If You're God, Do Something About It

Today we'll be singing What a Friend We Have in Jesus. [music] [music] What [singing] a friend we have in Jesus. All [singing] our sins [music] and graves to bear. What [singing] a privilege [music] to carry everything to [singing] God in prayer. Oh, [music] what peace we often [singing] forfeitare. Oh, what [singing] needless [music] pain we bear. All [singing] because [music] we do not care. everything [music] to God in [singing] prayer. Have we triumphs [music] and temptations? Is there [music and singing] trouble anywhere? We [singing] should never be discouraged. [music] Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can [music and singing] we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our [music and singing] sorrow share? Jesus knows [music and singing] our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are [singing] we weak and [music] heavy laden? Come [singing] with a load of care. Preious [music] Savior still our reuge. Take it [music] to the [singing] Lord in prayer. Do [music] thy friends despise forsake thee? Take [music] it to the Lord [singing] in prayer. In his [music] arms you'll take and shield thee. Thou will find a [music] solace [singing] there. To thy friends [music and singing] despise forsake thee. Take [music and singing] it to the Lord in prayer. In his [music and singing] arms he'll take and shield thee. Thou will [music and singing] find a soulless there. We'll be singing Thank you for the cross, Lord. You also get the TV in the back. Turn on, please. [music] Thank you for the cross, Lord. Thank you for the price [singing] you paid. Bearing all [music and singing] my sin and shame in love. [music] You came and [singing] gave amazing grace. Thank you for this love, [singing] Lord. [music] Thank you for the nail pierced [music] [singing] hands. Wash me in your cleansing flow. Now all I know your [music and singing] forgiveness and embrace. Worthy [music and singing] as the lamb seated [music and singing] on the throne. Crown you [music and singing] now with many crowns. You reign victorious. [music and singing] High [music and singing] and lifted up. Jesus, son [music] of God, [singing] the children of heaven crewified. [music and singing] Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. [music] Worthy is the lamb. Amen. Praise the Lord, brothers and sisters, for this beautiful morning that we can all come here together um and listen to God's word and praise his name and worship him. And uh I want to do our Bible reading for this morning. And today we're going to be at Psalms 30. Uh which for many of you for the Bibles in the uh in the seats it's going to be page 795. Um it will be Psalms 30. Page 795. And I'll give you guys a little bit of time to open up to that place so you guys can follow along. Psalms 30, page 795. [clears throat] And it says here, "I will extol you, oh Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. Oh Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed me. Oh Lord, you brought my soul up from the grave. You have kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Now in my prosperity, I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by your favor, you have made my mountain stand strong. You hid your face and I was troubled. I cried out to you, oh Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood? When I go down to the pit, will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me, Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness to the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever. Praise God. And now we'll have Pastor Tim come up and say a couple announcements and also pray for the Sunday school this morning. God bless. Praise God my dear friends. It's a beautiful morning and as we announced last week, we're going to have a guest speaker and uh his name is Dave. So after service, whenever you have uh some free time, which we do, come up to him and introduce yourself to him. But we're going to be praying for Sunday school right now. And I would ask for the kids and the teacher to please come up. And I'll be reading over here from Proverbs 226. It says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Train up a child in the way he should go. And that's very important. And this is Solomon speaking, the wisest man of all time. It said there's nobody going to be like him before or after. And the wisest man said, "The way you tr you you are going to teach your child, that's the way they're going to grow up." And we want our kids to serve the Lord, to love the Lord. Um, and we're very thankful that Miss Ruth is doing such a good job that the kids, they're excited for Sunday morning. They're always excited for Sunday morning. And then I asked uh so what did you learn this morning? And they tell me everything they learned. So that's that's the truth being swed. That's the truth being swed. So let's pray for the teacher and bless the the the students as well and then after that we'll have a few minutes to do our greet and meet. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you Lord Jesus for this time. God, we pray for Ruth. Lord God, may you give her wisdom and guidance to teach your truth, God, that they are trained in your truth, Lord God. God, we also God, pray for the kids, Lord Jesus, that whatever is taught, Lord God. May that that seed be sown in their heart, Lord God, to where they love you and they serve you with all their heart, Lord. May you bless them in Jesus name. Amen. And let's have this few minutes to meet and greet each other. How are you? Good morning. Glorious. Hallelujah. [music] [music] [music] Thank you. [music] That's your attention. Check. Check. Oh, look at that. It's actually working. Good morning, everybody. That wasn't bad. Must have had a cup of coffee. So many times I said good morning and people go I'm like do you do does your mouth work? Does it say good morning? So no I am I'm very pleased to uh to be here. I'm very blessed and humbled um anytime especially on a Sunday morning that that a that a church would open up this this area right here for me to speak at never never goes without humbling you know and so I'm I'm very grateful to be here. I I hail all the way from Georgia. Um, as a matter of fact, are you from Georgia as well? Well, I was just going to say if Atlanta covers about twothirds of the entire state now. So, what what part? Oh, yeah. Yeah. You're up 75. I'm up 85. Yep. You're up 75. I avoid that like the plague. Um, [laughter] yeah. No, I I I get to hop on a plane. Uh when when we're done here, we'll uh I think we're going to go to In-N-Out if Rob wins his way. Um and then uh and then I get to hop on a plane and go and see my wife and my dogs. And um I wish my wife would be as excited to see me as the dogs are, but you know how dogs can be. They're just It would be kind of weird actually if I if I got home, my wife's like, "Hi, how you doing?" You know, that that'd kind of be a little strange. So may maybe now that I'm thinking about it, I'm glad my wife doesn't do [laughter] that. I'd have to call the hospital or something. Um, no. So, uh, what was I saying? I have ADD. Just keep up. We'll we'll all get through this together. Um, no. So, I get to go home after this. It's That's what I was going to say. It has been When did I get here? Tuesday. Yeah, I got here Tuesday. And when we started Tuesday night with the first service that that we were at and um, don't ask me where or when or how because it's been a blur. over the 14 times that we that we've been to 14 different venues um this week and it has just been a how many y'all know the Lord's coming soon and there's there's a there's there's a there's a hunger right now that we're that I'm seeing across the country because I'm I'm blessed to travel to the most of the 50 states. There's a there's only two that I think I haven't been to yet um and speak about Jesus everywhere I go. But another place I get to go I I leave in a few weeks is Nigeria. And um and and I wanted to share this with you because he opened up with, you know, we should be very blessed and we we should count it as a blessing to be able to meet here in this building and worship God without without hindrance. Where are you from? I'm going to Abuja and then um I head to Umu Aia while I'm there as well. So I've got two stops. What part are you from? Abuja. Nice. I'm going to your home. I head there in just a few weeks. And um I love it there. The the folks are I was there four years ago and um they kept carrying my suitcase around and all this stuff. And I told them I said, "If you keep carrying my stuff around, by the end of this trip, I'm carrying you." Like I did not want them to feel like I was something special because I'm there to bless them because they're they're the people I was there to to spend time with. And they kept treating me like I was some sort of like a king. And I was like, I'm not though. Like let me let me carry your stuff. You know, I I I asked Pastor OJ if um if it was if it was okay if I would actually be able to cook for them while I was there because I want to make some uh some food without bones and and jaws and stuff cuz that that was hard. That was the hardest part. In America, we don't stick our fingers in our mouth. And so I'm about day three and I'm asking like, "How do you eat?" Because I'm I'm over here going like trying to and they're go, "Oh, no. You just go for it." I'll tell you, I got uh uh pepper soup. Woo! I'm an addict. They they sent me home with uh with enough spices that I'm actually about to run out and and I've been making pepper soup like, "Oh, I love it." So, anyways, I wanted to show you this. Um the desperation for God in in Nigeria is huge because they don't have what we have here. Um it's it's Abuja's climbing up, but it's still there's parts of it where it's a third world country. And um have you been to the Glory Dome? Have you been to the glory dome? So, so this this blew my mind because in the middle of nowhere um people will will spend hours upon hours upon hours to get there and then to get home. And look at this place. The Glory Dome fits a 100,000 people. That is three tiers above that that go probably 75 foot back to the point where a lot of those Look at the size of this place. Look, it just keeps going and going and going. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. Um, of course, I was right there on the front row because I was an ambassador on my trip over there. And um, but look at that. A hundred,000 pe There's 20 or 30,000 outside in a spill zone with a screen outside because they couldn't get in the doors. Isn't that amazing? They asked me, they said, "Could America do that?" I said, 'Well, we could build a building twice this size if we wanted to. You couldn't fill it. Sadly, we don't have that same desperation here that that they have over there. Tell you what, when you leave this country, no matter where you go, you're going to find a desperation for God. I remember reading a story um uh then I'll get to where I'm going. Um but there was there was a a a a Syrian general that was serving in Saddam Hussein's army. We're going way back in the day. And it was right when um Saddam had changed the relation with America, pilots coming to America to train for their for their army to Russia. And so he was up in Russia and he had brought a Bible with him. And he's telling this story and he says he left the you know they came and picked him up and brought him somewhere and he says, "Well, I've got a Bible back in my suitcase." And they go, "Hold