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The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young

Ed Young - Lost and Found

May 19, 2025 | S25:E120

Ed Young - Lost and Found
The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young is the international on-air and online teaching ministry of Dr. Ed Young. The Winning Walk proclaims the proven truth of God’s Word to give men and women the world over a winning way to live life.
#Faith #BodyofChrist #ServantofGod #Religion #WordofGod #Miracles #inActive #Worship #EdYoung #Temple #Luke15 #TheWinningWalkwithDr.EdYoung #Journey #Overwhelming

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The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young | Ed Young - Lost and Found | May 19, 2025
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Pastor ed young: william blake, one of our classical poets, has
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  • In one of his presentations a picture of a little man who's
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  • Standing at the foot of a ladder that goes all the way up to
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  • Heaven, and the little man says, with arms extended, "i want,
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  • I want."
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  • Now, the question is, "what did he want?"
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  • We don't know, but i think that pretty well describes so many
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  • Of us.
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  • We're saying, "i want."
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  • That describes adam, and it describes so many people in
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  • The bible.
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  • It describes a lot of us.
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  • There is a restlessness, there is a need, there is
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  • An emptiness.
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  • We're saying, "i want."
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  • And we see this in the fabulous story of the prodigal son, and
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  • We see such a parallel here.
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  • It's what's happening right today in the world in which
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  • We live.
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  • Look at it.
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  • "and then he said: 'a certain man had two sons--'" harry
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  • And william.
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  • "and the youngest of them said to his father, 'father, give me
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  • The portion of the goods that falls to me.'
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  • So we divided them his livelihood.
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  • And not many days after, the younger son, harry, gathered all
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  • Together, and journeyed to the far country."
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  • Look at it.
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  • He says, "give me."
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  • Isn't that our society?
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  • "give me.
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  • I'm entitled to that.
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  • Give me my inheritance.
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  • Give me the money that i will come when you die, dad."
  • 00:02:05.915 --> 00:02:09.285
  • And by the way, the wills were already established in that day.
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  • The older son got two-thirds of the inheritance.
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  • The younger son got one-third.
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  • Here the younger son says, "give me that which i have.
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  • I want to be free.
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  • I wanna run my own life.
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  • I don't wanna hang around with you.
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  • I don't wanna stay at home and have to live with you and that
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  • Stuffed-shirted brother of mine, that older brother.
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  • I wanna go out and live my own life.
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  • Give me."
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  • Doesn't that sound like us?
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  • Man, you're in america.
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  • You're entitled to all this stuff.
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  • For example, now they're saying about where we're going to pay
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  • Off all the debt of all of those who have gone to college.
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  • Well, they're just overwhelmed with debt.
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  • Now, there's a problem there.
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  • Some of us sent our kids to school, we saved money, we
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  • Sacrificed, and they worked their way through school as i
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  • Did, and now those who just went on and took a four-year
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  • Curriculum and stretch it into eight years and ran up a big
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  • Bill, and now they owe money for it, and those of us who worked
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  • Our way through and sacrificed to send our kids through,
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  • Doesn't seem right fair that we pay for those who did not
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  • Deserve it.
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  • "but i'm entitled to it."
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  • There's entitlement here.
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  • "you know, i'm an american.
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  • I'm entitled to all of this.
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  • Give me."
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  • That's who we are.
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  • Give me, give me, give me.
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  • Sad, isn't it?
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  • Some of us go through life like that.
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  • "i deserve.
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  • I have earned.
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  • I'm a part of this.
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  • Give me."
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  • That was the prodigal.
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  • "give me my inheritance.
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  • I'm a member of the lucky gene club, and i didn't do anything
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  • To deserve it, but i don't want any responsibility to
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  • The father.
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  • I wanna live my life the way i want to live it.
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  • Give me freedom."
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  • And he went to the far country.
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  • Where was that?
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  • Corinth?
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  • Rome?
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  • Babylon?
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  • We don't know.
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  • Where is the far country?
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  • The far country, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who's
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  • Living their life without any reference to god.
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  • Any part of my life, any part of your life with no reference to
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  • God, there we've located the far country.
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  • "oh, give me.
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  • I want freedom, independence to determine how i am to live.
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  • I want to run my own life."
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  • That started in the garden, and it continues today and is
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  • Pictured, tragically, in the story of the prodigal son.
  • 00:04:55.284 --> 00:04:57.653
  • "give me."
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  • A little village, about 300 people live there, and every
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  • Christmas they'd have what they call their christmas
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  • Tree entertainment.
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  • They put a big christmas tree up in the middle of a little town,
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  • And everybody knew everybody, and they just drew names,
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  • Exchanged presents.
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  • You didn't know whose name you'd get, and they would put those
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  • Presents under the tree, and santa claus would come out, and
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  • He would call the names of people.
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  • They would come and open the package, and they discover who'd
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  • Given them that present, who had drawn their names.
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  • A lot of excitement, a lot of carols, but in that village,
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  • There was this nobody.
