In this sermon, the speaker addresses the issue of Christians losing their moral compass and the need for God's people to make a difference in society. He emphasizes the importance of living out the truth, speaking the truth, and repenting of compromised messages. The speaker quotes C.T. Studd and W.E. Sanxter to highlight the urgency of using our lives to serve Christ and make a lasting impact. He encourages believers to embrace their role as God's prophetic people, fulfilling the Great Commission, and making disciples. The sermon emphasizes the need for Christians to live purposefully and make their lives count for Christ.

Good to see everybody. Great to be here with you. I've got my phone here, not because I'm going to be checking scores or looking for emails, but just to read a couple of quotes. I want to say I was really offended by all the manipulation and high pressure in that offering. That was... Just wanted to say that up front for those that are also offended, they're like, wow, they're just trying to drag every dollar out of us, and that was high pressure. I apologize for that. Seriously, it is wonderful to be here, and thanks to the Gibsons for leading us into the presence of the Lord tonight. It's nice to see a bunch of our grads that are out here as well in Kansas City, and for those that I haven't met before, it's nice to see. I greeted a brother behind me actually by slapping him in the face during worship. It turns out we knew you from the 80s, so it was kind of a New York greeting there. It's always a joy to be with the Raven Hills, with David and Nancy, and the great blessing they've been for so many years. If you don't have any of David's books, or if you only have some of them, afterwards go downstairs on the way out, you'll be able to get some of his books. A book that I wrote an endorsement for, Surviving the Anointing. My son-in-law Ryan said that everyone going into ministry should read that book. He's got some wonderful books. You know the thing I like about David is he doesn't tell you what you want to hear, he tells you what you need to hear. And he does it nicely, too. I don't know why everybody likes him, they don't all like me. No, actually not everyone likes him, which is a good sign. So if you don't have his materials, get them in. Great to have Sam here from the House of Prayer. When I spoke years back in Kansas City, we had a special Jewish conference, I guess it was in the early 90s, and it was a little bit different then. I remember Mike Bickle picked me up at the airport and we headed out to where we were going, and we were so blessed to hear about there was prayer like three hours a day, and we were amazed at the church that was doing that. So things have grown tremendously, and it's wonderful to see. How many of you have been to my website? Raise your hands if you've been to my website. Okay, a good number of you. If you haven't been there, just jot it down. It's askdrbrown.org One thing I find really interesting is we're putting a lot of time into radio ministry that the Lord's really called us to. I do two hours of live talk radio five days a week that I've done different meet and greet in different places. If I was ministering, we'd have some time set aside just in a small gathering to meet listeners and to interact with them and stuff. And I find it really interesting, you just assume everybody's online all the time now, everybody's wired and connected, but plenty of people listen on radio that don't get online. And you know how I know it, because they're surprised to see what I look like when I get there. Oh, we pictured you! I said, you know, actually you don't have to guess, you can see, oh, we don't get online. So anyway, for those online, askdrbrown.org is the website, and you'll find literally hundreds of hours, actually thousands now, of free materials. All of our radio programs, The Line of Fire, are archived. You can subscribe for free by podcast. We've got hundreds of hours of messages, many from the Browns Revival Days, many from a few weeks ago. We've got Jewish outreach material, some debates with rabbis, debates with gay activists, agnostics, you can watch those all free online. A lot of articles that you can read. And we're always writing new things and sending out new messages, so if you're not on my email list, just make sure you sign up. Right on the homepage, askdrbrown.org, it'll take you a moment to do it. This way every time we post a new article online, every time there's a new audio message or something significant is happening, we'll let you know. And those that are on Facebook, my Facebook page is Ask Dr. Brown, Ask DR Brown. We often put up questions every day before the radio show. Things that I'll be talking about often generate lively discussion. A lot of important links there. So if you're online, might as well use the time constructively. Amen? And those of you that want to stand with us on a monthly basis and become torchbearers and help us spread the fire, you can find out how to do that at the website. A lot of the things that we do, it's kind of interesting as we've stepped into some situations that have stretched us more than we've ever been stretched, to be on radio on a regular basis nationally and to do other things like that and then to help support our missionaries and others around the world. Everything stretches you out in faith, and most of it gets done by just a lot of people standing together. I was talking to someone who leads a major ministry that does a lot of worldwide work and is on the cutting edge of a whole bunch of things, and their organization brings in tens of millions of dollars a year and it goes right back out into what they're doing. In fact, I was impressed when I visited just everybody kind of working in little cubbies and didn't have the big fancy offices. But when I asked him where the money comes from, he said, most all of it, 90% is just from folks sowing in regular gifts, not from wealthy people. I was speaking in Chicago and was talking to someone from Moody Bible Institute, and I asked him, I said, is it true that aside from room and board, students all study here for free, the tuition is free at the school? He said, yeah. And I said, how do you do it? He said, widows and people just sending in monthly gifts. And when D.L. Moody started the school, he said they didn't want to be dependent on a grant or something like that, that you'd be beholden to other people or organizations. So it's just amazing what happens when everybody does their part and throws themselves in. So in the local assembly, whether you're a mega church or a house church or standing with ministries, it's all the same, that everybody works together, throws themselves in together and makes a difference. So go to the website, take advantage of all the free material. Those that feel prompted to become torchbearers and support us on a monthly basis, you can do that. And I've got some of my books and materials downstairs as well. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your grace and goodness to us. I thank You for the privilege of being here with Your people. Lord, we haven't come in here thinking that we're going to change everything in a few days, Lord, but there are things You've laid on our hearts that we believe are important for believers here and for the nation. So as we just sang in worship, we ask You now in prayer that You would give us ears to hear, that our hearts would be open, and that You would touch us so we can go and touch our world. In Jesus' name, Amen. Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 What does it mean to be a prophetic people in the earth? What does it mean to be a prophetic people in the earth? Every so often in our charismatic, quote, spirit-filled circles we have different trends, different themes that become the end thing. And for a while, everything was prophetic, and then it morphed from there into everything being apostolic. Nothing really changes, we just change the titles. And for a while with everything being prophetic, you had prophetic worship, the same worship we had before, but now we called it prophetic worship. And then dance, we had prophetic dance, again, similar to what we had before, except we called it prophetic dance. And I'm not saying that God was not moving or doing different things, or that there were not certain aspects of the Spirit that were being expressed, but it always struck me as odd that with all the talk about being prophetic and even getting revelations and getting words, that in terms of the core of being prophetic, hearing God's voice and declaring it to the world, that's the main thing we were not doing. God wants us to be His voice to the world and to society, both in word and in deed. And with the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh, that means that all of God's people are called to be prophetic people. And when Moses prayed in Numbers 11, when the Spirit was being taken from him, and just