¤¤ 00:00:01.90\00:00:04.80 ¤¤ 00:00:12.31\00:00:15.24 >> Amen. And particularly today, He hears our cry and hears our 00:07:06.96\00:07:12.19 plea and will not pass us by. And we can see that by how He 00:07:12.19\00:07:15.80 has led us in the past, because He has moved in our lives and is 00:07:15.80\00:07:19.93 still moving in our lives today. So that gives us hope for 00:07:19.93\00:07:23.30 tomorrow, 'cause He says, "Do not worry about tomorrow." 00:07:23.30\00:07:27.11 So we can place our hope in Him, because He has us in His hands 00:07:27.11\00:07:31.91 and He loves us so much. 00:07:31.91\00:07:34.98 ¤¤ [ Static crackling ] 00:12:09.62\00:12:12.69 >> Hey, Sis, Dad, Mom, come on! "Children's Story" is on! 00:12:12.69\00:12:18.77 >> Hi, boys and girls. I'm Aunt Carole, greeting you 00:12:18.77\00:12:21.57 from your story hour. I would be saying hello from my 00:12:21.57\00:12:24.31 home, but I don't have one right now. 00:12:24.31\00:12:27.11 See, my husband and I sold our home in California, and we're driving all the way 00:12:27.14\00:12:30.81 cross-country to Massachusetts, to our new home. And that made 00:12:30.81\00:12:36.99 me think of a family a long time ago who had to drive all the way across the United States from 00:12:36.99\00:12:42.79 California to Florida. And even though now is a hard time to drive cross-country, 00:12:42.79\00:12:47.86 because so many things are closed, back then, they even had 00:12:47.86\00:12:52.60 a worse time. Let me tell you about that family. Their name was the Crane family. 00:12:52.60\00:12:57.37 There was mom and dad and Jimmy and Robbie and Betsy. And, you know, they were migrant 00:12:57.37\00:13:03.28 workers. Do you know what migrant workers are? 00:13:03.28\00:13:05.95 They're people who follow the harvest around from farm to farm and they pick the apples and the 00:13:05.95\00:13:11.09 fruit and the asparagus and whatever is in season. Now, mom and dad and the kids 00:13:11.09\00:13:15.82 had just picked dates in California, and they were 00:13:15.82\00:13:19.39 finished. And they asked the owner of the field, Mr. Henderson, "Do you have work 00:13:19.39\00:13:23.83 through the winter for us?" But he didn't. As a matter of fact, 00:13:23.83\00:13:27.14 nobody around there did. So he told them they should go to the post office and look at 00:13:27.14\00:13:30.94 the bulletin board, see if anything was available. But 00:13:30.94\00:13:35.61 there wasn't. Well, they were gonna stop at the store to get some food, but then they 00:13:35.61\00:13:39.08 realized, "You know, we don't have much money. We better save it till we find out where we can 00:13:39.08\00:13:43.25 find work." So, they went back to their cabin and they ate potatoes for dinner. 00:13:43.25\00:13:47.16 Now, Betsy said, "I like potatoes, but isn't there 00:13:47.16\00:13:51.76 anything else?" And her brother Robbie handed her some ketchup. She goes, "That's not what I 00:13:51.76\00:13:55.60 mean. You know, I like different kinds of food." 00:13:55.60\00:13:59.10 "Well, we don't have a lot of money and we don't have different kinds of food right 00:13:59.10\00:14:04.41 now, but, you know, we'll just have to do with what we have." And that's when her brother 00:14:04.41\00:14:10.48 Jimmy, who liked to tease her, said, "Well, I bet you'd like a nice, cold watermelon. 00:14:10.48\00:14:14.55 I bet you somebody put one on the porch while we were eating 00:14:14.55\00:14:18.02 these potatoes. Why don't you check." Well, Betsy got up right away to go check, but mom said, 00:14:18.02\00:14:22.29 "Jimmy, stop teasing. Betsy, there's no watermelon out there. 00:14:22.29\00:14:26.03 Sit down." Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Mr. 00:14:26.03\00:14:29.73 Henderson had good news. There was a man in Florida who had a 00:14:29.73\00:14:33.60 job for their dad. The only thing was, they had to get there, to Florida, on their own 00:14:33.60\00:14:38.74 money. Well, they only had enough money for gas and for oil, and their old jalopy had to 00:14:38.74\00:14:45.98 stop every hour to be filled up with water. So, before taking off, they knelt down to pray and 00:14:45.98\00:14:52.49 asked God to provide the food that they need, just like it says in Matthew 7 -- "Ask and 00:14:52.49\00:14:57.73 you will receive." And Betsy said, "Yes, God will send us manna, just like He did 00:14:57.73\00:15:02.06 the Israelites in the desert." Oh, the boys teased her about 00:15:02.06\00:15:06.84 manna. Well, God provided lettuce from a field that had been harvested, and the manager 00:15:06.84\00:15:12.11 said, "You can have what's left over, 'cause it's just gonna rot 00:15:12.11\00:15:15.31 in the field." And that tasted good and filled their tummies for a while. But it didn't last 00:15:15.31\00:15:20.22 long. And then they got cantaloupes from another field, because some of them were too 00:15:20.22\00:15:26.72 ripe to pack. And they got to eat those. But after a while, those were gone, too. 00:15:26.72\00:15:30.73 Each time, after the lettuce and the cantaloupes, they prayed, "Lord, please send us something 00:15:30.73\00:15:36.43 to fill our bellies. It doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't 00:15:36.43\00:15:40.90 even have to taste really good but just fill our bellies and nourish us." Well, after the 00:15:40.90\00:15:47.28 lettuce and the cantaloupes, they prayed about the same prayer. But Betsy had a 00:15:47.28\00:15:52.01 different idea. She said, "Dear Lord, I want manna and I want peanut-butter-and-jelly manna 00:15:52.01\00:15:58.42 and I want vegetable soup and stew and peaches and chocolate candy for dessert." 00:15:58.42\00:16:04.33 Well, the boys laughed at her. Have you ever heard of peanut-butter manna? 