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.
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The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young | Ed Young - Lost and Found | August 4, 2025
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- Male announcer: spend time with god each day.
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- Get dr. young's 90-day devotional, "putting god first."
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- Ed young: it is my prayer that this devotional will help you to
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- Become all that god has designed you to become.
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- Announcer: call or go online to get a copy
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- For yourself or someone you love.
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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."
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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,
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- "well, lord, i want, give me, but it's never quite all there."
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- 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.
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- "give me.
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- I'm entitled."
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- 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."
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- But look what happened to the prodigal.
- 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:50.746
- "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."
- 00:10:14.470 --> 00:10:19.208
- Can you imagine a jew feeding the pigs?
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- Can you imagine that?
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- How low can they get?
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- "and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that
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- 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.
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- But can you imagine?
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- He lived on the basis of what the pigs did not eat.
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- "and no one gave him anything."
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- Wasted.
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- That describes so many lives today: wasted, thrown away,
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- Breathing air, consuming goods.
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- A life that is wasted, a life that is not functioning, a life
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- 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
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- Life and come out of that far country in which so many people
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- Are now living, come out of that country.
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- You see, the prodigal-- i guarantee you-- he did
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- Not worship.
- 00:11:28.444 --> 00:11:29.979
- He did not look to god except when he had an empty stomach,
- 00:11:29.979 --> 00:11:33.482
- Except when he was sick, except when he was at the bottom of the
- 00:11:33.482 --> 00:11:37.753
- Rung as far as his vocation or something, and that's the
- 00:11:37.753 --> 00:11:40.890
- Greatest preachers in the world.
- 00:11:40.890 --> 00:11:42.758
- When we get that bad diagnosis, when we get something that's
- 00:11:42.758 --> 00:11:45.861
- Unexpected, when harm and pain come to our lives, then and then
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- Only do we look up.
- 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:51.767
- That's exactly what he did, and he looked up.
- 00:11:51.767 --> 00:11:56.238
- He looked up to god, and he sought to worship him, to will
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- Discover, to go back home because now he was homesick.
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- That's what this was.
- 00:12:07.249 --> 00:12:08.617
- There was a homesickness there, a strong, strong thing.
- 00:12:08.617 --> 00:12:14.490
- A lot of people have the idea that when you come in this
- 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:19.028
- Place, that this is a sanctuary.
- 00:12:19.028 --> 00:12:22.698
- We're not in a sanctuary, ladies and gentlemen.
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- We're an auditorium.
- 00:12:25.935 --> 00:12:27.736
- "auto," meaning voice.
- 00:12:27.736 --> 00:12:31.473
- "toro" means bull.
- 00:12:31.473 --> 00:12:33.709
- It's where the bull expresses himself.
- 00:12:33.709 --> 00:12:37.079
- It's an auditorium.
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- You hear and you speak.
- 00:12:39.949 --> 00:12:42.718
- But when you and i walked in this place as we are in christ,
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- We were the sanctuary.
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- Your life is a sanctuary.
- 00:12:49.425 --> 00:12:51.393
- My life is a sanctuary.
- 00:12:51.393 --> 00:12:53.295
- The sanctuaries walk into this auditorium.
- 00:12:53.295 --> 00:12:57.132
- In the old testament, where'd you find god?
- 00:12:57.132 --> 00:13:00.302
- In the tabernacle, in the temple, shekinah, that's where
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- God dwelled.
- 00:13:03.806 --> 00:13:05.174
- In the new testament, when the church came into being, where do
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- You find god?
- 00:13:08.344 --> 00:13:09.678
- It's in your life.
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- It's in my life.
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- Christ in you.
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- Christ in me.
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- There's the sanctuary.
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- There is the temple of god.
- 00:13:17.086 --> 00:13:19.555
- When i first came to second years ago, we had smoking
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- Circles all around the church.
- 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.695
- Remember those?
- 00:13:26.695 --> 00:13:28.030
- And there'd be men smoking after bible study, smoking circles all
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- Around the church.