like you take a candle that can light other candles, being imparted to the seventy elders, he expressed the desire that all God's people would be prophets, and that His Spirit would be upon each of them. That is what is realized in the New Covenant, and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that all of us can be a prophetic people. What does it mean? Matthew 5, seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain. When He sat down, His disciples came to Him, and He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed, meaning truly happy, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now what He's been saying so far turns things upside down. You'd expect the blessing to be pronounced on the powerful, and the lofty, and the mighty. Not on the poor in spirit. Not on those who mourn. Not on the meek. He's turning things upside down. And then, in this pronouncement of blessedness, of true blessedness in God, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. This is in His very foundational teaching to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. And there are a bunch of things that are striking. Number one, that He's pronouncing blessedness, true happiness on those who are persecuted. And this is right from the outset. There will be opposition to the Jesus movement. There will be opposition to those who stand for righteousness. And the persecution is because of righteousness. And then He says in verse 11, blessed are you when others revile you, and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. This is what's going to happen. A few chapters later, He said the student is not above his teacher. The servant is not above his master. If they call the master of the house Beelzebub, they call Jesus Satan himself. What are they going to say about the servants of the household? He said in John 15, if the world hates you, remember it hated me first. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3 that all those who live godly lives in Messiah Jesus will be persecuted. Why? Because we're going against the grain. Because we're swimming against the tide. Because we're standing for righteousness and living for righteousness and speaking righteousness because we are bright lights shining in dark places, and the world hates that. The Jesus that the world accepts is not the Jesus of the Scriptures. The Jesus that the world loves is a Jesus of its own creation. The Jesus of the Scriptures was crucified and hated, revered by many, and yet hated, rejected, crucified, and Jesus said if that's what happened to me, the master of the household, what's going to happen to you, the servants of the household? If we follow Him, we will be reviled. We will be misunderstood. We will be mocked. If it's for our foolishness or our poor behavior, that's a terrible shame. 1 Peter 4, if you suffer, don't let it be for being a busybody. Don't let it be for your own sin. There's no glory in suffering for our foolishness. There's no glory in suffering for our self-righteous behavior. There's no glory in suffering for our scandals, but there is glory in suffering for righteousness and being identified with Jesus. And in Acts 5, the 41st verse, it tells us that the apostles had been flogged for the name of Jesus. These Jewish men were flogged, were whipped by the Jewish leadership. They were forbidden, do not speak in His name anymore. And it says in Acts 5.41, they left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they were counted worthy of suffering disgrace, suffering reproach for the name. Wow! We're being associated with Jesus. We just suffered because we're being associated with Him. We're treated the way He was being treated. And they rejoiced. And then of course, verse 42, day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and preaching that Jesus was the Messiah. Don't speak in His name anymore. And they go out and do it. Jesus says, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and other all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Why were the prophets persecuted? Because the prophets exposed sin. Because the prophets called even kings and leaders to repent. Because the prophets would not say all was well when nothing was well. In fact, in Jeremiah 6.14 and it's repeated in Jeremiah 8.11, the sin of the false prophets was to say, shalom, shalom, peace, peace, all is well, all is well, when there was no peace, when there was no shalom. And He says they superficially treated the fracture of My poor people saying all is well, all is well, when nothing is well. In the book of Lamentations after Jerusalem is destroyed and there's mourning and lamentation, the prophet says in the second chapter that the sin of the false prophets was that they received misleading, false visions and revelations and they didn't expose sin so as to ward off captivity. They brought a message that the people wanted to hear and because of that they brought destruction. There's an amazing account in 1 Kings 22 chapter about this prophet named Micaiah that the king of Israel Jehoshaphat unwisely decides he's going to work together with an apostate Israelite king and all the prophets are saying go, go, you'll win in battle. Go, go, you'll win in battle. King, do it. You'll win in battle. And Jehoshaphat, godly king says is there no prophet of the Lord here? He felt a little uncomfortable because they're all speaking good words to a bad king. King said there's one prophet named Micaiah but I hate him because he never says a good thing to me. They said well bring him. Jehoshaphat says don't say that, bring him along. So they go and get him and all the prophets are saying the same thing. They're all saying go fight and you're going to win. Say the same thing. When Micaiah gets there, king says okay, what's the word of the Lord? He says go fight, you're going to win. He says no, tell me the truth. He knew getting a positive word from this prophet couldn't be the truth. And then he gives this word of disaster and judgment that's going to come and of course it happens. It's not that the prophets were mean-spirited and nasty it's that they spoke the truth. They did it with broken hearts they did it with pain, they did it with much intercession before the Lord but the fact is they revealed sin, they exposed corruption they exposed the sin of the religious establishment and because of that they were persecuted, because of that they were often killed. Jesus tells us that we're going to be treated the way the prophets before us were treated. Then he says, you are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You don't put salt on the table because it looks pretty. Salt has a function. It adds flavor but in the ancient world it was a preservative. You didn't have refrigeration and salt was used as a preservative. It's often been said that you could say that the salt is the moral conscience. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. This is not a separate topic that's unrelated to the previous verses. This continues on the previous verses. This is part of our being righteousness in this world and pursuing righteousness in this world and standing for righteousness and being voices of righteousness and acting and living as the prophets did before us. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. In this context the light is speaking of good deeds, acts of mercy and kindness, showing forth God's character and God's goodness. People see our good deeds and they praise our Father in heaven. But that's not all that light means. In Ephesians 5 Paul talks about the light and he says light exposes darkness. Light makes things visible. People don't like it when you turn the light on and expose what's really happening. Jesus says in a different context in Matthew 6, if the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? I've said it over and again but it bears repeating. The greatest problem in America today is not so much the presence of darkness, it's the absence of light. And it's the light that is shining is often defective and darkened. It does not surprise me when sinners sin. It does not surprise me when Hollywood puts out another godless movie. It does not surprise me when wicked people do wicked things. What surprises me is when God's people do wicked things. When God's people lose their moral bearing. When God's people become compromised with the world. And the thing that has become more distressing in recent years is not just that we preach a watered down, spineless gospel in so much of the church of America as has been the case for a full generation now and we're seeing the tragic fruit of it. What concerns me even more than that is that we preach a gospel now that is not only in compromise with sin but at times even celebrates it. And that there's even a perverse doctrine in the body today that liberty means liberty to sin as opposed to liberty from sin. And that you show your spirituality by your carnality. What a perversion. And then the church takes