Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live
from the 3ABN worship center.
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Thriving Faith In Difficult
Times, with Jim Gilley.
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Have you ever gotten mad?
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I mean, really mad?
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And you know you're
not suppose to be mad?
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So you get mad at
yourself for being mad.
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And then you try to get unmad
and it doesn't seem to work.
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So you get mad at
yourself because you can't
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seem to get unmad.
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And then someone tells you,
"You know, Christians are not
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suppose to be mad."
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And it just makes you mad.
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Ever had an
experience like that?
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Well, this particular series is
going to deal with some of the
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bedrock issues
of Christian life.
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We're not going to
talk about some of the
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high theological themes.
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We're going to deal
with Christianity 101.
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What do you do when you get mad
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and you know you
shouldn't be mad?
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What do you do when
fear comes into your life
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and you know God hasn't
given you a spirit of fear?
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What do you do
when you're discouraged
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and you know that discouragement
is a tool of the devil
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and never comes from the Lord?
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And so, during this particular
series, we're going to deal with
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Christianity, and put
legs on our Christianity.
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How do you walk the
walk? How do you talk the talk?
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How do you live a life
that God has called us to live?
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I bid you good evening.
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My name is C.A. Murray and
it is my privilege and pleasure
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to welcome you to our
Anchors Of Truth series.
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This particular series is,
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Thriving Faith
In Difficult Times.
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And I believe you can
all agree with me that these
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are indeed difficult times.
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And if God's people are
going to make it through these
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difficult times, we are going to
need a vibrant, thriving faith.
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Tonight's particular
subject is something I like,
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Living Without
Fear In Fearful Times.
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Fearless living
in fearful times.
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Our speaker is the
president of this ministry,
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our pastor, our
friend, Jim Gilley.
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Now, Jim had a life
before he came to 3ABN.
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God has blessed him to
be a conference president,
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a division vice-president,
he's chaired a number of boards
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and committees for
the church over the years.
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And here's
something you may not know.
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Jim Gilley is one of the
most accomplished evangelists
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that the church has produced.
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He has done as many meetings as
the big names that we've heard.
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And God has blessed him with
many, many souls for his labor.
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So the man that stands before
you in the next few minutes
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is no novice in the pulpit.
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He is a preacher,
a teacher, a mentor,
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a trainer of preachers,
and one who loves the Lord.
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And we love Jim
Gilley very, very much.
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I do suspect that God
will use him in a mighty way
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this very night as he talks
to us about living fearless
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in fearful times.
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And I think you can agree with
me, these are fearful times.
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We don't know what
tomorrow holds, but praise God,
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we do know Who holds tomorrow.
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And Jim will tell us about
that this very, very night.
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I have to sort of
step out of the way.
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If he's like me, he's
chomping at the bit back there.
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For those of us who
are preachers, I see some
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preachers in front of
me, when it's time to go,
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you want the person in front
to just be quiet so you can
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get lose and get going.
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And we're going to do
that in just a moment.
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We've got a song coming
up, we're going to have prayer,
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and then the next voice you'll
hear will be that of Jim Gilley.
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Shall we pray.
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Father God, we do praise You
and thank You this very night
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for this opportunity to
serve You and to hear Your word.
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We thank You for the
power resident in the Word,
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the preached Word.
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And Father, we ask in the name
of Jesus that You will be with
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Jim Gilley; husband of one
wife, father of four children,
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grandfather of nine,
and pastor to us all.
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Dear Father, bless him
and bless us who listen
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that we may take one
more step along that road that
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leads to glory.
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And we thank You
in Jesus' name, amen.
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You just stand when all
your courage seems to fail.
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Stand, when it seems
that evil will prevail.
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Stand, for He shows us in detail
that His love will never fail
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and He'll stand with us.
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You just stand when you've
said all that you can say.
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Stand, and trust
the Lord to make a way.
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Stand, and live your
life from day to day.
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Trust God to make a way
and then walk through it.
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For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear.
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He's given us love and power,
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the courage to
resist the tempter's snare.
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Be ye not weary in doing
well, for only time will tell.
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The work He's begun in you
will help to see you through.
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You know God's word is true
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and everything He
promised, He will do.
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So having done all to
stand, you just stand.
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You just stand when you
feel no one's on your side.
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Stand, and defy the
urge to run and hide.
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Stand, though gloom
and darkness override.
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Trust God to turn the
tide and pull you through it.
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He'll do it, in
the name of Jesus.
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Stand, for He is
always there for you.
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Stand, and He will
lead you safely through.
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Stand, and though
you know not what to do,
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know that He's looking out
for you and He won't fail you.
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For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear.
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He's given us love and power,
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the courage to
resist the tempter's snare.
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Be ye not weary in doing
well, for only time will tell.
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The work He's begun in you
will help to see you through.
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You know God's word is true
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and everything He
promised, He will do.
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So having done all to
stand, you just stand.
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Plant your feet and stand.
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Amen.
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Praise the Lord.
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Thank you C.A.
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Beautiful song, wasn't it.
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It's good to be
with you tonight.
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I think some of
you had expected to see
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Walter Pearson
here this evening.
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And I had expected to see Walter
Pearson here this evening.
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But as many of you
know, Walter was attempting to
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make this kind
of a comeback time.
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And when we scheduled
it several months ago,
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he was quite sure that
he would feel well enough
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to be able to
come and be with us.
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But it just didn't happen.
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As most of you know, Walter
had, about three years ago,
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a very severe stroke.
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And then a little over a
year ago, he lost his wife.
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And the struggles
that he has been through.
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His wife had cancer,
had a very long illness,
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and she went to sleep in Jesus.
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And it has been a real
difficult time now for Walter
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in recovering,
physically to recovery.
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Now he's recovered to where he
can carry on a good conversation
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and so forth.
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But preaching is different.
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As some of you who
have preached know.
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Particularly when you
preach with the energy that
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Walter Pearson preaches with.
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He's already taking some
appointments, he told me.
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He's going out to some
smaller churches and preaching
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on the weekends.
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He told me he took one not too
long ago that was maybe a little
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bigger than he should
have taken, but he went.
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He said, "I'm not preaching
with the power and strength that
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I once had, but
the Lord is using it."
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And so we're looking
forward to his being with us.
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We've invited him to
come be a guest on one of the
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"Today" shows whenever he
can possibly get out this way.
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And also to come and do
a series just like this...
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Well not like this one,
but like a different series.
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I learned for sure on
Thursday of last week that
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he would not be here.
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And so we've been
praying real hard since then
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and pray that the Lord
will lead us and bless us
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in this series.
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Shall we bow our
heads for a word of prayer.
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Father in heaven, we thank
You tonight for Jesus Christ.
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We thank You for the
assurance of salvation in Him.
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We thank You Lord, that
even though we know there are
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difficult times ahead, in
fact, we are right in the middle
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of some of them, that You will
never leave us nor forsake us,
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that You will be with us.
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Father, help us as we
open the Word tonight, to bring
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assurance to people,
to bring faith to them,
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and faith that will help see
them through the difficult times
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that we will face
just before you come again.
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And Father, we pray that
You will come again soon.
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In Jesus' wonderful and
powerful and loving name, amen.
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I will never forget
this particular time when
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my son Jim and his
family came to Washington DC.
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They were visiting, and there
are a lot of interesting things
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to see in Washington.
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And my grandson, Jimmy,
was a little boy at that time.
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He's grown now until he's
the tallest one in our family.
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He's 6 feet 2 inches and
still growing, and he's only 14.
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So he's going to be
the tall one in our family,
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for a while anyway.
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We've got some
others coming along that may
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challenge him later.
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These
grandchildren are exciting.
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It was mentioned that
we've got nine, and we do.
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We're excited about
every single one of them.
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And their height
is not the only thing.
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I've told them over and
over again, the only height that
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really matters is between
here and here; the brain.
00:12:38.29\00:12:42.30
That is the part that matters.
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If that's tall, if
that's strong, if that's good,
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then the rest of the body
doesn't matter all that much.
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And I can't be pushing
height too much because
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I've shrunk an inch and a
half in the last few years.
00:12:55.42\00:12:58.29
So I don't make a
big deal out of that.
00:12:58.32\00:13:01.88
But Jimmy, he became
enamored with Abraham Lincoln.
00:13:01.91\00:13:07.09
He saw the Lincoln Monument.
00:13:07.69\00:13:10.04
Everywhere he went, he
saw things involving Lincoln
00:13:10.07\00:13:14.44
in the nation's capital.
00:13:14.47\00:13:16.58
And there was something
about Lincoln and the greatness
00:13:16.61\00:13:20.71
of Lincoln that
just got hold of him.
00:13:20.74\00:13:23.37
And he began to
really be a Lincoln fan.
00:13:24.10\00:13:26.59
And one of his favorite places,
of all things, was Ford Theatre
00:13:26.62\00:13:30.82
where Lincoln was assassinated.
