Transcription
Would you raise your hands again all over the house? Lift your voice. Think we should tell him we love him right now. Would you do that? Let it be more than just the lyrics of a beautiful song. Come on, would you tell him from your heart how much you love him right now? Everybody, we can do that together. Jesus name. That's it. Everybody, that's something we can do together. We love you, Jesus. Do you love him today? I'll give you another shout at that. Do you love him today? Are you glad that he loves you? Praise God. I find myself frequently telling him that I am thankful that he loves me in spite of me. Are you thankful that he loves you in spite of you? Praise God. Jeremiah chapter 10. What an honor it is to be in the house of the Lord today. Such a sweet presence of God that's here. And I'm believing he's going to move in our midst in a powerful way today. Praise God. I give honor to people of God, all the faithful people of God that are here today. Praise God. All of our guest ministry. Appreciate this bishop of this church and his family. Give honor to brother Gilstrap today and his wife. Appreciate them. Jeremiah chapter 10. We'll read one verse of scripture. Verse number 23. Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Some pretty strong language. Notice the strength of this some of the language in this verse. I know not it's out to the jury. No, it's it's knowledge. It's knowledge that the way of man is not It's not out for the jury. It's not. Someone say it's not. in himself. And then he steps back and he makes a little different statement reiterating the first statement. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. I'm thankful for every book and every word that he's given us. Every scripture. But if somehow we could just live according to that right there. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, that's a Bible in itself right there. Now, you're going to have to help me today. I need somebody to be a little honest right now. How How much trouble could we and would we have saved ourselves just in obedience to that one verse? And by the help of the Holy Ghost, I'm going to talk about it a little bit today. If you would just lay your Bibles down one more time, lift your hands and ask God to speak to us. Would you do that? You can be seated. Thank you for standing.
Salvation is not a day on the calendar. It's a process. It's a journey. I'm thankful for the day that I was baptized in Jesus' name. I'm thankful for the day that I repented of my sin. Thankful for that euphoric moment when I opened my mouth and began to speak an unknown tongue as evidence that God had taken residence in my heart. But that wasn't a destination. That was a start. Salvation is not a day on the calendar. It's not a moment. It's not a specific service. But it's a process. It's a process as long as there's still flesh hanging on these bones. And the key to this process is understanding that it's a journey. Salvation is a journey. Life is a journey. It's finding a way to somehow navigate oneself from this point to that point. From this mountain top through this valley, through that trial. Um the fact of the matter is all of us, regardless of where we're at in life, um we're in one of three places, and it's incessantly as like this. We are either coming in to a trial, we are in the middle of a trial, or we are coming out of a trial. Welcome to life. Welcome to living for God. And I think it would behoove us all to understand some things today as to how to successfully winnow oneself through these places. How do we get successfully from one place to the next? And if salvation is really not an event, if it's if it's a process, it's a if it's a progress, then how do we successfully journey our way through life uh and be saved because we understand that salvation comes to he that endureth unto the end. This race is not to the swiftest, but it's to the enduring. How does one make his way through these places in life? The road of life, the road of living for God is full of surprises. Uh it's there there are tragedies along the road of life. And there are mishaps, there are misfortunes. There are disappointments, there's going to be rejections. Are you with me right now? You going to You You going to You going to deal with trouble. It's not It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. It's inevitable. IN FACT, THE BIBLE ARTICULATED IT LIKE THIS for us. He said, "MAN'S LIFE, HIS DAYS ARE FEW and they are full of trouble." And I think that we have to ask ourselves today if we are going to successfully get through these places, these hairpin turns in the road, and these valleys, and across these bumps with as little collateral damage as possible, we must ask ourselves, "What's it GOING TO TAKE? WHAT WHAT IS IT REALLY GOING to take for a man to be saved?" And I I understand that that we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection, BUT BUT REALLY, WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE for man to avoid