Category
📚
ÉducationTranscription
00:00Hey, what's up, Word Nation?
00:01All those watching across the world, I'm super hyped.
00:04I'm in a new series titled, You're Doing Too Much.
00:07It is the idea.
00:08I want you in purpose.
00:09I want clarity of vision.
00:11Specifically today, I'm talking about,
00:13you better recognize.
00:14You better recognize it's in him that we live, move,
00:18and have our existence.
00:19Recognize his sovereignty.
00:20Recognize his power, his provision.
00:23Don't miss this teaching.
00:25I need you to do me a favor.
00:26Text somebody, call somebody.
00:27Tell them they gotta watch this message.
00:29You're doing too much.
00:30Today's sermon, you better recognize.
01:03I will lead and defend.
01:16I will lead and defend.
01:20♪ You're all I need, baby ♪
01:23♪ I said if He said it, if He said it ♪
01:26♪ If I believe it, I believe it ♪
01:28♪ If He said it, if He said it ♪
01:31♪ Then I receive it, I receive it ♪
01:33♪ Save God right now, save God right now ♪
01:36♪ Save God right now, save God right now ♪
01:40♪ Be nice to your own and say, I will hide your heart ♪
01:45♪ I will hide your heart, yes I will hide it ♪
01:49♪ I will hide you word, hide your word in my heart ♪
01:53♪ I will hide your work, hide your word in my heart ♪
01:58♪ I will hide your honor, hide your word in my heart ♪
02:05♪ cried, cried, cried, cried, cried ♪
02:15Come on, welcome His presence out,
02:16welcome His Presence.
02:18I want to thank Elder Genius George and the entire singing aggregation and team.
02:32So you may take it for granted, but we really do work hard, honestly, to honor God, number
02:38one, but to honor those who put money in this church, who come every week and just try to
02:42make it the best experience possible.
02:43So we get paid and so our job is to prepare for Sunday and Wednesday and groups and all
02:48that we do.
02:49And one of the things I teach pastors, that your service should have a trajectory sort
02:52of theme.
02:53It should have a trajectory toward a theme.
02:56So if you're on faith, don't sing about joy, sing about faith.
02:59Because we're trying to inculcate so if you hear about it and then we sing about it and
03:03then I'll preach about it, you might leave with it.
03:08And so those of you who like music, you know they just sung a song and the name of that
03:14song is Proverbs 3.
03:18And I'm gonna give you one guess on what book and chapter I'm preaching from today.
03:23Proverbs 3.
03:25Proverbs 3.
03:26So you heard, you heard, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own
03:32under — yeah, so they just sung that and watch what the writer of Proverbs says in
03:38verse 6, in all your ways acknowledge Him.
03:43Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will
03:49direct your paths.
03:51And so they sung Proverbs 3 and now I want to preach Proverbs 3.
03:56Here's my subject, we're in a teaching title, you're doing too much.
04:00Do me a favor, look down your row, tell five people, you better recognize.
04:06I said five, you told three.
04:08Tell five people you better recognize.
04:12You better recognize.
04:13You better recognize.
04:14Go ahead and take your seats in the house of the Lord.
04:15OK, look at me, we're in this teaching titled, you're doing too much.
04:19For the first time in 25 years, God gave me my comeback series before I left.
04:25Normally I get it while I'm gone, God gave it to me before I left.
04:28My assignment is to tell you that many of you are doing too much.
04:33This is not antithetical to Biblical text, whatever else the Bible speaks to is getting
04:39stuff done.
04:40The Bible appalls apathy.
04:42The Bible hates indifference, laying around doing nothing.
04:46Read the book of Proverbs, you'll see more about laziness than you do about adultery.
04:51The Bible says, whatever you do shall prosper, yeah, whatever you do shall prosper.
04:56So this is not the wait on Jesus while you do nothing church.
05:00This is not the wait on God church, only this is the work with God as you wait.
05:04So I guess the purpose of this preaching and the thesis of this theology is to suggest
05:11that God has a call on your life and your job is to pursue that call.
05:16It's something because Proverbs, most of you would agree is kind of the book of wisdom
05:20by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived.
05:23That's according to God by the way, it's something because the Bible does not say love is the
05:26principal thing, I want you to study.
05:28The Bible does not say faith is the principal thing.
05:30The Bible does not say joy and peace are the principal thing.
05:33Your Bible says wisdom is the principal thing.
05:37Wisdom is the priority.
05:38That's something, study.
05:39Wisdom, that's a major statement.
05:41Wisdom is the principal thing.
05:42What is wisdom?
05:43It's sort of flowing in the mind of God, kind of a spiritual common sense where you just
05:48kind of, you kind of flow in wisdom.
05:50It's like God show me where to go.
05:53Is it wisdom to date this guy right now based on my emotional health?
05:57Right now my kids need me to be a mama more than I need a man.
06:01So wisdom telling me to hold up, wait a minute.
06:04It's not that it's a sin to buy that car, but is it wisdom?
06:08So wisdom is having the mind of God where God be speaking to you and you don't make
06:15a bunch of dumb decisions.
06:17That at your age it's like, baby, we can go on vacation, but is that wise based on the
06:22goal we set at the top of the year?
