03-09-23

The speaker starts by greeting everyone and talking about his upcoming day at work. He then shows a wedding invitation for his son's wedding and expresses his excitement. He talks about his nervousness for his new job and how he wants his prayers to be effective. He discusses the importance of living a committed Christian life and how it impacts our prayer life. He emphasizes the need to pray continuously and give glory to God in every aspect of our lives. He ends by talking about his new job and how he wants to glorify God through his work. Good morning everybody, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, all right, good morning. Ray, good morning sir, good to see you, good to see you, love it. We're going to be on exactly until 725. My alarm should go off at 725. Good morning Mr. Nate, good to see you, good to see you friend, good to see you this morning. Lambril, good to see you, all right. Miss Joy, good to see you this morning. JT, good morning sir, good morning sunshine, Karen says, good morning. 725, I'll keep you on that. Thank you, because you know where I got to be, got to be at 8. And you know what, we got to be early, even though it's only 2.2 miles away, you know how it is. If you're 15 minutes early, you're running late. Hey man, I want to show you guys something real quick. Now it's going to be backwards, we're not going to try to turn the phone around, let's see, but I'm just going to show it to you. It's going to be hard to see, but this, I saw this for the first time this morning, it is the invitation to my son's wedding. And so I just saw it for the first time this morning. Look at that. Isn't that cool? Oh, I'm so, I know it's backwards, but I'm not going to try to attempt to turn it around because I can never figure out how to turn the phone around. But I just wanted you guys to see that. That's the invitation. And it says, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Meeching, request the honor of your company at the wedding of their daughter, Alyssa Rose Meeching, to Nigel James Henry Abram, son of Mr. and Mrs. Abram. Isn't that beautiful? I love that. That is good. So exciting. When I saw that this morning to see my son's name in that and all of it. Oh my Lord, that is so cool. All right. We're excited. Excited. All right. Well, as you guys all know, I'm only going to be on until 725 this morning. My first day at ACE. I'm a little nervous. I've never, well, no, no, no, no. Let me reword this. I've never ever, uh, Nate, thank you so much. How can I put this? I worked jobs as kids, but the moment I left the military, I went into, you know, I went in the military after that. I went into the medical field. I've always been in the medical field. And so I'm just like, I've never worked retail like this. Thank you so much, brother. Thank you so much. I've never worked retail like this. And so I'm a little nervous and it's going to be, uh, uh, uh, interesting. This little voice. Good morning. Good to see you. It's going to be very interesting. So I'm excited. I'm, I'm nervous at the same time. And, and I'm like, okay, you know, you get like, I hope they like me, blah, blah, blah. However, with that being said, of course, pastor Paul always goes into the word the night before just to be in the word and watch this. I was reading a very fascinating stuff. I was reading Tozer. Just take your time. Hey man, I was reading Tozer last night about prayer. And I want to read something to each one of you about something here before we get to, before I started running my mouth. Uh, let's see, let me back up. This is very powerful, but let me pray real quick. Father God, thank you for allowing me to see another day. Thank you for those that are listening. I pray for a grace and mercy today, Lord. I pray that you use us in a powerful way in every situation we're all in the Lord. I pray that we are, are, are representing you in the kingdom, that you get all the glory and that you get all the praise Lord. We thank you. And we praise you. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. All right. I was reading this last night regarding prayer watches prayer. Prayer is the best point. Prayer at its best is the expression of total life. Let me read that again. Prayer at its best is the expression of total life. That verse statement caught me when I read it last night. Prayer should be the expression and should be emphasized with our total life. Meaning our total life should exemplify our prayer life. Our prayer life should exemplify our total life. Meaning every aspect of our body fiber and being should be involved in the prayer. Watch this. Certainly there have been and will continue to be instances when the isolated prayer may be answered even when the ones uttering it may not have been living in exemplary Christian life. But we assume that most of those who read these pages are not satisfied to get prayer through occasionally. And I don't know about y'all, but how many of us, I just don't want the occasional prayer to get through. I want my prayers to be going through. And the writer is saying for your prayers to be effective, I should say truly effective, truly effective, that they transcend the circumstances of the situation. There should be a total life involvement. We should be praying. Every aspect of our life should be giving glory to God. Why was this so important last night? Because I said, Lord, I'm starting this job that you gave me. This is a very new thing for me. But Lord, I pray that you would use me. But then as