Almost Home Night 8 | South Atlantic Conference

[Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] mm-hmm [Music] [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] hey we back in here almost home how you feeling pastor humphreys i can feel good tonight man almost home we're here i'm glad to be here listen the main thing i want us to understand tonight is that you got to get into the comment section and you got to rep your church man let us know where you are put your pastor in there put your past on blast in the chat i'm about to get in the chat right now represent murfreesboro in this space today man we're here tonight washington's in the house greetings and good evening what's going on monty good to see you listen we're almost at 300 you know myself of course pastor austin humphries and of course my brother mo's always got my back pastor aaron abernathy's in the house today good to be in this place wednesday night so come on in welcome everybody to the virtual say listen almost home pastor man is as full began to rip their city man it's been amazing it's been above what we even conceived in our minds and also listen it's wednesday and i just feel like we gonna spend wednesday in the word tonight i don't know we're gonna be in the word tonight that is it i like it absolutely man we're here tonight to experience what god has for us do us a favor tonight we've been saying this all week long the last last weekend going into this week don't forget everybody that you got to register every single night register text 404-737-0672 to register tonight listen i promise you guys when you're registered you get a slew of different things you get a community to connect with but not only that you got to register for your nightly prizes if you want a prize tonight do me a favor you want a prize just text prize to 404-737-0672 text prize to 404-737-0672 man pastor you know it's it's been it's been an amazing journey so far as we've kind of mentioned man this has never been done before i think we were talking in the back stage all right this is his head we've been planning this man almost for the last seven months and now right here god has really blessed our efforts so just we want to praise god for all the things that he's doing but man what have you loved most about this event man just uh uh just the feedback in the the i and and pride is not a good thing to have i guess this is it's one of those things we should throw out the window but south atlantic if you are not proud of your conference in the quality and and just the holy spirit in the atmosphere of this virtual space see you ain't got to be in the church to feel the holy spirit you can feel it online too and it's just been a holy ghost party uh uh just the the what has really warmed my heart are the watch parties you know people bringing together whether they're outside whether they're inside the church facility whether they're at home they're taking photographs and sending them in the watch parties have really warmed my heart uh just inviting people to experience the word of god afresh uh in 2021. yeah absolutely it's been great man tonight we we've experienced what god is doing and you're continuing to experience some things pastor go ahead and give the number tonight man we we have to celebrate god for something oh listen how many people do we have uh that's gonna get baptized and this is right you're going to put your hands together in your house put them together in your chat god has granted south atlantic 27 souls uh that have have made their calling and elections sure that have decided to go down in the watery grave and come up in the newness of life filled with the holy spirit of god god has been working and moving throughout this evangelistic effort and we're building the kingdom of god brick by brick bricks we want to we want to shout out all of our pastors who've done some incredible jobs with the watch parties baptisms have come out of the watch parties people watching online through zoom through your churches so thank you shout out to all of our pastors all of our workers who are doing an incredible job i'll go ahead and brag man i was so grateful to get that text on on on on monday night saying pastor i want to be baptized i i've been hearing this yeah yeah yeah i want to get into the water so we're grateful for that today and we honor god for what he's doing and so tonight we have a lot to get to almost about five hundred this we're at five hundred we wanna see a thousand tonight you know our state yeah go ahead and push that number to go forward god's doing a great work we're excited tonight as always to have some powerful music and so right now we're going to experience the wonderful music and ministry of sister tara tropher all the way from atlanta georgia let's be blessed and welcome her tonight [Music] you are the word the [Music] you're hidden glorious [Music] what a beautiful name it is what a beautiful name is the name of jesus christ my king what a beautiful name it is nothing compares to this what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus didn't want heaven without us so jesus [Music] my sin was great your love was greater what could [Music] [Applause] what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus christ [Music] what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus oh jesus [Music] you silence the most [Music] the praise of your glory [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] we worship you oh lord what a beautiful name it is what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus christ might be what a beautiful name it is nothing compares to what a this name it is the name of jesus [Music] yeah what a what a beautiful to play after after announcing those 27 yeah lord what a beautiful name like the name of jesus we want to thank god for terror trophy and all of our music ministry has done a phenomenal job uh but pastor man we want to we want to keep this thing rolling we've got almost 700 watching we want to keep saying hit the like button if you don't yes sir yes sir the share button listen copy that link tell them about they share that man it's important man if there's somebody that should be on here just text them in your spirit yeah text them the link say hey get online right now there's a word from the lord coming this evening and you need to be on you need i'm excited listen we want to thank god for all of our viewers who are watching we're getting ready to bring on pastor nelson in just a second he's been doing a phenomenal job giving him pushing us for our offering portion but i want to say on behalf of the entire southland conference thank you so much for the giving that's absolutely all right we uh we asked you if you could help the organization out just by giving three hundred dollars come on now come on come on yeah yeah yeah over a thousand dollars i want to ask pastor nelson to come on in the virtual space now as he kind of shares with us uh just the next phase of the giving who we blessing tonight passing us it's good to see you man talk about who we're blessing tonight brother it is good to be here uh man i'm excited listen whatever you all did the other night just do it again come on come on come on just do it again just do it again exceed the expectations yes yes do it again and more man no but we're we're excited and let me tell you man these organizations are excited i mean they're watching right now they're bringing people on to watch they're extremely excited they've been impressed they've been you know filled and blessed as well and so as as we're giving to them they're they're receiving uh multiple things as well multiple blessings and so they're very appreciative and so we're looking at tonight some of our south carolina uh groups that are out there one of the ones that i'm really excited about kinship care you know a concept we often forget that the caregivers need care as well and so they're there for the grandparents or for parents who are unexpected uh caregivers for their their their for children and they're there to be there and to supply needs for them in multiple different ways i mean they do they do an amazing work there in south carolina and i've been blessed to know uh this this next group um with yamica she is running the women of wisdom and they are doing amazing job with just empowering women and so uh they're doing amazing work where they're you know uh empowering them encouraging them doing different um scholarships and things like that working with children so another great organization uh to to really support and give to again y'all remember we are not doing we're not in ministry by ourselves we are in community we're in community we're not on an island and so we cannot remain in the shadows we have to support the organizations that we are with they are the ones that are blessing us and we've chosen these organizations because they are uh doing what our vision is to do and they are blessing our communities and so we want to support them just like we are here to heal our community speak life into our communities they're doing just that and so we want to encourage you all to give give give tonight to those uh organizations listen thank you so much pastor nelson we want to do this now there's there were some ways to give and we did it on last week going to ask we put that graphic to come up that you can give by cash app that's the cash app money sign now give now i want to say this for those who have questions last night when you get the cash check when you type it in you're going to see a ministry that says north carolina online worship north carolina worship is south atlantic conference do not worry we are israel it is it is an affiliative ministry we are out of south atlantic uh the ministry by myself and pastor kia scott out of our districts here we praise god for that ministry but this is the catch up to give this is the vehicle we're going to make sure this money gets this money is going directly to the conference so those who had questions do not worry tonight now give now give us an easy way to give on cash app so please if you can give to the ministry we listen we're looking with the same ministry we're listening we need to raise money for them we want to pour into our women come on say amen somebody absolutely absolutely and so please please give to the cash app that's cash out now give you all have been supporting our ministry for some time now what we've done this entire week of almost home but we need your help we need your support we're going to put into the comments section again that listen cash app now give and one more time pastor abernathy why it's important man to give to these organizations listen listen this is one of the ways that we can be the hands and feet of jesus like uh some of us cannot get out and uh hit the streets or do what we need to do outside of our homes but god has blessed us monetarily where we can fund and fuel the ministry of being the hands and feet so listen dig deep listen go go into your jeans pockets where you got a couple of dollars dig deep uh give it towards uh these efforts as we are trying to empower women as we're trying to help those uh that are caregivers for children unexpectedly and let us just be the hand of relief the hand of jesus the hands and feet of jesus as we endeavor to reach one as we continue to push this thing forward thank you so much pastor once again that's the cash at money sign now give cash that money sign now give once again thank you to all the givers from monday and we're hoping for a major success again tonight we're looking to bless this ministry uh with with some powerful giving so thank you so much we want to give a shout out to all of our affiliate ministries who are watching us those who are a part of our conference who are watching us live from the churches praise god for you pastor i just got a text we got a watch party going on in huntsville alabama yeah ladies and gentlemen we're on the zoo watching right now told me to give them a shout out praise god for