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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - From Rejection to Acceptance (Part 2)

September 3, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - From Rejection to Acceptance (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Rejection #Journey #WalkwithGod #Overcoming #Fear #Faith #TrustGod #Parents #Children #Sin #Forgiveness #Abortion #Divorce

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - From Rejection to Acceptance (Part 2) | September 3, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:00:01.784 --> 00:00:06.755
  • Allen jackson: hey, i sat down recently with my father to do a
  • 00:00:06.855 --> 00:00:09.258
  • Podcast for my "culture and christianity" podcast.
  • 00:00:09.391 --> 00:00:13.262
  • And it was so valuable to me.
  • 00:00:13.395 --> 00:00:13.896
  • I mean, it was stories that obviously i'm familiar with, but
  • 00:00:15.898 --> 00:00:18.600
  • As i heard him recount his faith, it ignited something in
  • 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.171
  • Me about the faithfulness of god across generations.
  • 00:00:22.171 --> 00:00:26.241
  • Well, i encouraged my dad to put together a book about his
  • 00:00:26.241 --> 00:00:28.944
  • Experiences with the holy spirit.
  • 00:00:28.944 --> 00:00:30.913
  • It changed his life, my parents's life, ultimately,
  • 00:00:30.913 --> 00:00:33.482
  • My family's life.
  • 00:00:33.482 --> 00:00:34.917
  • I believe the book will be a real encouragement to you.
  • 00:00:34.917 --> 00:00:38.187
  • Now, i wanna make it available to you right along with
  • 00:00:38.187 --> 00:00:40.422
  • "unleashing the power of the holy spirit."
  • 00:00:40.422 --> 00:00:42.091
  • It's something i put together a while back that's been one of
  • 00:00:42.091 --> 00:00:44.827
  • The most effective tools we've ever had in the ministry.
  • 00:00:44.827 --> 00:00:47.863
  • Together, they'll open the doorway for you to not just have
  • 00:00:47.863 --> 00:00:51.066
  • Language around the holy spirit, but to have something to
  • 00:00:51.066 --> 00:00:53.669
  • Actually do to invite him into your life on a regular basis, to
  • 00:00:53.669 --> 00:00:57.840
  • Give you the wisdom you need to help you unlock the problems
  • 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.542
  • That we face.
  • 00:01:00.542 --> 00:01:01.910
  • The spirit of god within us to help us, guide us, and direct
  • 00:01:01.910 --> 00:01:05.280
  • Us, that's invaluable.
  • 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.483
  • And these books will help you understand.
  • 00:01:07.483 --> 00:01:09.184
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:01:09.184 --> 00:01:21.830
  • Allen: we can't eliminate rejection from the journey, it's
  • 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:23.966
  • A part of our journey in this present world order.
  • 00:01:23.966 --> 00:01:27.636
  • But rejection does not have the power to keep you from
  • 00:01:27.636 --> 00:01:30.105
  • God's best.
  • 00:01:30.105 --> 00:01:34.042
  • I'm gonna say it again: the rejection that touches your life
  • 00:01:34.042 --> 00:01:37.279
  • Does not have the power to keep you from god's best.
  • 00:01:37.279 --> 00:01:40.649
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:01:40.649 --> 00:01:45.354
  • Unless we allow it to, it can be overcome.
  • 00:01:45.354 --> 00:01:48.690
  • And this isn't just biblical.
  • 00:01:48.690 --> 00:01:50.792
  • You know, i can give you many illustrations from the people
  • 00:01:50.792 --> 00:01:53.195
  • Whose--i do life with that's not always the most comfortable.
  • 00:01:53.195 --> 00:01:57.533
  • It's easier to do it from my own life.
  • 00:01:57.533 --> 00:01:59.768
  • There are some responses i learned as a little fellow.
  • 00:01:59.768 --> 00:02:03.238
  • Long before i was emotionally mature or as mature as i got.
  • 00:02:03.238 --> 00:02:08.644
  • Keep praying, i'm still growing.
  • 00:02:08.644 --> 00:02:12.281
  • You know, when i was young, our family moved a bit, not a
  • 00:02:12.281 --> 00:02:14.983
  • Horrific lot, but i was in four schools by the time i got to the
  • 00:02:14.983 --> 00:02:18.954
  • Sixth grade in three states.
  • 00:02:18.954 --> 00:02:22.090
  • So i met a lot of different kids and students.
  • 00:02:22.090 --> 00:02:24.293
  • And you know, i learned responses.
  • 00:02:24.293 --> 00:02:28.297
  • How do you navigate those things in your life?
  • 00:02:28.297 --> 00:02:30.599
  • You don't have training for that yet.
  • 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:33.835
  • For the first several years of my life, my dad was my barber.
  • 00:02:33.835 --> 00:02:40.309
  • You don't know my dad well enough, you know melo george.
  • 00:02:40.309 --> 00:02:46.281
  • He got his practice for being my barber on trimming horses.
  • 00:02:46.281 --> 00:02:53.188
  • So he had a clipper with a blade.
  • 00:02:53.188 --> 00:02:55.591
  • There was no art to it.
  • 00:02:55.591 --> 00:02:57.759
  • The art was not cutting my ears.
  • 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:01.530
  • So i had a relatively short haircut, which is kinda cute
  • 00:03:01.530 --> 00:03:04.499
  • When you're a little fellow, but i grew to the point that it
  • 00:03:04.499 --> 00:03:06.568
  • Wasn't so fashionable.
  • 00:03:06.568 --> 00:03:10.005
  • And you're in a new school with a new group of people and kids
  • 00:03:10.005 --> 00:03:13.375
  • Being who kids are.
  • 00:03:13.375 --> 00:03:15.277
  • Some decided they'd make fun of your hair.
  • 00:03:15.277 --> 00:03:17.779
  • They didn't like your haircut.
  • 00:03:17.779 --> 00:03:19.548
  • "what's wrong with you?
  • 00:03:19.548 --> 00:03:21.817
  • Why does your hair look like that?"
  • 00:03:21.817 --> 00:03:24.987
  • Well, i couldn't explain to them george.
