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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Preparing For Jesus' Return (Part 2)

September 26, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - Preparing For Jesus' Return (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Pastors #Inspirational #Jesus #ReturnofChrist #Preparation #TrustGod #Faith #WalkwithGod

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Preparing For Jesus' Return (Part 2) | September 26, 2025
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:00:01.785 --> 00:00:06.990
  • Allen jackson: you know, as a pastor, my job is to help people
  • 00:00:07.090 --> 00:00:09.025
  • Get to know the lord.
  • 00:00:09.159 --> 00:00:10.360
  • That's really the goal of what i engage in most days.
  • 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:13.863
  • Well, i've got a concept i wanna suggest to you.
  • 00:00:13.963 --> 00:00:14.798
  • Begin to think about jesus as your friend.
  • 00:00:16.466 --> 00:00:18.334
  • I don't mean that in an overly casual way, in a presumptive
  • 00:00:18.334 --> 00:00:21.971
  • Way, but in my life, most of my best memories, most of the
  • 00:00:21.971 --> 00:00:25.475
  • Highlights in my life, involve friends, people i enjoy
  • 00:00:25.475 --> 00:00:28.745
  • Being with.
  • 00:00:28.745 --> 00:00:30.080
  • They make places and opportunities and seasons and
  • 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:32.348
  • Holidays a lot more pleasant, something you look forward to.
  • 00:00:32.348 --> 00:00:36.486
  • Well, rather than think about our faith in terms of something
  • 00:00:36.486 --> 00:00:38.755
  • That's austere and judgmental and rules-based and critical,
  • 00:00:38.755 --> 00:00:43.093
  • What if we imagine jesus as our friend?
  • 00:00:43.093 --> 00:00:46.529
  • I wanna be his friend.
  • 00:00:46.529 --> 00:00:47.897
  • I wanna do the things that please him.
  • 00:00:47.897 --> 00:00:49.799
  • I want to engage in activities that he cares about.
  • 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:52.702
  • I wanna stay out of the things that he's warned me against.
  • 00:00:52.702 --> 00:00:55.905
  • I wanna live my life as his friend.
  • 00:00:55.905 --> 00:00:58.908
  • That was his designation, not mine.
  • 00:00:58.908 --> 00:01:00.677
  • Well, i've written a book to help you imagine that.
  • 00:01:00.677 --> 00:01:02.745
  • It'll change your faith, it'll bring a new joy to your faith.
  • 00:01:02.745 --> 00:01:05.815
  • I think it'll be a blessing.
  • 00:01:05.815 --> 00:01:07.851
  • Allen: there's something new coming.
  • 00:01:07.917 --> 00:01:09.385
  • You need to think about it.
  • 00:01:09.385 --> 00:01:10.720
  • You need to meditate on it.
  • 00:01:10.720 --> 00:01:12.055
  • You need to be excited about it.
  • 00:01:12.055 --> 00:01:13.456
  • Isaiah 11 gives us a prophetic picture of it.
  • 00:01:17.193 --> 00:01:21.064
  • "with righteousness he will judge the needy, and with
  • 00:01:21.064 --> 00:01:23.166
  • Justice he'll give decisions for the poor of the earth.
  • 00:01:23.166 --> 00:01:25.902
  • He'll strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and the breath
  • 00:01:25.902 --> 00:01:28.338
  • Of his lips he'll slay the wicked.
  • 00:01:28.338 --> 00:01:30.673
  • Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around
  • 00:01:30.673 --> 00:01:33.776
  • His waist.
  • 00:01:33.776 --> 00:01:35.411
  • The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie
  • 00:01:35.411 --> 00:01:37.780
  • Down with the goat, and the calf and the lion and the yearling
  • 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:40.817
  • Together; and a little child will lead them."
  • 00:01:40.817 --> 00:01:43.419
  • There's gonna be a whole new order to the new creation.
  • 00:01:43.419 --> 00:01:47.423
  • It'll be different than what we know.
  • 00:01:47.423 --> 00:01:50.126
  • "the cow will feed with the bear, and their young will lie
  • 00:01:50.126 --> 00:01:53.763
  • Down together, and the lion will eat straw like an ox.
  • 00:01:53.763 --> 00:01:57.934
  • And the infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the
  • 00:01:57.934 --> 00:01:59.869
  • Young child put his hand into the viper's nest."
  • 00:01:59.869 --> 00:02:03.506
  • I don't believe that's just metaphorical language or
  • 00:02:03.506 --> 00:02:05.642
  • Poetical words or hyperbole.
  • 00:02:05.642 --> 00:02:08.645
  • I believe it's a description of a totally new order
  • 00:02:08.645 --> 00:02:11.514
  • Of existence.
  • 00:02:11.514 --> 00:02:13.750
  • It's exciting to me.
  • 00:02:13.750 --> 00:02:15.084
  • We're gonna have animals.
  • 00:02:15.084 --> 00:02:17.654
  • I like that, i like critters.
  • 00:02:17.654 --> 00:02:20.356
  • I mean, some of them i don't like so much now because they
  • 00:02:20.356 --> 00:02:22.158
  • Have some negative consequences, but it doesn't say, but
  • 00:02:22.158 --> 00:02:24.727
  • Apparently the skunk won't stink.
  • 00:02:24.727 --> 00:02:28.665
  • That's my interpretation.
  • 00:02:28.665 --> 00:02:29.999
  • I don't know.
  • 00:02:29.999 --> 00:02:31.367
  • I'm thinking if you can play at the viper's nest, maybe the
  • 00:02:31.367 --> 00:02:32.969
  • Skunks will make peace too.
  • 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:36.639
  • If you've never been sprayed, you can't appreciate that fully.
  • 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:41.144
  • Jesus taught us to pray for this outcome.
  • 00:02:41.144 --> 00:02:44.214
  • When he taught us to pray, "lord, let your will be done on
  • 00:02:44.214 --> 00:02:46.916
  • Earth as it is in heaven."
  • 00:02:46.916 --> 00:02:51.087
  • He taught us to pray that way.
  • 00:02:51.087 --> 00:02:53.323
  • Look at 2 corinthians 5:7.
  • 00:02:53.323 --> 00:02:55.225
  • It says: "we live by faith, not by sight."
  • 00:02:55.225 --> 00:02:58.394
  • Do we really?
  • 00:02:58.394 --> 00:03:00.997
  • But it's a reminder of the objective.
