Latest / Bible Tract Echoes Podcast / Somebody Ought To Do Something

Transcript

Somebody Ought To Do Something · Bible Tract Echoes Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey friend, welcome back to Bible Trek Deco's, I'm Mike McCree, your host.
• 0:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have you ever wondered if God really wants to use you?
• 0:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, the answer is yes, a thousand times yes.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: God very much does want to use you.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to be discussing that very thought in a snippet of a message I'll be sharing with you.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today, I had the opportunity as I do often to preach at a youth camp.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: preaching to maybe 200 teenagers in this particular occasion.
• 0:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think back to our founder, Dr. Paul Levine in the innumerable amount of times he preached teenagers in the exact same way and to stand on the shoulders of giants, to stand and his shoes a little bit into the same.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: What a blessing it is.
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I'll ask you to listen in, because maybe you've wondered, can God will God does God want to use me?
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: The thought and the theme this week is what's it going to take?
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can God use you?
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can it get your attention?
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: You've got to be able to answer that question.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it going to take?
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And friend, we serve such a good God.
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's amazing how he will take your dreams, the things that he want to do, and he'll allow them to work inside of his will.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen it happen in my life on so many different occasions, but actually if you wouldn't listen in now as I preach, I hope it's a blessing, but I hope as well, it's a challenge.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: 80 times, 80 times, I notice it didn't take David 80 times.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: He heard it once and he got his hackles up.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: He thought, hold up a moment.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: This ain't right.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Somebody ought to do something.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, sometimes we as Christians, we live the life of the four lepers sitting outside at the gate of the city.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we look at each other like will, it can't get any worse so much as we'll serve God.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a great reason to serve God.
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I guess it's better than not serving God, but still,
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, our fingers are falling off.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I might as well go see if the enemy is going to...
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I look out here.
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you might think you've got warts, and you've got imperfections, and you've got scars.
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you know what I see?
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: I see a crowd of young David's who God wants to do a great work with.
• 2:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you think you're a leopard that nobody wants to touch.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you think you're so distant.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you look at yourself in the mirror and you see what you aren't and God sees what you are.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: And instead of operating for an identity, if you'd operate from that identity, God will use you.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I won't say, might just use you.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's no question about it.
• 3:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: He always
• 3:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: will use a willing vessel, but you have to yield, can I tell you?
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't mean this is a challenge, but I'll say it for real.
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you don't mean what's on your decision card, don't fill it out.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I will be this much offended if nobody hands into the decision card tonight, because if you don't mean it, keep it, stuff it.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't need it, and God surely doesn't need it.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're worried we deal with young people about false professions of our faith.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm concerned about a lot of Christians that are saved with a false profession of faith.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: They know they're saved, but it's all false beyond that.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: They know they're saved and they've got nothing built on the foundation.
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it going to take?
• 4:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know what those men thought after David did what he did?
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: If Glath would have come out in 81st time, I would have been right there.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: I got that I was just getting warmed up.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I had ordered.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I had ordered a new sword on Amazon.
• 4:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was running late.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, back then, we now have two day, one day, we got same day shipping back then.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was probably about 41 days for Amazon.
• 4:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the ship at all the way to Israel, that's a long way.
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And there's thinking, man, if I would, and you know this, we hear you on the basketball court, man, if I just had new, new basketball shoes, I would have hit those jumpers, man.
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was really off today.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't have my shooting sleeve on, and I just wasn't, I just wasn't there.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: See, some of you are more convicted about this than anything else I've said, the entire night.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: If I just had, if I just had, if I just had impassures, could I speak to you too?
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: If I just had four or five more tithing families, we could really shake our town for God.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it gonna take?
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: How many more Sundays you gotta stand before God's people with half a message?
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's gonna take?
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because for the Israelites, it was gonna be at least 81.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: And something tells me you could have gone 163, 26, 40, and on and on, and it wouldn't have made a difference.
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: As long and see here's the thing.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Goliath didn't actually have to beat their champion.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Philistines didn't actually have to beat their army.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: They were perfectly content to keep them occupied, doing nothing.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you think, because you're not actively in some horrendous sin, you're good to go, God didn't call you to apathy, he called you to activity.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it going to take?
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now I'll be blood with you, and I can give some personal illustration.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Whenever I say this, I pause for a second because I'm not trying to give license, but I'll be honest with you.
• 6:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: As a young person, I was not the type that was down to the altar every single service.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes that maybe that was to my shame, I probably should have been far more.
• 6:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I can't pride myself on anything spiritually, but I'm so glad there was a night.
• 6:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: on a dining hall floor, on a chair, on a dining hall floor.
