"God is shaking things up!" — Dr. Tony Evans Delivers Powerful Message at NRB 2021

thank you thank you thank you first of all let me express my deep appreciation for this opportunity given to me by nrb thank troy miller for his quality leadership in a strategic time of this critical organization i will always express gratitude because it was in 1985 that i was asked to speak here for the first time and that opened up a series of doors and opportunities to expand our broadcast ministry beyond a few stations to nationwide and now worldwide and i would be uh neglectful not to recognize that and appreciate that also i am very appreciative of all the kind nests shown to me and my family during our time of grief with the loss of lois evans because she loved being here loved her annual trip to nrb and the engagement that she had with so many friends of this great organization as she helped take our ministry to the next level during that season also honored to have my family here my children and relatives and staff of the urban alternative and our praise team from oak cliff bible fellowship pastor dobson and uh our our band so it's been a great evening and a great time to be able to be with you so thank you for allowing me these few moments to uh to be with you i noticed when the band was playing some of you were moving as you've never moved before but um that's a good thing and it's always good to praise the lord in meditation and in celebration so thank you let's go to the lord in prayer dear father i come to you and asks very simply that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart may be acceptable to you and that you will give us what we need for tonight that you will cover this conference and allow your voice to be heard through these human lips and we will give you the glory in jesus name amen it was in january of 2020 that my granddaughter kelsey the oldest child of my youngest son jonathan evans was sitting at the table refusing to eat she was refusing to eat meal after meal after meal of course her parents were concerned that she was refusing to take in food sitting there with a somber look on her face and a discouragement around her posture she was continually being pressed by her parents kelsey what's wrong what's wrong what's wrong finally after being pressed a multiplicity of times she simply raised the question that explained everything to her mother and her father she said what's happening to our family what's happening to our family we had come through quite a year in 2019 i'd lost my sister just previous to that i'd lost my brother six months from then my sister's husband died a few months from then november 25th my father died december 30th my wife died in january of that year my daughter priscilla had to have half of her left lung removed for cancer and it was one thing after another that had shaken our world a world that up until that point had the normal struggles of life but this time it was different as one thing on top of another thing on top of another thing stacked itself right after that covet set in and my ministry world was turned upside down as was yours then in march of that year i contracted pneumonia and great concern in the covet season about its potential effects on my life i then contracted covet and there was one thing [Music] after another as you look at your world the world in which you live and work and minister your testimony may not be the same as mine but i am sure we would be in concomitant agreement that things have been shaken when i was a boy growing up in baltimore maryland i would often spend the weekends at my grandmother's home and i would be watching on saturday morning my favorite cartoons among which would be mickey mouse and mighty mouse and i would be enjoying the saturday morning cartoons but if it happened to thunderstorm and if there was lightning my grandmother would inevitably say tony turn the television off i say but grandmother i'm watching the cartoons tony turn the television off but why grandmother why should i turn the television off and her and out of inevitable retort would be because god is talking her interpretation was that there was a divine disruption into the ordinary affairs of life then cartoons later as an adult it would be my whole world collapsing the normal process of life had been turned topsy-turvy the scripture makes it clear that when that happens when my world and your world has turned upside down and inside out we are not to dismiss it as mere events of the day when the natural order of things are disrupted in a significant way scripture would have us to know what grandmother said god is talking now this is not a philosophical or psychological analysis this is a theological truth because the author of hebrews the author who wrote the book whose theme is very simply never give up to people who are facing all kinds of cataclysmic realities in their lives and in their circumstances chapter after chapter after chapter his retort is the same never give up he comes to chapter 12. and he says in verse 25 see to it that none of you refuse him who is speaking for if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth much less we will escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven and his voice shook the earth then but now he has promised saying yet once more i will shake not only the earth but also the heaven this expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken of the created things so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain the author of hebrews says when god has a fresh fresh message to give a new challenge to throw out a reorientation to inaugurate he shakes things up when god wants things done differently when god does not want the norm to continue when god has to uproot the ordinary and call us to the extraordinary he shakes things up when god has decided that we've become too cavalier when god has decided we've become too at ease when god has decided that we have become too comfortable and god has decided that we're not on point with his purpose he shakes things up and you can always know when god is talking because he disrupts the ordinary things by crafting a crisis let me say that again in your life my life your family my family your ministry my ministry if you want to know where god wants to do something different he does not want the same old same-o anymore he will create a contradictory crisis when he wanted to move moses from the ordinary to the extraordinary he created a crisis that captured his imagination and tension because there was a bush that would not burn that's a contradiction a bush that does not burn why because there was a new mission that moses was to be on when he wanted