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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Victory Over Darkness (Part 1)

September 20, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - Victory Over Darkness (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Victory #Overcoming #Evil #Church #BodyofChrist #SpiritualFoundation #Sin #Desire #Temptation #Lust #Soul #SpiritualWarfare #Idolatry #Witchcraft

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Victory Over Darkness (Part 1) | September 20, 2025
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: may i ask you a question?
  • 00:00:07.023 --> 00:00:08.324
  • Who's your best friend?
  • 00:00:08.425 --> 00:00:09.959
  • Now, i don't want the politically correct answer or
  • 00:00:10.093 --> 00:00:12.128
  • The answer that you think you should give,
  • 00:00:12.262 --> 00:00:13.463
  • But in reality, who's the person whose opinion you value the
  • 00:00:13.563 --> 00:00:14.597
  • Most, the person that you wanna share your opinions with,
  • 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:19.302
  • The person whose perspective matters to you when you're
  • 00:00:19.302 --> 00:00:21.738
  • Sorting through a difficult question or circumstance?
  • 00:00:21.738 --> 00:00:25.175
  • Who is it that brings joy to your life when you get a little
  • 00:00:25.175 --> 00:00:27.043
  • Time with him?
  • 00:00:27.043 --> 00:00:28.378
  • Who's your best friend? well, i wanna plant a seed.
  • 00:00:28.378 --> 00:00:31.314
  • I got an idea, and it's an objective more than it's always
  • 00:00:31.314 --> 00:00:33.783
  • A reality.
  • 00:00:33.783 --> 00:00:35.185
  • I want jesus to be my friend, and i don't mean some
  • 00:00:35.185 --> 00:00:37.987
  • Theoretical way.
  • 00:00:37.987 --> 00:00:39.389
  • I mean, i wanna care about his opinion.
  • 00:00:39.389 --> 00:00:40.723
  • I wanna know what brings joy to him.
  • 00:00:40.723 --> 00:00:42.492
  • I wanna invite him into my life.
  • 00:00:42.492 --> 00:00:43.993
  • I'm not trying to keep any of my life secret from him.
  • 00:00:43.993 --> 00:00:46.463
  • I wanna live my life as jesus's friend.
  • 00:00:46.463 --> 00:00:48.898
  • It's changed the entire context of how i think about my faith.
  • 00:00:48.898 --> 00:00:52.702
  • I've been living this out for a long time.
  • 00:00:52.702 --> 00:00:54.304
  • It's become a tremendous gift in my life.
  • 00:00:54.304 --> 00:00:56.005
  • It's important enough. i wrote a book.
  • 00:00:56.005 --> 00:00:58.108
  • I think it'll help you.
  • 00:00:58.108 --> 00:00:59.442
  • It'll open a doorway to take your faith from the theoretical
  • 00:00:59.442 --> 00:01:02.445
  • To a way to engage your faith every day in all you're doing.
  • 00:01:02.445 --> 00:01:05.949
  • It'll be a blessing.
  • 00:01:05.949 --> 00:01:08.084
  • Allen: we've been doing a series talking about "lions & lambs."
  • 00:01:08.151 --> 00:01:12.589
  • And in this session we're going to talk specifically a bit about
  • 00:01:12.589 --> 00:01:14.724
  • The victory over darkness that is ours.
  • 00:01:14.724 --> 00:01:17.827
  • The notion of lions and lambs, there's two principal lions
  • 00:01:17.827 --> 00:01:22.065
  • Presented to us in the new testament.
  • 00:01:22.065 --> 00:01:23.500
  • One, peter tells us that satan prowls the earth like a roaring
  • 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:28.104
  • Lion looking for people to devour.
  • 00:01:28.104 --> 00:01:31.174
  • And he gives us an assignment.
  • 00:01:31.174 --> 00:01:33.409
  • He says we have to be sober and vigilant.
  • 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:35.545
  • We have to be aware, and we have to resist him.
  • 00:01:35.545 --> 00:01:39.415
  • Not to avoid him, not to hide from him.
  • 00:01:39.415 --> 00:01:41.417
  • We have to resist him.
  • 00:01:41.417 --> 00:01:42.752
  • We've been called to be--to the resistance movement.
  • 00:01:42.752 --> 00:01:46.256
  • The other lion we meet is perhaps more familiar.
  • 00:01:46.256 --> 00:01:48.625
  • In the book of revelation we're introduced to the lion of the
  • 00:01:48.625 --> 00:01:51.528
  • Tribe of judah, the one who is worthy to open the scroll.
  • 00:01:51.528 --> 00:01:56.699
  • The one that's worthy of all worship and honor and glory
  • 00:01:56.699 --> 00:01:59.702
  • And power.
  • 00:01:59.702 --> 00:02:01.070
  • We read those verses together.
  • 00:02:01.070 --> 00:02:03.239
  • Two lions, very different characteristics, very different
  • 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:05.875
  • Objectives, very different responses are the response we're
  • 00:02:05.875 --> 00:02:09.579
  • Directed towards with response to the satanic roars that fill
  • 00:02:09.579 --> 00:02:13.750
  • The earth is to resist them.
  • 00:02:13.750 --> 00:02:15.952
  • The response we're directed towards towards the lion of the
  • 00:02:15.952 --> 00:02:18.655
  • Tribe of judah is to worship him.
  • 00:02:18.655 --> 00:02:22.091
  • And you--we're engaged to do both.
  • 00:02:22.091 --> 00:02:25.895
  • It's not an either/or proposition.
  • 00:02:25.895 --> 00:02:29.265
  • Well, i've been thinking about that, meditating on it, and i've
  • 00:02:29.265 --> 00:02:31.434
  • Been collecting passages with lions in and from all over the
  • 00:02:31.434 --> 00:02:33.770
  • Bible for days.
  • 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:35.805
  • But i was--i came across a bucket of quotes from winston
  • 00:02:35.805 --> 00:02:38.875
  • Churchill in the last few days, and great britain has often been
  • 00:02:38.875 --> 00:02:45.248
  • Represented by a lion.
  • 00:02:45.248 --> 00:02:47.750
  • Some of you may or may not know churchill was the prime minister
  • 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:50.486
  • Of great britain during world war 2.
  • 00:02:50.486 --> 00:02:54.224
  • He followed neville chamberlain as the prime minister.
  • 00:02:54.224 --> 00:02:56.559
  • Neville chamberlain was a feckless politician, a coward of
  • 00:02:56.559 --> 00:03:02.532
  • The first order.
