A Prescription For Positive Thinking - Pastor JD Howell 6-14-2026

Amen. If you have your bibles, will you turn with

me to the Book of Philippians, and may I direct

your attention to the second chapter and versus number five

through eight. Also, brother Nathaniel, would you turn to Second

Kings chapter number five, and you will be reading verses

number nine through twelve. Some of you will recognize that

co text, because this past Wednesday night, that was one

of our cotext Second Kings, chapter number five, verses number

nine through twelve. And brother Jesse, Philippians chapter number four

and verse number eight. All right, brother Nathaniel, would you

read that my brother so Naming came with horses and

with his chariot, and stood at the door of the

house of Elisha, And Elishah sent a messenger under him, saying,

go and washing Jordans seven times, and night flesh shall

come again to thee, and now shalt be clean. But

Naming was wroth and went away and said, behold, I

thought he was surely come out to me and stand

and call on the name of the Lord his God,

and strike his hand over the place and recover the

leper or not a bonna and farpar rivers of Damascus

better than all the waters of Israel, may I not

wash in them and be clean. So he turned and

went away in a rage. Amen, how many of you

remember what we said this past Wednesday night concerning naming

that he had his own thoughts and ideas as to

how he should receive his healing. Brother Nathaniel just read

the cotext once again, where Naman said, I thought, and

it's interesting for us to think on that this man,

who was a pagan, a general of an army, a warlord,

a leader of an army, had his own thoughts and

ideas as to how the prophet of God Jehovah should

go about healing him. He had his own thoughts and

his own idea is concerning the process that would bring

that about? Isn't that crazy? So who had influenced his thoughts,

Who had led him into that way of thinking? Who

had led him into that mindset? Because he said, I

thought so? He had been thinking about how it was

going to happen, and he did not anticipate it as

it took place, Brother Jesse Philippians four and eight. Please,

my brother, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things

are honest, whatsoever things are just?

Whatsoever things are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things

are of good report. If there be any virtue, and

if there be any praise, think on these things.

Those are some good things to think upon.

Amen.

Philippians, chapter number two, Versus number five through eight. The

Bible says, let this mind be in you, which was

also in Christ. Jesus, who being in the form of God,

thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but

made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the

form of a servant, and was made in the likeness

of men, And being found in fashion as a man,

he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the

death of the cross. May we pray, Heavenly Father, we

thank you for the opportunity to be in your house

this morning. We thank you for this thy people. We

pray Lord, that you would anoint their ears and help

them to hear what the spirit of God says into

the church today. Anoint this thy servant, I prayed, God,

set a guard at my mouth, and help me to

say the things that you would have me to say,

nothing more or less, not of my words, but of

your words. God. Let these sayings go below the shoulders

let them saturate the heart and spirit in the body.

I pray that we would not only be hearers, but

that we would heed what is being said to us

this day. Lord, may we depart this place joyfully and

not sorrowfully. In Jesus's name in the church said Amen,

I'd like to preach a message the Holy Ghost titled

a Prescription for Positive Thinking. Our textas found in a

New Testament book of the Holy Bible, the Book of Philippians,

is an epistle of the Apostle Paul. An epistle is

a letter written with a purpose. And after reading through

this sacred writing over the past few days, I have

came to understand how much the Apostle Paul wanted these

people to become more christ Like. In this service this morning,

Brother Thomas Sterrett spoke to us of how a lot

of spiritual leaders are encouraging people to become un christ Like,

but we know that it is the will of God

that every person be christ alike. And the Bible said

that a group of believers were found in Antioch and

they were being very christ like, and they received the

nickname or the surname Christians, which literally means christ alike

and I wonder if that word or that term could

be used for the group of believers that represent Jesus

Christ today accurately. I wonder if it would be a

true statement for somebody to take a finger and point

at a group of believers and call them Christians. I know,

over the last two decades I have heard people that

profess to be children of God or followers of Jesus

Christ declare that they are not Christians. I remember when

I first came into this realm or this region, I

heard somebody telling somebody, Hey, I am not a Christian.

I am a sinner saved by grace. I am far

from being christ. Likely the Holy Ghost alarm bells and

the Sound Doctrine alarm bells started going off, and I thought,

that sounds like an excellent statement, That sounds like something

that everybody should embrace and declare. But then I thought

about what the Word of God says. If any man

be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things

have passed away. Behold, all things have become news. I

knew that these people that were promoting such a statement

as that was speaking because they had thought along the

lines of others. Evidently, some influencer in their life, who

must have been a spiritual influencer, had preached a sermon

to them, or talked to them while they were eating

dinner or at the break room at work, and they

had learned this particular statement, and they had come to

believe it. And I do not believe that to be

a true statement at all. I believe that Christians should

be christ alike. I know that we are sinners saved

by grace, But all throughout the New Testament we find

the term saints. And I woke up this morning thinking

about all of the declarations unto the Saints of God

that were given by the apostle Paul. A lot of

times he referred to sinners, and he knew which group

of people he was speaking to. When he spoke to sinners,

and also when he was speaking to the saints, he

knew which group of people he was addressing. And so

as I look through this second chapter of the Book

of Philippians, I saw that Paul expected the church to

be people of humility and servitude or servanthood. In a

recent service, the Lord prompted me to remind us of

the moment when Jesus christ him so self demonstrated humility

and servitude as he washed the feet of his beloved

followers or disciples. In Proverbs, chapter number eighteen and verse

number twelve, the wise man declared, before destruction, the heart

of man is haughty, and before honor is humility. If

you look at the ninth verse of Philippians, chapter number two,

you will find that Jesus Christ was in fact exalted.

