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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Let's Eat - Spiritual Foundations (Part 2)

March 3, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Let's Eat - Spiritual Foundations (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#SpiritualFoundation #SpiritualWarfare #Struggle #Overcoming #Sin #Evil #Challenges #Culture #Secular #Preparation #SpiritualGrowth #Truth #Authority #Faith #SpiritualHealth #Complacency #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Let's Eat - Spiritual Foundations (Part 2) | March 3, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world people are searching
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  • For truth and together we're doing our very best to help them
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  • Find it.
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  • Ministries, you're joining a growing community of believers
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  • Who are committed to strengthening the church and
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  • Audiences and to take the hope of jesus to people who may never
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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • Together we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Known right here at home and around the earth wherever god
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  • Opens the door.
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: i believe in conversion and the new birth and salvation,
  • 00:01:02.112 --> 00:01:10.386
  • Absolutely, without question, the essential nature of that
  • 00:01:10.386 --> 00:01:13.389
  • Entry into the kingdom of god.
  • 00:01:13.389 --> 00:01:16.025
  • But it doesn't come without a responsibility to pay attention.
  • 00:01:16.025 --> 00:01:19.796
  • The alternative to that is in matthew 26, jesus, just a few
  • 00:01:19.796 --> 00:01:25.068
  • Moments after the dinner we just looked at, he's in gethsemane
  • 00:01:25.068 --> 00:01:27.804
  • With his disciples and they've come with an angry group to
  • 00:01:27.804 --> 00:01:32.008
  • Arrest him and peter's gotten engaged again.
  • 00:01:32.008 --> 00:01:34.010
  • I know you're shocked.
  • 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:36.179
  • And jesus says to peter to put his sword away, he said, "do you
  • 00:01:36.179 --> 00:01:38.581
  • Think i can't call on my father, and he will at once put at my
  • 00:01:38.581 --> 00:01:40.917
  • Disposal more than twelve legions of angels?"
  • 00:01:40.917 --> 00:01:43.786
  • Roman legions carry different numbers anywhere from 1000 to
  • 00:01:43.786 --> 00:01:46.156
  • 5000 people, 12,000 to 60,000 angels could be here in
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  • A heartbeat.
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  • Peter, your sword's kind of comical.
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  • Jesus is very clearly under a different authority.
  • 00:01:54.130 --> 00:01:57.700
  • So the resources of heaven are at my disposal.
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  • I have a question for you.
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  • When we're talking about establishing the spiritual
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  • Authority of your home, do you understand the difference of
  • 00:02:03.206 --> 00:02:07.043
  • Being under the authority of the devil and all the darkness that
  • 00:02:07.043 --> 00:02:11.447
  • He represents, or having the authority of the kingdom of god
  • 00:02:11.447 --> 00:02:17.887
  • As your support.
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  • Very different places.
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  • If you could see them graphically or imagine them in
  • 00:02:21.891 --> 00:02:24.260
  • Any tangible way, it's a very simple choice, it's not
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  • Accidental though.
  • 00:02:27.497 --> 00:02:29.265
  • It requires some intentionality and some determination to lead
  • 00:02:29.265 --> 00:02:33.469
  • Our lives under the authority of the spirit of god.
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  • And i really believe in most respects that begins with our
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  • Behaviors at the table.
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  • I'll talk more about it.
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  • I'll give you one more verse.
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  • It's ephesians 6 says, "our struggle isn't with flesh
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  • And blood."
  • 00:02:46.816 --> 00:02:49.219
  • It doesn't say we don't struggle, it just simply says
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  • The struggle of our lives isn't primarily with people or
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  • Organizations or institutions, "but it's with spiritual forces
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  • Of wickedness in the heavenly places."
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  • Again, i think in contemporary christian and we've kind of
  • 00:02:59.262 --> 00:03:01.431
  • Stepped away from this notion and we just think, you know,
  • 00:03:01.431 --> 00:03:03.900
  • It's not that relevant.
  • 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:05.235
  • The devil's not chic anymore.
  • 00:03:05.235 --> 00:03:09.205
  • You know, believing in spiritual things, we're kind of beyond
  • 00:03:09.205 --> 00:03:11.441
  • That, we're a little more sophisticated.
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  • Now we have universities and hospitals.
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  • And i'm grateful for all of those things, but it doesn't
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  • Diminish the reality of spiritual things.
  • 00:03:19.515 --> 00:03:21.284
  • And if you don't understand there is a spiritual struggle
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  • Over your life, your home, and your future, you're ignoring the
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  • Fundamentals of scripture.
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  • And if that struggle exists, then it's in our best interest
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  • To understand how to flourish in the midst of that.
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  • Jesus was not at all frightened to have judas at the table.
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  • He could stand in front of a group of religious leaders that
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  • He understood fully were under the influence of satanic things,
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  • And jesus was not threatened.
  • 00:03:45.842 --> 00:03:48.478
  • We shouldn't be threatened or frightened or intimidated by
  • 00:03:48.478 --> 00:03:50.980
  • Expressions of evil.
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  • We should understand there's a greater force with us.
  • 00:03:52.315 --> 00:03:55.351
  • But we can't just ignore it.
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  • We can't treat it like tennesseans do snow and ice.
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  • Throw a little sand on the road and speed up.
  • 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:07.497
  • The presence of god in our homes has been consistently
  • 00:04:07.497 --> 00:04:10.033
  • Diminishing for decades.
  • 00:04:10.033 --> 00:04:12.368
  • The spiritual authority of our homes has shifted incrementally
  • 00:04:12.368 --> 00:04:15.305
  • Over an extended period of time, bit by bit, week by week, year
  • 00:04:15.305 --> 00:04:18.574
  • By year.
  • 00:04:18.574 --> 00:04:19.909
  • The impact is seen most easily, i think, in our young adults.
  • 00:04:19.909 --> 00:04:25.615
  • We find when they leave home and then they return some period
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  • Later, whether it's from college or the military or a gap year,
  • 00:04:28.484 --> 00:04:32.322
  • Too frequently they no longer hold the biblical worldview.
  • 00:04:32.322 --> 00:04:36.826
  • In fact, it's not uncommon.
  • 00:04:36.826 --> 00:04:38.161
  • I have these conversations on a very regular basis.
  • 00:04:38.161 --> 00:04:40.596
  • They're a bit offended when they return by the faith of
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  • Their parents.