  • 00:03:00.997 --> 00:03:04.234
  • "we are confident, i say, and we would prefer to be away from the
  • 00:03:04.234 --> 00:03:07.503
  • Body and at home with the lord."
  • 00:03:07.503 --> 00:03:09.439
  • There's a country song: everybody wants to go to heaven,
  • 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.475
  • But nobody wants to go right now.
  • 00:03:12.475 --> 00:03:16.246
  • And i think that lyric would pretty much carry the day in
  • 00:03:16.246 --> 00:03:19.415
  • Most of our places, but paul says the opposite.
  • 00:03:19.415 --> 00:03:22.585
  • He said, "we would prefer to be away from the body and to be at
  • 00:03:22.585 --> 00:03:25.622
  • Home with the lord."
  • 00:03:25.622 --> 00:03:28.224
  • You know, this doesn't define you right now, how well you
  • 00:03:28.224 --> 00:03:32.195
  • Ornament it or paint it or preserve it.
  • 00:03:32.195 --> 00:03:36.499
  • The bible talks about having the unfading beauty of a gentle and
  • 00:03:36.499 --> 00:03:40.803
  • Quiet spirit.
  • 00:03:40.803 --> 00:03:43.573
  • A beauty that couldn't fade, that can't be diminished.
  • 00:03:43.573 --> 00:03:47.477
  • We should pursue that.
  • 00:03:47.477 --> 00:03:50.146
  • We should value that and care about that and invest in that
  • 00:03:50.146 --> 00:03:53.283
  • And understand what to do to strengthen that.
  • 00:03:53.283 --> 00:03:56.686
  • Think of the billions of dollars we spend on trying to preserve
  • 00:03:56.686 --> 00:03:59.722
  • This current thing that is unwinding.
  • 00:03:59.722 --> 00:04:02.759
  • Not opposed to that, but how about even a greater investment
  • 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:06.429
  • In something that won't fade.
  • 00:04:06.429 --> 00:04:08.164
  • "so we make it our goal to please him, whether we're at
  • 00:04:11.567 --> 00:04:15.571
  • Home in the body or away from it.
  • 00:04:15.571 --> 00:04:17.607
  • For we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ,
  • 00:04:17.607 --> 00:04:21.811
  • That each one may receive what is due him for the things done
  • 00:04:21.811 --> 00:04:24.914
  • While in the body, whether good or bad."
  • 00:04:24.914 --> 00:04:29.285
  • Did you know there's a reward for honoring god?
  • 00:04:29.285 --> 00:04:31.187
  • See, we will all face judgment.
  • 00:04:31.187 --> 00:04:36.459
  • The bible says it's appointed to every person two things: to die
  • 00:04:36.459 --> 00:04:39.595
  • And to face judgment.
  • 00:04:39.595 --> 00:04:41.564
  • For the believer, we don't face the judgment of heaven or hell,
  • 00:04:41.564 --> 00:04:44.701
  • But we face a judgment for what we have done in the body.
  • 00:04:44.701 --> 00:04:49.739
  • And it's not the point of this lesson, so i'm not--i'm gonna
  • 00:04:49.739 --> 00:04:53.042
  • Try to stay out of that, somewhat.
  • 00:04:53.042 --> 00:04:56.946
  • But the bible describes it.
  • 00:04:56.946 --> 00:04:58.314
  • It says that when we face that judgment, if we've invested our
  • 00:04:58.314 --> 00:05:01.117
  • Life in wood, hay, and stubble, things that can be accumulated
  • 00:05:01.117 --> 00:05:04.220
  • In great volume, but they have very little worth, it'll be
  • 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:07.056
  • Consumed by the fire of god's judgment in a moment, and we
  • 00:05:07.056 --> 00:05:09.592
  • Will make it through his judgment, but we will make it
  • 00:05:09.592 --> 00:05:12.428
  • With nothing.
  • 00:05:12.428 --> 00:05:15.365
  • Or we can have invested in gold and silver and precious stones,
  • 00:05:15.365 --> 00:05:19.502
  • Much smaller in quantity but of great value, and they will stand
  • 00:05:19.502 --> 00:05:24.307
  • The test of god's judgment.
  • 00:05:24.307 --> 00:05:28.010
  • So that's being referenced here in corinthians that we're gonna
  • 00:05:28.010 --> 00:05:32.148
  • Receive a reward for the things that we've done while in
  • 00:05:32.148 --> 00:05:35.151
  • The body.
  • 00:05:35.151 --> 00:05:37.620
  • There's another judgment for people who aren't christ
  • 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:39.655
  • Followers, that's a judgment of destiny.
  • 00:05:39.655 --> 00:05:43.092
  • But for the christ follower, and i don't think we talk about
  • 00:05:43.092 --> 00:05:46.295
  • This enough.
  • 00:05:46.295 --> 00:05:48.197
  • I've been invited to small groups where they were having
  • 00:05:48.197 --> 00:05:50.466
  • Great debates and there was--it was like, great taste,
  • 00:05:50.466 --> 00:05:53.636
  • Less filling.
  • 00:05:53.636 --> 00:05:54.971
  • I mean, they were really divided and very vocal about there's no
  • 00:05:54.971 --> 00:06:01.144
  • Rewards, we all get the same thing.
  • 00:06:01.144 --> 00:06:02.678
  • Folks, god's not a socialist.
  • 00:06:02.678 --> 00:06:06.783
  • I mean, you really, you just can't support that from
  • 00:06:10.887 --> 00:06:13.623
  • Your bible.
  • 00:06:13.623 --> 00:06:15.124
  • We don't--we're all different, we're created differently.
  • 00:06:15.124 --> 00:06:17.326
  • Some of us can sing, some of us not so much.
  • 00:06:17.326 --> 00:06:21.564
  • You know, some of us are thin with a metabolism like a furnace
  • 00:06:21.564 --> 00:06:25.067
  • And some of us are fluffy.
  • 00:06:25.067 --> 00:06:29.539
  • We have--some of us like math and some of us like colors.
  • 00:06:29.605 --> 00:06:32.608
  • We're different.
  • 00:06:32.608 --> 00:06:35.044
  • But with whatever set of gifts god's given you, you have the
  • 00:06:35.044 --> 00:06:38.080
  • Opportunity to serve the lord, and he said he's gonna
  • 00:06:38.080 --> 00:06:40.450
  • Reward us.
