The Disease of Double-Minded // Death To Distraction: Week 3 // Pastor Michael Todd

Welcome to Transformation Church podcast, where we represent God to

the lost and found for transformation in Christ. We're so

glad you're here and wherever you're listening from, we believe

God will transform your life. Do today's message.

I am grateful to be standing in this position ten

years later. Let me be honest with everybody. Didn't know

I was gonna make it, but that's what faith looks like.

I would like to encourage everybody that usually when you

ask God to do something in your life, he's gonna

show you a picture and not the path, or he's

gonna show you the path and not the picture, because

he wants you to trust him. And it would be

a lot easier if he gave us the blueprint, the map.

This is where you're start and this is where you're

gonna end. But if he did that, most of us

would walk away from talking to him. And so he

allows us to live a life dependent on him. In

twenty fourteen, when Bishop told me that his plan of

succession was for me to become the lead pastor, I

want to let you know I was surprised. I wasn't like, oh,

Bed been planning this in the background. You know how

people want stuff, but they act like they don't want it,

but they really is thirsty. I wasn't thirsty at all,

had a plan, was about to execute it, and then

God tapped me on the shoulder and said, hey, I

have need of you. And today I stand in this

position humbled, and I think the word that I want

to want to say is I feel sober. I feel

very aware that this is nothing but the hand of God.

I feel very aware that God has grown me in

ways that I could not groan outside of this plan

for my life. I am very aware that this ministry

and this calling saved my marriage. See a lot of

the things that we try to get out of are

the very things that are protection for you. I am

very aware, and I want to say this to every

young person that I still feel young, but I've done

a lot. That's because I said yes early. And I

want to be very clear that this lie that culture

is trying to sell you that you have an opportunity

later to say yes to God. It's going to make

you miss the most vibrant years of serving God. I don't.

It feels like I just started and it's been a decade.

I told the team, I said I'm ready to run.

What are we doing? I feel like God has renewed

my strength ten years into being faithful. But at thirty

eight years old, I can't believe I started leading this

church at twenty eight? Bishop, what was you thinking? I

I really realize that God allowed my yes to add years.

Let me say my yes early to add years to

my effectiveness for His kingdom. And so ten years, ten

more years seems like nothing because of the way that

God has already done what He's done in this year.

And I just want to thank Transformation in Church for

being a church that is committed to representing God to

the lost and found for one reason, what is it?

Transformation in Christ? So today I told them I still

got a preach. I said, we can celebrate. We can

pop confetti. Right after church. We having a party in

the lobby. This is not a party you want to miss.

Flew a DJ in. I'm seeing some of y'all don't

even know how to have fun no more. You need

to bring your rusty hips out. We got some refreshments

for you. We're gonna be turning up Transformation Nation. I

thank you for being a part of what God's doing.

We're gonna celebrate, and I want anybody if you have

a memory of me and Pastor Natalie Bishop and Pastor

Debbie something over the years. Today, let's flood social media

with memories of what God has done. Get old pictures

when I used to have waves, Get pictures when Bishop

had a different hairstyle. Get pictures of when Pastor Brenda

was singing to him who sits on the thrown out

of zoos. I just want old and new, and young

and not so young pictures of all of us so

we can remember. Because memory allows you to get gratitude.

And today, as we walk into this next piece of

dis Sermons series, I just want to approach with a

lot of gratitude for people who have listened to me

talk for ten years. I used to get whoopings for

talking too much, pink slips, principal notes. They didn't know

I was practicing for my destiny. Huh. I need to

refund all them whoopings. I need something. I need reparations.

It's Black History Month, fighting some reparations. Today. Today, as

I stand here, I'm about to get to my message,

I just want to thank you for listening, because a

lot of people can have something to say, but if

they have nobody to listen, it actually falls to the ground.

And today the message that I'm going to speak to you,

I'm coming out of this very sentimental, emotional, amazing moment

that we've been having, and I'm going to give you

the word that I feel like has to actually penetrate

your heart. So if you feel a switch, is because

I feel celebrated, words of afformation, all the things there.

Now I have an assignment, okay, And because I have

to deliver this assignment the way that God told me to,

I need everybody to prepare your hearts, get your notes ready,

get your phones ready, because I believe God's going to

speak to you, whether you're in this room or your online,

about the trajectory of your life that may need to

change today. Somebody shot at me today, you didn't shot

at me. Somebody shot at me today. I believe today

is going to be a pivotal time in the life

of anybody who watches this. And so I need us

to go to our scripture of the year, as we

have decided that we are going to be focused this year.

We are in week three of a series that we

are calling death to Distraction, the faith to focus. How

many people have an area in your life where it

is just difficult for you to focus. Come on, just

we're not gonna talk about all the areas, but an

area that it's difficult for you to focus. Like, anytime

you try to do that, it's like the smallest things

come to take it. Don't even gotta be nothing outside

of you. You'll start thinking about the laundry that you

left on and ain't ever cared about. It was, where's

my yellow shirt? Like you ain't you can't even fit

it no more. But every time you try to do

that thing, it makes you lose focus. Let me be honest,

for a very long time in my life, and I

don't know if there's any other believers or pastors that

will omit this, but anytime I tried to read the Bible,

it was like my focus became so distracted. I mean,

I could be Okay, how many people have read and

you had to read it again because you didn't know

what you read? Okay, I'm in the right mode. Hall

chapter done. Don't know anything that you just read because

while you were in the act, your mind was elsewhere.

Could it be that the body of Christ in the

world at large is suffering from distraction. It's not that

we don't have enough time, it's that we focus our

time on things that do not flourish. It's not that

we don't have enough attention, it's that we give our

attention to too many things, so nothing can actually grow.

And if we would be hot for a second, this

year for me and for you will probably look like

a repeat unless I put death to certain distractions watch

this that have dominated me. Nobody wants to say it

like that, but there are certain distractions in our life

that have dominated us. For years of my life, a

knife and a fork dominated me. I'm not talking about you,

I'm talking about me. I planned when I was going

to sleep based on the snack that I was gonna

get and what time I could get it. Okay, some

of y'all, y'all, okay. I used to have all my

meetings as well as social events around food. I would

be at five lunch meetings in a day because there's

no way we're gonna sit here and talk without a

curly fry my mouth. Come on, Okay. I used to

be dominated by images of perversion. Nobody wants to talk

about it, but there are a lot of things in

your life. I used to be dominated by comparison. What

are they doing? So I can feel bad about what

I'm not doing and what God hasn't called me to

right now, so that then I cannot do what He

actually called me to do because I feel so low

about what I'm not doing that ain't like what they doing.

