How to describe a well built man
A Life Well Built
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good morning I'm honored and privileged
to be here at Denton Bible Church your
pastor and I switched and so he is
speaking right now at our church he
called me and he wanted to do this
switch in February because it's African
American History Month and he wanted
some soul so he is there he told me come
over here so I could get some country so
so that's how it's working out I'm
honored to be here it's a privilege to
be here actually his invitation was a
lot shorter than that he called me and
asked me if I believe in free speech I
said yes he said come give one so that's
really one well I'm here
yeah we have student ministries here
where's where I'm student ministries all
right hey good to see you over there I
am so honored to be here I love you
pastor and have followed him closely
spoke many years ago in your own old
facility but I'm I like this new
facility we might have to talk about
switching churches this is nice but I am
honored to be here I'm very grateful for
the impact that this church is having
not only in your community but through
the quality leadership in your pastor
beyond and his investment in
discipleship is certainly one to be
marveled at appreciated and emulated and
so thank you for welcoming me today my
task this this morning is to communicate
to communicate God's Word to you and
we're going to do that we want to make
sure that we're going to pray in a
moment cuz we want to make sure that
communication is effective it's the job
of the encoder the sender of the message
to reach the decoder the receiver of the
message without the loss of the message
between the two and so we want God to
make sure that his message gets through
to all of us cuz we don't want any
confusion about anything I say
confusion with the message can create
chaos like like the guy who lived in
Chicago it was freezing in Chicago was
the dead of winter he couldn't take the
cold weather anymore so he called a
plane to fly to Florida where it was
nice warm sunny and hot and his wife was
away on a business trip so he wanted to
email her and tell her don't fly back to
Chicago the weather's too bad but just
to fly to meet him in Florida so he
wanted to email her about this change of
plans unfortunately he forgot her email
address and instead of me going to his
wife it went to a little old lady in
Iowa now this little old lady in Iowa
was a pastor's wife and her husband had
just died the day before so obviously
she's very sorrowful right now she turns
on her email and sees this mistaken
email that's been sent to her she
screams and faints her loved ones rushed
in to here they heard his thump and saw
her laid out on the floor fainted
wondering what in the world happened but
then they read the mistaken email that
was sent to her and they understood why
she fainted the first line said my
dearest darling just want you to know
I've arrived safely the second line said
looking forward to you joining me
tomorrow sign your loving husband PS
sure is hot down here so it's very
important that time
[Applause]
that we communicate father thank you for
this opportunity to be with your special
Saints here a denton bible thank you for
their middle name the word of god and we
pray that you will use even as tommy is
preaching across town that you will use
us on this side of town to be a blessing
to your special special people in Jesus
name we pray amen
some years ago I had a problem in my
home I had developed a crack the plaster
on the plaster of my bedroom wall there
was a crack on the wall so obviously I
needed to get this crack repaired I
needed to get the cracked fixed so I
called the painter over and asked him to
repair the crack on my bedroom wall he
came over he removed the old plaster he
replastered it he repainted it it looked
brand-new I paid him he left all was
well for about a month because after a
month the crack reappeared having
already paid him right now somewhat
evangelical a ticked-off and so I called
him back and asked him please fix the
crack on my wall that has returned he
redid it replastered it repainted it
looked fine to me
he left about 45 days later the crack
reappeared but this time with its nieces
nephews uncles aunts and cousins I had a
whole family of cracks that had come up
on my bedroom wall so I figured I need
me a new painting I really need somebody
who knows what they're doing so I called
this other guy and asked him to please
come and repair the cracks or not
whoa he comes over and he stares at my
wall in these stairs and he stares and
he stares and he stares and he stares
and then he looks at me and he says I am
so sorry I can't help you I said excuse
me said I'm sorry I can't I can't fix
your problem I said isn't this what you
do he says yes but I I can't help you I
said but why not he said because you
don't have a problem with cracks on your
wall so I looked at the crack in front
of me who was telling me I was not
having problems with cracks on my wall
and I said wait a minute wait a minute I
see a crack you see a crack all God's
children see a crack does as a crack on
my wall oh he said yeah there's a crack
on your wall I'm just saying that's not
your problem your problem sir is you
have a shifting foundation under your
home the foundation under your home is
moving and that's why you have cracks on
your wall he says the cracks on your
wall are merely symptoms of a much
deeper problem he said if you don't