I was reading the pages and I started reading the word, I realized that I'm there at this job to what? Glorify God. Total life. While I'm walking around the store, I have to be mentally praying in my heart. Continuously praying. Look what the scripture says in John 14, 13, And whatever you shall ask in my name that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. See, we should be at the job. Right now, some of you are driving on your way to work. You should be praying while you're driving. You should be praying while you're driving. Lord, order my footsteps as I go to the job. Lord, I pray that you would use me to somehow convince or be a good example. Lord, please allow me to do the best job that you may get all the glory and all the praise. Okay, let's go back to this. It says right here, it says, it says, All things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives. Let me repeat that. All things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives. If we are living a powerful Christian life, our prayers shall be powerful. Think about that. How many of us are living on the fence? Half on, half off. How many of us are, you know, we have this duality. We have this sin nature, and we have this spiritual nature. We have this dual citizenship while we are citizens of the kingdom, but we reside on this earth. And I repeat that phrase that the writer said, all things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives. See, we as Christians or pilgrims just passing through ambassadors representing the kingdom, we are affected and we're infected by the things of the world because we're in this flesh. But our prayers are only as powerful as our lives. And we must continuously discipline ourselves. Once again, this all came last night because I said, okay, I'm going to be an ace. I'm going to encounter a lot of different people. And you know, these days people are, how can I say, they're not quite as polite. They're not quite as kind. People are very short. And I was like, Lord, please use me that I may meet someone where they're at, that I maybe share a good word. And it doesn't necessarily mean that I need to expound on scriptures. It doesn't mean that I need to expound on doctrine. But that means I conduct myself and be the light in a dark place. That is my prayer. That is what I'm praying. But once again, the writer says, as all things else being equal, our prayers are only powerful as our lives. In the long pull, we pray only as well as we live. Wow. In long, we pray only as well as we live. Joshua, good morning. Lambril, good morning. JT, I'll repeat that. In long, we pray only as well as we live. Some of us aren't living the best we should be. So our prayers are not the best they need to be. Because why? We go back to the first part. Prayer is the best expression of total life. If you are not totally committed to God, how can your prayer be totally committed? Do you get the drift here? See, when you navigate in life, when you're going to the job, when you're at the school, when you're, when you're, what you're doing, whatever you're doing, your total commitment to God will dictate your prayers. And this is why even today, you can rest assured that I'm going to be continuously praying in the course of my day. I'm going to be continuously praying for people. Look what John 15, 16 says, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatever you shall ask of the Father in my name, it may be given to you. See, my prayer in the course of the day is not necessarily now. Now, I'm going to, I'm going to share something with him. We talked about this other day about being the employee. I don't have this job just to make money. Do you guys get it? I'm not going to do this just to make money. Now, the money, because I'm exchanging my time for commerce, I'm exchanging my skill set for, for commerce. That's a part of it because we definitely know that we are to work. We are to work. We are to work. We are to work. We are to work. We are to work. If we are able-bodied, we are able, we should be able to work. Now, there are people that have different, uh, uh, uh, Pastor Paul, what were you reading from? I'm sorry. I was reading from Tozer, Tozer and the book was prayer. A. W. Tozer and the book was prayer. I was in the first chapter, page eight, uh, 17. I was just reading this last night and I was, uh, uh, uh, of course in my scripture, uh, looking at prayer, but then I looked at my, my, you know, my collection of books and I said, wait a minute, let me see what Tozer has to say about prayer. But we're not just at the school just to be getting an education. We're not just, just, uh, Lacey, good morning. Good to see you. We're not just at school just to get an education. We're not just at home taking the children just to be a parent. We're not just at the job just to earn a paycheck. We are there to give glory to God. And I repeat what the writer says, but the, the, the situation is all things being equal. Our prayers are only as powerful as our lives in the long pool. In the long pool, we pray only as well as we live. And if we are not living well, if we're not living a, or, or, or ordained Christian life, then our prayers are not effective or, and don't let me, let me, let me, let me word that they're not maximizing their effectiveness. Why? Because we are not living the exemplary Christian life. Now I know it sounds like a tall order, but Christ said that basically he redeemed us. He made us a new creature and a new creation. Why? That we may live