00:16:04.33\00:16:09.93 But, again, the car overheated, and mom and dad sent them out to play, but it was so hot. 00:16:09.93\00:16:15.10 They were sitting around. Well, finally, Jimmy nudged Robbie and said, "Robbie, want 00:16:15.10\00:16:21.11 to have some fun? Follow my lead." So Robbie nodded, said 00:16:21.11\00:16:25.28 "Okay." And he said, "Betsy, this looks just like the desert where, you know, the Israelites 00:16:25.28\00:16:30.12 had manna. I bet you there's manna around here. Why don't you 00:16:30.12\00:16:33.15 go behind that rock and see if there's some manna there." Well, Betsy said, "Sure!" 00:16:33.15\00:16:36.76 And she ran around in that hot weather, looking for manna. Well, there was none behind the 00:16:36.76\00:16:41.66 rock. "Well, what about that tree up there?" 00:16:41.66\00:16:44.27 Well, she ran to the tree. "There's no manna here." So, then she ran down the hill, 00:16:44.27\00:16:49.50 and he said, "I'm sure it's in the arroyo down there." Down in the arroyo, she was 00:16:49.50\00:16:54.44 quiet while they were laughing and laughing and thinking, "She's getting so hot running 00:16:54.44\00:16:58.78 around, trying to find this silly manna." All of a sudden, 00:16:58.78\00:17:02.52 they heard her call, "Manna! Manna! There's manna!" And she was waving something. 00:17:02.52\00:17:07.02 Well, when they ran to find her, she was waving a gunnysack. "Where are all these cans from? 00:17:07.02\00:17:13.03 They were in this gunnysack. There's one that says 'peanut 00:17:13.03\00:17:15.80 butter.' There's one that says 'bread.' There's one that says 'jelly.'" And they looked, and 00:17:15.80\00:17:19.90 there's one that says "creamed corn" and "vegetable soup" and even one that said "chocolate 00:17:19.90\00:17:25.07 candy." Well, dad came along and he saw these green cans were K rations, and he called the 00:17:25.07\00:17:30.78 number on the can and found out that there was a troop nearby who had been on maneuvers, and 00:17:30.78\00:17:37.09 they threw all these cans away because they didn't want to carry them back. And they had a 00:17:37.09\00:17:41.32 good mess hall, so they didn't need it. They said, "Help yourself. Compliments of Uncle 00:17:41.32\00:17:45.79 Sam." So, guess what. They piled their car with all these cans of 00:17:45.79\00:17:49.56 food. They even tied them to the roof and to the fenders and took off, and they had food for the 00:17:49.56\00:17:54.44 rest of their trip and part of the winter. So, you see? 00:17:54.44\00:17:57.34 God provides not only what we need, but sometimes even what we 00:17:57.34\00:18:01.34 want. And I know he'll take care of all of us through this virus. Just remember, keep praying and 00:18:01.34\00:18:06.31 remember God loves you. So do I. Goodbye for now. 00:18:06.31\00:18:10.89 >> And thank you for giving us not only what we need, but even 00:18:10.92\00:18:15.96 also what we want. And thank you for bringing us 00:18:15.96\00:18:19.59 this whole day and the whole night. 00:18:19.59\00:18:22.06 And now it's in the morning, and we can enjoy this day. 00:18:22.06\00:18:25.47 In Jesus' name, amen. >> Amen! 00:18:25.47\00:18:27.54 Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. 00:18:27.54\00:18:29.90 Lead us and keep us safe from harm and danger. 00:18:29.90\00:18:33.11 And even though this COVID-19 is ruining all of our fun, but it 00:18:33.11\00:18:38.55 can't ruin all our hope and faith. 00:18:38.55\00:18:42.48 Thank you for not giving only what we need, even what we want. 00:18:42.48\00:18:48.06 In Jesus' name, amen. >> Amen. 00:18:48.06\00:18:50.99 ¤¤ [ Static crackling ] 00:18:50.99\00:18:57.27 ¤¤ 00:19:00.84\00:19:03.77 >> ¤ I waited for the Lord ¤ He inclined unto me ¤ He heard my 00:19:16.58\00:19:30.50 complaint ¤ He heard my complaint ¤ I waited for the Lord ¤ He inclined unto me 00:19:30.50\00:19:44.45 ¤ He heard my complaint ¤ He heard my complaint ¤ O blessed 00:19:44.45\00:19:58.73 are they that hope ¤ And trust in the Lord ¤¤ 00:19:58.73\00:20:06.17 >> ¤ I waited for the Lord >> ¤ I waited for the Lord >> ¤ He 00:20:13.17\00:20:20.12 inclined unto me >> ¤ He inclined unto me >> ¤ He heard my complaint >> ¤ He heard my 00:20:20.12\00:20:32.56 complaint >> ¤ I waited for the Lord >> ¤ I waited for the Lord >> ¤ He inclined unto me 00:20:32.56\00:20:39.30 >> ¤ He inclined unto me >> ¤ He heard my complaint >> ¤ He heard 00:20:39.30\00:20:46.78 >> ¤ He heard my complaint >> ¤ O blessed are they that hope ¤ 00:20:46.78\00:20:55.22 >> ¤ Blessed are they that trust in the Lord ¤ ¤ O blessed are 00:20:55.22\00:21:07.50 they that hope ¤ And trust ¤ O blessed are they that hope and trust in the Lord ¤ 00:21:07.50\00:21:18.67 ¤ Trust in the Lord ¤ Trust in the Lord ¤ The Lord 00:21:18.67\00:21:35.12 >> ¤ I waited for the Lord >> ¤ I waited for the Lord >> ¤ The 00:21:35.12\00:21:45.00 Lord [ Singing in German ] 00:21:45.00\00:21:47.94 ¤¤ 00:22:13.93\00:22:16.83 [ Music stops ] >> All: Amen! >> Thank you, Gallos twins. 00:22:29.74\00:22:38.75 Beautiful, Dorothea, Christiane. "I Waited for the Lord." That's the prayer that we're 00:22:38.75\00:22:45.56 praying as a faith community. Let's pray right now. Father, in English and German, 00:22:45.56\00:22:50.87 it doesn't matter. That's the only option we have. We can run on ahead, I suppose, 00:22:50.87\00:22:58.51 so that would be the other option, or we can wait. We've been waiting and waiting, 00:22:58.51\00:23:05.45 and the waiting isn't over. But in this brief moment, in the coolness of this summer 00:23:05.45\00:23:11.05 sanctuary, when we come to that fork in the road, give us what we need to know to make the 00:23:11.05\00:23:21.13 right choice. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:23:21.13\00:23:25.07 I think the Chinese got it right. 00:23:25.10\00:23:27.30 So, they were rummaging around, and "how are we gonna come up 00:23:27.30\00:23:30.44 with a word, 'crisis'? 00:23:30.44\00:23:32.21 Crisis, crisis." So they talked among themselves. They said, 00:23:32.24\00:23:36.54 "Let's put two characters together." I want to show you the Chinese word for "crisis." 00:23:36.54\00:23:41.45 We had two people who speak and read Chinese in first service. And we got this from Wikipedia, 00:23:41.45\00:23:48.26 so we believe it's right. Those two words together -- Those are 00:23:48.26\00:23:54.03 two pictograms. I grew up in Japan, and the Japanese use 10,000 Chinese characters. 