  • 00:03:24.987 --> 00:03:30.759
  • So i came up with my own response.
  • 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.762
  • I don't care.
  • 00:03:33.762 --> 00:03:35.797
  • I don't care.
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  • It's not true.
  • 00:03:44.106 --> 00:03:46.441
  • You'd rather they compliment you.
  • 00:03:46.441 --> 00:03:49.278
  • But the world being what it was, that doesn't always happen, so i
  • 00:03:49.278 --> 00:03:51.880
  • Formulated a response.
  • 00:03:51.880 --> 00:03:55.050
  • I processed a few more years and i liked athletics, so i went to
  • 00:03:55.050 --> 00:03:58.787
  • Play ball.
  • 00:03:58.787 --> 00:04:00.155
  • And so, through determination and hard work, i made the team,
  • 00:04:00.155 --> 00:04:03.959
  • But i--to get better you had to play people who were older than
  • 00:04:03.959 --> 00:04:06.828
  • You and stronger than you.
  • 00:04:06.828 --> 00:04:09.398
  • When i was a freshman, i got to play with the varsity, and they
  • 00:04:09.398 --> 00:04:12.000
  • Were bigger, and older, and stronger and two or three years
  • 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.202
  • Difference in high school makes a big difference.
  • 00:04:14.202 --> 00:04:16.004
  • So we go to mtsu, and sneak into the gym, and get in pick-up
  • 00:04:16.004 --> 00:04:19.341
  • Games with college students.
  • 00:04:19.341 --> 00:04:20.676
  • And if you did very well, competitive being what
  • 00:04:20.676 --> 00:04:24.646
  • Competitive is, they'll start to punish you, physically.
  • 00:04:24.646 --> 00:04:30.419
  • Playing basketball, a non-contact sport.
  • 00:04:30.419 --> 00:04:32.554
  • I got my eye cut, my nose broken, my teeth knocked out.
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  • Thank god it was not a contact sport.
  • 00:04:36.625 --> 00:04:38.527
  • [congregation laughing]
  • 00:04:38.527 --> 00:04:41.296
  • But i learned a new response.
  • 00:04:41.296 --> 00:04:44.900
  • That didn't hurt.
  • 00:04:44.900 --> 00:04:48.970
  • Somebody much bigger than me and far more physically gifted than
  • 00:04:48.970 --> 00:04:52.274
  • Me, get annoyed at me and launch an elbow or some such
  • 00:04:52.274 --> 00:04:58.380
  • Foolishness, i'd get up off the floor and grin.
  • 00:04:58.380 --> 00:05:03.085
  • Spit a little blood and go, "that didn't hurt."
  • 00:05:03.085 --> 00:05:09.057
  • Now, that's a lie, folks.
  • 00:05:09.057 --> 00:05:12.461
  • Somebody knocks your teeth out, it hurts.
  • 00:05:12.461 --> 00:05:17.032
  • But not me, i just took a handful of blood and smeared it
  • 00:05:17.032 --> 00:05:19.267
  • Across the jersey and grinned.
  • 00:05:19.267 --> 00:05:22.237
  • If they think you're half crazy, it gives you a slight advantage.
  • 00:05:22.237 --> 00:05:28.510
  • So, i pref--i chose a facade of some superficial happiness.
  • 00:05:28.510 --> 00:05:35.584
  • I kept growing.
  • 00:05:35.584 --> 00:05:37.119
  • I left home, i left middle tennessee.
  • 00:05:37.119 --> 00:05:39.020
  • I went to college.
  • 00:05:39.020 --> 00:05:40.489
  • I got into a degree program in college that was highly
  • 00:05:40.489 --> 00:05:43.225
  • Competitive and there was a high attrition rate.
  • 00:05:43.225 --> 00:05:46.294
  • The faculty's objective was to reduce the number of students.
  • 00:05:46.294 --> 00:05:49.664
  • They only wanted those who were willing to pay the price to be
  • 00:05:49.664 --> 00:05:52.801
  • In the degree program.
  • 00:05:52.801 --> 00:05:55.604
  • We started with several hundred of us and by my junior year
  • 00:05:55.604 --> 00:05:59.808
  • There was just a handful.
  • 00:05:59.808 --> 00:06:01.143
  • Two or three dozen of us left.
  • 00:06:01.143 --> 00:06:03.812
  • My best friends would come into my room--my dorm room.
  • 00:06:03.812 --> 00:06:06.214
  • They'd be crying and they say, "you know, this professor said
  • 00:06:06.214 --> 00:06:08.183
  • I'm too stupid to do this."
  • 00:06:08.183 --> 00:06:12.521
  • And i'd get in their face and i said, "you go tell that
  • 00:06:12.521 --> 00:06:14.423
  • Professor--" and i won't repeat.
  • 00:06:14.423 --> 00:06:16.491
  • It wasn't all biblically based.
  • 00:06:16.491 --> 00:06:24.533
  • It wasn't fair.
  • 00:06:24.533 --> 00:06:26.835
  • They didn't intend to be fair, they intended to
  • 00:06:26.835 --> 00:06:28.804
  • Create pressure.
  • 00:06:28.804 --> 00:06:30.739
  • Life's not fair.
  • 00:06:30.739 --> 00:06:35.577
  • And i learned another response:
  • 00:06:35.577 --> 00:06:40.248
  • I won't quit.
  • 00:06:40.248 --> 00:06:43.084
  • You're not gonna make me quit.
  • 00:06:43.084 --> 00:06:46.288
  • I don't care what you do.
  • 00:06:46.288 --> 00:06:49.024
  • I don't care how you lie, cheat, and steal, i'll be there the
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  • Next day.
  • 00:06:52.627 --> 00:06:58.300
  • Now, you bundle all those together: i don't care, that
  • 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:05.106
  • Didn't hurt, and i won't quit, all those got built into my
  • 00:07:05.106 --> 00:07:12.547
  • Little life.
  • 00:07:12.547 --> 00:07:13.882
  • Before i was really conscious, i was responding much.
