EW 2019 - Session 3

Recording starts as session is already in progress…

0 - Christlike disposition - Humble yourself - ...People sitting beside Dan on planes - crying. I’m not even trying to minister. I’m just enjoying life in Jesus. Not knowing how to complain - or worry, “Am I going to make my connection?” “What a bummer of a seat - right next to the john.” I’m done with that. It distracts you. You miss why you are on the planet. You get the idea all about you - your convenience. No, it’s about you being Christlike.

0 - Nothing else really matters in the end. It’s about you being Christlike. In the end it’s not going to matter whether you sat on the aisle or next to the pooper. The reality is that somebody has to sit there. Why can’t it ever be you?

1 - “Well, I don’t do middle seats.” Get in the middle seat then and teach yourself humility.

1 - Frequent flyer status. I’ve got status. I let the computer pick my seat so that I don’t get spoiled. You get spoiled in life. They cater to you and you buy in. And all of the sudden you can’t sit where other people have to.  I’m serious about this. We better live this thing and become this thing. What a difference we can make if we get an attitude like Jesus - if we really are the body of Christ - the embodiment of Him.

1 - Giving up seats on planes. It keeps you like Jesus. When they ask someone to move, I volunteer. Why? Somebody has to do it. When I was yet a sinner, He came. When I was in the worst seat ever, He took my seat and put me in His seat. I going to live the same way.

3 - Complaining - I’m done complaining. I don’t even know what I would have complained about in 23 years. Why? I’m so blessed it’s ridiculous. The Spirit of God lives inside of me. He’s forgiven me of everything I’ve done outside of Him. He sees me in righteousness as if I’ve never sinned. And He loves to love me. And He lets me have so much fun.

3 - Complaining - Puts a target on you - So I’m just done with issues and people trouble and complaining. When you complain you are set up to be destroyed by the one who destroys - devoured by him who devours. Why? When you complain you reveal that you go to church but that it’s still all about you. And you are not satisfied. Now you are a target. Now your complaining has set you up. He’s roaming around seeking whom he may devour and he’s just located vulnerability and weakness. When you get rid of self you get rid of the platform that he lands on. Then you will understand what Jesus meant when He said that the ruler of this world comes but he has nothing in me.

4 - Jesus - our Model for life - That same Jesus said, “Follow Me.” “The things I do, you’ll do.” If it’s true in His life as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit, stop letting people tell you that it’s not true in your life empowered by the Holy Spirit. If He’s the firstborn among many, then we can follow what He walked.

4 - He didn’t just suffer for our sins. He modeled life for us. He showed us what life looks like in the Father. And He said, “Follow Me.”

4 - Self-centered prayers - He didn’t say, “Sing to Me and pray to Me when you are overwhelmed.” He said, “Follow Me.” He didn’t say, “Pray for a better job - for your coworkers to treat you nicely - or that your spouse would be having a good day… A lot of those prayers have gone up. But they bounce off the ceiling and fall to the ground. They never, ever make the bowls of incense - where voices are crying out to God - voices that were praying in faith that was working through love.

5 - Self-centered prayers for your spouse - If you are praying for your spouse so that your day will go better that prayer doesn’t make it to the Lord. You pray for your spouse because you hurt FOR them. If they knew who they were they wouldn’t be living the way that they’re living. You weep for them not because of them.

5 - We just talked about righteousness last night. Isn’t it amazing that God is willing to wash away everything we’ve ever done and see us as if walked some other way? Isn’t it amazing that on our darkest day all He saw was what we were created to be and love never failed and He never lost sight of the beginning and the truth and the created value of men? Not merely men but men in Him / Him in men - not boasting in men but boasting in Christ in men. (What we would look like with Him living inside of us.)

6 - He thinks you’re worth dying for. He thinks that putting His Spirit inside of you is worth hanging on the cross and being beat beyond description. He believes that because He knows what we were from the beginning. We were made for His image. The Spirit of God was in man and man was the expressed image of who God was. Jesus came and now Jesus is the expressed image of who God is. It’s Heb. 1.

6 - We can hardly relate to that because we grew up separate from God. We grew up in self-centeredness. We grew up in anger, hostility, jealousy, pride, etc. And none of those things are the kingdom. None of those are what God made us to be.

6 - People say, “Well, God gave us emotions.” He did not give you the emotions you grew up with. Stop saying that. Adam gave you those. And every emotion that came out of your life came out of a wellspring of self-centeredness. You didn’t have to practice to be angry - discouraged - jealous - prideful - discouraged - anxious - fearful. It came by instinct.

