Rock Church - The Fine Line - Part 1, Wake Up and Look at The Fine Line by Miles McPherson

y'all have a good night good night let's see your Bibles let's take a deep breath in - give me biotin and let's turn to first Corinthians chapter 16 first Corinthians 16 this seventh book in the New Testament seven turn to the person next to you and ask them how to count to seven boy we just thank you that everybody found first Corinthians real fast and we pray you to encourage us and bless us tonight in Jesus name Amen amen Tuesday I've spoke on at the National Republican National Convention on television when I what rowdy tonight thank you very much thank you very much when I was asked to speak you got a new yard huh you can tell I was reading oh you couldn't tell is reading oh thank you very much thank you very much anybody else got a comment I appreciate I appreciate it smooth now times are about can I start when I was asked to speak I called it like three people to ask them their advice on going because I don't do political stuff and I wanted to make sure that I was gonna do the right thing and all three of them said the same thing they all three sets the same three things number one it was honor guest number two there are positives and negatives it's a very dangerous thing so you want to be very careful when you go that you consider the negatives and negatives that people gonna assume you endorse one person or the other which by the way you got a vote for somebody but you just got to make sure that you go there and not be political and there's certain things you can say when you speak to set that up and that's why I said all politics aside it worked for whoever it worked for and so there's negatives and there's positives but so number one it's honor number two there's negatives and positives number three you need to go and do it and when you go here the things you need to do so we it was it was a great experience I'm gonna talk about it today and take some other stuff that happened but it was an amazing experience it was a lot more fun now that it's over than I was when I was there only because it was just I was just nervous you know and it was a lot going on that I'll tell you about but when I was there everything obviously was you know the Republican Party and McCain all kind of stuff and rightfully so but I was there under a different assignment I was not there to promote that and I never did promote either party because that was not my purpose and I intentionally didn't do that but I and I felt like I was an outsider because I wasn't there to do that and so the whole time that I was there doing all these interviews and and and I did like seven interviews there someone internet someone radio someone television bla bla bla bla bla and then I did this talk the whole time I was there I felt a little bit outside like I was in the convention but I was not of the convention as a Christian when you walk in this world you have to understand you are in the world but you are not of the world what that means is that you live in sin or wherever you're from you go to a school you may have a job etc but that is not where you live that's not your life and we got a lot of emails encouraging emails about being there and we got some negative emails some people said they were ashamed that I went embarrassed that this church that I would go and they left the church and not coming back because I went and stuff like that because I shouldn't have been there and so that's fine but but what we need to understand is that whether you're Republican or Democrat or independent or you don't care understand this one Jesus Christ doesn't belong to any of those parties he's not limited by in those parties and you could be you can be a sold-out Christian and belong to either one it doesn't matter what and in the end there will be no politics it's gonna be about Jesus and what God is gonna do in your life and by the way in the end there's gonna be no universities there's gonna be no Starbucks it's gonna at home my gosh can you pick that there's gonna be no there's gonna be no charges no football that may not be exactly true I think that I think there'll be football in heaven but but that's another story but but all your all your allegiances here on earth are gonna be completely gone don't get so hung up in what's happening here on earth this is all gonna be gone everything even marriage or even marriage when you when we go to heaven I will know my wife but by my my real spouse is gonna be I'm gonna be united to the Father and so even everything you have here is gonna be gone don't hold on to it so tight that God can't move you around and use you where he wants you to move you and don't put that expectation on other people you see somebody and I've said this before if you see me somewhere like that just know I'm going there for an assignment that God has given me and trust that he knows what he's doing trust that he knows what he's doing and so so what we're going to talk about the next month or so is how you live in the world but not be of the world if you go to San Diego State give all your heart center go state but you know what your citizenship is not SDSU in heaven or whatever school it is you go to or whatever job you have and people get a good job in their life I love this company I love this company whatever it is fine but no one you're probably not gonna work to the rest of your life and number two they're not really the ones who are supplying your needs it's gone it's gone when I put I played with a charged as you know I got cut three times well I got once from the Rams and twice from the charges and every time I got cut I had a different experience the first time I got cut I was I was sad because I was cut and I have a job when I was 22 I didn't know what I was gonna do and I cried go ahead and laugh next the next time I got cut I was mad because as far as I was concerned the only reason I got cut because I was a Christian and that's another story but I cut got cut because I was a Christian the third time I got cut I was glad and the reason I was glad is because I got it I mature me spiritually to the point where one I didn't want to play anymore but I also knew that football wasn't my life anymore it never really should have been and that god says I have something for you and the last time I got cut I had no idea what I was gonna do next I didn't know what I was gonna do I just knew that I trusted him you want to get to the point where you live in this earth and you are of the world but you are not it you're in the world but you're not of the world that your citizenship is in heaven and the rules by which you live are rules in heaven not on earth now so we're gonna do the Serie called a fine line the fine line or walking first Corinthians chapter 16 in first Corinthians the Corinth everyone say Corinth say Corinth Corinthians are people from Corinth this city has