everything." "What? You got you got a what?" And and he said, "I I got a Bible back in my suitcase." And they said they stopped everything they were doing. They went and got it because he said if if the Russians find that they will kill you. And and so they took it and he said there were grown men crying because they had never read the Bible before. They had they had read it but not in a in a context of the totality of it. And I'm just thinking there's so many places in the world that don't get the opportunities that we do. And when when you see a hunger like this, it just it's all inspiring. I mean these these folks would wait for hours outside just to get home. I'm telling the truth, am I not? They would wait for hour. They would wait for hours. They had no ride. They would wait until somebody would give them a ride. They didn't have a scheduled ride. And they would wait for hours just for and and now get this. The last Friday of every month, they meet at 900 p.m. And they go till 7 or 8 a.m. Can you imagine? Like, could you invite your friends to church and say, "Well, we're meeting at 9:00. We're not going to get home until about 9 the next morning." They'd be like, "I'm not go what?" But they're so hungry over there. So, it's it's a it's a cool thing that that was that had nothing to do with why I'm here this morning. It was just when when he started off with that, I wanted to share that and just say he's right. There there are there we should be so blessed to be able to come here. So, I'm going to make a long story short this morning and go through my my life story. Um and and I want it to be inspirational to you is what I want because it's it's otherwise it's just a story. So, my life story um it began back in uh January 11th of 1970 when my brother was born. Um, his name's Mike. And, um, my brother was born and my parents were only going to have two children and that was it. There was there was um, there was no way they were having more. That was that was it. And, um, and then in 1972, I had my my other brother was born, Mark Glander. And, um, he was born February 18th, but back in that day, he was born uh, he what do they call it when you when you come out? Breach. And the the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. And sadly, he didn't make it, but maybe two or three hours after birth. and then he passed away and my mom never even got a chance to see him or hold him or anything. But here's the here's the deal is um if it weren't for him passing away, I would not be here right now. I mean, my dad already had his his you know, surgery scheduled so that way to make sure they would have no more um right after his his birth. And um so when my son was born uh back in 1996, guess what? I named him Mark. spelled with a C just like my mom spelled it because I always wanted to give honor to my brother who who obviously didn't know he was giving his life in order for me to be here. But God has a plan. Do you see do you see what I'm getting at? God had a plan because in 1974 there I come along and and um and I I was I was I was I was here on earth and and right away um the uh the world tried to take me out. I I don't say the devil um because the devil is he's he's too busy dealing with world leaders. He doesn't know my name. He's not omnipresent, you know what I mean? He's only able to be in one place at one time, but there's a world system that he is in control of that is set up against us. And so I wasn't but about a year old and um my mom had taken me to the doctor that morning and I had croo and um and and so the doctor sent me home, told her not to worry about anything. And um do you know how awesome moms are? Can I get an amen? My mom got up in the middle of the night and my dad said, "What are you doing?" Because she just started putting her clothes on. She didn't she didn't check on me. She just started putting her clothes on. She goes he goes, "What are you doing?" She goes, "I got to take David to the hospital right now." And so she she got dressed, snatched me up, took I wasn't breathing. And the doctor said had she missed it by two or three. Had she come to check on me first, I wouldn't be here right now. The fact that she got up and just put her clothes on was enough time got me there and they performed an emergency tracheotomy, cut my cut my neck open, shoved a tube down in there so that I could be breathing. So, I life has been it's been a journey since the day I was born, you could say. Um, by the time I was 5 years old, look look how innocent I should have been. Um, look at that hat. That was down in Mexico. And that hat swallowed me up. Of course, I was only a tiny little thing, but um, since by the time I was 5 years old, my uncle had started molesting me. Um, probably probably even several years before that. And, um, it caused a lot of pain. A lot of pain. It stole my childhood. you know, that that innocence that I should have had, it completely ripped it out and stole it. And um I'm just here to tell you, if you haven't dealt with that, if that's happened to you and you haven't dealt with that, you've got to deal with it. It's a cancer. And and and until you deal with it, that cancer will eat you away from the inside out. And uh sadly, here in America, it's an epidemic. the the child molestation, rape, um just just inappropriate sexual touching in America here is is a is is way more than than you can even imagine. Um I've been doing this a long time and I've shared my testimony several times and I can't tell you the countless hundreds and possibly thousands of people. One one guy was 92 I believe came up to me and he had never told anybody before. He had been living with it for 92 years. So don't don't do that. Um, but because that stole my childhood innocence and I didn't grow up in a world