Pastor West: [00:00:00] This morning we wanted to share with you. Are we all the way up on lights? Okay, I need the stadium lights. Schuylar. There they are. So it's kind of. It's kind of ironic in one way. Uh, I kind of got a message been rolling around in me for for quite a while and kind of coming out of a series. Uh, and I think it will apply very well to what's is what's happening today. Because God's doing what little things or God doing big things. You know, Ephesians 320 said, exceeding abundantly. Is it below or above? Above all that you can ask or think, and how many? I think we got some big thinkers in here. How many think that you're a big thinker? How many of you are willing to expand? How many? You've seen all the goodness of God that you ever expect to see? I mean, how many can sign up for more? Amen, Amen, amen, Amen. So, uh, I have written things down. Don't know if we'll get through all this, but I'm going to go fast. Uh, just just to remind you, uh, sometimes why I write things down, you know, you can be inspired to preach. I've done it both ways. You can be inspired to preach and no notes did that. That could turn into a seven hour service. Or you can put some things down to keep you on track. But a lot of times when you want to share more than time allows then to you can get inspired while you're studying and inspired while you're right.
Pastor West: [00:01:26] Just like if you were writing a book and doing that. Um, I just want to remind you, if you ever miss a part, all the services, as you know, are recorded. You can go to Facebook, you can go to YouTube, or you can go to our website. You can get a transcript of every word that's spoken. If you want to say, well, I can't remember this, I can't remember that. Well, then just in a few days, go to the website and the chance, you know, every every service is transcribed for your benefit. And so that's another tool that will help us to get the message out. Um, I'm going to give you some scriptures I want to have time to actually turn to, uh, may not turn to any of them, but I'll give you the scripture references and, and I'm going to be, uh, start with first Corinthians three three. And, but today we're going to talk about some big ideas, and we're going to talk about that. We're not called to be mere men and mere women. We're not. We're not the mere human folks. How many know when you got born again? You got born again of God's nature. So if it's his nature, it's not man's nature. Then something supernatural transaction took place. So what we're doing today is there is a transaction that's supposed to take place while we're here.
Pastor West: [00:02:36] It's just not let's just go see what the pastor has. Let's see what you know. No, it's not so much what I have. It's so much about who you are in him and what he's doing. And so faith is a transaction. It's an exchange taking place today. So you can you can clock in, clock out and say, I did that. Or you can put faith in the place where it's supposed to be and say, well, if God said it, then it must be true. And if God said, I can do it, and it must be that I can, so you can transact your faith, and you can do things that you never thought possible. But Paul was having to. He was speaking about some of the people there at the church at Corinth. And it wasn't it wasn't kind in one sense, because they were arguing about who they watch preacher they like best. Paul. I mean, some said, well, I like Paul. I said, well, he's okay, but Apollos, man, he's who you want to listen to. And Paul said, Me or Apollos, he said, we're just servants of God. He said, sometimes, you know, I'll throw the seed out and Paul comes water. Sometimes he might throw a seed out, I'll come water, he said, but here's the big deal. God gives the increase, he said.
Pastor West: [00:03:40] And when you talk about Paul or Apollos, he said, he said, that's because you're carnal, your natural thinking. He said, you think fleshy, but this is a spiritual transaction, not a natural transaction. And the amplified says it this way, the amplified classic. See, he said, you are still unspiritual, having the nature of your flesh under the control of ordinary impulses for as long as there are envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you. You are not, he said, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh behaving yourself? Here it is after a human standard. You are like mirror. He telling Christians you are like mirror unchanged men. He said, you're behaving like people who's not even born again. Meaning the inward man is not ruling the outward outward man, but the outward man is ruling the inward man. We don't ever want to go there, do we? So we're not that man, are we? Are you that man or are you that woman? No, we're not that. And when you just think about some of the scriptures that's in the Bible and what God told us, what to do and how to do, we know that we can't do those things by natural means, but it has to be by the power that worketh in us, by the power of the Holy Ghost. For instance. We won't turn there on this one either. But Matthew 18 uh 18 to 20 says, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
Pastor West: [00:05:03] Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. For where 2 or 3 are gathered together. And he said, in my name I am there in the midst of them. So here we see that we have the power to bind or loose. Jesus explains that whatever transactions taking place on earth, he said, heaven will transact, that a number of heavens will part. Heaven will partner with you. A lot of Christians, because of the condition of the world, are ready to get out of here. I understand that I have days that I just rather said, let's just go do heaven. But really, there are so many people on the earth that won't go, and the work is so vast that we need we need to tell the story enough to where they have the opportunity to hear, like you and I had the opportunity to hear that they can choose like you got to choose so that when he does come, they go with us. That's right. Can I get a better Amen. And so here we have the transaction take place of binding or loosened. Now listen to this. The devil is subject to the believer's faith that he cannot overcome it. The devil is subject to the believer's rights and he cannot take their rights away. The devil is subject to the believer's authority and he must submit to it.