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  • There was this guy whose elevator didn't go to the top,
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  • This guy who had been through a lot of addiction, this guy who
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  • Was limited in every way by background and his own capacity.
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  • He was sort of a nobody, but he lived there and he would do odd
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  • Jobs, and he was just a part of the fixture of that little
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  • Community, and he never participated in drawing names,
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  • Giving presents.
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  • He would stand in the back, and he would watch year after year,
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  • But one year santa went up there to the tree and pulled out this
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  • Big package and called his name: billy aldridge.
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  • Wow.
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  • He didn't know what to think.
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  • He was frightened and timid, but he went forward and he got that
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  • Big box, and he began to put all the ribbons and put all the
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  • Paper away.
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  • He opened the box and it was empty.
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  • Empty box.
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  • I know a lot of people who start out in life, they wanna climb,
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  • They wanna go, they wanna get, they want to mount, and they
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  • Push people aside, they run over folks, they step on people, and
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  • They get higher and higher, and sometimes they reach a certain
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  • Degree, and they find, "now i've got it," and they opened that
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  • Which they had set their life on, and they discover it's an
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  • Empty box.
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  • It happens all the time.
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  • Always "it's going to be tomorrow, is when i'm gonna get
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  • It together.
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  • It is tomorrow."
  • 00:07:16.559 --> 00:07:18.928
  • I remember as a little guy to think that "boy, when i go to
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  • The first grade, i mean, i'm gonna be somebody.
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  • I look forward to going to school in the first grade.
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  • I, you know, i look forward to getting out of elementary school
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  • And being able to go to junior high.
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  • Man, i would be a junior high student.
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  • Look at me."
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  • And then through junior high, i wanted to go to high school and,
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  • Boy, and i graduated high school.
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  • Man, i can go and enroll and work my way through college.
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  • I had saved and prepared for that, and when i got out of
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  • College, i would have a vocation, and i would get
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  • Married and when that happened, then i'd have children.
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  • Oh, that is wonderful.
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  • Then all of a sudden you have grandchildren, then that
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  • Wonderful moment of the empty nest, is there a better moment
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  • Than that, parents?
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  • You don't even know: an empty nest.
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  • And then you prepare for life, and you go up and up and say,
  • 00:08:08.678 --> 00:08:12.481
  • "well, lord, i want, give me, but it's never quite all there."
  • 00:08:12.481 --> 00:08:20.122
  • And you look at the story of the prodigal son, you would be
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  • Amazed to count the number of personal pronouns: i, i, i, me,
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  • Me, me, i'm, i, i, empty box.
  • 00:08:27.830 --> 00:08:32.735
  • "give me.
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  • I'm entitled."
  • 00:08:34.070 --> 00:08:36.372
  • How do we take our influence and use it for the kingdom of god in
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  • This broken world, this upside-down world in which
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  • We live?
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  • Esteemed female author was speaking to a woman's club, and
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  • She was introduced, and the president club said, "we have
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  • This distinguished, best-selling 'new york times' author speaking
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  • To us, and she's gonna talk about the problems of america
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  • And leave out all the bad stuff."
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  • Oh, the ladies applauded.
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  • "man, the problems of america, leave out all the bad stuff:
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  • That's what we want."
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  • It's all good, it's all bright, it's all marvelous.
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  • "just give me.
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  • I'm entitled."
  • 00:09:27.123 --> 00:09:28.457
  • But look what happened to the prodigal.
  • 00:09:28.457 --> 00:09:31.494
  • "and he journeyed to the far country, and there he wasted--"
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  • That's the operative word-- "his possessions with
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  • Prodigal living.
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  • And when he had spent all, there rose of severe famine in that
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  • Land, and he began to be in want.
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  • And then he went and joined himself to a citizen of the far
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  • Country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine."
  • 00:09:55.217 --> 00:09:59.955
  • Can you imagine a jew feeding the pigs?
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  • Can you imagine that?
  • 00:10:03.526 --> 00:10:04.860
  • How low can they get?
  • 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:06.562
  • "and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that
  • 00:10:06.562 --> 00:10:11.667
  • The swine didn't eat."
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  • I don't know if you know much about pigs, but they
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  • Eat everything.
  • 00:10:15.705 --> 00:10:17.039
  • But can you imagine?
  • 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:18.407
  • He lived on the basis of what the pigs did not eat.
  • 00:10:18.407 --> 00:10:25.381
  • "and no one gave him anything."
  • 00:10:25.381 --> 00:10:29.518
  • Wasted.
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  • That describes so many lives today: wasted, thrown away,
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  • Breathing air, consuming goods.
  • 00:10:37.860 --> 00:10:39.962
  • A life that is wasted, a life that is not functioning, a life
  • 00:10:39.962 --> 00:10:44.066
  • Is not using the influence that god has given them.
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  • We're beginning this year calling on all of us in the
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  • Family of god to use our influence to bring people to
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  • God, to christ, to church so they can experience a brand-new
  • 00:10:54.310 --> 00:10:58.214
  • Life and come out of that far country in which so many people
  • 00:10:58.214 --> 00:11:02.151
  • Are now living, come out of that country.