for him. Let's like, let me look that up for you. Let me look that up, Josh. Let me look that up. First Corinthians 10 31. Look what it says. It says first Corinthians said, therefore, whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all in the glory of God. And I know one might say, well, that's just eating and drinking. No, do everything, everything you do. Joshua is an artist. If you draw, draw for God's glory. If you're a stay-at-home mother, do it for God's glory. If you work at a bank, if you're a pastor, if you're a physician, if you're a nurse, maybe you work at the toll booth on the, on the turnpike, do what you do for the glory of God. You're not there to receive a check, but you're there to represent a kingdom. You're not there just to, to, to, to, uh, move up the corporate ladder. You're there representing a kingdom. There are souls at stake. People are searching for truth. You are there because you are the light. You are there because you're on assignment. Even a software engineer, amen, even a software engineer, take your skill sets, take your abilities, take your knowledge and your gift and say, this is all from the King. And I'm giving glory to God. I read that again. It says, therefore, whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Even a baker bake, say, Lord, I am baking whatever it is. May it be bread, may it be whatever it is. Lord, I do this for your glory. I do this for your praise. I do this because now watch this. And let me tell you, understand this. I've always worked a job where I was an authority. I've always worked a job where I would walk in and I ran the OR. I was in the OR. The physicians would have to listen to me. They would look at me as they would do the incision. And as they would do the next one, they'd look at me like, is that okay? And I would give the yay or nay. Always. But now I don't have that kind of job. I don't do that anymore. I'm in a position now where I'm going to be told what to do. I'm in a position now where I'm going to be asked and I'm going to have some people that are going to be angry and some people that are going to be nice. And I'm going to be in a position now that where I won't make what I used to. Now, if I look at it that way, all of a sudden there's a problem in my subconscious. I feel like I'm not good. I'm too good for this. Uh-oh. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Now I start saying, wait a minute. Do you know what I used to do? Do you know? And then all of a sudden we lose the point because what is the point? Thank you, Joshua. The point is therefore whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Meaning whatever I'm doing, if I'm cleaning a sewer, do it for the glory of God. And don't get me wrong. I'm sure it's hard to fathom that. It's hard to wrap your mind around that. But this is what we should be doing. I want to do that all for the glory of God. Not self. Because if I started thinking about self, all of a sudden I missed the point. Let's look what Joshua got me here. Colossians 3.23. Colossians 3.23 and it says this. He says, bond servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as the Lord and not to men. Watch this. Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Think about it. When the writer was talking about this, I was like, I really needed to hear this because to some degree I was struggling. Like, wow, I'm not going to be doing what I used to do. I'm not going to be making what I used to make. I'm not going to walk in with my scrubs on and this on and people are not going to look at me like, oh, can you tell us what your thoughts and can you show us and this and that and so on, etc. And I had to like, wait a minute, I'm not there just to make a check. I'm not there to expound on my knowledge. Just like the last place and just like this place, I'm there to give glory to God. Watch this. Let's read this real quick. But no instructed Christian wants to live his whole life on the state of an emergency level. Meaning, the writer was saying here, it seems like the only time we are serious about our prayers is when there's an emergency. The only time that we are serious about our prayers, I preach this sermon, I'm going to put this away, I'm done now. I preached this sermon years ago, that a lot of our prayers are like this. How many of you, now, I don't know if I even see these anymore. Some of you are old enough, I'm sure you have seen them and know what I'm talking about. But how many of you have been in a public place and on the wall somewhere, there was a cabinet. It was usually a metal frame with glass and it would say, break in case of emergency. I've seen in them where they had fire extinguisher. I've seen in them where they've had axes and water hose with a thing. Have you ever seen that? You ever seen it? It said, break in case of emergency. Have anybody ever seen that? Yep, Josh did. Yep, yep, yep. And that's what it was. I mean, you could walk by that thing every day. Unless there was an emergency, that thing was never open. I used to walk by them and often think, I wonder does that water hose and that, is that tested? I'm sure they were, but I remember being young, I'm thinking, I'll bet you, does that thing even work? But they never were open unless there was an emergency. Some of us, that's our prayer life. Uh-oh, I just stepped on some toes. I hope you had on your still toes. See, some of you, that's your prayer life. You don't call upon the name of the Lord until there's an emergency. Oh my, my, my. And I'm not