Allen Jackson - A Celebration of Life (Part 2)

June 2, 2025 | S25:E156

Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

#Faith #Victory #ServantofGod #Disciples #Religion #Overcoming #WordofGod #Family #inActive #AllenJacksonMinistries #AllenJackson #Success #Imagination #John19

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - A Celebration of Life (Part 2) | June 2, 2025

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♪♪♪
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Allen jackson: hey, i believe it's more important that we lead
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With our faith now than at any time i can remember in
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Recent history.
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It's not always easy to do if you're at work, or sometimes in
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A family setting, or with children, you don't know how to
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Get a conversation started.
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Well, we've created a tool that we believe can be really
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Helpful, they're conversation cards.
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They're designed for a variety of settings, children, family, a
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Small group setting, but the idea is it's a way to initiate a
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Faith-based conversation.
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You can share 'em with other people and do it together, you
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Can simply look through them and use it as an imagination starter
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For yourself when you're thinking about a coworker or a
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Neighbor or a family member or you're gonna have some time with
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Children or grandchildren, or maybe something happening in
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The neighborhood.
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We want to lead with our faith, you don't have to preach a
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Sermon, or quote a bible verse, or present a small group study,
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We simply want to engage a conversation so that faith
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Becomes a part of who we are, no matter where we go.
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I think these conversation cards will be a real blessing to you
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And a very useful tool as we lead with our faith.
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Allen: there is a god, the creator of heaven and earth that
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Has given us life.
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And we will one day give an account to him.
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And i think cultivating the practice of treating god with
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Respect and when you make choices that reflect him when--
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You want to give him your best.
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The question should not be, you know, what's the minimal daily
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Requirement, like broccoli.
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Okay, i have to eat some broccoli, apparently; it's like
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On the chart and i'm gonna have to do this, so how much?
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It's like negotiating with a child at the table, right?
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How many bites?
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And i feel like we almost negotiate with god with that
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Same kind of childlike stubbornness.
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How many prayers?
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How often do i have to attend?
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How much do i have to give?
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I mean, we have lost, to a great degree, the reverence, the
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Respect, the joy, in serving the lord.
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And somehow in watching that in my mom through the years and all
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The different iterations of my brothers and i at different ages
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And bible studies in my parents' home and ultimately to a church
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And the different seasons of our lives, that never diminished.
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It never diminished.
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And i don't want it to diminish in me either.
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God deserves our best.
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He truly does.
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Our best attention, our best effort.
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The whole biblical principle is the first fruits, the first part
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Of what we receive, we give to the lord.
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It's not about budgets or buildings or plans, it's about
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Establishing in our behavior, in our heart, and in our thoughts,
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That god deserves the best we have.
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I think if we can let that rise in our hearts again, it will do
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A great deal to give us the momentum towards some things
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That would be better for our futures.
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There's another principle when i was thinking about this with my
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Mom that she and my dad demonstrated so well
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Was hospitality.
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We've about lost that.
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I know it's the south and we still talk about it and we still
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Say, you know, how are you today?
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If you're new to the south, you should understand we don't care.
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It's an idiom.
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It's a greeting.
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I mean, that might be a little harsh, but we don't really
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Expect an answer.
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You know, and if you answer, and it's clear that you're not from
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Here, you'll probably--the response you'll probably get is,
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"well, bless your heart."
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And when they say that, then you really know they didn't care.
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But i watched it in my parents' lives because, you know, we get
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Together because there's a church and all the things that
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Go with that, but i watched faith in my family long before
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This was a reality.
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And my parents would open their home and my mom would cook food.
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And i have memory after memory of family after family gathering
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In our home because they often recruited my brothers and i
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As the childcare part of the initiative.
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That's why i'm so grateful for the wonderful team of people who
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Care for children.
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But i watched my mom would make sweet tea and pecan pies, and
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See lives changed on a consistent basis over decades.
