The Irreducible Minimum of Faith

Ye gads. I'm usually sitting over here. I didn't realize there's so many of you out there.

Well, if you don't know, I'm Nathan's dad. And we'll get that out of the way real quick.

And the best of Nathan is who his mom is, and the worst of who Nathan is, is me.

And I got up 6.30 this morning, but I didn't look at any emails until about 8.15.

And lo and behold, Nathan's sick.

Well, that's not new news for our family. We kind of grew up that way.

And I remember when I was young, like most of you, you know, I could whip anything.

I could do anything. I could climb any tree.

One of my favorites of old is Mr. Muir. Remember Mr. Muir?

A Sierra Club come out of him.

And one of his famous antics, he wanted to experience a storm.

So in the Sierra Nevadas and California, he climbed to the top of the tallest tree he could find.

And lightning's flashing and thundering.

And the wind is blowing.

And he's on the top of this tree.

And the tree is swaying just to experience a storm.

Well, that's me growing up.

And that's who I was.

Strong, you know, ready to take on anything and anyone.

Strong, you know, I'm going to take on anything and anyone.

I'm going to be poached out of Okefenokee Swamp and had a brand new pickup truck.

Man, I was living.

I was living.

But then it began to just kind of crumble around me.

And for the first time in my life, I really began to notice that I was more fragile than I would have admitted.

And in fact, as time wore on, not too many years out of college,

I began to realize that the outside of me and the inside of me were not the same thing.

I was going through the motions of having a good time and having it together,

but miserable on the inside.

And I hated, I couldn't stand to use the word.

I certainly wasn't going to do it publicly, but I realized I was fragile.

And as time wore on, I began to see how fragile I was

and how many things in my life and around me was not in my control like they had been just a few years previously.

Now, I grew up down on the Mexican border.

That's a hard thing to grasp hold of, you know, to be a man's man and to be fragile.

But I wanted desperately for the inside of me and the outside of me to be the same person.

I didn't want to go through the motions of having a good time,

pretending, being a pretender all my life.

I wanted things to be together.

I wanted to be a whole person.

And I come to the realization that if it was ever going to happen in my life,

my job wasn't going to get it done.

My upbringing wasn't going to get it done.

And my relationships, because that stunk, it wasn't going to get done.

And so I was reaching for anything.

And finally, I come to realize and believe that Jesus Christ was the only way

to get the inside of me and the outside of me and to begin to handle my frailty.

But I thought, you know, my strength would be restored.

No, I just got more and more frail.

And then one day, Julie and I had been married a little over a year,

and we had this little thing called Jamie Lee come into our life.

He gads.

What an awesome thing.

Soft, fragile.

And it was in her frailty that I found more frailty on my own part.

I discovered more things about myself that I really didn't want to admit to,

but she had me.

Now, I've got to tell you,

even though soft and pliable and innocent as she was,

she could really stink.

Holy moly, I didn't know that anything that gentle could stink so bad.

And yet I'm reminded every day that I'm just a stinky old guy.

So are you.

God has unique ways of bringing us back to reality

and helping us to see again and again and again how frail we are.

Well, some years ago, a young friend of mine used the term irreducible minimums.

I've come to realize through all of my studying

that God has created the universe in circles.

And as you think you're going out through your life,

you are only going to understand that it's going to bring you back

sometime or another to the beginning.

And that beginning has to do with those irreducible minimums.

And as fragile as I am,

I realize I've got to have a good, strong foundation

under my life in order to live the kind of life

that would honor God.

For I didn't get saved in a church.

I didn't get saved because of a church.

I was saved in my home out of a home Bible study,

reading the Word of God and believing what it said.

So as far as I was concerned, Jesus is it.

He is the chief cornerstone, our Word tells us,

and shows us that the church is built on a strong foundation.

And what constitutes the items of that foundation

are these irreducible minimums.

1 Corinthians 13, verse 13 says,

1 Corinthians 13:13

Now faith, hope, and love.

