Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Robert Jeffress | July 14, 2025
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- Allen jackson: and i know you know, but we're living in
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- A chaotic world, things are changing globally.
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- There's wars, there's threats of war, a lot of stuff happening.
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- But i wanna make a suggestion, don't focus on the negative,
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- Don't get caught up in the uncertainty.
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- That'll bring fear and anxiety and worry.
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- It's not helpful.
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- Let's determine to focus our attention on the lord.
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- We've created a tool that i believe will make a difference.
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- It's called, "awaken us."
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- It's a 30 day plan.
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- Each day is directed at a different topic
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- That's a part of our current world.
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- It gives us a verse of scripture, a little devotional
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- Around that topic.
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- And then a prayer for that specific thing.
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- The idea is we're gonna give the holy spirit an invitation
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- To awaken us to a new place of faith.
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- You know, we need an awakening in the midst
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- Of the people of god.
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- And we wanna say, "well, i am awake."
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- Well, i get that, but, you know, i was awakened yesterday.
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- But this morning i was awakened again, and my prayer is
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- Tomorrow i'll be awakened yet again.
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- We need a daily awakening by the spirit of god
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- To find his best for us in this season.
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- And i believe this book will help you.
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- ♪♪♪
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- Allen jackson: and then i brought you just a
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- Quick sampling.
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- I think it's worth noting that, what jesus told his friends
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- About, they got to see.
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- But i think it's extraordinarily naive and a very poor
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- Application of biblical interpretation to suggest it was
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- Only a first century problem.
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- If that's the case, then the scripture's affording us very
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- Little guidance.
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- In revelation chapter 1, this is john's self analysis.
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- He said, "i, john, your brother and companion," i read that, and
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- I think, "oh, this is going to be good."
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- The disciple, the apostle that jesus loved the most, he's about
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- To show us how he understands what it means to be jesus's
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- Friend, "your brother and companion in the suffering and
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- The kingdom and the patient endurance that are ours in
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- Jesus christ."
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- Now, if he were a 21st century person, he would have said, "in
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- The health and the prosperity."
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- And i'm not opposed to either of those.
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- In fact, i trust god for those things in my life.
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- But when john is identifying after years of having walked
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- With and served the lord, he's, the things he extends to those
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- He's addressing is that, in christ, we'll face suffering and
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- Be required to patiently endure, "that our hours in jesus; i was
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- On the island of patmos because of the word of god and the
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- Testimony of jesus."
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- He's been exiled.
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- He's been imprisoned on an island, not because he's a thief
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- Or a murderer or an extortionist.
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- He's on a, he's a prisoner because of the word of god and
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- The testimony of jesus.
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- In acts chapter 4, in verse 18, this is peter and john; they're
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- Before the sanhedrin, the same group that orchestrated jesus's
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- Execution, "and they called him in again and they commanded them
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- Not to speak or teach it all in the name of jesus."
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- He's dead; as far as the sanhedrin knows, they
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- Killed him.
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- But now his pesky disciples are here, and they're commanding
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- Them, "don't you mention his name; we'll do to you what we
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- Did to him."
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- That's a real threat.
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- If you'd been with jesus and saw him walk on the water
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- Or raise the dead or open blind eyes, and they crucified him,
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- You would take it seriously when they pointed their finger
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- At you and said, "you're gonna get the same."
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- They didn't relent.
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- Acts chapter 12, it says, "it was about this time that king
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- Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to
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- Persecute them.
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- He had james, the brother of john, put to death with
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- The sword."
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- Two of the apostles that jesus recruited, martyred.
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- By the time we get to acts chapter 12, the church has
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- Barely broken out of jerusalem.
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- Acts 22, paul is in jerusalem.
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- He's gone to the temple prepared to make vows to assure the
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- Religious community that he's still an observant pharisee.
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- And they become so angry with him that they shed upon him as
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- A mob.
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- And so he gives his testimony, and i brought you the line that
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- Incited them to such a murderous rage that the romans would come
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- And get him, but he said, "the lord said to me, 'go, i will
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- Send you far away to the gentiles.'
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- And the crowd listened to paul until he said this.
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- Then they raised their voices and shouted, 'rid the earth
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- Of him!
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- He's not fit to live!'
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- As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and
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- Flinging dust into the air, the commander," the roman commander,
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- "ordered paul to be taken into the barracks.
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- He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find
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- Out why the people were shouting at him like this."