00:23:54.03\00:23:58.90 But their pictograms -- they tell stories by the way they're 00:23:58.90\00:24:02.24 shaped. And I don't know the stories for these two, but I'll tell you what the word means. 00:24:02.24\00:24:06.54 So, it's a compound word. What is crisis? Danger or dangerous. 00:24:06.54\00:24:13.18 Danger or dangerous. And the other word -- "change point." 00:24:13.18\00:24:18.99 Hmm. What's a crisis? 00:24:18.99\00:24:20.86 It's a "dangerous change point." Does that make sense to you? 00:24:20.89\00:24:24.76 Boy, it sure makes sense to me. Medically, what's a crisis? 00:24:24.76\00:24:28.13 Dangerous change point. Economically, what's a crisis? 00:24:28.13\00:24:32.93 Dangerous change point. Racially, what's a crisis? 00:24:32.93\00:24:37.11 Dangerous change point. You come to that fork. 00:24:37.11\00:24:40.54 Do we go this way? Do we go that way? 00:24:40.54\00:24:42.34 Obviously, it is a collective experience, coming to these 00:24:42.34\00:24:44.91 dangerous change points. 00:24:44.91\00:24:46.78 It's also a private experience. Some of you are, right now, in a dangerous change point in your 00:24:46.82\00:24:50.89 life, and it has nothing to do with COVID-19. That's okay. 00:24:50.89\00:24:55.39 But are you gonna go this way or are you gonna go that way? There is a cryptic superhero in 00:24:55.39\00:25:06.30 "The Book of Beginnings." Talking about a brave new world. Nobody knows much about him. 00:25:06.30\00:25:13.38 We're gonna dig just as much as we can to see if we can identify 00:25:13.38\00:25:20.48 the portrait. There are actually two superheroes. Both of their 00:25:20.48\00:25:24.65 names begin with the letter "N" in English. We're gonna watch dangerous change points. 00:25:24.65\00:25:30.46 Which way will the superhero go? Once upon a time, when the world needed desperate divine 00:25:30.46\00:25:38.60 intervention, God had a man build an ark. It got filled with 00:25:38.60\00:25:44.07 animals and birds and all those creepy-crawly things. And then eight people from that 00:25:44.07\00:25:48.54 man's family boarded that ark. One year and two months later, they emerged from that ark with 00:25:48.54\00:25:56.48 that zoo. And it is a brave new world. They didn't even 00:25:56.48\00:26:02.92 recognize it. One last time, we go to that brave new world in this little summer miniseries 00:26:02.92\00:26:07.36 that you and I have been sharing. They emerge. What are 00:26:07.36\00:26:11.27 they gonna do? Well, they're gonna have to make a domicile for themselves. And, so, there 00:26:11.27\00:26:15.67 are four families -- mom and dad and then the three boys with their wives. That's four 00:26:15.67\00:26:19.74 families. So, they get the rocks and they pile them up and they have these humble little huts, 00:26:19.74\00:26:25.38 rock huts. Some were on the slopes, maybe near the summit of Mount Ararat. Yep, that's -- 00:26:25.38\00:26:31.55 Talking about crisis, the dangerous change points. They're 00:26:31.55\00:26:35.42 at one. I've been trying to figure out in my mind, "Okay, so, how many people -- How fast 00:26:35.42\00:26:41.36 could those three families --" And, now, there are four, but I figure, you know, Noah and Mrs. 00:26:41.36\00:26:45.37 Noah, you know, at the age of 600, are probably not gonna have 00:26:45.37\00:26:48.77 any more kids. You just don't do it after 600 anymore, do you? No. So they're not gonna have 00:26:48.77\00:26:52.27 any more kids. So, you got three of their boys and their wives. 00:26:52.27\00:26:56.68 And husbands and wives being husbands and wives, they begin 00:26:56.68\00:27:00.55 to have children. So, I'm trying to figure out, "How fast could they have those children?" 00:27:00.55\00:27:04.05 So, I'm not mathematician. Those two girls are going to Purdue 00:27:04.05\00:27:08.72 University. They're having to do remote right now, like every university in the land. 00:27:08.72\00:27:12.53 But they're mathematicians. So, I said, "Okay, I'm gonna figure 00:27:12.53\00:27:17.60 this out. Here are the givens that I'm gonna work with. I'm gonna work with the given 00:27:17.60\00:27:21.20 that of the three families, every family can have five 00:27:21.20\00:27:24.54 children," okay? So every family from here on out is gonna have five children. They may have had 00:27:24.54\00:27:29.04 10 or 20. I mean, who knows? But I'm gonna just say five. And then we're gonna allow for 00:27:29.04\00:27:33.35 endogamous marriages. What's that? That's a marriage that 00:27:33.35\00:27:36.82 takes place within the family. And, by the way, endogamous marriages are not banned by God 00:27:36.82\00:27:42.82 until the book Leviticus gets written. So there's a whole lot 00:27:42.82\00:27:45.56 of endogamous marriage-ing going on. Obviously, it had to go on, 00:27:45.56\00:27:49.36 alright? So we're gonna allow for those kind of marriages. 00:27:49.36\00:27:52.60 And we're gonna call every generation about 30 years. And then we're gonna go for 00:27:52.60\00:27:59.41 330 years. Now, Noah will die at 350 years after the flood. 00:27:59.41\00:28:02.84 We'll just say 330, 'cause it's easy to do the arithmetic that 00:28:02.84\00:28:05.51 way. Hey, listen, so, here's the number I came up with. You were doing it real fast. 00:28:05.51\00:28:08.58 What did you come up with? That's what I thought. The number is 209,000 babies are 00:28:08.58\00:28:14.49 born by the time Noah dies. 209,000 babies. That's a 00:28:14.49\00:28:19.39 maternity ward. But, of course, that's done over a period of 330 00:28:19.39\00:28:25.47 years. Or 350. And even if that 209,000 -- "Dwight, you didn't take into consideration 00:28:25.47\00:28:31.54 mitigating factors and, you know, infertility and all this stuff." No, I didn't do any of 00:28:31.54\00:28:34.21 that. I just said, "Five per family." Let's cut it in half. 00:28:34.21\00:28:39.75 Here's the point. You can get there from here. That little conclave of four families 00:28:39.75\00:28:48.12 eventually, over 330 years, becomes a massive community. And they're in these rock huts 00:28:48.12\00:28:53.19 and maybe they're using wood now. They're dotted all over the 00:28:53.19\00:28:56.60 side of that mountain range. You want to say 100,000. But then... 00:28:56.60\00:29:03.24 [ Vocalizes "Dragnet" theme ] ...trouble strikes. And the community is fractured. 