I'm excited to tell you about an awesome service that we have coming up on the 23rd of this month, and we're calling it Limitless Summer.
This will be an awesome opportunity for you to invite someone to church. Not only will they have a great worship experience and hear an awesome word, but you'll have an opportunity for them to be immersed in community. Immediately after service, we're going to have some things outside and have an opportunity for them to get to meet our Limitless family.
We have some other surprises in store, but shh, I'm not going to tell you what they are. But I can't wait for you to be there and invite somebody with you. I would encourage you to go to the Limitless table and get an invite card and invite somebody to Limitless Summer on the 23rd of this month.
Hey Limitless, I'm excited to tell you about Be The Body Sunday. The last Sunday of this month, June 30th, we will not have service. Why? Because we're going to be out being the body. Whether that means you're worshipping at another church or maybe you're going to a church that you've been invited to, we encourage you to go out and be the body of Christ.
Maybe for you, that's taking a family member or a non-believer to lunch. Whatever that looks like, I want to encourage you to go out and not just be here in a silo, but actually go out and be the body of Christ. So please don't be here Sunday, June the 30th. Don't knock on the door because we won't be here. We're going to go out and be the body.
Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Thank you, thank you, I appreciate that. I am glad to be back with you guys. I am excited to be here. It's married folk, y'all, don't worry about that. I did miss each and every one of you.
I had the opportunity, the privilege, and the opportunity to take a missions trip to Zambia, and more specifically, Indola, and it changed my life. Honestly, I will never be the same. For those of you who've known me for a while, you know I am not the missions trip guy. That's not what God, I felt that the Lord had called me to. I will send the check, but I won't go.
But the Lord, in His providence, sent me on a mission, and He had the right person to ask me to where I couldn't say no, and set it up, because that's how He do, because He knows me. You know, I'll get out that thing quick, but He had the right person to ask me, and I went, and I came. I can tell you that my life will never be the same.
So I wanted to take a couple minutes. I'm going to try to go quicker than I did first service, but I really want you to know kind of why and what, because if the Lord sends me, there's a reason that He sends me. Throughout my life, everything that I've been a part of has been because the Lord sent me, and He sent me there to make a difference.
When I started a youth ministry, I joined youth ministry because I loved what was happening, but I just felt that I could bring something that would be better, whether that's excitement, maybe, you know, music or whatever it could be. So when I joined youth ministry, that was why I joined.
When I became a Christian hip-hop artist and traveled and toured, the reason that I got into Christian rap is because I felt the people who were doing it were whack. I did not like it. I was like, I see what you're going for, but, oh, and I couldn't shake it. The Lord told me the reason that you can't shake it and you have this feeling is because I've put the gift into it. I've put the gift inside of you to bring that there.
Even when it came down to planting a Limitless church, I said, Lord, and I even spoke to my wife, there are a million churches here in Woodland. Why would you have me plant another church? What is going to be the difference? What is the necessity? What is it? And He said, plain and simple, you're going to have the power of God, and that's what I need.
If you look at what our core values are, you'll see the acronym for our core values is POWER. He says, I wanted you to bring something different. And so now, when I went to Zambia, I had the same question: Lord, why did you send me? What is the purpose that I need to go?
And so I want to share with you that one of the awesome things that happened is, well, awesome, well, not great, that turned awesome. On our way there, the roads are so bad that we got a flat tire. I wouldn't be in Mission Street without something a little crazy happening. But we got a flat tire on the way there, and so someone had to come pick us up, and we had to take a little walk to Operation I-Dream.
Operation I-Dream is where I went to serve. And so on the way there, we're walking, we maybe walked, you know, maybe about a half a mile. And as I'm walking, I begin to hear music, and I begin to hear people singing. And I was like, oh, this is amazing.
As we got closer, the kids from I-Dream were singing to us. And they began to grab our hand and walk us into the Operation I-Dream center. And here's a video of that. Y'all know I can't help it.