  • 00:04:42.765 --> 00:04:44.767
  • And this isn't just an issue for families with small children.
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  • It's most evident in the lives of children because the children
  • 00:04:48.771 --> 00:04:51.674
  • Are the most vulnerable amongst us, both physically
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  • And spiritually.
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  • It's why they require extra protection.
  • 00:04:55.545 --> 00:04:58.514
  • This challenge is real for every generation, wherever you are on
  • 00:04:58.514 --> 00:05:02.018
  • That life cycle.
  • 00:05:02.018 --> 00:05:03.786
  • The spiritual authority of our homes must be established,
  • 00:05:03.786 --> 00:05:07.223
  • Cultivated and protected, no matter what age we are or no
  • 00:05:07.223 --> 00:05:10.693
  • Matter what circumstances of our lives today.
  • 00:05:10.693 --> 00:05:13.930
  • You may have had a godly home when your children were small,
  • 00:05:13.930 --> 00:05:16.299
  • And you may have stopped paying attention.
  • 00:05:16.299 --> 00:05:21.270
  • I consistently engage with families on a weekly basis who
  • 00:05:21.270 --> 00:05:23.973
  • Are facing the challenges of adult children returning home
  • 00:05:23.973 --> 00:05:26.709
  • With a dramatically different worldview.
  • 00:05:26.709 --> 00:05:29.412
  • Brings tremendous stress to the family systems.
  • 00:05:29.412 --> 00:05:32.715
  • Sometimes there's simply, maybe they're just living together
  • 00:05:32.715 --> 00:05:35.418
  • Without marriage.
  • 00:05:35.418 --> 00:05:36.753
  • Sometimes they return home and they've transitioned, and they
  • 00:05:36.753 --> 00:05:39.088
  • Have new names and pronouns.
  • 00:05:39.088 --> 00:05:42.392
  • Sometimes they return home and they're engaged
  • 00:05:42.392 --> 00:05:44.394
  • In homosexuality.
  • 00:05:44.394 --> 00:05:45.728
  • The variations are many, but what is consistent is the break
  • 00:05:45.728 --> 00:05:48.865
  • With the biblical worldview, which parents imagined they held
  • 00:05:48.865 --> 00:05:52.101
  • And they had taught their family.
  • 00:05:52.101 --> 00:05:55.171
  • The values that we thought resonated through our homes and
  • 00:05:55.171 --> 00:05:57.373
  • Families are not able to withstand the challenges of a
  • 00:05:57.373 --> 00:06:00.510
  • Secular culture.
  • 00:06:00.510 --> 00:06:02.879
  • So we get mad at the culture.
  • 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.415
  • We wanna blame the schools or the universities or
  • 00:06:05.415 --> 00:06:08.785
  • The churches.
  • 00:06:08.785 --> 00:06:11.621
  • So we think, well, we'll enroll our children in christian
  • 00:06:11.621 --> 00:06:13.823
  • Schools, schools with christian in the title.
  • 00:06:13.823 --> 00:06:17.593
  • Now, i don't believe that's an adequate solution.
  • 00:06:17.593 --> 00:06:20.296
  • I'm grateful for truly christian schools, but sequestering our
  • 00:06:20.296 --> 00:06:23.900
  • Children is a delaying tactic.
  • 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:28.604
  • They're ultimately gonna have to engage with the secular culture.
  • 00:06:28.604 --> 00:06:32.442
  • Then we have to find a way to establish our values in our
  • 00:06:32.442 --> 00:06:35.077
  • Homes in a more robust way.
  • 00:06:35.077 --> 00:06:38.147
  • We can't be dependent upon the schools.
  • 00:06:38.147 --> 00:06:41.517
  • It seems similar in a way, if you'll allow me, we just came
  • 00:06:41.517 --> 00:06:44.020
  • Through a bit of cold weather to putting antifreeze in your car,
  • 00:06:44.020 --> 00:06:47.223
  • But when the temperature dips to the twenties, your
  • 00:06:47.223 --> 00:06:48.958
  • Radiator freezes.
  • 00:06:48.958 --> 00:06:52.261
  • Well, we're not willing to say that our preparation for our
  • 00:06:52.261 --> 00:06:54.297
  • Automobile failed.
  • 00:06:54.297 --> 00:06:56.466
  • Or our antifreeze was faulty, it couldn't be that.
  • 00:06:56.466 --> 00:07:00.369
  • We're smarter than that.
  • 00:07:00.369 --> 00:07:03.272
  • So our solution is to move to florida.
  • 00:07:03.272 --> 00:07:08.077
  • So then we're no longer subjected to freezing,
  • 00:07:08.077 --> 00:07:10.112
  • Subfreezing temperatures.
  • 00:07:10.112 --> 00:07:13.049
  • Well, i would, if you will allow me, submit to you that avoiding
  • 00:07:13.049 --> 00:07:17.353
  • The cold does not mean that your car is better prepared
  • 00:07:17.353 --> 00:07:19.589
  • For winter.
  • 00:07:19.589 --> 00:07:23.392
  • And neither do i think that isolating our children from
  • 00:07:23.392 --> 00:07:25.528
  • Secular ideas makes them better prepared to
  • 00:07:25.528 --> 00:07:27.763
  • Overcome ungodliness.
  • 00:07:27.763 --> 00:07:30.132
  • Our homes, our schools, and our churches must boldly teach the
  • 00:07:30.132 --> 00:07:34.403
  • Truth and confront our ungodly culture.
  • 00:07:34.403 --> 00:07:38.741
  • We have to shape the culture and not be shaped by it.
  • 00:07:38.741 --> 00:07:42.545
  • That's gonna take a different expression of our faith than
  • 00:07:42.545 --> 00:07:44.547
  • We're familiar with.
  • 00:07:44.547 --> 00:07:46.382
  • So how do we invite god more fully into our homes?
  • 00:07:46.382 --> 00:07:49.819
  • What does that look like?
  • 00:07:49.819 --> 00:07:52.355
  • Well, i wanna be certain that this isn't understood as
  • 00:07:52.355 --> 00:07:54.290
  • Something just for families with young children, because i don't
  • 00:07:54.290 --> 00:07:56.559
  • Imagine that at all.
  • 00:07:56.559 --> 00:07:58.261
  • I think this concept is equally important no matter what life
  • 00:07:58.261 --> 00:08:00.963
  • Stage you're in if you're a single person.
