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00:00:30
[music]
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00:04:05
- Well, welcome to
Crossroads, everybody.
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00:04:07
How are we today?
[cheers] Great.
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00:04:11
Hey, how are you
doing? How are you?
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00:04:14
Good to see you.
I've never met before.
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00:04:18
Yes, this is a real horse.
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00:04:19
And that was real poop
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00:04:20
you saw about 45
seconds ago. Yeah.
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00:04:23
You might get to throw somebody
in that in a little bit.
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00:04:26
Yeah.
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00:04:27
Hey, I'm so glad you
came to Crossroads.
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00:04:29
Whatever site you're at,
if you're streaming with us,
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00:04:32
it's really, really good
to be with you today.
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00:04:34
Let me tell you a couple
things of what's happening.
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00:04:38
What you're going
to see today is real.
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00:04:40
It's not fabricated.
It's not planned.
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00:04:42
People know that Crossroads
is a pretty big church.
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00:04:45
You're able to get
pretty big because
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00:04:46
you understand
systems and processes
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00:04:49
and all that stuff
that has to happen
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00:04:52
for something to grow
and deal with scale.
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00:04:54
The downside of that is
because we're a big church,
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00:04:58
people assume we're not
telling the truth oftentimes.
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00:05:00
They assume that there's
some ulterior agenda.
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00:05:02
They assume that it's not
really what we're saying.
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00:05:05
But I'm telling you,
this is the really real.
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00:05:08
I've got my friend
here, Todd Pierce,
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00:05:10
who has never seen this horse.
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00:05:12
We're doing eight different
experiences over this week.
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00:05:15
Every time it's
a different horse.
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00:05:17
That horse has never
had a saddle on it.
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00:05:20
A person has never
been on the horse.
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00:05:22
They may have been
around the horses,
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00:05:23
but never been on the horse.
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00:05:25
And Todd didn't
choose the horses,
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00:05:27
has never seen the horse.
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00:05:29
So my friend Todd,
it's the first time
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00:05:31
he's seen this horse right now.
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00:05:33
Is it at he? [horse whinny]
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00:05:35
Is he a he or a she? He?
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00:05:38
[laughter] I can't --
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00:05:45
Oh, yeah. There you go.
All right.
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00:05:47
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good
for you. Good for you. Okay.
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00:05:54
So, a few years ago I had
Todd Pierce on my podcast.
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00:06:00
Somebody recommended
he should do that
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00:06:01
or I should have him on.
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00:06:03
We had a good conversation,
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00:06:04
and then about
a year or so later,
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00:06:06
he invited me on a
hunting trip in Idaho.
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00:06:09
And I said, great, I'll go.
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00:06:11
So we became friends
then, and he actually
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00:06:13
told me what he did. I
didn't really understand it.
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00:06:15
That he has this
magical, mystical,
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00:06:22
really strange
connection with horses.
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00:06:24
He was a professional
rodeo bareback rider
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00:06:30
back in the day.
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00:06:31
And he has this unique
ability to connect with horses.
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00:06:35
And he's basically, he
doesn't like what I say this,
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00:06:38
he's basically a
horse whisperer.
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00:06:39
He can understand horses.
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00:06:41
He can get them to
do what other people
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00:06:42
have not been able
to get them to do.
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00:06:44
He can enable a horse to
ride him in under an hour.
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00:06:48
It's happened every time.
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00:06:49
We'll see if it happens now,
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00:06:51
because of the
connection, he has the horse
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00:06:53
and it's not his
abilities with a horse.
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00:06:55
It's also his understanding
of the character of God.
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00:07:01
And he treats the
horse like God treats us.
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00:07:06
He has an attitude
towards the horse
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00:07:08
like the attitude
God has towards us.
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00:07:10
And that right
there is the problem
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00:07:11
with many of us,
because a lot of us think
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00:07:13
that God has a bad
attitude towards us.
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00:07:14
We have a bad
understanding of God.
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00:07:16
We think God is just waking up
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00:07:18
on the wrong side
of the bed all the time
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00:07:20
and just wanting
to take it out on us,
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00:07:21
and he's always looking
for us to screw up.
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00:07:23
And that's part
of why many of us
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00:07:25
just aren't that
interested into God,
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00:07:27
or aren't interested in
giving Him our whole life.
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00:07:30
So, every horse presents a
unique person in this room.
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Some of you may find,
like that horse is me.
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If you came another experience,
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00:07:38
you might look at
that horse and said,
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that horse is me.
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00:07:42
All of these
horses are different
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00:07:43
and many of us are
going like, that's my story.
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00:07:46
It's pretty cool.
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00:07:48
So, why don't we
welcome on stage
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00:07:51
my friend Todd Pierce.
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00:08:01
Well, I've been a little
frustrated because
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00:08:03
our previous times the
horse has been, like,
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00:08:06
really small and
incredibly tame with like,
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00:08:10
like guinea pigs, basically.