And so that was amazing, because as they continued to do that, as they walked us in, each group had their own presentation that they wanted to do. And we sat down, and I couldn't believe how many kids were here at this place. There were about 400 kids that are there that are being serviced by Operation I-Dream.
And here in the next video, you'll be able to see some of them. Let's play that. We said, you see all of these kids, and they're there, they're excited. This is the opening. This is the opening up of their school day. And they had this presentation for us, and they began to do all these different songs.
And then we had a presentation from their choir, which is made up of kids in high school all the way down to the babies. And they sang us a welcome song. Now listen to the kids. We love it. It's amazing.
And you can imagine I'm a puddle at this point. And I'm like, okay, how many can I fit in my luggage? How... And so, as we continue to go on, they present to us the success stories of I-Dream so far.
And in this next picture here, you'll see that there's a gentleman here standing in the middle. In the middle, he's actually a graduate of I-Dream. And when he started, he was the same age as the little kids that are next to him. And he was one of the first people to actually be a part of I-Dream.
And he graduated, and they had a trade class at that time where they taught construction. And now he graduated that trade class, and now he works at I-Dream building the buildings and the different construction projects that they have. So it went full circle for him. And I just thought that that was an amazing testimony of someone who started with nothing and went back to serve the place that served him so well.
And so that was an amazing story. Next, we got to visit the I-Dream clinic. This is the clinic here. So what he said was that if that clinic wasn't there, the people would have had to walk an hour to get to the next place where they would be able to receive any services whatsoever.
Next, we went into the clinic to see the waiting room. You'll see it here in this next picture. And you'll notice that there's no glass. There's no receptionist. There's no couches. There are these wooden seats that are there. There's an area there for them to check the temperature and write their names down.
And this services these kids, these 400 kids and the surrounding people who walk there to get services. Next slide. And the next one, this is the treatment area. And so I asked the question, what is the major thing that they have to treat here with all of these kids and the things?
And they said the major thing that they have to treat, which is one of the leading causes of death of kids here in Zambia, is malaria. And so I asked, you know, how does malaria happen? It's transferred through mosquitoes and the different things that they have to fight there.
And I said, well, how much does it take for... because they mentioned the shortage of medicine and that these kids don't have access to the medicine. And so I'm like, well, how much is it for them to get the medicine and for a test strip to test for malaria and a cure for malaria? Two dollars and thirty cents.
And kids are dying. Dying from malaria, and a cure is two dollars and thirty cents. Dying. So when I saw this, obviously, I'm overwhelmed at this point because I can't imagine. I can't even put two words.
And so next we took a visit to the pharmacy where they have the medicines, where they treat the kids. And I was like, oh, you guys got a pharmacy. Well, at least, you know, there's some stuff there. They should have enough things there to take care of them.
So again, one of the things that we need. This is it. This area is where they keep all of the medicine. So what he was saying is this refrigerator here, this small mini cooler is where they keep all of the medicine that needs to be cooled.
But because there isn't a sustainable or a consistent amount of power, they lose a lot of medicine. So I have me. I'm solution-oriented. I'm like, well, what is the solution? And what he said in the video was that they need solar because when we were there, all throughout my stay, there are times when power goes out and it might not be back on for hours.
And so you can imagine someone who's in dire need of medicine. And every week they have to toss medicine simply because they don't have power. And so that was a big deal.
Next, we went to the emergency room. We went to the Streeter Health Center. Streeter is a young lady that's actually being treated in there. I did not want to take a picture because what I saw was pretty gruesome. The young lady has gangrene, and it's a condition that eats the skin away.
And so on her knees and her legs, there's no skin there. And they're treating her here. And this is the only facility nearby that could even treat it. Not that they're like, oh, we have the things. No, we're even willing to bring her in. Because most people would say, oh, I'm sorry. And they'll just leave her there to die.
And so what Pastor Sam did is he brought her in and created the Streeter Health Center where they treat the kids who have been born with HIV, these ones who have diseases and things. And so it's the same. It's a special treatment center that they have for them there at the Operation I-Dream.
