Adam McCain - "Wisdom for Ministry"

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Welcome to the well. I am Kevin Neva, the communications manager here at the Fellowship. [00:00:10] Speaker C: I'm Thomas Yu. I'm a project specialist here at elam. [00:00:14] Speaker B: We're jumping right into season three of the WELL podcast today, but we wanted to take a moment to give you kind of a tour, a heads up on some new things we'll be doing and things we'll be doing a little bit differently this season. [00:00:25] Speaker C: Yeah, we're really excited about the direction that we're taking the well. Our team's been hard at work behind the scenes, kind of revamping it, reexamining, seeing what works and what we could do better. And it's gonna be different this season in a good way. So here's what you can expect from us moving forward. Every season is going to have 10 episodes, and in those 10 episodes, we're gonna have more of what you've come to know and love, which are messages from our Elam leadership and our Elam family. But we're gonna be doing so much more than that. [00:00:55] Speaker B: So what. [00:00:56] Speaker D: What's new? [00:00:57] Speaker A: This. Yeah. [00:00:58] Speaker C: So we're going to start doing more live events, more studio interviews with people in our Elam family. Bonus content, where the idea is we just want you guys to be able to hear the heart stories of our Elam family, not just from the stage, but in everyday conversations with the people that you have come to know and love as family. [00:01:20] Speaker B: And I'm so excited about that. Speaking of that bonus content, we're going to do some episodes of 10 More Minutes. We're going to give you guys some. Some of the breakouts and the workshops we did at Oasis. And sometimes we're just going to just throw bonus content out at you at any time, you know, to really make sure you guys are getting the best of everything that's going on here. [00:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah. And this idea is, as we're diversifying the content that you guys are going to be able just to hear and experience all that we have to offer here at ELAM in this one place, at the well. And this season, we're starting off big with Adam McCain giving his keynote address at this year's Oasis conference. We're calling it Wisdom for Ministry, because [00:01:58] Speaker B: I remember that one. It was ten points of Wisdom for Ministry. [00:02:02] Speaker C: Yeah, it was. [00:02:02] Speaker D: What were some of those points? [00:02:03] Speaker C: It was so good. Some of my favorite ones were never despise your assignment master. A life of joy. Use the force. [00:02:10] Speaker E: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Use the force. [00:02:13] Speaker C: Yeah, use the force. Now for you guys to understand that one, you're gonna have to listen to it for yourself. So let's dive in as Adam McCain brings us his welcome and. And the Word of God today on the well, an Elam Fellowship podcast. [00:02:27] Speaker B: These are not the hosts you're looking for. [00:02:31] Speaker D: From the own start, I just want to say I recognize the wisdom that's in the room. I asked little Courtney, I said, what do you think the median age is here today? [00:02:40] Speaker E: And she said, older than you. [00:02:42] Speaker D: And so there you go. I. I remember one of the first. [00:02:49] Speaker E: I was. [00:02:50] Speaker D: I was an associate pastor at Bethany World Prayer Center. I was actually the youth minister, and I guess I was the pastor on duty that week. And one of our older couples wanted to renew their vows. I think they were doing like 40 years or something, renewal of the vows. And so none of the other pastors could do it. So I got sent to do it. I was about 23. And they were doing it in their living room and showed up and they had Papa there in the wheelchair. And they said, papa, this is the pastor. He's going to be doing the renewal of the vows. He looked at me, said, my God, [00:03:25] Speaker A: you guys been married longer than he's been alive. [00:03:28] Speaker D: Yes, sir, that is true. [00:03:30] Speaker E: That is true. [00:03:32] Speaker D: I do want to honor you, Elam, for the years of faithfulness. The scripture says, when the Son of Man returns, will he find faithfulness in the earth? You'll find it here. Thank you. And you have stiffened our spines. [00:03:47] Speaker E: Those of us that have watched you from afar participated with you. [00:03:50] Speaker D: You guys are family for me. Happy to still be with people who pray in tongues. And so thank you. I mean, just saying. And about 20 years ago, when I first was interacting with you guys, I was in my mid to late 30s, and I was really, you know, it's about in your 30s, you realize I [00:04:13] Speaker E: don't know what I'm talking about. [00:04:16] Speaker D: Been preaching since I was, you know, 16, been full time, mega ministry since I was 19. And so I was here, I was speaking at something, and they introduced me to, I guess you'd call him Reverend. I would have called him Bishop David Edwards. Anybody remember? Yeah. A theologian for Elam of all. And I had a moment with him and I sat down with him and nobody was around. [00:04:40] Speaker E: And I just said, brother David, I am so scared that I don't have all my theology right. And he pushed back in his chair, and then he leaned back and he patted me on my head. He said, oh, Adam, when we get [00:04:55] Speaker D: to heaven, we're all going to realize [00:04:56] Speaker E: we had a little bit of heresy in our doctrine. [00:04:58] Speaker D: So don't worry about it, buddy. Thank you, Elam. I so appreciate that. So I just keep preaching the heresy and just figure we'll work it out [00:05:07] Speaker A: when we get to heaven. And I'm gonna blame it, Brother Edwards. [00:05:13] Speaker D: Jesus, that's what Brother Edwards told me. So anyway, but when it comes to a very serious doctrine for me, I believe that every member is a minister. [00:05:26] Speaker E: This is my position. [00:05:27] Speaker D: Otherwise Ephesians 4 would be irrelevant, that I am called as a pastor, apostle, [00:05:34] Speaker E: prophet, teachers, the fivefold. [00:05:35] Speaker D: We are called to equip, equip the [00:05:39] Speaker E: saints to the work of the ministry. [00:05:43] Speaker D: And I think we may have lost some of that the last 20 or 30 years, that our role as ministers and leaders. And that's who they told me I was speaking to today, ministry leaders, missionaries, folks who serve in the ministry alongside [00:05:59] Speaker E: their pastors and so volunteer ministers. [00:06:02] Speaker D: But I believe that it is the utmost importance that we would train up, not just the present generation, but the next generation. And so I will draw a little bit from that for you today. And in my 36 years of full time mega ministry, I have learned a, a couple things. And it's probably because I've sat under great teachings like Bishop Sergey here and others in, even in this house and learn. I've been smart enough to learn from others who've been there, done that. And so I don't think I'm going to wow you today. In fact, I came with the opposite in mind. But maybe to remind you of some things that maybe were important to you [00:06:46] Speaker E: in times past that maybe you've lost track of. [00:06:50] Speaker D: And I want to frame this in what I would call 10 wisdom points for ministry today. Hopefully you have some of your team with you and I can aid in what you've already been teaching. I can remind you maybe of some of the things in times past that the Lord had spoken to you and maybe has just gotten cloudy or muddy and bring you back to some key truths that probably marked your ministry or need to mark your ministry. In the Hebrew, the word for wisdom is Hokma. And the concept in the Old Testament. And then the Hebrew mind is that wisdom is not just intelligence or understanding. The way the Hebrews understood the wisdom of God is that the Hokma was literally rooted and grounded in life, that God had put in the DNA of life his wisdom. And that we as followers of the living God could tap into the Chokmah wisdom that the rest of the beings on earth did not or were not able to tap into, though it was there for Them, they could not tap into it because they didn't know, did not follow the Lord our God. And so when the Hebrews used the [00:08:09] Speaker A: term wisdom all throughout the Old Testament, all throughout Proverbs, their concept was that wisdom is here in my midst. [00:08:16] Speaker D: I just have to tap into it through the Lord my God. [00:08:20] Speaker A: And so it's from that concept Hokma, [00:08:23] Speaker D: with the underlining platform of we need to be giving wisdom to the next generation. We ourselves need to have the wisdom pieces and let us continue in ministry in such a way that we continue to bring glory to the Lord our God. And in recent months, I think the charismatic movement especially has taken a real hit on our lack of wisdom. [00:08:48] Speaker A: And in fact, there are whole now [00:08:50] Speaker D: groups of people that have ordained themselves to be the watchdogs for all of the charismatic foolishness to broadcast and pick apart. [00:09:02] Speaker A: And so I think it's from that [00:09:04] Speaker D: that probably this is stirring in me for you, for me and for the next generation. [00:09:10] Speaker A: And so if I could, I don't think these points are going to blow your mind, but I hope that they [00:09:14] Speaker D: would prick you again, and I hope that they would stir your heart again. And I hope they would remind you of revelations that you had 10 years ago, 20 years ago, five years ago, and even some things that maybe that you have not thought about that you need to employ. [00:09:29] Speaker A: Here's my first wisdom point for ministry I'd like to give you, and that [00:09:32] Speaker D: is number one, life is fulfilling when souls are being saved. Ministry sucks when no one's getting saved, somebody say amen. [00:09:44] Speaker A: But when someone gets saved, it takes all of that backbiting and gossiping in the mess that we gotta sift through all day, all day long. Like the one preacher came home and his wife said, she just kept talking and talking. He said, baby, I can't take it no more. I've been at the church all day long. Look how sheep fitted I am. I just been bit all over the place. [00:10:03] Speaker D: I just want to sit here. Which