preaching at you, I'm preaching to me. Because I, historically, I've done that. See, when there's an emergency, all of a sudden you're looking for anything just to break that glass open. When there's an emergency, you know exactly where it's at. When there's an emergency, now you want to break it and call upon the name of the Lord. And sometimes our prayer life is like that. Our prayer life is like that. So we don't call upon the name of God until the funds are short. Not only do we not call, not only do we, when the funds are short, we call upon the name of the Lord, but then now we want to collect everybody. Hey, you know what, can you, can you, can you pray for me? Uh, we're having some financial difficulties right now, and if y'all could pray for me. But when the, when the money was in the bank, you, you didn't even thank God for the money. You guys will call on, on the Lord when, when the medical, uh, report comes back, uh, uh, not where it needs to be. And, and then all of a sudden you, you want to call up on God. Because I want to go back to what the writer said here, and I thought it was very powerful. And in matter of fact, sort of kicked me in the shin to be completely honest with it. He said, prayer is the best expression of total life. You are praying all the time because you're totally committed to God. Watch what he says. All things being equal, our prayers are only powerful as our lives. If we are not living a powerful life, guess what? Our prayer life will not be powerful. It's that simple. If you're not living a committed, powerful life unto the Lord, guess what? You're only going to call upon the name of the Lord when things happen. But if you are living for the Lord, completely committed, you're continuously talking to the Lord when things are good and when things are not good. You, you, you're calling up on the name of the Lord when, when, when, when, when, uh, there's enough money in the bank, when the job is going right, when the marriage is precision, when the kids are awesome, you, you, you, you, you, you, you should be praying in those vents. But a lot of times, what do we pray? We pray when the marriage is going south, the finances are hurting, the kids are not involved, whatever the case may be. But if we have a balanced life and we are committed to the Lord, we'll continuously pray in season and out of season. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. I was, I was preaching there and knocking on my desk and I fell over. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. John 16, 23, 24. And in that day, you shall ask me nothing. Truly, truly, I say unto you, whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24, Here thereto, have you asked nothing in my name? Ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full. We should continuously be in prayer, calling up on the name of the Father. Let me, let me give you an example. Let me give you the most elementary example of what I think a child should be with regards to prayer in God. Are you, are you listening? Watch this. Joshua, if you don't mind me asking, how old are your baby girls? Love you too, brother. How old are your baby girls? Joshua. He's typing it. I know it. I don't want to rush him. How old? Two and six. Do you know those two baby girls of Joshua are completely dependent on mommy and daddy. But we're going to talk about Joshua this morning. Those two babies are completely dependent on their father. When they need something, they call father. When they want something, they call father. When they're in pain, they call father. When they are joyful, they call father. But no matter what, they call up on their daddy and his name is Joshua. And guess what? He, in every bit of his fiber, will try to meet every one of their needs. And he said every five minutes, amen. Love you, L'Ambrio for that. And not only do they say father, they say Abba Father. I'm going to go into eighth today. I'm representing Abba Father. I'm representing the kingdom. I'm representing God. I'm not working for man. I'm not working for a paycheck. I'm not working for to be distinguished. I'm working to represent a kingdom. I'm a pilgrim passing through. This is not my home. I'm representing. Thank you. I'm not representing Pastor Paul. I'm not representing Southern Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, but I'm representing the church, the kingdom. We got to start thinking that way. And a lot of you are frustrated at your job. Why? Because you think you're working for that guy or that girl, that paycheck. This is why you keep saying, well, I don't make enough, but you go on to another place. You make more, but then you don't like it there because you're what? Working for people and not God. Watch this. What was it? Joshua, what was that? First Corinthians? You know my memory. What was that? Was that first Corinthians? You all for the glory of God. Watch this. Where was it, Josh? Where was that one? Was it first Corinthians? Oh, my, my, my, my. Take me there. Because, you know, my memory is not the greatest. What was it, Joshua? You said it earlier, but we are frustrated because we think we're working for people. 