Next, we went to the women's, or should I say the ladies' dorm. Now, there's over 400 kids here. And there are many different places. Some of them do have an opportunity to go to homes. And so I said, well, what will be the purpose of the dorm?
And they said that poverty is so bad here. One of the leading things that they have to deal with is child marriages. So what happens is because of the dire need for food, the dire need just to survive, someone who has their... they barter. And unfortunately, sometimes, a lot of times, that barter includes, hey, I need to eat tomorrow. I will sell you my daughter.
Why? Because people in desperate situations do desperate things. So they created this dormitory here to rescue those girls, to rescue them out of those situations and to put them in a living situation where there's a mother there to take care of them.
There are facilities there. There are things there so that they won't have to be subject to these dire, dire situations. Next, we made a visit to the upcoming center where they will be teaching trade. And you'll see it here. This was actually put up the day that we got there.
And this is a place where the kids will actually be able to learn a trade like the gentleman that I showed you in the beginning. And this is where I obviously had already... I'm already out of place. But here he said he made this comment, and he said, even the things that you have in your garage could change a child's life.
And I was like, well, how? He said this. This framework was sitting in the garage of a farmer. It was just sitting in the garage, and it had been sitting there and it was collecting dust, and he had no idea what he would do with it.
And Pastor Sam was talking to a gentleman. He says, my dad has this thing in the garage. I don't know if you could use it. This that was just sitting there will now be a place where kids will be able to learn a trade that now they can take that and be able to use it to feed their families. Simply by something that was sitting in their backyard.
Next, we went and took a look at the main water source very quickly here for I-Dream. This is a big property. However, this is their water source. And unfortunately, the water source runs into the same situation as the refrigerator. No power. No water.
No power. No water. Imagine running up on an opportunity where you have no water for 400 kids. Dire circumstance. And we said, how? What is the way that this can help? He said, solar. We're believing God to get a generator and to get solar.
Now, the next thing I had the opportunity... One of the things that I was excited about doing. Y'all know I love food. We got a chance to feed the kids. And so the pastors... There are 400 of the kids, and we're feeding them.
And this is their meal. If you notice, there's a small piece of hot dog. There's a few beans. And this is called matzah. It's like a grainy mix between rice and potatoes. And we're feeding this to these kids.
Now, on average, we will eat twice a day, right? We'll eat twice a day. You know, you might grab something in the morning. You're going to have lunch. You have dinner, right? Twice a day. And a week, that's seven. That's 14 times a week.
These kids have this meal five times a week. This is the only meal that they eat. Thank you. Not right now. These kids eat five times a week. This is the only food that they have.
And even this is considered a luxury for them. Five times a week, they're lined up. They're excited. They're happy. Because even though these kids eat, their mothers and fathers may not have an opportunity to eat.
And so they walk up to an hour to get here every day just so that they can have something to eat five days out of the week. And this is not like school where they're just there. They're there every single day.
And they're running around. They're playing ball. They're doing all of this. And this is what they have to eat. And after we fed the kids, now me personally, I just couldn't stop.
Because there was a lot of us in there like, hey, you know, we can go do other stuff. I'm like, no. I started at kid number one and I stopped at kid 400. Because there's no way that I'm tired, that my arm hurts when there are kids who need to eat.
But afterwards, they showed us their gratitude after we're done feeding them here. And they're just coming to say thank you. And you see the smiles on their faces after all of that. Even though they're in dire circumstances, you see the smiles on their faces.
And so the next thing that we did is we began to take a trip. We began to take a walk to where these kids walk. Now, I didn't walk the whole way. I'm not going to hold you. What we did was it was a long day. We just got off the plane.
What we did was we walked half, okay? So we walked half and we stopped at the houses of what it would look like. So we wanted to see where the kids who do go home, what does the home look like? Let's see it.
