(279) “Following Jesus with the Cross” with Keith Wheeler
The Busses are joined by Keith Wheeler, a dear friend of many years who has taken up his cross to follow Jesus in a very literal way. As a young man in college, Keith received the call of Jesus to be His witness to the people who need Him the most, and Keith discovered some creative ways to do that in the bars in his community. But after the tragic loss of one of his newfound friends, Keith asked the Lord what more he could do to really reach people with the Gospel. Jesus responded with a mind-boggling challenge to build 12-foot cross and carry it across Tulsa, Oklahoma.
After a reluctant and bumpy start forty years ago, Keith has now carried the cross all over the world. Tune in as Keith gives highlights from his amazing story of walking together with Jesus and shares testimonies from his front row view of how simply being introduced to Jesus changes people’s lives forever.
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And I said, Jesus, how do I reach these people?
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Speak, Lord, your servant's listening. And just
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like when you see an animal get branded, that's
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the only way I can describe it. I felt the branding
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of God's voice on my soul. I want you to make
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a large wooden cross and begin walking through
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the streets of Tulsa on Good Friday. God promises
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in Joel 2 .28 to pour His Spirit out on all humanity.
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Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend
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for that promise outpouring, we equip for that
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outpouring, so that we may engage in that very
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outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss.
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Welcome to the podcast today. We are so delighted
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to have with us a friend who is very, very dear
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to our hearts. We haven't seen each other for
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many years, but his name is Keith Wheeler. Perhaps
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you've heard of him. Maybe you haven't. But he
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is a man of God that has taken up his cross and
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followed Jesus, literally. Jesus challenged him
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to take up his cross, to build a 12 -foot cross
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and carry it around the world. And he has been
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doing that now for many years. And he's going
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to share some of his testimonies on this episode.
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And you're going to be really blessed with how
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the Lord has led him in his work. That is Jesus'
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work. Thanks so much for joining us today. We
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are so encouraged with the goodness of God in
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this episode. You're going to really enjoy it.
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But before we get started, we want to encourage
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you, if you haven't already done so, that you
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go out to our website, globaloutpouring .net,
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and make sure that you have subscribed to our
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email lists and that you take the opportunity
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to leave us some feedback or write us an email
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at feedback at globaloutpouring .org. Enjoy the
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things that we have out there on our website.
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And I think this is one of those episodes that
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you're going to want to share with others. So
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share this on social media or send a text with
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a link to it to your friends. This is going to
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be a life changing episode. Keith Wheeler, it
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is such a delight for us to have you with us
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on this Global Outpouring episode. I'm so delighted.
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It's been really a long time since we've been
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connected, but we've been connected for many
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years. Yes. So welcome. Welcome to this episode.
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What a treat. Thanks for the gift of your all's
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time. I really appreciate it. We appreciate the
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gift of your time because we know that, well,
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you're just getting ready to go on another long
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walk. But we'll get to that in a minute. Let's
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just go back for a moment. You were raised not
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so very far from here, just in the big town nearby.
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We're in the little town south of little town
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of Jasper, which is population about 500. So
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Harrison is. Not quite three times bigger. About
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13 ,000. Anyway, we're just so delighted that
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you're here. And just tell us a little bit about
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how we got connected in the first place and how
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long ago was that? It was a long time ago. Once
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again, thank you, guys. It's such an honor to
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be reconnected with you all. I grew up and went
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to Harrison schools, but I grew up out in the
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country more. on the north side of Harrison,
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out toward Bergman and Bled Hill. My nearest
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neighbor was two and a half miles away. Wow.
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So I really grew up out in the country. Went
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away to school. I tell people my short story,
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and I hope this makes sense, is I was a Christian
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for 20 years, and then I met Jesus. Okay. Or
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you could say that I loved Jesus for 20 years.
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And then I fell in love with him. Oh, yes. There's
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a number of other ways of saying that. And out
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of that, he gave me the beautiful invitation
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eventually of carrying a cross, of walking together
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with him and carrying a cross. And I try to always
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be really clear up front. I'm often introduced
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as this is a guy who's carried a cross around
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the world. And I said, if that's... true, if
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that's all it is, then I'm just a Christian tourist,
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a spiritual adventurer. Because the cross without
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Jesus is meaningless. The cross without Jesus
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is, minus Jesus, it's still the greatest device
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of torture, the most heinous thing that mankind
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has ever come up with. But with Jesus and his
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redemption of the cross, it becomes the greatest
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symbol of hope and peace and unconditional love.
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of faith that there ever has been. And my journey,
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if I'm just a guy who's carried a cross around
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the world, minus Jesus, then that's all I am
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is a Christian tourist. But if he can redeem
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the cross, then that means he can redeem me.
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And if he can redeem me, then he can redeem others.
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And I don't call it his commission or his commandment.
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It's his invitation. The creator of the heavens
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and the earth. The one who breathes stars and
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calls them by name is the one and the one who
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knows how many hairs are on my head. Right. He's
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the one who has invited me to sit on the front
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row center stage and watch him do what he does
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best. Oh, I love that. And he blesses. He changes
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people's lives forever. He touches them. He heals
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them. He saves them. He delivers them. And the
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world pays premium prices to sit front row center
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stage, whether it's 50 -yard line at the Super
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Bowl or midcourt, seventh game, NBA finals, or
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whatever your favorite recording artist is or
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band. But here's the creator of all, the king
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of all. And he says, I want you to sit here and
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I'm going to do it and I'm going to let you watch
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me do it. That's beautiful. So he did. In 1985,
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on Good Friday, he invited me to begin carrying
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the cross and walking together with him. How
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did that happen? How did that happen? Tell us
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the story. Well, I'll back up just a little bit
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to get to that first question. That was kind
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of a long introduction. Sorry. That's a good
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introduction. But it was five years into celebrating
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that. I was invited by some local pastors in
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the Jasper area. to come celebrate five years
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of carrying the cross. And one of those pastors
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was a pastor by the name of Earl Bergman. And
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he pastored there in a little community church
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right there at the bottom of the hill of Highway
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7, just south of Jasper. It was my first time
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ever speaking in a church. He had heard me. First
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time ever. Now, just to give context, Earl Bergman
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was Gwen Shaw's brother. Correct. They're both
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in heaven now. And that's where I was going because
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his sister happened to come to the service that
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night and attend. And after the service, my first
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sermon, she came up to me and she said, young
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man, I would love for you to bring the cross
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to Washington, D .C. and speak at our international
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convention there in Washington, D .C. And I think
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that was in... 96 or 97 when I got to do that.
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And that actually set the stage for me many years
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later. But on either that first or second Washington,
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D .C. event that I got to attend and speak at,
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which it just shows what an incredible lady Sister
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Gwen was. But she could see things that... The
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rest of us couldn't because I was definitely
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a shepherd boy out in the backside of the wilderness.
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And she saw something that even I had no idea.
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And I still don't really see myself as a speaker.
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I think that's why God called me to carry the
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cross. He said, you know, he's not a great speaker.
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He's not real handsome. He can't sing for sure.
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But he loves me. He loves people and he can carry
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wood. And he's given me that privilege. But it
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was out of that that... She and I developed a
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beautiful friendship, and I got to come to your
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events. But on that second one, I think in Washington,
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D .C., she said, I have a place for you to stay.
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And I said, well, that's great. And it was the
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Iranian embassy. Seriously? I mean, how many
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Americans actually have gotten to sleep in the
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Iranian embassy? And I thought, if I can sleep
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in the Iranian embassy, I can carry the cross
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in Iran. And shortly after that, maybe a year
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or two later, I actually carried the cross in
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the nation of Iran for 19 days. Wow. That all
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goes back to my journey with her. The journey
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with the cross in answering your question is,
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as I said, I was Christian. I was a good Christian.
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And we have a saying there in the hills that
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says just because there's paint on the outside
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of the barn doesn't mean there's not manure on
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the inside. That was truly a story of my life.
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I tell people my story and it's important to
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listen closely or you miss something really important.
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My parents were hippies when I was growing up.
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I don't know if they were hillbilly hippies or
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hippie hillbillies. But things were pretty crazy
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at my house. But my parents always believed in
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me and believed in my dreams. And I was an athlete.
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And they sent me to a Christian athletic camp.
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And there I heard about being a Christian. And
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they told me about the beauty of heaven, the
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horror of hell. And I think any seven -year -old
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boy would say, I choose heaven. Anybody in their
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right mind will. I'm going to become a Christian.
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It was really quite an easy decision. They said,
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next step, you need to go to church. There's
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a lot of choices. And if your parents don't go
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to church, where do you go? Especially if you
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live in the country. Yeah. But I knew a girl
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that I kind of liked, and she was Catholic. And
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so I decided I would become Catholic. I went
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through catechism, through confirmation classes.