really puts into perspective a lot of times what ministry feels like. But I'm telling you, when you're winning souls, you will have the joy and excitement of God. And I'm telling you, services do not win souls. [00:10:18] Speaker A: Services do not make disciples. [00:10:20] Speaker D: Disciples make disciples. [00:10:23] Speaker A: Reaching out into the heart and the [00:10:25] Speaker D: mind of hurting people and sharing the truth with them, that wins souls. In fact, on the airplane ride over here from the illustrious Chicago to Rochester, I was seated next to a guy who had had a few too many and in his 40s, just got fired and he was an atheist. And by the end of the plane ride, the people all around me were half saved. And he was not quite saved, but he no longer had an argument for his atheism. [00:10:56] Speaker A: I brought him one step closer, and I said, yeah, and it was fun. I was having the time of my life. [00:11:03] Speaker D: And I was like. [00:11:04] Speaker A: And I started praying in tongues. [00:11:06] Speaker D: Lord, sober him up. And it didn't take three seconds. Sobered him up. [00:11:10] Speaker A: And then I started talking to him [00:11:11] Speaker D: about demons and angels, because that was something the Lord led me to. He goes, you know, I see him all the time. I said, I know you do. [00:11:20] Speaker A: Just saying, life is fun when you're winning souls. Somebody say, amen. You'll never be more fulfilled. Money will not fulfill. The size of your church will not. Or size of your ministry. When one little broken lamb comes back into the fold, when one lost, hateful, ignorant, just throwing up, the wickedness of the devil comes into the kingdom, all of heaven stops and applauds. [00:11:47] Speaker E: The Bible says. [00:11:49] Speaker D: Years ago, I was invited with one of my mentors to do some missions work with him. We went to Trinidad Tobago, and we were on that beautiful little island doing ministry. We were suffering. It was just terrible. The beach life and the ministry. And so the pastor that we were working with and work that we were doing said, you know, there's a little island, I don't even remember the name, just off our coast, and would you want to go do some evangelism out there? [00:12:15] Speaker E: Just. [00:12:16] Speaker D: Just take a day. And they signed me up, and I said, I'll go. Me and I took one other little young guy, and we jumped on this [00:12:22] Speaker A: little puddle hopper plane. [00:12:24] Speaker D: It just. Just a. Just a 15 minute to the next little island. One plane in and out for that whole island a day. And so we landed that thing, and I promise you, I said, I'll never get on a plane like this again. We landed in a. In a grass field, and. And there was no airport. It was just a little building with some little dude standing there with a gun with no bullets. And so y' all been there. And so then the plane kind of backed up, and we just kind of were standing there, and so we're like, well, let's take on. And they spoke English in this island group. And so they had a little thing they called the pole City. And what it was was the little island had tried to have, you know, running electrical wires and stuff, and they were gonna put them on the telephone poles and they. And things, but they never got to it. So they just had all the poles and they were just kind of laid out in a field, and people had just kind of built their little shanties all around it. And so I was like, well, there's people with shanties. Let's go talk to them. Walked to the first little shanty, started talking to this guy. His name was Michael. Little guy, had little wife and little kids. Lived in a shanty. I'm telling you, no running water, anything like that. No electricity. And because he knew English, we were able to really share the gospel with him. And I had my little Bible with me. And, man, he made a profession of faith, got saved. And I said, michael, is there anybody else that needs to know about you? He goes, what about these guys? We went to the next shanty and the next shanty, and within about two, three hours, we had about 50 people saved. It was the most magnificent thing. [00:13:47] Speaker A: Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Changed my life. And then all of a sudden, somebody came running up and said, hey, the plane's leaving, and if you don't get on it, you stuck here. There's no hotels. There's no. [00:13:56] Speaker D: And I was like, nah, we ain't staying here tonight. [00:13:59] Speaker A: I mean. [00:14:00] Speaker D: And so I looked at Michael, and [00:14:01] Speaker A: I looked at these 50 people, and [00:14:02] Speaker D: I said, michael, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy [00:14:05] Speaker A: Spirit, you are their pastor. He said. He goes, what? I said, can you read a Bible? [00:14:11] Speaker D: He goes, yes, I can read. I handed him my Bible and I said, in the name of Jesus, you [00:14:15] Speaker A: now are in charge of these guys. [00:14:16] Speaker D: Read this Bible to them and just do whatever it says. And I said, can you do that? And he said, yes, sir. [00:14:21] Speaker A: He said, how often should I do it? [00:14:22] Speaker D: I said, every day. [00:14:23] Speaker A: Every day. And so we went running and left that guy to pastor these 50 people that got saved. New convert. I don't know if that church survived, but when I get to heaven, I can't wait to talk to Michael. I'm just telling you right now, it was one of the most exciting moments of winning souls. Makes life fulfilling. Are you with me? Say yes. Here's a second wisdom point I would remind you of, and that is never despise your assignment. [00:14:50] Speaker D: Some of you have. You're despising your assignment right now. And the Lord has sent me here [00:14:54] Speaker A: to rebuke this one piece. And I quote Zechariah for you. [00:14:58] Speaker D: Do not despise the day of small beginnings. About 10, 12 years ago, I was in the spot that everybody wants to be in. I skipped ahead of all my contemporaries, and I was literally traveling the world. I was Overseeing a very, very successful Bible school. We had about 1300 students, Christ for the Nations. And I was the president, the executive director of the Bible school. And then every weekend, I was flying somewhere, preaching in some conference. They're picking me up. Oh, Pastor, we're so happy that you're here. Oh, my goodness. I'm speaking to thousands overseas. Tens of thousands. You go to Brazil, and they can just gather 30,000 people accidentally. And so, you know, I'm ministering in all these big conferences and things. And I am living the dream, man. My product sales make more money than I've ever made in ministry. Come on, somebody. Or merch. Sorry, younger generation. [00:15:47] Speaker E: Sorry. [00:15:48] Speaker A: And so. And I am. I've got staff on top of staff. [00:15:52] Speaker D: I've got 60 departments of the Bible school that I give up every. [00:15:55] Speaker A: I'm getting. [00:15:55] Speaker D: I'm able to grow old and invest in the next generation of pastors and leaders. [00:16:00] Speaker A: And the Lord comes to me and he says, I want you to shut [00:16:02] Speaker D: all that down and plant a church in Dallas. Cause we need another church in Dallas because there's not enough of those in the South. And I said, lord, I don't think that's you. He worked me over for two years. That's how long I was stubborn with him. Two years. [00:16:21] Speaker A: And finally I said, okay, okay. And my concept was, if I'm this [00:16:25] Speaker D: obedient, I will see miracle signs and wonders. Ladies and gentlemen, I saw no signs and wonders. [00:16:32] Speaker A: The only signs I saw were signs of depression, frustration. [00:16:36] Speaker D: I had started a little Bible study in my living room. [00:16:39] Speaker A: It had morphed to about 150 people up until that point. [00:16:42] Speaker D: And I just kind of had discipled [00:16:43] Speaker A: a handful of people who. Discipled a handful of people who just. [00:16:46] Speaker D: And so there was about 150 people. [00:16:48] Speaker A: And we kind of had a little church. [00:16:50] Speaker D: But I was traveling. I was running a Bible school. This thing was that I was going to give it to somebody else. I didn't want to fool with it. I just was making disciples. Like I was called. [00:16:57] Speaker A: Like we're all called. [00:16:58] Speaker D: And the Lord says, shut all that [00:17:00] Speaker A: down and focus on this. [00:17:01] Speaker D: Which meant I had to give up 75% of my income, which meant that I was going to sell my big house in the nice neighborhood, move across town in the hood, and a piece [00:17:11] Speaker A: of rental property that I had. I had to kick that poor group of people out. [00:17:15] Speaker D: And so. [00:17:15] Speaker A: And pulled the kids out of private school. And I just knew my obedience would bring me. I mean, I would be able to drive past the graveyard and they would just Raise. [00:17:24] Speaker D: They would just raise from the. Just because I was so obedient to the Lord, that's what was going to happen. [00:17:30] Speaker A: I remember we hadn't been doing this for four months. [00:17:32] Speaker D: And I turned to my wife, I said, hey, listen, we need to get an email out, communication to all the church. [00:17:38] Speaker E: And she goes, well, you better get to typing. [00:17:41] Speaker D: I've had an assistant since I was 19 years old. I don't know how to type an email. [00:17:46] Speaker A: They have literally caused me to be ignorant. [00:17:49] Speaker D: All that help they gave me, [00:17:52] Speaker A: I was like, well, baby, you. She go, look, no, no, no, no. You the pastor now. You gotta lead. [00:17:58] Speaker D: I'm like, what? [00:17:59] Speaker A: You got to be kidding me. [00:18:01] Speaker D: And for three years, I sulked and I was mad at God. It didn't grow. [00:18:06] Speaker A: People would show it. Literally, people would come in, people would [00:18:09] Speaker D: say to me, hey, when I come to Dallas, I'm gonna visit you and I'm gonna come see your church people. That I had spoken their conference, and they would show up and they would look around. We were renting a Methodist church on a Sunday night. We didn't have a building. We had a little, you know, 16 channel board sound system. Our kids ministry was a box one [00:18:34] Speaker A: puppet and some colors. Adam McCain. That's my. That's what I