  • 00:03:02.532 --> 00:03:04.968
  • I mean, impeccable credentials, but he negotiated with hitler
  • 00:03:04.968 --> 00:03:07.804
  • And announced that "peace in our lifetime."
  • 00:03:07.804 --> 00:03:14.244
  • And winston churchill was tagged to lead britain through the war.
  • 00:03:14.244 --> 00:03:19.449
  • Kind of a curmudgeon.
  • 00:03:19.449 --> 00:03:21.284
  • When the war was over, they didn't want him anymore.
  • 00:03:21.284 --> 00:03:23.987
  • They weren't particularly interested in him until they
  • 00:03:23.987 --> 00:03:25.955
  • Were in crisis.
  • 00:03:25.955 --> 00:03:27.690
  • But god had a person for the right time.
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  • I believe he still does that.
  • 00:03:29.926 --> 00:03:32.462
  • But some of the quotes i thought were worthwhile in the context
  • 00:03:32.462 --> 00:03:34.764
  • Of these attitudes of lions.
  • 00:03:34.764 --> 00:03:36.899
  • He said, "success consists of going from failure to failure
  • 00:03:36.899 --> 00:03:40.303
  • Without loss of enthusiasm."
  • 00:03:40.303 --> 00:03:44.674
  • "success is not final.
  • 00:03:44.674 --> 00:03:46.676
  • Failure is not fatal.
  • 00:03:46.676 --> 00:03:48.845
  • It is the courage to continue that counts."
  • 00:03:48.845 --> 00:03:53.049
  • "for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
  • 00:03:53.049 --> 00:03:56.586
  • Man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by
  • 00:03:56.586 --> 00:03:59.322
  • The handle."
  • 00:03:59.322 --> 00:04:03.626
  • "continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to
  • 00:04:03.626 --> 00:04:07.063
  • Unlocking our potential."
  • 00:04:07.063 --> 00:04:09.866
  • "the price of greatness is responsibility."
  • 00:04:09.866 --> 00:04:14.804
  • "this is not time for ease or comfort.
  • 00:04:14.804 --> 00:04:17.607
  • It is time to dare and endure."
  • 00:04:17.607 --> 00:04:21.844
  • "if we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find
  • 00:04:21.844 --> 00:04:25.448
  • We have lost the future."
  • 00:04:25.448 --> 00:04:28.518
  • It was quite an amazing list.
  • 00:04:28.518 --> 00:04:30.053
  • I'll spare you the rest of it or at least i'll wait for
  • 00:04:30.053 --> 00:04:31.854
  • Another time.
  • 00:04:31.854 --> 00:04:34.057
  • But i'd like to use the comparison between chamberlain
  • 00:04:34.057 --> 00:04:37.260
  • And churchill for our own season and submit to you that it's time
  • 00:04:37.260 --> 00:04:41.531
  • For us to make the move from appeasement to advocacy for
  • 00:04:41.531 --> 00:04:44.701
  • The truth.
  • 00:04:44.701 --> 00:04:46.536
  • One is passive and one is assertive and i would submit to
  • 00:04:46.536 --> 00:04:49.806
  • You the church predominantly has been passive for far too long.
  • 00:04:49.806 --> 00:04:55.511
  • I believe we're gonna have to follow the counsel of the new
  • 00:04:55.511 --> 00:04:57.347
  • Testament and say no to ungodliness.
  • 00:04:57.347 --> 00:05:00.416
  • Not welcome it in the door and try to explain to it the gospel.
  • 00:05:00.416 --> 00:05:04.587
  • We're gonna have to have the courage to say that ungodliness
  • 00:05:04.587 --> 00:05:06.656
  • Is wrong.
  • 00:05:06.656 --> 00:05:08.024
  • And if we continue in it, no matter where you sit on the
  • 00:05:08.024 --> 00:05:10.693
  • Weekend, you will forfeit your place in the kingdom of god.
  • 00:05:10.693 --> 00:05:14.964
  • In our homes, our churches, our schools, our places of business,
  • 00:05:14.964 --> 00:05:18.901
  • Wherever the lord provides us with the opportunity, we're
  • 00:05:18.901 --> 00:05:21.771
  • Going to have to say no to ungodliness.
  • 00:05:21.771 --> 00:05:29.512
  • If you'll allow me, i would submit to you that the church
  • 00:05:29.512 --> 00:05:32.882
  • Has spent decades accommodating evil.
  • 00:05:32.882 --> 00:05:36.652
  • We've even developed a culture and language of capitulation.
  • 00:05:36.652 --> 00:05:41.257
  • "we don't talk about faith in politics."
  • 00:05:41.257 --> 00:05:44.727
  • Well, if you haven't noticed, the politicians are talking
  • 00:05:44.727 --> 00:05:46.929
  • About things that determine our faith and the ability to give
  • 00:05:46.929 --> 00:05:49.465
  • Expression to it.
  • 00:05:49.465 --> 00:05:51.334
  • We better find our voices.
  • 00:05:51.334 --> 00:05:54.737
  • "we're to separate the church and the state."
  • 00:05:54.737 --> 00:05:56.706
  • Only if you want to live under the authoritarian rule
  • 00:05:56.706 --> 00:05:59.375
  • Of cruelty.
  • 00:05:59.375 --> 00:06:01.811
  • "we don't want to offend unbelievers, we want to build
  • 00:06:01.811 --> 00:06:04.447
  • Bridges of understanding."
  • 00:06:04.447 --> 00:06:06.816
  • I agree we want to build bridges of understanding the gospel and
  • 00:06:06.816 --> 00:06:10.052
  • The consequences of ignoring or being disobedient to god.
  • 00:06:10.052 --> 00:06:13.289
  • We don't have to do it in anger or hate or condemnation, but we
  • 00:06:13.289 --> 00:06:16.626
  • Have to tell the truth.
  • 00:06:16.626 --> 00:06:18.728
  • Not wanting to tell the truth to an unbelieving world is very
  • 00:06:18.728 --> 00:06:22.165
  • Similar to a doctor who doesn't want to give bad news to
  • 00:06:22.165 --> 00:06:24.634
  • A patient.
  • 00:06:24.634 --> 00:06:26.869
  • We would call that physician a quack.
  • 00:06:26.869 --> 00:06:30.373
  • Accuse them appropriately of committing malpractice and
  • 00:06:30.373 --> 00:06:34.143
  • Suggest that their license be removed.