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- So, our heroes, the men and women whose faithfulness we
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- Revere in trying to navigate our own journey through time, the
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- People whose stories we read from the pages of scripture, who
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- Gave rise to the churches that occupy the second 2/3 of our new
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- Testament by title, they faced the challenges that jesus said
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- They would.
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- So i have a question.
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- Do you imagine that you and i are going to live at the
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- Culmination of the age when the great battle of the ages is
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- Going to rage, the spiritual conflict of all spiritual
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- Conflicts, do you think we're going to face that and have
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- No challenges?
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- We've kind of flipped the script.
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- You know, a challenge for us is our parking place at church
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- Was inconvenient.
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- Well, i agree with you, that's a lift.
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- Or somebody sits in your seat, or we read from the wrong
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- Translation of the bible.
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- Folks, it's not our children that are soft.
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- They have caught that infection from us because they've seen us
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- Model that our faith is connected to the weather and
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- Convenience and ease and alternative forms
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- Of entertainment.
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- And i would submit to you that we have an assignment before us
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- That is unique, that the return of the king is connected to a
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- Willingness of his people to see the gospel proclaimed in the
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- Whole world.
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- And that will take the very best that that generation has and
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- That we'll have to do it in the face of some difficulty.
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- I wanna give you just a little bit of history.
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- I started with what happened with hamas and the the israelis
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- On october the 7th.
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- I find that our understanding of history is pretty limited; my
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- Own is in many ways.
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- But persecution of the jewish people is not new.
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- And i wanna submit to you that there's a spirit behind it that
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- Has very little to do with politics or muslim or christian,
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- That there's a spirit that has driven it through the centuries.
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- You don't have to be particularly creative.
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- We can go all the way back to the book of exodus when the
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- Pharaoh ordered the hebrew children, the hebrew baby boys
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- To be murdered.
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- And the midwives defied pharaoh's order.
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- You know the story because moses's parents hid him to
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- Protect him from being murdered.
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- So the murder of the jewish boys goes all the way back to the
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- Book of exodus.
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- That's very near the beginning of the story.
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- And you can scroll forward more than 1000 years to bethlehem in
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- The time of jesus's birth when king herod, tricked by the the
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- Wise men, orders that the baby boys in bethlehem two years and
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- Younger be murdered.
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- And inexplicable, really, i mean, you can put some reasoning
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- Around it, but it's illogical.
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- It's irrational, it's murderous, it's evil.
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- Well, i'll add a bit more contemporary history to that.
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- The spanish inquisition.
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- Some of you, i have no doubt, have heard about it.
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- March 31, 1492, in the alhambra hall, the hall of the
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- Ambassador, king ferdinand and queen isabella signed an edict,
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- The alhambra decree, expelling all the jews from spain.
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- Sounds so clinical, so clean, as if your visa had been revoked.
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- But it's really far more difficult than that.
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- Spanish catholics had come to believe that the jews had too
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- Much economic influence over the kingdoms, and resentment because
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- Of that, combined with religious president, religious prejudice,
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- Is really what led to the will of the people that the jews
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- Be expelled.
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- But, in reality, on the ground, there was so much hatred that
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- Many jews were killed.
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- Now, you could avoid expulsion or murder if you would adopt
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- Christian beliefs, if you would renounce judaism and
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- Embrace christianity.
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- So there was a significant group of people who converted, but
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- They lived under continuing prejudice and suspicion.
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- And there remained a significant population of jews who just
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- Professed their conversion but quietly, privately, secretly
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- Continued to practice their faith.
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- And what we should all understand and at least be
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- Willing to acknowledge as a part of history is that all of that
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- Unfolded with the permission of the pope.
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- Now, we will say, "well, those aren't our kinds of
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- Christians, perhaps."
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- But you'll understand if the jewish community fails to make
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- That distinction.
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- Fifteenth century, spanish inquisition.
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- There's a word that is not common, i don't, you may or may
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- Not be familiar with it.
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- The word is pogrom; it's a russian word that means to wreak
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- Havoc, to demolish, even violently.
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- Well, historically, that word has been applied to violent
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- Attacks by local populations who were not jewish upon the jews
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- Immediately available to them, initially in the russian empire,
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- But it spread to other countries.
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- One of the first such incidents to be labeled the pogrom was an
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- Anti-jewish riot in odessa in 1821.