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And out of that a bible study emerged and a congregation
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Emerged and so many things happened and what really shocked
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Me was for more than a decade they lived the majority of the
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Year in israel.
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And they didn't speak the language and they really didn't
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Have a great support system in the land.
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They had a pretty good support system here but not in the
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Land there.
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And with a very simple place where they were living, they
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Broke out the sweet tea and pecan pies.
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And they started ministering to people in the land of israel.
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And when i would go to visit the country, i could meet all of
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These people and it was the same cottonpicking thing i'd watched
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In middle tennessee.
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That opening your home and your heart and caring about people is
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The stuff of transformation.
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We want to learn a program.
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We want to memorize four points.
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We want somebody to give us a series.
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We're gonna walk them down and really the foundation of it is
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People matter enough that i will open my attention and listen to
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You and perhaps even open my home and sit at the table
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With you.
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I can bring you verses of scripture, but it's--there's a
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Redundancy in it.
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It's a biblical principle, you can trust me on this.
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The bible tells us to practice hospitality.
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To practice it, it needs practice.
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And we're all so busy we hardly get our own families around the
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Table anymore.
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And in so doing, we have forfeited something.
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Mary and joseph were figuring it out, working their way
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Through it.
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So are we.
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There were some very unexpected parts of the journey for mary.
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And there's some very unexpected parts of the journey in my life
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And i'm sure there are in yours as well.
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The most glaring of all of these i think is in john 19: "near the
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Cross of jesus stood his mother, and his mother's sister, mary
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The wife of clopas, and mary magdalene.
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And when jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he
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Loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'dear woman, here
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Is your son,' and to the disciple, 'here is your mother.'
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From that time on, the disciple took her into his home."
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It's john.
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The cross, i can assure you, was not on mary's wish list
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For jesus.
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It was not a part of her ambition for her son.
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She had some ambitions for him.
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It's clear from the context of scripture.
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And the cross would not have been on her wish list, but it
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Was most certainly in god's plan.
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And we have to make room in our hearts that the dreams and
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Imaginations and the perfect portraits that we imagine for
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Our families and our children very seldom unfold in the--with
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The neatness and the clarity of our dreams.
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And yet in the midst of our brokenness and the
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Disappointments and the heartaches, the purposes of god
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Can move forward.
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It requires of us a faith in god, more than a demand that our
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Plans be honored.
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You see, most of us will welcome god in when we think there's a
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Blessing he can give us that will give us opportunity.
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But we're much less willing to cooperate with god when the path
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He puts before us requires perseverance and overcoming.
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We'd rather someone else have those blessings.
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Let me ask you a question, and i think you know the answer, and i
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Don't--we don't need to--but do you think that jesus went to
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The cross because mary failed?
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No, but i can't imagine standing there seeing your son on a cross
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Without thinking, "oh," because i know the nature of our
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Adversary, and he's an accuser.
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And he'll accuse you in the same way.
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What if or if only, or why didn't i?
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In fact, i would submit to you the exact opposite is true.
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Jesus on the cross was her greatest success.
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It brought a victory not only for her but for all of us.
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There's an unexpected part that comes with this
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Parenting bargain.
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And what often seems like a brokenness in our heart, if we
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Will yield it to god, can bring demonstrations of the power of
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God for the glory of god that will change our future and the
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Future of our families, but i'm not suggesting it's simple.
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Allen: hey, leading with our faith is often not easy, you
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Know, you're in a business setting.
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How do you start a conversation?
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Or you're with family, and maybe it's awkward to bring
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Faith forward?
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Or maybe it's children, and you're not sure how to get to
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It on their level?
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We've got a tool that we think will help you, they're
00:09:54.843 --> 00:09:56.511
Conversation cards.
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They're designed to help you lead with your faith in those
00:09:57.846 --> 00:10:00.382
Different settings.