1031, right here. Therefore, whatever you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Even if you're sitting over at Wendy's eating a burger and some fries and a soda, you should thank God for the meal and you should eat the meal giving God all the glory and all the praise. Pastor Paul, did I sit there and just continuously pray? You can mentally pray all day long. You can mentally pray. You can take these prayers. I forgot what the author called it. I loved it. I will never be able to saw it. Oh, Lord, thank you. I turned right to the page. He calls it thought prayers. Out of all these pages, I didn't know where I turned right to it. God, right there. Thought prayers. We can have thought prayers all day long. Meaning, you're navigating through life. You're doing the job. You're with the kids. You're with the spouse. You're whatever that is. And you can have thought prayers where you're just lifting God up and you're just giving him praise and you're saying, thank you, Lord, for this meal. Thank you, Lord, for this job. Thank you for my wife or husband. Thank you for these children. Thank you, Father God. I praise you and I want to honor you and I want to glorify you. I want to use me today, Lord. Thought prayers. A lot of times we just pray just to go through the motions. A lot of times we just we just check off the box. You know, we sit down on the meal and we say, well, someone say grace and we just bow our head and we just say the words, but we don't put the emphasis on there that that that God has provided you something. You know, it's interesting. My father was born in 1921. And I know a lot of you can And I know a lot of you can relate to this. He never wasted food. We could not if he would tell you if it's on your plate, you have to eat it. I'm going to speak to the stay home mom thing. Praise God for you. If you put it on your plate, my father said you have to eat it. So you mean routinely, I would just put a little on my plate because if I didn't like it, I still had to eat it. But my father came from from from the mindset born in 1921. He understood what it was like to be poor. He understood what it's like not to have food. So when my father prayed for the food, he prayed he was he was praying, Lord, we want to thank you for this, this, this, this food that you have provided. And I never growing up, I never missed a meal. I mean, on that plate, there might have been some black eyed peas and some collard greens and some cornbread. And I never missed a meal might have been some, you know, red beans and rice. It might have been, you know, some lemon cake on the side or or some sweet potato pie, but I never missed a meal. But you can bet your bottom dollar when we got to that table. My father, thank God for that food because my father remembered when there wasn't enough food. Yeah, it was yummy. My father remembered when there was not enough food as a child. And and maybe he went to bed at night, maybe on occasions, I'm not sure. But the way he prayed, he went to bed at nights, maybe with an empty stomach. Maybe he went to bed with just a piece of cornbread. But when he prayed, he prayed on to the Lord, Lord, I thank you for this food. But we have to take that same tenacious prayer line. We have to take that same tenacious prayer line to every aspect of our life. Lord, thank you for the home that I live in. Thank you for letting me be a stay home mother to watch over my kids to raise my babies. Thank you for this opportunity, God. With sincerity, thank you with sincerity. You know, me and Miss Debbie, she was a stay home mom, and we didn't make a lot of money. I tell you what, as I look back, it only was by the grace of God we got through, but she was a stay home mom and raise our kids. I commend anyone, if you are able, I don't care if it's dad or mom, maybe mom has the ability to make the money, the living that can sustain the house, then dad can stay home. Maybe dad makes the living and mom can stay home. But by golly, I thank God for you if you can stay home and raise your children. Matter of fact, we just told our son, it was the other day, we said, when you guys have kids, trust me, we'll make something work. We don't want them in child care. We want them with us, if not with us, the other grandparents. But either way, we'll raise those kids. We'll take care of those kids. And if they feel like they definitely have to work, both of them, so be it. Grandparents will be there. I commend and I challenge, if you can do it, be home to raise your kids. But in that, raise your kids, giving glory to God. Well, Josh, you were able to make a living by using your hands, like Paul did. The thing about you is that you have a gift, but I know in your gift, you've given glory to God. Once again, I'll read what the writer said here out of this book, because it keeps resonating. He said, prayer at its best is the expression of total life. He says down here, all else being considered equal are but a part of God's plan. Being considered equal, our prayers are only powerful as our lives. In the long pull, we pray only as well as we live. Prayer. So you can rest assured as I step into ACE today. You can rest assured as I see my new coworkers. You can rest assured, and I'm sure, without a doubt, Satan is going to be whispering, this is not how it's supposed to be. I'm sure Satan's going to be whispering, oh, you're not, these people don't know what you're used to making. These people don't know who you used to be, or this and this and this, and I'm going to have to say, Satan, get behind me. I'm not here for the people, but I'm here to show God all the glory. Good morning, Brian. I'm here to praise God. I'm here to express my Christian total life. I'm here to pray and work with a committed spirit unto God. Look at what Isaiah 55.6 says. Isaiah 55.6 says, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Seeking