WEBVTT - The Miracle In The Mismatch (Tim Timberlake) 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.160 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdieck. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:06.640 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:09.959 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:12.040 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:16.840 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well, 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:18.880 we're going to get to the message in just a moment, 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.160 but I wanted to make sure you knew about Elevation Nights. 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:27.280 It's going to be amazing eight cities October twenty sixth 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:29.800 through November fourth. You got to go to Elevation Nights 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.200 dot com to see if we're coming to a city 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:35.879 near you. It's going to be me, Elevation Worship, a 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.440 few friends, and you. I want to see you there. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.440 I want to see you and everybody that you know there. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.239 Go to Elevation Nights dot com. I can't wait to 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:53.159 see you soon. Here's the message. Hey, family, it's an 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:58.520 honor and a privilege to be with you all today. 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:06.080 And Elevation is family and I have been family of 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:10.400 this house for quite some time. And love your pastors 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:14.600 very dearly. Me and Jen hot Hold, Pastors Steven and 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:19.240 Pastor Holly to the highest regard and kind of the 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:23.440 honor and a privilege to watch and have seen what 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:29.080 God has done through their yes. And I was talking 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:33.960 to Pastor chunks in the back. And I've been family 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.039 with Elevation so long. I can remember a series that 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:42.800 Pastor started a long time ago called Dominate. And I'm 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.039 from one hundred and forty three miles north of Charlotte, 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:50.400 little city called Creede, or North Carolina, and I would 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:55.080 take off on Sundays from my church sometimes and sneak 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.320 in the back door Elevation just to see what was 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:06.920 going on. And this is pretty early on. This is 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:11.519 when Elevation was in Providence, and I think, I don't 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:15.240 even think Pastor had herod then, he just had a 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:21.000 gold tee. And my sister, little sister, she was staying 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:23.000 here in Charlotte, going to you and see Charlotte, and 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.639 she was in the middle of transitioning from one church 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.560 to looking for another church. And I snuck in the 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:34.200 back of Elevation and Pastor was in this series and 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.680 he was encouraging people in the middle of this campaign 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.280 do whatever you gotta do to show into what God 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.280 is doing in Elevation Church. And I'll never forget it. 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.720 He said, I want for those of you that are 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.520 too young and have money to give sell your video 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:57.280 game consoles and bring that money to the House of God. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.600 And I left it service to day and I called 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:06.560 my sister. I said, I found your church. I found 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:11.960 your church. I said, any pastor that's bold enough to 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:15.320 step out in faith the way this pastor is bold 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:19.560 enough to step out in faith, and you need to 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:26.079 get planted in that church. And she's been here, she's 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:29.359 been playing at her and her husband and and any 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.400 time I have family or someone that is transitioning from 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.680 either creed Moor or Jacksonville, Florida to Charlotte, I say, hey, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.960 you gotta you gotta go to Elevation Church. That's family. 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.840 They don't ask no question. They said, okay, I'm going. 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:48.520 And some honored to be with family today. They tell 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.000 me I can act like this is my house. And 0:03:52.080 --> 0:04:01.160 so I'm gonna preach like I'm home. You go, all right, 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:06.960 I only know one way to do it, and that's 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:13.760 what everything I got. Amen. So I want us to 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:19.520 go to Judges Chapter twenty. Judges Chapter twenty. We're gonna 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:23.640 look at verse fourteen. I'm gonna read this passage of scripture, 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.160 and then I'm gonna pray. Then we're gonna unpack. It 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.719 is that, alright? And you get the Judges Chapter twenty 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:34.320 say I'm there, you're not there. Say wait on me, 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.800 wait on me, wait on me. I'll wait on you. 