WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Ruah - Part 4 Publishing Date: 2025-02-12T05:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/ruah-part-4/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Music 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.000 We can read to them today's... 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.000 Be Free 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:22.000 And then perhaps after that, Be Fire. Not Be On Fire, Be Fire. Basically, Be Free first. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:31.000 Yeah, so if you go to John 7, verse 38, John 7, 38, John 7, 38. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:42.000 It says, 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:49.000 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:58.000 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:11.000 And so this idea of rivers of living water contains in it the idea of what we have been talking about, what Jeremy mentioned, 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:18.000 zest, life, space, light. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:24.000 What do all these have in common? The one thing they have in common is joy. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:33.000 You cannot have zest, you cannot have life, the God kind of life, you cannot have space, you cannot have light if there is no joy in it. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.000 It's a critical element, eh? And it frees us. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.000 We talked about this two days ago, so I want to continue from there. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:47.000 This really looks good, Matt. Even my writing is improving. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:59.000 So, at least for now. So when you talk about rivers of living water, I had a picture of a river just in full flow. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:05.000 Everything about it has zest in it, has space in it, has life in it, has light in it. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:13.000 And the one common thing that's common to zest, life, space and light is this thing called joy. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:18.000 Even obedience without joy is something that God doesn't think much of. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:25.000 In fact, in Isaiah he says that if you're obedient and willing, you eat the good of the land. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.000 And willingness has to come with joyful obedience. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:35.000 So this idea of living a life of zest is impossible without joy, impossible without joy. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:42.000 And we're going to take this further and it's going to trouble us, just like yesterday troubled us. Yeah? 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:52.000 So, if we were to define joy then, it is a good feeling. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:03:05.000 It is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Spirit, 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:17.000 as He causes us to see the splendor or the beauty of Christ in the world, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:23.000 in His works, in His Word. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:29.000 It is a good feeling. So let's not pretend that joy is something internal and that it's not a feeling. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:36.000 Joy is a feeling. How do you feel about joy? 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:44.000 It is a good feeling. So let's not pretend that joy is something internal and that it's not a feeling. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.000 Joy is a feeling. Happiness is a feeling. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.000 Sometimes those words intermingle and yes, we can divide them and put them separately, but that's not the intent here. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:57.000 We are talking about something that is felt, expressed, shared. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:05.000 And if it cannot be felt, expressed, shared, it's not joy. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:10.000 It is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Spirit, 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:17.000 as He causes us to see sometimes the splendor or the beauty of Christ as knee is driving through the mountains. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:24.000 As someone else here talked about reading the Word and finding out more. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:31.000 Others talked about the works of God, how things happen in their lives. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:38.000 So be it works, world or word, it is a good feeling that the soul produces by the Spirit, 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.000 that is produced in the soul by the Spirit as He causes us to see. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.000 Any questions on that one? 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.000 Which then means one of two things. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:57.000 Either when I'm lacking in joy, it's because I'm blinded or I'm distracted by something else. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:02.000 Because He'll always do it. He'll always bring these three things to the front. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:08.000 Because He is the most exuberant, joyful being in the entire universe. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.000 Joy would not exist if He did not exist. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.000 He's the most joyful being in the universe. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.000 It's such a part of who He is. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:23.000 And so every time I'm not able to see, it's not because He's not showing, 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:29.000 it is because I'm either blind to it because of my circumstances 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:35.000 or I'm distracted by other smaller things than the main thing. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:40.000 It's one or the other. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:50.000 Which means then that you can practice seeing it so that you can be in this place of zest, light, life, space. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.000 But trust me, without that, it is not possible to have a life full of zest, 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.000 a dynamic life as we said on the first day. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:07.000 Psalm 96, verse 11 to 13 from the message reads this way. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:14.000 Psalm 96, because even creation is up to the task. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:19.000 Psalm 96, if I read from the message, verse 11 to 13, 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:26.000 Let's hear it from the sky with earth joining in and a huge round of applause from the sea. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.000 Let wilderness turn cartwheels, animals come dance, 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:36.000 put every tree of the forest in the choir and extravaganza before God as He comes, 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:42.000 as He comes to set everything right on earth, set everything right, treat everyone fair. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:48.000 There's this idea of creation, of the trees clapping, 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.000 the mountains beginning to shout, the oceans beginning to roar. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:59.000 It's almost this idea of creation saying, hey, children of God, come into the dance. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.000 We are inviting you into the dance. Come join. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.000 You of all the people should be the most expressive of the Lord 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:14.000 because you have the source, the person who is ultimate joy. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:18.000 Thank you for breaking out into just ridiculous laughter and joy. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.000 I know it's hard for us, but this must change. It must change. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.000 I pray God that it changes today. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:35.000 That scales fall off our eyes and as scales fall off our eyes, we get up and we are baptized in fire. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.000 That our eyes open. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:44.000 That we consider the cultures we come from so secondary, 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.000 that we consider our family background so secondary, 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.000 that we consider our denominational streams so secondary, 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:59.000 that we consider our own clumsiness so secondary for the sake of one who is joy 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:06.000 and who needs bodies, hands, mouths, muscles to express who He is. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:14.000 Even though He was a man of sorrows, He was the most joyful being on earth. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:18.000 He was a man of sorrows because He was taking on our sorrows. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:33.000 But a man cannot get along with fishermen, prostitutes, tax collectors if he ain't funny. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:38.000 So creation is saying, hey, I'm inviting you into the dance. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.000 You're the children of God. We are in bondage, but at least you are liberated. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:49.000 But this is what the Bible says continuously, continuously that mountains burst with joy, 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.000 brooks bubble with laughter, trees clap their hands, 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.000 and creation is sending out an invitation saying, what are you waiting for? 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.000 Come join the dance. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.000 Not come join the muscle twitch, come join the dance. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:05.000 The muscle twitch is what you cannot see, but my knee is moving. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.000 You see? 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:15.000 We're not talking about muscle twitches. We are talking about so much more. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:28.000 Joy is the happiness. Joy is the happiness that... 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:45.000 Joy is the happiness that we experience, that we experience over a treasure, over a treasure we love. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:10:04.000 And it makes us willing to sell everything to have it. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.000 Joy is the happiness we experience over a treasure. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.000 And so the question is, what makes you joyful? 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.000 Check this out, eh? There is nobody here. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:29.000 I mean, if you're alive, then there is nobody here that does not have, at some point, joy over something. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:35.000 This week, there was nobody here that did not experience joy over something. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 And the reason you experience joy over something, 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:43.000 be it May skiing down at 90 kilometers down Manning Park, 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.000 or whether it's Evan suddenly realizing, shucks, I can drum, 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:57.000 or whether it's Brandon pulling out songs randomly and on his knees fixing flags. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:02.000 I don't know what it is, or eating a burger, or bok choy. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.000 It doesn't matter what it is. Don't all look at him. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:16.000 It doesn't matter what it is. There is nobody here who hasn't found some happiness over a treasure that we love. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.000 The question is, what is that treasure? 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.000 What is that treasure? 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:30.000 And if you and I can allow the Holy Spirit to do the work, to complete the work that he has already started, 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:37.000 then there will be one man central to our joy, and you won't be able to take your eyes away from him. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:41.000 For some of us, it may be our children. For some of us, it may be our spouses. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.000 For some of us, it may be a dog. And for some of us, it may be that other animal. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.000 It doesn't matter. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.000 Any questions on these two statements? 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.000 What's my treasure? 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:06.000 I was asking this question to myself, and I very modestly and humbly say to you, 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.000 have my treasure as him and his will. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:12.000 I find no greater joy. No greater joy. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:22.000 No aircraft, no canuts, no burger compares to the joy I derive from him and doing his will. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:27.000 It's the greatest pleasure. And I'm saying to you, it's your pleasure too. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:34.000 Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. At least not four nights in a row. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:40.000 It's your greatest pleasure. It's just that we need to be reminded of it so that he stays there. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:43.000 There is no greater pleasure than enough for you. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:50.000 Nothing else matters to you, Mr. Butler. Nothing. It is our greatest pleasure. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:13:02.000 Do not let pride, offense, inferiority, complexes, hurt crowd out this thing called joy. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:09.000 Because there were people in 1 Thessalonians 1, 6. There were people in 2 Corinthians 8, 2 that were suffering. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:12.000 That were being squished and squashed and trampled over. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:18.000 And the Bible says, in their sorrow and in their abject poverty, 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:26.000 they had the ability by the Spirit to overflow with great generosity and great joy by the Holy Spirit. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.000 We do not have an excuse because none of us are going through stuff like that. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:36.000 Sorry to hear. I sometimes shout. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:41.000 1 Thessalonians 1, 6 and 2 Corinthians 8, 2. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:44.000 Kids sometimes ask why Jacob shouts. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.000 There are many different reasons. Give them the best you can. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:04.000 Any questions, guys? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 Therefore, now we answer the questions we asked 2 days ago. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:15.000 Are you able to rejoice if you have to give away or if you have to, 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:24.000 if it costs you time, resources and even your life to serve God or the faith of another, are you willing to give it away? 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:31.000 I would say this church, if asked in the quiet one-on-one, you would say yes. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:40.000 That it is absolutely worth it for you to give away money, time, resources and even parts of your life. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:46.000 If it means that God will be pleased and someone else will benefit and come to faith, you will do it. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:53.000 I'm not trying to encourage you. I'm not trying to flatter you. I'm not trying to make you feel good. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:59.000 But we have come to a point where you would do it and you would do it joyfully. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:05.000 You've done it many times. But now we're going to rise up as a people and do this, saying this is our life. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:12.000 Our life is meant to be spent for him and for the faith of another. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:20.000 That resources, costs, money, time will be spent by us as a people, as an individual, 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:27.000 for the sake of a Dilna or a Mark or a Jacob or a Honey or a Hip, that we will do it. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:32.000 It's so worth it. So worth it. So worth it. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:40.000 And sometimes it takes a village to raise one. So be it. Be that village. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:45.000 It is so worth it. And we are there, guys. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:52.000 Don't back off from this, eh? Just get poured on by fire and lit. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:16:04.000 Here's the thing, though. If joy is unexpressed, if joy is unexpressed, 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:19.000 if joy is unshared, if joy is unsacrificial, it becomes not a river but an algae-covered pond. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:30.000 Joy when it is unexpressed, joy when it is unshared, 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:43.000 joy when it is unsacrificial, it's no longer flowing. It becomes stagnant. It gets covered by muck. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:56.000 And by shared, I don't mean on X or WhatsApp. I mean shared. Joy must be shared. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:00.000 So now you know where we are heading this evening. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:08.000 What does it look like to be expressive, to be sharing joy, to be free, to be sacrificial? 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.000 Any questions? 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:16.000 How is it different between unexpressed and shared? 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:22.000 Unexpressed is when joy is personal but it cannot get past clenched teeth. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:26.000 Shared is when you invite other people into your joy. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:32.000 That's something God does continuously. The Holy Spirit, every time He meets with us. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:37.000 I mean, Jesus put it this way. Listen, come into my joy. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:42.000 I have told you these things so that you may partake of, share of my joy. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.000 He didn't say of my holiness. He didn't say of my love. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:51.000 He said, I have said these things to you ahead of time so that you may partake or share of my joy. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:56.000 It's what heaven is about. It's a reward. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.000 Eden was like that. Heaven will be like that. We are caught in between. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.000 But we are supposed to show who this God is. Psalm 4, 7. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.000 In the message it says it this way. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.000 People go on shopping sprees and they want more and more. 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:18.000 But I have a God who is more than enough and His joy is better than all the shopping sprees you can go on. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.000 Psalm 4, verse 7, message. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:27.000 The simpler version is, my God, I am more joyful than all these guys who bring in the harvest. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:31.000 Very happy that they collected a lot of grain. 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:36.000 What is God trying to say? If you want to show me off to the world, show them how joyful you are. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:42.000 Please understand, if you want to show me off to the world, you must show it with joy. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:47.000 My love is joyful. My rest is joyful. My peace is joyful. 