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Whether you share them with somebody else or you use 'em as
00:10:01.750 --> 00:10:03.752
Fuel for your own imagination, i believe with those cards and the
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Help of the holy spirit, we can all lead with our faith
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More effectively.
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I'm excited about the outcome.
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Female announcer: we created our new lead with faith:
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Conversation starter cards to help you move past surface level
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Conversations so you can get to know the people around you in a
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More meaningful way.
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When you donate $25 or more today, you can request a set of
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Conversation cards that include one for your family, one for
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Your gatherings with friends, and another to use with
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Young children.
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Request your set of
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Lead with faith: conversation starter cards
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Today at allenjackson.com, or by calling...
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Allen: i want to close this with just some practical examples of
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Some women that have touched my life.
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I chose some that that were introduced to me, but they were
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Friends of my mother and my parents before mine, before me.
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In luke chapter 2, in verse 36, says: "there was a prophetess,
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Anna, the daughter of phanuel, of the tribe of asher.
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And she was very old--" would you love to make the bible and
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Then have them say that about you?
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I mean, you get your name in the book.
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You're gonna get to recognize jesus and of all the things they
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Could say about her, you know, when she was young, she had
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Great hair or i don't know, "she was very old; and she'd lived
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With her husband seven years after her marriage, and then she
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Was a widow until she was eighty-four."
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That is not an easy run.
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"she never left the temple, but she worshiped night and day,
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Fasting and praying.
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Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to god
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And spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the
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Redemption of jerusalem."
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We talk about mother's day.
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I don't want it to be just in terms of the children that
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You have.
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Mother's day is a day for all of us.
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We will celebrate the moms that are amongst us, but every one of
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Us that's here had a mom.
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And don't allow the enemy to steal from you the opportunity
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In mother's day to be thankful for the mom that he gave you,
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Because the circumstances don't suit you.
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Anna made the book.
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And she was very old.
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But she got to see jesus.
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Some of the greatest women i have known in my life when i
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Look back on it, they certainly began as friends of my mother's
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Before i knew them, but i was-- my life was changed because
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Of them.
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Lydia prince.
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Some of you may have read her book, "appointment
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In jerusalem."
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She was a danish school teacher who went to israel in the 1930s.
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Without any support, she went alone.
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She ended up establishing a home for girls that were unwanted,
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Both jewish and arab.
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She never had any children of her own.
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She served the children of others, dozens and dozens and
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Dozens of children.
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She married a man who was reared in another culture, from
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Another nation.
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They didn't even speak the same native language.
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I think that could lead to some communications challenges.
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She was past 50 before she ever owned a home, and was one of the
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Most remarkable people of faith i have ever known.
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There was a tenacity in lydia that was--challenges me until
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This day.
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It wasn't a neat life.
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It wasn't a life you would dream about, but it was a
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God-directed life.
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Another woman that changed my life was marta irvine.
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She was from latvia.
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She was in the united states studying when the war broke out
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And the communists took over her homeland.
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And so for decades she had very little contact, if any, with
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Her family.
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Her brother had remained behind 'cause it--served as a pastor.
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He was in prison for a long season, but for more than 25
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Years, he preached in the same black suit.
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When the soviet union began to crumble and there was some
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Loosening, her brother got to visit the united states.
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I remember he was allowed to take two books home with him.
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Ms. irvine told me he sat on the floor for hours and hours
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Surrounded by books trying to decide which books he could take
00:14:28.116 --> 00:14:31.953
Back with him.
00:14:31.953 --> 00:14:34.489
She had one of the most remarkable faiths.
00:14:34.489 --> 00:14:37.325
She was on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum in some
00:14:37.325 --> 00:14:39.427
Ways of lydia.
00:14:39.427 --> 00:14:40.795
She was the quintessential grandmother.
00:14:40.795 --> 00:14:45.934
Her husband taught in the university where i did my
00:14:45.934 --> 00:14:47.702
Undergraduate degree and they showed kindness to my brother
00:14:47.702 --> 00:14:51.506
And i on many occasions.