These three.

But the greatest of these is love.

There's an irreducible minimum in it.

Faith and hope are irreducible minimums.

Well, I want to focus today on faith,

if you don't mind.

Y'all want to vote for it?

Because if we choose something else,

somebody else is going to have to preach it.

Faith is how we get into this life,

and faith is how we're to go on with this life.

Faith is how we get into this life.

Some folks just get in by faith and say,

Well, that part's done.

What's next?

And so we, like I was pursuing what's next,

we go from preacher to preacher,

church to church, you know,

version of the Bible to version of the Bible.

We jump all over the place.

Jesus said to the Pharisees,

he actually was kind of honoring them.

He said,

You diligently search the scriptures,

but you fail to come to me.

See, when it all boils down,

one of those irreducible minimums

is,

you with me?

When it all boils down,

one of those irreducible minimums,

is faith.

Faith is how we get in.

But do you know what faith is?

If we all had a moment,

and we'd go look to find out

a definition of faith,

some of us,

like Sid,

in his day and age,

he'd go to a dictionary.

His dictionary would be

some hard copy out there,

a Webster's,

a New Collegiate,

somewhere out there,

he'd go find a dictionary.

In most of your cases,

you'd just whip out your iPhone,

and I was asking Nathan the other day,

I said,

Where is there a good dictionary

that I can get in my iPhone?

And he said,

He said,

Give me your iPhone.

And he spoke into my iPhone

a memory thing for me to,

into my,

instead of texting it to me,

he just spoke it in there.

Dictionary.com.

I haven't done a thing with it since.

In fact,

I'm not sure what I'm supposed

to do with it next.

I could point,

tap something.

I don't know.

Today,

Nathan's,

again,

reminds me of how fragile

life can be.

I remember when Julie called me

and told me

at the office,

we'd had a vacation,

we'd gone to Disneyland

for the first time.

You know,

that's not in Florida.

Disneyland is in California.

That's,

this is pre-Disney World

for some of you.

There was a time

before Disney World.

And we went over there

and had a great time.

But he was feeling

kind of sick.

We thought he had a,

maybe a urinary

and tract infection.

And no,

he had diabetes.

And Julie calls and says,

You gotta get to the,

we gotta take him

to the hospital

right now.

I said,

Whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa.

Let's don't be in such a hurry.

I had no clue

what diabetes meant.

Nor why we needed

to get to the hospital

right now.

So I went home,

picked them up,

took them over to the doctor

and then had made him

explain it to me personally.

And then we went immediately

to the hospital.

Gosh,

I tell you,

his arm wasn't,

didn't seem like to me

any bigger than that finger.

Sticking needles in there,

which is what he had to have,

was hard for me.

I kept envisioning

hitting the bone.

And after a few days

in the hospital,

we got,

you know,

brought him home.

And I remember

that first Saturday,

you know,

thinking,

well,

let's sleep in.

Now with diabetes,

we had to get up,

we had to eat on time

and have the shot on time

and have the finger pokies

on time.

And on and on

and on it went.

And later on,

Jamie becomes a diabetic.

And this is not my family,

is it?

Yeah,

it was.

I want to say to you,

young'uns,

because calamity,

stress,

struggle,

storms come to your life,

doesn't mean

that you're doing

something wrong.

In fact,

it may mean

that you're doing

something very,

very right.

For the Father

brings these things,

allows these things

to come into our lives

in order to teach us,

to bring us

into the fullness

of who He is.

Nathan had to get

through all that

in order to be able

to stand up here

and speak to you.

There was a time

in Nathan's life

when he was very bitter

towards God.

Went through a lot

of high school,

college,

bitter,

because God

had done this thing

to him.

And it was getting

to know Clay

that made the difference

in his life.

God used Clay

to help him

overcome the bitterness

that he was

seething with.

That's what bitterness

does.

It causes you to,

I can't spell

seethe.