destruction? Praise God. I think there's some things that a man must acquaint himself with if he's going to be saved. There's some things he must know. I think it's a given that all of us understand that we must have a knowledge of God, and we must have a knowledge of the adversary. But I The longer that I live, and I'm still green, but I'm realizing that IF SOMEWHERE I FALL TO THE WAYSIDE ON THIS ROAD, and I AM LOST, IT'S PROBABLY NOT GOING to be because of God, and more THAN LIKELY IT'S NOT GOING TO HAVE anything to do with the devil. In fact, the older I get, I'm realizing I am my greatest enemy. I think today that we need MORE THAN JUST A KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. WE NEED MORE THAN JUST an understanding of our adversary, but I believe that we must acquaint ourselves with ourselves. And the more that I SEE ABOUT ME, THE LESS I like. Let's just talk about it today here for a few moments. While there are many different taste, and there are many different characteristics, and likes, and dislikes, and personalities that are here today, there are some things that we all share commonly. Let's start with our tongue. The Bible says that it is the most unruly unruly member of the body. It speaks of the poison the poison that's in our mouth. LET'S MOVE BEYOND THE tongue a little south a little southward, and let's talk about the heart. The heart that every one of us have today, the Bible says that it is desperately wicked. Who can know it? The heart is deceptive. The heart will fool you. The heart IS A DECEPTIVE DEVICE. ARE YOU WITH me right now? If that's not enough for you, let's go down a little bit further, and the Bible TELLS US THAT OUR FEET, they are swift to run TO MISCHIEF. ONE WRITER PUT IT LIKE THIS, "THERE IS NO GOOD THING IN THIS FLESH." The psalmist said, "I was born in sin AND SHAPEN IN INIQUITY." ARE YOU WITH ME right now? You put all these things together and man ALONE IS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN. YOU PUT ALL OF THESE THINGS together and man IS A WALKING CATASTROPHE ALONE. Are you with me right now? On top of that, the Bible says that there is a way that seemeth right to man, but the ends thereof are destruction. Praise God. In fact, the writer goes on a little further in another place TO SAY THAT LIKE SHEEP, WE HAVE ALL GONE ASTRAY. NOT just one of us, not just some of us, but every one of us. We have a propensity to stray. Every one of us have a propensity to stray. WITH A HEART LIKE THAT AND WITH A TONGUE LIKE THAT AND WITH TENDENCIES like that and living with propensities as such and the fact that there is no good thing in us. Ladies and gentlemen, every one OF US THAT ARE SITTING HERE IS BREATHING MORTAL MEN TODAY, WE NEED A GOD. I WANT SOMEBODY TO UNDERSTAND, YOU NEED GOD TODAY. HALLELUJAH. THERE'S got to be a better response than that. I SAID, "MAN, THE WAY WE ARE PUT TOGETHER IN ALL OF HIS FAULTS, IN ALL OF HIS FALLACIES, IN ALL OF HIS SHORTCOMINGS." OKAY, JUST LET ME PERSONALIZE IT. AT LEAST THIS PREACHER NEEDS GOD. I'M AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. I'M A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN. I AM A CATASTROPHE WAITING TO HAPPEN. I AM DESTRUCTION WAITING TO HAPPEN. I NEED A GUIDE. OKAY, YOU GOING TO MAKE ME GET down here WHERE YOU'RE AT. THAT'S FINE. I'M UP FOR THE JOB. I SAID YOU NEED A GOD. I DON'T CARE WHO YOUR DADDY IS. I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU GOT IN THE BANK. I DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF WALK OF LIFE THAT YOU COME FROM. YOU NEED A GUIDE. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. How many things How many things have we completely destroyed? How many How much luggage and baggage do we carry today? How many hearts from the hearts of men this morning Is there CONDEMNATION HANGING AS A weight because of this very thing that I'm preaching to you? COME ON. WE HAVE DONE THINGS OUR OWN WAY. WE HAVE MADE DECISIONS ACCORDING TO THE LUST OF OUR OWN FLESH AND THE LUST OF OUR OWN EYES. I'VE COME TO ASK YOU TODAY, WHERE HAS IT GOTTEN YOU? ARE YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN LIFE? NO, YOU'RE DEEPER THAN YOU'VE EVER BEEN BEFORE. THERE IS A WAY THAT SEEMETH RIGHT TO MAN, BUT THE ENDS THEREOF ARE DESTRUCTION. I'VE COME TO PREACH TO SOMEBODY, YOU BETTER GET YOU A GUIDE. YOU BETTER GET YOU A GOD. YOU BETTER GET YOU A SAVIOR. YOU BETTER GET YOU A DELIVERER. YOU SOMEBODY'S GOT TO HELP ME RIGHT NOW. YOU BETTER GET YOU A GUIDE. COME ON. CLAP YOUR HANDS AND GIVE GOD PRAISE. HEY.