God. Calling upon the Lord. Matthew 7.7 says, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. Philippians 4.6 says, Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be known unto God. Let your request be known unto God. Prayer. Folks, that's what I was reading last night, and that's what I wanted to share with you guys this Folks, that's what I was reading last night, and that's what I wanted to share with you guys this morning, that let's not just exist, let's not just take up space, let's not just, just, just Let's not just go through the motions. Let's represent the kingdom wherever we are at. Let us display that kingdom characteristics, that the fruits of the Spirit. You're going to be challenged, but God has empowered you by the Holy Spirit. You're going to, you're going to come across some people that are going to try to bring the worst out of you. Don't, and don't, don't act like you don't have that thing. Don't, don't, don't act like that. You, you, you can't be that person. Don't act like that. You, you, somehow you are so self-righteous that, that, that you would never say or do, but there's going to be somebody that's going to test your mettle, and it's going to try to bring that worst out of you, but you're going to take that deep breath, and you're going to mentally pray and say, Lord, forgive them for they do not know what they do. Because souls are at stake. Folks, and I say this every day, and I hope you are hearing me, time is coming. I don't, I don't, I don't, I'm going to, I'm not saying, be good stewards, but Jesus is coming soon. Pay your bills, but Jesus is coming soon. Don't burn your bridges, but Jesus is coming. Don't, you know, don't, you know what I mean, but don't, Jesus is coming soon. Jesus is coming soon. And we don't have much time left. I told Miss Debbie, I think it was a couple days ago, I go, you know, this is a reality. I don't know how much time we have left. This is a reality, y'all. I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm in good shape. My heart's good. My mind's good. Everything is fine, but this is a reality. This is a reality. I told Miss Debbie, I go, I'm 60 years old today. I pray that I make it to 80, but I have 20 years left. Maybe longer. I don't know. I don't know. I have no clue. I don't know the time of the day, but I do know this, in that next 20 years, I can't imagine this world going any longer than that. And no, please, no one knows the time or day. I don't know the time or day the Lord's coming. I don't know, but know this, I can't imagine the Lord allowing this to go over 20 more years. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I can't imagine the Lord allowing this to go over 20 more years. I can't imagine it. So I told Miss Debbie, watch me, hear me, y'all. If you hear anything, hear this. I don't have much time to be playing. I'm ready to go. But until the Lord calls me out of here, every day, we got to be committed. Every day, every day, we got to live that exemplary Christian life with sincerity. Thank you. Thank you for regarding the happy birthdays. We have to live a life that some souls are at stake. I liken, some of you who have known my background know that I aspired to be a Navy SEAL. I wanted to be a SEAL because of my physical ability, my ability to swim and 3-6 is my birthday. I'm sorry, 3-6 is my birthday. I aspired, you know, I could swim. I was a good athlete. I had the ability and me and my best friend joined. He became the SEAL. I went with the Marines as a medic. But my point is this. I equate Christian folks today as Navy SEALs. We're in the ops. We are in the operation right now. It's time for us who are real Christians to get serious about this walk. And those of you who say, well, you know, Pastor Paul, I'm too shy to go out and about to talk to people. Pray for us who can. You know, Pastor Paul, you know, I don't feel confident enough in the word to expound on it. Pray for us that will. Pastor Paul, you know, I get a little anxiety when I start talking to people about this because I think there's going to be conflict. Pray for us that don't mind it. Because God has called each of us. We are many members, but one body. We've all been called to do something. But collectively, we can all continuously pray because Jesus is coming back soon. And we got to make sure that number one, we are ready. Special ops, baby, we are ready. Number two, we got to make sure our families are ready. And last but not least, we got to make sure that every person that we encounter that the Holy Spirit ordained, they know that Jesus is coming soon. He's coming. This can't thank you. He's coming. Folks, I'm not telling you because I'm getting old and I look at the world in a different way. That is true. I'm not telling you because I, you know, I have insight. The Holy Spirit gave me a revelation. No, I have been reading the written revelation and I can see the world and it's changing quickly. I'm seeing things that just in Arizona alone, we've had police shootings every night to some degree. And there's been, I think, and don't quote me, I think there's been, and I'm not, and trust me, I'm not here to beat up police, because I'm telling you right now, if I was a police officer, I'd have to come home every night to see Miss Debbie. So I know a police officer, male or female, they have a tough job out there. But in the last month, I think there have been five police murders where, not murders, but killings where they had to protect themselves and they had to shoot those that were