It made sense. Roll it back, somebody yell let me distractions.

I can't tell you what your distractions are, but you

shoul do know them. You can ignore them, you can

act like it's not a part of you, but some

of you are literally in the same place praying for

something God cannot do until you put a depth to

those distractions and let me help you. He won't do it.

You have to. He's not going to take her away.

You're gonna have to stop answering the phone. Okay, He's

not gonna shut Facebook down. You have to log off.

Netflix ain't gonna stop taking They eleven dollars every month

until you unsubscribed. I just want to let you know

that your deliverance is gonna come with the decision to

put death to distractions. And so in this series, we've

been studying Samson, but Samson didn't have what we had.

We had something to fix our eyes on. And so

in the New Testament and Hebrews twelve one, I'm gonna

read this scripture, and I want everybody to see. This

is our scripture of the year. It says in Hebrews

twelve to one. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such

a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything,

how many things, some things, a few things, everything that hinders.

Another translation says, the weights and the sin that so

easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the

race marked out for us. Watch this fixing our eyes.

Somebody shot at me. Focus right now. I'm focusing on

the camera that is in front of me with the

red dot, but it just moved. And if I keep

looking at the camera that does not have the red dot,

my focus is now on something that is now distracting

people because I'm focused on what is not focusing on me.

And I could preach the rest of this message, praying

and prophesying to something that is not focusing on me,

and some of y'all like, just turn to the camera.

I wish it was that easy. I wish it was

that easy. Because right now, there's a camera here, there's

a camera there, and there's a camera here. No no, no,

no no. The camera came to me. But what if

every time the camera comes to me, I look at

a different camera. Every time I'm focusing, I'm focusing and

fixing my eyes on something that's not fixed on me.

The trouble is, I'm doing what I think is right,

but there is a light that is trying to tell

me where to look. Okay, And many times we focus

on the camera that's moving and we don't look for

the lights. It's been a minute and a half of

me looking at the wrong cameras. But I'm still looking

at cameras, and God says, look to the life, and

when I look to the light, fixing my eyes on Jesus.

I'm just trying to tell everybody through a simple example

that fixing your eyes on Jesus is the way that

your focus is going to be put in right perspective.

What are you say in pastor like anything that's going

on my life, I need to put it through the

filter of what Jesus has said, if he had anything

to say about it in his word, I need to

actually put it through the filter of Jesus and right

this point, fixing your eyes on Jesus gives you the

faith to focus. So at the top of this series,

I did a vision message and I told you that

as this year the word of the year's focus. Everybody

shot at me focus that part of the way that

God confirmed it is. Back in July, I had this

obstruction come in my eye. And I love Transformation Church

so much in Transformation Nation because I've gotten more DMS, email's,

phone calls. It's like, you never told us what's going

on with your eye? Are you okay? Can you see us?

I'm praying for your eye. We don't have an ophtalmologist call.

We don't have no I'm serious, like that's the thing.

I love Transformation Church. Go and respond. But they was like,

the eye, it's the eye. Okay, Well, let me tell

you a little bit more about the story. I had

this obstruction in my eye. It came out of nowhere.

It was a blood vessel that bust in my eye.

I could not see properly. There was something that was

obstructing my focus. You couldn't see it, but I could,

and it was distract to me. I can't tell you

me how many times I was driving and I swerved

thinking that it was something coming to me, but it

was just something in my vision. So I went to

the doctor because my wife does not play about me,

and I was just gonna wait it out and you know,

put some oil on it and keep rolling. She said,

you're gonna put some oil on it? And you going

to the specialist? Said yes, ma'am, go to the specialists.

They put me through all of these tests with lights

and lasers and all this other stuff. And I've never

had any problems with my eyes. So my eye is

like doing more work than it's ever done, and its

whole life. It starts giving me a headache. It's just

all of this stuff that's going on. And then the

doctor comes in to give me a diagnosis, and I said, sir,

what's going on? And this man began to speak a

language that I knew not of. He began to explain

things that I have never heard before and looked at

me as if I was supposed to understand it. And

instead of me trying to repeat it, I record everything.

So I want you to hear what the doctor told me.

My diagnosis was go ahead and put that on the camera.

Phenoscopically.

Okay, can you say what you think I have on

my right eye again?

Yeah, proliferative retinopathy, probably from your sickle cell trade, which

is causing intraocative bleeding. That's what's causing you the symptoms

of floaters and blurry vision. And your renta is over

expressing a protein hormone called vasal endothelial growth factor uh.

And so the laser treatment actually changes the biochemistry of

your retina and lowers the local expression of ved jeff

in the diavasterisation should try out.

I know some of these words. I'm glad I went

to school.

Okay, what the heck am I supposed to do with that?

And at the end, I said thank you for going

to school and daffed him up because and after I

recorded this video, I was about to leave the doctor's

office with the diagnosis. Watch this that I didn't understand.

I was about to leave the place where I could

get answers, and because of my pride, I was going

to walk out of there without an understanding. And what

I want everybody to understand, it doesn't matter what your

diagnosis is if you do not understand how you got there,

what's going on and what you need to do to

actually be healed. You are wasting your time because of

a lack of watch, this ignorance. And I believe that

the enemy, who is the prince of darkness, which means

he is the one that would love to keep believers

in darkness or ignorance, would love for you to come

in here praise and shout and not understand that all

of us probably have something we need to understand better

so that we can deal with it. Okay Proverbs four seven,

wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore get what you need

to get wisdom, which is applied knowledge. But right after it,

it says, and in all yo, getting get an understanding?

Do you understand why you're promiscuous? Not that you are,

I know everybody's focusing on you being promiscuous, But do

you understand where the the whole was that was created

back here that made you always present yourself as if

you needed to be with somebody. Do you understand why

you're angry? Or is everything that happens to you now

an amalgamation of the moments that now you can't even

control any of your emotions. In all, y'all, getting get

in understand, and some of y'all don't even understand what

has plagued you or been a distraction for years? And

how do I know it? Because it's all through the Bible.

