GC19 Robert Morris | Session 1

thank you for watching this session from gateway conference 2019 we pray this message is a source of hope and encouragement for you and your ministry for more information visit gateway to Gateway Conference I hope you are as excited as I am are you excited ready for God to move well God is going to move that's the main thing is not just that we get information but we get revelation and transformation and that we meet with God and here's the great thing God has been looking forward to this conference more than you have because he's been looking forward to getting you away from all the noise and getting to talk to you for a little while so it's going to be a good good conference every conference I come in with a burden I'm a burden preacher I don't know how to do it any other way I the worst thing in the world is to know you have to speak and go in a room and try to come up with something so I've learned now after I don't know 38 years of preaching that it is just futile to do that not to spend time to the Lord I mean I'll spend time with the Lord but until he speaks it is crazy to try to write a message and so I just wait and I say to him hey if you don't speak I'm just gonna stand there for 40 minutes because I am not getting up there alone because I've done that before so if you're know if you don't show you don't have anything to say I'll just tell him hey he didn't have anything to say so talk amongst yourselves or whatever you know I don't know so I'm telling you it's it's for me it's the only way it works is to get a burden and so during my summer break I always begin praying about the Gateway conference and this burden started during my summer break and even as part of what I'm going to share is a burden that I've taken into a series that I'm doing at the church right now as well but my burden for you and I'll speak at the this session and then the last session tomorrow night my burden is to help you understand how harmful stress is to you and how you can be in ministry and not be stressed out I look back pastor Jimmy and I were talking this morning when you get to our age and have been in ministry as long as we have you start thinking why didn't I enjoy it more why did not just relax I mean the only thing I had to do was hold up a stick and God parted the Red Sea why did I get so stressed out about holding up a stick are y'all hearing me I remember when I first started meeting with dr. Henry cloud I he said what stresses you the most and I immediately said the weekend messages pastor Brady Boyd when he he was associate senior pastor here and went to new life's doing a great job there and as the senior pastor he made a comment he after about a year of being there he said Sundays come around at an alarming rate and any senior pastor any person in ministry understands that whatever your responsibilities are he said sometimes I'll preach a great message and on the way home I think what am I going to do next week anyone ever felt that and sava stolen pastor I mean I was told with dr. cloud one in one of our sessions and I said what what stresses me the most are weekend messages and he said why and I said to him well because Henry I have to hit a home run people expect me to hit a home run I hit home runs that's that's what I do I I work on the message normally fifteen to twenty five hours during the week and I and I craft it and I I know where how to do the timing of it I know how to add humor I know what makes a good message and it's very very tough and it takes everything out of it it takes everything I have to hit a home run and then for some reason I think God allows this to happen when I'm with Henry because it kind of reveals something in my heart that I didn't know was there you know and so and I just had the entry I said it takes everything I have to hit home runs and then I said to him and I can hit home runs just like that I said I can hit home runs and Henry's set their men then he said well well it is great to meet you he said I'll bet you can walk on water and raise the dead - he said Robert my Bible tells me that there's only one who can hit home runs and you're not him and all you can do is swing the bat and right after that I met with him the very next week was Easter and you know that's the Superbowl for passengers you know and I was getting starting to get stressed and I thought I don't have to hit a home run I just have to swing the bat you know what was some AC I went into that Easter so relaxed and so refreshed and just a god you don't do it I just well I'm swinging the bat that doesn't go with offense your fault you know so but what was amazing was all my friends and staff came up to me at RIT said that is the best Easter message you have ever preached in your life and I thought thanks so I want to talk to you about stress and I wanted you saw the little commercial for the the new book that's coming out take the day off and comes out the end of this month and you can actually go to I think take the day off book calm and download the first two chapters I I have never in my life preached a message because a book was coming out I want you to know that and I'm not doing that this time but it's my burden so I have to nail this down because the worst people I know are taking a day off or people in ministry whether it's vocational ministry or volunteer ministry any type of church leadership were the worst