7 - Our emotions have flip-flopped us - taking us up and down and up and down. We’re trying to get a grip on our emotions. But why don’t we get a grip on our motive in life?

7 - Why are we trying to get a grip on our emotions? Why are we in anger management courses? He said put off anger. He didn’t say manage it. He said put it off. Why? Because without self-centeredness, true anger to the point of sin can’t exist.

8 - Oh, I get passionate over things but it’s never at the cost of a person’s identity. My passion never causes me to see you for less than you’re created for. So you can be angry and not sin. That doesn’t mean that you push it to the brink with a person and stop right before you cross a line. That’s silly. If you’re angry, you’re angry.

8 - You say, “Well, I’m trying to forgive.” That means that you’re in unforgiveness. Why do we have such a grid for unforgiveness? Because we were trained by it our whole lives. We were all self-centered from the start.

8 - Jesus didn’t say that if you want to follow me pray a prayer that will assure that you go to heaven on the day you die. He said, “If you want to follow me deny the biggest problem in your life - you living for you.” You were never made for you. You were made for His image.

8 - So you living for you is a disfunction. It’s outside of the box. No wonder life seems tough to people - because they are living outside of why they are here. So they are not finding empowerment - grace - for their day because they’re on a road they were never meant to travel.

9 - A lot of our prayers are self-serving. They are for us. Many are praying a prayer of salvation in hopes of what they can get from God instead of what they can become because of Him. So you have a lot of discouraged people that go to church because they don’t understand why He is in them. Somehow they got tricked into thinking that Christianity is all about them - even though they are singing that it’s all about Him.

9 - You deny yourself. That’s not some rigid, legalistic idea. It means that your motives aren’t self-centered. You don’t put expectations on people and on their actions.

9 - You carry your cross. What does that mean? You never let sin against you give you the right to produce sin in you. You never repay evil with evil. You overcome evil with good. You don’t throw a log on a fire that you wish would cease. You cast down a harsh word with a kind word.

10 - You didn’t pray a prayer to go to heaven. No, heaven comes into you. We say that Jesus died on the cross because we’re sinners. But that leaves us as forgiven sinners and we’re not really clear on what that means. I don’t believe that any preacher in my life understood the truth enough to share it with me. They just told me that I was a sinner, that I had bad things in my heart, that I better ask for forgiveness so that the blood could be applied to my sin and you better make sure that you show up in church. Because if He comes and you’re not in church, you’re in trouble. It was all about shunning hell and gaining heaven and getting blessing instead of becoming a new young man.

10 - Nobody told me until Holy Spirit told me that He died on the cross to restore my purpose, my destiny, my potential. Nobody ever told me that He saw a value in my life and that’s why He paid a high price. They all said that He paid a high price because I sinned. No, He had to die because I sinned but He didn’t die because I’m a sinner. He died because the truth was lost and He wanted to restore it in my life.

11 - Nobody ever told me that. So I couldn’t see the love of God. I was confused. “Why would He die for me? Why would He care? Why does He want me in heaven? Why does He want to forgive me?” And when you’ve got questions you don’t have answers. The gospel that I heard my whole life created questions and never let my heart see.

12 - It wasn’t until I was alone with God and Holy Spirit said to me, “He did this because of your value. He knew you from the beginning. On your darkest day He didn’t lose sight of who you were created to be. And He knows what you’ll look like if He’s in you and you’re surrendered. And that’s worth paying for.” It wrecked my world forever.

12 - My days of “tit for tat” and “he said, she said” are over. My days of “Well, you shouldn’t have… Well, I wouldn’t have if you didn’t,” “Well, how come… Well, I wouldn’t be if you didn’t”...

12 - Please don’t slip into religion. Don’t just live a form of something. Don’t just learn its language without it becoming reality in your life.

12 - It’s easy to learn a language. It’s one thing to know all about God and have all of the answers - all the ins and out and quote all of the scriptures before the preacher is done… You can do daily devotions every day and miss communion and fellowship with God. You can let your devotional life take the place of knowing Him. You can let your ministry - your calling - your service in church - take the place of knowing Him. And none of those things that you do for Him transforms your life. But knowing Him does.

13 - You find your identity through ministry. That’s why men are up and down. They are only doing as good as their ministry is doing. No, you’re doing as good as He is on the inside of you. You don’t find your identity through what you do. You find your identity through what He did. And you become something in that truth. And you live out of what you are being.

13 - People say, “Well, pastoring would be great if it wasn’t for the people.” That’s a dead give away - that it’s still about you.