00:13:31.35\00:13:33.55
That was something that just
really caught his attention.
00:13:33.58\00:13:37.37
And then across the street from
the Ford Theatre was the house
00:13:37.40\00:13:42.24
where President Lincoln died.
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They took him there, he lingered
for some hours before he died.
00:13:44.84\00:13:48.68
And there in that room,
they have left that room
00:13:48.98\00:13:52.53
exactly as it was.
00:13:52.56\00:13:54.86
And they had brought to that
place, the president's Bible.
00:13:55.47\00:14:00.18
And they put it by the
bed on the table there.
00:14:00.85\00:14:04.30
That was opened...
00:14:05.35\00:14:06.66
When they brought it, it
automatically sort of opened.
00:14:06.69\00:14:09.37
When they opened it up, it fell
open to Psalms the 34th chapter.
00:14:09.40\00:14:14.49
Psalms the 34th
chapter and verse 4.
00:14:15.69\00:14:19.51
And here's what it says.
00:14:20.43\00:14:21.80
"I sought the Lord and He
heard me, and delivered me
00:14:22.51\00:14:28.55
from all my fears."
00:14:28.58\00:14:33.13
We're living in a world
that's filled with fear.
00:14:33.42\00:14:36.34
Everywhere that we go,
we see reasons to be afraid.
00:14:36.84\00:14:41.54
When you turn on the news
and you look at some of the
00:14:41.57\00:14:44.62
economic forecasts that
we see in the world today,
00:14:44.63\00:14:49.20
it's something to make
you frightened, isn't it.
00:14:49.23\00:14:53.75
You know, Camille and I
held some meetings in Ukraine
00:14:54.25\00:14:56.92
when the former
Soviet Union, back before the
00:14:56.95\00:15:00.74
fall of communism.
00:15:00.75\00:15:02.14
But we began to see things
chipping away financially.
00:15:02.44\00:15:06.69
And we began to see the
absolute fright and terror
00:15:07.09\00:15:11.92
that came upon the
people when the checks no longer
00:15:11.93\00:15:15.93
came in the mail.
00:15:15.96\00:15:17.38
You remember, everybody
was paid by the government.
00:15:18.36\00:15:21.42
All of the workers
were paid by the government.
00:15:21.96\00:15:24.95
The pensioners, first, started
not receiving their pension.
00:15:24.98\00:15:28.76
And they could hardly survive.
00:15:29.52\00:15:31.78
They were as near starving
as you can actually see.
00:15:32.18\00:15:36.31
And they were doing everything
they could just to get enough
00:15:36.32\00:15:39.28
to put food on the table.
00:15:39.29\00:15:41.06
So many times, there
was a little food available,
00:15:41.52\00:15:45.17
but no one had
any money to buy it.
00:15:45.18\00:15:47.01
And every night, they
would invite us to come
00:15:47.45\00:15:50.30
to their homes to eat.
00:15:50.33\00:15:51.71
And bless their hearts, we
knew they had gathered food
00:15:51.74\00:15:56.71
from every friend and
neighbor they could to put those
00:15:56.74\00:16:00.03
dishes on the table.
00:16:00.06\00:16:01.30
They were great dishes.
00:16:01.33\00:16:03.07
We enjoyed them.
00:16:03.57\00:16:05.05
And every night as we
left, I would never have offered
00:16:05.75\00:16:10.52
them money because
their pride was so strong,
00:16:10.55\00:16:13.43
they wouldn't take it,
but I'd slip a $20 dollar bill
00:16:13.46\00:16:16.34
under my plate.
00:16:16.37\00:16:17.54
And a $20 dollar bill was
like about a two month salary.
00:16:17.55\00:16:20.88
So they could buy some
food, if they could find it,
00:16:20.91\00:16:24.74
they could buy it
with a $20 dollar bill.
00:16:24.77\00:16:26.74
But we saw the fear
that comes over people
00:16:26.75\00:16:29.51
when the economy collapses.
00:16:29.54\00:16:31.81
My friend, you know
they're telling us that our
00:16:32.51\00:16:34.52
economy could collapse.
00:16:34.53\00:16:36.05
And we're not
hearing this from preachers,
00:16:36.08\00:16:38.23
we're not hearing this
from people that don't know.
00:16:38.26\00:16:40.87
We're hearing it from those
who are experts in the field.
00:16:40.90\00:16:46.79
We see all the
things that are happening.
00:16:47.47\00:16:49.07
We see the Soviet
Union did collapse,
00:16:49.10\00:16:51.48
it completely collapsed.
00:16:51.51\00:16:52.69
And by the way, one of the
things that caused the collapse
00:16:52.72\00:16:55.44
was their
involvement in Afghanistan.
00:16:55.45\00:16:58.15
It did.
00:16:59.43\00:17:00.43
It absolutely bled them.
00:17:00.83\00:17:03.42
And we, as a nation,
are involved in Afghanistan.
00:17:04.22\00:17:08.28
And we know that
the minute we pull out,
00:17:08.31\00:17:11.39
either the Taliban or
Al Qaeda, one or the other,
00:17:12.44\00:17:15.19
is going to take over.
00:17:15.20\00:17:16.77
We're in a "no win" situation.
00:17:17.27\00:17:20.29
You can't win if you stay,
you can't win if you leave.
00:17:20.32\00:17:25.18
It's a no win.
00:17:26.27\00:17:27.80
And we've got so many of
these situations that are just
00:17:28.30\00:17:31.65
not simple to
find a solution to.
00:17:31.68\00:17:36.83
You know, when the
candidate's are running,
00:17:37.38\00:17:39.39
they all have the solutions.
00:17:39.42\00:17:40.74
Even our dear president had all
solutions when he was running.
00:17:41.47\00:17:44.86
And now he realizes, as he
says, that some things were,
00:17:44.89\00:17:50.04
what was he saying, "not dirt
ready," or "not shovel ready."
00:17:50.05\00:17:53.01
In other words, it's not
as easy as you might think
00:17:53.77\00:17:57.99
when you're standing on
the outside and you're saying,
00:17:58.02\00:18:01.63
"Well, if we just did
this and this and this."
00:18:01.64\00:18:04.64
Some of these things
just seem to defy a solution.
00:18:05.01\00:18:09.73
And this brings about a fear;
a fear that grips our people.
00:18:10.41\00:18:15.26
And there are
other fears that come.
00:18:15.29\00:18:17.13
But right now, we have
almost a collective fear
00:18:17.16\00:18:20.54
because of the world in
which we live and the challenges
00:18:21.04\00:18:26.15
that we face.
00:18:26.18\00:18:28.05
But you know, the Bible
tells us that God does not
00:18:28.35\00:18:31.44
want us to have
that kind of fear.
00:18:31.45\00:18:33.62
Luke the 21st chapter verse 26,
He talks about the last days.
00:18:33.63\00:18:37.21
He talks about this
being the condition.
00:18:37.24\00:18:40.38
He said, "Men's hearts
failing them from fear and the
00:18:40.41\00:18:44.26
expectation of those things
which are coming on the earth,
00:18:44.29\00:18:48.92
for the powers of the
heavens will be shaken."
00:18:48.95\00:18:53.36
And we see so
many different things.
00:18:54.05\00:18:56.35
The tsunami's that have
taken place, the earthquakes.
00:18:56.38\00:18:59.57
We found out now, the Japanese
are coming out and letting us
00:18:59.60\00:19:03.15
know that there was a lot
of radiation that was coming
00:19:03.18\00:19:07.94
out of that plant.
00:19:07.97\00:19:09.42
There was
contamination far beyond
00:19:09.45\00:19:13.37
what was told at the time.
00:19:13.40\00:19:17.20
And so we see all of
these different things
00:19:17.70\00:19:21.10
that bring fear
to the hearts of man.
00:19:21.70\00:19:26.33
And God says in 2
Timothy the 1st chapter verse 7,
00:19:26.36\00:19:31.69
"For God has not
given us a spirit of fear,
00:19:31.72\00:19:36.53
but of power and of
love and of a sound mind."
00:19:36.54\00:19:43.79
God does not want us to
fear, even in fearful times.
00:19:44.09\00:19:48.37
He does not want us
to be paralyzed by fear.
00:19:49.15\00:19:54.07
Somebody has said that there are
365 promises in the scripture
00:19:54.57\00:19:59.05
that are
involved with "fear not."
00:19:59.08\00:20:00.98
In other words, "fear
not" or "you should not fear"
00:20:01.01\00:20:04.80
or "have no fear", and
different phrases that are used.
00:20:04.83\00:20:08.54
365, one for every
single day of the year,
00:20:08.57\00:20:14.75
a promise that
we are not to fear,
00:20:15.48\00:20:19.40
and that God is always with us.
00:20:19.94\00:20:23.50
I believe with all my
heart that God honors faith.
00:20:23.90\00:20:26.65
The Bible says it.
00:20:26.68\00:20:27.74
I had a very good friend, a
man by the name of Ben Leach,
00:20:27.77\00:20:30.87
who was a pastor and a church
leader for many, many years.