each and every one of you all who are watching also we want to praise god for our mail there's a there's a ministry a base out of florida called the quarantine revival they are here with us and so we're looking forward to having them be a part of what is going on for our ministry so thank you guys so much for that we appreciate that abernathy can you do us a favor and share right now while my dog is barking right it's going to take place with our message magazine coming up our message magazine this is our summer scholarship games and there you see it on your screen with all the information it will be july 29th at 7 00 p.m okay it is coming up in a couple of nights uh so make sure make sure you uh tune in to that at 7 00 pm uh for night trivia trivia action okay on tuesdays and thursdays so make sure uh you you pay attention to that uh your host there is my brother my friend james dawg jr uh and make sure you uh go and support uh the message magazine uh and you can go to for more information yeah we look forward to that it's going to place that's going to take place tomorrow tomorrow night we're looking forward to that once again thank you so much uh message magazine is a powerful affiliate for the adventist church we appreciate you all listen we are at 850 viewers and we want to see a thousand by the time snail takes the virtual pulpit tonight we're looking forward to what god is doing listen we can declare myself and pastor abner coming to agreement that pastor snell has been just preaching listen can we say it he's been preaching his face off man yeah listen listen our holy spirit has just been moving doc so we're looking forward to what god's going to do tonight austin listen i've heard that the members have been blessed my members said that they have been blessed they have been enjoying uh the preach word but listen i'm telling you there's nothing like a preacher being preached to okay i love good word so it's been an awesome celebration of god's word uh with not only the members of south atlantic conference but your pastors are enjoying the word as well uh the man of god has definitely been spending time with the lord to bring the word of god uh in the word of life to the people of god we're excited for that and we look forward to what god's gonna do again we have with us tara tropher tonight blessing us as our psalmist and the next voice that you'll hear after that is none other than our speaker for almost home pastor w snail i have decided to fall i have decided to follow jesus i have decided to follow cheese [Music] no turning back [Music] no turning [Music] the world behind me the cross before [Music] before me [Music] i'm living this world behind me [Music] [Music] [Music] though no one joined me [Music] still [Music] me still i will follow though no one joined me still i will fall [Music] hey no time [Applause] no turning back no turn no turning back [Music] [Music] [Applause] to god be the glory great things he has done i don't know about you tonight southerland but i will bless the lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul will make its boasts in the lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad georgia north carolina south carolina would you magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his holy name together uh again we thank you so much minister tara trophert for that word and song and i don't know about you i i've made that same decision anew and afresh that that i have decided that i'm going to follow jesus and come what may there will be no turning back do i have a witness out there that you're not going back the way that you came you just believe that god has brought you too far to leave you uh i'm willing to take that straight and narrow road and i need you to know if nobody joins me still i'm gonna follow it my mama don't go still i'm gonna follow because that straight and narrow road that may at times be lonely at times it may be hard i need you to know that that road is taking you somewhere that straight and narrow way is going to take you to our eternal home and if you're thankful that we're almost home let me just hear you say a man out there today again i'm excited once again this wednesday night this wet wellness wednesday to be with you uh lifting up jesus through the teaching of the word tonight um as it is our custom i just want to say a word of appreciation and affirmation for the leadership of the south atlantic conference their thoughtfulness their creativity their commitment to growing the body of christ and making jesus known to those who do not believe is second to none and so we thank god for our president elder winston thanking you elder elder preston and for all of my colleagues my brothers and sisters who are on the front lines uh sharing the good news of jesus christ all across the south atlantic territory i thank god for you and i am humbled i am i'm truly humbled just to be in partnership with you uh for for these brief uh few weeks uh as we kind of talk under the theme almost home so again we're glad to have you on tonight and i need you to know man what we're gonna share tonight is gonna be critical there's some of the stuff that we've been sharing with you that that's going to bless you in the future especially when we get to heaven but i need you to know we're going to tell you some things tonight man especially for those who may be new to the faith or just new to some of the things that we've shared been sharing with you they're going to be some things that are going to begin to bless your life in the immediate like you're not going to have to wait on certain things if you follow and align yourself with the teaching of scripture tonight you're going to see a change in your life as you go into the weekend you're gonna see it grow as you go into next week and so i'm praying that you would just stay with us uh do me a favor man share it if you're on facebook if you're on if you're on on on youtube man just copy that link text it to somebody anybody specifically that you know man that is dealing with illness body illness of soul uh that just needs to hear what it is that the spirit is saying to the church tonight so again we're gonna have again uh on this coming friday best friend friday best friend friday make sure uh friday folk gonna be off work the weekend is gonna be here uh make sure you invite your best friend your best friend whoever your bestie is so they can connect with us in the word uh this friday so again we're gonna be off tomorrow night but make sure that you join us again on friday night as we go deeper into the word of the living god so tonight we're going to jump right on into it uh we're going to begin with our revival covenant if you're in a group and a watch party whether you're there in albany whether you're here in huntsville uh whether you're somewhere in north carolina you can say it together in unison or even if you're sitting before the screen as a family tonight and as i share with you on wednesday night on monday night if you if you've got kids in the house that are somewhere else bring the kids in front of the screen or before the device uh if your husband or wife is doing something else i want y'all to gather together uh this ought to be a family occasion i don't think there's anything more important going on in your house this wednesday night than the teaching of the word of god so go ahead and gather the family uh as we get ready to go through our revival covenant tonight let's uh let's just say it in unison i believe you got to decree something in order to see something the bible says the covenant says tonight i begin a journey toward the eternal i make the wellness of my soul my chief priority i will not put off until tomorrow the decision that should be made today i refuse to procrastinate be indifferent or presumptuous i realize that tomorrow is not promised to anyone so i refuse to waste my energy on haters my time on the simple my wisdom on fools i will not make another investment in people who mean my soul no good this is the day that the lord has made i will be glad and rejoice in it i have no more time to waste because we are almost home we are almost home gave a little bit of a remix tonight a little bit of a remix on that covenant because i wanted to reflect where we are in this revival and where we are in time and in history so do me a favor real quick i want you to go with me in your bibles to john chapter 10 and verse 10. very very very familiar uh verse to many of us but i want to encourage somebody to write it down would encourage somebody to highlight it in your bible and lay claim to this particular promise as we go into the word tonight john chapter 10 and verse number 10 and in there in the chat when you're ready just say i'm here pastor just or you can say man you can say i'm ready to go and then we'll get started and then again as we do each night we'll put uh the primary uh teaching on the screen tonight john chapter 10 and verse number 10. all right i see you jakonda mackie you're ready so let's let's get it started john 10 and verse 10. the bible says i see sister osborne the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy but notice jesus reason for coming he says i have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly more abundantly tonight my friends i want to talk to you this evening on a critical message entitled don't pull the trigger don't pull the trigger let's pray together father i pray that in this this while that you would say much i am praying that through the teaching of the truth of scripture that somebody would be able to lay claim to abundant life in a whole different fashion i am praying that the promise of john 10 and verse 10 that would not just be concept that it would not just be theory but i pray that through obedience and alignment with truth that it will become somebody's lived reality and so lord i am praying as we are claiming divine healing for the masses tonight i am i am praying to god that that our faith would not just be a mental ascent to truth but lord i'm praying that there would be some action some work that aligns itself with faith because you said to us in your word just as the body without breath is dead so faith without works is dead so lord i am praying to god that there would not just be amens and hallelujahs in response to the word but i'm praying that there would be some reforms some adjustments some changes in the life that allow us to experience you in a new and fresh way so lord would you please hide me in the shadows of the cross that jesus alone might be seen that christ alone would be heard and at the end of our time together may jesus alone be praised we ask this in the name of him who is all together lovely it is in the name of jesus that we pray let god's people say together amen and amen again tonight i'm talking to you on the subject don't pull the trigger and i want you all to i i i am praying that you all are hearing the word of god tonight and i don't know that any night where scripture is taught is more important or more imperative than others but i believe that tonight's message if you hear it and you respond to it that you're going to get some relief i i believe that somebody's life is going to be made better i believe some of satan's holds on some people are going to be broken i need you to know that this is a message of liberation where the captives are going to be set free um when we align ourselves with the teaching of the word of god tonight so friends of mine i think many of us are aware that we are in a health crisis um covet 19 for this last uh year and a half or nearly two years has affected the way that we do life in in real time and and it has affected all communities but but just kind of like with most health maladies it affects minority communities in an inordinate type of way so much so that 34 of the deaths or fatalities as it relates to covet 19 have come from the african-american community now perhaps some that for some that does not alarm you but i need you to know that there is a reason