13 - [Hypothetical scenario - Jesus at the last supper - self-centered]

14 - Do you know why you are laughing so hard? Because you know that He would never do that. If He would never do that, why do we do that? He never taught us that. So where did we learn it? You were homeschooled in the wrong home. We were taught by lies - false teachings.

14 - At some point when we hear the truth our hearts have to respond. God brings you into accountability because He loves you. Christianity means choosing the truth - going after truth. You’re saved by grace through faith. As soon as you apply faith to truth, grace comes to make truth your reality. And all of the sudden you are changing and you didn’t bite your lip to change.

15 - I never woke up one time since I’ve been saved and tried to be a good boy. I woke up to be His boy and it made me good. You say, “Don’t call yourself good. There’s no one good but the Father.” But He’s in me.

15 - He changed my heart. I’m not being proud. I’m not overspeaking - speaking a higher than I live. I don’t have the same evil things in my heart that I had before I was saved. I don’t have the secrets in my heart that I had before I was saved. I didn’t have to try to stop swearing. I just didn’t swear any more.

15 - This thing isn’t works. It’s a life that you become. If you are not in fellowship with God you will have to work to try to do the things that you’re supposed to do. And you will always feel like you are not doing good enough - like you are a step behind. You’ll slowly be condemned in your mind. You’ll have a veil over your face. You won’t have intimacy so you won’t reproduce Him. How can you get pregnant if you don’t come together?

16 - There’s nothing on the earth that’s reproduced without two coming together. He said that it pleases the Father that you bear much fruit and that your fruit remain. How are you going to be fruitful if you don’t get pollinated?

16 - If the seed of who He is doesn’t come inside of you, how will you give birth to what He looks like? Everything that comes out of your life through communion, looks like its Father. This is spiritual. It’s not weird. It’s not sexual. It’s just truth. You come together…

17 - When I first got saved I would walk into my bedroom (where I was alone with Him) - I wasn’t embarrassed - I’d walk in an say, Father, I just come to you. I open myself up to you. Thank you that the seed of who you are comes into me and impregnates me and everything that comes out of my life looks just like its Father. Have your way in me. I’m a tree ripe for the picking and men in need reap and get filled by the glory of who you are through my life, God. Thank you for a word in season. Thank you love and mercy and peace… I used to talk like that forever when I was alone with God. I’ll never be the same. Stress and frustration and strife are over in my life. I am never selling cheap. You bought me with a great price and I am not my own. And I would talk to Him like that.

17 - Praying for good circumstances - That sure beats, “God, would you make the car run today and my boss treat me right? And God, I hope my eggs are finally done when I ask for over easy and aren’t slimy…” Did you pray? Oh yes, I prayed this morning. No you didn’t! You’re self-focused and deceived and you don’t even know it.

18 - Sometimes the whole line of our praying is to bless the outcome of our day. That’s a dead give away that we are still all about me. How can you be fruitful in that arena? You’re already letting it be known that If one little thing that you pray doesn’t work out you’re not going to be OK - because you are in “faith.” This is what you’re believing for - better circumstances. This is not a cool line of prayer. Your circumstances should have nothing to do with your expression. It’s what you believe that causes you to stay steadfast - causes you to be OK.

19 - It’s not about the fire you’re going through - He’s Lord over the fire - Sometimes God doesn’t even think about the fire that you’re going through. Sometimes He doesn’t care at all about putting out. He just sits there and waits for you to respond in everything that He’s given you - every provision that He’s made for you. He wants you to see that it’s not even about the fire that is burning around you. It’s about the One living inside of you and the One you represent. And for you to understand that “Whether I live or die it’s unto the Lord. But I don’t expect to die because I’ve got a lot of things to do on this earth.”

19 - It’s not survival. Sometimes we preach the gospel like it’s a survival kit. “I just want to make it to the end” mentality. You’re not trying to “make it.” You’re already in. You’ve already won. You can’t lose now.

19 - You’re never going to die so death should never be a factor. The bondage of the fear of death should end for every Christian. We were held captive in that bondage our whole lives - Heb. 2. But He is the captain of our salvation and He ended that bondage. Well then, how come when we get a terminal diagnosis we freak out - our friends freak out? And then we all quote the principles we were taught on healing - from the place of fear. And our friend becomes a dying man instead of a son. Why is all about sentiment? And grandchildren and “my daughter is about to get married”? It’s always sentiment - it’s human. I’ve been around it so much.