where God was I I grew up in in New England. There was pretty much no no Jesus up there whatsoever. And so I didn't any morality I might have had maybe was completely ripped apart from from that experience. And so by the time I was seven, really it was six, but by the time I was seven, I got tired of people going, "You're not even inhaling." And so I learned how to inhale when I was seven years old. Started smoking cigarettes. Um it was it was about the time that I was six or seven that um that I I did my first drugs. I I had a friend Scott who was a year older than me. His sister was a teenager and then Aubrey was our next door neighbor and she was in her young 20s and they just thought it would be funny to to give cocaine um laced with Coca-Cola laced with cocaine um to a six, seveny old and and I I don't know why that was funny to them. But again, when you grow up without God, where do you have morals? Where do you find peace? Where do you find hope? Where do you find purpose? You know what I mean? And so when we live in this godless society that I was in, I guess all all bets are off. And so by the time I was nine years old, um I I there was there was the O pitches, Ron Ron and and and Tom. Ron and they weren't even twins, but Ron and Tom O. No, Ron and Chris. Ron and Chris Oitch that lived about probably two miles from my house. But back in that day, you could traverse, you know, 25 miles in a day with no pager, no cell phone, no nothing. and your parents didn't worry about you. It was a it was a a glorious time to be a kid because you could you could actually live and not have to have a a tether around you, you know, and and I don't blame parents for having a tether around their kids nowadays because the world's crazy. But when I was a kid, we still had freedom to do that. And so I rode up to the octages because I was invited to one of their satanic parties that they would hold and got involved with Ouija boards, seances, and rituals. And it was all at these satanic parties that that I would see things where I was seeing bodies levitating off the tables. I would I would we we would hold seances and and we would have candles around the room inside that would just completely blow out all at once. And so I I saw things that that if you don't think the demonic world is real, it's absolutely real. It's it is and and but that I was nine years old, you know, completely twisted everything that I understood about what life ought to be. And and so so it just it just twisted me. And the sad thing is is um when I was a kid, I could play I could I could I could play some baseball. That was that was my that was I moved on to football, but I could play some baseball. But let's say white white socks takes it all. We won the the the championship that year. I was on the White Socks. But here's here's these are all articles that my that my mom cut out and you can see up there Dave Glander and Bob Samson pitched for a no hitter, joined forces at the plate and uh we had 14 between the two of us. We had 14 RBI's. So I I could play some ball. This one Dave Blander burns the cards with 14 strikeouts. 14 strike. That's not the only time, too. Pitcher Dave Blander struck out 14, allowed only one hit. I could play baseball. I I was I was, you know, 12 years old and could throw 80 miles an hour. That's why nobody could hit my ball because I'm [laughter] Picture 80 miles an hour from a little league distance. You know what I mean? Like 80 miles an hour from MLB. It's a It's a pretty good. you're like 20 feet away. You know, here it is 20 feet away and I'm throwing 80 mph fast balls straight across the plate. And by the time they would even think about swinging, the ball was already past the plate. And so I I could have I I probably could have made some sort of a a career out of that because I I was just very gifted in that sense. I I I know don't really look athletic now, but back in the day I I was I was I was fast. I was athletic and and so the these are my proud Jesus pounds. We'll get to that in a minute, but anyway. So when I was 16 years old, [clears throat] got my license and now it was game on. I had dropped out of school and I was able to uh I was able to do whatever I wanted to because my my parents didn't really have a leash on me whatsoever. They they didn't really keep track much. So the worst part of it was was I would travel I could be in New York City in about an hour and a half because I'd go over to Brewster, New York, hop on the train and I could be to Brewster, New York in 15 minutes, hop on the train for a short ride. try to get out of Grand Central Station, hop out be I would be in Central Park within minutes and and in Central Park I was buying sheets of LSD going back and selling them and I was making money hand over fist. But then that led to you know me being the party guy like everybody knew Dave had acid and and so I would be selling it but I would also be giving it out and taking it as much as as much as possible. And so that was a really that was a really dark dark time. That was that was one of our Macaus. We owned a pet store when I was growing up and um born you know I was about 8 years old. when my parents bought a pet store and that was Mac, our first Macau and he used to eat food out of my mouth. So there you go. There's a picture of a bird eating food out of my mouth and I and I had that stupid mohawk that I bleached and and when I first moved to Georgia, I still had that mohawk. I went for my first job interview as a dishwasher at Red Lobster. So it's not really high high stakes at, you know, like not going for a CEO position or something. But I I didn't get the job because I'm standing there talking to the manager in the front lobby and a customer comes walking out and he goes, "What kind of haircut is