The Bible said, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him

and given him a name which is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus, every need should bow

of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things

under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And so I believe that the one that wrote the

proverb that before honor is humility was accurate. He was

inspired by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Undoubtedly, we have

heard a lot of things said to us about the

power of the mind. I know without a doubt what

it is to suffer because of my mind. Before I

got saved, even though I did not practice sin on

a daily basis, I was plagued in my mind with

thoughts of unworthiness. I was plagued in my mind with

thoughts of am I really born again? Am I really saved?

Am I a child of God? And the reason for

that was because of my lack of understanding concerning the

Word of God. But after I truly experienced Jesus Christ

and became a new creature through him, I began to

love the Word of God and to search the scriptures

in attempt of securing eternal life. Because by the scriptures

I had experienced the new birth, and I was able

to get a hold of the thought that I was

saved by grace, and thank God that it was not

of my works, and I didn't have to worry about

boasting of any great thing that Jeremy how well had done.

I knew my salvation was in the Lord. What I'm saying,

I used the Word of God to program my mind,

and I reached a new mindset and an understanding that

I will never be good enough, That I am only

as good as Jesus Christ allows me to be or

makes me to be. But I know, according to the

Word of God, that there is room for improvement in

every follower of Jesus Christ in a life time I

can't tell you how many thoughts I have had. I've

had numerous thoughts. I remember years ago preaching on memory,

and whenever I was studying to prepare to preach that message,

I remember running across the fact that said something like this.

The average person in their lifetime will have over twenty

million different thoughts. And that is probably the person that

just seemingly is in law law land at times. That

is that person that absently mindedly views into your lane

as you're commuting home from work, or perhaps that's the

person absent mindedly or passes through the light. But there

are people in this building who are constantly thinking. I

could name at least a dozen people that are thinkers,

some of the philosophers of yester year. We're great thinkers,

As your pastor, Sister Howell can tell you that, I

am always thinking. And for a thinker, if they are

not thinking on the right things, they will find themselves

thinking on the wrong things. Of course, right, So in

a lifetime, and average human being thinks over twenty million

different thoughts. But I would say somebody like brother Nathaniel

Howell and brother Gabriel Valentin would take in a lifetime

over thirty million different thoughts. I would think that your

pastor in a lifetime would think over forty million different thoughts.

And there's people in this building this morning not thinking

about good things. You're thinking about bad things. You're not

thinking of things that positively will influence you, You're thinking

of things that will negatively influence you. And this is

why the Holy GHOSTA pointed out to me last week

of Naman's thinking process and how it led him to

thank the wrong thing concerning the will of God and

that that would bring forth his physical healing. Can I

tell you that if Naming had done it away name

and felt like her he should do it, And if

the prophet had of cay to the pressure of naming

and done it away name and thought that the prophet

should do it, they would not have got the results

of healing that they received from the Lord. I want

you to know, if you're going to receive the blessings

of the Lord in your life, you're gonna have to

do things God's way. It was this past Wednesday night

after we got home, Sister Howard told me she said, Jeremy,

in the last fifteen minutes of that service, the Holy

Ghost was so powerfallen. My cell phone went off and

me it was Brother Jesse, and he sent a text

message and he said, my, how the Holy Girls came

by tonight during that preaching and during that altar service.

And aren't you glad that we followed the mind of

the Lord and preach the message that God told us

to preach. Because I am not in control of the outcome,

and I did not expect.

The results that God gave us that night.

What I'm saying is I'm not smart enough to know

the needs of seventy five to eighty people, but our

God does. And when the Holy Girls were surgeon through

this place in such a mighty way, we were putting

an emphasis on how name and must dimp and how

he must humble himself as an obedient servant to the

Lord's a servant. And there's people in this building today

that are thinking on the wrong things. I felt it

in prayer last night and through the night I tossed

and turned, and I thought about some of the things

that you might be thinking about. And Brother Aaron Wood,

I thought of how some are thinking about how bad

they have it, while there's some others in this building

or thinking about their spiritual condition, and they are putting

the blame on others, and they're not owning their own

mistakes and taking responsibilities for their actions. But continually their

mind runs with different thoughts blaming others. And then I

thought about how people are dwelling old things that is

causing them to be angry, and how some are dealing

with a bitterness. Now, that's not the way we can

recover mentally. That's not the way we can be blessed

by meditating old things.

That bothered us or that do bother us.

We know the Man of God said in the Word

of God, while I was musing the fire burn. If

we add to that scripture, we can say, while the

Man of God was thinking upon good things for good,

fire of the good sweet holy ghostom begin to burn

in sight of me. Now it seems to me very

amazing and interesting to think that a pagan general with

traveler such a great distance, with this mind already made

up on how he's going to receive his healing or

how he's going to receive this miracle. It's the same

way for summon this building here this morning.