06:25Is it wise to call her right now based on you being in your feelings right now?
06:30Is it going to come out right?
06:32So I want God to give me wisdom and the book of Proverbs is about wisdom, specifically
06:38Proverbs 3.
06:40It is the idea of a man talking to his son, all right?
06:44A man talking to his son.
06:45Matter of fact, look at it right there in verses 1 and 2.
06:48It says, good friend, don't forget all I've taught you.
06:51Take to heart my commandments.
06:52They'll help you live a long time, a life full and well.
06:56Oh, did you grow up on King James?
06:57Did you grow up on King James like me?
07:00Remember this?
07:01My son.
07:02He says, my son.
07:04This is kind of a father-son conversation.
07:09Don't forget what I put in you.
07:10Y'all pray for me.
07:11We're grieving a little bit because my baby boy Raphael, my baby boy, we dropped him off.
07:16I took him personally down to college and got his apartment set up.
07:19We did it all in one day.
07:20Furnished it, got it set up, and it was time for me to go.
07:23And of course, I'm like, man, I got to get on this plane.
07:25So we go out to the little pool area and I sat there and I said, look, man, you so tired
07:29of my voice.
07:30Matter of fact, you want me to hurry up and get on this plane 18 years.
07:33You want me to get out of here right now.
07:38But I said, let me ask you a question, man.
07:40Can I cash all my chips in?
07:43Can I cash all my chips in?
07:44I don't think there's ever been a day in your life Daddy wasn't present.
07:47I don't think you ever played any game I wasn't sitting in the stands.
07:50Everything you ever put on your back or put in your mouth, I paid for.
07:53I think I've honored your mother prayerfully.
07:55You won't be in therapy about me and mommy.
07:57I think I've tried my best because I made it my number one priority in my life.
08:01If I've been decent, can Daddy cash all his chips in?
08:06This ain't this regular take out the garbage, make up your bed.
08:08Now we man to man, father to son, I'm finna get on this plane and everything I've been
08:12saying since you can understand English, I gotta pray that it's in you now.
08:17Because I'm out, man.
08:18I'm out.
08:19My plane leaves in the morning.
08:20I'm out.
08:21Everything mommy and I said, I pray, can Daddy cash in all his chips?
08:26Everything we talked about with sex and unprotected sex and how a girl will play you and trap
08:30you and what you shouldn't do when I'm not present and what to do when the police pull
08:33you over.
08:34I'm not going to be there.
08:35You're going to be in the car.
08:36I'm not going to be there.
08:37And so if it happens, I can't run to the police station.
08:38A girl's about to come at you because you handsome and you blessed and they think you
08:43got everything.
08:44So can Daddy cash in all my chips?
08:49I said, please don't look at me.
08:51Tell me the truth.
08:52Can we be man to man more than we ever have for this next hour?
08:55Can I drop these last things on you before I get on this plane?
09:01Son, forget not my teachings, because it's on now.
09:08It's on starting immediately when I get on this plane, there's nobody to tell you what
09:11to do.
09:12In a very real sense, this is what's happening in the book of Proverbs 3.
09:16Thank you for your attention, by the way.
09:17Great class.
09:18Great crowd.
09:19It's in Proverbs 3 that really wisdom is being dropped.
09:22He says, good friend, person that I speak into, protege, disciple, mentee, whoever it
09:29may be that you spoke in life into, here's what he says.
09:32Can I drop some wisdom on you?
09:34The first thing he says is, please don't forget what I've taught you.
09:37Take to heart my commands.
09:38They'll help you live a long, long time, a life full and well, full and well.
09:46There's a difference between living long and living well.
09:52There are people who have made it to their 70s and 80s, but they haven't lived well.
09:56A lot of carnage in their background, a lot of hurt women, a lot of undone tasks, a lot
10:05of wounded children.
10:07They didn't even attempt, and so God graced them to have long life, but they haven't lived
10:12full and well.
10:14I want you to live full and well.
10:16Dr. King did not live long, but he lived full and well.
10:21Medgar Malcolm didn't live long, but they lived full and well.
10:25R.B. and John Kennedy didn't live long, but they lived full and well.
10:29Okay, let's get to it.
10:31I speak over your life, a full life.
10:34In essence, the writer says, I want you to have, watch this, longevity and prosperity.
10:43I want you to have longevity.
10:44It is selam, selam in Hebrew.
10:47It is the idea of peace, but it's also the idea of wholeness and harmony.
10:53Watch this, young people, that there's a flow to your life.
10:57You're not always interrupted by craziness, that there's a flow to your life, that you
11:02live full and you live well, that you have wholeness.
11:07Y'all missed it.
11:08Everybody, thank you, Ron Carpenter, everybody Jesus ever touched got healed, but the woman
11:15who touched him got whole.
11:17Y'all just missed y'all shout.
11:18Let me try this one more time.
11:20I said, everybody Jesus ever touched got healed, but the woman who touched him, she
11:25got made whole.
11:27I don't just want you to be healed, I want you to be whole.
11:30So whoever you hook up with, it's not getting no half chick.
11:32Can I talk to somebody?
11:34I don't need you to make me whole, I was whole when I gave you my number.
11:37I'll be whole when we break up, because Jesus made me whole.