00:14:51.506 --> 00:14:52.874
They changed the direction of my life.
00:14:52.874 --> 00:14:58.012
There's another lady--woman i could tell you about.
00:14:58.012 --> 00:15:02.150
Her name was evelyn simpson.
00:15:02.150 --> 00:15:06.154
She and her husband reared 11 children in inner
00:15:06.154 --> 00:15:08.089
City philadelphia.
00:15:08.089 --> 00:15:09.424
He was a postal worker at a time when that was not an
00:15:09.424 --> 00:15:15.229
Easy assignment.
00:15:15.229 --> 00:15:17.131
And all of the children that they reared have had just
00:15:17.131 --> 00:15:20.234
Outstanding educations, exceeding my own
00:15:20.234 --> 00:15:25.373
Academic career.
00:15:25.373 --> 00:15:27.408
Many of them are friends of mine.
00:15:27.408 --> 00:15:28.743
One of the granddaughters was a princeton grad, today is
00:15:28.743 --> 00:15:30.645
An attorney.
00:15:30.645 --> 00:15:32.413
Her children of--evelyn's children have traveled
00:15:32.413 --> 00:15:34.282
The world.
00:15:34.282 --> 00:15:35.616
They've performed--some of them had phenomenal musical gifts and
00:15:35.616 --> 00:15:38.353
Abilities from juilliard school.
00:15:38.353 --> 00:15:39.988
They've sung at the kennedy center.
00:15:39.988 --> 00:15:43.424
They've performed for heads of state, for the most celebrated
00:15:43.424 --> 00:15:46.394
Christian leaders of our generation.
00:15:46.394 --> 00:15:49.630
What you wouldn't know unless you knew the real details is
00:15:49.630 --> 00:15:51.799
Evelyn's mother supported her and her siblings by doing
00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:55.169
Laundry in the community where they live.
00:15:55.169 --> 00:15:59.273
She had a living faith that was not dominated by hatred
00:15:59.273 --> 00:16:05.580
Or bigotry.
00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:09.517
She changed my life.
00:16:09.517 --> 00:16:12.720
I'll give you one more.
00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:14.088
If you read my parents' book, "an extraordinary life," it's--
00:16:14.088 --> 00:16:17.158
You meet her in there.
00:16:17.158 --> 00:16:18.526
We called her aunt mary.
00:16:18.526 --> 00:16:20.561
She was a friend of my mom's, and on a few occasions she'd
00:16:20.561 --> 00:16:23.798
Come stay in our home for an extended period.
00:16:23.798 --> 00:16:25.566
I didn't enjoy it when aunt mary came.
00:16:25.566 --> 00:16:28.703
She was a pain.
00:16:28.703 --> 00:16:33.274
She would ask questions.
00:16:33.274 --> 00:16:38.112
I'd come in at the end of the day, maybe i'd been working in
00:16:38.112 --> 00:16:39.981
The barns, doing whatever i was--my assignments were,
00:16:39.981 --> 00:16:41.916
Whatever my chores were.
00:16:41.916 --> 00:16:43.251
I'd get in the house and i'd take off my work boots and mary
00:16:43.251 --> 00:16:45.853
Would walk up and she'd say, "allen, wouldn't you like to
00:16:45.853 --> 00:16:48.823
Vacuum the kitchen for your mother?"
00:16:48.823 --> 00:16:53.861
What's the answer to that question?
00:16:53.861 --> 00:16:56.464
"heck no.
00:16:56.464 --> 00:16:59.500
No."
00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:01.469
But aunt mary was 306 and you couldn't really say that to her.
00:17:01.469 --> 00:17:07.942
"well, i'd be delighted to vacuum the kitchen for
00:17:07.942 --> 00:17:11.112
My mother."
00:17:11.112 --> 00:17:14.248
Aunt mary was a missionary to cuba before castro.
