Allen Jackson - How To Flourish In The Midst Of Confusion (Part 1)

July 26, 2025 | 28:35

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

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - How To Flourish In The Midst Of Confusion (Part 1) | July 26, 2025
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  • Allen jackson: and i know you know, but we're living in
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  • A chaotic world, things are changing globally.
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  • There's wars, there's threats of war, a lot of stuff happening.
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  • But i wanna make a suggestion, don't focus on the negative,
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  • Don't get caught up in the uncertainty.
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  • That'll bring fear and anxiety and worry.
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  • It's not helpful.
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  • Let's determine to focus our attention on the lord.
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  • We've created a tool that i believe will make a difference.
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  • It's called, "awaken us."
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  • It's a 30 day plan.
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  • Each day is directed at a different topic
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  • That's a part of our current world.
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  • It gives us a verse of scripture, a little devotional
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  • Around that topic.
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  • And then a prayer for that specific thing.
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  • The idea is we're gonna give the holy spirit an invitation
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  • To awaken us to a new place of faith.
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  • You know, we need an awakening in the midst
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  • Of the people of god.
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  • And we wanna say, "well, i am awake."
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  • Well, i get that, but, you know, i was awakened yesterday.
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  • But this morning i was awakened again, and my prayer is
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  • Tomorrow i'll be awakened yet again.
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  • We need a daily awakening by the spirit of god
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  • To find his best for us in this season.
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  • And i believe this book will help you.
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  • Allen: i think most of you know i was supposed to be--kathy and
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  • I were supposed to be coming home from israel along with a
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  • Couple a hundred people on friday.
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  • And when my schedule's like that, i have to think about
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  • Those sermons a little bit ahead of time--they'll land the plane
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  • On friday after 18 or 20 hours of travel
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  • And 12 to 11 or 12 days of touring with several busloads
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  • Of people.
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  • It helps to have a little advanced preparation so i kind
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  • Of worked on what i thought i wanted to do.
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  • And i was getting ready for that, then the lord seemed to
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  • Have a different idea.
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  • So, whoever--whichever of you had seen the outline and didn't
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  • Like it, i forgive you.
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  • But the title for this session is, "how to flourish."
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  • I really started with "how to flourish" and i just--that was
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  • My intended conversation, but in all honesty, i think it's about
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  • "how to flourish in the midst of a lot of confusion."
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  • World seems a little confusing this day, this season.
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  • We had a remarkable week in so many ways.
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  • Peace in the middle east, at least on a temporary basis, but
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  • Thank god we don't have additional troops headed there.
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  • Some at least temporary relief for israel from the threat
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  • From iran.
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  • That is a gift from god.
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  • Our supreme court engaged in some remarkable ways with some
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  • Rulings that i think will protect our children.
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  • But you know, as i was reading through some of those rulings
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  • And trying to understand them a little better, on more than one
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  • Occasion i thought, "well, you know, the supreme court is
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  • Ruling to protect what for a long time was considered
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  • Common sense."
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  • But because of that, i thought that this whole notion of--how
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  • Is it that common sense has become so uncommon?
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  • How is it that the theater of the absurd seems to occupy
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  • Conventional wisdom and mainstream media and loud
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  • Voices in hollywood and too many pulpits?
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  • It's not a--i mean, i--truthfully i've been walking
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  • Around going, "god, how could that be?"
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  • And i felt like i got--i was given an answer and it's
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  • Very simple.
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  • There's nothing i don't think in what i wanna share with you
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  • Tonight that would be brand new to us.
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  • But i wanna start with this idea of there's great significance of
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  • The fear of the lord.
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  • And when i talk about the fear of god, i don't mean that we
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  • Cower in dread, like you hide behind the sofa.
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  • You know, i got two brothers and from time to time when we were
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  • Young my parents would be off somewhere.
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  • And we finally begged them to quit getting babysitters.
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  • So, you leave three boys at home.
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  • And then one time i decided to see if i could scare my brothers
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  • And i remember i was--they were in the house and i was outside.
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  • I was rattling the windows in the house,
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  • Effectively enough that when i came in the house, they were
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  • Behind the sofa.
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  • Well, if--when i talk about the fear of the lord, i--that's not
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  • What i'm trying to suggest,
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  • Is that you wanna live with an attitude of god,
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  • If you think he's close, you're gonna go get behind the sofa.
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  • Biblically, the fear of the lord is about respect or reverence.
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  • My favorite imagination and there's room for all of these in
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  • Technical language, but it's really in awe for god.
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  • That you recognize he's not like us.
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  • It's not like god's a really smart version of us.
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  • It's not like he just has better emotional control.
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  • He's not like us.
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  • It's okay, healthy babies make noise.
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  • God is different from us.
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  • And for all the ways we try to bring him down to make him
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  • Accessible, and i don't know that all that's inappropriate,
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  • But sometimes i don't think it's overly helpful.
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  • He created the earth and everything that's in it.
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  • He knows us before--while we're still being knit together in our
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  • Mother's wombs.
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  • He's the author and the completer of our stories.
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  • So, we talk about a fear of god, a respect for god, a reverence
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  • Of god, an awe for god.
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  • It carries with it the idea that we would yield to him, we would
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  • Submit to him.
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  • We would give him a priority.
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  • Now, we're a race of rebels and so that's a fundamental problem
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  • Because we don't wanna submit to anyone or anything.
