Tony Evans - The Legacy of a Man

June 21, 2026 | 27:29

Dr. Tony Evans is known as a relevant expositor and is a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.

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Dr. Tony Evans | Tony Evans - The Legacy of a Man | June 21, 2026
  • ...
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  • Tony evans: god can change your yesterday,
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  • No matter how messed up it is,
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  • And give you a different tomorrow.
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  • I know you've had bad experiences
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  • And you've had sins and rebellion.
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  • Call yourself asher 'cause you got
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  • Some dysfunction in your history.
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  • But the good news is he shows up, in chapter 7,
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  • A brand-new man.
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  • So, your yesterday doesn't have to control your tomorrow.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Tony: every responsible man here ought to have a will.
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  • A will is a legal document that says
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  • That what you have accumulated in your life,
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  • This is how you want it passed on
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  • To those that you leave behind.
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  • To not have a will is to say, "i want somebody else
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  • To determine where what i have been able to accumulate--
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  • The assets of my existence--
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  • I want somebody else to determine where they go,
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  • How they are distributed, and where they wind up."
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  • But a responsible man wants to be ahead of that
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  • And make the determination of where their assets
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  • Are to go.
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  • You see, to create a will is saying you are future-minded.
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  • You won't always be here.
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  • So, you're going to be thinking about tomorrow today
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  • In your financial, or asset, planning.
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  • Unfortunately, what many do not understand is
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  • That there are not only wills of physical assets,
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  • There are wills of spiritual assets--
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  • What you pass on generationally
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  • That has spiritual value attached to it.
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  • And, unfortunately, many men who don't even bother to pass on
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  • Physical assets
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  • Refuse to pass on spiritual assets--one or both--
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  • Because they're not future-minded.
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  • And as a result of not being future-minded,
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  • There is chaos in the future
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  • Because there was not clarity set forth in the present.
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  • The bible has a lot to say about legacy,
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  • About what is passed on to the next generation
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  • And beyond.
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  • In fact, proverbs chapter 13, verse 22 says,
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  • "a good man leaves an inheritance
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  • To his children's children."
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  • Translation, a bad man leaves no inheritance
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  • To his children's children.
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  • So, if there is no future planning,
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  • You cannot be dubbed a good man.
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  • Because a good man is not only thinking about
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  • What's happening with him today
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  • But what will happen on a three-generational level.
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  • He's concerned about today,
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  • He's concerned about his children,
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  • And then he's concerned about his children's children,
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  • His grandchildren.
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  • In judges chapter 2, verse 10, it says
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  • That "they grew up a generation who did not know joseph,
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  • Who did not know his god."
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  • And as a result, chaos ensued,
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  • And when you read the book of judges,
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  • You have a culture in perpetual chaos
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  • Because there was a transfer of the spiritual baton
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  • That did not occur.
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  • In fact, the book of judges says,
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  • "and every man did that which was right
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  • In his own eyes because there was no king
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  • In those days."
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  • There was no standard that had been passed on.
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  • Today, we live in a day of societal chaos.
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  • And that chaos can be rooted back to
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  • Men who refuse to build a spiritual legacy.
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  • Men who refuse to man up to god's requirement
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  • For biblical manhood.
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  • And like it or not, god starts withholding
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  • The man responsible for how the legacy works out,
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  • Or does not.
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  • And so, we're introduced in this passage of scripture
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  • To a man named asher.
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  • Asher.
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  • Let me tell you a little bit about asher.
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  • Verse 30 says, "asher had four sons and one daughter."
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  • Asher was the father of five children.
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  • And when we end the story of asher,
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  • As you'll see, he comes out pretty good.
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  • But he didn't start that way.
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  • You see, asher is the seventh son of jacob.
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  • He is the first son of zilpah, the seventh son of jacob.
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  • If he's the seventh son of jacob,
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  • That means he's been raised in a dysfunctional family.
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  • Because as far as jacob's family was concerned, papa was
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  • A rolling stone.
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  • Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
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  • Because jacob had 12 kids by four different women.
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  • Jacob created chaos in his family.