00:20:30.88\00:20:34.68
And his motto in the magazine
when he wrote an article,
00:20:34.71\00:20:37.99
always was, "God honors faith."
00:20:38.02\00:20:41.07
One of his friends
came back one time and said,
00:20:41.48\00:20:44.14
"Yes, and faith honors God."
00:20:44.17\00:20:46.90
And Ben said,
that is likewise true.
00:20:46.93\00:20:50.09
God honors faith,
00:20:50.12\00:20:51.71
and faith honors God.
00:20:52.22\00:20:54.32
Hebrews the
11th chapter verse 6,
00:20:54.35\00:20:56.28
"But without faith, it
is impossible to please Him,
00:20:56.31\00:21:00.21
for he who comes to God
must believe that He is,
00:21:00.92\00:21:05.76
and that He is a rewarder of
those who diligently seek Him."
00:21:05.79\00:21:12.07
You want to please God?
00:21:13.61\00:21:15.38
Believe in Him,
00:21:16.08\00:21:17.08
trust in Him,
00:21:17.82\00:21:18.84
have faith in Him.
00:21:19.24\00:21:20.36
You know, sometimes we think,
"If I can just do something,
00:21:20.76\00:21:24.00
I will please God."
00:21:24.03\00:21:25.34
But let me tell
you what you can do.
00:21:25.37\00:21:27.38
You can trust Him.
00:21:27.41\00:21:28.82
You can believe in Him.
00:21:29.12\00:21:30.78
When He says in His Word
that He created the earth;
00:21:30.81\00:21:33.58
accept it, believe it, trust it.
00:21:33.61\00:21:36.65
And God says, that is the
way that we can please Him.
00:21:37.16\00:21:43.63
You know, fear draws
trouble just like a magnet.
00:21:43.66\00:21:49.48
It does.
00:21:50.38\00:21:51.44
It's amazing.
00:21:51.74\00:21:53.22
You remember that Job,
all the different things
00:21:53.53\00:21:56.75
that came to Job and all the
troubles that happened to him.
00:21:56.78\00:22:00.02
Now in Job the 3rd
chapter verse 25, he says,
00:22:00.05\00:22:04.84
"For the thing I
greatly feared has come upon me,
00:22:04.85\00:22:09.27
and what I dreaded
has happened to me."
00:22:09.30\00:22:13.17
He had dreaded these things.
00:22:14.14\00:22:15.65
Now we know the
rest of the story,
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.43
as Paul Harvey use to say.
00:22:17.46\00:22:18.96
And we do know that
God and Satan had a bit of
00:22:18.99\00:22:22.73
a contest going on.
00:22:22.76\00:22:24.09
God really believed in Job.
00:22:24.10\00:22:26.00
And He said, "I believe
that no matter what happens,
00:22:26.77\00:22:31.55
Job will still believe in Me."
00:22:31.58\00:22:33.29
Satan said, "Yea, but You've
got a hedge built around him."
00:22:33.32\00:22:36.37
"You have a hedge
built around him."
00:22:36.88\00:22:38.84
God said, "If I take
that protection away,
00:22:39.34\00:22:41.78
he'll still believe in Me."
00:22:41.81\00:22:44.20
He had that kind of faith.
00:22:44.61\00:22:46.17
Can He say that about you?
00:22:46.77\00:22:49.20
Can He say it?
00:22:50.24\00:22:51.42
Can He say, "If I take
My hedge away from you, Hal,
00:22:51.99\00:22:57.73
if I take it
away, J.D., Greg, Jill,
00:22:57.76\00:23:01.54
if I take My hedge away,
will you still believe in Me?
00:23:01.57\00:23:06.96
No matter what?"
00:23:06.99\00:23:08.21
I had a good friend,
his name was Phil Huber.
00:23:08.55\00:23:10.94
Young evangelist, 43 years old.
00:23:11.81\00:23:15.74
I was with him when we
saw something on his head.
00:23:16.25\00:23:19.59
And I said,
"Let's go to the doctor."
00:23:19.62\00:23:21.39
He said, "I don't
think it's anything serious."
00:23:21.42\00:23:23.77
I said, "Let's
go to the doctor."
00:23:23.80\00:23:24.80
It was melanoma.
00:23:24.90\00:23:26.02
A few years later,
00:23:26.91\00:23:28.10
he was dead.
00:23:29.08\00:23:30.28
Before he died, he was so sick.
00:23:31.24\00:23:34.69
So sick.
00:23:34.72\00:23:35.90
I remember one night,
I came in from a trip.
00:23:35.93\00:23:37.68
I'd been gone for quite a while.
00:23:37.71\00:23:39.56
And when I got
home, Camille said,
00:23:39.59\00:23:41.57
"Oh, you need to
go to the hospital.
00:23:41.60\00:23:42.83
I said, "I'm so tired."
00:23:42.86\00:23:44.02
She said, "Phil, Phil is just
so depressed that he won't eat.
00:23:44.05\00:23:47.95
He hasn't eaten in days.
00:23:47.98\00:23:49.03
He's in the hospital
and he won't eat anything."
00:23:49.06\00:23:51.39
Now let me tell you,
I've been in a hospital
00:23:52.15\00:23:53.67
and it's pretty easy
not to eat in a hospital.
00:23:53.70\00:23:57.12
So I went to that hospital and I
said, "Phil, you've got to eat."
00:23:58.13\00:24:02.16
He said, "I don't
want to eat anymore.
00:24:02.19\00:24:03.52
I don't care
anything about it at all."
00:24:03.55\00:24:05.42
I said, "Phil."
00:24:05.45\00:24:06.98
He said, "Jim, I
can't eat anything."
00:24:07.01\00:24:10.07
I said, "Think a
little bit about it."
00:24:10.10\00:24:12.04
I knew a certain sub
sandwich that he liked.
00:24:12.07\00:24:16.36
And I began to describe it.
00:24:17.61\00:24:19.48
Because he'd put
all these peppers on it,
00:24:19.49\00:24:21.66
and all these things.
00:24:21.67\00:24:23.00
Onions, and all these
things that I would never touch.
00:24:23.03\00:24:25.62
They were unclean as
far as I was concerned.
00:24:27.05\00:24:29.37
But he put all of
that stuff on his sub.
00:24:29.40\00:24:32.67
And he said, "You know, I
believe if I had one of those,
00:24:33.07\00:24:37.31
I could eat something."
00:24:37.34\00:24:38.88
I said, "I'll be back."
00:24:38.91\00:24:40.00
I went and got in the car.
00:24:40.03\00:24:41.34
It was around midnight.
00:24:41.37\00:24:42.79
I went and found a
sub place that was open,
00:24:42.82\00:24:45.64
got them to make that sub
exactly the way he liked it,
00:24:45.67\00:24:49.92
and I took it back to Phil.
00:24:49.95\00:24:51.99
Took it back to him.
00:24:52.61\00:24:53.93
He sat in his room
and I sat there with him
00:24:53.96\00:24:56.19
and watched him eat every bite.
00:24:56.22\00:24:58.18
And he enjoyed every bite.
00:24:59.66\00:25:01.87
And over and
over, he would say...
00:25:03.13\00:25:05.21
Because his faith was tested.
00:25:05.50\00:25:07.14
When you're so sick like that,
your faith is always tested.
00:25:07.17\00:25:10.83
But over and over,
he would quote Job.
00:25:10.86\00:25:13.56
He would say, "Though He
slay me, yet will I trust Him."
00:25:13.59\00:25:18.07
And he died trusting Him.
00:25:18.47\00:25:21.47
And on his
tombstone are those words;
00:25:21.50\00:25:24.24
"Though He slay me,
yet will I trust Him."
00:25:24.27\00:25:29.83
Job trusted.
00:25:29.84\00:25:31.17
But the Bible says he
also feared these things.
00:25:31.20\00:25:34.79
And because of the
things that he feared...
00:25:34.82\00:25:37.12
You see, I'm not saying that's
the reason they came on him.
00:25:37.15\00:25:39.92
We know the
reason they came on him.
00:25:40.49\00:25:42.03
But I believe those are
the things that the devil knew
00:25:42.06\00:25:46.70
would be the test to him.
00:25:46.73\00:25:48.09
Because he feared those things.
00:25:48.72\00:25:50.54
The loss of his cattle,
the loss of his children,
00:25:50.57\00:25:54.27
the loss of
everything that he had.
00:25:54.30\00:25:57.21
And he feared losing that.
00:25:58.13\00:25:59.79
I don't understand this,
but he didn't lose his wife.
00:25:59.82\00:26:02.48
And he didn't
evidently fear losing her.
00:26:03.69\00:26:06.23
Bless her heart, she told him
to curse God and die, you know.
00:26:07.53\00:26:10.43
I shouldn't have
gotten down that path.
00:26:12.29\00:26:15.12
I'll leave that
alone and move on.