  • 00:06:40.450 --> 00:06:41.818
  • I'm just simple enough to believe he told us the truth.
  • 00:06:41.818 --> 00:06:44.020
  • I mean, i have tried in a halting way, but it's still very
  • 00:06:47.690 --> 00:06:52.061
  • Much my intent to live in such a way that it's pleasing to
  • 00:06:52.061 --> 00:06:55.665
  • The lord.
  • 00:06:55.665 --> 00:06:56.999
  • I want his best.
  • 00:06:56.999 --> 00:06:58.401
  • So there's some things we can look for as we transition
  • 00:07:02.538 --> 00:07:08.511
  • Between this kingdom and the next.
  • 00:07:08.511 --> 00:07:11.147
  • We were given a lot of information of what will happen
  • 00:07:11.147 --> 00:07:13.483
  • As we approach the end of the age, and i'm just giving you
  • 00:07:13.483 --> 00:07:16.419
  • A sample.
  • 00:07:16.419 --> 00:07:17.753
  • It's like an hors d'oeuvre, honestly.
  • 00:07:17.753 --> 00:07:19.422
  • But i want you to think about the end of the age as a
  • 00:07:19.422 --> 00:07:21.591
  • Transitional season.
  • 00:07:21.591 --> 00:07:23.559
  • We're beginning a transitional season here between summer
  • 00:07:23.559 --> 00:07:25.995
  • And fall.
  • 00:07:25.995 --> 00:07:28.231
  • And if you're paying much attention at all, you recognize
  • 00:07:28.231 --> 00:07:30.800
  • Things are beginning to change.
  • 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.602
  • The temperature changes a little bit.
  • 00:07:32.602 --> 00:07:36.372
  • The summer vegetables that have been growing with great
  • 00:07:36.372 --> 00:07:38.741
  • Enthusiasm aren't bearing nearly as much as they were a few
  • 00:07:38.741 --> 00:07:43.079
  • Weeks ago.
  • 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:45.147
  • The leaves on the trees, if we don't get some rain, they're all
  • 00:07:45.147 --> 00:07:48.484
  • Gonna fall but if we get a little rain, some will turn
  • 00:07:48.484 --> 00:07:51.854
  • Colors, but there's clearly a change of season.
  • 00:07:51.854 --> 00:07:56.993
  • And there will be a change of season as we approach the end of
  • 00:07:56.993 --> 00:07:59.595
  • The age.
  • 00:07:59.595 --> 00:08:01.197
  • It's not gonna be just like it's always been.
  • 00:08:01.197 --> 00:08:04.534
  • Now, it takes some real discernment to know whether the
  • 00:08:04.534 --> 00:08:06.736
  • Change of season is the end of the age or the end of an empire.
  • 00:08:06.736 --> 00:08:11.974
  • Or it's just poor leadership decisions by those in authority
  • 00:08:11.974 --> 00:08:14.777
  • Over us.
  • 00:08:14.777 --> 00:08:17.013
  • I think if you had lived in london during world war 2 when
  • 00:08:17.013 --> 00:08:20.416
  • London was being bombed into oblivion, it would have been
  • 00:08:20.416 --> 00:08:22.652
  • Very easy to think it was the end of the age.
  • 00:08:22.652 --> 00:08:26.022
  • I think if you were jewish in europe in world war 2, it would
  • 00:08:26.022 --> 00:08:28.491
  • Have been very easy to think it was the end of the age.
  • 00:08:28.491 --> 00:08:32.028
  • I think if you lived in rwanda in the '90s when a million
  • 00:08:32.028 --> 00:08:35.131
  • People were murdered in about a 90-day window, it would have
  • 00:08:35.131 --> 00:08:39.368
  • Been very easy to think it was the end of the age.
  • 00:08:39.368 --> 00:08:41.337
  • I think if you're in ukraine these days and you've seen your
  • 00:08:41.337 --> 00:08:45.608
  • Homes and your apartments and your schools and your churches
  • 00:08:45.608 --> 00:08:48.444
  • Bombed into oblivion it would be easy to think it's the end of
  • 00:08:48.444 --> 00:08:50.980
  • The age.
  • 00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:53.182
  • So it takes some true wisdom and some biblical knowledge and some
  • 00:08:53.182 --> 00:08:55.985
  • Awareness of the spirit of god to know if we're approaching the
  • 00:08:55.985 --> 00:08:58.921
  • End of the age or we're just walking through a tremendous
  • 00:08:58.921 --> 00:09:01.390
  • Transition in our own unique circumstances.
  • 00:09:01.390 --> 00:09:04.226
  • And the phrase that i use frequently is whether it's
  • 00:09:07.997 --> 00:09:10.967
  • Really the last days or not.
  • 00:09:10.967 --> 00:09:14.503
  • I can't say with absolute certainty, but i can tell you
  • 00:09:14.503 --> 00:09:17.673
  • These are our last days.
  • 00:09:17.673 --> 00:09:21.577
  • And you may be young enough, you can't imagine that yet, just
  • 00:09:21.577 --> 00:09:23.946
  • Trust me.
  • 00:09:23.946 --> 00:09:27.216
  • And you want to live as if it were the end of the age.
  • 00:09:27.216 --> 00:09:30.319
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:09:30.386 --> 00:09:36.425
  • Allen: hey, i've written a new book.
  • 00:09:36.425 --> 00:09:37.793
  • It's called "my friend jesus."
  • 00:09:37.793 --> 00:09:39.629
  • You know, i'm a pastor, a lot of ritual, tradition, a lot of
  • 00:09:39.629 --> 00:09:42.999
  • Formality in the way we know god.
  • 00:09:42.999 --> 00:09:45.234
  • It's not bad.
  • 00:09:45.234 --> 00:09:46.569
  • There's some good things in that, but when i'm in real
  • 00:09:46.569 --> 00:09:48.404
  • Trouble or i have something i wanna celebrate, i call
  • 00:09:48.404 --> 00:09:50.706
  • A friend.
  • 00:09:50.706 --> 00:09:52.074
  • Well, i wanna live my life with jesus of nazareth as my friend.
  • 00:09:52.074 --> 00:09:55.344
  • It changes everything in both celebration and when there's
  • 00:09:55.344 --> 00:09:58.414
  • A problem.
  • 00:09:58.414 --> 00:09:59.782
  • Wrote the book to help.
