The Power of the Eternal - Leaders' Talks

Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of the Revit at Chapel Hills.

This is the Rev Podcast.

Thanks for joining us.

My heart is to empower you to change the world.

I hope this message impacts you.

Here now is our guest speaker.

And we're going to get into the word today.

My name is Brian Ming.

I'm the worship pastor here at The Road.

And so I want to welcome you this morning.

Thank you.

And I want to jump right into the Word because I really feel like the Lord gave me something for you.

And actually, it was based on a song, believe it or not.

So if you know this song, go ahead and sing along with me.

To the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only God.

Nobody knows the song.

Be all honor and glory forever.

Honor and glory forever.

Honor and glory forever.

Honor and glory forever.

Amen.

Okay, do you at least recognize it at all?

Okay, alright.

Nobody knew at the first service either.

I was up here by myself singing alone.

But the thing that I love about this song, and when God dropped it in my spirit, um, kind of as a launching pad for this sermon, um, the thing I love about this song is that it's actually based on scripture.

Because we'll go ahead and put up that opening scripture.

This is the scripture, 1 Timothy 1 17.

Let's actually say it together.

Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honoring glory for him.

Honoring glory for him.

I thought you would jump right in there with me, but but isn't that cool that they they actually made a song right off of the scripture?

And so I kept thinking that song just kept, in fact, it reminds me of uh Psalm 32.

It says that he will surround you with songs of deliverance.

Sometimes, how many know that you just need a song to lift your spirit?

And this was a song that just kind of, I felt like the Lord was on this song.

And the reason why I felt this scripture was because this actually talks about the attributes of who God is.

In fact, I'm gonna give you four definitions.

This is gonna lay the foundation for where we're going in this sermon.

But it says, now to the king eternal.

Everybody say eternal.

Okay, let's put up that definition.

Here's what eternal means: an age, a cycle in particular, of time, especially of the present age as contrasted with the future age, and of one of a series of ages stretching to infinity and you didn't know the song, but you knew Toy Story, didn't you?

God is eternal.

The Bible says that he always was, he always is, and always will be.

Did you know that we're eternal?

That actually, from this point, did you know that when we die, it doesn't end there?

But but here's the thing we have a beginning.

We we were knit together in our mother's womb, right?

We we the the Lord formed us, fashioned us, made us who we are.

But from this point on, from the time that we came into being, we will live forever with him.

But here's the thing that messes with our brain.

God always was, he always was, he has no beginning.

Does that mess with you as much as it messes with me?

Always was.

So it goes in that direction forever, it goes in this direction forever.

God is eternal, but it doesn't stop there.

It says, now to the king, eternal, immortal.

Everybody say immortal.

Here's the definition for immortal, undecaying, imperishable, indestructible.

I really like that one.

Impenetrable.

I mean, literally, God is indestructible.

Nothing can stand.

You have no rival, you have no eat.

You know that song.

Wow.

He is indestructible, he is incorruptible.

He can never be corrupted.

Um, he can't be tempted, he he can't he can't ever sin, he can't ever do wrong.

He is completely immortal to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible.

Everybody say invisible.

Here's what invisible means: unseen, invisible to the physical.

I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

Invisible to the physical.

How many know that the definition of faith from the Word of God is basically what is unseen.

Now, faith is a substance of what is unseen.

I'm sorry, the evidence of things hoped for.

I'm getting confused.

The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things what?

Not seen.

In order to understand God, we have to understand that He, yes, He He is eternal, He is immortal, but He is also invisible.

Let me read this scripture to you.

First Colossians 1:16 says this: For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:16

Now to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, and here's the fourth one: the only wise God.

Everybody say wise.

How many believe that God is wise?

All right, far beyond us, right?

Here's what wise means: skilled, learned, cultivated.

And I love this last one.

Clever.

Did you know that God is so wise and clever and learned and skilled and cultivated and so crafty in how he made us?

The Bible says that he knit us together in our mother's womb.

He knew who we were gonna be before we ever came to being.

The Bible says that he knows the number of hairs on our head.

Look around, some have more than others.