00:26:15.15\00:26:18.58
But you know, how we
think does greatly influence
00:26:19.13\00:26:24.16
our whole being; our
health, and everything else.
00:26:24.19\00:26:29.32
It does.
00:26:30.23\00:26:31.39
The Bible tells us this.
00:26:31.42\00:26:32.64
I'm not talking about some
weird idea of positive thinking
00:26:32.67\00:26:38.37
or something like that.
00:26:38.40\00:26:39.43
I'm not talking about that.
00:26:39.46\00:26:40.72
You see, the devil will
take something that is good
00:26:40.73\00:26:43.84
and then he'll try to
run it to the extreme.
00:26:43.85\00:26:46.26
He takes faith in Jesus Christ,
faith in God, and then he
00:26:46.29\00:26:51.45
tries to make it sound like that
it's just faith in faith itself,
00:26:51.46\00:26:54.76
is what it is.
00:26:54.79\00:26:55.80
So the world grabs hold of
the concept and tried to make
00:26:55.83\00:26:59.88
something out of it
that it really isn't.
00:26:59.89\00:27:02.00
As a result, though, believers
see that and they retaliate
00:27:02.03\00:27:06.54
the other way.
00:27:06.57\00:27:07.57
They go the other way,
they respond the other way.
00:27:07.60\00:27:10.52
And so we get to the place
where we don't have that faith,
00:27:10.55\00:27:13.45
we don't practice these promises
that God has given to us.
00:27:13.48\00:27:18.48
I tell you, Glenn Coon was
one of the greatest preachers
00:27:18.72\00:27:21.35
that has ever
been in this church.
00:27:21.36\00:27:23.70
And he did it...
00:27:24.10\00:27:25.91
And those of you that
ever heard him preach,
00:27:25.94\00:27:28.49
you know what I'm talking about.
00:27:28.52\00:27:29.54
And some of you that
are watching by television
00:27:29.57\00:27:31.77
and listening by radio,
you remember Glenn Coon.
00:27:31.80\00:27:35.57
And the positive messages that
he brought out from Scripture.
00:27:35.60\00:27:41.48
He was a man that
had given up on ministry.
00:27:41.51\00:27:44.08
He was dying of
cancer, he was a sick man.
00:27:44.11\00:27:47.24
And then he found these
promises and he began to
00:27:47.27\00:27:50.04
claim these promises.
00:27:50.07\00:27:51.21
And he had many, many years
of ministry left after that.
00:27:51.24\00:27:55.59
More than he had before.
00:27:55.62\00:27:57.23
And his whole life was
restored, and his health.
00:27:57.26\00:28:01.08
And he helped so many
people, claiming these promises.
00:28:01.11\00:28:04.41
And Galatians the 6th chapter
tells us that how we think,
00:28:04.64\00:28:09.40
what we do,
makes a big difference.
00:28:09.43\00:28:11.77
It says in verse 7, "Do not
be deceived, God is not mocked;
00:28:11.80\00:28:15.26
for whatever a man
sows, that he will also reap."
00:28:15.27\00:28:21.26
So if you're sowing
good thoughts, you will reap
00:28:21.29\00:28:24.18
that which is good.
00:28:24.21\00:28:25.30
You're sowing faith in
God, you're going to reap that.
00:28:25.33\00:28:28.56
If you're sowing doubt
and you're sowing fear,
00:28:28.59\00:28:31.49
you're going to
reap that as well.
00:28:31.52\00:28:33.30
It's the sowing and reaping
principle that is so strong
00:28:33.33\00:28:37.96
throughout scripture.
00:28:37.99\00:28:39.02
And then the Bible says
in Proverbs the 23rd chapter
00:28:39.05\00:28:42.17
and verse 7, "For as a
man thinks in his heart,"
00:28:42.18\00:28:45.84
as he thinks in his
heart, "so is he," so is he.
00:28:45.87\00:28:51.19
In his heart...
his heart. In his mind.
00:28:51.69\00:28:57.16
That is so important to
our Lord and to our God.
00:28:57.72\00:29:02.60
"For God has not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power
00:29:02.63\00:29:07.63
and of love and
of a sound mind."
00:29:07.66\00:29:13.52
Now somebody says, "But
Jim, there has to be some
00:29:13.55\00:29:16.05
positive things
about being afraid."
00:29:16.08\00:29:18.49
Yea, there are.
00:29:18.85\00:29:20.16
Let me tell you, one
thing is the Bible says that
00:29:20.66\00:29:23.05
the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom.
00:29:23.08\00:29:26.91
And it is.
00:29:27.70\00:29:28.72
If you're going to be
afraid of something, Jesus said,
00:29:29.22\00:29:31.70
if you're going to be afraid
of something, don't be afraid
00:29:31.73\00:29:33.50
of these guys.
00:29:33.53\00:29:34.59
If you're motivated by fear,
then He said, then you better
00:29:34.62\00:29:39.79
fear the One that can kill not
only the body but kill the soul
00:29:39.82\00:29:42.96
and take care
of the whole thing.
00:29:42.99\00:29:44.62
Don't be afraid of these people
who can just kill the body.
00:29:44.63\00:29:47.20
If you're afraid
of them, forget it.
00:29:47.23\00:29:49.70
But be afraid of that One.
00:29:50.09\00:29:52.61
Yes.
00:29:52.64\00:29:53.65
He says, that is
healthy fear; to reverence God.
00:29:53.68\00:29:58.71
But you see, that kind of
fear is something that brings
00:29:58.74\00:30:02.82
about a peace and a faith
when you put all of your fear,
00:30:02.85\00:30:09.63
all of your trust, all of
your emotions towards God.
00:30:09.66\00:30:14.40
Then you don't have to be
worried about all the other
00:30:14.80\00:30:18.10
things that come.
00:30:18.13\00:30:19.22
Angelo Patri, who was an
educator, made a statement.
00:30:19.25\00:30:22.65
He said, "Education consists of
being afraid at the right time."
00:30:22.66\00:30:28.57
Now there's a time to be afraid.
00:30:29.19\00:30:31.13
I see Brother Pete out
there. He's an electrician.
00:30:31.77\00:30:34.32
If somebody reaches out to
grab 220, they better be afraid.
00:30:34.72\00:30:38.40
Because they're
going to be paying a price
00:30:38.94\00:30:41.52
if they grab hold.
00:30:41.55\00:30:42.93
Will you teach a
child, "Don't stick your
00:30:42.96\00:30:44.90
fingers in that socket.
00:30:44.93\00:30:47.44
Don't stick your
fingers in there."
00:30:47.47\00:30:49.27
Usually if they do, you
don't have to tell them again
00:30:49.67\00:30:53.14
if they've got
anything up here at all.
00:30:53.17\00:30:55.55
But it's advisable to
tell a child, "Don't do that."
00:30:55.58\00:31:00.70
There's a time to be afraid.
00:31:01.10\00:31:04.31
Now there are 26 basic fears.
00:31:04.34\00:31:06.80
I'm not going to get into the
psychology of all this stuff.
00:31:06.83\00:31:09.43
I'm talking about the Bible
tonight, and dealing with fear
00:31:09.46\00:31:12.74
as far as the
Bible is concerned.
00:31:12.77\00:31:14.37
If you get into psychology
of this, 26 basic fears
00:31:14.40\00:31:17.80
that go all the
way from agoraphobia,
00:31:17.83\00:31:21.43
which is the fear of crowds,
00:31:21.44\00:31:23.30
down to zoophobia,
which is the fear of animals.
00:31:24.08\00:31:27.91
And a lot of other
phobias in between.
00:31:28.37\00:31:31.18
There are a lot of
people that have different
00:31:32.19\00:31:36.47
phobias and fears today.
00:31:36.50\00:31:38.37
John Madden, some of you
have heard of him when he
00:31:38.40\00:31:41.69
was a football coach.
00:31:41.72\00:31:43.01
He developed a fear in 1979.
00:31:43.41\00:31:46.21
He'd always been a
little nervous about flying,
00:31:46.22\00:31:48.82
but all of a sudden, on a
flight in 1979 to New Orleans,
00:31:48.83\00:31:53.08
he just came apart.
00:31:53.11\00:31:55.05
And he could not
get back on a plane.
00:31:55.08\00:31:58.00
So he began to ride a bus.
00:31:58.84\00:32:00.32
He resigned as a football coach.
00:32:00.35\00:32:02.68
Later, this turned out
to be providential, almost,
00:32:02.71\00:32:06.08
if you want to use that
term for him, because he became
00:32:06.11\00:32:09.16
an announcer and
was far more successful
00:32:09.19\00:32:11.61
as an announcer than
he had been as a coach.
00:32:11.64\00:32:14.80
And he made a living out
of that; of being afraid.
00:32:14.83\00:32:18.87
He made a big deal
out of his bus tour.
00:32:18.90\00:32:20.77
I read a book one
time, on vacation somebody
00:32:20.80\00:32:23.65
gave me a book.