coming against them. And studies have indicated most individuals they shot shouldn't even possess a weapon. My point though, is we are drastically seeing the world change quickly, leaps and bounds, where it is to some degree, it can be scary. But all this is indicators and letting me know that Jesus is coming soon. The things I see, I was just, and I'm not even going to describe, because I don't want anybody to say I'm being hateful. But I went to the store a couple days ago. And I was walking by, there was a man, an older man, probably older than me, he had to be in his late 60s, early 70s. And he was full blown, dressed opposite of his gender, full blown. And I was not judging. I was not laughing. I wasn't doing anything. But I was like, what is going on in your heart that you feel that that is how you should carry yourself? Another train derailment this morning. Folks, I've had a train, a train went by our church. I've never seen, I've never seen so many derailments in my, let's go before I turn 60. In the 59 years, I've never seen so many train derailments than we are seeing now. I'm like, why? Someone just said that about Sodom and Gomorrah, the depravity of humanity. And it's getting worse. And that's just one aspect that we are pointing out. When I look at the TV, the parents murdering their children. Children murdering their parents. Amen. We're in Babylon. Children murdering their parents, kids murdering their parents, parents murdering their children. Just couples fighting, one shoots the other. This is on news in Arizona. I don't know what's going on out there, but this is just in Arizona. Things that I'm listening and seeing, I'm like, is the world lost their mind? But this is why I'm saying, Jesus is coming soon and we got to be ready. I can't watch the news anymore. I find it because, you know, that's what us old people do. The news reported the other day when they were interviewing me about the roof, he says, and he was sincere. This wasn't just a quote. He goes, why do you think this roofing company did it? This didn't make it on the news. But I said, because all we see on the news is negativity. Because Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. We got to see some positive somewhere. And it's there. It's there. It's all over. There's positive things going on in this world all over the place. Matter of fact, as you hear me talk about the doom and gloom, I'm going to tell you what, it is a great time to be a Christian. It is a great time to be a follower of Christ. It is a great time to declare and proclaim Jesus. It's a great time to be a believer. The drugs. Why would they edit that out? Well, it's okay to have a good story. But the news is not going to let the good story be equated to the giver. The news is not going to allow it to be equated to the evil one. It's just a good story to them. But we all know where our hope comes from. But Jesus is coming soon, folks. But like I told Miss Debbie, I'm 60 years old. I don't know how much time I got. If there's a hill, I'm on the downside. I'm not like poor Pastor Paul. That's not the story here. I'm just pointing to reality. I'm not 20 years old. But I do believe in the rest of my lifetime, maybe five, maybe 10, maybe 15, maybe 20. I don't think we have much longer. And here's the crazy thing. This is really what I want to hit home. This hits me all the time. When I was in the military, we used to have drills. We have drills. We would do these mock operations and drills to be prepared for the worst case scenario. And we would do it over and over and over again so that when it did happen, we knew what we were supposed to do so that we were not caught off guard. Let me let my puppy out. We'll get back to that. Come on, come on. Here's my point I'm trying to get to. We will practice over and over and over and over continuously drills. This is what I'm going to get to right now. But know this, folks. At any moment, like a thief in the night, it won't be a drill. And it's all going to happen just like that in the blink of an eye. I don't know where you're at with regards to the rapture. I'm a pre-Trevor guy. Not here to debate that. But I am here to say this. It's going to happen just like that. And you're going to look around and some people are going to be gone. You're going to see the most incredible things you've ever seen. And when I mean incredible, I'm not I'm not meaning incredible like you'll be in awe. I mean incredible like you'll be in fear. But I know and I say this with all humility. I know that God Almighty in the name of Jesus will take his church out of here and we will be in the presence of the Lord. But all hell will break loose on this earth. And if you were to take all the destructive scenarios that have happened in the last hundred years, it will not match to what is going to be taking place when the church leaves this earth. Bottom line. I'm ready. Are you? That's a question you have to ask. You don't have I'm not even reading the comments right now. I'm ready. So I go to to my day. Representing the kingdom of God. I start my day to day giving honor and glory to God. I do not work for the person there or the people or the organization. I don't work for the company Ace, but I'm working for God. In the time that God has me on this earth, it is to give him the glory, to give him the praise, to give him the honor. Why? Because he's worthy of it. Because why? I belong to him. I was bought for a price and that price was the blood of Jesus. I was bought for a price and that