You don't want to receive your miracle or the.

Healing that you need the way God wants you to

receive it. I feel it him my spirit. But I

pray that this message will help you understand.

That you mustn't do it God's way.

One of the men in this church said, while you

were preaching this pastor Wednesday night, Pastor, he said, you

said something about naming was not permitted to die. He

had to dip. I'm telling you the reason why that

man had to dip, I went on to say, is

because the Lord was humbling him, and the Lord was

forcing him to do.

It the way the Lord wanted him.

To do it, and he would do it God's way

or he would not receive or healing at all.

Go down, go.

Down further, come back up, and go back down again.

And I said it right here in this message this morning,

that the apostle Paul was reminding the church at philip

Pie that you've got to be humble.

Look at the epistle this afternoon.

All throughout it thread, it is this little thread of

humility and this thread of servitude. What was it going

on in the mind of the people of Philippi, especially

the members of this newly assembled gathering. What was going

through their mind? I'll tell you. One of the things

that came to my mind during the night they were

thinking about how they belonged to the Roman Empire. With

those of you that know anything about the author of

this epistle, the great Apostle Paul, you know, he enjoyed

doing citizenship, and he was a man from Tarsansen. He

understood all too well the influence of the mighty Roman Empire.

And if you were a citizen of Rome, and if

you belonged to the Roman Empire, you had to be

a servant of the empire, and you had to be unified,

the same way our great President Abraham and Lincoln said

concerning the United States of America.

That we must remain united.

And so the Apostle Paul, with the Roman Empire roman

citizenship in mind, he refers these Philippians to something they're

very familiar with, and it is unity and humility. And

I want you to know that God expects nothing less

of the members of the Church as Rome did as citizens.

God expects us to live in compliance with the rules

and the regulations and the Holy Empire. And I want

you to know the Bible, said Apostle Paul told the

Philippians that Jesus has been exalted in that one day

every person will practice humility, every person will bow before

the Lord, and every tongue will confess that he is

King of kings and Lord of lords. But Paul was

telling us Prolippian Church even before he left and ascended

up in the glory and took his place and position

of authority at the right hand of his father. While

Jesus was inhurt and he was humble, he took upon

himself a form of a servant.

He made himself of no reputation.

I'm telling you there's a lot of reputation hungry people

and ministers today who are looking for status and forgetting

about servitude. You know what Paul was telling the Prolippians,

the same thing I'm trying to tell God's people this morning.

The Roman Empire ain't gonna let you be a citizen

there looking for status. You're gonna have to be glad

to be a servitor. And it's the same thing in

the Kingdom of God. Helloly, the meet all of them

shall see the Lord. Heymen, But we get these salts

and they plague our mind again. An average person or

human being has over twenty million thoughts. They process in

a lifetime. But there's probably people in this building that

has processed what five six, seven thousand over the last

couple of days. Martin Luther said this, While you cannot

prevent birds from flying over your head, you can prevent

them from.

Building a nest in your hair.

The Bible tells us to bring every thought into captivity

to the obedience of Christ. If what you're doing is

in contradiction to what is recorded and written in the

world of God concerning the actions of the members of

the New Testament Church, I want you to know you'll

find yourself go to and not a sheep. You'll find

yourself a terror and not a wheat.

I'm trying to.

Help you here this morning to understand that even though

Jesus was duty and before he went to his place

of power, he humbled himself by reducing himself to a

household slave. He washed the feet of those that entered

the building. They were not clean feet, they weren't dirty Pete.

Even though he knew one day every human being will

submit to Me in total submission. Apostle Paul knew the

culture he pushed them into right thinking, And I know

the culture us Americans today and I'm pushing you into

the right talk press process. So you should know that

Jesus' demands unity and humility among the membership of the kingdom.

Oh come home now. Paul felt like.

Her Christian should have these two traits and characteristics, just

like her citizens of Rome dead. Where are you at

right now concerning humility? Where are you at right now

concerning servetud? Are you willing to help your church family?

Are you willing to give an hour or two each

month and serve retooding up in air ministry? Are you

willing to take a rake in hand and the rake

the grass or the dead clippings here on the church line?

Are you willing to get a rag and to being

down next to some Oh come on now, six spot

where a little child got sick and they're clean up

the mess. I'll tell you pastors know all too well

and are all too premirere we're cleaning up somebody else's mess.

Are you're sure you gotta servi's harder? Are you're sure

you umber minister? Are you're willing to clean up somebody

else's mass? It the answer is no, then you we're

god ready. Every I've heard them say before I won't

do it. I'll never do it. I won't ever ever

did it. Paul wanted them to know, if you're going

to be a member of the Roman Empire, you gonna

do as Rome does. And as they swallow up every

other nation and bring them into the empire. The moment

they enlarge their boundaries, the moment they put their tentscate,

the tent states out had a whutter perimeter. Anything swallowed

up within that boundary has to submit to Rome. The

only other thing to do is to die. And that's

why we see a lot of the spiritual demise and

death and departure in our churches is because people don't

put on the mind of Christ. You have to put

on the mind of Christ all through the word of God.