that? A moakin?" And so I never did I never did get the job. I I I often wondered why. Now I know why. Um but the the worst part of everything is I started traveling with the Grateful Dead back in the day. And um that was that was back when Jerry, if you don't know who The Grateful Dead was, they they were they were the original hippie band. and they literally had a a a following of hundreds, well, I would say thousands of people would literally follow them around the United States. Wherever they went and played, they would drive their Volkswagen buses there and they lived in them and and we we ate falafles a lot. And so, um, but it but I was but I was really careless and and I I guess you could say almost um because I didn't have God, I wanted to challenge life. And so that's known as Lover's Leap Bridge back in uh back my hometown. And the top of that is probably about 150 feet or or or slightly more. And and we would get drunk and stoned out of our mind and walk across the top of that bridge trying to challenge life, you know, because if there's no God, there is no thing after death. And so I just thought if I die, I'm just going to get put in the ground and be eaten by worms. What did it matter? And so that led to to a life where I didn't realize it, but I had become a proud atheist. Um, that was that was one of my my more proud moments back in the day where I thought I looked like Jesus and could mock Jesus and uh and and and and just make fun of him and make fun of anybody. And so I went to make fun of this one person one time because I'm at the flea market in Florida and I hear over the intercom, "Get your picture taken with Tammy Fay for $5." And I was like, there's only one Tammy Fay that I can think of. You know, who who else could it possibly be? And and if you don't know who Tammy Fay was back in the day, she was a televangelist wife. Had big hair, giant makeup. I mean, just looked like a circus freak, you know what I mean? Like she just was. And so I went to go mock her. Like I was like, "This is my day. Thank you, universe." Because I didn't thank God. Thank you, universe, for bringing Tammy Fay to a flea market so I can go make fun of her. That was what I went to do. The problem I had was this. I got over to meet Tammy Fay and as soon as I as soon as I walk up, she goes, "You are beautiful. Oh my goodness, look at your tattoos. Your tattoos are be My son has tattoos. You're from Cuz See, I had an Atlanta shirt on." She goes, "You're from Atlanta. My son's from Atlanta. He runs a soup kitchen in Atlanta. You should meet my son. He would love you. I love you. You're beautiful. Why didn't she ruin my game? How was I supposed to make fun of her now?" Like, she totally threw me off. I was like, "Uh, thanks." you know, and paid my five bucks and got my picture and it's still hanging in my office to this day. And at the bottom of the It was a Polaroid, you know, like the old fashioned this is when Polaroids were still work and it was a Polaroid. That white spot at the bottom she says I love you and signed it Tammy. Like even the picture says, "I love you." Talk about a a perfect image of Christ. You know what I mean? Like she displayed Christ that day by just loving me. She didn't look at me and think anything else. She just looked at me and said, "Man, I love you. you're beautiful. And I was like, I don't know that I had been told that maybe my whole life. And so it it threw me for a loop. I didn't know what to do. I was like, okay. Um when I was 23, I I got married to my wife and uh it was a it was a beautiful day. Um just so you know, before I go into the rest of the story, we we we are still together to this day. Um we're about to celebrate 30 years. That's my two-year-old granddaughter there. That's on her her 2-year-old birthday party. And um and so we we have a beautiful family. But on uh on April 8th, that's when my son was born. And um you would think that would have changed my my outlook on life and stuff, but it it it didn't. Um what happened was shortly after that, when I was 26 years old, my my world completely collapsed. And u my mom died of a really gruesome cancer and and I just I without God, where do you find hope, you know, and so I I turned to crystal meth, ice, and and I I got hooked on on meth for about three and a half years. And um that that's when it reached the boiling point. Um I was I was completely done. This is a this is a picture of me right before I before probably a month before I met the Lord. And you can see just the death in my eyes, the sunkenness in my faith. I look like a Holocaust victim because I hadn't been eaten. I had withered away to that's why I call these my proud Jesus pounds because I had withered away to like 105 110 pounds. I mean I was I was I lost my my car. My was in was had been repossessed. My house was in foreclosure. My business couldn't run. I I had abandoned my family. And for nine months, I I left my family. And this is this is the pattern. I' I'd be okay Wednesday. I'd be all right on Thursday. I'd be all right on Friday. But when Saturday came, I was like, I've got to put this down. I've got to quit. And so, I would try to try to get off a meth on Saturday. By Sunday, things started getting really bad. By Monday, I couldn't function. I couldn't function. And by Tuesday, I was done. I couldn't I I would lock the door to the house I was at. I would turn off my cell phone. I I could not if somebody dared approach me, I just couldn't even come up with words to communicate because I was so far gone. I was I was so I was so far in a world of desperation and depression and anxiety that I just wanted to kill myself. And so I went home one night and and my my son was asleep luckily because I was I was a mess that night. But my m my my my my my wife had been