Latest / MISSION Podcast / What You're A Part Of - Matt Reagan

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What You're A Part Of - Matt Reagan · MISSION Podcast

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Mission Church, how y'all doing? Good to see you. Good to see you.
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My name is Matt Reagan. I am a pastor from Louisville,
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Kentucky, 5-kid dad, and I'm just glad to be here, man.
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I'm good friends with Landon. I have loved he and Bree for a long time.
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Got a sweet season when they were figuring things out. My wife and I got
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to be in their lives in a powerful way. And I kind of get to
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just sneak in the back every once in a while and just pray some ninja
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prayers over you. You don't even know they're coming. And I've just been watching
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God do impossible things and I just love this place. And so I've been hanging
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out. I'm a people person. So I've been hanging out with people, meeting people.
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As a matter of fact, my son came. I won't give you the whole story
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today, but my son came to GCU right down
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the road all the way from Louisville. We were like, are you sure? And he
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is like, yeah. So he came and we sent him and I'll say it
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like this. He came thinking he was an atheist. I don't know
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if any of your kids have ever run from the Lord. I'm sure that I'm
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the only person that that's ever happened to. But he was pretty
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sure he was an atheist. And then God just literally just showed
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up powerfully in his life. And I was just like, man, Lord,
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who's there? Who's going to— and all of a sudden I get this text from
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Landon. And Landon— and it's a picture of him and Noah, my oldest,
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sitting down together. And he's like, I got your dude, man. And so I
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was just like, oh my guy. And I love it. Who is
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going to be an atheist is now a pastor in San Diego. So that's how
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that works. Yeah. Yeah. And it's
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just a big family and I'm excited to spend some time
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with you. I just— this is going to kind of be a sermon, kind of.
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I'm going to share some stories of what God's doing in me and through me
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and around the world. And it's also going to be kind of an encouragement to
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you to be who you were made to be, to step in fully, to like
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that half-hearted is no longer on the table for any of us right now.
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I really believe that. I don't know what you think when you see me,
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but you probably think Man, pastors, they kind
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of grow up, they have it all together. I just need you to know that's
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not my story. I'm sure that's somebody else's story, but I grew up in the
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hood. I grew up in an inner city project. I'm the only one from
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my 2 parents. Both of them had families before. My dad was a Special Forces
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Vietnam vet, and we were just broken. Anybody start off with a
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broken story? Can I hear you? Like, that was us.
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And I'm just here to tell you, I'm only standing here because the radical grace
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of Jesus came through and somebody back in the day, I was like, I was
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a pup, man. Somebody was bold enough to grab my
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mom and say, you got to come to this thing called the Billy Graham— I
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forget what they called it— evangelism outreach thing. And my mom was like,
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I've tried everything. I'll give it a shot. She went by herself.
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She sat in the back and they were talking about Jesus. And as she sat
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there, she could just feel the love of God for the first time in a
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powerful way. And my mom, man, she did. She went down and
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she just responded. She was like, I would do anything. For that kind of love.
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And as she went forward, she was like, just tell me what to do.
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And they're like, okay, how many of you would do good with this advice?
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And they were like, okay, just spend half an hour in prayer, half an hour
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in, you know, like studying your Bible and getting a local church. You're going to
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be great. And that's all she had walking out the door.
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At least that's what she thought was all she had walking out the door.
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But what she had was the Holy Spirit in her chest. And because of that,
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when I grew up, I grew up to a mom who, when I would come
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down, I kind of crawl out and things were crazy and we had cops in
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the house and all that kind of stuff. But my mom was like this radiant
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light, man. She was just glowing, just this
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Jesus-ness in her. I remember sneaking down because I was kind
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of the kid that the other kids weren't so sure about because I was kind
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of the golden child and I was the youngest. I'd crawl down and I'd literally
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peek into where my mom was meeting with God. And it just— I literally,
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just from being in the room, could feel his love, could feel his presence.
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And so I grew up with that. And so, man,
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from there, life was hard,
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difficult, beautiful. I think that's all of us. It's like, man, I know God's called
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me and I know he's doing this stuff. So I just kind of hop in
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and I'm like, okay, I'm figuring this out, but I kind of got a broken
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family and I've got a lot of baggage and I'm trying to figure it out
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and I'm navigating life. And as I grew up and as I kept pursuing
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Jesus, I started running into things that I didn't know where to put.
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And so some of it was like, man, God, I'm giving my best.
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I'm trying to, I'm showing up at church and I'm changing my friend group
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and I'm still trying to be intentional. I'm doing and I'm doing, I'm doing.
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And it was this wild thing where in life, my life, my Christian life,
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I don't know if it was you, but started getting really busy with Christian stuff.
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And literally I was like, man, this is great. I'm here for it. And I
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don't know how to explain it. And maybe you've been here before,
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but I feel like I was starting to recognize that my Christian life
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was busy and I was doing good stuff, but it was starting to feel like
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it was stuff on the outside. And I was wondering, I just I just remember
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praying to God, God, I wish I could change this thing.
