WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.560 Guys, I just want to be real with you. 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:04.639 I want to tell you that I love you. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.519 I don't want to tell you that I understand your pain. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:12.720 We all have ups and downs, but I want to tell you that there is hope in the name of Jesus. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:24.000 And I don't know what your life's looking like, but I really hope and pray that this morning you'd be blessed to be reminded of the promises of God that we can always go back to. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.320 You know, we always have stress, right? 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:27.600 We always have ups and downs. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:28.239 See my foot? 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:31.359 Ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, right? 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.920 And you know, eight-year-olds are stressed. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:35.439 I'm like, why are you stressed? 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:41.039 Oh, because homework is so hard, and my parents, they're not give me everything I want. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:46.640 You know, like they homework, and and my brother and sister, they pull my hair every single day. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:48.560 Like, you know, like they're fully stressed out. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:49.759 I love eight-year-olds. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:53.439 You know, some of them they come up to me and they say, What happened? 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.000 And I say, cigarettes, right? 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:05.920 But then, you know, 13-year-olds, you know, they're like trying to be cool. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.200 You know, the guys are trying to say the F-word, you know, to be cool. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.439 And, you know, I need big biceps to be cool. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:13.439 Man, you don't need big biceps to be cool. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:15.680 My biceps are so big they fell off. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:16.400 All right. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.480 And then girls, you know, I wish I was more pretty, wish I was more beautiful. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:23.200 You're beautiful just the way you are. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:25.120 Forget about the outside. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.799 It's who you are and how you know the truth of your value, that you're a child of God, your royalty. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:38.640 And man, when you're 13 years old, you know, there's so many things attacking you and thinking in your mind, you know, I need a boyfriend to feel love. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:40.719 Look, I'll tell you right now, sex is not love. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:43.920 You can sleep with someone, but still not know if they actually love you. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:46.799 And for as long as you're looking for a boyfriend, you'll get a boyfriend. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:52.719 But I'm telling you right now, my own daughters, they ain't gonna be looking for a boyfriend, they're gonna be looking for a husband. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:54.159 Can they hear an amen? 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:56.879 I'll tell you that right now. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:01.519 But man, 13-year-old life, it's stressful. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:03.920 Oh, everything around me is changing. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.480 My parents, they don't understand me, they're freaking me out. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.479 I put a do not disturb sign on my door, and they still come into my room. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:14.800 They don't respect my privacy, and I'm freaking out right now. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.120 My parents, they backstab me. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:18.719 I thought I could trust them. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.560 They invite me to the party, then they uninvite me to the party. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.599 Maybe I just need a boyfriend, right? 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.240 That's what they think, and it's so stressful. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:34.800 But man, then you go to the 17-year-olds and they gotta get out of high school, they gotta get into the right college. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:40.000 Man, if I can just get into that college, then everything's gonna be what? 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:40.960 Okay. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.400 You get into college, and is everything okay? 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:45.039 No. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.120 Now, what do you need? 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:48.400 Money. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.560 Oh God, if you could just give me a job, then everything's gonna be okay. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:08.000 You finally get your job, and after two days, you look at your boss in the face and you look to the heavens and you say, Really? 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.719 You give me him, I hate him. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.159 Then all the single people. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:30.159 If I can just find the one you ought to talk to some married people, you know what they'll tell you, honey. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:32.639 If you ain't happy single, you ain't gonna be happy married. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:34.000 Can you hear an amen? 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.080 Those of the married people saying amen and clapping right there. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:41.919 Who are you? 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:43.759 What do you want? 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.120 For me, I wanted arms and legs. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:55.840 You know, someone when I was 12 years old, uh, I was at an airport, she came up to me, she said, Were you born this way? 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:56.560 I said, Yes. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:58.400 She said, Have you ever wondered why? 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.000 I said, Yes. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:02.080 She said, Well, I know why. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:06.719 And I'm thinking, wow, a stranger's gonna tell me why, and my doctors don't know why I was born this way. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.439 Lady Gaga don't know why I was born this way. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:11.840 And she's gonna tell me why. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:18.319 She said, In your previous life, like I'm thinking, did she just say previous life? 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:23.360 Like, she said, You were a very bad boy in your previous life, and now you're being punished for it. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:25.439 And I'm thinking, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.920 I didn't even have fingerprints to this life. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:28.959 How did you find me? 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:36.639 Like, I don't said, but don't worry, in your next life, you'll come back like a butterfly. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:39.279 And I'm thinking, I don't want to be a butterfly. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:54.399 You know how many butterflies I've squashed in my wheelchair, and I go to school and I get teased and thinking about, well, wait a second, I need to be cool, but why do they have more than I? 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:58.240 And I went home every day, especially in elementary school. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:02.160 Mom and dad, I don't want to go to school because they're teasing me, they're bullying me. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.000 Don't worry what they say. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:08.879 We love you, God loves you, you're beautiful, you're special. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.800 I hated that when they said, You're special. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:14.639 I'm like, I don't want to be special. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:21.439 I want arms and legs, and if I just had arms and legs, then everything's gonna be okay. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:39.680 Now maybe you're thinking at 50 years old, my brothers, the providers, the planners, and my sisters, for your children, if I can just pay off the house and get a couple rental properties. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:41.680 But guess what? 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:52.399 It's got nothing to do with arms and legs, it's got nothing to do with stuff, the temporary things of this world, they never satisfy your heart. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:54.879 You get some, then you want some more. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.720 Money, drugs, sex, alcohol, pornography, fame, and fortune. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.519 It does not satisfy. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:03.680 And you still feel poor. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:08.319 I've seen more poor people happy than rich people happy. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:10.000 That's the truth. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:24.800 It's got about it's got nothing to do with what we see, it's about what we know is true, and the value of knowing the truth far exceeds, far exceeds anything this world could ever give you. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.800 Let's look at Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.879 It says, For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:39.279 Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:45.839 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:52.639 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:57.439 I will be found by you, declares the Lord. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:06.480 Have you ever started a journey on trying to seek out God, but in the end you feel like he's just playing hide and seek? 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:15.680 Or when you know that it says in the Bible that he's a loving God and he can do all things, and when I prayed for something it wouldn't happen, then where is God? 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:22.800 For me, we are so blessed to have had in my family the parents that we've had. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:30.720 My father unfortunately passed away in May, just this May passed, at 62 years old from cancer. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:33.680 Now, did we pray that he would be healed? 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:34.800 Absolutely. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:37.600 Do we know that God can do all things? 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.279 Absolutely. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:44.000 Not just because this, but I've actually seen it. 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:48.879 I've seen blind people seeing, deaf people hearing, lame people walking crooked, backs come straight. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:08:01.040 Even in my own back, I have a Western doctor report to say I have a medically unexplainable something that was reversed that scientifically cannot be reversed. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.920 It was my spine becoming hollow. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:08.319 I had three holes in my spine, and they couldn't do anything. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:16.399 The prognosis was that by age 40, I would have metal rods in my back restricting my mobility. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.800 And I'm like, thanks. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.800 So funny, he came out and he said, Um, I have some news for you. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:25.279 He said, What? 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:26.240 I said, What's that? 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.879 He said, You were born with a rare disease. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:32.240 I said, I know. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:36.639 He said, No, your back's dissolving into nothing. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:45.279 Ten years later, we got an MRI scan, and from 2002, three holes, 2012, two holes. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:51.440 And he was like, mmm, I don't understand this, and I'm like, mm-hmm. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:53.919 Thank you, Jesus. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:55.919 That's me raising the roof, right? 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:03.759 2014, one hole, 2015, no holes. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.679 I have a pair of shoes in my closet in case God gives me arms and legs. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:09.039 That's the truth. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:18.879 Are we sad that my dad's not here? 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:24.320 Yes, but we can bury him in peace in knowing that God has a plan. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:40.240 And our plan that when we live it in his plan, it's not about just this 90 years, 80 years, or 62 years, if you were my like my dad, 62, or like my first cousin, 27 years old. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:41.759 He died about cancer. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:48.159 There are many people who have pain and suffering in the world, but this world is not our home. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:51.279 We are citizens of heaven passing through. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:57.519 And I used to think that God is this mean, unfair God because look at my pain. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.320 Well, when you read the Bible, you find out really quickly, God did not give us pain. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:06.960 In fact, he created Adam and Eve with no belly button and no pain. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:08.159 Right? 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:09.759 Did you get the belly button part? 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.120 Yeah, you got that one, right? 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:14.080 Why did he allow the serpent in the Garden of Eden? 