  • 00:07:13.882 --> 00:07:18.119
  • But they all reflect all those responses can be summarized to
  • 00:07:18.119 --> 00:07:22.123
  • Something: rejection.
  • 00:07:22.123 --> 00:07:26.461
  • Not because of evil, just life.
  • 00:07:26.461 --> 00:07:31.266
  • And god puts some--you know, i can tell you the negative.
  • 00:07:31.266 --> 00:07:33.335
  • He put some remarkable people in my pathway.
  • 00:07:33.335 --> 00:07:37.739
  • He put a--i thought she was a little old lady.
  • 00:07:37.739 --> 00:07:39.608
  • She's probably younger than i am now, but that's--let's not dwell
  • 00:07:39.608 --> 00:07:43.812
  • On that.
  • 00:07:43.812 --> 00:07:46.515
  • And she rode back to college with me
  • 00:07:46.515 --> 00:07:49.918
  • And talked to me about forgiving and about
  • 00:07:49.918 --> 00:07:52.587
  • How much hatred i had in my heart 'cause see i needed the
  • 00:07:52.587 --> 00:07:55.557
  • Fuel of hatred to keep me from quitting.
  • 00:07:55.557 --> 00:08:02.230
  • I needed the resentment to keep me up late enough to study what
  • 00:08:02.230 --> 00:08:05.500
  • I needed to study, i thought.
  • 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:09.971
  • And she heard all of that in me and she was--knew the lord well
  • 00:08:09.971 --> 00:08:13.475
  • Enough that--we happened to have an ice storm that day, so a trip
  • 00:08:13.475 --> 00:08:16.845
  • I could usually make in about 9 hours took 14.
  • 00:08:16.845 --> 00:08:20.949
  • So she had plenty of time.
  • 00:08:20.949 --> 00:08:25.120
  • And through god's grace i was able to hear and i could
  • 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:28.123
  • Forgive and release.
  • 00:08:28.123 --> 00:08:33.495
  • And god set me free.
  • 00:08:33.495 --> 00:08:35.864
  • It changed the whole trajectory of my life.
  • 00:08:35.864 --> 00:08:37.766
  • If i hadn't had that car ride, i'd be a very different
  • 00:08:37.766 --> 00:08:39.901
  • Person today.
  • 00:08:39.901 --> 00:08:43.271
  • See, i'm convinced that rejection is universal.
  • 00:08:43.271 --> 00:08:47.309
  • It's a part of the journey through time.
  • 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:50.145
  • But it doesn't have the power to define your future unless you
  • 00:08:50.145 --> 00:08:53.448
  • Give it that power.
  • 00:08:53.448 --> 00:08:56.585
  • Now, the opposite of rejection would be acceptance.
  • 00:08:56.585 --> 00:09:00.722
  • And that's where we started our discussion, that we've been
  • 00:09:00.722 --> 00:09:02.724
  • Accepted by god.
  • 00:09:02.724 --> 00:09:05.427
  • That we're--we've received his favor.
  • 00:09:05.427 --> 00:09:08.930
  • 'cause he said we were fearfully and wonderfully made.
  • 00:09:08.930 --> 00:09:11.366
  • So, against your life experiences, we're gonna set in
  • 00:09:11.366 --> 00:09:16.338
  • Contrast what god has said about us.
  • 00:09:16.338 --> 00:09:20.508
  • We're gonna unpack some other expressions of rejection and how
  • 00:09:20.508 --> 00:09:24.412
  • They come to us.
  • 00:09:24.412 --> 00:09:27.716
  • But the synonyms of rejection, the things that sound like
  • 00:09:27.716 --> 00:09:30.785
  • Rejection, that feel like rejection, is being excluded.
  • 00:09:30.785 --> 00:09:35.090
  • It's that feeling of being unwanted.
  • 00:09:35.090 --> 00:09:38.126
  • You don't really belong.
  • 00:09:38.126 --> 00:09:41.196
  • Somehow you're on the outside, but you don't know how to get on
  • 00:09:41.196 --> 00:09:44.966
  • The inside.
  • 00:09:44.966 --> 00:09:47.202
  • It's like everybody else got the manual, and nobody gave you
  • 00:09:47.202 --> 00:09:50.772
  • A copy.
  • 00:09:50.772 --> 00:09:53.141
  • They don't teach you the secret handshake.
  • 00:09:53.141 --> 00:09:56.578
  • You don't learn as quickly as they learn, or you don't see the
  • 00:09:56.578 --> 00:09:59.614
  • World in the same way they see the world, or you can't process
  • 00:09:59.614 --> 00:10:02.283
  • Information, or you sound different, or whatever.
  • 00:10:02.283 --> 00:10:08.423
  • It's not imaginary.
  • 00:10:08.423 --> 00:10:11.826
  • The first step in overcoming rejection is to recognize
  • 00:10:11.826 --> 00:10:14.629
  • The problem.
  • 00:10:14.629 --> 00:10:16.097
  • It's the reason i started this by telling you it's gonna be
  • 00:10:16.097 --> 00:10:17.899
  • Multiple sessions.
  • 00:10:17.899 --> 00:10:19.267
  • I can't finish this in this session.
  • 00:10:19.267 --> 00:10:21.503
  • It's not a trick to make you come to church more often.
  • 00:10:21.503 --> 00:10:25.206
  • But we'll do another section of this on wednesday and we'll do
  • 00:10:25.206 --> 00:10:28.009
  • Another section the following wednesday, but the first step in
  • 00:10:28.009 --> 00:10:30.979
  • Overcoming rejection is to recognize the problem.
  • 00:10:30.979 --> 00:10:34.616
  • But the goal of this little series is to move from rejection
  • 00:10:34.616 --> 00:10:38.386
  • To acceptance.
  • 00:10:38.386 --> 00:10:41.423
  • If god has accepted us, if god has shown us his favor, if god
  • 00:10:41.423 --> 00:10:49.297
  • Is pleased with us--what does romans 8 say?
  • 00:10:49.297 --> 00:10:53.968
  • "if god is for us, who can be against us?"
  • 00:10:53.968 --> 00:10:58.073
  • You want that in good tennessee southern?