11:40The Holy Spirit makes me whole, emotional health makes me whole, the groups at my church
11:45make me whole, the things I do in ministry make me whole.
11:49My Bible reading and my attempting to chase the will, word, and way of God makes me whole.
11:56He says you'll live a long life, longevity, and prosperity.
12:00OK, I told the 9 o'clock service, I'm not embellishing, look at me.
12:05I really could do a series, I'm gonna need thinking people right here, let me see who's
12:07here, you never know who's up in here.
12:09I need my thinking people, seriously, because I want to push you, not just spiritually,
12:14but cognitively right here.
12:16It's verse 3, it says, it's on the screen, let them read it because I want you to read
12:19this, never let loyalty and kindness leave you.
12:24Never let loyalty and kindness leave you.
12:27Tie them around your neck as a reminder, write them deep in your heart.
12:34It's a trip.
12:35He said never let loyalty and kindness leave you.
12:40I don't, I don't really have a lot of jewelry, I got a couple of watches, I like watches,
12:44but I'm not a jewelry guy, so I don't have any necklaces, and I wanted one so bad this
12:48morning for my illustration, I was looking for a hood necklace.
12:53Like with Mercedes and Nautica on it.
13:00And I got one necklace, my three boys, we went to Mexico years ago, and we all bought
13:05this stringed necklace with a cross on it that a man had made in Mexico for us, and
13:09we all made covenant that all of us would keep these necklaces until we went to heaven.
13:13That's our covenant between me and my boys, we got these stringed necklaces with a cross
13:17on them.
13:18And so, only necklace I got, but those of you who have seen them, Mr. T Star to kiss
13:22all of you that may be present, praise God, it is the idea, it's hanging from your neck,
13:27you can look down and see it.
13:29He didn't say tie love around your neck, he didn't even say tie peace around your neck,
13:34he said tie loyalty.
13:37There's a, there's a podcast coming.
13:40I know I'm an old, get-off-my-line, old-school guy, I can't help it, I'm, I'm the oldest
13:46young man you'll ever meet in your life, there are certain values that I have, and loyalty
13:50won.
13:51Yeah, I told Lady Vernon, she's sitting there, I said on my epitaph, baby, right, my husband
13:57was imperfect but loyal, I'm loyal, probably because of my rejection, OK?
14:02I'm not, I'm not healthy because I'm perfect, I'm not healthy because nothing's wrong with
14:07me, I'm healthy because I know what's wrong with me.
14:12What I just said, that was worth an offering, yeah.
14:16I know what's wrong with me, it's the people who 50 and lost I'm praying for, it's the
14:21people who don't think nothing wrong with them, I know I have rejection issues and those
14:24rejection issues cause me probably to be over-loyal at times.
14:28But it's in the Bible, the Bible says tie it around your neck, remember that, and there's
14:32a difference, and please know, brothers and sisters who like football, I'm very cognizant,
14:37we not like the head in the sand church, I'm trying to get you out to enjoy the game, but
14:41stick with me for a minute because I want you to catch this, it is the idea, loyalty,
14:49so this deep thing came to me, which needs like a doctoral thesis or something because
14:53it's heavy thinking, because on one level, I can be loyal even when I'm immoral.
15:03I just said I'm gonna lose the class.
15:07Immorality on some levels, would you agree, all of us struggle with, I'm not just talking
15:11sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and I know it's subjective, I know it's subjective, and
15:16I know it's levels to this, but would you agree on some levels, all of you have been
15:20immoral?
15:22See you lying, that's immoral, raise your hand, praise God, see you ain't raised your
15:25hand, you lied that quick, you're immoral, you ain't raised your hand, that was a lie.
15:30And I know we think about immorality, smoking crack, running through women, creeping on
15:34your girl, but looking at your phone too long can be immoral.
15:37Yeah, thoughts going through your mind, come here real brothers like me, you're like, man,
15:41I can't be looking at this, this too much, I'm married, that's not gonna help me or my
15:44marriage, I gotta get this, and then your mind starts playing tricks on you, or you're
15:47single and lonely, you think about something too long, you go off on somebody, road rages,
15:52anybody here ever been immoral since you've been saved?
15:56So on one level, if I'm reading Paul right in Romans 7, in my flesh dwells nothing good,
16:03for to will is present with me, but how to perform it I do not, for to the things I shouldn't
16:08do I do, and the things I don't want to do I do, oh what a no good wretched man that
16:13I am, who shall deliver me from this bondage, but then he says, but thank God for Jesus.