Okay. So he said that this house with the straw on the top and the clay walls, this would be considered that they've taken care of it. This is a taken care of house.
I want you to remember this because I'm about to show you the inside. This is taken care of. So you see there's no carpet. There's nothing on the floor. There's a pot.
So there are three in here. And in the other room that you saw, there's five that sleep in there. And you see there's no light. There's no faucet. There's no sink. There's nothing.
And these are the situations. And this is the up-kept house that those kids go home to. Another one of the main causes of these kids' sickness is cholera. Cholera.
And it is a sickness that is because of the water. And there's bacteria and things in the water. And that's one of the main things that they have to treat. And I have a picture here of what their water looks like.
This is their water. And so part of us, what Operation I-Dream does, it doesn't just treat the... it doesn't provide for the kids. When we took this walk, we bought a device with us.
It's just a bucket. And there's a little pipe there. And there's a filter at the bottom of it. Because at the very least, they need water to drink. At the very least, they need water to drink that's not going to kill them and to kill their children and make them have to go to the hospital.
And you see we brought it to this family. Because obviously we're not just going around just, oh, look at the Americans looking at our house. No, we want to provide and see.
And so this next video, you'll see this filter in action. So this is their water, fresh from where they get it from. And the filter goes in, puts it in the bucket, puts it through the filter into the bottle. And it comes out clean.
And we left that bucket with this family just so that we can have an opportunity to say, hey, we're not just coming to be here. We want to give you an opportunity at life, at least with water.
And he drinks it. Pastor Sam is telling us. He said, this is what will change the life of this family. Because you see the situation. And at the very least, what we can do is we can provide them with water.
So this is just a little bit. I don't have a lot of time. But I wanted to show you what this trip was like. And obviously, I believe that the Lord sent me there. Because it's time for a change for these people in Zambia.
There's no way that I could come back here the same after seeing that. I took clothes with me to where I left them there, my shoes. I left them there. Because there's no way that I could come back with these things that I just got from the store knowing that these kids have nothing.
That their clothes have holes in them. That their shoes are borrowed. And they're trading shoes and hats just so that they can have something to cover and to cover their feet. They're playing soccer. And there are no shoes. Not because they want to, but because they don't have shoes.
And so over the last two weeks, I was telling you guys just about everything that we did and was raising funds for it. And collectively, over the past two weeks, you guys raised $5,000 for us to give.
And so what we were able to do with that, we were able to give $2,000 towards the Estreta Health Center. And what that's going to do is that's going to expand that building that you saw so that they have the opportunity to treat more kids.
And instead of them having to send them away if they have AIDS or they have something, now that will create four more opportunities for kids to stay and be able to get the treatment.
And then the library that you saw. Did we show the library? No? Let's show them the library. Could you go back to that? This is the library here.
And because of your support, we were able to finish this library so that the kids now have access to books. We were able to provide 500 books to these kids. So this is one of the things that they were working on while we're here.
And so they're going to finish the outside of it. They have, before we left, we put up bookcases and bookshelves on the walls. They're going to go in and paint it and finish it. But that was because of your support.
And I don't, I know that the Lord sent me there. This is myself and these are three, two other pastors there on the left. There's two more, excuse me, two more on the right and two more on the left.
And we are a different breed of pastors. We're not just going to go and see it and then come home and be like, oh, you know, Lord, let's pray for the children in Zambia. Nah.
No, we're going to pray for them, but we're going to do a lot more than just pray for them. And so I've spoken with my wife, and I said, we need to commit to helping these people.
We need to commit to going outside of our comfort zone to make sure that these children have what they need. Eating five times a week is unacceptable. Living in this situation is unacceptable.
Not having shoes, not having clothes, not having access to clean water is unacceptable. And so I will be keeping open our missions giving on our offering envelopes and in the giving platform.
And we're going to be talking about ways that we can see what they... Because they have big needs and they have little needs. I said, what are some of the small needs you have? He said, we need two iPhones just to be able to capture what's happening so that we can let people know so that we can raise support.