so I want to talk to you about that's the title of the messages take the day off and I'm going to do something I've actually never ever done I'm gonna read two paragraphs from this the new book for that rope and the reason is because I've thought about it over and over and over again I thought I can't say it as well as I wrote it and so here's here's the way chapter two starts okay the reports submitted to the Government of Japan simply called him mr. a to protect his identity let's call him mr. Asarco he had worked for several years of a major Japanese snack food processing company often putting in as many as 110 hours a week now for those of you don't do math well just I'll help you a little bit but a hundred and ten hours a week just to put that into perspective I write that's more than two and a half 40-hour work weeks jammed into one to log a hundred and ten hours in a week requires working nearly 16 hours a day for seven days 16 times 70 112 this is 110 so almost 16 hours a day seven days a week he did that week after week year after year they found mr. Asarco dead at his workstation the victim of a heart attack he was 34 in Japan they call it I'm going to put this up Hiroshi I think that's how you pronounce it I don't know though so the Chinese have their own word for it gets this word and in South Korea they call it this word all three terms were coined recently to describe something so new that their languages did not even have a word for it when I did study for this book you just can't imagine what I found out that's going on around the world in this area these words describe the act these are new words now in these three languages these words describe to act of literally working yourself to death all three Asian cultures discovered they needed a to describe an increasingly common phenomenon there mainly people dropping dead on their jobs as a result of working insane hours under intense pressure with little to no rest now I'm gonna put those three things on the screen and say I'm again working insane hours under intense pressure with little to no rest sounds like ministry to me it sounds like ministry my risky works with me Mike was a professional golfer for 15 years and played on the PGA Tour II when he's on the tour I actually went with him to a couple of tournaments and he would get there many times on Tuesday and he would play a practice round but his practice round was about eight hours because he would look at every shot and every angle and putt you know put tees all over the green and putt where the pin placements would be and I mean it was a 8 to 10 hour day work day and I thought playing golf you know when the tour was just like fun you know and then on Wednesday he played in a program and which is a lot of work for professionals to play with amateurs so but anyway he'd do that and then Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday was the tournament we'd get there three hours before his tee off time he'd hit balls he would he we had a routine he'd be practice on the putting greens he did this then when we'd finished this round and all I was doing was following him around but I was exhausted and then when we finished whatever he didn't like about his game he'd go to the range and work on it for a couple hours and then he'd fly home on Sunday afternoon and fly back out on Monday night so he worked basically six days a week and and it was they were long days but he left the tour and came on our staff as our marriage and family pastor and after about a month he called me and said I have a question for you I said what's that he said what do you do we still have calls to make and it's five o'clock and I said you go home because they're going to be there tomorrow and what he learned was I don't care what profession you're in even again whether your vocation or by vocational or non vocational as far as ministry maybe you're in business and you're a church leader there's a difference and all of our business guys will tell you this when you step in the church leadership you're not dealing with products anymore you're dealing with people's lives you're dealing with eternity you're dealing with marriages and family and children and it is stressful so you've got to learn something so God did something for all of us it's wonderful he created a seven-day week think about this he didn't just happen God could have created a six-day week a three-day week a 12-day week God trade a seven-day week and one of those days was to rest and God did this so before we ever get to the law Exodus 20 the Ten Commandments the Ten Commandments in Exodus 16 he gives an example let me read that to you Exodus 16 verse 23 then he said to them this is what the Lord has said tomorrow is a Sabbath rest I just want you to notice the word rest now listen to me look at me just for a moment here's what's the problem we're gonna get to this when we talk about keeping the Sabbath here's what I thought that meant growing up going to church if you keep the Sabbath that means you go to church on Sunday that is there is nothing anywhere in here about going to church and that's how you keep the Sabbath nothing in the Bible not one place not one now I think you should go to church I agree with going church once a week I agree with that but that's not he doesn't have one thing to do with the Sabbath the whole point of the Sabbath was to stop working one day a week it was to