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And in order to be baptized, though, I had to
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drive all the way over to Siloam Springs, where
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the bishop was. And I was baptized in Siloam
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Springs. But there was another pretty girl and
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she went to the Episcopal Church. So you got
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to cover your bases. And I went through their
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confirmation classes and was baptized and had
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communion in the Episcopal Church. I played basketball
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with a friend who went to the Lutheran Church.
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And so I went through their classes, met his
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pastor. We've gone past priests now. And I was
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baptized in a Lutheran Church. Played football
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with a friend who went to the Presbyterian Church.
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So those are just the ones that you have to have
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confirmation classes. But I was also baptized
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in the United Methodist, the Disciples of Christ,
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Evangelical Free, Assemblies of God, Independent
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Charismatic, American Baptist, Missionary Baptist,
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and multiple times in the Southern Baptist Church.
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So whatever your theology is, I'm covered. I've
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been sprinkled, splashed, dunked, held under
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bubbles. Either the wettest or the cleanest Christian
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you've ever met. And then they said, now you
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have to pray. And I've always been an overachiever.
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And so I said, how much? And they said, well,
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one hour. And the baptism I didn't mention. was
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I was baptized before those baptisms because,
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as I said, my parents were hippies, and they
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did transcendental meditation. So my parents
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had made us be baptized into transcendental meditation,
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actually by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. And I
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got sprinkled, and I got a mantra. And you're
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not supposed to tell your mantra to anybody.
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Mine was not om. Mine was ing, I -N -G. shared
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with my sister. Well, she got the same one. So
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I'm wondering if they didn't distribute ings
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to everybody that day. I don't know. But we had
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to go to our room for an hour. My parents wanted
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us to go meditate for an hour. And I had to say
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the word ing for an hour. You just come up with
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different ways of inging. So when they said that
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I need to pray for an hour, praying was much
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easier than inging. So that was easy. They said,
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now read your Bible every year from cover to
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cover. And I love to read. So I did that every
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year. And one year I made it through three times
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in a year. And then they gave me the don'ts.
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Don't smoke while I was training for the Olympics.
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So that was easy. And putting fire in my mouth
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never made sense anyway. And don't drink. And
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I'd done it once. And I saw how silly it made
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some of my. parents and their friends act. And
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so no, thank you. And when I did drink one time,
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it tasted like fire. So, okay. And again, I'm
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training for the Olympics and don't chase the
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girls. That was a little bit harder, but, but
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I, I'm a rule keeper and I was a straight A student.
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I was an all American athlete. And once again,
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I had a beautiful coat of paint on this Christian
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barn, but there was manure on the inside. And
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if you listen to my story at the first, I didn't
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say anything about Jesus. I said I became a Christian.
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I'm sure I probably would have gone to heaven
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because, I mean, I could tell you apologetics.
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I mean, I met him, but I didn't know him. There's
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a huge difference. And one night on a beach in
00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:28.940
Florida, I realized, and it's a long story, I
00:14:28.940 --> 00:14:31.080
won't go into it, but it's a beautiful story.
00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:33.610
Actually, I have this on my desk. I don't know
00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:38.509
if you can see, but it's a railroad spike. It's
00:14:38.509 --> 00:14:40.649
about the size of the nails that must have gone
00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:43.590
through Jesus' hands. Sharp enough to penetrate
00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:46.809
the skin, but dull enough to cause as much tissue
00:14:46.809 --> 00:14:49.090
damage as possible and heavy enough to hold a
00:14:49.090 --> 00:14:52.149
man's weight. And I realized that it wasn't the
00:14:52.149 --> 00:14:54.669
Roman soldier who put him there with those nails.
00:14:55.090 --> 00:14:57.470
It wasn't the decision of the Jewish lawyers
00:14:57.470 --> 00:15:01.330
and judges. If he died for my sin, I'm guilty.
00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:04.799
of the murder of God in the flesh when he came
00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.500
to this earth to show us his love. And yet he
00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:10.759
said, Father, forgive them. But he included me
00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.379
in that. Forgive him. He doesn't know what he's
00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:16.000
doing. And then he said, it's finished. And literally
00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.700
he said, it's paid in full, my price. And I fell
00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:23.200
in love. I fell head over heels, hopelessly,
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.000
madly, crazy, twitterpated, thunkerpated, upside
00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:33.659
down in love with the king of all. And when I
00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:36.820
did that, I had been pursuing the Olympic medal.
00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:40.539
I felt like he said, who is Lord, me or that
00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:43.480
gold medal? I was training 12 to 14 hours a day
00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.019
in the summertime. Would you be willing to give
00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:48.340
me the same amount of time, energy, and training?
00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:51.700
Blood, sweat, and tears. It's a no -brainer,
00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:55.340
yes. So I did. I skipped nationals that year.
00:15:56.539 --> 00:15:58.700
delivered Bibles. It was still Soviet Union.
00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:03.279
I was arrested three times by the KGB. I didn't
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.480
have to serve it, but I did end up, it's a long,
00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.820
really hilarious story, but I almost faced a
00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:11.120
two and a half year prison sentence and almost
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:15.580
had to serve it in Soviet Union before there
00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:20.379
was Russia. And so I saw what real faith was.
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:25.409
And then I had just graduated by now. And I had
00:16:25.409 --> 00:16:27.809
this thirst to know the Bible better, transferred
00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:31.970
to, came up here for graduate school in Tulsa,
00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:34.549
Oklahoma at Oral Roberts University. If I would
00:16:34.549 --> 00:16:36.289
have known it was seminary, I wouldn't have gone
00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:40.309
because in my world, seminary was cemetery. That's
00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.389
where preachers go to die. But God knew what
00:16:43.389 --> 00:16:45.470
he was doing. And he had me there for a reason.
00:16:45.789 --> 00:16:47.789
After three days, I turned to the guy next to
00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:51.370
me. I said, bro, this is just like seminary.
00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:54.429
And he looked at me and said. son, where do you
00:16:54.429 --> 00:17:01.169
think you are? Honestly, I had no idea. And I
00:17:01.169 --> 00:17:04.049
tried to leave multiple times. Again, long story,
00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:08.289
beautiful story, but God had me there. I'm so
00:17:08.289 --> 00:17:10.250
thankful because while I was there, I had to
00:17:10.250 --> 00:17:12.789
write a paper on the Holy Spirit. Every student
00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:14.569
that attends, whether you're a graduate student
00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:16.450
or undergraduate student, you have to write this
00:17:16.450 --> 00:17:19.079
paper, whether you're in seminary or... whether
00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:20.900
you're in a business class or whether you're
00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:24.039
in education, everybody at the school has to
00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:27.160
write a paper on who is the Holy Spirit. What
00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.380
is his purpose? What is the evidence of his work
00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:32.460
in our life? And if you remember my resume of
00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.380
churches, I attended a lot of different perspectives
00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:38.640
on the Holy Spirit. Some said that dispensation
00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.200
of the Holy Spirit, miraculous, the voice of
00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:46.460
God was all past. And others say. Everybody has
00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:48.500
to speak in tongues. And if you don't, you're
00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:50.339
not saved. And you have to speak so loud and
00:17:50.339 --> 00:17:52.799
so many decibels and so many syllables per second.
00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:59.140
And I looked and said, Jesus, what do you say?
00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:02.759
And I came across a verse in Acts chapter 1,
00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:05.759
verse 8. And I would say this. I would add this.
00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:08.279
I ran across this phrase. I don't know who to
00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:12.140
attribute it to. They said, the issue is not
00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:16.900
tongues. The issue is the tongue. And I thought,
00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:20.440
yeah, that was really powerful. But Acts chapter
00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.799
one, verse eight, Jesus speaking to the disciples
00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:26.839
said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.440
comes upon you and you shall. And he didn't say
00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.880
a thing about speaking in tongues or not. You
00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:36.759
shall be witnesses. Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria,
00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.759
the uttermost parts of the earth. I don't ever
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.779
want to be a cherry picker when it comes to Bible
00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:45.650
verses, but that seemed pretty. clear. But Jesus
00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:48.269
in Luke chapter four, when he opens the scroll
00:18:48.269 --> 00:18:51.690
of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, the spirit
00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:54.150
of the Lord is upon me for he's anointed me to,
00:18:54.230 --> 00:18:56.470
he didn't say anything about tongues or no tongues,
00:18:56.569 --> 00:19:02.490
preach good news. And so then as I'm following
00:19:02.490 --> 00:19:05.750
this thread, I read Mark chapter one, verse 17,
00:19:05.890 --> 00:19:10.029
follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:14.980
And so I would add this at this point of my life.