We need a laptop. You know, we've been believing God for a television screen. We've been believing God for a television screen so that we can teach our kids in the school. Raise your hand if you got a TV in your house.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. They're believing God for a television screen. We can't do that. We can't stand by and let this happen. All the money that we'll be giving in that missions giving is going to go towards them.
They have big needs and they have small needs. And I'm not going to say, hey, you know, I'm going to let the Lord speak to you. And whatever it is He puts on your heart, you do that.
And if you want to know specifically what the needs are and how you can help, then you come see me. It could be a short conversation or if the Lord's put on your heart something longer, set a meeting up with Daniela.
And let's talk about how we can see this change. I have collaborated with a couple of the other pastors, and we're doing a project called A Dream for Zambia.
And it's where we're going to film a documentary of what's happening, Pastor Sam and his story, so that we can get the word out about what's going on in these children in Zambia.
I believe God that when we go back next year that, of course, all the needs won't be taken care of, but the little ones, that they will be able to say, look what the Lord has done. That's it. That's it.
Look what the Lord has done. That when they look down at the shoes on their feet, that when they turn the faucet for the water that they're going to drink, when they don't have to worry about, am I going to eat today?
That they will be able to say, look what the Lord has done. And what's even crazier is that all of this was made before we raised. Yes, before we raised the funds that we raised, there was one church doing all of this. Just one. One singular church.
Imagine what happens when Limitless gets on board. I'm believing strongly that this is what God has called us to do. He said, go into the nations and preach the gospel.
Part of that preaching the gospel is being it to the people. Right? Why? Because I already know some of y'all, I see the religion jumping up in you. Why? Because Jesus, when He was there, you know what He did? He fed people.
Because He's like, ain't no way they can hear about this Savior if they can't hear over their stomach growling. Amen? I can't pay attention to the spiritual need because the physical need is so dire.
Yes. So we're going to go and we're going to be the example of Jesus that God has called us to be. And we're still going to support DCF as we've always done because I believe in supporting local missions.
But God has also called us outside of the comfortability. Because guess what? When I go home, there's food in my cupboard that's probably going to go to waste. There are things in my garage that I'm probably going to throw away.
When I turn on the light, I'm never worried about how much I'm going to waste, how long the light is going to stay on. I just expect it. God has called us. And I believe that God has called us to make a difference in the lives of those kids in Zambia.
I'm going to do it a little different this service because I want to have a little time at the end. And I'm going to ask our offering team, our ushers to come forward at this time. Are y'all ready?
I know this is a little different. But I want to make sure we have time at the end for service. So if you are new, my name is Pastor Keenan. Me along with my beautiful wife, we're the pastors here at Limitless Church.
Forgot that part. We're the pastors here at Limitless Church. We appreciate you being here. We don't believe it's an accident that you're here.
Secondly, we want to meet you. We want to make sure that you have an amazing time. We have a couple ways here for you to give. The QR code on the seat pocket in front of you or the screen.
You can text the word GIVE if you're watching online to 833-879-0161. Or type the word GIVE down below. Someone will send you a link.
I think it's important that you guys see where your money's going. I get it. I understand. But can you believe that the seed that you've given has literally changed someone's life forever?
Children are going to be treated because you decided to say yes. Kids are going to have access to books and reading because you decided to say yes.
And here's the other part. I told my team. I know they're going to get on me after service because I'm taking too long. I told my team. I said, hey, hey, the other part of me says, you know, Pastor, we're trying to get into the building.
We had a whole thing and we signed it. And we're excited about the building, getting into our new building. I get that. I feel like Jesus can probably take care of the building.
Trust me. Nobody wants to get into that building as bad as me. How can I focus on that when there's a child that hasn't eaten?
And I believe God in His divine appointments, as we take care of His kids, as we take care of His needs, He'll take care of ours. Amen?
I love you all. We're going to give. I don't know where I'm at right now. What should I be doing right now? Just praying? Okay.