  • 00:06:34.143 --> 00:06:36.913
  • And i'll tell you this, if the church lacks the courage to tell
  • 00:06:36.913 --> 00:06:39.715
  • The truth to our culture, the one who has put us on assignment
  • 00:06:39.715 --> 00:06:43.286
  • Will pull our license.
  • 00:06:43.286 --> 00:06:45.822
  • It's not optional.
  • 00:06:45.822 --> 00:06:47.156
  • We don't--the goal isn't to be judgmental.
  • 00:06:47.156 --> 00:06:50.426
  • We're all sinners, we've struggled with that, but the
  • 00:06:50.426 --> 00:06:52.595
  • Only way to change that behavior is to be confronted with
  • 00:06:52.595 --> 00:06:55.164
  • The truth.
  • 00:06:55.164 --> 00:06:57.767
  • The awkwardness of this is that our cowardness combined with the
  • 00:06:57.767 --> 00:07:00.937
  • Little fear of god has resulted in a church that is anemic and
  • 00:07:00.937 --> 00:07:04.707
  • Far too often impotent.
  • 00:07:04.707 --> 00:07:07.577
  • So there's some questions that we ask.
  • 00:07:07.577 --> 00:07:09.345
  • We hear them frequently.
  • 00:07:09.345 --> 00:07:10.713
  • I'm asked them wherever, whenever i travel: does our
  • 00:07:10.713 --> 00:07:13.182
  • Faith belong in the public square?
  • 00:07:13.182 --> 00:07:16.052
  • Absolutely.
  • 00:07:16.052 --> 00:07:18.120
  • If your faith doesn't travel with you beyond the place where
  • 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:20.690
  • You worship, it's not real.
  • 00:07:20.690 --> 00:07:23.559
  • It's a costume.
  • 00:07:23.559 --> 00:07:28.631
  • We can't compartmentalize our lives and segment our lives.
  • 00:07:28.631 --> 00:07:31.367
  • We take our faith wherever we go.
  • 00:07:31.367 --> 00:07:32.735
  • Should our faith affect how we do business?
  • 00:07:32.735 --> 00:07:34.604
  • Uh-huh.
  • 00:07:34.604 --> 00:07:36.372
  • Even how we select our leaders?
  • 00:07:36.372 --> 00:07:38.140
  • Absolutely.
  • 00:07:38.140 --> 00:07:39.475
  • Should we discuss our beliefs at work?
  • 00:07:39.475 --> 00:07:40.843
  • Mhm.
  • 00:07:40.843 --> 00:07:42.178
  • Should churches engage in discussions regarding
  • 00:07:42.178 --> 00:07:44.213
  • Current events?
  • 00:07:44.213 --> 00:07:45.715
  • No, we should just study history.
  • 00:07:45.715 --> 00:07:51.087
  • You know, i would submit to you that that set of questions would
  • 00:07:51.087 --> 00:07:53.456
  • Have seemed absurd to the church throughout most of our history,
  • 00:07:53.456 --> 00:07:57.360
  • Including the book of acts.
  • 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.695
  • It's a relatively new set of expressions that reflect not the
  • 00:07:59.695 --> 00:08:04.166
  • Best season of our story, and i'm very grateful to say that
  • 00:08:04.166 --> 00:08:07.703
  • There's an awakening taking place.
  • 00:08:07.703 --> 00:08:09.972
  • There's an engagement taking place.
  • 00:08:09.972 --> 00:08:11.474
  • We have truth being told by people that have been selected
  • 00:08:11.474 --> 00:08:13.776
  • To lead us, many of whom have not really lived openly
  • 00:08:13.776 --> 00:08:17.179
  • Christian lives.
  • 00:08:17.179 --> 00:08:19.348
  • God is moving in the most remarkable way.
  • 00:08:19.348 --> 00:08:23.386
  • So i'm gonna spend this session talking about victory over
  • 00:08:23.386 --> 00:08:26.155
  • Darkness and what that looks like in our lives and what's
  • 00:08:26.155 --> 00:08:28.558
  • Foundational to that.
  • 00:08:28.558 --> 00:08:30.660
  • You see, the church without the power of god remains just a
  • 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:33.563
  • Theoretical construct.
  • 00:08:33.563 --> 00:08:34.964
  • We're a theological discussion group, and i have no interest
  • 00:08:34.964 --> 00:08:38.701
  • In that.
  • 00:08:38.701 --> 00:08:40.069
  • I intend to be engaged with the power of god, with what god is
  • 00:08:40.069 --> 00:08:43.072
  • Doing in the earth, with making changes in the earth,
  • 00:08:43.072 --> 00:08:46.075
  • Understanding that that kind of forward movement, that kind of
  • 00:08:46.075 --> 00:08:48.411
  • Determination will bring with it, by definition, resistance.
  • 00:08:48.411 --> 00:08:54.584
  • It's the story of scripture.
  • 00:08:54.584 --> 00:08:55.952
  • It's the story of the church in the 21st century, and i pray
  • 00:08:55.952 --> 00:08:58.020
  • It's our story.
  • 00:08:58.020 --> 00:08:59.655
  • So we'll start with this notion of standing our ground.
  • 00:08:59.655 --> 00:09:01.624
  • It really is biblical.
  • 00:09:01.624 --> 00:09:02.992
  • I gave you a verse from ephesians 6, 6:13: "therefore
  • 00:09:02.992 --> 00:09:06.262
  • Put on the full armor of god, so that when the day of evil
  • 00:09:06.262 --> 00:09:09.131
  • Comes," please note it doesn't say "if."
  • 00:09:09.131 --> 00:09:12.768
  • That's not a negative confession.
  • 00:09:12.768 --> 00:09:14.503
  • I'm not being pessimistic.
  • 00:09:14.503 --> 00:09:16.305
  • It's an acknowledgement that on your journey under the sun, you
  • 00:09:16.305 --> 00:09:19.075
  • Are going to have to grapple with evil.
  • 00:09:19.075 --> 00:09:22.378
  • So since that's a given, the counsel we're given is it would
  • 00:09:22.378 --> 00:09:25.114
  • Be better to put on the full armor of god.
  • 00:09:25.114 --> 00:09:28.317
  • With the objective that you will "be able to stand your ground,
  • 00:09:28.317 --> 00:09:30.953
  • And after you've done everything, to stand."
  • 00:09:30.953 --> 00:09:33.189
  • Ultimately, god brings the victory.
  • 00:09:33.189 --> 00:09:35.758
  • But our assignment is to stand.
  • 00:09:35.758 --> 00:09:37.793
  • What did peter say?
  • 00:09:37.793 --> 00:09:39.128
  • Resist him.