If there's any one

rule I'd have

for us as a congregation

is don't ever use

a word you can't spell.

And everybody's up

to being challenged.

I've even been challenged

as I've been preaching.

Spell it preacher!

And I couldn't.

My vocabulary

went like this

and then

now that I'm a bus driver

of elementary kids

it's gone way,

way,

way down.

What is faith?

And the only place

for you and I

to go is to

the word of God.

Hebrews 11.1

is

the definition

for faith

for you and I.

That is

the definition.

Somebody

read it out loud

or if you've

got it memorized

spout it out for us.

Hebrews 11.1

page 1259.

Somebody,

anybody.

Now faith

is

the reality

of what's

hoped for.

When is

is.

Y'all ever

think about

when is

is?

I'm an English

teacher's nightmare

so.

But I know

this much

is

every time you

see it in the

English in the

New Testament

is is like

this.

It's not

like

once in a

while.

Faith

now

right now

where we're

at

where you're

sitting

where I'm

standing

faith

right now

this moment

is

and it

never

will

change.

Praise

God.

Get excited

about that.

Our

God doesn't

change.

Our

God made

up his

mind in the

beginning

and nothing

has

changed.

That's

worth

praising him

for.

That's not

that's

not

oh

me.

That's

an

amen.

Now

I'll be

the first

to admit

to you

I've

been one

of those

that if

I was

if we

were asked

you know

how many

of you

would like

to change

have God

change his

mind about

some stuff

I'd be

I'd be

there.

How many

of you

would be

there?

A room

full of

liars.

If you

haven't been

there yet

you will

be.

I promise

you.

Now

fate is

the

assurance

the reality

of the

things you

hope for.

It takes

those things

that we

have hopes

about in

our future

and brings

them into

reality

where we're

at today.

I see

things in

my future

by my

faith.

I had

a dream

of being

the same

on the

inside as

I am on

the outside

and faith

brought it

into reality

but before

I saw it

in reality

I saw it

in reality

in my

head

and my

heart.

Faith is

an incredible

thing.

It's what

brings you

into this

life

but it's

what you

need to

go on

in this

life.

What else

is it?

It is the

conviction.

What's your

Bible say?

proof of

the things

look at

it.

If you're

looking at

me you're

not looking

at your

Bible look

at it.

Not

seen.

Circle

that word

not.

That's a

huge word.

Sooner or

later you're

going to

realize as

you're growing

in the

Lord Jesus

that the

little words

mean sometimes

more than

the big

words do.

Like when

is is.

I mean

that's

that's a

big word.

Not

means a

whole lot

and you can

skip over

that thing

and not

get it.

You cannot

be a good

Missourian.

You know

what it says

on the

Missouri

license plate?

Show me

state.

A lot

of us

say we're

acting and

we're living

out of faith

but we don't

really believe

anything until

we see it.

Until it's

tangible.

I guess that

thing isn't

on is it?

Could have

moved it.

Until it's

tangible.

Until you

can touch it.

See I say

well yes I

have faith but

here's my

faith.

No no.

The thing's

not seen.

I had

faith that

God was

going to

give me

give me

a godly

family.

A godly

wife.

And godly

children.

Did that

say okay

well now

that's done

I don't

have to do

anything about

that?

No

absolutely

not.

Every day

of Jamie's

life.

Every day

of Nathan's

life.

Even before

they were

born.

Every day

of Jan

Lynn's

life.

Even before

she was

born I

prayed for

them.

Every single

day that

they would

grow up to

be men and

women of

God and

marry men

and women

of God.

But I

saw it in

the beginning

what it

could be

like.

And God

has brought

it to

pass.

I don't

feel the

need like

a lot of

preachers do

preaching

every Sunday.

I enjoy

sitting over

there and

listening to

my son

open the

word of

God.