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  • Asher, the seventh son of jacob, participated with his brothers
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  • In putting joseph into the pit.
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  • So, he was part of the conniving group of siblings
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  • That wanted to ruin their brother's life.
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  • His daddy, jacob, was known as the trickster or deceiver.
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  • He knew how to game.
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  • And so, he played games all of his life,
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  • And that rolled over to his children.
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  • So, jacob the patriarch created havoc in his family
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  • Due to his deception.
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  • It rubbed off on his boys.
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  • His boys destroyed, or tried to destroy,
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  • One of their brothers.
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  • He wasn't raised in a good, healthy home environment.
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  • It wasn't the kind of environment
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  • That would have been inducive to an orderly family structure.
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  • There are men here-- and since he had a daughter--
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  • There are women here who have been raised
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  • In dysfunctional families.
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  • Your papa was a rolling stone.
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  • Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
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  • Or you grew up without a father,
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  • Or he might as well not been there as a father.
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  • And there was all kinds of dysfunction
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  • In the family that you grew up with.
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  • Perhaps there are siblings now you cannot relate to
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  • Because of the chaos in your home.
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  • Well, before you ever get to 1 chronicles chapter 7,
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  • That's asher.
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  • That's his history and his background.
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  • It's not a pretty one.
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  • It's not one to be proud of.
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  • But somewhere along the line, there was a transformation
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  • That occurred in the life of asher.
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  • Because when we read about him here in 1 corinthians chapter 7,
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  • We're gonna give you some good news.
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  • So, the good news that i wanna give all of us here today,
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  • Especially the men,
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  • But the principle applies to all of us,
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  • Is that your past doesn't have to determine your future;
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  • That no matter how messed up your yesterday was,
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  • Does not have to control what your tomorrow will be like;
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  • That you have an option to change your legacy;
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  • And that the legacy bequeathed to you
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  • Does not have to be the legacy you dispense to others--
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  • Whether it is your immediate family,
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  • Whether it's your siblings
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  • Or those who come under your influence.
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  • Such is the case
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  • With the change and transformation
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  • That took place in the life of asher.
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  • Well, let's go to verse 40.
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  • Because we'll see four things of asher's impact and his legacy
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  • That ought to be true of every man
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  • And every head of household who is here.
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  • "all these," verse 40 says, "were the sons of asher,
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  • Heads of the father's houses."
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  • Heads of the father's houses.
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  • His four boys became heads of houses.
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  • They became leaders in their family.
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  • Head of a house is a leader of a home.
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  • Whatever asher did when he got right
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  • So influenced his four boys that they were able to take up
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  • Responsible reins in their own families.
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  • It says that his sons became heads of households--
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  • That is, leaders within their home.
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  • That is, they were willing to own the responsibility
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  • For the family.
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  • The government's not supposed to raise your children,
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  • The neighborhood is not supposed to raise
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  • Your children;
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  • The father, in the bible, raises the children.
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  • Ephesians 6:4, "fathers, raise your children."
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  • The man has to own it.
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  • He raised his sons to be leaders,
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  • To be responsible.
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  • Headship is responsibility.
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  • Headship also involves direction.
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  • It involves direction.
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  • Whether it's a president or the head of a company
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  • Or the head of a church or whatever,
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  • Headship means you are casting a direction.
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  • So that people know which way we're going.
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  • If you're lost and you got folk following you,
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  • They're gonna be "lost-er."
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  • Since they don't know where you're going,
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  • They're either gonna follow you nowhere
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  • Or decide they don't wanna go nowhere,
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  • They'd rather go somewhere, so they create their own vision.
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  • To be ahead means that i wanna be
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  • In close proximity with god so that god can speak to me
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  • By his holy spirit and give me direction
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  • So that those following me will have a place to go.
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  • And if you do not have a divine perspective,
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  • All you see is what you see,
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  • Which means you won't see all there is to be seen.
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  • That if you're going to be god's head of household
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  • And raise the boys to be head of households.
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  • We have a generation of men
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  • Who've abandoned their households,
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  • Forcing the women to be head of households.