All right. Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to give. God, today we're challenged even more to be generous people.
God, even in this moment, we're realizing how much you have taken care of us and why you have given us seed. The seed is to sow. It's not for us to hold it and to accumulate it and to keep it.
You gave it to us to get it through us so that we might be able to be your example to those who are in need. So as we give our tithes, as we give our offering, as we give over and above those things, God, we give it in a cheerful heart saying thank you for what you've done so that others may say, look at what the Lord has done.
God, I lift up those kids right now. God, I thank you that this will be the beginning of a turnaround because you sent your soldiers to go spy out the land and to see what was needed that we can come back and say, yes, we can help.
We can turn this around. And we can claim this dream for Zambia. For Jesus. For those kids. Thank you for the opportunity to sow. We love you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God bless you as you give. Yeah. I couldn't watch that one too many times. The screen got like blurry and stuff. Same here.
Well, I wanted to have a conversation today about fatherhood. And so we're in this series called Battling the Enemy. Before we dive right into that, I don't have very much time.
But next week we have Limitless Summer. Yeah. So it is an invite service. It is going to be, we're going to have some good things planned for you guys.
But I just want to challenge you. Babe, you see an invite card right there on the top of my Bible? Open that right there. You see one? Nope.
Okay. Somebody invite card because I want to be able to show these guys. But you'll see at guest services on your way out that there's, we have these little invite cards.
Thank you, Jamie. Hey. It's Father's Day. It's Father's Day, bro. Calm down.
So we have these summer invite cards. QR code is on the back. Address is there. I want to challenge you guys. Just take one. Just one.
You can take more, but I'm only challenging you to take one and invite somebody to service. You guys have been here because you've had and you've experienced something amazing that the Lord is doing.
And you keep coming back. So I guess, you know, I'm going to take one. You must keep doing it. How amazing is it when you have something like that? You found home. You found your place.
How amazing would it be for someone else to experience that as well? And I always say, you never know. One invite could change someone's life.
We've had stories of people who've invited others and you've seen them, told the stories. You've heard us tell the story. Just invite them to one service and see what the Lord does with the rest.
I always say this. I used to say this in team ministry. I'll do everything that's possible to get him in the seat. The Lord will do the rest.
There's no limit. That's, you know, there is no limit to what I will do to get him in the chair. Usually it takes food, but there's no limit to what I will do to get him in the chair.
And then we allow the Lord to do the rest. So please grab that. And then next, the following week is Be the Body Sunday.
So on the 30th, do not come to this church because we will not be here. Okay? My encouragement in this is that you go out and be the body of Christ.
It's one thing to come here and be in these holy huddles every Sunday, and I love it. And I'm going to miss you guys. I missed you while you were gone.
I'm going to miss you on the 30th. But what's more important is that we're the body of Christ outside of this building.
So I'm challenging you to find a way. I don't know what that way is, but find a way to be Christ to someone on that day outside of the building.
Maybe you're taking someone to lunch. Maybe you're going to go visit a family member that doesn't know Jesus. Maybe you're bringing somebody some groceries. I don't know what it looks like.
Maybe you're going to another church to experience it with another family member. I don't know. But be the body. So that's the next two weeks.
All right. I want to jump into this conversation. We're talking about battling the enemy and we're talking about identity. Identity as a father. Identity as a son. What it means to be that.
And so I brought Pastor Johnson here. For those of you who don't know, Pastor Johnson was the assistant pastor at New Life Christian Center in Madison for 40 years.
40 years. He was. Yes. Yeah. Everybody who was clapping light. They haven't been a pastor, so they don't know what that means.
Because trust me, 40 years. Hallelujah. Not only that, he is a father. His girls adore him. They love him to no ends.
And it's not just them. It's the girls. It's his wife. It's his sisters, his sister-in-law, everybody. And I remember during one men's meeting, Dad was talking.