  • 00:08:00.963 --> 00:08:03.432
  • If you're married and you don't have children, if you're empty
  • 00:08:03.432 --> 00:08:05.468
  • Nesters or you're widows or widowers, every season of our
  • 00:08:05.468 --> 00:08:08.170
  • Life requires an intentional cultivation of a response to
  • 00:08:08.170 --> 00:08:11.774
  • God, every season.
  • 00:08:11.774 --> 00:08:14.210
  • But i'm not talking about conversion.
  • 00:08:14.210 --> 00:08:15.711
  • I believe in that, but to imagine that's the full
  • 00:08:15.711 --> 00:08:18.214
  • Expression of your christian life is like going to the
  • 00:08:18.214 --> 00:08:20.750
  • Hospital and looking through the nursery window and seeing those
  • 00:08:20.750 --> 00:08:22.652
  • Little red wrinkled things in the bassinets.
  • 00:08:22.652 --> 00:08:25.621
  • They're going, "oh, they've had wonderful lives."
  • 00:08:25.621 --> 00:08:29.025
  • Well, they got the tools and the equipment and the genetic
  • 00:08:29.025 --> 00:08:31.294
  • Material to have a wonderful life, but there's a lot of
  • 00:08:31.294 --> 00:08:33.496
  • Living to be done.
  • 00:08:33.496 --> 00:08:35.665
  • And following conversion and the new birth, if you've never
  • 00:08:35.665 --> 00:08:37.934
  • Experienced that, you need to.
  • 00:08:37.934 --> 00:08:39.302
  • It's the entry point into the kingdom of god, not sitting
  • 00:08:39.302 --> 00:08:41.270
  • Amongst the people at church.
  • 00:08:41.270 --> 00:08:43.906
  • But once you've taken that step of faith, then you're going to
  • 00:08:43.906 --> 00:08:46.742
  • Spend your days and your years pursuing god.
  • 00:08:46.742 --> 00:08:51.080
  • Not imagining that you've done all of your god business.
  • 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:55.084
  • I think spiritual health and physical health share
  • 00:08:55.084 --> 00:08:57.153
  • Many similarities.
  • 00:08:57.153 --> 00:08:59.455
  • And i am learning that every season of your life requires
  • 00:08:59.455 --> 00:09:02.191
  • Attention to your physical well-being.
  • 00:09:02.191 --> 00:09:03.693
  • When i was a young person, it required attention 'cause i did
  • 00:09:03.693 --> 00:09:05.962
  • Stupid things.
  • 00:09:05.962 --> 00:09:08.164
  • I jumped off things and out of trees and "hey, watch this," was
  • 00:09:08.164 --> 00:09:12.234
  • A favorite line.
  • 00:09:12.234 --> 00:09:15.571
  • And it usually required a period of recovery, if not healing.
  • 00:09:15.571 --> 00:09:21.477
  • Well, the same is true in our spiritual lives.
  • 00:09:21.477 --> 00:09:24.380
  • It requires intentionality.
  • 00:09:24.380 --> 00:09:26.248
  • In fact, if i had to look for one word that's a key to
  • 00:09:26.248 --> 00:09:28.985
  • Establishing god's authority in your home, it would
  • 00:09:28.985 --> 00:09:31.687
  • Be intentionality.
  • 00:09:31.687 --> 00:09:33.055
  • You have to do it on purpose.
  • 00:09:33.055 --> 00:09:35.992
  • Build a pattern that reinforces biblical principles and
  • 00:09:35.992 --> 00:09:38.694
  • Character formation, discipline, the courage to be different, all
  • 00:09:38.694 --> 00:09:42.565
  • Of those things go with being christ followers.
  • 00:09:42.565 --> 00:09:46.068
  • We've done bible studies ad nauseam.
  • 00:09:46.068 --> 00:09:49.538
  • That we're much more reluctant to give expression to the
  • 00:09:49.538 --> 00:09:52.708
  • Practice of our faith, doing the things that actually give life
  • 00:09:52.708 --> 00:09:57.279
  • To our faith.
  • 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.682
  • It's like watching the food network but never cooking.
  • 00:09:59.682 --> 00:10:03.686
  • Or watching espn endlessly but never moving.
  • 00:10:03.686 --> 00:10:08.824
  • Or being tuned into christian television all the time, but
  • 00:10:08.824 --> 00:10:11.661
  • Never acting like a christ follower.
  • 00:10:11.661 --> 00:10:14.730
  • It's a familiar pattern.
  • 00:10:14.730 --> 00:10:18.834
  • Allen: we have partnered with our friends tim and david barton
  • 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:25.474
  • To make available to you a two-volume set on
  • 00:10:25.474 --> 00:10:28.244
  • American history.
  • 00:10:28.244 --> 00:10:29.578
  • It's "the american story."
  • 00:10:29.578 --> 00:10:30.946
  • And it focuses on the part of american history that's been
  • 00:10:30.946 --> 00:10:33.115
  • Lost in much of our public education these days.
  • 00:10:33.115 --> 00:10:36.018
  • It's god's engagement with this nation and how he brought the
  • 00:10:36.018 --> 00:10:39.288
  • American story forward.
  • 00:10:39.288 --> 00:10:40.756
  • Our nation is more than politics or republicans and democrats.
  • 00:10:40.756 --> 00:10:44.193
  • It's god working in the lives of people to shape a nation that
  • 00:10:44.193 --> 00:10:47.763
  • Had brought forth his purposes in the world.
  • 00:10:47.763 --> 00:10:50.032
  • I believe it's an important part of our faith journey this year,
  • 00:10:50.032 --> 00:10:53.002
  • And i believe the books will be a blessing to you.
  • 00:10:53.002 --> 00:10:55.371
  • Announcer: the 250th anniversary of our nation is an important
  • 00:10:55.371 --> 00:10:58.841
  • Milestone we shouldn't rush past, because history matters.
  • 00:10:58.841 --> 00:11:03.379
  • "the american story" is a two-volume book series that
  • 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:06.215
  • Explores how faith, courage, and conviction helped shape the
  • 00:11:06.215 --> 00:11:09.852
  • United states from the very beginning.
  • 00:11:09.852 --> 00:11:12.288
  • Gain a greater understanding of where we've been so you can
  • 00:11:12.288 --> 00:11:15.357
  • Protect and defend our nation's biblical foundations as we
  • 00:11:15.357 --> 00:11:18.360
  • Move forward.