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I wish I could change my heart and I wish I could change my appetites
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and I wish I could change the way that I think and the way that
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I feel and this brokenness inside of me. And I just remember feeling like,
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man, I want to do this stuff, but I read
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scripture, man, and I see people that came to know you and something
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happened on the inside and it just transformed us. And I just remember saying,
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God, man, I want that, man. Like, I want to know you.
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Like, I want to know you. I don't want to just clean up my mouth
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and clean up. I don't want to not cuss and not chew and not date
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girls that do. Like, I just, I want to move with
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you. Like, I want, if you have something available, and that's what, when I
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read scripture, that's what I see. I want that thing, man. And so I started
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reading and there's a season in my life and I just remember the Lord just
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started, I'm kind of unpacking and I started, God's word was like,
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it took me a while. I don't know how you were. But everybody's like,
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oh, just read his word. It's going to be great. I'd get to his word
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and I was like, I'm bored out of my mind right now, man. And I'm
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like, it took me a while to like figure out how I learn in scripture.
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And I had to like make a commitment to sit down. But as I started
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reading his word, I just, it just started just like things started popping off the
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page, right? Like this is how this works. As that started to happen and this
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guy said, hey man, I'd love to walk you through Romans. I was like,
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that's great. Because, you know, you know, so he starts walking me through Romans and,
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I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know that Romans was the most
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catalytic book ever written on the planet that I specifically didn't know as we started
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leaning into Romans chapter 8, that Romans 8 was the most catalytic revival passage
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in all of history. It formed the great reformers. I won't be nerdy and list
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them all off, but Luther and Hus and all these reformers, it was like they
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got to Romans 8 and it was like Romans 1 through 7. If you haven't
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read it, I'm sure Landon's taught about it. It's like all this stuff. It's like
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this is what faith is. And it's like the cognitive side of faith. This is
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what this looks like. This is what it means to follow. But then you get
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to the end of 7 and Paul says, hey man, but I
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have this thing at work in me, man. It's this thing inside of me where
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it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
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But man, in my heart,
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man, I do the thing I don't want to do. And I'm
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like, and who's going to— and he literally says, who will rescue me from this
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body of death, man? I've got all this stuff and I don't know how to
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fix it, man. So Romans 8 leans into then, if you ever
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read it, it's so beautiful. But I was studying and I just started reading and
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all of a sudden, again, I didn't know at the time,
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I didn't know that Paul is about to introduce life in the Spirit, that he's
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going to literally use the Spirit 17 times. He's just going to put on a
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demonstration of what it means to, like what has really been bought by the
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precious blood of Jesus, that it's not just the cross saying this is God's love
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and he's always loved you and And so now you come and he loves you
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so much. Now you should try harder to please him.
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But that because the extravagant love of a father who loved you, he sent
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his one and only son. He died on a cross to literally pay for our
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sins, reconcile us, pour out his favor. And this
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is always his heart for you.
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And then we— and I just started reading through and
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I just started reading passages like this. And if the Spirit of him who raised
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Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Christ from the
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dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives
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in you. And I started recognizing that it wasn't just like, God,
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thank you for what you've done. I'll try to take it from here. That it
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was like, oh God, thank you for what you've done. And now Father,
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I want this Holy Spirit that you've put in my chest to
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do like you said, you said like the same power
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that raised Jesus from the dead, that reanimated his body
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and brought him back to life, that that same power is at work in me,
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man, you're going to have to help me because I don't see it. So then
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I just start diving into scripture and that's where you go. And I just start
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reading like John 14 and he is like, hey, if you love me, you're going
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to obey my commands. I'm like, I'm trying, man. And I will ask the Father
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and he will give another advocate, one of the same kind that he was going
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to give something like to the degree of what Jesus was to the disciples,
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that the Holy Spirit was going to be something for us filling us and fueling
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us. And he says he's going to be your advocate. He's going to fight for
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you. He's going to lead you and he's going to be with you forever.
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He's the Spirit of truth. It's like the world cannot accept
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him. Why? Because there hasn't been a way until they accept the precious blood.
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There's not a way for the Spirit to come until we receive the sacrifice
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of Jesus and say, I claim you. But the second that happens,
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he starts to live in you and be in you. And I started seeing things
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like John 16. Jesus says, it's better for you that I go. And if I'm
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the disciples, I'm like, no, it's not, bro. I would rather you be right here.
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Stick around. You're actually kind of a deal, Jesus.
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But he says, no, no, no, because here's what's going to happen. If I go,
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then my Father is going to send the Holy Spirit and y'all don't know
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what's coming. Acts chapter 2, he gets in front of a bunch of people
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and they hear the message and they're like, man, if that's God and that's who
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loved and that's what happened at the cross, then what do we need to do?
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In Acts chapter 2, he says, here's what you need to do. You need to
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repent. You need to believe the good news about Jesus. And you'll
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receive what? The gift of the Holy Spirit.
