Go Tell

Good morning, welcome to the church of Kelsey Westover.

Come on, let's stand together this morning.

Let's take it out.

Who breaks the power?

Let's spin in darkness, whose love is mighty so much stronger.

The King of Glory.

The King above all kings.

Who takes the holler?

We fold it under.

The King of Glory.

This is amazing.

This is a baby blog.

That we would take my bread.

That would take us to be for all that you've done for me.

Who brings our chaos back into order?

Who makes the orphan?

A stunning daughter.

Who rules the nations with truth and justice?

Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance.

The king of glory.

Come on, this is a bank.

This is a big time.

That doesn't take back.

That do it back on.

All that you've done for me.

Cody's worthy this morning, man.

Worthy is the lamb who was slain.

Worthy is the king who conquered the great.

Come on, if you're blessed with because he's done for you.

We just left up here this morning, Father.

Amen.

Come on, come on, let's welcome each other to the house of the Lord this morning.

The mountains shake and crumble.

The oceans roar and tumble.

At your name, ages will bow, the earth will rejoice, your people cry out.

We shout your name, shout your name, filling up the skies with its praise, given spray, Yahweh, Yahweh.

We love you, shout your name of the Lord.

And your name creation seems your story.

Ages will bow, the earth will rejoice, your people cry out.

We love to start your name on the Lord.

Come on, there's no one like our God.

We will praise you, praise you.

There's no one like our God.

We will sing, we will sing.

There is no one like our God.

We will praise you.

Praise you.

There's no one like our God.

We will sing, we will sting, there is no one like our God.

You know the Bible says in Psalms 47, verse 1, clap your hands, all ye people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph.

Psalms 47:1

You know what the Hebrew word for shout is?

Shout! Amen.

Let's clap our hands again and give him a heavy amen.

Amen.

What a day.

This is the day the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad.

We gotta go to day with Ricky.

Rick up a while ago.

When he and I forget every summer, I would take our team from Liberty University and go to his camp.

Back then, my son was leading the music for the traveling team at Liberty University.

And so they'd do all the music, and I'd kind of help Rick.

I'd kind of be the pastor with Rick of the camp.

We'd have seven, eight hundred, sometimes a thousand kids in Tacoa, Georgia, and uh we would have the week of our life.

I mean, we'd see hundreds of kids uh rededicate their lives, get saved.

And to this day, there's I'm no telling how many people kids are in full-time ministry because of the go-tail camps at Liberty University, and uh it was just awesome.

It was a 10-year period there that it really changed my kids' life.

Both of my girls grew up there, and uh remember that time they ran over the person to go first thing Rick's head, you're playing Breaker.

But anyway, we had such a great time together in the honor he had here today.

But you know back then you're like you know let's go start a church.

Let's go start a church and let's call it okay.

Jesus is awesome.

So let's just kind of give him a wonderful thing.

Jesus is now that's a big one.

How would you just think Satan is on the roof?

And we wanna we wanna we wanna blow him off the roof.

Amen.

Amen.

You ready?

Jesus is what I'm gonna do.

You may be saying we got a lot of ministers here today.

Thank you for inviting your friends.

I'm telling you, a family of friends.

Look at that, look at that.

By the way, if you're not seeing fancy, you gotta go.

I mean it's pretty big.

Read Catherine 16.

I think I'm pretty sure it's sixteen.

Read the story of Sam before you go in.

You need to take it for me to see it.

Where we go to Jesus, I mean we're gonna be laying the day.

You're gonna be laughing.

I hear Rick A.

You want to become one of the kingdoms?

And when you go, you're gonna be more than that.

You gotta be killed, hey! Hey, my god, and that's what we do when they come back and we're gonna get live.

But you didn't give me your name, but you love it.

L O V E T T just like L our name.

There's only really two sets a lot.

One smell L-O-V-E-T-T like hours, and the other one L-O-V-E-T-T-E.