  • 00:09:39.128 --> 00:09:41.464
  • It's not a battle we have to win.
  • 00:09:41.464 --> 00:09:42.965
  • Jesus defeated satan totally, irreversibly, for all eternity
  • 00:09:42.965 --> 00:09:46.569
  • On the cross.
  • 00:09:46.569 --> 00:09:49.271
  • But the full impact of that victory has not yet been
  • 00:09:49.271 --> 00:09:52.775
  • Played out.
  • 00:09:52.775 --> 00:09:54.210
  • So you and i are called to put on the armor of god and to stand
  • 00:09:54.210 --> 00:09:58.347
  • In resistance to the expressions of evil.
  • 00:09:58.347 --> 00:10:02.351
  • In habakkuk chapter 3 we get another component of what that
  • 00:10:02.351 --> 00:10:07.123
  • Posture would look like.
  • 00:10:07.123 --> 00:10:08.457
  • He said, "the sovereign lord is my strength."
  • 00:10:08.457 --> 00:10:10.926
  • Where does our strength come from?
  • 00:10:10.926 --> 00:10:12.294
  • From our self will, from our stubbornness, from
  • 00:10:12.294 --> 00:10:14.296
  • Our self-determination?
  • 00:10:14.296 --> 00:10:15.798
  • Hardly.
  • 00:10:15.798 --> 00:10:17.133
  • The lord is our strength.
  • 00:10:17.133 --> 00:10:18.901
  • There's a strength beyond ourselves.
  • 00:10:18.901 --> 00:10:23.939
  • You see that in the god assignments of your life.
  • 00:10:23.939 --> 00:10:28.644
  • I think new moms display a strength that has to come
  • 00:10:28.644 --> 00:10:31.180
  • From god.
  • 00:10:31.180 --> 00:10:33.049
  • A very physically demanding time.
  • 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:35.751
  • Pregnancy and delivery is one of the most vulnerable times a
  • 00:10:35.751 --> 00:10:38.554
  • Human being can face.
  • 00:10:38.554 --> 00:10:40.990
  • And moms are so excited.
  • 00:10:40.990 --> 00:10:43.592
  • And you watch the moms who have been through it, when they see
  • 00:10:43.592 --> 00:10:45.428
  • The new moms, their faces light up.
  • 00:10:45.428 --> 00:10:46.962
  • They don't look at them and go, "oh my god, do you understand
  • 00:10:46.962 --> 00:10:49.865
  • How dangerous this is?"
  • 00:10:49.865 --> 00:10:52.535
  • No, there's a time of joy, but i think there's a strength that
  • 00:10:52.535 --> 00:10:55.771
  • God gives for a part of the assignment that he brings to
  • 00:10:55.771 --> 00:10:58.874
  • Our life.
  • 00:10:58.874 --> 00:11:00.242
  • "the lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a
  • 00:11:00.242 --> 00:11:02.111
  • Deer, he enables me to go on the heights."
  • 00:11:02.111 --> 00:11:06.148
  • There's a few deer that live around the campus and i get to
  • 00:11:06.148 --> 00:11:09.885
  • See them.
  • 00:11:09.885 --> 00:11:11.220
  • Like, they amaze me.
  • 00:11:11.220 --> 00:11:12.588
  • They're frail by my--i grew up around horses and cattle.
  • 00:11:12.588 --> 00:11:14.457
  • They look a little more robust, but deer seem like they can fly.
  • 00:11:14.457 --> 00:11:18.828
  • They come up to a fence that intimidates me and they hop over
  • 00:11:18.828 --> 00:11:21.564
  • It like it's about a 3-inch step.
  • 00:11:21.564 --> 00:11:25.234
  • And the promise that god gave to the prophet was that god would
  • 00:11:25.234 --> 00:11:28.270
  • Make our feet like the feet of a deer, enabling us to go on
  • 00:11:28.270 --> 00:11:31.207
  • The height.
  • 00:11:31.207 --> 00:11:32.541
  • He gives us our strength and he makes us nimble.
  • 00:11:32.541 --> 00:11:34.076
  • We live in a confusing, tumultuous, rapidly
  • 00:11:34.076 --> 00:11:39.148
  • Changing world.
  • 00:11:39.148 --> 00:11:40.783
  • But we have god's strength, and he makes us nimble.
  • 00:11:40.783 --> 00:11:46.856
  • We have to be aware of the conflict that is within us.
  • 00:11:46.856 --> 00:11:49.558
  • It's easy to get focused on the conflict that's beyond us and
  • 00:11:49.558 --> 00:11:52.228
  • Be discouraged.
  • 00:11:52.228 --> 00:11:53.562
  • After all, we think, "well, i don't have that big
  • 00:11:53.562 --> 00:11:54.897
  • Of influence.
  • 00:11:54.897 --> 00:11:56.265
  • I don't have that much political power.
  • 00:11:56.265 --> 00:11:57.600
  • I don't have that much resource.
  • 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:58.968
  • Nobody cares about my opinion."
  • 00:11:58.968 --> 00:12:00.302
  • Folks, if almighty god, the creator of heaven and earth, is
  • 00:12:00.302 --> 00:12:02.705
  • Aware of you and he's aware of when you sit or stand, when you
  • 00:12:02.705 --> 00:12:05.841
  • Come in or when you go out, you have enormous influence.
  • 00:12:05.841 --> 00:12:10.613
  • We got--one of the things we've got to stop doing is stop
  • 00:12:10.613 --> 00:12:12.748
  • Saying, "i don't matter much."
  • 00:12:12.748 --> 00:12:14.116
  • You matter to god and who else, who else matters?
  • 00:12:14.116 --> 00:12:18.020
  • But the real battles of our life are not external.
  • 00:12:18.020 --> 00:12:21.624
  • It's not about what's happening in the political arena or in the
  • 00:12:21.624 --> 00:12:24.493
  • International arena.
  • 00:12:24.493 --> 00:12:25.861
  • The real battles, the determiners of our future, are
  • 00:12:25.861 --> 00:12:28.497
  • The ones that are within us.
  • 00:12:28.497 --> 00:12:31.167
  • 1 peter chapter 2 and verse 11: "dear friends, i urge you, as
  • 00:12:31.167 --> 00:12:34.570
  • Aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful
  • 00:12:34.570 --> 00:12:38.774
  • Desires, which war against your soul."
  • 00:12:38.774 --> 00:12:44.880
  • He said, "i'm warning you, i'm cautioning you, you're aliens
  • 00:12:44.880 --> 00:12:48.484
  • Here, you're strangers here, you're not in a--this isn't
  • 00:12:48.484 --> 00:12:50.886
  • Your permanent residence.