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- And, from that behavior, it made its way into the vocabulary to
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- Describe these anti-jewish riots that swept southern and western
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- Provinces of the russian empire in the late 1800s.
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- Roman, romanian-- it spread beyond russia.
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- Romanian officials and military units, assisted even by german
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- Soldiers, killed 8000 jews during a progrom; thousands and
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- Thousands of jews were killed in this way.
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- And it was very common for the instigator to be the russian
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- Orthodox church.
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- If there was a drought, it's because of the jews.
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- If there's a plague, it's because of the jews.
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- How many of you have seen the movie or the play fiddler on
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- The roof?
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- You don't have to raise your hand.
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- But the persecution of the jewish people, being driven from
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- One place to another, being mistreated for no reason other
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- Than the fact that they were jewish.
- 00:11:33.809 --> 00:11:38.347
- During world war ii it became popular to organize mobile
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- Killing units.
- 00:11:41.550 --> 00:11:43.853
- They got their orders from the security police chief, and they
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- Encouraged indigenous populations living in these
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- Newly conquered places that the nazis had come to dominate to
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- Launch pogroms wherever they might be.
- 00:11:56.031 --> 00:11:59.168
- Again, using local civilians-- you have to have a population
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- That carries the antagonism.
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- It isn't something that is forced upon them.
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- There's no, you can't explain what happened in europe in world
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- War ii as a result of just the nazis because europe gave up
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- Their jewish communities.
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- You know some notable notable exceptions, like the hiding
- 00:12:16.552 --> 00:12:19.955
- Place with corrie ten boom and a family who hid jews.
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- But they were exceptions, and they certainly weren't the rule.
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- Maybe the most celebrated of the pogroms is
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- Called kristallnacht.
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- It's the night of crystal; literally, it refers to a night
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- Of broken glass, and it refers to a whole wave of anti, a very
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- Violent anti-jewish pogroms or violent attacks which took place
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- On november the 9 and 10 in 1938.
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- It was in germany, austria, czechoslovakia.
- 00:12:51.654 --> 00:12:54.757
- Again, it was far more widespread than our typical
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- Casual glance that history has led us to believe.
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- The rioters destroyed hundreds of synagogues, jewish
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- Institutions, throughout the-- germany, austria,
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- Czechoslovakia-- throughout the night in full view of the public
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- And of local firefighters who'd received orders not to
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- Intervene, only if the flames threatened other buildings.
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- They estimate that thousands of jewish owned commercial
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- Establishments and synagogues were looted, destroyed, burned,
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- And there's really not an accurate count of the number of
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- The jewish people who lost their lives.
- 00:13:36.298 --> 00:13:39.935
- You just go forward a little further to october the 7th,
- 00:13:39.935 --> 00:13:42.238
- 2024, and hundreds of jewish people, israeli citizens, are
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- Slaughtered in their homes, men, women, and children, and the
- 00:13:48.878 --> 00:13:52.915
- Global community looks on, and the united nations supports it
- 00:13:52.915 --> 00:13:56.185
- And participates in it.
- 00:13:56.185 --> 00:13:57.853
- Not all the united nations; you'll excuse me if i don't
- 00:13:57.853 --> 00:14:00.689
- Really pay much attention to your distinction.
- 00:14:00.689 --> 00:14:05.227
- And voices at the leading universities in our nation, some
- 00:14:05.227 --> 00:14:08.631
- Of the most prestigious seats in academia, refused to condemn it.
- 00:14:08.631 --> 00:14:14.837
- Some of them lost their positions, but they haven't lost
- 00:14:14.837 --> 00:14:17.506
- Their jobs.
- 00:14:17.506 --> 00:14:20.242
- They're still being honored; the faculty very publicly stood
- 00:14:20.242 --> 00:14:23.045
- Behind them.
- 00:14:23.045 --> 00:14:25.614
- They can do that because those ideas have such deep seats in
- 00:14:25.614 --> 00:14:28.784
- American academia today.
- 00:14:28.784 --> 00:14:32.021
- What you should understand, i would invite you to consider, is
- 00:14:32.021 --> 00:14:37.326
- That it's a spirit behind it.
- 00:14:37.326 --> 00:14:39.962
- And the same spirit that hates the jewish people hates the
- 00:14:39.962 --> 00:14:43.565
- Entire covenant people of god.