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:51.000 My companionship is joyful. My intimacy is joyful. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:19:02.000 Worship in heaven is joyful. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:06.000 Any questions? Imagine getting a spouse like that. Go ahead. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:28.000 Well, Matt, this is one of those few things I can't take credit for, even if I tried. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:37.000 Where was that before Joan Shedder Joy? 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:42.000 No, I don't want to be that joyful. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:51.000 Everything he does is joyful. It's like everything, guys. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.000 And so we do have a problem, don't we? 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:59.000 We have like a wet blanket, usually. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:04.000 I think it's FCC's fault. I think when other churches come, they let the wet blanket down. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:11.000 Because every time we come here, other than the time of worship, there's not much expression, right? 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:16.000 All righty, moving on so that it gets worse. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:25.000 George Muller, the one who built that amazing orphanage in Bristol and would take care of tons of children, 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:30.000 not knowing where things would come from. This is his line. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:36.000 The first and primary business of the day is to have my soul happy in the Lord. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:42.000 The first and primary business of the day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:50.000 Imagine finding a spouse like this, whose love is joyful, rest is joyful, whose peace is joyful, whose face is joyful. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:21:03.000 Oh my God, if you find a person like that, marry him on the spot, or marry her on the spot. 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:08.000 Yeah. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 This is when husbands should jump up and say, my wife is like that. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.000 You would have gotten so many brownie points, man. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:26.000 Okay. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:35.000 Joy needs permission and grace. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.000 Matt? 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:02.000 So what should I do? 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:11.000 It would be much easier if you came up here, Brandon. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:16.000 I'm finding that I'm getting less and less tech savvy as I grow older. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:35.000 Joy needs permission and grace to be undignified. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:44.000 Joy needs permission and grace to be undignified. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:50.000 Ever met anyone who is joyful, who behaves dignified? 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:52.000 Nope. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.000 Most joy, when it's really expressed, is undignified. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:04.000 But we have to give joy permission so that we can be undignified. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:15.000 Undignified is not jumping, undignified is not shouting, undignified is not laughing, undignified is not any of those things, and yet all of those things. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:18.000 But joy needs permission and grace. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.000 Permission so that I am free to be undignified. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:30.000 We'll look at one scripture and then we'll end and then go into trying and being undignified, just so you know what's coming next. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.000 This is the best time to leave. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.000 So joy needs permission to be undignified. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:45.000 As in, can I give myself permission where I do not care anymore about restricting my freedom as I celebrate before God and to God alone? 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:47.000 Can I give myself permission? 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.000 And then the grace to be undignified. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:24:04.000 As in, if someone else is not, can I be gracious not to hone in on that, focus on that, but realize that all of us will go through this process whereby we will one day come to the place where David was? 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:19.000 Go to 2 Samuel 6 22. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:24.000 2 Samuel 6 22. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:30.000 Here's what David says. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:42.000 David returns and Michael, his wife, says, man, for a king, you sure made a fool of yourself dancing naked before these servant girls of mine. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:44.000 And here's what David says. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:25:04.000 The first thing he says, and I've taken it from many different versions, is that I was dancing before the Lord who chose me. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:10.000 And I will celebrate him. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:15.000 I will celebrate him all I want. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.000 That's the first statement. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:21.000 This is not a new issue, guys. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.000 We've had this issue since more than 3,000 years. 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:27.000 But here was the first statement. 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.000 I was dancing before the Lord who chose me. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:30.000 It doesn't have to be dancing. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.000 What about when there's no dancing involved? 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:37.000 What does it look like for joy to be expressed? 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:43.000 But in his case, in 2 Samuel 6 22, he says, I was dancing before the Lord who chose me. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:46.000 And he's telling her, listen, your dad and your family was chosen. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.000 But then remember that your dad has been replaced. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:51.000 Your family has been replaced. 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:52.000 He chose me. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:53.000 I'm an ordinary shepherd boy. 