Hey.
Speaker 1:My one encouragement is, this happens every year. The first night, you know, it's like worshiping guys. We're like, what is this place? I don't know what's going on. Who's this guy I'm sitting next to?
Speaker 1:What do I do with my hands? But Saturday is when it always kicks into gear. Okay? Like, you kinda know some people. You're like, this was weird at first.
Speaker 1:It still is weird, but I'm cool with it. Let's let's go for it. Okay? And my encouragement is during worship, if you came with someone, alright, I know you see something in them that's godly. I know you see something in them that you admire.
Speaker 1:Even if there's 99 things that you don't admire, there's one thing that you do admire. Go up to them, and I encourage y'all to speak it over them and say a prayer over them. K? Let's get moving. Let's get encouraging.
Speaker 1:Alright. For all of you people who are like, I need some me time this afternoon, you're gonna have five hours to do whatever you wanna do. So let's invest the next two hours and it'll be good. But, it's great. Preston Reese.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Zach. How are we doing this morning, gentlemen? Good. Feeling good? How about that breakfast, man?
Speaker 2:It's amazing. Gosh. I just wanna before I, share just briefly, just wanna give honor where honor is due and just say thank you to, to Zach and to Ben. Thank you guys for just leading out. Zach, thank you for modeling for me just what a true spiritual father looks like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Lord wrecked my heart a few years ago. Zach and I met while we were on staff together, and, I asked him if he would Bravado and communication skills and leader. And I was like, man, I need all those things. Maybe you can't grow, you know, five more inches, but thought we could get there. And, first time we meet, we're over this Zoom call and he's like, So how's your heart?
Speaker 2:And by the end of the meeting, I'm like leaving in tears, crying, and I'm like, How did he see into my soul? And, not what I was expecting. And the Lord knew exactly what I needed. And so thank you, Zach. Just thankful to God for ten thousand fathers.
Speaker 2:And, he invited me to this thing in Colorado Springs. And he was like, Hey, man, no pressure. Love for you to come. And I was like, I'm not going. I didn't tell him that.
Speaker 2:Talked to my wife about it a little bit. And, she was like, you need to go because my wife loved Zach because every time I talked to Zach, I was a better husband and a better father. And so she was like, well, if Zach's saying it, you need to do it. And I was like, all right, story short, came, didn't know what to expect, but I was heavy heart and expected for what the Lord would do. And night one in worship of January 2023, is Zeb here this weekend?
Speaker 2:I don't know if Zeb's here. I didn't see him. Okay. Yeah. So Zeb, I had never met Zeb, and, during worship, he walks over to me.
Speaker 2:And, I, like some of you guys, grew up in a fairly conservative background, and so, like, prophetic words spoken over me, just a word of encouragement. He he wrote this and I still keep it in the back of my bible, and it's just an acrostic with my name, in the middle and a letter there is s. Right? So Preston, middle letter is s and it just says, son. And he began to speak over me, pressing you're a man of purity.
Speaker 2:You're, you're gonna bring restoration to your family. You're gonna establish generations. And then he said you're gonna you're gonna recognize your, your identity as a son of the father. And when he said son, kindness, of what it means to be his son. And so Zeb, Zeb was influential in that.
Speaker 2:And, this is gonna be super weird for me, but I'm gonna take just a active vulnerability here. And I've got like a, I don't know if I'd call it a poem. So I know we're at a men's retreat, so I'm sorry. But, maybe it's just let's think if David wrote some some, you know, some poetic literature. But I figured instead of me sharing my, my story and getting all in the weeds of it, I would just read this over you, to you and you guys could maybe hear my heart and what the lord's done.
Speaker 2:So here we go. Bear with me. Heart full of shame, selfishness, and pride. Performance is how I lived out my why. Earn it, work harder, then you'll achieve the status position and acceptance you seek.
Speaker 2:Wife is crumbling under the weight of my stress, distracted, unaware of the pain I inflict. Broken doors, shattered hearts, holes in the walls, bloody knuckles, bruised ego, not who I want to be at all. Heart is pounding, palms full of sweat overcome with fear, anxiety, regret, lacking passion, purpose, identity, and why, who am I, whose am I, believing the lie. I'm only valuable for what I can do, no worth of my own unless it's produced. Colorado Springs, January Twenty Three, God uses men like Zach, Berkland, and Steve.