  • 00:09:59.782 --> 00:10:01.117
  • I think it'll open your life to god in a more personal
  • 00:10:01.117 --> 00:10:03.486
  • Transformational way than ever before.
  • 00:10:03.486 --> 00:10:05.988
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:10:05.988 --> 00:10:07.323
  • Female announcer: in his book, "my friend jesus," pastor allen
  • 00:10:07.323 --> 00:10:09.792
  • Shares how friendship with jesus brings clarity, strength, and
  • 00:10:09.792 --> 00:10:13.229
  • Peace in every part of life.
  • 00:10:13.229 --> 00:10:15.197
  • This isn't about following a religion or religious rules.
  • 00:10:15.197 --> 00:10:18.467
  • It's about cultivating a cherished relationship that will
  • 00:10:18.467 --> 00:10:21.203
  • Help your faith become more personal, more joyful, and more
  • 00:10:21.203 --> 00:10:24.774
  • Powerful each day.
  • 00:10:24.774 --> 00:10:26.375
  • Request "my friend jesus" with your donation of $25 or more
  • 00:10:26.375 --> 00:10:30.279
  • Today at allenjackson.com, or by calling...
  • 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:37.219
  • Allen: so we're given a number of passages.
  • 00:10:37.286 --> 00:10:39.655
  • I brought you one that has a rather succinct and yet
  • 00:10:39.655 --> 00:10:44.193
  • Extensive set of criteria for the end of the age.
  • 00:10:44.193 --> 00:10:48.030
  • It's matthew 24.
  • 00:10:48.030 --> 00:10:49.365
  • Jesus said, "watch out that no one deceives you.
  • 00:10:49.365 --> 00:10:52.768
  • For many will come in my name, claiming, 'i'm the christ,' and
  • 00:10:52.768 --> 00:10:55.438
  • Will deceive many."
  • 00:10:55.438 --> 00:10:58.074
  • That would be a characteristic that you should be aware of.
  • 00:10:58.074 --> 00:11:02.144
  • There will be many deceived, widespread deception as we
  • 00:11:02.144 --> 00:11:06.482
  • Approach the end of the age.
  • 00:11:06.482 --> 00:11:08.150
  • Deception is when you believe something to be true that is
  • 00:11:08.150 --> 00:11:11.921
  • Not true.
  • 00:11:11.921 --> 00:11:15.991
  • And i would have to say that's more rampant than i've ever seen
  • 00:11:15.991 --> 00:11:18.894
  • In my lifetime.
  • 00:11:18.894 --> 00:11:21.931
  • "you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it
  • 00:11:21.931 --> 00:11:26.102
  • That you're not alarmed.
  • 00:11:26.102 --> 00:11:28.104
  • Such things must happen, but the end is still to come."
  • 00:11:28.104 --> 00:11:31.207
  • So wars, the escalation of conflict, and even rumors of
  • 00:11:31.207 --> 00:11:36.245
  • Additional conflict.
  • 00:11:36.245 --> 00:11:38.180
  • We have presidential elections these days, and one of the
  • 00:11:38.180 --> 00:11:42.017
  • Primary talking points is this person will be the end
  • 00:11:42.017 --> 00:11:44.386
  • Of democracy.
  • 00:11:44.386 --> 00:11:47.523
  • This person is elected, the world will deteriorate into
  • 00:11:47.523 --> 00:11:50.993
  • Nothing but war, right?
  • 00:11:50.993 --> 00:11:55.030
  • If you think about what we hear and see compared to what jesus
  • 00:11:55.030 --> 00:11:59.268
  • Said, the parallels are really remarkable.
  • 00:11:59.268 --> 00:12:06.842
  • Verse 7: "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
  • 00:12:06.909 --> 00:12:09.578
  • Against kingdom."
  • 00:12:09.578 --> 00:12:12.148
  • That there's gonna be conflict both nationally and ethnically.
  • 00:12:12.148 --> 00:12:15.851
  • One of those words is ethnos from which we get the
  • 00:12:15.851 --> 00:12:18.988
  • Word "ethnic."
  • 00:12:18.988 --> 00:12:20.322
  • So it's not just conflict between nation states.
  • 00:12:20.322 --> 00:12:23.125
  • There's going to be heightened ethnic conflict.
  • 00:12:23.125 --> 00:12:26.262
  • We see that, in spite of all the conversations about tolerance
  • 00:12:26.262 --> 00:12:31.267
  • And diversity.
  • 00:12:31.267 --> 00:12:34.637
  • Then jesus went on to say, "there will be famines and
  • 00:12:34.637 --> 00:12:36.539
  • Earthquakes in various places.
  • 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:40.376
  • All these are the beginning of birth pains."
  • 00:12:40.376 --> 00:12:43.212
  • When you see all these things beginning to happen just
  • 00:12:43.212 --> 00:12:45.548
  • Understand you've just--you've just gone into labor.
  • 00:12:45.548 --> 00:12:48.150
  • Someone today, his wife was gonna deliver.
  • 00:12:52.087 --> 00:12:57.059
  • They were here on campus.
  • 00:12:57.059 --> 00:12:58.427
  • They left at 1 o'clock and 40 minutes later we got a text, the
  • 00:12:58.427 --> 00:13:01.397
  • Baby had arrived.
  • 00:13:01.397 --> 00:13:03.799
  • Papa barely got there.
  • 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:06.535
  • The beginning of birth pains.
  • 00:13:06.535 --> 00:13:08.170
  • Not every delivery comes that quickly or easily.
  • 00:13:08.170 --> 00:13:13.008
  • "then you'll be handed over to be persecuted," verse 9, "and
  • 00:13:13.008 --> 00:13:15.611
  • Put to death, and you'll be hated by all nations because
  • 00:13:15.611 --> 00:13:19.315
  • Of me.
  • 00:13:19.315 --> 00:13:23.385
  • At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray
  • 00:13:23.385 --> 00:13:26.522
  • And hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and
  • 00:13:26.522 --> 00:13:30.659
  • Deceive many people."
  • 00:13:30.659 --> 00:13:32.862
  • Turning away from the faith, the technical word for that
  • 00:13:32.862 --> 00:13:35.197
  • Is apostasy.
  • 00:13:35.197 --> 00:13:37.766
  • It's not that you don't know the truth, you choose not to cooperate with it, and most of us don't say, "i
  • 00:13:37.766 --> 00:13:41.804
  • Reject christianity."