- 00:14:43.565 --> 00:14:48.971
- Allen: hey we have a tool that i think will help you
- 00:14:53.008 --> 00:14:54.710
- Overcome some of the chaos in the world
- 00:14:54.710 --> 00:14:56.445
- And stay focused on the good things that god is doing.
- 00:14:56.445 --> 00:14:59.882
- It's called, "awaken us."
- 00:14:59.882 --> 00:15:01.317
- It's a 30 day plan.
- 00:15:01.317 --> 00:15:03.218
- Each day's got a scripture, a little devotional,
- 00:15:03.218 --> 00:15:05.854
- A prayer that goes with a specific topic
- 00:15:05.854 --> 00:15:08.357
- To awaken us to god's promise and provision in this season.
- 00:15:08.357 --> 00:15:13.395
- God's moving in the earth, i wanna move with him.
- 00:15:13.395 --> 00:15:15.864
- And i believe this tool will help you be prepared
- 00:15:15.864 --> 00:15:18.500
- To capitalize on god's invitations in your life.
- 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:22.338
- Female announcer: "awaken us" delivers 30 days
- 00:15:22.404 --> 00:15:24.273
- Of prayer, scripture and insight from pastor allen
- 00:15:24.273 --> 00:15:27.309
- On relevant topics.
- 00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:28.978
- Each day is designed to sharpen your focus
- 00:15:28.978 --> 00:15:31.246
- As you ask god to show you his heart
- 00:15:31.246 --> 00:15:33.415
- And his truth in a new way.
- 00:15:33.415 --> 00:15:35.684
- With the holy spirit's help, this book will awaken you
- 00:15:35.684 --> 00:15:38.554
- To the impact your life has on the world
- 00:15:38.554 --> 00:15:40.789
- And those around you.
- 00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:42.358
- Start your journey today by requesting "awaken us,"
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- When you donate any amount at allenjackson.com
- 00:15:44.994 --> 00:15:48.163
- Or by calling ...
- 00:15:48.163 --> 00:15:52.201
- Allen: but i brought you two or three passages.
- 00:15:53.302 --> 00:15:54.636
- I'll touch them really quickly because they lead in the
- 00:15:54.636 --> 00:15:56.538
- Same way.
- 00:15:56.538 --> 00:15:57.906
- In jeremiah, jeremiah had a difficult assignment, to tell
- 00:15:57.906 --> 00:16:01.110
- The people that the babylonians were coming and there's nothing
- 00:16:01.110 --> 00:16:03.479
- They can do about it.
- 00:16:03.479 --> 00:16:06.382
- It's a more difficult assignment than some in scripture.
- 00:16:06.382 --> 00:16:08.751
- Isaiah got to go tell king hezekiah that the
- 00:16:08.751 --> 00:16:11.954
- Assyrians, god would put a hook in their jaw and take them back
- 00:16:11.954 --> 00:16:14.289
- The way they came; you don't have to worry about them.
- 00:16:14.289 --> 00:16:18.193
- Most of us tell our stories and imagine that god responds to us
- 00:16:18.193 --> 00:16:21.263
- As he did to hezekiah.
- 00:16:21.263 --> 00:16:24.266
- But jeremiah, a prophet of god, had to say to the covenant
- 00:16:24.266 --> 00:16:27.603
- People of god, the enemy is coming, and they'll destroy your
- 00:16:27.603 --> 00:16:31.040
- City, and murder you, and destroy the temple, and there's
- 00:16:31.040 --> 00:16:34.877
- Nothing you can do.
- 00:16:34.877 --> 00:16:36.211
- The condition of your hearts is such that god is
- 00:16:36.211 --> 00:16:38.347
- Bringing judgment.
- 00:16:38.347 --> 00:16:42.317
- It's a very similar passage to the new testament when we find
- 00:16:42.317 --> 00:16:44.686
- Jesus in the book of acts, and the disciples say, in acts
- 00:16:44.686 --> 00:16:47.489
- Chapter 1, "are you going to restore the kingdom to israel?"
- 00:16:47.489 --> 00:16:50.192
- And jesus said, "it's not time for you to know; that's none of
- 00:16:50.192 --> 00:16:53.262
- Your business, really."
- 00:16:53.262 --> 00:16:54.830
- And contemporary christian audiences say, "see, jesus told
- 00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:57.900
- Us not to be political."