00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:17.819
He didn't say we're catchers of men. He's the
00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:21.200
catcher. We're the fishers. And I would be very
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.880
clear. I've never led anybody to Jesus if the
00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.180
Bible's true. He says no one comes to the Father
00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:29.619
unless he draws them. If he is lifted up, he
00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:32.940
draws all men unto himself. He's the author.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.319
He's the finisher. He who began a good work.
00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.460
It's not by might. It's not by power. It's by
00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:41.579
my spirit, says the Lord. In fact, I'm 65 now,
00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:44.099
so I think I can say this. It's an addendum.
00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:46.519
If somebody has to tell you how many people they've
00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.680
led to Jesus, then hide your wallet because all
00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.700
they're after is your money. But it's true. I
00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:57.079
mean, because otherwise we get glory and we use
00:19:57.079 --> 00:20:01.599
statistics and numbers to pad our ministry. I
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:05.220
don't have a ministry. Jesus does. And it's his
00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:09.140
ministry. to my life, in my life, and I pray
00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.700
overflowing out of my life. That's my definition
00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:15.000
of ministry. It's true, real ministry is simply
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.740
the overflow of a life lived in love with Jesus.
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.960
And so as I'm reading these verses, I, okay,
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:27.759
by nature, my personality type, I am probably
00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:31.819
the shyest, most insecure, fearful, timid person
00:20:31.819 --> 00:20:34.920
you've ever met. Now I'm adventurous as far as...
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:38.759
climbing rocks and mountains and swinging off
00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:42.339
vines and pole vaulting and all of those kind
00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:46.680
of things. But talking to strangers, I'm a hillbilly
00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:49.359
boy. I'm a country boy that I would just rather
00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:54.119
be out in the woods. But God didn't call me according
00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:56.539
to my strength. He called me according to my
00:20:56.539 --> 00:21:00.220
weaknesses so that he might be made strong. And
00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:02.980
so I remember reading those verses and I said,
00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:05.450
Lord, am I even? filled with your Holy Spirit?
00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:07.869
Am I baptized with your Holy Spirit? Am I even
00:21:07.869 --> 00:21:11.690
following you? Because I'm not witnessing. I
00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:14.349
was the guy that said, my life will be a witness.
00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:16.769
Of course, when somebody tells me that today,
00:21:16.970 --> 00:21:19.029
first of all, the Bible says, how will they know
00:21:19.029 --> 00:21:23.309
unless they hear? And of course, a lot of people
00:21:23.309 --> 00:21:26.109
speak with their mouth, but not with their life.
00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.980
Well, that's hypocrisy. But other people speak
00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:30.839
with their life, but not with their mouth. That's
00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.019
confusion. Somebody might think, you know, you're
00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:35.460
a vegetarian or a football player. You know,
00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:42.319
how will they know unless they hear? And so I
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.480
laid down on the floor and I was there for hours.
00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:48.319
And this is before Toronto Blessing made this
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.700
phrase popular. This was 1984, fall of 84. More,
00:21:53.700 --> 00:21:57.019
Lord, more. God, give me more of you. More, Lord.
00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:00.480
Crying and praying and repeating it over and
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:04.240
over, desperate for more of God so that I would
00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.400
feel different so that I could go tell people
00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:11.839
about Jesus. And after nearly four hours, I felt
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:15.900
like Jesus said to me, shut up and listen to
00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:19.819
me. I felt like he said, son, I'm not a stock.
00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:23.680
I'm not a commodity. You cannot buy or sell or
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:28.079
trade me. I'm not a part or a parcel or a portion.
00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:32.559
I'm all that I ever was. I'm all that I ever
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:36.680
will be. I'm all that I am. And when I came to
00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:39.380
live with you, everything I ever was, everything
00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:42.599
I ever will be, all that I am, came to live with
00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.660
you. The question is not you getting more of
00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:50.970
me. It's me getting all of you. And I said, OK,
00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:55.329
don't feel different. Don't look different. Probably
00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:58.069
don't smell different. So I'm going to go tell
00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:01.529
people about Jesus. And I got my big Ryrie study
00:23:01.529 --> 00:23:04.890
Bible and the best tracks I could get were cartoons.
00:23:05.069 --> 00:23:08.410
And, you know, they basically said everybody
00:23:08.410 --> 00:23:11.210
else is going to hell except me. And I thought,
00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:14.549
OK, where? Remember, this is 1984. The materials
00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:16.829
we have available today weren't available then.
00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:21.619
Where are lost? people. And I thought, has to
00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:23.640
be bars. Everybody always told me, stay away
00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:28.119
from bars. So remember, I'm in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:32.680
And I know where the bars are. There's a section
00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:35.119
of town, they tell you don't go. And in the 80s,
00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.920
it was called the Restless Ribbon. And people
00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.740
came from Texas and Missouri and Kansas and Arkansas
00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:44.759
and would cruise up and down and bars all up
00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:48.220
and down. So I've got my big Bible. Got my gospel
00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:51.279
tracts and I show up at 8 o 'clock and nobody
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:56.599
was there. And I thought, you know, Tulsa really
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:58.779
is a Christian town. There are no sinners here.
00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:02.779
And they all started backsliding about 9 o 'clock.
00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:04.940
And by 10 o 'clock, they were really backsliding.
00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:10.519
12 o 'clock is full on backslide. And the part
00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:13.920
that I'm ashamed about is I'd been there four
00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:16.339
hours and I didn't tell anybody about Jesus.
00:24:16.990 --> 00:24:20.910
Because I use the excuse, I don't feel led. And
00:24:20.910 --> 00:24:23.769
of course, now when people use that phrase, I
00:24:23.769 --> 00:24:26.309
said, where is that in the Bible? And what does
00:24:26.309 --> 00:24:29.670
feeling led feel like? Does it tickle? Does it
00:24:29.670 --> 00:24:34.309
shazam? Does it gotcha? The Bible says as many
00:24:34.309 --> 00:24:38.769
as are led by his spirit, not by feelings, will
00:24:38.769 --> 00:24:43.369
be called sons of God. And the word of God was
00:24:43.369 --> 00:24:47.079
written under the leadership. of the Holy Spirit.
00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:52.119
So every word in this book, if I obey this book,
00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.559
I'm obeying him. People often ask me, do you
00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:57.380
have a word from God for me? I said, yes, read
00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:01.319
the word and do it. And we don't have to have
00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:03.500
a word. We've got the word. I'm thankful for
00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:07.019
words, but we have the word. Too many of us are
00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:08.960
looking for words and we're neglecting the word.
00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.299
And so I was neglecting the word because I didn't
00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:15.009
feel led. Here I am just wandering around with
00:25:15.009 --> 00:25:17.930
a big Bible and gospel tracts, and my eyes are
00:25:17.930 --> 00:25:20.630
sensitive to smoke, and I've not been awake much
00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:23.910
past that. And I was looking higher and trippier
00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:25.630
than everybody coming out of the bars and the
00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:29.410
nightclubs. Two o 'clock, the bars close, and
00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:33.269
I still hadn't talked to anybody. And three o
00:25:33.269 --> 00:25:36.890
'clock, the cars were pretty much gone. And finally,
00:25:37.029 --> 00:25:39.849
and I'm looking like a glazed donut by now. I've
00:25:39.849 --> 00:25:43.190
never been awake this late in my life. And I
00:25:43.190 --> 00:25:45.609
just said, Jesus, if you want me to talk to someone,
00:25:45.690 --> 00:25:47.329
bring them around the corner in the next five
00:25:47.329 --> 00:25:49.470
minutes or I'm going home. In your name I pray.
00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.750
Before I said, man, someone came around the corner.
00:25:54.349 --> 00:25:57.490
And there was an adrenaline rush. And I definitely
00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:00.710
did not social distance. I, you know, this close
00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:03.150
nose to nose almost. Sir, if you die right now,
00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:04.269
you know, you're going to heaven. Jesus died
00:26:04.269 --> 00:26:05.329
across the edge of the blood. Always again, it's
00:26:05.329 --> 00:26:06.230
life. Praise the Lord. We're going to get saved.
00:26:06.569 --> 00:26:08.690
And here I've got my big Bible, my gospel tracks,
00:26:08.789 --> 00:26:12.289
and my big, glazy, glassy eyes. And the guy said,
00:26:12.470 --> 00:26:14.789
you've got to be kidding me. And he said some
00:26:14.789 --> 00:26:17.049
other things that weren't nice that I can't say
00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:21.269
on a Christian podcast. And he spat on my shoes.
