Show#180 - Yes, God Is Real. Are
you looking for an exciting
change in your life?
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Well, get ready for
a breath of new life.
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Today Dr. Byrd speaks on
the topic "Yes, God IS Real."
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And now, here he is,
speaker/director of Breath of
Life Ministries, Dr. Carlton
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Byrd. The Word of God says to us
in Matthew chapter 11, verse
number 1. If you have it, let me
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hear you say amen. Aud.: Amen.
The Word says, "And it came to
pass, when Jesus had made an end
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of commanding his twelve
disciples, he departed thence to
teach and to preach in their,"
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what, everybody? Come on, preach
in their what? Aud.: Cities.
"Now when John had heard in the
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prison the works of Christ, he
sent two of his disciples, and
said unto him, Art thou he that
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should" what? Come on, art thou
he that should what? Aud.: Come.
PB: "Or do we look for another?
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Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and shew John again
those things which ye do hear
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and see: The blind receive their
sight, and the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, and the
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deaf hear, the dead are raised
up, and the poor have the gospel
preached to them. And blessed is
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he, whosoever shall not be
offended in me. " Today we
challenge you with the subject,
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Jesus, yes, God is real. I
wanted to say Jesus is real; I
can feel Him in my soul. But let
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me stick to the title, Yes, God
is what, everybody? Aud.: Real.
PB: Father, we ask that You
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would bless us now as we go into
Your Word. We've read the
Scripture, we've sung, but now
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we need a word from You.
Disappoint us not, forgive me of
my sins. Move in this place,
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move over the television airways
and the radio airways, Internet
ways as well. Thank You for
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being our God and move when the
time comes for the appeal.
Forgive us of our sins. In
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Jesus' name, amen. Yes, God is
real. You know my story, you
know my background. You know I
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grew up in the church. I grew up
in the church, and so you will
never out-church me, because I
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grew up in the church. Speaking
of the Adventist Church, I grew
up and I've eaten more grillers
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than anybody in this place. Come
on, say amen. When I was growing
up in church school, we didn't
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have lunch at the school. We had
to take a sack lunch. So, you
name it with a griller, I've had
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it any kind of way. Barbecue
griller, curry griller,
stir-fried griller, just plain
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griller, I've had it because I
grew up in the church. Now,
growing up in the church there
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were certain church clichés.
Certain church lines or sayings
that would almost guarantee a
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certain response from the
congregation. When talking about
Jesus, you would hear the
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preacher say, "He's a doctor in
the" what? Only one person knew
about that? Sickrooms. He's a
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doctor in the what? Aud.:
Sickrooms. PB: A lawyer in the
what? Aud.: Courtrooms. PB:
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Bridge over troubled what? Aud.:
Water. PB: Wheel in the middle
of a-- Aud.: Wheel. PB: Way out
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of no-- Aud.: Way. PB:
Company--ahh. Company keeper.
Problem-- Aud.: Solver. PB:
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Burden-- Aud.: Bearer. PB: Heavy
load-- Aud.: Carrier. PB: I knew
Oakwood would have soul. Come
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on, say amen. And when you heard
these sayings by the preacher it
almost guaranteed a hallelujah;
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a thank-You, Jesus. When I first
began my ministry down in Soso,
Mississippi, if I just got up
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and said "The Lord is good " the
people said, "Hallelujah!" The
preacher would share these
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statements at the ending or the
climactic point of his sermon,
and hands would start to
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clapping. Feet start to tapping.
And the congregation would erupt
in an emotional frenzy. Anybody
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know what I'm talking about? But
another one of these sayings
was, "Yes, God is real." And
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when the preacher would
passionately proclaim this, in
vintage call and response
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fashion the congregation would
report back, "Yes, God is real."
And then, don't get to the
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appeal and find a southern,
soulful drawl that a person
would begin to sing that song
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for the appeal: "Yes, God is
real. Very real in my soul." And
then the audience would get to
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moving and you would almost have
to shut church down, because
people would go in. Now, I don't
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know if that was how your church
was, but where I grew up they
would go in. Anybody know what I
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mean when I say go in? Aud.:
Yes. PB: They would have
"chuch". Not church, "chuch."