- 00:13:30.933 --> 00:13:32.968
- I can tell you, all of those men that i knew during those days,
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- They're all dead.
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- I can guarantee you that.
- 00:13:38.173 --> 00:13:39.541
- Every one of them.
- 00:13:39.541 --> 00:13:40.876
- I can name names.
- 00:13:40.876 --> 00:13:42.478
- In that smoking circle, there was someone who taught bible,
- 00:13:42.478 --> 00:13:45.915
- A bible teacher, in the church, and he was out there smoking
- 00:13:45.915 --> 00:13:49.752
- A cigarette.
- 00:13:49.752 --> 00:13:51.120
- A friend came up and said, "well, let's go in, let's go
- 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.889
- To church.
- 00:13:53.889 --> 00:13:55.257
- It's already starting, we're late."
- 00:13:55.257 --> 00:13:56.592
- He said, "well, let me finish this cigarette."
- 00:13:56.592 --> 00:13:58.494
- He said, "well, why don't you go in, in church and finish the
- 00:13:58.494 --> 00:14:02.131
- Cigarette in there?"
- 00:14:02.131 --> 00:14:04.266
- He said, "well, i wouldn't smoke in the temple of god."
- 00:14:04.266 --> 00:14:09.238
- And his friend said, "now, wait a minute."
- 00:14:09.238 --> 00:14:12.374
- He said, "the temple of god is not in the auditorium."
- 00:14:12.374 --> 00:14:15.244
- Said, "you are the temple of god, and you have a cigarette
- 00:14:15.244 --> 00:14:18.113
- Attached to that temple of god."
- 00:14:18.113 --> 00:14:22.017
- Incidentally, that was the last cigarette that man ever smoked.
- 00:14:22.017 --> 00:14:27.523
- The temple of god.
- 00:14:27.523 --> 00:14:29.591
- Wasted.
- 00:14:29.591 --> 00:14:31.360
- Where's the far country?
- 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:32.728
- Anybody or any part of your life and my life that's not seeking
- 00:14:32.728 --> 00:14:37.566
- To be lived in accordance and in reference to god.
- 00:14:37.566 --> 00:14:43.339
- "give me."
- 00:14:43.339 --> 00:14:45.307
- Wasted.
- 00:14:45.307 --> 00:14:46.675
- Running my own life.
- 00:14:46.675 --> 00:14:48.043
- And then finally, this last section, it says the prodigal
- 00:14:48.043 --> 00:14:52.881
- Came to himself.
- 00:14:52.881 --> 00:14:54.583
- That is a great phrase.
- 00:14:54.583 --> 00:14:56.385
- In other words, he was not himself.
- 00:14:56.385 --> 00:14:59.755
- Now he came to himself.
- 00:14:59.755 --> 00:15:01.890
- And look what he did.
- 00:15:01.890 --> 00:15:04.026
- Verse 17, "but when he came to himself, he said, 'how many of
- 00:15:04.026 --> 00:15:08.230
- My father's hired servants have bred enough and to spare, and i
- 00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:12.334
- Perish with hunger!
- 00:15:12.334 --> 00:15:14.003
- I will arise and go to my father, and say to him, "father,
- 00:15:14.003 --> 00:15:16.839
- I have sinned against heaven and before you.
- 00:15:16.839 --> 00:15:19.475
- No longer worthy to be called your son.
- 00:15:19.475 --> 00:15:22.511
- Make me as one of your hired servants."'".
- 00:15:22.511 --> 00:15:26.148
- He start off with, "give me, give me."
- 00:15:26.148 --> 00:15:29.818
- That's magic, isn't it?
- 00:15:29.818 --> 00:15:31.587
- That's magic.
- 00:15:31.587 --> 00:15:33.022
- Jesus in the wilderness.
- 00:15:33.022 --> 00:15:34.656
- The devil said, "hey, turn those stones into bread.
- 00:15:34.656 --> 00:15:37.493
- Jump off the temple, jump off the mountain, and everybody will
- 00:15:37.493 --> 00:15:40.829
- Fall-- perform magic tricks, jesus.