- 00:16:57.900 --> 00:16:59.902
- I don't believe that's an accurate reading of what
- 00:16:59.902 --> 00:17:01.703
- Happened because, if you go to luke's gospel, and luke is the
- 00:17:01.703 --> 00:17:04.573
- One who authored the book of acts, on more than one occasion
- 00:17:04.573 --> 00:17:07.342
- In luke's gospel, jesus says to the audience; he's weeping over
- 00:17:07.342 --> 00:17:10.112
- The city of jerusalem, and he said, "your enemies are gonna
- 00:17:10.112 --> 00:17:12.648
- Build an embankment against you.
- 00:17:12.648 --> 00:17:15.017
- They'll circle you in, they'll hem you in on every side,
- 00:17:15.017 --> 00:17:19.588
- They'll dash the heads of your children against the stones of
- 00:17:19.588 --> 00:17:22.324
- This city.
- 00:17:22.324 --> 00:17:24.693
- They'll tear this temple down."
- 00:17:24.693 --> 00:17:26.495
- He has already spoken judgment over the city.
- 00:17:26.495 --> 00:17:31.100
- Now, the disciples haven't caught up with it yet.
- 00:17:31.100 --> 00:17:34.703
- They're asking for an isaiah proclamation from jesus in acts
- 00:17:34.703 --> 00:17:38.173
- Chapter 1, "tell us that you're gonna put a hook in the jaw of
- 00:17:38.173 --> 00:17:41.243
- The romans and take them away."
- 00:17:41.243 --> 00:17:42.778
- And jesus said, "that question has been asked and answered."
- 00:17:42.778 --> 00:17:48.517
- It wasn't that he was avoiding the current events that were
- 00:17:48.517 --> 00:17:52.221
- Going to shape their future.
- 00:17:52.221 --> 00:17:54.156
- He had already told them.
- 00:17:54.156 --> 00:17:57.459
- Jeremiah 27, "with my great power and outstretched arm i
- 00:17:57.459 --> 00:18:00.629
- Made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it,
- 00:18:00.629 --> 00:18:04.399
- And i give it to anyone i please.
- 00:18:04.399 --> 00:18:07.302
- And now i'll hand all your countries over to my servant
- 00:18:07.302 --> 00:18:11.540
- Nebuchadnezzar, the king of babylon; i'll make even the wild
- 00:18:11.540 --> 00:18:15.777
- Animals subject to him.
- 00:18:15.777 --> 00:18:17.846
- All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until
- 00:18:17.846 --> 00:18:20.983
- This time for his land comes; and then many nations and great
- 00:18:20.983 --> 00:18:25.454
- Kings will subjugate him."
- 00:18:25.454 --> 00:18:27.723
- Very clearly, god is involved in the affairs of nations.
- 00:18:27.723 --> 00:18:33.595
- He calls nebuchadnezzar his servant; he's an evil pagan.
- 00:18:33.595 --> 00:18:41.136
- Daniel, who spent much of his life serving in the babylonian
- 00:18:41.136 --> 00:18:47.643
- Court, has some interesting perspectives on this.
- 00:18:47.643 --> 00:18:52.114
- In daniel chapter 2, after he's, daniel's been told he's gonna be
- 00:18:52.114 --> 00:18:56.018
- Killed on the next day because the wise men of the realm are
- 00:18:56.018 --> 00:19:00.989
- Not able to provide what the king is demanding.
- 00:19:00.989 --> 00:19:04.493
- And daniel asks for an evening to seek god, and god reveals to
- 00:19:04.493 --> 00:19:09.298
- Him what's being requested, some of you know the story.
- 00:19:09.298 --> 00:19:12.501
- And, at the end of that, daniel prays, and we just hear his
- 00:19:12.501 --> 00:19:14.836
- Prayer, daniel prays to the god of heaven.
- 00:19:14.836 --> 00:19:16.838
- He said, "praise be to the name of god forever and ever; wisdom
- 00:19:16.838 --> 00:19:20.442
- And power are his.
- 00:19:20.442 --> 00:19:22.344
- He changes times and seasons.
- 00:19:22.344 --> 00:19:24.713
- He sets up kings and he deposes them.
- 00:19:24.713 --> 00:19:27.516
- He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning."
- 00:19:27.516 --> 00:19:31.553
- Daniel imagined that god put kings and rulers in place,
- 00:19:31.553 --> 00:19:36.491
- Sometimes to the benefit of his people and sometimes to execute
- 00:19:36.491 --> 00:19:40.028
- Judgment upon his people.