on the mentality of the world and if you stand for righteousness, if you stand for godliness, if you stand for holiness, if you stand for biblical values, if you stand for biblical family, and the world brands you hate-filled, intolerant, and bigoted, so much of the church embraces that same mentality now. And doesn't understand moral righteousness. And as we have preached a message that is all but devoid of the fear of the Lord, as we have so much wanted people to understand God's love and goodness, which is foundational and essential. And obviously to the extent people understand the love of the Father, their lives will be transformed. But it is possible to overemphasize something by preaching one thing and leaving out something else. And we have all but lost consciousness in the body of God as a moral judge. And because of that, of the fear of the Lord and as we have the fear of the Lord and an understanding of God as a moral judge, it does not make us judgmental, it gives us a message of clarity. We are so concerned if we speak the truth, people will call us judgmental, that we've forgotten that God being a righteous judge is a good thing. And that when Jesus says, don't judge, He means don't make false judgment, don't make hypocritical judgment, don't make superficial judgment, don't condemn. But He tells us in John 7.24, don't judge by outward appearance, but make righteous judgment. If we're going to be a prophetic people, we have to recognize there's such a thing as good and such a thing as evil. And we have to be willing to speak the truth and let the world call us what it calls us. Let the world call us hateful or bigoted or intolerant. Let the world brand us however it wants to brand us. We have fallen under the deception that if somehow, if we can seem nice to the world, rational, enlightened, that the world will embrace our message. First problem with that is by the time we're done delivering the message, it doesn't save anymore. It doesn't help anymore. It becomes so relevant that we're completely irrelevant. It's like a doctor who discovers this incredible cure for cancer, guaranteed 100% cure for cancer. And sits down with other doctors and marketing people and says, here it is. But it's this massive pill. It has to be taken in pill form. It's a massive pill. It's almost impossible to swallow. And after you swallow it, you've got a bad taste in your mouth for a full week. It's terrible. And it costs a million dollars per pill. But it's 100% guaranteed cure for cancer in 100% of all cases. The other doctors and marketing agents say this is the most amazing medical discovery in history. The only problem is it's not viable. It's not workable. We can't market it properly. Here's what you need to do. You need to get it smaller. Kind of like a nice gel cap. And either no taste or a sweet taste. And then get it down to $1,000 a pill and we'll sell a billion of these. After a year of intensive research and work, he gets it done. Brings it back and says, okay, we've got it in a small gel cap. Wonderful. And it actually has a sweet taste. Terrific. And in fact, it's only $100 a pill. Marvelous. There's only one problem. It doesn't cure cancer anymore. It's like our gospel message. By the time we make it palatable and acceptable to the world, it doesn't save anymore. Trust me, if it doesn't offend, it doesn't save. Must be the Kansas City inspiration. I've never said that sentence before. I didn't say offensive in terms of obnoxious, in terms of self-righteous, in terms of condemning, in terms of angry, in terms of mean-spirited. I mean truthful. Why do we think if the world hated Jesus, the world is going to like us? Are we going to be more Christ-like than Christ? More compassionate? More loving? More pure? More kind? Why did the world hate Him? Not because He was a jerk. Not because He was out of control. Not because He was self-righteous. But because He was perfect light. Because He spoke the truth without compromise. Because He was the only way. The first problem with our mindset, if we can just somehow make ourselves likable to the world, that they'll receive our message, first problem is that the message will no longer save them or help them. If we become like the world to win the world, what are we winning the world to? And the second thing is, if we make our message just like the world's message, what do they need us for? They already have all the self-help stuff they need. Pop psychology or whatever the in-thing is. But I'll tell you something even more. Ultimately, they're just going to completely ignore us and mock us. By us compromising what we do and who we are so as to be acceptable in the eyes of a sinning, lost world and a sinning, lost religious establishment, we actually degrade ourselves and our message. The thing I find fascinating is those who stand for all other kinds of values are completely unashamed about it. Are out in the open, up front, parading down our streets with whatever the message is, parading through the media, unashamed of who they are and what they bring, and that's how they do it. And we think somehow that we'll bring about change by just being like everybody around us. Can I ask you a question? We've all seen signs, billboards, ads for the latest fitness club that just opens up. Do they have a picture of some 700 pound man collapsing off the treadmill with emergency vehicles on the scene to help resuscitate him? Or do they have some people that are chiseled out of steel working out there? If you work out, you can look like this. I've never been a part of an Alcoholics Anonymous group or something like this or some 12-step program. But I imagine if you're a spokesman for Alcoholics Anonymous, you don't get up and say, some blurted out drunken speech. In other words, hey, you have to see me as hurting and vulnerable. No, you have someone get up there and say, I haven't had a drink in 35 years. I was a hopeless alcoholic, but I haven't had a drink thanks to AA or whatever the program is. And yet we somehow think to reach the world, we have to say, you sin, we sin too. You're messed up, we're messed up too. What kind of mentality is that? We're just like you. I mean, it so degrades the Gospel and degrades the power of the blood of Jesus. It degrades the very meaning of His death and resurrection that He comes to save us from our sins, not in our sins. And if I can just go on a tangent for a moment, this whole message is going to be one extended tangent on the same theme. There are others who are prominent in church leadership today who practice what I call the celebration of ambiguity. I don't know. How can anyone know? Whatever the subject is, I'm not going to be dogmatic. How can we know? And everyone applauds it. Well, then why are you leading, buddy, if you don't know? If you're not sure and certain and convicted, oh, we don't know everything. But throughout the Word, throughout the New Testament, this is written so that you will know that you know you have eternal life. So you know this. Give careful attention to the doctrine. Lay these foundations. What's this celebration about being unsure? I mean, so much of the young generation loves that. We're not dogmatic. Man, our leader doesn't know and we don't know. And in those same circles, there's this bizarre notion that what matters is not the destination, but the journey. Which is idiotic. I would rather have a terrible journey to heaven than a wonderful journey to hell. And everything is a conversation. We continue to have a conversation. It's one thing to dialogue and interact and work with people and seek to understand them and share your life with them and build relationships with them. But we have a message. And it is a clear and it is a definite and it is a narrow message. And we don't have to make any apology for it. Or try to explain to the world in such a way that they'll accept what we have to say that our narrow message is really broad-minded. Jesus laid certain foundations. And we see these carried out by God's people through the centuries. And that's where change comes. John Wesley said, give me 100 men who fear nothing but God and hate nothing but sin. To paraphrase, I'll shake the world. If we could simply understand that as much as we want to walk in love, as much as we want to walk in gentleness, as much as we want to be compassionate to people who differ with us, as much as our ethic is to bless those who persecute us, as much as our ethic is to pray for those who persecute us and love our enemies and overcome evil with good, that's how we live. We understand that we are in a hostile world. We understand that there is a battle between light and darkness. We understand we must stand up and speak out and do what is right. Someone called into my radio program, I guess it was just yesterday, and he was asking me about different end-time theologies and different views about the Second Coming and will the world get better before Jesus comes or will the world get worse before