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And I just started digging through scripture and I was like, I started realizing that
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sometimes I can kind of slow the activity of the Spirit. How do I do
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that? I grieve the Holy Spirit. I just, I get caught up on my own
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stuff and my own ways and my own heart. And I just kind of move
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at the spade of spade, the speed of mediocrity. And then
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there's sometimes where I keep in step with the Spirit and I just speed the
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Spirit's work in my life. But the Spirit, The same power that was available
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to Jesus. Oh, by the way, and I didn't even know this at the time,
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I started digging into the life of Jesus and I just started recognizing the
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relationship that Jesus had with the Holy Spirit. And then I just started reading and
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I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, timeout. Jesus needed the Holy Spirit. This is blowing
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my mind, man. And so wait, so Jesus was conceived by the Spirit,
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anointed by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, sealed by the Spirit, led by the
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Spirit, rejoiced in the Spirit, performed miracles by the power of the Spirit,
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and he was raised by the Spirit. I didn't know where to put that,
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but I just started saying, God, I want that. And then I just started recognizing
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that passage as I just kept reading through Romans and going back to scripture.
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It said Romans 18, I consider that our present sufferings
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are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed
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in us. And I had, I knew this word.
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Now I don't mean like, and I would say when this is written,
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the people that this was written to, it's not written to a group of people
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who are, who are under what I would say governmental
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persecution. That actually is not happening in the timeline yet.
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This is a group of people who knew suffering because this is a part of
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life. Amen. Like suffering is a part of life. Sometimes it's cancer
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and sometimes it's relationships and sometimes it's a broken mind. And sometimes you
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change and you go back to your group of people and there's no room for
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you because you can't fit in that world and you sacrifice relationships.
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And sometimes Sometimes you have a brokenness inside
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of you and there's this, I'm just telling you, I know this word, but I
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also know I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing the glory
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that there's something else on the table. Yeah,
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yeah, yeah. We've been through hard times and yes, we've experienced a lot
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of things, but what I started to recognize is the gospel
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didn't just promise that he loved me, promised that there's going to be glory being
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revealed out of my life. And I was like, man, Lord, tell me about this.
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And then this phrase, and this is like tattooed on my heart.
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I just started reading this passage. It says, for the creation waits in eager expectation
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for the children of God to be revealed. And it's this picture, if you read
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Romans, of the whole world, literally from the beginning
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of time, from the dawn of civilization, since the very first sin entered the garden,
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the whisper and a lie. As soon as they bought the lie, something happened.
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The world just started moving into chaos. Things started breaking. And as they
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broke, they didn't, they didn't get unbroken. So God just steps into history,
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but he, but he has this plan and he has this thing. He's like,
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so here's the thing, man. From the beginning of time, the entire world has just
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been waiting for the Spirit-filled
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sons and daughters of God to step in and be who they're made to be.
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And that blew my mind, man. That blew my mind.
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So I was in Iquitos, Iquitos, Peru. As a matter
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of fact, in Iquitos, Peru, I don't know if you know much about it,
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but Iquitos, you know, Peru's in South America. I'm helping some
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of you that were not great at school. Peru,
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South America. And Peru is attached to Amazon jungle.
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As a matter of fact, Iquitos, Peru is the very center of the Amazon jungle.
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It's this massive city, but you have to go there by plane or you can
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only get there by boat. That's the only way in. And I had a friend
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of mine who said, hey, I need you to be a part of something.
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I was like, okay, I'm up for an adventure. What are we doing? And he's
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like, we're going to go to the middle of the Amazon and there's all these
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pastors from all over the Amazon and and all these other countries and they're going
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to come in. We're going to do a pastor's conference right there. And I'm like,
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let's go. So I was pumped and I hopped on a plane
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and I got down to Iquitos and I got there a couple days early,
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kind of like I did when I came here because I just want to pray
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and get ready and get settled. And so as I'm sitting there in Iquitos,
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I get bored. Ask the security guy. I walk all the time. I just want
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to see the people, be around the people. I don't sit well. And so I
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saw this group of young 20-somethings that were attached to this ministry. That were
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kind of helping out with the conference or anything. And I got to know them
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and they were like, hey, we feel
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like there's probably like 20, 30 of them. They're like, we feel like you need
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to go with us today. I'm like, where are we going? And they're like,
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we're just going to hop on a boat and we're just going to take the
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boat maybe 45 minutes to an hour down, kind of out into the Amazon and
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we're just going to get off at a town and we're just going to share
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Christ. And I was like, what could possibly go wrong? This is going to be
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great. Might see an anaconda. Let's go.
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So I hop in a boat and we go down the stream and so we
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roll down there and I'm having— I love young men and women. That's like
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most of my ministry has been fueling and feeding 20-somethings because I
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just believe when they get the kingdom in their eyes, it changes their whole trajectory.
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And so I'm all about it. So we're riding, we're having a blast, we're laughing,
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and we pull into this place, this little city, and we
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park and we're going up these rickety things and we're riding back and then we're
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on motorcycles. I'm like, this is wild, man. And so we get back and all
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of a sudden I'm with, they're like, okay, we're going to break up and we
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got some stuff and we've got some local pastors and we're just going to go
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house to house. I'm like, okay, I'm here for it. Let's go. And so me
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and a bunch of Peruvian young people just start going kind of house to house.
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So I'm with this group and I'm like, man, I'm like
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the whitest dude here. Like white, white. I don't speak the language.