- 00:19:40.028 --> 00:19:42.864
- We keep naively waiting for the next election to fix us while we
- 00:19:42.864 --> 00:19:46.368
- Don't change our hearts.
- 00:19:46.368 --> 00:19:48.637
- If we don't change our hearts, the elections are an expression
- 00:19:48.637 --> 00:19:52.140
- Of god's judgment.
- 00:19:52.140 --> 00:19:55.844
- How many times do we have to repeat the cycle before we take
- 00:19:55.844 --> 00:19:59.047
- It seriously?
- 00:19:59.047 --> 00:20:02.351
- Daniel chapter 4, nebuchadnezzar has a dream, and he's relating--
- 00:20:02.351 --> 00:20:07.055
- So the pagan king is relating his dream.
- 00:20:07.055 --> 00:20:10.692
- "the decision is announced by messengers; the holy ones
- 00:20:10.692 --> 00:20:13.629
- Declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the most
- 00:20:13.629 --> 00:20:16.832
- High is sovereign of the kingdoms of men and gives them
- 00:20:16.832 --> 00:20:20.869
- To anyone he wishes and sets them over the lowliest of men."
- 00:20:20.869 --> 00:20:24.840
- This is the dream nebuchadnezzar has had, and he's relating the
- 00:20:24.840 --> 00:20:28.043
- Dream, and he's asking for an interpretation; it's a mystery
- 00:20:28.043 --> 00:20:30.512
- To him.
- 00:20:30.512 --> 00:20:32.047
- He doesn't imagine there's any ruler anywhere in all of
- 00:20:32.047 --> 00:20:35.217
- Creation with authority greater than his.
- 00:20:35.217 --> 00:20:38.453
- And daniel gives him the interpretation.
- 00:20:38.453 --> 00:20:40.889
- You think it took some courage to say this to an ancient near
- 00:20:40.889 --> 00:20:43.592
- Eastern monarch?
- 00:20:43.592 --> 00:20:45.227
- I promise you, "this is the interpretation, o king; this is
- 00:20:45.227 --> 00:20:51.533
- The decree the most high has issued against the lord, my lord
- 00:20:51.533 --> 00:20:56.672
- The king."
- 00:20:56.672 --> 00:20:58.373
- And he goes on to say that the god of creation has said,
- 00:20:58.373 --> 00:21:01.043
- "you're going to lose your mind, and you'll live like an animal.
- 00:21:01.043 --> 00:21:06.481
- You'll wander in the field and lick the dew off the grass, and
- 00:21:06.481 --> 00:21:09.551
- Your nails will grow long like the claws of an animal."
- 00:21:09.551 --> 00:21:13.689
- And it happened.
- 00:21:13.689 --> 00:21:18.293
- And, when nebuchadnezzar comes back to his senses, daniel 4 is
- 00:21:18.293 --> 00:21:24.333
- His response, "at the end of time, i, nebuchadnezzar raised
- 00:21:24.333 --> 00:21:27.035
- My eyes towards heaven, and my sanity was restored.
- 00:21:27.035 --> 00:21:31.373
- Then i praised the most high; i honored and glorified him who
- 00:21:31.373 --> 00:21:34.643
- Lives forever."
- 00:21:34.643 --> 00:21:35.977
- You think?
- 00:21:35.977 --> 00:21:38.480
- And listen to what he says about god, "his dominion is an eternal
- 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:42.184
- Dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- 00:21:42.184 --> 00:21:46.788
- All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
- 00:21:46.788 --> 00:21:49.991
- He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples
- 00:21:49.991 --> 00:21:53.295
- Of the earth.
- 00:21:53.295 --> 00:21:54.629
- No one can hold back his hand or say to him, 'what have
- 00:21:54.629 --> 00:21:57.833
- You done?'"
- 00:21:57.833 --> 00:22:00.268
- And, if we scroll forward to the 21st century, i would submit to
- 00:22:00.268 --> 00:22:04.773
- You that the people who fill our churches struggle to make a
- 00:22:04.773 --> 00:22:07.008
- Statement with the same courage and boldness and faithfulness
- 00:22:07.008 --> 00:22:09.611
- That nebuchadnezzar did.