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was just concrete.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was one of those rough and tumble cams.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: We enjoy AC that camp had never heard of the thing.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember a man, you're gonna get to hear later this summer, those of you that may be here, staff and whatnot, a man named Terry Angel, put a ballard, and he was preaching.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so thankful for faithful men that were preaching it right.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Twenty-something years ago, still preaching it today.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: But he was preaching, and God was squeezing my heart about the call to preach.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it was a Monday, God was starting to work me over a little bit.
• 7:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he was probably asking, Mike, what's it going to take?
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Tuesday came, and I thought, I've got plans for my life.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to be dead, sure, I want all of the excuses you can think of.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: In Wednesday, Wednesday, God starts working me again, morning chapel service and evening chapel service.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: And this was one of those camps.
• 7:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not the biggest fan of them, but I appreciate what we do here and just giving young men an opportunity to stand on this pulpit, preach to their peers for three minutes.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so similar concept, but we were preached to a crowd.
• 8:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: We just preached like four or five judges, and that was it.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that was Thursday.
• 8:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thursday afternoon, I got past, I don't know, five or six.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to ask him what's it going to take?
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thursday afternoon, I have a preaching competition.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the activities for the day, and I preach.
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I get to church, the chapel on Thursday night,
• 8:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I want you to do, my God.
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it gonna take?
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you know what, I decided I'd make a deal with God because that always goes really well.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would tell God how it's gonna be.
• 8:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I told God, you're gonna think this is ridiculous and you're gonna question my call to preach now, all right?
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I told God, starting night, Terry Angel's preaching.
• 9:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, I've said I said on Monday, the invitation started before we opened the Bible.
• 9:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: God was all over me, what's it gonna take, my God?
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I made a deal with God and I told him, because it's gotta make sense.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: I told God, there was like eight other guys that preached.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: I told God if I win the preaching competition.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not because I wanted to win the preaching competition, I just wanted to put out for the crown of fleece.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to God to make it so, I just, I wanted to God to show it to me, you know?
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Honestly, truly, it was not, I was an arrogant, as a young person, but honestly, it was not because I wanted to win.
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't trying to bargain for this win.
• 9:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have no idea if there's a ribbon somewhere in my house.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's probably been thrown away in years ago, but
• 9:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: I told God, if I win, and then we're going to announce it on Friday, more than when they give out all the awards.
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: So God, let me get to Thursday night with you asking me what's it going to take, and I'll answer you tomorrow because the answer is a blue ribbon.
• 10:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what it's going to take.
• 10:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's all.
• 10:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: And God said, no deal.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: You start bargainin' with me now, you'll bargain with me the rest of your life.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: You either take my deal or I'm gonna stop asking what's it gonna take.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: I still remember the puddle of tears right here.
• 10:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some from me, some from my pastor, as I finally came forward and said, God, preaching competition behind.
• 10:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: This coming, 10 week, too, will be the first time, actually.
• 10:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I get to preach on the same platform at the same time as Terrain Angel.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't tell you that to say, oh God, it's going to give you all your dreams.
• 11:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, he probably will, actually, because God's a good God.
• 11:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he just gave you heaven.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: That'd be good enough.
• 11:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: If he just saved you from hell, that'd be good enough.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: But man, he wants the best for you.
• 11:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not from my glory, but I'm so glad I answered the question what's going to take.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Will you answer the question?
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Will you not just surrender, but will you yield?
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Will you throw down your arms and will you decide to serve the King of Kings in the Lord of Lords?
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Will
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you're listening today and you've never made him your Lord in that you're not saved.
• 12:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't know him as your Savior.
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today would be a wonderful day to get that settled.
• 12:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it going to take for you?
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: I could talk about the terror of hell.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I could talk about the glory of heaven, but maybe you know you're not saved.
• 12:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe just maybe you'd like to talk about that.
• 12:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I loved it here from you.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can text me at 3-0-9-3-16-7-2-4-0.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Again, that's 3-0-9-3-1-6-7-2-4-0.
• 12:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'd encourage your friend.
• 12:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Please listen in all of this week.
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have only one day remaining if you missed the previous segments of this message.
• 12:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can find it online to search for a Bible track that goes on your favorite podcast platform.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can listen on demand and encourage you even if you're out of order with Lee programs.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Listen in tomorrow.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I believe what we discuss could and will be a help to you.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so very much for listening, my prayer is always that you have a great day for his glory.
• 13:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll plan on talking to you soon.
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: God bless.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for tuning in to Bible Tract Echoes, the radio ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
• 13:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Want to see our gospel tracks and other resources?
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Visit us online at BibleTracksInk.org that's BibleTracksInk.org or follow us on social media to learn how you can partner with this ministry.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for listening.
• 13:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: May the Lord richly bless you as you live for Him.