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  • We're all hardwired with me do it.
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  • And we carry that with us through adulthood and we find
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  • All sorts of reasons.
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  • And now we have all sorts of cultural voices telling us why
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  • We're victims.
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  • All of us based on our biological sex, or our age, or
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  • Our height, or our hair color, or our skin color, or our iq, or
  • 00:05:55.103 --> 00:05:58.540
  • Where we were born, or where we went to school, or we didn't go
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  • To school, there's an innumerable number of voices to
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  • Tell us that we're victims and therefore we should never yield.
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  • We're entitled.
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  • The bible gives us a little different perspective.
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  • And i wanna invite you to that with me for a minute.
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  • We're gonna--there's a lot of scriptures on your sheets.
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  • You probably looked ahead and thought, "he'll never finish."
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  • We're gonna cover some of these pretty quickly.
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  • I have hopes of finishing.
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  • But i always have hopes of finishing, so.
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  • But in job 28:28, job is typically imagined by scholars
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  • To be the oldest book of the bible.
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  • And then in job it says that, "god said to man, 'the fear of
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  • The lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'"
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  • It's a theme throughout psalms.
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  • I brought you a sample, psalm 11, verse 10 says, "the fear of
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  • The lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his
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  • Precepts have good understanding.
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  • To him belongs eternal praise."
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  • Proverbs 1, "the fear of the lord is the beginning of
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  • Knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
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  • Ecclesiastes, a book written from the perspective of
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  • King solomon.
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  • This is the conclusion of the book of solomon and his wisdom.
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  • His--it's his review of his life.
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  • He's nearing the end of his life and he's filled with a great
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  • Deal of despair.
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  • And this is his summation.
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  • "all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: fear
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  • God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty
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  • Of man.
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  • For god will bring every deed into judgment, including every
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  • Hidden thing, whether it's good or evil."
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  • And we can pause there for a moment.
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  • There's a theme through all of those.
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  • Certainly it's the fear of the lord.
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  • But it's more than that, it's--they're all suggesting
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  • Something similar.
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  • Slightly different perspectives, but very similar.
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  • The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom.
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  • The fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge.
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  • To fear god and keep his commandments, that's
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  • The assignment.
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  • So, what's being--what we're being told is foundational to
  • 00:07:59.394 --> 00:08:03.164
  • Our lives is this fear or respect or reverence or awe
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  • For god.
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  • And that absent the fear of god--if there is no fear of god,
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  • If there is no respect for god, if there is no respect for his
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  • Commandments, if there is no reverence for him, if there's no
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  • Sense of awe in god, there is no wisdom, none.
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  • Now, that's gonna require some recalibration.
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  • Because we attribute wisdom to other things: degrees earned,
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  • The status of the universities or the schools where you study
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  • To earn your degrees.
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  • Success in the marketplace, your ability to rise through an
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  • Org chart.
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  • Your ability to commandeer either power or resources or
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  • Great physical abilities that give you a platform or a stage
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  • Or an audience that you're highly compensated for.
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  • And in the current trend that's very quickly coming down to
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  • Elementary students.
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  • That was a snarky remark, but it's okay.
  • 00:09:08.163 --> 00:09:12.400
  • And all of those--none of those things require the fear of
  • 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:16.104
  • The lord.
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  • So, culturally, professionally, academically, you can be
  • 00:09:17.973 --> 00:09:24.045
  • Celebrated, lauded, can be given positions of great authority,
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  • You can gain a position on the supreme court of the united
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  • States of america and be unwilling to give a definition
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  • Of a woman.
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  • And there's no need--the only reason that's possible is
  • 00:09:36.825 --> 00:09:38.793
  • There's multiplied hundreds of thousands of people that think
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  • That's most appropriate.
  • 00:09:41.563 --> 00:09:45.133
  • So, we have disconnected a biblical perspective on wisdom
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  • From the world in which we live, and tragically that's true in
  • 00:09:49.270 --> 00:09:51.806
  • The church as well.
  • 00:09:51.806 --> 00:09:53.975
  • Our churches by and large across the nation have tremendous
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  • Amount of division.
  • 00:09:57.879 --> 00:09:59.214
  • There's a great reluctance to talk about cultural issues
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  • Because we understand the people who are gathering in our
  • 00:10:01.182 --> 00:10:03.118
  • Churches are not really united under this notion of a fear or
  • 00:10:03.118 --> 00:10:06.721
  • Respect or reverence or an awe of god.
  • 00:10:06.721 --> 00:10:09.991
  • It's not like we've rejected god completely, we just haven't
  • 00:10:09.991 --> 00:10:12.994
  • Really given him first place.
  • 00:10:12.994 --> 00:10:14.362
  • We don't really fear god.
  • 00:10:14.362 --> 00:10:16.698
  • I wanna go back to those verses again.
  • 00:10:16.698 --> 00:10:18.033
  • I want you to listen for a moment.
  • 00:10:18.033 --> 00:10:19.901
  • Job, "the fear of the lord--that is wisdom."
  • 00:10:19.901 --> 00:10:22.003
  • Psalm 1:11, "the fear of the lord is the beginning
  • 00:10:22.003 --> 00:10:24.372
  • Of wisdom."
  • 00:10:24.372 --> 00:10:25.707
  • If you don't fear god, you haven't begun.
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  • I can't--i've had many, many, many conversations with highly
  • 00:10:30.979 --> 00:10:34.683
  • Educated people that some of you know.