When we look at our main character that we've been studying, Samson,

I came to the conclusion as I studied his whole

story out that he had a diagnosis that he didn't understand,

so he lived with it until it killed him. Hear

what I just said to you? Are you living with

something that can be corrected and the only reason you're

not correcting it and you're not going after it is

because you got a diagnosis, but you did not do

the work to be delivered from it, so it leads

to your death instead of its death. Okay, I know

I'm walking heavy on anniversary. You want me to tell

you the best is yet to come. It is after

you deal with your distraction. Okay, all right, all right.

As I've been looking at Samson's life for three weeks,

I've tried very hard to stay out of the story

of Samson and Delilah. I've tried to let you know

that Samson made decisions before Delilah that led him to

destruction because everybody wants to blame the thing. Everybody sees

the blow up in, but it was everything that happened

before that. And so as I realized what Samson was

dealing with, he was dealing with a disase, ease called

watch this the title of my sermon, the Disease of

double minded. Oh I'm about to cook this thing. Samson

was a double minded man, and the Bible tells us

that a double minded man is unstable in all of

his weight. Could the instability in your life not be

because of lack of something, but it's that you have

too much of everything? Let me say it one more time.

Could the deficiencies in your life because you're not lacking something?

You let everything in and because you let what culture

says in and what Christ says, because you let what

them in they said and what He said, you have

become double so unstable. Can't trust nothing, can't put nothing

on you, can't trust you for nothing because you just

wabbly in your marriage. You wobblie because you love her

and still want attention from them. Double minded. I mean,

I'm gonna give God something, but I'm gonna make sure

my house paid for double minded? What are you saying,

who do you honor first? Why gotta take care of this?

Nobody told you to get that house. Okay, let me start.

You thought you needed that house to fulfill an insecurity

that made you not put God first in your resources,

and so now you can't tied. You can't do it.

But the problem is you had different allegiances. And God,

in his word the only place that he compares themself

to anybody, he said, you can't serve God and the

spirit of manment. He said, because you're gonna love one

and hate the other, and so many believers when it

comes today money, double minded? You want God to bless you,

don't put them first. Double minded? Okay, it's too strong

in here already, but I didn't make it ten years

by Patty taking with you and the issues. I want

to tell you the truth and I want to tell

it to you in a way that helps you. You

cannot get married still thinking about the ax you're in

the future and the past. You are double minded. You

keeping all they teddy bears in jerseys they gave you,

and you still go by the colonne of the perfume

and spread around because it just brings you peace. What

you're doing is delay in yourself. You are double and Samson,

he suffered from the disease of double minded. Your decisions

before Delilah are what sets you up for destruction with Delilah.

Because Sampson had taken a Nazarite vow, knew the promises

of God, but still decided to play with his destiny,

he embraced it. I'll do it God's way in my way.

I'm double minded. I mean, it's to my own convictions.

This is my truth. Oh come on, y'all, y'all know

the things that God tell you. Some of y'all own

the fast. You did your own fast. God told you

to do something, but you did your own thing because

and he's speaking to you, but your double minded. His

word doesn't matter more than your word, and when your

word matters more than his word, but you still want

his blessing and favor. Okay, all right, let me come

back up. Samson had watched this word a pattern, and

this is what I want to let you know about patterns.

He was double minded. He embraced both. He embraced the

the I'm gonna get in trouble right here, but he

embraced the prophetic and the psychic. He embraced, He embraced

laying hands on things, and the crystals and the chakras.

He he was double minded. He he embraced the horoscope

and the Holy Spirit. Do you okay? So some of y'all,

what are you pis tra Maybe you're double minded. Either

he knows the purpose and the plant for your life

or that knows the planet. But he said in his

word before I formed you in your mother's wom I

news you. Please don't let a I get you out

of the anointing. I need you to hear me say it.

Look at your neighbor and say, stop holding both. You're

double minded. Stop holding both. Choose you this day who

you go? Sorry, Stop stop holding that. You will have

generational curses when we've been redeemed from the curse of

the law and we can walk in freedom. Stop holding

that and then thinking God's about to do something. You're

double minded. Okay, let me start And if your practice

is being double minded, I need you to hear me

say this. Patterns are practiced. Your patterns didn't just happen,

you practice them. Patterns are practiced. Patterns are premeditated. Anything

you're going to stop acting like it just happened. Stop stopping.

Just don't be a liar over stupid stuff. You knew

you were gonna do that. It might not have been

long before you knew, but you know you you knew

you were gonna accidentally send them that picture. Oops, did

you see that? You knew? Because a pattern is practiced,

a pattern is premeditated. Watch this and patterns prophesies. You

need a prophetic word. Look at your patterns. Ooh, I'm

stepping heavy in here. No no, no, no, no no, I'm

gonna do something different. We'll see, but your pattern tells

us that you're gonna self sabotage. About four months in,

you're gonna get the logo, you're gonna start it, you're

gonna post about it twice, you're gonna have a T

shirt made. And then about four months in, when you

didn't see what you really wanted to see, you're gonna

look at what somebody else is doing. You're gonna get discouraged,

and you're gonna stop for four years. This is gonna

be my year. Maybe that's what I want to say

when people say that this is gonna be my year.

Maybe if I could be honest, Maybe because if you

don't allow the Holy Spirit to interrupt your pattern. He

has to divinely come in. And that's why you cannot

be afraid of new things God calls you to. If

he's telling you go to a tribe, why I'm not

a people person, He's trying to interrupt the pattern of isolation.

He's trying to tell you do something, well, I can't

give that much money. He's trying to interrupt the pattern

of poverty. He's trying to interrupt the pattern because your

pattern is prophe science and your children's children walk in

what you won't allow the Holy Spirit to interrupt Judge

is sixteen twenty. I'm gonna I'm trying my best to

stay out of the scripture because next week I'm gonna

take you into him really meeting Delilah. But I had

to share this one scripture with you because it scared

me when I read it, and I didn't want another

week to go by and somebody, I know that the

hand of God is on you right now, but it's

on you by grace, and I don't want you to

walk out of here this day and feel like you

can keep doing what you used to do and still

the same thing that he did last time, he gonna

do this time. So I don't know who this is for,

but you're making me a week ahead of what I

want to do because of your foolishness. Watch this and

judge is sixteen twenty, it says. Then she cried out,

this is Delilah Sasin. The Philistines have come to cad

show you. When he woke up, watch this, he thought,

I will do as I did before, and I will

shake myself free, the most scary part of this whole scripture.