- 00:22:09.611 --> 00:22:12.080
- And it would be good for us to meditate and reflect, to think
- 00:22:12.080 --> 00:22:14.583
- About a little bit, the fact that god is all powerful, he's
- 00:22:14.583 --> 00:22:17.686
- Almighty, and that we would rather align ourselves with him
- 00:22:17.686 --> 00:22:21.723
- And be obedient to him and submit to him than demand our
- 00:22:21.723 --> 00:22:24.693
- Own ways and demand that all of heaven be focused on giving me
- 00:22:24.693 --> 00:22:27.396
- What i want.
- 00:22:27.396 --> 00:22:29.631
- How might we cooperate with you?
- 00:22:29.631 --> 00:22:32.701
- Evil exists in the world.
- 00:22:32.701 --> 00:22:35.504
- It won't be banished until the king of kings returns to
- 00:22:35.504 --> 00:22:38.106
- Address it.
- 00:22:38.106 --> 00:22:39.775
- In the meantime, we stand in his authority and his power to hold
- 00:22:39.775 --> 00:22:43.779
- Out the truth of jesus christ, that it's available to transform
- 00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:47.015
- Any human life to deliver us from the authority of the
- 00:22:47.015 --> 00:22:50.252
- Kingdom of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of the son he
- 00:22:50.252 --> 00:22:52.988
- Loves, that we submit ourselves to that authority, acknowledging
- 00:22:52.988 --> 00:22:58.026
- Our need for a savior, repenting of our sins, asking for
- 00:22:58.026 --> 00:23:01.897
- Forgiveness, forgiving those who have sinned against us.
- 00:23:01.897 --> 00:23:04.499
- And we are granted this most remarkable, most supernatural
- 00:23:04.499 --> 00:23:07.769
- Birth into another kingdom.
- 00:23:07.769 --> 00:23:10.639
- And, from that point on, we spend our days learning to yield
- 00:23:10.639 --> 00:23:15.444
- And serve the king.
- 00:23:15.444 --> 00:23:18.747
- We will face challenges.
- 00:23:18.747 --> 00:23:21.416
- I have no doubt that the hatred in the world for the people of
- 00:23:21.416 --> 00:23:24.019
- God will grow.
- 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:27.255
- I don't doubt that the israelis will deal with hamas, and most
- 00:23:27.255 --> 00:23:31.226
- Of the kingdoms of this world will moan and scream
- 00:23:31.226 --> 00:23:33.962
- Against them.
- 00:23:33.962 --> 00:23:35.831
- But i don't imagine that they will banish expressions of evil
- 00:23:35.831 --> 00:23:38.800
- Towards the jewish people.
- 00:23:38.800 --> 00:23:41.169
- Nor do i imagine that the hatred for the christian community in
- 00:23:41.169 --> 00:23:44.773
- Our culture is going to continue to stay underground.
- 00:23:44.773 --> 00:23:48.109
- What we've seen in corporate boardrooms, in academia, in the
- 00:23:48.109 --> 00:23:51.613
- Halls of our universities.
- 00:23:51.613 --> 00:23:55.550
- We protect pornographic books in our children's libraries.
- 00:23:55.550 --> 00:23:58.553
- We're mutilating children in our finest hospitals.
- 00:23:58.553 --> 00:24:07.529
- I watched, i saw a video, i remember stories from 1948 from
- 00:24:07.529 --> 00:24:11.233
- People that i knew, that said women were mutilated in the
- 00:24:11.233 --> 00:24:14.169
- Streets of jerusalem when israel became a state in '48.
- 00:24:14.169 --> 00:24:17.539
- And that wasn't because of persecution in the region.
- 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:19.941
- It was a hatred for the jewish people.
- 00:24:19.941 --> 00:24:22.911
- I saw videos of similar behaviors this week.
- 00:24:22.911 --> 00:24:28.683
- As i watched them, i was reminded that we're mutilating
- 00:24:28.683 --> 00:24:31.019
- Our own young women in the hospitals of our nation.
- 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:35.724
- The same spirit drives it all.
- 00:24:35.724 --> 00:24:39.961
- It's the spirit of antichrist; it hates the principles of god
- 00:24:39.961 --> 00:24:44.332
- And the people of god.
- 00:24:44.332 --> 00:24:45.700
- We're the church; we have an assignment.
- 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:49.337
- It's a privilege to bear the name of jesus.
- 00:24:49.337 --> 00:24:52.607
- Now, let's use our influence in the places god has given to us
- 00:24:52.607 --> 00:24:56.144
- To be advocates for the kingdom of light, amen?