  • 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:19.695
  • Request "the american story" with your gift of $50 or more at
  • 00:11:19.695 --> 00:11:23.099
  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:11:23.099 --> 00:11:28.537
  • Allen: well, i would submit to you, as i have been suggesting,
  • 00:11:31.540 --> 00:11:34.443
  • That the kitchen table is an expression of authority.
  • 00:11:34.443 --> 00:11:37.880
  • Then i wanna ask a question, what does your kitchen
  • 00:11:37.880 --> 00:11:40.049
  • Table display?
  • 00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:41.851
  • If i can have a snapshot of your kitchen table this morning,
  • 00:11:41.851 --> 00:11:45.888
  • What's its suggestion?
  • 00:11:45.888 --> 00:11:47.456
  • I borrowed one, actually, they constructed one for me today.
  • 00:11:47.456 --> 00:11:50.659
  • It's kind of a mixed bag.
  • 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:52.027
  • It's got some places set for people, but it's got the
  • 00:11:52.027 --> 00:11:54.096
  • Detritus from life on it too.
  • 00:11:54.096 --> 00:11:56.732
  • It has a very necessary bucket of cheez doodles.
  • 00:11:56.732 --> 00:12:02.772
  • Which i no longer get to eat, but that's a life stage
  • 00:12:02.772 --> 00:12:05.374
  • Issue, so--
  • 00:12:05.374 --> 00:12:07.877
  • Most of our kitchen tables have backpacks.
  • 00:12:07.877 --> 00:12:10.646
  • I mean, there's a whole host of ways yours may look.
  • 00:12:10.646 --> 00:12:13.349
  • It may be a collection of place for odds and ends filled with
  • 00:12:13.349 --> 00:12:15.885
  • Those backpacks and unread mail, maybe a computer workstation.
  • 00:12:15.885 --> 00:12:21.390
  • Others of you may have a kitchen table that looks like a
  • 00:12:21.390 --> 00:12:23.259
  • Repository of relics to remind you of another season of life.
  • 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:26.061
  • I visited someone not long ago and their table was filled with
  • 00:12:26.061 --> 00:12:29.598
  • Pictures and memorabilia of back in the day.
  • 00:12:29.598 --> 00:12:32.902
  • It's like a little micro museum of the family.
  • 00:12:32.902 --> 00:12:35.604
  • It's fascinating.
  • 00:12:35.604 --> 00:12:38.507
  • Maybe your kitchen table is more like a museum piece.
  • 00:12:38.507 --> 00:12:40.676
  • It's perfectly decorated.
  • 00:12:40.676 --> 00:12:44.079
  • Hgtv would give you a five star rating.
  • 00:12:44.079 --> 00:12:48.050
  • But it's void of any real life.
  • 00:12:48.050 --> 00:12:51.921
  • Again, the question, what's the spiritual authority of
  • 00:12:51.921 --> 00:12:54.523
  • Your table?
  • 00:12:54.523 --> 00:12:56.592
  • We've done a little comparison in this study between jezebel's
  • 00:12:56.592 --> 00:12:59.228
  • Table, ahab and jezebel, most wicked of all the leaders in
  • 00:12:59.228 --> 00:13:02.198
  • Ancient israel, and king david.
  • 00:13:02.198 --> 00:13:05.568
  • Two tables.
  • 00:13:05.568 --> 00:13:06.902
  • Both were large groups of people gathered to find nourishment
  • 00:13:06.902 --> 00:13:09.905
  • Every day, but very different allegiances, very different set
  • 00:13:09.905 --> 00:13:13.609
  • Of objectives.
  • 00:13:13.609 --> 00:13:15.477
  • Food was available in both places, but the authority over
  • 00:13:15.477 --> 00:13:17.913
  • Those two tables was dramatically different.
  • 00:13:17.913 --> 00:13:19.949
  • Again, the question, what's the authority over your table?
  • 00:13:19.949 --> 00:13:24.253
  • It's not accidental.
  • 00:13:24.253 --> 00:13:26.488
  • See, to make no decision is to make a decision.
  • 00:13:26.488 --> 00:13:30.025
  • We have to grapple with that.
  • 00:13:30.025 --> 00:13:31.360
  • If we haven't done this on purpose, we've established
  • 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.696
  • An authority.
  • 00:13:33.696 --> 00:13:35.130
  • You don't really have to make a decision in your life to be
  • 00:13:35.130 --> 00:13:37.266
  • Unhealthy, do you?
  • 00:13:37.266 --> 00:13:39.869
  • I mean, i didn't get up.
  • 00:13:39.869 --> 00:13:41.203
  • Did anybody get up this morning, "i think today my goal would be
  • 00:13:41.203 --> 00:13:43.339
  • To be less healthy."
  • 00:13:43.339 --> 00:13:46.775
  • I'm gonna see if i can be more slovenly today than i
  • 00:13:46.775 --> 00:13:49.078
  • Was yesterday.
  • 00:13:49.078 --> 00:13:51.113
  • I don't think very many of us do that.
  • 00:13:51.113 --> 00:13:52.481
  • What we do is we choose not to make the effort to be healthy.
  • 00:13:52.481 --> 00:13:56.752
  • We probably know moving a little bit would be better for us, and
  • 00:13:56.752 --> 00:13:59.321
  • Maybe a little bit of a change to our diet might be helpful,
  • 00:13:59.321 --> 00:14:01.891
  • But not today.
  • 00:14:01.891 --> 00:14:04.894
  • Well, the same pattern is true spiritually.
  • 00:14:04.894 --> 00:14:08.330
  • You have to choose to be healthy spiritually.
  • 00:14:08.330 --> 00:14:11.967
  • Absent that choice, you become increasingly
  • 00:14:11.967 --> 00:14:15.271
  • Unhealthy spiritually.
  • 00:14:15.271 --> 00:14:18.040
  • You don't have to choose to walk into darkness.
  • 00:14:18.040 --> 00:14:20.809
  • You just choose not to make the effort to seek the lord.
  • 00:14:20.809 --> 00:14:25.147
  • And tragically, many of us who are acquainted with christianity
  • 00:14:25.147 --> 00:14:27.983
  • And affiliated with churches and we're the label of christ
  • 00:14:27.983 --> 00:14:30.419
  • Follower, we don't identify with another religion, we haven't
  • 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:33.355
  • Really been engaged in the decisions of healthy
  • 00:14:33.355 --> 00:14:35.691
  • Spiritual lives.