Speaker 2:This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased when I'm This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased what the father spoke over Jesus, he now declares over me. In repentance and rest, you will be saved. Run, return to the father no longer afraid. Striving. My burden is light, yoke easy, stop hiding.
Speaker 2:Like the prodigal lost, broken and lonely, he clothes me in robes of grace, declared righteous and holy. A new ring on my finger, my son, he declares never to be cast out from his presence again. All the rights, privileges, blessings, and honor now bestowed upon me as a son of a good father. The one who alone is good, full of compassion and grace. I now rest, I can rest in his eternal embrace.
Speaker 2:Praise God. Yeah. That's all I got. I just man, God is a good father, and that's what he's taught me. That's that's what I've been able to walk in these past few years post 10,000 fathers.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Zach. Thankful for Steve. Man, let's go. I think I'm turning it over to, John Williams, the one and only.
Speaker 3:The composer, right? Good morning, guys. And I just love being here with you guys. We're gonna just take a moment to pray. I'm gonna pray some of God's words over us.
Speaker 3:And, yeah, the Lord, spoke to me yesterday, and just gave me this really simple verse that I'm gonna pray over our group today. And it just it means a lot to me and hopefully will to us too. Messing everything up here. So let's just go to the word to the Lord with, in a word of prayer here. Psalm 103.
Speaker 3:Lord, you gave us this. Let all that I am praise the Lord. With my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the lord. May I never forget the good things he does for me.
Speaker 3:Lord, you forgive all our sins. You heal our diseases. You redeem us from death. You crown us with your love and your tender mercies. You fill our lives with good things.
Speaker 3:Our youth is renewed like the eagles. Lord, you give righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. You reveal your character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. Lord, you're compassionate and merciful. You're slow to get angry, and you're filled with unfailing love.
Speaker 3:You will not constantly accuse us nor remain angry forever. You do not punish us for all our sins. You do not deal harshly with us as we deserve. For your unfailing love towards those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. You've removed our sins as far from us as the East is from the West.
Speaker 3:Lord, you are a father to us, to your children. You're tender and compassionate tender and compassionate to those who fear you. For you know our weaknesses, and you you you remember that we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass, like wildflowers that bloom and die. The wind blows and we're gone, as though we've never been here.
Speaker 3:But, Lord, your love remains forever. It remains forever with those who fear you. Your salvation extends to our children's children, to those who are faithful to your covenant. Lord, you've made the heavens your throne, and from there, you rule over everything. Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans.
Speaker 3:Listen for each of his commands. Praise the lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will. Praise the lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom. Let all that I am praise the lord. And so, lord, this morning, as we are nestled in the bosom of the beauty of this creation that you've made for us, you've invited us here, lord, and you've been waiting for us.
Speaker 3:You came to hear us. You came to hear our hearts. You came to knit us together as brothers. You came to instruct us as fathers. You are our father.
Speaker 3:There's no better teacher, and we come to you this weekend. And, Lord, I thank you for your word. And I just heard the Lord say to me, those who have ears, let them hear. And, Jesus, you instructed us that many times, yet there is such an opportunity, I feel, for us fathers to be good listeners, to learn to be good listeners because you listen to us. You listen to us every time we come to you.
Speaker 3:So I just pray, father, that we as men, as fathers, as husbands, as sons, as brothers, would be attentive to all those who you place in our paths, that we would learn to be great listeners, to seek to understand, to draw upon the wisdom of others who come to us and just listen. So, Lord, I just pray today that as we listen for you, holy spirit, that you would whisper to our hearts, that you would, speak to us. There are men here that have big questions, Lord. And I just pray that they will hear your voice this weekend. I pray for we pray for guidance, for encouragement, for wisdom, for strength, and we just invite you to come and instruct us, Lord, and to lead us.
Speaker 3:Lord, I love these brothers. We love each other. We love you. And I just pray now, Lord, that you will be honored in with our worship in Christ's name. Amen.
Speaker 4:Alright, guys. I got a treat for you guys this morning. Let's see if this technology can work. But the screen. We got Steve Allen here.