00:17:14.248 --> 00:17:19.253
Her husband died when she was young.
00:17:19.253 --> 00:17:22.757
She never remarried, she lived alone.
00:17:22.757 --> 00:17:26.694
The list could go on but they share some things in common.
00:17:26.694 --> 00:17:31.165
What i would submit to you is please don't try to tell me that
00:17:31.165 --> 00:17:34.135
You can't be a woman of great significance if your life
00:17:34.135 --> 00:17:37.138
Doesn't look like a storybook, because the instances i just
00:17:37.138 --> 00:17:42.343
Shared with you, none of them were the dreams that you would
00:17:42.343 --> 00:17:44.679
Hold for your children.
00:17:44.679 --> 00:17:49.383
Whether your life is with children or without children,
00:17:49.383 --> 00:17:51.419
With a husband or without a husband, with a perfect home or
00:17:51.419 --> 00:17:54.222
Without a perfect home, if you will choose, god will use your
00:17:54.222 --> 00:17:57.358
Life if you'll seek him and not be distracted by his redrawing
00:17:57.358 --> 00:18:02.196
Of your dream.
00:18:02.196 --> 00:18:04.932
That's really important.
00:18:04.932 --> 00:18:06.267
Are you willing to let god redraw your dream?
00:18:06.267 --> 00:18:09.737
I've struggled with that in my own life from time to time.
00:18:09.737 --> 00:18:13.841
If you have a storybook life, god bless you.
00:18:13.841 --> 00:18:17.211
For in all seriousness, yay, awesome.
00:18:17.211 --> 00:18:21.649
But if you don't, i want to invite you to stop mourning.
00:18:21.649 --> 00:18:26.454
Celebrate the opportunities which god has placed before you.
00:18:26.454 --> 00:18:30.191
And make a kingdom difference.
00:18:30.191 --> 00:18:33.561
I wanna close with a story.
00:18:33.561 --> 00:18:34.896
I'd forgotten it, honestly, and i was reminded of it a couple of
00:18:34.896 --> 00:18:36.831
Weeks ago.
00:18:36.831 --> 00:18:38.232
And i happened to be able to put my hand on it.
00:18:38.232 --> 00:18:41.636
I borrowed it from chuck swindoll.
00:18:41.636 --> 00:18:44.539
It's a true story.
00:18:44.539 --> 00:18:45.907
It's about a young man who was a student and his teacher.
00:18:45.907 --> 00:18:49.210
The boy's name was teddy.
00:18:49.210 --> 00:18:51.846
Ms. thompson is the teacher.
00:18:51.846 --> 00:18:54.115
And teddy stollard qualified as one of the least.
00:18:54.115 --> 00:18:58.252
He was disinterested in school. ahem, excuse me.
00:18:58.252 --> 00:19:03.824
Typically a bit musty, his clothes were wrinkled, his hair
00:19:03.824 --> 00:19:06.294
Was never combed.
00:19:06.294 --> 00:19:10.531
One of those kids in school with a deadpan face,
00:19:10.531 --> 00:19:14.368
Completely expressionless.
00:19:14.368 --> 00:19:16.637
Sort of glassy unfocused stare.
00:19:16.637 --> 00:19:19.674
And when ms. thompson spoke to teddy, he always answered
00:19:19.674 --> 00:19:21.909
In monosyllables.
00:19:21.909 --> 00:19:24.779
He was unattractive, unmotivated, and undisciplined.
00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:28.816
He was just hard to love.
00:19:28.816 --> 00:19:31.652
And even though his teacher said she loved all of them one--kids
00:19:31.652 --> 00:19:34.222
In her class, down inside she wasn't really being
00:19:34.222 --> 00:19:36.958
Completely truthful.
00:19:36.958 --> 00:19:38.292
Whenever she marked teddy's papers, she got kind of a
00:19:38.292 --> 00:19:40.528
Perverse pleasure by putting x's next to the wrong answers and
00:19:40.528 --> 00:19:43.264
Then she'd put fs at the top of the page.