So I told him I said, Well, we gotta be easy.

We gotta be heaty.

But if you're a first-time visitor, we've got a gift for you.

Would you please raise your hand and let us give you a gift?

All first-time visitors, all in the back back there.

Come on.

Everybody raise your hand, buddy.

Back there.

I love it back there.

Raise your hand.

We got some cup and some good propaganda we want to give you.

And one of the things we give out is Jesus is awesome, man.

And we believe everywhere you go to help people.

And you know what?

I'm seeing these bands now all over Kelsey and uh the area.

I really am.

And I was like, where'd you get that?

Jesus is awesome.

And they said, Well, I said, Well, anyway, we don't be ashamed of the guy.

Hey, we got nothing to be people today.

Amen.

What's wrong with America today?

Don't say people know.

Hey, no man, come with the father.

What do we do?

Thank you.

Thank you, Virginia.

Everybody get there.

You're gonna eat with the dude.

You do it every three.

But he's talking about talking to the church.

In the city, they kind of already missed using the love tree.

That's what it was.

They were kind of clicking in the own little group.

You can have my food and you can't do it.

So Paul had to rebuke him in fact.

That's basically what he's doing to the whole book of creative is telling them what they're doing wrong.

So don't ever take your theology out of the book of creative.

But anyway, the lovely traveled all over the country.

And you know, we would take it.

You know what I want to do.

And I said, They went to church on Sunday morning.

And they hate and then they fellowship together.

They hate together.

And then they went home and with a family.

So that's what we do.

We started about 8 45.

And about 1230 this afternoon in the afternoon.

You'll be living here.

And we've had church.

We've met with God.

We've worshiped God.

We heard the word of God break.

And then we have a meal together to learn to love and fellowship together.

And I'm telling you, this is a unique church because of that.

But that's who we are.

And that's one of the reasons that I think our fellowship is so close.

Is because every Sunday we break bread together.

So you're invited, we always have enough.

So again, welcome to CCW.

We love you.

Come on, let's stand together again.

God's only Son, perfect inspiration.

He never sinned, but suffered as if he did.

Every victory is shows.

Awesome in power for him.

Awesome in greatest your name.

Speaking of fathers.

The Bible says we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

And the word of our testimony, amen.

Come on, let's sing this out together.

We will overcome.

By the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony.

Everyone overcome we will find blood of the land and work.

You okay?

Oh, there's something about saying the name of Jesus.

Jesus.

Awesome and power forever.

Awesome and great is your name.

You overcame you stood before creation.

You stood before my favourite carry the cross for my shape.

Working at this hard lead.

This morning, Lord, we just offer our hearts and people.

We stand away We just lift our hands across this place.

I stand with arms high and heart abandon in all of the one.

I soul to use surrender.

Humbling ourselves before thee.

God, open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to receive your truth.

And God, you tell us in Isaiah 55, 11 that your word will never ever return void, but it shall accomplish that where you send it for its purpose.

So God, use rig this morning.

Lord anointing.

Speak through it.

And God will give you the praise, will give you the glory, because you're the one worthy of all the praise and glory in Jesus' sweet, precious, awesome, majestic, holy name.

We pray, and all God's people said, Give him a clap offering this morning.

Amen, amen, amen.

You may be seated.

It's my honor and privilege this morning to introduce to you Rick Gage.

Rick is one of the truest evangelists I know.

He learned it well from his dad.

He was probably one of the leading evangelists in America.

Here they are.

Vision and passion.

If you have vision and passion, you can build a church.

You can impact your community.

And I praise God for this great local church ministry.

I praise God for Danny Lovett.

There's several things I can say about Danny.

But number one, he's a man of God.

He loves God.

He loves people.

He loves the Word of God.

And he's a soul winner.

And you got that kind of a package and a pastor, you can do great things for the glory of God.

Rick, it's good to see you again.

The church here for these last, I think, two or three summers have been coming to go to camp.