  • 00:13:45.374 --> 00:13:48.143
  • Most apostasy is a perversion of the truth.
  • 00:13:48.143 --> 00:13:52.648
  • We no longer believe the bible to be authoritative.
  • 00:13:52.648 --> 00:13:56.051
  • It's very, very fashionable today even amongst buildings
  • 00:13:56.051 --> 00:13:59.488
  • Where the label, the sign, says church, to no longer hold the
  • 00:13:59.488 --> 00:14:03.392
  • Bible as a rule of faith and practice.
  • 00:14:03.392 --> 00:14:06.395
  • We no longer define marriage in a biblical way.
  • 00:14:06.395 --> 00:14:09.265
  • We no longer define human sexuality according to the
  • 00:14:09.265 --> 00:14:11.934
  • Biblical categories of moral and immoral.
  • 00:14:11.934 --> 00:14:15.504
  • We refuse to recognize lawlessness.
  • 00:14:15.504 --> 00:14:19.408
  • We have repudiated, rejected, the standards of scripture, and
  • 00:14:19.408 --> 00:14:22.411
  • No matter what the sign says or what the music sounds like or
  • 00:14:22.411 --> 00:14:25.981
  • How clerical or ecclesiastical the architecture or the
  • 00:14:25.981 --> 00:14:28.984
  • Clothing, it's apostasy.
  • 00:14:28.984 --> 00:14:34.223
  • "many will turn away from the faith and betray and hate
  • 00:14:34.223 --> 00:14:36.992
  • Each other."
  • 00:14:36.992 --> 00:14:38.460
  • Think about the characteristics of the season.
  • 00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:40.229
  • The word "many" has been used multiple times.
  • 00:14:40.229 --> 00:14:42.631
  • Many will be deceived, many will turn away from the faith.
  • 00:14:42.631 --> 00:14:46.168
  • Many will betray and hate each other.
  • 00:14:46.168 --> 00:14:49.772
  • Look at the next phrase: "many false prophets will appear, and
  • 00:14:49.772 --> 00:14:53.976
  • Deceive many people."
  • 00:14:53.976 --> 00:14:58.380
  • The trend, going with the roar of the satanic kingdom,
  • 00:14:58.380 --> 00:15:03.285
  • Is significant.
  • 00:15:03.285 --> 00:15:05.821
  • Prophets aren't just biblical characters that you think of
  • 00:15:05.821 --> 00:15:08.857
  • In--with a leather belt and a rough clothing like elijah.
  • 00:15:08.857 --> 00:15:15.464
  • Prophets biblically are the people that are trusted to tell
  • 00:15:15.464 --> 00:15:18.334
  • The truth to the people.
  • 00:15:18.334 --> 00:15:20.736
  • It's a bit of an expanded definition, but i don't believe
  • 00:15:20.736 --> 00:15:24.573
  • It lacks integrity.
  • 00:15:24.573 --> 00:15:26.608
  • When i think of current culture, i don't think just in terms of
  • 00:15:26.608 --> 00:15:29.311
  • Religious voices, but the voices that we expect to tell us
  • 00:15:29.311 --> 00:15:32.848
  • The truth.
  • 00:15:32.848 --> 00:15:35.851
  • Remember jesus said deception would be widespread and many
  • 00:15:35.851 --> 00:15:38.687
  • Would be deceived.
  • 00:15:38.687 --> 00:15:40.823
  • One of the questions that i'm asked most often is what--who
  • 00:15:40.823 --> 00:15:43.592
  • Do you--what source do you trust for the truth?
  • 00:15:43.592 --> 00:15:47.563
  • Because we all have come to understand that it's in
  • 00:15:47.563 --> 00:15:49.798
  • Short supply.
  • 00:15:49.798 --> 00:15:51.433
  • There is a multiplication of false prophets.
  • 00:15:51.433 --> 00:15:54.370
  • It's true within the church, but it's true in the broader culture
  • 00:15:54.370 --> 00:15:57.006
  • As well.
  • 00:15:57.006 --> 00:16:00.609
  • "because of the increase of the wickedness, the love of most
  • 00:16:00.609 --> 00:16:02.811
  • Will grow cold."
  • 00:16:02.811 --> 00:16:05.681
  • But then we're given an action step.
  • 00:16:05.681 --> 00:16:07.549
  • Verse 13: "he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
  • 00:16:07.549 --> 00:16:12.454
  • And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole
  • 00:16:12.454 --> 00:16:14.757
  • World as a testimony to all nations, and then the end
  • 00:16:14.757 --> 00:16:18.360
  • Will come."
  • 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.362
  • So you get all these characteristics of the
  • 00:16:20.362 --> 00:16:22.831
  • Deterioration of human character and civilization and culture,
  • 00:16:22.831 --> 00:16:27.236
  • But then we're given the assignment of the people of god,
  • 00:16:27.236 --> 00:16:29.571
  • Those who don't reject their faith, those who aren't
  • 00:16:29.571 --> 00:16:31.940
  • Deceived, those who don't capitulate, what are they going
  • 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:35.511
  • To be doing?
  • 00:16:35.511 --> 00:16:37.479
  • They'll be standing firm.
  • 00:16:37.479 --> 00:16:39.748
  • What did peter say we were supposed to do with regard to
  • 00:16:39.748 --> 00:16:42.151
  • The roaring lion?
  • 00:16:42.151 --> 00:16:44.253
  • Resist him, standing firm in your faith.
  • 00:16:44.253 --> 00:16:49.124
  • Peter knew something about this.
  • 00:16:49.124 --> 00:16:50.459
  • He stood against an evil empire, before george lucas made a movie
  • 00:16:50.459 --> 00:16:55.898
  • About one.
  • 00:16:55.898 --> 00:16:59.168
  • And now jesus--he took that coaching from jesus.
  • 00:16:59.168 --> 00:17:02.538
  • He's just giving it back to us at the end of his own life, in
  • 00:17:02.538 --> 00:17:05.040
  • His own--the end of his own life experience.
  • 00:17:05.040 --> 00:17:07.576
  • But what's recorded to us in the gospels is jesus saying to his
  • 00:17:07.576 --> 00:17:10.279
  • Close friends, he's saying that we'll have to stand firm to the
  • 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.249
  • End to realize that salvation, but the gospel of the kingdom
  • 00:17:14.249 --> 00:17:19.321
  • Will be preached in the whole world.