Speaker 4:Let's see if I can do this. Well, I'm flipping this around here. Wow, my face looks great. Here we go. There we you can see you guys.
Speaker 4:If you wanna say hi. This is Steve Allen. We just wanted to give just give honor where honor is due. He was the one that started this years ago, the dream of 10,000 fathers. He's there in Nashville right now.
Speaker 4:There's a group about 20 or 25 guys in the barn in Columbia. You guys will probably know a few of the guys that are there, but, for those of you who know his story, he does have ALS. And every year that we have gathered, we've also wanted to make it a point that we wanna pray and believe contend for his healing. So if you guys can just stand with me in just one honor, but then also just stretch out your hands to the screen or to this phone. I just want to pray and just join our faith together for Steve Allen.
Speaker 4:So Jesus, we just pray right now. We lift up Steve. We say thank you. Thank you for the dream that you put in his heart for 10,000 fathers. We say thank you for your faithfulness in his life, oh God, and we just pray for your full healing.
Speaker 4:We plead the blood of Jesus over his physical body. We ask, Lord, that the healing that you bought and paid for on the cross would come and touch him. Body, soul, mind, and spirit, would you come lift him up even today? Thank you for what you're doing in Colorado Springs and in Columbia, Tennessee. And we ask Lord that you, through your mighty right hand, would do this all.
Speaker 4:In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Speaker 1:Hey, you guys have a seat. Give honor where honor is due. There's absolutely no way I'd be here if it wasn't for Steve Allen. I want you to to stand up if Steve how if Steve Allen has directly impacted your life. And then I want you, if you're here, to stand up if someone who is standing has directly impacted your life.
Speaker 1:And this is second Timothy two two. It says, you know, Steve Allen is the the most faithful man I know, and he has entrusted this to faithful men who will then teach others. And so I wanna give it up for
Speaker 5:Steve.
Speaker 4:Dad, I don't know if you wanna say anything. We can kinda hear you through the mic if you wanna just share anything to the men here.
Speaker 5:Isaiah 51 verse one. All you who pursue righteousness, you seek the face of God. Look to the rock
Speaker 6:from which you were cut.
Speaker 5:Look to the quarry from which you were here. Just wanna encourage all of you to look to the rock. Jesus, Yeshua is our elder brother. The forerunner is the perfect one, the beloved. And so as we become godly fathers, as we pursue these four roles of the men of god, may we become what we behold.
Speaker 5:Bless you all this weekend as you gather, as you pray, as you are transformed by his presence. Blessings to each of you. Love you all.
Speaker 4:Alright. Love you, Dan.
Speaker 7:Papa Don Finto is recognized for many things. It doesn't matter. No one no one cares. I know. I know he does.
Speaker 7:We're not here to talk about me. Pablo Finto is recognized for many things. The outside observer will take note of his distinguished stature. He's the biggest man in any room. And I'm not speaking about his height, although he is tall.
Speaker 7:But he carries it if you've spoken with him, he carries this air of nobility. You know? And it's directly connected to the assurance of his identity. He is someone who knows who he is as a son. And because of that, he walks in such freedom and power in life more than anyone I've ever known.
Speaker 7:He is also known as the mon you know, he has the moniker Papa Don, which is interesting because he never really knew his father, not really as a son. Which is why he's also known for saying that in Jesus, you can become what you never had. He's known for out kicking his coverage when he married the beautiful and intelligent and charming Martha Ann Graves, who by the way was engaged already when he first met her. Scallywag. I also learned yesterday that instead of going into the mission field, he he almost became a DJ.
Speaker 7:In which case we would be calling him Big Papa Don. After getting married, the first eight years of their marriage, they spent in post war Germany bringing the victory of
Speaker 5:the gospel to the hearts of those in a defeated nation.
Speaker 7:They came back. He got his PhD at Vanderbilt, was a professor at Lipscomb University, and then was the senior pastor at Belmont Church in Downtown Nashville on Music Row, where all sorts of things happen. The Jesus movement took place, the birth of CCM basically took place on campus under his watchful eye. And after twenty five years, he left to to to found Caleb Company, which is now Caleb Global, you may have heard of, which ultimately is called to inspire the church to to to spur on Israel, to return to their God in this her long awaited hour of returning according to Isaiah chapter six. But to to me, he's the man that my kids could just run up to and hug, who's been there at almost every major spiritual milestone that my family's ever had.