price was the blood of Jesus. Paid for in full with his precious blood. So I pray that you would do the same, whatever it is you do today. Software engineer, do it for the glory of God. Government job, do it for the glory of God. The most important job, staying home, a parent, do it for the glory of God. Whatever it is you do, do it for the glory of God. I like what you said there, friend. A workman. What are you able to do as a workman? Rightfully dividing the word, but do it all for the glory of God. All right, I'm going to shut up on that. We've got about six minutes and I'll jump off, but I answer any questions. Grandma babysitter here, praise be God, the best babysitter one could have. You're in the greatest position to pour into your grandbabies. Let's see. What does this say? In a season where I feel like God just isn't hearing my prayers, God hears you. Watch this. I want to read what we read at the very beginning. Look what this person says. All things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives. Are you living that life where you need to be? I want you to examine yourself because he says here, in the long pull, we pray only as well as we are living. Are you living that life? I mean, extremely, extreme as a Christian. If you're not feeling something, I would examine self. We're not here to judge you, but I would examine myself. There you go. There you go. Grieve in peace. How do I know it's God's? How do I know? Oh, I'm sorry. I messed up my thing. How do I know it's God's voice or my own? Well, if it lines up with God's word, it's God's voice. Your flesh, meaning your own, will oppose God's word. But if it lines up with the word of God, it is from God. That's how I would do it. I would fact check what is being moved upon you through the word of God. This individual just put one of my favorite words, grace, unmerited favor, mercy. Happy birthday. Thank you so much. March 6th was my birthday, so thank you so much. I'll take it. Three days. Very well said. Thank you so much. Oh, awesome. Take care of those grandbabies. I'm so excited that your husband was blessed and you get to stay home. That's a blessing. This little voice, God bless you. When I just found out... Oh, why do I keep doing that? Just found out... What did that say? Well, I, by golly, very... Oh, just found out my aunt's winter house is 25 minutes from your church. Can't wait to visit. You know what? Come on down. We would love to have you come over to our church. 11 o'clock on Sundays. Remember, we'd love to meet you. Anybody that's in town in Phoenix, Arizona, that what's your opinion on attending more than one church at a time? Well, this is my opinion on that. And this will be an opinion. I believe that you want to take your efforts and your ability to the ministry God is leading you to. And I think that you would put your focus in ministering. Let's example. Ricky is my associate minister. And a few months ago, he said, hey, I'm going to get involved into this outreach program in the prisons and this and that and so on, et cetera. And I said, Ricky, I am so excited for you. I am stoked for you. But I go, how are you going to focus on doing what you want to do for us and focus on that? It's going to be hard to serve two groups and really give your 100%. So my point to you is this. Get to the ministry God is leading you to and pour into it. All right, pour into it. See, we have the universal church. That's the church as we know it, the kingdom of God, the church. But then we have our local visible bodies. And those local visible bodies need your gifts. They need your gifts. Now, unlike JT on here, he's a computer guy. He can use it. Oh, that's telling me I need to get off. So let's snooze. And we'll let one more alarm go and I got to get off. But take your gift and apply it to one body. I know we labelize that church hopping and so on, etc. But take up a man. I'm getting I'm getting raised. Let me know. Take your gift and apply it to one body. And I think this will be more satisfied with. Hang on. My puppy's scratching the door. All right. Come on, pup. Go lay down. All right, go lay down. So there you go. I answer two more questions. I better get out of here. Let's see. I have said. OK, have a wonderful day, Pastor. Thank you. Have a blessed day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I don't know that. Have a wonderful, peaceful day, Pastor. God bless you, brother. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. All right. I'll be praying for you that God will use you and always does. Amen. Thank you so much, brother. I appreciate it. Have a great day. Let me pray you guys out. Father, thank you. Thank you for this day, Lord. And I pray for everyone in the sound of my voice. I pray for blessings and restorations, victories and deliverance. I pray for grace. I pray for mercy. Father, I just pray, Father, that you would just watch over us. And Lord, today, Lord, use me that I may represent the kingdom, that I may give you glory, that I may give you praise. Lord, I thank you and I praise you. And Lord, while I'm a little nervous, I know I walk in representing you. Father, I thank you. And we ask all of this in the name of Jesus. And we all say, amen. All right, everybody. God bless you. We love you. Have a great day. Lord willing, I will see you tomorrow morning. Oh, thanks, brother. Make sure you do a video about your first day at work at Ace. I will. I will. Praise God. I'll do it at the end when I'm walking out, but I will. God bless you, man. Take care.