seven hundred thousand people most of them two-thirds are slaves serving the rich people and they have about a thousand prostitutes and when you went to Corinth you went there to party it was very carnal it was it was very lustful and a very wild gambling oh it was like it was like a Vic Vic Vegas you go there to sin and to live like a Corinthian meant you are sinful and so there was a church day and Paul's writing to the church all these books in the New Testament these epistles are letters to churches he's writing to the church and he's talking to him about sexual immorality because even in the church the people are doing all kind of sexual wild stuff and he was chastising them for it there was division in the church people suing each other and fighting and all this stuff and they were living karley so he wrote this letter Corinthians to them and at the end of the letter he has a final encouragement to them and we're gonna read that final encouragement here's what it says and it's all about how you live in this wild city it says in verse 13 it says watch or be on your guard stand fast stay stand fast be courageous say courageous be strong say strong let all that you do be done what love say love let me say it again he says he says stand fast or be on your guard say guard stand on the face say faith be courageous take courageous stay strong say love what he's going to tell them is that I want you to when as you live in this world you have to guard your heart now number one you know look what says your nose you need to wake up and acknowledge the pressure to deny your faith you have to understand and be very aware of the world's pressure to get you to deny your faith and hey Sookie stop now my wife and I went to Minneapolis on Monday we were there for two days we're supposed to be there just one day but the hurricane pushed everything back so we went there on Monday and they picked us up at the airport in the Secret Service SUV you ever see those how they roll like that with the president those those nice 2018 SUVs because I know this car ain't coming out next year this car was the bomb okay and it was like a marshmallow just driving down the street and we were in the car going that I could get used to this right here they took us to the hotel and they gave us these lanyards little and thinking things around your neck in this big card about that big which are ideal in it so you can get in the arena and they told us if you go outside the hotel do not wear this because the protesters will target you the world is always telling you to take your faith and put it in the pocket how many y'all feel that you're a marked person if you're a Christian if you believe in the Bible you believe that it's old-fashioned the world is constantly constantly gonna tell you to put your faith in your pocket its hide it don't bring it out and and they're gonna tell you all these reasons why you you have no right to speak your mind you have no right to believe what you believe you have no right to impose your beliefs on somebody else you hear that all the time put it in your pocket that is not something you have to buy into that is the devil trying to shut you up and so what it says here is be on your guard say be on your guard you have to guard your heart protect it when we went over I had to go to a rehearsal on Monday my speech on Tuesday my rehearsal was - it was a scheduled 5:30 rehearsal I'm thinking rehearse 500 words and I'm praying 250 of them I'm going to read it so I got a rehearse I don't understand so we get in the car and the car that we were in had just been attacked by protestors they were trying to break the windows and I dented the hood and so he was telling us when we got in the car and so we drove to the arena and all around the arena they had this fence not a metal chain link fence a metal like Donovan state prison fence and it was about ten feet high and it's surrounded the arena and then the streets leading right up to the arena it lined those streets and going into the block across the street just imagine you're driving down rosecrans and there's 20 SWAT standing shoulders shoulder across Rosecrans with their rifles all body suit armor down just looking at you like this so we drove up to them they looked in the car check the car then they kind of moved out of the way let us drive through and then they went back and I was like that was pretty sweet I feel real safe right now then they went in then we drove closer to the arena and across the stub lock from curb to curb it looked like a metal speed bump but it was actually a metal one of them terrorist barriers that go up about six feet high oh there was no you were not getting in this place if they did not want you in that we pulled over under this little tarp and it was a bomb check to make sure this car didn't have a bomb in it now these are these are the Secret Service cars going in and out in and out it was like 50 I'm just lined up these brand-new SUVs so we get there and they look in the car and they says can you get out the car we're gonna check for a bomb so we got out and they started walking up with this dog it's German Shepherd and they said would you mind going across the street this dog is not friendly I said you don't gotta tell me twice it's gonna cross the street I ain't even trying to be nobody's hero all right and so he walked the dog walked around the car and then they came with the with the mirror the next time we came back the next day they had a different dog and the guy said you don't have to walk across the street I said that's all right you know they may have talked in the kennel somewhere I don't know they may be you know I ain't contracted make no take no chances with that canine and so they walked around the car then they did the mirrors under the car then he sniffed in the car and they were protecting that arena then we went through metal detector like at the airport they were protecting that arena you need to protect your heart you make sure you know that there's always an attack on you constantly the Devils constantly strategizing how to trip you up whether it be wood sex whether it be your language whether via drugs whatever it is he is constantly after you and you have to be guarding your heart who really has access to your heart who really has access to your mind who really has access to your emotions your perspective on the Bible because when you watch TV when you listen to the radio when you watch to get on the internet constantly you're being told something and very subtly something's happening to your opinion your perspective Paul says guard yourself and then it says next stand on firm on the faith stand on the faith listen listen this is did a difference in the for how low solid-solid how low do you hear it oh just a case I like doing it you don't want to trust in your education only you want to trust in your emotions only ladies come on wait let me