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:55.000 I've been chosen by him. 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:58.000 Why will I not celebrate all I want before him? 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:21.000 And then he goes on to say, I am willing to look more foolish, more reckless, 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:46.000 and become more undignified, more contemptible, more shameful than this. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:27:07.000 And even to be humiliated in my own eyes. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:14.000 And these girls that you talk about will honor me. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.000 This is where we're going, guys, tonight. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:22.000 I realize it makes us queasy because what does that mean? 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:23.000 What am I supposed to do? 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.000 I don't like doing this. 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:28.000 All that may be true, but this is where we're going. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.000 Where are we going? 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:31.000 I am willing to look more foolish. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:34.000 What does more foolish look like? 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:38.000 In your case, what does more foolish look like? 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:39.000 This is not more foolish for me. 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:41.000 I do this every Sunday. 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:43.000 So what does more foolish look like? 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:48.000 But more than foolishness, what is it when you become childlike and free? 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.000 That is where I must focus on. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:53.000 What is it to be childlike and free before God? 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:59.000 What is it when you play with your dog? 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:06.000 What is it when you run around sofas behind a cat? 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:14.000 What is it when you get excited about a lemon tree or a few roses budding? 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:21.000 What is it when Nathan McKinnon scored a goal today against Finland? 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:26.000 The point being this, guys, what is it to be a little child that is free? 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:32.000 Think along those lines and then think, I am willing to look more foolish, 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:38.000 become more reckless, become more indignified, more contemptible, more shameful than this, 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:45.000 and even to be humiliated in my own eyes where I realize, boy, this is getting really bad, 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:54.000 but this is really good. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:07.000 Any questions before we go on to the last bit? 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:11.000 Everybody wants to be a man after God's own hat and be like David. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:21.000 Well, our chance has finally come. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:28.000 Any questions? 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.000 Listen to this. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:50.000 The undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:55.000 They are unafraid to be misunderstood. 00:29:55.000 --> 00:30:00.000 Do you know how many of us sitting here live in the absolute fear of being misunderstood? 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.000 It is the worst thing that can happen to you. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.000 Oh my God, I was misunderstood. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:11.000 You know how we are paralyzed by that, how we always want to be understood. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:14.000 The undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:19.000 They're not afraid, unafraid to be misunderstood, unafraid to be misunderstood. 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:25.000 Rejected. 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:32.000 Mocked. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.000 Why? 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:39.000 Because you are lovers of God. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:46.000 That's why. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:56.000 The undignified are forerunners of freedom. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:07.000 You know, 2010, not 2010, 2009, Acts 29, Ross Street and Marine had a Southall. 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:09.000 We used to meet there. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:14.000 Eddie, some of you have met him, came and was leading worship 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:18.000 and encouraging us to respond to God physically, not just in singing. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:19.000 Nobody was moving. 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:24.000 We only had about 10 men in the church and maybe 15 women. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:34.000 And then a man who is Persian, who was older than many of us, who was quiet, 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:39.000 who was almost docile, who would never move, is sitting in the back. 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:42.000 And as Eddie keeps preaching, he gets up. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:47.000 He gets up and he comes shouting and running and starts running around the church 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:49.000 as if something happened to him. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:53.000 As soon as that happened, the rest of the men in the church got up 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:59.000 and we started going round and round, literally like kids do when they go, 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.000 that's what we started doing. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:03.000 And I'm scratching my head thinking, you better join too. 00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:05.000 And so I jumped in too. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:11.000 And I remember thinking to myself, how did this man suddenly get that? 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.000 He was the last one you would think. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:17.000 I thought we'd have to get horses to get him to join. 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:20.000 But he was the first and he triggered something. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.000 The point being, the undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:25.000 The undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven. 