Jesus comes? Thanks. And those are fair questions to ask. Perfectly fair questions to ask. But the first thing is we don't know exactly when He's coming. I know some of you have the details and the date and you're waiting to release it. But I'll tell you when, because I'm one of the other two witnesses in Revelation. So I'll tell you when we can release that information. But the fact is we do not know exactly when He's coming. When I got saved in 1971, He was coming any minute. And the generation before that knew He was coming any minute. And He still hasn't come. Now my grandkids are growing up. Our oldest granddaughter is five years younger than I was when I got saved. We don't know exactly when He's coming, so we cannot come up with a theology of what happens in the last generation with certainty, because the only generation that knows they're the last generation, they happen to be there when Jesus returns, at which point then you know. But the fact is this. As Josh Peters, the head of our missions department said at a recent conference, I don't know if it's the last generation, but it's our last generation. What matters is we have one opportunity here in this world to make a difference. And if we will simply say here we are living in this world, God's prophetic people, called to make a difference, called to be His voice, called to fulfill the Great Commission, called to be disciples and make disciples. And Lord, what can You do through me here in my town, in my family, in the city, around the world? How can I be used? How can I make a difference? Lord, I want this one life to count. When I stand before You, I want this life to count. As David's dear dad Leonard Ravenhill often said, maybe his most famous saying, the question, are the things you're living for worth Christ dying for? As C.T. Studd asked many years ago or said many years ago, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Or in the words of the Methodist preacher W.E. Sangster, whose words I read in a Leonard Ravenhill book many years ago, how shall I feel at the judgment if multitudes of missed opportunities pass before me in full review, and all my excuses prove to be disguises of my cowardice and pride? The question is, here we are Lord, Your people in this world, living here now in 21st century America. What's our role? How can You use us? What do You want us to do? It's not about saving our lives. It's not about being popular. It's about being obedient. I've been to India now 18 times, working with precious brothers and sisters there. Two years ago, literally washed the feet of a martyr's widow. What made it especially moving was that I had laid hands on her husband when he graduated from the ministry school there. Together with the leader of the school, laid hands on him and sent him out to preach. And he was martyred by Hindus. Here we were washing her feet. Just completely overwhelmed sobbing at her feet. I thought, Lord, I'm complicit in her husband's death. The least I could do is wash her feet. There was heavy persecution. One brother almost beaten to death. Others had been killed. There was a widow there. Just three months after her husband had been killed, in front of her eyes, radical communists beat him and then chopped his head off with an axe. She was there. Her daughter was there. The daughter got up 17 years old to testify. They translated for me. She said, I'm not here for your sympathy or for your money. She said, all my life I've wanted to live with a sense of purpose. She said, now that my father was killed doing God's work, I have a sense of purpose. She said, I want to finish my education. I want to stay in the village here and help the people in my village. In other words, the people who killed my father. I spoke a word the first day. And I went through the Scriptures about persecution for righteousness. And after the meeting, I was told that the brothers were tremendously encouraged. They were going back to dangerous areas where they knew their lives might be threatened or even taken. And afterwards they were tremendously encouraged. And I asked one of the workers there, why were they encouraged? He said, because they're being treated like the prophets. That's what encouraged them. We're in the line of the prophets. At the water baptism. We do water baptisms every year. We've done them in all kinds of interesting settings. The first year we went down into this pool, well, whatever it was, pond. We had to wait for the water buffalo to come out. They were being washed. We had to wait for them to come out. And then we went down there. We've had water baptisms in crazy places. There was called the place of a million gods. One of the most bizarre Hindu holy places I've ever seen in my life. All the so-called holy men bathing in the water. We went down in there in the mud and did water baptisms. We did them right at the camp where we are. The headquarters in their little baptismal pool. And when they do the water baptisms, when they do the water baptisms, they ask the people, are you willing to follow Jesus by life or by death to your last drop of breath? That's water baptism. That's not graduation from school of ministry. If you go to my Facebook page, the Ask Dr. Brown page, I posted a picture there the other day to illustrate something I was talking about on the radio. What it means to be a disciple. And I posted a picture there. It probably got shared more quickly online than anything I could remember posting. Sorry I don't have it to show you now. But it's a friend of a friend of mine doing a water baptism in Pakistan. And you see the man he's baptizing. He's just got slacks on and a t-shirt. But you see he has no arms. Just little stumps. He was a Muslim. When he got saved, Muslims chopped both his arms off. After which he was baptized. After which he made his public profession of faith. And I said, you want to know what a disciple looks like? That's a disciple. Sometimes we need to come back to simple reality. And say, okay, I don't know when Jesus is returning. I don't know all the ins and outs of what's going to happen. Sure, we pay attention. Sure, we pray about these things. Sure, there are certain things Scripture tells us so at the right moment we'll be ready. But the question is not well, what's going to happen or how's it going to go? The question is, here's the assignment. Go for it. Make a difference. Live this thing out. If they hate us, they hate us. But we're going to speak the truth in love. I wonder how much of our so-called wisdom is really just being afraid of people's opinions. I wonder how much of our so-called sensitivity is just we don't want to be rejected. I have watched now with pain and with my eyes being further opened as God spoke to me some years back to take a stand for righteousness in a controversial area of society. I want to make perfectly clear that we each have our jobs and roles. And that if everyone was called to do what I'm called to do, the world would be in trouble and the church would be in trouble. That I'm one voice with one assignment and you're one voice with one assignment and some are more public and some are more private. And God always has His remnant. God always has His 7,000 that haven't bowed the knee to Baal. And the moment we think we're the last one, we're the one we're already deceived. But it's sad to see compromise and cowardice lived out in front of your eyes. And what happens is when you tackle some of the hot button issues, you find out how many there are that are fleeing from battle. When I was first saved, I heard an illustration about the difference between just belief, mental assent, and belief meaning real trust. There was a story told about a guy, a daredevil guy, who strung a tightrope across Niagara Falls from the states to the Canadian side. And there was a crowd of people there and he had a wheelbarrow. He was going to push the wheelbarrow across. And he said, how many of you believe I can push this wheelbarrow all the way across this tightrope and walk back safely? How many of you believe it? A couple of hands. Seems certain he's not going to make it. Well, slowly but sure, he gets out there, goes all the way across, turns around, comes all the way back, he did it. And he said, how many of you believe I can do it again? They're all waving their hands. He goes, how many? Trust me. They wave their hands. He goes, then get in the wheelbarrow. That's the Jesus calling. Get in the wheelbarrow. Come follow me. Let's go change the world together. People tell me, Mike, you're wrong about this idea that God's people are going to make a difference in society. You're wrong. Our job is just to preach the Gospel and make disciples. I have a simple question. How do disciples live? Once we get saved, how do we live? Once we get saved, what do our families look like? Once we get saved, what's our role in the business place? Once we get saved, what are we doing in the midst of society? I want to just share a couple of quotes