raising this book knowing Jesus personally and it drove me nuts because here's why. Just like Tammy Fay, she was a televangelist and in my mind they're all just a bunch of crooked thieves and and robbers and want your money. Well, this said Billy Graham library series on it and all all I knew about Billy Graham was he was some televangelist robin thief that wanted your money and you know was just I just I I hated everything Christianity. And so so I started mocking her. I started mocking that book. I started I started mocking God. I started mocking everything. And I was when I say mocking, I'm not going to repeat what I said because I couldn't. Not in a church. And I wasn't even out there anymore. I mean, I was I was so far down that I just was I was crying at like balling just I was just done. And um and finally I I got to this point where where I I I looked up through the ceiling, not not thinking that there was a God there. And I said these words, "If you're God, do something about it. That that was my altter call. I'll never forget those words for as long as I live and through all of eternity. I'll remember those words where it was the moment where I didn't think God was there, but I but I gave it to him. I gave I gave my life to him that night because I was so done. I didn't think he was there. And and so I said, "If you're God, do something about it." And here's what I think he was doing. He was sitting up there with a little rice smile on his face going, "I've been waiting for you to get to this point. in my love for you. I I I allowed you to get so far down because I knew you were so stubbornheaded that you weren't going to listen to me unless I let you get to the absolute bottom. But I think he was sitting there. But I I only have one regret because everybody always asked me, would I change anything? And I and I go back and I think I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for all the things that I couldn't help people through drug addiction. I couldn't help people through abuse. I couldn't help people through sexual abuse. I couldn't help people through depression and anxiety. And I deal with youth a lot. and I I can't I couldn't help them without the shoes that I've that I've earned wearing. And so I wouldn't go back and change anything. I just I have one regret and it's and it's this that um my mom was she was the sweetest person you'd ever meet. I mean she just she made everybody smile. She'd sit down on a park bench and a stranger would sit next to her and just start spilling their lives out because she was just that type of person. I just man she just was she was if if you could get to heaven on merits alone she [laughter] my only regret is I was so thickheaded that she never got a chance to see my life now see see what see what the Lord's done with me now that's my biggest regret I I just wish I wish one day just just one day that I could say Mom, look. I'm okay. Cuz she died and I wasn't okay when she died. I was a hot mess. And so I wish for one day. Oh, thank you, brother. I told you Nigerians are the sweetest people in the world. [snorts] Thank you. I I just wish I just because I I don't know if she's in heaven. I wasn't I wasn't a Christian at the time and we didn't we didn't talk about God. So I I don't know if she's in heaven or not. So, I don't I don't know if I'll get that chance to say, "Mom, I made it. It's okay." But I wish that that's that's my one one regret that I wish that I could do that. So, I want to I want to challenge you with this as I close up. Um, [snorts] where are you at? You know, I I I realize most of us in here obviously we're we know Jesus because we wouldn't be here on a Sunday morning if we didn't. But, but here's here's the here's the thing. [snorts] Jesus offers to take everything that you have that's with inside of your book of life and take it upon himself. And he offers his book of life for you. And and and whose book are you planning to use when you get there? Are you are you still planning to use your book? Because I got news for you. Your book's not good enough to get you there. It's there's it never will be. But when you allow his book cover to sit over your life, when when God opens the the the book that has his face on it, that that's that's going to be all of your junk that's in there. He's already paid for it. And I I want to I want to close with this because this just happened last year. And and and I and I try and I try not I'm not a hellfire brimstone guy. I'd rather talk about the goodness of God. You know what I mean? That's that's what I focus on. But I try and tell people, you just don't know when tomorrow is going to be the last day that you've got. You don't know. And so, so I want to play. Can I Can I get some volume? Is it Is it possible to get volume? I I think I'm I think I'm hooked through through the right spot. Um, we got the audio guy scrambling like, "Oh, man. I didn't Sorry, brother. I should have I should have told you that like 15 minutes ago." [snorts] Um, is the sound guy gone? Let's Let's see what happens. Yeah, maybe. Does anybody know the button? If not, I'll tell you. I'll I mean, there you I I put the the subtitles up there so you could see it. Tell you what, I'm just going to let it play. Um he said, "And there was a point when I was here." This is Let me back up for a second. I run youth camps during the during the summer. This guy came in only because his girlfriend made him come. She said, "I will not continue to date you unless you come." That's a good girlfriend. Amen. Girls, hold the highest standards of your man because if your man doesn't love God more than he can ever love you, he'll never love you properly. Amen. That was a freebie. Thank you. Um, so he so he so we start at 11 for orientation and and by 12 we're