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00:08:13
- He's not the one
that has to ride him.
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00:08:15
Right.
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00:08:16
Not this guy,
though. This guy is--
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00:08:18
- No. He's big.
- And it's interesting.
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00:08:20
The last one that we
did actually was a --
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00:08:22
What? Females
are mares? Fillies?
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00:08:26
- Well, she'd be a filly
because she's only two.
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00:08:28
She's a mare after she's
older and has a baby.
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00:08:31
- Okay, so a female.
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00:08:32
And I was surprised
by that one because
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she just looked nice and
sweet, was coming up to me
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00:08:37
and loving me and everything.
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00:08:39
But then once you got
in, she was like, woo.
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00:08:41
- Yeah, you don't go there.
- Yeah.
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00:08:43
- She was -- And a
lot of us are like that.
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00:08:45
We look good, we
seem nice, but as soon as
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00:08:48
someone presses
us into us a little bit,
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00:08:50
it's like we're out,
our claws are out.
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00:08:52
So you just never know. So.
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00:08:57
- Yeah. So, you
want to ride this one?
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00:09:00
- Maybe, I'll see
how you do on it.
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00:09:02
I'll do want him.
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00:09:03
He looks pretty intense,
though, I got to tell you.
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00:09:05
- Yeah, well we'll see
what he has to say about it.
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00:09:08
- And one thing we should
probably tell everybody,
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and then I'll get off the stage
and let you do your thing.
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Make sure you tell
one of your stories.
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I keep telling you,
tell your stories
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00:09:17
because they're all so good.
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This horse is not freaked out.
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We have a lot of
people concerned
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about the safety of horses.
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00:09:25
Todd's more concerned
about the safety of horse
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than anybody in here is.
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00:09:29
He's a hyper, hyper horse lover.
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It's not as loud in the
ring as it is in our sights
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00:09:34
because the speakers
are coming out to you.
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The horse is certainly
in a strange environment
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like what's going on here,
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00:09:39
but the horse is not being hurt.
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00:09:41
In fact, the horse is
going to be helped today.
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00:09:43
So, horse is fine.
They're doing really well.
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00:09:46
Anything else
you want to tell us
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00:09:47
before we're letting
you do your thing?
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00:09:49
- No. Thank you.
- All right, man.
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00:09:51
- And yeah, I just
honor you for doing
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00:09:54
all this work and
getting me here.
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00:09:55
- I'm not doing all the work.
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00:09:57
I'm just watching
you do the work,
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00:09:58
and it's really
good, so thank you.
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00:10:00
- All right. Wow.
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00:10:06
This is -- How many
of you have never been
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00:10:10
to one of these experiences?
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00:10:14
That's quite a few of you.
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00:10:18
I don't think I'm ever
going to get used
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00:10:20
to walking into a church
and seeing a horse.
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00:10:23
And and so I
--it's kind of like,
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00:10:27
I don't want to get
used to it because
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00:10:29
this is such a unique thing
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00:10:31
and there's been so
much effort put into it.
-
00:10:34
And it takes some
really courageous people
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00:10:37
that decide that if Jesus said
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00:10:40
it was worth it to die
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00:10:41
so that you and I could live,
-
00:10:45
we've got a church that's, like,
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00:10:47
what will we not do
in order for people
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00:10:50
to understand the
goodness of God?
-
00:10:52
And so they didn't do this
-
00:10:54
because they wanted
to put on a show.
-
00:10:56
They understand the the
principles that Jesus used
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00:11:00
and He loved to
teach through parables.
-
00:11:03
He loved to give
physical pictures
-
00:11:06
of spiritual truths
so that people could
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00:11:10
at least consider the
depth of who they are.
-
00:11:13
That just because
you can't understand it
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00:11:15
with your brain
doesn't make it not real.
-
00:11:18
That there's things
that are going to go
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00:11:20
beyond your understanding,
and they're going
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00:11:24
to transform
something inside of you.
-
00:11:26
And so today, if
you've got enough hope
-
00:11:30
or enough faith to
believe that in a moment,
-
00:11:34
that in one evening
that God can actually
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00:11:36
heal you and transform you,
-
00:11:40
just raise your hand with me.
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00:11:41
I want to see how much
faith we got in the room.
-
00:11:45
Okay. I love the honesty.
-
00:11:47
There's people that
are like, "I don't know.
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00:11:50
We'll see about that."
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00:11:53
Which is super honest
because I love that
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00:11:55
Jesus just walked through crowds
-
00:11:57
and He did His thing,
and He's the Son of God,
-
00:12:00
He's God incarnate,
walking around
-
00:12:03
with all the power
and the authority
-
00:12:05
over the universes,
over galaxies.
-
00:12:09
And He just walked among people
-
00:12:12
and they rejected
Him or they loved Him.
-
00:12:14
And the truth was still
what He was here to reveal.