20 - A thousand people are praying and the person dies and we say, “It can’t be the will of God to heal.” But what if we are praying from a place of fear and we’ve lost our authority? What if we’re just honoring death - like they did at Lazarus’ tomb? While life is standing right in front of them and all that they can see is death?

20 - You have no authority over what you fear. None. You can quote all of the scripture that you want from the place of fear and all you are doing is reducing the Bible to a Bible principle that you’re hoping works. But the Bible is an introduction into covenant, communion and relationship - where you become one with Him. And He begins to form you and make you more and more like Him so that you see what He sees - so that you can do what He does.

21 - I’m not spanking anybody. Don’t hear condemnation in this. It’s empowerment. Grab these truths.

22 - At least come away with this tidbit: wake up in the morning and let Holy Spirit teach you through prayer and faith that nobody owes you a thing. What a powerful place to live from. If that’s not the truth about your life then, you’re only doing as good as the people around you. You’re only as strong as the weakness around you. You’re only doing as good as the people around you do to you. In that case you’re a product of others instead of being a product of Him. You’ll have nothing to give because you’re always in need - needing to receive.

23 - People try to find their identity through the church that they attend. You find your identity through Jesus so that you’re a blessing to the church that you attend. Some people serve in ministries to get affirmation - accolades - appreciation, etc. But you’re on thin ice because when they don’t give you what you need - when they don’t appreciate you - then your heart is hurt. You were doing ministry for the wrong reason.

22 - There are so many people that say that they were hurt in the church. I sit with them on airplanes all the time. They tell me, “Well, I used to go to church. People made me so mad. I’m not ever going back to church.” And I say to them, “Well that seems tough then because I get the impression that you relate that church experience to God and that now you don’t even have a relationship with Him either. He’s more of a thought than someone that you know.” I can usually get them crying pretty quickly.

23 - I’ve had so many people crying on airplanes. I like it. Some people need to cry. They need to be confronted. They need to see this stuff. On the outside they look like they have it all together but they are just about broken on the inside. And when you touch one little thing… and God knows just how to do it too… and they cry.

23 - Emotional airplane encounters - approached after flight - in the jetway. Why do they approach me? Living Jesus - Seeing others how He sees them. Not being frustrated. Not having issues. Not being insecure [example of insecurity between husband and wife].

24 - Marriage - Silent treatment - It’s crazy what we do in marriage - it’s well known: silent treatments - you don’t like what they did so you convey it with body language and silence. Heaven would call that control and manipulation - self-centered deception that you don’t know Him like we sing that we do. You would call it justifiable because they were “wrong.”

25 - When you live that way, you give yourself away… (You show that) You don’t know Him like you could - because He would never do that and He never did that to you. So why would you do that to another?

25 - Needy? - No, filled with the fullness of God - Where did we ever get the idea that God birthed anyone with the job description of serving us? To meet our needs? We teach things like, “Well, we’ve all got needs.” Your need is Him. And if you know Him and know His love, which passes knowledge, you’ll be filled with all the fullness of God. Fullness means a house with no empty rooms, a town with no empty houses, a ship, so full of cargo that there’s no place to put another box. It means fully and completely occupied with no vacancy. How is that needy? It’s not.

26 - The “needs” of men and women - There is a teaching in the church that men have needs and women have needs - God made us certain ways. No, God made both male and female in / for His image and His likeness and that’s not needy. We studied a fallen man and said, “This is us.” And then we ask God to come into the midst of that - we attribute that fallen condition to “the way He made us.” We say that men have needs and women have needs and that we need to be sensitive to each other’s needs. We need to speak their language.

26 - And then when the husband doesn’t speak that language and the wife doesn’t speak that language then we have a reason to not look like God because our spouse isn’t scratching me where it itches. They aren’t filling my need. It’s a terrible teaching.

27 - Anything that has self-centeredness attached to it cannot be the gospel. Love does not seek its own. It lays down its life. It hangs on the cross. It denies itself. It prefers others. It gives itself away. Anything that has an ounce of selfishness in it is from Adam. It’s not from Jesus.

27 - Your emotions get totally restored when you start walking in love. When you lay down your life in prayer and get alone with Jesus and you start telling Him that you are serious, He will take you seriously. And He will show you every time that you are crossing a line and living in a former way. You’ll get convicted. But instead of getting condemned you go, Wow, thank you for the light in my life - for the truth that you are showing me. God, you are Fathering me. I’ve come a long way. I’m way farther than I was a few months ago. There was a time where I wouldn’t have even seen this - where I would have justified this - I would have stayed like this. But You are showing me that this isn’t who You are. So it isn’t who I am going to be. God, release them and forgive them and I thank you for the wisdom that is changing me from the inside.

