WEBVTT 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:18.640 And how we water water we have broken. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:29.839 We have ready water. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:50.079 Fresh water. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:55.759 At the road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.159 For more information on the road, visit the road.org. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.439 We hope you are encouraged by today's message. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:14.159 This year, we started our year with breakthrough plastered on the back of the wall. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.519 And um that was a powerful word for me. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:30.000 And I and I took it seriously, and I began to pray about breakthrough, what that'll look like, and whatever God wants to do, just bring it. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:30.799 You know? 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:37.680 And I've learned through Pam and others to be people of prayer. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:45.920 And I've always prayed, but I guess I look at prayer differently since my time at the road. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:51.359 And somebody asked me one time, they said, What's so different about your church? 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:53.760 And I said, Well, we pray. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:02:00.640 And I didn't mean that as an insult, and I didn't hear it until it came out of my mouth as if other people don't pray. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:07.439 But we do pray differently here than any other church I've ever been a part of. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:24.560 It's like that prayer is the thing that leads the way, and then we come behind it after we see what God has, what God has done, we kind of step in off the heels of prayer, and we really believe strongly in that. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:26.240 So I've learned a lot about that. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:38.080 So in order to have breakthrough, uh, my wife and I committed to some fasting time, and I was going to do 21 days of fasting. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:44.560 And the day before that happened, I had a guy call me and he he called me, and this is how the phone call went. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:48.000 I picked up the phone, he was like, Hey, dude, are you okay? 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:49.439 And I said, I'm fine. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:49.919 Why? 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.560 He said, Nothing's wrong? 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:53.759 I said, no. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:55.280 He said, Man, that's weird. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.120 He said, God told me to call you. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.840 I felt I felt sure something was wrong. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.599 I said, no, nothing's wrong. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:06.240 Well, I hadn't talked to him in a couple of years, and he said, Well, we should get together. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.759 And I said, Well, let's do it tonight because tomorrow I'm fasting. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.759 So if we're gonna eat, do anything like that, let's let's get it in. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:18.400 So we did that. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.360 And we sat down and we started talking, and he said, So catch me up. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:24.719 What's going on in your life? 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:34.479 And I said, Well, I think next year I'm gonna uh plant a church here in Falcon, and he looks at me and he says, I don't see it. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:37.280 And I said, You don't see what? 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:41.199 He said, You really want to plant a church? 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.400 I said, Well, I feel like that's what God's asking me to do. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.719 He said, No, that's not what I ask you. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:51.759 Do you, in your soul, really want to plant a church? 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.479 And I was kind of getting offended. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:04:04.639 And I said, you know, there's certain times when you don't ask if you want to do it, you just ask if God wants you to do it, and then you follow the Lord. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:11.439 I said, For instance, John the Baptist, I'm sure if you ask him, do you really want to lose your head? 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:20.160 He could come up with like 10 million things he'd rather do other than lose his head tomorrow. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:23.839 And he looked at me, he said, Yeah, it's not the same thing. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:31.600 And so he kind of dropped it and we carried on with our conversation, and he's he's kind of an ideas guy. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:41.519 So I said, Look, I have this idea, and I want to speak to men, and I want to put together an event called a halftime event. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:43.360 And he's like, Okay, what's that mean? 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:55.600 I said, you know how like at halftime in a game, you can be getting your rear end handed to you, but your coach can bring you in at halftime and say, guys, here's the things we need to change. 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:01.199 And if we change these things and we stay the course, we can win at the end of this game. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:14.879 And uh I said, that's kind of how I feel like men my age really we're kind of at the halftime of our life, and we need some mentors to come in and say, hey, here's the things that you could change. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:21.199 And if you change these things, then at the end of this thing, you can say, I won. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.839 He's like, man, that's an awesome vision for a speaker. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.600 He said, now what's your vision for planting a church? 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:31.759 And I said, Well, I don't have it yet. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:32.959 I'm waiting on the Lord. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:38.399 He said, So you have a vision as a speaker, but we're not doing anything with that. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.240 You don't have a vision as a church planter, but we're forging ahead. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.000 He's like, I just, it just doesn't make sense to me. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.240 And so I went home that night. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:53.600 I pretty much stayed up the whole night praying. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:58.959 I wrote it in my journal, I wrote his words in my journal, I wrote my prayers in my journal. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:06.800 And I just said, God, if you're doing something, let me know because my heart would be happy to be a speaker. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.680 I'm being faithful as a church planter. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:18.480 I come into the office the next morning for a one-on-one with Pastor Steve, and he said, Bobby, I need to talk to you. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.439 And he said, Do you really want to plant a church? 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:27.600 And I'm like, what is going on? 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:34.000 And uh he said exactly the same thing that the guy the night before said. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:41.759 He said, You know what, Bobby, if I were to evaluate your giftedness, I would say you should be a speaker. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:44.720 And that's the same thing the other guy said the night before. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:49.040 And then he shows me this video of uh the legend of Bagger Vance. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.959 I still haven't seen the movie, but the clip is really good. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:07:02.560 So this guy who used to be a golfer kind of got away from it, and now a tournament's come in town, he's he's golfing. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:07.279 There's a caddy, the caddy is Will Smith, and Will Smith is kind of like God. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:14.160 And he's kind of telling the guy, the guy's lost his ball in the woods, he's having these flashbacks from war. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:16.639 It's like this crazy scene. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:24.160 I should have pulled it up today, but Will Smith tells him, Hey, you need to find your true swing. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:30.240 And the guy calms down, he swings and hits the ball beautifully. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:35.199 And Pastor Steve said, Bobby, I think it's time for you to find your true swing. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.079 And I knew what that meant, so I started crying. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.040 And I went home immediately in the middle of the day. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.040 I went home because I hadn't slept that night. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:53.600 I laid down, I uh started taking, I started to take a nap, and I said, when I laid in the bed, I said, God, this doesn't make sense. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.360 I've committed my life, I've committed my time to this church. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:02.079 If you're calling me somewhere else, I'm not gonna ask for it. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.079 You're gonna have to say so. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:10.240 And I said, if you're calling me to be a speaker, I feel like that means I should live in Nashville. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:13.600 That's where I used to live when I was a speaker years ago. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.480 And my wife and I uh really struggled with that because we were young in marriage. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.319 This was our first year of marriage, she married me after I was already a speaker. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:33.840 We we struggled and we came out of that through the grace of God and through a mentor just speaking into my life, and that moved me into the area of being a pastor. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:41.360 And I stopped being a speaker and I started being more of a pastor because I felt like I needed to grow up. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.000 That's honestly what I felt. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:54.399 And so I laid down, I said, God, if you want me to be a speaker, if you want me to move to Nashville, you're gonna have to tell Pastor Steve that because I'm not asking for that and I'm not doing that. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:00.399 I laid down, I woke up to a text from Pastor Steve saying, Hey, I need you to come to the office. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:16.799 I came into the office, he said, Hey, I was just working out, and dude, like if you're gonna be a speaker, and maybe you need to move to Nashville, and he said, and if you needed to do that today, hey, that's okay. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.399 And we will bless you in that, and we're with you in that. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:22.960 And again, I'm just a mess. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:28.240 Over the next 21 days, that was the first day of a 21-day fast. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:47.919 Over the next 21 days, I have recorded in my journal six people that came up to me and said, Hey, I don't know what this means, but you're doing something that you're not supposed to be doing, and God has created you to do something else, and you're supposed to walk in it and take that for what it means. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:48.879 I don't know what that means. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.399 And they would say it different ways. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:10:07.679 I remember Anna saying, Hey, I see a river, a waterfall, and you're supposed to jump into that waterfall, but right now I see you in an old house, and that house is being guarded by a guard dog. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:13.679 But you're gonna have to get out of that in order to, you're gonna have to take care of that first in order to jump into the river. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.639 Things like that would continually be said to me over the next 21 days. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:26.960 And uh when we finally surrendered, I called a guy who I barely know. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:29.519 I just know he has kids my age and he lives in Nashville. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:40.000 So I called him to ask him about school systems and about churches and about good places to live that are affordable because Nashville is crazy expensive. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:59.519 And uh so I called him and I said, Hey, love to meet your family, love to introduce my kids to your kids because they're the same age, like to know about schools, like to know about churches, and if you know of anybody that is looking for a speaker for an event, I feel like God's calling me to be a speaker. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:07.840 I left that message on his voicemail, and then he calls me back and he said, Bobby, when I got your voicemail, I almost dropped the phone. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:13.600 He said, Because you said I want to meet your family, and I thought, oh, that's cool, that's cool. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.039 Well it's schools, all that. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:20.639 And he said, the whole time you're talking, I'm thinking, I wish this guy would just quit his job and be a speaker. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:26.639 And then you said, I'm quitting my job and I'm gonna be a speaker. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:38.159 And he said, I just got a new role uh as a tour director, and I want you to apply for a job as a speaker for our tours. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:50.720 I applied for that job, I did the interview, and um in September, at the end of September, uh go on tour with David Crowder to be his speaker. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:53.120 And that's just the Lord. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:00.320 All of that happens through words. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:05.039 Do you hear how words have just weaved in and out of my life? 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:09.519 Someone has spoken a word, another person has spoken a word, another person has said a word. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.519 I've said words to the Lord. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:18.320 The power of words to completely change or alter your course. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.000 I want you to open up to James chapter 3. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:24.799 James chapter 3. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:36.720 Verse 1 says this, my brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:44.320 Let not many of you become teachers, because teachers receive a stricter judgment. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:46.399 Why do you think that is? 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:55.440 Why do you think teachers will receive a stricter judgment on Judgment Day? 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.080 It can only be for one reason, right? 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.960 It's because your words matter. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:14.960 The things that you say, the things that come out of your mouth, have profound impact to alter your life and to alter other people's lives. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:29.120 Now, I'm telling you, had my friend not said anything to me when I said, hey, I'm feeling called to, or I'm I'm planning to plant a church. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:46.320 Had Steve not said anything to me, had Anna not said anything to me, had George not said anything to me, uh so many people can come up to me, had my wife not said anything to me, um I'd probably just be staying the course. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:54.639 But their words, along with what I felt like the Spirit's already leading me to, has changed my course. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.840 Words have an incredible amount of power. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:05.200 I remember some words that were spoken over me as a kid. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:08.240 I was a bad kid. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:14.960 In third grade, I feel like I did retire one teacher. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:24.639 I saw her years later working at a convenience store, and I thought, I did that. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:33.120 And I looked at her as I paid for my items, and I thought, I hope she doesn't know me. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.080 But I'm sure she knows me. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:38.639 I was bad. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:51.440 And I remember being so bad one day that if you know how they like like schools can kind of scam your kids into selling everything to you, you know? 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:55.120 So they come home with all these magazines and you gotta buy all this stuff. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.440 And so I did that. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:02.159 And it was the first time I ever really applied myself to try to, I just wanted to do it. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:03.840 I wanted to achieve this goal. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:19.200 And they sold us on this idea that if you sell all this stuff, they're gonna have this big assembly, and then you get to come up in front of everybody and get acknowledged, and then you get to pick an item based on the amount of stuff that you sold. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.360 So I was all in, you know. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.440 But that day I was really bad. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.399 So my teacher said, I will pick your item for you. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:36.960 And so I had to sit in a room by myself while the rest of the school went to an assembly. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:47.519 I had to sit in an empty room, and then she came back from the assembly with all these kids excited, and they all had all their toys and all their junk. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:53.919 And she comes in with a poster, and it was a poster of an orangutan. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:00.399 And the orangutan, on the orangutan poster, it said, When I do right, no one remembers. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.919 And when I do wrong, no one forgets. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:07.120 And I never forgot it. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.120 I can quote, I can see it right now. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.799 Those words have stuck in my head, and I'm telling you, it marked me. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:19.679 Because it said, you know what, you're right. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.399 Don't even try to do right, because nobody remembers that stuff. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.759 You're just a failure, you're bad, and that's all anybody's ever going to remember. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.480 No one forgets the bad stuff, and no one remembers the good stuff. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.000 I remember that. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.440 And that marked me for a long, long, long time. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:53.840 Now, I'm not saying it's her fault, but I went through all of school believing that I was stupid, that I was, that it was not possible for me to be a good learner or a good student, and that only the bad things are remembered. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.919 I truly believed that. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:05.279 Now, uh, fast forward to the seventh, eighth, ninth grade, and Polly McDuffie was my bus driver. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:09.759 And I got on her bus and she used to call me beautiful Bobby. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.039 And so when I get on the bus, she's like, here's beautiful Bobby. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.880 And I acted like I hated it, but inside I loved it. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.680 I acted like I hated it because I wanted all my friends to think that I thought she was lame. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:27.920 But inside, man, I felt like there's I have one fan in the world. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.400 One person that thinks I'm a good person. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.279 And she would say, There's beautiful Bobby. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:43.599 And I would get on the bus and she would have Bible verses taped above every seat on a public school at a public school. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:55.599 Bible verses taped above every seat, and you could sit in one seat, and if you wanted to move to other seats, you had to memorize the Bible verse of the seat you wanted to sit in. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:00.799 And if you did not memorize that, you could not sit there. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:02.720 And she was very firm on that. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.119 And we drove all the time and she discipled us. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.559 She was constant, she was real, she was genuine. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:26.000 I actually heard her say a cuss word one time, and that threw me into a tailspin because Christian people don't ever say anything like that, and if you do, you're kind of disqualified from it because everything is like this uh performance-based to be seen. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:32.400 And she was just honest and genuine and who she actually was. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:42.720 And for the first time in my life, I felt like I saw an authentic person that loved Jesus versus a Christian person that was performing for the church. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:49.440 And I began to fall in love with the Lord on her bus route. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:53.519 And I remember asking her about what kind of how did you come up with these verses? 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:54.960 How do you memorize scripture? 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.039 How do you know what scripture you should memorize? 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.559 And she asked me, she said, Do you ever talk to God? 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.759 And I said, Of course I talk to God, like you moron. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:04.720 We all talk to God. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:05.519 It's called prayer. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:06.720 You know, that's what I'm thinking. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.599 And then she says to me, Does God ever talk to you? 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.720 And I was completely stuck. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.079 Like, what do you mean? 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:14.960 What do you mean? 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.079 Does God ever talk to me? 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.720 Like, what does how would that even work? 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:32.480 And I thought what happened was you did the best you could to follow God and on judgment day, he would tell you if he was pleased with you or if he wasn't pleased with you. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:34.079 That's how I thought it worked. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.799 I thought that was your first time hearing from God. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.599 And she said, that's not how it works at all. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.000 She said, This is how it works. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.000 Go home and pray. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:48.079 When you pray to God, that's you talking to God. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:57.039 But when you read the Bible, expecting God to speak, that's God talking to you. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:01.279 And I went home and my mom's Bible was on the table, nobody else was home. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:06.240 I picked up the Bible, I said, God, my bus driver said you could talk. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:12.960 So if you can talk, I don't care what you want to say what you need to say, I just want to hear you say it. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:14.640 Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:18.720 So I read and read and read and read and read, and he wasn't talking. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:20.960 And I felt like he wasn't going to talk. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.559 But in my spirit, I felt like I'm supposed to keep reading. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:27.759 So I kept reading, I kept reading, and then bam, it happened. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:29.599 God spoke. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:31.519 And this is what I did. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:36.559 I bowed down on my knees and I said, Oh great God. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.079 And I took communion. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:39.119 I didn't do any of that. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:41.200 I threw the Bible. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:45.039 I threw it across the room because it freaked me out. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:55.440 I wasn't expecting that he could actually talk, but he spoke and he said, Get your life right and keep it right because I'm coming back really soon. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.480 So I threw the Bible across the room. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:00.000 I stood there for a minute. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.640 I got scared to be in the house where God talked. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:04.720 So I ran outside. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:06.240 I'm not joking. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:07.920 I'm not making this up. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:13.519 I run outside, and then while I'm outside, I feel safe because God's in there. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:22.559 And then I got so much energy and I got so excited I didn't know what to do that I just started running circles around my house. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:25.200 Because I was just full of this energy. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:27.680 And then I'm not making this up. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:33.119 My pastor, my pastor from my church, he pulls up on visitation. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.519 That's like an old school thing, I think. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.359 But he pulls up on visitation. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:39.680 He asked if my mom and dad were there. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:42.079 And I said, no, they're not here. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:44.480 But God just talked to me. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:46.400 And he's like, What do you mean? 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:51.920 I said, in his Bible, I was there, and he just spoke to me, and I was trying to talk to him, and he left. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.640 Like, he didn't know what to do with that. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.599 But God's word. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:12.160 And God Himself speaking words transformed the way I live my whole life because of the words of a bus driver. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:21.039 So we can speak negative words like when I do right, no one remembers. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:23.599 When I do wrong, no one forgets. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:26.480 Or we can speak kingdom words. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:29.039 Like, God will redeem you. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:30.400 God loves you. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:31.920 God died for you. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.200 His Spirit wants to have fellowship with you. 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:37.759 His son died to make that possible. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:46.720 And if you read His word, you can have these kind of words spoken into your life, or you can have negative words spoken into your life. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:54.799 And so where Scripture says in John 10, 10, I've come, he says, the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:00.160 I've come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:10.000 You can also say the Holy Spirit, God, and Christ speak words that you might have life. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:17.680 The enemy speaks words that you might be stolen, killed, and destroyed. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:23.279 And so words have an incredible amount of power. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:24.720 Look in verse 2. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:27.279 It says, We all stumble in many things. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:36.400 If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:41.279 If any man does not stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:46.640 And he's able to bridle his whole body. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:51.920 So words have an incredible amount of importance. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:24:10.000 But not just the words that you speak out to other people, not just when you're rude to people, not just when you're kind to people, not just when you're positive and faithful when you speak to other people, or faith less when you speak to other people, but actually speaking to yourself. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:14.880 Because when he says able to bridle, he's saying your body. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.039 You ever talk to yourself? 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:18.480 Yeah, you do. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:23.440 Remember, I used to think that meant you were crazy, so I would try to do it real low where no one could hear it. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.400 Then I realized everybody does it. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:28.720 We all do it. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.839 We all speak to ourselves. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:42.319 And we all speak to ourselves on a daily basis, whether we speak it out verbally or whether we just hold it right there in our minds. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:45.519 You ever call yourself stupid in a day? 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.240 Well, you're speaking death. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:03.680 Do you ever speak the words of God and say, by the word of God, this is how I'm living my life? 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:10.480 See, we speak words not just to other people, but we speak words to ourselves. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:21.119 And those words that we speak, they actually shape how we live our lives, what we believe about ourselves, what we believe we're capable of, what we believe we're not capable of. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:31.440 We speak these words, and I'm not so sure that the most negative person in your life might not be yourself. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.240 Speaking to yourself. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:42.079 And that's why it's important that we know what the Word of God says and we begin to speak the Word of God. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:46.559 Look in verse 3, and we're gonna go three through six here. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.039 Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:26:00.720 See how a great forest fire, see how a great forest, a little fire kindles. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:05.279 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:17.279 The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:26.079 So what he's saying here is the power of the tongue to do a couple of things. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:29.839 There's a couple of things that a tongue can do. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:31.599 He says it's a little member. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:32.480 It's little. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.200 Me and my daughter, I don't know why we did this this morning. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.240 It's kind of weird. 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:44.160 But we were both brushing our teeth in the same bathroom, and she sticks her tongue out, uh, and she says, Whose tongue do you think I have? 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:45.599 Yours or mom's? 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:48.640 It's like, well. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:56.480 So we stick our tongues out and we start looking, and I said, I don't think you have any of our tongues. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:58.000 You have your own tongue. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.920 Your tongue is so small. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:12.079 But is it not true that your tongue, for many of us, has done a world of damage? 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:16.880 Your tongue is what you use in an interview. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:23.599 Your tongue is what you use in an argument with your wife. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:32.559 Or your tongue is when you just fly off the handle while you're working with your kids, and you can just look and you say, Wow, I just deflated them. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:45.119 Or your tongue, you ever spoken a word to someone and you just see life coming into them because you just said something that's like, I needed that. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:28:03.119 We all have great power and great destruction right here and in this little thing that can make great boast about all the things that is done just through the power of words. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:17.119 And the scripture here, look in verse 3, it says, Indeed we put bits in horses' mouths, that they may obey us, and that we turn their whole body. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:30.799 Look also at ships, although they are large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by very small rudders wherever the pilot desires. 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:40.160 And then he begins to go on to say it's it is also that small, small spark that can burn down an entire forest. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:42.240 Now we've all seen that, right? 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:55.519 If you've lived here any amount of time, you understand how serious we get about small sparks in our community because we've seen how much damage it can do in our lives. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:59.759 It can mess with the entire community, just a small spark. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:13.599 What he's saying here is the tongue has either great control and the ability to guide, or it can get incredibly out of control like a wildfire. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:24.079 And so some of us have learned the power of words so much that we now use our tongue for the kingdom. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:26.799 And we're beginning to guide people. 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:55.119 And so, Pastor Steve, in his spirit, when he discerned something about me and he decided to show the video clip of the legend of Bagger Vance, or my friend, or Anna, or George, or whoever saw something that said something because they had it in their spirit, that completely aligned with what I felt like the Spirit of God was saying to me, and it began to change and alter the way I do things. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:58.799 But sometimes we can use words without thought. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:01.440 We have no strategy behind our words. 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:10.799 We just fly off at the handle and we just say really, really, really bad things like my high school football coach. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:18.000 I had my son, my oldest son, who is in the sixth grade yesterday. 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:27.519 We measured his height, and we realized that he is the exact same height that I was in the tenth grade. 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:30.720 He's five foot five and a half. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:32.240 And that's what I was. 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:34.720 I was five foot five and a half. 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:38.960 I weighed, I weighed about as much as wind weighs. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:42.799 And I was trying to play football. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:48.319 And I had a coach, like everybody's hitting everybody. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:50.880 My brother was the exact opposite. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:56.400 This massive guy, by the time he was 16, he's benching 365 pounds. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:57.920 He's six foot tall. 00:30:58.079 --> 00:30:59.920 He's just this massive guy. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.519 And the coach in front of the whole team said, Sanders. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:04.480 I said, Yes. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.200 He said, Is Chris your brother? 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:08.640 I said, Yes, sir. 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:12.319 He said, You would never know it by the way you play football. 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:15.200 I was like, Thank you. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:16.480 Thank you. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:18.000 I needed that. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:26.480 And so we line up against uh man on man, and I hit this guy, and I hit him pretty hard, and I'm finally feeling proud of myself. 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:29.119 And the coach says, Guys, I want you to look at this. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:33.519 And he takes a pause for a minute and he said, We got two guys here. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:36.960 One of them's scared and the other one's glad. 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.240 And I was like, Well, I don't know what to do to make this guy happy. 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:46.640 But he said, one of you are scared and the other one's glad of it. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:53.599 And I just felt like he said, You coward, you sorry little kid. 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:54.720 And guess what? 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:58.640 It wasn't long after that till I said, Here, you can have these football pads. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:00.079 I don't need them. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:06.480 And for 25, 30 years now, I've regretted quitting football. 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:15.599 Now, what more effective way to take a little kid, put your arms around him and say, You're a good kid. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.400 Probably not going to the NFL. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:22.319 In fact, you're probably not going on the field this year. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:24.799 But you're a good kid. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:26.079 Stick with it. 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:27.680 Don't be intimidated. 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.240 You're gonna grow, you'll be fine. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:32.400 It's about who you are inside. 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:39.279 Can you imagine the altering of life if the guy would have just stopped for a minute? 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:40.559 Because he didn't mean to hurt me. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.160 He that wasn't his intention. 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:47.519 He just said something without thinking, and it created a forest fire. 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:55.440 And he could have said something thinking, and that could have created great direction in my life. 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:57.920 We all have that ability. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:08.799 We all should stop and just think about what we say because I'm telling you right now, your tongue, everybody stick your tongue out. 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:15.839 It's the most powerful tool that you have physically for the kingdom. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:19.599 Now, obviously, your spirit, your ability to pray to the Lord. 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:31.839 But your tongue is probably at the end of the day, either what's what you're gonna say, I'm thankful for how I use that, or you're gonna say, I have some great regrets. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:35.759 And many of us have great regrets because of our tongues. 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:39.359 It's not just our tongues, it's also our ears. 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:40.559 It's our ears. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:42.480 Look at verse 7 and 8. 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:44.880 This is a hearing test. 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:48.000 I'm gonna read it and you tell me what you hear. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:57.920 For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:01.759 But no man can tame the tongue. 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:05.759 It is unruly evil full of deadly poison. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:08.320 That's as a hearing test. 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:10.639 What did you just hear? 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:16.159 Did you just hear that this is a losing battle? 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.480 It cannot be done. 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:28.800 Or did you just hear you better depend on the Holy Spirit to rise above what humans are capable of? 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:39.199 If you sit in a space that says, I can't do this, no man can do it, no man can tame it, then you're gonna look at your wife and say, See, I'm not even accountable to this. 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:41.039 There's nothing I can do about it. 00:34:41.840 --> 00:34:46.239 Or are you hearing the Spirit of God is powerful, He's mighty. 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:52.320 With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible, and this can be done. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:56.719 And did you lean into the kingdom or did you lean into the flesh? 00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:02.800 A lot of what we say has to do with what we hear. 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:05.679 What do we hear? 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:14.400 And if you're anything like me, I have stuff in my journal that like I'm super proud of. 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:15.840 Things that God has done. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:27.840 And then I'll turn to a page and I'm like, because sometimes I'm honest in my journal, and I'm like, how could I have had this day on Monday and this day on Tuesday? 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:39.280 How is it possible that I could live strong for the Lord on Monday, and on Tuesday I've said or done something that I'm embarrassed of that I have to repent of? 00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:41.920 Look at verse 9. 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:51.760 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:56.320 Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. 00:35:56.559 --> 00:35:59.679 My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:05.360 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:11.199 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? 00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:16.960 Thus, no spring yields both salt water and fresh water. 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:26.800 You know, when we were in Guatemala this last month, there was a spring that was yielding salt water and fresh water. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:39.920