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.280 I'll wait on you a little bit. I wanna welcome 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:47.720 everybody that's tuning in online, and for those that are 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:52.560 at our other locations, we are grateful for you and 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:58.119 grateful that you would join us today. Judges Chapter twenty, 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.520 beginning at verse fourteen and says, but the children of 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.520 Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibea, 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.080 to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.440 The children of Benjamin were numbered at the time out 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:18.680 of the city's twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:25.000 besides the inhabitants of Gibea, which were numbered seven hundred 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:31.440 chosen men. And among all these people there were seven 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:40.520 hundred chosen men left handed. Everyone could sling stones at 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:46.360 an hair bread and not miss. Among all the people 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:52.920 there were seven hundred chosen left handed men. Every one 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.599 of them could sling stones at a hair breath and 0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:01.960 not miss. Let's pray thembly Father, we thank you. You're 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.640 so good to us. Lord and God. We know that 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.040 you are here in this moment with us, and so 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.799 we ask that you would do what only you can do, God, 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:16.040 and that's to transform us, change us, rearrange whatever it 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.560 is you want to do. God, we thank you God 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.560 that from this moment we would leave differently than how 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.760 we enter it. And so God, before anything happens, we 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.680 give you the praise. And God, we say, whatever you 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:35.359 want to do, have your way in us in Jesus 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.240 saying we pray. Come on, all you that agree, give 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:46.680 God a big amen and amen, Amen, you can take 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:51.800 your seats. I want to talk to you for a 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:58.159 moment from the subject matter the miracle in the Mismatch, 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:05.200 the mirror cool in the Mismatch. I'm a big sports fan. 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:10.880 Any sports fans listen to me right now. I particularly 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:16.080 love basketball, and as I mentioned, I'm from a city 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:18.840 that's one hundred and forty three miles north of Charlotte 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.720 called Creebe or North Carolina, and we're on the outskirts 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:27.240 of the Triangle, and we know basketball. If you know 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.680 anything about the Triangle, you know there's a little rivalry 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:33.160 that's been going on for some time between a big 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:41.640 school called UNC and a little school called Duke. There 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.800 may be some that are listening to me and say, 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:50.600 I wonder who his team is, And I would say, 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:56.520 I'm on the Lord's side. You know, when he created 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:00.360 the heavens and the earth, he decided to ain't the 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.320 sky come on? You know what I'm gonna he painted 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:08.720 in Carolina blue. I don't know how you can call 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:24.600 yourself a follower of Jesus and like the devil. I 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.000 believe you lose a little annoying thing if you're a 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:36.400 Duke fan. I remember twenty seventeen. I was looking for 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:43.959 Carolina game, and the Carolina game finished, and then at 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.400 the end of the Carolina game on the particular challenge 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:51.600 that I was watching, the commentators came on. They said, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:56.800 we're gonna interrupt this game and take you to another 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:04.520 basketball game between Arkansas and Minnesota. I said, Arkansas, Minnesota, 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:13.600 YA gonna interrupt Carolina for Arkansas and Minnesota. So they 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:19.560 turn to their partner channel and they pick up in 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:25.479 the third quarter. I'm saying, watching Arkansas, man, what I mean, no, 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:33.360 no disrespect, but this is twenty seventeen Arkansas. That this 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:40.400 saint the twenty twenty NCAA Tournament, Arkansas. This is twenty 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:48.199 seventeen Arkansas. Respectfully, there's no comparison to you and C. 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.480 So I'm saying, watching this game, why in the world 0:09:53.559 --> 0:10:03.040 have they interrupted the Lord's School and put Arkansas and Minnesota? 