16:22I'm going purposely slow because this is important, I want you to catch this, it's the idea that
16:29even when my mind playing tricks on me, or I say something I shouldn't say, or I thought
16:34something I shouldn't think, I'm often immoral, maybe I can't even completely help that, but
16:42I control my loyalty, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, I'm finna bless y'all, I'm finna bless you
16:48because I think there's a shortage of loyalty, there's a shortage of loyalty on every level,
16:55in marriages, in churches, it's like people don't have a sense of loyalty, and I'm big
17:00on that, y'all get so tired, Lady Vernon this, Lady Vernon that, Bishop Joy this, Bishop
17:05Joy that, who I'm connected to, who I'm under, his children, who I cover, my church, my friends,
17:11because to me, loyalty is critical, too many people just jump, and leave, and play people
17:19too quickly, and he says, tie it around your neck, so you can remember in your marriage,
17:27that when your love not working, your loyalty will, when I'm not feeling her, I'm loyal
17:38to her, I honor her, I was looking at something on my phone, and I had to delete it, I delete
17:44Instagram like, it seemed like every five minutes, because it's like no, something popped
17:48in my phone, and that's dishonoring her, because I love her so much, I'm so attracted to her,
17:53the only thing I can do wrong is keep looking at something that maybe look better, and keep
17:57looking at something, and keep looking at something, I don't play her like that, because
18:00I don't want her looking at a bunch of men, so if I want her to be loyal to me, I should
18:05return that loyalty to her, and by the way, to those of you that have mistakes in your
18:10marriage, we're just not doing that, uh-uh, this is not to beat me up, church, this is
18:14to get me up, church, I'll see you next Sunday at six, if there's been infidelity, adultery,
18:18you must love that brother, because you be gone, you're there with him, you're there
18:22with her, y'all fighting to make it work, so let's don't go backwards, but from this
18:25moment on, at the World Church According to Scripture, we tie loyalty around our neck,
18:33no, I don't get to mess around on my beautiful wife, or my handsome husband, why?
18:37Because I'm loyal, but that's surface level, that should be a giving, I want to take it
18:41over to friendships, yeah, I want to take it over to employee, I want to take it over
18:48to pastor-pew relationships, to membership relationships, that loyalty, this gonna bless
18:54your life, I told you it's a whole series, I'm spending too much time here, but it's
18:58my assignment, loyalty does not mean never leaving, that's called guilt trip, I don't
19:08know who brought your thinking cap, but this not gonna be shallow preaching, so I need
19:12my heavy thinkers to come here, because some people will guilt trip you into staying, as
19:18though pursuing your purpose is disloyal to them, do you know how arrogant it is to ask
19:27anybody but your spouse to tie their life to you, Ralph told me last night, we talk
19:35every day, and I'm grateful he's calling me without me having to call him, and that's
19:41blessing my life, that he checks in with me, and he said, dad, I don't think I'm ever coming
19:45home, he said, I miss mommy, I miss you, I miss my siblings, but these palm trees, dad,
19:52I don't know, now I could've immediately went to him, man, what you mean, man, your family,
19:56bro, bro, this is your destiny, and your life, as long as you honor God, it's your
20:02time to be a man and pursue what God is calling you to, because you leave our church does
20:10not mean you disloyal to me, you can be disloyal when you leave, disloyal does not mean you
20:17work for somebody, and somebody offers you a million dollars more, and you move from
20:21that job, just like it doesn't mean the boss is disloyal when he lets you go, how come
20:28you can quit when you want to, but if they fire you, they no good, you did what was best
20:35for you, preach, RA, I'll tell you a story, tell you a story, a man worked for a company
20:46for 30 years, never missed a day, stayed long as he needed to to make the company better,
20:53all of a sudden economic crisis hits the nation, and the owner of the company literally is
20:58only making enough money to feed his children and to keep things afloat, and he has to make
21:03cuts, so he goes to the guy and says, I'm going to have to let you go, the guy turns
21:08and looks at him and says, 30 years I was loyal to you, he says, so be loyal now, I'll
21:20let that sit on your brain until Tuesday, praise God, you can process it, amen, so do
21:25me a favor, even when you leave the word church, if you leave, it is speaking well of us at
21:31your new church, you see you can't think everybody in Cleveland is going to leave their churches
21:35and join the word like they've been doing 25 years and every now and then somebody leaves
21:39us to go to somebody else and I'm going to hate them for leaving, if there's something
21:42that speaks into your life better or you grow, then go where you were blessed, but be loyal
21:46to my wife and I and say every Sunday I was there, he fed me, she hugged me, I worked
21:51for them, I got a check for 10 years, 15 years, that's called loyalty, he said, tie that around
21:58your neck, be loyal to your mama, be loyal to people who helped you, I got to go, and
22:03then kindness, kindness, he said, tie loyalty around your neck, he didn't say tie peace,
22:08joy, salvation, he didn't read your Bible, he says tie loyalty and tie kindness, Holy
22:14Spirit spoke to me and said, tell people they're going to have to be nicer, tie kindness, it
22:23don't, old folks said, it don't cost nothing to be nice, kindness, say kindness, yes, some
22:31people, natural theology, Romans 1, natural giftings, Romans 12 that is, natural giftings,
22:38gifts of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 are kind of these natural giftings or idiosyncrasies