let me say it I didn't say it yet no I didn't say it yet yeah ladies how many times have you met a guy and you like right girl you need to see view so far say man only to come to find out three months lady you want him dead oh let you say hey you don't talking about because I mean fellas the same thing right I mean we meet we meet the girl we think she's just the bomb and turned out she's a she-devil you know I'm saying well my point is this your emotions will tell you one thing one day next thing another day and by the way sometimes your emotions are uncontrollable you you just can't stop thinking about this person or you can't stop warning something and you think that it's right because you have the strong feeling just don't don't think please don't think just because something that makes it right it's not there's nothing there's there's no truth to that I mean it could be it could be but just because you feel it that's only one aspect you do not want to do it but the devil says you feel it you want it you should have a right to have it that is not true it's just not and you don't want to fight for a right to have something when you shouldn't have it in the first place you don't and so you don't want to trust your motions you want to stand on the fade what does the Bible say what does the Bible say now if you don't believe in the Bible then you can choose your other foundation of truth but I'm gonna tell you this is the only one that doesn't move that's why they call it the rock this word right here and so what Paul's saying is that guard your heart and stand on truth don't stand on the palette to politically correctness do not don't stand on culture don't stand on what the media says do not stand on your emotion and what you think is fair do not do that stand on this because we're always wrong such as to be wrong you wrong wrong and when do you finally you're wrong after you do it you break your heart or you get arrested or you find yourself addicted then it's too late well not too late too late but you just ruined waste of the year two five six seven years or your whole life your whole life so you want to stand on the truth then it says next be men of courage or women of courage courage is the ability to do something that frightens you mm-hmm how many of you God has asked you to do something that you were scared to do I'm not gonna ask you how many you did it if you saw me speaking at the thing people asked you was i nervous I'm always nervous if I speak 100 times outside its building a year I don't know what the real number is but if it's a hundred times and very well could be I'm nervous a hundred times and 99 of them I'm saying why did I do this why did I agree to come can I not come can I cancel I mean I know it's not gonna cancel but you know you just you get scared and how many times out of a hundred and my like man this is the greatest thing I it was the right thing a hundred but every time that that was like hey listen he's gonna be failure that uh he's just bombarding me all this stuff and and and you get nervous but courage says you got to it anyway now I'm not saying I'm a craziest person because I feel like a punk but so but I still got to do it and so God is gonna ask you to witness how many how many of you God asked you to witness to somebody or pray for somebody or say something from the Bible and you were scared and and just she was scared I don't ask you if you did it or not guess what welcome to the club I did a chapel for the Panthers last night the Carolina Panthers I do about I've already done two this year and I got the New England Patriots coming bad and boy you got a boom go ahead okay now I'm going to show you why you shouldn't boo me well one a man of the cloth you shouldn't do a man of the cloth the reason you want me doing the chapel's and not another pastor is because when I do the chapel's and pray for that the end I had my fingers crossed behind my back now let me tell you what that means it doesn't mean that I'm not really meaning the prayer it just means that the blessing will take two days to take after the game okay that's what that means me and God got a hookup it's the game but in the chapel I was talking these guys about some stuff when I was challenging them to do something and then I happened to finish a couple minutes early and I said you guys have any questions and it's one guy raised his hand and said look if I do what you say my family's gonna be mad at me and I said to him in so many words that's just too bad that's just too bad if you do what God says oh yeah some people will not there's gonna be some people against you and your point is there's always someone against you you should not live to please everybody that is a waste of time if you live to please God you'll be fine will people talk about you oh yeah oh yeah I got emails every single day cursing me I got an email the other day of a pastor cursing me Kersten in an email and so that that's all as long as you as long and I go to bed every night going god a week ooh he goes whoa cool I mean I just need to know because if I'm doing something wrong I need to know so you need you need it you need to say he's saying be a courageous and you telling you be courageous for a reason number number four be strong the ability to exhort force number five do everything in love say love let me tell you what love means let me tell you what love does not mean love does not mean that you give everybody who asks you for something what they ask for it doesn't mean you support everything but do you know what they want that is not love if my little kids who are not little anymore but I say if they say daddy can we put our hand in the oven because it's red and looks really pretty and I said you know I love you I just wanna give you what you want go ahead put your hand I'd be in jail right now love means that you help people obey God coz love is God obedience period and just because you love somebody and someone says I want something the churches doesn't love people because they're not helping these people whatever it's all about being obedient and so Paul saying his guard your heart be very careful to protect your heart protect your mind be very careful to be watchful what's going on around you be very careful to stand on the truth don't stand on a lie be courageous be strong and do everything in love number two in your notes wake up and acknowledge the world's intention to silence you the world does not want you talking about Jesus you will see in your lifetime forget that you will see in the next year laws that are designed to specifically silence the church the whole same-sex marriage issue is not a battle between the church in the gay community that's not the battle the battles between the church and the government because the government's gonna say here's what I want you how I want you to do your business the whole definition of separation of church