WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Presence – What It Aint Publishing Date: 2023-04-30T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/presence-what-it-aint/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Okay, guys, so, I want to talk about, we've been talking about presence for a while. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.000 Today I want to talk about what presence, what it ain't. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:18.000 As in, sometimes this idea of presence and pursuing the presence of God can get so difficult 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 that you feel more guilt than pleasure. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:27.000 So, I want to talk about what presence is not, or how not to go about it, 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:31.000 because otherwise we'll drown in presence, in our pursuit of presence. 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:35.000 So, on one hand we said that the periodic awareness of presence, 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:41.000 on one hand we say the periodic awareness of the presence of God, 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:49.000 the periodic awareness of the presence of God is not God's design, 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.000 was never God's design. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.000 That's what we've been saying for a while, that it isn't enough to be aware of Him 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:04.000 when we gather together and sing together, it isn't enough to be aware of Him once a week, 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.000 twice a week, three times a week. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.000 The periodic awareness of the presence of God was never His design. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.000 That's one statement we've been making for a while. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:24.000 So then, the pressure that we as passionate believers can put on ourselves to be aware, 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:34.000 the pressure we put on ourselves to be aware of His presence, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:41.000 to be aware of His presence, can soon reek of guilt, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:51.000 can soon reek of guilt, of failure, 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:57.000 and then the sense of it's never enough. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.000 Because there are so many things that happen in life, 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:06.000 besides Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:09.000 Because that's where we normally go, that she chose a better portion, 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:13.000 she sits at the feet of Jesus, Jesus said this will never be taken away from her, 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:18.000 that's how I should be, I can't be like that, there's hardly any time that I spend like that. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:24.000 And so it begins to reek of failure, of guilt, and of this it's never enough sense. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:30.000 And so seeking out the presence of God, seeking out the presence of God, 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:36.000 seeking out the presence of God should not drown me, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:43.000 should not drown me to the exclusion of all things, 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:49.000 to the exclusion of all things else, to the exclusion of all things else. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:03:01.000 This is not a fair comparison, it doesn't really help, this analogy may not, you cannot stretch it, 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:05.000 but you meet guys who suddenly meet a girl, and they've hardly met her for one day, 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:10.000 and they're so head over heels that the rest of life stops. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:15.000 It can't be like that, God never meant the pursuit of the presence of himself 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:21.000 to drown us to the exclusion of everything else, and we'll see that from the scriptures. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:25.000 And so the intent is to look at the distortions of pursuing presence, 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:31.000 or look and say this ain't it, and this is it, so that all of life can be lived together. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.000 Any questions on that before we go on? 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.000 Do you understand where we're going with this? 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Because otherwise there's guilt and it's never enough. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:49.000 When will we ever get to that place where we can say, aha, it's all good now? 00:03:49.000 --> 00:04:00.000 Any questions? Hey Jill, good to see you. Heard you were in Japan recently. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Where's Evan? 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.000 Okay. Any questions? 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.000 So let's start with the whole idea of language. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Guys, one of the things we have to change is how we use language. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:26.000 Our language can distort the process of perceiving him, perceiving presence. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.000 So we've got to, you know, one of the things we stopped using in this church 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.000 is we are going to church or let's meet for church and stuff like that. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:38.000 It is very deliberate because language does distort perception. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:45.000 It's been used powerfully by people to change how a nation thinks. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 And so one of the things we have to make sure is that language does not distort 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.000 the process of perceiving presence. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:56.000 And so we've got to stop saying stuff like, man, God really showed up. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.000 Worship was so powerful, God really showed up. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.000 Or didn't feel his presence. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:07.000 Or let us invite his presence with praise. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:13.000 This is normal Christian language and it's not biblical. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.000 So why would I use unbiblical language? 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.000 Ooh, I feel his presence right now. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.000 That is just my feeling. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.000 But his presence is here anyways. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000 May I, are you trying to raise your hand or no? 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.000 Okay, just checking. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.000 No, no, really, I thought you were asking a question. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.000 So language distorts the process of perceiving presence. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.000 Yeah. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:42.000 So stop using language like that. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.000 Stop using stuff like I feel the presence of God. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000 I didn't feel the presence of God. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Oh, he's powerful in this place. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.000 Stuff like that, we've got to stop that. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Oh, let's just invite him with our praise. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.000 Let's come early and pray over each of these pews 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:58.000 so that the presence of God settles on the pews. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.000 It's just a lot of wasted time. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.000 Yeah. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.000 We would rephrase as, Father, whether I like it or not, you're here. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And now, please, could you help me become aware of your presence? 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 By the way, I just want you to know I don't feel nothing. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:21.000 But I still want to acknowledge that you are here. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000 You start from the truth and then work. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:30.000 When I don't feel anything, take truth and voice it. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.000 When you don't feel anything, take truth and voice it. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.000 It's always been the way the Bible has worked. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:39.000 Habakkuk 3, 17 to 19 is the perfect example of it. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.000 Though the fig tree shall not blossom, though there is no cattle in the stall, 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.000 though the olive tree has cast its truth, yet I will do cartwheels of joy, 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.000 because I know that you are this, this, this, and this. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.000 Whenever you don't feel anything, take the truth and voice it. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:53.000 And so we are taking the truth and voicing it. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:59.000 We are saying, God, I don't feel anything, but I know that you are here. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.000 That's how we go about this. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.000 That's where we start. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:07.000 So often our language fails to grasp the central truth of God's presence. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:11.000 Often our language fails to grasp the truth of God's presence. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.000 And language does color our mind. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.000 Words are used to change our mind. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:17.000 It's always been that way. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.000 Words are used to change our mind. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.000 One of the things I forgot to say when we were talking about Israel, 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.000 one of the keys to Israel is what Jesus said when he said, 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:37.000 The Greeks look for arguments and intelligence, the Jews look for a sign. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.000 Any church that rises up there that is made up of the one new man of Jew and Gentile 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:47.000 must be a church that just relishes and thrives in signs, miracles, and wonders. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.000 So even the people that we are now associating with and beginning to connect with 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.000 are people that we are hoping we can put an emphasis on, 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.000 signs, miracles, and wonders, because it's always been... 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.000 Cultures have a certain way of behaving. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.000 It's just normal. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.000 So often our language fails to grasp the truth of God's presence. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.000 So that is one thing that has to change. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:19.000 In reality, God is always present. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:22.000 In reality, God is already present. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.000 Not just always, God is already present. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.000 God is already present. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.000 And His presence surrounds us. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.000 This has been one line I've been going over again and again. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.000 His presence surrounds us, surrounds me, surrounds us. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:41.000 His presence surrounds us and me. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.000 It's not something I can create. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.000 It is not something I can create. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.000 It is not something I can create. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:58.000 As in, intensive worship is not creating the presence of God. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:02.000 Intensive worship opens my eyes to the presence of God that is already present 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 before we even start at worship. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:10.000 No song, no music, no anointed leader can do anything to make the presence of God come. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.000 Ooh, get an anointed worship leader, the presence of God will come. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.000 Oh my God. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.000 That's like a magic trick. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.000 No. Worship opens my eyes to the presence of God. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.000 That's all. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000 And so it can take two lines, it can take no music, it can take no lines, 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.000 and you can be aware of the presence of God. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:37.000 So we've got to completely shred those myths, Christian myths, Christian charismatic myths. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.000 It is not something I can create. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.000 It's a gift. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.000 It's a gift. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 It is God's gift. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.000 I know we've been over this, but it's always good to refresh because we keep learning so many things. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 It is God's gift. What do you mean it's God's gift? 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:54.000 What was lost in the Garden of Eden? Presence. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 What was restored? Presence. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.000 That's the beauty of this. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.000 The one thing that was lost in Eden was presence. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:06.000 And what is instantly restored when one becomes a child of God? Presence. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:12.000 We are even given words as soon as we are born again so we can connect with presence. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.000 What are those words? 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.000 The abacry that comes with the Spirit of God. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.000 Soon as we are born again, inside us rises an intimate abacry. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.000 Why? Because now we have presence and the presence must be connected to it. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.000 How do we connect with presence? 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.000 You always connect to presence with words. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.000 Intimacy that does not express itself in words is not real intimacy. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 Intimacy that does not express itself in words is not real intimacy. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:46.000 It's a trick that has been spun on Christians, especially non-charismatic denominations. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:54.000 Whether it's silent meditation, it will be the end of you men. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:01.000 There is a time for silence, but there is also a time for expression. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Go with Ecclesiastes. A time for everything. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.000 We don't choose one over the other. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.000 It is God's gift and it's independent of us. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.000 It is independent of what we do. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.000 It is independent of what we do. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.000 It is independent of what we do. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 Icabod does not happen. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.000 Icabod does not happen. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.000 As in, Icabod is the glory of God departed. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.000 It does not happen in... 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:30.000 That usually happens in buildings. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.000 It does not happen to a people in whom he is a child. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:34.000 That usually happens in buildings. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.000 It does not happen to a people in whom he dwells. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.000 It's not possible. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:43.000 The only thing that happens is now the glory of God does not depart, but you get dull to his glory. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.000 There's a dullness to his glory, but the glory does not depart. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.000 So David's words do not count anymore. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.000 Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.000 Take not your spirit from me. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:55.000 It's not scriptural for a New Testament Christian. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.000 It is an Old Testament scripture that must stay in the Old Testament. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.000 It does not transfer into the New Testament. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000 What happens is though, I can get dull to the presence of God, but I do not lose the presence of God, 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.000 because the presence of God is present independent of me, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:13.000 and there is nothing I can do to make him appear or make him disappear, because I'm not a magician. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.000 These are facts and truths. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:20.000 They're not just truths. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.000 They are facts. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:25.000 As in, they can be tested out. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.000 His kindness then brings awareness. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:38.000 So one of the things we should realize is his kindness brings us an awareness of him. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:42.000 His kindness brings us an awareness of him. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.000 Most of the work in terms of the presence of God is done by him. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.000 His kindness brings us an awareness of him. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:57.000 It is the same kindness that you show your child when your child is suddenly woken up, 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:00.000 is in a room that is perhaps dark or perhaps not dark, 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.000 and suddenly goes into cry mode or suddenly looks for you, 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.000 and you just, out of your kindness, even though you're in the next room, 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.000 you know that the child must see your face or the physical presence must be there, 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:17.000 and you go to the room and you say some gibberish over the child and the child becomes calm. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:21.000 Your kindness is what brings about an awareness. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.000 God's kindness is what brings about an awareness, and he does this every day. 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.000 Every day he's willing to do this. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:33.000 So just be aware of that. Most of the work is done by him. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.000 This takes the pressure off us. 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.000 Otherwise we'll be pursuing the presence of God, feeling pretty guilty when we don't connect. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.000 Every time you don't connect, remember there is someone who wants to connect. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 He's the one who saw the connection fail, he's the one who reconnects, 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:48.000 and he's the one who reconnects every day. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.000 The chase is fun, but let him, he likes being caught. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.000 The chase is fun, he likes being caught. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:58.000 This is so important. The chase is fun. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:01.000 Don't stop chasing, but he's the one who likes being caught. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:04.000 It's like when dads play with their sons or daughters, 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 and you run and the child tries to catch you and you don't let yourself be caught, 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.000 and then you realize, my God, if I keep this on, the child is going to fall down 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:15.000 because it can't sustain it anymore, and then you stop and the child touches you 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.000 and feels like she or he is a champion. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:21.000 I don't do that with children anymore because I feel like I'm a champion. 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:25.000 I don't do that with children anymore because I find myself getting exhausted before the child. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:31.000 But the point is, his kindness brings us an awareness of him. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:35.000 Enjoy the chase, but he's the one who wants to be caught. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.000 If you can understand that, sometimes the simplest things are the most profound. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:43.000 If you can understand that he wants to be caught, you will enjoy this. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:48.000 You're not chasing to catch him. You're chasing because it's a game. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.000 Yep. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:05.000 Yeah. I pray God that he doesn't have to do it with us. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:08.000 God needs to revive because nothing is happening. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.000 But what if people are revived, that it is so easy to distribute it? 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.000 Yeah. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.000 Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about Hebrides. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:23.000 So here were people praying that God would touch the town. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.000 It is a pagan town. Nobody would even go anywhere near it. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:32.000 And suddenly God's presence comes and even unbelievers are aware of the tangible presence of God. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.000 So revival literally makes God's presence tangible. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:43.000 But for us, his presence, whether it's tangible or intangible, should be as real. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:46.000 It shouldn't be an event that makes his presence tangible. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.000 So there will be times when we are worshipping God and we are very aware of his presence, 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.000 when suddenly something hits you like a bolt of lightning, which is unusual. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:58.000 Or where suddenly you see something of God that knocks you to the floor. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.000 Or suddenly you are so aware of the Spirit of God doing something that you're weeping, 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 not uncontrollably, but almost uncontrollably. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:12.000 Or you go down on your knees because you know that you have to take your shoes off because the Holy is in the place. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:18.000 Those are times when God moves from, yes, I am present, to yes, I am tangibly present. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.000 And so in Hebrides what happened was when the revival came, his tangible presence was so evident 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.000 that things would shake, that people would cry, they wouldn't know why they were crying. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:31.000 And blessed is a city or a town or a church that is visited that way. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.000 So we are not going to despise that, we are not going to shut those to that. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:44.000 We are not going to say we don't need that. But that is not how we live. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.000 We live with this presence always. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:53.000 And then there are times when he will show up in ways that are crazy. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:01.000 And when he does, ah, you try to grasp onto his foot and have him change your name before you let him go. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:07.000 Whenever the tangible presence of God turns up in a place, you've got to grab his legs and not let go. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.000 Because he didn't show up just to tickle you. He showed up to see how bad do you want him. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:17.000 And when you hold him that way, get a name change man. And get a name change without a limp. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:28.000 Every time, I mean there have been times in my life where God has tangibly shown up where, where it is. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 And here is the other thing, if he shows up tangibly, you won't be dancing and shouting. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:37.000 You will be laying down flat on the floor saying, get away from me, oh God, for I am a sinner. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:40.000 That's usually the response to the tangible holy of God. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:45.000 It's never, wow, welcome, come sit with me. No, it's not usually that. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:52.000 It's usually great fear where you hear the three most amazing words, fear not Jacob, or whatever your name is. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.000 I realize it should be two words, but then I throw in Jacob. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.000 Or do not fear. That's usually his response. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:06.000 And so there have been times where I've, two or three times in my life where I've known the tangible presence of God. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.000 And all of them were scary and wonderful. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.000 And when that happens, there must be a name change. There must be a name change. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:19.000 One of the things that kind of began to affect charismatic Christianity is people would get slain in the spirit. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:22.000 They would fall over. They would shake and then they would get up and be the same. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:27.000 So that was an experience, but we're not looking only for experience. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:32.000 So his kindness brings us into an awareness of him. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:37.000 And then what is the other line? Pardon? Yeah. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:42.000 Yeah, he likes being caught. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.000 So where do we start with this whole thing, guys? 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:55.000 One of the books that we rarely read, because it's so you don't know what to do with that book, is The Song of Songs. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:02.000 And just remember, just like there is the mother of all battles or the tallest building, 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:06.000 there is a reason that book is called The Song of All Songs. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:10.000 Like this is like the, I mean, billboard was discovered much later. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.000 Top of the Pops existed in the ancient times. Song of Songs. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.000 It was like, this is the ultimate song, guys. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:21.000 And we don't read it very often because we don't know what to make out of it. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:25.000 But when you read The Song of Songs, the ultimate song, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:28.000 you realize that there are some things that are so conducive to what we're talking about. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:35.000 For example, how will you ever get into and get out of the world of music? 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:42.000 For example, how will you ever get into and get out of and enjoy presence if you don't believe in, 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:50.000 I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.000 I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:00.000 Or it actually says, I'm my beloved and his desire is for me. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:06.000 If I don't get this, I will have conflict in pursuing the presence of God. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:14.000 If I don't get this, I will have conflict in pursuing the presence. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.000 You know, there's nothing as painful as chasing someone who you know you will not catch. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Like if I tried catching Prashant, it's unlikely. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:36.000 They will say of Jacob, he died pursuing. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.000 This amazing thing happened two days ago. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:45.000 So with the LA group, they are a bunch of really fit people. 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.000 What they do for fun is go walking, like, go figure. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:50.000 I go driving, they go walking. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:58.000 So we want to pray over the city because in Isaiah 62, it talks about praying over the walls of the city. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.000 Wanted to find a spot because very specifically we had a prayer that we needed to pray. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.000 And so they said, let's go to Mount Olive. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.000 So I thought Mount Olive must be a little hill. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.000 But Mount Olive is actually a mount. 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:13.000 And so we start praying. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:18.000 And the other thing with people who walk, never believe them because they always say, it's just a little more. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.000 I hate that. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.000 It's just a little more. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:26.000 And that little more is not even half way. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:35.000 And so thankfully, Hansel from Bahrain and Jimmy from the US, they are not going to believe that. 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:49.000 And so thankfully, Hansel from Bahrain and Jillian from Vancouver, at least, were walking slow enough so that they still are aware that I'm there. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.000 And we are trudging and the others are far ahead. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.000 And Chad, because he's on keto, can walk a little faster now. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.000 And so they're walking up. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:01.000 And then I get not even half way through, maybe one quarter of the way, and I know I can't go. 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.000 And by the way, Mount Olive is full of graves of people. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:09.000 People bury them there because they think that when the Messiah comes, the people will rise out of the grave. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:14.000 I'm looking at the graves thinking, they'll have to bury me here. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.000 Because I ain't making it to the top. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.000 Because by now I'm panting and there's this vet walking with me. 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:22.000 Hansel is a vet. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:29.000 He's saying, Jacob, don't mean this in the wrong way, but you sound like a dog right now. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.000 So nothing is working for me. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:34.000 And I've got to go there and pray. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:39.000 We are a quarter of a way up and I'm just completely out of breath. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:41.000 And I'm saying, I can see well enough from here. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:45.000 I'm going to pray from here. 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:48.000 And just then, pardon? 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.000 Yeah, he's present. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:52.000 And so the presence is not up there. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:23:00.000 And just as we are praying this, along comes this guy in a golf cart. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.000 It is like my ram in the ticket, man. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:10.000 And all I could think was Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Jireh. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.000 And he comes and says, anyone needs a ride? 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Million dollars, million dollars. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:21.000 So I said twenty and then I brought it down to fifteen. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:25.000 And then he took us up and then he waited there, eh, till everything was done. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.000 Then he took us down. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.000 I'm so thankful. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:37.000 I don't know why this story is at all important, but if you don't know that you can catch somebody, 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:40.000 what's the point of pursuing them? 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.000 Because you would die halfway through. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:48.000 One of the things God wants us to know is that I am my beloved and his desire is for me. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.000 The idea of presence is his desire is for me. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:52.000 I will find his presence. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.000 His desire is for me. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.000 I will find his presence. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.000 There are ways he'll do that, but his desire is for me. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:01.000 I will find his presence. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:07.000 These are truths that should be established so that you don't run his helter-skelter. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.000 His desire is for me. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.000 I will find his presence. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.000 I will not lose out on his presence. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.000 So, otherwise you'll have conflict, eh? 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:23.000 And just so you know, awareness of presence is just not so that, ah, I'm aware of God. 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:32.000 Awareness of presence must lead to, must lead to oneness with the presence of God. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.000 Oneness with the presence of God. 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:38.000 Oneness with the presence of God. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:44.000 Awareness of the presence of God must lead to oneness with the presence of God. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:46.000 Song of Songs is always about that. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.000 She hears a knock on the door. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:54.000 She says in, ah, I think chapter 5, she says, ah, I hear my lover knocking on my door, 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.000 but I've already chained into my robe. 00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:59.000 Must I now dress up again? 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.000 I've already washed my feet. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.000 Must I now soil them again? 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:05.000 And so she doesn't get up. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:06.000 Awareness is not enough. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:08.000 Awareness must lead to oneness. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:10.000 Otherwise you're aware of God knocking on the door. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.000 So what? 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:16.000 And then finally when she comes to her senses and says, okay, I'm going to open the door, he's gone. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.000 And so she's roaming the streets looking for him. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:22.000 Awareness of God must lead to oneness with the presence. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:25.000 And so remember that the game is not to chase and catch him. 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.000 The game is to chase and catch him and become one with him. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:36.000 As in the way he talks, Father, you are in me and I am in you. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:39.000 We have become one. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:46.000 Awareness of the presence must lead to oneness with the presence. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.000 Oneness only happens in the context of relationship. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:55.000 Oneness needs relationship. 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:03.000 Relationship requires chasing. 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:08.000 Relationship triggers a chase. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.000 And then it can be reciprocal. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:11.000 Then it can be mutual. 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:13.000 Then it can be experiential. 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:16.000 Where you are the junior partner learning the skill. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:18.000 Always think of yourself as a junior partner. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:21.000 Do not take on the responsibility of this upon yourself. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:22.000 You will exhaust yourself. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:23.000 Remember you're the junior partner. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:25.000 He's the senior partner. 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:27.000 He's the one who knows how to go about this. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:28.000 He knows you. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.000 He made you. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:30.000 He knows what makes you tick. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:31.000 He knows what distracts you. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:33.000 He also knows what attracts you. 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:34.000 He'll use everything in the book. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.000 Why? 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:37.000 Because his desire is for you. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.000 This is the one thing that's destroyed in Eden. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.000 That when husband and wife began to blame each other, 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:46.000 it said the woman no longer... 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.000 The woman wanted to dominate the man, it says. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.000 But here it's changed again. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:55.000 It goes back into the normal place where his desire is for you. 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:58.000 Any questions? 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.000 It's not too complicated. 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:02.000 When you think of it in terms of love, it's very easy. 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:07.000 Now you see why God says in Isaiah 62, verse 4 and 5, 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:10.000 he says, from now on I will not call you Hepzibah. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.000 I will not call you Abandoned One. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:13.000 I'll call you Hepzibah and Beulah. 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.000 You'll be like one who's married to me. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:18.000 You will not be one that is forlorn or left. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.000 Who is the one chasing whom? 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:24.000 God is chasing Israel. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.000 And he's renaming her. 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:26.000 Why is he renaming her? 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.000 One of the things that happens in the chase is 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:33.000 he'll call you names so that you know where he's hiding. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.000 And as you hear those names, your heart will begin to beat. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:39.000 You need to do this with your children. 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:41.000 You have some funny name, a babushka for them, 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:43.000 and you'll be hiding under the pillow and you'll say, 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.000 Babushka! 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.000 And the child will come running. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.000 Let me try babushka again and see if you sneeze. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:56.000 Babushka! 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.000 There we go. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:01.000 Sorry, Roshan, we are usually more serious than this. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:02.000 I believe you. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:13.000 So always remember, God is a loving groom to a struggling bride. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:16.000 God is a loving groom to a struggling bride. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:19.000 God is a loving groom to a struggling bride. 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:21.000 It is okay. The struggle is okay. 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:24.000 God is a loving groom to a struggling bride. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:28.000 The struggle is okay, guys. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.000 The struggle is okay. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.000 Struggle! 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:34.000 God is a loving groom to a struggling bride. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.000 He's always been this way. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000 Philip, you're leaving? 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:42.000 How could you do this, Philip? 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.000 I'm kidding, man. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.000 Philip is leaving the building. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:48.000 Let's say it. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.000 Yeah. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:57.000 Struggle is okay. 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:01.000 The other thing we talked about before is presence is a return to first love. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:05.000 Presence is a return to first love. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.000 Presence is a return to first love. 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:11.000 It's all day. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:13.000 You always struggle happily through first love. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:16.000 You struggle happily through first love. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:21.000 Look at Don. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:25.000 Can you see that he's struggling? You can't because he's struggling happily. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:33.000 You don't know what to say now. 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:36.000 You struggle happily because it's not a big deal. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:40.000 Making adjustments, getting up early, eating the wrong thing. 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:44.000 Everything becomes... It's easy. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.000 So remember that with God. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:48.000 Take the pressure off. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:50.000 You put the pressure on him. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.000 But first love does require stuff like time. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:57.000 First thing first love requires is time. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:03.000 And that time must be in the shape of convos, in terms of the word, in terms of adoring. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.000 What does adoring look like? 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.000 Like when you look at someone's nose and then one's forehead and then drown in her eyes. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:11.000 And stuff like that. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:15.000 This adoration is just looking at someone's nature, exterior and interior. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.000 Just thoroughly enjoying it. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:20.000 You do that with your children. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.000 You do that with your spouse. 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:23.000 You do that with anyone you love. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.000 You're so aware. 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:26.000 And that comes through time. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.000 First love requires time. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:31.000 There is just one thing that first love requires is time. 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:33.000 Without time, there is no first love. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:39.000 So every time I'm told to repent and see how far I've fallen, what God is saying is, 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:42.000 hey, you've lost out on time with me. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:44.000 First love requires time. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:49.000 And that time may be counted in conversations, in reading, in adoring. 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:52.000 Adoration can take different forms. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:55.000 Adoration can be a walk through nature. 00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:01.000 Adoration can be sitting back and drinking a really good cup of coffee and talking to God. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:03.000 It's so non-religious. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:13.000 The other thing we need to understand is when... 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:20.000 We don't believe this, but God can be the biggest distraction in the room. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:23.000 God knows how to be a distraction. 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:25.000 God knows how to be a distraction. 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:35.000 God knows how to be a distraction or he knows how to use circumstances to distract you back to him. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:41.000 Like in Songs, chapter 3, verse 6 to 11, here's how she pictures her lover coming. 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:44.000 She talks about, I see columns of smoke. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:49.000 I see my lover coming, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:56.000 I see him covered with the fragrance of merchant aroma. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:59.000 So the intent is he's impossible to ignore. 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.000 He is impossible to ignore. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:04.000 To anybody who loves him even a little, he is impossible to ignore. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:08.000 To anybody who loves him a little, he is impossible to ignore. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:10.000 He's impossible to ignore. 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:13.000 It's not a question of whether I can see him, what I feel. 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:15.000 It's always a question of appetite. 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.000 It is a question of appetite. 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:19.000 It is a question of appetite. 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:21.000 It is a question of appetite. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:28.000 One of the things we should ask for every day, Father, let me have an appetite for you. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:45.000 Appetite is what leads you to, appetite leads you to be attracted to that which you hunger after. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:48.000 If you love God, you actually want him. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:53.000 Most people sitting in this room, especially if you're here for three hours, it's because you love him. 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:58.000 Remember to ask for appetite. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:00.000 It's an appetite that is dulled. 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:03.000 What did Joshua have that the rest of Israel did not have? 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:07.000 They would all stand at the front of the tent when this Shekira would appear. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:13.000 But there was one man who would stand by the tent and even after Moses leaves, his face blazing, Joshua would not leave. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:16.000 In Exodus 33, verse 19 or 20, it says he would stand by there. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.000 Why? Because there was an appetite in this man for the things of God and he would stand there. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:22.000 The Shekinah wouldn't fade immediately. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.000 If it didn't fade on Moses' face, it didn't fade in the tent either. 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.000 He would wait there while the rest of them would go back into their tents. 00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:32.000 Ask for an appetite. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:35.000 These are very simple prayers that we don't need to forget. 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:36.000 We just need to lodge them. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.000 We don't even need to sometimes say them. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.000 Oh God, what an appetite, Father. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.000 For what? For you. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.000 If I have an appetite, I will have sight. 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:52.000 I mean, in that busy marketplace, I had an appetite for something meaty. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:54.000 I found the place. 00:33:57.000 --> 00:33:59.000 Whatever you have an appetite for. 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:02.000 I can walk miles for a good coffee. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.000 Whatever you have an appetite for. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:06.000 You have the feet and you have the feet. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:07.000 Whatever you have an appetite for. 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:09.000 You have the feet and you have the eyes for. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:18.000 But the appetite must begin again every day as if nothing happened yesterday. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:20.000 Hear me. This is super important. 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:25.000 The appetite must begin again every day as if nothing happened yesterday. 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.000 As in, don't eat stale manna from yesterday. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:33.000 Oh my God, what a wonderful time with the Lord we had yesterday. 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:35.000 That is not what is supposed to sustain me today. 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:37.000 That was yesterday. 00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.000 Today I start afresh because God is infinite. 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.000 I do not eat the stale manna of yesterday. 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:47.000 Most institutions, most denominations, most conferences, 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:52.000 most important events in a Christian's life is always built on some grace that happened yesterday. 00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:54.000 What of it today? 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:57.000 I've got to start with this appetite thing as if it is new today. 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:01.000 Every day you begin afresh as if yesterday was not. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:07.000 Why? Because he says in the Bible, my mercies are what? 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:10.000 New. New. New. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.000 As in, there is nothing in him that is new but for new it will be new. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:19.000 Why? Because he is infinite and every day you can pull out of him something that is so different. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:23.000 This is how the presence thing works man. 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:25.000 And then the pressure is off you. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:27.000 Another thing that really helps presence. 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:31.000 If you notice the song of songs happens in a garden in Jerusalem. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:34.000 In a family home. 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.000 I don't have scripture to back this up from the song of songs. 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:40.000 But I know this. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:45.000 That any man or woman who pursues the bride, the body or the kingdom will find presence. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.000 If that is not your magnificent obsession, it is hard to find the son. 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:53.000 Because this is the magnificent obsession of the father, son and the holy spirit. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:55.000 What is the father's magnificent obsession? 00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:56.000 His son. 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:57.000 What is the son's magnificent obsession? 00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:58.000 His bride. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:00.000 What is the holy spirit's magnificent obsession? 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:01.000 The bride and the son. 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:02.000 How does he go about it? 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:03.000 He creates a family. 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:05.000 There is a family called, the family of God. 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:07.000 What is the drive? 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.000 Magnificent obsession is the son. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:10.000 What is the magnificent obsession of the son? 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:11.000 The bride and the? 00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:15.000 I know I am speaking really fast. 