And uh this will be our 30th year, Danny.

You made reference to the camp ministry a while ago.

But it was in 1988 in a passionate prayer meeting that myself and Molders Brother Daniel and a couple of the guys were involved in.

And out of that prayer meeting, we basically cried out to God and said, We want you to use us in a ministry that would impact young people's lives.

Pretty generic prayer.

One year later, one year later, we began what's called the GoTel Student Camp Ministry.

And since 1989, we've seen over a hundred thousand students and their leaders come through our camps, and only heaven can measure the impact that's been made for the glory of God.

So it's an honor to be back with my brother Danny Lovett and his sweet wife, Miss Susan.

And uh I'm excited about what God's doing through this through this great church.

It's been well said that the three greatest realities in life is number one, you don't know when you're gonna die.

In fact, the Bible says in Hebrews 9, 27 that every one of us have an appointment with death.

And I know that death is not a popular subject, but every single day around the world, more than a hundred thousand people are dying and going to a Christeless grave.

Reality number two is you don't know when Jesus Christ is coming back.

In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 24, 44, he said to be ready.

For in such an hour as you think not that the Son of Man comes.

And the reality number three is you don't know when your last chance to be saved is going to pass you by.

In fact, the Apostle Paul said, now is the accepted time.

Now is the day of salvation.

And in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus, at the very climax of the greatest sermon that he ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount, he said in verse 13 of Matthew 7, with great urgency, he gave a command.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

And here's the words of Jesus at the very end of the greatest sermon that he ever preached in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

He said, if you want to go to heaven, he said, you must enter first by the narrow gate.

Enter by the narrow gate, Jesus said.

Because wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

And then he says, Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

And what Jesus is saying here in this passage is that the way to heaven is narrow and it's difficult.

And though salvation, listen to me, eternal life in heaven is a free gift cost God his only begotten Son.

In fact, the verse that most of us have memorized since we were young children, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world, that's me and you, that he gave his only begotten son.

And whosoever will surrender their life to him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Jesus paid a tremendous price so that you and I could have eternal life in heaven.

In fact, I want to share with you what the Bible says concerning the price that Jesus paid so that we could go to heaven.

The Bible tells us that Christ was rejected, he was tempted, he was ridiculed, he was threatened, he was homeless.

In fact, he said, Foxes, uh the birds of the air have nests and foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.

He said, I he was betrayed, he was denied, he was misunderstood, he was forsaken, he was misquoted, he was illegally tried, he was indicted on false charges, he was mocked, he was tortured, he was slapped, he was blindfolded, he was spit upon.

And the Bible also tells us he was scourged, 39 whips to the back.

He was struck upon the head, he was pierced with thorns, and he was crucified on a Roman cross so that everyone in this room today could escape hell and go to heaven.

Now there's a heresy being taught today in many churches across America, and here's what that heresy is saying All you have to do to get to heaven is just believe in Jesus.

It doesn't matter how you live, as long as you believe in Jesus.

That is a lie straight from hell.

And I'm here to tell this great audience this morning that any gospel that does not change a man's life is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I believe like your pastor believes, I believe like you believe.

I believe that when a man gets saved, I believe that when a man gets saved, there'll be a change that will come about in that person's heart and life.

In fact, somebody said it this way no change, no Jesus.

Jesus, in fact, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 17, if any person be in Christ, he becomes a new person.

All things are passed away, and behold, all things become new.

Jesus, in this passage in Matthew chapter 7, he said, For wide is the gate, and narrow and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

There are many who go in by it.

Let me highlight to you this morning the many that's on the highway of destruction.

Do you know that today we have over 35 million teenagers in America?

We are told now that more than 28 million of America's teenagers do not have a personal relationship with God.

We're told that nine out of ten teenagers have seen porn on the internet.

We're told that half of all teenagers are no longer virgins.

We're told that 1,000 unwed teenagers become pregnant every day.