22:45or proclivities, OK, you're going way too deep pastor, in other words, even if you didn't
22:49go to church, you would have this, some people nice before they met Jesus, some of us need
22:58all of Jesus to be nice, raise your hand, praise God, because there's a cuss in you,
23:03tell your neighbor, I don't cuss but there's one right here, if you say the wrong thing,
23:07I try to keep it right here, but them people on my job, I be trying, I'm trying to be nice,
23:14but, and so 1 Corinthians 6 verse 6, it talks about, it talks about kindness in the Holy
23:26Spirit, of course Galatians 5 what, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, right,
23:30temperance, self-control, kindness, which means sometimes I need the Holy Spirit to let kindness
23:37come out of me. Are you tired of me? Can I preach to you? Can I teach? Confession. There was a warrant
23:48for my arrest last week. People like, oh Jesus, not pastor. I know my cousin, but good God,
24:01pastor, come on man. Seriously, so I have, I have what I call love properties, of course I have
24:09rentals and all that, but then there are love properties. Love properties mean I just, you know,
24:13have family members that I take care of, so I just want you to, you just stay here, I got it,
24:17taxes paid off, just be here, you don't pay nothing, but the city that this particular house
24:21was in, the city assumed, because they're not used to that, that I was renting the house. I
24:27haven't rented any of my love properties. They're persons I take care of, they just stay in those
24:31houses, no taxes, I pay all that, they don't do nothing, I don't get no rent, if anything lose
24:35the money, but I'm gaining favor. Amen everybody. But the city assumed I've been renting it for 10
24:43years. Little did I know, they sent a letter and said, you owe rental fee. I did not open the
24:49letter, mental note, I did not open the letter, mental note, I did not open the letter, therefore
24:54they said, we know how to get his attention. So they put a hold on my license and suspend it,
25:00and put a warrant out for my arrest. Just so happened, I open up a letter and it says Raynell,
25:06Adelbert Vernon, your license is suspended, there's a warrant for your arrest. I called my
25:11son and said, Negro, Negro, Negro, get up. When did you get a warrant and not tell me? Because I'm
25:28thinking, it can't be me. I know it's the other one, or his son, or somebody praise God, maybe the
25:37third, it ain't me. I don't get no warrants, I'm R.A., the original gangster R.A. So Ray on the phone,
25:46I ain't done nothing, I ain't done nothing. He's more computer savvy than me, so he looks up the
25:53case and said, dad, it says six foot one, 215. That ain't me. I said, no, that's not, that's not. I woke up the next morning, come here old folk, before God got the news. Now that's fast, before God got the news, I was standing in front of that city hall.
26:21Johnnie pulled up, I said, what's up player, open up the door for me, praise God, I'm just, open up the door player, praise God, we going in here together. Come to find out, I'm going someplace real quick, come to find out again, there was a misunderstanding, I did not open up the letter, therefore, there's a warrant on my arrest, I had to pay $400 to the city, and then a reinstatement fee, and then I had a notice to come to court, which is on this week, and so I'm standing there with the brother, and I'm explaining to him, no, I don't make no money, I lose money,
26:51I pay everything, 10 years I've been doing this because I love, blah, blah, blah, I'm not doing that, I'm not under arrest, when you didn't, you know who I am because you call me pastor, so if you knew me, you could have found me.
27:04So you gonna have me pulled over on my way to church, locked up, go to jail for no reason, and then the Holy Spirit said, you didn't open the letter.
27:15Y'all not ready, y'all not ready, the Holy Spirit said, you didn't open the letter, forget your secretary, forget your assistants, forget people who help you with your companies, it's ultimately your responsibility as a grown man, this is why when you get pulled over by the police, hear me, I don't care who you are, NFL, NBA, whoever, do what they say, because stuff can escalate, and our lives are too precious to roll up windows when they say roll the window down, you gotta know as a black man, whether you're a millionaire or from the projects, you're still a black man,
27:45and when the police ask you to do something, do what they ask you to do, because it's better to go home alive, I'd rather pay for a ticket than pay for a funeral, can I get a wedding here, so do what they tell you to do.
28:03I'm done, Holy Spirit said, be kind, I said, sir, can I stop, ultimately it was my responsibility to open that letter, and if you could do whatever you could to make sure the prosecutor knows that, I would like to avoid court and all that good stuff, but it's ultimately up to me, his whole disposition changed and said, I got you, he started calling me at the church and said, I talked to the prosecutor, they're gonna cancel the court calls, and by the way, I still gotta go to court Wednesday at 8.30, praise God, it didn't go quite as good as I wanted,
28:33but the point I'm making is, that if you are kind, you'd be surprised what God would do for you, I spent too much time on loyalty and kindness, but your Bible says, write them in your heart, and then verse 4 says, then you'll find favor, let's turn up and go watch the game, you'll find favor both with God and people, you'll find favor with God and people,
29:01you all know that, when you are loyal to your spouse, loyal to your church, loyal to your employer, loyal to friends, loyal to persons you don't even know, God will send people to bless you, the man is trying to move heaven and earth to take care of me, the Bible says, when you walk upright, when you walk in kindness, when you walk in loyalty, let's turn up, the Bible says, favor will find you.