00:19:43.264 --> 00:19:46.500
She should have known better.
00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.836
She had some access to teddy's records.
00:19:48.836 --> 00:19:50.738
She knew more about him than she really wanted to admit.
00:19:50.738 --> 00:19:54.208
The records went something like this: in the 5th--1st grade,
00:19:54.208 --> 00:19:57.778
Teddy shows promise with his work and he has a good attitude
00:19:57.778 --> 00:20:00.414
But a poor home situation.
00:20:00.414 --> 00:20:03.084
The comment in 2nd grade was teddy could do better.
00:20:03.084 --> 00:20:05.419
His mother is seriously ill, and he receives little help at home.
00:20:05.419 --> 00:20:11.025
The 3rd grade: teddy's a good boy, but he's too serious.
00:20:11.025 --> 00:20:14.862
He's a slow learner.
00:20:14.862 --> 00:20:16.964
His mother died this year.
00:20:16.964 --> 00:20:19.900
4th grade was: teddy, he is very slow, but he's well behaved.
00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:23.004
His father shows no interest.
00:20:23.004 --> 00:20:27.108
Well, christmas came that year and the boys and girls in ms
00:20:27.108 --> 00:20:29.277
Thompson's class brought her christmas presents.
00:20:29.277 --> 00:20:31.712
They piled the presents on her desk and trotted around to watch
00:20:31.712 --> 00:20:34.115
Her open them.
00:20:34.115 --> 00:20:35.449
Among the presents was one from teddy.
00:20:35.449 --> 00:20:38.619
She was surprised that he'd brought her a gift, but he had.
00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:42.156
Teddy's gift was wrapped with brown paper and held together
00:20:42.156 --> 00:20:44.492
With scotch tape.
00:20:44.492 --> 00:20:46.394
And on the paper was written the simple words, "for miss
00:20:46.394 --> 00:20:49.263
Thompson, from teddy."
00:20:49.263 --> 00:20:53.868
When she opened teddy's present, out fell a gaudy rhinestone
00:20:53.868 --> 00:20:56.971
Bracelet with half the stones missing and a bottle of
00:20:56.971 --> 00:20:59.974
Cheap perfume.
00:20:59.974 --> 00:21:05.079
The other boys and girls began to giggle and to smirk at
00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:07.682
Teddy's gifts, but ms. thompson at least had enough sense to
00:21:07.682 --> 00:21:10.985
Silence them by immediately putting on the bracelet and
00:21:10.985 --> 00:21:14.188
Putting some of the perfume on her wrist.
00:21:14.188 --> 00:21:17.425
Holding her wrists up for the other children to smell, she
00:21:17.425 --> 00:21:19.560
Said, "doesn't it smell lovely?"
00:21:19.560 --> 00:21:21.962
And the children took their cue from the teacher and responded
00:21:21.962 --> 00:21:24.165
With oohs and ahs.
00:21:24.165 --> 00:21:26.300
At the end of the day when school was over and the other
00:21:26.300 --> 00:21:28.169
Children had left, teddy lingered behind and he slowly
00:21:28.169 --> 00:21:31.472
Came over to her desk and he said softly, "ms. thompson, you
00:21:31.472 --> 00:21:41.282
Smell just like my mother.
00:21:41.282 --> 00:21:44.185
And her bracelet looks really pretty on you."
00:21:44.185 --> 00:21:52.059
I promise i read this ten times before we came in here.
00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:56.430
I know how to prepare.
00:21:56.430 --> 00:22:00.134
When teddy left, miss thompson got down on her knees and asked
00:22:00.134 --> 00:22:02.636
God to forgive her.
00:22:02.636 --> 00:22:04.939
And the next day when the children came to school they
00:22:04.939 --> 00:22:06.974
Were welcomed by a new teacher, ms. thompson had become a
00:22:06.974 --> 00:22:10.077
Different person.