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:15.440 That seems unfair. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:18.960 If God's a loving God, why does he allow suffering in this world? 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:29.759 Well, how unfair God would be to say to Adam and Eve, I created you with free choice, but you're just gonna be with me, and all you're gonna hear is my voice. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:40.320 That's why he allowed someone to say something different compared to what he told them, so then they can actually exercise free choice. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:45.840 Because if there's no opportunity to exercise free choice, then is there really free choice? 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:52.000 Therein, on the fall of man, sin, death, sickness, and disease came. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:57.039 But what the enemy tried to use for bad, God can turn into good. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:04.799 And now we have a temporary life to hear what God says and say, Yes, God, I believe in you, I believe in your plan, will say no. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:09.120 For me at age eight, I told him no. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:17.679 I said, I understand the gospel, I understand that if I lie once, I'm a liar, if I sin once, I'm a sinner. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.000 I know I'll never be holy. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.879 I've even been jealous of people, and I realized, wow, I didn't think jealousy was that bad. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.159 That's a sin. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:35.120 And I believed with all my heart that Jesus is and was who he said he was and did what he did. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:40.399 And I thought that God's plan would be, though, that he would give me arms and legs. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:48.799 I mean, how cool would it be if God would give me arms and legs and then go around the world and show the world that Jesus lives? 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:51.840 I told you about my back. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.240 I told you about 13 miracles I've seen. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:58.000 This is all true. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.919 Did it change your life? 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:13.440 Couldn't it be that even if God gave me arms and legs right here, that you could possibly tell someone else, but that doesn't change their life, and the only people's lives that would really be changed is right here. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:30.960 Yet God sends me on two and a half thousand planes, 16 presidents, books in 55 languages to go on TV in front of 200 million people at a time in Russia and Latin America to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, arms and legs. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:37.039 You see, the beautiful thing about this life yes, we can pray for healing. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:50.799 And the beautiful thing about this God that we serve is that He can do it, but even when He doesn't give me a miracle, he can still use me to be a miracle for someone else. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:04.080 If my dad didn't die of cancer, he's eventually gonna die of something else. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.000 I've been on planes, three planes that nearly crashed in my lifetime. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:12.799 I nearly been on a couple head-on collisions, still never been in a car accident in my life. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:15.519 It's unbelievable the grace of God. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:27.919 In fact, to the point where in the mid-2000s, 2005, I went to a southeast country in Asia, and about 50,000 people gave their life to Jesus Christ in one week. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:33.519 And we got an email saying, if Nick come saying, if Nick comes back to this country, we're gonna kill him. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:34.720 Straight to my office. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.279 Three years later, we went back there. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.559 About 70,000 people came to Jesus that week. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.080 And guess who was one of them? 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.559 That guy who threatened to kill me. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:45.919 You see? 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.919 True story, his whole family's still serving in that church where he got saved. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:14:09.759 I want you to understand that when you find something to live for, you found something to die for, and when your perception of your life is from God's eternal perspective, what is 90 years compared to helping one person know that God loves them? 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:16.000 I'll never forget when I was 24 years old, speaking in front of Southern California congregation. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:25.600 I look out and I see a man hold up a little boy, no arms, no legs, and a little foot like me, and I'm like, wow, I want to wrestle him later on. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:36.159 I got the father up here bringing little Daniel up here, he's looking up at me, and I put my little foot in his foot, he smiles and everyone cries. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:38.799 I hugged his mom, she was crying. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:42.240 She said, Now I know God has a plan for my son. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:48.399 Today, Daniel knows God's got a plan for him because God had a plan for Uncle Nick. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.919 You see, your story is just as powerful for someone else. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.399 You can be used by God. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:03.840 If God can use a man without arms and legs to be his hands and feet, then why can't God use you? 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:05.759 Yes, he can. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:13.840 I told his mom, hey, when Daniel goes to school and if he gets bullied, because bullying actually brought me to an attempted suicide at age 10. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:20.000 If he gets bullied at his school, I'm coming in my wheelchair and I'm gonna run them all over. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:25.360 No, you shouldn't be clapping, that's not the Christian thing to do. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:43.919 But I went to his school when he was about, I don't know, six, seven, eight years old, and after that 15-minute speech, that's all it took for him to become the accepted and actually now admired and coolest kid in the school, I actually had to sit him down and talk about humility. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.159 No, I'm just joking. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:51.519 But if I could help someone else, is that enough? 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:52.879 What do you want? 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:55.200 That's what I want. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:16:00.960 One day for me to stand in front of God and know that I was never perfect. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:05.039 I was never the perfect husband, but I strive to be the perfect husband. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:12.000 I was never the perfect uh uh father to my children, but I strive to be the best father I could be. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:22.159 To be the best child of God that I can be, yet still know that every time I fail, that every day I can ask for forgiveness of sins and God come into my life and change me and renew me and change my heart. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.480 Teach me your word that I may know you. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.879 Knowing God is the greatest purpose. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:28.559 It's not to be in ministry. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:39.840 I don't care what ministry you have, I don't care if you ever open up your mouth to somebody about Jesus, the greatest purpose is to know your Savior, Jesus Christ, to fall in love with him. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.879 He is mine and I am his and he is with me. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.480 And when I cannot walk, he will carry me. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:53.120 And that day that I see him, he'll say, Well done, my good and faithful servant. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:17:03.840 Not because of how righteous I was perfectly living, but because I accepted Jesus Christ and the gift of the forgiveness given by his death on the cross. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.119 See, no one died until sin was there. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:11.519 Jesus, if he died for my sins, then I don't die for mine. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:16.079 And he says, Well done, my good and faithful servant, welcome home. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:20.880 And then the next thing I'm looking forward to in heaven is hearing my name. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:32.079 Hey man! Now look, Daniel Martinez running to me with his new legs, hugging me with his new arms, saying, Thank you, brother, for helping me believe that this place called heaven was real. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.039 What compares to that? 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:51.119 When you know the truth of the purpose that God has for you, you also realize that there is God's plan for your life and the lies that take you away from it. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:18:13.119 I tell ya, I'm not an atheist, and I'll never be an atheist, because when you see demons ten foot tall, four foot wide, walking through your San Francisco hotel wall room, and you feel him before he even comes to the room, you ain't atheist after that, baby. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:32.240 For anyone who only believes that science is real, just go to a rural place where there are no hospitals or doctors, and there are only witch doctors as prominent as coffee shops are here in America, a prominent witch doctor offices, voodoo, black magic, the whole deal. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:34.720 They witness it every single week. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:42.960 So there is this war in the spiritual realm, and the lies take you away from the word of God. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.240 You're ugly, just give up. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:50.000 There is no God, you'll never get married, even if you got married. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.000 You can't even hold your wife's hand, you can't even hold your kids when they're crying. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:00.160 Well, I'm not ugly, I'm wonderfully and fearfully made according to God. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:02.319 I'm not forgotten. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:08.480 In Psalm 139, it says he has more precious thoughts of me than all the grains of sand in the world. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:13.519 In Philippians 4.13, it says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:22.480 In Romans 8 28, it says, All things come together for the good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:37.920 When you realize it's just the lies, to the lies you can go, you can talk to the foot because the ears ain't listening, and you turn around and you start that journey with one step. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.799 Every journey starts with one step. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:48.000 How long will you put your faith in your intellect or in money or in your plans or waiting for another season or circumstance? 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:56.880 How long will you believe the lie that you need to fix yourself up and actually overcome your pornographic addiction before actually God loves you and accepts you the way that you are? 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:03.920 The Bible says that He loves you and He sent His Son to die on the cross even while you were still yet a sinner. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:11.680 The most beautiful example of this of God's love for people who don't deserve I am first. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:21.119 But man, when I went to Mumbai, India in 2008 with teen challenge to go speak to 650 sex slaves. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:31.920 And after that, I went into some brothel houses, 10-acre district, 250 houses, six girls in each, six stories high. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:38.799 We went into one, and there was this woman on the floor, she was 90 years old. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:42.000 Started talking to her about Jesus through a translator. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.160 Her sister says, I don't want to hear about your God. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:45.200 Let me see your God. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:49.839 I'm sick of you people coming in from the West and talking about your God. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:52.559 I'm done with this Jesus man. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:54.559 Show me he's real. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:55.759 I said, Excuse me. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:57.839 She said, Make my sister walk. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:58.960 I said, Excuse me. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:00.960 She said, This woman is my sister. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:05.200 If your God is real, we carry her everywhere for four and a half years. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.119 Right now, let me see it. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:08.640 So I said a quick prayer to God. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:17.119 I said, God, just in case you're not aware of what's going on right now, I am about to pray for a woman who apparently hasn't walked for four and a half years. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:24.000 We prayed, and the first time she tried to get up, and my my heart just sank as she tried to get up with my help of my friends. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.000 She couldn't put any weight down with her feet. 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.640 I could see the excruciating pain of just trying to get in a physical position. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.599 She was hunched up like this with the tremor. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.319 First time didn't what didn't happen. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:38.640 Sat her down, prayed again. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.880 All of a sudden, the tremor stopped. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:44.480 She went straight in the seat, and I'll give you the short story. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.759 She walked. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.480 But you know what's amazing about this story? 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.559 That's not why I tell you another miracle. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.279 Let me tell you the miracle behind the miracle. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.640 I didn't know who that woman was, she was just an old woman. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.680 I knew she was. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.039 Wasn't one of those slaves, but I didn't know who she was. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:04.640 She was the one. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:06.880 I found out later. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:12.400 Who, after the miracle, gave her life to Jesus two weeks after that miracle. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:14.240 But guess who she was? 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:21.519 She was the woman who saw that red light district become what it is. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:28.240 That 10-acre city, red light district, was just a rare block piece of land, raw. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:32.079 And she said, We're gonna start slavery here. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:39.119 She recruited the kidnappers and all the pimps and all the medans and all the planes. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:45.039 She's the chief of evil. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.920 Forty thousand slaves. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.279 What have you done wrong? 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:54.640 In our human mind, well, I haven't done that bad. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.400 But if you have sinned, then you are a sinner. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:02.720 Ten thousand sins are one sin. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.599 Compared to God, we're all unrighteous. 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:10.799 And Jesus died for her. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.319 And God healed her. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:16.640 Right there. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:18.799 It's incredible. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.880 What's stopping the love of God coming to you? 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:24.240 There is none. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:28.240 And you gotta turn away from these lights and take that step. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:35.920 And in front of those 650 slaves, I spoke about Jesus. 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:38.720 Do you have hope? 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:40.960 Is Jesus your hope? 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:46.559 Do you have that hope and peace and rest that you know that you're complete and lacking nothing? 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:51.759 I stand before you, complete and lacking nothing, because Jesus is all I need. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:58.640 Do you go to sleep at night knowing that if you do not wake up, you know where you're gonna be? 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.319 I do. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.720 And if your hope is not in Jesus, then what is your hope? 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:09.200 Try put that hope to the test real quick with me. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:12.799 Jessica, can I ask you to play some piano, please? 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:15.759 I'll play piano, but I'm not warmed up yet. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:20.799 But you know that your hope is real when you put it to the test. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.880 How do you put hope to the test? 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:29.680 Or what would you say in front of 650 slaves who were kidnapped at 10, sold by their mother? 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:30.720 Some of them. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.240 Be positive, reincarnation, better luck next time? 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:38.640 Don't ever be a Christian just because someone tells you to be a Christian. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:44.160 Don't be a Christian because of a church or a Christian. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:52.079 Be a Christian because a Christian, in definition, is because of Jesus, a follower of Christ. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:55.759 Research. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:58.000 Look for truth. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:02.319 Seek God and you'll find Him. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:12.240 I couldn't tell these girls to even be their national religion, because in their religion, they're an outcast and always will be. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:18.559 In other religions, never a reassurance, never an assurance of salvation. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:25.119 Nothing about, on some levels, how to forgive your enemies and even forgive yourself. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:30.480 Some other religions is well, just do this, be good, do good, and good will happen. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:34.240 You really have courage to tell that to one of these girls? 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:36.240 You know it's not real. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:43.200 The rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:45.039 That's what the Bible says. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:52.960 But I could tell him about Jesus and how he took our sin, our shame, our guilt on the cross. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:58.880 He swept blood out of fear when he died for you and me. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.400 That we may live forever. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:08.160 And these girls went to a Jesus camp, got totally transformed. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:10.960 Totally transformed. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:28.480 Got a job, saved up money, not for a house, 700 bucks in their back pocket, went back to the brothels where they were once a slave in with a bucket of water and a towel, and knocked on the door that they were once a slave in and saw their former master. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:30.000 Said, Hello. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:35.039 I used to be one of your slaves, and I want to tell you that I love you. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:44.079 That I found Jesus in my heart and he's helped me to forgive myself and let go of my past and move forward. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:49.200 I never thought that God could give me a brand new life, but He's He's done that. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:51.839 He's forgiven me and I know that. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:55.680 And now that He's forgiven me, who am I not to forgive you? 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:05.039 I want to tell you that I forgive you and that I love you, and I'm praying for your soul because I know you're still lacking. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:07.680 Because I know you're still broken. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:13.359 But God can do something beautiful with your broken pieces too, like He did for me. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:15.920 I'm here to wash your feet. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:20.720 Washes their feet, gives them 700 bucks. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:27.920 I'm taking a slave home, makes that slave their sister and adoption, basically. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:38.960 Jesus camp finds a job, and they both save up money to then go back and rescue another one and another one and another one and another one. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:51.839 If that's not redemption, do you know God and his redemption for your life? 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:53.920 Do you have an active relationship with him? 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:58.240 Teenagers, don't tell me you're just a Christian because you come to church. 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:02.319 You tease someone at school on Monday, I don't think you know Jesus. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.559 You ain't real with him yet. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:05.759 Sorry. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:10.960 The first thing you realize is how much God loves you and how much he loves everyone. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:12.480 That's the first step. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.559 Are we real with Jesus? 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:21.519 And in a moment, I'm gonna call you forward to actually say a prayer with you. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:24.799 Yes, in your extension campuses as well, to the screen. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:30.000 And I'm gonna call you forward to actually say a prayer to say, Yes, God, forgive me on my sin. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:31.119 I want your plan. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:33.839 Change me, change my life. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:38.000 I'm not gonna lay hands on you or anything. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:43.759 And the reason why I call you up front, listen, is because of this. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:55.119 If you can't stand up in a church building in a moment like this, if you can't stand up for your faith in here, then how do you expect to stand up for your faith out there? 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:58.079 That's why I call you forward. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:05.359 So, right now, the altar team in all the extension campuses and the overflow rooms here in this campus, please come up the front. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:21.759 And can we first just ask you, everyone, just initially, because of I don't want people to jump over your legs or anything like that, but can we just stand up, all of us, and kind of scooch back against your seat to make it really easy? 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:37.759 Right now, all across this place, from the front to the back, if you know in your heart for real, that this is the day that you don't want to live another day without Jesus in your life. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:49.119 Right now, in this campus, in the overflow rooms, in all extension rooms, campuses, right now, if you know that you need to say, Yes, God, come into my life, take over. 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:52.319 Take over. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.160 I need you. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:56.960 I want to start my active relationship with you. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:59.519 This is not a rededication, starting that journey. 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:00.400 It starts with a prayer. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.079 I want to lead you in that prayer. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:03.599 Grab your things right now. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.640 Grab your things and put one foot in front of the other in the name of Jesus. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.279 You don't want to come alone, that's okay. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:17.839 Simply turn to the person next to you and say, Hey, I really want to go up there. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:21.519 I really want to give my life to Jesus, but I don't want to go alone. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:22.559 Will you please come with me? 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:23.839 Guess what they're gonna say? 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:25.039 Absolutely. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:31.200 So, right now, gateway in all the campuses, right now, here, I'll wait for every single person to come forward. 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:34.960 If you know you need to make your life right with Jesus, come now. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.160 And when you see someone moving forward, let's clap them on down. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:41.839 Don't wait for the first person, be the first person right now. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:42.799 Come on down. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:46.640 That's one, two, come on down the front. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:58.160 Come on, let's give God a shot of praise for the people moving all the time, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, all the custom, ten, eight, nine, ten, all the on the top. 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:00.000 I see you come and down, we're gonna wait. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.680 Come on down, no need to make a lot of things. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:04.720 That's another three. 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:07.200 Come on down, three. 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:57.039 Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, that's a bad table, that's a map of two, that's a bad, come on, come on, that's a big thank you, Chief. 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:10.880 Everyone here at the front, I want you to know that we love you so much. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:15.279 God bless you, and this prayer is the beginning. 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:20.640 Volunteers, we're just gonna stop praying for them right now and stop talking with them. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:23.359 And I just want everyone at the front, full attention. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:26.240 Let's all bow our heads and please repeat this prayer after me. 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.839 Say, dear God, I come to you today. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:31.839 Thank you for your plan. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:35.279 Come into my life. 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:39.119 Thank you, Jesus, for the cross. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:52.400 Forgive me, change me forever, and give me faith to live for you, to walk with you, and know you one day at a time. 00:32:52.799 --> 00:33:06.799 I receive you as my Lord and Savior, Holy Spirit, fill me, give me your comfort, your peace, and strength one day at a time. 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:10.000 In Jesus' name, I pray. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:11.119 Amen.