- 00:15:40.829 --> 00:15:43.632
- And, boy, you'll get your life together."
- 00:15:43.632 --> 00:15:46.001
- He rejected that.
- 00:15:46.001 --> 00:15:48.370
- That is magic.
- 00:15:48.370 --> 00:15:49.738
- A lot of people think being a christian is magic.
- 00:15:49.738 --> 00:15:52.541
- "i prayed a little prayer.
- 00:15:52.541 --> 00:15:54.810
- I was baptized.
- 00:15:54.810 --> 00:15:56.712
- Therefore, it doesn't matter what i do.
- 00:15:56.712 --> 00:15:58.680
- I'm going right to heaven."
- 00:15:58.680 --> 00:16:00.849
- Salvation by formula.
- 00:16:00.849 --> 00:16:02.684
- What does it mean when we pray that prayer?
- 00:16:02.684 --> 00:16:04.319
- What do we pray?
- 00:16:04.319 --> 00:16:05.654
- "i receive in my life jesus as my lord, not as my savior."
- 00:16:05.654 --> 00:16:11.794
- He's our lord, and then he becomes our savior.
- 00:16:11.794 --> 00:16:15.431
- In other words, "i receive him and ask him to run my life."
- 00:16:15.431 --> 00:16:19.201
- Lordship, that's where we begin that relationship with the
- 00:16:19.201 --> 00:16:22.438
- Father that jesus provides for us.
- 00:16:22.438 --> 00:16:26.241
- He is lord of our lives.
- 00:16:26.241 --> 00:16:28.911
- Now it's not "give me"; it's "lord, make me."
- 00:16:28.911 --> 00:16:32.481
- And that's a miracle.
- 00:16:32.481 --> 00:16:34.183
- That's the miracle.
- 00:16:34.183 --> 00:16:35.551
- He comes in and makes you and makes me over and turned
- 00:16:35.551 --> 00:16:38.387
- Us around.
- 00:16:38.387 --> 00:16:39.721
- He says, "i will arise, get up out of the pig pen, and i will
- 00:16:39.721 --> 00:16:42.658
- Go to my father."
- 00:16:42.658 --> 00:16:43.992
- And he put together a little speech.
- 00:16:43.992 --> 00:16:46.161
- It's a wonderful speech.
- 00:16:46.161 --> 00:16:48.030
- He said, "father, i've sinned against heaven, sinned against
- 00:16:48.030 --> 00:16:51.100
- God, and i've sinned against you.
- 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:54.036
- I'm not worthy to be called your boy again.
- 00:16:54.036 --> 00:16:57.206
- I'm not worthy to be your son again.
- 00:16:57.206 --> 00:16:58.974
- Make me as one of the hired servants."
- 00:16:58.974 --> 00:17:01.410
- Now, a hired servant was those who just come in, work for a
- 00:17:01.410 --> 00:17:05.280
- While, and they'd be fired or they'd move on, not an
- 00:17:05.280 --> 00:17:07.816
- Indentured servant, not a bond servant, just the lowest, lowest
- 00:17:07.816 --> 00:17:11.854
- Part of the father's payroll.
- 00:17:11.854 --> 00:17:13.722
- "make me as a hired servant.
- 00:17:13.722 --> 00:17:16.191
- I'm not worthy."
- 00:17:16.191 --> 00:17:18.494
- So he came to himself.
- 00:17:18.494 --> 00:17:20.395
- Anybody here need to come to yourself, wake up, look around
- 00:17:20.395 --> 00:17:24.299
- And say, "hey, i'm not there"?
- 00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:26.768
- He came to himself, he got up, and he went back and retraced
- 00:17:26.768 --> 00:17:31.807
- His path that he was heading home because he was homesick,
- 00:17:31.807 --> 00:17:38.113
- And the bible says when he was a great way off-- isn't
- 00:17:38.113 --> 00:17:41.984
- That great?
- 00:17:41.984 --> 00:17:43.318
- A long way off, the father, looking up that road, couldn't
- 00:17:43.318 --> 00:17:46.955
- Recognize his son, his face, but he knew how he stood.