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00:12:21
Oh, I don't know
if y'all heard that,
-
00:12:25
but it was like
[raspberry sound].
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00:12:32
Yeah, if looks could kill.
-
00:12:37
So I'm going to just
introduce myself to him
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00:12:40
because I'm just
another person to him.
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00:12:42
He has no idea
why he's here and.
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00:12:50
Yeah, so we're going
to talk for a minute
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00:12:53
in ways that he
understands a little bit better
-
00:12:56
because he doesn't
understand English.
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00:12:58
But He understands
this. Let's go, son.
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00:13:21
[music]
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00:15:26
- There's a lot of conversation
going on right now.
-
00:15:31
And he doesn't have
any reason to trust me.
-
00:15:35
And so he's paying
attention to a lot of things
-
00:15:37
that you guys can't
perceive right now.
-
00:15:38
But there's this
relentless pursuit of God
-
00:15:47
that makes it to where all of us
-
00:15:49
are in this building.
-
00:15:50
And I don't know
how you got here,
-
00:15:52
whether you were
led here or drug here
-
00:15:55
or driven here or
something pulled you here.
-
00:16:01
But I hope that none
of you take for granted
-
00:16:05
that you're sitting in
this space right now
-
00:16:06
because if we can
just embrace a moment
-
00:16:14
and realize the
significance of it,
-
00:16:18
then we won't be
like the fools that
-
00:16:21
just go through
life thinking that
-
00:16:24
they can take things for granted
-
00:16:25
and have no consequence to it.
-
00:16:28
So I'm just negotiating
with him and in a way
-
00:16:32
that he already knows
that I'm powerful.
-
00:16:41
And he's got a proper
understanding of that.
-
00:16:44
What he doesn't
know yet is if I'm good.
-
00:17:00
The Bible says that
it's the goodness of God
-
00:17:02
that leads people to repentance.
-
00:17:07
And the only way I know
to display goodness to him
-
00:17:10
is that he's paying attention
-
00:17:12
to what's going on inside of me.
-
00:17:14
He's got senses
that we don't have,
-
00:17:17
and he's so in tune
to what's going on
-
00:17:19
in the in the room right now.
-
00:17:22
And so, if you will, I
would love everybody
-
00:17:26
to just take a big
old deep breath,
-
00:17:28
like from your
belly all the way in.
-
00:17:37
Let's just say, "Holy Spirit,
-
00:17:38
You really are welcome here.
-
00:17:40
We don't understand
all of Your ways,
-
00:17:41
but we just know
that You're good
-
00:17:44
and we want to be
transformed by You."
-
00:17:52
That's a good boy.
-
00:17:54
[music]
-
00:19:27
- I wish you all could
feel what I feel right now.
-
00:19:37
It's not just his breath.
-
00:19:39
It's not just smelling me.
-
00:19:44
He's having a face
to face encounter that
-
00:19:45
you will never see him
do this with another horse.
-
00:19:50
He knows that there's
something different
-
00:19:52
than what he's ever experienced.
-
00:19:56
And all the fear
and the aggression,
-
00:19:58
you can feel it melting away.
-
00:20:02
But he's got a story
-
00:20:05
and he didn't just show up here.
-
00:20:09
He's been through some
things and I see some marks
-
00:20:11
and I see some battle
wounds, so to speak.
-
00:20:20
I see some fear in his eyes.
-
00:20:24
But it's really quickly
looking like fire.
-
00:20:29
And he wants to
know what to do with it.
-
00:20:51
[music]
-
00:22:20
- So much beauty and
power and potential.
-
00:22:31
So much fear and anxiety
and so much reason to have it.
-
00:22:35
And if he could tell you
a stories, it would be --
-
00:22:42
Oh, Brian. Brian
Tome is the pastor.
-
00:22:48
So that's why I keep
saying Brian because
-
00:22:50
he keeps putting these
thoughts in my head
-
00:22:52
and I'm like --
-
00:22:58
So when I was just a boy
-
00:23:01
I had some
learning disabilities,
-
00:23:03
and there was a
time I can remember
-
00:23:10
I was like in second grade
-
00:23:11
and everybody was
going around the classroom
-
00:23:14
and reading, and it got to me.
-
00:23:16
And I didn't know that
this was a problem,
-
00:23:20
but I didn't know
how to read very good.
-
00:23:21
And so I was
sounding out my words
-
00:23:23
and trying to read,
-
00:23:25
and the whole classroom laughed.
-
00:23:28
And I don't really remember
feeling sad about it,
-
00:23:34
but I do remember something
-
00:23:36
that I decided in that moment,
-
00:23:37
and that was that
I'm dumb. Go figure.
-
00:23:43
I didn't realize I'm
the dumb kid in class,
-
00:23:45
but I'm actually the
dumb kid in class.