rest one day a week so this is what he's doing the manna providing manna for him in the wilderness this is what the Lord has said tomorrow's a Sabbath rest a holy Sabbath to the Lord bake what you will bake today and boil what you will boil and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning so they laid it up till morning as Moses commanded and it did not seek nor were there any worms did it if you remember the previous days when they had tried to keep some for the next day by the next day it was thinking had worms in it because God was trying to teach them I'll provide every day what you need but on Friday the sixth day he was providing enough for the seventh day and he didn't sink the next day then Moses said eat that today for today is the Sabbath to the Lord now watch this today you will not find it in the field listen to me very carefully God if you need a report done or a message written God will not provide it for you on the seventh day he will only provide it on the other six days he will not give you manna from heaven on the Sabbath as y'all hear that that was better than he thought I mean you study all you won't you will got not get anything from God on the day you're supposed to be resting he you will not find it in the field six days you saw gathered but on the seventh day the Sabbath watch this there will be none whatever provision you need for works that day he already provided it he won't provide it that day now it happened that some of the people went out of the seventh day together but they found none and the Lord said to Moses how long do you refuse to keep my Commandments and my laws see for the Lord has given you the seventh by the way he gets a gift from God why would you not unwrap it therefore he gives you on the sixth day bread for two days let every man and and ladies just to remind you the word man is mankind hew man whoa man your man too now your wool man yeah but you're still okay let no we're let every man remain his place let no man let no hue man go out of his place on the seventh day so the people rested on the seventh day now why did God do this obviously because he doesn't want us to have any fun no obviously because he does want us to enjoy this life and he wants you to enjoy ministry I heard pastor Jimmy say one time he's so goddamn the Bible that you I think you messed up on was come to me if you're weary cuz my burden is light and easy and he said it's not light and it's not easy as a matter of fact it's the opposite it's heavy and it's hard and the Lord said to him that's not my burden that's not my burden you've taken on your own bird listen if I get stressed out over the weekend message that is not God's burden that could be going to something inside of me wanting to just perform and do a good job and God wants to deal with that in me so here are a few points about it I think I have five for this message so here's number one it's a commandment taking the day off as a commandment here's the commandment it's the fourth commandment on once you notice - there's nothing not going to church again I'm for going to church but that's not what the Commandments about Exodus 20 verse eight this is the fourth commandment it's three verses long remember by the way it's the longest commandment so apparently it's pretty important cuz he had to spend more time on it because he knew that we would argue with him about it remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy or to keep it set apart six days you shall labor and do all your emails I'm sorry I just wanted to bring it up to modern that's a modern translation you shall do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God in it you shall do can you say that word no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle he doesn't even what your cows working nor your stranger who is within your gates for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it hallow comes from the same root word is holy set it apart okay so this is one of God's talk to you does everyone agree with that okay aren't you glad that since we're under grace we don't need to keep the Ten Commandments anymore as Christians because I hear this all the time hey pastor we're under grace not law so I guess I can murder people as a Christian because I'm under grace and I can lie and I can steal and I can covet commits adultery have our idols take God's name in vain No now we don't keep the Ten Commandments to get saved obviously but are there blessings if you do and other and are there consequences if you don't so let's just hear so they please you've got to get this this is the only commandment that Christians believe we don't have to keep we believe that we should not have any gods before him we believe we should not have idols right y'all don't have little Buddhas around your house you pray too right okay we we we believe that we should not take his name in vain everyone agree with this okay let's skip the fourth one for a moment we believe we should honor our mother and father we should not lie we should not steal we should not murder we should not commit adultery and we should not cover it do you agree with that then why do you not rest one day a week it's in the same list as the other nine that just gave you it's a commandment here's number two it's a witness I don't know if you realize this but for thousands of years it was the greatest witness on the planet that there was a