00:26:21.829 --> 00:26:27.829
And I knew I missed God. That was burritos, bad
00:26:27.829 --> 00:26:30.849
burritos. It was indigestion. Could not have
00:26:30.849 --> 00:26:34.210
been God. So my car was one of the few left,
00:26:34.289 --> 00:26:37.349
and I was backed up against a wall. I put the
00:26:37.349 --> 00:26:40.259
key in the ignition. turned the car on and put
00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:43.980
it in gear. And as I started to pull out a really
00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:48.220
jacked up, kind of like a monster truck, not
00:26:48.220 --> 00:26:51.900
quite, but big truck blocked my path. Tinted
00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.900
window comes down and it was that same guy. And
00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:57.099
he says, are you that guy who's trying to tell
00:26:57.099 --> 00:27:03.259
me about Jesus? And I said, yes, sir. He said,
00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:07.500
you really meant it, didn't you? Could we talk?
00:27:08.170 --> 00:27:10.950
And he got down, left his car right in front
00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:12.750
of mine. It wouldn't have mattered. I had to
00:27:12.750 --> 00:27:15.789
talk. We sat on the curb and talked till the
00:27:15.789 --> 00:27:19.029
sun came up. And I'd like to tell you guys and
00:27:19.029 --> 00:27:22.190
anybody listening that his life was changed.
00:27:23.130 --> 00:27:25.190
That's why I won't tell you how many people I've
00:27:25.190 --> 00:27:27.930
led to the Lord. Only God knows the stories I've
00:27:27.930 --> 00:27:30.410
prayed with lots and lots and lots and lots of
00:27:30.410 --> 00:27:33.730
people. I just don't count. But how can I know
00:27:33.730 --> 00:27:35.690
someone's heart? The Bible says, I don't even
00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:37.670
know my own heart. Only God does. My heart's
00:27:37.670 --> 00:27:41.670
deceitful above all things. But I will say my
00:27:41.670 --> 00:27:43.950
heart was changed. My heart was changed that
00:27:43.950 --> 00:27:46.970
night. Because I saw that those people that were
00:27:46.970 --> 00:27:49.869
in those bars and those nightclubs, the people
00:27:49.869 --> 00:27:52.130
that live under bridges, the people that sit
00:27:52.130 --> 00:27:55.869
on street corners with signs, those people in
00:27:55.869 --> 00:27:58.410
the gangs, those people around the world in terrorist
00:27:58.410 --> 00:28:01.789
organizations, the people in mosques. And temples
00:28:01.789 --> 00:28:04.930
that look different than me, different colors
00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:07.529
than me. Those people in the high rises downtown,
00:28:07.789 --> 00:28:10.210
the people on the other side of the fence in
00:28:10.210 --> 00:28:13.369
my backyard. They're not monsters to run away
00:28:13.369 --> 00:28:16.390
from. They're not creatures to be fearful of.
00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:20.150
They're kidnapped royalty. Exactly. Men and women
00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:23.190
created to be sons and daughters of a king. And
00:28:23.190 --> 00:28:25.250
they've just been trapped. So I started going
00:28:25.250 --> 00:28:27.630
on a regular basis. And then I got an idea and
00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:30.630
I'm almost to the cross -carrying calling. I
00:28:30.630 --> 00:28:32.609
made business cards. I should have incorporated
00:28:32.609 --> 00:28:36.210
the idea, patented the idea, because I was the
00:28:36.210 --> 00:28:39.430
first Uber service. Too drunk to drive home?
00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:44.089
Call me. And it was great. I handed them out
00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:46.349
at all the bars, and I was a friend of all the
00:28:46.349 --> 00:28:48.289
bouncers because I'm getting rid of a problem.
00:28:49.130 --> 00:28:52.609
And it's good because I need practice in sharing
00:28:52.609 --> 00:28:55.430
about Jesus, and these guys need to hear what
00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:59.210
I have to say. Of course, some of them were too...
00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:04.460
drunk to tell us where to take them. So I can't
00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:06.839
tell you how many we smuggled into ORU for a
00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:13.519
night or two. So it's a different administration.
00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:20.180
I think I've got amnesty now. But now I'm making
00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:23.460
friends and I've got the front door. But then
00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:26.259
I came up with another idea. And that other idea
00:29:26.259 --> 00:29:30.880
was I met owners and managers. And I said, hey,
00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:34.240
tell you what, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon,
00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:37.200
I'll come in and I'll clean your bathrooms, your
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.220
toilets. I'll clean your toilets so clean that
00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:42.279
you can eat soup out of them. And they said,
00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:44.900
why? I said, well, Jesus washed people's feet.
00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:48.480
And I'm just here to tell you that the restrooms
00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:53.460
at bars and nightclubs are pretty nasty the next
00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:56.799
day. I can imagine. But God used that. And now
00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:59.470
I had friends. that were owners and managers
00:29:59.470 --> 00:30:03.569
and bartenders and bouncers. And they started
00:30:03.569 --> 00:30:06.089
having me come in and speak to people table to
00:30:06.089 --> 00:30:08.109
table. They would say, Hey, this person's going
00:30:08.109 --> 00:30:10.369
through this. Can you talk to them? Can you pray
00:30:10.369 --> 00:30:15.069
with them? And that led to even some nights when
00:30:15.069 --> 00:30:19.109
they had live music, they would close. And then
00:30:19.109 --> 00:30:21.069
they would ask me to pray, especially on Saturday
00:30:21.069 --> 00:30:23.190
night, which wasn't by now Sunday morning, because
00:30:23.190 --> 00:30:25.009
that was the only service some people would come.
00:30:25.410 --> 00:30:28.579
And I'm sure. Jesus forgave me. But I just basically,
00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:31.480
God, thank you so much that you love the world
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:33.880
so much that you gave your only begotten son
00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:36.799
that whoever believes in him, that even though
00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.339
the wages of sin is death. And I was just praying
00:30:41.339 --> 00:30:44.480
scripture. And there was one little, it was a
00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:46.619
little dive bar and there was a little old lady.
00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:49.519
And I'll never forget her. It was right across
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:54.380
the street from the dirty movie theater. We would
00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:57.759
go to her place and she would say, oh, you're
00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:01.440
here. And she would unplug the guy in the corner
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.519
playing the guitar. She would lock the door.
00:31:03.579 --> 00:31:05.759
Nobody else could leave. And she would stand
00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:08.559
in front of the door or unplug the jukebox if
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.619
it was playing. And I had these little red stickers
00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:12.700
that say, God loves you. And she goes, do you
00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:14.759
have any of your red buttons? And she put them
00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.400
on everybody. She goes, he's going to preach
00:31:17.400 --> 00:31:21.240
to you now. And then at the end, she goes, don't
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:23.940
forget to pray that special little prayer. And
00:31:23.940 --> 00:31:25.779
if I preach too long, she goes, it's time for
00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:29.619
you to pray now. Or sometimes she'd say, keep
00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:32.039
going. This is good. This is good. But right
00:31:32.039 --> 00:31:34.160
across the street was the dirty movie theater.
00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:35.880
And next door to it was the dirty bookstore.
00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:39.160
I made an agreement. It was a Jewish man that
00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:42.599
owned it. And he let us come in in the lobby
00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:48.480
and talk with people about Jesus. And so by now,
00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:51.539
as you can imagine, my friends are starting to
00:31:51.539 --> 00:31:55.380
be. Homeless people. They're starting to be gang
00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:59.240
members, people involved in prostitution, people
00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:03.259
involved in drug use, drug dealers. This is my
00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:07.160
flock. And it's beautiful. And I'll never forget
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:09.940
that it's been torn down since then. But near
00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:12.599
Denver and 15th Street here, there was a bar,
00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:16.039
a little dive, and I was there one night. And
00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:18.019
two of my friends, Homer and Harold, they were
00:32:18.019 --> 00:32:20.160
both homeless. They'd been drinking too much.
00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:22.900
They weren't. Drunk, drunk, but they were drunk.
00:32:23.420 --> 00:32:26.079
And they went outside and I went outside with
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:30.059
them, still talking with them. And Homer, he
00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:31.779
was staggering and he broke his bottle. He was
00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:35.900
holding it by the top. And he's joking with his
00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:38.480
friend, Harold, I'm going to kill you. I could
00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:43.160
kill you. I could cut you up. And in his instability,
00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:47.980
he stumbles. And I'm standing 15, 20 feet from
00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:50.849
what happened. The jagged edge of that bottle
00:32:50.849 --> 00:32:53.329
went into Harold's chest and Harold was gone
00:32:53.329 --> 00:32:56.509
just like that. I never had seen somebody die.