stabilize your foundation you will
forever be doing patchwork on the cracks
on your wall today in every direction
that you look and every place where you
live there are cracks on the wall you're
seeing cracks in our culture cracks in
our relationships cracks and our
families cracks in our lives and a lot
of time and energy is being spent to
patch the cracks I mean if I wasn't in a
ministry I'd be a secular psychologist
because then I could charge people $300
an hour to tell them why they need to
come back next week because lives right
now are shattering families are
displaced there's division racially and
culturally and
so the cracks on the wall and their
seminars and programs and support
systems and the cracks just keep on
coming back so the question that we must
answer today is what is the foundation
that needs to be fixed so that we don't
have to keep doing patchwork on the
cracks that we find in our lives and in
our world and that's why I want to call
your attention today to the story Jesus
told that was read in your hearing the
story about two men this story comes at
the end of the greatest sermon ever
preached by the greatest preacher who
ever proclaimed Jesus Christ himself at
the end of the greatest sermon the
Sermon on the Mount he concludes it with
the story Jesus understood that theology
had to reach foot ology that the truth
of God must reach the lives of people
and so when he taught he would pepper
his theology with parables or stories or
illustrations to help bring the point
home and that is precisely what he does
at the end of Matthew chapter 7 it's
about two two men when I'm finished
today I want you to simply answer the
question which one are you now these two
men had things that were in comparison
things that were in contrasts leading to
a riveting conclusion so let's start off
with the comparison what made these two
men alike we read in verse
20 for everyone who hears these words of
mine and acts on them will be compared
to a wise man who built his house on the
rock verse 26 says everyone who hears
these words of mine and does not act on
them will be compared to a foolish man
who built his house on the sand so let's
compare them the first comparison
between these two men is they both have
the same dream they both wanted to build
a house the thing that puts them
together and makes them alike is that
both men wanted to build a house now to
build a house in Scripture can refer to
a number of things in this passage it
refers to building a life he's talking
about two men who wanted to build their
lives
nobody wants a failed life nobody wants
to live a life of defeat no one wants to
live a life of destruction
most people don't plan to waste their
lives and so you have dreams dreams that
are affect your career dreams that are
affect your desires dreams that fit your
design both men wanted to have build a
house they wanted to build a life of
significance of substance that mattered
or to build a house in scripture can
refer to building a family families in
the Bible are called houses the house of
David that was his family structure both
nuclear and extended no couple gets
married planning on their wedding day to
have a divorce most families don't
desire for a breakdown between parents
and children most families don't want to
live in constant conflict that's not
their desire what do they want they want
to build a house that is a happy home so
to build a house can refer to building
your life or can
your family or building house in the
Bible is also used of building a
ministry after all the church is called
the household of faith the Bible calls
the temple in the Old Testament the
house of God
no ministry wants to shrink no ministry
wants to be in disarray no ministry
worth its salt once they have conflict
between leaders and members you're
trying to build a house you want a
vibrant ministry that is impactful and
sustained and growing and transforming
because after all here at Denton Bible
you want to build a house so building a
house can refer to your personal life
building house can refer to your family
building house can refer to your
ministry or building a house can refer
to your society God's people were called
the house of Israel we have the white
house we have the house of Congress say
building a house could refer to the
whole nation nations are called houses
in Scripture as well in our day as well
we hate the fact that America is so
divided we hate the fact that there's
racial conflict all over the place class
division and political friction and yet
that is the country we live in while we
do the Pledge of Allegiance and we sing
god bless america
we know that the house is in trouble
because we want a country that's unified
and vibrant and safe we want to build a
house because building a house in the
Bible can refer to your life your family
your ministry or your nation so these
men had something in common they both
wanted to build
the house the second thing that these
two men had in common is they were both
evangelicals they both went to Bible
churches how do I know they both went to
Bible churches because the story says
both men heard these words of mine and
if Jesus is a preacher it's a Bible
Church in fact it is the number one
Bible Church because you've got the
author of the Bible doing the preaching
so you got the Living Word using the
written word to do the proclamation so
you don't get a better preacher a better
sermon perfect exegesis an appropriate
application because they both heard
these words of mine so these were