00:32:23.68\00:32:24.70
Actually, I think I picked
it up for 99 cents somewhere.
00:32:25.14\00:32:28.31
It was a full book, but it
was, you know, way past time.
00:32:28.34\00:32:32.49
And it looked interesting.
00:32:32.52\00:32:33.99
It was his travels
around the country in a bus.
00:32:34.02\00:32:37.53
And he travelled around
wherever he was going to
00:32:37.93\00:32:40.10
do the announcing, and so forth.
00:32:40.13\00:32:41.69
And all the
different things he had seen.
00:32:41.72\00:32:43.01
And so, it was
an interesting book.
00:32:43.04\00:32:44.99
I read it in a few minutes
because it doesn't take me
00:32:45.39\00:32:47.95
long to read a book like that.
00:32:47.98\00:32:49.33
But I know that
there are people with fears
00:32:49.63\00:32:56.58
that they shouldn't have.
00:32:56.98\00:32:58.92
Now there's a time to be
afraid when you're flying.
00:32:58.95\00:33:01.37
Camille and I, one time, were
flying out to Seattle Washington
00:33:01.97\00:33:05.30
and we were on
American Airlines.
00:33:05.33\00:33:07.50
And we were just almost
over Boise Idaho, and I was
00:33:07.53\00:33:11.26
getting ready to
use the cell phone,
00:33:11.29\00:33:13.34
it wasn't illegal at
that time on a plane,
00:33:13.37\00:33:15.99
to call a friend of mine
in Boise to tell him that
00:33:16.87\00:33:22.05
we were flying over.
00:33:22.08\00:33:23.78
And I don't know what
that would mean to him,
00:33:23.81\00:33:26.72
but I was going to tell him.
00:33:26.75\00:33:28.47
Anyway...
00:33:32.37\00:33:33.43
All of a sudden, the
plane went into a nose dive.
00:33:36.28\00:33:40.67
Now, the pilot...
00:33:41.92\00:33:43.69
The co-pilot was flying
the plane, the pilot was
00:33:44.32\00:33:47.19
in the restroom.
00:33:47.22\00:33:48.89
He came out of the
restroom not even fully clothed.
00:33:50.54\00:33:55.51
I mean, he was
finishing clothing as he came
00:33:55.71\00:33:59.49
out of the restroom.
00:33:59.52\00:34:00.70
Headed into the cockpit.
00:34:01.54\00:34:03.47
Thank goodness they didn't have
them locked the way they do now.
00:34:03.97\00:34:06.63
And went into the cockpit.
00:34:07.68\00:34:10.02
And then he came on the
radio shortly and he said,
00:34:10.43\00:34:13.42
"Folks, we're making an
emergency landing in Boise."
00:34:13.45\00:34:16.77
What had happened was,
the windshield had come in
00:34:17.96\00:34:22.55
on the co-pilots side.
00:34:22.58\00:34:25.25
Now there are three layers
of windshield that are held
00:34:25.28\00:34:29.27
together with some type of a
plastic adhesive type material.
00:34:29.30\00:34:33.22
Two of those had broken.
00:34:33.25\00:34:35.04
The one was bent, almost broken.
00:34:35.07\00:34:37.38
Had the third one
broken, had it come on in,
00:34:37.39\00:34:39.87
they said they
would have lost the plane.
00:34:40.69\00:34:43.04
You lose the plane,
you lose the passengers.
00:34:43.44\00:34:46.24
You lose the
passengers, you lose us.
00:34:46.74\00:34:48.69
I mean, it wasn't hard to
figure out that this was a
00:34:48.72\00:34:51.67
very dangerous time.
00:34:51.70\00:34:53.35
When we landed
finally, we landed safely,
00:34:53.75\00:34:56.48
there were, we counted,
over 40 emergency vehicles
00:34:58.15\00:35:03.76
that were there.
00:35:03.79\00:35:05.25
It was a regular thing that they
do for an emergency landing.
00:35:05.28\00:35:08.70
And about 20, some
odd, on either side.
00:35:09.10\00:35:11.26
Ambulances, fire trucks,
other emergency vehicles.
00:35:11.76\00:35:17.01
And when we hit the
runway, they followed us all the
00:35:17.04\00:35:21.50
way up the runway
until we got to the terminal.
00:35:21.53\00:35:25.50
Now, the pilot came on
and he said, "You don't know
00:35:26.20\00:35:30.89
how happy I am to
be on the ground."
00:35:30.92\00:35:32.76
I did know how happy he was.
00:35:32.79\00:35:34.91
I was expressing that same
gratitude and thanking the Lord
00:35:36.98\00:35:40.96
that we were there.
00:35:40.99\00:35:42.21
He said, we were so
close, folks, so close,
00:35:42.24\00:35:46.20
that the plane would not
have been able to handle.
00:35:46.65\00:35:49.42
It would have
taken out the co-pilot.
00:35:49.45\00:35:52.01
The pilot, not even
being in the cockpit,
00:35:52.04\00:35:55.75
would never have
been able to open the door
00:35:55.78\00:35:57.39
had that happened.
00:35:57.42\00:35:59.38
And of course, we would've lost
pressure, gone down, whatever.
00:35:59.41\00:36:03.27
But it was a very serious thing.
00:36:03.37\00:36:05.29
Another time, I was on a
plane and I was flying out of
00:36:05.30\00:36:08.04
Akron Ohio into JFK,
00:36:08.05\00:36:10.56
and sitting back at
the back of the plane.
00:36:11.16\00:36:14.47
And I was sitting
near where some of the
00:36:14.50\00:36:17.14
flight attendants were sitting.
00:36:17.17\00:36:18.83
And all of a sudden,
this one flight attendant who,
00:36:18.86\00:36:22.39
kind of, everybody
knew was the supervisor
00:36:22.42\00:36:25.92
of flight attendants
for the whole airline.
00:36:25.95\00:36:28.16
And she was sitting there.
00:36:28.76\00:36:30.23
And all of a
sudden she cries out,
00:36:30.24\00:36:32.20
"Oh no, we're not
going to make it."
00:36:32.23\00:36:33.85
I mean, now this is
not a first time flier.
00:36:34.57\00:36:38.12
And my heart jumped up into my
throat, or somewhere in there.
00:36:39.15\00:36:44.04
And so the plane landed
and I turned around and I said,
00:36:44.34\00:36:51.06
"Have you lost your mind?
00:36:51.09\00:36:53.15
I can't believe
that you would say that."
00:36:53.18\00:36:56.20
And I was about
ready to report this lady.
00:36:56.64\00:36:58.85
She shouldn't be even
on a plane alarming...
00:36:58.88\00:37:01.85
...me, if nobody else,
00:37:02.74\00:37:04.46
alarming the folks on the plane.
00:37:04.97\00:37:07.25
And she said, "Stay by."
00:37:07.73\00:37:09.90
So I waited and the
cockpit door never opened.
00:37:10.20\00:37:14.27
All the passengers went by.
00:37:14.30\00:37:15.92
You know they usually open up
and say, "Have a good flight,"
00:37:15.95\00:37:17.93
and all that stuff.
00:37:17.96\00:37:18.96
The cockpit door
never opened until everybody
00:37:18.99\00:37:21.50
was off the plane.
00:37:21.51\00:37:22.63
And then the cockpit
opened and the captain came out,
00:37:23.54\00:37:27.55
and the whole crew
grabbed each other and cried.
00:37:28.48\00:37:31.63
And what had happened was
there had been a down draft
00:37:32.61\00:37:36.30
and this plane was coming in.
00:37:37.04\00:37:39.93
Another plane had this
happen a few years before there.
00:37:39.94\00:37:43.07
And it had hit a
down draft and it dropped.
00:37:43.10\00:37:46.31
And it just, there's wall, a
retaining wall there at JFK...
00:37:46.34\00:37:51.14
I hope they've
removed it by now.
00:37:51.17\00:37:52.88
But there was a retaining
wall there, and the wheels...
00:37:52.91\00:37:56.88
This lady knew what to look
for and when she did not see it,
00:37:56.91\00:38:00.64
she knew that they
were coming in too low.
00:38:00.67\00:38:03.24
The captain said, we only
missed that wall by inches.
00:38:04.17\00:38:10.55
Inches.
00:38:11.29\00:38:12.56
And they all hugged
each other because they knew
00:38:13.44\00:38:18.49
how dangerous it was.
00:38:19.09\00:38:20.39
Now see, all the passengers,
we got off all there and we were
00:38:20.42\00:38:23.43
just as happy as we could be.
00:38:23.46\00:38:24.74
I mean, I wasn't
because I stayed back and saw
00:38:24.77\00:38:26.61
what happened, but everybody
else was totally unaware
00:38:26.64\00:38:30.10
that anything
dangerous was going on.
00:38:30.13\00:38:32.71
They had the knowledge to
know that there was something
00:38:32.91\00:38:35.61
dangerous happening, you see.