00:32:56.670 --> 00:32:59.730
I'd seen bodies prepared at funeral homes, but
00:32:59.730 --> 00:33:02.170
I'd never had seen life leave somebody, let alone
00:33:02.170 --> 00:33:06.990
somebody be killed. And it shook me. And I just,
00:33:07.009 --> 00:33:10.190
I went home and I said, Jesus, how do I reach
00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:13.809
these people? Speak, Lord, your servants listening.
00:33:14.390 --> 00:33:17.829
And just like. Like when you see an animal get
00:33:17.829 --> 00:33:20.230
branded, that's the only way I can describe it.
00:33:20.569 --> 00:33:24.210
I felt the branding of God's voice on my soul.
00:33:24.750 --> 00:33:27.150
I want you to make a large wooden cross and begin
00:33:27.150 --> 00:33:29.529
walking through the streets of Tulsa on Good
00:33:29.529 --> 00:33:34.049
Friday. I got up and I said, Lord, I rebuke the
00:33:34.049 --> 00:33:38.410
devil in the name of Jesus. That cannot be you.
00:33:38.569 --> 00:33:41.329
And I opened the window to get some fresh air.
00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:45.200
Again, Lord, I'm so sorry I was distracted. I
00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:46.759
don't know where that thought came from, but
00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:50.319
speak. Your servant is listening. And once again,
00:33:50.380 --> 00:33:52.460
like fire, I want you to make a large wooden
00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:54.319
cross and begin walking through the streets of
00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:57.380
Tulsa on Good Friday. Okay, Lord, that's the
00:33:57.380 --> 00:33:59.579
last time I'm eating fruity pebbles and pizza.
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:04.420
That is indigestion. I am not going to fall for
00:34:04.420 --> 00:34:08.469
that one. And so, Lord, I love you. I love you.
00:34:08.489 --> 00:34:11.909
I adore you. I worship you. Speak. Your servant
00:34:11.909 --> 00:34:16.670
is listening. And a third time. And this time,
00:34:16.750 --> 00:34:21.889
my prayer was, Lord, there was a guy at our local
00:34:21.889 --> 00:34:26.289
Walmart. And this fella carried a cross and he
00:34:26.289 --> 00:34:29.809
had a bullhorn and he wore a toga and pretend
00:34:29.809 --> 00:34:33.190
crown of thorns. He yelled at people coming in
00:34:33.190 --> 00:34:35.110
and out. He had hand -painted scripture verses
00:34:35.110 --> 00:34:38.750
and slogans on the side of his van. Repent! The
00:34:38.750 --> 00:34:43.710
kingdom of God is at hand! I said, Lord, you
00:34:43.710 --> 00:34:49.550
got somebody. You don't need another guy. And
00:34:49.550 --> 00:34:52.010
I felt like he said, son, that's the most religious
00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:54.909
excuse you could ever give me. I felt like he
00:34:54.909 --> 00:34:57.030
said, if I called you to preach, you wouldn't
00:34:57.030 --> 00:35:00.289
say, but Lord, you got Billy Graham. You've got
00:35:00.289 --> 00:35:03.570
all those pastors and all those people you look
00:35:03.570 --> 00:35:05.869
up to. You'd be honored and you'd be really happy.
00:35:06.190 --> 00:35:08.150
You just don't want people to think that you're
00:35:08.150 --> 00:35:15.329
weird. The truth. I felt like he said, son, anyone
00:35:15.329 --> 00:35:19.150
can carry a cross. Simon carried mine. Anyone
00:35:19.150 --> 00:35:21.690
can die on a cross. Two thieves died beside me.
00:35:22.329 --> 00:35:24.969
Thousands have died through the centuries. But
00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:27.679
only I could die. for the sins of the world,
00:35:27.699 --> 00:35:29.420
and I did it for love. And I want you to take
00:35:29.420 --> 00:35:32.920
that cross and identify my message of love in
00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:34.860
the highways and the roadsides of this world.
00:35:35.480 --> 00:35:37.900
And I said, Lord, that sounds like you, but I
00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:41.159
really need a sign. And almost immediately, the
00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:44.239
phone on the wall rang. It was a friend. Keith,
00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:47.860
this is crazy, but I just need to tell you, last
00:35:47.860 --> 00:35:51.000
year on Good Friday, my best friend and my pastor
00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:54.719
carried a cross. And I think God wants you and
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:56.539
me to make a large wooden cross and start walking
00:35:56.539 --> 00:35:58.260
through the streets of Tulsa on Good Friday.
00:35:58.760 --> 00:36:01.619
Wow. And I said, okay, Lord, that was pretty
00:36:01.619 --> 00:36:05.059
good. But could you give me one more sign? Seriously?
00:36:05.460 --> 00:36:08.699
I know. My walk, I'm telling you, my walk has
00:36:08.699 --> 00:36:11.860
not been one of great faith. A lot of people
00:36:11.860 --> 00:36:13.960
look at me and say, oh, you've got so much faith.
00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:16.480
I said, no, it's been a walk of God's grace and
00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:19.159
mercy. It's been a walk of love. I'm in love
00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:22.550
with him. And I'm choosing to follow him. No
00:36:22.550 --> 00:36:26.090
matter how hard it is or how weird it feels,
00:36:26.289 --> 00:36:29.130
no matter what people think now. But my first
00:36:29.130 --> 00:36:30.670
prayer when I picked up the cross was, Lord,
00:36:30.710 --> 00:36:34.929
don't let anybody see me. But in between picking
00:36:34.929 --> 00:36:37.829
up the cross the first time, I go to class the
00:36:37.829 --> 00:36:40.769
next day and a professor who's going alphabetical.
00:36:40.769 --> 00:36:44.889
My last name is Wheeler W. We were in the M's
00:36:44.889 --> 00:36:48.510
like the Miller, Martin, Martinez. And he said.
00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:50.780
Keith, for some reason, I think you're supposed
00:36:50.780 --> 00:36:54.820
to speak next week. And normally we would select
00:36:54.820 --> 00:36:59.059
the text. But he said, no. He said, I want to
00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:00.440
select the text. And I think you're supposed
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:04.059
to speak on Mark chapter 8, verse 34. I look
00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:06.679
it up. If anyone wishes to come after me, let
00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:09.159
him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow
00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:12.480
me. Okay, I'll do it. And we started walking,
00:37:12.699 --> 00:37:16.219
prayed that prayer. And then later that day as
00:37:16.219 --> 00:37:19.440
we're finishing. And the deal was. John was going
00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:21.460
to walk a mile. I'd walk a mile and we were going
00:37:21.460 --> 00:37:24.739
to alternate. John walked six miles and I walked
00:37:24.739 --> 00:37:27.880
about 30 miles with the carrying the cross. But
00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:30.840
at the end of the day, there was an elderly couple
00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:34.599
walking, beautiful couple and had a perfectly
00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:39.139
coiffed beard. She had perfectly coiffed red
00:37:39.139 --> 00:37:42.639
hair and they were just stately. And they asked
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:45.000
if they could pray for us. And when they finished,
00:37:45.059 --> 00:37:47.719
my friend said, you guys look familiar. Are you?
00:37:48.059 --> 00:37:52.500
And he goes, T .L. Osborne, I am. And she goes,
00:37:52.579 --> 00:37:56.360
and I'm Daisy, too. And his prayer was, and Lord,
00:37:56.440 --> 00:37:59.260
send this man to the nations. And I'm praying,
00:37:59.380 --> 00:38:04.579
no, no, no, no, no. And so I walked maybe three
00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:07.719
times. And then the end of the story comes now.
00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:10.739
This is the last part. Sorry to drag it all out.
00:38:10.940 --> 00:38:13.239
No, it's beautiful. But I was visiting my mother
00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:16.139
and father in Harrison. And for a weekend, I
00:38:16.139 --> 00:38:21.000
was driving back. And as I got near, the highway
00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:23.019
wasn't like it is now. It was two lanes, Highway
00:38:23.019 --> 00:38:27.800
62. And as I came through a little town called
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:30.320
Choteau, I was approaching it, coming down a
00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:32.880
windy road. Sun was setting through the forest.
00:38:33.260 --> 00:38:36.380
And I don't know how to describe it, but in front
00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:38.639
of my eyes, I could still see the road, but I
00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:42.719
saw a Newsweek magazine. And the magazine had
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:45.250
my picture on the cover carrying the cross. And
00:38:45.250 --> 00:38:47.489
it said, take the cross to Cape Town, Durban
00:38:47.489 --> 00:38:50.570
and Johannesburg. Oh, wow. And South Africa.