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And so I thought, I'm just going to hang back and watch, right? This is
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going to be great. I'm going to get some great sermons out of this.
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It's going to be amazing. So all of a sudden we show up
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at this first house and I'll never forget, I walk in the first house and
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I'm like kind of trailing. I'm like listening. I'm like, you know, I don't speak
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Spanish. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, Jesus. And we
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walk in the door, we walk in the door and all of these young people,
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they're like, you know, they kind of make, you know, they're like saying all this
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stuff and then they're like, and they look at me and they're like, pastor.
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And I was like, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what are we doing?
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And they're like, go ahead and just, would you mind just sharing the gospel
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with her? And I was like, oh sure, there's not
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a handbook for this, y'all. So I look at her and I was like,
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oh, great to meet you. I'm kind of making small talk and they just sit
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down while me and this woman and this family start talking.
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And I'm like, wow, I feel like this is a bad idea. So I just
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need you to know I'm a pretty evangelistic guy. I work out at gyms for
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the sole purpose really for lost people because it's a way to get lost people
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in my life. I do that with my boys too. I want them to do
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that. We've helped our kids. Lost people matter
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to God. They have to matter to us. I'm all about it. But walking into
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a hut in the middle of the Amazon jungle and sharing
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my faith with somebody I just met who the first question I said is
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like, are you a Christian? She said, what is a Christian? And I was like,
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oh no, she doesn't even know what this is,
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man. Where do you start? And so I
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just start leaning in and I'm just talking to her and I'm just sitting there
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going, man, Lord, what are you going to do here,
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man? And I just said, man, give me your eyes for
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this woman and let me see what you see. And I saw all these little
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kids kind of running around and I didn't know where her husband was. And I
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just started asking question after question after question. And at some point
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I'm like, Lord, how do I open the door? What are you doing? And all
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of a sudden I can't explain it, but this is what happens. People always want
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the Holy Spirit feelings when they're sitting in the rooms and I'm all about it.
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But I'd say it like this. The Holy Spirit's so active when we join him
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and what he's doing, we just come alive, man.
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So I just said, Lord, what are you seeing? What are you doing? I'm so
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bad at this, man. I don't know what to say. And I just felt like
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he was like, he gave me eyes for, I don't know how to explain this,
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but it was almost like I could see her shame. Doesn't that sound weird?
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And maybe I recognize it because I know my own.
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I know those seasons where I mean, because of my past and because
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of how I grew up and because of what I was exposed to and what
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happened to me early on in my faith, man, I just carried so much shame
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that Jesus has just had to deal with. But I'm just telling you, I just
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looked at her and I said, this is going to sound crazy,
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but do you feel ashamed?
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And she just looked at me with— she just— eyes started to
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tear. She's like, I do. And we just started talking about Jesus
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and what he does and how he does it. And all of a sudden,
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I'm like into this place. I'm like, I don't know how to, like, how do
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I, what do we, how do we do the end of this?
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Like, how do I make this? Like, I don't, I know I don't make this
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happen, God. I know this is you, but what do you do? And all of
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a sudden she looks at me and she's like, so Pastor Matt? I was like,
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yeah. She said, this is all through translator.
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She's like, I think I know what you're asking. Can I accept this Jesus?
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And I was like, I probably should have cut to that already, but yes.
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And she was like, can all my family too? Will you tell them the whole
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thing too? And so all of a sudden this whole family comes out and I
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kind of say all this stuff again and we got rolling,
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man. And this family just in tears accepts Christ
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in the middle of the jungle. Isn't that wild? And man, I just, I got
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to be honest, I walked out of this hut and I was like, whoa,
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first one. That is wild. That is not going to be how the day goes,
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right? So then I walk into this next house. It's literally right
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next door. And all these people are like, what are these people doing here?
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So we walk into the next door and we're talking
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to 'em and all of a sudden they kind of move out of the way.
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I'm like, we're doing this again. Come on, man. You guys are the ones who
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speak Spanish. And I look at this lady and she's kind
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of an older lady. She's in her 80s. And I said, are you a Christian?
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She was like, I kind of am. I was like, I don't know what that
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means. She's like, but you're a believer? I said, yeah. She said,
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my son has a darkness in him and he knows it and I know it
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and we don't know what to do about it. And I was like,
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I was not prepared for that. And so
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I'm like, oh Lord, help, man. And so
20:01
again, I was just like, okay, Lord, there's no way I'm here on accident.
20:04
There's no way we're just walking. You are aware of what's going on. You sent
20:07
a Spirit-led son. I don't know what I'm doing and I'm not perfect and I
20:10
don't know what to do, but I'm here, man. So God, just show me what
20:14
to say and show me what to do. And we just start talking. And there's,
20:17
again, there's no handbook for this, y'all. But I could, man, I could sense something
20:22
was going on with this dude and it was a darkness. I don't want to
20:24
call things. I'll let your pastor help you decide what that is. But I'm
20:28
just telling you, as I looked at that, I could tell too, this guy's whole
20:32
life was just locked up. And so we just talked
20:36
to him. We talked to them about Jesus. We talked to him about Jesus.