But he didn't realize the Lord had left him. And

I just came to tell something of y'all. Y'all been

playing with stuff. Y'all been in patterns and cycles and

distractions that you've been saying. Man, I'll do as I

did last time. I'll just repent. I'll just go to

the altar. I'll just do this. I'll just stop. I'll

and I just want to let you know. You never

know which time is the last time? Hear me when

I say it, write it down in a point. I

have a question, will the next time be the last time?

Because you ran out of time? What Samson have told her? Anything?

Because before this he don't play games over, He like riddles,

he liked playing games. He likes playing with stuff that

can kill him. It's called pride when you play with

things that have the opportunity to destroy you. And he

liked doing this. But every other time he did it,

he was able to get out so simply because God

was on him. And this is my question to us.

Have we taken what God has given us in mercy

and grace and turned it into something we feel like

we deserve that has now made us entitled to it?

Will the next time be the time do y'all have

a baby? No, I'm just asking. It was OBSI the

first three. But but but will it be the next time? Yeah?

Will it be the Will it be the next time

that they find out you're stealing money from the business? Well,

the first time my baby need a formulae and the

second time I needed an outfiit MO my birthday weekend.

I'm just will the next time you send the email

to the wrong person that you've been gossiping about. He's

been trying to with this hand of mercy and this protection,

and the delusion is that you can have what God

wants for you and still keep doing that. Crowd you're double,

you're suffering from a disease, and and and this man

couldn't decipher as many of us can't decipher. Listen to

what I'm about to say very closely. There is a

difference between condemnation and consequence. So it is God's grace

that will pour out and your soul can be set free.

After you mess up and do anything that goes against

his word, all you have to do is repent. That

means to turn, and God says, I forgive you, but

now you have to go to jail. The consequence is

still in place even when condemnation has been eradicated, and

most people think that God has left them when they

are dealing with the consequence from their actions, and they

then try to flip it like God has left them. No,

if you make your bed in hell, he said, I'll

be right there with you, but we gonna be making

this bed in jail because that was embezzlement. You abuse

those kids. I forgive you, but the consequence is you

are now labeled as this for the rest of your

And I need to help the church understand that while

you're playing with stuff that can mess you up, it's

not just about going to heaven and hell. It's not

being useful in this life. So many people have focused

just on am I going to Hell? That you have

not got into a place where you actually can help.

You're not helping the Kingdom agenda. You're not helping what

God wants to do because you're so distracted and playing

with sin. God saying would you come out from over there?

Stop being double mind, stop playing with that and there. Well,

I only drink when it feels you know what I'm saying.

I only drink on the weekends, So that means two

days out of every week God gives you. You are

in coherent, You make poor decisions, and you're not there

for the family you prayed for. Stop being double mine

and y'all y'all be like, oh, yeah, that's for the

drug addicts and the alcoholics and all that other stuff.

He hear me, Christians, hear me, hear me, religious people.

I just I just need you to understand judging people

and then not putting that mirror up to you when

when you talk look at huh wearing that's a church,

this is the house of God, and their heart is pure,

but their dress is short. Your dresses to the floor

but your heart is tainted and you somehow think you

helping God. You're double minded because the truth of the

matter is if you was born in this day and age,

you would have been in that dress too. We just

don't know, have no Facebook posts to prove it. You

the we know, we know, we know. Stop it. Stop

stop acting like yo, like you're so removed from people.

Stop acting like that. And whether it was your testimony

or not, too many believers have come into this thing

where we've been extended grace and we've been double minded.

How do we let them in or do we not?

Do they deserve the cross or do they not? Write

this down as a point. Grace covers the condemnation, You

cover the consequence. I'm just gonna let you know right now.

The grace of God will cover the condemnation, but you're

on the hook for the consequence. Samson has to pay

for the consequence of playing with somebody who knew was

trying to distract him. He loses his power based on

him being in the wrong lap. That's why Romans six

says verse six, what shall we say, then? Shall we

go on sinning? So that grace may increase for us?

We should keep doing it right. By no means should

we do this? We are those somebody say, we are

those who have died to sin? How can we live

in sin any longer? What I'm telling everybody is you

may stumble, you may fall, you may make a mistake,

but being double minded is embracing. This is how I'm

gonna live. And many people have not been honest with themselves.

You have made a decision. I'm not going to wait

until i'm married. You've embraced that I want a godly marriage,

and whenever the urge is too high, you've embraced that

I'll do what God says as long as it fits

in with my plan. And maybe you didn't understand, like

I didn't understand when that man started talking a different

language about my eye, because without him breaking it down,

I would have never been able to do what was

necessary today. All I'm trying to do is break it

down to where you can now make a decision. Do

I need to do something different to stop embracing the

parts of me that give me a disease because I'm

double minded? Okay, I'm gonna move because I need everybody

to get this last part. Write this down. Being double

minded is willfully embracing the promises of God and the

pleasures of your front flesh. I'm gonna say it again,

this is the definition. Being double minded is willfully embracing

the promises of God and the pleasures of my flesh.

I'm gonna do both. Y'all seen that Shannon Sharp mean

where he where he says both capital capital, and he

he starts feeling it like both. That's how many believers

hope that this thing works. I can do both, I

can think both, I can live both. Tusing like, why

is this coming off so like straight at me? Because

you might be double minded? And what double minded double

mindedness leads to is instability. Okay, watch this. Samson knows

his assignment and his naza right now. He knows it,

and he willfully keeps playing with God's promises. Write this down.

Being double minded is being one degree off of God's

design for your life. It's just one degree. It's just

I know you told me that, but I'm gonna step

over here. It's just I know you told me not

to hang out with all of them, but I'm just

gonna hang out with one of them. When you make

a decision that goes against God's design. It's a dangerous

place to live. It's time to stop playing with what

has the power to kill us. And let me make

something clear real quick. Everybody check in with me. There's

a difference between being double minded and duality. Hear what

I just said. There's a difference. I'm going very surgical

today because I need somebody to get free. There's a

difference between being double minded. That means I'm willfully embracing

what God wants and what I want. But because we

live in this fallen world, the Bible tell us we

will have duality. Like I want to do something for God,

but I always also want to slap them y'all here, okay,

I need where to where are the real people at? Like?