28 - So you are responsible for you. You guard your own heart - not somebody else's. So are you going to take this to heart? Do you muse and meditate on this? Or do you say, “Well that was interesting, that was good.” Or do you apply it to your life and become a wise man - become what you are hearing. That’s a pay day for me.

28 - I’m not impressed when people say, “That was great!” because I’ve already figured that it’s great. I’m just messing with you. My goal isn’t to just preach good. I’m excited when people want what I preach and are becoming something because of what I preach. That’s the reward for a fellow like me.

29 - Financial arrangements - I don’t come here for a paycheck. [Extended discussion] It’s not a business deal. We’re family and it’s the kingdom of God. God will get me where I need to be. [Giving and receiving]

31 - I’m just going to keep having fun. You can’t kill me because I’m never going to die.

31 - Police protection at church in Alabama. Threat on your life. We’re here to protect you. We’re not going to do any of that. These threats are just intimidation. Let’s just see if they can kill me. Let it unfold. In the church we say, “Now brother, you’ve got to use wisdom.” Whose wisdom? Your own fear - your own insecurity - your friend’s advice? - Or trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding - Love not your own life unto death so that you can truly overcome. You’re going to plead the blood and plead the word and then you’re loving your own life and wondering where the power is.

33 - “How do we overcome? Through the blood of the Lamb and our testimony!” But we forget the most important part that the first two parts hang on - love not your lives unto death.

33 - Police protection (cont.) - You don’t know what you believe until you are in that situation. You don’t know what you would say.

34 - Dog bite - on that same trip to Alabama - Bit by dog while running. Lots of blood - he hit something. It’s all going to be fine. They were probably afraid of lawsuit - dog put down. It’s good that God doesn’t treat us this way. You reap what you sow but when you repent you reap what He sowed. Day of mercy. Your dog bit the right person. Bleeding stopped. Hugged them and prayed with them. You’ll never hear back from this.

40 - That’s why many Christians have a hard time healing. They are looking for how this situation can benefit me. Already lawyered up.

40 - Dog bite (cont) - Wound closes. Back to the hotel. Desk clerk’s reaction. You need to go to the emergency room. “No you’re not alright.” Black guy - had story about being bit. “You for real!”

44 - You’re for real - what is that - what are you? We’ve been jaded. We’ve looked at people that weren’t all the way in. We’re always wondering where the catch is. We miss the fact that there is such a thing as being pure on the earth - His name is Jesus - and the people that He lives in.

44 - Dog bite (cont) - Shower - Radio interview. Told the story in the interview. It convicts people. For some people, what they are going through becomes their “story”, their saga, their moment - everything they think about and talk about. But what He went through is the story of your day.

46 - Through our prayer requests we reveal that we’re only as good as things are going. And life is always speaking louder than truth. And that’s a problem because it’s truth that makes you free. All of the sudden I’m only as good as life is unfolding - instead of that stone being rolled away and new life through Jesus Christ. Come on, we can live this way. This is not far off and hard to reach.

46 - Tonight we sang, “...Hallowed be your name. Your will be done - on earth as it is in heaven.” We always interpret that as talking about the power of God. It’s not wrong. We say, “No cancer in heaven, no cancer on earth.” It gives us faith to believe for the defeat of cancer. It’s not wrong.

46 - But why is it always about the power of God? Why is it always about a miracle? Why isn’t it about the heart of God? There’s no animosity in heaven. There’s no “tit for tat” in heaven - no regrets, shame, guilt - no unforgiveness - no issues. We should all give up our life subscription to issues. We should all cancel that subscription.

47 - New wine / new wineskins - There is new wine on the earth. And the only thing that holds new wine is a new wineskin. If you don’t let the gospel make you think differently then you won’t contain Him.

47 - Criticism / persecution - You can’t incorporate Him into your life. He becomes your life. I got bit by a dog and then I went to the church there in Alabama and the police were there to protect me all in the same day. It made me feel so good. I knew that I must be on to something. I’m not picking a fight but I’m not afraid of one. All I’m going to do is love you. My war is never flesh and blood. I believe it and one day you’ll find out that it was true.

48 - One day the truth will be apparent - The Bible says that my life is in Him and that when He appears, I’ll appear with Him in glory. It says that men will marvel when they see you with Him. Unbelievers will be stunned. And it will bring glory to God. ...Men that were cynical and criticized, “You’re exaggerating. You’re just trying to be somebody” - people that don’t understand - you don’t get moved by that.