for us to stop and take notice that 34 of the deaths come from our community when we're in fact only 12 of the entire population and one of the things that that covet does is it is uh enhance has a more fatal result on people that already have compounded health issues and so i need you to know friends of mine and i'm just say this let me just say this as a side note i'm going i'm going to park here but i'm not going to stay the night um the truth is that for some of us this evening like we we need to start taking some stuff with a little bit more seriousness now there are some of us that have some strong views about the vaccine and some they have strong views about wearing the mask and the problem with some of us is we say taking the vaccine is a lack of faith i need you to know that if it's not a lack of faith to wear a seat belt in your car then it's not a lack of faith uh to put a mask on your face and it's not a lack of faith uh to get a vaccine in your arm and there are some of us that are on the anti-medicine anti-vaccine thing if you've got your kids immunized immunized if if you've taken vaccines when you've gone overseas i need us to know that this thing is a very real thing uh and i would rather take my chances with the with the virus with the vaccine than i would with the virus i hope i can get an amen out there tonight and the one thing i want to say is that you can't be anti-vaccine and anti-mask at the same time and if there's anybody that needs to be taking this seriously it needs to be people of color can the church say amen because the truth is i need you to know that that that covid is not necessarily just the greatest health crisis it's just one of many health crisis that faces the african-american community uh the fact is that even in our time we live in a space where diabetes affects us in an inordinate type of way in fact i learned this week that 60 percent uh the african americans are 60 percent more likely to contract diabetes than their white counterparts and i need you to know that diabetes friends of mine it is a a literally shutting down of the systems of the body it is something that is critical and is impacting our quality of life high blood pressure is something that has affected the african-american community in a unique way even childhood obesity i learned that two out of five african american children are considered overweight or obese that many of our children before they hit the third grade have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic simply because we live in communities where it is not safe for our kids to run up and down the streets as we did two or three generations ago and even today i ran across some data that let us know that ah 44 of all new cases of hiv and aids uh take place in the african american community and i guess what i'm saying tonight beloved is that it is time for us to turn back to the bible it is time for us as a people to look and see what thus saith the lord it is time for us to look to the heels from which cometh our health and recognize that our help friends of mine comes from the lord and so friends of mine i'm going to lay some ideas before before you as we turn to the scriptures tonight the first thing i need somebody to get is that you cannot have abundant life if you do not have your health let me say it again you can't have abundant life if you don't have your health in fact one of the primary things that jesus did in his day-to-day ministry he did a significant amount of preaching or teaching but then he also did a significant amount of healing in fact what he did was he did not just prescribe drugs that would make people better down the line but he met them where they were in their immediate point of suffering because he says one of the reasons i've come is that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly and i need you to know friends of mine that if you don't have your health i need you to know that you cannot experience the promise of abundant life now the reason this is critical tonight saints is because too often we make abundant life about possessions the the the the prosperity gospel preachers have told us abundant life is about what's in your bank account it's about what's in your driveway it's about your address or it's about what's in your closet but i need you to understand that everything that is in this life flows out of the body temple in which we are housed and the fact is that if you don't have your health guess what bad health is going to take away your money it doesn't matter what house you live in if you're not ambulatory enough to walk from one side of the house to the next it doesn't matter what name brands are in your closet if you don't have the strength to get up out of the bed every day it doesn't matter what type of dry car is in your driveway if you're in so much pain that you can't put one foot in front of the next and i need you to understand that abundant life flows out of a body that is able it flows out of a body that is functioning it flows out of a body that feels good and i need somebody to know that almost all of the promises of abundant life are contingent upon good health in fact you can't even make more money if your body is in poor condition and the thing i want somebody to know is that abundant life is not about how much i get paid abundant life is about the price that has been paid for my salvation are you hearing me tonight the second thing i want you to understand tonight is that you will never be able to live well without a reason that is bigger than you please get me on this tonight you will never be able to change the way you live if you don't have reasons that are bigger than you in other words when we talk about living right or we talk about losing weight or we talk about changing our diet too often our reasons are selfish and they are vain in nature too often we want to lose a little weight so we can look good when we take off our shirt or we want to lose a little weight so that we can fit in a certain pair of pants so we want to lose a little weight by alumni weekend or by the time we go on vacation but the problem is that if your motives for healthy living are vain i need you to know that they're going to be temporary if you're only living right for a certain event what happens is when the event passes then you're going to go back to your old ways but what i'm saying to you tonight friends of mine is you've got to be living for some causes that are bigger than you in fact friends of mine the reason i'm making constant amendments to the way i live is i want to live long enough so that when i'm aged i don't break down but i can preach the gospel long and strong and with pay thoughts and vigor well into my 60s and into my 70s i don't want my health to disrupt my calling but i wanna have enough health to fulfill the calling that god has placed upon you in other words some of us gotta have some causes that are bigger than you some of us ought to make some adjustments to our health because you want to be around long enough to parent your kids into their 40s or 50s some of us want to adjust our health so you can live long enough to make some deposits into your grandchildren or be around to see that third generation great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren in fact friends of mine i need you to understand that i have an eight-year-old daughter and i've been doing the math in my head that at 44 that if she doesn't get married till she's 30 then i i'll be i'll be 66 before she walks down the aisle and i made it up in my mind saints that i've got to live long enough and i've got to be strong enough so that when she brings somebody home to get married and he reaches to shake my hand i've got enough strength in my hands to let him know that there is a protector over the house that there is an avenger over the house that there is somebody that's going to be watching with jealous eye to make sure that that baby girl is going to be treated okay and i need you to know that my motives cannot be about me i've got to have motives that are missional i've got to have motives that are not selfish i've got to have motives that are not vain i've got to have causes that are about the kingdom of god can somebody say amen tonight the next big idea i need somebody to get is that some people die because of age and attrition others die simply because their assignment has been complete oh god see there are some people that die simply because their bodies break down and they can't go any further but there are some people that die even when they have physical reserves simply because they completed their assignment look at the testimony about moses the bible says moses was 120 years old when he died yet his eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminish i need you to understand that the only reason moses died it wasn't because psoriasis was eating away at his kidney it wasn't because lupus was eating away at his bones it wasn't because diabetes was causing his system to shut down it wasn't because heart disease was causing his arteries to close up i need to understand that the only reason moses died was because he had taken his work as far as it can go and when you've taken it as far as you can take it god puts that assignment on somebody to push it across the line and do i have anybody on the line that simply says lord put me to sleep when my work is done lord put me to sleep when my assignment is finished lord put me to sleep when i finish my course and i run my race and my work on earth is done and so if i've got to die don't let it be because age and attrition have caught up with me don't let it be because abuses have now come full circle don't let it be because the cumulative effect of a life of abuse has caught up with me let it simply be because my work on earth is finished and i can take my rest until the trumpet blast and i can go back home are you hearing me tonight thanks and the thing i need somebody to get another big idea i need you know the reason you got to adjust the way you live is all drug dealers have the same goal let me say it again all drug dealers have the exact same goal see the problem is that that we have a certain suspicious suspicion on drug dealers that meet in the back seat of cars or back alleys but i need you to know that the drug dealer in the street and the drug dealer in the pharmacy they all have the same objective am i telling you the truth tonight see i need y'all to understand something that both drug dealers they thrive off of repeat customers oh oh god i need you to know all drug dealers whether they're in walgreens or in cvs or whether they're on the street corners they all thrive based upon repeat customers in other words their distribution thrives when they have people that cannot function without their product in other words i need you to understand that one of the most highest grossing and most financially lucrative industries in the country i need y'all to be clear friends that it ain't nike it is not hollywood it is not the sports industry i need you to know that the most highest grossing and most lucrative industry in the world is the prescription drug industry and the reason it is so lucrative is the demand is so high because we've not made adjustments in the way that we live we become repeat customers and one of the things that you notice is that these drugs don't accomplish healing they just facilitate maintenance in other words they are designed just to keep you feeling good enough and functioning well enough and getting along just enough that you have to come back and renew again and again and again and what i'm saying to you tonight friends of mine is that there's some adjustments and modifications that if made that can possibly get you off of insulin and possibly adjust the amount of drugs you take in that can get you off of those things that only maintain but bring you no actual healing but then this is a powerful motif i need somebody to understand friends of mine watch this that your choice is more powerful