  • 00:12:50.886 --> 00:12:52.254
  • This present world order is not the ultimate set of values that
  • 00:12:52.254 --> 00:12:57.226
  • Is going to determine your future."
  • 00:12:57.226 --> 00:12:58.594
  • Do you understand how difficult that is to extricate yourself
  • 00:12:58.594 --> 00:13:00.763
  • From that?
  • 00:13:00.763 --> 00:13:02.565
  • I've had the privilege of traveling a bit and you--living
  • 00:13:02.565 --> 00:13:05.100
  • In other places, living in other cultures, and they have habits
  • 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:08.070
  • That are just weird.
  • 00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:10.673
  • You know, i lived in israel for a while.
  • 00:13:10.673 --> 00:13:12.341
  • I went to hebrew university and they read from right to left.
  • 00:13:12.341 --> 00:13:15.211
  • Their books are backwards.
  • 00:13:15.211 --> 00:13:18.414
  • I mean, literally, you go to the back of the book and you open it
  • 00:13:18.414 --> 00:13:20.716
  • And that's the front.
  • 00:13:20.716 --> 00:13:22.051
  • That's not easy to get used to.
  • 00:13:22.051 --> 00:13:24.386
  • I've lived in other places and their currency is
  • 00:13:24.386 --> 00:13:26.755
  • Not green.
  • 00:13:26.755 --> 00:13:28.390
  • It's red and purple.
  • 00:13:28.390 --> 00:13:31.527
  • And it doesn't have george washington's picture on it.
  • 00:13:31.527 --> 00:13:35.197
  • And you look at it and you think, "can i buy boardwalk or
  • 00:13:35.197 --> 00:13:38.000
  • Park place?
  • 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.869
  • I want to put a hotel there."
  • 00:13:39.869 --> 00:13:43.239
  • And they don't serve hamburgers, they eat weird food.
  • 00:13:43.239 --> 00:13:47.576
  • I lived in the philippines for a while.
  • 00:13:47.576 --> 00:13:49.078
  • You can get a half a frog on a stick on the street.
  • 00:13:49.078 --> 00:13:51.647
  • No, i'm good, thank you.
  • 00:13:51.647 --> 00:13:54.717
  • Just, i'm all right.
  • 00:13:54.717 --> 00:13:56.518
  • I understood that i wasn't home.
  • 00:13:56.518 --> 00:13:58.687
  • I didn't--nobody had to wake me up and go, "psst, psst, you're
  • 00:13:58.687 --> 00:14:03.559
  • Not home."
  • 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.861
  • Spend a few weeks in israel, when you--if you have to stop
  • 00:14:05.861 --> 00:14:08.097
  • On the way home, you stop in new york, you'll be looking for a
  • 00:14:08.097 --> 00:14:10.266
  • Place to get a sausage biscuit.
  • 00:14:10.266 --> 00:14:13.302
  • I almost missed a flight one time.
  • 00:14:13.302 --> 00:14:14.703
  • I told everybody that was traveling with me, "just go get
  • 00:14:14.703 --> 00:14:17.139
  • On the plane, i'll bring you a sausage biscuit."
  • 00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:19.074
  • Almost missed my flight.
  • 00:14:19.074 --> 00:14:21.210
  • But that plane smelled good all the way from new york
  • 00:14:21.210 --> 00:14:23.245
  • To nashville.
  • 00:14:23.245 --> 00:14:27.917
  • And we have a fundamental challenge in the church.
  • 00:14:27.917 --> 00:14:31.987
  • We're almost indistinguishable from the people who think this
  • 00:14:31.987 --> 00:14:34.456
  • Is home--
  • 00:14:34.456 --> 00:14:36.125
  • That the values of this age are the values they should adopt,
  • 00:14:36.125 --> 00:14:38.894
  • That they define success the same way their secular friends
  • 00:14:38.894 --> 00:14:41.530
  • Do, that their ambitions for their children are defined by
  • 00:14:41.530 --> 00:14:44.133
  • The conversations they have with their secular friends.
  • 00:14:44.133 --> 00:14:47.336
  • Their attitudes for their goals for their grandchildren aren't
  • 00:14:47.336 --> 00:14:49.805
  • Really distinguishable from their--what their ungodly
  • 00:14:49.805 --> 00:14:52.074
  • Friends are striving for.
  • 00:14:52.074 --> 00:14:53.442
  • Folks, we can't do that and imagine we're christ followers.
  • 00:14:53.442 --> 00:14:57.780
  • Peter said, he urges us, it's pretty strong language.
  • 00:14:57.780 --> 00:15:00.616
  • He said, "you're an alien, a stranger here, abstain."
  • 00:15:00.616 --> 00:15:05.587
  • Don't participate in, withdraw yourself, turn your back on, the
  • 00:15:05.587 --> 00:15:10.960
  • Sinful lust that wage against the souls of the pagans who
  • 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:15.464
  • Don't come to worship service.
  • 00:15:15.464 --> 00:15:20.135
  • See, that's the bible i would like.
  • 00:15:20.135 --> 00:15:23.138
  • Because those people have problems.
  • 00:15:23.138 --> 00:15:26.575
  • But peter said that that's a war against my soul.
  • 00:15:26.575 --> 00:15:30.980
  • Your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions.
  • 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:34.450
  • It's in your thoughts, it's how you feel.
  • 00:15:34.450 --> 00:15:37.286
  • You see, if you read--it's okay, i don't--every book i
  • 00:15:37.286 --> 00:15:40.356
  • Read isn't a biblically based book or every program i happen
  • 00:15:40.356 --> 00:15:45.027
  • To see, but you've got to be wise enough and careful enough,
  • 00:15:45.027 --> 00:15:48.063
  • Intentional enough, that if your--the ideas that you accept
  • 00:15:48.063 --> 00:15:51.834
  • And the things that you watch, if they're being presented to
  • 00:15:51.834 --> 00:15:53.902
  • You by people who are ungodly, you don't want that to frame
  • 00:15:53.902 --> 00:15:56.972
  • Your thoughts and your emotional patterns.
  • 00:15:56.972 --> 00:16:01.143
  • Now, that takes time.
  • 00:16:01.143 --> 00:16:02.511
  • It takes some intentionality, it takes some determination.
  • 00:16:02.511 --> 00:16:09.151
  • Allen: hey, i've written a new book.
  • 00:16:12.988 --> 00:16:14.456
  • It's called "my friend jesus."