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  • Because they refuse to be-- or even if they are,
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  • They do not take the spiritual responsibility.
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  • But this is not a popularity contest.
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  • This is a responsibility.
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  • A biblical headship is a responsibility
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  • That you take on, that you own
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  • Because you have been placed there.
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  • We live in a day of male abandonment,
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  • Where men are increasingly refusing to own it.
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  • Maybe it's because your father didn't own it.
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  • Maybe it's because your mother was domineering.
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  • Maybe it's because of negative influences in the culture.
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  • Whatever the reason is, it's time to come back home to god.
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  • Asher turned that thing around,
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  • And whatever caused him to turn it around--
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  • Because we know the boys got right at the end.
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  • Whatever caused him to turn it around--
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  • That must mean that you must now be willing to accept
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  • A passionate purpose.
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  • So, you gotta get excited about your role.
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  • You don't just live in it;
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  • You got to get fire up under you.
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  • See a space shuttle is on a launching pad.
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  • That's mean it's sitting there trying to go somewhere.
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  • It's supposed to shoot up in outer space.
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  • But right now it's just sitting.
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  • And the reason it's been sitting
  • 00:14:22.310 --> 00:14:24.112
  • Is because it ain't--there's no fire up under it yet.
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  • It hasn't been-- the fuel hasn't been ignited
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  • To send it off the pad to accomplish its space mission.
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  • We got too many men on the pad, just sitting there,
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  • Talking about, "i'm the head."
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  • What god wants to do is light the fire
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  • So that you take off and go somewhere.
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  • That means you must become fired up
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  • About your headship,
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  • In a responsible, loving, and appropriate way.
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  • So, asher recovered in some way,
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  • And he raised his sons to be heads of households
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  • With fire and vision.
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  • If you're gonna be the head, you just can't see the acorn,
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  • You gotta look at the oak.
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  • You gotta see bigger than what is.
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  • Yeah, things are not looking good,
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  • But me and god gotta get together
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  • And we gotta find out how he wants us to fix this,
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  • Correct this, straighten this, reorient this, why?
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  • Because you just said you're the man.
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  • You said you're the man?
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  • Well, if you're the man, you got to man up--
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  • In a responsible, biblical way.
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  • The second thing we find out about asher's sons
  • 00:15:46.794 --> 00:15:51.165
  • Is he calls them choice men.
  • 00:15:51.165 --> 00:15:55.036
  • Choice men.
  • 00:15:55.036 --> 00:15:57.338
  • That means cream of the crop. choice men.
  • 00:15:57.338 --> 00:16:01.342
  • They weren't run-of-the-mill guys.
  • 00:16:01.342 --> 00:16:06.881
  • Somehow in this turnaround he said, "my boys are not gonna be
  • 00:16:06.881 --> 00:16:10.952
  • Like everybody else's sons.
  • 00:16:10.952 --> 00:16:13.621
  • And my boys are not gonna just run with the crowd.
  • 00:16:13.621 --> 00:16:16.891
  • I'm gonna raise up some excellent, choice,
  • 00:16:16.891 --> 00:16:20.828
  • Cream-of-the-crop boys, with one daughter.
  • 00:16:20.828 --> 00:16:23.464
  • I'm gonna raise them up to be
  • 00:16:23.464 --> 00:16:25.600
  • The men that god has created them to be.
  • 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:29.504
  • I'm not gonna let them settle.
  • 00:16:29.504 --> 00:16:33.541
  • I'm not gonna let the boys settle.
  • 00:16:33.541 --> 00:16:35.443
  • They're not gonna be just like everybody else.
  • 00:16:35.443 --> 00:16:37.779
  • They're not gonna come in here talking about
  • 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:39.347
  • What my friends say if their friends are wrong.
  • 00:16:39.347 --> 00:16:41.749
  • I'm not gonna let them hang out with anybody.
  • 00:16:41.749 --> 00:16:44.886
  • Because they're gonna be excellent,
  • 00:16:44.886 --> 00:16:47.922
  • Which means i'm gonna give 'em a standard to shoot for.