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:23.000 But if you want to find the son, you must have the same obsession as the son. 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:26.000 And the son is obsessed with his bride. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:36.000 It is almost impossible to find the son if you aren't interested in the bride. 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:53.000 Yeah, his obsession is the loss, but the intent is to form them into the bride. 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:55.000 Yeah. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:37:00.000 Because the end game is not saving the lost. 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.000 The end game is, can I bring them into the maturity of Christ? 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:08.000 Yeah. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:13.000 What about the presence of God in all the things I have to do in a day? 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:15.000 There are so many things in a day. 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:16.000 How do I go about it? 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:17.000 Genesis 2, man. 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:19.000 You will see that there were so many things to do. 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:26.000 We have got either maybe because we teach it wrong and we make presence such a high commodity that we think, 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:29.000 oh my God, if I do this, I won't be able to do anything else. 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:34.000 But when you look at Genesis 2, you find that in Genesis 2.15, 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:40.000 God takes man and puts him in a garden, places him in a garden. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:44.000 And why does he place him in a garden? 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:45.000 Why does he place him in a garden? 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:50.000 So that he can work it and keep it in order. 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:59.000 So there was work to do, then he gives them instructions on how to do the work. 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:03.000 Then he realizes, hmm, presence is great, 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:06.000 but this guy really needs someone in flesh and blood who can be his companion. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:11.000 So he gives him a companion and gives her a companion in him. 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:14.000 He realizes that presence is great, but this guy needs a helpmate. 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:16.000 So he gives a helpmate. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:23.000 Then he realizes that he needs to get to know her, so he's getting to know her, getting to know each other. 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:34.000 And even to form her, Adam was involved in her creation. 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:39.000 He didn't have to do anything, but he's put into a deep sleep and she's formed. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:41.000 There's a process that he's involved in. 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:45.000 Then there was the development of free will. 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:48.000 He had to choose. That had to be taught him. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:52.000 There was an exertion of free will. 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:57.000 There was time spent in intelligence. 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:01.000 We're here to classify every living being that exists. 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:03.000 And he wasn't grunting every time he saw an elephant. 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:05.000 He didn't go, hmm, hmm. 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:07.000 No, he gave them actual names. 00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:11.000 He was a user. Intelligent classification and conversation. 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:17.000 Then he began to exert dominion because he remembered what God had said in Genesis 1.28. 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:21.000 These are things that are missing in Genesis, but it's so implied. 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:26.000 Then there was the habitual sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.000 Habitual sound. 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:30.000 The word there is not that God used to walk in the cool of the evening that day. 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:33.000 There was this habitual sound of God walking in the cool of the evening. 00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:39.000 So we think the presence of the idea of pursuing presence was when God would come walking in the evening in the garden. 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:41.000 That's when they had this presence. 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:43.000 No, it was presence throughout the day, but in different things. 00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.000 Look at the things they had to do. 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:50.000 There's work to be done. 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:55.000 We think that somehow while I'm typing in the computer, I have to think of God, God, God, God, God, God, God. 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:57.000 And then you wonder why God is on the screen. 00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:58.000 It's not like that. 00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:01.000 You can do your work without thinking of God. 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:08.000 But you have to realize that your work is sustained by God and that if you... 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:09.000 We'll get there later. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:12.000 We might not get there today, but there's a whole thing on presence and work. 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:15.000 But you have to understand the different things that are happening in the garden. 00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:16.000 There is work. 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.000 There's keeping things in order. 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:21.000 It's part of what God gives me. 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:27.000 Then there is instructions that he gives to how to do the work. 00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:30.000 If presence was enough, he wouldn't have given a companion, man. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:32.000 Isn't God enough? 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:35.000 But he knows God is not enough and he gives a companion. 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:40.000 Because he knows I made them in physical form in human flesh and they need companionship. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:42.000 He gives them companionship. 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:45.000 But once he gives them companionship, there's responsibilities on each other. 00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:48.000 This is all part of pursuing his presence. 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:50.000 Each of these can be taken apart. 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:53.000 We won't do it today because it's already 1.15. 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:56.000 Then there is knowing each other. 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:59.000 Then there is... I love this. 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:02.000 He needed to learn how to exert his free will. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:06.000 God deliberately brings the animals and puts them before him and says, 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.000 Hey, what do you want to call these things? 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:09.000 I've given you dominion. 00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:10.000 What do you think? 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:11.000 There was a process. 00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:15.000 There was an actual intelligent process through which Adam named animals. 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.000 There was a reason animals were called certain things. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:22.000 We don't even understand what that was. 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:24.000 And it was in English, by the way. 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:26.000 So what was it? What was the process? 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:29.000 Why even include that line that all the animals were brought before him 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:31.000 and he had to exert his intelligence? 00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:33.000 He was a brilliant man. 00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:34.000 This man was made in the image of God. 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:36.000 You don't understand his intelligence. 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:42.000 He could have written volumes on just earthworms. 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:44.000 This is what is happening in the Garden of Eden. 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:46.000 He's not thinking, God, God, God, God, God. 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:51.000 Sometimes presence can become like a guru sitting on Himalaya. 00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:58.000 Then you hear the habitual sound. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:00.000 And what is this habitual sound of God? 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.000 Through all this, there are times when God is not listening to you. 00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:06.000 He is not listening to you. 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:08.000 He is not listening to you. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.000 And what is this habitual sound of God? 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.000 Through all this, there are times when God wants one-on-one intimacy. 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:17.000 So find that time, too. 00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:20.000 Through all this, there are times when God wants one-on-one intimacy. 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:25.000 Where He says, hey, I saw you at work and I know you kept tabs on me during work. 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:30.000 Hey, I saw you really loving on your spouse and you were aware of how you need to love her. 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:33.000 And there were times when you thought of, I should do this, I should do that. 00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:36.000 You even sent up a prayer when she got angry. 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:40.000 Or I saw you doing something intelligent. 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:46.000 You had to code a program and while you were doing that, there was a time when you hit a block and you remembered me. 00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:50.000 And He says, I'm aware of all that. Thanks for including me. 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:52.000 Because I'm the one who actually gives everybody work. 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:55.000 I did that in the garden. I still do it today. 00:42:55.000 --> 00:43:00.000 And every time you recognize me as a provider of work, as a sustainer of work, something strange happens. 