And one of the guys just got up, just, I don't know, he probably doesn't even remember this, just got up and was like, well, you set the bar so high. How are we ever going to be what you are? We can't do that.
And I was new. It was 12 years ago. And I was new. And I was like, what they talking about? But soon, soon I found out.
But it's just the example that he has set for his kids. Not only his kids, but his grandkids. And for his faithfulness in serving God's people for 40 plus now years.
And being able to walk that out in his marriage, in his life, and in every area. So when I thought about what it meant to be a father, what it meant to be a son, what it meant to walk out this identity in Christ, I felt there was no better person that I could think of here than to have him there.
So can we make some noise for Pastor Johnson, please? Amen. Thank you.
So I'm going to try to go a little bit quicker. Try is the operative word. I know that you're a man of great faith. I've seen you walk it out in many different areas.
I know your story. And you tell the story about how there were times when you guys had no food in the refrigerator. And Pastor comes over and nobody knew that you didn't have food.
And I remember there were times where you're going back and forth driving to work in the van in the famous Kia. Amen. And, you know, providing food.
And you were there for your girls. And moving on. Obviously, faith has played a big role in your life. As a father, how has you walking in that, how has that grown you as a father to walk in faith?
For your girls? For Elisha? For the people who have been under your household? For your family?
I was raised up that we had to apply the Word of God. So my story is similar. My father died when I was in fourth grade. He was not married to my mom, so I didn't have an example of a father.
I didn't have an example of a healthy marriage. And when I got married, one of the things that I battled for a long time was this feeling of inadequacy.
And so I struggled to try to meet a bar that was set because I didn't want my inadequacy to be exposed. And I began to overcompensate in other areas, even in self-effort to try to meet an imaginary standard that wasn't there.
And then it wasn't until I grew in Jesus that I began to understand who I was. How did you combat those feelings of inadequacy? Because you got girls. Hallelujah.
I don't even know how you have the hair you have. You have girls. So there's an even higher demand for this fatherhood.
How do you battle feelings of inadequacy when you don't have an example? When you don't have those things, how do you not?
So in that, how do you balance grace and discipline? Because for me, I grew up like you said, we was getting weapons.
And what happens is as you have children, you revert back to that. Are there moments where you're like, I'm somebody's neck going to get hands?
And you're balancing this idea of compassion and patience that the Lord has shown you, but also the idea of discipline so that you know.
Because what we say is, I ain't finna let no child run over me. You gonna do what I say and say what I do, right?
So as a father, how do you balance those two to make sure that you're striking the right medium?
Yeah, I'm reminded of my boys and Cadence is in school, and we get a call from the principal that Cadence is in trouble. Something happened.
And as my wife is on the phone, I'm putting on my clothes. I'm already fired up because I got a phone call. I don't even know what happened.
I'm already ready. And my wife is like, just wait, just calm down. It's like that. There's you go. Yes, I'm already ready.
And they said that Cadence had bit one of the kids. Here's the thing, and I was grappling with this because Cadence was at home two days prior because his tooth was aggravating him.
We had taken him to the doctor and he pulled his tooth, so it was sensitive. So him biting somebody didn't make much sense, right?
But he's also my child, so I'm fired up. And I get there, and I'm thinking, you know, just I'm enraged. And as I'm going there, the Lord is dealing with me.
We're talking about grace and discipline. The Lord is dealing with me, and I'm remembering how I was, how much fear I felt whenever my parents...
And I remember I walked through the door, and I could see him, unconsolable, crying, his eyes hyperventilating, he's doing all of the things.
And in that instant, in a split second, I made the decision. And I just got down on my knees, and I brought him in, and I just hugged him.
And I said, I'm here. I said, I'm here. I said, hey, hey, don't worry about that. I'm here. I'm here. Right. I'm here.
And I hugged him, and I held him tight until I felt his body just drop. Yeah. I said, hey, what happened?
And he said, I said, no, no, no, no, just tell me what happened. And he said, I didn't do it. I said, are you sure?