But he literally knows the number of hairs on our head.

I didn't see that coming.

What a surprise.

He never had an epiphany, he is all wise.

So four attributes of God.

To the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God.

And then, of course, our reaction to who he is is what?

Be honor and glory forever.

Amen.

So this lays the foundation of the attributes of God.

But probably, I think it was about maybe late 2008 or early 2009.

I was in service, just like we are here today.

It was a Sunday morning, and a pastor got up and he made this statement.

He said, Um, you guys know that we're in a recession.

You remember that time period 2008-2009, when home prices went and the economy went tanked and just everything went crazy.

And I don't know if it was ever called a depression, but I know it was definitely a recession.

Um, and this is what the pastor said.

He said, I just want you guys to know that I have chosen not to participate in this recession.

And I was like, um, I know what you're trying to say, but around that time the Lord began to deal with me and my wife's heart about selling our house and moving to San Diego to plant a church.

And I was like, um, my home is worth half as much as it was when I bought it.

I know what you mean that because we're Christians, we're not gonna, we're we're gonna rise above, we're gonna, we're gonna move beyond, you know, we're we're you know, in some ways maybe not participate because our hope is in the Lord, right?

Everybody agree with that?

But something kind of formed in the pit of my stomach because I was the one who was having to sell my house.

And I'm thinking to myself, okay, I can pray and I can believe for a miracle, and the right person's gonna come along and they're gonna say, I'm gonna pay you double.

Here's a check with your name on it, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna purchase this house just because I love it so much.

But the problem was is there was one just like it next door.

For sale.

And so I know what he was trying to say.

It would be the equivalent of us saying, I have chosen not to participate in the pandemic.

Okay, but we all were in quarantine, right?

And so I didn't quite know what to do with that statement.

I was like, okay, Lord, I know what he's trying to say.

I know as Christians that we're in the world, but not of the world, right?

But yet we live in the world, okay, filled with cancer and economic crisis and governmental shutdowns.

So, how do we respond to this?

And I was like, Lord, you've got to give me some context here because I I'm wondering what how I'm supposed to respond to this crisis.

And I felt like the Lord brought me to this scripture and it might lend uh give some light on what I was wrestling with when that pastor said that.

It says this in Genesis 42.

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you just keep looking at each other?

Any parents ever seen a dirty house and said this to your kids?

Why are you just looking at each other?

Clean it up! And they're like, just keep looking at each other.

He continued, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt.

Go down there and buy some food for us so that we may live and not die.

How many think that's a good thing?

All right.

So the question is here.

Were they threatened by the famine?

They were threatened, and actually, if God didn't intervene or they didn't find food somewhere, they were gonna die, right?

The whole world was in famine, and guess who was in famine along with them?

The children of Jacob.

And Jacob, the chosen people of God, God's chosen people, are participating in this famine along with the whole world and are without food.

So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was a famine in the land of Canaan also.

So here's the question: Did the children of God participate in the famine along with everybody else?

Okay.

Did you participate in the pandemic along with everybody else?

Did you participate in the recession back in 2008 along with everybody else?

There are patterns, there are ebbs and flows in this world that even though we're Christians, and I understand what the pastor was saying, I understand what he was saying.

We're gonna rise above, we're gonna turn our eyes to Jesus.

In fact, everybody do this.

Close your eyes, and I want to give you hope.

So just close your eyes, and I want you to just take this in, okay?

This is where we find our hope.

This is this is how we respond, okay?

So just close your eyes and just listen.

I lift my eyes to the mountains.

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

He who watches over us will not slumber.

The Lord will keep you from all harm.

He will watch you over your life, the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Everybody look this way.

In the midst of recession, in the midst of famine.

This is just one of probably hundreds of scriptures that we could pull from.

Where do we look to when when this this stuff starts to uh happen in our land?

We look to the mountains, right?

But the problem is we have Google.

And you can learn anything you want from Google.

In fact, you can type in how do I deal with pandemic?

And guess what?

You'll have probably 10,000 sites that pop up that try to give you wisdom of how to deal with the recession or how to deal with the famine or the pandemic or sickness or the marriage problems that you're having.