  • 00:10:58.073 --> 00:11:01.276
  • If god picked you, do you really care who objects?
  • 00:11:01.276 --> 00:11:06.047
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:11:06.047 --> 00:11:13.388
  • Now, i've belabored the point a bit.
  • 00:11:13.455 --> 00:11:15.190
  • I've taken my time in walking through some of the
  • 00:11:15.190 --> 00:11:17.125
  • Biblical characters because i think there are
  • 00:11:17.125 --> 00:11:22.063
  • So many people affected.
  • 00:11:22.063 --> 00:11:24.766
  • And typically you're unaware.
  • 00:11:24.766 --> 00:11:27.469
  • And i don't want that to continue to flourish.
  • 00:11:27.469 --> 00:11:30.739
  • And it isn't just for yourself.
  • 00:11:30.739 --> 00:11:32.741
  • I want you to have the tools to help the people in your family
  • 00:11:32.741 --> 00:11:35.176
  • And your friends network.
  • 00:11:35.176 --> 00:11:38.012
  • You see, freedom is available to us.
  • 00:11:38.012 --> 00:11:41.583
  • And while we see needs for changes all around us, we
  • 00:11:41.583 --> 00:11:44.652
  • Typically have a very small imagination that it could be us.
  • 00:11:44.652 --> 00:11:48.223
  • And so, before you write on your notes the people that you think
  • 00:11:48.223 --> 00:11:50.759
  • Need to hear this lesson, let's just pause for a moment and
  • 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:54.596
  • Cross out all those names.
  • 00:11:54.596 --> 00:11:56.831
  • And say, "god, if there's any way any of this could apply to
  • 00:11:56.831 --> 00:11:59.300
  • Me, give me an understanding heart."
  • 00:11:59.300 --> 00:12:02.170
  • Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.aberdeen.io
  • 00:12:02.237 --> 00:12:07.942
  • Allen: hey, i sat down with my father recently, did a podcast.
  • 00:12:08.009 --> 00:12:11.146
  • He told a story of how he came to faith, how god transformed
  • 00:12:11.146 --> 00:12:13.715
  • Our family.
  • 00:12:13.715 --> 00:12:15.049
  • They started a home bible study, all the way up to the beginning
  • 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:16.885
  • Of this church that i've served now for decades.
  • 00:12:16.885 --> 00:12:19.721
  • As i listened, the heart of it was the work of the holy spirit
  • 00:12:19.721 --> 00:12:22.457
  • In his life and through his life.
  • 00:12:22.457 --> 00:12:24.592
  • I asked him to do a book around the topic, and we have it so
  • 00:12:24.592 --> 00:12:28.029
  • That you can invite the spirit of god to be the dynamic
  • 00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:30.932
  • Presence of the power of god to bring change, and life, and hope
  • 00:12:30.932 --> 00:12:35.103
  • No matter what the circumstances.
  • 00:12:35.103 --> 00:12:36.905
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:12:36.905 --> 00:12:38.273
  • Female announcer: experience the holy spirit in a deeper way with
  • 00:12:38.273 --> 00:12:40.742
  • This new book by pastor allen's dad, "the eternal
  • 00:12:40.742 --> 00:12:43.611
  • Breath of life."
  • 00:12:43.611 --> 00:12:45.113
  • Request your copy when you donate any amount today.
  • 00:12:45.113 --> 00:12:48.183
  • And when you give $50 or more, you can also request "unleashing
  • 00:12:48.183 --> 00:12:52.153
  • The power of the holy spirit."
  • 00:12:52.153 --> 00:12:54.055
  • It's a collection of pastor allen's sermons that will help
  • 00:12:54.055 --> 00:12:56.758
  • You understand the holy spirit in new ways.
  • 00:12:56.758 --> 00:12:59.661
  • Request yours today at allenjackson.com or
  • 00:12:59.661 --> 00:13:02.697
  • By calling...
  • 00:13:02.697 --> 00:13:06.734
  • Allen: i got a couple of minutes left.
  • 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:09.537
  • There are some causes for rejection.
  • 00:13:09.537 --> 00:13:11.706
  • I'll give you just a sample list.
  • 00:13:11.706 --> 00:13:14.008
  • I told you, in my life i can recognize it started
  • 00:13:14.008 --> 00:13:17.278
  • Pretty early.
  • 00:13:17.278 --> 00:13:18.613
  • I think it often begins when we're children.
  • 00:13:18.613 --> 00:13:20.215
  • It's not limited to that, but it can.
  • 00:13:20.215 --> 00:13:21.950
  • There's a pregnancy that's unwanted.
  • 00:13:21.950 --> 00:13:23.384
  • There's just no room, or time, or space.
  • 00:13:23.384 --> 00:13:25.920
  • Circumstances aren't there.
  • 00:13:25.920 --> 00:13:28.723
  • You know, people say to me, "i don't believe a child in the
  • 00:13:28.723 --> 00:13:31.159
  • Womb could be affected."
  • 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:34.395
  • Well, i understand in the culture of death how you could
  • 00:13:34.395 --> 00:13:36.297
  • Hold that idea.
  • 00:13:36.297 --> 00:13:38.266
  • But think with me just a moment--we can follow the
  • 00:13:38.266 --> 00:13:40.235
  • Science, if you will.
  • 00:13:40.235 --> 00:13:41.903
  • Most of us would agree that a baby in the womb could be
  • 00:13:41.903 --> 00:13:45.006
  • Affected by the behavior of the mother.
  • 00:13:45.006 --> 00:13:49.043
  • She could eat something, or take something, or make a choice that
  • 00:13:49.043 --> 00:13:51.646
  • Could damage the development of that child.
  • 00:13:51.646 --> 00:13:55.083
  • Well, if it's true physically, why would those of you who
  • 00:13:55.083 --> 00:13:57.886
  • Imagine yourself to be the people of god not believe it's
  • 00:13:57.886 --> 00:14:00.588
  • True as well spiritually?
  • 00:14:00.588 --> 00:14:03.124
  • It's illogical to reject that out of hand.