and state is that the government would not come in and mess with religion they are violating that very principle and so you are seeing the government saying we are now gonna start to dictate to you what's right and what's wrong on your turf that is the issue that's the issue and so with what happened in Acts chapter five write down Acts chapter five verse 29 acts 5:29 acts 5:29 Peter and the Apostles were thrown in prison for preaching Jesus angel broke him out they started preaching again and the reason they were thrown him in prison because they were told not to preach in Christ's name and they did it anyway the angel broke him out and the Jewish leader says we told you not to preach to drunk Christ's name and here's what they said Peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than man you always want to know that you obeying God amen and you need to know that's you obeying God you're not just doing what you think is right because you're a Christian that you are actually obeying God from his word he spoke to you he gave you Direction very specifically what to do and you are obeying him well my wife and I went to a first date we got the on Monday we had to go to rehearsal rehearsal was in a little room about the size of a kitchen with a podium the teleprompter here and the teleprompter to my left and right you ever seen when the president talks is these two glass little rectangles you ever see dad okay how many y'all used to think it was a bulletproof glass okay that's fine I used to think that too okay why did you shoot him from here but that didn't it's only little I was wondering to protect them really what it is that this is a projector in the floor projecting the words on two glasses 45 degrees angle at him so he could read his speech so he's actually looking through at it and turning right and left reading the speech and is usually 1 in front so that's what they look at and they read and they're talking and that's what I had to do so I had to go in this room and practice using the teleprompter so in this little room is a two teleprompters the camera the podium with a microphone and speakers on and the coach who's gonna coach me to do this the the editor of the speech the teleprompter operator and the room manager I still haven't figured out what his job was he was nice I didn't understand what he was there for and my wife so we get in the room and and I'm I'm really fascinated to learn from this speech coach because her husband was in the next room coach and Rudy Guiliani all the speakers they had all went through the same process every single person every time you see those conventions or any speech anybody makes Dave coach President Bush Dave coach Colin Powell they do all the biggies and so and they wrote a book and and I'll tell you about that a minute so she sits down in front of me and she says okay let's see what you got and I'm looking on the teleprompter and there's my speech I was like wow there's the words she's gonna see what you got I said okay I can do this this is what I do girlfriend you get ready to see the master you never seen that like this is Washington DC oh I'm thinking of somebody right so I'm like so I said okay she said god I said if I started doing my speech blah blah look over here there's no teleprompter blah blah and she goes stop she gets up she walks to right here she grabs my hand she says slow like I could do that I could do that okay she sits back down she goes start over okay she says stop she gets up again she comes up seven times something like that I mean it's just like slower than that no I wanted to hurt I know her I know her okay you want hurt okay here you go this is gonna be slow my name she says let's move on and do something else so we start practicing and the teleprompter the words that come up your words come up in these little symbols to tell you what to do so you have one teleprompter here that's your friend this teleprompter is your other friend all the people in the audience you ignore and you talk to the camera the camera is not your friend the person the camera is skeptical they don't trust you so you have to talk to the camera different than you talk to the teleprompter this deep this is for really I'm gonna telling you this is what they told me and I'm saying listen I'm not like a wool but I want you to imagine the US Open is tomorrow and you're changing my swing that's basically you telling me I'm not supposed to interact with the crowd I stand in one spot I got to read words and I got a this is not my friend see when I in my life everybody's my friend see no no no that's not your friend so when the words come up there'll be a little asterisk after every 30 words or so that's when I know to turn and look over to this one didn't work scope is another astronaut turned it so I'm thinking I'm like no no no and then the one is a double pound sign that comes up I got a look at the camera and then da da da and then go back okay so we're going through this whole thing and she she goes and says you need my book and she slams her book on the podium and and the guy who was the manager he says you know what you're the only person she actually gave the book to all the other people she told them to go to the Internet and buy it and I was like if she knows I need it right now can't wait for a week for delivery of there so we're in there practicing and then you know in baton of these breaks they cut the lady who was the editor comes up to me with my speech she printed it out and now I had a speech and then a prayer and at the end of the prayer I said in Jesus name well when she came to me they changed those words to say to the Lord our God so she came to me said would you mind and I was like am I going put me a little box preacher man oh God talk about later like I did my little coaching thing get back to you in a minute so we did a coaching thing and we keep talking and then the the lady on the the teleprompter operator she left now once it's done once it's in the teleprompter and we're done is done well she left before we can change the words so all night it was bugging me because I I was mad you know so we'll get back to that in a minute so my whole thing for going there was I was there to to represent the Lord they said we're not asked you to come in when I first invited we're not answering to come endorse anybody or problem we just want you to talk about this as a past I said cool I saw them there but I know that if I'm there for two days that God's gonna have some stuff for me to do and I said lord I want to I want to you know someplace I want to talk about Jesus and you don't get the word out cuz all this national media is there well my wife and I watch Fox in the morning Bill Hemmer and megyn kelly anybody know who those people are okay okay and so we watched in TV and Monday the day before the speech and I was getting all these interview sets interview requests and I and I