Speaker 7:And I know he's this and so much more because of those of you that know him have your own personal stories of Papa Don.
Speaker 5:So without further ado, would you please join me in welcoming the esteemed Papa Don Finto?
Speaker 8:I'm I'm grateful to be with you. And if I had one subject to talk about, all the kinds of subjects about men, I mean, big sons would be the one. I I love that. And, so I'm gonna be sharing some things with you, that I see. But what I want you to do is I want you to be listening for the Lord.
Speaker 8:And, and I I I always carry pen and I mean, I'm, rather than putting my iPhone, but some of you take those. But I always carry pen and pencil I mean, paper with me all the time in my back pocket because if the Lord speaks, I wanna remember what he said. And I just wanna challenge you when I'm talking, listen for the Lord and take notes on what God says. Because I believe there are some transforming things that that we feel. I'm still in the process of being conformed.
Speaker 8:I mean, being transformed. I really believe that. And I believe there's more that God wants me to do. So, Lord, I just pray in the name of Jesus that you'll open my heart and our hearts to what you're wanting to say and do in these next few minutes. In Jesus' name.
Speaker 8:Amen. Well, as I started I mean, I'm I'm pondering this whole thing of of how to talk to you about being good sons. And the first scripture that came to mind is which is which I want to share is the one that is part of the 10 commandments and Paul quotes in Ephesians six, Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and you may enjoy long life on the earth. So I wanna start out by saying that as that sons need to learn to honor their fathers and mothers. And and you know what?
Speaker 8:And and what I thought about when I was reading this and preparing and thinking that for you, Jesus doesn't, I mean and and I mean, Paul here doesn't make any exceptions for abusive fathers or anything like that. He didn't say except for abusive fathers. You'd have to honor them. I mean and so if you didn't have a father like I didn't, my father left the family when I was two years old. So I really never knew him.
Speaker 8:I mean, I got acquainted with him when I was a adult, but I really never knew him. And, and and yet I I mean, even before I fully understood what I'm talking about right now, I felt like there were I needed to somehow get acquainted with him and and just and pray for him. And so I did. I mean I found where he lived and I drove up to his house and he was, I mean, out in the country, near Laverland, Texas. And, walked out the front door and the woman he left my mother for was up on the door and she knew who I was.
Speaker 8:And my dad had multiple sclerosis at the time, so I carried him to his car and drove him around the farm just to be with him a little bit and and pray over him. And and let I didn't I don't think I mean, I don't know if I ever said I forgive you for what you did, but I I had to do that. And and and I wanna say they came back to the lord, and he they the couple even went to my grandparents and apologized for what they had done to our whole family before they died. They came back to the lord. So but I just wanna say you I mean, whoever you're and then then there's a secondary part of this that you honor spiritual mothers and fathers.
Speaker 8:Who are the people that are poured into you? There was a time not all that long ago where I felt like the Lord was asking me to write a note of gratitude to every single person I could think of who'd had a spiritual influence in my life. I mean, even the even some of them that didn't go on in the way I did, but still and I mean, at that time, I did. And and and I would have to my grandparents, particularly my grandmother was a praying grandmother. And I really I give her credit for who I am.
Speaker 8:Because when I did something stupid when I was a kid, she'd say, that's not who you really are. And I won't go into the stuff stupid stuff I did. But she just she was always pouring life into me. And and and I did and so they were and I really did honor them. I wrote about them, all that kinds of things.
Speaker 8:But so I just challenge you to go for that, to be too spiritually. But then, what I what I where I really wanna go is that now all of us, if you had a good father praise be to God. But he wasn't perfect. If you didn't have a good father, it's okay. Come on, forgive him and move on.
Speaker 8:But now, we all have a perfect father. He is perfect. And what does a father do? A father speaks life into his children. A father sees things in his children that they don't see in themselves and he calls it forth.