  • 00:14:03.124 --> 00:14:07.795
  • The spiritual impact upon an unborn child is very much a
  • 00:14:07.795 --> 00:14:10.798
  • Possibility, and it's not just negative, it can be positive.
  • 00:14:10.798 --> 00:14:15.403
  • You don't start parenting after you hold the little person for
  • 00:14:15.403 --> 00:14:18.640
  • The first time.
  • 00:14:18.640 --> 00:14:21.609
  • Imagine the impact in a nation where for decade upon decade,
  • 00:14:21.609 --> 00:14:25.914
  • We've had a public debate, saying it's about choice.
  • 00:14:25.914 --> 00:14:32.220
  • Imagine what that unleashes in the lives of children.
  • 00:14:32.220 --> 00:14:40.028
  • I believe when the story of our nation is told and it's looked
  • 00:14:40.028 --> 00:14:43.398
  • At a bit more objectively, that the sin of abortion will be far
  • 00:14:43.398 --> 00:14:47.835
  • Greater than the sin of slavery.
  • 00:14:47.835 --> 00:14:50.004
  • And slavery was heinous, unthinkable, inexcusable.
  • 00:14:50.004 --> 00:14:58.046
  • Sometimes children suffer 'cause parents are just not able to
  • 00:15:00.615 --> 00:15:03.051
  • Communicate their love for a child.
  • 00:15:03.051 --> 00:15:05.453
  • It's not always intentional, it's not always an expression of
  • 00:15:05.453 --> 00:15:07.655
  • Evil, sometimes parents don't have the capacity from some of
  • 00:15:07.655 --> 00:15:10.692
  • Their own scars or the demands in their own lives.
  • 00:15:10.692 --> 00:15:12.860
  • Maybe they have emotional limits or great stresses.
  • 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:15.897
  • One of the things we'll have to do is release our parents from
  • 00:15:15.897 --> 00:15:18.132
  • The burden of meeting our expectations.
  • 00:15:18.132 --> 00:15:22.437
  • "well, they should have been better."
  • 00:15:22.437 --> 00:15:24.038
  • Perhaps they should be.
  • 00:15:24.038 --> 00:15:26.674
  • But we're still gonna be required to forgive them.
  • 00:15:26.674 --> 00:15:30.812
  • Not getting back in line for further abuse.
  • 00:15:30.812 --> 00:15:32.547
  • I'm not suggesting that at all.
  • 00:15:32.547 --> 00:15:35.883
  • Your parents may have had some very significant character
  • 00:15:35.883 --> 00:15:38.619
  • Failures, but you have to forgive them.
  • 00:15:38.619 --> 00:15:41.889
  • The bible says we have to honor our parents.
  • 00:15:41.889 --> 00:15:43.291
  • We don't have to honor what they did.
  • 00:15:43.291 --> 00:15:45.860
  • Your mom may have been a prostitute.
  • 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:47.195
  • You don't have to honor what she chose to do, but you have to
  • 00:15:47.195 --> 00:15:49.897
  • Honor her as your mom.
  • 00:15:49.897 --> 00:15:55.703
  • And we have broken marriages.
  • 00:15:55.703 --> 00:15:58.573
  • Let's not talk about the adults yet, let's
  • 00:15:58.573 --> 00:15:59.974
  • Talk about the children.
  • 00:15:59.974 --> 00:16:01.309
  • It has an enormous impact upon them.
  • 00:16:01.309 --> 00:16:03.845
  • They don't have the emotional maturity to process that.
  • 00:16:03.845 --> 00:16:07.248
  • It feels like the family that they're looking to to keep them
  • 00:16:07.248 --> 00:16:09.851
  • Safe, and strong, and protected is being broken apart and
  • 00:16:09.851 --> 00:16:13.454
  • Somehow if they could have been something else or done something
  • 00:16:13.454 --> 00:16:15.590
  • Different, perhaps they could have kept that from happening.
  • 00:16:15.590 --> 00:16:20.695
  • Divorce is so common amongst us.
  • 00:16:20.695 --> 00:16:22.797
  • I'm not throwing stones at that, i'm telling you there are
  • 00:16:22.797 --> 00:16:24.832
  • Consequences to that that go beyond what a judge or a court
  • 00:16:24.832 --> 00:16:29.137
  • Order can resolve.
  • 00:16:29.137 --> 00:16:32.407
  • It results in children being bitter towards a father.
  • 00:16:32.407 --> 00:16:36.144
  • Or it's whatever new relationships emerge or towards
  • 00:16:36.144 --> 00:16:38.946
  • A mother, it's common.
  • 00:16:38.946 --> 00:16:42.650
  • We live in a culture where fathers are--to a far too great
  • 00:16:42.650 --> 00:16:46.154
  • A degree are absent.
  • 00:16:46.154 --> 00:16:48.322
  • Absentee fathers in the home are one of the greatest sources of
  • 00:16:48.322 --> 00:16:51.392
  • Rejection in the lives of children.
  • 00:16:51.392 --> 00:16:52.794
  • Is it any wonder we have a whole new generation of children who
  • 00:16:52.794 --> 00:16:55.730
  • Are saying they're confused?
  • 00:16:55.730 --> 00:16:58.633
  • It's not surprising.
  • 00:16:58.633 --> 00:17:00.601
  • Folks, the church has an assignment.
  • 00:17:00.601 --> 00:17:02.003
  • We have work to be done.
  • 00:17:02.003 --> 00:17:04.939
  • We have a message that will bring hope to our world.
  • 00:17:04.939 --> 00:17:09.143
  • If you have brothers and sisters, it's
  • 00:17:09.143 --> 00:17:10.578
  • Not uncommon at all.
  • 00:17:10.578 --> 00:17:11.913
  • In fact, it's more the natural order than it isn't for siblings
  • 00:17:11.913 --> 00:17:14.048
  • To perceive unequal treatment from a parent 'cause we're all
  • 00:17:14.048 --> 00:17:17.285
  • Selfish little rascals, we want first place.
  • 00:17:17.285 --> 00:17:20.755
  • So we think somebody else is getting an advantage.