evangelicals they were Orthodox they
were sitting under the best possible
teaching that anyone could be exposed to
because they're sitting at Jesus's feet
so we're not talking about a pagan and a
Christian we're talking about two
evangelicals that is two people who were
sitting and listening to Jesus teach so
the first comparison is they both had a
dream the second comparison is they were
both exposing themselves to the truth
then there's a third comparison both men
face the same storm because the storms
come in a storm in the Bible is trouble
tribulation challenges difficulties
trials that's the way storms are used in
Scripture and both men face the storm
it's been said you're either in a storm
just come out of a storm we're getting
ready to enter a storm because as much
as I would love to come to Denton and
tell you believe in Jesus and it won't
rain that's just not true
sometimes you haven't seen rain and tell
you
than Jesus so it's gonna ring you're
going to have trouble Jesus said in John
16:33 in this world you will have
tribulation sometimes I get something in
the mail and when I open my mailbox and
it says occupant translation we don't
care who lives in and because you are an
occupant of this world its glory and
everything won't be good all the time
you don't look for storms you just have
to be alive storms fine to you so let's
review these made had three things in
common they both had a dream because
they both wanted to build a house they
both were exposed to the truth because
they both listened to these words of
mine and they both had struggles in life
because they were both facing a storm
however that's where the comparison ends
and now that's where the contrasts begin
because while both men have things that
they share they were completely
different the first man is called a wise
man and the second man is called a fool
so while they had a lot of things in
common there was one thing that made
them different what if one man is wise
and the other is a fool that tells us a
lot there that tells us a wise man can
have a dream and a fool can have a dream
it tells us a wise man can listen to
Jesus and a fool can listen to Jesus it
tells us that a wise man can enter storm
and a fool can enter a storm while these
men were compared they had a major
character difference in the Bible to be
wise is your ability to apply
ritual truth to life's realities wisdom
is your ability and your decision to
apply spiritual truth to life's
decisions a fool on the other hand has
absolutely nothing to do with your
degrees whether you have a BA or an MBA
or a PhD is irrelevant to the biblical
definition of a fool we've all met
educated fools a fool in the Bible is
the inability or refusal to apply
spiritual truth to life's decisions it
is the inability or refusal to apply
spiritual truth to life's choices so
wisdom goes beyond information it has to
do with decision making it says that
while these two men had things in common
they had a major difference one was wise
and one was a fool what made one wise
and one a fool it all had to do with
their foundation it says that the wise
man built his house his life his family
his ministry is involvement in society
on a rock but it says the fool built his
house his life his family his ministry
his community engagement on sand because
all of those are called houses in the
Bible a foundation is always where you
start when you're building a building
you don't start with the windows and the
doors and the roof and the and the brick
that's not where you start you lay a
foundation because everything else you
build is dependent upon the foundation
that you lay so these men while they
have the same
did not start at the same place because
they built or started to build their
lives on two totally different
foundations now if you're gonna build on
a rock that's gonna take you some time
you got to drill through the rock that's
going to take you some time to build
through the rock if you're gonna build
on sand by you can do that overnight got
to drill if you're gonna build on a rock
that's gonna be a little bit of work you
build on sand that's hardly any work you
build on a rock that's gonna be very
expensive to get the equipment there to
build on Rock you build on saying that's
cheap and cost you anything to do that
it's told two totally different
approaches to life he says one was wise
and one was a fool because of the place
that they start the place that they
started well so let's go a little bit
deeper if you go to downtown anywhere
and you see them getting ready to erect
a skyscraper
they will Cortis it off the area where
they're going to build the skyscraper
and you can always get an idea of how
high they plan to go up by how low they
drill down you can't build a skyscraper
on the foundation of a chicken coop
because the chicken coop foundation
can't hold a skyscraper building you see
a lot of folk want skyscraper live
skyscraper families skyscraper
ministries and a skyscraper nation while
resting on chicken coop foundations they
want to see this go way up there when
there's nothing to hold it down here he
says that these two men started in
different places but with the same
desire dream even listening to the Bible
taught but they were totally different
we're living in a day when the Word of
God is not where people start they throw
it in later when it comes to windows and
doors and rules but not at the
foundation level because the foundation
is always where you start when people
want to address issues in their lives