Like like I want to stop eating this stuff, but

it's seasoned so well. Like when you live in a

fallen world, every person will have duality, But duality I

can bring to God double mindedness I've decided to live

with every time I face my duality, the shadow side

of me, the bad side of me, the side of

me that does what I don't want it to do.

I'm supposed to bring dragon desert here he is again God,

we looked at something were not supposed to look at,

and we looked at it. Waits long? Help me deal

with him? Difference, double minded. Hey, we don't got to

tell nobody. No, no, no, no, no. I know we

messed up again. Yeah, but don't even trip. God's forgiven us.

We're good. Come fast to who my wife, she would

kill me and leave me. My men's group, my trib

come so they think he judged me. No, I know,

I know you're getting sick of your own filth. I

know you hate living in this. But the only way

to keep this going is we know God has a

huge plan for us. But just a little bit of

this gonna hurt nothing. It's the difference. All of us

got something in us we don't like. That's the fallen world.

But don't hug it, don't embrace it, discipline it, expose it.

They did it again, My bad self did it again.

He won again. But don't feed it and baby it

and make provision for it. Okay, and see one degree

off it's a beautiful thing because if I'm one degree off,

I can step right back in to place. But if

I'm one degree off. The reason I have to say

this message today if I'm one degree off for a

long time, one degree off for a long time becomes

a chasm. Oh Lord, having dual thoughts is not being

double minded. Double minded is a result of your decisions.

Duality is the result of living in a fallen world.

Could you give me the shadow self? Turn these lights out,

and I just want to show everybody what this looks like.

This is what most believers look like. Half in the light,

half in the dark. I want everybody to see me

for the part of me that's in the light. But

the truth of the matter is, every time I make

a decision and I walk in my double mindedness, it

pulls me further and further and further and further. And

I see, prophetically, some of you just have this in

the light and you're worship Come dallah, I I I.

There's no there's no part of your mind that's been

in the light for decades. And so people, Oh, there's

Larry there, you go, Hey, there's Dad, Hey, there's mom hey,

And and most of us celebrate when we get like this.

Oh man, there's such a person of integrity. You only

see half of me. Because integrity is what you do

in front of people, and what you do when nobody

is seeing and I and and I just want you

to know you can see my features and you know

it's me because I'm halfway in the light. But what

would happen if every believer would continue to contend for

their face and actually become a person of transformation. What

it would do is it would end you more and

more and more and more into the light of who

God wants you to be. And when the full displays

views in the light, this is what the Bible refers

to as God's glory. It's when you can see everything

He put on the inside of me. Even if darkness

is all around me, I'm still lit up. I'm still

fulfilling the call of God on my life. I'm still

gonna show up and be everything that God has called

me to be. But the enemy would love for you

to settle and being double minded just enough. And if

this is how your soul looks today, if this is

how your relationship with God looks today, I'm telling you

like I would have told Samson if he had anybody

around him. Will this be the last time you have

to play with this thing that has the ability to

kill you? Keep the camera right where it's at because

when I step outside of the light, my spot never

changed one degree off. I'm on the other side of

the stage. I'm on the other side of the room,

and God still looking for me where I'm supposed to

be at. Some of y'all, under the sound of my voice,

have been so far out of God's will. I came

to tell you, but your spot is still available. Somebody

needs to rejoice right there because he didn't change his

mind about you. Yeah, he didn't change his mind about you.

He's waiting for you. And sometimes it looks like here

I am, it's me God. This is what sanctification looks like.

It's not all at once. It's like God, I'm gonna

keep coming. God, I don't feel good, and I still

took a drink this week, and I still cuss my

kids out. But I'm no, no, no, no, no, no, no no,

keep coming, keep coming, keep coming. Tell somebody, Let somebody

know that what you're struggling with and what you're going through,

and eventually you will walk fully. Ah. I feel this

stake and to the light that God has called you

to walk into. It's time for God's people to put

off double mindedness and to reach destiny. Somebody give God

a shout of praise in this place. Come on, turn

the lights up in here. This is how we're gonna end.

I'm gonna give you three decisions that killed double mindedness

and helped me last a decade. Three. There's more, but

I thought these three would be the thing to share

with you because some of you are realizing. Man, I

have walked in a level of embracing not having fear,

embracing fear like. It's not just I have fear like

you're saying. No, I'm gonna live with this forever. I

want this. This is part of how I discover and

God's like, I didn't give you a spirit of fear,

power love. Yeah, we're gonna deal with it. Don't hug it.

Three decisions. First one, I made a decision over ten

years ago to become devoted. I devoted myself. I took

away my vote. I d voted how many people have

opinion when it comes to God. I can't raise my

hand no more because Samson had had made a vow

to be devoted, but still raise his hand now it's right,

val don't do this. Don't do this, don't do this,

don't do this, and Samson did all of it. He

didn't take his vote away even though God's hand was

on his life. And I'm telling somebody, what's going to

kill that thing in you that makes you double minded?

And stop voting on it? Stop vote, stop take I'm

gonna serve God. I'm gonna give what he tells me

to give. I'm gonna obey when he he has my fool. Yes,

I am d voted. What does that mean? Practically? Very simply,

I am surrendered. It's been ten years of me saying God, Dog, Okay,

I gotta walk through this. I take my vote away.

I gotta love this person, even though I know they

talking about me. I know it God, and they don't staff. Lord,

I gotta do what pay them for four months as

they exit? Lord, Why I'm surrendered. I take my vote away. Lord.

These people talking sideways on the internet. They don't know

me like that, don't know me like that, And I

gotta pray for him, go through the comments and call

out their name. Lord. Now, I'll do a lot but

praying for Big Jake six six two after that comment.

But I'm d If you would take your vote away,

if you would say no, I am faithful in marriage.

I will be faithful. I've taken my vote away. Let

me give you a scripture for it, Luke twenty two

forty two. It says saying, Father, if it is your will,

this is Jesus, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless,

not my will, but yours be done. I'm surrendered. Second thing,

this is a decision that killed double mind's in me.

First one being devoted, second one committing the discipline. The

truth about embracing my flesh is my flesh is easy

on the front end, kills me on the back end.

The hard thing about discipline is it's hard on the

front end, and it makes life easy on the back end.