You we we could just Google it, right?

And we could find answers.

Because everything on Google is correct, right?

It's all accurate.

Or we can go to counselors.

And yeah, yeah, counselors are good.

Or we can go to spiritual advisors.

Come to the church, get counseling, get wisdom.

You come to on Sunday and you and you you hear a sermon that empowers you.

We go we go through different things, and and when it comes to our money, we we trust them to financial advisors, right?

Who know the economy and know the stock market way better than us.

And we trust ourselves.

And here's something that I I marvel at.

Have you heard of these life coaches?

And I've heard of people and they go through classes to become a life coach.

And I'm thinking, what qualifies you to coach me in my life?

I don't care what clash you went through.

How many know that that you have to look at the fruit, not the certificate on the wall?

And even more importantly than that, I will say this.

How many would agree that there is only one place that you can truly find the right answer for every problem?

And it's the Lord, right?

Do we all agree on that?

So when the pastor said, I've chosen not to participate, I kind of went back to the drawing board and I said, I know what you mean, but I I feel like there might be more to this.

And so I came up with four things, four reasons, let's say, of why we might miss out on joy and peace and prosperity and provision and the answers that we need in the midst of a crisis.

Is this okay?

All right, if you want to take notes, you can.

I I think they're they're noteworthy.

But I'm gonna start with number one, and it basically says this the reason that I believe, first reason why we miss out on God's provision, especially during times of difficulty or crisis or pendant, whatever you want to say, is number one, we forget that God is eternal.

An age, a cycle of time, especially of the present age, as contrasted with the future age, and of one in a series of age stretches to infinity end.

Some will give you a hypothetical situation.

I need answers, and I see God, and I I kneel at the foot of my bed and I say, God, I need answers.

I need to know what you want me to do in this coming season.

How do I respond?

Give me the answers and that I need to make it through this this situation.

And I say, you know what?

Give me a dream.

Give me a dream, a spiritual dream.

And uh a few nights ago, I lay down and I sleep.

What's the date today?

July 24th?

Okay.

So 25th.

25th.

Who said the 24th?

Okay.

This is why we need the wise God to, you know, I'm just kidding.

And I go to sleep, and all of a sudden I'm in a dream.

And I see myself putting ski pants on and goggles, and a beanie, and a big thick coat.

And I go to the garage and I get my skis, and I get my sticks, what do you call them?

Poles.

Alright, poles.

And I jump in the car and I'm driving up the mountain, and I I'm singing worship songs all the way, and uh all these songs, uh, may your favor be upon me.

And I'm driving, and I'm driving, get up to get on the ski lift, drive up, and I'm standing at the top of the mountain, I got my skis on and everything.

The only problem is wait, wait, I'm sorry.

This is a dream.

Okay, there's snow everywhere.

I start going, and I'm doing my little and all of a sudden I round a mountain.

And as I round the mountain, the presence of God comes upon me, and the sun comes up, and I I see and I I hear God, God's voice, He says, Here's what you do, and then I wake up.

And I'm like, dang it.

So you know what I did?

I go get all my ski gear, get my skis, throw them in the car, driving up the mountain saying, Me a spaver, be upon you.

I get to the top of the mountain and I put all my gear on, I'm ready to go.

The only problem is it's July.

And there's no snow, not an ounce of snow on the ground.

And this is why we miss out on the eternal God.

Is because hypothetically, let's say that I absolutely heard from God that He was gonna speak to me on the mountain.

The answer was where I, I mean, he gave me what I needed to do.

The only problem was I had the right instructions, but the wrong timing.

Let me read this scripture to you.

2 Peter 3, verse 8.

2 Peter 3:8

Do not forget this one thing, dear friends.

With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a what?

So we cry out to God, help, help with this problem.

I don't know what to do.

My my kids are going crazy, my business is failing, and we cry out and we're we're we're we're passionate and we it God help me, help me, and we we seek God for a week.

Or maybe a month, or maybe a year.

And God doesn't answer.