  • 00:11:02.151 --> 00:11:06.322
  • You see, the prodigal-- i guarantee you-- he did
  • 00:11:06.322 --> 00:11:09.191
  • Not worship.
  • 00:11:09.191 --> 00:11:10.726
  • He did not look to god except when he had an empty stomach,
  • 00:11:10.726 --> 00:11:14.230
  • Except when he was sick, except when he was at the bottom of the
  • 00:11:14.230 --> 00:11:18.501
  • Rung as far as his vocation or something, and that's the
  • 00:11:18.501 --> 00:11:21.637
  • Greatest preachers in the world.
  • 00:11:21.637 --> 00:11:23.506
  • When we get that bad diagnosis, when we get something that's
  • 00:11:23.506 --> 00:11:26.609
  • Unexpected, when harm and pain come to our lives, then and then
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  • Only do we look up.
  • 00:11:31.046 --> 00:11:32.515
  • That's exactly what he did, and he looked up.
  • 00:11:32.515 --> 00:11:36.986
  • He looked up to god, and he sought to worship him, to will
  • 00:11:36.986 --> 00:11:42.558
  • Discover, to go back home because now he was homesick.
  • 00:11:42.558 --> 00:11:47.997
  • That's what this was.
  • 00:11:47.997 --> 00:11:49.365
  • There was a homesickness there, a strong, strong thing.
  • 00:11:49.365 --> 00:11:55.237
  • A lot of people have the idea that when you come in this
  • 00:11:55.237 --> 00:11:59.775
  • Place, that this is a sanctuary.
  • 00:11:59.775 --> 00:12:03.445
  • We're not in a sanctuary, ladies and gentlemen.
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  • We're an auditorium.
  • 00:12:06.682 --> 00:12:08.484
  • "auto," meaning voice.
  • 00:12:08.484 --> 00:12:12.221
  • "toro" means bull.
  • 00:12:12.221 --> 00:12:14.456
  • It's where the bull expresses himself.
  • 00:12:14.456 --> 00:12:17.827
  • It's an auditorium.
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  • You hear and you speak.
  • 00:12:20.696 --> 00:12:23.465
  • But when you and i walked in this place as we are in christ,
  • 00:12:23.465 --> 00:12:27.503
  • We were the sanctuary.
  • 00:12:27.503 --> 00:12:30.172
  • Your life is a sanctuary.
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  • My life is a sanctuary.
  • 00:12:32.141 --> 00:12:34.043
  • The sanctuaries walk into this auditorium.
  • 00:12:34.043 --> 00:12:37.880
  • In the old testament, where'd you find god?
  • 00:12:37.880 --> 00:12:41.050
  • In the tabernacle, in the temple, shekhinah, that's where
  • 00:12:41.050 --> 00:12:44.553
  • God dwelled.
  • 00:12:44.553 --> 00:12:45.921
  • In the new testament, when the church came into being, where do
  • 00:12:45.921 --> 00:12:49.091
  • You find god?
  • 00:12:49.091 --> 00:12:50.426
  • It's in your life.
  • 00:12:50.426 --> 00:12:51.961
  • It's in my life.
  • 00:12:51.961 --> 00:12:53.295
  • Christ in you.
  • 00:12:53.295 --> 00:12:54.663
  • Christ in me.
  • 00:12:54.663 --> 00:12:55.998
  • There's the sanctuary.
  • 00:12:55.998 --> 00:12:57.833
  • There is the temple of god.
  • 00:12:57.833 --> 00:13:00.302
  • When i first came to second years ago, we had smoking
  • 00:13:00.302 --> 00:13:05.708
  • Circles all around the church.
  • 00:13:05.708 --> 00:13:07.443
  • Remember those?
  • 00:13:07.443 --> 00:13:08.777
  • And there'd be men smoking after bible study, smoking circles all
  • 00:13:08.777 --> 00:13:11.680
  • Around the church.
  • 00:13:11.680 --> 00:13:13.716
  • I can tell you, all of those men that i knew during those days,
  • 00:13:13.716 --> 00:13:17.586
  • They're all dead.
  • 00:13:17.586 --> 00:13:18.921
  • I can guarantee you that.
  • 00:13:18.921 --> 00:13:20.289
  • Every one of them.
  • 00:13:20.289 --> 00:13:21.624
  • I can name names.
  • 00:13:21.624 --> 00:13:23.225
  • In that smoking circle, there was someone who taught bible,
  • 00:13:23.225 --> 00:13:26.662
  • A bible teacher, in the church, and he was out there smoking
  • 00:13:26.662 --> 00:13:30.499
  • A cigarette.
  • 00:13:30.499 --> 00:13:31.867
  • A friend came up and said, "well, let's go in, let's go
  • 00:13:31.867 --> 00:13:34.637
  • To church.
  • 00:13:34.637 --> 00:13:36.005
  • It's already starting, we're late."
  • 00:13:36.005 --> 00:13:37.339
  • He said, "well, let me finish this cigarette."