  • 00:16:14.456 --> 00:16:16.258
  • You know, i'm a pastor--a lot of ritual,
  • 00:16:16.258 --> 00:16:18.327
  • Tradition, a lot of formality in the way we know god.
  • 00:16:18.327 --> 00:16:21.730
  • It's not bad.
  • 00:16:21.730 --> 00:16:23.065
  • There's some good things in that,
  • 00:16:23.065 --> 00:16:24.466
  • But when i'm in real trouble or i have something i wanna
  • 00:16:24.466 --> 00:16:26.402
  • Celebrate, i call a friend.
  • 00:16:26.402 --> 00:16:28.537
  • Well, i wanna live my life with jesus of nazareth as my friend.
  • 00:16:28.537 --> 00:16:31.940
  • It changes everything in both celebration
  • 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:34.777
  • And when there's a problem.
  • 00:16:34.777 --> 00:16:36.111
  • Wrote the book to help.
  • 00:16:36.111 --> 00:16:37.446
  • I think it'll open your life to god in a more personal,
  • 00:16:37.446 --> 00:16:39.882
  • Transformational way than ever before.
  • 00:16:39.882 --> 00:16:42.651
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:16:42.651 --> 00:16:43.986
  • Female announcer: in his book,
  • 00:16:43.986 --> 00:16:45.320
  • "my friend jesus," pastor allen shares how friendship with jesus
  • 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.856
  • Brings clarity, strength, and peace in every part of life.
  • 00:16:47.856 --> 00:16:51.727
  • This isn't about following a religion or religious rules.
  • 00:16:51.727 --> 00:16:55.097
  • It's about cultivating a cherished relationship that will
  • 00:16:55.097 --> 00:16:57.599
  • Help your faith become more personal,
  • 00:16:57.599 --> 00:16:59.935
  • More joyful, and more powerful each day.
  • 00:16:59.935 --> 00:17:02.805
  • Request "my friend jesus" with your donation of $25 or more
  • 00:17:02.805 --> 00:17:06.642
  • Today at allenjackson.com or by calling...
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  • Allen: you know, in all the years i've been in ministry,
  • 00:18:13.809 --> 00:18:15.277
  • We've never had to give a course on how to sin.
  • 00:18:15.277 --> 00:18:21.416
  • Everybody that's ever showed up at church already knew.
  • 00:18:21.416 --> 00:18:26.054
  • Isn't that weird?
  • 00:18:26.054 --> 00:18:29.158
  • In fact, look at the person on your right.
  • 00:18:29.158 --> 00:18:31.827
  • Say, "you look like you were a really good sinner."
  • 00:18:31.827 --> 00:18:34.596
  • [congregation laughing]
  • 00:18:34.596 --> 00:18:40.636
  • We have a sinful nature.
  • 00:18:40.636 --> 00:18:43.472
  • Even as a christ follower, even born again, a totally new
  • 00:18:43.472 --> 00:18:46.542
  • Creation, you've still got that old earthly nature, that adamic
  • 00:18:46.542 --> 00:18:50.612
  • Nature, that sinful nature.
  • 00:18:50.612 --> 00:18:54.316
  • And paul is writing to a church, he's reminding them, he said,
  • 00:18:54.316 --> 00:18:56.985
  • "the acts of the sinful nature," he said, "this is obvious stuff.
  • 00:18:56.985 --> 00:19:00.289
  • So it doesn't require much definition: sexual immorality."
  • 00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:04.126
  • God designed sex for the context of marriage, between a man and
  • 00:19:04.126 --> 00:19:06.828
  • A woman.
  • 00:19:06.828 --> 00:19:08.163
  • It's very clear.
  • 00:19:08.163 --> 00:19:09.531
  • Before that, after that, and beyond that, it's immoral.
  • 00:19:09.531 --> 00:19:13.735
  • There are some other aspects defined, but that's the essence
  • 00:19:13.735 --> 00:19:16.104
  • Of it.
  • 00:19:16.104 --> 00:19:17.472
  • Impurity before god, debauchery, you know what that--that just
  • 00:19:17.472 --> 00:19:21.810
  • Means excess.
  • 00:19:21.810 --> 00:19:23.845
  • That should get our attention.
  • 00:19:23.845 --> 00:19:25.214
  • We live in the midst of excess everything.
  • 00:19:25.214 --> 00:19:29.351
  • Idolatry, that isn't so much about little statues or big
  • 00:19:29.351 --> 00:19:32.888
  • Statues carved from wood or stone or made from molten metal.
  • 00:19:32.888 --> 00:19:36.425
  • Idolatry is about priorities.
  • 00:19:36.425 --> 00:19:38.060
  • Anything that you put in a priority above god is an idol.
  • 00:19:38.060 --> 00:19:41.930
  • You can make an idol out of your marriage, you can make an idol
  • 00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:44.066
  • Out of your children, you can make an idol out of
  • 00:19:44.066 --> 00:19:45.801
  • Your hobbies.
  • 00:19:45.801 --> 00:19:48.337
  • Please don't carry that narrow definition and say, "well, we
  • 00:19:48.337 --> 00:19:50.706
  • Don't, you know, we don't bow to some little statue."
  • 00:19:50.706 --> 00:19:55.043
  • And i'm not really interested in your church answer but ask the
  • 00:19:55.043 --> 00:19:57.579
  • Holy spirit, "is there any place in my life i've put something
  • 00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:00.182
  • Before you?"
  • 00:20:00.182 --> 00:20:01.883
  • Witchcraft, not pointed hats and long noses with a wart on
  • 00:20:01.883 --> 00:20:06.121
  • The end.
  • 00:20:06.121 --> 00:20:07.556
  • Biblical definition of witchcraft has to do with
  • 00:20:07.556 --> 00:20:10.425
  • Manipulation, domination, and control.
  • 00:20:10.425 --> 00:20:14.630
  • Spiritual forces to gain domination, to manipulate, and
  • 00:20:14.630 --> 00:20:18.333
  • To control.
  • 00:20:18.333 --> 00:20:19.668
  • Our world is filled with it.
  • 00:20:19.668 --> 00:20:21.937
  • All sorts of occult practices.
  • 00:20:21.937 --> 00:20:24.606
  • I encourage you not to be engaged with them.
  • 00:20:24.606 --> 00:20:26.308
  • Don't seek spiritual guidance from anything other than the
  • 00:20:26.308 --> 00:20:28.610
  • Holy spirit, not through your horoscope, not with the
  • 00:20:28.610 --> 00:20:30.646
  • Ouija board.