God and I'll show you this Exodus 31 verse 14 you shall keep the Sabbath therefore for it is holy to you set apart everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death it carried the death penalty along with murder adultery and disobedient to your parents so you know you could tell your children sometime you know if we were in the Old Testament you'd be dead right now but [Applause] you talk about being stones you'd be an it's a bit nevermind okay alright so everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death for whoever does any emails any work on it that person shall be cut off from among his people's work shall be done for six days but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest doesn't say going to church says rest holy to the Lord to the Lord whoever does any work on the Sabbath day he shall surely be put to death there's the law of redundance in the Bible the Bible says that twice in just a few verses therefore the children ritual shall keep the Sabbath and we've been grafted-in I don't need to go through Romans 11 infusions to with you do you we're fellow citizens and we've been grafted into the nation of Israel so they shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations now watch this word as a perpetual covenant anyone want to tell me the meaning of the word perpetual no end it is a sign or a witness between me and the children of Israel what's that word forever for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed okay now let me go to a little theology for you there probably are not many of you here that would like to theologically explain to me how God was refreshed the God who never sleeps who never gets tired never gets weary how in the world could God get refreshed well anytime again you want to understand something you take it in hold with all of Scripture it's called cohesive exegesis now you look at the context but you look at the Holy Scripture but also go to the original language so the original language in the Hebrew let me tell you what this word refresh'd means it means took breath it means to inhale it means he breathes in okay what had God been doing for six days creating right but how does God create he speaks what do you do when you speak do you breathe out you exhale right so for six days God had been breathing out on the seventh day God breathed in have you ever said before if I could just catch my breath God set it up where you get a whole day to do that every week and for some reason we just don't think it applies to us I understand we're not under the law but you understand that the laws are also principles in which to live by their principles that are for our good so it's a witness to the whole world let me let me just tell you what I mean by it's a witness to the whole world to let's say a nation was doing business with Israel and again let's just use email and let's say that the guy emails this let us say 100 you know thousands years ago but we're gonna bring email into it I'd say he emails and says hey listen I'll be in town on Saturday and we can close this deal on Saturday the Jewish person would email back sorry we're closed on Saturdays we don't work on Saturdays the secular person would email back wide closed on Saturdays cheers first email that because it's a Sabbath secular person wise well what's the Sabbath and they would say well it's the day that God rested God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh therefore we rests on the seventh secular person right back which God what what God tell me more about this God that created the world in six days you follow me witness alright here's number three God is serious about it God is serious about it numbers 15 verse 32 now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day I want you to notice what he was doing gathering sticks and those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation and they put him under guard well of course he's a stick gatherer he got a guard that guy because he has not been explained what should be done to him it had been explained they just didn't want to do it then the Lord said to Moses so this wasn't just Moses this was the Lord said to Moses the man must surely be put to death I would say God is serious about it all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp so as the LORD commanded Moses all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stone him with stones and he died remember my point is God is serious so let me let me say it this way are you being slowly put to death by not resting one day a week does God want you to live to this age but you're gonna die 12 years before that like mr socko who died at 34 because he'd already put in a lifetime of work by the time he was 34 I years and years ago I was trying to schedule lunch with this pastor friend of mine and so back then we had day timers you know and I had my day time around yeah his day timer out and so we were saying what about you know next Tuesday no I'm doing this what about Wednesday no I'm doing this I said what about Thursday what do you have on Thursday he said nothing I said great let's have lunch he said no I'm I can't do it on Thursday I said yeah but you said you don't have anything scheduled he said the others right I said okay so let's do Thursday they said no Robert you don't understand next Thursday I have nothing scheduled next Thursday I'm scheduled to do nothing next