Is a way that seemeth right to man. But the ends thereof are destruction. You need a guide. Life's full of too many surprises. You're put together. You're programmed on your own to be a miserable wreck. The Holy Ghost has got to come right now. Anointing's got to come. Because I'm dealing with some hard heads. I'm talking about I need some of that that deep anointing that'll break break the yoke. Come on. HOW HOW MANY MORE YEARS? Mess you're in right now is because you've done things your way. I'm going to tell you what I feel in the Holy Ghost right now. Let's just step outside of this little fault we're sharing. I'm going to tell somebody right now you think you're in a mess. You hadn't even seen a mess. You think you got You think you got trouble on your hands, honey. You don't You don't even know You don't even know. You can't even spell the word trouble to what you're fixing to deal with. I'd hate to know that I had to face. COME ON, SOMEBODY. I I I STAND IN FUNERALS. I I STAND I DRIVE IN MY VEHICLE and I pass I pass car accidents where there's where there has DEFINITELY BEEN A DEATH AND THERE HAS DEFINITELY BEEN TRAGEDY. AND I I SEE PEOPLE STANDING THERE, TEARS running down their face, AND I WONDER HOW DO PEOPLE DEAL WITH LIFE ALONE? HOW DO PEOPLE DEAL WITH GRIEF ALONE? HOW DO PEOPLE DEAL WITH LOSS ALONE? I'M TELLING SOMEBODY THERE'S TOO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS AND HAIRPINS IN THE ROAD OF LIFE TO GO BY YOURSELF. YOU NEED A SPIRITUAL GPS, A TURN BY TURN. COME ON, clap your hands. Sell me, you're killing me. Give me some in the house, please. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. I'M TRYING TO HELP somebody today. I'm trying to TELL SOMEBODY YOU'RE ABOUT TO MAKE A DECISION THAT'S GOING TO SET A DIRECTION IN YOUR LIFE THAT'S NOT A DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO. AH, IT MAY BE IN A RELATIONSHIP. IT MAY BE WITH A JOB. IT MAY CONCERN YOUR FAMILY, BUT I'M TELLING YOU, YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND IT'S NOT IN MAN TO KNOW THE WAY. IT'S NOT IN MAN TO DIRECT HIS OWN STEPS. YOU NEED A GOD. YOU NEED A GUIDE. YOU NEED SOMEBODY THAT CAN LEAD YOU. COME ON, clap your hands right now. Do it your way. We know where that ends up. Let's pray right now. I don't know what this is, but we're going to pray right now. Come on, connect with somebody. Let's pray. Come on, it's too quiet. Let's pray. I I know what typical Sunday mornings hold for you, but we're going to pray right now. Come on, lift your voice and let's pray. You pick the pulse of the text up. There's more There's more than just a prophetic unction. I'm sorry, but if you stop long enough If you could catch the heat long enough If you'd sit contemplatively contemplatively and think long enough, MUSE LONG ENOUGH YOU COULD PICK UP THE PULSE of the prophet. It's more than just a prophetic moment in which he takes the pen and he begins to SCRIBBLE ON PARCHMENT. NO, HE SAYS, "I KNOW." I KNOW. IT'S A man who apparently has taken some turns in life without guidance. THAT THAT THAT ONE LITTLE PHRASE, "I KNOW." JUST JUST JUST THOSE TWO LITTLE WORDS, FIVE LETTERS, SPEAKS VOLUMES TO ME. I know I I Bishop, I I ALMOST HEAR THE TREMBLING IN HIS VOICE. I looking deep into his eyes and somehow I see THE REMORSE OF REGRET. YES, HE'S A PROPHET, but yes, he's dealt with trouble. You go back today and I won't I won't go into the history, but you look at the things that Jeremiah faced and the things that he went through and the things that he ran from and the oppositions and the ADVERSITY THAT HE DEALT WITH. THIS IS A MAN WHO'S TRYING TO SPEAK TO US FROM LIFE EXPERIENCE. I KNOW. IT'S ALMOST AS I SEE THE tears welling up in his eyes, running like streams down his face, his hands slightly shaking, his voice trembling come ON THROUGH STAMMERING LIPS. THOUSANDS, HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER, HE'S SPEAKING TO SOMEBODY in this place. I know. I know. I KNOW. I KNOW. HE'S SAYING TO US, "I HAVE done it both ways. I DID IT MY WAY, BUT I'VE COME TO TELL YOU AFTER DOING IT MY WAY, IT'S NOT IN MAN TO KNOW THE WAY." HALLELUJAH. It's not in man to know THE WAY. IT'S NOT IN MAN TO DIRECT HIS OWN STEPS. I'M TELLING YOU SOMETHING right now. The doctor can't lead you through that. You can hire the best psychiatrist. You can hire the best family counselors in this city. But you better get you a guide. You better get you a guide. Come on, are you hearing me right now? You better get you some guidance. Come on, you better be getting some guidance. I'm not talking about out of a bottle. I'm not talking Come on, I'm not talking ABOUT OUT OF A MEDICINE CABINET. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT OUT OF A NEEDLE. I'M NOT TALKING COME ON, I'M TALKING ABOUT GOD. I'M TALK PRAISE GOD. Praise God in HIS ALL IN ALL OF HIS ATTRIBUTES. THE GOD THE GOD OF THE AGES THE GUIDE OF THE AGES. HE'S OMNIPOTENT, BUT how many times he is not near enough? When's the last time you heard somebody preach about the omniscience of God? When's the last time you got excited about a God who's omniscient? I pray right now that something would sweep in this place. Omniscient The guide that LEADS ME THE GUIDE COME ON, THE GUIDE THAT I'M FOLLOWING IS OMNISCIENT. HE IS ALL-KNOWING. HE KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING. I MAY NOT KNOW THE WAY, BUT MY GUIDE KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING. MY HE'S THE GUIDE OF THE AGES. HALLELUJAH. BROTHER MARKS, if he's the guide of the ages, why did it take him Why did it take