saw megyn kelly walking around doing an interview from the arena so I told my wife I want to meet megyn kelly just say hi cuz we talked to you all time the next day I get a notice that I'm gonna be on her show get interview by her about I said where's about oh we just want you to tell you a story about how you got saved so check it out Pearson turned his life around after giving up drugs during his football days now he's a pastor and he is going to speak this convention here tonight he tells the story of how he got his start preaching take a listen all getting high laughter you know I don't do the same once I'll just go downstairs so I went downstairs at the dining room table and somehow struck up a conversation about Jesus a Jesus and so I'm sitting down at this party people upstairs getting hangover so they started trickling down because I was talking about God what miles McPherson joins us here live at Denver there was a police officer was following me get ready to arrest me a guy on the team she had the gas with me on the plane coming back from playing the game and about four months later I was laying on my couch I've been doing cocaine all night and I used to be my Savior and that day April 12 1984 I stop doing cocaine stop smoking about one of my wife you just met on one plane ride and four months later when you reach rock bottom it speaks to you about it when you give you life to Christ you are surrounded dependent to what degree you soar in your life to him he cleanses you of your sin you need it you needed something you were you were pretty low I did I did you know everybody comes to that point different levels and they're like but you know I had been trying to live my life myself twenty four years I was in the NFL my dream come true I was doing everything I thought would make me happy it wasn't happy yeah so I said you know what I'm gonna give my life to the Lord like he's like he's suggested and that was the begin life for me isn't it true that just because you're good at something doesn't mean you make it makes you happy constantly I used to look in the mirror and put cocaine in my nose and say what am I doing here I'm 22 23 24 and I'm throwing my life away a lot of my friends were doing it as well it was still something missing in my life and I would sit up all night wondering what is it what is it and a lot of people like that they pursue money they pursue family pursue women but there's still an emptiness because there's an emptiness only God can fill once that was filled then I understood my purpose so now you're a pastor how do you get involved Rick Warren was invited to speak at both conventions on a vacation and he had go to Africa and he suggested that I come speak you are related to another famous football player she would house and he was inducted to the I'm just going to say my piece and get down good job did y'all hear yourself you own them did you hear your voice say Jesus you can tell you you can you pick your own voice out that's I'm telling you I'm sitting there Monday and I'm thinking you know my wife and I like her I'm Bill Hemmer that's cool and we got to talk to them before the interview and they were so nice and I was like I want to meet it just say hi and God said I got something better I want you to tell about Jesus and talk to her and just kind of you know tell the world about Jesus so so after I left that I had three things I had to do that day before I spoke cuz I was gonna speak maybe two hours after that I went to another interview and in this interview I had to be out at 6:10 because I had to meet somebody at 6:20 at gate 4 big arena right so I I had to do this interview I told the guy look I gotta finish at 6:10 and can you please have someone to take me to my next appointment he says okay we'll figure that out I'm like no no I need to be a gay for at 6:20 so we get this conversation and in this conversation he asked some questions about religion and politics and this is a question you will get why are Christians involved in politics and and some people think those two things don't go together look in your notes number one everyone in and out of politics is a person of faith with a worldview number one look up here real quick every single person on the planet Earth is a person of faith every single person on a planet Earth has a worldview in other words a filter through which you see the world every person some people that filter is the Bible some people that filter is themselves some people that filter is the media or a movies or or evolution you may have a you know evolution is your worldview everything just started from nothing whatever it is but there is nobody without a worldview you you used take steps of faith every single day when you breathe you never seen air when you don't step on out of buildings five stories high because you know this gravity though you've never seen it and the biggest steps of faith we all take all the ladies say hey ladies let me tell you your biggest type of fake guys do it too but y'all are more sensitive to it because you just are and that's not a bad thing it's not a sex thing it's just the truth love love love is a step of faith how do you know you love somebody you just do well how do you know is it God you just do that ain't good enough if some non-christian said you that's not good enough well guess what I mean there's a whole lot of other evidence you can get forgot more God yeah I can give you more evidence that there's a God then you love somebody because when you love somebody you just feel something well what is that faith faith ladies room the first time you told that guy you loved him if he hadn't told you yet that was a step of faith amen cuz he could look and you went uh but you trusted that he would say I love you too with confidence faith everybody is a person fake so when this guy is interviewed asked me that I told him I says everybody has faith you have faith look at next thing he knows every person including Christians cast a vote consistent with what they believe in with their worldview in other words if I believe in evolution I'm going to vote on issues based on my concept of evolution if I believe in humanism I'm gonna vote on my based on my concept of humanism if I believe in the Bible I'm gonna vote based on my constants a Bible so what makes one better than the other the devil wants you to think that you and I are the ones that need to be out of the process why just because they don't understand the process not because one is better than the other if I went to Harvard I got a good education I'm gonna make my decisions based on what I believe is true based on what I learned does that mean this this like true no but that's what I believe and and guess what you have a right to believe that but don't tell me that I don't have a right to believe what I have and apply to my life but you have a right to believe what you want and you can fly