than your dna let me say it again your choice is more powerful than your dna in fact i've heard one doctor say it this way that dna may load the gun but through choice you pull the trigger in other words your your heredity may load the gun but your decision is what pulls the trigger your upbringing may load the gun but it is your choice that pulls the trigger yo your great grandma through her choice may have loaded the gun but it is still your choice that executes the power of the enemy against your well-being and what i need somebody to understand is that even though you may have been born with a predisposition toward high blood pressure you may have been born big with with juvenile diabetes you may have been born with certain traits that were passed down through the generations but what i need you to know is that what you started with doesn't have to determine what you end with in other words you may have started one way but you can finish a whole different way if you align yourself with the teaching of the word do i have anybody that knows out there that the latter day shall be greater than the former day is there anybody that knows you shall live and not die i need you to know that the weapon may be formed but it doesn't have to prosper the gun may be loaded but guess what you ain't got to pull the trigger behold i set before you life and death blessings and curses and the word to somebody tonight is that tonight you gotta choose life you gotta choose knowledge and not ignorance you gotta choose discipline over dessert you've got to choose a more excellent way more than the familiar way and i need somebody to know that if you align yourself with the word that the path of the just will be like the shining sun getting brighter and brighter until that glorious day i need somebody to know that your life doesn't have to plateau your life doesn't have to max out and the word of hope to somebody that's made a mistake the word to somebody that's made some bad choices the word to somebody that's abused their body the good news tonight is that my god is able to restore the years that the locusts have taken away i need you to know that even if you only got a little time left even if your exit is coming up that god can do more with an obedient few years then you could do with all of your disobedient other years and i need you to know friends of mine that the bible says if you know the truth that the truth shall set you free and there is somebody tonight that needs to claim your freedom there is somebody that needs to lay claim to healing but it's not just by reaching up and grabbing it it's through making some decisions that are going to facilitate your well-being get a church say amen tonight and one of the things i want to say real quick is that there are some of us that we got to change the way we relate to our bodies you gotta change the way you relate to your body what are you talking about pastor look here at first corinthians chapter nine and verse 27 listen what the apostle salt says he says no i discipline my body slow it down notice what the word says he says i discipline my body and i make it my slave so that after i preach to others i will not be disqualified in other words what he is doing is he is laying forth for us a new paradigm in other words he's saying i'm not going to be led by my appetites i'm not going to be led by my instincts i'm not going to be led by every desire in other words i'm not going to be slave to my belly i'm not going to be a slave to my loins i'm not going to be a slave to my heart's appetites or desires but the bible literally says i'm going to take every appetite and i'm going to make every desire and i'm going to make every propensity or inclination and i'm going to make it my sleep in other words i'm going to make my body do what i want it to do in other words i'm not going to do what it tells me to do i'm going to allow my mind to have mastery i want knowledge to have mastery i want truth to have mastery and the problem with somebody tonight is that the appetite has the mastery that the the loins have mastery that that our fantasies have mastery and what i'm saying tonight is you gotta put mastery under the feet of jesus christ so so that you are not like the person who is walking the dog and the dog is walking them no you you've got to control the animal you've got to lay claim to the leash you've got to handle the lease with authority and what i'm saying to us beloved is i'm not going to let the dog inside of me walk me but i'm making it up in my mind a little bit at a time that i'm gonna master the dog on the inside that i'm gonna make it my slave lest after i preach to others i myself become a castaway and what i'm saying to somebody beloved that the best thing you can do for yourself tonight uh it's a hard truth and if you can't say amen say ouch the best thing you can do is learn how to tell yourself no see i need you to know that the the change is going to come when you learn how to tell yourself no see see some of us are good at telling other folk no but but but we only tell ourselves yes but i need you to know your deliverance is going to come when the second piece of pie is offered and you tell yourself no the blessing is gonna come when they say have some of this drink and you tell yourself no the blessing is gonna come when they offer you a pack of marlboro and you tell yourself no the blessing is gonna come when you want to sleep in instead of exercising and you tell yourself no i need somebody to know that the blessing is gonna come not when you just say yes to every desire and yes to everyone and yes to every propensity and yes to every craving i need somebody to know that the blessing is in the know the blessing is in self-denial the blessing is in delayed satisfaction i need you to understand beloved that if you keep doing what you're doing you're going to keep getting what you're getting but i need you to know that when you shift the mastery where the belly doesn't master the mind but the mind masters the appetite and the mind is at mastering the loins and the mind is mastering the lower eyes i need you to know that your whole life is gonna change when you learn how to tell yourself no if you can't say amen just say ouch out there in the chat this afternoon and say i need you to know the bible says in first corinthians 6 20. the reason i got to change the way i treat this body is because i got to recognize the price that's been paid for the bible says for you are bought with a price therefore glorify god in your body and your spirit which are god's see i need you to understand beloved you can't just put anything in your you can't just treat your body any kind of way why because it's too expensive i need you to understand that the most complex high value machine in your possession is the body in which your spirit and soul functions i need you to know the same way you care for your computer the the same caution with which you handle your cell phone the same caution with which you handle your new shoes or your new outfit i need you to treat your body with that same caution because it's more expensive than anything you possess oh god y'all oh i felt that i need you to know it's more expensive than any possession you have why do you say that pastor because it was bought and paid for with the precious blood of jesus christ i need you to know friends of mine that jesus did not buy us with corruptable things which is silk such as silver or gold but he paid hide the hyatt high price he paid the top end of the market he gave up the most precious currency which was his blood to secure us are y'all hearing the word of god on tonight so friends of mine i want to just kind of lay out some keys to abundant living and then i'm going i'm going to close it out i promise you i won't take long tonight i see there are six things that do not belong in the body temple and my prayers that you adhere what the spirit is saying to the church and i don't need you to take my word for it just take the word of scripture tonight the bible lets us know friends of mine one of the things that don't belong in your body is alcohol tobacco and narcotics now i know friends of mine we've outsmarted ourselves a little bit we learn how to take one verse of scripture and create a doctrine all around it so much so that we believe that because uh the bible says in one verse that a little my wine is good for the stomach that we tried to build a doctrine of drinking around one verse but what the bible is talking about is the medicinal purposes of grape juice they it ain't really talking about what we're doing when we drink it it ain't cause we got a tummy and get it it ain't cause we got a little nausea uh we drinking for a whole different reason or i hear some people saying you know because our weed came from the ground the bible says that we ought to use every herb bearing seed i need y'all to know that's not what the word is talking about tonight the bible does not promote the use of alcohol or drinking in fact you ain't got to take my word for it look at in the word for yourself proverbs chapter 29 and verse 30. the bible says who has anguish who has sorrow who is always fighting who is always complaining who has unnecessary bruises who has bloodshot eyes it is the one who spends long hours in the taverns trying out new drinks i need you to know that the bible does not promote the use of alcohol but what the bible does is it lays out the consequences of that lifestyle and it gives you the ability to make the choice the bible makes it clear that as a result of consistent drinking the result is going to be consistent sorrow it's going to be consistent complaining it's gonna be unnecessary bruises it's gonna be bloodshot eyes for the one who spends hours at the taverns trying out new drinks in fact solomon says it this way in proverbs 23 the bible says do not even look at the wine when it is red when it sparkles in the cup when it swirls around smoothly at last it bites like a serpent or a cobra and it stings like a viper the bible says thine eyes shall behold strange women and thy heart shall utter perverse things but notice what the word says don't even look at the wine when it is red in the cup when it sparkles in the cup when it swirls around smoothly i need you to know that in the bible that the word wine and grape juice are used simultaneously in fact the word new wine in the bible is a reference to unfermented grape juice and when grape juice is first smashed what happens is it has a deep purple color but what happens is once it goes to the process of fermentation after it sits a little while it takes on a red texture it begins to take on a sparkling characteristic it begins to swirl around smooth because it's texture has changed because it's gone through the process of fermentation and the bible says that when it looks like that that you are not even look like it because it's going to sting like a serpent it's going to bite like a viper and the bible says it's going to alter your powers of perceptions so that the bible says you'll begin beholding strange women and thy heart is going to utter perverse things the word of god literally says in proverbs 29 34 and verse 35 the bible says you will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea clinging to a swaying mass and you will say they hit me but i did not feel it i didn't even know it when they i didn't even know it when they beat me up when i wake up so i can go and look for another drink i need you to understand that what the bible is teaching us tonight is that a lifestyle of drinking is a lifestyle of regret it is a lifestyle of bad decisions it is literally to anesthetize uh anesthetize thyself momentarily so that you don't feel the consequences of the physical beating you don't feel the consequences of the night out on the town you don't feel the consequences of laying down with him or her you don't feel the consequences of certain things you don't even feel the bruise until the next day when when w when it begins to wear off but then