  • 00:16:47.922 --> 00:16:51.893
  • I ain't gonna let social media,
  • 00:16:51.893 --> 00:16:53.294
  • I'm not gonna let twitter, i'm not gonna let instagram,
  • 00:16:53.294 --> 00:16:56.464
  • I'm not gonna let facebook set my kids' standard.
  • 00:16:56.464 --> 00:17:02.537
  • I'm gonna raise some choice boys up in here, up in here.
  • 00:17:02.537 --> 00:17:06.240
  • There's gonna be a divine standard
  • 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:08.509
  • That i give them, that i wanna model before them,
  • 00:17:08.509 --> 00:17:12.447
  • That i wanna teach them, that i wanna expose them to."
  • 00:17:12.447 --> 00:17:15.516
  • He says his boys became choice boys.
  • 00:17:15.516 --> 00:17:20.088
  • High character, high integrity, high standards.
  • 00:17:20.088 --> 00:17:25.560
  • Now, we know we have many single parents.
  • 00:17:25.560 --> 00:17:28.296
  • And you have been given a double duty.
  • 00:17:28.296 --> 00:17:35.503
  • And we value you, we appreciate you.
  • 00:17:35.503 --> 00:17:38.606
  • But we can never allow that to get men off the hook
  • 00:17:38.606 --> 00:17:43.644
  • For the fathers that they sire that they now have abandoned.
  • 00:17:43.644 --> 00:17:48.416
  • If they're not paying their bills, take them to court.
  • 00:17:48.416 --> 00:17:52.620
  • They still have a responsibility to the kids.
  • 00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:56.290
  • You didn't get pregnant by yourself.
  • 00:17:56.290 --> 00:18:00.461
  • And so, he wanted to raise them to be how--
  • 00:18:00.461 --> 00:18:02.330
  • Expose your kids, especially your boys
  • 00:18:02.330 --> 00:18:05.800
  • To men of high standards
  • 00:18:05.800 --> 00:18:08.102
  • If they don't have one in the home.
  • 00:18:08.102 --> 00:18:10.404
  • Men who will lead them in the right way--
  • 00:18:10.404 --> 00:18:12.106
  • Not perfect men, but men who are moving right,
  • 00:18:12.106 --> 00:18:15.042
  • Who are not mediocre.
  • 00:18:15.042 --> 00:18:19.714
  • We got a generation of young people today
  • 00:18:19.714 --> 00:18:21.516
  • Whose consciences don't beep.
  • 00:18:21.516 --> 00:18:26.053
  • That's because nobody set 'em.
  • 00:18:26.053 --> 00:18:31.125
  • It is the head of the household's job
  • 00:18:31.125 --> 00:18:35.196
  • To set the conscience.
  • 00:18:35.196 --> 00:18:37.265
  • For that must be established the divine standard,
  • 00:18:37.265 --> 00:18:42.069
  • And walking them through the struggles of that.
  • 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:46.073
  • But you don't change the standard.
  • 00:18:46.073 --> 00:18:48.543
  • You administer the standard with love and with compassion.
  • 00:18:48.543 --> 00:18:52.346
  • There are two extremes out here.
  • 00:18:52.346 --> 00:18:53.748
  • One is to be so compassionate there is no standard.
  • 00:18:53.748 --> 00:18:57.084
  • The other extreme is to have the standard
  • 00:18:57.084 --> 00:19:00.688
  • Without showing compassion.
  • 00:19:00.688 --> 00:19:02.390
  • And the idea is to compassionately move
  • 00:19:02.390 --> 00:19:05.826
  • To meet the standard.
  • 00:19:05.826 --> 00:19:08.796
  • But you don't dumb down god to make folk happy.
  • 00:19:08.796 --> 00:19:13.935
  • You love folk to god.
  • 00:19:13.935 --> 00:19:18.105
  • And so, yes, there are challenges.
  • 00:19:18.105 --> 00:19:20.074
  • Yes, our kids are struggling.
