- Yo, what's going on? Today, we're going to do
something a little bit different, something that I'm really excited about. We've called it Simple Church. Notice I'm leaving the building. We're not having church in the building, so we're going to an undisclosed location because we got something
pretty incredible planned. Now, if you haven't noticed,
I need a little more coffee. The sugar at the bottom is the best part, but I think my ride is here. So let's get rocking. We're going to need more coffee, for sure. What's going on? (energetic music) All right. So I know I said
that it was undisclosed, but I don't like not
knowing where we're going. So where are we going? - All right. All right. So you told me about Simple
Church and cool idea, like church for the internet. And one of the cool things
is we can do it anywhere. And so you were like, let's,
let's find some cool locations. And one of the ones that
came up was Kinder Farm Park, and I'd heard about
it. And so I said, hey, let's give that a shot. So we're
on the way there right now. - Yeah. That's about as much
farm as you're going to get in among this area, actually, as you want, I don't want any more farm than that. They got a little petting zoo. Actually, it's a great place
to go. I appreciate that. There is a phenomenal bagel
store, not far from that. I need some more coffee
and can certainly afford a little brekkie. It's called Uber Bagels. Oh, we didn't know about it. - No. Hey, I love a good bagel. Like we, maybe we can hit that up one day. Why one day? Why not this day? Not going to regret it.
Uber Bagels kills the game. Here we go. - You know what? I'm
happy you made us do this. It's a good idea. We got time. - You'll thank me later. Let's rock. - How do I get there from here? (energetic music) - I remember this one
time in Teen Challenge when I was told that I
had to take these horses from one stable out to
the, to the pasture. Eric, Eric was the head farmer. This cat knew what was going on. And he said, what they're going to do is, is they're going to bow
up on you to test you because they've never seen you before. And so they want to see
how, who's running the show. And so he said, when they
bow up, pull their head up, he said, you tug down on
them as hard as you can, let them know who's boss. Roger. I took this horse that was like 35 hands. So it was like from here to heaven. And I walked him out of that
stall and he bowed up one time and I was like, screw that. I just let him go. (energetic music) What makes a legit farm
versus a non legit farm? - I feel like you have to sell something. - Or raise something. - What if you raised it? - You raise it to sell it. - Yeah, because I'm
raising a cat and a dog and it's not a farm. - That's a house farm. This is, we'll say Burke. What do you say Bubba? Back it up. This is Ernie, number 171. I don't know where your earring is, but it doesn't look like you have one. As you can see, oh, Burt and
Ernie's stall is full of mess. Goats don't care about what
they do with their hay, where they go to the bathroom
or where their food bowls go. Actually, it looks like
they've tipped theirs over. Why? Because where goats are,
you are sure to find a mess. That's why this stall is full of messes. Now, if you go to this stall, there is no mess to be cleaned, but neither is there
any animals to be found. No animals, no mess. I believe this stands true
for even this third stall. Certainly it does. It's not cleaned to my standard, but for all intents and
purposes, no animal, no mess. And lastly, where there
should be a pig crossing, it looks like, oh, Mr. Boss
Hog has since moved on. No pig, no mess. As of late, I've sort of seen
so many messes in my life. I think that I've seen
areas that I felt were more disordered or more organized, rather, areas that I feel like have frustrated me at times, areas that have caused me consternation, because it feels like I can
never get them organized. And I think it proves the
point as Proverbs 14:4 says, that where there is no
oxen, the stalls stay clean. But where there is oxen,
there's a harvest to gain. Ultimately what Solomon intended
the reader to understand, when he spoke about the
stalls and the oxen, is that in ancient Israel, really an ox was someone's tractor. It's what plowed the field. It's what caused them
to be able to sow seed, it's what did all the hard
work so that eventually there would be a harvest. There would be resources
that would come in. So there would be money to be had. That oxen actually produced
all that for the owners. And what Solomon was saying is, is that where there isn't
oxen, there isn't a tractor, or there isn't the
potential to make resources. Well, you don't have a
whole lot to clean up. Actually the stall stay clean. The work is minimal,
but so is the harvest. Solomon wanted the reader to
understand that whenever God gives you a blessing or he