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But as I've gotten a little
older, I'm learning the same
"Yes, God is real" doesn't seem
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to have the same effect that it
once had. Either people don't
believe it, or we've said it so
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much that the words are nothing
more than a cheap practice of
garnering premeditated, planned,
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manufactured, calculated,
contrived and conjured-up amens
and praise the Lords. If your
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sermon is sinking, shout Yes!
God is real, and the audience
will shout back at you. You got
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out of church and said, "What
did he preach about?" I don't
know, but we were shouting
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anyway. But we now live in a
world where we are witnessing
the rise of atheism. You know
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what atheism is. Atheists are
people who don't believe God
exists. A 2010 Gallup Poll found
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that 5 percent of all Americans
report that they are convinced
that God does not exist. This is
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nearly a 200 percent increase
from just three years before
that, in 2007 when only 1.6
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percent of Americans believed
that God didn't exist. In fact,
in a UPI poll it showed that
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only 75 percent of United States
adults say they believe in God.
Down from 82 percent in 2005,
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and 2007 and 2009. What are
these statistics telling us? In
the church we shout yes, God is
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real. But now the world is
asking, is God real. The cancer
patient at Huntsville Hospital
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who has had chemotherapy, who
has undergone radiation
treatments, who has practiced
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alternative medicine, who has
changed their diet, who has
prayed to the Lord and begged
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for healing wants to know--is
God real? The single parent
today, who's trying to raise
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those children by themselves,
who has kept their children in
church school, paying tuition
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faithfully and on time, trying
to stay positive when it seems
the world is caving in on them
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really wants to know--is God
real? Children--we watched all
this week in Africa. Better yet,
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right here in the inner cities
of America, who are starving.
Can't find enough food to eat.
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They want a grade-A
education--questioned His
existence in the first place,
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but every day things seem to get
worse before they get
better--wants to know: is God
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real? The individual, who
watches CNN and sees people
beheaded, tortured, mutilated by
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an extreme group of terrorists
known to us as ISIS, wants to
know: is God real? Church
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members, even in this church,
whose bills are mounting higher
and higher but still they
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faithfully return an honest
tithe and offering, but when
they find themselves with no
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lights, no water, no place to
live and no help from anybody
else, want to know: is God real?
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And then, our neighbors, preach
about Jesus but yet they don't
see us living Jesus--they want
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to know: is God real? But what
does God being real have to do
with a church member being real?
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Well, if we're supposed to be
God's hands, God speaking, God's
mouthpiece in the world, our
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realness should testify to the
realness of God. The church is
called to witness and make
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disciples of Jesus Christ in a
society where so many people
question the authenticity and
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realness of the church and its
members. We're already dealing
with a rising number of people
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who don't believe in the
existence of God, but a recent
poll revealed that many people
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who say they believe in God are
suspicious of the church itself.
This skepticism is magnified by
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the fact that we live in a
society where it's difficult to
tell the real from the unreal.
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For example, just this week in
the vegan family alone--talking
about real and unreal. We've got
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vegan mayonnaise, vegan butter.
Amen. Vegan cheese, vegan eggs,
vegan meat, and I was shopping
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before I left for Africa. I
won't tell you what store,
'cause you'll know where I go
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to. I was shopping and they now
have vegan leather. You know you
can get a vegan belt--how about
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that, huh? Is it real or unreal?
People hear our pious
platitudes; they see our pretty
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processions; they read about our
promotional programs; they take
notice of our prophetic
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pronouncements; they are
impressed with our professional
preparation; but as the old
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saying goes: they don't care how
much we know until they know how
much we care. Deep down within
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they want to know if our deeds
match up with our creeds. They
want to know if our love service
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matches our lip service. They
not only want to know if we can
talk the talk, but they also
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want to know if we can walk the
walk. There was a young man that
attended church one day, and he
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was seen leaving a church before
the worship experience was over.
An usher ran to the young man to
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see what was wrong, and asked
him, "Are you leaving the
church?" He said, "No. I'm not
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leaving the church. I'm looking
for it." In the text, the
realness of Jesus is questioned
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by John, Jesus' own cousin.