- 00:17:46.955 --> 00:17:49.892
- He knew how he walked.
- 00:17:49.892 --> 00:17:51.593
- And here we have in the bible-- the only place-- a picture of
- 00:17:51.593 --> 00:17:56.999
- God running.
- 00:17:56.999 --> 00:17:59.968
- God's never in a hurry, if you've noticed.
- 00:17:59.968 --> 00:18:01.603
- We wish he'd hurry up sometime, don't we?
- 00:18:01.603 --> 00:18:03.939
- But he never gets in a hurry, but here we see god running.
- 00:18:03.939 --> 00:18:07.543
- The picture of the father running to greet that boy, and
- 00:18:07.543 --> 00:18:10.746
- The boy has his little sermon ready.
- 00:18:10.746 --> 00:18:14.917
- He said, "father, i've sinned against heaven and before you.
- 00:18:14.917 --> 00:18:17.819
- I'm no longer worthy to be called your son."
- 00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:20.489
- But before he could say, "make me as a hired servant," his dad
- 00:18:20.489 --> 00:18:25.127
- Had him embraced, and with tears and tears, the father said,
- 00:18:25.127 --> 00:18:34.102
- "bring a robe and put it on my boy.
- 00:18:34.102 --> 00:18:38.006
- Put him back as a member of the family."
- 00:18:38.006 --> 00:18:40.475
- The role would identify that.
- 00:18:40.475 --> 00:18:41.877
- "and bring a ring, a signet ring, for his finger."
- 00:18:41.877 --> 00:18:45.414
- That's credit cards, that's all the statute, that's all he
- 00:18:45.414 --> 00:18:48.050
- Needed to make it.
- 00:18:48.050 --> 00:18:49.451
- "bring a family ring and put it on him, and put shoes on
- 00:18:49.451 --> 00:18:52.888
- His feet."
- 00:18:52.888 --> 00:18:54.256
- Slaves are barefooted.
- 00:18:54.256 --> 00:18:55.591
- Sons and daughters wear shoes.
- 00:18:55.591 --> 00:18:57.826
- And he said, "we're gonna have a party," said the father.
- 00:18:57.826 --> 00:19:01.496
- He said, "my son who was dead is alive, and he was lost and he's
- 00:19:01.496 --> 00:19:08.837
- Been found."
- 00:19:08.837 --> 00:19:10.739
- And they had a celebration in this world that was out of
- 00:19:10.739 --> 00:19:15.577
- This world.
- 00:19:15.577 --> 00:19:17.913
- Man, the grace of god.
- 00:19:17.913 --> 00:19:19.414
- Let me tell you the kind of church we have here.
- 00:19:19.414 --> 00:19:22.451
- We have a church here that anybody can come from any
- 00:19:22.451 --> 00:19:25.654
- Background, any situation, if they come from prison or they
- 00:19:25.654 --> 00:19:30.525
- Come from the highest places of prestige in this whole country,
- 00:19:30.525 --> 00:19:36.031
- Anybody who comes here anywhere, any why, any place, any country,
- 00:19:36.031 --> 00:19:40.302
- Any understanding, any brokenness, any sin, we're at a
- 00:19:40.302 --> 00:19:42.638
- Church where we say, "welcome home, you're a part of us, we're
- 00:19:42.638 --> 00:19:46.808
- Glad you're here."
- 00:19:46.808 --> 00:19:48.577
- That's who we are, the second family.
- 00:19:48.577 --> 00:19:58.453
- G. w. roberson was on a train years ago, and he was
- 00:19:58.453 --> 00:20:05.994
- Moving along.
- 00:20:05.994 --> 00:20:07.362
- He noticed across the aisle from him was a young man, middle 20s.
- 00:20:07.362 --> 00:20:12.334
- This young man, he noticed, would get up and walk around,
- 00:20:12.334 --> 00:20:16.305
- And he would look out the windows, and he was very
- 00:20:16.305 --> 00:20:18.640
- Restless, and he said he watched him, and finally, g. w. looked
- 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:23.345
- Over at him and said, "son, is something wrong?