The apostle. Paul was telling members of the early Church

and members of this modern age that you have to

have the mind of Christ if you're going to be

a child of God. In fact, the little city of

Philippi considered itself to be a little city like Rome.

It considered itself to be a little Rome, and the

leaders had no problem whatsoever following Roman law. They wanted

their city to be just like the Motherlen and the

Lord Jesus. And Apostle Paul felt the Church here on

earth should emulate the Church in heaven. Matthew, Chapter number

six and verse number ten are the words of Jesus.

The Bible said that Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be

done in earth as it is in heaven. For years

I have heard this saying, you become what you think about,

or what you think you become. I believe it was

Ralph Waldo Emerson. We read some of his writings in

high school. I believe he was one of the writers

of that statement. If not, he might have been a

plagiariss from some philosopher. I'm not sure. But what you

think you become. Apostle Paul was attempting to change the

way these people thought on things, and he wanted them

to start thinking differently. We preached this past Wednesday Night

on christ and his word being our compass listener, Brother

Justin wrote, Cap chooses tomorrow to spend countless hours each

day with people of unclean or negative thoughts. It won't

be too long before he becomes one of those people.

These people knew Christians they should not be thinking like Romans.

The Apostle Paul is saying they should be walking as

Christians walker, they should be talking as Christians talker. They

should be followers of Christ more soul than followers of Rome.

And First Corinthians, chapter number fifteen and verse number thirty three.

Somebody was dealing with something mentally until they were at

the point of being totally devoured and deceived. Apostle paulsa

be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt to good manners. This means,

or translates, don't you be deceived? Even evil associations will

corrupt those good morals. History tells us this very thing.

I've been a student of world history for many years.

I remember the fear or whatever he was called, Adolf Hitler,

who rolls up through the ranks in the in the

country of Germany. And how Adolf Hitler realized, I've got

to get in the minds how the young people, and

I have to educate them. I have to persuade them,

I have to manipulate their thoughts in order to override

their good morals.

Are y'all with me?

And so he began to demoralize people that was intact

very pure morally. The Germans produced a lot of the

great mighty scientists and a lot of the great pharmacists,

a lot of the great chemistists, a lot of the

great physicists, including Albert Einstein. At one time was being

bought from one country to the next, and German he

was the highest bidder at various times buying the mind

of Albert Einstein. But I want you to know there

was one thing that Albert Einstein would not allow anybody

to purchase, and it was his thought process. It was

his mindset, it was his mentality. For after those who

had followed blind leaders ended up in the ditch when

its peers are contemporaries, ended up being hand in hand

without Alf Hitler, it was Albert Einstein that publicly rose

up and spoke against the policies and the like of

morals that and Dolf Hitler had. I want you to know,

you gotta be like Albert Einstein. You gotta think positive

in a negative world. You gotta let the Bible influence

you positively in a world that is daily negatively. In adversley,

what influenced by her the world. I'll tell us somebody,

something just came to bind. Social media is influencing you

in a negative way, I said, social media. He's influence

on her, even our church members in a negative way.

We don't need the world to teach us how to

have church. We don't need the world to teach us

how to make a commercial. In order to get the

loss to church about it, High Street Ministry invite them,

compel them to come to the House of God. Amen,

be not deceived, evil communications, corrupt good manners. Adolf Hitler

did it. He got them, Brother Caleb. He got them

thinking that they needed to exterminate all of them Jewish people.

And we have the memory of somebody that convinced himself

that a lie that the devil had planted in his

heart was truth. The Bible said, they would believe a

lie and be damned. I've seen people before know that

they know that they know that what they're thinking is untrue.

They know that they know that they know what they're

thinking about a certain situ is wrong. But then they

deceive themselves. You know, it's one thing to be deceived

by another, but it's another thing when you yield to

self deception. It's another thing when you listen to that

heart that demand Jeremiah, the Great Prophet, the Great Weeping Prophet.

Jeremiah said concerning the heart. It is deceitful above all things,

desperately wicked. Who can know it? You do know the

thought of murder begins in the heart. You do know

the idea of cursing your brother begins in the heart.

You do know. There's a whole lot to these thoughts.

Right I'm telling you, when you find something going through

your mind, you better exterminate it and kill it by

the word of God. Right then and there am I preaching. Hey,

you know Martin Luther said it. I've already quoted it.

We're gonna say it again. You can't keep the birds

from flying over your head. That you can keep them

from building a nest in your head. And there are

things that you're allowing to tank root in your mind

and in your heart.

Should have never been allowed to germinate.

The seeds, should have never rupped below the surfaces on

the ground.

Now you've got to.

The place now where it's bringing forth fruit to I said,

that's bringing forth through the corruption. Your pastor loves you,

The elders love you, Her Church loves you as much

as it ever has.

We still got the same power we better had. Your

truth is the word of God.

He's telling you what's going on in your mind, and naming.

Had to know what was going on now in that

mind would not.

Bring healing, I thought, he said, I thought, where did

the thought come from?

Who are you to think that way concerning the prophet

of God? Who are you to think that way concerning

the river in the country of God's people? Who are

you to think and try to foretell the way the prophet?