Joy fills

my heart

when I

hear things

tumbling out

of him

that I

was in

my 40s

and 50s

before I

ever got

it and

could preach

it.

it is

true

that your

children can

truly stand

on your

shoulders

and get

to places

in the

relationship

with the

Lord Jesus

Christ and

with the

body of

Christ

that you

couldn't

have got

to until

you got

much,

much older.

Praise

God.

Faith

does

remarkable

things.

It leads

us into

remarkable

prayer times

with the

Father.

Faith does

things for

us that

we would

have never

believed.

There was

a time

in this

auditorium

when it

looked like

there would

never be

a time

at all

where every

chair would

be filled

to overflowing.

thing.

I remember

when we

were a

little

circle

right here

and in

those days

I did

all the

talking

but

believing

that one

day it

would be

like this

and beyond

and that

it would

be about

family.

So much

so that

in the

beginning

we didn't

even add

the name

church.

Because in

my opinion

I've been

a church

planner and

an apostolic

ministry for

a long

time and

in my

mind the

word church

has almost

become a

dirty word

in our

culture.

Almost

completely

meaningless.

people without

faith think

terrible things

when they

hear the

word church.

What is

church?

It should

be family.

And who

does it

belong to?

Jerry?

Nathan?

Elders?

It belongs

to Christ

Jesus.

It's

His

church.

church.

This isn't

mine.

I don't

believe in

ministries.

There's only

one ministry

and it

belongs to

the Father.

And we

get to be

part of

it.

Praise

God.

Can you

get excited

about that?

He's got

an invitation

for you to

come join

Him in

your future.

We don't

know where

that's going

to be.

When I

gave my

heart to

Jesus I

said anything

you want

God.

And I

told friends

over and

over again

if I

thought that

meant being

a Baptist

preacher

maybe we

would have

negotiated this

a little bit.

Because that

was the

farthest

thing from

my mind.

I thought

I was going

to become

a rancher.

Surely

God wants

me to be

happy and

He would

agree with

me about

that.

Wouldn't

He?

He showed

me the

opportunity and

then He

went nope

I'm going

to send

you to

seminary

instead.

And He

expected me

to be happy

about that.

When I

got out of

college I

determined I

was never

going back to

school again

for any

reason.

I dare you

to tell that

to God.

He'll prove

you wrong

every time.

how do

you get

faith?

Well I've

heard people

pray for

faith.

I've heard

that people

do that.

I remember

one time

years ago

there was

this TV

evangelist

and he

said if

you'd send

me 1995

he said I've

got this

handkerchief

that I've

touched

and you

just touched

that handkerchief

I'll send

it to you.

Your faith

will increase.

He made a

great case

for it but

it was more

about the

1995 than

it was about

faith.

Romans 10

17

says faith

comes by

hearing and

hearing by

the word

of God.

You're not

going to

increase your

faith by

praying for

it.

asking God

for it.