  • 00:10:34.683 --> 00:10:36.051
  • "pastor, it's very difficult for me with my academic training to
  • 00:10:36.051 --> 00:10:41.890
  • Accept the word of god."
  • 00:10:41.890 --> 00:10:45.493
  • Well, it's a good day to begin.
  • 00:10:49.164 --> 00:10:55.170
  • Allen: hey we have a tool that i think will help you
  • 00:10:59.207 --> 00:11:00.909
  • Overcome some of the chaos in the world
  • 00:11:00.909 --> 00:11:02.644
  • And stay focused on the good things that god is doing.
  • 00:11:02.644 --> 00:11:06.081
  • It's called, "awaken us."
  • 00:11:06.081 --> 00:11:07.515
  • It's a 30 day plan.
  • 00:11:07.515 --> 00:11:09.417
  • Each day's got a scripture, a little devotional,
  • 00:11:09.417 --> 00:11:12.053
  • A prayer that goes with a specific topic
  • 00:11:12.053 --> 00:11:14.556
  • To awaken us to god's promise and provision in this season.
  • 00:11:14.556 --> 00:11:19.594
  • God's moving in the earth, i wanna move with him.
  • 00:11:19.594 --> 00:11:22.063
  • And i believe this tool will help you be prepared
  • 00:11:22.063 --> 00:11:24.699
  • To capitalize on god's invitations in your life.
  • 00:11:24.699 --> 00:11:28.536
  • Female announcer: "awaken us" delivers 30 days
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  • Of prayer, scripture and insight from pastor allen
  • 00:11:30.472 --> 00:11:33.508
  • On relevant topics.
  • 00:11:33.508 --> 00:11:35.176
  • Each day is designed to sharpen your focus
  • 00:11:35.176 --> 00:11:37.445
  • As you ask god to show you his heart
  • 00:11:37.445 --> 00:11:39.614
  • And his truth in a new way.
  • 00:11:39.614 --> 00:11:41.883
  • With the holy spirit's help, this book will awaken you
  • 00:11:41.883 --> 00:11:44.753
  • To the impact your life has on the world
  • 00:11:44.753 --> 00:11:46.988
  • And those around you.
  • 00:11:46.988 --> 00:11:48.556
  • Start your journey today by requesting "awaken us,"
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  • When you donate any amount at allenjackson.com
  • 00:11:51.192 --> 00:11:54.362
  • Or by calling ...
  • 00:11:54.362 --> 00:11:58.399
  • Allen: the bible begins with, "in the beginning god created
  • 00:11:59.667 --> 00:12:01.770
  • The heavens and the earth."
  • 00:12:01.770 --> 00:12:03.671
  • If you'll accept that invitation, that propositional
  • 00:12:03.671 --> 00:12:06.641
  • Invitation at the beginning of the bible, the rest of the book
  • 00:12:06.641 --> 00:12:09.110
  • Will open up to you.
  • 00:12:09.110 --> 00:12:10.478
  • If you reject god as the creator of heaven and earth, the rest of
  • 00:12:10.478 --> 00:12:12.747
  • The book is nonsense.
  • 00:12:12.747 --> 00:12:15.583
  • If god doesn't have the power to create heaven and earth, why
  • 00:12:15.583 --> 00:12:17.652
  • Would you trust him for eternity?
  • 00:12:17.652 --> 00:12:20.288
  • If he does have the power to create heaven and earth, it
  • 00:12:20.288 --> 00:12:22.957
  • Might be in our best interest to cooperate with the rules and
  • 00:12:22.957 --> 00:12:25.460
  • Regulations that he gives us in the owner's manual.
  • 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:30.131
  • We have lost or misplaced the fear of god.
  • 00:12:30.131 --> 00:12:34.569
  • We had a reminder a couple of weeks ago.
  • 00:12:34.569 --> 00:12:36.237
  • Tim barton was here reminding us a bit of the christian heritage
  • 00:12:36.237 --> 00:12:39.741
  • In our nation, never a uniquely christian nation.
  • 00:12:39.741 --> 00:12:42.844
  • There've always been a diversity of beliefs or people who
  • 00:12:42.844 --> 00:12:45.113
  • Didn't believe.
  • 00:12:45.113 --> 00:12:46.447
  • But the principles that formed us: our government, our academic
  • 00:12:46.447 --> 00:12:49.851
  • Institutions, our legal system, they were all founded upon the
  • 00:12:49.851 --> 00:12:53.755
  • Principles of the word of god.
  • 00:12:53.755 --> 00:12:55.423
  • And that wisdom in our nation has given us an opportunity not
  • 00:12:55.423 --> 00:12:59.594
  • Only to prosper and to survive but to continue to overcome the
  • 00:12:59.594 --> 00:13:03.298
  • Expressions of our carnal nature that let evil take root
  • 00:13:03.298 --> 00:13:06.634
  • Amongst us.
  • 00:13:06.634 --> 00:13:08.970
  • And somewhere along the way we imagined that we no longer
  • 00:13:08.970 --> 00:13:11.372
  • Needed the biblical principles of wisdom and truth in order to
  • 00:13:11.372 --> 00:13:15.210
  • Overcome the baser parts of our personality, so we set
  • 00:13:15.210 --> 00:13:18.913
  • God aside.
  • 00:13:18.913 --> 00:13:20.281
  • We didn't wanna pray in our schools.