  • 00:17:19.321 --> 00:17:20.656
  • So what are we busy with?
  • 00:17:20.656 --> 00:17:22.024
  • Taking the good news of the kingdom into every place god
  • 00:17:22.024 --> 00:17:24.693
  • Gives us entree.
  • 00:17:24.693 --> 00:17:27.029
  • Every classroom, every business, every neighborhood, wherever
  • 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:31.633
  • We go.
  • 00:17:31.633 --> 00:17:33.936
  • Everybody will, no, and everybody won't like it.
  • 00:17:33.936 --> 00:17:35.504
  • In fact, you're gonna be hated broadly.
  • 00:17:35.504 --> 00:17:37.005
  • Jesus told us.
  • 00:17:37.005 --> 00:17:39.408
  • And they'll begin to attach labels to you that cause the
  • 00:17:39.408 --> 00:17:41.677
  • Hatred to escalate, so that you'll be mistreated.
  • 00:17:41.677 --> 00:17:45.614
  • The easiest way to understand that hatred that comes at the
  • 00:17:45.614 --> 00:17:47.816
  • End of the age is to look at the hatred right now attached to the
  • 00:17:47.816 --> 00:17:50.185
  • Jewish people.
  • 00:17:50.185 --> 00:17:52.054
  • Same spirit.
  • 00:17:52.054 --> 00:17:54.223
  • The hatred for israel and the jewish people is not abstract
  • 00:17:54.223 --> 00:17:56.992
  • And arbitrary.
  • 00:17:56.992 --> 00:17:58.327
  • The jewish people are hated for reasons.
  • 00:17:58.327 --> 00:18:01.563
  • They're murdering children in gaza.
  • 00:18:01.563 --> 00:18:05.134
  • Never mind the evidence is not there.
  • 00:18:05.134 --> 00:18:07.503
  • Never mind the picture that "the new york times" published was of
  • 00:18:07.503 --> 00:18:09.838
  • A child with a disease, not a child that was famished from
  • 00:18:09.838 --> 00:18:13.008
  • Poor nutrition.
  • 00:18:13.008 --> 00:18:15.644
  • The israelis were responsible for jeffrey epstein and his
  • 00:18:15.644 --> 00:18:18.413
  • Horrific immoral enterprises.
  • 00:18:18.413 --> 00:18:23.085
  • Never mind, the evidence hasn't been produced.
  • 00:18:23.085 --> 00:18:24.786
  • It was the israelis' mossad, their secret services, that had
  • 00:18:24.786 --> 00:18:29.525
  • Launched an initiative to blackmail global leaders.
  • 00:18:29.525 --> 00:18:34.062
  • They hate the jewish people for reasons.
  • 00:18:34.062 --> 00:18:37.299
  • And when it's time for them, that hatred, to be directed at
  • 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:39.601
  • You, they'll attach reasons to that.
  • 00:18:39.601 --> 00:18:43.105
  • They'll be perverted reasons, they'll be distorted reasons.
  • 00:18:43.105 --> 00:18:45.807
  • They'll be based with a bit of truth, heavily sprinkled
  • 00:18:45.807 --> 00:18:51.413
  • With deception.
  • 00:18:51.413 --> 00:18:55.017
  • So where do we look for help?
  • 00:18:55.017 --> 00:18:57.252
  • Remember the point: we want to align ourselves with the lion
  • 00:18:57.252 --> 00:18:59.721
  • Of judah.
  • 00:18:59.721 --> 00:19:01.056
  • John 14, jesus gave us some coaching.
  • 00:19:01.056 --> 00:19:03.492
  • He said: "these things i've spoken to you while i'm abiding
  • 00:19:03.492 --> 00:19:05.861
  • With you.
  • 00:19:05.861 --> 00:19:07.196
  • But the helper, the holy spirit, whom the father will
  • 00:19:07.196 --> 00:19:08.630
  • Send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to
  • 00:19:08.630 --> 00:19:11.033
  • Your remembrance all that i said.
  • 00:19:11.033 --> 00:19:13.202
  • Peace i leave with you; my peace i give to you."
  • 00:19:13.202 --> 00:19:16.872
  • So who's our helper?
  • 00:19:16.872 --> 00:19:19.174
  • The holy spirit.
  • 00:19:19.174 --> 00:19:21.376
  • We need more than language about the holy spirit.
  • 00:19:21.376 --> 00:19:24.846
  • We need more than some perfunctory nod.
  • 00:19:24.846 --> 00:19:27.649
  • Yeah, i know who the holy spirit is.
  • 00:19:27.649 --> 00:19:29.418
  • We better understand every aspect of presentation we can
  • 00:19:29.418 --> 00:19:32.321
  • From the scripture about how we can engage with the spirit
  • 00:19:32.321 --> 00:19:34.323
  • Of god.
  • 00:19:34.323 --> 00:19:35.691
  • He's our helper.
  • 00:19:35.691 --> 00:19:40.662
  • You wanna be more familiar with him than any other resource
  • 00:19:37.526 --> 00:19:43.465
  • Available to you.
  • 00:19:43.465 --> 00:19:47.769
  • And then jesus said, "my peace i give you; it's not the peace
  • 00:19:47.769 --> 00:19:51.173
  • That the world has.
  • 00:19:51.173 --> 00:19:52.507
  • Don't let your hearts be troubled."
  • 00:19:52.507 --> 00:19:53.875
  • That fascinates me.
  • 00:19:53.875 --> 00:19:55.210
  • Jesus said we don't have to have troubled hearts.
  • 00:19:55.210 --> 00:19:57.312
  • I have to--i have to take that by faith because i look at the
  • 00:19:57.312 --> 00:19:59.815
  • World sometimes and it's troubling to me.
  • 00:19:59.815 --> 00:20:02.651
  • I grieve for what i see happening.
  • 00:20:02.651 --> 00:20:05.420
  • For the destruction that's unleashed on our young people.
  • 00:20:05.420 --> 00:20:09.024
  • For the darkness that's expressed from the human hearts,
  • 00:20:09.024 --> 00:20:12.394
  • The callousness with which we bring destruction to
  • 00:20:12.394 --> 00:20:15.664
  • One another.
  • 00:20:15.664 --> 00:20:17.065
  • But jesus said we don't have to be troubled.
  • 00:20:17.065 --> 00:20:19.701
  • That we can have his peace.