having lunch. By 12:00 he's sitting across the table with me. Let's go. I mean, he he came swinging. I was like, I'm good. That's what I'm built for. I teach apologetics. That's I'm ready for that, you know? So Monday at 12, he was going all week long. Thursday um night I I was sharing a sermon called I'm saved. Now what? And I don't I start off by saying if you're not saved, you're not going to get anything from this because this is meant for somebody who has given their life to Christ. And so I always say like if we need to make it right, let's go ahead and do that. We don't need to do this head closed, eyes bowed. I can't even ever say that right. Head closed, eyes bowed. What is that anyway? I can't even say it right. Um, and so all of a sudden Kevin stands up and he's been a leader for the past two years and he comes walking over and I said, "Kevin, what are you doing?" He goes, "I've been playing church my whole life. I need to make it right with Christ. I I I need to stop playing church." I was like, "Okay, anybody else?" Couple other people stand up. And then all of a sudden, the guy who sat there at 12 o'clock on Monday who had been hitting me all week long stands up. I said, "Jose, do you know what you're you know what you're doing?" And he said, "Yep, here's how I look at it. I still have some doubts, but I can leave here with my doubts in Jesus or I can leave here with my doubts without Jesus." And this week, I've been convinced that he is the Messiah and he is Lord, and I need to I need to make him that so that he can walk me through the remainder of my doubts. And it reminded me of the servant who said, "I have faith, but can you help me with my unbel? I I believe, can you help me with my unbelief?" You know, and it was one of those moments. So here here's what he said on Friday morning as we were closing. He said there was a point when I was here [snorts] that how I will how my younger self look at me now. And it was really nice to see that during the short period of time I've grown so much as a person spiritually. And I'm really excited when I come back how my daily life will be because with God supposedly it's going to be way easier. I'm not sure about where he got that one. And maybe I have so much more to do in my life. Maybe I have a bigger purpose. So all I have to say is that I thank God for all these people that I've met. For the pastors, Dave, Frank, Holly, that's my son behind him. Mark, anime fan. They they hit that off together. And the people that are around me teaching me more things about God. So all I have to say is this. Thank you to everyone here. And God bless you all. That was the last thing he said. Six weeks later, I'm about to be with that family in about 10 days. I haven't seen him since then. It was only six weeks later that he got into a bad motorcycle accident and he's no longer with us. That's why I say I'm like, I don't know if I'll see you again. I'm blessed to see some of you again from last year, but I that's not a guarantee for any of us. So e even if we're saved as the day is long, what are you going to do with today to make it one? If if today was the last day you were alive, what would you do? How would you do it differently? What if tomorrow is your last day? How would you do it differently? Amen. So I want I want to but I want to close with this and and this is not bragging at all. I They know me well enough to know I I just I don't All I've got to brag on is what Jesus has done in my life. That's all I've got. If it were up to myself, I'd be a 105 pound meth addict trying to kill himself. That that's what I was accomplishing by myself. But but with Christ, um I didn't even graduate high school. And yet I've become an author. I've written books. Um I I published for the largest Christian uh homeschool magazine in the country. Um I've contributed to other books. I have a TV show that's called Glad You Asked. Um we're about to film our third season in March. Um, I think we have to move it to May, but about to film our third season where we're where we're we're taking questions and answering them. But this is my biggest like proud moment, I guess you could say, because these are the these are the camps that I started and I started them for my son. There's me sitting there right down there in the yellow. And there's my son right back there. And he's officially taken over as the director of Equip Retreats, the camp I started for my son because I wanted my son to have a better education at camp. He's now the director of it. And I, as a dad, what what more could you ask for, you know? And then and then we just started this. This is brand new. It's called Equip You. And it's an online class platform that uh Holly and I have been working on for about a year where you can go on. It's $4.99 [clears throat] a month, and you get unlimited access to all of our courses. Most places are like, you got to have a $75 membership and then it's 125 bucks for this course and 50 bucks for this course and blah blah blah. It's $4.99 a month. If for the cost of a cup of coffee, you can take your education level to the you can get a seminary degree education for $4.99 a month. And you don't have to worry about it being all fancy seminary. We're tailoring it down. We're bring we're not watering it down, but we're bringing it down to where anybody can understand it. I just finished up a course on biblical hermeneutics and systematic theology that I just taught, and I'm breaking it down. Anybody can learn hermeneutics and systematic theology. Anyone. because it doesn't have to be that complicated. Amen. So, I want to I want to close with the highlights. Like the good news is after I gave my life to Christ, I have been doing things that you could not even imagine. For the last 22 years, I have been