  • 00:20:30.646 --> 00:20:32.914
  • Not with eastern religions, not with mysticism, seances--it's a
  • 00:20:32.914 --> 00:20:38.020
  • Lengthy list.
  • 00:20:38.020 --> 00:20:39.955
  • Hatred, discord.
  • 00:20:39.955 --> 00:20:44.192
  • Did you know that if you cause discord, if you stir up strife,
  • 00:20:44.192 --> 00:20:47.929
  • You're put in the same list with the people who practice
  • 00:20:47.929 --> 00:20:50.799
  • Sexual immorality?
  • 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:55.337
  • Jealousy,
  • 00:20:55.337 --> 00:20:59.141
  • Fits of rage,
  • 00:20:59.141 --> 00:21:01.076
  • Selfish ambition,
  • 00:21:01.076 --> 00:21:04.413
  • Dissensions,
  • 00:21:04.413 --> 00:21:06.682
  • Factions, envy.
  • 00:21:06.682 --> 00:21:10.686
  • If you look at what somebody else has, you go, "i need one
  • 00:21:10.686 --> 00:21:12.854
  • Of those.
  • 00:21:12.854 --> 00:21:14.189
  • They got that some--something they did was unfair.
  • 00:21:14.189 --> 00:21:15.524
  • They had an opportunity i didn't have.
  • 00:21:15.524 --> 00:21:18.327
  • Somebody, somehow, they got it faster.
  • 00:21:18.327 --> 00:21:20.228
  • I want what they've got and i should--somebody should give me
  • 00:21:20.228 --> 00:21:22.731
  • One of those.
  • 00:21:22.731 --> 00:21:24.399
  • We've institutionalized that.
  • 00:21:24.399 --> 00:21:25.734
  • We have whole departments created to oversee envy in
  • 00:21:25.734 --> 00:21:30.939
  • Our universities.
  • 00:21:30.939 --> 00:21:35.243
  • Drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
  • 00:21:35.243 --> 00:21:38.246
  • This next sentence is the punch line.
  • 00:21:38.246 --> 00:21:39.781
  • Paul says, "i warn you," now he's writing to christians.
  • 00:21:39.781 --> 00:21:41.983
  • "i warn you, as i did before."
  • 00:21:41.983 --> 00:21:44.686
  • I've told you this before, he said, i'm telling you again,
  • 00:21:44.686 --> 00:21:47.556
  • "that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom
  • 00:21:47.556 --> 00:21:51.827
  • Of god."
  • 00:21:51.827 --> 00:21:53.762
  • What's he describing?
  • 00:21:53.762 --> 00:21:55.097
  • He's describing that inner struggle that peter
  • 00:21:55.097 --> 00:21:57.466
  • Was referencing.
  • 00:21:57.466 --> 00:21:59.501
  • We're aliens and strangers in this culture.
  • 00:21:59.501 --> 00:22:01.436
  • There's a battle going on.
  • 00:22:01.436 --> 00:22:02.938
  • So what do we do with that sinful nature, that old nature,
  • 00:22:02.938 --> 00:22:06.141
  • That adamic nature, that part of me that says, "i want and i
  • 00:22:06.141 --> 00:22:09.544
  • Think, and i feel, i know what god says, but let me tell you
  • 00:22:09.544 --> 00:22:12.547
  • What i think"?
  • 00:22:12.547 --> 00:22:14.883
  • Oh, please do because i'm just waiting with bated breath.
  • 00:22:14.883 --> 00:22:19.254
  • "you know, i mean, i know what the bible says, but i feel," hm.
  • 00:22:19.254 --> 00:22:24.426
  • In colossians chapter 3 and verse 5 we're given the cure
  • 00:22:24.426 --> 00:22:27.629
  • For that.
  • 00:22:27.629 --> 00:22:28.964
  • What's the resolution to that old carnal nature?
  • 00:22:28.964 --> 00:22:31.767
  • "put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your
  • 00:22:31.767 --> 00:22:33.902
  • Earthly nature."
  • 00:22:33.902 --> 00:22:36.204
  • And just in case we were confused, he's using a lot of
  • 00:22:36.204 --> 00:22:38.874
  • The same language in writing the colossians that he did when he
  • 00:22:38.874 --> 00:22:41.376
  • Wrote to the galatians: "sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil
  • 00:22:41.376 --> 00:22:45.480
  • Desires, greed, which is idolatry.
  • 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:48.717
  • Because of these, the wrath of god is coming."
  • 00:22:48.717 --> 00:22:50.852
  • If you don't put them to death, you will incur the wrath of god.
  • 00:22:50.852 --> 00:22:55.490
  • "you used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
  • 00:22:55.490 --> 00:22:58.026
  • But now you must rid yourself."
  • 00:22:58.026 --> 00:23:00.228
  • He didn't say--he said you used to walk in these ways, but now
  • 00:23:00.228 --> 00:23:02.964
  • You've made a profession of faith in jesus, so they're no
  • 00:23:02.964 --> 00:23:05.133
  • Longer a problem.
  • 00:23:05.133 --> 00:23:06.501
  • That's not what it says.
  • 00:23:06.501 --> 00:23:09.471
  • He says, "but now you must rid yourselves."
  • 00:23:09.471 --> 00:23:13.108
  • See, i would have preferred it if he said, "but now god will
  • 00:23:13.108 --> 00:23:15.811
  • Deliver you from all of those things."
  • 00:23:15.811 --> 00:23:19.314
  • No, we have to rid ourselves of all such things as these: anger,
  • 00:23:19.314 --> 00:23:22.584
  • Rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips."
  • 00:23:22.584 --> 00:23:29.758
  • It takes some determination, it takes some awareness, it takes
  • 00:23:29.758 --> 00:23:32.260
  • Some willingness.
  • 00:23:32.260 --> 00:23:33.628
  • You have to have the intent of holiness.
  • 00:23:33.628 --> 00:23:36.231
  • You know, the bible, we don't talk about holiness a lot.
  • 00:23:36.231 --> 00:23:38.166
  • It seems unachievable.
  • 00:23:38.166 --> 00:23:39.501
  • It's kind of a word that's not available to us, but the bible
  • 00:23:39.501 --> 00:23:43.004
  • Says, i didn't bring you all the verses, but it says without
  • 00:23:43.004 --> 00:23:44.806
  • Holiness, no one will see the lord.
  • 00:23:44.806 --> 00:23:48.510
  • So holiness isn't optional.