  • 00:20:19.701 --> 00:20:23.705
  • We can have his peace, not an absence of conflict, but that
  • 00:20:23.705 --> 00:20:27.242
  • Calm assurance that no matter what we face, god is with us.
  • 00:20:27.242 --> 00:20:32.648
  • That's a wonderful promise.
  • 00:20:32.648 --> 00:20:35.717
  • It's a wonderful promise.
  • 00:20:35.717 --> 00:20:37.419
  • You know, the book of revelation begins, it's not in your notes,
  • 00:20:37.419 --> 00:20:40.489
  • But it's important, i think.
  • 00:20:40.489 --> 00:20:42.991
  • John is a--he's a prisoner.
  • 00:20:42.991 --> 00:20:45.427
  • He's near the end of his life.
  • 00:20:45.427 --> 00:20:46.762
  • John's the one who wrote revelation.
  • 00:20:46.762 --> 00:20:48.563
  • He's given this revelation: the book of revelation opens and
  • 00:20:48.563 --> 00:20:52.701
  • Says, you know, i've got a message i need to deliver.
  • 00:20:52.701 --> 00:20:55.304
  • How will we do this?
  • 00:20:55.304 --> 00:20:56.672
  • And the answer comes, "send your angel to my friend john."
  • 00:20:56.672 --> 00:21:01.143
  • Wouldn't you love to be trusted by the lord enough that if he
  • 00:21:01.143 --> 00:21:04.713
  • Had a message, he would say, "you could send it to
  • 00:21:04.713 --> 00:21:06.915
  • My friend."
  • 00:21:06.915 --> 00:21:09.885
  • That fascinates me.
  • 00:21:09.885 --> 00:21:11.219
  • Wouldn't you like the lord to trust you that way?
  • 00:21:11.219 --> 00:21:15.023
  • But the message that's given, john says of himself, "on the
  • 00:21:15.023 --> 00:21:18.760
  • Lord's day, i was in the spirit."
  • 00:21:18.760 --> 00:21:21.630
  • On the lord's day, i was in the spirit.
  • 00:21:25.167 --> 00:21:28.570
  • I'm not opposed to any of the things i'm about to rattle off,
  • 00:21:28.570 --> 00:21:31.707
  • But they tend to reflect more what we're given to, on
  • 00:21:31.707 --> 00:21:34.976
  • A sabbath.
  • 00:21:34.976 --> 00:21:37.346
  • I was at the lake.
  • 00:21:37.346 --> 00:21:38.680
  • I was at a ballgame.
  • 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:40.782
  • I was getting my to do list done.
  • 00:21:40.782 --> 00:21:44.920
  • Again, i don't think those things are inherently evil, but
  • 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.389
  • You need to have regularly built into your life a time when you
  • 00:21:47.389 --> 00:21:50.759
  • Can be in the presence of the lord.
  • 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.662
  • "on the lord's day, i was in the spirit and i heard a voice.
  • 00:21:53.662 --> 00:21:59.501
  • And i turned around and i saw my friend.
  • 00:21:59.501 --> 00:22:03.638
  • And i fell at his feet like i was dead.
  • 00:22:03.638 --> 00:22:07.175
  • And he put his hand on me and he said, i'm the living one.
  • 00:22:07.175 --> 00:22:10.779
  • I was alive and i was dead and i'm alive forever and ever, and
  • 00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:14.249
  • I have the keys of death and hell.'"
  • 00:22:14.249 --> 00:22:19.020
  • We want to learn to spend time in the presence of the lord.
  • 00:22:19.020 --> 00:22:23.825
  • Now, i'll give you 3 really quick survival essentials, 3
  • 00:22:23.825 --> 00:22:31.533
  • Minutes, listen fast.
  • 00:22:31.533 --> 00:22:33.435
  • What are we gonna need to flourish through this season to
  • 00:22:33.435 --> 00:22:36.371
  • Maintain our alignment with the lion of judah?
  • 00:22:36.371 --> 00:22:39.441
  • I think proverbs 28--23, i'm sorry, is the key: "buy the
  • 00:22:39.441 --> 00:22:42.878
  • Truth and don't sell it; get wisdom, discipline,
  • 00:22:42.878 --> 00:22:45.747
  • And understanding."
  • 00:22:45.747 --> 00:22:47.115
  • How do you maintain the truth?
  • 00:22:47.115 --> 00:22:48.450
  • You need wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
  • 00:22:48.450 --> 00:22:51.319
  • Make a commitment to the truth in your life.
  • 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:55.557
  • Make it a personal objective.
  • 00:22:55.557 --> 00:22:57.225
  • Secondly, matthew 13, jesus was talking.
  • 00:22:57.225 --> 00:23:00.095
  • He said, "the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in
  • 00:23:00.095 --> 00:23:02.164
  • A field.
  • 00:23:02.164 --> 00:23:03.498
  • When a man found it, he hid it again, and he sold everything he
  • 00:23:03.498 --> 00:23:06.635
  • Had to buy that field."
  • 00:23:06.635 --> 00:23:08.637
  • Attach great value to the things of god.
  • 00:23:08.637 --> 00:23:12.774
  • Attach great value to the things of god.
  • 00:23:12.774 --> 00:23:15.177
  • You spend your time and your money on the things you value.
  • 00:23:15.177 --> 00:23:20.549
  • It's not complicated.
  • 00:23:20.549 --> 00:23:22.818
  • It's just reality.
  • 00:23:22.818 --> 00:23:24.786
  • And i don't say that to shame you or to bring any
  • 00:23:24.786 --> 00:23:27.522
  • Negative emotion.
  • 00:23:27.522 --> 00:23:28.924
  • I say it so that you can in an increasing way give expression
  • 00:23:28.924 --> 00:23:32.494
  • To the value you hold to the kingdom of god.
  • 00:23:32.494 --> 00:23:37.899
  • And the third component, remember these are
  • 00:23:37.899 --> 00:23:39.334
  • Survival essentials.
  • 00:23:39.334 --> 00:23:40.669
  • I don't think you survive without them.
  • 00:23:40.669 --> 00:23:42.504
  • Hebrews 4:12: "the word of god is living and active.
  • 00:23:42.504 --> 00:23:45.207
  • Sharper than any two-edged sword."
  • 00:23:45.207 --> 00:23:47.075
  • I think unless you're taking the word of god on a regular basis
  • 00:23:47.075 --> 00:23:50.212
  • And putting it in your heart, you've got zero chance of
  • 00:23:50.212 --> 00:23:52.948
  • Surviving deception.