  • 00:13:20.281 --> 00:13:21.616
  • We didn't want the ten commandments posted in
  • 00:13:21.616 --> 00:13:22.984
  • Public places.
  • 00:13:22.984 --> 00:13:24.319
  • I'm grateful that many of those laws are being examined and even
  • 00:13:24.319 --> 00:13:26.921
  • Pushed back.
  • 00:13:26.921 --> 00:13:28.289
  • We have the courage, but now we're being told, "well, if you
  • 00:13:28.289 --> 00:13:30.658
  • Do those things, even though they're legal, they're gonna
  • 00:13:30.658 --> 00:13:32.794
  • Face legal challenges."
  • 00:13:32.794 --> 00:13:35.530
  • Oh, so we should just go sit in the corner.
  • 00:13:35.530 --> 00:13:41.369
  • The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom.
  • 00:13:41.369 --> 00:13:44.606
  • How many of you are parents or grandparents, would like to see
  • 00:13:44.606 --> 00:13:47.242
  • Your children be considered wise or your grandchildren wise?
  • 00:13:47.242 --> 00:13:53.281
  • The cornerstone of that is not the school they attend, public
  • 00:13:53.281 --> 00:13:56.851
  • Or private, christian or pagan.
  • 00:13:56.851 --> 00:13:59.254
  • It's not how celebrated the university they're given an
  • 00:13:59.254 --> 00:14:01.890
  • Opportunity to study at is.
  • 00:14:01.890 --> 00:14:03.458
  • The cornerstone of that is their understanding of the reverence
  • 00:14:03.458 --> 00:14:07.362
  • Of god, a respect for god, and engagement with his word.
  • 00:14:07.362 --> 00:14:14.302
  • "so, you know, pastor, you get paid to tell us that."
  • 00:14:14.302 --> 00:14:16.971
  • No, they couldn't pay me enough to tell you something i
  • 00:14:16.971 --> 00:14:18.806
  • Didn't believe.
  • 00:14:18.806 --> 00:14:21.709
  • See, we've wandered a long way away from this.
  • 00:14:21.709 --> 00:14:25.914
  • We've had a faith that's been centered around
  • 00:14:25.914 --> 00:14:27.715
  • Personal salvation.
  • 00:14:27.715 --> 00:14:29.083
  • I believe in that, but our attitude has been, you know,
  • 00:14:29.083 --> 00:14:31.052
  • Really all you need to do is get saved.
  • 00:14:31.052 --> 00:14:32.520
  • I mean, that's really--we just do that.
  • 00:14:32.520 --> 00:14:35.256
  • Then we can get on with stuff.
  • 00:14:35.256 --> 00:14:36.591
  • We can get on with success, we can get on with prosperity, we
  • 00:14:36.591 --> 00:14:39.394
  • Can get on with achievement, we can get on with opportunity.
  • 00:14:39.394 --> 00:14:42.163
  • We can get on with whatever it is your heart has been given to.
  • 00:14:42.163 --> 00:14:46.501
  • See, we haven't had enough respect for god, enough
  • 00:14:46.501 --> 00:14:48.469
  • Reverence for god, enough awe for god that we'd really give
  • 00:14:48.469 --> 00:14:51.739
  • Him our hearts.
  • 00:14:51.739 --> 00:14:54.676
  • We need to change.
  • 00:14:54.676 --> 00:14:56.511
  • We need a change in the midst of the people of god.
  • 00:14:56.511 --> 00:14:59.147
  • The absence of a reverence for god has some very
  • 00:14:59.147 --> 00:15:01.849
  • Startling consequences.
  • 00:15:01.849 --> 00:15:03.751
  • In your notes, psalm 36, and verse 1, it says, "an oracle is
  • 00:15:03.751 --> 00:15:06.587
  • Within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: there
  • 00:15:06.587 --> 00:15:11.492
  • Is no fear of god before his eyes.
  • 00:15:11.492 --> 00:15:14.262
  • For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or
  • 00:15:14.262 --> 00:15:18.466
  • Hate sin."
  • 00:15:18.466 --> 00:15:20.935
  • So, there's a message in my heart concerning the sinfulness
  • 00:15:20.935 --> 00:15:25.807
  • Of wickedness.
  • 00:15:25.807 --> 00:15:27.442
  • And then he gives us a diagnosis.
  • 00:15:27.442 --> 00:15:29.410
  • He said, "there's no fear of god before their eyes.
  • 00:15:29.410 --> 00:15:34.449
  • Because in their own eyes, they flatter themselves too much to
  • 00:15:34.449 --> 00:15:39.220
  • Detect or to hate sin."
  • 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:43.791
  • That's a startling--it's like the curtain has been pulled back
  • 00:15:43.791 --> 00:15:47.562
  • On our heart condition.
  • 00:15:47.562 --> 00:15:49.797
  • He said, "if there's no fear of god before our eyes, if we're
  • 00:15:49.797 --> 00:15:53.034
  • Not conscious of our reverence for god, our respect for god,
  • 00:15:53.034 --> 00:15:57.071
  • Our awe for god, then our self evaluation has no godly
  • 00:15:57.071 --> 00:16:02.443
  • Standards, we'll measure ourselves by all sorts of
  • 00:16:02.443 --> 00:16:05.079
  • Other markers."