got now. [00:18:44] Speaker D: Oh, he was working something in me because he was not working something out of me. He was working something in me. See, I'd never failed. He kissed everything I ever touched my whole life. And in this, he did not. I did not have empathy for anybody because I had never been through anything so disappointing because I just have always been obedient. And in my obedience, he always kissed everything I put my hand to. And in this moment, he didn't kiss it the way I thought it was [00:19:09] Speaker E: supposed to be kissed. [00:19:11] Speaker D: And I loathed my assignment. I hated it. I woke up every morning and went [00:19:16] Speaker E: to the Global offices, the spare bedroom. [00:19:21] Speaker D: And I would sit there and be mad at God. Mad for a couple years, just mad at God. Nothing was happening. And finally one day he said, when [00:19:29] Speaker E: are you going to stop being mad at me because of the assignment I gave? And I said, lord, when are you going to give me miracles? He says, when you fully embrace the assignment that I gave you and love your neighbor. [00:19:45] Speaker D: And I had a little neighbor, a [00:19:46] Speaker E: little white trash little guy. [00:19:50] Speaker D: And he said, go cut his grass. [00:19:52] Speaker E: I was like, cut his grass over there. And I cut his grass that day. And he came out, what you doing? I'm like, I'm cutting the grass. Well, preacher, I Don't need you to cut my grass. [00:20:04] Speaker D: You need to blank and get off my property. [00:20:11] Speaker A: Do you know who I am? [00:20:17] Speaker D: There are no students lining up to hear the great wisdom. There's the neighbor. When I say God, I'm going to. If nothing else happens in my life, [00:20:28] Speaker E: he's going to get saved. [00:20:30] Speaker D: And I started praying for him every day. That was the beginning of me embracing [00:20:33] Speaker E: my assignment in my 40s. [00:20:37] Speaker D: In my 40s, like, couldn't we have done that in my 20s? Like, what are we doing in my 40s? We're planting a church in my 40s [00:20:43] Speaker E: without any support, without any backing. [00:20:46] Speaker D: I don't know if y' all know this, but all my big brothers in [00:20:48] Speaker E: the faith are the ARC association of related churches. [00:20:51] Speaker D: So they were all mad at me [00:20:52] Speaker E: that I wasn't planting churches with them already. [00:20:54] Speaker D: And I just kept telling them, I [00:20:55] Speaker E: just pray in tongues too much. [00:20:56] Speaker A: Much. [00:20:57] Speaker E: I just like, like, like, I don't. [00:20:59] Speaker D: Like there's this thing. I mean, they're my, they're. [00:21:02] Speaker E: They're still my heroes in the faith and my mentors, but. [00:21:04] Speaker D: And so, and so here I am trying to do my little church and I'm working through. Is it just because I'm, because I'm, I'm hard headed? [00:21:11] Speaker E: Lord, what is going on? [00:21:12] Speaker D: Work out of me. Fix me. And my doctrine was this thing wasn't growing because there must be hidden sin in my life that I don't know [00:21:19] Speaker E: about because I grew up Pentecostal and [00:21:22] Speaker D: that's rooted in us from our holiness movement Prior. And so finally the Lord finally slapped me and he said, hey, all have [00:21:31] Speaker E: sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. [00:21:32] Speaker D: I'm not holding back my favor because [00:21:34] Speaker E: you're not, because you're of your humanity. I was like, okay, well, then somebody [00:21:39] Speaker D: on my team must be in sin Achan's tent. They hid the gold. I went after them jokers. [00:21:45] Speaker A: Is it you? Is it you who's holding back the glory? [00:21:51] Speaker D: That was my doctrinal position. And then finally he spoke to me. He said, you know, I had Judas on my team and I fulfilled my purpose. [00:21:59] Speaker E: I was like, oh. [00:22:01] Speaker D: So then I went down this other rabbit hole. And that is. [00:22:04] Speaker E: Well, then I must have missed you somewhere. Somewhere I went left instead of going right. [00:22:08] Speaker D: And I began to rethink everything, every [00:22:10] Speaker E: decision, and almost drove myself insane. [00:22:12] Speaker D: Did I marry the right woman? [00:22:16] Speaker E: Should I have done this or done that? And finally he just said, enough. The assignment is putting something in you that you've never had, and that is empathy for People who have not been, quote, successful. Do you know that 92% of the churches in America under 250 people, they're the bedrock of Christianity in these states. And what we. [00:22:38] Speaker D: Yet we put more attention on the 1%. [00:22:40] Speaker E: We think that's success. [00:22:42] Speaker D: Do you know that 70% of churches [00:22:43] Speaker E: in America under a hundred people, bedrock. And yet we think that that success, [00:22:50] Speaker D: where we get that from, is about numbers and size. [00:22:56] Speaker E: Be faithful to your assignment. Don't despise it. [00:22:59] Speaker D: Embrace it as Lord. [00:23:00] Speaker E: Thank you, Jesus. I'll take it. [00:23:02] Speaker D: I don't care if anybody else wants it. Are you still with me? Say yes. Number three. Here's the third wisdom point I would give you, and that is you need to cultivate intimacy with God. The older I get, the more difficult it is to cultivate intimacy with God. [00:23:13] Speaker E: You say, what are you talking about? Well, because I already know those songs. [00:23:16] Speaker D: I already know where they're going with that. I already know already. He's always been there. And so cultivating those of us that have been married. I've been married now 33 years. [00:23:24] Speaker E: We got married when we were five. [00:23:25] Speaker D: 33 years. In 33 years. Let me just say this. You have to cultivate intimacy in marriage. I mean, date night is like, what's on Netflix? I don't know. What do you want to do? You cooking or are we ordering out? What are we doing? [00:23:43] Speaker A: Why? [00:23:44] Speaker D: Because you've been together so long, so cultivating intimacy means that you have to work at it. You got to put yourself in a place of discomfort. You're doing that now because you came to a conference. You've been to plenty of conferences. [00:23:58] Speaker A: My God. [00:23:58] Speaker D: Most of you speak at all the conferences. But she said, you know what? [00:24:01] Speaker A: I need to go meet with the [00:24:02] Speaker D: Lord and with the body of believers and with the elders of the faith and get around some other iron sharper than iron. [00:24:08] Speaker A: So you came and you're making movement to cultivate some intimacy, and you're going back to your room in the evenings and the night, and you're just like, here we are, Lord. [00:24:16] Speaker D: I just want more of you. [00:24:18] Speaker A: Cultivate intimacy. Fight for it. John 15:15. He said, I no longer call you servants because a servant doesn't know his master's business. Instead, I called you friends. I want to be best friends, friends with Jesus. I don't care how many people follow me like my post, don't like my post, if they all cancel me because I'm not good enough. I want to be best friends with Jesus. [00:24:39] Speaker D: Cultivate intimacy with God. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Know him don't sing the songs the way you always sing. Throw yourself out there in the middle of you are king of glory. I love you. Give the next generation something to mark and say. That's what it looks like as I age. Still in love. Somebody asked me the other day, how you doing? I said, jesus loves me and Jamie loves me. That's my wife. Jamie loves. [00:25:00] Speaker D: I'm good. Everything else, I don't matter anymore. Jesus loves me and Jamie loves me and everything else will be okay. [00:25:06] Speaker A: Cultivate. Back in the day, some of us are old enough to remember before Benny [00:25:10] Speaker D: Hinn took a big hit about his [00:25:11] Speaker A: own name that he wrote a book called Good Morning Holy Spirit. That book will just go back and review it. He had something right about intimacy with God and the spirit of the living God and waking up afresh and walking with the Lord like they did in the garden in the col fullness of the day. Cultivate it. [00:25:28] Speaker D: Don't let ministry take you away from intimacy. [00:25:31] Speaker A: Don't let doing for God cause you [00:25:33] Speaker D: to not know God anymore. [00:25:35] Speaker A: Know his name, know his face, know his whisper. Noah's nudge. My wife and I have been together so long, just I can be at the table talking and just look over [00:25:44] Speaker D: at her and know I have done something wrong. [00:25:47] Speaker A: She ain't even got to say nothing. Her body language. I want to be so close to Jesus as I age that all I got to do is glance over and just the wrinkle of his eyebrow tells me, you right, you right. [00:25:58] Speaker D: Sorry. Yes, Lord. [00:25:59] Speaker A: He don't have to whip me. He don't have to yell at me. [00:26:01] Speaker D: Come on, somebody. [00:26:02] Speaker A: Here's the fourth wisdom point that I would give you. And that is be faithful to the disciplines. Listen to me. Young, middle age, older. [00:26:11] Speaker D: This is where the enemy slips in. It's because we lose the disciplines. Prayer and Bible reading. I used to serve with a lady named Freda Lindsay. She was the co founder of Christ for the Nation. Frieda Lindsay passed 90. She went home to be with the Lord somewhere in her 90s. 94, 95. And I'll never forget I was running that Bible school for her. And she walked up to me one [00:26:37] Speaker E: day, she said, adam, I want to ask you something. [00:26:42] Speaker D: I said, yes, ma'. [00:26:43] Speaker B: Am. [00:26:43] Speaker D: She said, have you ever met a backslidden Christian who reads the Bible every day? [00:26:48] Speaker E: I said, no, ma', am, I don't think I have. [00:26:50] Speaker D: She goes, then stop teaching all that other foolishness and teach the young people to read the Bible. [00:26:55] Speaker E: I said, yes, ma', am. [00:26:56] Speaker D: That's what I'M going to do read the Bible. She unders, you know, she read the Bible through every year since she was in her 20s. She read the Bible completely through every year. [00:27:06] Speaker E: She did it 73 times in her life. [00:27:09] Speaker D: She read