We'll go about doing what God told him to do? Well,

I thought, I thought, By now, I thought, of a surety,

I thought, or this I'm thinking right now. Maybe it

ain't past tense, maybe it's present tents. I'm thinking right now.

You better be careful where that mind's taking to you.

The prodigal son got carried into a far country. You

know why I ended up in a far country because

his mind went into a far country. You know what.

His thoughts were not local, His thoughts were foreign. His

thoughts were not local, His thoughts were isn't it interesting

how once he got in the foreign country he starts

thinking about the locality and the reality of Dad and

Mom's house. Now suddenly everything that was bad is good,

everything that was good as bad. But when he was

at Dad's house. Everything that was good was bad, and

everything that bad were good. But once he reached the

end of his stalk process, and once he stepped into

reality of the deception of his heart, and once they

realized where his heart led him, he realized, I'm left

with nothing, and I thought wrong all along. When it

comes home and realizes Dad and Mom didn't know best,

Oh come when it was the best baked bread, it

was the best house.

They were the best parents. It was the best set

of rus Now I.

Understand why they had a flatform standard.

Now I understand why they seemingly made mountain not a more.

He now standing why they said you better get that

taught how to your heart. I'll tell you what happens

if you leave that thought in there, it won't take

long until you're doing it. Out of the heart proceeds

all these evil things. Out of the abundance of the heart,

the mouth speaks. You know why they've said it, because

they thought.

About it a long time.

Before they said it. That preacher spewing out that false doctrine,

and you're shocked, and a poll did he dare say

something like that? You're taking something new?

Oh?

A many a sunrise has come up, and how many

a sunset has taken place? As this man has taught

about it, He's contemplated it, he's considered it, and.

Finally he spoke it. Amen.

Amen, I'm a feeling the Holy Ghost in this place

this morning and being found in fashion as a man.

He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the

death of the cross. Can you get the imagery of

Jesus in the wilderness. Can you get the imagery of

Jesus in the garden of Gsemine? Can you see him

being broken and declaring, Lord, I know I'm with you

in the Triune Council. I know I'm an equal member

of the Godhead. I know concerning spiritual and heavenly things,

we are one hundred percent total in agreement that this

needs to happen. But this earthly man is saying, you

know what, being executed by a crucifixion is not exactly

something that I want to go to go through. And

experiencing every sin and the damnation and the judgment for

every sin of humanity is not exactly something that I

want to go through. But he humbled himself, He despised

the shame for the joy that was sent before him.

He indured the cross, despising this shame, and he suffered.

Because he loves you. He humbled himself. If you really

love others, if you really love your church family, if

you really love.

Jesus, you will humble yourself.

Yes, there are times I do things with the church

family simply because everybody else is doing it.

It's called unity.

Well, I'm not gonna go over there and help, because

brother Howell has endeared himself to all these men, and

there's twelve men out there. Yeah, but it's okay to

have a thirteenth man because that'll keep the twelve from

having the work an hour.

And just maybe, just maybe.

They'll only have to work forty eight minutes if there's

a thirteenth man. Well, unity, Rome demanded you ty, Jesus demands,

are y'all with me? Servitude? Servant hood Roam demanded servitude.

Servant Jesus demanded Apostle post telling the Church of Philippie. Hey,

you shouldn't have any problem along with this. You've been

subjects to Rome for a long time. Why not be

subjects to Christ? Please notice the words of instruction in

the fifth verse Let this mind be in you. Let

this mind be in you. Well, I never thought of

it like that. Let this mind be in you the

way Apostle Paul testifies, the way Brother Thomasteric testifies, the

way Apostle Paul preaches. The way Brother Jesse Howe preach

the way Apostle Paul proclaimed the truth is the same

way Brother Nathaniel proclaims, you an adulterated true. Well, I

never thought of it like that where you ought to? Well,

how do you come up with these thoughts? Through the

word of God? The word of God, Thy word have

I hit of my heart that I might not sin

against the God told Paul to instruct the early Church

concerning what they thought about the entire New Testament, especially

the Pauline epistles. It's full of instruction for the believers

to tell them think differently.

Be careful where you go, Be careful who you spend

lunch time with. Be careful.

Be careful because they're influencing your thought process. Certain people

and certain things have molded your mindset into what it

is right now. In fact, it's either a human being

or an angelic being, a demonic being, or a family

member or friend that has caused you to feel the

way you're feeling right now, or worse than that, it's yourself.

I have seen people lose good friendships because somebody wanted

to destroy somebody's reputation and they began to undermine that

friendship and tell a lie about somebody, and somebody changed

their mind about how they felt about a certain individual

because somebody was spreading lice. Those news headlines are very

disappointing and discouraging. I was into seven mares. I guess

last week, last Wednesday, getting a bite to eat. You

are licking your lips now, I'm telling you hungry. It's

about one point fifteen. Gotten to pulp it a little

late this morning, but we'll get her out of here

in a minute. I was in seven Mayors. I heard

something said about the World Cups about to take place

in Atlanta, Georgia. The World Cup, I guess that's soccer.

It was when I was in high school, soccer World

Cups about to take place. Security, this security that all

type of government officials looked like the county sheriffs, city policemen, spokesman, commissioners,

mayor everybody. Just keep picking my head up looking at it.