00:29:03.24\00:29:11.01 Take a look at this. Open your Bible to Genesis 11. Let's go. 00:29:11.01\00:29:14.72 Genesis 11. I'm in the New International Version. Genesis 00:29:14.72\00:29:17.72 11. Everybody knows the Tower of Babel. We're not going to that 00:29:17.72\00:29:21.36 story, but it begins with these two words -- These words will tell us about a split, a 00:29:21.36\00:29:27.96 fracture. Talking about crisis, dangerous change points. They came to one, and one group 00:29:27.96\00:29:32.27 went this way. The other group went that way. And look what we 00:29:32.27\00:29:36.40 end up with. This will amaze you. 00:29:36.40\00:29:38.21 Genesis 11:1. "Now the whole world had one 00:29:38.24\00:29:43.18 language and a common speech." Well, we know that. 00:29:43.18\00:29:45.38 That makes sense. If they're all the 00:29:45.38\00:29:47.05 great-great-great-great-great- grandma and -grandpa Noah, 00:29:47.05\00:29:49.52 nobody's changing languages up there. 00:29:49.52\00:29:51.69 Verse 2 -- "But as people moved eastward --" from the mountain 00:29:51.69\00:29:56.32 haven -- "As people moved eastward, they found a plain --" 00:29:56.32\00:29:59.89 way down in the plain -- "plain in Shinar and they settled 00:29:59.89\00:30:04.50 there." 00:30:04.50\00:30:05.73 They go -- They move east. They have to go east from Ararat. 00:30:05.77\00:30:11.24 This is in the area of Iraq today. They say, "Hey! 00:30:11.24\00:30:16.08 This is beautiful. Let's settle here." Now, a little book called 00:30:16.08\00:30:21.25 "Patriarchs and Prophets" draws -- gives us just enough of a peek to pique our curiosity. 00:30:21.25\00:30:28.12 Take a look at "Patriarchs and Prophets." 00:30:28.16\00:30:29.79 Put it on the screen for you here. 00:30:29.79\00:30:31.49 "For a time, the descendants of Noah continued to dwell among 00:30:31.49\00:30:35.73 the mountains," okay? So they're all up there -- 00:30:35.73\00:30:37.90 100,000, 200,000, eventually. We don't know. 00:30:37.90\00:30:40.00 "Among the mountains where the ark had rested. 00:30:40.00\00:30:42.67 As their numbers increased, apostasy soon led to division." 00:30:42.67\00:30:48.68 Now one more line. Watch this. "Those who desired to forget 00:30:48.68\00:30:52.18 their Creator --" So when time goes on, even though the 00:30:52.18\00:30:56.05 great-great-great-grandfathers and -mothers are still alive, 00:30:56.05\00:31:01.02 the traditions passed on in the families begin to weaken among 00:31:01.02\00:31:05.09 some of them. "They desired to forget their 00:31:05.09\00:31:07.23 Creator and to cast off the restraint of His law." 00:31:07.23\00:31:09.73 "We don't have to live under this." 00:31:09.73\00:31:11.63 And, by the way, they felt a constant annoyance from the 00:31:11.63\00:31:14.30 teaching and example of their God-fearing associates. 00:31:14.30\00:31:16.84 Keep it right there. Keep it back on that screen, 00:31:16.84\00:31:19.01 because we got teenagers sitting in this room right now. 00:31:19.01\00:31:21.28 And I'm so glad that you came out -- you braved it and you 00:31:21.28\00:31:23.61 came out, young adults sitting right here. 00:31:23.61\00:31:26.05 You know the meaning of this. There are times when you have to take a stand, when your parents 00:31:26.08\00:31:29.35 have inculcated moral values into your life, and that stand means you have to resist the 00:31:29.35\00:31:34.72 crowd that you're running with. You have to resist the circle that you're hanging with. 00:31:34.72\00:31:38.89 And you know what happens. They get this little -- They get this 00:31:38.89\00:31:42.26 little, "Oh, Goody-Two-shoes, huh?" or "Holy moly" or whatever it is. And they begin to poke 00:31:42.26\00:31:47.80 fun. But that begins to wear on them, because you, with your moral chutzpah, your moral 00:31:47.80\00:31:54.58 courage, you stand as a rebuke to them. You're not doing a thing. You're just -- But it 00:31:54.58\00:31:59.51 bugs them, and, eventually, they say, "Hey, I'm out of here." That's what's happened in the 00:31:59.51\00:32:04.12 mountain range of Arafat. And the group -- The community literally splits so that we end 00:32:04.12\00:32:11.93 up with two superheroes. Both of them -- in English, their name 00:32:11.93\00:32:20.04 begins with "N." Yeah, well, let's finish this. I guess I needed to finish this, 00:32:20.07\00:32:22.64 didn't I? Let's finish the quote here. 00:32:22.64\00:32:25.21 Now watch this. Why were they attracted? 00:32:31.58\00:32:34.72 Guess what. Three chapters later, Lot does 00:32:41.36\00:32:44.26 the very same thing. 00:32:44.26\00:32:45.89 He says, "You know what? I don't like this country-living stuff. 00:32:45.93\00:32:48.40 I'm going down there." Remember that? And that's dangerous. 00:32:48.40\00:32:52.37 Twice, we're told -- We can see it right now. It's dangerous. 00:32:52.37\00:32:57.91 Dangerous change points. And they said, "We're going that 00:32:57.91\00:33:01.71 way." Hmm. Superheroes. You know, our world is awash in 00:33:01.71\00:33:05.51 superheroes. Have you noticed that? I was trying to think of all the superheroes that I know, 00:33:05.51\00:33:09.48 but they're so old compared with the new ones. And when I went on 00:33:09.48\00:33:12.79 to Google, I said, "What are the new superheroes?" There are so many out there now. 00:33:12.79\00:33:15.59 But you know what a superhero is. But here's the deal about 00:33:15.59\00:33:18.03 superheroes. Tell me if I'm right or wrong. The deal about 00:33:18.03\00:33:21.30 superheroes is -- they're a very -- They start off with a very -- as a normal woman, a normal man, 00:33:21.30\00:33:25.30 right? But they come to a moment in that tale -- they come to a moment when they have to make a 00:33:25.30\00:33:29.34 choice. They can become a hero or they can become a villain. 