Speaker 8:So I just want to challenge you to let God define who you are now. And Paul says in Christ Jesus, you're all children of God through faith. And so let's just think about let's just think together about some of the things that God the father wants to do. And and I'm the the reason why I'm saying some of the things I'm I'm saying today is because I genuinely believe that there's some of these things I mean, that I didn't get it for a long time. And that that everybody doing I'm confident personally that much of the church does not understand the gospel message.
Speaker 8:And I want you to know that I, when I was a child, came to the Lord through a Christian family, baptized when I was 11, and I still can see myself back at the farm hanging my clothes on the line after I was baptized. I remember I felt so free because I knew that all my sins had been forgiven. But you know what? Before bedtime, I didn't feel free anymore because I knew I'd thought things I shouldn't have thought and somehow for the next whatever, however years, I somehow felt like that if I committed any kind of sin even in my thoughts and didn't repent before I died, I'd go to hell. And so I would I mean, I nearly drove myself insane trying to be good because I'd want to confess all the sins I could think of and whatever I didn't think of and go to sleep real quick before I had time to think of anything else.
Speaker 8:And then I'd want to try to at least get to the car before I the next morning of confessing anything that I'd thought of during the anyway, I nearly drove myself insane trying to be a good But the reality is and I'm confident that, I think I had misread, or misthought of what Peter said on the day of Pentecost when he said, Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins of your sins, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And I think I had read it as saying, Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your past sins, And you'll receive a gift. And so and that's how I interpret it. But I feel like any sin that I committed now, I've got to be sure and confess. Let me say it.
Speaker 8:That is not the gospel. The gospel is in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will be forgiven of all your sins, past, present, and future. And I've told you, it was huge for me when I finally understood that I am righteous in God's sight. And I've that I am righteous in God's sight. And I got the message really, strangely enough, out of Romans one, two, and three.
Speaker 8:Because Romans one, if you have any recollection, says the world's in a mess. And Romans two one says, so are you. And I I argued with the lord when I first saw that because I didn't do all this stuff that that's mentioned in Romans one. But then I paused and I realized that if that started going down a path of sin and got worse and worse, there's probably not anything in Romans one I couldn't do at some point. But then I get to Romans three and and Paul just hammers it.
Speaker 8:There's nobody right there. It's not a one. No single one. None. But But then he gets to verse 21 in 22.
Speaker 8:And he says that this gift of righteousness. This gift of righteousness. And when you get a gift, you didn't deserve it. And I realized that I was righteous and in God's sight. And part of my vision statement is it starts off like this and everybody needs a vision statement.
Speaker 8:But I believe the word of God more than I believe my emotions or feelings and therefore I boldly declare that I'm becoming more like Jesus every day. I'm righteous in his sight. Corinthians three eighteen, we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed in his likeness with every increasing glory. Paul says that our destiny is to become like Jesus. And so when I when I realized that I mean, when I when I heard those two scriptures, I realized that my destiny was to become like Jesus, and I genuinely believed that all the junk that had been a part of my childhood could not only did my did did my dad leave the family, my mother died, and I was with my grandparents, but I had a preacher cousin of all things who sexually molested me.
Speaker 8:And then and and I was introduced to pornography as a kid. I don't even know how old I was. But anyway, it plagued me for years until I understand began to understand that I was righteous in his sight. And and when I the night that I really received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, there were two things that happened. I I I had no I had no manifestation at all that night.
Speaker 8:But I said to the Lord two things. Number one, I said, okay. I know now that you've been talking to me and I didn't know it was you. John eight forty seven says, those who belong to God hear what God says. And I wanna tell everybody in this room, if you belong to God, you hear what God says.
Speaker 8:So you need to learn to listen to him. I mean, when you're praying, it's a two way thing. You don't just pray. You listen. And sometimes you may just need to pause and say, God, is there anything you want to say to me?
Speaker 8:And so I said to Laura that night, from this point, Just give me the energy and I'll do it no matter what I also realized that the devil, and this might be for some of you, that the devil is throwing stuff into my head and then turning around in the truancy of the job that I'd had that was a part of my child. And so I said, okay, Lord, from this point forward, whenever I hear something that's evil and it couldn't possibly be right, I'm gonna say, get back to hell where you belong. That's not mine. And you know what? That cleared the deck.