Pastor West: [00:06:20] The devil must submit to the words of a believer's speech, and he must obey their speech, their talk, their words. If you think about the entire nation of Israel, they sang a song of triumph. Do you remember in Exodus one five? And it was simple. It said, the Lord is my strength, and he is my song. It's okay to pray for strength, but you could just take a shortcut and say, oh, just pray I have a strength. Or you could recognize that it gave you strength and say, the Lord is my strength. Well, it couldn't be because I don't feel strong. But let the weak say I'm. And let the poor say. And let the good look and say, well, of course I mean, what can I say? Right. So something like that. Now, Paul and Silas, at midnight, they was in the Philippine jail and their shackles fell off and the gates just flung open. Does that sound like mere men? No. How about this one? Acts 1038. How God anointed Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost and power who went about doing good and healing every other person and every other person that was oppressed? No, that's not that's not the revised translation. That's the reverse. No, he healed them all. Amen. You see? Well, that was Jesus. Yeah, but let me tell you about what Jesus said about you. We won't go there again.
Pastor West: [00:07:37] But Luke chapter nine and ten, you see that Jesus anointed and appointed people. He knowing that he anointed and appointed his his 12 the next chapter he sent 72 out more. Why would he have to do all that? Because the harvest is vast. Population of the earth wasn't near what it is now, right? So here he sends out 12, then he. Then he sends out 72 more and their and their instructions was really clear. He said, go teach Sunday school. Huh? Have a potluck dinner. Huh? Have gym night. Have basketball. Not your cheeks. Not your mama's, not your cheeks. No, it wasn't any of that, was it? His instructions were he should go and proclaim the what? The kingdom of God. Well, what is the message of the kingdom? Well, he told them. He said, here's your instructions. Heal the sick. Cast out Devils. Raise the dead. Amen. Just three simple things to do. Just three simple things. Now here. They're not apostles. Here, they're disciples. See, sometimes people say, well, that's okay, because, you know, you're in the ministry. What are you in? Huh? You've been given the Ministry of Reconciliation, right? So he said the Kingdom news is good. He says so if they're oppressed and they're sick. He said. He said, heal the sick. Don't pray for them. Heal them. He said if demonic spirits is involved, he said, get rid of the devil. He said, if you come there and the dye or the dye while you're preaching, or they look like they're dead while you're preaching, I've seen all that, he said.
Pastor West: [00:09:21] Then he said, he said, cast out the devils. He said, heal the sick and raise the dead. Well, I wonder, did they get any results? Well, their results was you find in the 12th or you find in Luke chapter ten, you find out the disciples returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through your name. Of course, now that was during Bible times. Don't try this at home. No, the devils are subject to them. Because of whose name? Jesus name. Do we still have that same name? Do we have that authority? Actually, we have greater authority than what they had. Jesus hadn't died, went to the cross. You know, when Jesus was raised from the dead, he said, now, now, now all power has been given unto me. And then so that's where the Great Commission, not suggestion, was given, right? Now, if you're a student of history, then, you know, our 26th president was Theodore Roosevelt. You ever heard of Theodore Roosevelt? And we're talking about the The Uncommon Man, and we're talking about the Uncommon Woman. And I'm telling you, because you're born again, you're supernatural. Everything about you is supernatural. Oh, there's part of us that's human. I mean, we have a body. We understand all that.
Pastor West: [00:10:41] But because you're born again, you're born of his nature, and you're not the same person that you were before you were born again. All things. What passed away? Not packed in the back of your closet. Not in a box in the garage. Old things passed away. Behold, all things come new. So, uh, Theodore Roosevelt and I'm going to read you a quote. And I'm sure you're familiar with it. He said, I choose not to be a common man. It's my right to be uncommon. If I can, I'll seek opportunity and not security. He said, I do not wish to be kept as a citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. He said, I want to take the calculated risk. I want to dream and I want to build, and I want not to fail, I don't. He said, in other words, I want a dream, I want to, I want to have a dream, and I want to build on that dream. I don't don't have to fail, but I can succeed. He said, I refuse to live from hand to mouth. You ever hear people say, well, we're living from hand to mouth or paycheck to paycheck? He said, I refuse to live from hand to mouth. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence. He said the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. He said, I will never cower before any master, nor bend to any fiend.