20:38
I said, brother, do you want the
20:42
love and grace of God? Do you want Not only to choose him, but do
20:45
you want freedom, man? And he's like, I do. So we just laid hands on
20:48
him and I can't explain it, but I'm just telling you, as soon as we
20:52
did that, it was like, it was like, and it wasn't like, it was like
20:55
the Spirit of God just showed up in the room and just a lightness.
20:58
And that's like, and again, I don't have a box for this. If you do,
21:01
then great, but I don't. But it just felt like you could just
21:05
feel chains falling off this dude.
21:08
And I'm just like going, wow, God, you're so good, man. I didn't know this
21:12
was going to work. I know you, But sometimes you pray and things happen and
21:16
sometimes you pray and they don't. And I can't ever tell why, but I'm just
21:19
sitting here with this guy in the middle of the Amazon jungle and I'm just
21:22
literally, you could almost feel his chains drop because Jesus
21:26
loves to free people, man. He just loves
21:29
it. And so all of a sudden we pray for
21:33
him, we walk out, we're all crying. I'm like wiping the tears. I'm like 2
21:36
for 2. This is wild, man.
21:39
You got to be kidding me. And then we go to the next house and
21:43
I walk into the next house and it's this young couple and they've got this
21:46
little baby and I am, I don't know if this is manly or not,
21:49
but I'm like a baby stealer. Not in a bad way.
21:53
When young couples, we have tons of young couples at our house. I'm like,
21:55
give me the baby, man. I got it. I had 5 kids because I love
21:58
babies. Bring them to me. I didn't know what I didn't know and I love
22:02
them. I can't wait for grandkids. No pressure. But kids, come on.
22:06
So, and so all of a sudden I walk in the door and this,
22:08
like, I'm at the door and the lady just hands me her baby and I'm
22:10
like, oh, we're doing this. I don't even know
22:14
who you are. And she's like, so I heard you talking next door. I was
22:17
like, okay. She's like, and I'm a Christian. Or no, she said, she said,
22:20
I know you're a Christian. I said, yeah, yeah. She said, so then,
22:23
then you need to pray over my baby because we can't lose this one.
22:27
And I was like, tell me about that.
22:31
She said, well, where we live, we've had so many babies and they don't make
22:35
it past 2. And you got to pray. Would your
22:40
God save my baby?
22:43
Theological answer. I mean, of course he will.
22:47
But God, will you?
22:51
You know, I've had some of those questions myself. I don't know if you have,
22:55
but I have those questions sometimes about God. I know what you've got on the
22:58
table. And I'll be honest, I was on a hike. It was an Israel trip.
23:01
And I was hiking with some good friends and I was
23:05
a running back and I had a pretty bad knee injury and I've had 9
23:09
knee surgeries. Don't cry for me. You got way worse.
23:13
But I'm just telling you, I had chronic pain for like 15, 16 years and
23:16
it got to the place where I just kind of managed it. And so I
23:18
went on this hike and I was super excited to be with the dudes and
23:21
really honestly, I was just excited to be with Jesus for like 8 days of
23:25
just walking and unplugged. And I was so ready. First day I got to the
23:28
end and I get to the end of hiking and I recognize,
23:32
oh shoot, I'm going to have to Uber the rest of the trip, man.
23:35
My knee was swollen, it was big, and I was just like,
23:39
come on, man. So I remember,
23:42
and this is not a thing, right? It's not a thing. So I get up
23:45
at like 4:30 in the morning, I'm under the stars and I'm just like,
23:48
okay, I'm in Cana. I was in Cana. I was like on this over route,
23:51
kind of at this bed and breakfast and Cana's right down this little
23:55
church. And I was like, oh, I need to read through Cana. I just need
23:58
to get over myself. I'll Uber. It's fine. God knows what's up. So I'm reading
24:01
through stories and in Cana I just recognized first, first miracle is water into
24:04
wine. And it just popped out to me that Jesus'
24:08
mom came and said, hey, they got a wine problem. Jesus was like, no,
24:11
no. And she's like, yeah, he will.
24:15
And he did. And I was like, Jesus, you didn't even want to do
24:19
this and you did it because you just love your mom.
24:22
And then the next miracle that happens at Cana, somebody brings him
24:25
somebody that needs to be healed. And he literally says to the crowd, he says,
24:28
it's a wicked generation that demands a sign. When you sit there
24:32
and say, God will because he has to, there's a wickedness in that. He's like,
24:35
he doesn't have to do anything. It's a wicked generation that demands a sign.
24:39
And so you're like, oh, so he's not going to heal. I'm like, and then
24:42
he turns and heals the guy. I'm like, you're so confusing to me.
24:47
So I go down into Cana. I'm down in the basement and we're all literally,
24:50
it's like the one place in Cana. It is the spot for
24:54
the wedding feast. And I'm down there and I'm just, my knee is swollen and
24:57
it hurts and I'm, And I'm frustrated and I just have an honest— I don't
25:01
know if you've done this before, but sometimes Jesus said this, not me. You don't
25:04
have because you don't ask.