We're told that over 1,000 teenage girls get abortions every day.

And then we're told that 1.5 million teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease every year.

One in four teenagers use illegal drugs.

Over six million teenagers smoke pot.

One third of teenagers get drunk every month.

And check this out 10,000 teenagers will die every year because of a liquid drug we call alcohol.

That's why Jesus said, wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

What just happened in Parkham, Florida?

A 19-year-old teenager who's on the highway of destruction killed 17 people just a few days ago.

We were in Sumter, South Carolina.

We just got to addressing the entire student body at Sumter High School.

And after the semi-program, the principal came up with a few closing remarks before she sent the students back to class.

And here's what that principal said.

And this was right after the 9-11 tragedy.

She said, You know, America has declared war on teenagers.

Has declared war on uh terrorism.

And she said rightly so.

But after hearing Mr.

Gage speak today, it sounds like to me somebody needs to declare war on alcohol if we're losing 10,000 teenagers every year.

And then I think of every single day.

Over a thousand teenagers, they'll take a gun, they'll take a rope, they'll take some form of drug, and they will attempt to end their life while 16 to 18 will be successful every 24 hours.

Think about it.

Before the end of this day, according to our national stats, 16 to 18 teenagers across America will end their lives.

That's why Jesus said, Wide is the gate, broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

I was speaking at uh Wilkesborough, North Carolina High School.

I just got through addressing about 1,500 students in their high school gymnasium.

And after the senior program, the head football coach came up to me after the semi program and he said, Rick, I want you to walk outside with me.

I want to show you something.

And so we walked out onto the gym steps and he said, You see that hill on the other side of our football stadium?

I said, Yes, sir.

He said two weeks ago we lost our star football player up on top of that hill.

And I said, Coach, what happened?

He said two weeks ago, Rick Barry Shell, he was 6'3, weighed about 260 pounds.

He was the most one of the most sought after offensive linemen in the state of North Carolina.

Probably could have played major college football for any university in the country.

He said two weeks ago he was killed right up here on top of that hill.

And then I said again, Coach, what happened?

And he said, Rick Barry was coming home late one night from a party.

He was under the influence of alcohol.

And when he came up over that hill, he was on the wrong side of the road, hit an oncoming car, had a head-on collision, and he was instantly killed.

And then the coach took me back into the schoolhouse.

And right across from the principal's office was a trophy case.

And inside that trophy case was Barry Shell's high school football jersey framed as a memorial.

And right next to his high school football jersey was the football jersey that he would have worn at the University of North Carolina where he just signed a full scholarship to play football.

And when that coach told me that tragedy, I was reminded what Jesus said in John 10 10, how the thief has come to steal, kill, and destroy.

But the B side of that verse is Jesus said, But I've come to give you life.

That's eternal life in heaven, and to give you life more abundantly.

I was coaching football at Texas Tech University.

We had a young man by the name of Gabe Rivera.

He was about 6'3, weighed 285 pounds.

He ran a 4'6 in the 40-yard dash.

He was a consensus all-American there at Texas Tech University.

He was the Pittsburgh Steelers' number one draft choice.

He just signed a big contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And during his rookie season, coming home late one night from a bar under the influence of alcohol, Gabe Rivera ran through a red light at an intersection and he was hit broadside by a semi-truck.

Rolled over several times, took the paramedics about two hours to get that six foot three, 285-pound frame out of the little sports car.

They rushed him to the hospital, and the doctors said if he had not been so big and so strong, he would have never survived.

But because of alcohol, Gabe Rivera has never been able to play another down of football the rest of his life because today he's paralyzed from the chest down.

He's seated in a wheelchair this very moment and he's labeled as a paraplegic.

At one time he was 6'3, 285, starting defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but today he can't even walk.

And when we heard of that tragedy, I was reminded what Jesus said in John 10 10 how the thief has come to steal, kill, and destroy.