with you to illustrate what I'm saying in a specific way. This is not the main thrust of the message. The main thrust is really simple for us to be God's prophetic people and to wake up and to live out the truth and speak the truth and repent of our compromised, spineless message. But I want to share a few things with you. Listen to this quote. What used to be considered morally reprehensible is now recommended as a positive value. What was once called demoralization is now styled moral progress and a new freedom. You say, wow, that sounds relevant. It was written in 1956. The author was a Russian sociologist who taught at Harvard University. Pyotr Surikin. And you want to know one of the things that he bemoaned in his book, The American Sex Revolution? Are you ready for this? He was grieved that this was happening in 1956. Divorce, desertion, and scandal have ceased to be punished by public ostracism. Many a divorced professor is teaching in our colleges. Oh, hang on. Did you get that? Professor Surikin at Harvard University was grieved that there were professors at our universities who were divorced. This is not to condemn victims of divorce here as you're struggling to get your life put back together. This is talking about as divorce starts to happen in society we're not compatible or we're not getting along anymore or I'd rather marry somebody else or whatever the causes are. The plague of no-fault divorce that we have today is leap years, light years beyond this. Divorce, desertion, and scandal have ceased to be punished by public ostracism. Many a divorced professor is teaching in our colleges. Some of them are even regarded as authorities in the fields of marriage, sexual adjustment, and family. Wow. When I was doing research for my book, A Queer Thing Happened to America I began to see more and more of what was happening in our society and more and more of what was happening on college campuses. As much as I was studying these things day after day, it was eye-opening and terribly painful. Two things happened. My heart for the homosexual community began to break. Feeling God's love and pain for them in a deeper way than I ever imagined. And at the same time, my outrage over the effects of gay activism on society began to grow. So here, Sorokin in 1956 is upset that there are divorced professors at our colleges. How about this? C. Jacob Hale teaches philosophy at California State University, Northridge, where he transitioned and received tenure 1995-1996. In other words, C. Jacob Hale is a woman who had sex change surgery to, quote, become a man and is now a tenured professor there. Hang on. Active in the trans community, meaning transgender community, Hale also enjoys doing drag as Miss Angelica and hanging with genderqueer sex radical friends. Hang on. This is a woman who had sex change surgery to become a man who is now a tenured professor who enjoys dressing up as a drag queen. And doing public performances. Listen to this quote. Tom Skinner. Late evangelist Tom Skinner. 1970. I'm convinced America is at her crisis hour. Revolution is inevitable. It's just a matter of which faction is going to prove strongest and will win out in the end. He said, I believe most Americans are so apathetic that they will just sit back and go to whoever wins the struggle. 1970. You may have gone into Toys R Us the other day to get something for your kids and maybe you spotted Archie's comic book there. There on the front cover is a celebration of two men getting married at Toys R Us and Archie's comic book. Maybe last year as you're checking out of the grocery store, there's a touching picture of Elton John and his partner David Furnish and their baby. That's sweet. I shouldn't bother you with these things because we're spiritual. We don't think about social issues and families and kids and life. We're just spiritual. Forgive my sarcasm, but I'm a New York Jew. It just flows. How about this? Francis Schaeffer. 1984. Ours is a post-Christian world in which Christianity not only in the number of Christians but in cultural emphasis and cultural result is no longer the consensus or ethos of our society. 84. We're still waking up to these things that people are writing 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. Carl F. Henry. Another great evangelical leader. 1985. Speaking for a national morality movement, an evangelical leader recently remarked, and Henry quotes him, the United States is turned away from God. It mocks God. It worships a 20th century ball incarnated in sensuality, material goods, and immorality of every kind. Henry says, yet only a few years ago we were told that a new evangelical awakening had dawned in America. This very decade, it was said, is the decade of the evangelical. I've got a couple more quotes. Let those sink in for a moment. We lived in Pensacola, Florida for seven years. In the midst of the Browns Revival and then a couple years after that. And every year, around Memorial Day, there was a big event in the city, massive gay pride event. God never spoke to me, burdened me about things. In all the years of preaching about sexual purity, it was always about heterosexual issues and issues affecting our own families and things that I would relate to dealing with, men would relate to dealing with from that perspective. We moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, 2003, our school, some of our church members, our missions organization, we relocate, a couple hundred people relocate. In 2004, some of my friends were invited to attend a local gay pride event in the city. Right in the heart of the city. And to their shock, they come back and share with me, I was overseas, just about lewd things happening in public, heterosexual, homosexual, equally offensive. And I just get this burden, I didn't even want to be in Charlotte initially, I wanted to be back in the New York area, but we were clearly called to be there. And I just start to get this burden, not in our city. God starts to speak to me about these things. And then I read a book about homosexual activism being the principal threat to religious freedom in America today by two Christian attorneys. And the human rights campaign, the world's largest gay activist organization, annual budget of about $45 million. The keynote speaker at their fundraising dinner in D.C. the last two years has been none other than our president, Mr. Barack Obama. They come into our city for their annual fundraising event, and they are champions of the city. Welcomed by the biggest companies, Bank of America, and Wachovia. Our own power company, Duke Power, they light up the building in lavender at gay pride events to celebrate this in the city. Welcome in the human rights campaign. And God starts to burden me. And through 2004 it grows and intensifies. Early 2005, a bunch of us drive up from North Carolina, from Charlotte to be with Lou at a Roe v. Wade event. Pray together and then to put life tape on our mouths and march. It happened to be a freezing cold day. March with the life tape on our mouths about two miles to the Supreme Court. And then to stand there, hundreds and hundreds of people in silent prayer. And while I'm standing there, just meditating and praying, a lot of the burden that had been growing in 2004 comes together in two short phrases. Reach out and resist. Reach out and resist. Reach out to the people with compassion, meaning the homosexual community with compassion. Resist the agenda with courage. And I knew the moment you raise your voice against this, all hell breaks loose. You have to realize that there are major talk show guys on radio or TV and you don't hear them address it because it's too costly to address. Because the opposition is too intense. Because you get boycotted. Because you get blasted. And what became clear to me and I'm saying this to illustrate a point. What became clear to me was that those who came out of the closet a little over 40 years ago in their mind fighting for their rights, fighting for equality, fighting for freedom. Those that came out of the closet want to put us in the closet. I don't know if you're aware of how far things have gone. The challenge is that as things unfold that we've been telling people for years are going to happen and people say they're never going to happen, they're never going to happen. By the time they happen we become so desensitized we think well what's the big deal? Do you know that when my book came out almost a year ago we worked with different ministries in different states, different organizations and said listen as part of a book speaking tour I'd like you to set up debates or lectures on college campuses. Anything I mention in my book, any topic, as long as the person is qualified so as to be fair to the other side. I'd like to have a public debate dialogue. I will be respectful and gracious. And city after city we can't find anyone willing to do it. We can't find anyone willing to sponsor it. We had in a couple of states organizers tell