00:38:50.949 --> 00:38:55.110
And I like pull over, rub my eyes. I could still
00:38:55.110 --> 00:38:59.849
see it. And I woke up my friend and do you see
00:38:59.849 --> 00:39:02.369
anything? No, I don't see anything. I prayed
00:39:02.369 --> 00:39:04.309
for them like Elijah did the servant that, you
00:39:04.309 --> 00:39:06.630
know, open their eyes. There's more with us than
00:39:06.630 --> 00:39:11.570
there are against us. Nothing. And then I look
00:39:11.570 --> 00:39:14.420
and it was normal. But it was like that fire
00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:17.119
that I described earlier, just burning in my
00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:21.139
heart for two weeks. But I'm making every excuse.
00:39:21.739 --> 00:39:25.400
I'm making the excuses like, I don't have enough
00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:27.900
money to go. It's dangerous there. I've got a
00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:30.360
great job. I'm in school. What about my family?
00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:34.460
How do you get a 12 feet long cross on an airplane?
00:39:34.860 --> 00:39:38.239
God makes more sense than that, right? So it
00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:44.420
can't be God. God is logical. And so, no, I'm
00:39:44.420 --> 00:39:47.239
not going to go. And I didn't. And once I said
00:39:47.239 --> 00:39:52.099
no, that intensity of fire was gone immediately.
00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:57.800
It was normal. Two more weeks pass. And I was
00:39:57.800 --> 00:40:00.820
in part two of that class, the professor who
00:40:00.820 --> 00:40:05.019
gave me Mark chapter 8, verse 34. And our assignment
00:40:05.019 --> 00:40:07.460
was, and you have to remember, this is 1985.
00:40:08.219 --> 00:40:11.630
And there's no... internet. There's no computers.
00:40:12.409 --> 00:40:15.550
There's no cell phones. There's no YouTube. I
00:40:15.550 --> 00:40:20.250
didn't have cable. I didn't have satellite. But
00:40:20.250 --> 00:40:22.989
he wanted us to watch a Christian TV show. Christian
00:40:22.989 --> 00:40:26.869
television was new in the area. And TBN had a
00:40:26.869 --> 00:40:30.030
channel nearby. It was channel 17. And I don't
00:40:30.030 --> 00:40:33.449
remember if it was UHF or VHF. And you guys remember
00:40:33.449 --> 00:40:37.510
this, but some of the listeners may not. So I
00:40:37.510 --> 00:40:41.519
had antenna. And you put Right. Tinfoil on the
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:43.920
top and you move it a certain way. You could
00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:46.079
almost move your mouth a certain way and read
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:48.860
through what we called the snow. And I got to
00:40:48.860 --> 00:40:52.159
the channel and the first words I ever heard
00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:55.320
on Christian television. Yeah. It was, I later
00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:57.400
found out it was a Kenneth Copeland convention
00:40:57.400 --> 00:41:00.019
in Anaheim, California, Believers West Coast
00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:04.440
Convention. And Paul and Jen Crouch of TBN who
00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:08.099
owned the station that was airing this. had a
00:41:08.099 --> 00:41:11.059
guest and that guest came up and the only other
00:41:11.059 --> 00:41:13.900
guy I knew who carried a cross was the guy in
00:41:13.900 --> 00:41:16.699
my Walmart parking lot. And this guy comes up
00:41:16.699 --> 00:41:19.039
and he said, Kenneth Copeland says, what is God
00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:21.579
saying to you? And he didn't introduce him or
00:41:21.579 --> 00:41:24.400
anything. He said, well, brother Ken, God has
00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:26.420
been calling someone to take a cross to Cape
00:41:26.420 --> 00:41:29.260
Town, Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa.
00:41:29.739 --> 00:41:32.659
And they didn't go. He said, I've always asked
00:41:32.659 --> 00:41:34.380
God to call someone first. And if they didn't
00:41:34.380 --> 00:41:37.280
go, I volunteer. I'm really tired. I just got
00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:41.099
back, but I'm leaving next week to go to South
00:41:41.099 --> 00:41:43.900
Africa. The man's name was Arthur Blessed. I
00:41:43.900 --> 00:41:48.460
knew nothing about him, but he went in my place
00:41:48.460 --> 00:41:52.800
and I made a commitment. Lord Jesus, I would
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:56.679
rather miss your will trying to obey than not
00:41:56.679 --> 00:41:59.739
do anything at all. So I may get to heaven and
00:41:59.739 --> 00:42:03.630
Jesus may laugh at me and say, son. He may scratch
00:42:03.630 --> 00:42:06.070
his head. I didn't mean for you to actually carry
00:42:06.070 --> 00:42:08.369
a wooden cross. I meant for you to preach the
00:42:08.369 --> 00:42:10.889
cross around the world. But thanks for trying.
00:42:13.190 --> 00:42:19.090
So it's been that journey of walking together
00:42:19.090 --> 00:42:22.590
with Jesus, carrying a cross and getting to be
00:42:22.590 --> 00:42:26.349
front row center stages as he does bless, touch,
00:42:26.590 --> 00:42:29.429
save, deliver, change people's lives forever.
00:42:29.710 --> 00:42:32.980
And that's what it's all about. Yeah. And that's
00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:35.619
why we do this podcast. We want to see people's
00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:38.460
lives changed. And we don't always hear any feedback
00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:41.599
that anybody's was. Once in a while, we get a
00:42:41.599 --> 00:42:45.159
tremendous piece of feedback about that. So does
00:42:45.159 --> 00:42:48.039
the Lord allow you once in a while to get some
00:42:48.039 --> 00:42:53.300
feedback to kind of encourage you? Well, yes,
00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:57.880
yes. But he knows I don't need it. He is my encouragement.
00:42:58.940 --> 00:43:02.099
He is my great reward. I hear people sometimes
00:43:02.099 --> 00:43:03.820
say, oh, you're going to get to heaven and you're
00:43:03.820 --> 00:43:07.760
going to see how God used you. No, I'm going
00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:09.460
to get to heaven and I'm going to get to watch
00:43:09.460 --> 00:43:13.980
how he worked. Heaven is about him. Yeah. And
00:43:13.980 --> 00:43:16.980
it's not about me getting, I mean, the reward
00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:20.199
in heaven is him. He fills heaven. True. And
00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:22.840
heaven is about him. And the only reason we get
00:43:22.840 --> 00:43:25.039
crowns is so that we can throw them at his feet.
00:43:25.300 --> 00:43:28.760
Yeah. He's the worthy one. And so he is my encouragement.
00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:31.920
One of my mottos has been, Lord, blind me to
00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:35.780
what happens behind me. That way I don't, the
00:43:35.780 --> 00:43:38.460
responsibility for the success or failure, that's
00:43:38.460 --> 00:43:41.639
not mine. It's him. That's why I say it's his
00:43:41.639 --> 00:43:46.659
ministry. My role, my calling has been to be
00:43:46.659 --> 00:43:50.079
faithful. If I'm here and I've got another friend
00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:52.639
that comes in the room and you guys have never
00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:55.159
met the friend. I actually have a young man staying
00:43:55.159 --> 00:43:56.960
with us. His name is Nate. He's from Norway.
00:43:57.340 --> 00:43:59.099
But you've never met him. He's not here right
00:43:59.099 --> 00:44:02.619
now. But if he comes in the room, and I would
00:44:02.619 --> 00:44:06.019
say to you guys, I'd say, Philip and Sharon,
00:44:06.179 --> 00:44:08.239
you guys have been friends for a long time. This
00:44:08.239 --> 00:44:10.559
is Nate. He's my new friend. I would tell him
00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:12.199
a little bit about you guys. I would tell him
00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:15.900
about you all. And that's what I'd get to do
00:44:15.900 --> 00:44:19.260
with Jesus. And you can't unmeet Nate after you've
00:44:19.260 --> 00:44:21.579
met him. You can't. But it's how are you going
00:44:21.579 --> 00:44:26.239
to choose to pursue that friendship? And it's
00:44:26.239 --> 00:44:28.760
only a work of the Holy Spirit in the heart.
00:44:28.980 --> 00:44:32.460
And so that's what I love is I get to watch.
00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:35.239
I'll tell you a funny story that I heard years
00:44:35.239 --> 00:44:38.980
later. I was carrying the cross from Panama to
00:44:38.980 --> 00:44:42.099
Mexico. That's a long walk. And in the 1980s,
00:44:42.099 --> 00:44:44.480
there was war in every country except Costa Rica.