him 40 years to guide 3 million people in what should have been Some say a couple of weeks, some say 28-day journey. WHY DID IT TAKE 40 YEARS? I'LL TELL YOU WHY. IT DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE EXPERTISE OF THE GUIDE. IT HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE ONES BEING LED. COME ON, SOMEBODY. YOU DON'T STAY IN THAT WILDERNESS. YOU DON'T NEED TO STAY IN THAT DILEMMA. YOU DON'T NEED TO STAY IN THAT PROBLEM. YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR SPIRIT. IT'S NOT A GUIDE PROBLEM. IT'S A SPIRIT PROBLEM. I'VE SEEN people I've seen people wander around for 40 years in the same old mess in the same minutia. Come on, I'm preaching to somebody. I've seen people walk around in the same generational spirits, generational curses, GENERATIONAL IDEAS. I'VE SEEN PEOPLE WANDER AROUND IN REBELLION, WANDER AROUND IN TROUBLE, WANDER AROUND OVER THEIR EARS IN ALL OF THIS TROUBLE AND WONDER WHY. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD. GOD WANTS TO LEAD YOU OUT. BUT GOD'S GOT TO FIND SOMEBODY THAT'S WILLING TO LET HIM LEAD. GOD'S GOT TO FIND SOMEBODY THAT'S WILLING TO LET HIM GUIDE. IT'S PATHETIC. Uh it's all right. I said it. It's pathetic the path that some of you have worn around this mountain. He thought he was the God of the ages. He is when given the liberty to guide. But where there's obstinance and where there's unwillingness and if there's no pliableness in a man's will. I'm preaching to some people here today. You say, "What's that little feeling here today?" I'm going to tell you what that little feeling here is today. That little feeling is is this is rubbing against the will of some people that are sitting here on these pews. And it's never a good thing when there's confrontation with people's will. That's what you're feeling. Because it's in us. It's in that It's in It's in us intrinsically. It is in us to do things our own way. And when you start crossing that I'm not talking I'm going to tell you what I feel in the spirit. We're not talking about one or two situations. I'm talking I I feel like there's several situations here today that this is this is this is rubbing against the grain. You're tearing off doing things the way you want to do it. It's not in man. It's not in man. Destruction's in man. But it's not in man. Man does not have the ability to direct his own steps. You're not smart enough. You don't have enough education. Guidance. Guidance. You need guidance. You need a guide. Why wouldn't you take one that's omniscient? I'm not present. All All knowing. You never You're never going to make your way out of that. You're never going to get your way through that. I'm preaching to somebody in which the house has fallen. You're lost in the wreckage. You're never going to find your way out. From underneath the splintered lumber of your dreams. Alone. Picking a mate for life with no guidance is a dangerous thing. It's cool. It's kind of quiet in here today. Pulling your family up and taking a job for another $10,000 a year. Pulling roots up and s- Brother Folsom, I really don't know if you knew what you was getting yourself into having this wild man over here at Brother Tabernacle. Guidance. Guidance. Guidance. You You've had it your way. I'm trying TO BE CAUSTIC. I JUST WANT LET'S JUST BE REAL. You've done it your way. How's that worked out for you? You did it the way you wanted to do it. And the fact of the matter is, man, I don't know why I'm hung up here, but I'm I'm just going to stay here a second. Usually people that are prone to getting in bad relationships just keep getting in bad relationships. How many times is hooking up with a loser is it going to take for the lights to come on upstairs upstairs where you don't hook up with a loser again? Go go study the statistics. Battered women, they seems that the percentages will blow your mind. The ones that hardly ever get out of the situation, but if they get in the situation, get out of the situation, eventually they get right back in the same situation. LOOK AT THE STATISTICS, THEY DON'T LIE. AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THEY'RE RIGHT IN ANOTHER RELATIONSHIP with someone else's back. Why? Because it's not in man to know the way. I hope to God that we are not becoming so progressive and so educated, and I'm not against education, but I I hope to God that we're not growing up so much as an apostolic church, and in fact, I don't think it's I don't think it'd be considered growing up. I think it'd be considered stepping down. That that that we WE LOSE RHETORIC IN MY GENERATION. THINGS I USED TO HEAR MY GRANDMOTHER SAY THAT USED TO DRIVE ME CRAZY, and now it probably drives my kids crazy when I SAY, "I JUST DON'T FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT." I DON'T want to lose that. I just I just feel a check right there. See some of you looking at me right now like, "My God, I never heard that before in my life." That is a travesty that you've never heard that before in your life. Because if YOU'VE GOT