00:38:35.62\00:38:37.18
And sometimes,
there's a time to have fear.
00:38:38.33\00:38:43.58
That's healthy fear.
00:38:43.61\00:38:44.79
And there is such a
thing as a healthy fear.
00:38:44.82\00:38:49.50
Normal fear,
though, becomes abnormal,
00:38:49.53\00:38:52.27
it becomes abnormal
when you cannot perform
00:38:52.67\00:38:56.01
a normal activity.
00:38:56.04\00:38:57.96
When you get to the place
where you cannot get on a plane,
00:38:58.83\00:39:02.35
now that has
become abnormal fear.
00:39:02.38\00:39:05.83
If you actually look at all
the stats, it's the safest way
00:39:05.86\00:39:08.33
there is to travel.
00:39:08.36\00:39:09.42
Even with automobiles, if
you get to the place where
00:39:10.13\00:39:12.58
you cannot get
into an automobile,
00:39:12.61\00:39:15.50
you can't get into it,
then that's abnormal fear.
00:39:15.53\00:39:19.65
And I don't know where Larry
is, he's back there somewhere.
00:39:20.44\00:39:23.63
There he is, but Larry,
when you get to the place
00:39:23.66\00:39:25.41
where you can't get on a horse,
that may be abnormal fear.
00:39:25.44\00:39:29.79
And I suspect that I'll
be getting back on a horse
00:39:30.98\00:39:33.98
one of these days, just so
that I don't have abnormal fear.
00:39:34.01\00:39:37.85
And you better
stay off those ladders.
00:39:37.88\00:39:39.79
Because Larry had
a similar experience.
00:39:39.82\00:39:42.30
We've had several
experiences around here
00:39:42.33\00:39:44.81
where individuals
have had some severe pain
00:39:44.82\00:39:49.69
because we have
made some decisions
00:39:49.72\00:39:52.70
that maybe weren't the best.
00:39:52.73\00:39:55.05
Now all these phobias, beyond
these there are a lot of others.
00:39:55.08\00:39:58.74
There's the fear of failure.
00:39:58.77\00:40:00.01
Now there's the fear of success.
00:40:00.04\00:40:02.38
I knew a man one
time that he was extremely
00:40:02.39\00:40:07.29
comfortable with failure.
00:40:07.32\00:40:09.31
But the minute he hit success,
he completely blew apart.
00:40:09.71\00:40:13.41
I mean, seriously.
00:40:14.38\00:40:15.78
He had a brand new car paid for,
00:40:15.79\00:40:17.95
he had just made a
whole lot of money,
00:40:17.98\00:40:19.81
and his life went
totally to pieces.
00:40:19.84\00:40:24.03
He could not handle it.
00:40:24.06\00:40:26.62
Financial fears.
00:40:26.90\00:40:28.51
I knew of a rich man, he
owned one of the sports teams
00:40:29.14\00:40:33.97
there in the Dallas area.
00:40:34.00\00:40:35.83
And this man had
inherited a lot of his money.
00:40:35.86\00:40:38.88
But he was constantly
afraid that he was going to lose
00:40:38.89\00:40:42.82
the money that he had inherited.
00:40:42.85\00:40:44.67
By the way,
before he died, he did.
00:40:45.18\00:40:47.32
And then we see all of the
fears with people that say,
00:40:47.82\00:40:50.89
"You know, what
about my retirement?"
00:40:50.90\00:40:52.99
It all started with
Enron and when Enron went down.
00:40:53.02\00:40:57.31
Then we have all the others,
AIG and all the other that
00:40:57.34\00:41:00.51
have run into severe
financial difficulties.
00:41:00.54\00:41:03.74
And people losing...
00:41:04.63\00:41:06.02
...losing
00:41:07.08\00:41:08.43
...their retirement.
00:41:09.03\00:41:10.46
And that has
brought about a lot of fear.
00:41:11.06\00:41:14.62
People not being able
to make it financially.
00:41:15.46\00:41:17.34
I read it the other day...
00:41:17.37\00:41:18.44
In fact, I didn't read
it, I watched it on the
00:41:18.47\00:41:20.14
financial on television,
where they said that 44%,
00:41:20.17\00:41:25.67
44% of all Americans
have had to take a pay cut
00:41:26.58\00:41:29.90
in the last three years.
00:41:29.93\00:41:31.27
44% of Americans
taking a pay cut.
00:41:31.67\00:41:37.45
So all of these
things bring about problems.
00:41:37.65\00:41:40.88
A friend of mine says, "Well,
if you've got plenty of money
00:41:40.91\00:41:43.48
then you don't have any fear."
00:41:43.51\00:41:46.42
That's not true.
Look at Howard Hughes.
00:41:47.53\00:41:49.64
He had plenty of money
and yet he had a micro phobia,
00:41:50.10\00:41:54.39
which is a fear of germs.
00:41:54.42\00:41:57.17
And it was so severe that he
kept himself in a capsuled room.
00:41:57.20\00:42:02.23
When people talked to
him, they'd talk to him
00:42:03.13\00:42:04.83
through glass.
00:42:04.86\00:42:06.17
He couldn't touch anybody.
00:42:06.97\00:42:08.52
As a result, he had a problem.
00:42:08.55\00:42:11.61
He had no immunity for
disease because he kept himself
00:42:12.01\00:42:16.02
away from germs.
00:42:16.05\00:42:17.08
So that when a germ did finally
get through, it killed him.
00:42:17.09\00:42:20.61
So you see, money won't
take care of everything.
00:42:21.05\00:42:25.51
There's the fear of rejection.
00:42:25.54\00:42:27.30
And there's the fear of death.
00:42:27.80\00:42:29.72
You see, the true understanding
of death that the Bible teaches
00:42:30.40\00:42:34.51
so clearly, if we understand it,
it should take away that fear.
00:42:34.54\00:42:42.05
There's the fear of water.
00:42:42.08\00:42:43.24
I was holding an
evangelistic meeting years ago
00:42:43.86\00:42:46.15
in Massachusetts and there was
a man coming to the meetings.
00:42:46.18\00:42:49.83
We just loved this guy.
00:42:49.86\00:42:51.44
He was just a wonderful old guy.
00:42:51.84\00:42:54.43
And he was a
widower and he lived alone.
00:42:54.83\00:42:57.99
And we noticed that he
was maybe not the cleanest guy
00:42:58.85\00:43:04.19
in the world, but there was
something about his personality,
00:43:04.22\00:43:07.11
you couldn't help
but like this man.
00:43:07.14\00:43:09.03
And when we went to
his home to visit with him,
00:43:09.06\00:43:11.38
we got inside, we were
talking to him about baptism,
00:43:11.78\00:43:15.73
he indicated that he wanted
to give his heart to Jesus,
00:43:15.76\00:43:18.83
never had done this
before, never been baptized.
00:43:18.86\00:43:21.87
And we said we'd like
for you to be baptized.
00:43:21.88\00:43:24.88
Well, he finally
told us why he could not.
00:43:24.89\00:43:28.46
Because he was afraid of water.
00:43:29.06\00:43:30.74
He said, "I'm so afraid of water
that I don't even drink water."
00:43:31.92\00:43:36.59
Now I know he didn't bathe.
00:43:37.70\00:43:39.30
I could tell that
without his telling me.
00:43:39.33\00:43:41.88
But not even drinking water?
00:43:42.17\00:43:45.65
I said, "What do you drink?"
00:43:46.05\00:43:47.35
He said, "I drink Pepsi."
00:43:48.14\00:43:49.85
I said, "And you're
not afraid of Pepsi?"
00:43:51.12\00:43:53.70
He said, "No."
00:43:54.19\00:43:55.37
Now I was only about
25 at the time, maybe 26,
00:43:55.40\00:43:58.59
but I was crazier
then than I am now.
00:43:58.62\00:44:02.27
And I said to him,
00:44:03.05\00:44:04.77
I said to him, "I'll
baptize you in Pepsi."
00:44:05.67\00:44:09.43
And the pastor looked at
me like, "This man is insane.
00:44:11.41\00:44:14.66
I don't even know if I
want to be here with him."
00:44:14.69\00:44:17.23
And when we got out to
the car, he said, "How are you
00:44:17.43\00:44:21.07
going to baptize him in Pepsi?"
00:44:21.10\00:44:23.07
I said, "I will go and buy
some of these big bottles of
00:44:23.10\00:44:29.18
Pepsi syrup, I'll put
it in the baptistery."
00:44:29.21\00:44:32.32
I said, "It won't be
carbonated, but it'll be Pepsi.
00:44:32.35\00:44:35.78
It may be a little flat,
but it should do for a baptism."
00:44:36.29\00:44:41.25
Well, he turned
us down even on that.
00:44:41.28\00:44:44.28
But you know, I had
talked to him and I told him
00:44:44.31\00:44:47.58
how serious things were.
00:44:47.61\00:44:49.87
I said, "Look..."
00:44:49.88\00:44:50.95
You know, I would never do
this today, but I did then.