israel to make their movement to the promised land he created a crisis that included a contradiction pharaoh coming one way the red sea right in front of them either way they go it means death it's a no-win situation because he was up to something that would be different when he wanted to make peter a fisher of men he asked him to contradict what he knew about fishing in the place that he knew to fish the time he knew to fish he flipped the script and peter knew it was a contradiction because he asked jesus why are you asking me to do this that way when i am the professional and i know how it works because he wanted to take a fisherman and make him a fisher of men when he wanted to show that he was the son of the living god he took two sisters and created a contradiction he told martha and mary your brother's not gonna die then he dies they say but if you would have been here he says but did not tell you how can he say he's not gonna die then he's dead but then if he's dead he's not dead and it becomes a confusing situation until the stone is rolled away because he wanted to show something different i would like to suggest to nrb tonight that the shaking that you are watching on whatever your news channel preference happens to be the broadcast that you are making in whatever outlet you oversee or participate on is an on-purpose calamity a crisis that has originated in heaven to disturb things on earth because god is looking for something different there are two choices one in our belief in the imminent return of christ he is shaking things so that we are prepared for his quick return and with that there is no option because that is related to the prophetic conclusion of history or he is dismantling things in a way that they cannot be fixed through ordinary means to re-assert the role responsibility and functioning of his people because he has become sick and tired of our ordinary way of operating and so he decided to allow a crisis of health to get it started covet 19 would not only disrupt the world that would disrupt the church the walls would no longer be the comfortable place for comfortable christianity he would then take the death of a man in minnesota and allow a racial upheaval to continue to bubble up pitting people against people cultures against cultures colors against colors communities against communities he would take a political divide between democrats and republicans between black christians and white christians and allow it to erupt into a divisive reality in the church and not only would he allow all of these things he would stack them he would take health stack it with race stack it with politics stack it with police and community conflict and he would stack it so there would be no question things are shaking they are being disturbed i love the passage in second chronicles chapter 15 verses 3 to 6 it says it says that there was no peace in those days it says citizen were they were at peace when they left home and when they came back home there was conflict personal conflict family conflict he goes on and says there was conflict city against city urban conflict he goes on and says there was conflict nation against nation international conflict and then we get the zinger in verse six because it says for god troubled them with every kind of distress i would have thought it would have said with all of this havoc that the devil troubled them with every kind of distress but it says god troubled them with every kind of distress because god was shaking things up to get things back in order again i would like to suggest to you they were told in their distress verse 3 says of psychotics 15 when stuff got bad enough when stuff was so chaotic it says in their distress they came back to the lord and he let them find him and brought them rest perhaps some of you have heard me tell the story of when i met my wife at 18. i met her at 18 this beautiful young lady but there was a problem she was not responding at the rate to which i was accustomed lois was moving kind of slow so i had to i had to help her sister out i took her to an amusement park in baltimore maryland called gwyn oaks amusement park and at grid oaks amusement park they had a roller coaster for two called the wild mouse the mouse would do all the stuff that roller coasters would do but then it would go to the edge like it was going to jump the track and then it would turn real quick real scary i said give me two tickets we got on the wild mouse the wilder the ride got the closer she got [Music] by the time the ride was over you thought only one person got own it now why did i buy two tickets to the wild mouse because i had a plan for her and it was a good plan it involved a future and a hope but what i had to do was i had to create some distress first to get her undivided attention the author of hebrews says that when god is ready to do something new he creates a disturbance and the reason he creates the disturbance he says is to shake created things earthbound things physical things in order to reveal that which cannot be shaken in other words god shakes our physical human reality to get us spiritually back on point i would like to suggest today that evangelicalism is off point i would suggest you today that evangelicalism has lost its way now i could come and preach a cute sermon for cute christians and hopefully get a cute response but when your world is falling apart it's not time to be cute it's time to be clear we are being written off we are being dismissed we're being marginalized critique and criticized the very word has fallen into disrepute not because we don't believe the bible but because the presence that we ought to be having because of the bible has not been manifested in the culture as the creator designed it to be we have become the outcast but not because we're being persecuted only for our faith but we're being persecuted for our foolishness this problem of race should never have been allowed to seed itself in the church of jesus christ generation after generation after generation when paul dealt with the issue of race in my favorite passage galatians 2 20. i'm crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i it's christ who lives in me the life which i now live i live by faith the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me everybody loves that verse but we don't often tell the story that led to him giving the verse in the first place which was the racism of peter had found out that it was okay to eat pork chops with the gentiles but when his jewish brethren showed up he removed himself from fellowship with the gentiles and when paul saw that he removed himself paul confronted him but he didn't confront him with sociology he