  • 00:13:37.339 --> 00:13:39.241
  • He said, "well, why don't you go in, in church and finish the
  • 00:13:39.241 --> 00:13:42.878
  • Cigarette in there?"
  • 00:13:42.878 --> 00:13:45.014
  • He said, "well, i wouldn't smoke in the temple of god."
  • 00:13:45.014 --> 00:13:49.985
  • And his friend said, "now, wait a minute."
  • 00:13:49.985 --> 00:13:53.122
  • He said, "the temple of god is not in the auditorium."
  • 00:13:53.122 --> 00:13:55.991
  • Said, "you are the temple of god, and you have a cigarette
  • 00:13:55.991 --> 00:13:58.861
  • Attached to that temple of god."
  • 00:13:58.861 --> 00:14:02.765
  • Incidentally, that was the last cigarette that man ever smoked.
  • 00:14:02.765 --> 00:14:08.270
  • The temple of god.
  • 00:14:08.270 --> 00:14:10.339
  • Wasted.
  • 00:14:10.339 --> 00:14:12.107
  • Where's the far country?
  • 00:14:12.107 --> 00:14:13.475
  • Anybody or any part of your life and my life that's not seeking
  • 00:14:13.475 --> 00:14:18.314
  • To be lived in accordance and in reference to god.
  • 00:14:18.314 --> 00:14:24.086
  • "give me."
  • 00:14:24.086 --> 00:14:26.055
  • Wasted.
  • 00:14:26.055 --> 00:14:27.423
  • Running my own life.
  • 00:14:27.423 --> 00:14:28.791
  • And then finally, this last section, it says the prodigal
  • 00:14:28.791 --> 00:14:33.629
  • Came to himself.
  • 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:35.331
  • That is a great phrase.
  • 00:14:35.331 --> 00:14:37.132
  • In other words, he was not himself.
  • 00:14:37.132 --> 00:14:40.502
  • Now he came to himself.
  • 00:14:40.502 --> 00:14:42.638
  • And look what he did.
  • 00:14:42.638 --> 00:14:44.773
  • Verse 17, "but when he came to himself, he said, 'how many of
  • 00:14:44.773 --> 00:14:48.978
  • My father's hired servants have bred enough and to spare, and i
  • 00:14:48.978 --> 00:14:53.082
  • Perish with hunger!
  • 00:14:53.082 --> 00:14:54.750
  • I will arise and go to my father, and say to him, "father,
  • 00:14:54.750 --> 00:14:57.586
  • I have sinned against heaven and before you.
  • 00:14:57.586 --> 00:15:00.222
  • No longer worthy to be called your son.
  • 00:15:00.222 --> 00:15:03.258
  • Make me as one of your hired servants."'".
  • 00:15:03.258 --> 00:15:06.895
  • He start off with, "give me, give me."
  • 00:15:06.895 --> 00:15:10.566
  • That's magic, isn't it?
  • 00:15:10.566 --> 00:15:12.334
  • That's magic.
  • 00:15:12.334 --> 00:15:13.769
  • Jesus in the wilderness.
  • 00:15:13.769 --> 00:15:15.404
  • The devil said, "hey, turn those stones into bread.
  • 00:15:15.404 --> 00:15:18.240
  • Jump off the temple, jump off the mountain, and everybody will
  • 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:21.577
  • Fall-- perform magic tricks, jesus.
  • 00:15:21.577 --> 00:15:24.380
  • And, boy, you'll get your life together."
  • 00:15:24.380 --> 00:15:26.749
  • He rejected that.
  • 00:15:26.749 --> 00:15:29.118
  • That is magic.
  • 00:15:29.118 --> 00:15:30.486
  • A lot of people think being a christian is magic.
  • 00:15:30.486 --> 00:15:33.288
  • "i prayed a little prayer.
  • 00:15:33.288 --> 00:15:35.557
  • I was baptized.
  • 00:15:35.557 --> 00:15:37.459
  • Therefore, it doesn't matter what i do.
  • 00:15:37.459 --> 00:15:39.428
  • I'm going right to heaven."
  • 00:15:39.428 --> 00:15:41.597
  • Salvation by formula.
  • 00:15:41.597 --> 00:15:43.432
  • What does it mean when we pray that prayer?
  • 00:15:43.432 --> 00:15:45.067
  • What do we pray?
  • 00:15:45.067 --> 00:15:46.402
  • "i receive in my life jesus as my lord, not as my savior."
  • 00:15:46.402 --> 00:15:52.541
  • He's our lord, and then he becomes our savior.
  • 00:15:52.541 --> 00:15:56.178
  • In other words, "i receive him and ask him to run my life."
  • 00:15:56.178 --> 00:15:59.948
  • Lordship, that's where we begin that relationship with the
  • 00:15:59.948 --> 00:16:03.185
  • Father that jesus provides for us.
  • 00:16:03.185 --> 00:16:06.989
  • He is lord of our lives.
  • 00:16:06.989 --> 00:16:09.658
  • Now it's not "give me"; it's "lord, make me."
  • 00:16:09.658 --> 00:16:13.228
  • And that's a miracle.