  • 00:23:52.948 --> 00:23:56.618
  • I truly do.
  • 00:23:56.618 --> 00:23:58.553
  • And it isn't that we're so brilliant that we can all--we
  • 00:23:58.553 --> 00:24:00.755
  • Know the pronunciations of every name or how to
  • 00:24:00.755 --> 00:24:02.591
  • Spell nebuchadnezzar.
  • 00:24:02.591 --> 00:24:05.727
  • Or that we understand every prophetic passage and how it
  • 00:24:05.727 --> 00:24:08.196
  • Fits in perfect synchroneity with all the other--i don't
  • 00:24:08.196 --> 00:24:11.466
  • Believe that.
  • 00:24:11.466 --> 00:24:12.801
  • I think there's something that god respects when we bring the
  • 00:24:12.801 --> 00:24:15.537
  • Discipline to present ourselves before the word of god with the
  • 00:24:15.537 --> 00:24:19.407
  • Intent of understanding.
  • 00:24:19.407 --> 00:24:20.775
  • I think god meets us in those places and gives us the insight
  • 00:24:20.775 --> 00:24:24.179
  • We need to navigate what is before us.
  • 00:24:24.179 --> 00:24:27.449
  • I have lived it out over and over and over again and in spite
  • 00:24:27.449 --> 00:24:30.785
  • Of what i'm not and in spite of my weaknesses and my
  • 00:24:30.785 --> 00:24:33.955
  • Shortcomings and the abilities that i may lack, god has
  • 00:24:33.955 --> 00:24:37.192
  • Consistently been faithful to provide the direction i need if
  • 00:24:37.192 --> 00:24:40.795
  • I will take that time to submit to the authority of his word.
  • 00:24:40.795 --> 00:24:44.766
  • So if you ask me for some survival essentials, i would
  • 00:24:44.766 --> 00:24:48.036
  • Tell you to value the truth, attach great value to the things
  • 00:24:48.036 --> 00:24:51.773
  • Of god, and spend time with his word.
  • 00:24:51.773 --> 00:24:56.044
  • And then i trust the spirit of god.
  • 00:24:56.044 --> 00:24:59.648
  • God is moving in the earth, folks.
  • 00:24:59.648 --> 00:25:02.350
  • The lion of judah is headed back.
  • 00:25:02.350 --> 00:25:04.986
  • New heaven, new earth, new kingdom, new set of rules.
  • 00:25:04.986 --> 00:25:08.356
  • This present age is fading away and the ruler of this present
  • 00:25:08.356 --> 00:25:11.459
  • Age is agitated because he knows he's defeated.
  • 00:25:11.459 --> 00:25:17.399
  • He knows he's defeated.
  • 00:25:17.399 --> 00:25:21.102
  • I brought you a prayer.
  • 00:25:21.102 --> 00:25:22.737
  • If you'll stand with me, we'll read it together.
  • 00:25:22.737 --> 00:25:29.711
  • You ready?
  • 00:25:33.048 --> 00:25:35.383
  • "heavenly father, i rejoice that my future rests in your
  • 00:25:35.383 --> 00:25:40.055
  • Watchful care.
  • 00:25:40.055 --> 00:25:41.756
  • Just as you care for the flowers of the field, you have a plan
  • 00:25:41.756 --> 00:25:45.527
  • And a purpose for my life.
  • 00:25:45.527 --> 00:25:48.096
  • Holy spirit, grant me the awareness to invest myself in
  • 00:25:48.096 --> 00:25:52.667
  • The kingdom of my lord.
  • 00:25:52.667 --> 00:25:54.736
  • I cast all of my anxiety upon you; your grace and mercy
  • 00:25:54.736 --> 00:25:59.374
  • Surround me.
  • 00:25:59.374 --> 00:26:00.775
  • Help me to order my steps that i may be pleasing in your sight.
  • 00:26:00.775 --> 00:26:05.180
  • In jesus's name, amen."
  • 00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:08.550
  • God bless you.
  • 00:26:08.550 --> 00:26:10.085
  • See you soon.
  • 00:26:10.085 --> 00:26:13.688
  • Allen: thank you for spending a few minutes with us today.
  • 00:26:17.826 --> 00:26:19.894
  • You know, our goal in doing this is to add momentum to your
  • 00:26:19.894 --> 00:26:23.264
  • Spiritual life to help open the kingdom of god to you in a more
  • 00:26:23.264 --> 00:26:26.835
  • Practical way that you could engage in a relationship with
  • 00:26:26.835 --> 00:26:29.404
  • The lord, not be a more faithful church sitter or a bible reader,
  • 00:26:29.404 --> 00:26:33.174
  • But a person who actually knows a living god.
  • 00:26:33.174 --> 00:26:35.944
  • Well, i've written a new book.
  • 00:26:35.944 --> 00:26:37.278
  • It's called "my friend jesus."
  • 00:26:37.278 --> 00:26:38.647
  • To be candid, it's the culmination of years of my own
  • 00:26:38.647 --> 00:26:42.283
  • Spiritual journey.
  • 00:26:42.283 --> 00:26:43.618
  • I wanted to peel away all the formality of language and
  • 00:26:43.618 --> 00:26:47.055
  • Routine and ritual, and i really wanted to focus on what it means
  • 00:26:47.055 --> 00:26:50.625
  • To be a friend of the lord.
  • 00:26:50.625 --> 00:26:52.594
  • And that book is intended to give you a pathway to imagine
  • 00:26:52.594 --> 00:26:55.764
  • Your faith in a way that enables it to be more personal,
  • 00:26:55.764 --> 00:26:58.600
  • More transformational.
  • 00:26:58.600 --> 00:26:59.968
  • When i need help, i call my friends.
  • 00:26:59.968 --> 00:27:01.803
  • But when i need real help, i call my friend jesus.
  • 00:27:01.803 --> 00:27:04.906
  • He changes everything.
  • 00:27:04.906 --> 00:27:06.241
  • He's done it many times in my life.
  • 00:27:06.241 --> 00:27:08.143
  • He'll do it in your life.
  • 00:27:08.143 --> 00:27:09.878
  • Read the book, open your heart, there'll be a whole new power
  • 00:27:09.878 --> 00:27:13.114
  • Available to help shape your future.
  • 00:27:13.114 --> 00:27:27.395