didn't feel the need for critical race theory he didn't feel the need for a a seminar entitled can we all get along what he said was peter you have embarrassed the truth of the gospel wait a minute peter you have embarrassed the truth of the gospel don't you know that i've been crucified with christ that's where that verse comes in pete paul is talking to peter to correct him on his racial disparity even if he didn't wait for a year or two years or 20 years he corrected him on the spot because i'm missing the pulpit is the fog in the pew and peter we got to get you straight today this this position you have taken is intolerable and what's interesting is he calls it in that passage the gospel now i hear people say well we need to stick with the gospel i believe in the gospel the the the death and burial and resurrection and ascension of jesus christ and that faith alone and christ alone gives eternal life to all who come to him for it i believe in the gospel the problem is peter is already saved peter is not a sinner yet he says you have embarrassed the gospel that is because far too many evangelicals have not understood that the gospel has a narrow content but it has a broad scope and race is a gospel issue the unity of the church is a gospel issue and it's a gospel issue saints need to know about and we cannot dismiss it by calling on the content of the gospel that gets us to heaven while we skip of the scope of the gospel which ought to change how we relate to one another on earth so to help the church out god is shaken up the culture and says since the church can't get it together since the church is using illegitimate diagnostic methodologies for determining our relationship our fellowship and our unity then i'm going so mess it up in the culture that you can no longer skip discussing the issue and while we are debating about chris critical race theory and non-critical race theory those of us who are biblical centric ought to understand there should be a kingdom race theology there ought to be a theology that trumps all of that because we are kingdom people first and so what you have to understand is that god has shaken this up he's shaken up your communities i will go out on a limb here and suggest that you who are radio station owners should not only be doing good broadcasting which is what you should do in song and in word but it is my contention because you are a neutral party in every community in this nation you should be the unifying element in every community to bring churches together who would not otherwise fellowship with one another to become the harbor for the kingdom of god and its representation in that community that you must view your enterprise not only as a vehicle of communication but as a vehicle of kingdom unity this is why we at the urban alternative are promoting a three-point plan for stations to call together the biblically minded kingdom-minded churches an annual solemn assembly then they would speak with one voice to the community that they're in then they would do good works together adopting every public school adopting the local police precinct every church adopting a homeless family and bringing them to maturity so the community can see that the kingdom of god has arrived that the people of god have arrived god has shaken things up whenever god created a shaking in scripture it would always to be to attack idolatry idolatry is any noun person place thing or thought that you look to as your source your governing body your governance the thing that you are looking to idolatry is the number one sin in the bible from which all sins emanate because it is a rejection of the true god in favor of something or someone else and so idolatry would be attacked the bible says when that happens romans 1 god abandons and that allows chaos to enter into the environment what we have developed in america and even in american christianity are american idols idols of popularity idols of materialism idols of racism the white church has become too republican i knew it would get quiet but let me try it again the white church has become too republican you have wrapped too many have wrapped our faith in the american flag and when you go for a nationalistic faith you have contaminated the gospel not because you're republican but because you've now made the nation subject to the wrong kingdom instead of the nation having to adjust to our king and his kingdom many of these problems that we're facing today would never have been the way they are if the white church had not taken the stand to be quiet when jim crow was happening when when when when criminal leasing was happening when when all of these deleterious realities that has led to conflict that is still plaguing the southern baptist convention today and that ought not to be there would be no national baptist convention if the southern baptist convention was not a segregationist institution it left the kingdom but the black church has become idolatrous jew so you black people don't get too comfortable because what we have done is we have wrapped blackness in cultural identity so we have often been more black than biblical we have decided that our color can trump christ and so we will endorse a political party who will endorse evil say nothing about the evil of abortion the evil of homosexuality the evil of a misuse of government because of a race issue god doesn't ride the backs of donkeys or elephants he sits as king of kings he says his lord of lords so we live in a day when god is shaking things up he's calling on nrb to have a new program and a new platform if you want to reach this generation if christ may not come he's saying you can't go to the old way you can't do things like you used to do it you can't be a good old boys club you're going to have to say that to reach this generation we must take our stand so i suggest that we need to go beyond evangelical that's why i love verse 28. he says in hebrews 12 28 therefore since we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken a kingdom that is not limited to the stuff happening in time and space and on earth since we've received the kingdom that trumps politics trump's class trump's culture let us show gratitude let's act like we're thankful people so that we may offer an acceptable service and a reverence to god i suggest that we need to go beyond evangelical without excluding evangelical what we need are some kingdomologists we need some men and women who understand there's only one theme in the bible the when you look at my study bible in the bible commentary at the bottom of it it'll say it'll say these words advancing god's kingdom there's only one theme in the bible the glory of god through the