  • 00:16:05.079 --> 00:16:06.414
  • We can run fast or jump high or earn a lot or we have a
  • 00:16:06.414 --> 00:16:09.117
  • Great iq and we can--we do really well in academia, or
  • 00:16:09.117 --> 00:16:12.487
  • We're good with our hands and we can produce things, or--we'll
  • 00:16:12.487 --> 00:16:15.923
  • Evaluate ourselves by a whole host of other standards that
  • 00:16:15.923 --> 00:16:19.127
  • Have little to do with the god perspective.
  • 00:16:19.127 --> 00:16:23.498
  • And we'll have no awareness, no sensitivity to god's imagination
  • 00:16:23.498 --> 00:16:27.869
  • Of what's ungodly.
  • 00:16:27.869 --> 00:16:29.504
  • And he said, "that leads us towards pride."
  • 00:16:29.504 --> 00:16:32.573
  • He said, "we'll be unable to identify sin or
  • 00:16:32.573 --> 00:16:34.909
  • Identify ungodliness.
  • 00:16:34.909 --> 00:16:37.078
  • And because of that, we won't reject it.
  • 00:16:37.078 --> 00:16:39.914
  • We won't reject ungodliness."
  • 00:16:39.914 --> 00:16:41.783
  • Gee, that sounds a lot like the world we're living in.
  • 00:16:41.783 --> 00:16:46.754
  • We don't reject sin, we don't reject ungodliness, and if you
  • 00:16:46.754 --> 00:16:49.724
  • Dare to say that with your voice, you're kind of judgy.
  • 00:16:49.724 --> 00:16:56.898
  • "well, who appointed you?"
  • 00:16:56.898 --> 00:16:58.266
  • Nobody appointed me.
  • 00:16:58.266 --> 00:16:59.600
  • I'm simply telling you the designer said there are some
  • 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.170
  • Things that are good for us and there are some things that
  • 00:17:02.170 --> 00:17:04.105
  • Aren't good for us.
  • 00:17:04.105 --> 00:17:06.240
  • And then it's a struggle in my own heart and i suspect it may
  • 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:08.676
  • Have been a struggle in yours, but the struggle's worth it.
  • 00:17:08.676 --> 00:17:11.312
  • We wanna overcome ungodliness.
  • 00:17:11.312 --> 00:17:15.249
  • But if we set aside the respect for god--see, we've done this in
  • 00:17:15.249 --> 00:17:19.153
  • The church.
  • 00:17:19.153 --> 00:17:22.757
  • We don't have to look outside the walls of the church, we'll
  • 00:17:22.757 --> 00:17:24.992
  • Fight one another over a seat.
  • 00:17:24.992 --> 00:17:28.529
  • We'll get indignant if we can't bring our pets to all the places
  • 00:17:32.767 --> 00:17:35.470
  • We wanna bring them.
  • 00:17:35.470 --> 00:17:36.804
  • We're reading the books of moses right now.
  • 00:17:36.804 --> 00:17:38.506
  • Would you like to approach moses and ask him if you could take in
  • 00:17:38.506 --> 00:17:40.875
  • Your pets to the tabernacle?
  • 00:17:40.875 --> 00:17:44.979
  • Another day, another day.
  • 00:17:48.583 --> 00:17:51.352
  • Proverbs 26:12, "do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
  • 00:17:51.352 --> 00:17:56.791
  • There's more hope for a fool than him."
  • 00:17:56.791 --> 00:17:59.794
  • This is an interesting categorization, to be wise in
  • 00:17:59.794 --> 00:18:03.264
  • Your own eyes.
  • 00:18:03.264 --> 00:18:04.599
  • See, absent god's perspective.
  • 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.334
  • "i don't care what god thinks about me.
  • 00:18:06.334 --> 00:18:09.137
  • I'm not interested in that.
  • 00:18:09.137 --> 00:18:10.505
  • I don't respect him enough to take his counsel.
  • 00:18:10.505 --> 00:18:13.708
  • Well, i mean, i read my bible, when i'm done reading it i'll
  • 00:18:13.708 --> 00:18:15.776
  • Say, 'you know, i know what god says, but let me tell you what
  • 00:18:15.776 --> 00:18:17.879
  • I think.
  • 00:18:17.879 --> 00:18:20.248
  • Yeah, yeah, i know, i read it, but that's in the old testament.
  • 00:18:20.248 --> 00:18:24.152
  • Yeah, i mean, i know it's in the bible, but that's the first
  • 00:18:24.152 --> 00:18:26.454
  • Century, and cultures are different, and they believed in
  • 00:18:26.454 --> 00:18:29.991
  • Spiritual things, and we don't believe in spiritual things so
  • 00:18:29.991 --> 00:18:32.527
  • Much so let me tell you how i think the world works.'"
  • 00:18:32.527 --> 00:18:37.532
  • And maybe you don't have enough confidence to do it in yourself,
  • 00:18:37.532 --> 00:18:39.867
  • So you go borrow people that have platforms or celebrity or
  • 00:18:39.867 --> 00:18:43.704
  • Degrees or imagined to be wise, and we set aside the counsel
  • 00:18:43.704 --> 00:18:49.177
  • Of god.
  • 00:18:49.177 --> 00:18:51.145
  • "do you see a man wise in his own eyes?"
  • 00:18:51.145 --> 00:18:55.683
  • I want you to see that next phrase.
  • 00:18:55.683 --> 00:18:58.119
  • He said, "there's more hope for a fool."