  • 00:16:13.228 --> 00:16:14.930
  • That's the miracle.
  • 00:16:14.930 --> 00:16:16.298
  • He comes in and makes you and makes me over and turned
  • 00:16:16.298 --> 00:16:19.134
  • Us around.
  • 00:16:19.134 --> 00:16:20.469
  • He says, "i will arise, get up out of the pig pen, and i will
  • 00:16:20.469 --> 00:16:23.405
  • Go to my father."
  • 00:16:23.405 --> 00:16:24.740
  • And he put together a little speech.
  • 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:26.909
  • It's a wonderful speech.
  • 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:28.777
  • He said, "father, i've sinned against heaven, sinned against
  • 00:16:28.777 --> 00:16:31.847
  • God, and i've sinned against you.
  • 00:16:31.847 --> 00:16:34.783
  • I'm not worthy to be called your boy again.
  • 00:16:34.783 --> 00:16:37.953
  • I'm not worthy to be your son again.
  • 00:16:37.953 --> 00:16:39.721
  • Make me as one of the hired servants."
  • 00:16:39.721 --> 00:16:42.157
  • Now, a hired servant was those who just come in, work for a
  • 00:16:42.157 --> 00:16:46.028
  • While, and they'd be fired or they'd move on, not an
  • 00:16:46.028 --> 00:16:48.564
  • Indentured servant, not a bond servant, just the lowest, lowest
  • 00:16:48.564 --> 00:16:52.601
  • Part of the father's payroll.
  • 00:16:52.601 --> 00:16:54.470
  • "make me as a hired servant.
  • 00:16:54.470 --> 00:16:56.939
  • I'm not worthy."
  • 00:16:56.939 --> 00:16:59.241
  • So he came to himself.
  • 00:16:59.241 --> 00:17:01.143
  • Anybody here need to come to yourself, wake up, look around
  • 00:17:01.143 --> 00:17:05.047
  • And say, "hey, i'm not there"?
  • 00:17:05.047 --> 00:17:07.516
  • He came to himself, he got up, and he went back and retraced
  • 00:17:07.516 --> 00:17:12.554
  • His path that he was heading home because he was homesick,
  • 00:17:12.554 --> 00:17:18.861
  • And the bible says when he was a great way off-- isn't
  • 00:17:18.861 --> 00:17:22.731
  • That great?
  • 00:17:22.731 --> 00:17:24.066
  • A long way off, the father, looking up that road, couldn't
  • 00:17:24.066 --> 00:17:27.703
  • Recognize his son, his face, but he knew how he stood.
  • 00:17:27.703 --> 00:17:30.639
  • He knew how he walked.
  • 00:17:30.639 --> 00:17:32.341
  • And here we have in the bible-- the only place-- a picture of
  • 00:17:32.341 --> 00:17:37.746
  • God running.
  • 00:17:37.746 --> 00:17:40.716
  • God's never in a hurry, if you've noticed.
  • 00:17:40.716 --> 00:17:42.351
  • We wish he'd hurry up sometime, don't we?
  • 00:17:42.351 --> 00:17:44.686
  • But he never gets in a hurry, but here we see god running.
  • 00:17:44.686 --> 00:17:48.290
  • The picture of the father running to greet that boy, and
  • 00:17:48.290 --> 00:17:51.493
  • The boy has his little sermon ready.
  • 00:17:51.493 --> 00:17:55.664
  • He said, "father, i've sinned against heaven and before you.
  • 00:17:55.664 --> 00:17:58.567
  • I'm no longer worthy to be called your son."
  • 00:17:58.567 --> 00:18:01.236
  • But before he could say, "make me as a hired servant," his dad
  • 00:18:01.236 --> 00:18:05.874
  • Had him embraced, and with tears and tears, the father said,
  • 00:18:05.874 --> 00:18:14.850
  • "bring a robe and put it on my boy.
  • 00:18:14.850 --> 00:18:18.754
  • Put him back as a member of the family."
  • 00:18:18.754 --> 00:18:21.223
  • The role would identify that.
  • 00:18:21.223 --> 00:18:22.624
  • "and bring a ring, a signet ring, for his finger."
  • 00:18:22.624 --> 00:18:26.161
  • That's credit cards, that's all the statute, that's all he
  • 00:18:26.161 --> 00:18:28.797
  • Needed to make it.
  • 00:18:28.797 --> 00:18:30.199
  • "bring a family ring and put it on him, and put shoes on
  • 00:18:30.199 --> 00:18:33.635
  • His feet."
  • 00:18:33.635 --> 00:18:35.003
  • Slaves are barefooted.
  • 00:18:35.003 --> 00:18:36.338
  • Sons and daughters wear shoes.
  • 00:18:36.338 --> 00:18:38.574
  • And he said, "we're gonna have a party," said the father.
  • 00:18:38.574 --> 00:18:42.244
  • He said, "my son who was dead is alive, and he was lost and he's
  • 00:18:42.244 --> 00:18:49.585
  • Been found."