us, Christian ministries tell us, campus groups tell us that other Christian groups on campus said if you try to bring this on our campus we will work against you to shut it down. And by the way Lou had similar experiences in New England where after he was there when I talked to one of the organizers Christian groups said if you try to bring him back we will shut this down. Christian groups. Finally a real go-getter group in Orlando, Florida went from campus to campus, group to group. No campus would host it. This is Florida. No campus would host it. No Christian group would work with them. Christian groups told them we will work against you if you try to bring this to our campus. And I've been at this 40 years serving the Lord and I've had scores of public debates and always exalt Jesus and do it graciously. Finally, they find a Filipino professor, a Christian professor at the University of Central Florida, a campus of 60,000 and she is willing to book a room in her name at a public facility because no group would sponsor it. No Christian group, no secular group, no gay activist group, no Republican group, no Democrat group. Nobody. She was threatened with losing her job for booking the room. One professor had gone around challenging I'll take on anybody so he said he would do it. Professor of law and philosophy. I said to him you pick the subject. He said same-sex marriage, should it be legal? That's a fair subject. That's something that's being debated nationally, isn't it? Same-sex marriage, should it be legal? And in Florida the amendments passed that marriage is a union of a man and a woman so it's official. There's an outrage on the campus. Gay activists try to get it shut down. Department of Inclusion and Diversity tries to get it shut down. I had someone tell me in Charlotte we will not work with you because we are inclusive. University vice presidents get involved. At least five university vice presidents I was told got involved in the discussion whether to let the debate go forward or not. The day before the debate, conference call, I was not in on it, 11 different people involved. They finally concluded it would be worse publicity to cancel than to have it. They had the chief of police of the campus an actual policeman, not just some hired security group, an actual policeman on campus. He was in on the conference call. They only allowed us to go on with the debate if we hired four armed policemen to be there. I don't know if you realize how far things have gone. One Christian attorney in England had a successful practice but he left it and started a Christian legal organization when he saw the report about a street preacher who had a banner. He was preaching and part of his message was that homosexual practice was sin. He was attacked by a crowd and when the police came they arrested him. Did you know in England just about a year ago there was a Christian couple they had provided foster care and adopted numbers of kids, part of their calling. Gay activists thought, you know, we have a problem with this. If they have a kid in their home, they cannot celebrate and affirm homosexuality in that home. And in their words the child might get infected, that's the word they use, infected with Christianity. So they took him to court and it went to the highest court in England and the courts ruled, you cannot adopt children anymore. Oh, there's a law on its way through in Canada that will mandate homeschoolers they've already told the private schools and the Catholic schools what they have to do and every Catholic school you have to have a gay straight association in it. You can't object, you can't not do it. They've got a law on its way through that would mandate pro-homosexual doctrine taught by homeschooling parents to their kids. It is law in California SB 48 passed, Senate Bill 48 passed, it's law in California now that all classes K-12 all schools, all districts, does not matter if you want to opt out, you cannot opt out, teachers cannot opt out. Mandatory celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender history in all classes. Mandatory. Celebration. So-and-so was a famous cross-dresser, we're going to celebrate. What else is the content going to be? Shall I tell you about people fired from their jobs? How many of you know who Crystal Dixon is? How many of you know who Rosa Parks is? I know the Rosa Parks name thank God for her act of courage. You don't know who Crystal Dixon is isn't that interesting? What do they have in common? They're both women they're both black American women. Crystal Dixon, and I could, if we had hours, I'd take hours to give you examples. If we had days, I'd take days. If we had months, I'd take months. That's why my book A Queer Thing Happened to America is about 700 pages long. And if you're not a reader, don't worry, just pick out any chapter of interest to you and read it. It's also a good thing to carry in the inner city. Crystal Dixon was Associate Vice President of Human Resources at the University of Toledo in Ohio. In her local newspaper, an editor had written an editorial where he equated civil rights with gay rights. And she, as an African American woman, took exception to that. So on her own time and in her own name, she wrote a letter to the editor which was then published as an editorial saying as a Christian we're to love everyone, but I differ with this analogy. Whether you agree with all her facts or not, she just gave her perspective on things. And there's no such thing as an ex-black, but there are ex-gays. And look at the persecution we endured and everything we suffered compared to them, and then even look at per capita what we're making versus them, you can't compare it. She was fired from her university position for writing the editorial. I could go on and on with examples like this. The debate went wonderfully in Florida. Thanks for asking. And for those that want to ask other questions, you can go to my website, Ask Dr. Brown. Just because that's the name of my website doesn't mean that people are allowed to ask questions in the middle of a message, but that question is okay, especially I hit you in the face during worship, so you get to ask the question. Although it was a tap, it was only a tap. The debate went wonderfully well. You can watch it for free on my website. And I have to say it went wonderfully well, one reason being that my opponent was not the strongest opponent for his position. But in the midst of this debate, he makes a comment and the students that come with him are kind of jeering and laughing along with him. He challenges me, give me one difference between a man and a woman. What's different between men and women? Tell me something a woman can do, a man can't do. Yeah, champion that. Okay, listen, Los Angeles school districts policy, policy, gender identity is how you feel about yourself, whether you feel that you are male or female or both or neither. That's school policy. San Francisco school policies, that however you identify at school, consistently and exclusively, so if Johnny is convinced he's Jane, you use the girl's locker room, you use the girl's bathroom. There is a lesbian couple in California. They adopted a little boy at a year and a half. When he was three, they claimed he began to identify as a girl. He had a speech impediment and used sign language and said he was a girl. At the age of eight, they said they should now begin to transition him into being a girl. He's now eleven. They have him on hormone blockers to stop the onset of puberty and want to get him sex change surgery before he gets into his teen years if possible. It's rightly being called child abuse, but it's happening. I was asked a year or two ago to be on the Tyra Banks show, and it was not to discuss fashion. They were having a show on, quote, transgender children. They were going to be bringing out these little kids, seven, eight years old, that are now living as opposite to who they are with their families. Focus on the Family recommended me to speak. They didn't have someone available, and it turned out I was able to go. I felt I was supposed to go. An hour-long show. I was the only one on the entire program that raised any objection whatsoever to a seven-year-old boy being dressed as a girl and being sent to school to use the girl's bathroom. And when he gets old enough to be on hormone blockers and then to have sex change surgery and then hormones I was the only one saying, you know, the best thing is to help these kids from the inside out. Wouldn't the best thing be that they could be at home in their bodies? And that got posted immediately. The show got posted on YouTube, and I checked out of curiosity to see the comments. And some were favorable to me because the people opposite me were interrupting me a lot and so on. Some were favorable even though they differed with me. But others listed the violent acts they wanted to commit against me. Because I dared say the best thing is to help these kids from the inside out. We, friends, have fallen asleep in the midst of the light. What comes across our TV screens constantly, whole young generation being taken in by this. And when Christian young people are surveyed on this, they get the issues completely wrong. We have lost our moral bearings. When a presidential candidate simply stands up for marriage as it's always been and gets nationally ridiculed, you recognize the state they're in. Why? Because the church has departed from its message. I don't mean that we're primarily preaching a social message, but living rightly and preaching rightly and speaking the truth and preaching repentance and showing a difference in our lives. Because we have not brought clarity, there is deception that's spread through the society. That just proves my phone's not an idol to me. There we go. Drop it again. For those of you that bow down to your smartphones. Maybe that was for somebody. I don't know. It's just an awkward way to... A couple quotes and I'm going to close. Martin Luther King. The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool. Listen to this prophetic warning. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. I've told pastors around the country, we should change the marquee in front of many of our buildings to say irrelevant social club meets Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. James W.C. Pennington was a slave who escaped in the 1800's and then went into ministry. He has an amazing story. This is what he said in 1838. Shall we not be asked in time to come, what have your educated and privileged men done? What have they left you? 1838. Ask him that question. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said the ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leads to its children. What kind of world are we leaving to our children? When our kids come and ask us and our grandkids come and ask us, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, weren't you there when all this was happening? What were you doing? And for leaders, look at what Charles Finney said. The error that lies at the foundation of this decay of individual and public conscience originates no doubt in the pulpit. Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits if immorality prevails in the land. The fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundation of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren, but let us lay it to heart and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility and respect to the morals of this nation. And then Martin Luther, there were dangerous, ugly things he said, especially later in life. Utterances against the Jews and others. There were also amazing insights that he had. This was one of them. Martin Luther said, if I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all battlefields besides is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. One of my friends is a megachurch pastor in one of the big cities in America. Over 6,000 people in his congregation. He meets regularly with other megachurch pastors in his city. He said out of all the pastors that he meets with, he is the only one that will even address the issue of homosexuality, even in terms of reaching out to the congregation and speaking about needs and issues within the flock, no one will even mention it. When I went to publish A Queer Thing Happened to America, I'm almost done, my 20th book published with major publishers before. One or two of them I spoke with, we agreed it wasn't a good fit, but otherwise, consistently, nobody wanted to touch it. One conservative leader said this, book publishing, when we were interacting, book publishing is a difficult business now, and no media is willing to promote a book that opposes homosexuality. Economic self interest is going to make it very tough for a publisher to say yes. Conservative publisher wrote this to me, conservative publisher, there would be a very concrete, though difficult to measure financial penalty to pay for publishing your book. Practically speaking, it could actually destroy the firm. He said he didn't think it would, but he said it would be so costly, he would lose other authors, bookstores would boycott his books, wouldn't be worth it. And nobody told me the book was not well written, nobody told me the book was not well researched, nobody told me the book wasn't true, just too costly. Best selling conservative author wrote, honestly there's no New York publisher who will touch this manuscript. I was asked to work potentially with a New York City publicity firm, I spoke with them and they wrote back, unfortunately he spoke with his team and he doesn't have anyone willing to take on my book. Publicity firm that you pay, which I'd never done. They couldn't find anyone to promote the book. A publishing insider said this, I'd be better off burning the money in my fireplace. The economics of publishing a book like this are bleak. And then I've never worked with a literary agent. I was hooked up with one of the top Christian literary agents in America, so they work with different publishers to get your book published. They farmed it out, secular publishers, Christian publishers, nobody would touch it. I said why? They said most thought the material was too controversial, all felt that the title would need to be changed. So you know what we did? We formed our own publishing house called Equal Time Books. We published A Queer Thing Happened to America, and all those quotes I just read, we put on the back cover of the book. Amen. Instead of the endorsements, we put all the rejections, I didn't mention people by name, I didn't want to embarrass them. We put all the rejections on the back cover and said, this is the book that publishers were afraid to touch. I say all this to say, it has been painful, but totally predictable to watch that when standing for morality becomes costly, we run. Jeremiah 12, as Jeremiah was complaining about trouble in his hometown of Anitote and persecution, instead of comforting him, God first says, hey, if you're getting worn out running with the footmen, how are you going to run with the horsemen? If you can't take it in Anitote, how are you going to make it in Jerusalem? And all of us who think, oh, when the day comes when they put a gun to my head, then I'll stand for Jesus. If we deny Him in the little things today, we're not going to be champions in the big things tomorrow. And as people are trying to shut our mouths and silence us, I watch Christian after Christian going in the closet, leaders shutting it and putting a hand over their own mouth. We don't want to be controversial and all we do is bow down to the spirit of the age. So I give this specific illustration so you know what we're dealing with. Things have now gone so far, we've got nothing to lose by just standing for it, going for it, standing up. Things have gotten so corrupt, gone so far, the family has been so destroyed. Women over 30, the majority of all kids born to women over 30 are out of wedlock. There are now big TV shows celebrating polygamy. Newsweek magazine says there are at least a half million, 500,000 families in polyamorous relationship. That means multiple partners all living together. It says it's the new thing, get ready for it. I was going to close with this, I was going to visit David Stadlin in the early 90's and I was driving from the airport to his house and I heard somebody on the radio, 1991 I believe, he was a pro-life leader and he said, you know, people tell me, I don't know about this abortion thing, I can't really tell you, but when they start doing it with adults, he said, that's when I'm going to get involved. And that was when this thing was happening with a woman named Karen Quinlan, she was in what was called a persistent vegetative state so they were just going to disconnect her from any life support or food or nutrition or anything. And he said, alright, well you get involved now, they're doing it to adults. And I wrote in the preface to my book Whatever Happened to the Power of God that I wrote in 91, I said, I think it's the church that's in the persistent vegetative stage. Well, not the whole body, but so many. It's time for us to meet with God and examine our own lives. It's time for us to say, Lord, where have I become compromised? Where has my light grown dim? Where have I lost holy reverence? Where have I lost sense of right and wrong? It's time for us to say, Lord, how can I shine light in the dark world? How can I exalt Jesus in an unashamed way? How can I stand for righteousness? What's my role? What kind of world are we leaving to our children and grandchildren? I want to encourage you to stand up and be prophets of righteousness. Not self-righteousness, not judgmentalism, not anger, not hatred, but true witnesses. Let's die to being ashamed of the gospel. Let's die to being ashamed of what's right. Let's die to being ashamed of God's Word and standards. And let's make a difference. There are a