00:33:29.34\00:33:32.01 True or false? True. Some choose to go this way. Some choose to 00:33:32.01\00:33:37.01 go that way. We have two men with their names beginning with "N." They come to that dangerous 00:33:37.01\00:33:44.85 change point and they both make opposite decisions, and we've lived with the results ever 00:33:44.85\00:33:49.92 since. Watch this. Go back to Chapter 10. 00:33:49.92\00:33:54.00 Okay, so, we were just in 11. I told you we weren't gonna stay with the Tower of Babel. 00:33:54.00\00:33:57.37 Go back to Chapter 10. We have now what's called the Table of 00:33:57.37\00:34:02.70 Nations. This is the story of how the boys of Noah and their wives multiplied and the regions 00:34:02.70\00:34:08.14 of the world they began to move to. So, drop down now to Verse 00:34:08.14\00:34:13.65 8. Genesis 10:8. "And Cush --" Oh, Cush is the son of Ham. 00:34:13.65\00:34:16.48 Who's Ham? Ham's that boy that went into his dad's tent when 00:34:16.48\00:34:20.06 his dad was naked. Remember that? His dad was drunk and naked. We just talked about 00:34:20.06\00:34:23.89 that, didn't we? Ham is the boy that goes in there. 00:34:23.89\00:34:25.96 We don't know what happened in that tent, but it was not good 00:34:25.96\00:34:29.73 at all. Something is now being passed on. That moral character, 00:34:29.73\00:34:34.10 or the lack thereof, is being transmitted now to generation 00:34:34.10\00:34:38.81 after generation. Now you have Cush, who was the father of -- here's that "N," boy -- Nimrod. 00:34:38.81\00:34:46.75 The father of Nimrod. The son -- The grandson of Cush -- well, 00:34:46.75\00:34:55.16 who is he? We have very little information, but watch what happens with what we have. 00:34:55.16\00:34:58.46 "Who became a mighty warrior on the earth." So, who's the first 00:34:58.46\00:35:02.60 -- Who is the first "N" superhero? It's Noah. Come on. We've already got Noah. 00:35:02.60\00:35:07.94 We're sure about it. He's in the Bible Hall of Fame. He's a 00:35:07.94\00:35:11.01 superhero. Now we have Nimrod. What do we know about Nimrod? Well, we just read it. 00:35:11.01\00:35:14.48 He is a mighty warrior on the earth. Robert Alter, in his 00:35:14.48\00:35:17.88 translation of the Hebrew Bible, renders this line -- "He was the first mighty man on earth." 00:35:17.88\00:35:21.95 We could call him the first, really, superhero. The guy just 00:35:21.95\00:35:26.42 looked like -- He just looked like he had it all together, in terms of courage, in terms of 00:35:26.42\00:35:32.56 physique, in terms of power. He became a hero, a superhero. Now, I need to tell you that his 00:35:32.56\00:35:38.77 name meant "he shall rebel." It can also mean, "We shall rebel. 00:35:38.77\00:35:48.14 Kind of interesting that a parent would name a child that, 00:35:48.14\00:35:52.08 but... Who is this guy? Nimrod. What else do we know? 00:35:52.08\00:35:57.72 Well, let's read the -- at least read the next line. What is it? 00:35:57.72\00:36:03.02 Verse 9? So, "Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth --" that's Verse 8. 00:36:03.02\00:36:05.96 And here comes Verse 9. 00:36:05.96\00:36:07.93 Whoa! Now, I'm not a hunter. I've never gone hunting. But what I've heard about 00:36:16.40\00:36:22.18 hunting is that it's how you live with an adrenaline rush. This stuff just happens. 00:36:22.18\00:36:30.15 It's kill or be killed, particularly big game. And we've 00:36:30.15\00:36:34.82 been to a big-game park in Kenya. And you've got big, big 00:36:34.82\00:36:40.60 game. So, hunters are mighty people. They're not intimidated. 00:36:40.63\00:36:43.63 And back then, it wasn't an AK-whatever to take that animal 00:36:43.63\00:36:47.50 down. Shhhhhh! Pfoo! 00:36:47.50\00:36:50.57 That's it. Shhhhhh! Pfoo! Gotcha! 00:36:50.61\00:36:57.38 We got a superhero here who's courageous, and the people love 00:36:57.38\00:37:00.72 it. People always are drawn to, you know, masculine, fully testosteroned males, 00:37:00.72\00:37:08.96 superheroes. Nimrod becomes a superhero. Living with the 00:37:08.96\00:37:16.53 adrenaline rush. The only adrenaline rush I've ever gotten 00:37:16.56\00:37:18.83 was -- I went fishing once over here by the dam in Berrien 00:37:18.83\00:37:22.14 Springs. And I actually -- [ Laughs ] I actually caught 00:37:22.14\00:37:25.67 something. Man, I'm talking about adrenaline rush. 00:37:25.67\00:37:28.38 It only lasted a few seconds, 'cause I let the fish go. 00:37:28.38\00:37:34.45 But you can understand that if you have the prowess for hunting, that is an adrenaline 00:37:34.48\00:37:40.16 rush that rushes again and again and again. We have a superhero 00:37:40.16\00:37:46.13 on our hands. His name also begins with "N" -- Nimrod, "he 00:37:46.13\00:37:51.20 shall rebel," "we shall rebel." Oh, is anything more embedded here that might tell us about 00:37:51.20\00:37:57.87 who this Nimrod superhero guy is? Well, there is a little -- 00:37:57.87\00:38:04.81 one more key that I'm gonna throw in here. Years -- Centuries later, after 00:38:04.81\00:38:10.92 Genesis gets written by Moses -- Centuries later, Jews in Alexandria, Egypt, decide to 00:38:10.92\00:38:16.96 translate the Hebrew Bible. And it's called a Septuagint -- the 00:38:16.96\00:38:22.23 Septuagint, right? So, the Hebrew becomes Greek. Guess what they do. Apparently, the 00:38:22.23\00:38:27.50 reputation of Nimrod has been festering for centuries, and when they come to this line that 00:38:27.50\00:38:34.11 reads "and he was a mighty hunter before the Lord," they said, "Nope. We're not gonna 00:38:34.11\00:38:38.91 translate it that way." The Greek reads, "And he was a mighty hunter against the Lord." 00:38:38.91\00:38:44.35 Ooh! So he's a rebel. He's strong. 