  • 00:19:20.074 --> 00:19:21.676
  • And now they're exposed to stuff you don't even know about,
  • 00:19:21.676 --> 00:19:25.079
  • Because they're carrying around a phone,
  • 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:27.248
  • Which gives them access to the whole world,
  • 00:19:27.248 --> 00:19:29.784
  • And you can't control that.
  • 00:19:29.784 --> 00:19:31.752
  • So, since you can't control that,
  • 00:19:31.752 --> 00:19:33.854
  • You better be using every opportunity you can
  • 00:19:33.854 --> 00:19:37.058
  • To set the standard,
  • 00:19:37.058 --> 00:19:42.230
  • So that there is a beeper that goes off.
  • 00:19:42.230 --> 00:19:46.434
  • Because you want choice men, not mediocre.
  • 00:19:46.434 --> 00:19:52.974
  • Those who want to excel godward
  • 00:19:52.974 --> 00:19:56.978
  • In whatever areas god allows them to progress in.
  • 00:19:56.978 --> 00:20:04.685
  • The third thing it says about asher's sons
  • 00:20:04.685 --> 00:20:10.591
  • He speaks in particularly of--
  • 00:20:10.591 --> 00:20:13.160
  • He says, "they were mighty men," in verse 40.
  • 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:17.031
  • Mighty men.
  • 00:20:17.031 --> 00:20:20.034
  • They were raised to be warriors.
  • 00:20:20.034 --> 00:20:22.637
  • Mighty men,
  • 00:20:22.637 --> 00:20:25.139
  • Not mediocre man.
  • 00:20:25.139 --> 00:20:27.675
  • These are some mighty dudes.
  • 00:20:27.675 --> 00:20:30.244
  • They were raised to be warriors.
  • 00:20:30.244 --> 00:20:33.514
  • So, you have to understand we're in spiritual warfare here.
  • 00:20:33.514 --> 00:20:36.717
  • We're in a war.
  • 00:20:36.717 --> 00:20:38.586
  • You now have to fight for your kids.
  • 00:20:38.586 --> 00:20:42.189
  • You have to go to war.
  • 00:20:42.189 --> 00:20:43.658
  • You and i live in a post-christian era.
  • 00:20:43.658 --> 00:20:48.195
  • It's called postmodernism,
  • 00:20:48.195 --> 00:20:50.298
  • Where the absolute standards of right and wrong
  • 00:20:50.298 --> 00:20:54.201
  • No longer apply.
  • 00:20:54.201 --> 00:20:56.137
  • So, people are making up their own rules as they go along
  • 00:20:56.137 --> 00:20:59.674
  • Of what's right and wrong.
  • 00:20:59.674 --> 00:21:01.375
  • So, you better not just send them out to play with anybody.
  • 00:21:01.375 --> 00:21:04.979
  • You do have to watch what they're being taught
  • 00:21:04.979 --> 00:21:07.481
  • In school.
  • 00:21:07.481 --> 00:21:08.816
  • They used to be taught creation as an option.
  • 00:21:08.816 --> 00:21:11.752
  • Now, in many schools, they're taught only
  • 00:21:11.752 --> 00:21:14.221
  • Evolution as a fact.
  • 00:21:14.221 --> 00:21:16.023
  • You take them before the throne of grace.
  • 00:21:16.023 --> 00:21:18.159
  • You take them-- you have devotions with them.
  • 00:21:18.159 --> 00:21:21.195
  • You pray over them. go to war.
  • 00:21:21.195 --> 00:21:24.565
  • Because the devil is going to war for 'em.
  • 00:21:24.565 --> 00:21:31.305
  • He says he raised his sons to be warriors,
  • 00:21:31.305 --> 00:21:35.543
  • To fight for that which was right.
  • 00:21:35.543 --> 00:21:42.917
  • And then he says, fourthly, he raised them to be mentors,
  • 00:21:42.917 --> 00:21:49.757
  • Because he says, "heads of the princes."
  • 00:21:49.757 --> 00:21:57.131
  • He raised them to be mentors.
  • 00:21:57.131 --> 00:21:59.266
  • You see a prince is a king in waiting.