three chapters a day and [00:27:11] Speaker E: five chapters on Sunday. [00:27:12] Speaker D: And that's how she, she teaches young people. [00:27:14] Speaker E: Three a day, five on Sunday. [00:27:17] Speaker D: So when she said, this is what the Bible says, that's what the Bible says. Because she had a holistic understanding of [00:27:23] Speaker E: the Lord and his holy scriptures. [00:27:24] Speaker D: She didn't pick out these little weird things and make some doctrine out of it. She had a holistic understanding. You guys ought to understand that at Elam, you've been, what, 90 something years as a, as a ministry or a movement revival in the earth. [00:27:36] Speaker E: You train at your school and you [00:27:38] Speaker D: train the next season of leaders. And I would just remind you, be [00:27:42] Speaker E: faithful to the disciplines, fasting, discipline and Sabbath. [00:27:49] Speaker D: You may listen, I'm gonna tell you right now about Sabbath. If you're a minister of the gospel, [00:27:52] Speaker E: you do not Sabbath on Sunday. That's the Bible. Work my tail off on Sunday. [00:27:58] Speaker D: I tell, I tell people all the time Sunday when I get home, I've got to clean my spiritual clothes because like the brother said earlier, all they do after service is just throw up on me all day. And then pastor do say I'm blah. [00:28:11] Speaker E: I'm like, oh, yeah, praise the Lord. Oh, hallelujah. [00:28:17] Speaker D: You right. [00:28:17] Speaker E: That's bad. That's just terrible. [00:28:20] Speaker D: Come out, devil. You know, I mean, so it's just that whole process being still I Sabbath on Mondays. I've carved it out. If you can't have a full day of Sabbath, carve out four hours, carve out five hours. I have a whole teaching on Sabbath. [00:28:34] Speaker E: I believe it's more about a principle than a day. So. [00:28:38] Speaker D: So you go there how you want. Here's the fifth kind of wisdom point I would give you, and that is minister to your family. Minister to your family. [00:28:47] Speaker E: Don't lecture them, minister to them. [00:28:51] Speaker D: All of us know First Timothy, chapter three. You have to use it a lot when you're correcting leaders. He says about an overseer that he must manage his own household well. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will [00:29:02] Speaker E: he care for God's church? [00:29:04] Speaker D: Minister to your family. Minister to them, pray for them more [00:29:07] Speaker E: than you pray for anybody else. [00:29:09] Speaker D: Lay hands on them, stop long enough to talk to them. You know, I hear all these teachings and all these conference about, you know, about your, about your, you know, your family life. Versus your ministry life. I don't believe in that. [00:29:20] Speaker E: I just want to be honest with you. [00:29:22] Speaker D: You can be mad at me later, [00:29:23] Speaker E: but, but you know, brother David said I could have false doctrine. So anyway, but anyway, [00:29:29] Speaker D: no, I believe, I believe like in the old days, in the old days, if your family, if you guys were farmers, the kids were farmers. If you, if you, if you, you know, if you ran the local store, you know, your kids work the local store. And so I raised my kids from the very beginning. We're ministers, we're minister. You're gonna be nice in that kid's [00:29:47] Speaker E: ministry, you understand me? [00:29:48] Speaker D: You're gonna love them other kids, daddy, that one kid, you're gonna be nice and you're gonna pray with him. Because we're ministers of the gospel. Now, once you get of age, you can go do whatever you want, but right now you're in our family. [00:29:58] Speaker E: Our family is a ministry family. [00:30:00] Speaker D: So I ministered to them. I had family day. We had family day on Saturday mornings or sometimes Sunday mornings when we were meeting on Sunday nights, we'd get in the living room with the kids and I let them pick out the worship. They pick out the worship songs, they push play on the little recorder and we dance around the living room worshiping Jesus. And then I would, I'd have a little passage, I was like, I'm gonna share this passage. And they could get their play doh out colors or whatever and they could draw according to this passage and I would ask them questions and then we lay hands on each other and we'd [00:30:30] Speaker E: pray over each other. [00:30:31] Speaker D: If you've Never had your 8 year old son and your 5 year old daughter and your newborn lay hands on [00:30:37] Speaker A: you and did Jesus we just pray right now, the dad would not be full of the devil and that he would be blessed everything he does. You have missed life. I'm gonna tell you right now. [00:30:47] Speaker D: And now that they're in there, now that they're grown and adults and I've [00:30:51] Speaker A: got my first grandbaby. [00:30:52] Speaker D: They're the greatest ministers of the gospel that I get to be around. [00:30:55] Speaker A: And let me tell you, last night [00:30:56] Speaker D: my son called me, hey, hey, dad, [00:30:57] Speaker E: I got this situation. What do you think ought to do? [00:31:00] Speaker D: Because he knows to where he can receive ministry from. Because I've been ministering to him since he was born. Minister to your family. Love on them. Stop and ask them, how you doing? [00:31:11] Speaker E: What's going on with that school thing? [00:31:13] Speaker D: I'm gonna come up there and pray over that thing. You all right with that? [00:31:16] Speaker E: Because I got you. [00:31:17] Speaker D: If you don't mentor your own family, you won't mentor God's family. So start with your own kids. I've learned to do listen. Some of you are a little older. You're the only voice that those grandkids will listen to. [00:31:26] Speaker E: Just telling you, grandpa, I'm just telling you. [00:31:29] Speaker D: Years ago I was preaching at something and I kind of had this word for the Lord and I just said, listen, there's some grandmas and some grandpas in here that you're the only voice that, that, that grandkid will listen to. Came back a year later to that and I said, you ought to start [00:31:43] Speaker E: a small group with them when no one else will start something with them. [00:31:46] Speaker D: Came back and this little old lady was testifying. She said, he did it, he did it. I was like, what did I do? [00:31:51] Speaker A: I was guest speaker last year. [00:31:53] Speaker D: She goes, last year you said this. And the Lord got all over me. And I reached out to my 16 year old granddaughter and I said, let's go have coffee. And she said, I sat down with her and I said, listen to me, I'm going to die sooner than you think. And she says, and I'm gonna spend forever in heaven and my greatest fear is that you won't be there with me one day. And she said, I know your mama doesn't serve the Lord, and I know your dad doesn't serve the Lord. [00:32:17] Speaker A: I raised him, I raised your mama [00:32:18] Speaker D: right, but that's, that's. She's got her own ways that she wants. But I want you to know I love you. And if you ever want to know more about Jesus and da da da da and the grant. And the granddaughter said, grandma, I. I don't know about God. [00:32:29] Speaker E: Teach me. [00:32:29] Speaker D: I want to know. And so she said, well, let's meet [00:32:32] Speaker E: once a week and let's have coffee. [00:32:33] Speaker D: She goes, I got one better. Grandma, can I bring all my girlfriends over and we just have a sleepover. You can tell us all about Jesus. And she said, he did it. [00:32:42] Speaker A: She's pointing to me. Your fault. So I got this other widow lady and we're like, what do we do with teenage girls all night long at our house? [00:32:50] Speaker D: So she said we cooked and we [00:32:51] Speaker A: made some stuff and they showed up [00:32:53] Speaker D: and she said, and the first thing they wanted to ask us, did you [00:32:56] Speaker A: have problems with boys wanting to have sex with boys when you were our age? And she said, let's be. How about a popsicle? Let's just go on over here. And she said, now we've got 30 girls that meet with us every week, [00:33:09] Speaker D: they've all gotten saved. [00:33:10] Speaker A: They've gotten baptized in the Holy Spirit. And we've doubled the youth group with our one small group, Minister to your family. Here's the sixth wisdom point that I would give you. And that is you are nothing more [00:33:20] Speaker D: than an extension cord. [00:33:22] Speaker A: This will set you free. [00:33:24] Speaker D: See this extension cord, ain't nothing sexy about it. You know what? [00:33:30] Speaker A: This extension cord, hopefully it's plugged. [00:33:32] Speaker D: Did you plug it in on this side for me? [00:33:34] Speaker A: It's plugged into the power on one [00:33:35] Speaker D: side, and then you plug into the [00:33:37] Speaker A: people on the other side. And that power flows through you. [00:33:41] Speaker D: Not because of you or in spite of you. [00:33:44] Speaker A: It's because he is God and he lights up their world. He transforms their life. What happens many times is we start talking about the extension cord. Oh, my goodness. [00:33:53] Speaker D: Do you know who's come to our conference? What a sexy extension cord. Oh, my goodness. [00:33:59] Speaker A: Like nobody sits around at Home Depot [00:34:03] Speaker D: going, do you have the green extension cord? [00:34:07] Speaker A: It is a tool. We are a tool in the master's hands. It's his power flowing through us to them. Because if you think you're the power, then what's going to happen is you'll get depressed when they don't light up. You'll get frustrated. Listen. And then you'll take credit for what's not yours. Listen, if they're getting saved, praise God. If they're not getting saved, praise God. I'm just the extension cord. Listen, if you're trying to compete with the next generation of cool hip ministers, you know, and all that, you're going to lose your mind. You're just an extension cord to whoever he lets you plug into. [00:34:46] Speaker D: And his power is flowing through you. [00:34:47] Speaker A: Just let the power flow through you. [00:34:49] Speaker D: Are you with me today? Say yes. [00:34:51] Speaker A: I mean, it sets you free. [00:34:52] Speaker D: I'm telling you right now. Here's the seventh big wisdom piece that I would tell you. And that is you make disciples through relationship. I don't think I need to teach Elam