29:27Okay, y'all didn't say nothing, let me try this again, let's turn up and go watch the game, I've talked for 10 minutes, let me preach for 5, can I tell all of you that favor is getting ready to find you, okay, you don't know what favor is, or you'd be turning up right now, favor is when you get stuff you don't even deserve, favor is when you get through stuff that should've killed you, favor is when God paid bills for you, you ain't even got the money, favor is when you got a handsome husband and you ain't even cute, favor is when God will do stuff for you that you didn't see coming,
29:55can I talk to somebody that know God will give you favor, give me a favor, hit 5, people say favor, favor, favor, that's the wrong person, I speak favor over your life, God's getting ready to give you stuff you don't deserve, he's gonna give you houses you didn't build, he's gonna give you money you didn't make, he's gonna give you a good man, a good woman to flow into your space and your life, stuff you don't deserve, you want the best mother, God's gonna let you be a better grandmother,
30:23God says get ready for favor, somebody holler favor, but here's the cold-blooded caveat, he'll give you favor with God and people, people can't handle that Luke 6, 38, give and it shall be given, good measure, press down, shake and turn,
30:53when God get ready to bless you, he's gonna send a man, a woman, a person, can I just testify, if you can't be happy for me, something wrong with you, cause God knows I'm happy for you, can I tell you everything we've needed for the R.A. Vernon Academy, they said it would take 6 months to open, we open in 30 days, they said we couldn't fill it up, 2 classes are already full, we have a waiting list already,
31:23they're not talking to me, they said we couldn't get everything I need, everybody Lady Vernon call, they start shouting on the phone, is this Lady Vernon, oh my goodness, can I bring her today, I'll take care of you, I'll make sure it happens, she's been kind to people for over 30 years and now God is starting to cash her chips in, can I talk to somebody that you've been trying to do right by your children and your grandchildren and your brothers and sisters, favor is getting ready to find you,
31:49don't wait till you get it, shout in advance for favor you haven't received, sit down, the game is coming on, act like you wanna see it, you know what, I just felt that in my whole soul, favor is getting ready to find your children,
32:17favor is getting ready to find your grandchildren, favor is gonna hit your company, favor is gonna hit your business, that's enough of that, trust, verse 5 is the verse you know from Sunday school, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean to your own understanding, come on thinkers,
32:43trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean to your own understanding, come on thinkers, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean to your own understanding, come on thinkers,
33:13there's a boldness on you, some people mistake it for arrogance, because can I backtrack hermeneutically, can I just parenthetically digress and tell you that when you're kind, cause 10 of you said, see that's why I can't be kind, because people can't handle you when you're kind, watch this, break up with anybody who can't handle your nice,
33:33yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, break up with crazy chicks who only like rejection, break up with immature people who are only turned on by people who don't like them that much, be careful when you haven't matured to a place where you attracted to nice, when you were young, the nice guy, you thought he was corny, but Mr. Sexy Chocolate,
33:54who had 5 babies mamas, but he was so good in the bed, he didn't have to be nice, cause you was attracted to dysfunction, how do you know you've matured, because when you get a certain age, 30, 40, 50, you're like be nice to me, pay all my bills, girl make me some food, rub my back, I don't need crazy to be turned on, I need stable now,
34:17can I talk to somebody that had the crazy stage in your life, the sexy chocolate stage, now you like be nice to me, call me when you say you gonna call me, do what you say you gonna do, that's attractive to me, I like kind, I don't like crazy, I think that's the Instagram moment right there guys, so y'all get ready, praise God, amen.
34:44Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, trust in the Lord, this is what Paul said in Romans 11, oh the depths of His riches, oh how unsearchable are His judgments, oh how unfathomable are His ways, it is to say trust in the Lord, don't lean on your own understanding, cause you don't know like He know.
35:11It is rely on Him, yeah, don't go about what you want, I don't trust me, I trust Him, cause I'm a trip, so my maturity has taught me, no Lord I trust You, if the Scripture says this, and my pastor teaches me this, and I see it in the Word, I trust that.
35:35Irregardless to how I feel, I'm tired of leaning on my own understanding, but now I want to, here it is, let's turn up, acknowledge Him, okay, okay, let's turn up, I gotta go, acknowledge Him, y'all still didn't say nothing, acknowledge Him, y'all missed that, acknowledge Him, and He shall, it's turn up time, acknowledge Him, okay, y'all missed it, acknowledge Him.
36:01Whatever you have, acknowledge Him, if you got a decent job, acknowledge Him, if you have a couple degrees, acknowledge Him, if your kids are still breathing, acknowledge Him, if there's a roof over your head, acknowledge Him, oh y'all ain't feeling me, history people say you better recognize, I feel like turning up, you better recognize, it's in Him that we live, move, and have our existence, it's in Him.
36:29Acknowledge Him, it is the idea that without God, I could do nothing, acknowledge the fact that His sovereignty, and the fact that He's ubiquitous, and omniscient, and I'm not present, okay, that's too many church words, let's go grandma style, that He woke you up this morning, oh, that's the parts you know, put clothes on your back, and food on your table, everything you have, God gave it to you, everything you are, God made you that, push somebody and make them fall.
36:59And say, you better recognize.
37:00Okay, okay, okay, so first of all, I gotta go write it down, recognize His presence, and His power, recognize His presence, and His power, just a few alliterated ideas, and I'm in my seat, just a few alliterated ideas, and I'm in my seat, first of all, recognize His presence, and His power, that it's God that gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it to you, God gave it
37:30gives you the power to get wealth, that it's God that woke you up, it's God that is present in your life, and He shall direct your path, woo, and He shall, because of that same verse six, direct
37:45your past. Mm-hmm. So here's what I did. YF. YF. Y'all want to learn something today?
37:51Y'all want to learn something? A text can never mean what a text never meant. And
37:56the hermeneutic or unearthed in an exegetical process of preaching is this.