  • 00:18:49.585 --> 00:18:51.486
  • And they had a celebration in this world that was out of
  • 00:18:51.486 --> 00:18:56.325
  • This world.
  • 00:18:56.325 --> 00:18:58.660
  • Man, the grace of god.
  • 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:00.162
  • Let me tell you the kind of church we have here.
  • 00:19:00.162 --> 00:19:03.198
  • We have a church here that anybody can come from any
  • 00:19:03.198 --> 00:19:06.401
  • Background, any situation, if they come from prison or they
  • 00:19:06.401 --> 00:19:11.273
  • Come from the highest places of prestige in this whole country,
  • 00:19:11.273 --> 00:19:16.778
  • Anybody who comes here anywhere, any why, any place, any country,
  • 00:19:16.778 --> 00:19:21.049
  • Any understanding, any brokenness, any sin, we're at a
  • 00:19:21.049 --> 00:19:23.385
  • Church where we say, "welcome home, you're a part of us, we're
  • 00:19:23.385 --> 00:19:27.556
  • Glad you're here."
  • 00:19:27.556 --> 00:19:29.324
  • That's who we are, the second family.
  • 00:19:29.324 --> 00:19:39.201
  • G. w. roberson was on a train years ago, and he was
  • 00:19:39.201 --> 00:19:46.742
  • Moving along.
  • 00:19:46.742 --> 00:19:48.110
  • He noticed across the aisle from him was a young man, middle 20s.
  • 00:19:48.110 --> 00:19:53.081
  • This young man, he noticed, would get up and walk around,
  • 00:19:53.081 --> 00:19:57.052
  • And he would look out the windows, and he was very
  • 00:19:57.052 --> 00:19:59.388
  • Restless, and he said he watched him, and finally, g. w. looked
  • 00:19:59.388 --> 00:20:04.092
  • Over at him and said, "son, is something wrong?
  • 00:20:04.092 --> 00:20:08.130
  • I noticed you're really nervous and on edge."
  • 00:20:08.130 --> 00:20:11.600
  • He said, "yes, sir."
  • 00:20:11.600 --> 00:20:13.802
  • He said, "any way i could help you?"
  • 00:20:13.802 --> 00:20:15.570
  • He said, "i don't know."
  • 00:20:15.570 --> 00:20:17.706
  • He said, "i don't mind telling you what's wrong."
  • 00:20:17.706 --> 00:20:20.742
  • He said, "five years ago or so, i was at home with my family,
  • 00:20:20.742 --> 00:20:25.147
  • A teenager."
  • 00:20:25.147 --> 00:20:26.615
  • Said, "i hadn't been living the way my dad, my mom wanted me to.
  • 00:20:26.615 --> 00:20:30.152
  • I was in total rebellion."
  • 00:20:30.152 --> 00:20:33.188
  • And he said, "i got in an argument with my folks.
  • 00:20:33.188 --> 00:20:34.756
  • There was profanity."
  • 00:20:34.756 --> 00:20:36.091
  • And he said, "i pushed my dad down."
  • 00:20:36.091 --> 00:20:39.027
  • He said, "my father get up and said, 'get out of this house.
  • 00:20:39.027 --> 00:20:42.931
  • Your mother and i never want to see you again.
  • 00:20:42.931 --> 00:20:45.067
  • You're not welcome here.
  • 00:20:45.067 --> 00:20:46.401
  • You're not my son any longer.
  • 00:20:46.401 --> 00:20:47.769
  • Get out of here.'"
  • 00:20:47.769 --> 00:20:49.137
  • And he said, "i got up, i got my stuff, and i left."
  • 00:20:49.137 --> 00:20:54.609
  • He said, "i went out and did some odd jobs, moved away."
  • 00:20:54.609 --> 00:20:59.915
  • He said, "i ended up joining a gang."
  • 00:20:59.915 --> 00:21:02.851
  • He said, "i don't wanna tell you about all the things that
  • 00:21:02.851 --> 00:21:05.120
  • We did."
  • 00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:06.555
  • Said, "then we had a master plan to commit this robbery."
  • 00:21:06.555 --> 00:21:12.194
  • But he said, "we were caught in the act, and i was sentenced
  • 00:21:12.194 --> 00:21:16.131
  • Under age.
  • 00:21:16.131 --> 00:21:17.466
  • I got only two years."
  • 00:21:17.466 --> 00:21:19.368
  • And he said, "i got out about a year ago."
  • 00:21:19.368 --> 00:21:22.904
  • He said, "i wrote my folks little notes every month or so,
  • 00:21:22.904 --> 00:21:27.476
  • Never telling them what was going on in my life."
  • 00:21:27.476 --> 00:21:30.312
  • But he said, "i wrote a note about two weeks ago and told my
  • 00:21:30.312 --> 00:21:34.349
  • Folks that i'd be on this train, and i'd be coming this way on
  • 00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:39.821
  • This particular train on this particular day."
  • 00:21:39.821 --> 00:21:42.657
  • And he said, "that train goes right by our little farmhouse."