fellowship that you have a great commission to go and make disciples. I think you've already got that one down pretty good. So let me just take that a next step further. And that is, you make disciples through relationship. Your books don't make disciples. Your sermons don't make disciples. Listen, Bible schools don't make disciples. I work in one. Disciples make disciples. And you only make disciples through relationship. Why did the King of glory come [00:35:27] Speaker A: down to earth, take on human form [00:35:29] Speaker D: and pick 12 knotheads? Why did he do that it's his model. [00:35:35] Speaker A: It's his model. He listen, he ate with them. He. He walked with them. I mean, they, they bedded down side of rivers and in people's, you know, you know, carports or whatever. I mean, every. He did, like he had relationship with these, that he's discipled and then he handed it. Do you understand? Do you understand that every one of [00:35:57] Speaker D: those disciples were under the age of 20 except for Peter? [00:36:02] Speaker A: Like, I don't know about you, but [00:36:03] Speaker D: if I'm like, how am I going to change humanity? Let's pick some young dummies and invest in them. You also understand. You also understand Jewish culture. [00:36:16] Speaker A: These guys had already been passed over. [00:36:19] Speaker D: The rabbis didn't pick them. They were back in their family businesses. Right? You're tracked with that. And Jesus said, I'll pick you and I'll take you. [00:36:27] Speaker E: No, you, you. And then he invested relationally. [00:36:35] Speaker D: If you want to be a success [00:36:37] Speaker E: ministry, make disciples, take on some relationships. [00:36:42] Speaker D: And I know some of you are terrible at relationships. [00:36:45] Speaker E: I met you. [00:36:46] Speaker D: This is bad. I know you are. [00:36:49] Speaker E: I'm so sorry. [00:36:50] Speaker D: It's the way you were raised. I know it. I get it. You tack on that Northern thing. It's just a whole nother level of difficulty. We may not have won the war in the south, but we still got our laughter, I'll tell you that right now. [00:37:10] Speaker A: And so you're gonna have to learn [00:37:11] Speaker D: to be relational and you're gonna have to relearn how to be relational. I don't know what they're talking about half the time. [00:37:17] Speaker E: Like what? [00:37:19] Speaker D: I don't know. I don't know. That didn't come across my TikTok feed. I'm not doing that little thing. You're doing what now? [00:37:26] Speaker E: But I'm in relationship with them, discipling them, calling them out of that. [00:37:31] Speaker D: Paul gave Timothy a great way to engage in discipleship. Rebuke, correct and encourage. Rebuke, correct and encourage. And listen, you can't disciple someone who [00:37:41] Speaker E: won't let you disciple them. So stop wasting your time on that person. [00:37:44] Speaker D: Go, move on. There's so many that are waiting for someone. The next generation is longing to be discipled. I'm just telling you right now, they are longing to be cared for. In fact, can I just give you a couple of statistics? Let me give you the statistics. [00:37:57] Speaker E: I'll just give you one. [00:37:58] Speaker D: 84% of Gen Z. I'll put it [00:38:01] Speaker E: on the screen for you. [00:38:01] Speaker D: 84% of Gen Z reportedly do not trust major institutions like congress, media, presidency, Big tech and I might be Gen Z. [00:38:10] Speaker E: Wait, what else don't I trust? [00:38:17] Speaker D: They don't trust it. They don't trust institutions. So guess what? They don't come to your church trusting your church. But if they have a relationship with [00:38:27] Speaker E: you, they'll trust you. [00:38:29] Speaker D: And so build a relationship. And so guess what? Relationship and discipleship making is hard and it's slower and it's not sexy. And no one's going to have you speak at the conference and say, tell me about discipling the next door neighbor who's white trash. Can I tell you? Go back to that. [00:38:47] Speaker E: His whole family has gotten saved. [00:38:51] Speaker D: I baptized him and all his kids. And the other day he texted me two days ago and said, I'm 304 days sober. And he said, it's because of you. I'm like, no, I'm just an extension cord. He's like, I don't know what that means. I was like, come to the conference anyway. Seriously, if you want to be relevant, [00:39:21] Speaker E: all you need to do is love the next generation. Take them to coffee, reach out to them. Let me tell you what relational discipleship looks like. I'm in the middle of worship this morning with you guys. All of a sudden somebody taps me and I look up and there's Bob. Sergey in his own right. He is a hero in the face. Why would he take out of his time of worship to come and say hello to me? Why would he do that? Because he's embraced the understanding that more than his books, more than his times, administering in front of large crowds is the opportunity to invest in a soul, an individual, to show love and respect and be relational. [00:40:08] Speaker A: You okay like that? [00:40:10] Speaker E: I'm like, don't hurt your voice anymore. [00:40:12] Speaker A: I've. [00:40:13] Speaker E: I don't want you. Here's a baseball. [00:40:14] Speaker D: You know, I've got that whole thing going on in my head. But you know why? [00:40:20] Speaker E: Because he's understood that systems and programs do not make disciples that just loving [00:40:28] Speaker D: people where they're at. And it just, I just was like, whatever Pastor Bob needs, I'll do it. I'll carry his bag in that. [00:40:34] Speaker B: Why? [00:40:34] Speaker D: Because he, he initiated. [00:40:36] Speaker E: If you're waiting for them to initiate, [00:40:38] Speaker D: they'll never do it. [00:40:40] Speaker E: You're gonna make relationships happen by initiating what may be uncomfortable and say, hey look, you got some time. I'd love to just sit down with you, hear about your life, tell me your story, tell me what's going on. [00:40:50] Speaker D: You still with me? [00:40:51] Speaker E: Say yes. [00:40:52] Speaker D: Here's the eighth point. How am I doing on time? [00:40:54] Speaker E: I forget what I'm supposed to be done, like 10 minutes ago. I'm okay. Three, four minutes. I forget what it was. [00:40:59] Speaker D: Y' all better not let me do that again. All right, number eight. And that is, Master, a life of joy. [00:41:07] Speaker E: Master, A life of joy. [00:41:11] Speaker D: Those of you that are theologians know [00:41:13] Speaker E: that Jesus Wept is not the shortest verse in the Bible. Which one is it? Rejoice always. In the original Greek, it's one less letter. Rejoice always. [00:41:30] Speaker D: Enough said. The scripture, like, let me just give it to you. [00:41:34] Speaker E: Like, rejoice always. Keep rejoicing. Keep rejoicing. Learn to cultivate joy. [00:41:40] Speaker D: Learn to laugh. I'm dealing with ministers who've been married 21 years, and they're divorcing each other, but by the. [00:41:47] Speaker E: By the dozens right now. [00:41:49] Speaker D: 20 years, 25 years, 13 years, 15 years. Don't love them. There's no life in the marriage. You made a covenant before Almighty God. [00:42:03] Speaker E: There's no love there. God will have grace on me. [00:42:07] Speaker D: He might, but I won't. But you know what they lost the [00:42:12] Speaker E: joy of the relationship. How many old ministers have I met? [00:42:19] Speaker D: I was preaching something at this place one time, and one of the elders walked up to me. He come up after, he said. [00:42:25] Speaker E: He said, [00:42:28] Speaker D: that was a pretty good message. He said, you kind of fired up, ain't you? I said, yes, sir. [00:42:34] Speaker E: I love Jesus. [00:42:36] Speaker D: He said, you know all that jumping around, being loud that you was doing, I just want to advise you that one day you're going to mature out of that. You're going to mature out of it, my brother. I just want to encourage you. You don't have to be loud and all excited like that. You're just mature. That's what's going to happen. God is my witness. I looked at him and I looked [00:43:06] Speaker A: up, I said, oh, God, if this is what I got to look forward [00:43:10] Speaker D: to, kill me right now in this thing. [00:43:15] Speaker A: But you know what his problem was? He didn't grow up in my church. Because in my church, all the old people out danced us all. They were a little slower. We had a lady, she was 70 years old. We called her Twirly Bird because she would just twirl 45 minutes of worship watching her, and I would get dizzy like, whoa. She loved her some G. She laughed. She, she. Listen, this is what I love about multiculture. [00:43:45] Speaker D: Our church is one third black, one third Hispanic, and one third Anglo. We got a little slice of heaven. The Asians are starting to take over. They're going to be higher percentages as [00:43:52] Speaker A: we go and talk about fund a pastor. Whoo. 50% of my church didn't vote for Trump. Not once, not twice, not three times. It was a joy. In the midst of the pandemic, Black lives matter. Trump no Trump. Vax. No Vax. We had a good time. Lost 40% of my church in one year. [00:44:13] Speaker D: It's awesome. Praise him. [00:44:15] Speaker A: Glory. But what I like about the multiculture [00:44:17] Speaker D: is the black folks won't let me get boring. [00:44:19] Speaker A: Come on, Pastor. Ah, that's good. All my young Latinos that are getting saved in the middle of worship, you'll see them back there. My favorite is when a brand new convert comes up to me and says, you know what? I really like your speeches. [00:44:37] Speaker D: Those speeches are pretty good. [00:44:39] Speaker A: But I'm still struggling with the karaoke. What. I told my media guy, let's get red dots over each word from now on. [00:44:51] Speaker D: Help them out during worship. [00:44:59] Speaker A: There was a moment in my twenties [00:45:01] Speaker D: where the church I was a part of was at the time was fastest growing church in America. And we were very systemized. When you got saved at the altar, [00:45:10] Speaker E: we took you to the side and [00:45:12] Speaker D: found out your zip code and introduced [00:45:13] Speaker E: you to the pastor over your zip [00:45:15] Speaker D: code, put you in a small group in that moment. And by the end of the day, we had a gift at your front door. The administration of that. [00:45:22] Speaker