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.000 There's something about being undignified that allows you to react to God immediately. 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:32.000 You stop thinking. You stop thinking of being misunderstood. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.000 You stop thinking of being mocked or rejected. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:36.000 You stop thinking and reasoning, how will I look? 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.000 How is this going to appear? 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:44.000 They immediately respond and in their immediate response, they're usually clumsy, 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:46.000 but it triggers everything else. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.000 They are forerunners of freedom. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.000 You've heard me talk about the wildebeest in South Africa. 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:55.000 They just graze in huge fields, 30 or 40,000. 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.000 And then one day, seven or eight of them start pouring the ground. 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:01.000 And they start snorting and they start running. 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:03.000 But the rest of the herd stays still. 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:05.000 They don't go after them. 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:07.000 And it happens day after day after day, till on the fifth day, 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.000 they start running and they don't stop. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:11.000 And the entire herd starts running after them. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:14.000 We're not talking about dancing for worship. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:18.000 We're talking about being undignified in our response to God. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:22.000 Forerunners of freedom, the ability to hear the heartbeat of heaven. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:26.000 We cannot do this being polite, considerate, kind, dignified. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.000 It does not work. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.000 Heaven is meant to disrupt the earth. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.000 But the earth is beginning to put a shield around us, seed around our lives, 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:40.000 so that we begin to try to make heaven happen, coated in a seed called the earth. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.000 It's not possible. 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.000 Not possible. 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:48.000 Why leave this for the last day? 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.000 Because this is a breakout day. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:52.000 It's a breakout day. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:57.000 As in everything we have learned, now breakout, breakout of the seed. 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:01.000 Everything we have learned requires us to take risks, to step out, 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:06.000 to be what we have never been. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:07.000 It is hard. 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.000 All of us will not be doing the same thing. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:13.000 I don't know what each of us will be doing. 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:20.000 But you can't escape it. 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.000 You can't escape it because what God is doing in our midst has already started. 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.000 And you will not want to miss out. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:30.000 Because nobody here that foolish. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.000 Forerunners of freedom. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:46.000 You refuse to let fear, you refuse to let fear masquerade as light. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:49.000 Where you say, oh, it's not my culture. 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:50.000 No, no, no. 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:51.000 We're not talking about jumping. 00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:54.000 We're talking about being undignified and free. 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:56.000 We're talking about being childlike. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:58.000 I don't know what that looks for each of us. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:03.000 We have to decide that we're going to break out of the earthly suit that we have put on ourselves 00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:08.000 that is so difficult to break out of. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.000 And it's not a one-time event. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:16.000 This has to be forever. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.000 And here's the crazy thing. 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:23.000 Once we start going down this road, as you step out, as we step out, 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:33.000 as we step out, I really want us to step out, as we step out, a chain reaction will begin. 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:38.000 We keep talking about inviting others into the circle of abundance, of joy and dancing. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:39.000 It does not happen. 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:43.000 But a chain reaction begins when we begin to step out. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:36:06.000 And then a wildfire of authenticity, a wildfire of authenticity and a boldness spreads to every fearful and desperate heart. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:10.000 Because there are hearts that really want to step out, but they don't know how. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:22.000 And you come along and you show them what it is to live free. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:28.000 Any questions? 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:33.000 I love that line, a wildfire of authenticity. 00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:34.000 I'm not copying anybody. 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.000 I'm not dancing unto you. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:37.000 I'm not singing unto you. 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:38.000 I'm not laughing unto you. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:39.000 I'm not smiling unto you. 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:41.000 But to him. 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:42.000 Why? 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:43.000 Because he chose me. 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:44.000 He saved me. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:46.000 He saved me. 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:48.000 He saved me. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:50.000 He saved me. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.000 He saved me. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:53.000 He saved me. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:58.000 He chose me. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:03.000 And I will celebrate my joy expressively before him. 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:07.000 And you will see it and you will say, oh my God, he seems to know his God. 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:13.000 He seems to enjoy his God. 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:20.000 I've never seen a mother come and say, yeah, had a baby. 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:25.000 Never seen that before. 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:27.000 It's like, come sit. 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:30.000 Let me show you my videos of the baby. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:32.000 And I have to tell them I've seen it four times. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:33.000 No, no, see it one more time. 00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:34.000 You missed parts. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:35.000 Oh my God. 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:38.000 It's never done. 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:43.000 Vidisha, please, I can't see it one more time, yeah? 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:44.000 I'm just kidding. 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:47.000 She hasn't done anything like that. 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:58.000 So as we enter a time of worship, why do I write down everything? 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:01.000 Why couldn't I just say it and then move on? 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:03.000 This is getting terrible. 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:08.000 You know how much I could teach if I wasn't writing? 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:14.000 As we enter a time of worship and freedom, and freedom, 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:27.000 I'm trusting that a river will flow upon us first and then out of us. 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:30.000 So if you want to see the river that God wants to flow upon us, 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:33.000 go to Daniel 7, verse 10. 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:37.000 If you want to see the river that flows out of us, go to John 7, 38. 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:39.000 Just check it out. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:46.000 The first river that he wants to have flow in our midst is from Daniel 7, verse 10. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:47.000 It says, 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:52.000 He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:57.000 and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:00.000 That is what I pray will touch me today. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.000 Guys, I need this as badly as you. 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:09.000 I need to be more foolish, more reckless, more humiliated in my own eyes, 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:12.000 more contemptible, more undignified, 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:19.000 because I want to be as childlike as I have ever been in my life. 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:22.000 I want to be like Judah. I want to be like Emmanuel. 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:26.000 I want to be like Phoebe when she was small. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:29.000 I want to be like just... 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:39.000 First, let the fire from the throne of God flow, 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:44.000 and then let the river from inside you flow. 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:48.000 Be touched by it. God will be faithful. God will be faithful. 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:53.000 He's going to do this, otherwise I wouldn't say it to you. 00:39:53.000 --> 00:40:00.000 If you read Luke 3, 16, and we'll end with that from the message. 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.000 Luke 3, 16. Come to me. 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:07.000 Luke 3, 16 from the message. 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:09.000 But John the Baptist intervened. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:11.000 I'm baptizing you here in the river. 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:16.000 The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:21.000 will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:24.000 changing you from inside out. 00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:32.000 So Holy Spirit, I have delivered what you asked me to say, 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:36.000 and now let fire flow from heaven, because you are faithful, 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:41.000 touching hearts here, not having us do certain actions, 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:48.000 but setting our hearts free to embrace undignified joy. 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:56.000 Embrace joy and embrace the idea of being undignified. 00:40:56.000 --> 00:41:03.000 No more properness, because heaven cannot be contained in properness. 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:06.000 You know, in Germany, there are high churches and there are low churches. 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:11.000 High churches have a lot of high litany and all this stuff. 00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:14.000 It's very formal. Which would you prefer, guys? 00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:17.000 Would you prefer a high church or would you prefer a low church? 00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:20.000 I would prefer a low church any day. You know why? 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.000 Because our God, even though He's high and lifted up, is a Father. 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000 I want to dance before my Father, and when I dance before my Father, 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:31.000 I do not try to maintain my dignity. 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:37.000 And this is what David knew. 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:42.000 And so whatever I do today, as we are worshipping, 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:46.000 it may not be an action, but it will be the freedom of the heart, man. 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:51.000 And the freedom of the heart is always expressed in action. 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:55.000 And if you are struggling with it, break past the struggle.