  • 00:14:35.691 --> 00:14:37.293
  • So we find ourselves in a culture that identifies as
  • 00:14:37.293 --> 00:14:40.596
  • Primarily as christian, but we don't give expression to
  • 00:14:40.596 --> 00:14:43.032
  • Biblical values.
  • 00:14:43.032 --> 00:14:44.400
  • We have an appearance but no real substance.
  • 00:14:44.400 --> 00:14:46.835
  • We have a very elaborate facade of faith.
  • 00:14:46.835 --> 00:14:50.005
  • Well, we lose 60 million children and we allow marriage
  • 00:14:50.005 --> 00:14:52.241
  • To be redefined.
  • 00:14:52.241 --> 00:14:54.443
  • We allow our public education system to collapse into a place
  • 00:14:54.443 --> 00:14:57.579
  • Where god isn't even welcome.
  • 00:14:57.579 --> 00:14:59.915
  • And we think, well, who could the culprits be?
  • 00:14:59.915 --> 00:15:03.319
  • 'cause it couldn't be my fault that my radiator froze.
  • 00:15:03.319 --> 00:15:07.923
  • An intentional faith.
  • 00:15:07.923 --> 00:15:10.459
  • The kitchen table is a big part of this.
  • 00:15:10.459 --> 00:15:11.827
  • I've been inviting you to one meal a week at your kitchen
  • 00:15:11.827 --> 00:15:14.129
  • Table as a family.
  • 00:15:14.129 --> 00:15:16.332
  • Just the people who live under your roof, not the extended
  • 00:15:16.332 --> 00:15:18.500
  • Family, not the holiday table.
  • 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:20.502
  • We gotta grapple with this, the responsibility of the family at
  • 00:15:20.502 --> 00:15:23.405
  • The table, one meal a week.
  • 00:15:23.405 --> 00:15:25.708
  • No devices.
  • 00:15:25.708 --> 00:15:27.076
  • It's a wellness check.
  • 00:15:27.076 --> 00:15:29.044
  • "how are you doing since i saw you last?
  • 00:15:29.044 --> 00:15:31.647
  • What's been frightening?
  • 00:15:31.647 --> 00:15:32.982
  • What are you what are you excited about?"
  • 00:15:32.982 --> 00:15:34.950
  • Maybe you begin that with a blessing over your food
  • 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:36.485
  • Acknowledge god at the table.
  • 00:15:36.485 --> 00:15:39.154
  • As you walk through the meal and you collect the conversation and
  • 00:15:39.154 --> 00:15:41.457
  • You hear what's happening before you leave, maybe there's a
  • 00:15:41.457 --> 00:15:43.258
  • Sentence or two prayer just inviting god into the midst of
  • 00:15:43.258 --> 00:15:45.427
  • Those circumstances.
  • 00:15:45.427 --> 00:15:46.762
  • The hardest place in the world to be a christ follower is at
  • 00:15:46.762 --> 00:15:48.831
  • Your table.
  • 00:15:48.831 --> 00:15:50.799
  • Or we can put you on a plane and send you to some foreign country
  • 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:53.135
  • For some short-term mission experience and you can be billy
  • 00:15:53.135 --> 00:15:55.471
  • Bad for jesus.
  • 00:15:55.471 --> 00:15:57.740
  • 'cause in four or five days you're gonna get on a plane and
  • 00:15:57.740 --> 00:15:59.541
  • Leave and they don't know who you really are.
  • 00:15:59.541 --> 00:16:02.778
  • The hardest place in the world to be a christ followers are
  • 00:16:02.778 --> 00:16:04.847
  • Those people that have seen you at your not best.
  • 00:16:04.847 --> 00:16:10.319
  • Oh, come on.
  • 00:16:10.319 --> 00:16:13.022
  • You know, if you say to them, "we wanna pray," they're most
  • 00:16:13.022 --> 00:16:15.057
  • Likely gonna roll their eyes if they don't laugh out loud.
  • 00:16:15.057 --> 00:16:20.863
  • I've been in those settings.
  • 00:16:20.863 --> 00:16:23.032
  • Not just in my home, i've hidden my faith pretty effectively at
  • 00:16:23.032 --> 00:16:25.601
  • Times and places in my life.
  • 00:16:25.601 --> 00:16:28.270
  • I've shared some of the stories with you.
  • 00:16:28.270 --> 00:16:29.805
  • I played basketball.
  • 00:16:29.805 --> 00:16:31.173
  • I used to love to play basketball.
  • 00:16:31.173 --> 00:16:32.541
  • It's been a day or two.
  • 00:16:32.541 --> 00:16:35.177
  • But i played through school and into high school and back in the
  • 00:16:35.177 --> 00:16:39.148
  • Day, we still prayed before we would go out to play a game.
  • 00:16:39.148 --> 00:16:41.450
  • So the team was--the last game i played at riverdale, they asked
  • 00:16:41.450 --> 00:16:44.686
  • Me to pray.
  • 00:16:44.686 --> 00:16:46.021
  • It was the first time they'd asked me to pray, as a matter
  • 00:16:46.021 --> 00:16:47.756
  • Of fact.
  • 00:16:47.756 --> 00:16:49.091
  • And i prayed and i got done and one of the guys i played ball
  • 00:16:49.091 --> 00:16:51.260
  • With for six years, he said, "jackson, i didn't know you knew
  • 00:16:51.260 --> 00:16:54.430
  • How to pray."
  • 00:16:54.430 --> 00:16:57.966
  • That's not a compliment.
  • 00:16:57.966 --> 00:17:02.738
  • I mean, i wanted enough faith to keep me out of that place down
  • 00:17:02.738 --> 00:17:05.240
  • South of here, and i don't mean alabama.
  • 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:10.212
  • But at that time in my life, i really didn't want enough faith
  • 00:17:10.212 --> 00:17:12.648
  • To impede on my social agenda.
  • 00:17:12.648 --> 00:17:16.085
  • So i thought i could walk that line and we've done that in our
  • 00:17:16.085 --> 00:17:18.921
  • Homes, and we've made those under our authority
  • 00:17:18.921 --> 00:17:22.891
  • Incredibly vulnerable.
  • 00:17:22.891 --> 00:17:25.394
  • But i've asked you to think beyond that.