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.520 And the commentators begin to talk. They say, this is 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:13.560 something that you have to see. Arkansas has lost six 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:19.400 players and now they only have seven players active that's 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.720 able to play. This is at the end of the 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.280 third quarter. So I'm like, Okay, here's why they are 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.200 on my television. They only got seven players. It's gonna 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:34.320 get real interesting. Two minutes goes by, two of the 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:42.040 seven file out. They got five players left. They continue 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:49.200 to play. Four more minutes of fight breaks out. They 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:55.880 lose two more players, so they have three players left 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:01.199 compared to Minnesota's twelve, and the coach calls the time 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.640 out and he gets them in a huddle, and I 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.559 would imagine if I'm this coach, I'm asking the team, hey, 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:17.719 do y'all want to continue to play? The odds are 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:24.280 not faring well against us by all means. This is 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:30.920 a mismatch, and they came to the conclusion that we 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:36.320 still want to play. I said, Schutz, if they gonna play, 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:43.960 I'm gonna watch. The only reason I was watching was 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:50.240 because it was a mismatch. I wouldn't watch no Arkansas 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.800 Minnesota game no other time. The only reason they were 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:59.800 on my television was because it was a mismatch. ESPN 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:03.760 go carry no Minnesota Arkansas game. The only reason they 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.800 were being televised across the world was because there was 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:11.480 a mismatch, and what we were seeing unfolding happened was 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:18.680 a miracle in the middle of a mismatch. They continue 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.360 to play, they continue to go on, and a couple 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.679 other guys getting fouled trouble and they end up being 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.480 with three players left, and two of the players got 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:39.120 four fives, and somehow, some way, Arkansas wins the game 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.320 with three players. I don't know if you've seen any 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:48.080 modern day miracles, but I encourage you to go back 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.120 on YouTube and take a little stroll down memory lane 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:55.400 of twenty seventeen and watch this game between Arkansas and Minnesota. 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.720 The only reason people still search it out is because 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.360 there was a miracle that had in the middle of 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:04.480 a mismatch and I came to tell somebody today. I 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:06.600 don't know what it may look like. I don't know 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:08.600 what you may be up against. I don't know what 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.120 the enemy may be screaming at you. But I came 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.520 to tell you today, no matter what it looks like, 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.800 that's gonna be a miracle in the middle of a mismatch. 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.119 And say, anybody listening to me right now that believes 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.960 come Hell or how water, I believe God is still 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.400 good and beside him, there is no one else I 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:36.240 need a miracle in the middle of a mismatch. This 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:41.040 is where we find ourselves in Judges, chapter twenty, verse sixteen, 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:44.720 when the Bible describes a group of seven hundred men 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:50.600 who are left handed. I love that the Bible is 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:55.480 so intentional with the words, because it describes how many men, 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:59.280 and it also describes that they are left handed. Now, 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:01.320 when I was looking at this, I said, why does 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.679 the Bible describe these men? It's just left handed. And 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.360 the Bible makes no mistakes. And so if there's something 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.480 that you don't quite understand, you got to do a 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:15.960 little digging. For As I begin to dig through this, 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.240 I came across an article that was written by theologian 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.240 that said they were left handed because they were no 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:32.520 longer right handed. They were left handed because somewhere along 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:39.520 the road of battle and warfare they lost a part 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:44.040 of their right hand. And then I thought about it. 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:55.840 Benjamin literally means son of my right hand. These men 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.480 fighting in the tribe of Benjamin don't have a right 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:04.560 hand on. So what do you do when what you're 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:12.040 known for you no longer? Have you fight for who 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:16.880 you're becoming? What do you do when what you used 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.440 to do you can no longer? Do you have to 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.560 fight for who you're becoming? What do you do when 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.240 what people used to know you as you no longer are? 