it creates another cycle where you're going to go in search of it again i need you to know that there are consequences of this lifestyle the bible says that greedy naughts drunkards nor slanders or swindlers will inherit the kingdom of god i need us to understand that there's addiction potential that it destroys the well-being of the kidney that it destroys the health of the liver that drinking impairs or destroys brain cells but more than that it is an impaired mental state which makes you a danger to yourself and to other people come on into amen and let me let's just keep it real all the way 100 out here today the truth is some of us make bad decisions sober if you make bad decisions sober you don't need to put no type of intoxicating thing in your body are y'all hearing me tonight in other words if you date the wrong people sober then you don't ever need to drink if you spend bad money if you spend money bad sober you don't never need to drink if you don't know what to say sober oh help me holy ghost you you you don't never need to drink if if you name that child that while you are sober you don't need to drink or smoke nothing uh uh if you don't know what to do when you in your right mind guess what you don't never need to intake nothing that's gonna put you out of your right mind are y'all hearing the word of god tonight and the bible says god has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind i need you to know friends of mine that when you go out on the town on a saturday night and you drink yourself into a stupor or into oblivion to the point where you don't even know what happened the night before the first thing that you experience on sunday morning is a spirit of fear about what you did and what you said and and the decisions that were made and the shame that accompanies it but i need you to know that anything that creates a spirit of fear or anything that works against a sound mind is not of god and i need you to understand fundamentally that alcohol does vote and see i need somebody to understand this principle that that if you ask the wrong questions guess what my friends you're going to get the wrong answers because see somebody's saying man man man why pastor can we have a little something to drink that's that's the wrong answer the question is like why do i have to be sober that's the wrong question the question is not why do i have to be sober the more important question is what is so painful about sober living that you gotta have something to drink that you gotta have something to smoke in other words when you ask the wrong question then you're going to get the wrong answer and see the reason you you're afraid of sober life is because you're not addressing the real issue and so you need something to to smoke you need something to drink to mask how hard your life really is and then there's somebody friends of mine that say pastor i you don't know what i've been through you you don't know what i'm dealing with i i need something just to bear the heavy load of life and see this friends of mine is the greater atrocity about believers drinking i need you to understand fundamentally that alcohol poses as a counterfeit savior you're saying i need that to bear the heavy load but i need you to know that that that that crown royale was never to be the heavy load bearer it was never to be the mind regulator see i need you to understand fundamentally that christ was to bear the lord christ was to be your burden bearer christ was to be the heavy lord sharer christ wanted to be the one you turned to christ wanted to be where you turned when your world was on fire but the problem is that we've made something else our first reach and what it does is it gives us immediate relief but it does not provide any long-term results but i need you to know that christ may take a little longer your healing may take a little longer but guess what when it comes it's going to be permanent when it comes you will not have to go back the old way that you came and what i'm saying is beloved instead of turning to make a lobe instead of turning to crown royale instead of turning to sir rock i want you to look to the hills from whence cometh your help because your real help your permanent help your final help it comes from the lord who made heaven and earth and i need somebody to understand beloved that your health should not be chemical that your strength should not be chemical that your identity should not be chemical your ability to relax should not be chemical i rest in him i abide in him i am strengthened in him and i don't want any counterfeit savior i want to go for the real thing because my help is in jesus the second thing friends of mine if you can't say amen just say ouch the second thing that does not belong in your body is someone who is not your spouse yeah the pastor's getting all in your business tonight friends of mine i need you to understand what the bible says first corinthians chapter 6 18-19 the bible says flee sexual immorality why because every sin that a man does is outside the body but he who commits sexual immorality the bible says he sins against his own body or do you not know that your body is the temple of the holy spirit who is in you whom you have from god and that you are not your own understand that when the bible talks about us being the temple of the holy spirit in the context of health he wasn't talking about it in the context of what you eat or or what kind of meat you eat he was talking specifically in the context of fornication because literally what he is saying friends of mine is that everything else you do every other sin hurts the outside of you but but fornication friends of mine it literally is a sin against your own body because what he is saying friends of mine when you read the entire chapter is that when you join your temple to to somebody else's temple guess what the spirit that is in them can conquer or hinder the free moving of the holy spirit that's trying to function and live in you and what i'm saying is the reason it has got to be reserved for a spouse is you've got to be connecting with somebody whose spirit is congruent who are sharing the same spirit that you're sharing in other words you cannot have incompatible spirits sharing and absorbing the same space and that's why the bible says every other sin is outside of the body but fornication is a sin against your own body the third thing that does not belong inside of your body is stress come on and say amen i need somebody to understand that some of your issues that are physical are actually a result of stress and emotional mismanagement i need somebody that's dealing with back pain tonight somebody that's dealing with some irregular heart rhythms there's somebody that is dealing with the feeling of being overwhelmed i need you to understand that some of that stuff is simply mismanagement of stress and see the problem with some of us is is we've kind of bought into the doctrine of of managing stress i i need you to know that our job is not to manage stress our job is simply to transition stress oh y'all not with me tonight it is why the bible says in first peter chapter 5 and verse 7 that you ought to cast all of your cares upon him why because the bible says that he cares for you i need you to learn how to give your issues and your sorrows and your concerns over to jesus christ who is able to handle it are you hearing me tonight saints in other words your job is not to carry stress your job is not to manage stress your job is not to to to absorb or internalize stress your job is simply to give it to the one for whom he is able to bear it okay let me say it this way listen oh yeah i've been married now uh for 18 years and i think all the husbands out there know uh that if you're gonna stay happily married every now and then you gotta sit down and watch a little hg uh can i get an amen out there brothers and and one of the things my wife and i do is we watch some of these renovation shows where where they like flip my house or or different thing house hunters where they go in and they remodel the houses and whenever they go in to remodel the house before they start tearing down walls what they do is they they begin to peel back uh the drywall and they want to identify which wall is what is called the load bearing wall and the reason they call it the load-bearing wall is that it has the beams wooden or metal that run from the roof all the way down to the foundation of the house now i need you to know that from an engineering standpoint it's somewhat incorrect to call it the load-bearing wall because i need you to understand that that wall doesn't bear the load of the house from an engineering standpoint the the load-bearing wall simply shifts the weight of the house from the wall down to the foundation which can handle the load or the weight of the house in other words its job is not to bear the load it is to just make sure that the weight goes from the ceiling all the way down to the foundation and what i need somebody to understand is that your job is not to bear the load your job is just to shift the load to the rock that is christ jesus your job is to shift the load to the foundation see how many of us know that the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone can somebody say hosanna blessed be the rock blessed be the rock of our salvation it is why the songwriter says on christ the solid rock i stand all over ground is sinking sand so i don't have to bail the load see somebody told you you got to be strong for everybody else somebody said that you ain't got time to cry because you got to be strong for everybody else no your job ain't to be strong for everybody else is to take the walls that they put on you and put them at the foot of jesus christ it's to take the concerns they bring to you and bring them over to jesus christ it is to take the worries they bring to you and bring them over to jesus christ because it's not your job to bear the lord it is your job to simply get the load in the hand of the lord bearer who is jesus christ can the church say amen tonight the fourth thing that needs not going in our body and you can't say amen just say ouch is excessive amounts of sweets and junk food uh y'all come on and say amen tonight y'all know the preachers telling the truth tonight uh in other words friends of mine i'm not saying you can't ever have any sweets i'm not saying that every on occasion you can't stop by krispy kreme when the hot now sign is on uh but what i'm saying is beloved that we've got to learn as the bible says how to be temperant in all things and in other words saints like this is where somebody needs to start tonight where where this type of food winds up being more occasional and less consistent what i'm saying to somebody beloved is that if you just simply made some substitutions where you where you substituted an apple instead of potato chips where where you ate a banana instead of cookies i need you to get to the place watch this friends of mine where we begin treating food not as pleasure but as investments let me say it again we got to stop treating food like pleasure and more like an investment and i guess what i'm saying is beloved if you look at the food you ate today ask yourself does those investments bring back any return if your food what you ate today were investments i need you to ask is it going to yield anything or better yet what is it going to yield and what i'm saying is what kind of return am i going to get on the cheeseburger oh yo y'all mighty quiet what kind of return am i going to get on the dunkin donuts uh what what kind of return am i going to get on the starbucks i i i i hate to preach the truth even to myself what kind of return am i going to get on the ice cream sandwich in other words what i'm saying beloved if i'm going to eat something if if i'm going to make an investment i want something that's going to give me a return right away i want something that's going to bring me a return 10 years from now i want something that's going to still