Thursday I'm going to do nothing and then he said I'd like to tell you about it when we do get together for lunch so I said okay so we get together and he says to me I forgot exactly how long but he was in his early 50s when it happened and this was a few years later I guess but he said to me I was in a hospital and I was dying and the doctor said we don't know why you're dying your organs are shutting down and we don't know why and he said one night in the hospital room at night I couldn't sleep and I said to God God I've served you in the ministry I'm a pastor why are you doing this to me and God said son I'm not doing this to you you did this to you he said you have not kept the fourth commandment you don't rest one day a week you don't rest one day a week and please hear me you say well does it have to be Saturday which was Jewish seventh days it's Sunday I work on the weekends pastor it's your seventh day to me that's how the New Testament says it sits there is a Sabbath still for the people of God but if you have to work on Sunday it might not be sunny for me it's Monday but so what it's you got everybody's the principal is rest one day week that's the principle but he said to me I'm in the hospital Lord said you've profaned the Sabbath you killed yourself I didn't care you killed yourself God is so good and he said to him Oh Lord is there any way that I could have forgiveness and get Grace and he said the Lord said to him of course and he said I felt Street coming my body and he said I actually unplugged myself got up got dressed and walked out of the hospital and have not been back since he said but you better believe I rest one day a week now so on that Thursday I did nothing arrested and that pastor I was invited to his memorial but I didn't get to go years and years later he died at a a ripe old age I it was I I know about the age but I'm not gonna say it because some of you might be at that age you might think I'm not right so brightness is getting farther along the older I get I felt you know you say I got lived a long life now I'm thinking and that's not that long all right here's number four unobserved Sabbath accumulate this will get you unobserved Sabbath accumulate second chronicles 36 verse 20 and 21 and those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon this is the Babylonian exile where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia had be Sarris to fulfill the word of the lord by the mouth of jeremiah watched this phrase until the land had enjoyed her Sabbath's I didn't even know land could enjoy something but the Bible says it did the land had in Georgia service as long as she laid desolate she kept seven that's the land the land kept seven to fulfill seventy years so what was the principle ever seven years they were supposed to let the land rest right seven years went by and they didn't do it and so then another seven years go by and they didn't let that land rest them and then another seven years went by okay how many years so if every seven years now again this is maths or some of you can check out I'll tell you the answer and I don't even have to see your work but they're supposed to let it rest every seven years and said they let seventy of those seven years pass so seventy times seven so how long did they go without living the land rest it's so funny to look at the blank expression on your and I'm used to it because my wife has that same expression when I taught math through 490 years they went 490 years without Lading land rest so I have a simple question for you if you went 490 years doing something that you weren't supposed to do would you start thinking that you were getting away with it not with God the first seven years went by they didn't let the land rest God was up in heaven and went 114 years to 21 years 328 435 five God just marked and when they got seven years he said that's it and he takes them out of the land to let the land rest if he cares about land how much more does he care about you and have you been to Israel it is a fertile garden in the middle of a desert because this principle works but unobserved Sabbath's accumulate here's number five God made the Sabbath for our benefit it's a blessing not a burden mark chapter 2 verse 23 it happened that he went through the grain fields on the Sabbath and as they went his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain and the Pharisees said to him look why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath but he said them have you never read what David when he was in need and hungry he and those who were with him how he went to the house of the God in the days of Abbas or the high priests and ate the show bread which is not lawful to eat except for the priests and also gave some of those who are with him and he said to them the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of Sabbath let me paraphrase that I meant he was saying I didn't make you to serve the Sabbath I made the Sabbath to serve you I made the Sabbath for your benefit so Jesus also covered emergencies you know he said listen if your ox falls in a ditch on the Sabbath pulled it out so if you have an emergency okay sure I understand that I mean don't get a phone call you know pastor the church is on fire it's mus habit you know you can handle an emergency okay jesus said that listen you have an emergency take care of it but listen to me if an emergency comes up