  • 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:02.123
  • If you're wise in your own eyes, you're worse than a fool.
  • 00:19:02.123 --> 00:19:08.262
  • Now that's sobering language.
  • 00:19:08.262 --> 00:19:10.831
  • Proverbs 3:7 says, "do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the
  • 00:19:10.831 --> 00:19:16.270
  • Lord and shun evil."
  • 00:19:16.270 --> 00:19:19.073
  • Now this is not complicated, plain english.
  • 00:19:19.073 --> 00:19:21.976
  • There's no word studies that are gonna help us out of this.
  • 00:19:21.976 --> 00:19:25.846
  • You know, there's no hebrew word that, you know, i could say,
  • 00:19:25.846 --> 00:19:28.015
  • "don't be wise in your own eyes" means eat more chocolate 'cause
  • 00:19:28.015 --> 00:19:31.919
  • I looked.
  • 00:19:31.919 --> 00:19:34.222
  • "don't be wise in your own eyes; fear the lord and shun evil."
  • 00:19:34.222 --> 00:19:38.326
  • What does it mean when the bible says, "do not?"
  • 00:19:38.326 --> 00:19:43.130
  • Stop it!
  • 00:19:43.130 --> 00:19:44.498
  • See, it wouldn't say, "do not do it," if it weren't a problem.
  • 00:19:48.069 --> 00:19:52.006
  • It's one of the principles i learned way back in the day
  • 00:19:52.006 --> 00:19:54.542
  • In school.
  • 00:19:54.542 --> 00:19:55.876
  • They said, "if there's a prohibition against something in
  • 00:19:55.876 --> 00:19:57.278
  • The bible, it's because it was a problem.
  • 00:19:57.278 --> 00:19:59.480
  • If there's a direction--what to do when your ox gores your
  • 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.783
  • Neighbor, it's because somebody's ox kept goring
  • 00:20:02.783 --> 00:20:05.519
  • The neighbor.
  • 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:07.321
  • And it made it into the book."
  • 00:20:07.321 --> 00:20:10.358
  • So, when the bible says, "do not be wise in your own eyes, what's
  • 00:20:10.358 --> 00:20:14.328
  • The challenge?
  • 00:20:14.328 --> 00:20:16.597
  • We feel pretty good about our handle on life and how to do it.
  • 00:20:16.597 --> 00:20:21.402
  • I know how to do it.
  • 00:20:21.402 --> 00:20:23.437
  • And one of the awkward parts about reading your bible, it's
  • 00:20:23.437 --> 00:20:25.640
  • Not what you don't understand, the words you can't pronounce,
  • 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:28.776
  • The cities where you don't know where they are.
  • 00:20:28.776 --> 00:20:31.212
  • The really difficult part about reading your bible is the part
  • 00:20:31.212 --> 00:20:33.881
  • You do understand.
  • 00:20:33.881 --> 00:20:37.018
  • You think, "well, surely there's some cultural something i'm
  • 00:20:37.018 --> 00:20:39.320
  • Missing 'cause that plain language is uncomfortable."
  • 00:20:39.320 --> 00:20:43.624
  • "the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of god."
  • 00:20:43.624 --> 00:20:45.726
  • "well, i don't know what that means, but it can't mean that
  • 00:20:45.726 --> 00:20:47.528
  • The wicked won't inherit the kingdom of god."
  • 00:20:47.528 --> 00:20:50.331
  • "do not be wise in your own eyes."
  • 00:20:54.135 --> 00:20:56.637
  • Look at proverbs 8:13, "to fear the lord is to hate evil; i hate
  • 00:20:56.637 --> 00:21:02.310
  • Pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech."
  • 00:21:02.310 --> 00:21:05.446
  • So, to fear the lord is to hate evil.
  • 00:21:05.446 --> 00:21:09.150
  • We've been coached for a long, long time now.
  • 00:21:09.150 --> 00:21:13.487
  • Under the umbrella of christianese and christian
  • 00:21:13.487 --> 00:21:16.090
  • Language and christian books we're supposed to tolerate evil,
  • 00:21:16.090 --> 00:21:19.327
  • Accommodate evil, excuse evil, make friends with evil, build
  • 00:21:19.327 --> 00:21:22.029
  • Bridges to evil.
  • 00:21:22.029 --> 00:21:26.267
  • But there's no language issue here.
  • 00:21:26.267 --> 00:21:28.336
  • "the fear of the lord is to hate evil."
  • 00:21:28.336 --> 00:21:32.373
  • See, to tolerate evil, accommodate evil, excuse evil is
  • 00:21:32.373 --> 00:21:35.676
  • To reject the fear of the lord.
  • 00:21:35.676 --> 00:21:38.612
  • It's to reject a reverence for god, it's to reject a respect
  • 00:21:38.612 --> 00:21:41.415
  • For god.
  • 00:21:41.415 --> 00:21:42.750
  • "i don't think god meant it.
  • 00:21:42.750 --> 00:21:44.118
  • I don't think he was being serious.
  • 00:21:44.118 --> 00:21:45.453
  • I don't think it's that big a deal.
  • 00:21:45.453 --> 00:21:47.788
  • There's extenuating circumstances."
  • 00:21:47.788 --> 00:21:51.926
  • The bible introduces to us some categories.
  • 00:21:51.926 --> 00:21:56.630
  • They're really simple.