advancement of his kingdom that's the only thing the bible talks about you leave that subject and the bible becomes doctrines and theologies and theories and stories and narratives and parables without a linking thing it is all about the kingdom and the kingdom is the rule of god it is the rule of god for which we are to be subordinate he says since we serve a kingdom since we sit under divine rule let's act like it says let's act like god can trump you god can trump me there are two answers to every question god's answer and everybody else's and everybody else is wrong god has spoken and he has not stuttered i know that you believe the bible is the word of god if you're part of nrb but he's far too often treated like the queen of england the queen of england gets a lot of respect but she just doesn't have any authority or they'll they'll lower the flag or drop the flag based on whether she's there or not they'll pull over when their caravan comes through she gets a lot of cred but she can't make nothing happen we got too much bible too many bible-believing churches bible-believing christians bible-believing books bible-believing programs that give god a lot of respect we're just not getting nothing done we're not demonstrating a king who's ruling a kingdom because if we were they couldn't skip us they couldn't ignore us somebody help me how can one how can one percent of the population control the whole nation and the believers in jesus christ can control hardly anybody because we're too evangelical and not kingdom enough he builds an unshakable kingdom if you came to me and your life was messed up i would take the bible and i will show you what god says about that part of your life that's messed up i would call you to repent i would then give you practical steps for implementing the truth that we learn in the word and then i would pray that the holy spirit would empower your obedience for transformation if you brought your family to me and said my family is messed up we want a divorce i would take the same bible that i dealt with you personally i will show you what god says about what it means to be a kingdom husband a kingdom wife kingdom parents kingdom children i would then call you to repentance for where you have disobeyed that then i would give you practical steps for implementing what the bible said on that subject and then i would invite the holy spirit to empower your obedience to the scriptures for the transformation of your home if you brought your church to me and says our church is falling apart i take the same bible that i use with the individual and the family i talk about what a kingdom church looks like i would give you practical steps after you repented to apply that biblical or those biblical principles i would ask the holy spirit to empower your obedience to change the trajectory of the church but what would you do if the president and the congress came to you too many of us have changed books we didn't go on other books even though god says i created government you don't get to change books you don't get the change books in the white house you don't get to change books in the house of congress not if god is the god of government he raises presidents takes down presidents he brings up countries takes down nations you better bring this book to the white house and the house of congress too this is not a day this is not a day for spiritual punks this is not a day for spiritual chumps this is not a day for regular christianity we need some super unleaded up in here this is a day for men and women who understand that god is shaking things up because god wants us to do things differently and he'll keep his toe up from the flow up until we do things differently because he's doing it to reveal his unshakeable kingdom and then he closes he closes with these words in verse 29 for our god is a consuming fire he says the reason why you bet not play with this thing christ be not come is because our god is a consuming fire now that's bad news and that's good news as the author of hebrews regularly does through the book he reaches back into the old testament to teach new testament truth a consuming fire was the altar on which sacrifices were placed now that was bad news for the lamb or the goat or the bull because when they were placed on the altar they died they were consumed by the fire but it was good news for the folk because when the animal was consumed and the sacrifice was made grace mercy forgiveness and restoration could then be offered so it was bad news for the animal but good news for the nation our god is a consuming fire he's burning things up so he can be nice again he's burning things up so he can restore again if you really care about america and the trajectory we're on you can't do business as usual can't do the ordinary you can't do the regular because he's trying to burn something up up in here he's trying to consume something so he can bring something new to the equation when i was going to church and my shirt was wrinkled sister evans would look at it and she would put an iron on it she put an iron on it to set it on fire she wasn't trying to be mean she was trying to get out a wrinkle but the reason she wanted to get out of wrinkle was because i was going to wear the shirt and sister evans wanted me to look good in the shirt so she would put fire on the shirt so i could look good in the shirt god is putting fire on the church so he can look good in the church he doesn't just want us having church he wants to be well suited in church as we close in television and in movies they have previews of coming attractions these are the hot clips of the upcoming show fight scene love scene chase scene always those three scenes to get you to tune in to the whole movie now it may be a terrible movie but you'd never know it by the clips cause the clips are always hot well my brothers and sisters have been rb one day there's a big show coming to town god is the producer the holy spirit is the director jesus is the superstar and it will be a worldwide production it's called the kingdom of god but until then he's left you you you you you you and me here as previews of coming attractions we're supposed to be the hot clips of the upcoming show so that when people see the unity of the church the power of the church the dignity of the church the commitment of the church when they see the hot clips of the upcoming show then they'll ask the question where can i buy a ticket of course after we can tell them you don't have to buy a ticket the price has already been paid you

Channel: NRB

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Length: 42min 35sec (2555 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 28 2021