every week you're a bad manager you got to get some systems and some policies in place so you can rest and you have got to be principled about it I was standing around the office one day talking and by the way again Monday's my Sabbath but here's Monday and I'm working but I took some other time off last week and I'm taking some more off after the conference so it doesn't have to be the same day every week every it just has to be one day out of seven that's the point rest but I was sitting in an office one day when this principle was new in my life and I was trying to get it in the whole staff and I was standing around talking with four or five pastors and one of them said hey pastor I know Monday's or your Sabbath but would you do this on a Monday and just to make the point I just said to him why don't you ask me to commit adultery while you're at it and let's you know knock over a 7-eleven and shoot some people in the way - I said I just want to make a point you just asked me to break one of the Ten Commandments why don't you whichever which other one you want me to break - I I can remember again when we were small I'd get an email from one of the staff members cuz I said Monday is my Sabbath unless we have to rearrange for a conference or some money there's a I'd get an email you know and ask me a question and I email back just to point to get the point in to them what day is this you get the email back sorry but you just have to get principled about it rest must be scheduled do you schedule work let me just ask you when you say hey let's get together and we're gonna have a meeting and the whole disappointment the worst of departments will have this meeting and so me this night at 7 o'clock at this building do you schedule meetings hello anyone ok you have to schedule rest now I'm going to shock you all of my rest days for next year 2020 have already been scheduled here's what's great about that someone calls and asked you to speak you say I'm already scheduled that day now I'm scheduled to do nothing that big when we minister with every day no matter what you do you have four tanks that you're a reflected ray need an emotional tank a mental tank a physical tank and a spiritual take what you have to do is figure out what replenishes your tanks what replenishes you emotionally physically mentally and spiritually and that's what you do okay when I teach pastors on this sometimes we'll do a pastor school and we'll have a small group of pastors and I'll teach on this and then I'll say any questions okay I know what the first question is gonna be that's Robert what do you do on your Sabbath I realize I'm talking to a workaholic because he or she's been going through their mind the whole time thinking well what would I do for a whole day well here's a person that doesn't know how to rest so I say when they say well what do you do on your Sabbath here's the answer of that question that's the wrong question the question is not what do I do the question is what do I not do on the Sabbath and here's what I don't do work now that doesn't mean I might not work around the house might play golf might go to the lake might go to a movie might do but I don't do work I don't study I don't write messages I don't answer emails about work I don't do work and it is harder today than any day ever to not do work one day we because we carry our office with us everywhere we go it is horrible we used to have a work phone and a home phone and people wouldn't think about calling you at home they just wait y'all just wait till tomorrow now they will send you an email at 2:00 a.m. and if you keep it close to you just because you want to use your alarm listen they have alarms at Walmart for $9.99 they don't last for about three months but it's not it's okay you get another one because they got another one too but have you ever awakened in the middle of the night go to the bathroom or something and just look at your phone and then can't go back to sleep or forget to turn it to silent and be just dozing off B I remember when we first got into the phones and all and course Debbie 9 now I make her keep a very keep her number very private email private all that because a lab a work email and a personal email I wouldn't really call it private where it's personal so this has to do with work do not email me on my personal email or text me it's amazing how pastors will text you can you come speak at my conference this is a work matter I have a staff that schedules that why won't you just go through the office you know so you just have to train people you have to train them but I remember when we've when we were I was first learning this principle and cell phones were little newer at that time and Debbie's phone every night at midnight would go be and when she's asleep she's asleep I mean like coma sleep but I would I go sleep about 11:00 11:30 I just being that just getting there be and I would think to myself who is texting my wife at midnight every night every night and so one night be I thought that's it I am gonna text this person back and I'm gonna say this is pastor Robert and you stopped texting my wife at midnight every night I don't care how good of a friend you are you're out you know I'm sick of it you know I was I was gonna give it to him what I found out was she had this Scripture that God was giving her and she said on a reminder and and I go over and I look at her phone and