48 - No one can take Him from me - If you have relationship with God, persecution doesn’t even phase you. How can you take away what I have. Nobody can keep me from hearing His voice tonight. You’re too late. He’s in me. We’re in love. Nobody can hinder the peace that I enjoy in Him - the revelation that He brings. Who can interfere with what I have with Holy Spirit - just by their words - criticism?

49 - Be firmly established by knowing Him - That’s why you need to KNOW Him and not find your identity through anything else - or else you will always be shaken by men.

49 - Persecution at work - 2.5 years - despite living steadfast. Their wheels were spinning. They were criticizing what they didn’t understand. Why? Because they were threatened by the truth. Holy Spirit was at work. And all they could do was mock and scoff at what they didn’t understand.

50 - Why are you moved by that? I had more peace than I had ever known. I’m punching out at the time clock and the Holy Spirit is in me. What does it matter if they are mistreating me [examples] What are they making fun of? They are just exposing that they don’t know Him. I should hurt for them not because of them. Why would I get angry? Why would I take it personal - take the persecution to heart if what I have is real?

➡ 50 - Come on. I’m just trying to build you up in something that you CAN walk in - where you never look back - you never turn back - where you go after this thing because it’s real and He’s with you and He’s for you and He loves you.

50 - It doesn’t matter if people don't see what you’re seeing. Go after it.

50 - Independence from but not independent of people - But don’t put on a show. Don’t say, “Well, I don’t need people.” No, if you talk like that it shows that you’ve already been hurt by people. You’re not on some honeymoon island with the Lord and avoiding people. The reason that you have intimate relationship with God is so that you have love towards others.

51 - We’re here to love - And we can do that only because He is filling us with His love to overflow - Anybody that truly has relationship with God has to have love for others because relationship with God if for the purpose of you loving others. If you don’t have love for others then your “relationship with God” is just words.

51 - There are two commandments. What’s the greatest? He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength.” And then He said that the second is LIKE the first. That means that Jesus is tying the second to the first and made them one - He just has an order - Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

51 - So what He is saying is that you are going to love God and get a revelation of His love and then look through His love and see your neighbor clearly - because you see yourself clearly. If you don’t love yourself and see yourself clearly, you’ll have a bad view of others too. If you are critical of yourself - nit picky - self-condemning, you’ll notice what’s wrong with everybody else so that you’re not the only egg in the basket.

52 - Healthy view of self - Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF. But what if you don’t have a good view of yourself? Your neighbor will be saying, “Hold off on your “love” of me brother, until you get a revelation of God’s love. Don’t love me like you love yourself.”

52 - But when I see my life in Him and understand how He has seen me all along, for the first time in my life I can have a healthy view of me. And it’s not vanity or the world’s way of seeing me, it’s His way of seeing me.

52 - Before I was born again I never like myself. I needed you to like me for me to believe that I was likeable. I was insecure. I would try to get a laugh. I’d try to get a laugh at the expense of another. I’d be cynical and if I could get a couple of people to laugh at the expense of another then I felt better than others.

52 - Have you noticed that humor is usually at the expense of others? Secular humor thrives on cutting people down - to lift the person up who is making people laugh. That’s not cool.

53 - I needed you to like me to believe that I was likeable. But when I got saved I began to love who I became - and it wasn’t vanity. I live with me. So it’s important that I like me. I don’t have secrets. My conscience isn’t violated. When I lay my head on my pillow I go to sleep and I wake up when it’s time to wake up. And I enjoy the coming of another day. And there’s not anything that anyone can do to stop it now. This train is rolling. So you either jump on the train or it rolls on by.

54 - Circumstances... life… ministry… people’s mistakes… people’s willfulness… what does any of that have to do with my disposition - my demeanor - my level of encouragement? I don’t find my encouragement from others. I’ve already found it in the Lord.

54 - If I find my identity through you, I’m only doing as good as you’re doing me. If I find my identity through Him then I’m finally ready to love you.

54 - I wish that we would all get this. Then there would never be another hurting pastor. There would never be another sabbatical because we were burned out. If you are anointed and your cup runneth over, then why are you letting people drink out of your cup. Spirituality is measured through overflow.

54 - You didn’t drink out of my cup all weekend. And nobody will during the whole weekend. You can’t even get to the rim, it will overwhelm you. At best, you’re playing in my saucer. I can look you in the eye and tell you that I’ve never been tired in ministry. I’ve never been overwhelmed and burned out by people.