But Jesus said, I've come to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly.

Someone said, It's easy to go to hell.

All you have to do is just reject Jesus Christ.

Jesus said in verse 14, there in Matthew 7, these words Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few, F E W, who find it.

So here's my question for all of us here this morning.

Will you be one of the few?

Will you be one of the few who makes it to heaven?

Billy Graham, he said he believes that 70% of all church members have never been born again.

W.

A.

Cristwell, who was the pastor for 50 plus years at First Baptist Dallas, Texas, had over 20,000 church members there at First Baptist Dallas.

And W.

Chriswell once said, if I get to heaven and meet one half of my church members, I'll be overjoyed.

Elton Trueblood, that great Bible scholar, said, I believe the main mission field in America is within the church membership itself.

And then Jesus said these words over in verse 21 of Matthew 7.

He said, Not everyone, listen to me, church, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Did you hear what Jesus just said?

Jesus just said in layman terms, not everybody who says they're Christian is a Christian.

Not everybody who says they have been saved has been saved.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

I can tell you very plainly what the will of God is for every one of us in this room.

The will of God is for everybody in this room who's never been born again.

The will of the Father is for you to be saved.

In fact, the apostle Peter said it this way in 2 Peter 3:9, he said, The Lord is patient toward all of us, not willing that anyone perish, but that all come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

The heartbeat of God is for everybody here today to go to heaven.

God wants you to be saved.

God wants your name to be written in the book of life.

That's why we have a cross.

That's why Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty for all of our sins, and he was punished and he was beaten, and he was brutalized so that you and I could have eternal life in heaven.

And then Jesus said in verse 22 of Matthew 7, He said, Many will say to me, In that final judgment day, they're going to say, Lord, hey, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?

But Lord, surely, surely you know me.

And then verse 23, Jesus will respond and say these words, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

Can you imagine going all through life, through your life journey, and then standing before King Jesus one day on that final judgment day, and hear Jesus say to you, Depart from me, sir.

Ma'am, depart from me.

Young person, depart from me.

I never knew you.

Man, I've often said, if anybody, if anybody should have been a champion for God, it should have been Rick Gage, your guest speaker.

As Brother Danny just shared with you, my father Frederick Gage spent over 50 years in the ministry as an evangelist and saw more than a million souls come to know Christ under his ministry.

And I've been surrounded by great men of God like Brother Danny all my life.

I've been brought up in great Bible-believing churches all my life.

That's the reason why I've often said, man, if anybody should have been a champion for Christ, it should have been Rick Gage.

You know what my story is?

I grew up in a little town right outside of Houston, Texas, called Friendswood, Texas.

And when I was eight years of age, we attended one of the local churches in that town.

And I remember one Sunday morning when I was eight years of age, I was sitting toward the back with my mother, and the pastor had preached his message, and he gave an altar call for those who wanted to respond or make any kind of spiritual decisions or maybe come and join the church.

And I remember walking down the center aisle, and the pastor was right down here at the front, and he kind of leaned over and he shared a few words with me right there and prayed with me right there.

And then he handed me off to a lady who had a clipboard and she helped me fit out this card.

And then after the service, although those who came to make spiritual decisions or to join the church, we all stood up here at the front, and people came by that Sunday morning, they shook our hand, they basically said, you know, we're happy for you, and we're going to be praying for you.

Well, that night I showed up with an extra change of clothes and I went through what's called water baptism.

And for nearly 18 years of my life, listen to me, for nearly 18 years of my life, I professed to be a Christian because what I did when I was eight years of age, and on top of that, my father was a well-known evangelist.

I'm brought up in a Christian home.

I've been surrounded by great men of God and brought up in Bible-believing churches.

I just professed, you know, professed to be a Christian.

And I've often said I did pretty good for a while to learn how to do bad.

When I became the age of some of the young people that's in this room right now, can I just be transparent, moms and dads?

Can I just be very honest with you?