And he's looking down and he's saying, you're like, God, I I tried God, but He didn't he didn't come through for me.

And he's looking down, he's saying, Listen, you have sought me for 0.01 seconds of my timeline.

You don't understand that I'm the God who is eternal.

I'm not on the same sphere or dimension as you.

Have you read the Bible?

Have you read the stories of the Bible?

And Moses, David, Daniel, the prophets, and and how they sought God and then expected God to come like this, and then it was.

40 years later?

But we don't like that.

We don't like that.

We like God to come through on our time frame.

Because we're living in this reality.

And I'm sorry to tell you, but God will not move according to your time frame.

Why?

To the King eternal.

To the King who is eternal.

Number two, why?

I believe that we miss out.

Sometimes we miss out on joy and we freak out, and what's gonna happen?

And we're stressed.

During difficult times and even good times.

Sometimes we we we we we let things creep in, habits or whatever it is.

Why do we miss out sometimes?

Number two, we forget that God is immortal.

Everybody say immortal.

Undecaying, imperishable, indestructible, incorruptible.

So let's talk about Joseph for a minute.

Joseph has a dream.

And in his dream, he sees the sun, the moon, and 11 stars bowing down to him.

And he can't keep it to himself.

I mean, if you have that kind of dream, it would be really hard to keep keeping.

I'm sure it was this beautiful display of astrology in front of you.

I mean, so he comes and tells his brothers, and of course, his brothers don't like it because he's inferring to that they're gonna all bow down and worship him.

And so they get upset and they get um jealous, and of course, his dad kind of favors him with this you know elaborate coat.

And um, and they decide that life would be better without this guy.

Have you ever thought that about certain people in your life?

Man, my life would be great if it wasn't for this boss.

Or whatever it is.

And so so they, I mean, they they they do what the flesh does, they decide we're just gonna get rid of this guy.

So they they they're actually going to kill him, but one of his brothers comes and intervenes and says, no, no, no, we we can't kill our brother.

He's our flesh and blood.

Let's, in fact, instead of killing him, let's sell him.

Sell him into slavery.

So they sell him into slavery.

We know where he ends up.

He ends up in Potiphar's house, and he rises through the ranks, his gifts make room for him, and he's running the whole house.

I mean, Potiphar's not worrying about anything in his house because Joseph's such a great administrator, until his um wife starts to take notice of his biceps and the how handsome he is, and of course, she comes after him.

Here's the question.

Here's the question.

Did Joseph do anything wrong?

Nothing.

He did everything right.

He resisted temptation and it landed him in prison.

Landed him unjustly in prison.

And he has this dream, and he has all this stuff that he believes that God's gonna do.

You know, you know, it and through him, and all this, all these aspirations, and seems like he's just been set on the shelf and he's in jail, and then all of a sudden, you know, he interprets the dream of the baker, the cupbearer, and then he ends up standing before Pharaoh, interprets the dream, and and guess what?

The children of Israel who, yes, ended up participating in the famine and would die, probably, get saved.

So I'm gonna make a very controversial statement.

Are you ready?

Buckle your seatbelts, everybody, all right?

Here's my statement.

God's plans will prevail with or without you.

God's plans will prevail with or without.

But you're you're thinking, no, no, no, you don't understand, Brian.

You don't understand my shortcomings.

I would believe that God would move and he would work and he would act and he would do what he said he would do, but but you man, I I I fail daily in traffic all the time.

I lose it, I throw a blow, I mean, I fly off the handle on it, I say things I shouldn't, I do things, I look at stuff I should.

You don't understand who I am.

But I'm gonna say it again.

God's plans will prevail with or without you.

How do you know?

Brian, what are you saying?

Did Joseph do anything wrong?

You can shake your head, yes, our answer.

Did Joseph do anything wrong?

Not that we know of.

Let me ask you this question.

Did all of Joseph's brothers do anything wrong?

God was working behind the scenes to save people who tried to murder their brother and sold them to slavery.

I mean, I think that's a pretty good disqualifier, don't you?

Yet it was Joseph's brothers that got saved, and God had a plan with or without them to save them.