A GUIDE, IF JESUS IS GUIDING YOU, IF YOU'RE GETTING TURN BY TURN SIGNALS AND CALLS FROM THAT HEAVENLY GPS AND Jesus is CALLING THE SHOT, YOU'RE GOING TO COME TO SOME PLACES IN LIFE AND SAY, "OH, WOAH." THE SPIRIT WILL CHECK YOU UP ON PEOPLE AND THE SPIRIT WILL CHECK YOU UP ON PLEASURES AND AND THE SPIRIT WILL CHECK YOU UP ON PLACES AND THE SPIRIT WILL CHECK YOU UP ON HALLELUJAH. I'm not here TO BE A CYNIC TODAY, BUT A LOT OF THIS PHONY BALONEY JUNK THAT'S BEING CALLED BEING SPIRIT-LED IS IS REALLY NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING SPIRIT-LED. IT'S A DOG AND PONY SHOW. NO, A SPIRIT A TRUE SPIRIT-LED PERSON, THERE'S GOING TO BE TIMES THAT THE HOLY GHOST SAYS, "NO." I'M TALKING ABOUT THE HOLY GHOST WILL SAY, "NO." IT GRIEVES ME when it seems like the Pentecost has come into this idea that the Holy Ghost just says, "GO." I GOT NEWS FOR YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THERE'S TIMES THAT THE HOLY GHOST SAYS, "GO," BUT THERE'S MORE TIMES THAN NOT THAT THE HOLY GHOST WILL SPEAK TO YOU THROUGH CLOSED DOORS THAN HE DOES OPEN DOORS. THERE'S SO MUCH PREACHING ABOUT OPEN DOORS AND I'M ALL ABOUT OPEN DOORS, BUT IF YOU'RE TRULY BEING SPIRIT-LED, YOU'RE GOING TO DEAL WITH A LOT OF CLOSED DOORS. AND THE CLOSED DOORS, IF YOU ADHERE AND YOU'RE BEING SPIRITUALLY LED, THE CLOSED DOORS WILL LEAD YOU TO THE OPEN DOORS IF YOU DON'T FORCE THE CLOSED DOORS OPEN. The spirit says more than just go. The spirit says no. And we're in Texas, and you like to ride horses, so we'll say it like this. The spirit says more than go, the spirit says woah. And not like woah, that's a good-looking woman. Or woah, that's a nice boat. No. Woah. God. And so I took the word guidance. I was in Turkey. Someone had paid for us to go on a seven churches of Asia tour. Actually, this thought began to be birthed as I was thinking about 4 5 days in which we just kind of put our life into the hands of this tour guide. And one thing just spawns into another and so I had my heart had become heavy as God I I need guidance. I'm hurrying. I don't know what possessed me to do it. I I had a notebook there, sheet of paper, and I just took a pen and I wrote it out on the sheet of paper, guidance. g u i d a n c guidance And I just looked at it. God, I need guidance. I need I need a guide in my life. It's not in man to know the way. Like sheep, we've all gone astray. There's a way that seemeth right to man, but the ends thereof destruction. The heart's exceedingly wicked. My tongue is the most unruly vile member of my body. My feet are quick to run to mischief. I need guidance. And all of the sudden the biggest part of the word guidance began to jump out at me. And I underlined it. Fact, I blocked the letters. Put parentheses around it and I thought, "Hmm." The biggest part of the word guidance is dance. So, Brother Gilstrap being raised in the church, I don't know much about dancing unless it's the twirly bird or the shack-a-mo or I don't know anything about dancing. Fact, closest I ever got I I would have made a horrible backslider. Bad. God, I'd have made a bad backslider. Horrible. As a junior in the high school and uh I was going to backslide for a couple of hours. And uh I was life of the party. I always liked to be with everybody and on Friday nights we started going to this place where they were they were digging in their parents' clothes closets and getting out these these old clothes and they were going to this place that they'd recreated some disco place with this big ball and they're just acting up. But it But it was a bar. And they were acting a fool and they'd stayed after me. Stayed after me. Said, "Do you know how to drink? Just go." Just go. Man, I wrestled with it all day. Uh burning inside and it wasn't indigestion. Uh I just didn't I didn't But we we went. And uh I just trembled all the way there. Prayed we wouldn't have a car wreck. Telling Telling God out of my breath, "If you'll get me there and you'll get me home, I'll never do this again." So, I'm going to backslide for a couple of hours. Now Now, God, I'm not going to drink, but I'm going to go in there and you know, we just going I don't know how to shake it, but we're going to go in there and we're going to have fun. Make fun of somebody else for shaking it or something. Would you be You Would you believe that God would not even let me backslide for 2 hours? I get in this disco and I'm laughing at the way these people are dressed and and we're we're just firing up just fixing to have a good time. Starting to forget Sister Gilstrap, I'm starting to forget that conscience is burning within me and I thought I can get this behind me. This is going to be fun. We'll backslide a couple hours and we'll pray THROUGH LATER. THE FIRST SONG THAT comes on is Johnny, you better go home. I said, "It's hopeless. You won't even let me BACKSLIDE FOR A COUPLE HOURS." I started crying. Told Bobby, I said, "Give me the keys." He said, "Where are you going?" I said, "I'm going in the truck." He said, "Why are you crying?" I said, "You