Look at me.

There wasn't anything different between me, this preacher's kid, and my classmates and my teammates.

You say, what do you mean?

I went to the same parties they went to.

I cussed like they cussed.

I drank beer like they drank beer.

I partied like they parted.

I sinned like they sinned.

The only thing that was different, I would be in church on Sunday.

I'd walk in with my Bible and my nice Sunday attire.

I might walk in with a hangover.

Bless God, I was there.

And that's the kind of way I just lived my life all the way through my high school, my junior high and high school years.

And then you get out of high school and it's time to go off to college.

I go off on a four-year football scholarship.

You know, when you're a couple hundred miles away from home, guess what, moms and dad?

You're not there on Sunday morning to knock on your son or your daughter's dorm room door and say, hey, Ricky, it's time to get up and get ready.

It's time to get up and get ready for Sunday.

It's going to church.

Come on, it's time to get up and get ready.

Let's go.

No, man, when you go off to college, guess what, young people?

You can sleep in on God.

And for four years, look at me, folks, for four years I slept in on God.

Had no desire, look at me, had no desire to get up on God's day to go hear God's man preach God's book to God's people.

You know why?

That was where my heart was at.

My heart was full of the world, my heart was full of sin, my heart was full of self.

If you would have come up to me during those years and asked me the question, hey Rick, are you a Christian?

Oh, yes, sir, yes, ma'am.

I'd take you back to an eight-year-old experience.

And then I get out of college and I go into the coaching profession.

You know, I thought I was gonna be the next Nick Saban, I was gonna be the next Tom Landry.

And here I am in Lubbock, Texas, coaching football at Texas Tech University.

But my heart and my life, look at me, folks, my heart and my life was a million miles away from God.

I was on a highway of self-destruction.

And I got a phone call one night from my evangelist father.

And he said, Rick, our good friend James Robbins is going to be preaching in a church there in Lubbock next Sunday.

Why don't you go here and preach?

I said, Well, Dad, we're in the middle of recruiting season.

I'm not even sure I'll be in town next Sunday.

Well, son, if you're in town, try to go hear James preach.

Well, I'd heard James preach before.

I remember when I was a junior high kid, I went to one of his stadium crusades in Pasadena, Texas.

Well, I was in town that following Sunday, but guess what I did that Sunday morning?

I slept in.

Had no desire to get up to go hear the friend of the family preach that Sunday morning.

Sunday evening came around and something within me said, Rick, get in your car and go hear the friend of the family preach.

So I got my car that Sunday night.

I was late getting to the service.

You ever been late to church service?

And you just kind of slip in and sit on the back row, you know, where all the religious people sit.

And I slipped in that night there at Trinity Church, found me a seat.

The place was packed out to capacity.

And I heard a man of God preach a powerful, penetrating sermon that Sunday night on the subject of repentance.

You know, Jesus said, unless a man repent of his sin, he will perish.

And the Spirit of God spoke to my heart loudly and clearly that night and said to me, Rick Gage, you've had many chances before tonight to get your life right with me.

And believe me, that is true.

I'd had many chances to get my life right with God, but so many times I'd be in a service like here this morning, and you don't, and the Spirit of God would convict me of the sin that was in my life.

But you know what my attitude was?

God, I'm not ready.

God, I would stiff arm the Spirit of God and just basically say, I'm not ready yet.

But God, when I do get ready, I will come.

Well, I have since learned you don't come when you're ready, you come when he's ready.

Because the Bible teaches no man, no man can come to the Father unless the Spirit of God draws him.

And that night the Holy Spirit of God was drawing my heart.

And when the man of God gave the altar call, I made a beeline to that altar.

And as a 25-year-old football coach, I got down on my knees.

I'm weeping.

Football coach is not supposed to cry.

I'm weeping, I'm sobbing, I'm crying with a broken heart.