God's given

you one way

and one way

only for

your faith

to be bigger

tomorrow than

it is today

and that's

by getting

your nose

into the

word of

God and

taking your

eyes and

setting them

on him

the word

of God

and letting

him connect

those two

together in

the relationship

that you have

with him

and then

allow his

leadership

to prevail

for he's

not the

Lord who

said on

the mount

y'all do

your best

I'll see

you later

our God is

still at work

on this

planet

and he's

not left

us on

our own

but instead

what he's

doing is

inviting us

into his

activities

and that's

what excites

me when I

hear about

some of you

going to

literally the

ends of the

earth

but it's

even most

important if

I hear about

what God's

doing and

ministering

through you

right here

in the

Lamiga

they're both

exciting to

me

you're my

joy

when I see

your bright

and smiling

faces when I

see the

fellowship that

you're having

with one

another before

we start and

after we

finish

God takes

delight

in your

relationships

with one

another

faith comes

by hearing

and hearing

by the

word of

God

you get

faith

but here's

the problem

Christianity

today

has fallen

back on a

position that

says the

faith I have

today is

enough for

tomorrow

and the

day after

that and

the day

after that

and the

day after

that

well that

might be

true if

if your

life is

just going

to be

absolutely

the same

day in

and day

out and

it's never

going to

change

that could

be the

truth

but I

guarantee

you right

here now

the old

guy is

telling you

it's going

to change

we live

in a world

of change

but even

if we

didn't live

in a world

of change

things would

change

new things

would come

storms will

happen

earthquakes

will happen

floods

will happen

droughts

will happen

all kinds

of things

good and

bad will

come and

cross the

path of

your life

and you

cannot

lean back

on yesterday's

fate

to stand

up

and walk

through

tomorrow's

challenges

you can't

do it

the only

way

which is

the position

of much

of Christianity

today the

only way

that people

attempt to

escape it

is by

doing

nothing

there's

nothing that

breaks the

heart of

God more

in my

opinion

than a

believer

who will

not

stand up

and walk

by faith

but merely

spends their

life sitting

in a pew

listening to

sermons

and going

out and

saying well

I got that

part of my

life done

for the week

now what's

next

there can't

be a more

miserable

person we

think the

person without

Jesus in

their life is

the most

miserable person

on the face

of the planet

but I don't

think it is

I think it's

the person

that has

Jesus in

their life

has Christ

as their

savior

has a

Lord to

give them

leadership

and everything

and just

ignores it

now that's

got to be

misery

in my

humble

opinion

for you've

by now

decided I'm

not God

and so I

have no

God almighty

statements to

make to you

except to

offer to

you

40 some

odd years

of walking

with the

Lord Jesus

so we

get faith

but how

do you put

your faith

into motion

here's a

good example

I like

this one

Mark

Mark 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

see I

got you

back to

Mark

so if

Nathan

asks and

I'm not

here for

any reason

you can

say yeah

we were

in Mark

Jesus is

healing

Jesus is

talking in

parables

he's

gone across

the sea of

Galilee

once again

to get

away from

this huge

crowd

following him

yet to

just discover

another huge

crowd on

the other

side of

the bank

and a

leader of

the synagogue

comes up to

him

Jairus

and says

my daughter

is sick

will you

come

and in

Mark

5

there

he starts

going

and there's

all these

people around

him

all these

people following

along with

him

look what it

says there

in verse

25

Mark

5

25

page

1032

and he

went off

with him

a great

multitude

following

him

pressing

in on

him

and a

woman

who had

had a

hemorrhage

for 12

years

and endured

much at the

hands of many

physicians

and had spent

all that she

had and was

not helped at

all but rather

had grown worse

after hearing

about Jesus

came up in the

crowd behind

him and

touched his

cloak for

she thought

if I just

touch his

garments

I shall get

well

and immediately

the flow of

her blood

was dried up

and she felt

in her body

that she

was healed

of her

affliction

and immediately

Jesus perceiving

in himself

that the power

proceeding from

him had gone

forth

turned around

in the crowd

and said

who touched

my garments

I can just

imagine

the disciples

at this

time

they're still

babies

I can

just imagine

them saying

what are you

talking about

are you

nuts

everybody's

touching you

everybody's

pushing in

on you

we're in a

crowd

don't you

see the

crowd

we're

we're

trying to

get to

Jairus'