Just to talk and talk and talk about how safe

and how secure I believe it was Atlanta, Georgia. I

just caught a few of the highlights after about ten

or fifteen minutes of just picking my head up, munching

on fahidas and looking different, feeble, different faces, all the

same message, we got this, we got this, we got this,

we got this, And Brother Stared. I could tell they

were doing their best to put good thoughts in the

minds of the people that you ain't got to worry

about a host of terrorists coming over here and blowing

Atlanta up. But then that secular news media behind that,

because I'm still eating my fahidas. Thirty five to forty

minutes later, still eating, talking to Sister House and Sister

Henna and Sister Elizabeth, and then it's local news. Over

here on this street. A man was murdered. Headline headlin

line over here on this street, tragic accident. Sister Hannah

and Sister Elizabeth of my telling it right in about

thirty minutes, Brother star At, the only news that come

on was highlights and headlines of bad, horrible things that

took place on the outskirts of Atlanta. Now, I told

Sister Hannah and Sister Elizabeth and Sister how I said,

every thought I had of Atlanta being a safe and

secure place is totally obliterated. It's annihilated. I did not

feel at all comfortable that Atlanta is a great place

to have the World Cup. Are y'all listening to me?

Cause back to back, one right after another, and I no,

I wasn't sitting there just watching the news. That's how

prevalent it was, that's how prominent. Well, I can't remember

one thing flashing across there that was comforting. And I

told Sister House said, no, wonder my dear grandmother, who

was always glued to the TV watching the news, had

terrible stomach issues, so bad that she couldn't come to church.

Such a worry what that negative news will influence you.

That's why we started doing outreach, because we couldn't hold

on to the fact that it's just us four and

no more. We could hold on to the fact that

God was out of the saving business. We could keep

thinking about that God's not saving anymore. We we could

if I kept that mindset and kept believing that we

just gotta keep four barely resuscitated epyl Sunday, we had

to bring the spiritual CPR kit Her resuscitate every person

is they were barely surviving. I'm glad I lost the

mindset at the church has to survive. I'm glad I

embraced the mindset that we can thrive through the power

of the blood of the Lamb her.

Through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I remember as a young pastor battling with that spirit

of fear. You know, if the righteous scarcely be saved,

where shall the sinner and not God liveppear? And I

realize a lot of these preachers that had not really

went out and really prayed and really witnessed and really

just ministered and reach was having to strategically justify why

they had a few in number. And now it all

makes sense, But as a young preacher, I wasn't thinking

right about it. And me trying to pioneer and plant

a church and help push a work that these people

want to push and obey the Lord, I almost bit

off on that, almost ran off with them thoughts. The

form out of this ministry almost took root in that.

I mean, I really and truly had been instructed and

had been thinking that I was to expect that in

South Florida is unfertile ground, that there's no way there

even be anybody that wants it. But we have to

be like knowing preach it anyway. And that's right. But

that's a twisted truth that's slightly tainted. There's some poison

behind that pretty smile. When that preacher's preaching as much

poison as was behind the smile of Absalom, that might

be what I'm preaching on here tonight. There's poison behind

that pretty smile. Amen, I'm telling you here this morning,

there's poisonous thoughts in the minds of some people here

at present today. Christ is to be your compass. And

you know what, brother Philip, I've seen people turn into

and tune into certain people and things, and it wasn't

too long before they became the very thing they despised

or the very person they never intended to be. Slowly,

but surely, they adapted and eventually adopted things and thoughts

that were not their own. They adapted and eventually adopted.

Jesus demonstrated how we are to submit to the Father's will.

And this is why I'm preaching this message right here

and why we preach the messages past Wednesday Night christ

Our compass the words of Christ, teach us truth and

point us in the right direction. The Word of God

is the best book for changing your mind, your thinking

and thought process. The more you ingest, the more like

Christ you become. Paul goes on to tell the same

group of people in Philippians four and eighty said, Finally, brethren,

whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things

are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,

whatsoever things are of a good report. If there be

any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on

these things. For years I've heard it, it's been said,

the battlefield is in the mind. The battlefield is in

the mind. The battlefield is in the mind. And that's

why I'm preaching to somebody right here today. The battlefield

is in your mind. And if you're not careful, you'll

be enlisted in the army that is commanded by Lucifer,

and he'll tell you things like this. Your pastor does

it love you. The elders aren't praying for you. The

Church doesn't have a burden for you. There's no place

for you. There's no ministry for you. There's no message

for you. Oh yes there is, Brother Sterrett said this

morning as he testified and admonished folks. He said there

was a time in his life too when he wondered,

is the preacher out for my own good? But then

when I looked at the word of God, I realize

I can trust the mailman and the messenger and the message.

That's what Brother Starret said. And you know what he said,

I yielded my family to the hands of the potter,

the hands of my pastor, as they were in the

hands of the master. May the hands of your pastor

be in the hands of your master. Our mental outline

has been this, if you get adjusted, you will end

up being adopted. If you get adjusted, this is where

I'd like to preach a little bit of holiness preaching.