  • 00:21:42.657 --> 00:21:47.929
  • Said, "i told my folks if they wanted me to get off at the next
  • 00:21:47.929 --> 00:21:51.366
  • Station and they'd let me come home one more time and look at
  • 00:21:51.366 --> 00:21:54.503
  • Their face one more time," he said, if they'd let me do that,
  • 00:21:54.503 --> 00:21:57.973
  • To take a-- just a white cloth or a rag of some kind and just
  • 00:21:57.973 --> 00:22:02.778
  • Tie it on the mailbox, it-- from the train, i would see it, and i
  • 00:22:02.778 --> 00:22:06.148
  • Would know that i could go back home."
  • 00:22:06.148 --> 00:22:09.451
  • And he said, "we're coming around that curve."
  • 00:22:09.451 --> 00:22:12.921
  • He said, "sir, i don't know if i can look to see if that little
  • 00:22:12.921 --> 00:22:17.492
  • White cloth is there."
  • 00:22:17.492 --> 00:22:18.860
  • He said, "i'm just very emotional."
  • 00:22:18.860 --> 00:22:23.064
  • And g. w. said, "son, you just sit over there.
  • 00:22:23.064 --> 00:22:25.200
  • I'll look for you, and i'll tell you if i see that little white
  • 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.937
  • Cloth on the mailbox, and then you'll know you can get off and
  • 00:22:28.937 --> 00:22:32.040
  • Go home.
  • 00:22:32.040 --> 00:22:33.408
  • You just look the other way.
  • 00:22:33.408 --> 00:22:34.743
  • I'll let you know."
  • 00:22:34.743 --> 00:22:36.111
  • And he said-- sure enough, the train came around the tracks.
  • 00:22:36.111 --> 00:22:38.013
  • He said he could see a little house in the distance by
  • 00:22:38.013 --> 00:22:41.249
  • The tracks.
  • 00:22:41.249 --> 00:22:42.584
  • He said, the closer he got, he saw not only was there a white
  • 00:22:42.584 --> 00:22:46.188
  • Cloth tied to the mailbox, but there were white towels tied all
  • 00:22:46.188 --> 00:22:51.793
  • To the fence, and he said, all on the post of the house, on the
  • 00:22:51.793 --> 00:22:56.998
  • Side of the house.
  • 00:22:56.998 --> 00:22:58.333
  • And said, "they'd taken the white sheets, and they'd hung it
  • 00:22:58.333 --> 00:23:01.102
  • There on the clothes line."
  • 00:23:01.102 --> 00:23:02.771
  • And he said, "i looked at it.
  • 00:23:02.771 --> 00:23:04.139
  • It looked like it had snowed.
  • 00:23:04.139 --> 00:23:05.941
  • That little house was covered with a sea of white."
  • 00:23:05.941 --> 00:23:09.144
  • And he said, "look--" the young man-- i said, "son, son, get up
  • 00:23:09.144 --> 00:23:13.682
  • And look."
  • 00:23:13.682 --> 00:23:15.784
  • He said he stood.
  • 00:23:15.784 --> 00:23:18.019
  • He got very emotional.
  • 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:19.554
  • He said he couldn't say anything, and the boy nodded to
  • 00:23:19.554 --> 00:23:21.923
  • Him, and he got a cheap suitcase out of the top, and he started
  • 00:23:21.923 --> 00:23:26.428
  • Down the aisle of the train.
  • 00:23:26.428 --> 00:23:27.762
  • He said the train slowed down the next curve, and said, "the
  • 00:23:27.762 --> 00:23:31.266
  • Boy didn't wait for the station.
  • 00:23:31.266 --> 00:23:32.934
  • He just jumped off that train."
  • 00:23:32.934 --> 00:23:36.171
  • He said, "the last time i saw him, he was dragging that little
  • 00:23:36.171 --> 00:23:41.209
  • Cheap suitcase up the hill," and said, "the white sheets were
  • 00:23:41.209 --> 00:23:47.616
  • Flapping in the breeze."
  • 00:23:47.616 --> 00:23:53.221
  • Anybody here away from home, away from god?
  • 00:23:53.221 --> 00:24:02.364
  • Isn't it time to come home?
  • 00:24:02.364 --> 00:24:08.937
  • Ed: at some point, every marriage will run into
  • 00:24:09.004 --> 00:24:11.806
  • Tough times.
  • 00:24:11.806 --> 00:24:13.375
  • Whether it's miscommunication, money, sex, or in-laws, every
  • 00:24:13.375 --> 00:24:17.112
  • Marriage goes through a rocky patch.
  • 00:24:17.112 --> 00:24:20.015
  • Far too often, those rocky patches end up ruining otherwise
  • 00:24:20.015 --> 00:24:23.818
  • Great, potentially super marriages.
  • 00:24:23.818 --> 00:24:27.155
  • But it does not have to be that way.
  • 00:24:27.155 --> 00:24:30.592
  • God designed marriage, and he gave us the keys to have a
  • 00:24:30.592 --> 00:24:34.663
  • Marriage that works, a marriage that sizzles.