E: This is in the 90s. The administrative of that is astronomical. [00:45:26] Speaker D: And. And so we were working 60 hours a week. We were systemized to the hilt. I mean, Amazon had nothing on us. And. But what I didn't realize is I [00:45:36] Speaker E: was burning out on the inside. [00:45:39] Speaker D: And there was this little thing that broke out in Pensacola called the Brownsville Revival. And so I kept hearing about. I was like, well, I was the youth pastor at the time, so let [00:45:47] Speaker E: me take the youth leaders down. There's Florida, Great trip for the Lord. [00:45:55] Speaker D: And so we'll do the beach and then go to the little church service. So we got there and we stood. I stood in line outside for eight [00:46:01] Speaker E: hours to get in the building. [00:46:03] Speaker D: When I was the front of the line, me and 10 other leaders, youth leaders, got in the building as soon as we walked in. We. The. [00:46:09] Speaker E: The whole bottom floor was already full [00:46:11] Speaker D: because they had a VIP section that they let in through another door on [00:46:15] Speaker E: the back side of the building that I was unaware of. [00:46:17] Speaker D: So we ended up on the last row of the balcony. First ones in line. Eight hours, little sunburnt nose. We were. [00:46:26] Speaker E: We stunk and sweating outside. [00:46:28] Speaker D: And I'm on that back row. That little girl got up there and [00:46:32] Speaker A: started Saying, come running. Come running to the mercy seat. [00:46:37] Speaker D: I ain't running nowhere. [00:46:38] Speaker A: Tell you where I'm running. [00:46:39] Speaker D: Run up there and punch the pasture in the face and let all these other suckers in here. They ain't stand in line. Whoo. [00:46:45] Speaker A: I was mad. I was hot, man. [00:46:47] Speaker D: I was hot. [00:46:50] Speaker A: And then Steve Hill was like, come on down. We go lay hands on all you. How many pastors in the room? [00:46:55] Speaker D: All of us were pastors and said, [00:46:57] Speaker A: come on down, pastors, and we're going to lay hands on you. [00:46:59] Speaker D: And I'm like. [00:47:02] Speaker A: And so I started watching and the people were falling. [00:47:04] Speaker D: And I'm like, all right, I've been here, let's go. [00:47:13] Speaker A: I'm ticked. I'm already mad. You ain't gonna push me down in on top of it, Spanish environment, you [00:47:25] Speaker D: know, like, no, no, no, no. [00:47:29] Speaker A: And I don't know who I got. I don't remember. I think it was God always does something he knows. I'll trust grandmas. Grandmas could steal me blind. That's just somebody, Grandma. I'll just. [00:47:39] Speaker D: Yes, ma', am, whatever you say. [00:47:40] Speaker A: And I think it was a little grandma. [00:47:41] Speaker D: She walked over and she just did fire [00:47:46] Speaker E: me too. [00:47:49] Speaker A: Three hours later, I'm on the ground and I am laughing. You know when you've got like a little two year old and you begin to tickle them and that gut wrenching laugh and they tinkle on themselves in the process and you don't care, it's your grandbaby who cares. You know, I pay for this. And so. And so it's like God tickled me for three hours. My wife got holy laughter watching me look a fool on the floor. She said, you rolled from way over there to way over here. I had no idea what he was [00:48:26] Speaker D: doing is he was working out of [00:48:28] Speaker E: me the stress of ministry. [00:48:30] Speaker D: And I'll never go back. I will cultivate joy, and if there's no joy in it, then I've missed him somewhere and I'd rather just go work at Walmart. They got better benefits. I mean, they may not be alive in 20 years, but that's okay. I'll ride it to the end with them. Cultivate a life of joy. [00:48:53] Speaker E: Master, it's. [00:48:54] Speaker D: Here's the ninth wisdom point I would [00:48:57] Speaker E: give you, and that is use the force. Luke. Sorry I was a little heretical, but [00:49:05] Speaker D: sorry for being, [00:49:08] Speaker E: you know, you got [00:49:11] Speaker D: to understand, though we've been given power Acts 1:8 and ye shall receive power, not tongues. [00:49:18] Speaker E: Power tongues is beautiful. [00:49:21] Speaker D: Paul said, I thank God to pray in tongues. You know, I thank God I pray in tongues more than you all. I believe we should pray in tongues. I pray in tongues a lot, all day, throughout the day. If you're riding next to me in traffic, you're gonna be like, what is [00:49:32] Speaker E: that guy rapping to? [00:49:37] Speaker D: New syllables all the time. Beautiful, Wonderful. It jumps start. But the goal was not tongues. [00:49:43] Speaker E: The goal was power. [00:49:45] Speaker D: And it was a promised gift out of Joel. Remember that your sons and daughters would prophesy. In other words, everyday people would have the same power that Elijah had walked in. Jeremiah had walked in. Every little Hebrew boy and girl growing up had heard, one day he's going [00:49:59] Speaker E: to pour out his spirit on all of us. [00:50:01] Speaker D: You know what my fear is that I'm going to get to heaven and [00:50:03] Speaker A: I'm going to walk up to Elijah [00:50:04] Speaker E: and he's going to say, what was it like? [00:50:07] Speaker D: Like what see best we can understand is how the Holy Spirit operated in the Old Testament. [00:50:12] Speaker A: He would come down on them and [00:50:13] Speaker D: then he would lift back off them of him. But he abides in us. [00:50:17] Speaker E: He lives in us. [00:50:18] Speaker D: So I have this fear that Jeremiah's going to be like, what was it [00:50:21] Speaker E: like having him all the time? [00:50:25] Speaker D: And he like, well, I lived in Babylon and there was just so much temptation and I tried not to be bad and I got a bunch of people to come and made them laugh [00:50:37] Speaker E: and it was awesome. [00:50:39] Speaker D: You go like, did you race the dead? Not really. You didn't race it at. [00:50:42] Speaker E: No, not really. I tried one time. [00:50:45] Speaker D: It didn't work. We, we are called to walk in power. And I'm telling you, there's a generation now that's done. Listen, Carrie Newhoff has finally even admitted it and I've been saying it for 10 years. Attractional Church is dying or is dead and Gen Z is single handedly dismantling the megachurch structure. They are, they're doing it. I've literally had Gen Z go go Greek Orthodoxy on me because they're just looking for something deep, trusting. That's been around a long time. Come on, Lust Charismatic's been around a long time. We have some, we have some depth to us and it's time to use [00:51:29] Speaker E: the force, move in the power, pray [00:51:31] Speaker D: for people, lay hands on people. I was speaking at a young adult conference not so long ago and as I'm kind of giving some words and all of a sudden I get this word that there's a young man in this room that's been, that's been torturing little animals and, and that the Lord says if, if if he will, if he'll repent, if he'll call out to him, God will heal him and set him free. And that God sees him, he knows [00:51:53] Speaker E: him, even though he doesn't think he does. I'm not saying that like, I'm like, [00:51:57] Speaker D: I ain't saying somebody over here has a. [00:52:04] Speaker A: Percentages, right? Young adults, somebody struggling with porn, like all of you. It's not. That's not prophetic, that's statistics. And so I'm fighting with the Holy Spirit, fighting with him. Meanwhile, I'm praying for people and I'm fighting with. And I'm finally like, okay, leave me alone. And so I said, okay, there's somebody in here. You've been towards the little animals. God said, he sees you, he loves you, God bless you. Somebody over here maybe, I don't know. [00:52:30] Speaker D: I just moved quick because I didn't want to, like, I didn't want to fool with it because I. There was no way. I thought I really was hearing from God on that. Afterwards we're all standing around in the, you know, outdoor, you know, with the food trucks and I'm standing with all [00:52:45] Speaker E: the event planners and the pastors and leaders and this kid walks up to me, he's about 20 years old, looks like he came straight out of a, [00:52:53] Speaker D: you know, New York, you know, photo shoot, you know, for some sexy magazine or something. [00:52:59] Speaker E: I'm just good looking. Kids got it all together. He walks up to me, says, I really appreciate what you said tonight. I said, I said a lot. What part are you talking about? And he goes, that part about, about with the animals. He said, that was me. I said, no, it wasn't. Because in my mind the guy who's [00:53:18] Speaker D: been doing that don't look like that kid. I got mine. [00:53:27] Speaker A: Just saying, just being honest. And I was like, nah, you serious? [00:53:31] Speaker D: He goes, yeah, it was me. He goes, actually, I've not believed in God. [00:53:36] Speaker E: My friend made me come to this. I was sitting there during yalls time and I just said, God, if you're real, you talk to me and I'll change. [00:53:42] Speaker D: He said, I just need you to know. He said I had been convinced that [00:53:47] Speaker E: I was going to be a next great serial killer. I started with the little animals. [00:53:51] Speaker D: He said, but I've been, I've been [00:53:53] Speaker E: stalking these two girls and I have [00:53:55] Speaker D: a whole plan on how to kill [00:53:56] Speaker E: them and get rid of, get, get away with it. He said, and when you said what you said, he said, it was like heaven opened up and God was there and spoke to me. [00:54:04] Speaker D: He said, so Then I went and found that preacher. [00:54:06] Speaker E: There's another preacher guy that they introduced me to. [00:54:08] Speaker D: And I went over there and they. [00:54:10] Speaker E: They prayed over me, and this evil stuff came out of me. Awesome. Use the force, Luke. You have power. Why did we stop? Why did we start capping that off? Because we were scared of missing it and being embarrassed or those who didn't understand how it is to walk within the power of the Lord. It's time to uncork that and start moving faith. So it. You miss it. [00:54:41] Speaker D: I'd rather. [00:54:42] Speaker E: I'd rather swing for the fence and miss it than never swing, man. When I started praying for that guy last night in tongues, he sobered up. I'm like, this is awesome. Christianity was