  • 00:17:25.394 --> 00:17:26.862
  • Maybe you don't have little people at home anymore, and
  • 00:17:26.862 --> 00:17:28.630
  • Those authority things are different.
  • 00:17:28.630 --> 00:17:30.432
  • Your kitchen table is an expression of hospitality is
  • 00:17:30.432 --> 00:17:33.535
  • Still or hostility.
  • 00:17:33.535 --> 00:17:39.508
  • The expression of hospitality is still a powerful expression of
  • 00:17:39.508 --> 00:17:43.946
  • Your god assignment.
  • 00:17:43.946 --> 00:17:46.882
  • The bible tells us to practice hospitality without grumbling.
  • 00:17:46.882 --> 00:17:49.918
  • In the new testament, you don't qualify for spiritual leadership
  • 00:17:49.918 --> 00:17:53.889
  • Unless you have given consistent expression to hospitality.
  • 00:17:53.889 --> 00:17:57.292
  • If you're a widow, you don't qualify for any help from the
  • 00:17:57.292 --> 00:17:59.595
  • Believing community if you don't practice hospitality.
  • 00:17:59.595 --> 00:18:02.431
  • Hospitality is understood to be a baseline for being a
  • 00:18:02.431 --> 00:18:05.100
  • Christ follower.
  • 00:18:05.100 --> 00:18:08.370
  • Every home circumstances are different.
  • 00:18:08.370 --> 00:18:10.105
  • Maybe your circumstances are such that you don't have the
  • 00:18:10.105 --> 00:18:12.741
  • Authority to invite people into your home fully.
  • 00:18:12.741 --> 00:18:14.643
  • So turn waffle house into your expression of hospitality or
  • 00:18:14.643 --> 00:18:18.680
  • Someplace wherever.
  • 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:20.883
  • But if you have the authority, don't wait for another life
  • 00:18:20.883 --> 00:18:23.018
  • Season, don't wait for another life stage, don't wait for your
  • 00:18:23.018 --> 00:18:25.287
  • Circumstances to change.
  • 00:18:25.287 --> 00:18:27.556
  • The authority of your home, what does it represent?
  • 00:18:27.556 --> 00:18:31.360
  • It's so important.
  • 00:18:31.360 --> 00:18:34.830
  • It's foundational.
  • 00:18:34.830 --> 00:18:36.198
  • Exodus 12, it's the slaves of egypt, the hebrew slaves of
  • 00:18:36.198 --> 00:18:40.369
  • Egypt, their last night in town.
  • 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:43.105
  • The plagues have almost decimated egypt.
  • 00:18:43.105 --> 00:18:45.807
  • The egyptian gods have been humiliated.
  • 00:18:45.807 --> 00:18:47.709
  • Moses has given some final instructions.
  • 00:18:47.709 --> 00:18:49.845
  • Their last night in town is about an evening meal.
  • 00:18:49.845 --> 00:18:54.416
  • Most of you know the story.
  • 00:18:54.416 --> 00:18:55.751
  • They put blood on the doorpost of their houses and then they're
  • 00:18:55.751 --> 00:18:58.554
  • Given the recipe for dinner.
  • 00:18:58.554 --> 00:19:01.557
  • Look at verse 8. "that same night they're to eat the meat
  • 00:19:01.557 --> 00:19:03.692
  • Roasted over the fire with bitter herbs, and bread made
  • 00:19:03.692 --> 00:19:06.628
  • Without yeast.
  • 00:19:06.628 --> 00:19:07.996
  • Don't eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roasted over the
  • 00:19:07.996 --> 00:19:10.732
  • Fire--head, legs, and inner parts.
  • 00:19:10.732 --> 00:19:12.501
  • Don't leave anything until morning; this is how you are to
  • 00:19:12.501 --> 00:19:15.637
  • Eat it," not just the menu, the wardrobe.
  • 00:19:15.637 --> 00:19:19.575
  • Think your table doesn't matter?
  • 00:19:19.575 --> 00:19:22.611
  • "you eat it with your cloak tucked into your belts, your
  • 00:19:22.611 --> 00:19:25.347
  • Sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand.
  • 00:19:25.347 --> 00:19:27.950
  • Eat it in a hurry.
  • 00:19:27.950 --> 00:19:29.851
  • It's the lord's passover.
  • 00:19:29.851 --> 00:19:32.487
  • 'on that same night i'll pass through egypt and strike down
  • 00:19:32.487 --> 00:19:34.656
  • Every firstborn--both men and animals--and i'll bring judgment
  • 00:19:34.656 --> 00:19:38.093
  • On all the gods of egypt because i'm the lord."
  • 00:19:38.093 --> 00:19:41.897
  • I don't have an imagination that is robust enough to get my head
  • 00:19:41.897 --> 00:19:45.767
  • Around this.
  • 00:19:45.767 --> 00:19:47.469
  • Imagine if tonight when we went to sleep, the firstborn in every
  • 00:19:47.469 --> 00:19:51.740
  • Household in the county where you live died.
  • 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:56.545
  • Animals, human beings, everything.
  • 00:19:56.545 --> 00:19:59.815
  • Can you imagine the terror?
  • 00:19:59.815 --> 00:20:03.118
  • Can you imagine the anguish, the fear, the panic by the time the
  • 00:20:03.118 --> 00:20:08.590
  • Sun come up--comes up and that realization has settled upon us.
  • 00:20:08.590 --> 00:20:13.061
  • And you had some imagination of what had perhaps been a
  • 00:20:13.061 --> 00:20:15.964
  • Contributor to that?
  • 00:20:15.964 --> 00:20:18.233
  • You do everything in your power to see that those people were
  • 00:20:18.233 --> 00:20:20.702
  • Not present amongst you before the sun went down.
  • 00:20:20.702 --> 00:20:24.273
  • We won't survive another night like last night.
  • 00:20:24.273 --> 00:20:27.876
  • See, i think one of the reasons we haven't been intentional with
  • 00:20:27.876 --> 00:20:30.012
  • Inviting god into our homes and establishing the authority of
  • 00:20:30.012 --> 00:20:32.547
  • God in our homes is we've got this polite, sanitized version
  • 00:20:32.547 --> 00:20:35.350
  • Of christianity, where god's about creeds and he's not really
  • 00:20:35.350 --> 00:20:40.055
  • Engaged in human history.