- 00:20:23.345 --> 00:20:27.382
- I noticed you're really nervous and on edge."
- 00:20:27.382 --> 00:20:30.852
- He said, "yes, sir."
- 00:20:30.852 --> 00:20:33.055
- He said, "any way i could help you?"
- 00:20:33.055 --> 00:20:34.823
- He said, "i don't know."
- 00:20:34.823 --> 00:20:36.958
- He said, "i don't mind telling you what's wrong."
- 00:20:36.958 --> 00:20:39.995
- He said, "five years ago or so, i was at home with my family,
- 00:20:39.995 --> 00:20:44.399
- A teenager."
- 00:20:44.399 --> 00:20:45.867
- Said, "i hadn't been living the way my dad, my mom wanted me to.
- 00:20:45.867 --> 00:20:49.404
- I was in total rebellion."
- 00:20:49.404 --> 00:20:52.441
- And he said, "i got in an argument with my folks.
- 00:20:52.441 --> 00:20:54.009
- There was profanity."
- 00:20:54.009 --> 00:20:55.344
- And he said, "i pushed my dad down."
- 00:20:55.344 --> 00:20:58.280
- He said, "my father get up and said, 'get out of this house.
- 00:20:58.280 --> 00:21:02.184
- Your mother and i never want to see you again.
- 00:21:02.184 --> 00:21:04.319
- You're not welcome here.
- 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:05.654
- You're not my son any longer.
- 00:21:05.654 --> 00:21:07.022
- Get out of here.'"
- 00:21:07.022 --> 00:21:08.390
- And he said, "i got up, i got my stuff, and i left."
- 00:21:08.390 --> 00:21:13.862
- He said, "i went out and did some odd jobs, moved away."
- 00:21:13.862 --> 00:21:19.167
- He said, "i ended up joining a gang."
- 00:21:19.167 --> 00:21:22.104
- He said, "i don't wanna tell you about all the things that
- 00:21:22.104 --> 00:21:24.373
- We did."
- 00:21:24.373 --> 00:21:25.807
- Said, "then we had a master plan to commit this robbery."
- 00:21:25.807 --> 00:21:31.446
- But he said, "we were caught in the act, and i was sentenced
- 00:21:31.446 --> 00:21:35.384
- Under age.
- 00:21:35.384 --> 00:21:36.718
- I got only two years."
- 00:21:36.718 --> 00:21:38.620
- And he said, "i got out about a year ago."
- 00:21:38.620 --> 00:21:42.157
- He said, "i wrote my folks little notes every month or so,
- 00:21:42.157 --> 00:21:46.728
- Never telling them what was going on in my life."
- 00:21:46.728 --> 00:21:49.564
- But he said, "i wrote a note about two weeks ago and told my
- 00:21:49.564 --> 00:21:53.602
- Folks that i'd be on this train, and i'd be coming this way on
- 00:21:53.602 --> 00:21:59.074
- This particular train on this particular day."
- 00:21:59.074 --> 00:22:01.910
- And he said, "that train goes right by our little farmhouse."
- 00:22:01.910 --> 00:22:07.182
- Said, "i told my folks if they wanted me to get off at the next
- 00:22:07.182 --> 00:22:10.619
- Station and they'd let me come home one more time and look at
- 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.755
- Their face one more time," he said, if they'd let me do that,
- 00:22:13.755 --> 00:22:17.225
- To take a-- just a white cloth or a rag of some kind and just
- 00:22:17.225 --> 00:22:22.030
- Tie it on the mailbox, it-- from the train, i would see it, and i
- 00:22:22.030 --> 00:22:25.400
- Would know that i could go back home."
- 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:28.703
- And he said, "we're coming around that curve."
- 00:22:28.703 --> 00:22:32.174
- He said, "sir, i don't know if i can look to see if that little
- 00:22:32.174 --> 00:22:36.745
- White cloth is there."