never. Ministry was never supposed to be this difficult because we're doing it in the arm of the flesh. [00:55:02] Speaker D: It's not by might nor by power. [00:55:03] Speaker E: By his spirit, no little nudge of the Holy Spirit. There are ladies in this room. You've been prophesied over since you were [00:55:09] Speaker D: a little girl that you would have [00:55:10] Speaker E: a healing ministry, but you stop praying for people, so you don't see healing anymore. [00:55:16] Speaker D: And the reason why is because we make heroes out of people who walk with God. Like every one of us are supposed [00:55:22] Speaker E: to walk with God. [00:55:23] Speaker D: And so we go like, oh, my [00:55:24] Speaker E: goodness, look at him. [00:55:26] Speaker D: And then we want him at all of our conferences, and we want to hear from. We want to read all their stuff. There's just people who are dumb enough to submit. [00:55:33] Speaker A: Just be that. [00:55:35] Speaker D: Let's just say, like, the same spirit [00:55:36] Speaker A: that rose Christ from the dead dwells in us. Let's walk through Walmart and go, ma', am, can I pray for you? [00:55:42] Speaker D: I just feel like I'm supposed to pray for you, and I'm not really sure what that looks like. And I'm sorry if I embarrass you, but, you know, let's go ahead. [00:55:50] Speaker A: And all of a sudden, she starts [00:55:51] Speaker D: getting healed, and you just start videotaping. [00:55:52] Speaker E: I got healed right now. [00:55:54] Speaker D: No, see, that's our problem. And so I done made you mad enough. Let's go to the last point. [00:56:02] Speaker A: All right. [00:56:02] Speaker E: I only had 10. Number 10 make leaders. [00:56:06] Speaker D: I'll quote you Matthew 9:37. Again. [00:56:09] Speaker E: The harvest is plentiful. It's the labors of leaders that are few. If we could say it like that. [00:56:15] Speaker D: Pray ye the Lord of the harvest. [00:56:18] Speaker E: Pray ye the Lord of the harvest. [00:56:20] Speaker D: I have completely spent. Now that I'm in my mid to [00:56:24] Speaker E: late 50s, I'm spending the rest of my days is what I'm committed to, to just make leaders, to just invest in men and women who go beyond me, to just invest it. Invest in them, teach them, train them, help them, serve them, love them, stand under. [00:56:39] Speaker D: Stand under their feet. [00:56:40] Speaker E: Let them get up on my shoulders and look past me. [00:56:42] Speaker D: I just need you to understand, if [00:56:44] Speaker E: you haven't caught this in the last 12 months, we are in the United States and the world is in a fresh new revival. It's happening. [00:56:55] Speaker D: Texas A and M last semester had a breakout on the college campus and [00:57:00] Speaker E: they baptized thousands of young people. [00:57:03] Speaker D: Those old country boys went and just got water troughs and just started baptizing [00:57:06] Speaker E: them outside of the stadiums. [00:57:08] Speaker D: Ohio State, the whole football team got saved last year and began preaching to everybody and ministering to everybody. What I'm seeing is God don't need us. He's like, watch, I'm gonna break out without y'. [00:57:18] Speaker A: All. [00:57:19] Speaker D: But here's the problem. Now what do we do with them? The harvest is plentiful and it's happening. It's happening in real time, supernaturally. It's unbelievable. I mean, we're seeing people like Joe Rogan starting to talk about Jesus. Theo Vaughn was the other day just admitting that, you know, he, he, he, he, he believes in God, but he's scared that he, that he's so manipulative in his heart that he won't even truly love God. [00:57:43] Speaker E: God, it's unbelievable to watch what God's doing. [00:57:46] Speaker D: All, all the, all the actors are going Catholic on us. Well, that's close enough for me. All right, let's just get move somewhere. I mean, it's amazing. It's amazing what God is doing. In fact, we just had Dr. Harmos Shariat at CFNI a couple months ago. [00:58:04] Speaker E: This, eight weeks ago, not even. Yeah, seven, eight weeks ago. [00:58:07] Speaker D: And he is, if you don't know his name, he is considered the Billy Graham of Iran. He's an Iranian who had a radical experience with the lord in the 70s or 80s, came here, studied. He's got a doctorate degree in like [00:58:21] Speaker E: artificial intelligence or something. [00:58:23] Speaker D: Anyway, and so he was. Went back to his country, Iranian, Iran, [00:58:27] Speaker E: and was a missionary, started underground church [00:58:29] Speaker D: work, but his life became so threatened that he, he based himself out of [00:58:33] Speaker E: the United States and what he's been doing for the last 20, 30 years. [00:58:36] Speaker D: And to hear his story is pretty impressive because what he did was he just bought a satellite channel and just began to satellite feed into Iran. Because they all have satellite dishes just satellite feed Christian content into their country and literally became the most Famous Christian minister in Iran, just by way of [00:58:55] Speaker E: a satellite feed in. [00:58:57] Speaker D: And he began to tell us how [00:58:58] Speaker E: the underground church has been exploding. [00:59:00] Speaker D: And this is why we're seeing what we're seeing. In fact, he quoted the other day to us that there are 75 mosques in Iran and 50,000 of them are empty. And that the younger generation, because God's been visiting them and they've been getting saved, are the ones who literally said, we do not want this oppressive Islamic regime ruling us anymore. And from January, most of you don't know this because legacy media doesn't report this, but from January to February, you know, ayatollah's crew killed 40,000 mainly young adults who were in the streets saying, we don't want to live like this. And many of them were Christians who were making a stand because their lives were already in danger. [00:59:47] Speaker E: They might as well make a stand to see. [00:59:48] Speaker D: In fact, he reported that it was that group of people that's been begging the United States and Israel to come save them. That's his report. And so I just. And so there are more movement. Those of you that are missionaries know this in Muslim countries than we know even how to. We can't even keep track of it. It's happening so fast. If you talk about the second largest religion in the world and they begin to turn towards Jesus, we will have global revival in a matter of months. What will we do with them? Do we have the leadership to mentor and disciple? The Chinese church will tell you this. Over the last 30 years, that all these. They were so immature. So that's why we kept trying to get them Bibles, you know, back in the. In the 90s and risking our lives to get Bibles in China. And then. And of course, technology has blown that all out of the water. But they're so immature. There's so much backbiting and back and forth because they just didn't have the maturity of leadership because they're all getting hit by God. But just like we see happening in the New Testament in the Book of Acts, right? Like all this immaturity in the midst of all this global revival. And so if you do anything over the next 20 years of your life, make leaders invest. Nick Jonas just sang a Christian song and admitted that he's been church hurt after what his dad went through with the church, the assembly of God church that he was pastoring. So he had turned away from the Lord. And Nick Jonas just reported that he's coming back to Jesus right now. I mean, God is moving. I'm just telling you. [01:01:21] Speaker A: But what will we do with the harvest? [01:01:25] Speaker D: And so you are needed. [01:01:26] Speaker A: I don't care how old or young you are, you are needed like you've never been. I'm talking at a leaders conference, right? I'm at a. I'm at a ministry. [01:01:32] Speaker D: Pastors and ministers. We are needed like we've never been. And we've got to make disciples, we've got to make leaders. We got to love folks, we got [01:01:39] Speaker A: to teach, we got to train. [01:01:40] Speaker D: It's got to happen through relationships. [01:01:42] Speaker A: This one and that one. You're going to have to open up your heart. Listen, you've not been put out on the pasture. There's no retirement in our call. Come on, somebody. And so it may shift a little bit. You may not be able to move as fast as you used to, but you can still disciple, you can still love, you can still preach, you can still move in the power. Come on, somebody. You can train. And my encouragement to you would be to initiate it and say, I'm gonna [01:02:08] Speaker D: reach out to this one. [01:02:09] Speaker E: I have a heart for this one. [01:02:11] Speaker D: And say, I'm gonna pour my life into you. [01:02:13] Speaker A: What little bit I got left or [01:02:14] Speaker D: whatever, wherever you find yourself. But let us be found doing the [01:02:19] Speaker E: work of the Lord till the day he returns. [01:02:21] Speaker D: I hope some of these wisdom points have brought something to you. Would you stand with me across the room? [01:02:25] Speaker E: Quickly. [01:02:27] Speaker A: I would imagine one or two spoke [01:02:28] Speaker D: to you because that's what the Holy Spirit told me he would do. That something would mark each and every one of us from the greatest elder in our midst to the youngest new new leader in our midst. And here's what I'd like you to do. For a moment, I'd like you just to go before the Lord. Maybe you close your eyes, whatever works for you like that. What I'd like you to do, remember back to these 10 wisdom points and which of these spoke to you the most? And then I want you to have an engagement with the Lord on it. If you haven't won a soul in a long time, you've not led a person to Christ, maybe you've given an altar call at your church or ministry, but you personally, one on one, have not let. Then I would start there and say, lord, I'm ready. I want to make a shift in that. I want to once again reach out to hurting people. [01:03:09] Speaker A: And I want to. I want to. [01:03:10] Speaker D: I want to pour my life. If you've lost the joy of life and ministry and Christianity and you've become so overtaken by Just the things that have to get done, that there's no joy in it anymore. If you stop moving in power and you haven't seen a healing or a miracle or a supernatural work in some time in your life or in your ministry, then that would be