they will often start with their
education they will start with their
opinions they will start with how they
were raised they will start with what
their friends say they will they will
start and maybe they will sprinkle some
Jesus on it but it is not the foundation
of making the decision it's not where
they start and a foundation is always
where you start but let's look at
starting a little deeper where they
started had nothing to do with biblical
knowledge both heard these words of mine
both were listening to the Word of God
both were in church listening to a great
preacher preaching a great sermon the
Sermon on the Mount greatest sermon ever
preached so biblical information was not
the problem evidently you can be in a
Bible Church and still be a fool because
they were listening to these words of
mine no the difference was not an
informational difference the difference
was the wise man acted on my word and
the fool did not it had it wasn't
knowledge that was the problem
it was acting on the information that
distinguished the fool from the wise man
the problem we have today
even among evangelical Christians is
that the Bible is not where they start
to do their action it may be where they
start to get their information but it is
not where they start to implement their
action and as a result we are full of
churches made up of evangelical fools
who will listen to Jesus's word and
still build a house on sand one of the
reasons that issues are not being
addressed in our personal lives in our
families in our churches and by
believers in the society is because
acting on God's Word is not our first
concern listening to it is so we're
listening to Christian radio we'll go to
Bible teaching churches will say amen to
the sermon will carry the Bible under
our arms and still not see things change
at our church in Oak Cliff we've had to
install a motion detector lighting in
some of the rooms because people were
leaving the lights on and the
electricity bill was going up and
electricity being wasted so in some of
these rooms we've installed motion
detector lighting and that simply means
when you walk in the room the lights pop
on when you walk out the lights pop off
in other words the light the lights will
only work when it detects motion when
there is no motion electricity is not to
be wasted now the power is in there the
lights are in there but they're
programmed not to work until somebody's
moving God has programmed his word not
to work until motion is detected as long
as there is no movement the
bird is true the power is there but it's
programmed not to come on until there's
movement when you see God moving in
Scripture you will see time and time and
time and time and time again he tells
the people what they must do first
before he does anything Moses
hold out your rod now the Red Sea opens
up Joshua tell you a priest to put their
foot in the Jordan then the water is
blocked Mary move the stone then Lazarus
is brought forth it waits on action so
that we're walking by faith not talking
by faith it is the absence of acting on
the word that keeps the word from being
powerful in our experience even when
we're saying Amen to the truth he says
the wise man acted on the word he heard
and the fool did not and he did it at
ground level foundation not later on not
after he consulted everybody else he
started on the foundation level with
God's point of view one of the reasons
we're seeing so much defeat in our lives
in our marriages where the divorce rate
is as high among Christians as it is
among non-christians is we don't start
with God
we start with man and invite God into it
and there is no power in that the word
is programmed not to work in that
environment even when you agree with
what it says and you can trace all of
the categories of a house whether it's
your personal life whether it's the
marriage and the family structure the
definition of manhood the definition of
womanhood the definition of marriage the
definition of parenting that's why we
talk in our ministry and and
books about being a king demanding a
kingdom woman raising kingdom kids
kingdom marriage we're coming out with
being a kingdom single what does it mean
to act on the Word of God in that
familial structure what does it mean to
be a church that acts on the Word of God
we cannot fix anything out there if God
can't even fix it in here
God does not skip the church house to
fix the White House and if Christians
think God rides the backs of donkeys or
elephants if we are divided politically
because we are so attached to a human
party rather than the kingdom of God
there will be no power this chaos that
we're experiencing in the house called
the culture where the White House or
House of Congress is coming because
people are starting in all the wrong
places and that the Word of God is not
determining who we are how we live our
identity we all know that one of the
great divisions in our culture has been
the issue of race one of the reasons why
that's such a big problem is folks start
in the wrong place they start with the
background in the history and what my
mama taught me and all of that okay all
that may be true but none of that it
should be where we start we start with
the Word of God
technically it's wrong to say I'm a
black Christian and it's right to say
wrong and say you're a white Christian
because then you make black and white an
adjective you make Christian a noun the
job of the adjective is the modified a
noun so if you've got Christian in the