00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:48.519
I actually was in jail in Panama when Noriega
00:44:48.519 --> 00:44:52.820
was leading there. But the war, obviously, the
00:44:52.820 --> 00:44:55.860
big one we all knew about was in Nicaragua. You
00:44:55.860 --> 00:44:58.559
know, the drug wars were in Panama. But El Salvador
00:44:58.559 --> 00:45:02.380
had a horrible war. Honduras had spillover war.
00:45:02.460 --> 00:45:04.440
Guatemala had the longest running civil war.
00:45:05.780 --> 00:45:08.420
And eventually Chiapas. And that's where I faced
00:45:08.420 --> 00:45:11.659
the firing squad was in Chiapas State in southern
00:45:11.659 --> 00:45:15.699
Mexico. As I walked through, I don't know if
00:45:15.699 --> 00:45:18.599
it was northern Costa Rica, southern Nicaragua.
00:45:19.230 --> 00:45:23.230
This guy approaches me and he said, I'm a bad
00:45:23.230 --> 00:45:28.809
man, but I need to carry your cross. And I said,
00:45:29.750 --> 00:45:31.429
why are you a bad man? He said, I'll tell you,
00:45:31.489 --> 00:45:35.690
but I'm a bad, bad, bad man. He's crying. And
00:45:35.690 --> 00:45:38.630
anybody who wants to walk with me, I'll let them
00:45:38.630 --> 00:45:41.550
because I get that time together with them. And
00:45:41.550 --> 00:45:44.690
I knew what was happening. There's a tradition
00:45:44.690 --> 00:45:48.329
in the church there and it's called penitentia,
00:45:48.349 --> 00:45:51.619
penance. There's one called promise, and you
00:45:51.619 --> 00:45:54.059
do something to get something. I'll carry the
00:45:54.059 --> 00:45:56.860
cross so far if God will answer my prayer, or
00:45:56.860 --> 00:45:58.679
God answered my prayer, so I'm going to do this.
00:45:59.500 --> 00:46:01.679
Penitencia is the other way around. It's I've
00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:03.940
done something really bad. I need to be forgiven,
00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:08.860
so I need to suffer for a while. And so he has
00:46:08.860 --> 00:46:10.960
no socks, but he takes off his shoes, and he
00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:12.840
rolls up his pants above his leg, and he starts
00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:15.519
carrying my cross. And he's crying the whole
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:18.219
time. I'm a bad man. And he told me he was a
00:46:18.219 --> 00:46:21.659
bad man. He had beaten people up. He had shot
00:46:21.659 --> 00:46:25.480
people. He had stabbed people. He'd used drugs,
00:46:25.579 --> 00:46:29.400
sold drugs, misused drugs. He cheated on his
00:46:29.400 --> 00:46:32.539
wife. He'd raped other women. He was a bad man.
00:46:32.800 --> 00:46:37.320
And every time he would see sharp rocks, he's
00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:40.559
carrying the cross. And the cross isn't... I
00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:43.150
tell people when they say, how heavy is it? It's
00:46:43.150 --> 00:46:45.670
heavy enough to remember. It's light enough not
00:46:45.670 --> 00:46:49.190
to be a sacrifice. The goal is not to sacrifice.
00:46:49.809 --> 00:46:52.050
Number one comment around the world, you're cheating.
00:46:52.150 --> 00:46:55.809
Jesus didn't have a wheel. I said, you're right.
00:46:55.989 --> 00:46:57.750
He didn't have a wheel, but my name's Keith.
00:46:58.849 --> 00:47:02.050
And I'm not planning on dying on this cross.
00:47:02.250 --> 00:47:04.269
But even if I die on this cross, I could shed
00:47:04.269 --> 00:47:06.650
all my blood and it wouldn't take away one of
00:47:06.650 --> 00:47:09.920
my sins, let alone the sins of the world. And
00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:12.079
I couldn't come out of the grave on my own. I'm
00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:15.500
walking to remind people of that. But the cross,
00:47:15.659 --> 00:47:17.579
I don't know, you probably can't see on the screen,
00:47:17.739 --> 00:47:21.199
but my collarbone has a lump there, an inch and
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:24.099
a half of the years of the weight of the wood
00:47:24.099 --> 00:47:28.760
bearing down on my shoulder. The wood of the
00:47:28.760 --> 00:47:30.960
cross has shaped my body. And so that's what
00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:34.400
Jesus does with us. So this guy was trying to
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:38.139
be forgiven. by carrying this cross and stepping
00:47:38.139 --> 00:47:41.559
on sharp stones. And if he'd see thorn bushes
00:47:41.559 --> 00:47:44.059
or sticker bushes, he would step on those thorns
00:47:44.059 --> 00:47:46.920
and sticker bushes. And he was just, I'm a bad
00:47:46.920 --> 00:47:49.320
man crying. And the whole time I'm telling him,
00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:51.960
you don't have to carry the cross. Jesus already
00:47:51.960 --> 00:47:54.860
carried the cross for you. He didn't just carry
00:47:54.860 --> 00:47:56.500
the cross. He died on the cross. You don't have
00:47:56.500 --> 00:47:58.380
to bleed. Jesus bled for you. You don't have
00:47:58.380 --> 00:48:01.500
to suffer. He paid the price. He suffered for
00:48:01.500 --> 00:48:04.449
you. And I mean, there was even one point there
00:48:04.449 --> 00:48:06.909
was broken glass. I mean, he stepped on twisted
00:48:06.909 --> 00:48:09.349
metal, rusty metal. There was some broken glass
00:48:09.349 --> 00:48:11.650
and he got down on his knees and he's walking
00:48:11.650 --> 00:48:14.309
across his knees on that broken glass. Blood
00:48:14.309 --> 00:48:19.190
just pouring down and he's sweating. And it's
00:48:19.190 --> 00:48:22.809
like after 12 kilometers, which is about seven
00:48:22.809 --> 00:48:25.329
and a half miles, we're on the top of, it's not
00:48:25.329 --> 00:48:28.210
a mountain, but it's a high hill that he's walked
00:48:28.210 --> 00:48:30.989
up. And it's like the light bulb went off. And
00:48:30.989 --> 00:48:33.429
he says, you mean? I didn't have to walk with
00:48:33.429 --> 00:48:35.530
you this whole way. That's what I've been telling
00:48:35.530 --> 00:48:39.289
you. And I didn't have to carry this. No, sir.
00:48:39.369 --> 00:48:41.929
Jesus already carried it for you. And I didn't
00:48:41.929 --> 00:48:45.269
have to suffer and bleed. No, sir. Jesus' blood
00:48:45.269 --> 00:48:48.989
was enough. And he's alive and I can know him.
00:48:49.710 --> 00:48:52.030
Yes, sir. That's what I've been trying to tell
00:48:52.030 --> 00:48:57.130
you. And he'll forgive even me and make me new
00:48:57.130 --> 00:49:00.900
and make me clean. You got it, sir. And I've
00:49:00.900 --> 00:49:03.440
never seen somebody get more saved. It was just
00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:08.659
beautiful. Because it takes, by now, the cross
00:49:08.659 --> 00:49:10.579
is off his shoulder. It's on his side, kind of
00:49:10.579 --> 00:49:13.199
like it's leaning. Listeners can't see it, but
00:49:13.199 --> 00:49:15.940
it's leaning on his side, almost like a pulpit.
00:49:16.719 --> 00:49:20.579
And that guy, he doesn't bow his head, close
00:49:20.579 --> 00:49:22.840
his eyes, nobody looking around, raise his hand,
00:49:22.940 --> 00:49:27.909
none of that. He didn't sign an altar card. This
00:49:27.909 --> 00:49:31.030
guy gives me the cross, jumps in the air like
00:49:31.030 --> 00:49:33.750
the old Toyota LEAP, kicks both of his heels
00:49:33.750 --> 00:49:36.849
together, hands up in the air, and he goes, Yahoo!
00:49:37.769 --> 00:49:42.250
Yahoo! At last I saw him running down a hill,
00:49:42.309 --> 00:49:46.489
both hands up. I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!
00:49:47.309 --> 00:49:49.449
Wow. That's a pretty cool story right there.
00:49:49.829 --> 00:49:53.110
First of all, how many of us got that saved when
00:49:53.110 --> 00:49:57.599
we got saved? Really? Yeah. 20 years later, I
00:49:57.599 --> 00:50:00.179
was speaking at a missions conference in Waco,
00:50:00.340 --> 00:50:05.260
Texas. And I was one of the general session speakers,
00:50:05.400 --> 00:50:08.280
but they had breakout sessions on specific areas
00:50:08.280 --> 00:50:10.739
of the world. And the speaker for Latin America
00:50:10.739 --> 00:50:13.760
wasn't able to arrive because of bad weather.