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:31.080 You have to fight for who you are becoming? And 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:36.840 the Bible says that these seven hundred men are left 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:43.560 handed because they're no longer right handed. And I've come 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:51.280 to understand and learn the seeds of your miracle are 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:59.240 often sown in the soil of adversity. The seed for 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.440 the miracle that you need, in the miracle that you've 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.800 been praying for and believing God for, is often sown 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:12.840 in the soil of adversity. You can't choose how you 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:19.200 get wounded, but you can choose how you heal listen 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:23.240 to me, These seven hundred men had to come to 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:27.120 the conclusion that I am not what has happened to me, 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.880 And I wonder, is there anybody listening to me right 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.160 now that says my condition is not my conclusion. I 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.720 know you've been wounded. I know you've been hurt. I 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.360 know you've been left away and put to the side, 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.000 but you still got some fight left in you. I 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.280 know there's a lot of chaos going on around you, 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.440 and I know every time we turn on the news 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.320 that's something else going on. But you still got some 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.080 fight left on the inside of you. I wonder is 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:55.200 there anybody listening to me that hasn't mind made up? 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:58.680 No matter what's happening to me, I still got some 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.760 fight left in me. If that sue, I need to 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:08.560 sell y y'all sit down and I'll see y'all make 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:16.959 me nervous when you stand. There's seven hundred million are 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:26.400 left handed because they're no longer right handed. They understand 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:35.280 now we have to make a decision, which brings me 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:44.159 to point num on one. Everyone has a battle. I 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.959 don't care what you look like, I don't care what 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.000 your background is. I don't care what you got in 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:55.640 your bank account. Everyone has a battle. I don't care 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.280 how good you act like you got your stuff together. 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:03.000 I don't care where you sit in church. I don't 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.199 care what you drive, I don't care the house that 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:09.080 you walk into every day. Everybody has a battle. And 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.600 listen to me. If you are not careful, you will 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:19.800 let how you got wounded determine where you're headed. And 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.840 you have to have your mind made up that no 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:29.640 matter what has happened to me, I still will fight 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.960 for what I believe in. Okay, can we be honest? 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:41.520 Sometimes we get tired of fighting. Oh man, has it 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:46.879 in the last two years been tiring? Your long clock 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.200 goes off in the morning, You look at the time 0:18:51.640 --> 0:19:05.200 and you're surprised I'm still here. The last year and 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:12.840 a half have been so long that scientists and historians say, 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.360 compound it, the last year and a half have been 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:22.760 equivalent to the last ten years, and all of us 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:31.080 have something that they call pandemic brain, which means what 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:35.800 we normally would retain hearing one time for two weeks, 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:43.080 we can't hearing one time for forty five minutes. They 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:46.520 compare it to being in the middle of an emergency 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:51.440 and first responders screaming at you the same instructions over 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:56.200 and over again, because first responders understand, in the middle 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.960 of a crisis, your mind can only process so much, 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:04.520 so they repeat what they're saying over and over and 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.359 over again until you follow the instructions that they're screaming. 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.399 Historians and scientists believe that's where we are right now. 