Pastor West: [00:11:57] It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid to think and act for myself and to face the world boldly. Say this I have done. You know the word on comedy. If you look it up, it's what you think it is. It means outside of the normal or outside of the beyond. It's it's not a normal experience. It's beyond that. It means unusual. It means rare, it means exceptional. It means outstanding. It means remarkable. Who? And here is the the uncommon man or woman. All of us. All of us. Amen. That's. That's who we're called to be. Uh, there's a man, uh, who's who's passed. But he was a, uh, he played ice hockey. He was. He was very good. He's from Minnesota. He taught, uh, several places. He actually coached one of our US Olympic teams many years ago and won the Olympics. His name was Herb Brooks. You ever heard of Herb Brooks? Well, he said some things that about the Uncommon Man. He says you can't be common. He said the common man goes nowhere. He says you have to be uncommon. Now that's simple, but what he's saying. So he took people with skills and talents and abilities and athletes. But he he played teams that they didn't, he said. He said we we know if we play them ten times, we know this, that we're going to get beat nine times.
Pastor West: [00:13:24] But he said we're playing them. But since we can win one, we're going to win this one tonight. He says. We're not going to go out there as, as as we who we think we are. He said, we're going to go out there as the uncommon man. We're going to experience something that we can't play them ten times. We do know, he says. I'm even telling you, I know if we played them ten times, we'll get beat nine, he said. But this is the one, so let's go ahead and get the win tonight. Come on, somebody. He says success is won by those who believe in winning. Now listen to this and then prepare for that moment. Many want to win, but how many want to prepare? When Parker and Emily went to Global Ventures, they just didn't get there. They said, pack the suitcase. We're taking off now. There was preparation time. There was classroom time. There was notes time. There was there was tested. You know, in other words, there was a learning curve. When you go into the military, you know, you don't just get a haircut and they send you out, you know, into war. Thank God that they don't know there's training. There's, there's, you know, months or sometimes well over a year. I know I have a son who's a marine. He, he trained 18 months before he was actually sent into war.
Pastor West: [00:14:35] I was thankful for that, that you had that you had training. So a lot of times people just want to go do, but they don't want to take the time for preparation. Preparation is never, ever wasted time. It's never wasted time. It pays off great dividends. He also said risk something or forever sit. Risk something or forever see it with your dreams. You can take a risk or you cannot take a risk and say that's too risky and just sit there with. I wish I would have or if onlys, no matter how the last one, he said. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying. I love that it makes me think about Joseph. Do you remember Joseph in the Bible? And this is in the New Living Translation, Genesis 13 or I'm sorry, Genesis 3718 to 20 said, When Joseph's brother saw him coming, Joseph's brother recognized him in the distance, and as he approached them, they made plans to kill the kill him. And you had a brother or sister like that? Yes. I see those hands. Amen. I feel your pain. I had older brother. Um, but here's what they said. He said, here comes the dreamer. Here comes the dreamer. Now. They didn't mean. They didn't mean this as a compliment. This was sarcasm. But it's a great compliment. He said, here comes the dreamer, they said.
Pastor West: [00:16:06] They say, come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. And we can tell our father why the animal has eaten him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams. Well, yes, they did see what became of his dreams. You know, he foolishly shared some things with the wrong people. I mean, it's not good when you're the youngest child, or probably any of them that you tell your siblings. I had a great dream last night. It was wonderful. It's awesome. It really was it really good? Yeah. Let me tell you about it. I was here and y'all was there and y'all were bound down to me. It was awesome. And they said, well, let's get it going. So he kind of brought some of this on to himself. But I mean, let's kill him and tell dad, you know, that the wild animals ate him. That was that was not just, you know, make believe. That's what they wanted to do. Have you ever heard of Napoleon Hill? He writes in his Keys to Success, he said there is a theory which which pops up again and again, that the opportunity for success are fewer now than they ever were in the past, that our nation has reached the plateau of its success. That the world is dominated by people who already have money, and that success is a finite realm already filled, he said.
Pastor West: [00:17:21] Already filled to capacity, he said. But this is nothing more than a theory. There's no scarcity of opportunity. There's only a shortage of imagination. Anyone who cries no opportunity is simply using an alibi for his or her own unwillingness to assume responsibility. Nothing more than a theory. No scarcity of opportunity. Just only a shortage of imagination. Uh, I read a story here recently in one of John Maxwell's book called Develop the Leader in You, and he writes in that book he said, in A Savior for All Seasons, he said, William Barker relates the story of a bishop, true story from the East Coast, who many years ago paid a visit to a small Midwestern religious college. He said he stayed at the home of the college president, who served also as the professor of physics and chemistry. And after dinner, the bishop declared the millennium couldn't be far off because just about everything about nature had been discovered and all inventions had been conceived. Mm. Well, the young college president politely disagreed and said he felt that there would be many more discoveries. Now, the angered bishop challenged the president to name just one such invention that the president replied. He was certain that would happen within 50 years. He said, I believe within 50 years, he said, men will be able to fly. Uh, the bishop said nonsense. He was outraged, saying that only angels are intended to fly.