Speaker 8:I hadn't had a moment a moment of remembering any of that stuff since then. It it totally was gone. And so we we need to realize that we're righteous in his sight. And Paul even says in and and I thought it was a mistranslation the first time I really saw it. In in Romans four verse eight he says, blessed is the man who sinned, the Lord doesn't count against him.
Speaker 8:And I thought, that's that couldn't be. And so I got every Bible I could find to see if it's how it was trying but that's what it says. And, why isn't our sin counted in? Well, and so I began to think, well, what's the big deal with sin then if it's not counted? Romans six, he says, So shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Speaker 8:God forbid. And so we're we don't do our good works when we're in order to be saved. We do our good works out of a position of being redeemed and being righteous. But if if you haven't gotten that message that you're righteous, you don't deserve it, then you need to get in the front of a mirror tonight before you go to bed and point to yourself and say you are righteous in God's sight. And you may you may feel like saying, well, I don't feel like I'm righteous.
Speaker 8:And then you say to you, I didn't ask you what you felt like. I'm telling you what is true. And I want everybody in this room to begin to believe that we are righteous in the sight of God. And we're redeemed in his sight. And Hebrews the tenth chapter verse 14 even says, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Speaker 8:So we're in the process of maturing in the Lord, but in the meantime, you are righteous. You have you're He has given you his righteousness. That's Romans five seventeen, the gift of righteous. So that's the first thing. You are sons.
Speaker 8:We are sons of God. Right. The other thing that I want to say to you is that I I believe that one of my roles in life now is to recruit optimists because I I want every single person in this room to become an optimist. I frankly believe it's a sin to be a pessimist. And I have a I have a doctor friend whose specialty is geriatrics And she said there actually been studies done that optimists live longer than pessimists.
Speaker 8:And why should I not be an optimist? Because Paul says in Romans eight twenty eight and it's the NASB version, the New American Standard Version, he says that God causes all things to work together for our good. It's not good but he causes everything. Well if he causes everything to work for our good, then we've got to be optimists and look through whatever is happening to us. Even if it's not good stuff, he will cause it to work for our good.
Speaker 8:And so I I pulled that back into my childhood and started thinking about, well, God, but some of the stuff how how did you how did you cause to good that my dad left and I never really knew him? And then I paused for him and I said, oh, that's right. He wasn't the kind of guy that I need if he'd stayed in the family, I might have been like him. And he wasn't a godly man. But but because he died, I mean, he was out of the picture.
Speaker 8:And so, okay. Thank you. I see what you did. Well, what about my mother dying two years later? Good in a pot of her men?
Speaker 8:And I thought, oh, that's right. If my mother had lived, I would have been in the household with four women, three older sisters and my mother, still no father. And that that wasn't good. Okay. Thank you, Lord.
Speaker 8:Alright. So then it was my grandparents and they were godly people and a godly godly father figure. And, so but then I thought about the sexual molestation. God, how'd you work that for my good? God, how'd you work that for my good?
Speaker 8:And I've had to pause for me and I thought, oh, that's true. That's true. It made me a better pastor because I'm I'm I'm more understanding for people that have had problems. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 8:I'm just telling you, we should be we should be radical optimists because everything God causes everything to work together. The next thing that I that I see to challenge you with is that I want you I want everybody in this room to be what I call a radical forgiver. That you are determined. There's never gonna be the unforgiveness toward anybody no matter what they've done. And the biggies in my life were also were obviously my dad, the woman who ran off with and the woman the man who molested me.
Speaker 8:But then there are little stuff. I mean, there it's so funny. I always think of a time as it's there there's little stuff and I I don't know why this illustration always comes back to because it was just so funny. I I taught a class at the Downtown Presbyterian Church for twenty years, and I was driving down one one, Monday morning, I think it was, that we had that had it. And and I was just feeling so good, and there was a woman here who was trying to get in traffic, and so I just motioned her to come right in.
Speaker 8:I was very magnanimous and told her to come in. But but it was a four lane four lane road, and she got in front of me and blocked me. And I thought I I was furious inside by myself. I thought I'd never let you in if I thought you were gonna block me for thirty seconds or a minute, you know? And I thought you were gonna turn right.