house

but look

at everybody

they're in

our way

they're touching

you and

they're touching

you and

what do you

mean who

touched me

if you don't

remember another

thing I say

you remember

what I'm

saying right

now

Jesus

always

always

always

knows the

difference

between a

touch of

sincerity

and a

touch of

insincerity

the crowd

was wanting

wanting

wanting

wanting

wanting

wanting

gimme gimme

gimme gimme

gimme

gimme

I'm hungry

feed me

feed me

feed me

but this

woman

when she

touched him

it was

saying to

him

something

much

different

this

woman

had

fate

and by

this time

in her

life

that's

about

all

she

had

a lot

of the

women

who've

come

to us

and set

free

were just

like

this

woman

I

remember

Linda

coming

Linda

was so

weak

she could

no longer

push

the

cart

with her

stuff in

it

the

typical

bag lady

thing

that we

think

about

she was

curled up

in a ball

in a

dark alley

in Atlanta

and a

couple of

our guys

found her

in that

alley

and she

couldn't

walk

her

dress

was so

thin

that you

just hardly

touch it

and it

wanted to

fall off

of her

she had

been

abused

she

probably

weighed

no more

than

I don't

know

she weighed

85 pounds

time they

got her

to Gainesville

and called

me I'd

come to

get her

to take

her

to our

women's

house

and set

free

and all

she could

do

they carried

her out

she got

in the

front seat

of my

pickup truck

and curled

up in a

ball

and never

moved

she stunk

so bad

that I

had to run

for days

with the

windows down

in my

truck

just to

get the

smell of

her off

those seats

and when

she got to

the women's

house

they carefully

picked her

up

and these

women who

picked her

up were

women who

just a couple

months earlier

had been in

the same

position

and they

carried her

in

and they

told me her

clothes just

fell off of

her and they

hand bathed

her very

very carefully

fearing she

would die

on them

I guess

we would have

been smarter

if we had

taken her

to a

hospital

but I've

never been

known for

intelligence

unlike my

children

today Linda

probably weighs

200 pounds

got the

prettiest

smile of

any woman

I've ever

seen

who's come

through set

free or

otherwise

how her

teeth got so

pearly

they were

pearly

and she

married a

fine Christian

man

and she's

in a

vivacious

Bible

believing

Jesus

loving

church

in

Gainesville

where a

group of

women just

got around

her

and loved

her and

loved her

and loved

her

become the

woman that

God always

wanted her

to be

starts with

a dream

this lady

here had a

dream

she spent all

of her money

trying to see

that dream

come true

she was doing

everything

and had

given up on

physicians

and everything

else

nobody

nobody

was in

her life

any

longer

she's

standing

there on

the side

of the

road

in a

weakened

state

and yet

one more

ray of

hope

comes to

her

if I

just

touch

the

hem

of his

garment

that'll make

me well

she not only

dreamed it

but she

said it

she said

it

she confessed

with her

mouth

what she

was beginning

to believe

in her

heart

and odds

against odds

with this

crowd all

wanting Jesus

attention

she worked

her way

into that

crowd

I mean

she could

have been

the person

who got

knocked down

in that

crowd

and trampled

under their

feet

to only

die there

she was

risking her

very life

to do

what she

said she

would do

to do

and carry

out what

she was

dreaming

would happen

I just

touch the

hem of

his

garment

most

preachers

at this

point would

tell you

tons and

tons about

the hem

of his

garment

and it

makes

absolutely

no

difference

what his

hem

was

or where

it was

but she

got to

it

and

immediately

Jesus

knew

here

is

someone

something

different

and he

turns around

and he

says

who

touched

my

garment

here goes

the

disciples

again

what do

you mean

everybody's

touching

you

and he

could have

said

no

no

no

no

this is

a different

touch

this is

a real

touch

this is

a touch

birthed

out of

out of

hopelessness

with one

just ray

of hope

left in

their lives

this is

a touch

of

faith

and he

required

her

to tell

it

she

had

a

dream

she

confessed

it

she

said

it

she

did

it

and he

required

her

to

tell

it

see

I

don't

think

your

faith

and

mine

are

whole

until

we

tell

it

because

a lot

of

times

what

we

want

to

do

is

we

want

to

take

this

act

of

God

and

keep

it

quiet

because

what

it

will

do

remember

the

circle

it

will

reveal

how

frail

we

have

been

how

in

need

we

really

are

of

someone

bigger

than

we

are

a

godly

daddy

who

will

take

us

in

his

arms

and

pick

us

up

get

us

through

the

crowd

let

us

touch