  • 00:20:40.055 --> 00:20:41.723
  • It's not uncommon at all to find churches, professional
  • 00:20:41.723 --> 00:20:44.159
  • Christians like me who are offended by the notion that
  • 00:20:44.159 --> 00:20:46.695
  • Churches should shape culture.
  • 00:20:46.695 --> 00:20:49.197
  • We're gonna do bible studies and talk about 1st century culture
  • 00:20:49.197 --> 00:20:51.633
  • And 10th century bc culture.
  • 00:20:51.633 --> 00:20:53.702
  • We'll be experts on the scribes and the pharisees, but we don't
  • 00:20:53.702 --> 00:20:55.904
  • Really wanna talk about current events.
  • 00:20:55.904 --> 00:21:00.142
  • Because we don't really believe that our god still
  • 00:21:00.142 --> 00:21:02.010
  • Shapes culture.
  • 00:21:02.010 --> 00:21:05.314
  • Folks, he's the lord of all creation.
  • 00:21:05.314 --> 00:21:07.949
  • And if there is anything i can do or you can do to establish
  • 00:21:07.949 --> 00:21:11.453
  • The authority of god in our lives more firmly, i'm in.
  • 00:21:11.453 --> 00:21:16.591
  • But i want to invite you in.
  • 00:21:16.591 --> 00:21:20.062
  • See, it isn't about our numbers, it's not about how many of us
  • 00:21:20.062 --> 00:21:23.565
  • There are.
  • 00:21:23.565 --> 00:21:24.900
  • It isn't about a popular election.
  • 00:21:24.900 --> 00:21:26.568
  • I think you should participate.
  • 00:21:26.568 --> 00:21:27.936
  • I'm very much engaged in that, but i don't imagine that
  • 00:21:27.936 --> 00:21:30.839
  • Elections are gonna shape our future.
  • 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.041
  • The hearts of the people of god are what will shape our future.
  • 00:21:33.041 --> 00:21:37.145
  • Not our economic power and i'm not against prosperity, it's
  • 00:21:37.145 --> 00:21:39.581
  • Okay with me, but i'm not confused.
  • 00:21:39.581 --> 00:21:42.884
  • The power of almighty god is the greatest power available to a
  • 00:21:42.884 --> 00:21:45.887
  • Human being, and if the church doesn't believe that, no wonder
  • 00:21:45.887 --> 00:21:49.424
  • Our children become pagans.
  • 00:21:49.424 --> 00:21:52.561
  • They're going to seek the power that they understand to be the
  • 00:21:52.561 --> 00:21:55.397
  • Greatest, and if we don't believe the power of god is the
  • 00:21:55.397 --> 00:21:58.200
  • Greatest, we should not be confused when our radiators
  • 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.370
  • Are frozen.
  • 00:22:01.370 --> 00:22:06.942
  • The organizing place before they left egypt was the table.
  • 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:15.417
  • And what fascinates me is god said this is a lasting ordinance
  • 00:22:15.417 --> 00:22:18.353
  • For you every year.
  • 00:22:18.353 --> 00:22:21.289
  • Back to this table, back to this meal, back to this narrative,
  • 00:22:21.289 --> 00:22:26.395
  • Don't ever forget.
  • 00:22:26.395 --> 00:22:30.699
  • I've had the privilege of living in israel.
  • 00:22:30.699 --> 00:22:32.167
  • I studied at hebrew university.
  • 00:22:32.167 --> 00:22:33.535
  • I've celebrated that meal with jewish friends.
  • 00:22:33.535 --> 00:22:37.072
  • They practiced that meal until today.
  • 00:22:37.072 --> 00:22:40.208
  • Folks, don't abandon your kitchen table.
  • 00:22:40.208 --> 00:22:42.944
  • Don't let it get covered up with backpacks.
  • 00:22:42.944 --> 00:22:46.748
  • Don't let it get covered up with your bills to pay.
  • 00:22:46.748 --> 00:22:49.885
  • With portraits of a bygone generation.
  • 00:22:49.885 --> 00:22:53.588
  • Don't say, well, nobody wants to come to my home.
  • 00:22:53.588 --> 00:22:56.324
  • Jesus told multiple parables where there were banquets
  • 00:22:56.324 --> 00:22:59.194
  • Prepared and the people invited didn't want to participate.
  • 00:22:59.194 --> 00:23:02.497
  • But somebody would.
  • 00:23:02.497 --> 00:23:04.232
  • It's not about a grand table or fancy people or elaborate meals.
  • 00:23:04.232 --> 00:23:07.369
  • You can order a pizza.
  • 00:23:07.369 --> 00:23:09.738
  • You can doordash chick-fil-a.
  • 00:23:09.738 --> 00:23:13.141
  • I mean, you can start honoring,
  • 00:23:13.141 --> 00:23:14.476
  • You can have a jesus chicken for your first god-honoring meal.
  • 00:23:14.476 --> 00:23:18.146
  • We're not trying to emulate some status.
  • 00:23:21.450 --> 00:23:26.855
  • We wanna be sure we establish god as the authority of
  • 00:23:26.855 --> 00:23:29.357
  • Our homes.
  • 00:23:29.357 --> 00:23:30.959
  • It'll write a new future for us.
  • 00:23:30.959 --> 00:23:33.061
  • It'll bring a vitality and a vibrancy to the church.
  • 00:23:33.061 --> 00:23:36.998
  • It'll bring change to our culture, change to our homes,
  • 00:23:36.998 --> 00:23:39.935
  • Change to our grandchildren.
  • 00:23:39.935 --> 00:23:42.304
  • I believe it'll be good things.
  • 00:23:42.304 --> 00:23:45.273
  • You know, the list of things that we learned at the table
  • 00:23:45.273 --> 00:23:47.909
  • From my childhood until today are too numerous to list to you.
  • 00:23:47.909 --> 00:23:53.114
  • We would tell god stories.
  • 00:23:53.114 --> 00:23:55.750
  • God healed my mom when i was a boy.
  • 00:23:55.750 --> 00:23:58.753
  • The doctor said she had six months to live, and
  • 00:23:58.753 --> 00:24:00.555
  • God intervened.
  • 00:24:00.555 --> 00:24:02.691
  • And we learned that story in many ways.
  • 00:24:02.691 --> 00:24:06.261
  • And we celebrated god's goodness.
  • 00:24:06.261 --> 00:24:08.997
  • To this day, i remember my parents reading their bibles
  • 00:24:08.997 --> 00:24:11.299
  • When nobody was in our house.