55 - Jesus was thronged every day. Can you picture Jesus saying, “I don’t know guys. I think we’re going to hang back. The crowds are relentless. I’m tired of being thronged… Every once in a while you need a break from people.” No, that’s how self-centered man speaks. That’s living in the flesh.

55 - I love challenging leaders with this stuff… Responses from leaders.

56 - Thank God that Jesus wasn’t hurt on the night that He was betrayed. On the night that He was betrayed, His idea of responding was laying down His life and cutting covenant with His followers, knowing that they were all going to run when He was struck - knowing that they all said that they would die for Him but that none would - knowing that the rooster was going to crow and that Peter would go, “Ooops.” And He went and died without those boys.

57 - Make sure that on the night that you are betrayed you are not calling a friend and crying - because that’s not following Jesus. You might tell them your story and then catch their heart of indignance towards that person who betrayed. They are mad and now they can’t even pray for the person who betrayed. But people pray anyway because it’s the spiritual thing to do - but it’s from the wrong heart. Now you’re asking God to knock them off their high horse and set them straight. You’re finding a couple of Psalms that talk about cutting off their heads - breaking their arms - gouging out their eyes.

57 - Preach out of what you live - You can’t convince me that we can’t live this thing. I’m still growing and getting it right. I believe what I am preaching. I’ve been living it a long time or I wouldn’t be preaching it. The Bible says not to speak about stuff you haven’t lived in - not to get puffed up and speak beyond your life. Don’t just study your Bible and get theological. You preach out of what you live. That’s what carries weight. You don’t go outside of those things that you know to be true in your experience and life with God.

58 - Now there are things about healing that we are going after and growing into. But I am talking about this heart stuff - this love thing.

58 - Passionate because I’ve lived it - The reason I am passionate about this is because I have had ever opportunity in 23 years to walk these things out. I’m not steady and consistent in my demeanor because everything is going the way that I would wish. It’s the truth that has come and made me free.

58 - Fiery furnace - I always talk about Shadrach, Meshach and the boys. They impress me so much. I love that story. These were real guys and they were young. They were in a foreign land. They were like slaves. But the king was recognizing virtues in these guys. You know the story...

59 - 90 ft. bronze image of himself. At the sound of the timbrel everyone will bow and worship or else be thrown in the furnace. They did not bow.

59 - Daniel and the lions’ den - They set up Daniel too. They wanted to get rid of him. They were jealous of him. But Daniel put himself in the lion's den. He didn’t pray in secret. He did what he did openly - knowing the decree.

100 - [retelling of the story]

101 - “Daniel, was your God able to save you from mouths of the lions?” “Yes, O king… For as surely as He found me innocent in His sight…” Guess what you are through the blood? So why are you afraid of lions? You’re innocent through His blood. You’re justified. And you ought to live like it. It means just as if you never sinned. Are you righteous? Then you ought to live like it so that I don’t have to preach on righteousness all over again. Righteousness means right with God without any sense of guilt, condemnation or shame.

101 - Those Hebrew boys refused to bow. Why? Because it wasn’t about the fire. It was about what they believed. And they weren’t going to violate the integrity of what they believed. They weren’t going to compromise, even at the cost of their own lives. They didn’t love their own lives above what they believed about God. They would not compromise what they believed to stay alive because it wasn’t worth living if they couldn’t live in truth.

102 - We find out what we believe when we get a little persecution.  We’ve got it pretty easy. It’s pretty easy to gather and worship Jesus. If it starts costing us our lives we’ll find out what we believe. I hope it wouldn’t come to that. I hope we could love God and be sincere and go after Him with the Holy Ghost and sweep the world with His love.

102 - If persecution really comes, I hope we’re prepared to do something more than picket - load busses and storm political buildings with signs. I hope we are prepared to do more than that.

103 - Fiery furnace (continued and retold) - That story is impressive. They said, “What’s your fire to us, O king? We don’t even have a need to answer you in the matter.” What are they saying? “Sir, you are missing the point. This isn’t about your fire. And it’s not about whether we live or die. It’s about who we believe and serve with our hearts and vows and lives. We have an integrity towards the living God that we won’t compromise. So even if He doesn’t save us from your fire O king, you need to know you are not the Lord and worthy of being worshipped. He is the only true God. But surely He will deliver us from your fire.”

104 - He is Lord over the fire - So it was never about the fire. And it was never about whether they lived or died. It was about what they believed. And because of that, a fourth man showed up in the fire.

104 - [retelling of story - thinking about it - How did they get in? Jesus bumped them in?] Why? Because He was Lord over the fire. The fire wasn’t the issue. That’s why He didn’t put the fire out.