  • 00:21:59.266 --> 00:22:02.837
  • God can change your yesterday, no matter how messed up it is,
  • 00:22:02.837 --> 00:22:08.509
  • And give you a different tomorrow.
  • 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:10.144
  • I know your daddy wasn't there
  • 00:22:10.144 --> 00:22:12.146
  • Or he was a bad daddy that was there.
  • 00:22:12.146 --> 00:22:14.615
  • I know you've had bad experiences
  • 00:22:14.615 --> 00:22:16.584
  • And you've had sins and rebellion.
  • 00:22:16.584 --> 00:22:19.854
  • I know all that, but then all you are
  • 00:22:19.854 --> 00:22:23.124
  • Is just give yourself a name, call yourself asher.
  • 00:22:23.124 --> 00:22:27.128
  • Because you got some dysfunction in your history.
  • 00:22:27.128 --> 00:22:30.698
  • But the good news is he shows up in chapter 7, of 1 chronicles,
  • 00:22:30.698 --> 00:22:35.803
  • A brand-new man.
  • 00:22:35.803 --> 00:22:37.638
  • So, your yesterday doesn't have to control your tomorrow.
  • 00:22:37.638 --> 00:22:42.710
  • Because look at how this thing closes.
  • 00:22:42.710 --> 00:22:44.945
  • It says at the end of verse 40,
  • 00:22:44.945 --> 00:22:47.381
  • "and the number of them enrolled by genealogy
  • 00:22:47.381 --> 00:22:50.284
  • For service in war was twenty-six thousand men."
  • 00:22:50.284 --> 00:22:54.455
  • Oh wait a minute now.
  • 00:22:54.455 --> 00:22:56.123
  • We started off with one man, four sons, and one daughter.
  • 00:22:56.123 --> 00:23:01.495
  • But the time--by the time this man got through,
  • 00:23:01.495 --> 00:23:04.398
  • He got 26,000 in his legacy that are ready to go to war.
  • 00:23:04.398 --> 00:23:11.172
  • See, you just can't be thinking about you.
  • 00:23:11.172 --> 00:23:13.574
  • You gotta be thinking about the generations behind you,
  • 00:23:13.574 --> 00:23:16.710
  • And you got to build yourself an army,
  • 00:23:16.710 --> 00:23:19.447
  • An army of men and women.
  • 00:23:19.447 --> 00:23:21.348
  • That meant women were in it
  • 00:23:21.348 --> 00:23:22.716
  • Because more boys were being born.
  • 00:23:22.716 --> 00:23:24.552
  • And so, you got to build yourself an army.
  • 00:23:24.552 --> 00:23:27.855
  • The problem is satan has been building his army
  • 00:23:27.855 --> 00:23:30.524
  • While god's army has been shrinking.
  • 00:23:30.524 --> 00:23:33.127
  • So, we got to build an army, 26,000 men.
  • 00:23:33.127 --> 00:23:36.430
  • You gotta have a bunch of folk
  • 00:23:36.430 --> 00:23:38.299
  • Who take a stand with god and with one another.
  • 00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:41.535
  • So, what god is looking for are men who wanna recover,
  • 00:23:41.535 --> 00:23:45.005
  • Men who wanna get back the dignity
  • 00:23:45.005 --> 00:23:46.941
  • That god created you with,
  • 00:23:46.941 --> 00:23:48.709
  • Who wanna fulfill the role that god has given you.
  • 00:23:48.709 --> 00:23:51.812
  • In super bowl xliii when santonio holmes
  • 00:23:51.812 --> 00:23:54.615
  • Caught the pass that won the super bowl, don't forget,
  • 00:23:54.615 --> 00:23:57.952
  • One minute earlier, he had dropped the ball.
  • 00:23:57.952 --> 00:24:00.554
  • Ben roethlisberger threw him the ball,
  • 00:24:00.554 --> 00:24:02.156
  • And he dropped it.
  • 00:24:02.156 --> 00:24:03.491
  • But then ben roethlisberger called him back and said,
  • 00:24:03.491 --> 00:24:05.693
  • "i'm gonna throw it to you again and this time don't drop it."