-
00:23:47
And I can laugh about
it now only because
-
00:23:53
Jesus has come in
and didn't take away
-
00:23:57
the event in my
life that helped me
-
00:23:59
understand something different
-
00:24:00
than what I had
heard in that moment.
-
00:24:03
There's a story that's
been told throughout my life,
-
00:24:06
and some of it hasn't been true.
-
00:24:09
And Jesus doesn't
just come to save us
-
00:24:11
from going to hell.
-
00:24:13
He comes to make it to where
we become whole people again.
-
00:24:16
And so whatever it
is that's got in the way
-
00:24:19
for this horse, it's
just part of his story
-
00:24:22
that he's made some decisions
somewhere along the way,
-
00:24:26
apart from the fact that
he's just naturally wild
-
00:24:28
and wants to do
things on his own.
-
00:24:30
Outside of those
instincts, he's got
-
00:24:33
some other reasons
why he's afraid right now,
-
00:24:37
and there's events in his
life that have happened
-
00:24:39
that have helped him
make those decisions.
-
00:24:43
And so I'm going to
ask him to reconsider
-
00:24:45
some of the things that
he believed about people
-
00:24:47
and what he believed
about authority
-
00:24:49
and what he believed
about himself.
-
00:24:54
I couldn't undo what
happened in that classroom,
-
00:24:57
but what I could
do is realize that
-
00:25:01
it just wasn't true.
-
00:25:02
And it mattered
to that little boy.
-
00:25:06
Come to find, I really
can't read very good.
-
00:25:09
So -- But I ain't dumb, or
not dumb as some think.
-
00:25:18
I sure do learn different
than everybody else or --
-
00:25:24
Yeah.
-
00:25:30
But I want to help
him with those things,
-
00:25:32
and I'll be patient
with him because
-
00:25:34
I can tell that they
go really deep.
-
00:25:38
But it's amazing
what happens when
-
00:25:40
fear gets love to it.
-
00:25:44
It's not just truth, it's love.
-
00:25:47
And when truth and
love are what it is
-
00:25:49
that Jesus said that
He was, then it's like,
-
00:25:52
"Oh, I can see now what you're
talking about, King Jesus.
-
00:25:54
And if it's that Spirit that
was you were carrying,
-
00:25:57
that Holy Spirit is
and it's the same Spirit
-
00:26:01
that made You
raise from the dead.
-
00:26:04
That's pretty dang powerful.
-
00:26:05
And if it's that loving
and kind and tender,
-
00:26:08
then I want to spend
the rest of my life
-
00:26:12
just experiencing what it's like
-
00:26:13
to have Your presence."
-
00:26:20
And when he said that
He'll bind up broken pieces
-
00:26:23
and He'll bring healing
-
00:26:26
and it'll make our
hearts whole again.
-
00:26:31
Is it possible?
-
00:26:34
Is it possible for us
to actually be healed
-
00:26:37
and be whole again?
-
00:26:40
I'll tell you, my
wife and I, we're --
-
00:26:43
We're just -- We got
our minds made up,
-
00:26:47
we're going to spend
the rest of our lives
-
00:26:48
learning how to
be whole together,
-
00:26:50
instead of just bringing our
brokenness to each other
-
00:26:54
and feeding off of each
other's brokenness.
-
00:26:58
It brings so much
courage when her and I
-
00:27:03
in just honesty and
sincerity towards each other
-
00:27:06
can just talk about our stories
-
00:27:07
and the ways that
we've been hurt
-
00:27:10
and the ways that
we've hurt each other.
-
00:27:15
I need a stepladder.
-
00:27:21
I don't know how to get
on you without startling you.
-
00:27:27
So, kind of chewing right now.
-
00:27:31
It's kind of a sign
like, it would be
-
00:27:34
like if I was talking
to someone, they said,
-
00:27:36
"Okay, it's okay,
we're good right now."
-
00:27:44
Which is really shocking
that he's good with all this.
-
00:27:49
But it's not just
happening to him,
-
00:27:51
it's happening in him.
-
00:27:54
And there's stuff that's
happening in you right now.
-
00:27:56
It's not happening to you.
-
00:27:59
And your story
-
00:28:00
and the reason
you're in this building,
-
00:28:13
it starts to make sense
when this Prince of Peace
-
00:28:16
enters our story
and start showing us
-
00:28:19
the broken pieces
and He's not afraid of it.
-
00:28:29
You're so brave.
-
00:28:38
Remember this? Hmm?
-
00:28:44
[music]
-
00:32:01
[whinny]
-
00:32:06
- I'm purposely making
myself vulnerable to him
-
00:32:10
only because he doesn't
understand this language.
-
00:32:14
He doesn't know why
someone that carries
-
00:32:16
the authority and
the power that I have,
-
00:32:18
something that he's
afraid of, would be here.