now position and color in the a suitable
position that now must always reflect
the color of the adjective that you gave
it no Christianity must always be in the
Angi title position your color must
always be in the now position so if
anything changes it is the noun of your
humanity and not the adjective of your
faith you got always start
you gotta always start with what God
says on every subject it must be the
foundation of the discussion everything
else that has to be brought in alignment
with that and when that happens God
begins to now build a house a life a
family a ministry and even a society but
we're seeing today in our nation the
house of culture is the dismissal of God
and evangelicals have been
co-conspirators how can we have all
these churches on all these corners with
all these preachers and all these
members and all these buildings all
these programs and still have all this
mess there's a dead monkey on the line
somewhere because we will proclaim a
word that we do not act on and Jesus
says your tradition has made God's word
of none effect in other words because
you hold it on how you were raised in
your history and your background the
Word of God is of none effect it's still
the Word of God but it's not doing
anything you're not seeing it explode in
your experience the evangelicals have a
interesting way because we try to mix
rock and sand we try to have sandy rock
sea because we were taught that the
Bible is the inerrant Word of God which
it is and so we believe in that and we
hold tenaciously to it while at the same
time mixing in human wisdom I I don't
like I don't like apples apples I'm a
banana guy okay I don't like apples I
like bananas I know what apple a day
keeps the doctor away but I just not n
apples except at the Texas State Fair I
love them apples
because those are candy apples at the
Texas State Fair those are apples dip in
liquid sugar but my doctor tells me once
you dip that Apple in liquid sugar that
Apple is absolutely of no nutritional
value to you cuz you've canceled out its
benefit by the sugar you dipped it in
see what evangelicals do is they come to
church and they hear the pure
nutritional truth of the word of God and
then they leave it and dip it in a human
opinion dip it in how I was raised
dip it in what the culture thinks dip it
in what my friends say and wind up
canceling its nutritional value because
whenever human wisdom is stirred in with
the Word of God the Word of God is made
of none effect that's what Jesus said
whenever our actions do not reflect the
inerrancy that we a men then you wind up
with Church and haven't you got the
right belief system you believe in the
word but nothing changes because the
wise man did on it many of you familiar
with pine Cove we raised our children
every summer at pine Cove most of them
worked for pine Cove and it was that
pine cone where I learned to ride a
horse okay in the hood where I grew up
there were no horses
the Pine Cove many years ago taking my
kids to camp that's where I learned to
ride a horse now I knew how to ride a
horse because I'd seen all these
westerns growing up I'd seen rawhide
bonanza rightful man Lone Ranger
you know I'd seen enough
westerns to know what to do when I got
on the horse so I got on this horse
and I went high giddyup
kick it I knew what to do
but my horse had issues I was on crazy
horse cuz this horse had some issues if
we go two steps forward and three steps
back and three steps forward and four
steps back I call a Wrangler over I said
this horse is nuts
please get me another horse he looked at
me and he said and it ain't the horse
that's crazy I said wait man what you
mean I'm going huh giddyup kicking it he
said you can't go
ha giddyup kick it while pulling back on
the reins you can't do that you'll
confuse this animal see what we do as
Christians as we often holler ride on
King Jesus while we pull back on the
reins and refuse to act on what Jesus
has said and wonder why things aren't
moving in the direction they should move
cuz we're not starting at the right
place and to start at the right place is
not merely informational it's not merely
learning the Bible its way that's where
you you have to you can't act on what
you don't know so you've got to learn
the Bible but the question is what
action am I going to take in light of
what I just learned
because until there's movement the Bible
stays in the Bible and it's not
activated in the life or the family or
the ministry or the country
see all this stuff is tied together
because we are trying to build a house
for our 30th wedding anniversary 17
years ago my wife and I we went to to a
little town in Italy called Pisa do me a
favor if you ever go to Italy skip Pisa
that is a waste of your money there's
only one thing in Pisa okay
the Leaning Tower of Pisa right well
actually there are two things in Pisa
there's the Leaning Tower of Pisa and
their people on side of road selling
replicas of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
that's that's all you go over there to
Pisa and this is this is a tiny building
when you see it on television you think
it's a big building
no the Leaning Tower of Pisa is like a
preemie building and I'm trying to
figure out why people from all around
the world are coming to watch a building
do this they're coming to watch a
building lean when we were over there
they had ropes around the base of the
tower because it was leaning like an
eighth of an inch every year was leaning
about an eighth in a miniature war and