  • 00:24:05.693 --> 00:24:08.796
  • So, if you've dropped it yesterday,
  • 00:24:08.796 --> 00:24:10.264
  • You got kids you don't live with,
  • 00:24:10.264 --> 00:24:12.032
  • Kids you're sorry that you don't talk to,
  • 00:24:12.032 --> 00:24:14.201
  • Grandkids that you don't know, okay, you dropped the ball,
  • 00:24:14.201 --> 00:24:17.271
  • But god's ready to throw you another pass.
  • 00:24:17.271 --> 00:24:19.640
  • And now you gotta be willing to catch the ball
  • 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:22.610
  • And move from here.
  • 00:24:22.610 --> 00:24:24.144
  • You say, "but i wonder whether it's too late."
  • 00:24:24.144 --> 00:24:27.748
  • Well, no, it can't be too late,
  • 00:24:27.748 --> 00:24:29.884
  • Because in hebrews chapter 11, verse 21,
  • 00:24:29.884 --> 00:24:32.386
  • It says that, "jacob, even with his grandchildren,
  • 00:24:32.386 --> 00:24:36.357
  • Recovered because he blessed his grandchildren
  • 00:24:36.357 --> 00:24:40.027
  • While he leaned on his staff just before he died."
  • 00:24:40.027 --> 00:24:43.764
  • So, if it's too late with your kids,
  • 00:24:43.764 --> 00:24:46.233
  • Get your grandkids so that you reach them
  • 00:24:46.233 --> 00:24:49.737
  • And impact them for time and eternity.
  • 00:24:49.737 --> 00:24:53.741
  • A father who went to his son one day
  • 00:24:53.741 --> 00:24:56.110
  • And he said, "boy, you've been a great boy.
  • 00:24:56.110 --> 00:24:58.479
  • I'm proud of you,
  • 00:24:58.479 --> 00:25:00.047
  • And i wanna do anything you want me to do for you.
  • 00:25:00.047 --> 00:25:02.016
  • What do you want?"
  • 00:25:02.016 --> 00:25:03.484
  • The boy thought for a moment.
  • 00:25:03.484 --> 00:25:04.818
  • He said, "daddy, here's what i want.
  • 00:25:04.818 --> 00:25:06.587
  • I want you to take me to the zoo.
  • 00:25:06.587 --> 00:25:08.322
  • I wanna go to the zoo."
  • 00:25:08.322 --> 00:25:10.090
  • He said, "well, you wanna go to the zoo?"
  • 00:25:10.090 --> 00:25:11.959
  • "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh,
  • 00:25:11.959 --> 00:25:13.494
  • Daddy, that's what i really wanna do."
  • 00:25:13.494 --> 00:25:15.296
  • He says, "okay, let's go to the zoo."
  • 00:25:15.296 --> 00:25:17.631
  • He said, "dad, can i bring a few friends?"
  • 00:25:17.631 --> 00:25:19.466
  • And dad said, "that's fine." he came back with ten friends.
  • 00:25:19.466 --> 00:25:23.203
  • "there are ten guys?"
  • 00:25:23.203 --> 00:25:24.538
  • He said, "yeah, dad, these are all my buddies.
  • 00:25:24.538 --> 00:25:25.873
  • Take us all to the zoo."
  • 00:25:25.873 --> 00:25:27.508
  • So, he put them in the van, and they all went to the zoo.
  • 00:25:27.508 --> 00:25:30.477
  • For two hours, they went around looking at all the cages
  • 00:25:30.477 --> 00:25:32.846
  • And the birds and the reptiles and all of that.
  • 00:25:32.846 --> 00:25:34.815
  • They had a fun time at the zoo.
  • 00:25:34.815 --> 00:25:36.684
  • It's time now to leave the zoo.
  • 00:25:36.684 --> 00:25:38.719
  • On their way out to the zoo, the little boy looks up
  • 00:25:38.719 --> 00:25:41.121
  • And he says, "daddy, daddy!"