-
00:32:23
And I think this is
why, like, the imagery
-
00:32:27
of what it is that
Jesus did to where
-
00:32:34
He just put Himself in
this position and He says,
-
00:32:36
"I'm going to let
you all kill Me now,"
-
00:32:38
because I don't ever
want you to question,
-
00:32:41
have any doubt how far
would have Jesus gone
-
00:32:45
so that I could be saved.
-
00:32:55
I'm not sure why it takes
so much convincing,
-
00:32:57
but somehow I was
able to ignore the fact
-
00:33:02
that God actually loved me
-
00:33:04
and had a plan for
my life for 21 years.
-
00:33:10
But once I realized that,
-
00:33:11
I don't know what
else to do with my life
-
00:33:14
other than continue
to stay in this place
-
00:33:17
of just knowing what
is it like to be loved,
-
00:33:21
so loved that I'm not ashamed,
-
00:33:25
that I'm reminded
of my strengths
-
00:33:27
and how intentional
Jesus has been
-
00:33:31
about bringing me to this place.
-
00:33:40
No. Don't clap.
-
00:33:48
I know. You want to help me up?
-
00:33:56
Yeah. That's not going
to help much, huh?
-
00:34:04
So, he's all rigid and
heartbeat's going.
-
00:34:09
He's pretty, pretty startled.
-
00:34:15
Am I going to help
him if I respond to him
-
00:34:18
with the same level of anxiety?
-
00:34:22
Or can he realize that,
"Okay, that was super scary.
-
00:34:25
What just happened?"
Nothing, son.
-
00:34:30
We're just learning,
and I won't always fall off.
-
00:34:36
One day you're going
to move really, really fast
-
00:34:38
and we're going
to do it together.
-
00:34:51
It's okay. It's okay.
-
00:34:54
[music]
-
00:36:53
- He's trembling.
-
00:37:00
And he's giving me a hug.
-
00:37:07
I know I hugged him first,
-
00:37:08
but he's given me his face.
-
00:37:16
He wants to be comforted.
-
00:37:19
And if this is what Holy
Spirit is as a comforter,
-
00:37:26
then let's let everything
that's between us,
-
00:37:28
anything that's
getting in the way,
-
00:37:30
make sure it's not
in the way anymore.
-
00:37:45
Good boy. You're
built to carry me.
-
00:37:58
And whenever you do that,
it's going to blow your mind
-
00:38:07
what it is that you
and I can do together.
-
00:38:14
If God said that we were
created in His image,
-
00:38:17
and we choose to live our
lives separated from Him.
-
00:38:51
Good job.
-
00:41:01
I remember the day
that someone taught me
-
00:41:05
what it means to
repent, because I know
-
00:41:07
when I gave my
life to Jesus, I just --
-
00:41:10
I just wanted Him to
fix me, like I'm broken.
-
00:41:13
I'm addicted to
all sorts of things,
-
00:41:17
and I'm hurting the
people that I love the most.
-
00:41:22
I just wanted it over.
-
00:41:28
And here we are 30 years later,
-
00:41:32
still have the
same heart cry that,
-
00:41:36
"Papa, I want to be whole.
-
00:41:38
I need You now more than ever.
-
00:41:41
I'm so grateful for
what You've done in me,
-
00:41:43
what You're
continuing to do in me."
-
00:41:45
But we don't outgrow it.
-
00:41:56
Repentance was just
given to me as a way
-
00:42:01
to just rethink what
it is that I believe.
-
00:42:05
Is what I believe
about myself based on
-
00:42:07
my experiences and what
the world has told me?
-
00:42:09
Or is there -- Does
God actually have
-
00:42:13
something to say about who I am?
-
00:42:18
And is He going to be
patient enough with me
-
00:42:21
that while I'm in my
process and figuring it out,
-
00:42:25
how do I even move?
-
00:42:28
Because He doesn't know
how to move right now.
-
00:42:30
Because the last time
he moved, he moved
-
00:42:31
and then he scared
and moved too fast
-
00:42:34
and I fell off.
-
00:42:35
And it's like, I've got to
build some confidence
-
00:42:39
with him that he knows
how to move his feet,
-
00:42:43
and it's not going to --
-
00:42:46
He wants to stay in this place,
-
00:42:49
but I love him too much
to let him just stay here.
-
00:43:00
[clicks tongue]
Yeah.
-
00:43:21
[music]
-
00:45:37
- So much courage.
-
00:45:45
Every one of us have been given
-
00:45:49
a place of influence.
-
00:45:53
And the influence that
you've been trusted with,
-
00:45:57
I hope you're thinking
through some of those things,
-
00:46:01
because we're
stewards of one heart,
-
00:46:03
and how it is that we
steward our inner man,
-
00:46:06
the way we're stewarding
ourselves is how it is
-
00:46:09
that we're going to steward
the people around us.
-
00:46:15
Yeah, you may have
heard the phrase
-
00:46:18
that hurt people hurt people.
-
00:46:23
It's just true.