to your life so when someone plays that game which you have to step back and say wait a minute your faith just like I have a faith what makes my faith inferior to your faith that's all that's a game that's a game when you hear Church on blowing of politics that is not where it's fine where that's at anywhere who says it all it is is a way and manipulate you make you feel guilty about getting out of the game so a non-christian important of you can run into politics now the person saying that you may not know all that they've just been told that's so they and maybe you some of you Christians even believe that but you need to step back and think about the big picture this is a spiritual battle we're in matter fact look at the third one the world wants to eliminate the Christian worldview while keeping all the world views we don't want the Christian worldview don't want to keep all us well is that fair absolutely yeah so we got in this discussion those Newsweek magazine on the Internet in an interview and it was 6:15 remember I had to leave at 6:10 because my whole reason I'm there is in one hour and five minutes so I said listen I gotta go I gotta go and so I left and then I said who's taking me to gate 4 and this girl came to me she probably 18 years old she was like I'm taking you to get and I went in my mind I'm thinking oh no I said young lady do you know where gate 4 is I think so I was like no you did not say you think I didn't say that to her but I was like we got to go cuz I had a feeling this was not gonna work out she walked me a mile in the wrong direction I'm thrilled yeah it's like I'm looking this is what I came for and this people everywhere you know you gotta walk through people and and so I we finally got where we where the guy said no you need to go back that way I looked at I says you follow me I looked at my wife said honey gate 4 we got to go and so do the crowd to the crowd to the crowd I get there and I think when I get there I got an hour to kind of relax get my thoughts together you know my wife and I we could praying stuff so we get down there and the lady says miles our Father here is young and she says we need you right now I was like right now I got an hour no no you don't have any time right now so I had to go and get more makeup y'all see my makeup on today that was round one of makeup so I said can my wife come no your wife has to go to her seat you'll see her after I was like I can't go you took me in they took me in the make up again they put all the stuff on lipstick muscaria they did made me scary you know the lipstick that stuff tickles when you put that stuff on you live oh they did the whole face and then then they took some spray anyway what's that huh even out my tan come on now brother this is just saying it's Han this is all real brothers 365 days a year spray me up and I was like huh they said you're ready I said okay so I went in I went back into the room to the waiting room where all the people were going on stage waiting and it was a Senator in there senator Minnesota and say City middle slaughter and I said how you doing the senator says you got your makeup on - he says yep he says if we died they could just put us right in the coffin it's like pretty cool okay hang on whatever your house you live in I don't know slice ELISA miss and I'd love to talk in everything but I I gotta I gotta I gotta practice so how many of y'all when you were a kid your parents made you stand in the corner how many of you never been made to stand in the corner how they punish you oh no you get the spankin then you're going to corner ain't no there's a spankin well for when you have little children's this is a great punishment you just you know you can do whatever you got to do but then you put him in the corner and a stand like this I have two brothers so we would stay in the corner in the same room and that was a whole adventure himself because we would we would play games to see who can go the furthest away from the corner without getting caught and we could get a whoopin oh there's no doubt we got a whooping so we weave in the corner my brother be over there mother be over there okay hey Mark remember the marker down go go touch the coffee table no I ain't gonna tell you go Walker you're on your court no way yeah so here you run over there go so okay go all the way across the room and when he was way over there Oh dad he's at the corner little kids do that's what they do so I told the senator senator I got you know I'd love to talk to you but you know I gotta practice my speech I'm kinda nervous yeah I understand it Stan so I went over and stood in the corner and I'm practicing my looking at the monitor look at the monitor look at the camera and he's walking around reading this thing reading this thing and and then we went out and did our thing number three you know so he's gonna give you all that little stuff number three in your notes wake up and walk the fine line wake up and walk the fine line you're in first corinthians go the book before it romans chapter 12 it says verse one I've beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God in other words according in light of God's mercy in your life how many of you would admit that God has incur has had incredible mercy on you justice grace and mercy justice is getting what you deserve don't ever ask for justice grace is getting what you don't deserve you want to pray for grace that God would actually give you something that you don't deserve and can't pay him back his love he gives you he loves you his love for you is based on grace you don't deserve it but he give it to you anyway mercy is not getting what you deserve justice is getting what you deserve grace is getting what you don't deserve and mercy is withholding something that you deserve and mostly punishment according to God's mercy and not punishing you the way you do and look what it says next according to God's mercy that you present your body a living sacrifice body he wants this functioning and he wants it to be sacrificed to him so he can use your mouth your arms your eyes your ears your thought process the talents he's given you when I was in that room with the lady teach me teach me how to speak she actually did give me a book and it was very fascinating it was fascinating and she told me I said look I learned how to speak in high schools doing assemblies and it's all fast and it's hot loud I thought uh she says that's fine I'm gonna teach you a whole new tool a whole new skill you could keep doing that i'ma teach something else and so what God wants he wants to take your talents and your abilities and them he wants you to surrender them to him so he can use them so present your body a living sacrifice holy said Lewis has next holy that means set aside for one purpose acceptable to God give God your best when you gave God a sacrifice let's say it was a little lamb you had to get a little baby