  • 00:21:56.630 --> 00:21:57.965
  • They're all through the new testament.
  • 00:21:57.965 --> 00:21:59.333
  • I've been using some old testament verses, but we're
  • 00:21:59.333 --> 00:22:00.668
  • Going to the new testament.
  • 00:22:00.668 --> 00:22:02.036
  • I don't wanna leave anybody out.
  • 00:22:02.036 --> 00:22:03.804
  • It introduces these ideas of being wise and being foolish.
  • 00:22:03.804 --> 00:22:07.408
  • Which one do you think you'd rather be when you see the lord?
  • 00:22:07.408 --> 00:22:10.578
  • If he's gonna give you a name tag and all--it's not gonna have
  • 00:22:10.578 --> 00:22:12.480
  • Your name, it's just gonna say, wise or foolish, which one do
  • 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:14.281
  • You want?
  • 00:22:14.281 --> 00:22:15.616
  • Well, i'll say, "yeah, me too."
  • 00:22:15.616 --> 00:22:16.984
  • It'll have your name, but it'll have how many hairs are in your
  • 00:22:16.984 --> 00:22:18.919
  • Head too.
  • 00:22:18.919 --> 00:22:21.155
  • Matthew 7, verse 24--it's a very familiar parable.
  • 00:22:21.155 --> 00:22:23.858
  • I didn't give you the whole thing, but you'll recognize it.
  • 00:22:23.858 --> 00:22:26.560
  • It's the parable of two people building homes.
  • 00:22:26.560 --> 00:22:30.698
  • Said, "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into
  • 00:22:30.698 --> 00:22:33.334
  • Practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."
  • 00:22:33.334 --> 00:22:36.737
  • And then he describes the storm.
  • 00:22:36.737 --> 00:22:38.773
  • And then verse 28, "everyone who hears these words of mine and
  • 00:22:38.773 --> 00:22:41.342
  • Does not put them into practice is a foolish man who built his
  • 00:22:41.342 --> 00:22:45.846
  • House on the sand."
  • 00:22:45.846 --> 00:22:47.214
  • Again, this is jesus's words, very simple.
  • 00:22:47.214 --> 00:22:50.418
  • Two options, there's no third option.
  • 00:22:50.418 --> 00:22:52.119
  • There's no gray area.
  • 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:53.487
  • You're either wise or foolish.
  • 00:22:53.487 --> 00:22:55.289
  • You either hear the word of god and put it into practice.
  • 00:22:55.289 --> 00:22:58.325
  • And he says, "that's wise, that's a respect for god.
  • 00:22:58.325 --> 00:23:01.328
  • That's a reverence for god."
  • 00:23:01.328 --> 00:23:02.696
  • Or you hear the word of god and you don't put it into practice.
  • 00:23:02.696 --> 00:23:06.100
  • This is not written for pagans.
  • 00:23:06.100 --> 00:23:08.903
  • Jesus isn't talking to the ungodly, the people without
  • 00:23:08.903 --> 00:23:11.272
  • A covenant.
  • 00:23:11.272 --> 00:23:12.640
  • If we put it in contemporary language, he's talking to
  • 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.642
  • Church people.
  • 00:23:14.642 --> 00:23:16.877
  • He said, "the wise ones amongst you—when you hear the word of
  • 00:23:16.877 --> 00:23:21.048
  • God, will practice it.
  • 00:23:21.048 --> 00:23:22.383
  • The foolish ones amongst you won't."
  • 00:23:22.383 --> 00:23:27.288
  • And he said, "disaster is coming to the fools."
  • 00:23:27.288 --> 00:23:31.725
  • That's sobering language.
  • 00:23:31.725 --> 00:23:33.360
  • How have we lost the fear of god to the point that perversion
  • 00:23:33.360 --> 00:23:38.065
  • And ungodliness and what seems to be completely unhitched from
  • 00:23:38.065 --> 00:23:42.303
  • Sanity in any way is so often now the prevailing thought of
  • 00:23:42.303 --> 00:23:46.373
  • The day?
  • 00:23:46.373 --> 00:23:48.642
  • Folks, don't rage against the darkness, let's turn up
  • 00:23:48.642 --> 00:23:50.778
  • The light.
  • 00:23:50.778 --> 00:23:52.913
  • Let's decide to begin to reverence god and respect god in
  • 00:23:52.913 --> 00:23:56.951
  • New ways.
  • 00:23:56.951 --> 00:23:59.353
  • The good news in that is god will respond to his people.
  • 00:23:59.353 --> 00:24:04.158
  • Look at luke 12.
  • 00:24:04.158 --> 00:24:05.493
  • This is jesus again.
  • 00:24:05.493 --> 00:24:06.827
  • He told them this parable and i'm sure it's familiar to many
  • 00:24:06.827 --> 00:24:09.129
  • Of you.
  • 00:24:09.129 --> 00:24:10.498
  • "the ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
  • 00:24:10.498 --> 00:24:12.666
  • He thought to himself, 'what shall i do?
  • 00:24:12.666 --> 00:24:14.368
  • I've got no place to store my crops.'
  • 00:24:14.368 --> 00:24:17.705
  • And he said, 'this is what i'll do, i'll tear down my barns,
  • 00:24:17.705 --> 00:24:19.907
  • I'll build bigger ones.
  • 00:24:19.907 --> 00:24:21.275
  • I'll store my grain and my goods.