  • 00:17:20.755 --> 00:17:23.424
  • I had a conversation with a parent last week.
  • 00:17:23.424 --> 00:17:26.194
  • He said the oldest was--had become a teenager and the
  • 00:17:26.194 --> 00:17:29.530
  • Youngest was on the young end, then he said the two in the
  • 00:17:29.530 --> 00:17:31.666
  • Middle are just afraid they're not being treated fairly.
  • 00:17:31.666 --> 00:17:36.037
  • And we got this little inner button, like, "i
  • 00:17:36.037 --> 00:17:38.406
  • Want an opportunity," we all do.
  • 00:17:38.406 --> 00:17:41.776
  • And so, we tend to think there's some unequal treatment whether
  • 00:17:41.776 --> 00:17:44.278
  • We center it on birth order or there's a preferred gender in
  • 00:17:44.278 --> 00:17:47.215
  • Your family of origin.
  • 00:17:47.215 --> 00:17:50.952
  • There's a compounding factor in all of this.
  • 00:17:50.952 --> 00:17:53.788
  • If you'll accept it, there's spiritual influences that come
  • 00:17:53.788 --> 00:17:56.224
  • In where we have those emotional responses.
  • 00:17:56.224 --> 00:17:59.093
  • For every negative emotion that you and i can give expression
  • 00:17:59.093 --> 00:18:01.963
  • To, for every negative attitude or every negative reaction or
  • 00:18:01.963 --> 00:18:06.067
  • Behavior, there's a corresponding spirit with that.
  • 00:18:06.067 --> 00:18:11.939
  • You know, the church, we have a lot of language around the holy
  • 00:18:11.939 --> 00:18:14.375
  • Spirit and the good that the spirit of god can do.
  • 00:18:14.375 --> 00:18:17.145
  • We have very little awareness and very little conversation
  • 00:18:17.145 --> 00:18:19.680
  • About what unclean spirits, what unholy spirits can do.
  • 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:26.988
  • Behind jealousy there's a spirit of jealousy, and behind
  • 00:18:26.988 --> 00:18:29.390
  • Anger there's a spirit of anger, and behind fear there's
  • 00:18:29.390 --> 00:18:32.527
  • A spirit of fear.
  • 00:18:32.527 --> 00:18:33.895
  • And i'm not saying that everybody who's--struggles with
  • 00:18:33.895 --> 00:18:36.497
  • Fear has a spirit of fear.
  • 00:18:36.497 --> 00:18:39.901
  • I'm not delivering you absolutes.
  • 00:18:39.901 --> 00:18:42.436
  • But i can tell you that a person who fails to exercise
  • 00:18:42.436 --> 00:18:44.939
  • Self-control, or who habitually gives in to fear, or maybe has
  • 00:18:44.939 --> 00:18:48.509
  • Some frightening or terrifying experience as a child when
  • 00:18:48.509 --> 00:18:51.679
  • They're not emotionally mature enough to protect themselves,
  • 00:18:51.679 --> 00:18:56.517
  • Can open their lives to a spirit.
  • 00:18:56.517 --> 00:18:59.187
  • And i'll tell you, one good way to recognize that--we'll talk
  • 00:18:59.187 --> 00:19:01.355
  • About it a bit more is, you recognize that you don't have
  • 00:19:01.355 --> 00:19:04.158
  • The control that you should.
  • 00:19:04.158 --> 00:19:06.894
  • You know you're engaged in a behavior that's destructive or a
  • 00:19:06.894 --> 00:19:09.497
  • Response that's destructive and you would even grieve the damage
  • 00:19:09.497 --> 00:19:14.302
  • You're causing, but you feel powerless to stop it.
  • 00:19:14.302 --> 00:19:17.972
  • The holy spirit will never control you, never.
  • 00:19:17.972 --> 00:19:21.142
  • I hear people say to me, "you know, i didn't wanna do it, but
  • 00:19:21.142 --> 00:19:23.010
  • The lord told me."
  • 00:19:23.010 --> 00:19:24.345
  • Stop it, the holy spirit will not control you.
  • 00:19:24.345 --> 00:19:29.217
  • If the holy spirit were gonna control you, how many of you
  • 00:19:29.217 --> 00:19:30.885
  • Know he'd stopped us from sinning long before we had
  • 00:19:30.885 --> 00:19:33.754
  • Any inclination?
  • 00:19:33.754 --> 00:19:37.592
  • An unholy spirit will dominate, manipulate, control you.
  • 00:19:37.592 --> 00:19:42.530
  • I've sat with many, many people engaged in behaviors.
  • 00:19:42.530 --> 00:19:45.032
  • They say, "it's destroying my health, it's ruined my finances,
  • 00:19:45.032 --> 00:19:48.336
  • It's destroyed my family, and i seem powerless to stop."
  • 00:19:48.336 --> 00:19:56.477
  • We see all sorts of behaviors that are destroying us as
  • 00:19:56.477 --> 00:19:58.946
  • A people.
  • 00:19:58.946 --> 00:20:01.983
  • And we seem powerless to even address them because we're
  • 00:20:01.983 --> 00:20:05.253
  • Unwilling to have a spiritual conversation.
  • 00:20:05.253 --> 00:20:09.423
  • There's another contributor.
  • 00:20:09.423 --> 00:20:10.791
  • I am out of time.
  • 00:20:10.791 --> 00:20:12.126
  • I'm gonna finish this little bit.
  • 00:20:12.126 --> 00:20:14.929
  • There's another contributor to rejection, and it's betrayal
  • 00:20:14.929 --> 00:20:17.431
  • And shame.
  • 00:20:17.431 --> 00:20:19.333
  • Broken trust leads to betrayal.
  • 00:20:19.333 --> 00:20:20.935
  • So you're really looking for those places where trust is
  • 00:20:20.935 --> 00:20:23.838
  • Broken and often leads us to shame.
  • 00:20:23.838 --> 00:20:26.274
  • Maybe a broken marriage, maybe sexual or physical abuse in
  • 00:20:26.274 --> 00:20:29.043
  • Childhood, maybe you're fired from a job unjustly, unfairly.