00:38:44.35\00:38:50.93 He's a superhero, and the people just gravitate to him. They like 00:38:50.93\00:38:56.77 him. They like what he stands for. Nimrod, superhero number two. The community splits. 00:38:56.77\00:39:05.27 [ Imitates tearing ] He says, "Chh! Follow me. I'll give you 00:39:05.27\00:39:14.42 what you want." And where does he lead them? We know it, right here. There's only one more line 00:39:14.42\00:39:19.55 to help us here. We got to unpack this. Verse 10. 00:39:19.55\00:39:22.29 "And the first centers of his kingdom --" Hit the pause button 00:39:22.29\00:39:26.86 right there. "The first centers of his kingdom." I'm gonna ask 00:39:26.86\00:39:30.97 you a question. If you invent a kingdom, what does that make you? A king. You're a king. 00:39:30.97\00:39:39.87 There hasn't been a king on this planet. But the superhero says, 00:39:39.87\00:39:46.82 "Hey, I cleared this space for you." And, by the way, it's a very small step from prowess 00:39:46.82\00:39:53.12 with hunting animals to prowess with killing humans. I'm just 00:39:53.12\00:40:00.60 gonna hit a pause button right here. I just -- I'm just telling you. "Oh, you old fogy." 00:40:00.60\00:40:06.40 No, I'm telling you that if every video game in your house that's being played is killing 00:40:06.40\00:40:13.17 whoever steps in front of you -- "Pshoo! Gotcha! Pshoo! Gotcha!" 00:40:13.17\00:40:17.21 Blood splattering. "Pshoo! Gotcha!" That kind of numbness 00:40:17.21\00:40:23.65 to human life eventually can be acted out. And killing animals 00:40:23.65\00:40:31.13 -- aah! -- marauding animals -- Hey, listen, I'm glad he was a 00:40:31.13\00:40:34.03 hunter. Do you know what? Have you seen some of those fossils 00:40:34.03\00:40:37.07 they found? Pssh! How would you like to be on a mountain trail, and you run into that sabertooth 00:40:37.07\00:40:43.61 whatever? He was delivering people. He was a hero. He was a 00:40:43.61\00:40:47.34 superhero. But you can go from killing animals to killing people... if you're not careful. 00:40:47.34\00:40:55.38 Nimrod. Oh, what was that line again? "He..." 00:40:55.38\00:41:00.59 "The first centers of his kingdom --" Okay. The king has a 00:41:00.59\00:41:04.63 kingdom. And notice his kingdom and notice where the 00:41:04.63\00:41:07.46 headquarters is. What's the next word? The first sentence of his 00:41:07.46\00:41:10.77 kingdom were what? What's the first one? What's the first one? 00:41:10.77\00:41:14.17 It's Babylon. Okay, where did Babylon come from? Babylon came 00:41:14.17\00:41:17.77 from Babel. Hey, guess who led this little -- this mountain 00:41:17.77\00:41:22.61 fracture. Guess who led them to the plain. Guess who was the superhero that set up this alt 00:41:22.61\00:41:30.65 kingdom. "And I'll be your king." You're gonna watch here, and in just a split second, 00:41:30.65\00:41:36.76 you're gonna see a portrait emerging of, "Oh, no. You're 00:41:36.76\00:41:42.30 kidding me." No, right, really. "The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon --" That's 00:41:42.30\00:41:48.74 mission control. Then Uruk, then Akkad, then Kalneh, in Shinar. 00:41:48.74\00:41:52.44 "From that land, he went --" next verse, 11 -- "he went to 00:41:52.47\00:41:55.11 Assyria. There, he built Nineveh, 00:41:55.11\00:41:56.78 Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen, which is between Nineveh and 00:41:56.78\00:42:00.45 Calah -- which is the great city." 00:42:00.45\00:42:02.62 Isn't that something? The boy whose name means "he 00:42:02.62\00:42:06.79 shall rebel" becomes the planter of cities. 00:42:06.79\00:42:14.03 Reminds me of Cain, whose name might as well have read "he shall rebel" and becomes the 00:42:14.10\00:42:21.30 father of walled cities. Wow. What's going on here? This is 00:42:21.30\00:42:29.24 crazy. "A mighty warrior against the Lord." Against the Lord. 00:42:29.24\00:42:34.88 Two superheroes -- Noah -- And, by the way, Noah almost got took down, if I can put it that way. 00:42:34.88\00:42:42.96 He almost got took down. Somebody who knows when crises come, they are dangerous change 00:42:42.96\00:42:51.93 points was waiting for that moment. "I'm gonna take that man 00:42:51.93\00:43:01.34 down." Mm. Who is this? Who is this mysterious, cryptic 00:43:01.34\00:43:07.68 Nimrod -- "he shall rebel" -- who makes himself the king of an alt kingdom, who sets up his 00:43:07.68\00:43:13.92 headquarters in a place called Babylon? Who is he? 00:43:13.92\00:43:20.06 Well, he is who he is, but it doesn't take us long to figure out who might be the actual alt 00:43:20.06\00:43:32.01 king behind Nimrod. Lookit, here's what Nimrod did. He said, "Hey, guys, come on. 00:43:32.01\00:43:38.25 Superhero me -- you follow me." You know what? They get down to 00:43:38.25\00:43:42.38 that plain, and you know what he declares? "We're gonna move from monotheism to polytheism. 00:43:42.38\00:43:49.76 We're gonna have lots of gods. We're gonna move from patriarchal government to 00:43:49.76\00:43:54.03 monarchical government. We're gonna have me as your king. 00:43:54.03\00:43:57.37 And we're gonna move from the quiet of outdoor living to walled fortresses that can be 00:43:57.37\00:44:05.01 controlled." I mean, who's emerging from this? 00:44:05.01\00:44:08.88 You seeing anybody? The king of an alt kingdom who's thrown a rebellion against the 00:44:08.88\00:44:15.58 government of the universe? Yeah, you don't need a PhD. This isn't rocket science. 00:44:15.58\00:44:23.76 We know who he is, this Nimrod. I'm not saying he's the personification of you know who. 00:44:23.76\00:44:31.00 He just became the front for you know who, who you know who chooses Babylon to be his 00:44:31.00\00:44:37.64 headquarters and his front of the alt kingdom all the way till the return of Christ slams 00:44:37.64\00:44:43.68 Babylon one last time to the ground. "Babylon will reign." 