  • 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:13.502
  • I knew they were weird.
  • 00:24:13.502 --> 00:24:16.404
  • I didn't understand.
  • 00:24:16.404 --> 00:24:17.739
  • I didn't know very many people that did that.
  • 00:24:17.739 --> 00:24:19.508
  • Nobody was watching and they would read their bibles, not to
  • 00:24:19.508 --> 00:24:21.910
  • Us, just they'd read their bibles.
  • 00:24:21.910 --> 00:24:24.679
  • Oh, there's a ball game on.
  • 00:24:24.679 --> 00:24:26.014
  • What are you doing?
  • 00:24:26.014 --> 00:24:30.986
  • They opened their home for a weekly bible study, and i'm here
  • 00:24:30.986 --> 00:24:33.522
  • To tell my brothers, and i didn't like it.
  • 00:24:33.522 --> 00:24:37.058
  • We objected.
  • 00:24:37.058 --> 00:24:38.560
  • They did not care.
  • 00:24:38.560 --> 00:24:42.264
  • And we didn't just object once, we were frequent objectors.
  • 00:24:42.264 --> 00:24:48.203
  • And it didn't matter.
  • 00:24:48.203 --> 00:24:49.571
  • They did it for a dozen years.
  • 00:24:49.571 --> 00:24:54.075
  • But as i grew old enough to establish my own choices, what
  • 00:24:54.075 --> 00:25:00.148
  • I'd experienced around that table and in that home shaped
  • 00:25:00.148 --> 00:25:03.318
  • My life.
  • 00:25:03.318 --> 00:25:05.820
  • And it still does.
  • 00:25:05.820 --> 00:25:09.057
  • Use your tables.
  • 00:25:09.057 --> 00:25:11.259
  • You don't have to have small children there.
  • 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:14.563
  • God will honor it.
  • 00:25:14.563 --> 00:25:15.931
  • I brought you a prayer, it's one we can pray together.
  • 00:25:15.931 --> 00:25:18.266
  • It's a declaration of intent.
  • 00:25:18.266 --> 00:25:21.036
  • Why don't you stand with me?
  • 00:25:21.036 --> 00:25:23.204
  • God's moving in the earth.
  • 00:25:23.204 --> 00:25:25.540
  • He's working through a bunch of crack pots like us.
  • 00:25:25.540 --> 00:25:28.843
  • He's a guy that specializes in restoration.
  • 00:25:28.843 --> 00:25:30.879
  • You know why?
  • 00:25:30.879 --> 00:25:32.247
  • That way he gets all the credit.
  • 00:25:32.247 --> 00:25:33.982
  • People look at what god does through our lives and go, "i
  • 00:25:33.982 --> 00:25:36.184
  • Know he's not that smart."
  • 00:25:36.184 --> 00:25:37.519
  • You go, "you know, you're right."
  • 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.455
  • Only god could have brought about these outcomes.
  • 00:25:40.455 --> 00:25:43.258
  • Don't ever be confused.
  • 00:25:43.258 --> 00:25:44.593
  • Live your life so that the only possible explanation is god had
  • 00:25:44.593 --> 00:25:48.396
  • To be involved.
  • 00:25:48.396 --> 00:25:52.400
  • Did you find the prayer?
  • 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.202
  • Let's read it together.
  • 00:25:54.202 --> 00:25:55.670
  • "heavenly father, help us to establish our lives under
  • 00:25:55.670 --> 00:25:59.240
  • Your authority.
  • 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:00.775
  • May our homes be strengthened by your presence and our children
  • 00:26:00.775 --> 00:26:04.579
  • Rooted in a living hope.
  • 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:06.615
  • Give us discernment to see beyond the immediate.
  • 00:26:06.615 --> 00:26:09.884
  • May we have hearts to serve you and your people.
  • 00:26:09.884 --> 00:26:13.221
  • Teach us to honor you in every situation.
  • 00:26:13.221 --> 00:26:15.991
  • In jesus's name, amen."
  • 00:26:15.991 --> 00:26:18.893
  • God bless you.
  • 00:26:18.893 --> 00:26:20.261
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:26:22.063 --> 00:26:27.335
  • Allen: this is the 250th anniversary of our nation.
  • 00:26:28.503 --> 00:26:31.272
  • It's a big deal.
  • 00:26:31.272 --> 00:26:32.607
  • Now, i know a lot of us don't care a whole lot about history.
  • 00:26:32.607 --> 00:26:35.243
  • We didn't have great experiences in school.
  • 00:26:35.243 --> 00:26:37.012
  • I understand that, but here's the reality.
  • 00:26:37.012 --> 00:26:39.447
  • If they can steal our history, they'll rob us of our future.
  • 00:26:39.447 --> 00:26:42.651
  • So history really does matter.
  • 00:26:42.651 --> 00:26:44.653
  • Well, because of that, we have partnered with some good friends
  • 00:26:44.653 --> 00:26:47.055
  • Of our ministries, wallbuilders david and tim barton.
  • 00:26:47.055 --> 00:26:50.458
  • They have the best of the best on this topic.
  • 00:26:50.458 --> 00:26:52.527
  • It's a two-volume set on "the american story," and it helps us
  • 00:26:52.527 --> 00:26:56.097
  • Learn american history with a faith component, with a god
  • 00:26:56.097 --> 00:26:59.668
  • Perspective--how god has been engaged in the unfolding
  • 00:26:59.668 --> 00:27:02.737
  • Narrative of our american story.
  • 00:27:02.737 --> 00:27:05.373
  • That matters because we need god to be involved in the future of
  • 00:27:05.373 --> 00:27:08.576
  • The american story.
  • 00:27:08.576 --> 00:27:09.944
  • That affects our lives, our families, our communities, and
  • 00:27:09.944 --> 00:27:12.714
  • Ultimately our nation.
  • 00:27:12.714 --> 00:27:14.382
  • The books will be a blessing to you, but more than that, i
  • 00:27:14.382 --> 00:27:16.818
  • Believe they'll open your life to the imagination that god is
  • 00:27:16.818 --> 00:27:19.320
  • Moving in the earth, and we can participate with him in the next
  • 00:27:19.320 --> 00:27:22.624
  • Chapters of american history.
  • 00:27:22.624 --> 00:27:25.193
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:26.027 --> 00:27:30.001