Suspicious of the authenticity
of Jesus, John, because he's in
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prison, sends some of his
disciples to ask Jesus: "Are you
the one who is to come, or
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should we look for another?" In
other words, are you for real?
Here we have John, Jesus'
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cousin, asking Jesus whether
He's the one who was prophesied
to come. Forgotten is the day
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that he baptized Jesus.
Forgotten is the day when he
himself saw the Holy Spirit
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descend on Jesus. Forgotten are
the words from heaven that he
heard: "This is my beloved Son
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in whom I am well pleased." But
he asks, "Are you the one who's
supposed to come, or shall we
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look for another?" Jesus does
not try to avoid the question.
He knew it was a legitimate
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question, so He responds to
John's followers straight up.
"Go tell John what you've seen
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and heard. Tell John the blind
receive their sight. Tell John
the lame walk. Tell John the
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lepers are cleansed. The deaf
hear, the dead are raised up,
the poor have the gospel
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preached to them. And blessed is
anyone who takes no offense at
me." But sad to say, this
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suspicion of Jesus still remains
today. You hear people all the
time ask, is He really the Son
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of God? Was He really the
Messiah who came to earth to
rescue His people, or was He
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just an important religious
figure who went about doing good
things? Did Jesus perform a work
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on the cross that brought about
my salvation, or was He just a
dedicated religious person who
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was actively involved in the
social and spiritual world of
His day? Is Jesus really the
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only way we can find salvation
in this life, or is Jesus just
one way among many, which a
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postmodern person can come and
know and experience God? Did
Jesus actually perform miracles
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and raise people from the dead
in a real earthly history? Is
Jesus real? Is God real? Does
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God exist? There was a man who
went to the barbershop one day
to have his hair cut and beard
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trimmed. The barber began to cut
his hair and they began to have
a good conversation. If you want
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to have a good conversation, go
to the barbershop. The barber
knows everything about everybody
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and everything. That's why I go
to Jeff Johnson. I wish I had a
witness in this place. But this
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man and the barber talked about
so many things and different
subjects, when they eventually
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touched on the subject of God
the barber said to the man, "I
don't believe God exists." The
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man said, "Well, why do you say
that?" The barber said, "Well,
you just have to go to the
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street to realize that God
doesn't exist. Because tell me,
" the barber said, "if God
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exists, would there be so many
sick people? If God exists," the
barber said, "Why are there so
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many abandoned children? If God
exists, there would be no
suffering nor pain. I can't
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imagine a loving God who would
allow all of these things."
Well, the man, the customer,
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wanted to respond to the barber,
but he didn't respond right way
because he didn't want to start
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an argument. After all, the
barber still had the clippers in
his hand. Do I have a witness in
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this place? You will learn,
don't So, after the barber
finished the man's hair, and the
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man left the shop. Just after he
left the barbershop, the man saw
another man in the street. And
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this other man he saw had long
hair, stringy, dirty hair and an
untrimmed beard. The man I just
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cut your hair." The man said,
"No, barbers don't exist,
because if they did, there would
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be no people with long, dirty,
Yes, God is real, but have you
gone to it? Yes, God is real,
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but have you looked for Him?
Yes, God is real, but have you
an experience with the Lord so
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you will move from knowing God
theoretically to experiencing
and knowing God experientially.
00:18:53.93\00:19:02.66
Think about it. Think about Paul
and Silas. They theoretically
and academically knew about God,
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but their discovery in that
Philippian jail was that God was
real. I was reading this, and
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this author says that all of us
come to know God on three
somebody else's experience.
00:19:25.46\00:19:45.20
Remember Mama said, He's a
doctor in the what room?
Sickroom. Daddy said, He's a
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lawyer in the what room? Aud.:
Courtroom. PB: Big Mama said,
He'll feed you when you're what?
00:19:49.26\00:19:56.73
Hungry. And while these
declarations represent reality,
the reality is somebody else's
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and not our own. Secularly we
know about God, academically. We
learn about God through study,
00:20:03.00\00:20:09.10
prophecy seminars, and the list
could go on and on. This is
needed, it is necessary; but
00:20:09.10\00:20:16.40
it's not enough. Which moves us
to point number 3. At some
point, our understanding of God
00:20:16.40\00:20:32.10
must move beyond the vicarious;
must move beyond the academic;
and it must move to the
00:20:32.10\00:21:08.26
practical and the real. Paul had
learned about God in his head,
sitting at the feet of Gamaliel.