Why?

Because God is immortal, he is indestructible, his plans are incorruptible.

He works and he moves, and you cannot stop him.

What he wants to do, he is going to do with or without you, just like he did during a famine or a pandemic or a recession, because he's God and he's going to work the plan that he wants to work for the favor of his people.

Is that a good point?

All right, number three.

Why do we miss out sometimes?

Because we forget that God is invisible.

Everybody say invisible.

Here's what invisible means: unseen, invisible to the physical, but not to the what?

Spiritual.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, against spiritual wickedness in high places, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

We wrestle not against the physical.

But some of us have been fighting in the physical for things that are happening in the spiritual.

Sometimes we have to recognize that what's happening in our family is not physical.

I remember this one time we were planting the church in San Diego, and I started journaling.

And for some reason, I mean, and people were getting saved.

I mean, we we didn't have a large church, but but the people that we had in our church, I mean, we're literally baby, baby new Christians.

I mean, I remember one guy that him and his wife would come over and just hang at our house, and I would just catch him just watching me play with Tyler.

And I'm wrestling with the guy.

He goes, I'm like, I'm just kind of like, why are you looking at me all the time?

He's he said, I I I d I'm learning what it is to to see a healthy father and a son.

He said, 'cause I never had a father.

He said, I'm just watching.

Those are the kind of people we were reaching where, I mean, literally, they had no foundation, no, no idea how to how to even do life properly or healthy.

And and so I I I would journal and I would just, I would just, I mean, just write because it was hard.

Planning a church was hard.

My wife wanted to make uh shirt.

She said, I want to make a shirt that says church planning ain't for sissies.

She said, I just and I want us to wear that all the time.

And I would just journal, and I had this thought one day, I don't think I'm gonna be around much longer.

I just I feel like I'm gonna die.

And so I start writing, and I I literally started writing letters to my kids in my journal, just in case I did die.

And uh, Brianne, I just want you to know how much your daddy, I mean, I mean, I'm literally writing this out.

No, nobody knew, I didn't tell anybody, but I was just like, I have this feeling I'm not gonna be around much longer, and I want my kids to know how much I love them.

So we're laying in bed, and and uh just out of nowhere, my son started having these night terrors where literally he felt like that that robbers and bad people were trying to get into his room, and he would wake up screaming.

I mean, blood-curdling screams.

And so we we didn't know what was going on.

We're just like, maybe I've it's just weird.

Like if he was our first boy, we're like, maybe he's just going through something.

And so we go in and calm him down and pray for him, and you know, kind of put him to bed again after he calmed down.

And so what one night he about 12:30 at night, I was sitting, I was sitting in my bed, literally writing out things about that I wanted my family to know in case I wasn't around anymore.

And he has this I mean, scream from the other room, and I go running in, and I'm like, ah, and I just sense like something is up.

This is not natural, this is not physical.

So I calmed him down, I prayed over him, put him back to bed.

I went in and um I sat down and began to journal again.

And I turned over and my wife goes, Man, she goes, I've been having this pain like in my the back of my neck, and I just keep thinking that it's a tumor and that it's gonna grow and I'm gonna die.

And all of a sudden, it was like light bulb moment, illumination.

This is not natural.

God, I mean, God is showing us what is happening in the spiritual.

There is an onslaught against our minds to try to convince us that we're gonna die, to try to dis to literally kind of derail us from what we're doing with this church.

I joined hands and I said, I didn't want to tell you this, but I've been having the same thoughts.

I've actually been journaling about it.

And she said, No way.

And I joined hands with her and I said, In Jesus' name, I break this attack and this onslaught from the enemy in Jesus' name.

It will not continue.

Every weapon that rises up against us will and I just begin to take authority, and literally, my son never had another bad night.

God is invisible.

Just because we can't see him doesn't mean that he's not there.

He's working, he's moving.

As you see in the story of Joseph, I don't think there's any story that more clearly communicates it.

How that God was literally, his hand was in every little facet of Joseph's life, leading him to Potiphar's house, leading him to the prison, uh, leading the baker to him, even his family with the famine.