  • 00:23:48.510 --> 00:23:51.546
  • Holiness is mandatory.
  • 00:23:51.546 --> 00:23:52.948
  • What's it look like?
  • 00:23:52.948 --> 00:23:54.282
  • You say, "well, we don't earn our way to heaven."
  • 00:23:54.282 --> 00:23:55.784
  • No, you're right, we don't.
  • 00:23:55.784 --> 00:23:57.219
  • But the fact that you're a new creature in christ doesn't
  • 00:23:57.219 --> 00:23:59.521
  • Absolve you of your responsibility to lead a
  • 00:23:59.521 --> 00:24:01.356
  • Godly life.
  • 00:24:01.356 --> 00:24:04.459
  • You see, the value that you attach to a gift can be
  • 00:24:04.459 --> 00:24:07.929
  • Understood by how you care for it, how you respond to it.
  • 00:24:07.929 --> 00:24:10.332
  • If you gave me a brand new ferrari
  • 00:24:10.332 --> 00:24:15.670
  • Convertible, red, i'm just saying, i'd be very grateful.
  • 00:24:15.670 --> 00:24:25.514
  • I would drive it home.
  • 00:24:25.514 --> 00:24:28.216
  • And if you came to visit and i had filled it with topsoil and
  • 00:24:28.216 --> 00:24:35.690
  • Put tomato plants in it because i like fresh tomatoes in
  • 00:24:35.690 --> 00:24:38.527
  • The summertime,
  • 00:24:38.527 --> 00:24:41.263
  • What are the chances you'd give me a second ferrari?
  • 00:24:41.263 --> 00:24:45.867
  • Slim and none.
  • 00:24:45.867 --> 00:24:47.969
  • Because i treated your gift very shabbily.
  • 00:24:47.969 --> 00:24:52.140
  • You see, our response to the grace of god is our expression
  • 00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:56.344
  • Of how we value it.
  • 00:24:56.344 --> 00:24:59.548
  • And there's--this isn't really complicated.
  • 00:24:59.548 --> 00:25:02.384
  • Young children, small children, have a hard time valuing
  • 00:25:02.384 --> 00:25:04.920
  • Gifts, right?
  • 00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:08.056
  • They don't have any sense of evaluation.
  • 00:25:08.056 --> 00:25:09.758
  • They haven't--they haven't cultivated yet that awareness
  • 00:25:09.758 --> 00:25:12.727
  • And when we're new christians and we're beginning our journey,
  • 00:25:12.727 --> 00:25:16.031
  • We in a similar way have a hard time valuing and understanding,
  • 00:25:16.031 --> 00:25:19.334
  • But as the children mature and grow, you hope they learn with
  • 00:25:19.334 --> 00:25:21.870
  • The responsibility of resources and how to manage them.
  • 00:25:21.870 --> 00:25:25.040
  • The sacrifices that have been made so that they can have the
  • 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:27.576
  • Opportunities that are presented to them.
  • 00:25:27.576 --> 00:25:29.678
  • Well, in a similar way as the people of faith, as we mature in
  • 00:25:29.678 --> 00:25:32.647
  • The lord, we understand the sacrifice that was made for us
  • 00:25:32.647 --> 00:25:36.217
  • To have the incredible gift of grace that we have received.
  • 00:25:36.217 --> 00:25:39.621
  • And so we make choices to put to death our old carnal nature as
  • 00:25:39.621 --> 00:25:45.226
  • An expression of gratitude.
  • 00:25:45.226 --> 00:25:48.063
  • If you're living sloppy lives, not only are you putting in
  • 00:25:48.063 --> 00:25:51.499
  • Question the reality of your faith, you are giving a blatant
  • 00:25:51.499 --> 00:25:57.739
  • Expression of your childishness.
  • 00:25:57.739 --> 00:26:02.210
  • We're called to put to death those things.
  • 00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:08.216
  • Allen: you know i'm so grateful to have had a
  • 00:26:12.153 --> 00:26:13.788
  • Few minutes with you today.
  • 00:26:13.788 --> 00:26:15.123
  • These opportunities to open the word of god
  • 00:26:15.123 --> 00:26:17.025
  • And open our lives and invite god into the midst of it,
  • 00:26:17.025 --> 00:26:19.327
  • They're transformational.
  • 00:26:19.327 --> 00:26:20.962
  • I've learned to never take them for granted.
  • 00:26:20.962 --> 00:26:22.797
  • I used to imagine that they were unlimited,
  • 00:26:22.797 --> 00:26:24.733
  • That we could do it forever.
  • 00:26:24.733 --> 00:26:26.401
  • Every time i have an opportunity to talk
  • 00:26:26.401 --> 00:26:28.236
  • With a friend and make a journey through the word of god
  • 00:26:28.236 --> 00:26:30.672
  • For a bit, i think it's something precious.
  • 00:26:30.672 --> 00:26:33.141
  • It's a gift from god.
  • 00:26:33.141 --> 00:26:34.476
  • I'm grateful we had this time together.
  • 00:26:34.476 --> 00:26:36.378
  • I've got a new book, it's called "my friend jesus."
  • 00:26:36.378 --> 00:26:39.614
  • It's the culmination of years of my own spiritual journey.
  • 00:26:39.614 --> 00:26:42.350
  • It's kind of peeling away the formality
  • 00:26:42.350 --> 00:26:44.152
  • Of theology and ritual and routine,
  • 00:26:44.152 --> 00:26:46.421
  • And opening the heart of what it means to be a christ follower.
  • 00:26:46.421 --> 00:26:48.923
  • I want to live as jesus's friend.
  • 00:26:48.923 --> 00:26:51.393
  • When i'm in trouble i call my friends.
  • 00:26:51.393 --> 00:26:53.395
  • When they're in trouble and i can help,
  • 00:26:53.395 --> 00:26:54.896
  • It's the delight of my life.
  • 00:26:54.896 --> 00:26:56.564
  • Well, i want to pray with you, let's invite my friend jesus
  • 00:26:56.564 --> 00:26:59.367
  • Into the midst of our world, he changes everything.
  • 00:26:59.367 --> 00:27:02.337
  • Heavenly father, i thank you that you love us,
  • 00:27:02.337 --> 00:27:04.072
  • That you sent your son.
  • 00:27:04.072 --> 00:27:05.507
  • We need his help, his strength, his wisdom.
  • 00:27:05.507 --> 00:27:07.976
  • Open our hearts to know him as we've never known him before.
  • 00:27:07.976 --> 00:27:11.012
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:11.012 --> 00:27:27.328