00:21:08.26\00:21:24.56
Paul spoke multiple languages.
Paul was considered a most
studious and learned rabbi, but
00:21:24.56\00:21:46.86
it was not until that midnight
experience in that Philippian
jail cell that Paul discovered
00:21:46.86\00:22:05.83
how real God is. God does not
become real unless God becomes
practical. Practical means He
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shows up and He delivers us from
our crisis. Delivers us from our
calamities. Delivers us God is
00:22:34.83\00:22:42.26
real when God delivers us from
bondage and addictions and
disease and abuse and negative
00:22:42.26\00:22:57.40
attitudes, and lying, cheating,
anger, gossiping, jealousy, envy
and insecurity. Because Paul got
00:22:57.40\00:23:07.23
to know God in a real way. Paul
was able to say nay, we are more
than conquerors. It was Paul who
00:23:07.23\00:23:18.53
said I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me.
It was Paul who said present
00:23:18.53\00:23:28.43
your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God which
is your reasonable service. It
00:23:28.43\00:23:37.60
was Paul Church, we've got to
get to know God in a real way.
Two thousand years ago Jesus did
00:23:37.60\00:23:51.93
something especially for you. He
died on the cross of Calvary.
That day you were on his mind.
00:23:51.93\00:24:03.20
Our offer today is Max Lucado's
"He Did This Just For You." This
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personal with a passion and
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Did This Just For You." real
00:24:50.80\00:24:59.93
with God, God gets real with
you. And I'm so glad that God
got real on somebody's sick bed;
00:24:59.93\00:25:09.80
that God got real in real in
your defeats. Get real with God,
and God will get real with you,
00:25:09.80\00:25:22.46
because yes, God is real! Moses
knew about God, until God opened
up Hannah's womb that she
00:25:22.46\00:25:34.76
discovered how real God was.
Daniel knew about God, but it
was not until God not until God
00:25:34.76\00:25:41.83
showed up in the fiery furnace
that they knew how real God was.
The woman with the issue of
00:25:41.83\00:25:51.63
blood knew who God was, it on
the man's eyes, the man was
healed, and then the man knew
00:25:51.63\00:26:01.10
how real God was. I grew up,
Carlton Byrd, knowing about God,
but it was not until God spared
00:26:01.10\00:26:12.00
my life 15 years ago in that car
accident, restored me in my
grief after her death, and used
00:26:12.00\00:26:21.73
me as a vessel and a mouthpiece
for His glory, expanding my
ministry and my horizons in
00:26:21.73\00:26:28.96
areas that I could only dream
of, that I knew how real God
was. Somebody in here today, you
00:26:28.96\00:26:34.80
grew up knowing about God, but
it was not until God put that
cancer in remission that you
00:26:34.80\00:26:45.93
knew how real God was. Somebody
knew about God, but it was not
until He took away that taste of
00:26:45.93\00:26:52.63
cigarettes, that alcohol and
love addiction that you knew how
real God was. Somebody grew up
00:26:52.63\00:27:00.93
knowing about God, but it was
not until you got into the
student accounts line, knowing
00:27:00.93\00:27:34.43
you're standing there and you
don't have any money to clear,
you don't have any scholarships,
00:27:34.43\00:27:47.43
you don't have any grants, you
don't have any anonymous donors;
but then all of a sudden monies
00:27:47.43\00:27:53.73
start coming in, scholarships
start coming in, financial aid
starts coming in and the student
00:27:53.73\00:28:04.30
accounts officer stamped "clear"
on your form, and now you know
how real God is. Yes, God is
00:28:04.30\00:28:11.33
real. If you're sick, He can
make you well. If you're
depressed, He can get you up. If
00:28:11.33\00:28:16.30
you're down, He can pick you up.
If you're falling, He can hold
you up. If you're in sin, He can
00:28:16.30\00:28:20.06
fix you up. If you're stained
from sin, He can wash you up.
Yes, God is real. Does anybody
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