00:22:10.077 --> 00:22:12.380
No longer just a teacher, she was an agent of god.
00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:16.016
Now a person committed to loving her children and doing things
00:22:16.016 --> 00:22:18.619
For them that would live on after her, she helped all the
00:22:18.619 --> 00:22:21.555
Children, but especially the slow ones and especially teddy.
00:22:21.555 --> 00:22:25.025
By the end of the school year he'd showed
00:22:25.025 --> 00:22:26.527
Dramatic improvement.
00:22:26.527 --> 00:22:27.962
He caught up with most of the students and was even ahead
00:22:27.962 --> 00:22:30.531
Of some.
00:22:30.531 --> 00:22:31.866
Well, the year ended and she didn't hear from teddy for a
00:22:31.866 --> 00:22:33.701
Long time.
00:22:33.701 --> 00:22:35.202
Then that one day, she received a note that read, "dear ms.
00:22:35.202 --> 00:22:40.241
Thompson, i want you to be the first to know i'll be graduating
00:22:40.241 --> 00:22:46.947
Second in my class.
00:22:46.947 --> 00:22:50.117
Love, teddy stollard."
00:22:50.117 --> 00:22:52.386
Four years later, another note: "dear ms. thompson, they just
00:22:52.386 --> 00:22:59.560
Told me i'll be graduating first in my class."
00:22:59.560 --> 00:23:07.635
Hm.
00:23:07.635 --> 00:23:09.937
"and i wanted you to be the first to know.
00:23:09.937 --> 00:23:13.174
Love, teddy."
00:23:13.174 --> 00:23:15.876
Four years later, another note: "dear ms. thompson, as of today,
00:23:15.876 --> 00:23:22.750
I am theodore stollard md.
00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:26.454
How about that?
00:23:26.454 --> 00:23:29.490
I wanted you to be the first to know.
00:23:29.490 --> 00:23:34.261
I'm getting married next month, the twenty-seventh to be exact.
00:23:34.261 --> 00:23:38.032
And i want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she
00:23:38.032 --> 00:23:42.803
Were alive.
00:23:42.803 --> 00:23:48.375
You're the only family i have now.
00:23:48.375 --> 00:23:51.312
Dad died last year.
00:23:51.312 --> 00:23:54.548
Love, teddy stollard."
00:23:54.548 --> 00:24:00.287
You see, i think you have more power to change lives than
00:24:00.287 --> 00:24:02.756
You know.
00:24:02.756 --> 00:24:05.926
And your tools may be sweet tea and pecan pie, or maybe a little
00:24:05.926 --> 00:24:12.266
Bowl of clean water.
00:24:12.266 --> 00:24:15.936
And you'll have to get down on your hands and knees.
00:24:15.936 --> 00:24:20.174
But if you'll determine to give god your best, i'm quite
00:24:20.174 --> 00:24:24.211
Confident he'll help you lay up treasure in heaven.
00:24:24.211 --> 00:24:28.849
Or we can complain that we deserve better, and our dream
00:24:28.849 --> 00:24:35.222
Didn't come true.
00:24:35.222 --> 00:24:38.425
I prefer to give god my best.
00:24:38.425 --> 00:24:44.465
I want you to stand with me.
00:24:44.465 --> 00:24:45.799
I brought you a prayer.
00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:47.801
Think we can read it together.
00:24:47.801 --> 00:24:50.571
I had a feeling by this point i'd need your help to read
00:24:50.571 --> 00:24:52.406
The prayer.
00:24:52.406 --> 00:24:57.811
It's a prayer for your mom.
00:24:57.811 --> 00:24:59.280
It works whether she's here or not.
00:24:59.280 --> 00:25:04.785
Heavenly father, i invite your blessing on my mom--bring her
00:25:04.785 --> 00:25:09.423
Your very best.