  • 00:20:29.043 --> 00:20:34.415
  • If you're fired because you're lazy and you don't show up,
  • 00:20:34.415 --> 00:20:37.585
  • Don't call that rejection.
  • 00:20:37.585 --> 00:20:44.091
  • Maybe you're left off the sports team.
  • 00:20:44.091 --> 00:20:47.461
  • Oh, yeah, like i'm on the timeline for this session.
  • 00:20:47.461 --> 00:20:51.799
  • Maybe you didn't gain acceptance to a school you chose.
  • 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:54.402
  • Maybe you weren't included or welcomed into some social group
  • 00:20:54.402 --> 00:20:56.804
  • That you wanted to be a part of or some gathering.
  • 00:20:56.804 --> 00:20:59.607
  • Well, i brought you some scriptures 'cause there's a
  • 00:20:59.607 --> 00:21:00.975
  • Resolution to this.
  • 00:21:00.975 --> 00:21:02.743
  • I'll read these and then we're gonna say a prayer.
  • 00:21:02.743 --> 00:21:05.680
  • Isaiah 54 says, "don't be afraid; you'll not
  • 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.249
  • Suffer shame."
  • 00:21:08.249 --> 00:21:10.484
  • Well, if the statement is, "don't be afraid; you won't
  • 00:21:10.484 --> 00:21:12.553
  • Suffer shame," what are the people being challenged with?
  • 00:21:12.553 --> 00:21:16.791
  • Shame.
  • 00:21:16.791 --> 00:21:18.492
  • There's a sense of betrayal and they're ashamed.
  • 00:21:18.492 --> 00:21:21.028
  • "don't fear disgrace; you'll not be humiliated.
  • 00:21:21.028 --> 00:21:23.964
  • You'll forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the
  • 00:21:23.964 --> 00:21:26.233
  • Reproach of your widowhood.
  • 00:21:26.233 --> 00:21:28.336
  • Your maker is your husband--the lord almighty is his name--the
  • 00:21:28.336 --> 00:21:30.938
  • Holy one of israel is your redeemer; he's called the god of
  • 00:21:30.938 --> 00:21:34.408
  • All the earth.
  • 00:21:34.408 --> 00:21:35.910
  • The lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and
  • 00:21:35.910 --> 00:21:38.713
  • Distressed in spirit--a wife who married young, only to
  • 00:21:38.713 --> 00:21:41.816
  • Be rejected."
  • 00:21:41.816 --> 00:21:43.184
  • See, the promise god is offering his people is that you won't be
  • 00:21:43.184 --> 00:21:46.987
  • Overwhelmed by shame.
  • 00:21:46.987 --> 00:21:49.590
  • The disgrace and humiliation will not define your future.
  • 00:21:49.590 --> 00:21:53.928
  • Poor treatment that you have received does not have the power
  • 00:21:53.928 --> 00:21:56.597
  • To shape who god created you to be.
  • 00:21:56.597 --> 00:21:59.166
  • That is a message that should cause us to respond with an
  • 00:21:59.166 --> 00:22:02.970
  • Amazing sense of relief and joy.
  • 00:22:02.970 --> 00:22:05.906
  • We're gonna talk about how to walk into that, but look at
  • 00:22:05.906 --> 00:22:07.842
  • Isaiah chapter 61, "instead of their shame my people will
  • 00:22:07.842 --> 00:22:11.345
  • Receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will
  • 00:22:11.345 --> 00:22:14.515
  • Rejoice in their inheritance; so that they will inherit a double
  • 00:22:14.515 --> 00:22:17.985
  • Portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs."
  • 00:22:17.985 --> 00:22:21.122
  • That's the alternative.
  • 00:22:21.122 --> 00:22:23.424
  • The joy that's not based in our circumstances or the behaviors
  • 00:22:23.424 --> 00:22:26.127
  • Of the people around us.
  • 00:22:26.127 --> 00:22:28.629
  • Hebrews 12, "let's fix our eyes on jesus, the author and
  • 00:22:28.629 --> 00:22:31.766
  • Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured
  • 00:22:31.766 --> 00:22:35.202
  • The cross, scorning its shame."
  • 00:22:35.202 --> 00:22:37.438
  • The last public presentation of jesus was as a convicted
  • 00:22:37.438 --> 00:22:41.375
  • Criminal, hungry, thirsty, naked on a cross.
  • 00:22:41.375 --> 00:22:48.015
  • It's a very shameful presentation.
  • 00:22:48.015 --> 00:22:49.750
  • None of you would wish that on any member of your family.
  • 00:22:49.750 --> 00:22:54.555
  • And yet the commentary of jesus is he endured the cross, but he
  • 00:22:54.555 --> 00:22:58.893
  • Rejected the shame.
  • 00:22:58.893 --> 00:23:02.263
  • We don't have to be defined by the poor choices of
  • 00:23:02.263 --> 00:23:04.965
  • Other people.
  • 00:23:04.965 --> 00:23:07.334
  • And finally in isaiah 53, we read it a moment ago, "he was
  • 00:23:07.334 --> 00:23:10.271
  • Despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar
  • 00:23:10.271 --> 00:23:14.241
  • With suffering.
  • 00:23:14.241 --> 00:23:15.576
  • Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and
  • 00:23:15.576 --> 00:23:18.312
  • We esteemed him not."
  • 00:23:18.312 --> 00:23:21.015
  • One last thought and we will pray.
  • 00:23:21.015 --> 00:23:23.317
  • In our nation right now there is an epidemic not of rejection but
  • 00:23:23.317 --> 00:23:26.654
  • Of being a victim.
  • 00:23:26.654 --> 00:23:29.323
  • And there are many things that contribute to that, most of
  • 00:23:29.323 --> 00:23:31.225
  • Them ungodly.
  • 00:23:31.225 --> 00:23:33.427
  • But the victim mentality feeds off the idea that there's a
  • 00:23:33.427 --> 00:23:38.165
  • Uniqueness to your suffering.