25:08
And I was just thinking that and I was standing there and I was like,
25:11
and I just said to him, I was like, Lord, so here's the deal,
25:13
man. I don't need you to heal my
25:16
knee because if you don't do it, you're not faithful. That's not real. You're my
25:20
life, man. You're breath to me. You mean everything to me.
25:25
And man, it'd mean a lot to me if
25:30
like just for 7 days, man, could you just make it to where it's tolerable
25:34
for me to walk with my friends and walk with you? That means so much
25:38
to me. From that moment, true story, I was just like, I put my
25:42
backpack on. I'm like, I'll just give it a shot. I haven't had a single
25:47
drop of pain for 8 years now. It's wild.
25:53
Does he do that all the time? No,
25:58
but sometimes he does. What do you do with that? I don't know.
26:02
But as I'm holding this baby, I'm sitting there and I'm praying over this baby.
26:06
I'm like, Lord, if there's ever a time where I just want you
26:10
to answer a prayer, man, like please save this little girl, like give
26:14
her life. And so all of a sudden I'm like, maybe don't just give her
26:18
life. God, would you raise her to be a warrior for you, to be a
26:21
Spirit-led daughter of yours? God, would you Allow this girl. And I just start praying
26:24
like prayers, prayers, like the kinds of prayers I only pray over my
26:28
kids, man, over this little girl. And again, I can't explain it and I
26:32
won't know until we get on the backside of heaven what God did in that
26:35
moment. But as I walked out that door, I felt a confidence in my chest
26:38
that we were supposed to be there and that God was not only going to
26:41
save this little girl, but she was going to be a powerful force for the
26:44
kingdom. I believe that. Amen.
26:50
I won't do this. I gotta keep going. I'm sorry.
26:54
I walk into the next door. As soon as I walk in there and
26:58
is another family and the parents were gone and the kids, everything was kind of
27:03
weird and I couldn't figure out what was going on. And we're telling the gospel
27:05
and they so want to hear it. But again, you could just tell something's not
27:09
right. Something's not off. And what's keeping them? And just said,
27:13
Lord, what are you doing? And all of a sudden, and again, I just
27:16
asked the Lord, what do you see? What's going on? And sometimes you pick things
27:19
up and sometimes you just plow through with the gospel and just keep sharing good
27:23
news and hope it works out. But as soon as we get going, it's like
27:26
this. You could just tell. And again, maybe it's because I've been a
27:30
pretty broken dude. I grew up in a house where there's a lot of brokenness
27:32
and a lot of abuse and a lot of things that aren't supposed to be.
27:35
But I could just see that in the family. And I
27:39
just asked them, do you guys, do you feel safe?
27:43
Do you feel safe in your home? Do you feel safe? And every single one
27:47
of them were like, No. And I was like, we kind of walked
27:51
through, I won't go through the whole thing, but we just sat there and we
27:52
prayed and all of a sudden they're like, we got to the end. I was
27:54
like, I don't know how to close it. And again, they're just like, so we
27:58
think we know what you're saying. Is there any way we could just accept Christ
28:02
today? And I'm like, I mean, I guess.
28:06
And so we just invited and they accepted Christ. And so we walk out.
28:09
And so literally every single house we went to that day, Was like
28:13
that. And I was like, God, what are you up to, man?
28:17
What is going on? And literally I was with a good friend of mine and
28:21
we went out and they put us in those little tuk-tuks. You ever seen them?
28:23
It's like a motorcycle and you're in the back. Anyways, so we're sitting in this
28:27
little tuk-tuk and we sit there and we're just crying. We're just crying like,
28:31
God, what in the world, man? You're so good. As we're
28:36
sitting there, my friend just kept saying this line. He was like, He's like,
28:39
Matt, they were just waiting on us. And at first I was like, yeah,
28:43
man, it was, man. It was like, this is like a divine setup.
28:46
And then he said it again. He was like, man, they were just waiting on
28:49
us. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's like, Matt, they're just— I'm like,
28:52
bro, stop saying it. And then he said it like the 15th
28:56
time. And I'm telling you, there's like a sonic boom in my heart because it
29:00
took me back to a passage. It was just like, and the whole world is
29:04
just waiting, Man, this is a divine setup. Like every single one of
29:08
us that steps in with faith and confidence and just says, hey God,
29:11
I'll say yes to you. I'll go with you wherever you want.
29:14
I'm in. I want to be aware. If you don't want to do that today,
29:17
I'm good. But if you're up for it, I'm up for it. And if you're
29:21
into it, I'm into it. And if you want faith to come out of me,
29:24
then I know that faith is what pleases your heart. So I want to say
29:27
yes to you, man, because so many times the challenge
29:31
for me, is this passage right here. This is a prophecy about what happens when
29:36
Jesus comes, that not only are we going to be reconciled into
29:39
our forever home and into our forever relationship with him, but there's also something
29:43
that's going to come into us. This was foretold. This is literally
29:47
God whispering in the ear of his friends, the prophets, to speak
29:51
of what we would taste today. He says, here's what's going to happen. I'm going
29:55
to give you a new heart and I'm going to put a new spirit in
29:58
you. And I will remove from you your heart of stone and
30:02
I'm going to give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit
30:05
in you. And here's the thing. I will literally move
30:09
you. I will animate you. I will start directing you so
30:13
that you can follow my decrees and carefully keep my laws.