bringing returns when i'm 50 and returns when i'm 60 and returns when i'm 70. and there's somebody that's saying pastor i don't see no results how many of us know that the best investment takes some time to grow in other words you might not see any uh results right away but i need you to know that the interest is drawing and if you keep investing the interest is going to grow and then you'll have compound interest and guess what when you're 60 and everybody's got arthritis you're still moving around like a deer when you're 70 and everybody else had to stay at home you can still move around and chase your grandchildren and what i'm saying is we've got to stop eating for pleasure and start treating food as fuel and not pleasure as fuel and not comfort as fuel and not identity an investment that's going to bring back a return again if you can't say amen just say ouch on this word tonight again the other thing that doesn't belong as a part of our body is inactivity somebody say amen tonight listen i need you to know friends of mine that when we get active i need you to know that exercise and activity what it does friends of mine is it covers a multitude of sins see even if you are imperfect in your eating and your drinking if you stay active i need you to know activity literally covers a multitude of sins i need us to stop being paralyzed by devices and paralyze my televisions can i just speak a word over some parents tonight put your kids outside in the backyard in the heat of the day do i have any saints like me that's old enough to remember when you didn't get to run in and out of the house even when you wanted some water they sent you to the water host i know y'all consider it child abuse right now but i need us to understand that that devices are of the devil that we are setting in motion a series of woes and curses that they will be dealing with in their 30s and 40s and 50s if we don't change the culture and shift the narrative well y'all hear me tonight saints i want to encourage us as a community to get active you ain't got to join the gym you ain't got to be on the beachbody program but i just want to encourage you to get out and walk every day listen man i listen i i ain't in the gym i'm i'm not a weightlifter i'm not that guy but i'm going to get out there and walk just a little bit and make one little modification a day at a time so i need you to know their benefits for for exercise even those who deal with diabetes you realize that diabetes is a lifestyle issue and you realize that one of the things that makes your body produce insulin is simply by walking i need you to know that if you walk consistently enough that your body will produce all the insulin that it needs i need you to understand even those that are dealing with mental health and depression i need you to know simply by allowing the sun and vitamin d that is inputted through use of the sun what it does is it lifts your mood and the spirit of despair is pushed away that through simply breaking a sweat your body rids itself of toxins that can produce virus or sickness along the way and even just for your personal well-being just exercising gives you a sense of accomplishment it gives you allows you to start the day feeling like i've got something done it gives you a sense of victory it gives you a sense of success and what i'm saying to us today beloved that the blessing of activity is way more than the comfort of sitting still can the church say amen tonight the sixth thing that does not belong in our body and i'm gonna spend a little time here is there some unclean foods that don't belong in the body temple and again if you can't say amen say ouch but you'll see it in the scriptures once again tonight friends of mine i need you to understand that the bible uh in the book of genesis when you read genesis chapter 2 one of the things that becomes clear is that that adam and eve they they lived or ate what was called a plant-based diet that was god's ideal diet for mankind where they were to live eternally and the ground would provide all of their sustenance and essentially this was the diet for mankind all the way up until most until noah's time and i need you to understand that even as the animals got on the ark that god even before the the levitical law was in place god had already made a distinction between animals that were clean and unclean because there are some of us that say no god only assigned clean and unclean at the levitical law no even back in genesis before there was a little levitical law before there was a temple or a sanctuary he had already made a distinction between the clean and unclean so he says you shall take with you seven of each uh in every clean animal two and of each animals that are unclean and i need you to understand friends of mine it was not until noah's flood where all of the vegetation and all of the life was swept away that god then permitted the use of flesh food or animals for human consumption but i need you to understand that even with the animals that god laid out for consumption after the flood there are some characteristics of animals that god considered clean there are some characteristics leviticus 11 and verse 3. the bible says whatsoever part of the hoof or have has a split health and is cloven-footed and cheweth the cup so there are two characteristics for clean food or clean meat number one it has to have a split hoof and number two it has to chew the cup now i think those that are kind of a little country to you i know that chewing the cup has to do with the way an animal digests its food so that like an animal like a cow that has multiple chambers to its food to its stomach it digests its food on several layers and as a result it is able to discard toxins or that which is harmful to those that may consume that particular animal but there is a particular culture culprit that i want some of us to be aware of tonight deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse 8. the bible says also the swine is unclean for you because even though it has clothing hoods yet it does not chew the cup you shall not eat of their flesh neither shall you touch their dead carcasses i need you to understand that the bible lets us know that the pig or specifically pork or lard products is unclean now i want you to know i want to give you a definition a pig is what you call a scavenger somebody shout scavenger a scavenger is a group of animals created by god to cleanse the earth in other words they were never to be eaten i need you to know what the pig is that the pig is god's vacuum cleaner for the earth he was literally established and set aside to go along the ground and consume that which rots to consume that which remains to cleanse the earth in fact i remember growing up as a child and going to my great aunt's house i remember they had some pigs in the backyard and i remember and i those who a little country understand they would have what they call a slot bucket and the slot bucket was all the stuff that was no good for you that you would refuse to eat so food that had rotted and food that had mildewed and food that had molded and food that flies had lighted upon it all of the trash you would load it down in the slot bucket and we would go and take it in the back and pour it in to the into the pig pin and the pigs would come and cleanse and vacuum up all of the remains that were no good for human consumption but i need you to understand that the same way we did not want to eat what was in the slot bucket what we did was we turned around and we gave it to the pig that was not chew the cup but what we didn't realize that if you gonna turn around and eat the pig we might as well have just taken the slop bucket to the head because whatever it eats essentially you eat as well and that's why god says that we are not to eat of the scavenger because his job is to cleanse the earth but the bible lets us know there are some things that are considered clean these are the animals that you may eat the ox the sheep the goat the deer the gazelle the roe deer the wild goat the ibex the antelope the mountain sheep you may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided into and it chews the cup and so there are some things that the bible makes clear are unclean so squirrels and raccoons and possum if you can't say amen say ouch the camel the pig the snake uh the the cat and the dog these things are not fit for human consumption then the question becomes well pastor are there any sea creatures that are unclean i need you to know that the bible gives some specific designations for us leviticus 11 and verse 9 of all the sea creatures so for those who are taking notes number one of all land animals they've got to have two characteristics got to have a split hoof you got to chew the cut but of sea creatures there are some characteristics these shall you eat of all that are in the waters whatsoever has fins and scales them shall you eat them shall you eat so of sea creatures they gotta have two characteristics they've got to have fans and they've got to have scales so there's some things that you got to avoid now that same trait that applies to the pig say same thing applies to sea creatures as well because those foods that don't have fins and scales of those things that dwell in the waters they are simply the scavengers of the oceans of these things that don't have fins and scales they are sea creatures that fall upon the lake that crawl upon the lake or the ocean or the sea floor and again they eat the algae and the remains or those things that are not fit for human consumption they are the vacuum cleaners of the ocean so the bible says or makes it clear that that shrimp are no good for us if you can't say a man say ouch uh that that lobster the delicacy may be though it may be it is not fit for consumption if you can say men say ouch that oysters as good as they supposedly may be as an aphrodisiac they are not fit for human consumption uh frogs and clams and all manner of shellfish the bible says that they're gonna have two characteristics they've got to have fans and they've got to have scales now are there any air creatures that god has called unclean y'all get nervous don't be scared tonight it's in the word and if it's in the word it deserves to be heard leviticus chapter 11 verse 13 through 21 the bible says and these you shall regard as an abomination amongst the birds they shall not be eaten for they are an abomination the eagle the vulture the buzzard the kite or the crow and the falcon after its kind every raven after its kind ostrich and the shorty eared owl the seagull and the hulk after it's kind the little owl the fisher isle the white owl the jack dog the carrion bulger the stork and the hera heron after it's kind the hoop and the bite back and all flying insects that creep on all four shall be an abomination to you now beloved friends of mine i think one of the things that you're noticing is that when there's a certain characteristics there there is something that you notice that whenever you see a crow whenever you see a vulture whenever you see a buzzard wherever you see these birds when they begin to gather or wherever they begin to swirl one of the things that you know is that something has died in other words the same way the pig is the vacuum cleaner of the ground and and the lobster and the catfish is the vacuum cleaner of the ocean then i need you to know that god has some vacuum cleaners that come from the sky and whenever you see these things friends of mine you know that they are simply doing what they have been programmed to do which is to help assist and keeping that which is died that which is rotting that which is remaining from infecting and polluting our world and our water they have been sent by god to make sure that the earth remains clean but i need somebody to know that there's still some deliverance at kfc and there's still a little deliverance around thanksgiving come on and say amen out there somebody i know this is a tough word for somebody who is being introduced to some of these