  • 00:25:41.121 --> 00:25:44.024
  • "what, son?" "they're giving elephant rides."
  • 00:25:44.024 --> 00:25:46.794
  • Sure enough, over to the side
  • 00:25:46.794 --> 00:25:49.663
  • Was an elephant man giving rides on his elephant.
  • 00:25:49.663 --> 00:25:54.134
  • He said, "daddy, please for a ride.
  • 00:25:54.134 --> 00:25:56.337
  • I wanna ride on the elephant."
  • 00:25:56.337 --> 00:25:58.339
  • He said, "well, if we-- you know, it's hot out here.
  • 00:25:58.339 --> 00:26:00.074
  • We've been out here a long time."
  • 00:26:00.074 --> 00:26:01.675
  • He says, "please, please, please, please, please,
  • 00:26:01.675 --> 00:26:03.043
  • Daddy, please, daddy, please, daddy,
  • 00:26:03.043 --> 00:26:04.712
  • Let me ride the elephant."
  • 00:26:04.712 --> 00:26:06.313
  • He says, "okay, let me see how much this costs."
  • 00:26:06.313 --> 00:26:08.449
  • He went over to the guy and he says,
  • 00:26:08.449 --> 00:26:10.417
  • "how much for an elephant ride?"
  • 00:26:10.417 --> 00:26:12.019
  • "oh," he says, "it's $20 a ride."
  • 00:26:12.019 --> 00:26:14.021
  • Father said, "let's go.
  • 00:26:14.021 --> 00:26:15.589
  • Time is up. we got to go."
  • 00:26:15.589 --> 00:26:18.659
  • The boy said, "oh, daddy, please, please,
  • 00:26:18.659 --> 00:26:20.661
  • Please, please, please, i really wanna ride the elephant."
  • 00:26:20.661 --> 00:26:23.063
  • He said, "i know you wanna ride the elephant,
  • 00:26:23.063 --> 00:26:24.565
  • Son, but it's $20 a ride.
  • 00:26:24.565 --> 00:26:26.100
  • There's ten of you. that's $200.
  • 00:26:26.100 --> 00:26:27.468
  • That's too much money to ride the elephant,
  • 00:26:27.468 --> 00:26:29.336
  • So we gotta go."
  • 00:26:29.336 --> 00:26:30.671
  • "daddy, i don't think you understand.
  • 00:26:30.671 --> 00:26:32.573
  • Look, daddy, it's an elephant."
  • 00:26:32.573 --> 00:26:34.541
  • "i know it's an elephant, son, but it's $20-a-ride elephant,
  • 00:26:34.541 --> 00:26:38.479
  • And that's just too much money."
  • 00:26:38.479 --> 00:26:40.581
  • "daddy, i don't think you're paying attention.
  • 00:26:40.581 --> 00:26:43.851
  • Look at that, daddy.
  • 00:26:43.851 --> 00:26:45.552
  • Look at that, daddy. it's an elephant."
  • 00:26:45.552 --> 00:26:48.355
  • "i know it's an elephant, but it costs too much
  • 00:26:48.355 --> 00:26:52.526
  • To ride the elephant!"
  • 00:26:52.526 --> 00:26:54.361
  • "daddy, i don't think you're listening to me,
  • 00:26:54.361 --> 00:26:58.165
  • And i don't think you're looking.
  • 00:26:58.165 --> 00:27:00.668
  • Look, daddy, it's an elephant!"
  • 00:27:00.668 --> 00:27:03.237
  • Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters,
  • 00:27:03.237 --> 00:27:05.706
  • This problem is so big
  • 00:27:05.706 --> 00:27:07.708
  • Don't look about the cost of your time.
  • 00:27:07.708 --> 00:27:10.310
  • Don't look about the cost of your energy.
  • 00:27:10.310 --> 00:27:12.946
  • This problem is so big we need some men
  • 00:27:12.946 --> 00:27:16.417
  • Who are willing to pay the price
  • 00:27:16.417 --> 00:27:17.985
  • In order for the next generation to get a ride.
  • 00:27:17.985 --> 00:27:17.985