00:44:43.68\00:44:49.55 Hey, when this pandemic began, I got to tell you, I said, "Okay, Dwight, you're gonna have some 00:44:49.55\00:44:55.56 time to read." [ Scoffs ] Time to read. But, anyway, I said, 00:44:55.56\00:45:02.26 "Okay, let's try -- I don't know how long this pandemic -- the lockdown's gonna last, but let's 00:45:02.26\00:45:06.17 read the -- I want to read the book "The Great Controversy" 00:45:06.17\00:45:08.17 through. I'd read it a couple times. "Great Controversy." It's an apocalyptic classic. 00:45:08.17\00:45:11.74 By the way, you're watching right now or listening here right now, you want to get the 00:45:11.74\00:45:15.64 book, just go to amazon.com, type in "Great Controversy." You can get a paperback for not 00:45:15.64\00:45:20.52 very much at all. I said, "I want to read that book through." 00:45:20.52\00:45:23.59 And guess what -- this Wednesday, wouldn't you know it? Before the lockdown was 00:45:23.59\00:45:27.46 lifted -- for worship -- I read the last chapter. That reading 00:45:27.46\00:45:34.46 has -- has -- has radically reoriented some of my thinking, and I have to share some of that 00:45:34.46\00:45:39.57 with you. It is so stunning. I saw stuff I have never seen 00:45:39.57\00:45:45.91 before! To the place I'm determined, by the grace of God, that sometime during this new 00:45:45.91\00:45:50.45 school year, we're gonna have a series on prophecy. You know 00:45:50.45\00:45:53.25 why? We have a new generation that has never heard of prophecy, and we have a 00:45:53.25\00:45:58.39 not-so-new generation that has forgotten all about prophecy, and stuff is coming to us now, 00:45:58.39\00:46:03.99 coming in our face so fast, that I'm concerned that we might be caught, all of us, off-guard and 00:46:03.99\00:46:09.63 miss the moment that we were given. Miss it! We didn't see it 00:46:09.63\00:46:15.84 coming. It's coming. These dangerous change points, are you 00:46:15.84\00:46:19.44 kidding? They are gonna be faster and fast-- We've already had three of them -- three of 00:46:19.44\00:46:24.55 them -- in this nation. They're gonna be coming faster and 00:46:24.55\00:46:29.18 faster. [ Clicks tongue ] 00:46:29.18\00:46:30.79 Ah. What's that Chinese word? Come on, let's go to that 00:46:30.82\00:46:32.72 Chinese character again. Chinese... 00:46:32.72\00:46:35.42 Crisis. What's it mean? Dangerous change point. 00:46:35.42\00:46:39.93 COVID-19 -- Is this stage one of COVID-19? 00:46:39.93\00:46:43.13 I'm not sure. Have we ever even moved to stage two? 00:46:43.16\00:46:46.43 Is there gonna be a stage three? Nobody knows. Change point. 00:46:46.43\00:46:49.84 Dangerous change point. We don't know. We have no idea. 00:46:49.84\00:46:54.68 What about what's going on in your life right now? Is this a 00:46:54.68\00:46:57.81 dangerous change point? Ha. Hey, by the way, please, let's 00:46:57.81\00:47:00.98 be very clear on this -- God does not send crises. Once in a 00:47:00.98\00:47:06.19 while, He does. Usually, no. You know what God does? Tchew! 00:47:06.19\00:47:11.13 Seizes crises. He harnesses them in order to advance His agenda in your life, His agenda in my 00:47:11.13\00:47:20.10 life. You see, Noah came to that dangerous change point. Ooh, it 00:47:20.10\00:47:24.54 was a little shaky there, as chapter nine indicates. It was a little shaky, but he 00:47:24.54\00:47:28.68 said, "No, no, no, no, no." He chose to submit to the God of that dangerous change point, the 00:47:28.68\00:47:34.72 Almighty Himself. Nimrod came to that same dangerous change 00:47:34.72\00:47:38.52 point. He said, "Nope, I'm not going that way, which means I'll be my own king and I will rule 00:47:38.52\00:47:43.56 this earth," and he went that way. That, essentially, is the only two choice-- Those are the 00:47:43.56\00:47:48.70 only two choices we have, go with the king of the universe, 00:47:48.70\00:47:54.14 or me, king. The point is, these change points are gonna keep coming. What made the 00:47:54.14\00:47:58.37 difference? Noah said, "I'm gonna submit to God. Whatever His agenda is, do it to 00:47:58.37\00:48:02.31 me." Nimrod said, "I will not submit to God. 00:48:02.31\00:48:05.85 I don't care what you say or what you do." Ah, I got to end 00:48:05.85\00:48:10.02 with this. I want you to see this quotation. Why should you 00:48:10.02\00:48:12.82 submit to God? Some of you are going through a crisis right now. You are poised in a very 00:48:12.82\00:48:17.46 dangerous change point. I don't say that to scare you. I just affirm that that's where 00:48:17.46\00:48:22.66 you -- you are at this moment, but look now. One last 00:48:22.66\00:48:26.74 quotation. Look what God brings out of dangerous change points. Let's go, please, to 00:48:26.74\00:48:31.51 "Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing." Last quotation -- 00:48:31.51\00:48:35.38 "The trials of life are God's workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from 00:48:35.38\00:48:39.95 our character. Their hewing" -- that's chopping or cutting -- 00:48:39.98\00:48:42.88 "their squaring, their chiseling, their burnishing" -- 00:48:42.88\00:48:45.39 that's rubbing real hard -- "their polishing" -- Whew, talk 00:48:45.39\00:48:47.86 about stones. Man, that stone is beautiful 00:48:47.86\00:48:49.79 now. Look at that. 00:48:49.79\00:48:50.96 "...is a painful process; it is hard to be be pressed down to 00:48:50.96\00:48:53.53 the grinding wheel." You ever seen those wheels where 00:48:53.53\00:48:55.56 the -- where the guy sits behind a wheel and he's got a little 00:48:55.56\00:48:57.83 accelerator on this thing, and that wheel can go faster, and he 00:48:57.83\00:49:00.20 slows it down -- ohhhh -- and then he -- rrrrrgh -- sparks are 00:49:00.20\00:49:02.47 going, everything, if he's dealing with metal? 00:49:02.47\00:49:04.21 Whatever it is, it's just cutting off, cutting off. 00:49:04.21\00:49:07.51 It is a painful process to be pressed against that wheel. 