gives you a gift or he gives you a means to make resources
that he would bless. It typically comes with a mess, that it's going to cause a
mess in your and my life. And if you're not careful,
what you'll do is, is sometimes you'll look
at the provision of God or the blessings from God or
the gifts that have been given to us by God and you'll
grow discouraged at them because all you'll see is mess
rather than the potential. Case in point, consider kids for a minute. I don't know how many
of you have young kids, but they could care less about
organization or cleanliness. They make messes wherever they go. And if all you focus
on is what they mess up and what they disorganize and
the stress that they cause you well, you'll miss the potential
that God has given you to raise up young men and
women that would be warriors for him. Those that would add life to our family, those little personalities that
he's given us to stretch us and to make us better moms
and dads, husbands, and wives. Ultimately those blessings,
they create a mess. You wouldn't have to worry about a mess if you didn't have kids. Take your job for instance, as many times as it causes
you a great frustration, whether it's those that
you work with or the boss that you have, that job is
a blessing given us by God. But it comes with a mess at times, comes with the little relational discord, or it comes with you
not being able to have what you want immediately. Or you having to work with
people that stretch you or irritate you? Nevertheless, you miss the fact that God is
using people to refine you. Some of your gifts that
you've been given by God that he has placed within
you to radiate himself? Well, they can cause even a mess at times. I know in my own personal life, of being called to be relational
and point people to Jesus being down in the trenches
with men and women, oh, I've realized that sometimes
my investment isn't appreciated or at times my work doesn't
immediately bring about a harvest and I can look around and go, there's more mess than there is blessing. And it's then that I
realize, hey, actually, where there are no oxen, the stalls stay clean
and where there are oxen, there's great potential for harvest. Here's what I'm saying, in this day and age, I think all of us can look
around and see a mess. But many times the mess that
you will realize and you see, and that frustrate you is a
result of the blessing that God has given you. It's all how you look at it. You can either be frustrated
or you can be thankful. I think for those of us
that are watching right now and are frustrated over a mess, maybe it comes down to perspective, that what if you didn't have
the gifts God has given you? What if you didn't have
the blessings he's placed in your hand? What if he didn't have, you didn't have the
relationships that surround you? It would be a rather boring eventless and sometimes lonely life. And so I want you to
start to look at things a little bit different. The reason that stall
down there is full of mess is because two goats are in there. Goats that are either some
farmers pet or some farmers joy, or some farmers means to harvest. Same applies for an oxen, same applies for you fill
in the blank, in your life. And so perspective is either
going to result in frustration or it's going to result in gratitude. I think God has a clear charge for us. Start to see the messes in your life as a result of the blessings
that he's already given us. I love you guys so much. I hope Simple Church has encouraged you. And I hope that you start to see things a little bit different. Keep a messy stall. (energetic music) - I would like to, maybe you could set up a
day where you make all of lighthouse staff work in a farm for a day. I feel like that'd be pretty interesting. There's a few people who would thrive and a few people who, it
wouldn't, it wouldn't go well, I think Steve would be on the tractor. - Oh, definitely. Steve would get it done. He
would know exactly what to do. We would all be walking
around intimidated, fearful that he's watching us. - What about John? What is John doing on farm day? - John would be walking
around absolutely lost, just looking preoccupied,
but doing nothing, you know. - Just carrying the same
pumpkin around the whole day. - Thinking that he was doing something. What about DT? What would he be doing? - Oh man. He, first of all, he would definitely
have on like a straw hat and have a, he'd have a, he would, he would look like he
belongs and he would just sit in a rocking chair playing
his guitar the whole time. - Yeah. He'd be like the old man farmer. - Yeah. - What about, what about DJ sweat? - I mean, if we don't have any oxen, we just hook it up to him
and then he'd be pulling, pulling the combine. - No doubt, no doubt. In brand new boots, brand new boots. - Like, I didn't know Air
Jordan made farm, farm boots. They're they're cool. - Steel toe. I didn't know that.