- 00:24:56.144 --> 00:25:00.315
- Let's go do difficult, in jesus's name.
- 00:25:00.315 --> 00:25:03.318
- Why don't you stand with me?
- 00:25:03.318 --> 00:25:07.756
- Father, thank you.
- 00:25:07.756 --> 00:25:09.724
- Thank you that you have awakened us, that you have given us an
- 00:25:09.724 --> 00:25:13.595
- Assignment and a purpose.
- 00:25:13.595 --> 00:25:15.630
- I thank you for the freedom and liberty we have, the resources
- 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:18.333
- At our disposal, the freedoms to come and go, the technology, the
- 00:25:18.333 --> 00:25:22.003
- Tools to communicate.
- 00:25:22.003 --> 00:25:23.371
- You have blessed us.
- 00:25:23.371 --> 00:25:25.340
- We pray tonight for the peace of jerusalem.
- 00:25:25.340 --> 00:25:29.044
- They give the people of the land the wisdom to address the
- 00:25:29.044 --> 00:25:31.646
- Threats that they face in a way that will bring your security
- 00:25:31.646 --> 00:25:35.617
- To them.
- 00:25:35.617 --> 00:25:36.985
- Open their hearts to you as never before.
- 00:25:36.985 --> 00:25:39.554
- Give them a revelation of jesus of nazareth as their messiah.
- 00:25:39.554 --> 00:25:45.226
- They will bring peace to their hearts and peace with you.
- 00:25:45.226 --> 00:25:48.463
- I pray for your church and the earth, that you would awaken us
- 00:25:48.463 --> 00:25:50.665
- From our slumber, from our distractions, from the things
- 00:25:50.665 --> 00:25:53.602
- That have diminished us, and that we'd yield our hearts to
- 00:25:53.602 --> 00:25:56.738
- You with a determination beyond anything we've ever known.
- 00:25:56.738 --> 00:26:00.575
- Father, may our lives be pleasing to you.
- 00:26:00.575 --> 00:26:03.979
- May we live in such a way that, when our days are spent and our
- 00:26:03.979 --> 00:26:06.982
- Strength is diminished, that you can say, "well done."
- 00:26:06.982 --> 00:26:10.919
- I thank you for it, in jesus's name, amen.
- 00:26:10.919 --> 00:26:15.090
- Hallelujah, god bless you.
- 00:26:15.090 --> 00:26:21.029
- Allen: you know no matter what source of news you turn to
- 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:28.570
- It's hard some days not to be overwhelmed with despair,
- 00:26:28.570 --> 00:26:32.073
- The deception, the conflict in the earth,
- 00:26:32.073 --> 00:26:35.043
- The suffering that's taking place in so many places,
- 00:26:35.043 --> 00:26:38.313
- The struggling church in our own nation.
- 00:26:38.313 --> 00:26:41.182
- But there are reasons for hope.
- 00:26:41.182 --> 00:26:42.684
- God is moving in the most remarkable ways
- 00:26:42.684 --> 00:26:45.687
- But we need to have a plan, a method, even a tool
- 00:26:45.687 --> 00:26:48.623
- To help us give our thoughts and our hearts focused on god.
- 00:26:48.623 --> 00:26:52.360
- Well, i have a suggestion, it's a little booklet
- 00:26:52.360 --> 00:26:53.795
- We put together, it's called "awaken us."
- 00:26:53.795 --> 00:26:55.964
- It's a 30-day plan.
- 00:26:55.964 --> 00:26:57.298
- It's built by topic each day with a scripture,
- 00:26:57.298 --> 00:27:00.168
- A little devotional, and a prayer topically directed
- 00:27:00.168 --> 00:27:03.405
- To help focus our thoughts at an awakening
- 00:27:03.405 --> 00:27:06.241
- To god's invitations to us around that specific theme.
- 00:27:06.241 --> 00:27:10.211
- We're awakened every day for the challenges of that day.
- 00:27:10.211 --> 00:27:12.781
- Well let's ask the spirit of god to awaken us
- 00:27:12.781 --> 00:27:15.784
- Consistently to what he would have us doing
- 00:27:15.784 --> 00:27:18.486
- In this most unique season.
- 00:27:18.486 --> 00:27:20.388
- God is moving, i want to move with him,
- 00:27:20.388 --> 00:27:22.590
- And i believe you do too.
- 00:27:22.590 --> 00:27:23.925
- And i believe "awaken us" will be a help.
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