Speaker 8:And then all of a sudden, I got amused at how I was feeling because it was unforgiveness. And I started laughing out loud in the car by myself and said, honey, you stay there as long as you want to. I forgive you in the name of Jesus. But I'm just telling you, that's the kind of lifestyle that we that we have to have. The Lord's Prayer again, Jesus says forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Speaker 8:I like that better than the word trespass because trespass sounds like there's some somebody stepping on your property and that's not, you know and anyway, I like the word I I understand the word sin. So forgive us our sins. But let me tell you, the scorcher scripture on unforgiveness, listen to me well and go home and read it if you need to, is that if you don't have this one, is the parable of the two debtors. In Matthew the eighteenth chapter beginning verse 21 through 35. And the first guy, the king, there's a man who owed him a massive debt.
Speaker 8:So big that there's no way if he's a normal worker that he ever in many lifetimes could have paid it. And he he said begs the pen the the king to forgive him And he forgave him. And that man goes out and finds somebody that owed him a day's worth with wages. And the man couldn't pay him and knelt down and said, please forgive me. And he wouldn't forgive him.
Speaker 8:He had him turned over, he had him put in jail and one of the translations says, turned over to the tormentors until he could pay his debt, which of course he never could. That's that's okay. Understand so far? But listen to verse 35. This is how my heavenly father will treat each one of you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from the heart.
Speaker 8:That's a scorcher. I don't I'm not gonna ask for a raise of hands, but I'm wondering if there's anybody in this room that are thinking somebody you haven't forgiven right now. And and if you haven't forgiven them, you're the one who's being tormented according to scripture. It's like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die. And so I challenge you in the name of Jesus to forgive everybody.
Speaker 8:I mean if somebody cheated you out a lot a lot of money, forgive them. And you do not forgive with your emotions. They'll never come around. You forgive with your will. And you pray for them that they'll come to know the Lord.
Speaker 8:We pray for our enemies. We love our we're to love our enemies. Well, how can you love them? You love what God hopes for them. You pray for them.
Speaker 8:You want them redeemed. You don't want them to keep on walking in sin. And so walk in and learn learn forgiveness all the days of your life. But then the other thing that another thing that I'm thinking about is that I want to challenge all of us and it's you may not have thought about like this, but believe and obey the commandments. And you say, well, of course, I do.
Speaker 8:But let me check you on it. But if if when God gives a commandment, he gives the ability to obey it. If he didn't, it would be cruelty. If he gave us commands we could not obey, that's cruel. So when he gives a command, he'll give the ability to do it.
Speaker 8:So one of the commands that I read is, don't have any anxiety about anything. But in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So don't have any anxiety. It's a sin to be anxious. Well, you may say, well, I just can't help it.
Speaker 8:Yes, you can. Because Jesus said you could. And I I just I'm I'm thinking a bit of I thought of an illustration again that just out of my past, but when it was really a strong because I I mean, actually this day, I still have some I I still fight with that. I mean, I'll try to I find myself being anxious and I'm so I repent and just say, no, Lord. I trust you.
Speaker 8:But we were going from Africa back to Israel with a group of Israeli brothers and sisters. And and and we got to Cairo and they couldn't find my ticket. And it looked like I wasn't gonna be able to get on the plane, and I was gonna be left in Cairo by myself. And I really started getting anxious. And then all of a sudden, I realized what was happening.
Speaker 8:I said, oh, okay, Lord. No. Alright. No, Lord. It's in your hands.
Speaker 8:I mean, maybe there's somebody you want me to speak to about you while I'm still in Cairo. And if you want me to do that, then I yield to it. But I got rid of the anxiety and got on the plane. But you can't always be you can't make a deal with the Lord. You don't know that that's always going to happen.
Speaker 8:But there's another command here, in Hebrews the twelfth chapter, just just these, just these four words. The four words. Endure hardship as discipline. To continually mold you into the nature of Jesus. And so just be one who wins you when you read the word, you will you will obey and and and you will do whatever that word says.