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:03.000 The land begins to produce fruit. 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:08.000 Every time you do not recognize me as part of the work, you find that you have to till the ground and it is hard. 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:10.000 And you do it by the sweat of your brow. 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:12.000 Listen to me on this, please. 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:18.000 It doesn't matter whether I'm a pastor, pastoring a church, or you're in front of a computer or an accountant, whatever you are, remember this. 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:26.000 When you begin to recognize God in your work, you find that your work, the ground, is not hard. 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:30.000 When you do not recognize Him in your work, the ground becomes hard. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:33.000 And you have to work by the sweat of your brow. 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:39.000 When you do recognize Him in your work, you find that the fruit of your labor is something you begin to enjoy. 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:42.000 It is exactly what happened to Adam. 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:45.000 So what does it even mean to recognize God in work? 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.000 To recognize that He is the source and that the work is not how you get your livelihood. 00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:56.000 If you don't get past that, you will work for your livelihood all your life. 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.000 Let me say that again. 00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:04.000 To recognize Him at work is to recognize that He is the source of your livelihood, not your work. 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:19.000 Second, you have to remember that if you are someone who recognizes Him in your work, 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:26.000 then you will speak about Him at work because you see your work as part of the bigger picture of what He is doing. 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:28.000 So please be silent about Him at work. 00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:38.000 Three. We'll stop with this, I think. 00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:46.000 Three. When things begin to go well at work, we have a tendency to forget Him. 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.000 Deuteronomy talks about this. 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:53.000 When I have brought you into vineyards you haven't cultivated, when I have brought you to wells you haven't dug, 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:57.000 when I have brought you into homes that you haven't built, then you will forget me. 00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:01.000 It's very natural. Try not to. 00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:04.000 Four. Self-effort. 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:09.000 Every time I go into self-effort, it is when I do not recognize that He is the one in charge. 00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:13.000 Self-effort is self-striving. 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:16.000 I've got to do this. I've got to do this. 00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:18.000 Four. 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:30.000 The reason I enjoy my work so much is because these things are easy now. 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:32.000 Most pastors don't, eh? 00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:36.000 For most pastors, Sunday is a day of pressure. 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:50.000 Habitual sound of His intimacy, and then He would say, 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:55.000 hey, now that you've done everything during the rest of the week, let's just sit together. 00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:57.000 Let's you and I talk. 00:45:57.000 --> 00:45:59.000 Those times are super important, eh? 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:04.000 The sound of Him walking in the garden is times of intimacy that He says He wants, 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:09.000 because He wants to share presence with you, share things about Himself with you, 00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:13.000 share things that He's never shared with anybody else in history. 00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:16.000 Just imagine that sometimes you are privy to the secrets of God 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:20.000 that He hasn't shared with Daniel, Joseph, Adam, Eve. 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:31.000 Just think of that. 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:38.000 Sometimes He's inviting you to step into something He wants to do on earth that nobody else has done. 00:46:38.000 --> 00:46:40.000 One of the things God always likes doing, 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.000 and I'm telling you this so that you believe it and are able to walk in it one day, 00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:47.000 one of the things He wants you to have is an unprecedented life. 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:49.000 You know what an unprecedented life is? 00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:53.000 An unprecedented life is a life that no one has ever lived before. 00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.000 An unprecedented life is a life that no other human being has ever lived before. 00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:07.000 Stepping into something or someone that He can make you that has never existed before. 00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:18.000 With all your failings, failures, flaws, unprecedented life, 00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:22.000 this will become a burning desire, 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:25.000 okay God then, hi, you want intimacy? I'll give you intimacy. 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:27.000 During work I'll recognize you. 00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:29.000 Self-effort I'll lessen. 00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:35.000 Presence becomes so powerful when men and women walk in rest. 00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:38.000 Presence becomes so powerful when men and women walk in rest. 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:40.000 Because what is the definition of rest? 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.000 That in hostile terrain, when the sun is beating hard down on you, 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:46.000 when enemies are pursuing you, 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:49.000 when there are scorpions and snakes crawling around, 00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:51.000 when there is no water, 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:56.000 then I will recognize that you are present. 00:47:56.000 --> 00:48:00.000 And because I recognize you are present when my boss is challenging me, 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:02.000 when I have to go to work, 00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:04.000 when colleagues are not going to help me, 00:48:04.000 --> 00:48:11.000 in the middle of that I will recognize the presence of Yahweh, the Alpha and the Omega right there. 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:14.000 And out of Him will now come water out of a rock, 00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:17.000 out of Him will come birds that fly at two feet off the ground, 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:20.000 out of Him will come coriander looking manna, 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:22.000 out of Him will come shade, 00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:24.000 out of Him will come blazing sun when it is cold, 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:26.000 out of Him will come water, 00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:28.000 out of Him will come water, 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:30.000 out of Him will come water, 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:33.000 when it is cold, out of Him there is no end to this. 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:35.000 That is what rest looks like. 00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:38.000 Rest is an acknowledgement that the presence of God is here 00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:43.000 and I do not need to do anything except the one thing He tells me to. 00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:50.000 This is the yelling part. 00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:57.000 We live like this, ah! 00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:01.000 People around you will eat presence. 00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:05.000 You live like this and people around you will eat presence. 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:08.000 You don't live like this and they eat the fruit of your labor. 00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:10.000 Nothing wrong with that. 00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.000 But my God, I would rather eat presence than the sweat of your brow. 00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:26.000 Why do you sometimes eat more of God here than other places you have been to? 00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:28.000 It is not because of the depth of teaching. 00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:30.000 That may be one of the things. 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:33.000 It is because there is more room for the presence of God to move here 00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:35.000 because we do not intervene. 00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:36.000 We do not intervene. 00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:38.000 We let Him do what He wants to. 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:46.000 Walk and rest and the presence of God is more evident. 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:49.000 Why? 00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:52.000 Because when you walk and rest, 00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:54.000 God gets to do whatever He wants to, 00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:55.000 how He wants to. 00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:56.000 Hear me again. 00:49:56.000 --> 00:49:59.000 When you walkということで, 00:49:59.000 --> 00:50:01.000 God gets to do what He wants to, 00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:03.000 how He wants to, 00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:05.000 the way He wants, 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:07.000 when you don't walk properly, 00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:09.000 God gets to do what He wants to, 00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:11.000 but not the way He wants to. 00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:14.000 Now, when He doesn't get to do what He wants to, 00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:18.000 the results do not have the aroma of Yahweh. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:20.000 They don't have the fragrance of Yahweh. 00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:22.000 They've got the fragrance of Christianity. 00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:24.000 But they don't have the fragrance of Yahweh. 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:29.000 Alrighty, let's back it up. 00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:35.000 Just be careful not to designate certain times as spiritual 00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:37.000 and certain times as secular. 