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:19.800 And you think life is normal, but you feel tired. See, 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:25.919 sometimes your body processes things before your mind does. And 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:30.480 if we'd all be honest, we come to point some 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:36.800 places in this battle where we get tired. I believe 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:44.760 these seven hundred men had a decision to make Bible 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:49.040 says that they were left handed because they were no 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:59.280 longer right handed. They had been wounded in warfare. All 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:08.480 of us have been wounded somewhere, somehow, some way, and 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:13.000 if you're not careful, we'll try to heal our own 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:18.280 wounds instead of going back to the person that created 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:26.919 us in the first place. Let me help you with 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:34.119 this truth. You can't fix yourself because you didn't make yourself. 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.520 So if you can't fix yourself, you have to return 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:45.080 to the person that made you. Because there's a warranty 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:49.479 on your life that says, if something is broken or missing, 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:56.240 if you return to the manufacturer, he'll fix you. And 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.400 I'm so glad I don't have to worry about fixing 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:01.800 the broken pieces in my life. All I have to 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:04.639 do is return to the maker. And when I return 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.600 back to his feet, he says, after I get finished 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:10.199 with you, I'll send you back out. They keep on fighting. 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:13.520 Is there anybody grateful that even in the middle of battle, 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:16.520 even in the middle of warfare, even when you're tired, 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.200 God puts a new battle in your back and says 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:22.000 you can live to fight another day. I know you 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.520 may be tired, I know you may be ready to quick, 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:32.600 but there's still someone fight left in you. Everyone has 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:40.840 a battle. Struggle human is the proof that you have 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:47.959 not been overtaken by your enemy. You say, I'm still fighting, 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:54.159 pastor I'm struggling man, and I will say good. He said, Well, 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:58.960 that don't make no sense. Yes it does, because struggle 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:04.320 is proof that the enemy has not overtaken you. The 0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:07.800 minute that there's no struggle in you is the minute 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:11.280 the enemy wins. But as long as you're still fighting 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:14.400 for it means that the enemy has not overtaken you 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:19.880 by what you're struggling in. See, it's scars that are 0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:23.399 the proof that what tried to kill you did not 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:28.560 overcome you. Here man, I can't remember all the good 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:30.480 moments in my life. As a matter of fact, I 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:32.920 was sharing with my wife not too long ago, going 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:35.119 down the line of our anniversaries. I can't remember what 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:37.560 you got me. I can't remember where we went. I 0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:40.600 can't remember all those little details, but I can remember 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.560 all of the good moments that we had that were 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:51.040 significant on the other side of pain. Right when you 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:54.920 look at your body, I guarantee you every single scar 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:57.480 that you have, you can pinpoint the story that goes 0:23:57.520 --> 0:24:03.320 behind it, because scars have story, and every scar is 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:09.560 proof that what tried to kill you didn't overcome you. Struggle, 0:24:09.640 --> 0:24:13.040 that's the proof that you have not been overtaken by 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:18.800 your enemy. See. Everyone wants to be victorious, but no 0:24:18.880 --> 0:24:22.560 one wants to fight the enemy. See it's the enemy 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:27.080 that reveals the champion on the inside of you. Can 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:30.760 you imagine a basketball game if there's only offense, teen 0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:33.959 people out there just shooting the ball. Can you imagine 0:24:33.960 --> 0:24:37.119 a football game and there's no defense, everybody just tossing 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:39.520 it to each other. Everybody just running around just looking 0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:41.840 like chickens with their hair cut off. Can you imagine 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:45.119 a sporting event if there's no adversary. See, it's the 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:47.919 enemy that reveals the champion on the inside of you. 