things for the very first time and the thing i want to say to somebody that even that is not plant-based or vegetarian that there is a lasting word of caution for us even if you eat uh clean flesh food or animal foods the bible says leviticus 3 and verse 1 17 that this is lasting ordinance for generations to come that wherever you live you must not eat any fat or any blood because the bible lets us know that the life of the animal is actually not in its limbs not uh necessarily in its fur but the life of the animal is actually in the blood of that animal and i guess what i'm saying to us tonight beloved that there are some things friends of mine that as we face this mountain of health challenges that are affecting our community in particular there are some things and some ways and some habits that we've been having our entire life and there are some of us men that are dealing with attention this is creating a conflict in the soul because it literally feels like to do away with certain things that it goes against some of the traditions of your family and the traditions of your upbringing but again what i'm calling us tonight beloved is not just to clay claim to the past but to make sure you can lay claim and guarantee your future because see there's somebody tonight that's listening to this word and you come to some wrong conclusions you're saying well pastor you know i had a great grandma that you know ate pork and she smoked and she drank and she dipped and she lived to be 96 years old i need you to know that there's a reason for that because see i need you to understand that through the activity and the decisions and blessings of god laid upon some who have went before us i need you to understand that for some our grandma and our great grandma and our parents what they did is through their living and the blessing of god they left us a full health bank account i need you to know some of us left were inherited a full health bank account and because we got a full health bank account what happens is that there are certain folk that could live and do certain things and still live a good long time because they inherited a bank account that was full because of the blessings of god that were transferred from previous generations but there are some of us that didn't get a full bank account some of us were given liabilities and see i need you to understand that based upon those liabilities you got to make some different decisions are y'all hearing the word tonight and i need you to understand beloved that we ought not celebrate the fact that they live to be 80 or 90 despite the fact that they live bad but we ought to lament the fact that they could have lived to be 90 100 or 110 years old if they had just simply lived in harmony with the word of the living god and there's somebody that's still tight in this message night and saying well pastor listen listen i jus i just pray over my food and the lord blesses i hear what you're saying tonight but what you'll never do is put water in your gas tank and just pray that the lord allows the engine to run because again i need you to know this is more valuable than the car in your driveway what what you never do friends of mine is you never take milk and pour it in your lawnmower and just pray ask god to bless the lawnmower and just ask it to go no we don't do that but if you wouldn't do that to your car if you wouldn't do that to your lawnmower then why would you do it to the temple of the holy spirit out of which all of the abundant life that god god's plan uh that god has planned for you to experience my friends and what i need you to know friends tonight this message is not a this is not a message of condemnation i need you to know that the pastor's heart is not to beat you down with the word of god but the pastor's heart for somebody tonight is to know that in christ there is a more excellent way the purpose of the word tonight is to let you know that there is hope for your body to let you know you ain't gonna always be out of breath to let you know that there ain't gonna always be pain in your knees to let you know that there's an alternative to sticking needles in your belly that there is an alternative to popping a cocktail of pills just to make it every day that there is an alternative to going to the liquor store or to the vaping store or the tobacco store of the to the to the dispensary to get cannabis i need you to know that in christ there is a more excellent way i need you to understand that when we understand that our joy comes from the lord that we don't have to go for any substitutes or any counterfeits because everything that is chemical that can be bought or packaged or popped it is a woeful substitute a deficient substitute of the joy that christ wants to give this joy that i have the world did not give it and the world is unable to take it away and what i'm saying to somebody tonight is i want you to lay aside all of the counterfeits to lay aside all of the substitutes and to seek to find your joy and your hope and the experience of knowing christ and him crucified so that you can experience the abundant life that god has planned for all of his children tonight friends of mine i want somebody who's been dealing with sickness to know that this is not god's design there are some of you who just said the world pastor this i've been dealing with this so long and that's just going to be always the way it's going to be no no the devil is a lie there there is a bomb in gilead that there is a position there that there is a more excellent way but friends of mine you cannot be afraid of knowledge you cannot be intimidated by truth you you cannot just say uh uh you can't keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result friends of mine i need you to know right now what is happening as the word of god is sinking in your heart about just learning how to get active about making it up in your mind to say no i'm not putting alcohol in my body and settling for the substitute then i'm not going to put unclean food in my body i need you to know what god is doing is opening up a gate for you but you got to walk through see i need to understand that sometimes we've been so culturally conditioned that we we we're going to die prematurely as slaves to our culture as opposed to allowing ourselves to be liberated through the truth of the word of god listen friends of mine listen i'm i'm done i know i'm taking you along but listen i got to get this to you listen i remember when i was growing up you know before dogs became accessories um you know we grew up in the house where where we had dogs but our dogs did not come in the house our dogs pretty much stayed outside all the time and we grew up in florida so it was warm all the time they never froze um but but you know i didn't really walk the dogs uh i fed them i watered i gave them water i washed them um but but you know we only walked them every now and then they stayed in the backyard behind the fence all the time and so even when they saw me coming or going out of the fence they would run to the fence but i would just open it up just enough for me to get it get out of and i would turn right back around and i would close that fence and and they spent probably 97 of their life cycle and again forgive me on this this is not one attempt that they abused but this is just kind of the way it was they spent probably 98 of their life behind the the doors on behind that fence in the backyard but i remember one day friends of mine i was i was working in the backyard and doing some things and my dad called me with an urgent plea he told me to hurry come to the backyard to the front yard and i remember i i i walked and rushed out of the backyard to the front and by accident i left the fence door open and and i remember after i had finished doing what my dad had told me to do i i remember walking around and i remembered that i left the fence open and i just knew that the dogs had ran out and that the dogs had escaped and i panicked because i i made the mistake of leaving the fence open and and i saw the most astonishing thing that that is curious to me even to this day that those dogs friends of mine had spent so much time in the fence they had spent so much time in the game they had been conditioned so well not to go beyond a certain boundary that even when the gate was open they stood right there in front of an open gate and they will only go this far and no further in other words they were so conditioned by the enclosure they were so conditioned by the gate that even when the barrier was removed they still remain trapped even though a way for freedom had been made and what i'm saying to somebody tonight is that through the power of the cross through the knowledge of the scriptures through the more excellent way in jesus christ i need us to understand that the gates door that hell's door has been knocked down but the problem for some of us tonight is we've been behind the gate so long we've been in ignorance so long we've been in darkness so long that we've gotten so comfortable in bondage and darkness and brokenness that we would rather function in the comfort of brokenness and darkness than to just take one step outside of the door that has been opened for us by jesus christ and what i'm saying to somebody tonight is i know that some of these steps seem scary they may seem intimidating but but i'm not asking you to shift all of your life in one night i'm not asking you to make all six steps in one night but what i'm asking you to do is simply compound your habits one habit at a time so that you can experience the liberating power of jesus christ and so i want you to know somebody tonight i want you to stay on i want somebody to stay on this is miracle night it's wellness wednesday and there's somebody tonight that that has issues in their health issues in your heart issues with diabetes issues with vision issues with arthritis arthritis issues with cancer right now i need you to know that you can even begin calling right now that there are a group of pastors that are willing to pray the power of god down over you tonight and you need special prayer you're saying i need this wellness wednesday i need to be a part of this miracle night but but hear me on this don't just call and pray but as you're praying you're making a commitment to say now that i know better lord i'm gonna start doing better i'm gonna start walking in the light that has been revealed the bible says to him that knoweth to do good and do it to not to him and his sin but i need you to say i'm not just going to pray and have faith i'm going to put some works in harmony and partnership with my faith tonight so you're going to eat you're going to call right now 770 299 but then now i want to make a critical and more important appeal i want to appeal to that person tonight who has been behind the gate for too long some of us have been behind the gate because we walked away from faith some of us have been behind the gate because we didn't know anybody we we didn't hear the message of truth we didn't know that there was a more excellent way we didn't know that there was a jesus who saves and we were unaware that there was a jesus who was in fact coming again and there is somebody tonight you've been listening to the word of god you on the first night you heard me preach that there was no place like home you heard me preach that god was real you heard me preach about how to pray you heard me preach about how to be saved you heard me preach uh about why jesus left and what he's doing you heard me preach uh about the sabbath you heard me preach um about the state of the dead you heard me preach on on on monday night friends of mine about the great controversy and the need to switch sides and you heard me preach that there's a more excellent way and you've been behind that gate and there are some of us that are intimidated to make that step of faith but i need you to know that god through the cross and his resurrection is knocked the doors of hate's hell gate the gates of