they keep it from falling over they put
the ropes around it now a lot of people
don't know why the Leaning Tower of Pisa
lean so let me tell you why the Leaning
Tower of Pisa leans the Leaning Tower of
Pisa leans because it's located in Pisa
because Pisa means marshy see it was
engulfed on a solid foundation and it's
been leaning ever since cuz it's all
about that foundation and the foundation
is not merely informational he says both
men heard these words of mine but only
one acted on it and so only one
benefited from it his word gets
interesting it did not become apparent
who the wise man was and who the fool
was until the storm came see as long as
it wasn't raining
both houses looked good as long as it
wasn't raining both families look good
as long as it wasn't raining both
ministries look solid as long as it
wasn't raining who nation was on or was
on track but when the storm came ah
it revealed who had what in terms of
foundation storms are a very important
part of God's plan for your life and the
reason why storms negative circumstances
are very important is because they are
designed to reveal your foundation they
show because when everything is fine
you may think you're on rock when you're
really on sand and so what storms are
allowed to do is let you see God already
knows what kind of foundation you
dealing with I love the story in mark
chapter 4 Jesus is preaching he tells
his disciples at the end of the chapter
let's go to the other side l decided to
see a galilee in november we're taking a
group I'm taking leading a group to
Israel and we'll go to the various sites
and I'll teach the Bible and and and one
of the places we'll go is to the Sea of
Galilee it's like eight miles across so
they are halfway across so they're about
four miles out these are professional
fishermen a lot of them are so they know
they've been
they've been they've been fishing in the
Sea of Galilee all their lives
but halfway across they run into the
Greek word is ain't a lilac a lilac is a
windstorm that comes and swirls around
because the Sea of Galilee is in a basin
and it swirls around wreaking havoc in
the water and even these professional
fishermen got scared
so that means it was a terrible storm
for professional fisherman to be scared
they were scared because of the strength
of the lilac and in the middle of their
fear they look over and Jesus is asleep
in the stern of the boat what good is a
savior who sleeps on you when you're in
a storm
they're in a storm and Jesus is snoring
oh I know it was snoring because the
Bible says he was asleep on a cushion a
cushion is a pillow now if you sleep on
a pillow that means you meant to go to
sleep you ain't just doing that you
didn't tuck that sucker up under your
head and you didn't you didn't you
didn't you delayed that thing down on
purpose have you ever noticed when you
going through a struggle God is nowhere
to be located have you ever noticed when
you're going through some of your
deepest fears heaven is gone silent on
you or the or the line is busy and you
can't get through
has it ever seen do you like God is God
is way off in a distance when you need
him the most well they needed him the
most cuz every lives and so the Bible
says Jesus was so sleep they had to
arouse him that is shake him to wake him
in other words that's calling his name
what working they had to arouse him they
had to force him to get up and then they
utter the question that we all have if
the storm is deep enough carest thou not
that we
don't you care how can you care and
sleep when I need you most how can you
care and put a pillar under you when
women when I when I was crying out when
when we were crying in a desperate
situation where are you Jesus sleep in
the store when they wake Jesus up Jesus
asked an interesting question he says
why are you so timid that's an
interesting question
I mean I can hear Peter not answering
that question you want to know why we're
so timid you really want to know Jesus
why we're so dinner timid
what this maybe it's because we're
getting ready to die carest thou not
that we perish that means to die don't
you care that we go with we get ready to
die out here that's why we're timid oh
ye of little faith
come on Jesus come on
can't you understand Hannah lilac why
shouldn't they be afraid they're in the
lilac why should they be scared cuz I
told them before we ever left drydock
let us go to the other side they said
Amen other side other side of the side
they responded like they believed what I
said cuz if they really had believed
what I said when I allowed this storm to
come and they saw me with a pillow they
would have gotten a pillow too cuz I
said we're all gonna make it to the
other side
not just me so they were agreeing with
me but when the storm came they forgot
the agreement of my word in other words
they didn't act on it they acted on the
storm not on what I said so let me be
clear
being an evangelical Christian does not
mean storms do not come it means that we
act on God's truth as the foundation of
our lives
families ministries and culture so that
when the storm comes it affects us
differently it says the rain fell verse
27 the floods came and the winds blew
and slammed the Gangstar house and it
fell rain came down flood came up wind
blew if you have rain coming down flood
coming up and went blowing that ha
that's called a hurricane it's hurricane
rain coming down flood coming up wind
can blow vows hurricane season hurricane
season is when all hell breaks through
in your life family ministry culture