all over the world. I've been all over the country on adventures and in front of thousands and tens of thousands of people proclaiming Christ. And listen, I am nobody. I am, it doesn't matter who you are. I am nobody. I bring nothing to the table except my love for God. That's all I've got. I don't have anything to offer except for my love for Christ and and my obedience to him. And if we're obedient to the call in our life, he'll take you places you could have never dreamed. You could have never dreamed. You could have never dreamed the places he wants to take you in life. But you've got to submit your life to Christ. The best thing I ever brought to Christ when I met him was nothing. I had no contingencies like, "Well, if you do this or if you do this or if you do this, I'll I brought nothing to to Christ. I just simply brought my humility and and and that was all he asked for. So, Father God, thank you for the opportunity to share your story this morning because it's your story from the day I was born to the day I'm standing here and for whatever time I have left here. It's your story, Father. And so, God, I thank you for that opportunity to to serve you. I I don't have to do this. I get to do this. None of us have to do this. We get to do [clears throat] this. And so Lord, thank you that you the creator of the universe. We we we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Today we'll be singing Lord I offer my life. All that I [singing] am, all that [music] I am, I lay them [singing] down before you, oh Lord. All my [singing and music] regrets, all my acclaim, the [music and singing] joy and the pain, I'm making them yours. [music] Lord, [singing] I offer my life to you. Everything [singing] I've been through, use it for your [music and singing] glory. Lord, I offer my days to you, [music] lifting my [singing] praise to you as a pleasing [music and singing] sacriice. Lord, I offer you [singing and music] my life. Things in the past, things [music] yet [singing] unseen. wishes and dreams that are yet [singing] to [music] come true. All of my hopes, all of [music and singing] my plans, my heart and my hand are lifted [singing] to you. Lord, [music and singing] I offer my life to you. Everything I've been through, use it [music] for your glory. [singing] Lord, I offer [music] my days to you, lifting my praise to [singing] you as a pleasing [music] sacriice. [singing] Lord, I offer [music and singing] you my hope. offer my days to you, lifting my praise to you as a pleasing sacriice. [music and singing] Lord, I offer you my life. [singing and music] God, wow. Praise God, my dear friends. And today it's a testimony that God can transform anybody's life into the image of his son Jesus Christ. And we just heard that testimony. We we didn't just hear it, but we see it. We see it how God lifted somebody up from the depths of hell and gave them a new life. And those who are going through the same struggles know that if you give your life to Christ today, he he'll do the same for you. The question is for all of us. The big question over our heads is where are we going to spend our eternity? That's the question. We can live for ourselves until we die, but what happens after? But what happens after? And God doesn't ask much. He just asks for our hearts. Amen. Thank you, Dave, for coming. We're really thankful that you came today and shared your testimony. Um, like usually he talks about the the foundation of the world and stuff, but today the spirit was just moving and the last song was perfect. Like how much more perfect can it be, right? I've never heard that song before. You know, the the spirit is moving today. The spirit is moving and he's changing lives. He is changing lives. So, uh, let's stand up. And we're going to give all honor and praise to God because he is changing lives. But before we pray, does anybody have any needs? Yes, Eric. Oh no. Okay. Okay. Um yeah. Amen. What's her name? Sarah. Okay, we'll pray for her. Yes. Yes. God does things when we pray. God does things when we pray. Greg, okay. Okay. Anybody else? Okay, let's pray. Or Michael. Okay. Okay. Okay. We're going to give it to God. Okay, let's pray. Lord God, thank you so much for this wonderful morning, Lord God. And we just felt how the Holy Spirit was moving this morning, God. And there's some hearts here, Lord God, that needed to hear this message, Lord. Maybe they're going through something hard, Lord God. Maybe like in the past, they have the same things that they are struggling with, Lord God. But today we heard like and saw a testimony God that you can heal, that you can restore and that you can renew, Lord God. And may look like anybody here that is struggling, Lord God, come to you and you take that pain from them and give them a new life, Lord Jesus. God, we pray for these needs, God. We pray for Judy, Lord. May may her healing go swift and well, Lord God, may you bless her in her life, God. We also pray for Sarah, Lord God. You see, she's going through a lot, God, but we believe in the power of healing in the name of Jesus Christ. And we ask for full spiritual healing on her, Lord God. May you heal her spirit, Lord. May you heal her mind, Lord God, that she comes to accept you, Lord God. We also, God, pray for uh Greg's need, Lord God. May you give him strength to walk this path with you, Lord. And we also bring Michael's need before you. Lord, may you provide, God. May you provide. Bless everybody here. In the name of Jesus Christ, I bless every single person who came this morning, Lord God, and everyone who's watching us online. May this week be blessed and may our sights be set on you in Jesus' name. Amen. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For your kingdom, your power, and glory forever are yours. Amen. Be blessed.