38:01You can't make the text say what it didn't say to get you a shout on a Sunday.
38:07Touching everything. Pastor got bars too. Praise God. That's bars. I'm serious. So,
38:12so, so, so this one writer, so what I do is a part of my process, my preaching
38:16process. Pastors, sons I covered, daughters across the country. You know, you got to
38:20do, you got to do your language stuff, your Aramaic, your Greek, your Hebrew stuff.
38:23What does the text say? I got to read it thoroughly, study commentaries, unearth
38:26these languages, know the languages, and then of course read other versions. So I
38:29read all these different versions of every verse to see if I can come to
38:33clarity on the closest thing to the original language. Okay, uh, forget all
38:38that. I lost the whole crowd. All I'm saying is, I go to God's Word version,
38:44and God's Word version says, it's on the screen, God's Word version says,
38:48acknowledge him and he will make your paths smooth. So I look at verse 6, it
38:54says, acknowledge him and he will make your paths smooth. So I get ready to turn
38:58up. I'm like, oh, when I get to that part, I'm gonna wreck the church. When I get to
39:03that part, they gonna be running, weaves gonna be coming out, tracks coming out of
39:07weaves. But there's one problem, I know the Hebrew. And the God's Word version
39:15here, listen to your pastor and learn, takes a little bit of liberty and says
39:20that if you trust in the Lord, lean not to your own understanding, sort of walk
39:25upright, do your best, he'll make your paths smooth. I appreciate what he's
39:31trying to say. The problem is, that's not the Hebrew. The King James, gotta go here
39:37now, NASB, NASB, any scholarly translation tells you, he will direct
39:43your paths. I want to tell you that if you do everything I taught you, your path
39:49gonna be smooth. But sometime where God's trying to take me, I don't need smooth, I
39:54need rough. Okay, I'm gone, y'all not shouting. Sometime my next level requires stress, struggle, and
40:03strain. Sometime my next level requires bewilderment and betrayal. Sometime my
40:09next level requires loss and lamenting, which means somebody catching hell right
40:14now, and because you catching hell, you think you not on the right path. But
40:18rather than saying, make my path smooth, I need some saved people that would just
40:22say, order my...
40:26I need some people that would say, the steps of a good man are ordered by the
40:33Lord. So God, whatever I've got to go through in this season, if you place me
40:38on the path you want me on, if that path gotta bend me, then don't let it break me.
40:43If I gotta cry right now, if I gotta moan right now, if my mama died, if my daddy
40:48died, if my spouse hurt me, Lord, long as I'm in your will, put me on the path you
40:54want me to be on.
40:58Stop by people and say, order my steps, Jesus. Yes, and good evening, y'all. And good evening, y'all. And good evening. I'm going to my
41:11seat. Would you shake your neighbor's hand and say, neighbor, you better recognize if
41:19it had not been for the Lord who was on my side, where would I be? Can I get 13 people to throw your hands up and say, God, have your way. It may not be good, while it's working, but it's working for my good.
41:48I want to know, is there anybody here that would praise the Lord that he gave you another chance for the last time, for the last time, for the last time, shake your neighbor's hand and say, neighbor, you better recognize it was the Lord that woke you up.
42:14It was the Lord that gave you another chance. It was the Lord that watched over your children. It was the Lord. Yes. I feel like preaching here. We should step out of the aisle and walk over to somebody and say, recognize, it's not about you. It's about him.
42:41Thank you, Jesus, for making a way out of no way. You better recognize that they hung him high. They stretched him wide. He hung his hand. I feel like preaching. And then he died. Do I have a witness here? And good evening, world church. I've got to close.
43:02But if the Lord's been good to you, then hold your neighbor. Say neighbor, it's the Lord's doing and it's marvelous. Yes, it is. I'm going to my seat, but can I get 10 people and I'll make 11 to open up your mouth as loud as you can and say, Jesus is the reason she's alive.
43:32Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to me. If God's been good to you, don't sit there and be cute. You better recognize you should have been dead. You better recognize your kids could have died. You better recognize that cancer could have killed you, but you're still here.
43:57Now open your mouth like the Browns are winning and pull your head back and say, I recognize.
44:57I feel something.
45:17Oh, oh, oh.
45:3920 minutes before the game. Come on. But if God put food on your table, if God changed your life, if God saved your marriage, if God washed over your children, I'm going to give you 40 seconds to baptize this altar to get in the nearest aisle and dance until you feel something.
46:01One, two, three.
46:15Oh, I got to pray. I got to pray. I got to get it.
46:33Let me hear y'all.
46:50Oh, I feel something. You got two minutes. Let it ride. Let it ride. Let it ride. Two minutes. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
47:16You better recognize you better recognize Jesus.
47:36I feel it. You better get in. You better get in where you fit in. He's here. He's here.
48:06One more time. I can't hear you.
48:26Don't stop. Get it. Get it. Don't stop. Get it. Get it.
48:56Ain't no party like a Holy Ghost party because a Holy Ghost party don't stop. I'm trying to go watch the game, but Jesus is bigger to me than the Browns.
49:10I can watch that on SportsCenter, but I got to praise the Lord while I have a chance.