00:49:07.51\00:49:12.65 "But...God in His great love" -- I love this -- "is seeking to 00:49:12.65\00:49:15.92 develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit." 00:49:15.92\00:49:18.59 Keep reading. "He permits us to encounter 00:49:18.59\00:49:20.62 obstacles, persecution, and hardships" -- in other words, 00:49:20.62\00:49:23.19 crises, dangerous change points. He allows them to come. 00:49:23.19\00:49:26.06 He doesn't cause them. Jesus said, "An enemy's done 00:49:26.06\00:49:28.30 this." But He allows them to come 00:49:28.30\00:49:29.86 "...not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives." 00:49:29.86\00:49:37.44 If you're in a change point right now, a dangerous change 00:49:37.44\00:49:39.97 point, I need you to hang on to that last line. 00:49:39.97\00:49:45.18 This crisis will one day be the greatest blessing of your life. 00:49:45.18\00:49:55.19 Say, "Aw, come on, Dwight." No, I'm serious. 00:49:55.19\00:49:58.16 Now, listen, listen. Sometimes you will never see it 00:49:58.16\00:50:02.93 till the crisis has passed. One more caveat -- Sometimes you 00:50:02.93\00:50:08.84 will never see it in this life. 00:50:08.84\00:50:14.78 A dangerous change point. But you said, "I'm going with God. 00:50:14.81\00:50:19.91 I'm not throwing God out now. I'm not abandoning Him now." Oh, 00:50:19.91\00:50:26.59 my. Does God know about dangerous change points? [ Scoffs ] Look at Calvary. 00:50:26.59\00:50:31.06 "I'm standing here at the foot of the cross." Look at Calvary, 00:50:31.06\00:50:35.40 the greatest crisis in the universe -- a huge, dangerous change point. He could go this 00:50:35.40\00:50:41.54 way, He could go that way, but He went the right way, and because Calvary conquered the 00:50:41.54\00:50:47.44 alt kingdom of the fallen Lucifer, there is no crisis that can take you down. Not one that 00:50:47.44\00:50:54.52 can take you down. Stay with Jesus. Oh, I like that hymn -- 00:50:54.52\00:50:57.95 How's it go? "Jesus, keep me near the cross. There a precious" -- Come on, you can 00:50:57.95\00:51:04.59 say it under the mask. It's not gonna hurt you. Do you know the words? "Jesus, keep me near the 00:51:04.59\00:51:08.10 cross. There a precious"... >> Fountain. >> ..."fountain, free 00:51:08.10\00:51:11.87 to all, a healing stream, flows from Calv'ry's mountain." We're talking about mountains. 00:51:11.87\00:51:17.11 "Flows from Calv'ry's mountains. In the cross" -- Say it with 00:51:17.11\00:51:21.08 me -- "In the cross, be my glory"... >> Ever. 00:51:21.08\00:51:24.78 >> ..."ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest," beyond 00:51:24.78\00:51:30.89 the what? Beyond the river. Whatever it is you're going through right now, God is 00:51:30.89\00:51:35.56 preaching to you. At this very moment, He's saying something to 00:51:35.56\00:51:39.26 your heart. He's saying, "Stay with Me, girl. Stay with Me, 00:51:39.26\00:51:41.56 boy. Don't you leave Me now. Don't you let go now. This is going to be -- One day, 00:51:41.56\00:51:48.04 you will see it. Your shining moment -- the greatest blessing 00:51:48.04\00:51:54.34 I ever gave to you -- will come from this, so stay with Me. Stay 00:51:54.34\00:52:03.45 with Me." Does that make sense? Amen. Amen. 00:52:03.45\00:52:09.12 [ "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross" begins ] 00:52:09.16\00:52:12.13 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:52:12.13\00:52:31.98 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:52:31.98\00:52:51.80 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:52:51.80\00:53:11.75 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:53:11.75\00:53:31.57 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:53:31.57\00:53:51.46 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:53:51.46\00:54:11.38 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:54:11.38\00:54:31.20 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:54:31.20\00:54:51.09 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:54:51.09\00:55:11.01 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:55:11.01\00:55:30.86 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:55:30.86\00:55:50.78 And so, Holy Father, we stand before You, as it were, at the 00:55:50.81\00:55:56.62 foot of the cross. All we're asking, in this season of dangerous change points, in this 00:55:56.62\00:56:07.93 season of crises, keep us right here. Keep us at the cross. And let Your promise ring true 00:56:07.93\00:56:18.47 deep within us -- "The greatest blessing of your life, I'm about 00:56:18.47\00:56:29.75 to give." We'll stay with You, by Your grace. Stay with us, 00:56:29.75\00:56:37.76 please. And now, may the love of the Father and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the 00:56:37.76\00:56:44.33 fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you into the new week 00:56:44.33\00:56:52.34 ahead. Amen. [ Organ plays ] 00:56:52.34\00:57:02.32 >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes 00:57:06.42\00:57:08.42 from our viewers, and we've made a conscious decision not to 00:57:08.42\00:57:11.76 continually appeal to you for that support. 00:57:11.76\00:57:14.83 The fact is, as everyone in the industry will tell you, we're 00:57:14.83\00:57:17.97 needing to make constant upgrades to our technology. 00:57:17.97\00:57:20.70 So if God has blessed you and you'd like to further the work 00:57:20.70\00:57:23.41 of this ministry, we invite you to partner with us. 00:57:23.41\00:57:25.74 Not a single penny of your donation will go to me. 00:57:25.74\00:57:28.74 Every bit of your gift goes to the mission of blessing your 00:57:28.74\00:57:32.21 community and our world. You can donate on our website, 00:57:32.21\00:57:35.25 newperceptions.tv. Or call the number. 00:57:35.25\00:57:38.35 You know the number -- 877-HIS-WILL. 00:57:38.35\00:57:40.79 Again, that number is 877 -- the two words "HIS-WILL." 00:57:40.79\00:57:45.13 And may the God who has blessed you continue to pour into your 00:57:45.13\00:57:47.73 life the gifts of His joy and His hope. 00:57:47.73\00:57:50.77 Thank you. And I'm looking forward to 00:57:50.77\00:57:52.93 seeing you, right here, again, next time. 00:57:52.93\00:57:55.97 ¤¤ ¤¤ 00:58:00.11\00:58:20.06 ¤¤ 00:58:20.06\00:58:28.14