00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:39.000 Don't do that, eh? 00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:40.000 It's all one and the same. 00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:41.000 I'm telling you something, 00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:43.000 if Mary just kept sitting at his feet, 00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:45.000 he'd have rebuked her. 00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:48.000 Next time he came home, 00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:50.000 Mary says, oops, Jesus has come. 00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:51.000 Martha is slogging away. 00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:53.000 Jesus would have at some point said, 00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:56.000 Mary, now you're making this like a habit, 00:50:56.000 --> 00:50:58.000 you're taking this up as an excuse, 00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:00.000 go help Martha in the kitchen. 00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:04.000 There are times of intimacy, 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:06.000 like the cool of the evening. 00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:09.000 But otherwise, for ones who love God, 00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:11.000 His desire is over you. 00:51:11.000 --> 00:51:14.000 If you don't find Him, He will find you. 00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:19.000 And as we begin to believe these truths, 00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:22.000 you'll find that the gap between you not being aware of Him 00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:24.000 and you being aware of Him keeps decreasing, 00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:26.000 just keeps decreasing. 00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:36.000 Ah, they're such good points. 00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:41.000 If you insist. 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:49.000 Just think of the points we'll talk about next week. 00:51:49.000 --> 00:51:51.000 Parent your awareness. 00:51:51.000 --> 00:51:53.000 Parent your awareness. 00:51:53.000 --> 00:51:55.000 Love your awareness, 00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:56.000 enjoy your awareness, 00:51:56.000 --> 00:51:57.000 share your awareness. 00:51:57.000 --> 00:51:59.000 So that's one section. 00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:00.000 Parent your awareness. 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:02.000 How do you parent this awareness? 00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:04.000 How do you love your awareness? 00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:05.000 How do you enjoy your awareness? 00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:07.000 How do you share your awareness? 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:08.000 Next one, presence is attentive 00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:11.000 and presence is attentiveness and curiosity. 00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:18.120 Presence is attentiveness and curiosity. It'll make you curious about things God 00:52:18.120 --> 00:52:26.600 does. Moses is working and he sees a bush burst into flame. It is natural in the 00:52:26.600 --> 00:52:30.320 desert for those things to happen. But this man is so tuned to God that 00:52:30.320 --> 00:52:35.000 something arises in him of curiosity. Where is it happening at work? But let me 00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:40.080 not go on. Why don't you get up and go before I start teaching it again? See you 00:52:40.080 --> 00:52:45.360 guys. Oh yeah, Diana has an announcement. 00:52:57.240 --> 00:53:09.000 Thanks James. Hello. Thank you. This is not actually an announcement as much as 00:53:09.160 --> 00:53:15.800 it is a request. This will take a couple of minutes. I'm sorry guys. A few years 00:53:15.800 --> 00:53:19.560 ago when we were on Main Street, Jacob gave an assignment to two of us to write 00:53:19.560 --> 00:53:23.760 in response to his teaching. And one of the things that I had the privilege of 00:53:23.760 --> 00:53:29.280 writing about was about God's kindness and about God's heart. And I 00:53:29.280 --> 00:53:34.920 discovered to my amazement that the prodigal son was not the only prodigal 00:53:34.920 --> 00:53:38.680 in the story. There's also the prodigal father. And God is a prodigal father. 00:53:38.680 --> 00:53:44.520 In the same way that the son was extravagantly lavish in spending, the 00:53:44.520 --> 00:53:48.720 father was extravagantly lavish in loving in his kindness and is welcoming 00:53:48.720 --> 00:53:56.320 the son back. So what I'm doing now, I want to collect God stories. I want to 00:53:56.320 --> 00:54:00.640 turn God stories into a book. And I want them to be told in the voices of the 00:54:00.640 --> 00:54:05.560 people that experience the God stories. So what I would like from all of you and 00:54:05.720 --> 00:54:10.280 from anybody you know who has God stories, please, please let me know. And I 00:54:10.280 --> 00:54:14.480 will talk to you and I will, I want to have it in your own voice. And I don't 00:54:14.480 --> 00:54:17.960 want it a written voice because people write way different than they speak. I 00:54:17.960 --> 00:54:25.480 wanted a spoken voice. So I want to hear your stories. And one of the, one of the 00:54:25.480 --> 00:54:31.080 hopes I have for this book is that other people who don't know God will learn 00:54:31.080 --> 00:54:36.240 about his heart. For example, I have, I have siblings that don't know God. And I 00:54:36.240 --> 00:54:41.800 spent two evenings last night and the night before my sister, who really is not 00:54:41.800 --> 00:54:46.880 a Christian and really is very angry at Christians because of the way they act 00:54:46.880 --> 00:54:54.640 and the way they treat others. She will read the book. I can promise you that she 00:54:54.640 --> 00:54:59.400 will read the book if I write it. So I really, really, really would like, I covet 00:54:59.400 --> 00:55:05.000 your, your, your stories. So feel free to contact me and I'll figure out ways of 00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:08.120 contact you guys as well because I'm sure, put up your hand if you've never, 00:55:08.120 --> 00:55:13.120 ever, ever had a God story to tell. Put up your hand if you've had at least one 00:55:13.120 --> 00:55:17.920 God story to tell. Thank you. Yes. Jacob, I don't see your hand. 00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:28.040 So, so the other, I just want to add with a caution and this is based on a 00:55:28.040 --> 00:55:32.040 conversation I've had with my sister and it ties in with what we've been, what 00:55:32.040 --> 00:55:36.120 Jacob's been teaching and what, what we've been learning. God's heart is full 00:55:36.120 --> 00:55:41.280 of love for his people. God's heart is full of love for the lost. His heart is 00:55:41.280 --> 00:55:46.280 against the enemy. He's not against people. But what my sister has been 00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:50.560 seeing, because she's not a believer and she's very, very into politics and the 00:55:50.560 --> 00:55:54.720 way people interact with each other, she's been seeing Christians voiced in 00:55:54.760 --> 00:55:59.280 the news and everywhere else as being really against things. Really against 00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:04.080 things. They're not showing God's heart. So please be really cautious if you're 00:56:04.080 --> 00:56:08.040 against a policy or an action or something. Make sure that you're not 00:56:08.040 --> 00:56:14.520 threatening Christians. Make sure that you're not, that you're, that make sure 00:56:14.520 --> 00:56:18.280 you represent Christ well. Make sure you represent God's heart of love and 00:56:18.280 --> 00:56:21.640 compassion and forgiveness even to those who are perpetrating horrible things. 00:56:22.320 --> 00:56:27.120 Because if you don't, you're alienating my sister and I don't like that. So 00:56:27.120 --> 00:56:31.280 that's very personal. But anybody not understand it or have a question about 00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:36.240 that? That's all. So thank you. So please, please, please tell your God stories. 00:56:36.240 --> 00:56:51.360 Yeah, yeah. Hey guys. So yeah, last year, I think myself, Derek, and there was a 00:56:51.360 --> 00:56:56.000 few of us all together and we were trying to find a shelter for a homeless 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:01.880 person. And what happened was you had to call 211 so how the system works is you 00:57:01.880 --> 00:57:08.400 will call 211. They will go ahead and call other people, the shelters basically, 00:57:08.400 --> 00:57:13.240 and they will, you know, ask them how many beds and then they have to wait. So 00:57:13.240 --> 00:57:17.560 whenever you call 211, what happens is you basically have to wait on the phone 00:57:17.560 --> 00:57:21.920 for what, 30 minutes, one hour, even more sometimes, right? Derek, we have done 00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:28.560 that. And Pawan and everyone who's been in Bali. So we were like thinking in this 00:57:28.560 --> 00:57:35.600 age, why is not there app to basically upload everything so that the time is, 00:57:35.600 --> 00:57:43.000 the shelters available is in real time. So what we decided to do is we decided to 00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:49.860 basically develop an app. So last year we started working, Emmanuel's on the 00:57:49.860 --> 00:57:56.600 project as well and then these various people and Emmanuel is, you know, he's in 00:57:56.600 --> 00:58:00.760 mobile and app development at Lingera so it works really well. So he has been 00:58:00.760 --> 00:58:06.560 developing and we decided to basically apply for a grant to be able to develop 00:58:06.560 --> 00:58:14.600 the app. So the grant is with Spark BC, it's Social Planning and Research Council 00:58:14.600 --> 00:58:22.160 of BC, I think. Yeah, there you go. It's a huge acronym. But anyways, we applied for a grant and it was cool 00:58:22.160 --> 00:58:26.880 because when we applied, the director, so they're based in Burnaby, the director 00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:30.600 actually reached out and we had a quick zoom call and they were very interested 00:58:30.600 --> 00:58:38.520 in it. And we applied and we got the grant by the grace of God. So yeah, we'll 00:58:38.520 --> 00:58:43.280 be working on it for the next year and a half and the testing will be like, 00:58:43.280 --> 00:58:47.280 basically it will come down from the government, like kind of like telling 00:58:47.280 --> 00:58:52.640 them that some of the shelters and B's. It's basically three, Surrey would be one 00:58:52.640 --> 00:58:57.040 of the locations, but Burnaby and Langley because things have been changing 00:58:57.040 --> 00:59:01.680 in Langley. There's more homelessness growing in Langley as well. So and the 00:59:01.680 --> 00:59:05.560 directors like this might be first of many things because shelters is not the 00:59:05.560 --> 00:59:09.240 only thing homeless people are looking for. You know, they're always looking for 00:59:09.240 --> 00:59:16.320 food and other things. So by the grace of God, this might be something. 00:59:16.360 --> 00:59:22.320 I mean, I dreamt of a church that was involved with city and government, never 00:59:22.320 --> 00:59:26.680 thought it would be possible. This is a huge thing. So bless you guys for even 00:59:26.680 --> 00:59:30.320 attempting to go down this route. And then the last announcement is starting 00:59:30.320 --> 00:59:34.960 May 7th, we'll have services in Victoria. So next week you'll get a call this week 00:59:34.960 --> 00:59:41.640 saying you, you, you, you, you, you and you are going for the evening service in 00:59:41.680 --> 00:59:48.520 Victoria. So we'll be starting a service in Victoria May 7th. Yeah. So prepare for 00:59:48.520 --> 00:59:53.400 a picnic in Victoria next Sunday evening. And if you are the lucky one that's 00:59:53.400 --> 01:00:01.160 picked for the first one, yeah, you get to pay a ferry and go to Victoria. I can 01:00:01.160 --> 01:00:06.680 see you're very enthusiastic. That's a good sign. All righty, please leave.