then we're seeing it all around us today
that's a storm that's a hurricane season
this is not a minor thing this is a
major interruption in your life it says
that when it came the wise man's house
stood the fools house fell greatly
because the storm reveals
what you're rooted in what kind of
foundation you're on it is designed for
you to see where you stand now let me
tell you some news you can't fix the
foundation in the middle of a storm you
can pour it before a storm you can
repair it after a storm but you can't
repair it in a store see what a lot of
Christians want is God to do something
in the middle of it when God is saying
no I'm showing you what you need to pour
so that when you come through this you
fix this foundation or you young people
you pour the foundation now so that when
the storm comes
you're already situated
knowing what God says and making it your
point of action which then brings divine
response there is a biblical answer to
every issue in your life in your family
in your ministry and in the culture
there are two answers to every question
God's answer and everybody else's and
everybody else is wrong when they
disagree with God's answer God has
spoken and he has not citizens of
Studdard but until it's acted on it
remains in the Bible only the Queen of
England has great position and
absolutely no power though she gets
praised and people pay homage to her and
people acknowledge her and the flags put
one way when she's in in in the castle
and another way when she's not oh she
gets plenty of props but she has no car
didn't get to make any laws they just
come and tell her what's going on so
she's got position with no power and
unfortunately far too many evangelicals
have that with the Bible we give the
Word of God position we'll carry it
under our arms will preach it from our
pulpits we'll read it in the morning we
give it the props we give it the
position but it doesn't seem to have any
power cuz nothing is different it
doesn't save the marriage it doesn't
heal the relationship it doesn't bring
unity among Christians across racial and
class and cultural lines it doesn't it
doesn't it doesn't seem to work while we
give it high position the challenge we
face today is returning to the Bible but
I don't mean returning to it as the
inerrant Word of God we go hold to that
but returning to it as the foundation of
decision-making because only then
is its power unleashed is its power
revealed and there is no issue you can
raise where God does not have a response
either in precept or in principle
because it is the comprehensive
statement of God about all areas of life
so my challenge to the Church of Jesus
Christ through our national ministry the
urban/alternative as one of our church
local is that the Word of God and our
acting on it is the standard for
whatever house we're talking about the
house of your life the house of your
family the house of the church and the
house and how we respond to the culture
if you came to me and said my life is
falling apart I would open up the word
of God relevant to the parts of your
life that are falling apart I would give
you what God says and then I will tell
you what you should do in light of what
God says now if you came to me with your
family and said my family is falling
apart I take the same Bible I use with
you personally I would go over the
biblical principles related to your
marriage or parenting or whatever the
issue was then I would tell you what you
should do differently in light of what
God has to say about what's happening in
your family if the church leadership
came to me I would take the same Bible I
use with the individual the same Bible I
use with the family and I would deal
with God's definition of the church
God's role of leaders I would identify
the problem and I would tell you what
you would now should do as leaders to
bring harmony back into the church what
happens if the president wants to talk
to me I won't switch books
I'll bring the same Bible I use with the
individual the same Bible I use with the
family the same Bible I use with the
church and I will bring it since the
Bible says government is a is a tool of
God in Romans 13 and I will tell you
what God says about how a nation is run
and how God says when God is the god of
a nation then that nation will be
blessed and I will give you those same
principles when you understand the power
of God's Word you don't have to switch
books what you do is
on the truth of the one book and so when
we as evangelicals who hear the word of
God decide to act on it upfront not
sprinkle Jesus on it after the fact then
it will be free to be unleashed in the
house that you want to build when I was
a boy growing up in Baltimore one
Christmas my father brought me a
punching bag so excited to get this bag
hit the floor
Bam Bam Bam no matter what I did to it
it kept coming back that's because it
had a weight at the bottom and air at
the top so whatever I did to it up here
was overcome by what was down there what
was down there overrode whatever it was
hitting I was hitting up here life is
going to go boom on you but when you
have the right foundation you go Bam Bam
Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam being Satan
sometimes is going to come at you with
everything he's got boom boom boom boom
boom boom
and then you go Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam
Bam Bam Bam but when you're resting on
the right foundation you go
[Applause]
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