Go find uh grain in Egypt.

I mean, everything was orchestrated, even though nobody saw God in the physical, in the spiritual, God was still working and still moving.

Reminds me of another story.

How in the garden, Adam and Eve lost fellowship with God.

And then God institutes this thing of worship, this facet of worship to forgive sins.

Oh, oh, oh, what how do we do that?

You actually slaughter an animal and spill innocent blood.

And then all through, woven through scripture, all the way from Genesis to Revelation, we see Jesus being forecast, God working and moving and foreshadowing and prophesying and preparing for the king to come and to lay down his life as a sacrifice.

It was all predestined, pre-orchestrated, because God is eternal, he is immortal, he is invisible.

And number four, sometimes we miss out because we forget that God is wise.

Some of you might be thinking, uh, Brian, um, I want to believe you.

But you don't know my life story.

You don't know what I'm walking through.

Here's what wise means: skilled, learned, cultivated, clever.

Did you know that God has never had an epiphany?

Did you know that God has never said, aha, now I get it.

Now I understand.

He has never been surprised.

He's absolutely brilliant.

He created you the way that you are, and he knows everything about you more than you know yourself.

He knew your shortcomings.

He knew the way you thought.

I would never want anybody in this room to see my thoughts.

I don't know about you, but God even sees our thoughts and says, I still love you.

I am so wise that I can look past your shortcomings and the way you think and the way that you act, and your misguided and deceptive ways, and can still have a plan and a purpose for your life.

Right before we went to plant the church in San Diego, an organization, a denomination that I grew up in, um approached us and me and my wife and family and kind of wined and dined us and found out that we wanted to plant a church and and uh felt like that we would be successful and and wanted to get behind us.

We're like, woo-hoo, all right.

Um, and they said we're gonna pitch in anywhere between$50,000 and$100,000 to just kind of help you get established in the city and you know, get into a school or a building or you know, just kind of help you get started.

And we're like, yeah, all right, this is this is great.

So we're like, you know, exploring the the possibilities and talking you know to them about what that might look like.

And so we're all the way, every everything's good.

We're they're like the money's there.

We're uh put your team together.

I had a family from Missouri that was gonna move, um, several single people, some young couples that were coming, um, a team of about 10-15 people that were gonna move there, and we're gonna start this church, it's gonna be awesome! We got the money to do it, and then they emailed me a contract with some further stipulations and requirements, and I read through the contract, and I'm going, ooh, oh, like, and I didn't feel comfortable with it.

Something in my spirit was like, I'm not sure I can do this.

But all these people have got rid of their lease.

Six weeks from now, we're gonna move, and we've put our plans in place.

We've got moving trucks lined up, we've got the house ready and sandy, and all the money's gone.

And so, like, we're now, you know, I'm I'm I'm praying and I'm saying, Lord, you know, what do I do?

What do I do?

Do I tell these people, you know, maybe that maybe I maybe I should wait?

Maybe I should, you know, try to find another funding agency or something.

And and so one morning I woke up and I told my wife, I said, babe, these people want to give us money.

My dad always told me, when somebody wants to give you money, just take it.

If they're giving money, just offering it to you, take it.

I'm like, I'm signing.

I mean, I don't know what else we're gonna do, so I'm signing.

So I I I grabbed the paper, I grabbed the contract, I took my pen, I wrote it out, stuck it in the fax machine, dialed the number, pushed send, and the fax machine broke.

I mean, literally overheated and broke.

About that time, my wife walks in and she's like, I don't think we're supposed to sign that.

I'm like, you think?

And we moved out there, but in this, there was this nagging question in my mind.

God has is moving us to one of the most expensive places in the country to live with no money.

Um just this mandate from God, and he's and I kept saying, God, are you sure?

Are you sure?

And he kept saying, Go, go now, go now.

And I didn't understand it.

And and first four or five months I was still getting some support from some churches that I was in relationship with, but it it it really wasn't enough.

And it got to the point we moved in August, and then in December, here I am in December, and I'm looking at the bills, and I'm looking at Christmas, and I realized I didn't have enough money to buy my kids Christmas presents.