-
00:46:26
But until I'm not a hurt person,
-
00:46:28
there are some
things that I can learn
-
00:46:30
that I don't have to
keep hurting the people
-
00:46:32
around me to get my way,
-
00:46:33
because that's not
really what I want.
-
00:46:36
I want to preserve a
connection that makes it
-
00:46:39
to where I continue
to have access.
-
00:47:02
[music]
-
00:50:08
- Step by step,
-
00:50:10
and it's going to
take him a little bit
-
00:50:13
and we're not going
to get it done tonight.
-
00:50:15
I'm really, really
grateful for the courage
-
00:50:18
that he showed and
the willingness to say yes
-
00:50:22
when every part of
him is screaming, no.
-
00:50:26
I don't want to be one
of those Christians.
-
00:50:32
I don't know what
those are like,
-
00:50:34
but I know what
you're going to be like
-
00:50:36
because you're ruined now.
-
00:50:40
You can't ever look
in the mirror the same.
-
00:50:44
If this is how far
Papa would go to say,
-
00:50:48
"You are My beloved one
and My favor is resting on you.
-
00:50:52
All I want is oneness with you."
-
00:50:55
We got a lifetime
to learn to walk.
-
00:51:00
It won't take that
long with this guy.
-
00:51:06
I would love to have
some more time with him,
-
00:51:08
to tell you the truth.
-
00:51:14
One more step,
huh? One more step.
-
00:51:22
I don't know.
-
00:51:23
I think you're really
ready to go on a lap.
-
00:51:33
So, when I was in
college, I went to college,
-
00:51:37
got on the track
team as a pole vaulter.
-
00:51:41
And I had a really bad
coach in high school,
-
00:51:44
so he taught me to
go just high enough
-
00:51:46
that a college scout thought,
-
00:51:49
"Man, I could do
something with that kid."
-
00:51:51
So, all he did was
taught me to go higher
-
00:51:54
with really bad form.
-
00:51:56
So sometimes I'd go really high
-
00:51:58
and sometimes I'd go really far.
-
00:52:02
And the really far
sucked because
-
00:52:05
there's only mats for so far
-
00:52:07
and then there's
not mats anymore.
-
00:52:11
And so one day I went far
-
00:52:17
and knocked myself out
-
00:52:19
and broke my pelvis
right down the middle.
-
00:52:21
And when you knock yourself
out, you're not always --
-
00:52:25
You haven't got
your wits about you.
-
00:52:28
So I thought, "Well,
that was embarrassing."
-
00:52:31
So I got up and
walked down to the end
-
00:52:33
of the runway and
started taking off running.
-
00:52:35
And my legs weren't
going the right directions.
-
00:52:38
And I realized that
something's wrong.
-
00:52:43
So, when Brian was
saying that the reason
-
00:52:46
I just fall off,
now that I'm 52,
-
00:52:50
somehow that injuries
need to be re-healed.
-
00:52:58
And so, from a
horsemanship perspective,
-
00:53:05
I'm not going to claim to
be any kind of horseman.
-
00:53:09
There's people that
can teach horses to do
-
00:53:11
amazing things, and
I'm not one of those guys.
-
00:53:14
So don't mistake
this as horsemanship.
-
00:53:16
I don't recommend
this at any level,
-
00:53:19
other than what the
intended purpose is,
-
00:53:23
is that you can see
how powerful love is
-
00:53:26
and what happens when
you carry peace into a storm.
-
00:53:29
Because there was a storm
raging inside of this guy,
-
00:53:32
and there was no way you
were going to get close to him.
-
00:53:38
And to do this? Not
in your wildest dreams.
-
00:53:44
He couldn't. He couldn't
even imagine this.
-
00:53:50
And I think that
this is how, like,
-
00:53:53
if you'll give permission
to Holy Spirit to say
-
00:53:57
if we're going to
take it this deep,
-
00:54:00
what does it mean for
me to respond to this love
-
00:54:02
and this message
that makes it to where
-
00:54:04
I don't walk out
of this building
-
00:54:05
the same person
that I came in as?
-
00:54:11
Jesus said it was worth it.
-
00:54:16
I think this guy's
sufficiently demonstrated
-
00:54:20
that it's worth it.
-
00:54:23
Like, how tragic would
it been had all of his fear
-
00:54:27
and his insecurities
made it to where
-
00:54:29
he either became a slave because
-
00:54:30
someone had to beat
him out of it or force him,
-
00:54:35
tie him up until he
wasn't scared anymore.
-
00:54:37
That don't make no sense.
-
00:54:42
What if that was his fate?
-
00:54:43
Or maybe even just left alone?
-
00:54:46
Like, someone said,
"He's too dangerous.
-
00:54:48
We're not going to do
anything with that one.
-
00:54:52
He's dog food."