00:44:51.43\00:44:54.65
I said, "One of these days,
people are going to come by
00:44:54.68\00:44:56.66
and they're going to
say, 'Where is that old guy?'"
00:44:56.69\00:44:58.24
I said, "They're going
to come in here and find you
00:44:59.13\00:45:00.77
dead on the floor.
00:45:00.80\00:45:01.90
And you will have not
made this decision for Jesus.
00:45:03.01\00:45:06.08
And you will not be
ready for the kingdom."
00:45:06.60\00:45:08.83
And he said, "Well, I'm
just too afraid to be baptized."
00:45:09.75\00:45:15.31
And so he wasn't.
00:45:16.01\00:45:17.67
One day, they missed him.
00:45:18.16\00:45:20.36
They came in and
found him on the floor.
00:45:20.39\00:45:22.57
But he was not dead.
00:45:23.54\00:45:25.02
He'd been lying
there for several days.
00:45:25.05\00:45:27.20
They got him to the
hospital and he recovered.
00:45:27.80\00:45:30.34
They put him in a
convalescent home.
00:45:30.37\00:45:32.29
Now when he got to
that convalescent home,
00:45:32.30\00:45:34.17
those nurses wouldn't
hear anything about this
00:45:34.20\00:45:35.91
"no water" stuff.
00:45:35.94\00:45:37.12
They baptized him several times.
00:45:38.18\00:45:40.69
And they made him get
in the hydrotherapy tubs
00:45:41.93\00:45:45.04
and they made him do all the
stuff that he was suppose to do.
00:45:45.07\00:45:48.54
And his personality came out.
00:45:48.57\00:45:51.46
They found out that
he could play the piano,
00:45:51.49\00:45:52.96
that he could sing.
00:45:52.97\00:45:53.97
This man had
been kind of a hermit.
00:45:54.00\00:45:55.60
And they found out that he
could sing and play the piano.
00:45:55.63\00:45:58.25
And it wasn't long after that,
that I came back to a church
00:45:58.26\00:46:02.76
not far from there.
00:46:02.79\00:46:03.95
And he made his
decision for Christ.
00:46:04.83\00:46:06.91
And he was baptized.
00:46:07.72\00:46:09.51
In water he was baptized.
00:46:10.14\00:46:12.31
And I will tell you something.
00:46:13.13\00:46:14.53
The Lord can help
people overcome these phobias
00:46:14.57\00:46:18.67
that they have.
00:46:18.70\00:46:19.98
He can help them
and He will help them.
00:46:20.01\00:46:22.27
Now somebody says, "How
do you develop these things?
00:46:22.30\00:46:24.82
How do they happen?"
00:46:24.85\00:46:25.96
They can be any kind of
an experience that might
00:46:26.46\00:46:28.95
bring about a phobia.
00:46:28.98\00:46:30.63
When I was a young boy,
we went down to the farm
00:46:30.66\00:46:34.37
where my Uncle Ike lived.
00:46:34.40\00:46:35.84
And my cousin Ikey was
a lot older than I was,
00:46:35.87\00:46:40.44
he was 6 or 7
years older than I was.
00:46:40.47\00:46:42.37
My brother John was
older, 6 years older.
00:46:42.40\00:46:45.08
And when I was about 5 or 6,
they decided that it was time
00:46:45.11\00:46:51.16
for me to learn to swim.
00:46:51.19\00:46:52.43
Now their idea for
swimming lessons was to find the
00:46:53.62\00:46:57.89
deepest hole in the creek they
could find, a swimming hole.
00:46:57.92\00:47:01.49
And we had one
that was pretty deep.
00:47:01.52\00:47:03.90
And they would throw you in.
00:47:03.93\00:47:05.77
And it was sink or swim.
00:47:06.17\00:47:08.46
And they said, "This
is how you learn to swim."
00:47:08.87\00:47:11.69
Well, just before we got
there, I saw a water moccasin
00:47:11.70\00:47:15.92
slip right down into the water.
00:47:15.95\00:47:17.97
Now I'm going to
tell you something.
00:47:20.11\00:47:21.40
I'm not saying I have a
phobia of snakes, but I have a
00:47:21.70\00:47:24.32
healthy respect for poisonous
snakes, I guarantee you.
00:47:24.35\00:47:28.10
And I'm not sure
that's not a healthy fear.
00:47:28.13\00:47:29.89
But I didn't want
to go in that water.
00:47:30.61\00:47:33.68
They said, "Oh, no."
00:47:34.08\00:47:35.19
And my cousin, Ikey, he was
a bastion of misinformation.
00:47:35.22\00:47:41.43
He knew more things that
weren't right than anybody
00:47:42.76\00:47:45.71
I've every run into.
00:47:45.74\00:47:46.74
And he said, "Water moccasins
cannot bite under the water."
00:47:47.83\00:47:52.01
I said, "Why can't
they? They live in water."
00:47:53.55\00:47:56.64
He said, "If they open
their mouth to bite you,
00:47:56.67\00:47:59.18
they'll drown."
00:47:59.19\00:48:00.39
That didn't sound right to me.
00:48:03.24\00:48:05.83
So I wasn't going to go in.
00:48:05.86\00:48:07.96
First, I was offered the
chance to just go in the water.
00:48:07.97\00:48:11.20
And I said, "I'm
going to decline."
00:48:11.23\00:48:13.68
They picked me up and
threw me into the water.
00:48:13.88\00:48:16.53
Now, I will tell you this.
00:48:17.53\00:48:19.91
That I had a fear of water
for quite a while after that.
00:48:20.54\00:48:23.97
I got out of there.
00:48:24.78\00:48:26.23
It's amazing, when you
think there's a water moccasin,
00:48:26.26\00:48:28.58
how you can move.
00:48:28.61\00:48:29.79
I would not have called it
swimming, but I did somehow
00:48:29.82\00:48:33.29
make it from the middle
of that creek to the shore.
00:48:33.32\00:48:36.61
And I made it, and I made
it in a rapid length of time.
00:48:36.64\00:48:41.39
But I tell you something,
it left me with a fear.
00:48:41.42\00:48:44.68
And you know, there is a
lot of fear that takes place.
00:48:45.19\00:48:49.33
You remember that storm out
there that's recorded in John 6
00:48:49.36\00:48:52.97
that was out in the
ocean, in the Sea of Galilee.
00:48:53.00\00:48:58.47
Not the ocean, but
the Sea of Galilee.
00:48:58.50\00:49:00.20
I wouldn't call it on ocean.
00:49:00.23\00:49:01.36
You remember that storm?
00:49:02.19\00:49:03.48
Those disciples were afraid.
00:49:04.44\00:49:06.33
Then they found,
when Jesus came awake,
00:49:07.13\00:49:10.45
that He stilled the waters.
00:49:11.29\00:49:13.32
If He's in the boat,
you don't have to be afraid.
00:49:13.35\00:49:18.53
So that is one way of trusting;
is knowing that Jesus is there.
00:49:18.83\00:49:28.07
Knowing that He is with
you, that He is in the boat.
00:49:28.47\00:49:32.68
Well let's look at some
steps on how to get rid of fear.
00:49:33.08\00:49:38.62
How to get rid
of unhealthy fears.
00:49:38.92\00:49:41.21
Step number one, you
need to identify your fears.
00:49:41.24\00:49:43.51
You need to know what they are.
00:49:44.18\00:49:45.37
1 Corinthians the 2nd
chapter verse 3, it says,
00:49:45.41\00:49:50.96
the apostle says, "I was
with you in weakness, in fear,
00:49:52.78\00:50:00.05
and in much trembling."
00:50:00.08\00:50:01.88
He knew that he had a fear.
00:50:02.49\00:50:04.43
And the Bible tells us that
there are fears, that we can
00:50:05.06\00:50:10.56
know what they are.
00:50:10.59\00:50:11.87
Hebrews the 2nd chapter verse
15 says, "And release those who,
00:50:12.85\00:50:16.44
through fear of death,
were all their lifetime
00:50:16.47\00:50:21.83
subject to bondage."
00:50:21.86\00:50:23.78
"Through fear of death."
00:50:23.81\00:50:26.38
So you've got to identify, make
a list of what those fears are.
00:50:26.41\00:50:30.03
Be truthful with yourself.
00:50:30.59\00:50:33.40
Number two, you need
to dissect each of them.
00:50:33.43\00:50:35.92
Find out, are these real
fears or are they imaginary.
00:50:35.94\00:50:39.90
You remember when the disciples
saw Jesus coming across
00:50:40.70\00:50:43.97
the water, He was
walking, in Matthew 14:26,
00:50:44.00\00:50:46.72
"When the disciples saw
Him walking on the water,
00:50:46.75\00:50:49.15
they were troubled,
saying, 'It is a ghost!'
00:50:49.18\00:50:51.72
And they cried out for fear."
00:50:51.75\00:50:53.46
Now that was an imagined fear.