a starting place right now in this moment to say, lord, I am once again, I stir the waters. Stir the waters of ministry in my life, oh God, stir it up. If you've been mad about your assignment, [01:03:45] Speaker A: you felt like it was below you [01:03:47] Speaker D: or wasn't right or it was more [01:03:48] Speaker A: than you could do, or you're unfit for the assignment didn't fit you, you [01:03:52] Speaker D: wish you would have been able to [01:03:53] Speaker A: get over here and do what they're [01:03:54] Speaker D: doing instead of what you're being assigned. [01:03:56] Speaker A: Then here's your moment. Just to repent before the Lord like I learned to do and embrace it [01:04:01] Speaker D: and say, you know what? [01:04:02] Speaker A: I'm going to take these 10 junior high kids and they all going to be world changers. I'm gonna invest every moment today. This is my assignment right now. [01:04:09] Speaker D: I'm gonna make it the greatest. [01:04:10] Speaker A: I'm gonna put every. I'm gonna put my best effort into it. [01:04:12] Speaker D: I'm gonna love deeply. [01:04:14] Speaker A: Jesus took 12 knot heads. [01:04:16] Speaker D: That was his assignment. [01:04:17] Speaker A: He poured into them everywhere he went, [01:04:19] Speaker D: miracle signs and wonders. And they got to see it in action and learn. [01:04:22] Speaker A: And he was rebuking them. Get behind me. Get behind me. [01:04:25] Speaker D: Satan. You have no part with us like that. Constantly teaching, rebuking, correcting, encouraging. Listen to me, great ministers and leaders. The enemy has a way of discouraging and sucking the fire and the life of God out of you. But this week is a return to [01:04:44] Speaker A: the sweet places of God. A fresh joy down in your soul. [01:04:48] Speaker D: I declare over you right now in [01:04:49] Speaker A: Jesus name a newfound joy. Joy in your assignment and excitement about the days ahead and the right now moments. Fresh souls. Lord, I pray right now in the name of Jesus and even before these next couple days are over that somebody would text them and say, do you have time to meet. I'd like to meet with you about some things going on in my life, Lord. And they would see that as the sign that they are not put out to pasture, that they're not, they're not in the wrong spot. Or that the Lord God that they're. They start discipling like they never disciple. Lord, I pray you'd send. Lord, I pray for like you said, to do the Lord of the harvest to send forth leaders, laborers into their fields alongside of them. I pray Lord God you would send Jonathan's beside them. That, Lord God, that you would literally send those who serve and lead with them in Jesus name, I thank you. There'll be no death to their ministries, oh God, but life, Lord, the harvest is upon us. The excitement of what the Lord is doing is right here. Right Reinvigorate us, Lord. It's like. It's like the early 80s, right after the Jesus movement, that charismatic renewal time is happening again. And, Lord, it's like a resurgence of that. And I pray, Lord God, that their prayer language would be intensified, that their times with the Holy Ghost would be so impactful to their soul. Give them hope again where they've lost hope, Lord, Lord, set them free. For trying to go back and get what we used to have. What we used to have was for back then. There's some new movement of the spirit for our generation now. For this movement now. What does it look like? How can we walk in it? Can we be in the now moment with you? Holy Ghost, I want you to reach over and just put your hand on that person next to you. And I want you just to pray the life of God inside of them. I want you to pray miracle signs and wonders that begin to manifest in their life. If they've got grandkids and you know about it. I want you to begin to pray that their grandkids would have encounters with the Lord. If they've got wayward children, that you would agree with them for the impact of the Holy Ghost, to go get them and shake them down. If they've been discouraged in ministry, maybe you know about it because you're their friend. I want you to declare the courage of God over them. [01:07:01] Speaker D: In Jesus name. [01:07:03] Speaker A: Courage of God to walk in the supernatural, to call it like they see it. Oh, in Jesus name. I break the fear of being canceled. In Jesus name, I break the fear of being canceled. I declare right now, Lord God, that each and every one of these ministries that are already seeing increase already because of the movement that's happening in the earth. I pray, Lord God, that you would invigorate, dust off those old training manuals, rework them for, put them in ChatGPT and rework them, put them in a different language that the next generation can understand better the principles, the truths of the gospel that you learned. Reinvigorate those pieces. Oh, God, I declare over Elam Fellowship, Lord God, that Lord God, over the next five years, they'll double in membership. In Jesus name. In Jesus name, Lord, I pray you'd open up Brazil to them. Lord God. Pastors would come be a part of their fellowship. Lord God. Guatemala, the African nations. Oh God, Jesus. They've always had a foothold. Elam's always had a foothold in the African nations. Double it. Oh God. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Father. I pray Lord God that they will begin to plant churches into Canada faster than they've ever been able to do in the Northeast. In Jesus name, Father. I pray, Lord God that the young, young leaders would rise up and come stand beside the older leaders. And Lord, that, that, that Paul Timothy relationship would explode in this fellowship. Explode. That there would be a love, Lord. Turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the hearts of the children back to the fathers. Lord, I pray for a fresh missionary movement in their midst. In Jesus name. Laying down of their lives. Laying down of their lives. In Jesus name. [01:08:54] Speaker D: Now stay in that load. [01:08:55] Speaker E: Stay there. [01:08:56] Speaker D: That's good. Stay there. [01:08:57] Speaker E: That's good. [01:08:59] Speaker D: Thank you Jesus. [01:09:00] Speaker A: Father, I just describe over them. Oh God. Great wisdom going into the earth from their ministry. In Jesus name, Father, I thank you right now, Lord God. Thank you Lord God right now, man. I just see, I just see that Bible school guys. I just see it. I just see it. Training, training and training and training not just here in the States but overseas. There's something special on the overseas training. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Father I thank you right now, Lord God for legacy. I speak over the legacy. A fresh fire in the legacy. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Call back. I call home those who walked away. I call them home in Jesus name. The grandkids are some of the great leaders who've walked away from the gospel, who've walked away from a relationship with the living God. I call you home to pick up the mantle In Jesus name. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Father. Thank you. For insights from the heavens, supernatural insights from the heavens. Father, I thank you. You're healing, healing hearts. Heal the hearts of these who've been doing life together so long, Lord God, that they've got many offenses at each other just because they're alive just because they've been together so long. Heal those oh God. Use tonight to bring about transformation in that space. [01:10:26] Speaker D: Let the glory of the Lord rest upon us. [01:10:30] Speaker A: So I don't know who this is for, but I just got to speak it. It's part of who I am. But I just keep hearing the Lord ask me to remind some of you that the next season of great ministers will be more bi vocational than they will full time. That literally that, that we've got to raise up the next generation of ministers to have multi streams of income. And I just, I don't know who that's for. And I. And even if you don't completely embrace [01:10:58] Speaker D: that, there's a truth happening in that. [01:11:00] Speaker A: The Bible says that Abraham was rich in gold, cattle and silver. And he's the father of faith. He had multiple streams of income. And I'm just telling you we'll reach the nations when we're not having to live and die on the tithes of the people. The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians, he said, I financed you. What are you talking about? I did my tent making and then I ministered to you and taught you and birthed you. And so there's something special for somebody in this room that you're supposed to take lay hold of that. And that is not anti ministry. In fact, there's a great precedence of that in the New Testament with the Apostle Paul and others. And so I would encourage you to think outside of the box of what ministry looks like for this next generation and raising up the next generation. I am learning with the next generation that as long as they have some other streams of income, they actually have the ability to multitask at a level that I can't and can minister and have a side business and take that side business and use it as a weapon against the enemy and see ministry go forward and take care of their family and be blessed in the process. So I just want to say speak that out. Father, I thank you for who that whoever that's for, whatever that's to look like, that someone will take that as a seedling and multiply that beyond. Lord God, whatever was even in my heart and my understanding to the place that you want them to have it. Lord God, I bless these amazing ministers and I declare your favor over them [01:12:25] Speaker D: all their days in Jesus name, Amen and Amen. [01:12:29] Speaker A: I love you guys. [01:12:30] Speaker D: Thanks for letting me have this moment. [01:12:33] Speaker C: Thank you for watching. We have so many more amazing episodes to share with you both upcoming and on our website. So make sure you check them out wherever you get your podcasts. For even more amazing content, go to elamfellowship.org and check out the Hub. Not only are all the well podcasts there, but there is so much more content for you. And if this message was meaningful to you, please show your support by by liking, subscribing and sharing this channel and drop your thoughts down below. It really does make a big difference for us. So until next time, I'm Thomas and We will see you around the well.