And the Bible tells us right here and Hebws twelve eleven.

No discipline is enjoyable. While it's happening, it's painful, but

afterwards there will be peaceful harvest of right living. Not

for everybody, but for those who are trained in the

way of discipline. Some of y'all need to kill double

mindedness just by doing the same thing over and over

and over and over and over and over again. And

I'm telling you, no discipline starts off as a desire,

but I'm telling you, if you just decide, then it

will become a discipline, and then at some point the

discipline becomes a desire. When I started preaching, it was

yelling the crazy faith. I was almost three hundred pounds.

I couldn't imagine myself working out two days a week,

let alone six days a week, and I would eat

you under the table. I have sauces everywhere. I was

killing my No, I'm not playing. I was killing my

temple in the name of Jesus. And when the Holy

Spirit said I can only bless the ministry at to

the lefe that your body can take it, I said,

it's not fair because they're fat pirachers everywhere. Lord O,

can I be honest. This is my relationship with him.

There's big pastors everywhere, and they seem to be successful.

He said, I'm not talking about them for you. I'm

gonna stop this if you don't stop doing what you're doing.

And so what I do committed to discipline, and it

never has gotten fun until about this last year. This

last year, I don't know what happened, but something switched

to me. I'm trying to tell you the truth. I

pay somebody to come train me every single day. Many

times I think about what I could do with that

money instead of pay him to put me through torture.

And now five o'clock on a Sunday morning, five am,

my garage opens and I'm in there lifting heavier way.

Then I lived there all week Sunday morning for an

hour and a half, praying and preparing and worshiping and laughing,

and I'm like, how did this happen? God said, you started?

Oh God, you missed it. Some of you will never

reach where you're trying to go because you just won't start.

When I started discipline, I became disciplined. Last thing I

gotta move, y'all. The last thing that I realized to

kill the double minded mentality and for me to last

a decade is I realized I was defended. I realized

that I'm surrounded. I think about all of the things

that God has done in my life, and I think

about Samson's life, and I realize we have no other

communication of people being around Samson than Delilah and his

parents and people trying to kill him, his adversaries, his parentals,

and his distraction. If you're gonna be defended, you cannot

live this life alone. Why do we keep talking about

tribes and small groups and coming to church and don't

just run out of here when it's over. Is because

when nobody knows you, the enemy knows you best. Do

you hear what I just said. I can tell the

people the enemy knows real good because nobody else knows them.

And the enemy would love for you to stay in

that place. And I'm saying, we got to disrupt this

cycle because you're deliving. You're living in this idea of

double mindedness that somehow you can be delivered and healed

in isolation. The Bible says in James that people that

get healed you can be saved by Jesus. But when

you get healed, is you confess your sins one to another.

You don't need the pastor or the prophet, or the

apostle or the bishop to do that. You need to

turn to somebody on your road and said, I've been

dealing with this, this and this, and God says when

you pray about that, that's where healing comes. The double

minded nature would say, I need to talk to the

man of God. I don't have more power than what

God has given your husband, your wife, and your cousin,

do you hear what I'm saying to you. I know

everybody wants to be elevating. I'm just raggular that just obeyed.

That's it. And you have that same ability if you

would step out of double mindedness. A woman who helped

me form in my prayer journey. Her name was Mary,

and she told me at a young age, at about

fourteen years old, she said, Michael, she looked me square

in my face when I was mischievous, acting crazy, doing

all kinds of stuff. She said, Michael, because of the

call of God on your life, many can, but you cannot.

And y'all, if I had a billboard from my life,

I just literally can see that because of the call,

many can, but you cannot. As we stand here at

ten years a decade of leading this church, I realized

the only reason I made it is because there were

many times that others could. And I decided to take

my vote away, be disciplined, and remember that I was

surrounded by people that made me say I'm not gonna

do that. I'm not gonna say that, I'm not gonna

go there. I took away the power of this disease

to be double minded, do I have duality. Do sometimes

things come in my head or things come in my thought. Yes,

But every time the Bible tells us to take cactus,

you got to grab that thing and say that doesn't

line up with my destiny. No, that was a real thought.

But I'm not going that way. I'm not coming out

of the life. And as I think about a decade

of what God has done in this church, It's happened

because I decided. Today, I'm asking every person under the

sound of my voice to decide to come out of

to be delivered from the disease of double minded it's

your biggest distraction. Delilah was not Samson's biggest distraction. It

was double mindedness. It could have been Delilah. It could

have been Delora. It could have been a dolore In.

It could have been don Quisham. Do y'all know y'all

parents be naming you interesting names? Hear what I'm saying.

The thing I've learned about Samson's life, it was gonna

happen anyway. It didn't have to be Delilah because the

pattern had already prophesied that He's gonna end up telling

somebody where his power was and can you imagine God's

goodness to hide his power in something regular like hair? See,

your power is not in this great thing that everybody's

gonna see. It's something that God has uniquely just put

there and it's just normal to you. But he played

with his power and it ended him up in destruction.

I wanted to say this quote as we end, as

I stand here grateful and as I believe that we're

about to embark on another decade together, I'm gonna say

it one more time. As we embark on another decade together,

say two things, all my og GCC people, come home.

There's a you. We need you. Your greatest days are

not behind you, Your greater days, greatest days are in

front of you. It's the first thing I want to say.

The second thing I want to say is look what

God did with our yes, because we decided. The reason

I'm saying this is because today I want it to

be a line drawn in the sand for every person

under the sound of my voice. No, no more double minded.

I'm not embracing both. Today I'm making decision that means

some of y'all gonna have to throw stuff away. That

means some of y'all gonna have to shut the door

to distriction. That means some of y'all gonna have to move.

I'm not even like I'm not even y'all. Will the

next time be the time that the consequence is outweigh

the convenience of what was happening. The team gave me

some stats about what our yes has done and today

I want to encourage you that if you say yes today,

a decade from now, you could you could potentially change

the world. When I said yes to God, I had

no idea what was going to come on the other side.

But these are just some stats they told me. They said,

since I took over the church and started pastoring this church,

I've preached over five hundred and twenty Sundays. Y'all. That's enough.

They told me that we have uploaded two thousand, two

hundred and thirty two sermons on YouTube. Now watch this now,

this is the one that took me out. They said.