00:50:53.49\00:50:55.86
It was not a ghost.
00:50:56.56\00:50:57.94
It was not.
00:50:59.50\00:51:00.63
And sometimes,
we do imagine fear.
00:51:01.13\00:51:04.85
I remember one time,
I was with some friends
00:51:04.88\00:51:07.32
and they said, "As soon as
it gets dark, we're going to go
00:51:07.35\00:51:11.92
steal some watermelons."
00:51:11.95\00:51:13.30
I said, "I don't steal."
00:51:13.60\00:51:15.00
They said, "Well, you
know, it's really not stealing."
00:51:15.59\00:51:18.56
They said, "The farmer knows,
and there's so many of those
00:51:19.13\00:51:21.54
melons that he's
not going to eat."
00:51:21.57\00:51:23.15
And they made it
sound very attractive.
00:51:23.18\00:51:26.20
And I didn't want
to be just left alone.
00:51:26.50\00:51:28.74
And finally, I got in
the car and I went with them.
00:51:28.77\00:51:32.01
But I thought to myself, I'm
not going to steal a watermelon.
00:51:32.79\00:51:35.94
I'm just going.
00:51:35.97\00:51:37.04
Got out of the car and went over
the fence, thumping watermelons.
00:51:38.01\00:51:47.07
Which I didn't know the
difference from one thump
00:51:47.08\00:51:49.71
than the other, but we
were thumping like we knew
00:51:49.74\00:51:52.43
what we were doing.
00:51:52.46\00:51:53.50
All of a sudden, this
farmer yells out at the top
00:51:53.80\00:51:58.98
of his voice, "Get out of here."
00:51:59.01\00:52:01.06
Then, "boom." A shotgun.
00:52:01.09\00:52:03.76
Now I'm going to
tell you something.
00:52:04.37\00:52:06.22
I'm fast when
somebody is shooting at me.
00:52:06.85\00:52:09.72
And I left there
and I went flying.
00:52:10.83\00:52:14.00
And when I got to
the barbed wired fence,
00:52:14.03\00:52:15.96
I did not, I couldn't...
00:52:15.99\00:52:17.75
I'm the world's tallest midget.
00:52:18.15\00:52:19.74
I've told people
that a number of times.
00:52:19.77\00:52:21.27
My legs are too
short to jump over a fence.
00:52:21.30\00:52:23.64
So I went through it.
00:52:24.04\00:52:25.45
The barbed wire caught my
pants and just shredded them.
00:52:26.93\00:52:31.27
I mean, just ripped them off.
00:52:31.30\00:52:32.43
I was a hundred miles
from home visiting people
00:52:32.46\00:52:35.06
and went with one pair of pants.
00:52:35.09\00:52:36.65
I've always
carried two ever since.
00:52:36.68\00:52:38.69
But I went with
one pair of pants.
00:52:39.27\00:52:40.54
I had to borrow a
friends pants to make it
00:52:40.57\00:52:42.50
the rest of the way
through the weekend.
00:52:42.53\00:52:44.04
Tore those pants right off me.
00:52:44.71\00:52:46.39
I lay there in that
ditch and I promised the Lord
00:52:46.42\00:52:52.25
I'd never do
anything like that again.
00:52:52.28\00:52:54.18
And I never have.
00:52:54.21\00:52:55.49
I promise you that.
00:52:55.89\00:52:57.35
But I promised Him
I'd never do that again.
00:52:57.38\00:53:00.18
Then I heard somebody laughing.
00:53:01.54\00:53:03.24
And it was one of the
older brothers that had gotten
00:53:04.27\00:53:07.46
a shotgun and gone out there
in that field and was waiting
00:53:07.49\00:53:10.35
for us to come.
00:53:10.38\00:53:11.38
But see, it was imagined fear
but all the real pain was there.
00:53:12.68\00:53:18.38
Your imagined fears can
cost you as much physically
00:53:18.41\00:53:22.59
as real fears.
00:53:22.62\00:53:24.71
So you want to get rid of
them, you want to dissect them.
00:53:24.74\00:53:27.06
Anything that's really
not real, get rid of it.
00:53:27.09\00:53:30.41
Figure out what it is because
that's the next step three.
00:53:30.81\00:53:33.46
And get rid of it.
00:53:39.24\00:53:40.71
1 John 4:18, "There is no
fear in love; but perfect love
00:53:40.74\00:53:46.12
casts out all fear."
00:53:46.15\00:53:49.04
That's how you
disengage, is the love of Jesus.
00:53:49.07\00:53:52.21
And then replace
your fear with faith.
00:53:52.71\00:53:55.09
You know, we need to do this.
00:53:55.64\00:53:57.49
You remember, Ellen White, page
83 in The Desire of Ages, says:
00:53:57.50\00:54:01.41
And I read recently in the
book where a number of people,
00:54:16.21\00:54:20.78
Dwight Nelson and
also Roger Morneau,
00:54:20.81\00:54:26.70
recommended reading
every day the scenes in Matthew
00:54:26.73\00:54:32.60
of the crucifixion of Jesus.
00:54:32.63\00:54:36.02
Every day reading it.
00:54:36.05\00:54:38.88
Because that will
take away our fears;
00:54:38.91\00:54:41.92
we trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
00:54:41.95\00:54:44.59
Romans 8:15, "For you did not
receive the spirit of bondage
00:54:44.62\00:54:49.08
again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of adoption."
00:54:49.11\00:54:53.57
"Spirit of adoption."
00:54:54.39\00:54:56.64
A young man had a
job with Western Union.
00:54:56.94\00:55:00.49
And this young man was
sent out on a very high mountain
00:55:01.63\00:55:06.77
out in the woods in
the mountains in the west.
00:55:06.80\00:55:10.39
When he got there, he
thought, "I don't know if I can
00:55:11.27\00:55:15.30
at all stand this,"
because that first night,
00:55:15.33\00:55:19.24
he heard all kinds of noises.
00:55:19.27\00:55:20.95
The second night,
it was even worse.
00:55:20.96\00:55:23.71
The next day,
the boss came through
00:55:24.25\00:55:26.59
and he said, "I'm quitting."
00:55:26.62\00:55:27.75
He said, "Why?"
00:55:27.78\00:55:28.86
He said, "Because of all
the noises that I hear out here
00:55:29.26\00:55:32.18
at night, I can't take it.
00:55:32.21\00:55:33.88
I'm afraid."
00:55:33.91\00:55:35.18
And the boss said to
him, "Let me tell you.
00:55:36.26\00:55:38.45
Don't you realize that God made
night as well as making day?
00:55:38.46\00:55:43.20
That the night is beautiful
just as day is beautiful?"
00:55:43.82\00:55:47.81
Now he said, "The door to this
little hut that you've got..."
00:55:48.01\00:55:51.36
The Western Union telegraph
in those days, they would relay
00:55:51.39\00:55:54.42
it across the nation.
00:55:54.45\00:55:56.22
As one fellow would pick up the
signal, then he would relay it
00:55:56.25\00:55:59.24
to the next, because they could
only go so far with the power
00:55:59.27\00:56:03.26
that they had.
00:56:03.29\00:56:04.56
He said, "You open up the
top half of the door tonight
00:56:04.87\00:56:09.02
and you stand here as
it's getting dark and you keep
00:56:09.65\00:56:14.13
watching and you keep
letting your eyes adjust.
00:56:14.16\00:56:17.51
You dim the lantern in
here and you watch the night."
00:56:17.54\00:56:21.47
He said in a little bit, he saw
a pesky little raccoon come up.
00:56:22.38\00:56:26.23
And that had been one
of the noises he had heard.
00:56:26.26\00:56:28.03
And then he saw a little bear.
00:56:28.87\00:56:30.61
And as the bear came up,
he threw him some crumbs,
00:56:30.91\00:56:33.44
threw him out a few
little things to eat.
00:56:33.47\00:56:36.03
And he saw a
lot of other things.
00:56:36.43\00:56:37.94
Then all of a
sudden, he began to realize
00:56:37.95\00:56:41.09
that God did make the night.
00:56:41.89\00:56:45.09
God can see you
through the night.
00:56:45.49\00:56:48.48
God can see you through
the trials that you're facing.
00:56:48.88\00:56:53.53
God will see you through.
00:56:53.93\00:56:56.96
Trust in Him, lay
all your fears upon Him,
00:56:56.99\00:57:02.96
and He will bring you peace.
00:57:02.99\00:57:06.21
Father in heaven,
we thank You tonight
00:57:06.61\00:57:08.43
that we can come
to You and pray to You
00:57:08.73\00:57:13.65
and trust in You, that we
should have fear only of You.
00:57:13.68\00:57:18.16
And our fear of You
brings something that is great.
00:57:18.19\00:57:22.27
It brings a faith, it
brings a peace, to our hearts.
00:57:22.28\00:57:26.28
Thank You, Father.
In Jesus' name, amen.
00:57:27.55\00:57:32.11