lamb that had nothing wrong with it you couldn't come to the temple with a land that like had a broke leg and walk like that had fleas all over they couldn't even bag like that man get him back no you had to come with the best one okay which is your reasonable service first - do not be conformed to this world do not you have and this we have to pay attention pay attention that if your views about dating sexuality money drugs marriage whatever it is employment if your views are shaped by the world or they shaped by this forget your emotion forget what you think is fair or right your opinion is irrelevant what does this say stand on the faith you can argue all you want about what you think is right you will be wrong if it disagrees with God and so he says don't be conformed by the world don't let the world shape your view it says be transformed by the renewing of your mind in other words God you show me you show me I'm 25 years old I'm living with my girlfriend my boyfriend why shouldn't we have sex tell me I don't look it I just don't get it God will tell you ain't got a whole bunch of reasons why you need and by the way not only show me why but Lord show give me the strength to do the right thing Jimmy's trying to do the right thing because your opinion and you what you feel good and fine what is this say now if you don't want to live by this fine you will have consequences but if you want to live like this by this you know that one out of every two people in the church they get married gets a divorce it's a shame it's embarrassing it's embarrassing but you know what it's all traced back to this right here one maybe some of them shouldn't got married in the first place because some people shouldn't get married in the first place oh we're just go get married how long you know each other oh we just know each other here a year that's it you think that's a long time a long time I know my wife 28 years and I'm still learning 28 we dated on off of voyage before we got married and most of that we weren't saved let me tell you something do it God's Way and you'll be happy you want to be a player being a player is painful being a player is drama mama don't be conformed to this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God God I'm in this world but I don't want to be of the world please renew my mind and show me how I need to live show me how I could be part of this frat but not compromise my faith show me how I can take this guy this girl and not compromise my faith show me how I can go to the school and work in this this field and and attend these classes I'll be on this team and not compromise my faith because compromising your faith is the number one thing you cannot do everything else is optional I was talking to a kid this morning right over there his mom asked me to pray for him I can't remember how long ago he was doing alcohol and alcoholic and blah blah blah we pray for him and now he's uh six months or something clean and he was standing was all exciting said brother that's great that's great it's great and he says can you pray for me because my friends keep calling me and I didn't I said brother let me tell you what I did when I stopped doing cocaine no I only had one real close friend that I was hanging out with I never hung out with him anymore that was the end of it because I knew if I did I'm going backwards so you might want to consider take change your phone and tell him we're done until you are so strong you can be with them every now and then but if they're going in that direction you got to change the relationship that may sound cold and hard and harsh but let me tell you you walking with God has a whole lot more important than you getting dragged back into what you did you know what he said to me he said thank you cuz I think in his heart he knew but he was thinking won't that be wrong I got a email from a girl that I went to grade school with I haven't seen this girl since I graduated eighth grade and she wasn't like my girl she was a girl in the class and you know we weren't like boys but I remember her name that's about it I remember her name and she said I saw you on the Republican thing on TV and I'm she told me all about life I'm living on Long Island still I'm a doctor blah blah blah and I knew nothing about what happened to you after you left eighth grade nothing nothing that happens you know most of the people you grow up with you go separate ways it's just when you get older you can do it again and when you get bad associations you could do it again because in the end you belong to God you belong to God and even some of your family will some of my fat I have family very immediate not brothers and sisters but one one level outside that immediate family who this who are not in agreement what I do and what I believe better please him gotta please him you got to please him and so as you live in the world you have to know who is your daddy and you kind of say I'm gonna obey my daddy every day and whatever consequences in the world I'll take it whatever consequence in the world I'm gonna take it but I'm not going to try so hard to blend in and compromise my faith that's my challenge to you that's my challenge to you that's all bow for what a prayer Lord we thank you so much for being good to us and we thank you so much that you always remind us to trust you and obey you that is the bottom line we're in this world we buy the clothes we watch the television we listen to the music we have a jobs we go to school and a lot of our identity is wrapped up in this world but our true citizenship is in heaven our true citizenship is in heaven and we thank you for that and I pray you would help us to learn who we are help us to identify who you made us to be that we may live it now in Jesus name Amen let me tell you one more thing before y'all go when when I was before I started the church I would travel and speak at high schools that I would go places for like a week and I love going places and I would always go alone and I would get a car or rent a car and drive to all these schools in the town I've never been in and it was so much fun to me because I just love the challenge of finding these places and going in and and I always saw myself as a free agent it was just me and God and I would get on a plane and go okay God you know what's this event you're gonna be like and when I was at the convention the other day it was it was and I still feel that way now but I don't go alone anymore but I was at the convention the other day my wife and I were driving we thinking just looking at all the stuff the cops the helicopters the news stations and thinking man what are we doing here and what's guy gonna do and we don't see it as we belong to anything I don't belong to the Rock Church this is my assignment until I die one day this building will be obliterated when there's a new earth and I'm gonna be here till the day I die I