Because of those twenty three twenty two hundred sermons, two

hundred and twenty million views have happened, eighty eight point

three million hours watched of sermons. Let me bring that

into context for you. The average human lifespan is six

hundred and ninety two thousand, four hundred and ninety six hours.

That's an average human's lifetime. Eighty eight point three million

views is the equivalent of one hundred and seven, one

hundred and twenty seven lifetimes. People have watched the Word

of God be proclaimed from this place enough for one

hundred and twenty seven lifetime. Get ready to shout with

me because of our generosity in the last ten years,

not since twenty six years, not since we've started the church,

but what we've been able to find in the last

ten years of resources we've given away to others. Y'all

ready for this number. Thirty four million, five hundred and

fourteen thousand, nine hundred and fourteen dollars given a way

to expand the kingdom and help his people. Y'all don't

know where to shout, but maybe this one will get you.

In the last ten years, we have seen thirty thousand,

two hundred and thirty eight baptisms at Transformation Church. This

is the power of our yes. When you leave double

mindedness and you say yes. Standing all over this building,

you could see people's lives transformed. How do we do

that at Transformation Church? In the last ten years we

have seen. Get ready to shout because the vision is

representing God to the loss and found for what transformation

we have seen one hundred and seventy three thousand, five

hundred six salvation. Come on, y'all, let's.

Just shot a shot a pray for that.

Paullylujah before you leave. Listen to what I'm saying. This

all came because we decided to stop being double minded.

Hands lifted all over this place. I want to pray

for two different types of people. If you know you're

double minded in an area of your life and you

want God to begin to deliver you, I want to

pray for you. Hands lifted right there, Father in the

name of Jesus, who I feel the presence of God

as a worship team comes. I thank you, Father God,

that right now you are allowing us to actually understand

and literally see the areas where we have been choosing

You and choosing our flesh. Today, Father God, we thank

you that we know we can't disciple our flesh. We

got to kill it. So, Father God, I thank you

that it'll never come under a subjection. Daily we have

to put that thing under in today. We need your help.

Some of us have been walking with these patterns for decades. God,

and today I thank you. It's the day of deliverance.

It's the day that we're coming into the light. Not

that everything changes today, but everything begins to change today. God,

I'm asking you to allow us to stop being in

the dark and the light, but let us walk fully

in to what God has called us to do. And Father,

for those who need to receive you, I thank you, Father,

God that your spirit is right here if you're watching

online or in this room, because there is a spirit

of surrender in this room. If you're in this room

and you want to accept Jesus as your personal Lord

and savior today, I just on the counter. Three, I

want you to slip your hand up in the air.

This changes everything. This is you deciding I'm no longer

gonna be double minded. I'm not gonna live for the world,

and I'm gonna give God my life. One. You're making

the greatest decision of your life. Two people are praying

for you, and your name is about to be written

in the Lamb's Book of Life. I see you. Three,

shoot your hand up all over this building. I see it.

I see you, I see it. I see you. Come on.

I see you, my brothers, I see you more than

I see you God see. Come on, Transformation Church. This

is what we believe. Come on. The numbers are going up. Hey, CC.

Heaven is gonna be populated because of our yes, and

today we add to that number. Everybody, just say this

prayer with me. Say God, thank you for sending Jesus

just for me. Today. I come out of darkness, I

come out of double mindedness, and I turn to you.

I focus on you. I believe you lived, you die,

and you rose again for every one of my sins.

Change me, renew me, transform me. I'm yours in Jesus' name.

Hey man, Hey, can we celebrate with everybody? Oh, come on, y'all,

let's celebrate. Hey listen, if you just made that decision,

I want you to to hit the QR court or

tech saved to eight two eight two eight two. I

was so passionate about delivering this message. I forgot to

do one of the most exciting things. And to tell y'all,

in the midst of all of our generosity of giving

away thirty four zero point five million dollars, which is

crazy to even say, we also have been extremely good

stewarts over the resources that have come into this house.

And so because of that, God's blessed us with five

properties in this city that are unparalleled. And the team

told me this past week because of the faithfulness and

generosity of Transforming Nation and how the Bible says, oh,

no man anything except to love them, we paid this

building off in five months when we got here, okay,

and then and then we bought some other things, and

God was telling us like, hey, I want you to

believe me in crazy fate that it would be paid

off soon, well less than five years later than when

we bought the Transformation Towers right off of seventy five.

It was built for one hundred and sixty eight million dollars.

I came to tell TC today that we have officially

paid off that entire loan and we are now debt

free in that building and it's a done. D Oh.

I feel the presence of God in this place. I

want you to know that God is faithful to his

word and he started it and he's gonna complete. As

somebody shot on the God, oh this is just up beginna.

Oh yep, I said, this is just beginna. And if

he's doing it, for this house. Oh, I need somebody

to begin to shout. I didn't think it was gonna

happen for fifteen years. It happened in five. I just

want you to know. I just want you to know.

He's in the business a blessing, and this is what

for all the properties we have, God has blessed us.

I'm gonna give you all a business tutorial. The internet

can't handle this, so we're gonna have to do a

closed family meeting for this. But for all of the

properties we own, what was supposed to take us thirty

five years to pay off? Y'all? Okay, rom I just

need somebody to shout with me what was supposed to

take us thirty five years to pay off? We are

down to the last fifth, fifteen million dollars. Hear me.

And if I explain to you what God has allowed

us to kingdom own, it's changing the trajectory of the

entire global church. But it's it's because we said yes.

It's because we decided yes. Thank you, Transformation Church. And

I promise you the next ten years, eyes have not seen,

ears have not heard. I need somebody with fact to

help me. Neither has it entered into the hearts of man.

What the Lord has already prepare for us, and you

believe it. Give God a shot of praise in this place.

We love you. If you need prayer, we want you

to come down. The worship team is gonna sing. Join

us for our party outside. Put post memories of what

God has done. I'm about to be out there meeting you,

loving on you. Thank you, Church. To God be the

glory for the things He has done. Go out and live.

I transform life.

You move mountains, you calls walls two fall with your

hard power.