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:50.480 The only way you can get the victory that you 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:53.359 deserve and that belongs to you is go through what 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:55.600 it is that you may be going through. And I 0:24:55.680 --> 0:24:57.920 know it gets tough, and i know it gets difficult, 0:24:58.000 --> 0:25:03.240 but I'm telling you struggle the proof that you have 0:25:03.359 --> 0:25:10.560 not been overtaken by your enemy, Which brings me to 0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:20.360 point number two. You got choices. These seven hundred men 0:25:20.440 --> 0:25:30.760 had choices. They had to choose to stay in the fight. See, 0:25:30.840 --> 0:25:35.359 in military, now you get wounded to this level, you 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:42.080 don't have a choice, you get discharged. When these seven 0:25:42.119 --> 0:25:47.240 hundred men were fighting, they had choices. One of the 0:25:47.280 --> 0:25:51.680 things that I've learned is we're born looking like our parents, 0:25:53.000 --> 0:26:00.720 but we die looking like our choices. One hundred men 0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:05.800 had a choice to make whether I'm going to go 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:09.960 back home with my wounds or whether I'm going to 0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:13.000 wrap up this wound and continue to fight for what 0:26:13.040 --> 0:26:18.439 it is I'm believing in. You got choices. See you 0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:25.080 make choices, but then choices make you. These seven hundred 0:26:25.119 --> 0:26:28.840 men were hand picked because they could not pick their hand. 0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:38.720 These seven hundred men were chosen because they had a choice. 0:26:39.400 --> 0:26:45.520 And it says that they could hit or horse's hair 0:26:46.359 --> 0:26:52.639 with the sleeve and a rock, which tells me not 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:57.040 only did they decide to stay in the fight, but 0:26:57.160 --> 0:27:01.960 they decided to use what they had left to be 0:27:02.080 --> 0:27:05.480 better at what it was that they were believing for 0:27:06.760 --> 0:27:10.440 than who it was that they were known for. They 0:27:10.480 --> 0:27:15.159 had a choice whether they wanted to return home or 0:27:15.160 --> 0:27:21.240 get good at what they had left. How many times 0:27:21.960 --> 0:27:25.919 did it take them throwing a rock with a sling 0:27:26.760 --> 0:27:31.080 to hit a horse's hair thirty to forty yards away? 0:27:31.560 --> 0:27:34.919 How many missus did it take for them to be 0:27:35.160 --> 0:27:39.960 known as those that were good at slinging a slingshot 0:27:40.119 --> 0:27:43.439 with the rock to hit a hair on the string 0:27:43.560 --> 0:27:45.720 of a tree with a rock tied to the bottom 0:27:45.720 --> 0:27:48.199 of it from thirty to forty yards away? Did you 0:27:48.280 --> 0:27:54.720 know how far forty yards is their quarterbacks that can't 0:27:54.760 --> 0:27:59.520 throw forty yards? And you telling me these seven hundred 0:27:59.600 --> 0:28:03.880 men perfected their cry for what they had left good 0:28:04.040 --> 0:28:08.720 enough to take a rock in a swing and hit 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:13.359 on horse hair thirty or forty yards away. Some of 0:28:13.440 --> 0:28:16.160 y'all can't see the hair in your hand right now, 0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:22.800 And these men had the ability to hit a horse 0:28:22.840 --> 0:28:26.960 hair three to the forty yards away. How many times 0:28:27.720 --> 0:28:32.800 did they have to swing the sling to determine if 0:28:32.800 --> 0:28:37.840 they were good or not. I can't imagine that they 0:28:37.880 --> 0:28:42.880 had choices. I can imagine that things got tough. I 0:28:42.920 --> 0:28:46.240 can imagine the wounds that they were dealing with were 0:28:46.320 --> 0:28:49.360 severe enough for them to have a good excuse to 0:28:49.400 --> 0:28:53.520 stay home. But they didn't stop fighting. And I came 0:28:53.560 --> 0:28:57.040 to tell somebody, right now, if you can fight for it, 0:28:57.600 --> 0:29:03.080 you'll fight to keep it. They had their mind made 0:29:03.160 --> 0:29:06.320 up that what has happened to me my condition will 0:29:06.360 --> 0:29:16.200 not be my conclusion, and they didn't stop fighting. I 0:29:16.240 --> 0:29:21.000 can remember watching some highlights. My father's favorite after lead, 0:29:21.080 --> 0:29:25.680 Muhammad Ali, and he would go out and he would 0:29:25.720 --> 0:29:29.280 do all these press runs and he'd be talking trash. 0:29:29.920 --> 0:29:32.960 One particular press run was for the Rumbling the Jungle. 0:29:35.240 --> 0:29:37.160 When they were doing this, I was watching. My dad 0:29:37.160 --> 0:29:43.480 had his chest poked out. Son watched this and Muhammad 0:29:43.520 --> 0:29:49.240 Ali's talking trash, and they get to the fight and 0:29:49.280 --> 0:29:52.720 the fight is going on, and the fight goes longer 0:29:52.760 --> 0:29:56.040 than expected. And at the end of the fight, after 0:29:56.080 --> 0:29:59.280 the fight was over, you could see Muhammad Ali kind 0:29:59.280 --> 0:30:02.400 of tearing up crying. I remember asking my dad why 0:30:02.560 --> 0:30:07.320 is he crying? And he said, well, son, he had 0:30:07.360 --> 0:30:11.880 just been through some stuff. He had been through some pain, 0:30:11.960 --> 0:30:14.720 he'd been through some obstacles, he had been through some trials, 0:30:16.160 --> 0:30:22.720 and he knows it's a privilege to fight. And I 0:30:22.760 --> 0:30:27.120 came to tell somebody today, it's a privilege to fight. 0:30:28.760 --> 0:30:32.000 I don't know what you're believing God for, but if 0:30:32.040 --> 0:30:35.440 you can fight for it, you'll fight to keep it. 0:30:35.880 --> 0:30:38.640 I can imagine these seven hundred men had to make 0:30:38.680 --> 0:30:41.760 a choice whether I'm gonna stay in the fight or 0:30:41.800 --> 0:30:44.800 whether I'm gonna utilize my wound as an excuse to 0:30:44.880 --> 0:30:47.240 go back to where I came from. But it says 0:30:47.240 --> 0:30:49.360 that these seven hundred men made up in their mind, 0:30:49.560 --> 0:30:51.840 I'm not going back from where I came from. I'm 0:30:51.880 --> 0:30:54.320 gonna persevere and go for it because I believe that 0:30:54.400 --> 0:30:56.640 there's more on the other side. I know you may 0:30:56.680 --> 0:30:59.240 be through some stuff, but you got the mentality I'm 0:30:59.280 --> 0:31:02.240 still gonna fight. I know you've had to overcome some obstacles. 0:31:02.320 --> 0:31:04.479 But I believe you're in this moment in time right 0:31:04.520 --> 0:31:07.080 now because you had your mind made up. I'm gonna 0:31:07.120 --> 0:31:11.720 stay in the fight. Come on, look at somebody and 0:31:11.720 --> 0:31:21.520 tell them you got choices. See, you run from something, 0:31:22.880 --> 0:31:29.240 you'll find yourself running from everything. If you can run 0:31:29.320 --> 0:31:34.680 from something, you'll find yourself running from everything. They didn't quit. 0:31:36.040 --> 0:31:39.280 It got tough, but they didn't quit. It got hard, 0:31:39.320 --> 0:31:43.120 but they didn't quit. It got severe, but they didn't quit. 0:31:43.360 --> 0:31:46.480 They lost a limb, but they didn't quit. And I wonder, 0:31:46.520 --> 0:31:48.920