105 - We’re constantly praying for our circumstances to change.  But He’s saying, “Why don’t you shine in the midst of the flames?” We’re praying for the problem to go away. He is saying, “Why don’t you manifest my heart and my nature and live in my Spirit?” We’re waiting for the other person to change. He’s saying, “Why don’t you shine?”

106 - The fire never was the problem. If He had put the fire out that would have sent the wrong message - that we just need the adversity to go away. But when they wouldn’t put their eyes on the fire, but kept their eyes on the King, the fire had no power over them. And they had authority over what they would not fear.

106 - So what happened? When they came out of the fire you couldn’t tell that they had ever been in it. It wasn’t the story of their day. It wasn’t their headline. There was no singed hair or burned garments. There was no smell of smoke on them.

106 - They were in the middle of the fire but Jesus was right there shining - the fourth man in the flames.

106 - [retelling the story - king freaks out - Veggie Tales]

108 - Do you realize that it was never about their adversity? But how many times have we let what we are going through decide how we are doing? You’ve got to make sure that you don’t get tricked into that any more - because it’s a lie.

108 - Let me read this over with you - Phil. end of chapter 1. And I’ll close with this…

110 - Phil. 1:27 - Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

110 - This one verse shows you that you are saved for more than just going to heaven. You’re saved to be an example - to be a witness - to walk in the light as He is in the light. He’s telling them to let their lives speak of Him. Let your attitude speak of Him.

110 - New motive - What if the gospel changed your reason for being and you would wake up for different reason - a different purpose - than you had before you knew Him? What if your whole motive was changed because of the gospel? What if you woke up to BE love - to shine - to follow after Him - to love others - to walk in mercy - to make peace because the sons of God are peacemakers? What if you didn’t wake up just to do church - to do ministry - to flow in your gifting - manifest in your calling.

111 - Man with the gift of prophecy. Belittling waitress. Called him on that. You’re going to let people wow over your gifting when you have no idea how to love? You’re drawing your identity through what you’re doing instead of what you’re called to become. Not just trying to be right. If you say that kind of thing for his sake, heaven is with you.

112 - Correcting kids for their sake - Get a grip on your heart before you say a word. [Hypothetical example] You’re teaching him that he’s a bother - that he can make you angry - that he can ruin your day - that he’s a troublemaker. God never does that. And because you’re a Christian, you’re inadvertently teaching him that God is that way because he looks up to you as parents.

113 - Get a grip on your heart. Correct the child for the child’s sake. He’s more than what he’s doing - not because he crossed your line. Get rid of your line.

113 - How do you deny yourself and yet still have lines? What if God had lines? We would probably be in trouble. We probably couldn’t approach Him. Can you imagine coming to God in sincere repentance and God would lash out in anger - or just sit there in silence? “Oh, so now you come? It would have been nice if it was 6 months ago when I really convicted your heart… I’m not even sure where we stand right now. You should have come when you had a chance. I’m a little ticked off.... I’ll get back to you with an answer. But for right now, cry all you want because I’m not sure where I stand.” Could you picture God doing that? Then where did we learn to do that? It sure wasn’t from Him.

114 - This stuff is convicting and real. In all your getting get understanding. We’re destroyed for the lack of understanding.

115 - I’m not talking to a room of hypocrites, game players or backsliders. I’m talking to His kids. I know that you can take it because you want Him. I’m not talking to people that need to be straightened out. We just need more understanding. Let’s get this thing and go after Him.

115 - There’s not one thing that I’ve said tonight that you can’t live if you wrap faith around it - regardless of the circumstances or people you are dealing with. Don’t you let another person decide who you are and how you are doing if their name isn’t Jesus.

115 - Testimonies from prior weekend - healings - tumor gone.

117 - Invitation to prayer for healing.

119 - We’ve got to put ourselves in a position to believe and God in position to move. We’ve got to stop thinking about it - debating it  - let’s just get in the game. Let’s get our hands on somebody. Let’s just believe God and open the door for this thing to happen. The more people we pray for, the more things we’re going to see. So let’s just keep going after what we all really believe deep down in our hearts - that God is good and that He restores things.

119 - Prayer for healing.

121 - I’m having a blast with you guys. I’m sincerely humbled by your hunger. It was here last year. I was excited to come back. You guys are amazing in your seeking of God. There is a grace on your hearts to go after Him. I perceived it last year and it impressed me. I am touched by you guys as a whole. Keep going after the kingdom. We’re growing up into Him in all things. It will make a difference. Amen.