  • 00:24:34.663 --> 00:24:37.799
  • In my book, "the ten commandments of marriage", i lay
  • 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:41.169
  • Out ten practical principles to make your marriage super.
  • 00:24:41.169 --> 00:24:45.874
  • I hope that you will get this resource today.
  • 00:24:45.874 --> 00:24:51.346
  • Female announcer: to get your copy, call the number on your
  • 00:24:51.346 --> 00:24:53.348
  • Screen or go online at winningwalk.org.
  • 00:24:53.348 --> 00:24:56.685
  • It's our gift to you for your financial support
  • 00:24:56.685 --> 00:24:58.019
  • Of this ministry.
  • 00:24:58.019 --> 00:24:59.387
  • Marriage may not always be bliss, but with god's help, it
  • 00:24:59.387 --> 00:25:03.391
  • Can be amazing.
  • 00:25:03.391 --> 00:25:05.660
  • Pastor ed: i call it a knee-to-knee day, and by "knee"
  • 00:25:08.229 --> 00:25:12.901
  • I mean our knees.
  • 00:25:12.901 --> 00:25:15.503
  • It's terrific when i'm able to kneel before i get in bed at
  • 00:25:15.503 --> 00:25:19.307
  • Night, and i have a little ritual that i go through.
  • 00:25:19.307 --> 00:25:22.944
  • It's an acrostic because the number one problem in my life is
  • 00:25:22.944 --> 00:25:27.048
  • Myself, and i'm guessing the biggest problem you have is
  • 00:25:27.048 --> 00:25:31.786
  • Self; therefore, i like to go to sleep every night, and i kneel
  • 00:25:31.786 --> 00:25:37.626
  • By my bed, and i put my hands down on the bed, and i spell out
  • 00:25:37.626 --> 00:25:42.797
  • A little acrostic: s-e-l-f.
  • 00:25:42.797 --> 00:25:46.635
  • First of all, i say, "lord, i surrender to you.
  • 00:25:46.635 --> 00:25:49.971
  • I give you my life.
  • 00:25:49.971 --> 00:25:51.840
  • I surrender."
  • 00:25:51.840 --> 00:25:53.208
  • And then, still my hands down, i pray a prayer, and i empty my
  • 00:25:53.208 --> 00:25:57.679
  • Life of all the debris i may have picked up that day.
  • 00:25:57.679 --> 00:26:01.116
  • Time of confession, et cetera, et cetera.
  • 00:26:01.116 --> 00:26:03.852
  • I sort of empty my life, and that's the e.
  • 00:26:03.852 --> 00:26:05.687
  • And the l is, i just love god.
  • 00:26:05.687 --> 00:26:09.224
  • I lift my hands, on my knees, by the bed, i lift my hands up.
  • 00:26:09.224 --> 00:26:11.660
  • I just spend time loving the lord and thanking him.
  • 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:15.363
  • And then the f, i say, "lord, fill me with your spirit
  • 00:26:15.363 --> 00:26:18.700
  • Tonight, and help me to dream dreams about you.
  • 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:22.904
  • Keep my mind and heart pure while i sleep and
  • 00:26:22.904 --> 00:26:26.641
  • I'm refreshed."
  • 00:26:26.641 --> 00:26:28.276
  • I don't know.
  • 00:26:28.276 --> 00:26:29.644
  • I like to go to bed that way.
  • 00:26:29.644 --> 00:26:31.780
  • In the morning, i like to roll out of bed and sort of land on
  • 00:26:31.780 --> 00:26:35.417
  • My knees.
  • 00:26:35.417 --> 00:26:36.785
  • Good exercise, by the way, to begin your day, and i do the
  • 00:26:36.785 --> 00:26:39.888
  • Same thing again.
  • 00:26:39.888 --> 00:26:41.289
  • I just say, "lord, i surrender this day to you.
  • 00:26:41.289 --> 00:26:45.827
  • I surrender to you."
  • 00:26:45.827 --> 00:26:47.829
  • And i say, "lord, i empty, i empty myself right now for this
  • 00:26:47.829 --> 00:26:51.866
  • New day you have for me.
  • 00:26:51.866 --> 00:26:53.334
  • And, lord, i love you.
  • 00:26:53.334 --> 00:26:55.370
  • And, lord, fill me with your spirit."
  • 00:26:55.370 --> 00:26:56.971
  • S-e-l-f.
  • 00:26:56.971 --> 00:26:59.207
  • Knee to knee.
  • 00:26:59.207 --> 00:27:00.975
  • Last--first thing that touches the floor at night,
  • 00:27:00.975 --> 00:27:03.378
  • You're on your knees.
  • 00:27:03.378 --> 00:27:04.746
  • The first thing that touches the floor in the morning,
  • 00:27:04.746 --> 00:27:06.381
  • You're on your knees.
  • 00:27:06.381 --> 00:27:07.716
  • A knee-to-knee day will change every day.
  • 00:27:07.716 --> 00:27:12.754
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:14.522 --> 00:27:19.527
  • Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.aberdeen.io
  • 00:27:19.527 --> 00:27:27.569