million different ways God can use us. In every community, in every setting, there are ways He can use us. There's a massive need for laborers. And I'm sure if you meet with the Lord and say, Lord, here I am. Send me. Use me. I want to make a difference. He'll give you a battle plan. He'll give you a plan of attack. He'll hook you up with others that are doing it. And I want to say without doubt that with Jesus working together, we can make a massive difference. And against all logic and rational thinking, I believe God's going to turn things. I believe we're going to see this nation shaken. How? I don't know. But I believe we're going to see a Jesus-based moral cultural revolution. And that revival's going to come to hungry, thirsty people. I believe it. It may be we've been waiting longer, but it's just like pulling that rubber band further, further, further back. When you finally let it go, it's going to fly. I believe it's going to happen. Let everything be shaken that must be shaken. That the kingdom of God can arise and let it arise in me and you. Stand at your feet with me. Thank you for listening with such open hearts so attentively. I don't know exactly what this means. What form it will take. But I just feel to ask for a response. And it's simply this. If you say, Lord, I don't know what the consequences are. I don't know what the cost is. But I want to be on the front lines. I want to be out there making a difference. Whether it means being in the house of prayer on your face. Whether it means preaching to an unreached people group in India. Whether it means being a witness in front of the local abortion clinic. Whether it means adopting needy kids. Whether it means standing up in the social place and speaking out against gay activism. Who knows? It's certainly not a political solution primarily. It's a gospel solution. But if you say, Lord, whatever it is, maybe he's speaking to you very specifically. A simple assignment. And it's totally chilling. That's good. It's too hard for you. Start there. That's your door of entry. Lord, by your grace. But if you say, whatever the cost, whatever the consequence, I want to be on the front lines. And I want to make a difference. And I want to be used by you. Here I am. Send me. Use me. I just want you to come and stand and kneel across the front. We're just going to pray together. Thank you, Lord. Whatever the cost, whatever the consequence, Lord. Here I am. Send me. Use me. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, Father. You know, Jesus just came walking through and said, follow me. He just said, follow me. He didn't tell them where they were going. Follow me. Thank you, Lord. You know, as there have been major Bible schools in America that have brought in thousands of people. Also created communities with thousands of believers that end up staying there, waiting for a calling. When there's a dying world. When you have something so exceptional as happened here in Kansas City. With different ministries, of course, but with some just drawing people in from all over. It's got my attention. It's a work of the Lord. But anytime it's happening, people can gather around the place. We've all been part of it. And wait for a calling. I want to encourage you to say, God, my calling is here and now. I've got to make a difference. Wherever He plants you, every day, Lord, here I am. I want to make a difference. He wants to send you. Go, I'm sending you, He says. Go, I'm sending you. And I believe right now, as we just stay before Him. And Neil, you can just play quietly in worship. I just want to pray that God would really grip you. And that some of you would receive a commission. I mean, how much work can just be done online these days? If you say, God, I've got to make a difference. You may not be able to get out of your house and shut in. You touch the world. There's no time for excuses. Some of us have gotten so comfortable. It's time for us to have our boat rocked a little bit. Oh, God. Just go before Him. I'm just going to come by and just touch you and pray that something would be released. Courage. Fire. Passion. Determination. More of the same is only going to produce more of the same. Something has to change radically. Start it in me, Lord. Start it in me, Lord. Lord, I repent of coldness. I repent of indifference. I repent of fear. Man, whatever it is in your life. Oh, God. Jesus was extraordinarily merciful in long suffering. But He accepted no excuses. He accepted no excuses. If you hold back nothing from Him, He'll hold back nothing from you. If you hold back nothing from Him, He'll hold back nothing from you. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. When I pray for you, it's not necessarily for some importation. It's more like, Lord, they're being marked in public right now. Marked. There they are. You're looking for people here. This one, this one, this one, this one. You heard them. You saw them tonight. If you don't know what to do, press in more and just make yourself available. Do something. Ministries all over the place need bodies. Willing people. You'll get your marching orders as you go. Set apart. Set apart. Here I am. Send me. Here I am. Give you everything. Here I am. Send me. Here I am. Send me. Give you everything. Here I am. Most of the ministry work I do, friends and co-workers, we had two great needs always. A need for funds and there's a need for people. You're a people. You already took an offering. You're all people. We need you. We need you to throw yourselves in. If we stood up, we'd make a difference. We did a foot washing service in India in December of 2010. That's when we washed the feet of those martyrs' widows and a man beaten into a coma, now back preaching where he was beaten and others on their way to certain persecution, perhaps death. A serious, somber meeting. And then when it ended, after all the foot washing, the music changed and everybody started celebrating and dancing. It was quite a sight, these people on their way to potential martyrdom and certainly persecution, dancing and rejoicing for the privilege of being witnesses for Jesus. So Lord, we thank You. We thank You for the privilege of being Your servants. And wherever we go, Lord, there are people who are lost who need Your message. There are people that need mercy and help. Lord, there's a calling to be voices of righteousness. So Lord, we've come together for this meeting with no grandiose expectations. Lord, at the end of the meeting, You just dropped in my heart the potential of people here getting activated and going for it that haven't been. Or others stepping out of their comfort zone into new areas and suddenly I saw, wow, a lot could come out of this and everything that's been sewn in through each speaker, through each session in these days together. So God, I pray for something radical to come out of devoted, surrendered lives. And so many here come forward because they've been living in devotion to You. And now they're just following the call, another step. So we say again, here we are. Send us, use us. Let's pray this out loud together. Heavenly Father, this night we hold back nothing from You. We ask You to hold back nothing from us. Make us fully usable. Use us to the full. Here we are. Send us out to advance Your kingdom, to glorify the name of Jesus, to be holy revolutionaries, to be world changers in the power of Your Spirit, whatever the cost, whatever the consequence, whether by life or by death. Here we are. Send us. Use us. In Jesus' name. Let's shout to God in triumph. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Just want to say for those specifically burdened in the areas I focused on tonight, if you go to the book website at QueerThing.com there's a section called Get Involved. You can click on that and there's practical suggestions for everything from school to media to politics to counseling and ministry. There's a real battle right now to take away rights and freedoms in some key, key areas. Even people's ability to counsel and tell people they can change. It's essential that God's people just rise up and do what's right. All we have to do is rise up, live this thing out, do what's right in our spheres of influence, and Jesus will be exalted. And again, take advantage of the website with the materials there, hundreds of hours of free materials. If we minister to you and you feel you could receive more, just go there. Drink it in. That's why it's online. Get the materials we mentioned, David's and mine. Let's go for it. Let's find out what God could do through yielded vessels. I feel like I'm still scratching the surface of potential of what God could do. I often wonder what could happen. Let's go for it and explore what the Lord could do. If we have the privilege of suffering what some of the others have suffered for righteousness, so be it. On that day we rejoice all the more. And if we've got freedoms, let's use them. Let's be jealous for them. Let's use them for the gospel.