Speaker 8:But another thing that I'm seeing is, and and and already I've already told you that this was huge for me, but that our destiny is to be like Jesus. Your destiny is to be like Jesus. And, and and I I'll I'll just say that let me let me just pull pull back because, again, I I would challenge you all to have identity statements based on God. See, what God God is the one who describes who you are, and I challenge everybody to get God's view of who you are. And and so I believe the word of God more than I believe my own emotions or feelings, and therefore, I boldly declare that I'm becoming more like Jesus every day.
Speaker 8:I'm righteous at his sight, and I have a secure future. I don't dwell on the past, but I embrace everything God is doing in this generation and whatever whatever is doing. And at this point in my life, it's primary role of my life is to be a father to my children, my extended family and others, and an apostolic voice to the people of God challenging and I almost choke on this too. Challenging through who I am and what I say, write and do to be radically sold out to Jesus all their lives and to embrace whatever God's role has for you in this generation at this point. And I I just recently have begun to believe that there are only that I can see only two biblical reasons for us to stay alive once we are redeemed.
Speaker 8:One of them is to grow up into the fullness of who you were intended to be. Who are who does God have intended for you to become? I I I genuinely believe that one of the things that keeps me as active is I genuinely believe that as long as I'm here, God intends for me to get more of Jesus inside of me or I wouldn't that's one of the reason I'm still here. But the other reason is the one in acts thirteen thirty six. That when David had accomplished God's purpose for him in his generation, he fell asleep and his, you know, his body decayed.
Speaker 8:And I I I so there there are only two reasons that I can see to stay here as sons of God. Once you redeem. One of them is to grow up into who your destiny is, who Jesus has called you to be. Lean into him. Let him let him tell you who you are.
Speaker 8:I remember when I found out that I've just studied some some, you know, the gifts of the spirit, and I realized that my primary gifting was to be an encourager. I remember the day I remember that I learned that it was at Wednesday night, I went to Belmont, and I was touching everybody. I mean, just just walking down, but just putting my hand on me as I was because I knew that even that meant you're you can't. And I I just leaned into being an encourager. And I also remember that I did a personality test in Houston One time.
Speaker 8:And when the lady interpreted it, she said, When you brush your teeth in the morning, you've used up all your administrative skills. And you know what? That was one of the most freeing things that ever happened to me. Because I don't I don't try to administrate. I I I get people there.
Speaker 8:So as far as I can tell, there are only two things. Two reasons for you to be here. To grow up into who Jesus is and to do the work that he's called you to do. Lean into it. And then I'll say one last thing regarding just all this.
Speaker 8:Learn to speak the name of Jesus. The power is in the name of Jesus. Not in the name of God because he gave the power into Jesus. You remember in Acts three when Peter and John healed the man at the gate called Beautiful and they were confronted with it. And they said, Why are you looking at us?
Speaker 8:Is there any power in there? It's the name of Jesus that this man has shown. So there I mean, there's power in the name of Jesus. We pray in the name of Jesus. Learn to speak the name of Jesus.
Speaker 8:Name. And you can use his Hebrew name, Yeshua. And I'll just give you one illustration again to out of my past that there was I could I could give you we had a couple there that we're there every Sunday. And, the husband was a veteran and he still had an alcohol problem. And we'd go to bars and sometimes, you know, at night.
Speaker 8:And so I got to call it 02:31 morning. And his wife was frantic. She said, he's I've never been scared of him, but he came home tonight. I'm really frightened, Don. Could you possibly come over 02:30 in the morning?
Speaker 8:And so I called her brother. I wasn't about to go by myself wrong. And he apologized that I came and just said, I'm so sorry he came really I was well So I went in and sat down with my brother friend that I the demons activated in his life, and he put his hands around my neck like this, and said, Don, don't talk like that. Anointing of the Holy Spirit, praise God, and said, Brother, you can't touch me. I'm covered by the name by the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 8:He fell unconscious at my feet. That happened three different times that night. She probably prayed for a thousand people's eyes to be open before she began to see the miracle of their eyes being opened. So get your hands on the people that are sick. Billy, I mean, if you don't see it this time, keep going.
Speaker 8:We're going to keep praying. And I believe it can happen. I want to I want it to to What God say to you? What do you say to Go for it. Do it in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 8:Thank you, Lord, for the challenge that you've given to us. We'll walk in it freely, in Jesus name. Amen.