You perform me. We calls and there is nothing that's

itpoceable understanding only because you me. You move mountains. Yeah,

you called wolves too fall with your old power, you

perform me. We call there is nothing. There is nothing, Yes, Lord,

that's in itmpast see and with saving comeo saying one

more time. You move mountains, You move mounts because lost

the falls with God with your transformation nation. I hope

you feel the spirit that is in this room in

your home, and honestly I know you do because there

is no distance in the spirit. I want to appreciate

you for being a part of what God's doing and

everybody who might have logged off, text them right now

and tell them to log back home, because I want

to pray a special blessing over you. People are out

there getting ministered to and prayed for, but I told

the team I want to come and pray specifically for you.

So right now, if you have a prayer request, I

want you to put it in the comments. The team

has them right here, and we're going to begin to pray.

I want you to know that your best days are

in front of you because God is the God who sustains.

And if there's anything in your life a distraction that

you have become comfortable with and embraced to, we are

gonna believe that that double minded nature of you is

going to be put to death today. I feel the

presence of God right there in your home, at your desk,

if you're in the gym, wherever you're at right now.

I serve a God who is a deliverer, ask the

children of Israel. He can deliver you out of anything.

And today I have some prayer request here, but I

want you to put them in the chat. I'm gonna

grab my phone and I'm gonna start praying through those things.

Let's believe God. Today, let's agree. I need your faith though,

I need us to pray together. Father. Right now we

pray for Cassandra in New York. Father, we pray for

strength in her body and strength for her mom's health.

Father God, right now her best friend is grieving, and

there may be several people out there grieving. Right now,

I pray for the grieving in the name of Jesus. Father,

I know that your word tells us that you weep

with us when we weep. So, Father, thank you for

the empathy that you have around us. But you tell

us also in your word, Father God, that we don't

have to grieve as ones that don't have hope, because

our hope is in Jesus. So today, thank you for

your healing virtue flowing to everybody who is struggling with

a loss, a loss of relationship, a loss of a job,

a loss of a season, a lost Father, God of Time.

Today I thank you you are the restorer Father, and

today Father, I thank you for Cassandra. I thank you

for any person that needs restoration. Father, we pray for

Andrea in New Jersey. Father, I thank you that where

there's been doubts, right now you would allow there to

be favor. I thank you for the favor for her, Father,

while she's moving. I thank you that you provide everything

that she needs. If you need a resource miracle, whether

that's financial resources or human resources, I want to pray

for you. Lift your hands right now there and believe

with me. Father, I thank you you are the God

of more than Enough. You are Gyro. Even as we

just celebrated, Father you paying off the debt through faithfulness.

I thank you Father that you are about to produce

ways for people to walk in another level of stewardship

that is going to Father God, eradicate debt and bring

them into a level of generosity to do all the

things they need to do and the things they want

to do. Father God, we declare and we believe, Father,

increase in the name of Jesus more than enough. We

pray for Christen who's in Indiana. Father Father, even as

she's getting really to celebrate her birthday next Sunday, I

thank you that her mind will be healed, her body

will be healed, and she will lean into God. I

thank you for everybody that's celebrating the birthday, Father, that

this will be a marker of the next season of

their life, that you're gonna do more, Father God, with

what's up ahead than what you did that was behind. God,

thank you for Jennifer in Alaska. Father, her dad needs

healing and favor with housing and Father, if the lilies

don't dress themselves and the birds don't worry about what

they're gonna eat. I thank you, Father God that you're

taking care of Jennifer's dad and every person. Father, for

anybody who has been worried about their housing, their living,

their help. I thank you, Father God that they will

just look at the birth of the aa that don't gather,

but you provide for them. Thank you, Father God for

providing for all your children. We pray for divine provision

in the name of Jesus. Speak that type that divine

provision in the name of Jesus. Even as we're going

come on, I'm looking at your prayer request right now, Father,

I thank you for every person's family. Thank you for

Chelsey and Blow and Amanda and Chloe. Come on, y'all,

keep them coming. We pray right now that a net

from Texas has stressed as she's walking through divorce. Thank

you Father that her heart will not be tainted. For

anybody that's walking through a relationship separation, Thank you that

their heart won't be tanged, that they will be able

to repure in their heart and actually forgive. Come on, y'all,

I need you to pray with me. I thank you,

Father God, that they're gonna walk in peace and joy unspeakable.

We pray right now, Father God for Jalen and Janet

and Araicu and Don and Tea Land and Sicily. And

we pray Father God for mental health, spiritual health, physical health.

We pray right now, Father that you are touching the

needs of every person. Father, even our Transformation Nation partner

from India. Father, thank you that they will be free

from death and financial breakthrough in their life. Praying for

every person that's looking for college and sponsorship. Father, for

every person who has been affected by the fires in

La Father God, even as the moment has passed, but

people need Father, God provision. I thank you for making

away as you have made away for us these past

ten years. God, I thank you that you are our foundation. Today. Father,

we trust you and we remove the double minded thinking

that has been keeping us on the road to disaster.

Today we make a decision. We will choose you Jesus.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus today, Father, we thank you,

and for every person that gave their life to Christ,

I thank you that today is a fresh start for them.

They will be everything you call to be and they

will make it through. We trust you, we believe you,

and we thank you in Jesus' name. We agree, we

expect ay man, somebody give God praise right there, Glory

to God. Hey, listen, if you're if you're still with me,

I just want to let you know I love it.

Today as we celebrate ten years, it's not me or

Passonatite or bishop or pastor Debby only it's we are

celebrating ten years. This is your church. I pray for you.

It is my job as a shepherd, even if you're

not in this physical building. I want to let you

know I think about you and pray for you all

the time. That's why we're doing this every Sunday. Tell

everybody when it logs off, don't go off, because your

pastor's coming to pray and speak specifically to you. I

love you. Turn up with me. I know you're not here,

but pop some not Champaan, but pop some wel chins,

huh pop some welch is get you like, celebrate re

post the next ten years. I promise you we're gonna

see God do so much more. Thank you for your love,

thank you for your prayers, thank you for your kind words.

Next Sunday, Week four of Depth to Distraction. I promise

you you're not gonna want to miss it. I love

you until next time. Go out and live a transformed life.

Happy anniversary, TC.

Thank you for joining us today. If you said that

prayer and accept it Jesus into your heart, it's the

best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate

with you, and we have some tools to help you

on your journey. Tech saved to A two eight two

eight two, and to find out more about TC text

connect to A two eight two eight two. Be sure

to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Thanks

for listening. Now, go out and live a transform life.