And realized for the first time in my life, as a 25-year-old football coach, as a preacher's kid, on my knees, broken over my sin, I realized for the first time that it was my sin and my rebellion that put Jesus on the cross.

If you want to know who killed Jesus, you're looking at him.

Rick Gage killed Jesus.

And guess what?

Your sin killed Jesus.

All of our sin put Jesus on the cross.

And I experienced that night what the Bible calls godly sorrow, for the scripture declares over in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 that godly sorrow is what produces repentance, which leads to salvation.

2 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

And that night, as a 25-year-old football coach, salvation came to my soul.

That was the night that Rick Gage had his name written in the book of life.

I got up out of that service that night, got in my car, drove back to my apartment, picked up my phone, and guess who I called?

I called Freddie and Barbara Gage and told my parents what God had just done in my life.

And then I called my three brothers and told my three brothers what God had just done in my life.

And then I picked up my dusty Bible.

My Bible sitting over here on a shelf collecting dust.

Do y'all have Bibles like that at your house?

Just sitting there collecting dust.

I never had a desire to read my Bible.

I didn't have a desire to know the author of that book.

But the night that God saved my soul, January 15, 1984, and I went back to my apartment, told my family what God had just done in my heart.

I picked up my dusty Bible and began to read this book.

And look at me, folks, look at me.

For the first time in my life, this book became life to my soul.

I couldn't put it down.

I fell in love with the author of this book, and his name is Jesus.

The next morning, I walked into the head football coach's office there at Texas Tech, and I told the head coach what Jesus had just done in my life.

And then I went down to the offensive coordinator's office and I told the offensive coordinator what God had just done in my life, and then I went down to the defensive coordinator's office and told him what God had just done in my heart and life.

I began to share with all the assistant coaches on that staff what God had just done in my heart and life.

God had changed my life, and guess what?

I wanted everybody on that staff to know what God had just done in my heart.

I used to go out and party with these guys, but I went back to those guys and told them what God had just done in my heart and life.

I wanted the whole world to know about it, and guess what?

I still do today.

I want the whole world to know what God did in my heart and life on January 15, 1984.

Well, it wasn't long after my conversion experience.

I left Texas Tech and started traveling with my evangelist father.

I was at a Bible conference in Dallas, Texas, and heard a man preach on this conference by the name of Arthur Blessed, one of the greatest soul winners I've ever been exposed to in all my life.

And he challenged everybody in that audience to become a personal witness for Christ.

And he said, if you want to commit your life today to become a soul winner for Jesus, you want to be a difference maker for God, he said, I want you to get up out of your seat and I want you to come and take your stand for Christ right here at the altar.

So I got up out of my seat and I came, and many others came, and I basically told God that day at the Dallas Convention Center, God, make me a soul winner.

And then that afternoon, author gave a charge for anybody who wanted to go out witnessing.

He said, I'm gonna carry my cross down the streets of downtown Dallas, and we're just gonna go out here and sow the gospel seed for a couple hours and see how many folks we can point to Jesus.

If you want to go out witnessing with us this afternoon, he said, I want you to come and meet me right here at the Coliseum, and we're gonna go out witnessing.

So I showed up that afternoon, about 500 others showed up that afternoon, and when we we prayed, we got our gospel admonition, and then we took off and started sowing the gospel seed all over downtown Dallas.

But it was that day, look at me, that Rick Gage had the honor and the privilege to lead his first soul to Jesus.

I've been exposed to this all my life, but I'd never led a soul to Jesus until that afternoon.

I just had been saved maybe two or three months.

I just told God that morning, make me a soul winner, and now I'm out witnessing with a bunch of folks.

And that afternoon I went up to a young man and I asked the young man a question that many of us have been trained to ask.

If you've ever taken any kind of class in evangelism, I just simply said, Do you know for sure?

I said, friend, do you know for sure if you died today, if you'd go to heaven?

He said, No, I don't know that.