hell wide open but but i don't want you to be so conditioned by darkness so conditioned by your habits so conditioned by what you're familiar with that you don't step into your freedom that you don't step into your liberty and i need somebody to make it up in their mind tonight to say i'm gonna make a step of faith that i'm gonna walk in freedom that i'm gonna walk in truth in liberty and there's somebody that needs to go all the way with christ to the tune of being baptized and you've been hearing the word of god night after night and again as we've shared salvation has an expression i need you to know that expression of being saved is to be baptized where again baptism is a symbol when you go down in the water what it represents is death to your old what life and it represents a new life in jesus christ and maybe there's somebody for the first time that needs to be baptized to begin your walk maybe there's somebody that needs to be re-baptized or rededicated to restart your walk right now you need to text the word life to 404-737-0672 you need to text the word light to 404-737-0672-772-4040 and there's somebody who's saying pastor i want to come but i got some habits i got some issues that i wrestle with you know pastor i still drink and i i still smoke and i i still do this and i still shock i'm doing some of the stuff you preached about tonight i need you to understand this is how it works friends of mine you you don't get yourself right before you come to jesus you come to jesus just like you are right where you are jesus wants to meet you in this moment he wants to meet you in your habit and in your situation and in your lifestyle and i need you to know that it is christ that does the transforming it is christ that as we talked about friday that will declare you righteous upon the moment of decision uh that's justification then he's gonna take you on a journey of making you righteous for the rest of your life that's sanctification but you got to recognize that you cannot save yourself cleanse yourself make yourself right you've got to say yes just like you are and now i want to say to that person that's laden down with guilt and shame because of the past the promise of god in first john chapter 1 in verse 9 if you confess your sins he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you of all of your unrighteousness my friends tonight if you hear his voice i'm praying that you are not hard in your heart but you want to be baptized for the first time for the remission of all of your sins or you want to be rededicated three to reap read baptism and you want to say i want to get a fresh start i want to get a new beginning in jesus christ you want to just begin that tonight you want to text the word light to seven 404-737-0 six seven two right now i'm gonna pray for you and maybe you're in a watch party you're in a church service maybe you've got a child that needs to be rebecca that needs to be baptized a good friend that needs to be baptized a co-worker and maybe i want you to join with me in this evangelism so so i've been asking you to be an electronic evangelist now i need you to do a little personal ministry maybe you just need to come alongside of your spouse your friend your kids and not a hard press but you just want to make a gentle general appeal and you just want to make a statement of support right now you just want to say to them listen you haven't been baptized you you've been away from church or maybe you're going to send that text message just listen there's gonna be a baptism this weekend the 31st at your church or a church near you you just want to make the appeal to say somebody say listen if you get baptized you want to go all the way with jesus i just want you to know i'm going to walk alongside of you and you have my support you can call somebody you can make that text you can just talk to them right now if you want to get baptized i want you i just want you to know you have my support i'll walk alongside i'll help facilitate that walk between you and jesus you can text the word for that life to 404 you can text that word like to the number 404 or maybe you need bible study you can text 404-737-0672 or for baptism you can text the word life to 404-737-0672 i'm praying for you not tonight father i'm praying that your word landed on fertile soft ground tonight and i know this word is challenging and intimidating and hard for some but lord we know that though through dna we the gun may be loaded but through our day-to-day choices lord we pulled the trigger so lord my prayer for somebody tonight is that we would not eat as pleasure but that we would treat each meal as an investment and i just pray that as we evaluate each meal that we would make the decision to say lord is this going to give me a return or to ask the question what type of return am i going to get on this particular investment lord i just want to pray to god whatever the habit may be whether it is alcohol whether it's drinking whether it's marijuana maybe it's junk food maybe it's just eating unclean food lord i'm just praying that god that you would strengthen us that you to allow the indwelling power of the holy spirit to dwell richly inside of us to make a radical radical change on the inside and lord i'm praying that somebody would not just be overwhelmed by the volume of information that they received but lord may they just begin making some decisions one habit at a time lord we know that you're a god that begins a good work in us and we know according to philippians 1 6 that if you begin a good work in us you'll continue it until the day of jesus christ so lord i'm praying to god that for that soul that needs to be baptized for the remission of their sins and they were not hard in their hearts but tonight right now even as i'm praying this prayer that they would make the text they would send the call that they would make the decision to go all the way with their lord and their savior jesus christ so lord would you bless us and i'm praying to god that this will be a life-changing liberating word that causes somebody to experience relief healing deliverance that the captives might be set free by the truth of your word tonight we pray this oh god in faith through the great name of jesus christ our lord our savior and our soon-coming king let god's people say together amen and amen listen friends of mine i pray that that word of god listen if you couldn't say amen the whole time just say ouch again the the truth doesn't always feel good but guess what the truth always sets us free so do me a favor listen we're going to take off tomorrow night but listen make sure you come back and join us again on best friend friday don't just come bring your best friend with you now again i think we've shared with you guys that we wrote a book the title of the book is almost home it is it is a literary portal away from the curses of this life to help us be reminded that this world uh that there is a sequel that there is something better this world is not our home so the title of the book is almost home it's a contemporary guide for heaven-bound believers for those who are in atlanta you can go right on up to the south atlantic conference abc you can get your copy of the book or if you're in another city of the state and you're looking for a book for yourself you're looking for a small group a bible study small group resource a lot of you reached out you can just go right to amazon.com type in the name uh deblee or snell almost home you can type it in right there you can get that copy of the book sent to you in the next two or three days so that the spirit of the revival does not end on sabbath but you can continue to walk in christ and have these principles embedded and kept in with you so again if you're atlanta or you have access to the south atlantic conference abc go ahead and get there i think they got a limited amount of copies that we sent to them the rest of you you can just go straight to amazon.com type in the word almost home my name deadly airsnail you can get your copy so that the revival doesn't end this weekend but you can have some things cemented in your life god bless you we look forward to seeing you again on friday night tonight was uh with something special tonight uh pastor snell said it best if he couldn't say amen listen sorry ouch man listen tonight with special pastor abernathy i'm excited for what god has for us listen we don't want to belabor the point tonight we don't want to repreach anything we listen he has laid the groundwork for us and it's just simple for those of you who need to make a lifestyle change it starts with getting in that water and so we stretch our hands tonight asking god to do it exceedingly above all text life to 404-737-0672 uh pastor abernathy god's been good to us one more time what's the number of baptisms seven bro 27 this week in the uh upcoming weeks we have 27 souls that are going down in the watery grave and coming up in the newness of life in christ jesus 27 souls yeah we're excited about that we want to make sure we give up we give our prize away tonight uh we have a lucky winner tonight as we mentioned for you when you came onto the stream tonight was a text uh text the number to text prize to this number at the bottom right here and we do have a lucky winner for tonight which i'm really happy to announce we want to give um excuse we want to give the winner to i believe it's vicky russ siri figure victorious terry and i love this vicky congratulations to you you're going to be getting an almost home book to your house praise god for you tonight but man look at this doc she invited 15 people to watch tv thank you so much our team will be texting you inside of your chat i got a challenge man i got a challenge i got a challenge somebody has to beat that by friday okay come on can somebody get 20 people watching at the same time 20 people by friday listen 20 people by friday because i'm going to get in the zoom room get a party get out people i like that i like it i love that that's deep so shout out to you thank you so much for being our winner for tonight listen we've had an awesome time we've had a blast hosting with you all we're looking forward to of course taking some time off to kind of kind of take advantage of what god has to kind of digest everything if you will on tomorrow night we're off don't worry you can go back on our facebook page on our youtube page and you can go back and re-watch this message or watch any sermons that you missed and so we look forward to seeing you on friday night at 7 p.m and don't worry we're going to be back sabbath morning at 11 a.m to conclude we're going to have our baptisms pastor abernathy you give us some closure remarks man and take us home listen man it's just going to be a awesome culmination of this almost home uh a revival if somebody has missed it just as pastor humphrey said go back on our facebook page go back on our youtube and watch but your challenge is between now and saturday invite somebody out to this thing send this out to somebody if you have not invited anybody your challenge your your your calling is to invite somebody out to receive the word and listen to this before we go abernathy why don't you do this those who are still watching right now almost a thousand still watching listen if you get people to register uh uh on the night offs tell people to text the number register be apart right we'll get information to them we want them to be here for we're so grateful once again to our to our family of south atlantic conference thank you so much on behalf of elder winston our conference president of course elder calvin preston our ministerial director thank you so much for being a part of almost home we will see you on friday night take care god bless you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] uh [Music] you

Channel: South Atlantic Conference Broadcasting Network

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Length: 117min 23sec (7043 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 28 2021