49:16So just in case you didn't get a chance the first 10 minutes, I'm giving you one more minute. If you old and your leg lets you and your rheumatism don't mind, stand up on your feet and give God all you got for the next two minutes.
49:30Recognize who he's been. One, two, three.
49:41Get it. Get it.
50:05George, what are you doing?
50:22We got to stop. We got to stop.
50:49Okay. Okay. So just I start shouting and we got happy.
50:55So let me just give you these three ideas and just preach them to yourself when you get number one.
51:01If I'm going to recognize, I got to recognize his presence and his power.
51:06Number two, I got to recognize his processes and his pruning.
51:12Because just because I live right, it may be the worst time of my life right now.
51:17I'm actually at an all-time low, Pastor.
51:20And I'm trying to walk upright, but it's just mama tripping.
51:23I got this daddy stuff, spouse, loneliness.
51:26And what if I told you God has you on a path?
51:28He'll direct your path.
51:31I don't agree.
51:33I'm my own personal theologian.
51:35I'm going to teach you how to think like that.
51:37I don't want to tell you what to think.
51:39I want to teach you how to think.
51:41And I want to teach you.
51:42I got a Zoom call tonight with hundreds of my sons and daughters across the country, pastors.
51:46I'll be talking about preaching, expositional preaching.
51:48Don't make the text say what it don't say.
51:50I'm telling you that the text says he'll direct your path.
51:56And God, if you got me on a path for the next six months that's going to hurt, have your way.
52:02Because you could put me on an easier path and I won't develop.
52:10You put me on that path of women giving me everything I want, everything clicking, it doesn't push me to you.
52:15So my personality sometimes needs a little stress, struggle, and strain.
52:19He just went to heaven and Frankie told us sunshine and rain, joy and pain.
52:25That's what Frankie Beverly said, right?
52:28Joy and pain, sunshine and rain.
52:30And so it's the idea, Lord, you order my steps.
52:34Place me on the path you want me to be on.
52:37I'm just trusting you.
52:39If I'm better by myself, don't let nobody even flirt with me.
52:42I don't care how lonely my little body is.
52:44If my mind not ready for company, don't give it to me.
52:47Yeah.
52:48If this stuff with my father is making me stronger, this stuff with my mom, this sibling stuff,
52:54Lord, I just want your will over my life.
52:57If losing that job was to push me to better myself, whatever this is, God,
53:02if I honor you, if I acknowledge you, if I put on kindness and loyalty, you'll direct my path.
53:11I want to be in your will in my 30s.
53:13In my 20s, I want to be in your will.
53:16And in my 60s and 70s, I can't afford to miss you no more.
53:20Put me where you want me in my 40s and my 50s.
53:22Can I get somebody to say, God, you in charge of me.
53:25Have your way in my life.
53:27I'm preaching too long.
53:29I'm just going to shut up because I feel a whole—I want to minister so bad,
53:32you have no idea how much I want to minister and put my hands on some people
53:36that just need to sense that God is still with you.
53:39I want to stop this service now, and the Spirit is subject to the prophets.
53:43So I want to honor this.
53:44I know we got stuff and all that.
53:46But if you're here today, it's on the screens.
53:48Let me just give you this.
53:50So I need to do that.
53:51And then lastly, this is important, recognize his process and his pruning,
53:56but then lastly, recognize his provision.
53:59Because your Bible says, Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first and best part of your income.
54:06That's in the Bible.
54:07The first thing you get until I die, God getting the first 10% of my money until I die.
54:11Any checks, bonuses, find some money on the ground, you put some money in my hand,
54:16you know, somebody die and leave me some money until I die, God getting the first 10%.
54:21Leave it on the screen because the Bible says, Honor him with the first and best part of your income.
54:25That's what the Bible says.
54:26Not the last part.
54:27Should I give the last 10%, first 10%?
54:29It don't matter to a pastor.
54:30No, no.
54:31As soon as I get my check, God first.
54:33Because I want God to be in charge of my life.
54:37That's recognizing that he can take your job, take your money, take your annuities,
54:41shut the economy down, presidents want you to vote, want you to register, matter of fact.
54:45But please know they don't run nothing.
54:48The king's heart is in God's hand.
54:51I'm not in the world's economy.
54:52I'm in God's economy.
54:54God pays my bills.
54:55Can I get a witness here?
54:57I pay my tithe and I work hard and God takes care of me.
55:02And so all my men who try to get to the next level and you don't tithe, I'm telling you,
55:06not just to get something from you, I'm a blessed man.
55:08I promise at this point in my life I want to get something to you.
55:11And I want you to trust God.
55:16I'm out of time.
55:17I'm not in a series.
55:18I got to pick this up.
55:19It's been all over me.
55:20This is the first time in 25 years God told me what to preach before I left for sabbatical,
55:24when I came back from sabbatical.
55:26This word is all over me.
55:28I hope this blessed you, man.
55:30Recognize who God is in your life and all your ways acknowledge him and he'll do what?
55:36Direct your path.
55:37That path may not be smooth.
55:38It may be a necessary, painful journey for God to get you where he needs you to be next.
55:44Please do me a favor.
55:45Call everybody you know.
55:47Tell them they got to watch this.
55:48It's right here on our YouTube channel.