wouldn't understand." So, I sit out in the truck and had a prayer meeting. Waited on them to come out. So, that's about my That's That's the extent of my understanding of dancing. I never even quite got there. So, I I I GO TO THE INTERNET AND I START I START searching because I I but I I've got I've I've got this suspicion. I start guidance and the biggest part of the word is dancing and there's something here. Again, I'm hurrying to close. Stay with me. Dance. My my research very quickly, and I've done my homework, leads me to another country. In fact, something that was completely foreign to me. America, they pile in stadiums by the tens of thousands and they scream and holler over a round piece of of hide or or a football or a basketball, but in this particular country, dancing would be as a sport to Americans and and and they pay big big money and they they pack out these the these these arenas and and they're there for several hours to watch a couple dance. I I can't get my head around that. Now, I There There's something in my my boyish nature that that could get excited about somebody hitting a baseball 467 ft. I I can get excited ABOUT THAT, BUT WHY WOULD YOU PAY $500 TO GO WATCH TWO PEOPLE DANCE? WHY? SO, I THOUGHT, "WELL, IT'S And And I I I I immediately began to understand when I I I got to digging in and found out First of all, it's it's tradition, and it's not it's not only tradition, BUT IT'S IT RUNS DEEP in family history and and heritage, and and they dance generationally. This is something that's been going on for generations. Their parents danced, and their parents' parents danced, and it's it's in the family. Somebody say, "It's in the family." So, I I STARTED READING, "WELL, WHY? WHAT WOULD WHAT WOULD INTRIGUE WHY WOULD SOMEONE BE IN be enthralled?" And And these were some of the words that begin to surface. The beauty, the gracefulness, THE SEAMLESSNESS. OH, THEN I GOT EXCITED BECAUSE THEN I STARTED READING WHERE PEOPLE STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE MAGIC OF literally as you watched these two people literally somehow would become one. THEY WERE IN SUCH UNISON. THE UNIFORMITY WAS SO TIGHT AND SEAMLESS. BUT THE REASON THAT THEY WOULD go is it was steeped in heritage and steeped in tradition, but the beauty and the gracefulness of of watching through through a variety of of of speeds and and a variety of of ballots and tempos. He would watch these two people FIND THEIR APPROPRIATE PLACE. HIT EVERY SPOT, MOVE, AND USE the entirety of the floor. Never stumble. Never falter. I'm fixing to preach in here in case you don't know it. Graceful. Seamless. The gracefulness. Some of these people that they would go and and I'm not even going to try to pronounce some of these Russian names. I'm I'm not going to humor you that way this morning. 40 years. Man and a woman have have BEEN DANCING TOGETHER 40 YEARS. THE ART OF OF WORLD-CLASS DANCING. AND AND SO I STARTED READING ABOUT THESE DANCERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP. AND AND ONE of the keys One of the keys to successfully becoming one of these world-class dancers is one of these men that had been dancing with the same woman 50 years. Is he said, "You've got TO PICK A PARTNER AND STAY WITH THE SAME PARTNER." METAPHORICALLY, do I need to to draw the comparisons there? Pick a partner. YOU CAN'T JUMP FROM THAT PERSON'S opinions to that person's ideas. To that person's theologies. To To all of a sudden, WELL, I'M GOING TO LIVE FOR GOD. AND THEN I'M GOING TO TELL YOU, JUST MAKE UP YOUR mind to live for God. And all of a sudden, you know what's going to happen? That chain-smoking perverted uncle of yours is going to turn into a theologian. And all of a sudden, he's going to tell you I mean, he's been messing with little girls his entire life, but all of a sudden he's going to tell you that the church that you found is in a cult. So, YOU JUMP FROM THAT OPINION TO THAT OPINION TO TO THAT HAND to that guidance to that word. NO, NO, YOU GOT TO PICK A PARTNER. YOU GOT TO PICK WHO YOU'RE GOING TO DANCE WITH, AND YOU GOT TO STICK WITH YOUR PARTNER. COME ON, I'M GLAD THAT MANY YEARS AGO COME ON, ANYBODY GOING TO HELP ME RIGHT NOW? I'M GLAD THAT MANY YEARS AGO JESUS AND I STARTED A THING. SO, you pick a partner and you stay with a partner. HE SAID, "THE SECOND thing that must happen." He said, "You have to decide who's going to lead and who's going to follow." You can't dance seamlessly, Brother Gilstrap. You can't DANCE WITH UNIFORMITY. YOU CAN'T BE IN UNISON. THERE'S NO GRACE. THERE'S NO BEAUTY. NOBODY'S GOING TO WATCH THE DANCE YOU NOBODY'S GOING TO WANT TO WATCH THE DANCE THAT YOU'RE dancing if there's not a LEADER AND A FOLLOWER. YOU CAN'T HAVE TWO LEADERS. YOU'RE GOING TO BE STUMBLING OVER ONE ANOTHER'S FEET. I'M preaching to you right now. I said one's got to lead and another's got to follow. So, you got to pick a partner, and then you got to decide who's going to lead and who's going to follow. I'm preaching about guidance right now. That's what I'm preaching