- 00:22:36.745 --> 00:22:38.113
- He said, "i'm just very emotional."
- 00:22:38.113 --> 00:22:42.317
- And g. w. said, "son, you just sit over there.
- 00:22:42.317 --> 00:22:44.453
- I'll look for you, and i'll tell you if i see that little white
- 00:22:44.453 --> 00:22:48.190
- Cloth on the mailbox, and then you'll know you can get off and
- 00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:51.293
- Go home.
- 00:22:51.293 --> 00:22:52.661
- You just look the other way.
- 00:22:52.661 --> 00:22:53.995
- I'll let you know."
- 00:22:53.995 --> 00:22:55.363
- And he said-- sure enough, the train came around the tracks.
- 00:22:55.363 --> 00:22:57.265
- He said he could see a little house in the distance by
- 00:22:57.265 --> 00:23:00.502
- The tracks.
- 00:23:00.502 --> 00:23:01.837
- He said, the closer he got, he saw not only was there a white
- 00:23:01.837 --> 00:23:05.440
- Cloth tied to the mailbox, but there were white towels tied all
- 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:11.046
- To the fence, and he said, all on the post of the house, on the
- 00:23:11.046 --> 00:23:16.251
- Side of the house.
- 00:23:16.251 --> 00:23:17.586
- And said, "they'd taken the white sheets, and they'd hung it
- 00:23:17.586 --> 00:23:20.355
- There on the clothes line."
- 00:23:20.355 --> 00:23:22.023
- And he said, "i looked at it.
- 00:23:22.023 --> 00:23:23.391
- It looked like it had snowed.
- 00:23:23.391 --> 00:23:25.193
- That little house was covered with a sea of white."
- 00:23:25.193 --> 00:23:28.396
- And he said, "look--" the young man-- i said, "son, son, get up
- 00:23:28.396 --> 00:23:32.934
- And look."
- 00:23:32.934 --> 00:23:35.036
- He said he stood.
- 00:23:35.036 --> 00:23:37.272
- He got very emotional.
- 00:23:37.272 --> 00:23:38.807
- He said he couldn't say anything, and the boy nodded to
- 00:23:38.807 --> 00:23:41.176
- Him, and he got a cheap suitcase out of the top, and he started
- 00:23:41.176 --> 00:23:45.680
- Down the aisle of the train.
- 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.015
- He said the train slowed down the next curve, and said, "the
- 00:23:47.015 --> 00:23:50.519
- Boy didn't wait for the station.
- 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:52.187
- He just jumped off that train."
- 00:23:52.187 --> 00:23:55.423
- He said, "the last time i saw him, he was dragging that little
- 00:23:55.423 --> 00:24:00.462
- Cheap suitcase up the hill," and said, "the white sheets were
- 00:24:00.462 --> 00:24:06.868
- Flapping in the breeze."
- 00:24:06.868 --> 00:24:12.474
- Anybody here away from home, away from god?
- 00:24:12.474 --> 00:24:21.583
- Isn't it time to come home?
- 00:24:21.583 --> 00:24:27.455
- Ed: there's never been a better time than right
- 00:24:29.958 --> 00:24:32.294
- Now to make god a priority in your life.
- 00:24:32.294 --> 00:24:35.931
- That's why we've created this 90-day devotional, "putting god
- 00:24:35.931 --> 00:24:40.101
- First," number one.
- 00:24:40.101 --> 00:24:41.903
- And when you and i do that, he is faithful to give the
- 00:24:41.903 --> 00:24:44.940
- Direction of guidance you and i need every day to walk
- 00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:48.476
- Through life.
- 00:24:48.476 --> 00:24:50.545
- It is my prayer that this devotional will help you to
- 00:24:50.545 --> 00:24:53.181
- Become all that god has designed you to become.
- 00:24:53.181 --> 00:24:57.586
- Male announcer: call today or go online at winningwalk.org to get
- 00:24:57.652 --> 00:25:01.489
- Your copy of dr. young's 90-day devotional "putting god first."