30:18
So many times, man, when it comes to just wanting to be filled by him
30:22
and I don't want to grieve him and I don't want to be— it all
30:25
starts with, this right here. You ever feel like that?
30:29
And I'm like, well, hey, here's the deal, man. Would I say that I have
30:32
a heart of stone? No, man. I'm a pretty friendly dude.
30:36
I'm a hugger, man. Even if you don't like it, I'm going to hug you.
30:39
I'm a warm person. That's not what this is talking about.
30:43
See, I can be a warm person and I can still be a half-hearted husband.
30:49
I can be a warm person. I wouldn't say my heart is a heart of
30:52
stone, but I can walk into the gym and it just be about me getting
30:55
my workout. And not recognize that God has this divine setup.
30:59
Every door that I walk into, that God is orchestrating, that he
31:02
has love and that he's put me there on purpose for something beautiful
31:07
and powerful. And he just says, man,
31:11
the world's waiting. They're waiting, man. They're waiting. They're waiting.
31:17
So I was— I have so many
31:21
stories. I'm taking way too long. I'll skip.
31:26
So I was, I was in West Palm Beach and, and I thought this was
31:29
funny because I came down here and something kind of happened last night, but,
31:32
but those people may be here, so we'll figure it out. So I was in
31:35
West Palm Beach and a friend of mine called me and he said, hey man,
31:37
I was on vacation in Florida because that's where Midwesterners do. It's what we do.
31:41
So we were on vacation and this guy called me and he said he was
31:44
having some challenges and problems. He said, hey, I'm supposed to speak at a place
31:47
and it's this church and, and they really need somebody, but But something happened in
31:51
my life and is there any way? I was like, oh man, I got you.
31:53
I talked to my wife. I was like, yeah, yeah, I'll fly down there.
31:55
So I'm flying down to some church that I don't know. I don't know them
31:57
at all. I've never met the pastor, never been to the church. And honestly,
32:01
I'd never been to West Palm. Pretty great. So I head down there and
32:05
I'm like, I'm here and I'm at a hotel room. And again, I don't sit
32:09
well. I'm bored outta my mind. So what do you do? You Yelp. I'm a
32:11
foodie. Let's go. So I'm Yelping. I'm like 4.8 or higher.
32:15
Let's go. So I find a spot and I'm like, I'm going to go.
32:18
And then I get there and I'm like, Oh, that means I can't get in.
32:22
So the place is packed and there's like one spot at the bar and I'm
32:25
like, oh, I'm taking it. Like pastor at a bar, this is going to be
32:28
great. So I sat at the bar last night too. Anyways,
32:32
so I sit at the bar and as I'm sitting there, I'm sitting there
32:36
and the place is just packed and there's this couple here and this couple here
32:39
and these people are rolling through and all of a sudden this couple over here
32:43
starts talking and they're like dropping Language is totally fine
32:48
for me. It doesn't bother me. But when you say 10 F-bombs within
32:52
a minute, I'm like, that's a record. That's impressive. And this
32:55
couple's just like effing this, effing this. And I'm like, this is great.
32:58
Let's just go. So we're hanging and we're talking and
33:02
I find out that this is Giovanni and Giovanni is married to Olga and they're
33:05
here on, you know, they just got away and they had these little kids.
33:09
And again, I'm just sitting there and I'm like,
33:13
man, Lord, is this one of those things where so many times
33:18
where this is an accident and maybe— and so I was just like,
33:21
hey, this is going to sound wild. And I don't remember saying there's no right
33:24
way to do this. The biggest thing you have to do is just say yes
33:27
and let God figure it out. And so I was like,
33:31
so tell me about your kids. And then I talk about my kids and all
33:33
of a sudden I can't even make this up. 15 minutes in, I'm like,
33:36
I don't know what to do here. And Giovanni leans over and he is like,
33:39
so, So this was wild, but man, God's been kind of moving
33:43
in my heart and I don't know what to do. And you're a Christian.
33:45
I can't believe this is an accident. Can you help me? I was like,
33:48
nah, no, I'm just kidding. I was like, yeah, let's go, man. So here
33:52
I am at the bar with Giovanni and Olga. 20 minutes in, I'm praying over
33:55
this couple as they head out the door. And I'm like,
33:59
by the way, I'm preaching tomorrow at a church. You guys just want to come
34:01
there? Go. Yeah. Yeah. So then this couple next to me,
34:05
like I thought they had the record for F-bombs. Theirs was F-bombs plus sexual things
34:09
going on. I'm like, this is wild. This is so wild. It's so great,
34:12
man. And so I'm just sitting there, I'm like, let's go. So they're sitting there
34:15
talking and all of a sudden they got kind of quiet after Jelani and Olga
34:20
left and they kind of lean over and they're like, hey. I'm like, hey.