about. You say, "Well, I don't know how to let God guide me." THEN YOU SAY, "WELL, HOW?" THIS WAS INTERESTING. HOW DOES HE GUIDE? Anybody know? I pull in the video clips. you can't see it. Stand up, buddy. He's not pushing her to the next place on the floor. He's not dragging her to the next place on the floor. He's not coaxing her. He's not forcing her. I know he's a him, but I'm making a point. There's no aggression involved. If there's forcing or pulling or coaxing or begging or There's no gracefulness in that. Nobody wants to watch that. There's no beauty in that. There's no seamless uniformity in that. That's dysfunctional. But he is He is leading her. He is guiding her. It's subtly. Anybody knows how he guides her? He guides her with his eyes. He moves her with his eyes. And all of a sudden, all the scriptures I've read for all these years about the face of God and the eyes of the Lord make sense to me now. Because a true relationship with God, where God is the leader and you're the follower, is not one of dysfunction, where he's pulling, prying, pushing. You learn to dance. I'm going to tell you there's some people in this church got you fooled, because you look at them and you think, "Oh, they They go through anything. They never face any hardship. They never deal with any battles. Oh, no, NO. DON'T BE FOOLED. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SEEING? YOU'RE seeing the gracefulness of guidance. YOU'RE SEEING SOMEBODY OH, YEAH, THERE'S BEEN SOME SHARP TURNS. OH, YEAH, THERE'S BEEN SOME TWI- COME ON NOW. COME ON NOW. THERE'S BEEN SOME DIPS. THERE'S BEEN SOME TIMES IN WHICH THE DRUMS BEAT LOUDLY AND THE BLAST OF THE TRUMPET THERE'S BEEN CRESCENDOS OF CHAOS IN THEIR LIFE. BUT GOD WAS THEIR GUIDE AND GOD WAS THEIR LEADER AND GOD LED THEM THROUGH THAT. YOU SAY, "MY GOD, THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. MY GOD, THEY'RE SO GRACEFUL. MY GOD, IT'S SO SEAMLESS." YEAH, BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT A GUIDE AND THEY'RE ALLOWING HIM TO LEAD THEM. COME TO keyboard quick. I'm trying to close. Guidance. So, you pick a partner. Living for God is not something you learn to do overnight. You decide to let him lead. Then over the years, as you let him lead, he learns to guide you ever so subtly. Do you know your life and your family and your relationship with God is the only Bible some people will ever read? It's the only Bible. They'll never pick up a Bible. If there's a Bible that leads them into this church, it won't be a King James Version. They're using that. That's collecting dust. That's stowed away somewhere packed in a box. The only Bible that will lead a lot of people in this church is the life and the dance that they watch you live. Listen, listen, listen. Listen. And if it's not graceful, Mom and Dad, it's important you get this. If it's tradition, if it's STEEPED IN FAMILY HERITAGE, HOW IS IT PASSED DOWN TO THE NEXT GENERATION? The girls, they don't wait till they're 16 to start dancing. No. As soon as they're able to stand on their own feet, that dad will set that little child upon top of his feet. And he starts moving with her. This is how you do it, babe. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, don't look at the floor. Watch Daddy. Your relationship with God and the gracefulness in which you let him guide you could set up or set back future generations. I don't want to deal with some of this stuff that we're faced with so dysfunctionally that my kids don't know what it is to really trust God. You're not DANCING GRACEFULLY IF ALL YOUR kids ever hear you say is throwing your hands up in the AIR SAYING, "MY GOD, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS WE CAN TAKE." It's There's no beauty in that. I DON'T DESERVE THIS. WE'VE BEEN SO FAITHFUL. WHY IS GOD PUTTING US THROUGH THIS? YOU'RE NOT TEACHING them to dance. You're teaching them to stumble. Sir, when you selfishly engage yourself in promiscuousness, Mama, when you get involved in extra marital affairs through the internet, and you start doing things your way to fix loneliness, you're not teaching those babies how to dance. No, This is how we trust God. We're going to be faithful to the house of God. We're going to be faithful to the man of God. That's how we do it, baby. We're going to be loyal to one another. We're going to be faithful to each other. We're going to be faithful in our finances. And then what happens is some of us because you're not going to have this you're not going to keep dancing with somebody that you're not in accord and agreements with, and so so there's a fallout and some of you right now again, I don't know if being so specific makes you nervous, but this is just what I felt in prayer. You're stumbling all over life's dance floor. You're making a fool of yourself. You're going to make a fool of yourself. You're making a fool of people who's invested in you. You're just and somehow because you are so determined to do things your own way. You've pushed him off in the shadows. I don't know what you're going through in your marriage. I don't know what you're facing relationally. I don't know what you're facing health-wise. I I don't know I don't know what's going on in the job. Don't I just I just the the word the word that keeps coming to me is dysfunction. Dysfunction. Dysfunction. Don't continue to fumble and falter and stumble around alone. Somewhere in the shadows the omniscient God is saying can I have this dance? You don't have to leave here and go home to that alone. I'm preaching to somebody right now. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE HERE AND FACE THAT ON MONDAY ALONE. THE SPIRIT SAYS LET me have this dance. Let me lead. Let me lead. Let me guide. Keep your eyes on me. See, Simon Peter, you could dance on water as long as you keep your eyes on the one you're dancing with. There's disharmony in your spiritual life. And the reason for the disharmony is cuz God is saying this way and you're trying to go that way. For in him we live and move. IN HIM WE LIVE WE MOVE AND HAVE our being. There's no Wait, wait, wait. There's no way There's no way to know who you are. There's no way to to truly live in your being. The being that God purposed for you specifically, the perfect will of God. You can't have your being unless you move in him. I think I understand what the psalmist meant in THIS PSALM 16 NOW WHEN HE SAID, "I HAVE SET THE LORD ALWAYS BEFORE ME." BECAUSE HE is at my right hand. How do you set God before you? And him be at your right hand. It's called dancing with Jesus. I've come to instruct someone today cease from thine own wisdom. I will instruct thee and teach thee in THE WAY WHICH THOU SHALT GO. I WILL GUIDE THEE WITH MINE EYE. But the spirit's got to have a willing partner. I'm asking someone before we pray to seriously reconsider. I tell you I feel how important I feel about this service. I feel like that part of the struggle you're feeling is not me struggling to preach. You're feeling the struggle of the spirit dealing with someone who already has their mind made up. Shred it. Step back. Re-evaluate. Rethink this. And make up in your mind I am not going along. I'm pleading with someone in the spirit. STOP. STOP. STOP. RECONSIDER. REEVALUATE. Spend some time cogitating. Thinking this over. If it's appropriate, take the hand of somebody next to you. And let's pray. Let's pray right now. Let's pray. Come on, let's pray right now. I don't know who going to be honest first. I'm opening the altar. I don't want everybody to run down here not just yet. I appreciate the sincere folks who always move regardless of what's preached. I'm talking to people right now who specifically feel like that this is a soul saving moment and a soul saving service right now. You know that God tailor-made this moment for you and you feel the spirit trying to check you up. If you want to dance, you're in the middle of something right now, and you want to let God have this dance and move you through this with minimal damage. Get yourself down here right now. Don't hesitate a minute more. You know that God's talked to you. There's 40 more at least. Come on. Young person, you better perk up and hear the preacher today. Come on, visitor. Come on, saint of God. Come on. Come on, if you're in the middle of something right now, and you just you you just say Brother Marks, I want to make sure I just want to make sure I I want to be I I want it to be graceful. I want to make sure God's doing the leading. I want to make sure I'm doing the following. Come on, get up. Come on. Come on, move right now in obedience to the word of the Lord and response. Come on. You got to get this word in your spirit. Come on, right now. They're coming. Come on, they're coming. I need this church to get ready to help me pray for folks. You say Brother Marks, I'm in the middle of a situation right now. I'm in the middle of a dilemma right now. You need to be up and moving already. Lead me, Lord, and I will follow. They're coming. Now, I need this church to help me. We don't have 10 weeks to go through altar work and seminars. I need this church to connect. I need you to help me. I need you to help me. There's folks down here. You need to help me. I can't get to everybody. I'm going to pray and minister to folks. They're fixing to sing now. This is the most important part of this service. We got to have a move of the Holy Ghost right now. Come on. Sing, sis. Come Come on. The Holy Ghost is reaching for some folks. I need direction. I need guidance. I need guidance. Yes. GUIDANCE. GUIDANCE. Come on. Would you pray with somebody? You have called me. And I will answer. Lead me, Lord, I Lord, I Guidance, guidance, guidance, guidance. You have called me. I will answer. Lead me, Lord, Come on, reach, reach, reach, reach, reach. Lead me, Lord, I Lord, I will go. You have called me. I will answer. Lead me, Lord, Lead me, Lord, I Lord, I will follow. Lead me, Lord, I You have called me. I will answer. Come on that Don't stop. Come on. Keep praying. Keep praying. Keep praying. Keep praying.