-
00:54:55
So, the value placed
on the horse is what it is
-
00:55:00
that I think Papa's
wanting to say over you
-
00:55:03
is that there is so
much value on you
-
00:55:05
and this is what I have for you.
-
00:55:11
- So, Todd, we saw
this horse came in.
-
00:55:15
I don't know a lot about horses.
-
00:55:18
I've watched through
the years now about,
-
00:55:20
I don't know, about
20 of these guys.
-
00:55:22
This guy had as much
defenses up as I've seen,
-
00:55:25
as I've come to understand.
-
00:55:27
It's really pretty
remarkable that
-
00:55:29
you got as far with
them as you did.
-
00:55:30
I would call that riding.
-
00:55:31
Would you not call him riding?
-
00:55:33
I call riding, he's on his back.
-
00:55:34
Took a few steps. They
can applause you now, right?
-
00:55:38
- Yeah.
- Yeah, let's give Todd a hand.
-
00:55:40
Come on. Give him
a little hand. Right?
-
00:55:42
[applause]
-
00:55:45
Let's say I was a horse
owner and I had that horse
-
00:55:49
and I brought in
somebody to get to
-
00:55:51
as far as you got today,
-
00:55:53
how long would that
process normally take?
-
00:55:57
- They would, I would
say at minimum a week
-
00:56:01
that you'd want to
spend giving this horse
-
00:56:03
an opportunity to think
through some of this stuff,
-
00:56:06
and you'd work
him in a round pen
-
00:56:08
until their fatigue
was a real encourager
-
00:56:11
for them to do something else.
-
00:56:14
We didn't use that with him.
-
00:56:17
- Well, what I like
about it, and I think
-
00:56:19
with the spiritual thing
that I was thinking,
-
00:56:21
this, of all the
horses, this is probably
-
00:56:22
the one that touched
me personally the most
-
00:56:24
of all the ones that
we've done, you know,
-
00:56:26
this whole week, this
guy I most related to.
-
00:56:28
And what I really -- what
got me was, you know,
-
00:56:36
you knew as far as you
could push that horse
-
00:56:38
and you're like,
"Okay, that's enough.
-
00:56:40
That's enough for today."
-
00:56:42
I feel like God does
that with me, you know?
-
00:56:44
He pushes and I go, and
He goes, "Okay, okay, okay."
-
00:56:49
Unlike those, as you mentioned,
-
00:56:50
those old Western
movies where you've got
-
00:56:52
some guy who's got
they got multiple ropes
-
00:56:55
around the horse's neck
-
00:56:56
and everybody's leaning
back and beating him in.
-
00:56:57
I mean, my experience
with God is not that.
-
00:57:00
It's it's what you
just did today.
-
00:57:02
Like He pushes, He
pushes and, "Okay, okay."
-
00:57:06
And why does He
push, by the way?
-
00:57:08
He pushes because if this horse
-
00:57:11
let's a Todd master him,
-
00:57:15
this horse will be
stronger and live longer.
-
00:57:17
One rider on a horse can run up
-
00:57:22
an entire wild herd of horses.
-
00:57:26
Because that, I
learned this from Todd.
-
00:57:28
Because that's one person
-
00:57:29
who unlocks this
being's potential.
-
00:57:32
And many of us think,
you know, that's the system.
-
00:57:35
Like, stay away from God.
-
00:57:36
Just get enough of God
that I have fire insurance,
-
00:57:39
or God's close enough that
-
00:57:40
if I'm really in trouble,
maybe He's there.
-
00:57:42
But I'm not really going to --
-
00:57:43
I'm not going to
give Him my life.
-
00:57:45
I'm not really
going to get serious
-
00:57:47
and actually have
Him tell me what to do
-
00:57:50
and actually have Him
at the center of my life.
-
00:57:52
I'm not going to do
that because we think,
-
00:57:54
"Oh, no, I need to be free.
-
00:57:55
Free as defined by I do
whatever I want to do."
-
00:57:57
But no, you get to be free
-
00:57:58
when you have a
master who loves you
-
00:58:01
and can call things out of you
-
00:58:03
that you can't do on your own,
-
00:58:05
you get stronger,
you get more powerful.
-
00:58:08
And that's the invitation
that God makes of us.
-
00:58:12
Anything else you want to say?
-
00:58:15
- One puts how many to flight,
-
00:58:17
and two puts 10,000 to flight.
-
00:58:21
I just think that that's
the image I was getting
-
00:58:24
when you were describing
-
00:58:25
what it is that when
we partner with God,
-
00:58:27
we've got way more
influence than we realize.
-
00:58:30
And Brian has this thing.
-
00:58:33
It's okay if I talk
about the scorpion?
-
00:58:35
- Yeah, yeah.
-
00:58:38
- In his office,
before we every time
-
00:58:41
before we come out and
and present ourselves,
-
00:58:44
we put our foot on top
of a petrified scorpion,
-
00:58:49
just as a symbolic,
prophetic act that
-
00:58:51
we've got authority over evil
-
00:58:53
and that no evil gets
to just live in this place.