You get to play in with things, and you get

to toying with things in here. Somebody acted shot one

time when somebody came into our company doing something that

I thought they would have never done in the same

way with that person. They thought they'd never see them

doing it. And they said, my that happened overnight. I said, oh, no,

it did not. People don't backslide over night. That's been

a long time in the middle up here. Brother Nathaniel

told a man one time that was attending this church,

I will never forget the service for as long as

I live. This is not Brother Nathaniel's nature to speak

directly to anyone, and he didn't call the man by name,

But when he spoke it, I knew the man felt it,

and I knew that Brother Nathaniel felt it, and I

felt it. But Brother Nathaniel said, you're sitting right there

in that peer just waiting on one person to say

the wrong thing, so you'll have a reason to leave

the very next service. That man was gone. Brother Nathaniel

mastifly opened the door and said, since you've been thinking

about it for so long, you might as well take

the walk you want to walk. You don't find where

the prodigal son's father barricaded the gate. You don't find

where he stretched himself over the door of the front

of the house and said, son, I'm not gonna let

you go. Thank God for the power of the free will,

Thank God for the power of thought. Thank God for

the power of the free mind. God didn't stop the

thought process of Adolf Hitler, and God won't stop your

thought process. Your only hope is in Jesus. That's right,

Brother Ropecap. Just remind me of a message I preached

a couple of years ago. I hadn't even thought about

it till he just said it. Take my mind, Jesus,

here we are again. Take my mind, Jesus. I'll tell

you the inspiration, or one of the inspirations for this

morning's message is this, over and over in my soul.

I kept hearing me preaching to somebody and hollering as

loud as I could. Where did that thought come from?

How did that originate? Where did that come from? Where

did that thought come from? On old time radio, there's

something called the FBI falls. I listened to him once

in a while. Recently I was listening to one. I

believe it happened down here in South Florida in the

Miami are In fact, this man had been a salesman

for a company for a good while, happily married, got

to toil with something in his mind, and he did

it for so long that he ended up committing a horrible,

horrible sin against humanity, Brother Jesse. Some time went by

and one of the members of the FBI forced come

to this woman's house, knocked on her door and said,

miss so and so, is your husband here. She said, no,

he's away on business. And the agent said, no, he's

not away on business. She said, yeah, he's a traveling salesman.

He's away on business. He said, ma'am, when's the last

time you saw him. She said, it's been about a

week and a half now. He said, was he driving

his black coop? She said, yeah, how do you know

he drove a black coop? They gave him. They gave

her some more details than specifics. She humbled herself and said,

tell me, what did you do. They flashed a badge

said he killed a woman ten days ago. She said, well,

if he did that, I want to turn him in.

If he took an innocent life, I want to surrender

him to the mercy of the judge and to the

police and surrender him to the FBI. He needs to

be accountable. Although I love him, I'm not going to

help him cover his sin. She told him where he was.

They went and arrested him immediately. When they walked in

the door, he said, I did it. I did it.

I did it. They said, what'd you do, he said,

I killed her. Okay, you got that right. Give me

the description, you got that right, Give me her name,

he said. They said, you got that right. Stand up

here under arrest, They said. He offered every bit of

information they needed. And when they put him in a

cruiser and went to shut the door, he started hollering,

why did I do this? Why did I do this?

I was a common man, a hard working man, a

happily married man. Why did I do this? Why did

I do this? Why did I do this? So an

interrogation room, dearing an interview, they asked him, said why

did you do this? He said, just a little thought

got in there, and I just let it build and

build and build, and BEI old and build. I feel

the holy gess in his house. And he said I

picked her up. She needed a ride. I was going

to take her to a certain town drop her off.

But he said, just over the bridge. I pulled on

a side street and said, whenever she looked at me,

I just grabbed her throat and choked the lifelight over.

He said these words. He said, A fire got to

burning behind my eyes. And he said, our bright light

started shining from inside. And he said when I got done,

I said, oh no, what have I done? What have

I done? All because of a little salt. He should

have killed it when it was a seed. He let

it build into a monster. He said. I looked in

that seat and said, she can't be dead. But she is,

he said. I drove to my house, raised my garage door,

parked my coop in the car port, pulled the garage

door down, slept all night long, knowing her corpse was

in my garage in my coop. Said the next morning,

I was going to throw off in the lake, he said,

But I got scared and dumped her body at such

and such address. They said, yeah, that's where we found her.

His question was this, Why did I do this? I'll

tell you why he did it, because he let a

thought get in there, and he toyed and he played

with that thought. And I'm telling you, if there's ever

been a message preached to somebody that needed to hear,

it is this morning. What took Dine out, what took

the prodigal son out? A thought? Why did you to

sit halfway into church and halfway out? Why was you

just looking out the window. Well, I'll just I'll just

practice missionary dating. I'll go out there and get me

one other world and I'll bring them in. I'll go

back to my former employer, I'll go back to my

former lifestyle. I'll go back. You better be careful if

you can't talk to your pastor about it, and you're

nervous about what your pastor would say, and you can't

talk to the elders of the church about it, and

you're nervous what the elders of the church might say,

and you're nervous, and you're slimmy and sneaky and slithering

around trying to figure out it's all a sham. I

feel it in my soul, the power of positive thinking.