00:25:09.423 --> 00:25:10.958
Grant her the desires of her heart.
00:25:10.958 --> 00:25:13.527
Redeem the time she has invested in others.
00:25:13.527 --> 00:25:16.964
Renew the weary places in her soul.
00:25:16.964 --> 00:25:19.867
Remember her persistent prayers and quiet tears.
00:25:19.867 --> 00:25:23.571
May her willingness to give life be returned to her through the
00:25:23.571 --> 00:25:27.341
Life of your spirit.
00:25:27.341 --> 00:25:29.476
May the love of those who surround her be more real than
00:25:29.476 --> 00:25:33.080
Any disappointment she has endured.
00:25:33.080 --> 00:25:35.783
I bless her in your name.
00:25:35.783 --> 00:25:38.319
Amen, hallelujah. god bless you.
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:41.522
Happy mother's day.
00:25:41.522 --> 00:25:42.856
♪♪♪
00:25:42.856 --> 00:25:51.565
Allen: the most impactful part of faith in my life have been
00:25:53.033 --> 00:25:56.103
Those tools that i've learned that enabled me to take my faith
00:25:56.103 --> 00:25:59.573
And actually live it out.
00:25:59.573 --> 00:26:01.408
Well, i know as a pastor the things that are most impactful
00:26:01.408 --> 00:26:03.577
In the community i serve or the things that the congregation can
00:26:03.577 --> 00:26:06.246
Take away from the church building so that they can lead
00:26:06.246 --> 00:26:09.016
With their faith, whether as parents in their homes or in the
00:26:09.016 --> 00:26:11.919
Marketplace or when with our friends.
00:26:11.919 --> 00:26:14.188
We've got a new tool that i think will be a blessing to you.
00:26:14.188 --> 00:26:16.357
They're conversation cards intended to help you lead with
00:26:16.357 --> 00:26:18.959
Your faith.
00:26:18.959 --> 00:26:20.294
They're bundled around different contexts, whether it's a small
00:26:20.294 --> 00:26:22.763
Group of christian friends, whether it's family, for its
00:26:22.763 --> 00:26:25.366
Younger people, but they're really intended to enable you to
00:26:25.366 --> 00:26:28.535
Have some ideas to help start a conversation and sustain it
00:26:28.535 --> 00:26:32.172
Around leading with your faith.
00:26:32.172 --> 00:26:33.907
We've got to take our faith outside the walls of the church,
00:26:33.907 --> 00:26:36.677
Beyond the times of the worship center.
00:26:36.677 --> 00:26:38.646
We're not just quoting scriptures or judging people's
00:26:38.646 --> 00:26:41.081
Behavior; we're trying to engage a conversation that introduces
00:26:41.081 --> 00:26:44.752
Them to a thought about an almighty god.
00:26:44.752 --> 00:26:47.855
They're a powerful tool and i believe they'll be a blessing
00:26:47.855 --> 00:26:50.124
To you.
00:26:50.124 --> 00:26:51.458
Announcer: request your set of "lead with faith" conversation
00:26:51.458 --> 00:26:53.327
Starter cards today at allenjackson.com or
00:26:53.327 --> 00:26:56.563
By calling...
00:26:56.563 --> 00:27:01.235
Announcer: we are committed to helping you grow in your faith
00:27:01.301 --> 00:27:03.003
And have tools for your journey no matter your schedule.
00:27:03.003 --> 00:27:05.906
Get daily encouragement and insight with pastor allen's
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Daily devotion right in your inbox.
00:27:08.509 --> 00:27:10.477
Just sign up on the website.
00:27:10.477 --> 00:27:12.146
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App perfect for a commute, and make sure to follow pastor allen
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On social media to stay up to date with everything happening
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Here with allen jackson ministries.
00:27:26.427 --> 00:27:26.427

Allen Jackson - A Celebration of Life (Part 2)

June 2, 2025 | S25:E156

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