34:23
And they're like, so we heard you talking to that couple. I'm like, yeah,
34:27
yeah, yeah. And they're like, yeah, we're a mess. And they just start pouring out
34:31
their hearts. Is there any way? I'm like, yeah, yeah. So I end up praying
34:34
like 6 minutes later, I'm praying with this couple and they accept Christ on the
34:38
side of the bar. And then it's not done, man. Don't clap
34:42
yet. So then this happens and then I'm sitting there,
34:46
y'all, I haven't even gotten my appetizer yet.
34:50
And I'm sitting there and the bartender comes up. His name's Jacob. And Jacob's like,
34:54
what's up, man? He's a stoner. I'm like, what's up, man? And he's
34:58
like, dude, I was listening to you guys talk. I was like, here we go.
35:03
And he's like, so I got questions and we got questions. Some of us people
35:06
in the back, the bar, would just listen. And is there any way, like,
35:09
as you eat, would you just ask our questions if we come by? And I'm
35:12
like, yeah, man. I show up to West Palm Beach,
35:15
it's called SoFlo Church, to preach, and it's me in
35:19
the bar in the front row. Isn't that wild?
35:24
Yeah.
35:28
And I, and I just, I just want to come, and I was just praying
35:31
this morning. This is This is such a different message than last night. Don't listen
35:34
to last night. So, but I was praying last night and I just felt like
35:38
the Lord was like just saying, yeah, you could teach things and
35:42
you have such a gifted teacher. He's so good at it and we could for
35:44
sure do that. But I felt like the Lord was saying, just remind them
35:48
of what they're a part of. Just remind
35:51
them, man, that every day that we have this
35:55
opportunity. I say it to young guys like this. I'm like, you can either walk
35:58
in every room, every situation whether it's like it just feels like it's
36:02
impossible and your marriage seems stuck and your kids feel lost and all that kind
36:06
of stuff. You can walk into any room and you will either be a thermostat
36:09
or a thermometer. Have you heard this before? And you're either going to walk in
36:12
the room and you're going to walk into your difficult situation and it's
36:16
going to push you down and faith is going to squeeze out of you.
36:20
Or maybe you're going to show up at your golf trip with your golf guys
36:23
because they're this way and they talk this way and they act like this.
36:27
And then you're just going to It's kind of what you just, whatever the room
36:30
is, is what you're going to be. The problem with our
36:33
thermometer life is you never change a room and it's always about you, man.
36:37
It's always about just kind of sliding
36:41
in and going under the radar and doing just good enough.
36:44
And you're kind of doing church stuff and you're keeping your heart alive.
36:49
But man, a thermostat life, that's what we're called to, man. It's a Spirit-led life
36:53
where it's like, yeah, you're a thing on a, like you're not that impressive.
36:55
I'm not that impressive. You're not that impressive. The thermostat's a tiny
36:59
little thing on the wall, but it's connected to a power source.
37:02
And if it's hot, it can make it cold. If it's cold, it can make
37:05
it hot. And you have this ability when you walk in rooms, like the world
37:10
is waiting for you to step into your marriage with a full heart again and
37:13
say, God, would you show up in my marriage? I'm here for it.
37:16
I'm going to trust that by your power and by your strength and because of
37:20
your blood and because of your righteousness, that even though I don't feel like I
37:24
can do it, But there's something that you've planted deep inside of me that I'm
37:27
made for this. And yes, I haven't
37:31
been the perfect dad and I haven't been the perfect mom, and this is where
37:33
my kids are, and it just feels like there's just no way to shift the
37:36
room. But I would just say this, but you're connected to a power
37:40
source, man. The Spirit of God lives in you and he
37:44
planted you in this family and in this job and with this situation at this
37:49
time. And there's no way that's an accident. The gym
37:53
that you work at, the, the, the, the place that you go to regularly.
37:56
I'm just telling you, creation is waiting. Our country family is
38:00
waiting, not for us to talk more, but just show up,
38:03
man. My wife needs this guy to
38:09
be a, like the Spirit-led son of God that I'm made to
38:12
be. My kids need that, man. Our communities.
38:16
I love how you're loving this community, but we can do all the stuff and
38:19
not carry that wholeheartedness. And I just want to say this, family, you were
38:24
made for wholeheartedness. Creation waits
38:29
with eager anticipation for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed.
38:34
So be who you're made to be. Father, thank you
38:38
for the time that I got with my friends. I pray
38:42
that you would stir in their souls what they were made for.
38:46
Father, would you help them to not get tied down by shame or what they
38:50
have done or how they've blown it in the past? But God, just with a
38:53
wave of grace, just freshen their eyes that, that yeah, yeah, yeah, none of
38:57
us are perfect. None of us deserve this. None of us can measure up.
39:00
And, and that is not what the gospel is. The gospel is recognizing the atoning
39:04
work of a Father who loved us, who sent his one and only Son,
39:07
and that now we are reconciled to him so that we can be what
39:11
we could never be on our own. This is where we step into
39:16
what we are made for. So Father, I just pray,
39:20
would you send your Spirit on my friends so
39:25
they can just say yes to you? Give them
39:29
faith. Pray that in the name of Jesus.