You know why people come in here with a victory.

You know why people drive over an hour to come

to church, while some drag in an hour late, or

some drag in five minutes late, or some dragon three

minutes later every service. So you know why some people

drive over an hour Brother Gab and his family, and

Sister Hill and Sister Smith and Sister Needa. It ain't

that they need a hole in his church where they're

coming from. It's that they know need to be here.

But don't you think for a minute that people don't

tell them the same thing I was told when I

drove two hours for six years. Don't you think there's

a closer church and they'll plant them thoughts? Oh, I

felt a holy ghost. You just stay up here, son.

There ain't nowhere about driving home. Son, You better make

sure your heart stays where a home is, because I'm

gonna tell you, Sister Hole keeps a very clean house.

I watched that woman yesterday while I work worked for

seven hours. I think the meters tick them more on

eight hours, eight hours of hard work till she collapsed

in a recliner. She keeps a very clean house. She

kept a very clean house after about a year and

a half of us being married, and has almost over

thirty years. You boys know what I'm talking about. Can't

even hardly function mentally because of her mind and the

thought I gotta get this cleaned up. Sister woot and

I have seen as clean as she keeps our house.

Her sons leave one bad apple or one bad orange

or one bad banana in a corner in their room,

and that woman go through the corridor of their bedroom

area where six bedrooms were, and see the smallest grain

sized maggot. And I've heard her say where did that

come from? And she starts searching. It ain't happen often,

but it's happened. And she starts searching, and she say, hey,

so and so, do you know you had this old

pineapple upside down cake over here in the corner. No, Mama,

I forgot. I laid a towel over it. I forgot.

And Mama say yeah, But the flies found it. And

the fruit of the flies is dripping like rain off

the plate, and they're coursing through the house. One in

this room, you got almost what I One in that room.

One in that room. One decided to flip and flop

down the stairs. I'm telling you, there's a little grains

I thought somebody's heart this morning. And if you don't

fix it and deal with it, get it under the

blood and start slaying it with the words of truth

and the word of God, it's gonna morph into a monster.

One little maggot a morph into a monster. Them thoughts

can be maggots in our minds, and they can morph

into giants. I feel the Holy ghost in this place.

Let's stand. It's okay with me. If we get to

the Chicken House after two o'clock. If I can help somebody,

you got too much time on your hands. That's a

good way to start thinking negative thoughts. I told Joe

last Sunday, when I got done sitting at that slide

show in that fellowship, Paul that smart screen brother Roquat

bought me still out there. I forgot it. I wasn't

looking to put it in my house and watch TV.

It's still out there. But I tell you, I sit

there at that table with my bride and brother Richard Jacob,

one on each side, and it changed my thoughts on

some things, just watching how sweet it's been when you

look at old Ethan roadecap and where he's came from,

and he's got a ways to go. Brother Caleb, you

and I both know that we might as well be

older brothers. Been telling him. But he showed up at

my house yesterday at six forty and he said, you

got any work I can do? I said, have at it, man,

punch in happy mowing eight forty. He got done, punched out,

happy going sister, how and I said, wonder why I

come over at six forty at night? I mean, so

a little later he said, I'm leaving pastor, I just

got bored and just wanted to work. But here's what

I thought, sister, how sometimes a man's got to work

to clear his mind. And there's been a lot of

times that I woke up on a Wednesday morning so

cluttered in my mind, Brother Philip, what am I gonna preach?

Because if I preach what my heart's telling me to preach,

and I preach what my mind's telling me to preach,

and I preach what my emotions are screaming to me

to preach, they won't be nobody left when I get done.

But then I get in the word of God, and

the Word of God says, tell them that I love them,

tell them that I died to set them free. Tell

them there's forgiveness, tell them there's redemption. But Brother Aaron,

their heart has to be in the right place to

receive those comforting words. And tomorrow's menaces and monsters of

society will come out of churches because people got the

wrong thoughts. And I want us to bow our heads

and close our eyes. We've slowed it down here a

little bit. You hear her, Sister, wouldn't say it repeatedly.

I've never thought about leaving my Jesus since I got saved,

and she says, I've been saved forty years. You know

what she's saying. I have never entertained the thought of

not going back to church. I've never gave it a

second thought of backsliding and going back. These altars are open.

I want to give some of you an opportunity to

reset your mindset, to clear your thought process through the ruby,

red blood of Jesus and through the word of God.

I'd say probably anybody to safe, sanctify, and holy ghost

filled will welcome that opportunity if they're in the midst

of a mind battle. Is there anybody besides this great

Man of God that's coming, anybody besides this great Woman

of God that's coming. Because I tell you where this

message began. It began in your pastor's heart. It should

begin in your heart. Right now has already begun. Some

of our young preachers are coming to the altar. Some

of our elders are gathering around the altar. Lord, I

understand your words said, our thoughts are not like your thoughts,

but please let them become like your thoughts. I know

in your word it said our ways are not like

your ways. But please, let my ways be like your ways. God.

Let me love all things as you love them, And

those things that you hate and that disappoints you, Lord,

let them disappoint me and let me despise them. Is

there a thought in that heart that needs to die today?

Let it die