  • 00:23:38.165 --> 00:23:41.802
  • That i have been unjustly targeted, that i've been
  • 00:23:41.802 --> 00:23:44.672
  • Treated inappropriately.
  • 00:23:44.672 --> 00:23:47.374
  • And i'm gonna hold that because it becomes the fuel to a better
  • 00:23:47.374 --> 00:23:50.611
  • Future for myself.
  • 00:23:50.611 --> 00:23:53.180
  • It is a very destructive attitude to hold.
  • 00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:58.486
  • Life is not fair.
  • 00:23:58.486 --> 00:24:00.988
  • We will endure things from our family systems, from the
  • 00:24:00.988 --> 00:24:04.992
  • Cultures in which we live, from the world in which we live
  • 00:24:04.992 --> 00:24:07.695
  • Because we live in a world that's still engaged in a
  • 00:24:07.695 --> 00:24:10.164
  • Tremendous spiritual conflict between good and evil.
  • 00:24:10.164 --> 00:24:14.268
  • And i would encourage you not to choose the role of a victim.
  • 00:24:14.268 --> 00:24:19.507
  • Why would we not choose the role of a triumphant child of a king?
  • 00:24:19.507 --> 00:24:26.380
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:31.886
  • So, for a conclusion to this session--we've started
  • 00:24:31.886 --> 00:24:33.854
  • The journey, we'll complete it together.
  • 00:24:33.854 --> 00:24:36.423
  • But i brought you a prayer that addresses
  • 00:24:36.423 --> 00:24:39.360
  • The fundamentals of these.
  • 00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:40.694
  • It's a great prayer, you could begin to pray it daily.
  • 00:24:40.694 --> 00:24:42.329
  • In fact, if you're--if any of this touches a chord with you,
  • 00:24:42.329 --> 00:24:45.799
  • I'd begin to pray it morning, noon, and night.
  • 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:49.270
  • We'll come back to it, but let's staying together.
  • 00:24:49.270 --> 00:24:57.611
  • Rejection didn't stop david from becoming a remarkable king, or
  • 00:25:01.815 --> 00:25:06.086
  • Moses from becoming a remarkable leader, or samuel from a
  • 00:25:06.086 --> 00:25:09.924
  • Remarkable future, or jesus from completing his assignment as the
  • 00:25:09.924 --> 00:25:14.762
  • Redeemer of all humanity.
  • 00:25:14.762 --> 00:25:16.931
  • And it doesn't have the power to keep you from becoming what god
  • 00:25:16.931 --> 00:25:19.366
  • Created you to be.
  • 00:25:19.366 --> 00:25:21.602
  • Hallelujah, let's pray together.
  • 00:25:21.602 --> 00:25:25.339
  • "heavenly father, i thank you that you love me, that you gave
  • 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:29.777
  • Jesus to die on my behalf, that he bore my sin, that he took my
  • 00:25:29.777 --> 00:25:34.848
  • Rejection, that he paid my penalty, because i come to you
  • 00:25:34.848 --> 00:25:39.520
  • Through him.
  • 00:25:39.520 --> 00:25:40.888
  • I am not rejected, i am not unwanted, i am not excluded.
  • 00:25:40.888 --> 00:25:46.193
  • You really love me.
  • 00:25:46.193 --> 00:25:47.895
  • I am really your child.
  • 00:25:47.895 --> 00:25:49.863
  • You are really my father.
  • 00:25:49.863 --> 00:25:51.932
  • I belong in your family.
  • 00:25:51.932 --> 00:25:54.101
  • I belong to the best family in the universe.
  • 00:25:54.101 --> 00:25:57.204
  • Heaven is my home, amen.
  • 00:25:57.204 --> 00:26:00.574
  • Hallelujah, you better give the lord a thank offering.
  • 00:26:00.574 --> 00:26:06.246
  • Allen: hey, i got a question: what's the eternal breath
  • 00:26:10.417 --> 00:26:12.853
  • Of life?
  • 00:26:12.853 --> 00:26:14.455
  • Well, the answer is a new book my dad just wrote when i sat
  • 00:26:14.455 --> 00:26:17.424
  • Down to do a podcast with him and i was listening to his story
  • 00:26:17.424 --> 00:26:20.394
  • About how god had moved in his life and my family's life all
  • 00:26:20.394 --> 00:26:23.464
  • The way up to the beginning of the church that i've served now
  • 00:26:23.464 --> 00:26:25.733
  • For several decades.
  • 00:26:25.733 --> 00:26:27.401
  • I was so reminded of the purpose and the power of the spirit of
  • 00:26:27.401 --> 00:26:30.337
  • God in our lives, i asked him to put it in a book.
  • 00:26:30.337 --> 00:26:33.173
  • That's what we're sharing with you.
  • 00:26:33.173 --> 00:26:34.842
  • We all need god's help, we all face challenges.
  • 00:26:34.842 --> 00:26:37.378
  • Life's not easy no matter who you are, but the spirit of god
  • 00:26:37.378 --> 00:26:40.381
  • Is present within us to bring the power and purposes of god to
  • 00:26:40.381 --> 00:26:44.852
  • Bear in our lives.
  • 00:26:44.852 --> 00:26:46.487
  • I believe the book will be a blessing with--for you.
  • 00:26:46.487 --> 00:26:49.189
  • If you'll pair it with, "unleashing the power of the
  • 00:26:49.189 --> 00:26:51.692
  • Holy spirit," it's one of the most effective tools we have,
  • 00:26:51.692 --> 00:26:54.294
  • It'll give you a pathway that i believe will bring god's
  • 00:26:54.294 --> 00:26:57.331
  • Best into your family.
  • 00:26:57.331 --> 00:26:58.699
  • You may not plant a church, but you have been given the
  • 00:26:58.699 --> 00:27:01.201
  • Assignment as an ambassador for the kingdom of god, and we need
  • 00:27:01.201 --> 00:27:04.304
  • The help of the holy spirit.
  • 00:27:04.304 --> 00:27:06.040
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:27:06.040 --> 00:27:07.374
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:07.374 --> 00:27:28.062