assume I assume they'll be here till the day I die but in the end I belong to God and when I and when I go places like that where you know I'm not around y'all my family I'm around most people don't know me and I just okay God what you want to do and he stuff always happens and I always see someone from the rock every no matter where I go I the day we got there we did their rehearsal we went the guy said after rehearsals do you want to go stand on the stage no one was in the arena it's like 20 people in there taking pictures or whatever but it was the the the first night was over and everyone at home he says do you want to go onstage and just see that's like oh yeah I want you know check out the room so we went out there and there's all glad the floor was like glass and there's a group of 4 people on the stage it was a it was pretty big stage so I walked up to the podium was looking around and you know kind of just getting a feel for a room and this guy walks up to me standing right there he goes hey pastor miles I go to the rock and I'll take this man I can't go nowhere without y'all overlap and to me it's like God just saying which of course is the SOI I always got someone with you but the point is is that when I go to these places I purposely want to detach myself from everything and say God what are we gonna do who you gonna send my way what way is this what what surprise is gonna happen and the reason I tell you this is that if you can if you can detach yourself from this world and know you're only at San Diego State or USD or UCSD for just a little bit of time the boyfriend you got the girlfriend you got I mean who knows what's gonna happen if it's gonna happen it'll happen you don't have to force it trust me it'll it'll happen don't force it the job you have do your best but you're still young but the one thing that's gonna be a constant as God is always gonna be with you and he's always got opportunities for you if you just trust him all the time and stay connected and keep talking to him and listening to what he does you have so much fun in your life even when stuff happens you don't like even when drama happens you have so much fun because it will hurt when it's supposed to hurt and you will get through it and you'd be like thank God I got through it because I can't imagine going through life without the Lord I can't imagine being married without God there was a woman in this church my husband died he was electrocuted San Diego Gas and Electric and it was uh it happened at she saw him at 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday Sunday morning Saturday night 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning she was at church at the twelve o'clock service that day with about 15 our neighbors the day her husband he hadn't been dead 12 hours and she was standing right over there with 15 of her neighbors and I'm thinking okay let me get this straight your husband just died today you saw him this morning and you're here now she's yes I've been up all night obviously she was read just crying eyes are red we're all her kids I said why'd you come here she says I wanted my neighbors to see why he was so different that day that day I don't know if I could have done that I mean god I've got empowered me to do it I would have we did the funeral right here the memorial service and we gave out over 321 jump starts we had an altar call Dana come forward that raised a hand and we gave about 300 books that we give the new believers SDG and all the people are there and I'm look at this woman I'm saying you know what I you don't want to face death without God you want to be ready all the time and you'll be ready if you will walk and listen to them every day all the time you'll be ready you will be I look forward and I hope it's not soon because I wanted there's a lot of stuff I want to do but I look forward to dying and being with God and here's the other thing his interesting thing about God about dying God's gonna give you a new name your original name I assume is your original name that whatever your name is Susan Ameria Jimmy and John that's your parents names God I got a name for you now this is my own theory that that name has a meaning and that name has a meeting that is consistent with his gifts and talents he's given you and that name has a meaning that's consistent with his assignment that he gave you on earth it's all because God is very consistent he's very efficient and every day he sees you he calls you that name and he's like and when he sent me to the Republican National Convention he sent me there for a very specific assignment and he knew I was gonna do that interview he knew I was gonna do all that stuff before I went he said okay you're gonna speak here and you're gonna speak here and I'm not gonna tell you about this one to the last minute because I want you to sweat a little bit and pray and then you know what to say and then you gonna go over here and when you go out here this person's gonna yell right before you start speaking and distract you matter of fact my wife and I practicing in the hotel room because they told me the crowd would be distracting so my wife and I would practice I would have a chair set up in the hotel room and I'll go by the window and then she would say my other first when I walk to the chair and I would you know act like I how you doing how you doing it and I said told my wife just act distracting like you're the people in the crowd so I came up and she's like getting on the phone slamming books on her down and and I had to come up and ignore that and talk real slow so I said good evening my name is Mark Ferguson and my wife was on crack right now she was that great so we were practicing a because you know we don't know what's gonna happen and I were to tell you all this is that if you just let hold God by the hand and just walk around and he will bless you and it'll be fun and the unexpected stuff will be exciting to you and when you go to heaven there's no big deal and when he takes your car away cuz it gets stolen it's okay when your boyfriend you break up you'll get over it you get a new job you'll get over it because it's gonna all that stuff's gonna happen amen let's pray lord I just thank you so much for today and I thank you for the fact that I already did pray but I cabaret again amen god bless you have a good night

Channel: Rock Church

Views: 8,748

Rating: 4.9560437 out of 5

Keywords: Rock Church, Pastor, Miles McPherson, San Diego, Sunday, message, message series, sermon, sermon series, leadership, Christian, Bible, gospel, teaching, good news, church online, rock live, livestream, evangelism, Jesus, God, non-denominational, megachurch, Southern California, preacher, worship, Point Loma, ministry, outreach, testimony, rocktv, hd, 1080p, sdrock, therocksandiego

Id: nLwl3VqtI3I

Length: 64min 38sec (3878 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 13 2012