here's what says guard your heart [Applause] all right so let me tell you one more story how God we also not only do Sabbath where it's one day a week but we give all of our pastors and and that level which they're called directors then own if they're not pastors but they're at that level of ministry that's just as much ministry to do what the pastor does what a lot of our people do is ministry as well even though not called a pastor we have all of our pastors and directors sabbaticals every five to seven years depending on their amount of responsibility and so they get four weeks vacation and then four weeks extra every five to seven years sabbatical so and also our pastors get four weeks every year to minister somewhere else let's twelve weeks right there when you come to us out of here because we're about building the kingdom not just about building gateway church so anyway we we implemented this so we're five years into the church I'm exhausted the church is growing it's the book the blessed life had taken off I mean it was just it was just I just gotten too busy busy busy was it resting one day we didn't even have this this this when God started dealing with me about this but I went on a trip for Life outreach international which is James Robinson's ministry and we're going to these feeding places where children are dying I'm looking directly into a camera asking people to support that it's real the the well waters the water wells really help the funds you give that's it goes there you know I'm and it's it's it's real it's not a television program it's a ministry that's helping people you know so they feed about a half a million people every day and so I'm there and babies are dying in our arms on some of these places and I'm looking in the camera communicating it's such an emotional drain other things were going on I've come home I'm exhausted man I'm exhausted and I'm go right back into it I know now come home from overseas trip take some time off but I didn't know that then and so I go right back into it so I'm getting ready to go to the office and I hate to tell you this story but I'm gonna tell you I get out of the shower go into my closet I open my underwear drawer and there's one pair of underwear and I'm standing there thinking what am I gonna do tomorrow and I'm so tired my mind can't think I the thought I could wash never came to my mind I can go to Walmart by 12 pair for 79 cents you know I just thought I'm not going to have underwear tomorrow pastors should wear underwear it's in the Bible priests are not supposed to chafe when they minister it's in them is what the Pope was s I something like that it's close okay so I put the under her own I open my sock drawer and there are no socks and I started crying and I sat down on the floor in my underwear and cried and I went to lunch that day with Tom Lane and I leaned across the table to him I said Tom I'm losing my mind he said what she wouldn't be so I told him I cried in my underwear her socks he said you're not losing your mind pastor you're tired you're exhausted any human would be and that's when I took my first sabbatical and the church gave me eight weeks and on the last week we did this Alaskan cruise and I was sitting there on the deck with Debbie she was reading a book I was reading the book nothing about leadership it was about I was reading about Alaskan fishing boats and all of a sudden the church wouldn't go in five years all of a sudden I thought I feel normal again I'm back to normal I feel like I did before I started the church I feel like me again and the Lord said to me what day is it in your sabbatical and I said it's the 53rd day and he said aha you owed 52 days one year of sabbaticals of Sabbath's one year you owe 52 days and I said Lord do you mean I owed you 52 days he said no no you owed you 52 days he said sudden save us not for me it's for you I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes now won't you just take them only and a lot of times I say what's the Holy Spirit saying you I know what the Holy Spirit ii to us he might say you might direct it personally to you I understand that but here's what I want you to do I want you to make a commitment I just want you to tell him to the best of my ability Lord I'm gonna honor the Sabbath I started to say I'm going to rest one where they're weak I'm gonna take a day off but it goes deeper than that this is the Bible this is spiritual this is something God put for our benefit so I just want you to make that commitment Lord to the best of my ability please help me like the man said I believe but help my unbelief so it said that's one of the greatest prayers in the Bible Lord I'm gonna try but help me because you know me so I just want you to take a moment and just say Lord to the best of my ability I'm going to honor the Sabbath and the Lord will show you what day and how to do it and you know small children and a church where you may be it's your kind of yet you do everything I understand all those things but God will show you Lord I pray for my brothers and sisters I pray God that we will honor all 10 of the commandments and that we will honor the Sabbath in Jesus name Amen [Music] you

Channel: Gateway Conference

Views: 32,003

Rating: 4.7333331 out of 5

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Id: prX4LNeJnbw

Length: 52min 33sec (3153 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 06 2020