-
00:58:57
And so whatever it is
that you're struggling with,
-
00:59:00
you've got authority
over it in Jesus'
-
00:59:02
name, if you will just allow
this power to come within you.
-
00:59:05
And so it's not
just a small yes.
-
00:59:08
This this makes it to
where the whole world
-
00:59:10
is waiting to see
what will happen.
-
00:59:12
And if there's two people --
-
00:59:13
If there's one person
that will say yes to Him,
-
00:59:16
and then we get
together in partnership.
-
00:59:18
And that's why Brian's a
covenant brother with me.
-
00:59:22
We're not just friends.
-
00:59:24
Where it's way deeper than that.
-
00:59:26
He and I have chose to lock arms
-
00:59:27
and fight together to where
-
00:59:30
we're exponentially
that much more powerful.
-
00:59:33
And we're going to stand against
-
00:59:35
the enemies of light
and darkness has to flee.
-
00:59:39
So, I just think that this
is a remarkable moment
-
00:59:42
for everybody to really consider
-
00:59:44
what you're going to
walk out of here with.
-
00:59:46
- Yeah. So here's
what we're going to do.
-
00:59:47
We're all, all of
our sites, online,
-
00:59:49
you can you could do this
-
00:59:51
as part of our digital church.
-
00:59:52
We're going to sing.
We're going to sing as one.
-
00:59:54
We're going to tell
God we're thankful
-
00:59:56
for His presence in our lives,
-
00:59:58
or maybe invite
Him into our lives.
-
01:00:00
And we're just going
to be cued into Him
-
01:00:02
that He's just --
He is better to us
-
01:00:04
than Todd has
been to this horse.
-
01:00:06
We're going to sing,
and then in all of our sites,
-
01:00:08
we've got some people
want to pray for you,
-
01:00:10
like, your pains, your
issues, your hang ups.
-
01:00:14
Maybe you realize,
?Man, that God
-
01:00:17
that I saw Todd represent,
I don't know that God.
-
01:00:19
I know the God of religion.
I know the God of fear.
-
01:00:21
I know the God of hatred.
-
01:00:23
I don't -- I don't
know that God.
-
01:00:24
I probably need to
give my life to that God."
-
01:00:27
These people can pray with you.
-
01:00:29
We have trained
folks. They're ninjas.
-
01:00:31
They're ninjas in
relation to prayer.
-
01:00:32
They're not weird.
-
01:00:33
They would love to
pray for you. They would.
-
01:00:35
We're going to come
forward at all of our sites
-
01:00:37
and just come on down.
-
01:00:38
Why not take advantage of it?
-
01:00:40
You came out, you
did this thing today.
-
01:00:42
Why not do the whole thing?
-
01:00:43
You might actually
be thankful you did,
-
01:00:45
just like I thank this horse.
-
01:00:47
You think this horse is thankful
that this happened today?
-
01:00:49
Yes, yes. Yeah. All right.
-
01:00:52
Let me pray for
us and then let's --
-
01:00:54
Why don't we all
stand right now?
-
01:00:55
Let's also stand, every
site we're in right now.
-
01:00:57
Let's go ahead and
stand. Let's pray.
-
01:00:59
And then let's sing together.
-
01:01:00
God, You are good to
give us a person like Todd
-
01:01:04
who helps us
understand You better.
-
01:01:07
I thank You that You, man,
You know when to push
-
01:01:10
and You know when to get off.
-
01:01:12
You know when to jump on.
-
01:01:13
You know when to slide back.
-
01:01:15
You know when to pull.
You know when to push.
-
01:01:18
And You do it because You are
-
01:01:19
an amazing, loving Father.
-
01:01:22
Thank You for
being who I am not,
-
01:01:26
but I need to be more like You.
-
01:01:29
God, when You just hear
the songs of Your children,
-
01:01:32
Your sons, Your daughters
just singing to you,
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01:01:35
telling You that
we appreciate You
-
01:01:36
and we're thankful
for You. Amen.
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01:01:41
We'll invite all the prayer
folks to come down front.
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01:01:43
If at any moment you
want to come down front
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01:01:45
or right after the song,
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01:01:47
you can do that in
all of our sites. Let's
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01:01:49
Let's sing this song.
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01:01:55
- Sing these words of trust,
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01:01:57
opening ourselves to God.
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01:02:00
[music]
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01:06:17
- All right. Hey, we'd
love to see you next week.
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01:06:19
And, hey, if you
want to give in any,
-
01:06:23
any way, shape or
form, you can do that.
-
01:06:24
You can go to
crossroads.net/give.
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01:06:27
We don't pass bags here
or plates, but you can go
-
01:06:29
to Crossroads.net/give
if you want to.
-
01:06:32
And I hope to see you
next week. Thank you.