And I took out my Bible that day, took him to Romans 3.23, where the Bible says, How we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And then I took him over to Romans 6.23, where the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And then I took him over to Romans 5.8, where the Bible says how God proved his love toward us.

And even though we were yet sinners, the Bible says Christ Jesus died for us.

And then I took him over to Romans 10 9, where the Bible says, if you would confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you can be saved.

And then I took him to the greatest promise in all the Bible.

Romans 10 13.

I said, right here, the Bible says, Whosoever, and whosoever's anybody, I don't care if you're rich, poor, educated, uneducated, I don't care what color your skin is, I don't care if you're a Mormon, a Baptist, a Catholic, the Bible says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And then I said, friend, can you give me any reason why you would turn down Jesus?

He said, No, sir.

And right there at that bus stop, before the bus ever showed up, that young man bowed his heart and by the Christ shall come into his life.

And I can't begin to explain to you the impact that had on my life.

Jesus said, Enter by the narrow gate.

For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

And then he said, Narrow is the gate, difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Let me tell you what haunts me today.

You heard me share that for four years I played college football.

My first college roommate was our starting linebacker, he was our co-captain.

He had a cousin who played for the Buffalo Bills.

And it was his dream to play in the National Football League someday.

He had all the talent, he had all the potential.

I should go party with my college roommate.

I'd go smoke dope with him.

I'd go to the bars, drink beer with him.

When we separated and went our separate ways after college, I got a phone call in the wee hours of the morning explaining to me the death of my college roommate.

He and his girlfriend had been off to a party, and they were on the way back home late that night from that party.

They were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

And the tragedy is that they were struck by a train and they were both instantly killed just like that.

In fact, the authorities said the impact of that collision caused that vehicle to fly a hundred feet in the air before it ever hit the ground.

And they said their bodies and blood was saturated all inside the automobile.

And when the final report came out, it indicated that both bodies had traces of alcohol and drugs in their blood system.

That's the way my college roommate went out of here.

And you may be asking, well, Rick, you you lived in the same dorm room with him.

You played on the same football team with him.

Did you ever talk to him about Jesus?

Did you ever inquire about his soul?

Look at me, folks, look at me.

Not one time did ever inquire about Clay's soul.

I'd go drink beer with him, I'd go smoke dope with him, I'd play football with him, but not one time that ever asked.

Clay, do you know for sure if you died today, if you'd go to heaven?

Clay, have you ever been saved?

Clay, do you know if your name has been written in the book of life?

Not one time did ever inquire about his soul.

And to my knowledge, Clay had never given his heart to Christ.

You know what's sad about that?

That tragedy occurred some nearly 40 years ago.

And my college roommate has been in hell for some 40 years.

And you know what's more sad than that?

Hell has only just begun for my college roommate.

Because the Bible teaches hell is for all of eternity, just like heaven is for all of eternity.

And I'm gonna ask all of you today to do something that the apostle Paul said to do in 2 Corinthians 13, 5.

He said, Examine yourself to see whether or not you're in the faith.

You claim to be a child of God.

You claim that you're going to heaven when you die.

What if you had been one of those 17 teenagers at Parkland High School last week?

It's either heaven or hell, there's no in between.

Paul said, examine yourself to see whether or not you're in the faith.

You claim to be a Christian?

Paul said, prove it.

Test it, unless you find out one day you're disqualified.

I wonder an audience of this size how many disqualifiers may be in this room right now.

I was for nearly 18 years of my life.

I was a fake, I was a phony, I was a hypocrite.

Let me tell you what I'm grateful for today.

I'm grateful for the patience of God.

So glad he didn't throw in the towel on me, so glad he didn't quit on me.

I'm glad and grateful today for the patience of God.

Where do you stand, sir?

Ma'am, where do you stand?

Young person, where do you stand?

Jesus said life is brief, it's like a vapor.

It appears for a little time and then it vanishes away.

When this brief life comes to an end, where will you spend eternity?