  • 00:24:21.275 --> 00:24:22.610
  • And i'll say to myself, 'you have plenty of good things laid
  • 00:24:22.610 --> 00:24:25.179
  • Up for many years.
  • 00:24:25.179 --> 00:24:26.514
  • Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'
  • 00:24:26.514 --> 00:24:28.949
  • And god said to him, 'will you manage my investments?'"
  • 00:24:28.949 --> 00:24:34.455
  • No, god said, "you're a fool!
  • 00:24:38.125 --> 00:24:41.629
  • You're a fool!
  • 00:24:41.629 --> 00:24:45.466
  • Because tonight your life will be demanded of you.
  • 00:24:45.466 --> 00:24:48.736
  • And who will get what you prepared?'"
  • 00:24:48.736 --> 00:24:51.338
  • And then verse 21 is the punch line.
  • 00:24:51.338 --> 00:24:53.974
  • This is jesus.
  • 00:24:53.974 --> 00:24:55.409
  • "this is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for
  • 00:24:55.409 --> 00:24:57.912
  • Himself but is not rich towards god."
  • 00:24:57.912 --> 00:25:00.347
  • I don't think it's a prohibition or a warning against success.
  • 00:25:00.347 --> 00:25:05.152
  • This is a very plain spoken story.
  • 00:25:05.152 --> 00:25:08.222
  • This is a smart guy, he's successful.
  • 00:25:08.222 --> 00:25:12.526
  • And he's not like a one-hit wonder, he can just time the
  • 00:25:12.526 --> 00:25:15.029
  • Market and get a window or he did really good, and was clever
  • 00:25:15.029 --> 00:25:18.732
  • Enough to capitalize on it, and then not do something foolish.
  • 00:25:18.732 --> 00:25:21.969
  • He seemed to be able to adapt and change so that year after
  • 00:25:21.969 --> 00:25:25.272
  • Year, in spite of all the vagaries in an agricultural
  • 00:25:25.272 --> 00:25:29.443
  • Setting, he still managed to flourish when there was enough
  • 00:25:29.443 --> 00:25:33.881
  • Rain and when there wasn't.
  • 00:25:33.881 --> 00:25:35.249
  • And he--bumper crop, after bumper crop, after bumper crop.
  • 00:25:35.249 --> 00:25:38.485
  • He's the leading business person of the year more than one year.
  • 00:25:38.485 --> 00:25:43.357
  • Until finally he said, "i got more than i could ever need.
  • 00:25:43.357 --> 00:25:47.661
  • I'm tired of the rat race.
  • 00:25:47.661 --> 00:25:51.098
  • I'll just expand my potential to hold on to what i've got and i'm
  • 00:25:51.098 --> 00:25:55.135
  • Gonna eat, drink, and be merry."
  • 00:25:55.135 --> 00:26:00.708
  • Allen: hey we have a tool that we think will help
  • 00:26:04.745 --> 00:26:07.247
  • Strengthen you in this season.
  • 00:26:07.247 --> 00:26:09.049
  • A lot of confusion and chaos in our world,
  • 00:26:09.049 --> 00:26:10.818
  • A lot of fear.
  • 00:26:10.818 --> 00:26:12.219
  • I hear from people every day battling in their minds,
  • 00:26:12.219 --> 00:26:15.155
  • In their lives with the uncertainty of our world.
  • 00:26:15.155 --> 00:26:18.459
  • Well, it's a booklet called "awaken us."
  • 00:26:18.459 --> 00:26:20.027
  • It's a 30 day plan, every day has a theme with a scripture,
  • 00:26:20.027 --> 00:26:23.163
  • A little devotional, and a prayer for that specific theme.
  • 00:26:23.163 --> 00:26:26.667
  • The idea is that every day we're gonna ask the spirit of god
  • 00:26:26.667 --> 00:26:29.436
  • To awaken us to a new aspect of god's provision in our lives.
  • 00:26:29.436 --> 00:26:34.408
  • You know, hopefully we wake up everyday to the opportunities
  • 00:26:34.408 --> 00:26:37.277
  • And the challenges of that day.
  • 00:26:37.277 --> 00:26:39.380
  • Well, this is gonna correspond to that.
  • 00:26:39.380 --> 00:26:40.781
  • We're gonna ask the spirit of god to awaken us
  • 00:26:40.781 --> 00:26:42.816
  • To what god is doing in this season.
  • 00:26:42.816 --> 00:26:45.619
  • We're not alone and we don't have to be overcome by fear.
  • 00:26:45.619 --> 00:26:48.889
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:26:48.889 --> 00:26:50.224
  • Father, i thank you that there's nothing
  • 00:26:50.224 --> 00:26:51.892
  • That confronts us that intimidates
  • 00:26:51.892 --> 00:26:53.861
  • Or threatens you.
  • 00:26:53.861 --> 00:26:55.262
  • That you have made provision for complete victory
  • 00:26:55.262 --> 00:26:57.731
  • In every aspect of our lives.
  • 00:26:57.731 --> 00:26:59.767
  • Lead us now as we turn our faces to you
  • 00:26:59.767 --> 00:27:02.503
  • To a season of peace and hope and wholeness
  • 00:27:02.503 --> 00:27:05.139
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:05.139 --> 00:27:07.541
  • This book, it'll be a blessing.
  • 00:27:07.541 --> 00:27:09.610
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:09.610 --> 00:27:29.463