It was either pay the bills or buy them Christmas presents.

Now, before you all look at me like that, I knew grandparents are going to get them gifts and all that stuff, but I'm talking about I want to buy my children Christmas presents, and I couldn't.

And as a man and a provider, it was the first time in my life that I was I had reached that level.

Obeying God, by the way, doing what he asked me to do, move and start this church.

We had like 40 people in our church at the time.

So we made it through December.

I didn't buy the kids' presents.

I mean, they still had a Christmas.

But it was the second Sunday in January, and I was up, there was probably 45 people in the building, and sometimes you just feel this special anointing that you just know like the Lord is moving and you you don't know what he's doing, but something is happening.

And I gave an altar call for salvation, which we did at every service.

So many new new people that never heard the gospel.

So I'm sharing the gospel, and they I had a whole row of Marines sitting on the front row right down here on the side.

And the third one right here, his name was Charlie, he'd been coming for a couple months.

And I said, just bow your heads and and if you want to give your heart to Jesus.

I mean, and he never he never stopped looking at me, he just kept looking at me and like I said, just raise your hand right now, and he goes, I'm like, I see you.

And then there were two others.

I remember there was three that day.

So I went up to him afterwards after we prayed, and we're in the hallway, and I said, Man, Charlie, I said, you made a great decision.

I said, Do you have a Bible?

He said, Yeah, Jeff his fellow marine, he said, he he and uh invited me and he bought me a Bible, and he said, I he said, but I have a secret that I need to tell you, but I don't want to tell you right now.

I'm like, all right.

Are you sure?

He goes, No, no, not right now.

He said, but I said, how about next week?

He said, All right, uh, let me think about it.

So next week, I mean it's gnawing at me all day.

What is Charlie's big secret?

So I come in for one of the first people I see, Charlie, hey, you want to tell me that secret?

He said, I'll tell you after service.

I'm like, okay, all right.

I know it's coming.

I said, it's it's aggreg at me.

And so after service, I went and found him.

And he said, I just uh let's go in the back room here.

So we went in the back room, and this very happy-go-lucky, kind of pleasant guy, he's always smiling, um, got real serious.

And he kind of put his head down and he wouldn't look at me.

And I'm like, man, I said it's it's okay.

I said, I'm a pastor, I've been around a lot of people, and whatever it is, I I won't judge you.

And so you you you don't understand.

He said, I uh I was gonna commit suicide, and then he looked up at me eyeball to eyeball, as serious as kids mean.

He said, When I say that, he said, I had a spot picked out on the Coronado Bridge.

I knew exactly where I was gonna do it and jump.

He said I had a date and time and it programmed into my phone when it was gonna happen.

He said, the day that it came, and I was planning on doing it a few hours before, because we met on Sunday night instead of Sunday morning.

Jeff texted me and said, Hey, there's this new church that just started.

Would you want to go with Me and he said I thought about it and I answered back and I said, I'll give it a try.

And he said, That was my first time at your church in November.

And he said, When I walked in for the first time in my life, I felt peace and hope that I've never felt before.

And he said, I've been thinking about it for a long time, all these months.

And he said, I made a decision this week that I want to become a follower of Jesus.

And I hugged him and I said, That is the absolute best news that I could have ever heard, Charlie.

I said, I'm so glad.

I went home that night and I laid in my bed and I wept because I thought to myself, what if I what if I had let my circumstances and the lack of money and how difficult it was, my kids, I didn't get to buy them Christmas presents.

I remember thinking to myself, God, why would you send me to this expensive place to live and then have have no money where I have to trust and rely on you?

He's like, exactly.

Oh, oh, ah.

But you know what want to know the bigger reason?

Is because there was a young guy named Charlie who had plans.

And if we had not been there, if we had missed the time, if we had not obeyed God, if we'd not been where we needed to be and at the right place at the right time where God had us, this young man might have done something unbelievable.

Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God.

To him be glory and honor forever and ever.

Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.

It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.

And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.

My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.

You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.

And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to theroad.org.

God bless you.