He said, yes. I said, you know how we feel? We want to tell the truth, and we want to be honest, even when we think it doesn't matter.
And he said, no, I didn't do it. And I said, then that's what we're going to go with. And even as I'm talking to the principal, I'm more so showing my son, showing him, I'm here for you.
Exactly. I'm here to hold you up. I'm breaking a cycle that was with me, that was with my sister, that was with my brother, to say that when they call your daddy, you shouldn't be like this.
Call him. But you're not going to be afraid. Right. Because I want to show you that when you call your daddy, your daddy's here for you.
Yeah. Right or wrong, good or bad. But the only way that I knew that was complete reliance on the Holy Spirit.
See what I'm saying? Because I wouldn't have been able to do that on my own. I did. When I put the clothes on, I was ready to turn up.
Yeah. Because you done embarrassed me. I was laying in the bed. I got to get out the bed, I got to drive up there, I got to get there, and now you're going to deal with it.
Yeah. But changing the legacy, one decision making a difference. That's it. That's it right there. For everything.
Yeah. Adriana, would you come? I want to ask you this one last question as we get out of here. Over the years, I've seen how faith has molded you.
I've seen how fasting has molded you. I've seen how prayer has molded you. And even in dire situations with your girl, with Elisha, you have exemplified something that I can't even put into words.
And my question, I believe for me, for the fathers that are here, how? Because faith, prayer, fasting, we look at these things and we want to do these things and some of us do these things.
How important has it been that you do these things? Yeah. Wow. As it pertains to you and your kids and the situations that you walk through.
Seeing some things that were not great, but being consistent anyway, loving them anyway, picking them up, supporting them, walking with them.
We saw the thing, the trial that Elisha went through in the entire time. You believe God. How?
I want you to pray for the fathers. Dad, all of us don't have that story. Some of us want that story and we're working towards it.
Some of us don't have great relationships with our kids. Some of us don't have relationships with our kids. Some of us are still fighting that inadequacy that we feel.
And on a day like today, it can seem hard because we haven't reached the goal. We haven't reached the place.
So for those fathers that are looking forward to being a father, for those fathers that are trying to walk the path and trying to do the Bible says, old things have passed away.
Behold, all things have become new. And today is a new day. Can you pray for those fathers?
Can we make some noise for Pastor Johnson? I'm going to have our prayer team come forward. As we prepare to leave, I just want to offer you an opportunity to receive prayer today.
If you need somebody to pray for you, if you need somebody to agree with you as you walk this life of fatherhood out. Or maybe there's a need and you need someone to pray with you that God would fill that need.
Whatever that might be, we want to make sure that you have an opportunity to see, to partner with somebody in faith in whatever that might be.
Maybe you're here today and you've never made Jesus Lord of your life. You cannot do it alone. You've tried. It doesn't work.
But He says if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, you shall be saved. Confess Him as Lord.
Guide or emergency use only. But confess Him as Lord of your life. Today is the day. The Bible says today is the day of salvation.
So if you've never made Him Lord, I offer you that opportunity today. Maybe you want to recommit your life. Maybe you say, Pastor, hey, I made that decision, but I haven't been living in a way that lines up with the Bible.
And today here on Father's Day, as a father, I want to recommit my life to Jesus. And I want to offer you that today.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, we want to partner with you in that. Would you stand with me? Hallelujah.
If that's you today, our altar is open. As you leave here, you'll see this wall to my left and your right. Please go get prayer.
I promise you, whatever is waiting for you will be there when you get there. But this right here, it just might change your life.
As always, thank you, guys. I appreciate you. Next week, we have a great service planned for you.
This week, I've presented you this great opportunity to continue changing kids' lives. And as I said, you know, if you have a deeper desire to sow, please come see me. Speak with Daniela.
We have a dream for Zambia, but not just for Zambia, but for Jesus Christ to invade Zambia. Heavenly Father, I pray over each and every person today.
on Jun 16, 2024