00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:15.380
And they said, well, Keith, you've walked through
00:50:15.380 --> 00:50:17.679
Latin America. How about you be our speaker?
00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:21.900
And in my talk, I included that story because
00:50:21.900 --> 00:50:25.650
of the whole idea of penance, penitentia. And
00:50:25.650 --> 00:50:29.130
how we go about reaching people in that part
00:50:29.130 --> 00:50:31.869
of the world. And afterwards, a man, obviously
00:50:31.869 --> 00:50:36.010
from Latin America, came up to me. And ear to
00:50:36.010 --> 00:50:39.510
ear, beaming, grinning. And he pokes me in the
00:50:39.510 --> 00:50:42.250
chest. He goes, you're that man. And I said,
00:50:42.289 --> 00:50:46.170
I'm sorry. He goes, that story you told, that's
00:50:46.170 --> 00:50:49.369
my pastor. Wow. And I said, I'm sorry, what?
00:50:49.789 --> 00:50:52.929
He goes, our pastor has told us that story over
00:50:52.929 --> 00:50:57.059
and over again. And he goes, and I get to meet
00:50:57.059 --> 00:50:59.780
you today. He said, I can't wait to tell that
00:50:59.780 --> 00:51:04.380
story to my pastor. So sometimes, you know, you
00:51:04.380 --> 00:51:09.219
don't know. But I don't care. I don't care. I'm
00:51:09.219 --> 00:51:12.760
free. I really am free from whether you're threatening
00:51:12.760 --> 00:51:15.599
to kill me because that's obviously happened
00:51:15.599 --> 00:51:19.099
many times. People put guns in my mouth, in my
00:51:19.099 --> 00:51:22.820
ears. One particular group had a sword to my
00:51:22.820 --> 00:51:25.969
neck. threatening to cut off my head that urinated
00:51:25.969 --> 00:51:28.849
on me, or whether you're bribing me with money
00:51:28.849 --> 00:51:34.349
or not money, or life or death, prosperity or
00:51:34.349 --> 00:51:39.670
poverty, I'm free. Praise or rejection, I'm free.
00:51:39.809 --> 00:51:44.030
My Savior loves me, and my fairy tale princess
00:51:44.030 --> 00:51:48.849
adores me, and I'm free. Beautiful. Beautiful.
00:51:49.429 --> 00:51:51.909
Well, would you pray for our listeners? Yeah.
00:51:52.489 --> 00:51:55.349
First of all, thanks again for the honor of being
00:51:55.349 --> 00:51:58.210
together with you guys. It's really a treat.
00:52:00.690 --> 00:52:06.289
Holy, holy, holy. You're so holy and beautiful,
00:52:06.510 --> 00:52:11.550
beautiful. And we adore you. You take our breath
00:52:11.550 --> 00:52:16.090
away and our hearts beat for you. I pray in this
00:52:16.090 --> 00:52:19.250
talk and this time together that... That you've
00:52:19.250 --> 00:52:21.710
allowed me to honor you and that I've lifted
00:52:21.710 --> 00:52:25.349
you up. You could be seen. I pray for those who
00:52:25.349 --> 00:52:30.130
have been hurt along the way. Maybe have gotten
00:52:30.130 --> 00:52:33.630
their eyes on other things. Their eyesight's
00:52:33.630 --> 00:52:35.409
been wounded and they can't see you as clearly.
00:52:36.070 --> 00:52:38.409
Maybe they've just gotten tired and they've let
00:52:38.409 --> 00:52:41.889
their eyes fall. But you give everybody who's
00:52:41.889 --> 00:52:45.289
listening the grace to lay aside everything.
00:52:46.409 --> 00:52:49.030
Just keeping them from running to race and fixing
00:52:49.030 --> 00:52:51.570
their eyes on you. And would you allow them to
00:52:51.570 --> 00:52:54.570
fix their eyes on you? Would you give them the
00:52:54.570 --> 00:52:58.469
love for you that they'll never, ever recover
00:52:58.469 --> 00:53:03.769
from? Yes. Would you burn the image of your face,
00:53:03.909 --> 00:53:07.690
your beautiful face, your glorious face in our
00:53:07.690 --> 00:53:13.320
hearts so that you are always before us? Would
00:53:13.320 --> 00:53:16.659
you put in us hearts that want to lean on your
00:53:16.659 --> 00:53:19.280
chest, lean our heads on your chest and hear
00:53:19.280 --> 00:53:22.159
your heartbeat? Hearts that want to wipe away
00:53:22.159 --> 00:53:25.159
the tears from your eyes today as you weep over
00:53:25.159 --> 00:53:29.000
this broken world. May we bring a smile to that
00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:32.039
beautiful face. And may our hearts be with your
00:53:32.039 --> 00:53:36.860
heart. Would you not only lead each of us, everyone
00:53:36.860 --> 00:53:40.900
listening, as well as Philip and Sharon and me.
00:53:41.440 --> 00:53:44.760
Not only lead us by your voice, but by your whispers
00:53:44.760 --> 00:53:48.760
and by your heartbeat. But you promised to lead
00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:50.559
us with a glance of your eyes. May we become
00:53:50.559 --> 00:53:55.039
so intimately acquainted with you and your face.
00:53:55.780 --> 00:53:58.760
We just look to you and we're led by a glance
00:53:58.760 --> 00:54:01.840
of your eyes, as the psalmist said. So we adore
00:54:01.840 --> 00:54:06.500
you. We honor you. And we bless you. And our
00:54:06.500 --> 00:54:09.619
hearts sing. Thanks for inviting us to follow
00:54:09.619 --> 00:54:12.400
you. Thanks for inviting us to work together
00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:14.340
with you. You can do it so much better without
00:54:14.340 --> 00:54:18.400
us. And you invite us to do it with you. And
00:54:18.400 --> 00:54:21.960
even though we're weak, help us to remember it's
00:54:21.960 --> 00:54:25.320
not by might. It's not by power. It's by your
00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:29.079
spirit. It's not only your wisdom. You are wisdom.
00:54:29.639 --> 00:54:33.719
Yes. We come to you. It's the first point in
00:54:33.719 --> 00:54:35.679
your sermon where you said blessed are the poor
00:54:35.679 --> 00:54:39.860
in spirit. And we say we're poor in spirit. We
00:54:39.860 --> 00:54:44.039
need you. Would you fill us? And as you said
00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:46.739
to me so many years ago, you're more interested
00:54:46.739 --> 00:54:49.619
in reaching all of our heart than you are in
00:54:49.619 --> 00:54:52.119
all the world. Yes. Because when you get someone
00:54:52.119 --> 00:54:53.900
whose heart is completely yours, you've got someone
00:54:53.900 --> 00:54:56.239
you can reach all the world through. So we give
00:54:56.239 --> 00:54:59.420
you all of us. We don't need more of you. You
00:54:59.420 --> 00:55:01.739
need all of us. And we give you all of us, our
00:55:01.739 --> 00:55:05.380
dreams. We give you our sin and our wretchedness.
00:55:05.420 --> 00:55:08.360
We give you our problems. We give you our hangups.
00:55:09.000 --> 00:55:11.380
But we give you our dreams. We give you our vision.
00:55:11.800 --> 00:55:15.099
We give you our goals. We give you our callings.
00:55:15.500 --> 00:55:17.920
We give you everything that you've given to us,
00:55:17.960 --> 00:55:20.579
our strengths and our abilities. We give you
00:55:20.579 --> 00:55:22.679
everything. And we pray that you'd find this
00:55:22.679 --> 00:55:26.440
living sacrifice as holy and acceptable in your
00:55:26.440 --> 00:55:30.500
eyes. And we just say, we love you. We love you.
00:55:31.079 --> 00:55:34.139
In the name above all names. In the name, it's
00:55:34.139 --> 00:55:37.119
the most beautiful name. Thank you for allowing
00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:41.980
us to say it in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.
00:55:55.920 --> 00:55:58.760
Your review helps the podcasting platform suggest
00:55:58.760 --> 00:56:01.400
this podcast to other listeners who are also
00:56:01.400 --> 00:56:03.699
looking for a great move of the Holy Spirit.
00:56:03.940 --> 00:56:06.719
Check out our website at globaloutpouring .org
00:56:06.719 --> 00:56:09.559
to find out more information, read our blogs,
00:56:09.699 --> 00:56:12.539
connect with us, and donate. You can also browse
00:56:12.539 --> 00:56:15.099
our web store for life -changing anointed books.
00:56:15.519 --> 00:56:18.920
Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm
00:56:18.920 --> 00:56:21.639
Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming,
00:56:21.860 --> 00:56:22.840
loving presence.