- 00:25:01.489 --> 00:25:06.595
- Pastor ed: i call it a knee-to-knee day, and by "knee"
- 00:25:09.331 --> 00:25:14.002
- I mean our knees.
- 00:25:14.002 --> 00:25:16.605
- It's terrific when i'm able to kneel before i get in bed at
- 00:25:16.605 --> 00:25:20.408
- Night, and i have a little ritual that i go through.
- 00:25:20.408 --> 00:25:23.712
- It's an acrostic because the number one problem in my life is
- 00:25:23.712 --> 00:25:27.816
- Myself, and i'm guessing the biggest problem you have is
- 00:25:27.816 --> 00:25:32.887
- Self; therefore, i like to go to sleep every night, and i kneel
- 00:25:32.887 --> 00:25:38.393
- By my bed, and i put my hands down on the bed, and i spell out
- 00:25:38.393 --> 00:25:43.231
- A little acrostic: s-e-l-f.
- 00:25:43.231 --> 00:25:47.068
- First of all, i say, "lord, i surrender to you.
- 00:25:47.068 --> 00:25:50.071
- I give you my life.
- 00:25:50.071 --> 00:25:51.940
- I surrender."
- 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:53.274
- And then, still my hands down, i pray a prayer, and i empty my
- 00:25:53.274 --> 00:25:57.379
- Life of all the debris i may have picked up that day.
- 00:25:57.379 --> 00:26:00.815
- Time of confession, et cetera, et cetera.
- 00:26:00.815 --> 00:26:03.885
- I sort of empty my life, and that's the e.
- 00:26:03.885 --> 00:26:06.054
- And the l is, i just love god.
- 00:26:06.054 --> 00:26:09.257
- I lift my hands, on my knees, by the bed, i lift my hands up.
- 00:26:09.257 --> 00:26:13.028
- I just spend time loving the lord and thanking him.
- 00:26:13.028 --> 00:26:16.731
- And then the f, i say, "lord, fill me with your spirit
- 00:26:16.731 --> 00:26:19.734
- Tonight, and help me to dream dreams about you.
- 00:26:19.734 --> 00:26:23.938
- Keep my mind and heart pure while i sleep and
- 00:26:23.938 --> 00:26:27.342
- I'm refreshed."
- 00:26:27.342 --> 00:26:29.010
- I don't know.
- 00:26:29.010 --> 00:26:30.345
- I like to go to bed that way.
- 00:26:30.345 --> 00:26:32.147
- In the morning, i like to roll out of bed and sort of land on
- 00:26:32.147 --> 00:26:35.450
- My knees.
- 00:26:35.450 --> 00:26:36.818
- Good exercise, by the way, to begin your day, and i do the
- 00:26:36.818 --> 00:26:40.321
- Same thing again.
- 00:26:40.321 --> 00:26:41.656
- I just say, "lord, i surrender this day to you.
- 00:26:41.656 --> 00:26:45.860
- I surrender to you."
- 00:26:45.860 --> 00:26:47.862
- And i say, "lord, i empty, i empty myself right now for this
- 00:26:47.862 --> 00:26:51.900
- New day you have for me.
- 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:53.368
- And, lord, i love you.
- 00:26:53.368 --> 00:26:55.403
- And, lord, fill me with your spirit."
- 00:26:55.403 --> 00:26:58.006
- S-e-l-f.
- 00:26:58.006 --> 00:27:00.241
- Knee to knee.
- 00:27:00.241 --> 00:27:02.010
- Last--first thing that touches the floor at night,
- 00:27:02.010 --> 00:27:04.412
- You're on your knees.
- 00:27:04.412 --> 00:27:05.780
- The first thing that touches the floor in the morning,
- 00:27:05.780 --> 00:27:07.415
- You're on your knees.
- 00:27:07.415 --> 00:27:08.750
- A knee-to-knee day will change every day.
- 00:27:08.750 --> 00:27:13.788
- ♪♪♪
- 00:27:15.557 --> 00:27:20.562
- Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.aberdeen.io
- 00:27:20.562 --> 00:27:27.602