Pastor West: [00:18:56] The bishop's name, who was angered. His last name was right, and he had two boys at home who would prove to have greater vision than their father. His two sons was named Orville and Wilbur. You might have heard of him. The father had two sons. They lived under the same sky, but they didn't have the same horizon. Did you know that on the average in the United States, there's 45,000 flights that take off every day, and in the world, approximately 100,000 flights take off and land every day. It seems like it seems like this man was right. You know, those without vision will always reject their God given potential. You have potential on the inside of you. No one here really knows the depth, the height of that potential. But we have potential. Is it tapped or is it untapped? Is it is it is it into motion? Is it is it laying dormant within us? Uh, those who refuse to see the possibilities or, you know, live with this untapped potential, but they don't have to. You can showcase it in your God given imagination. You can put it on display. Just as we were watching the festivals and we were watching what God would do if someone would just simply say yes. If someone would simply have a thought, have an idea, have a dream, be inspired, be inspired by someone else. I'm going to have lunch tomorrow with a man who's who's who, uh, who's preached to, I don't know how many people has preached to.
Pastor West: [00:20:37] He's been to 103 nations. He has 20 million salvations. He preached with T.L. Osborn many times, preached with Lester Sumrall many times. Um, and he, uh, he's written a few about 40, 40 books. And he said, but I just went, I was young, I went to India, and I only had $120. And talisman gave me some ideas of what he could do. And he got over there, didn't have any money, so he just had some things printed and said, show up over here and we'll talk about some stuff. Well, he he did, and a few came and then he had miracles. And uh, at the end of the week he had about 5000 people. Well, now he preaches to 20,000, 50,000, sometimes 200,000 people. And, uh, and so he asked several of these people tell, um, Lester Sumrall, George Myers, several different ones, what's your key to success? Many of them is quite, you know, they related most of them the same, same thing. In other words, they're saying once you start and make the decision to start, don't ever make the decision to quit. Because quitting is going to be real easy. Keep going is the hard part. Sometimes quitting just seems like the best solution. Why? Because it takes the pressure off. Don't ever give in to the pressure.
Pastor West: [00:21:59] Don't never make a decision to relieve pressure. Because that's what. See? That's the enemy's plan. He puts pressure. So when you do things to relieve pressure, you're buying in to what he's trying to do in your life. And so, uh, I look forward to that meeting. So we have this, uh, uh, we have this thought process that sometimes God will give you an idea, but you like Joseph, but you don't need to share it with everybody. You need to know you need to have someone or someone's. And you need to know those people are that will inspire you, that will encourage you and not discourage you. There's plenty of wet blankets around the world. All you got to do is throw out some things and say, oh, you can't do that. Oh, that's just, you know, whatever. Love them and get away from them. Because their nickname jokingly is sunshine, which means they don't have any. But you never find agreement of 11 by 14 idea. You can't stuff 11 by 14 idea into a three by five mine. Hmm'hmm. They can't see what you see and they'll have more excuses. So there's nothing more. When you have 11 by 14 idea, trying to put it into a three by five mindset, there's nothing more than small spaces where dreams die and possibilities are aborted. You know you're never going to access the fullness of God's favor. Never enjoy the splendor of his grace until you're willing to venture out into the impossible.
Pastor West: [00:23:26] These are my notes. The Bible. Fact is, God never changes. But why would he? He's perfect. How do you perfect perfection. So if someone's going to change and he's not, it looks like it's going to be us. Right. So if you are desiring this morning to do things and you're desiring things to be different, then we must change. And faith is always, always going to be action. Read the book of James. Faith is action. Otherwise it's just dead faith. You remember the scriptures, I'm sure in Habakkuk chapter two, verses two and three, and the ESV says, and the Lord answered me, he said, write the vision. Make it plain on tablets, so that he may run. Who reads it? For still the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end, and it will not lie. It seems slow, but wait for it. It'll come and it will not delay. We're familiar with those verses. A lot of times they're read during the first of the year, but never thought I would begin to. The next year we make some notes, we put some ideas, some people have some resolutions. They lose £20, they lose £20, and by May or June they find it back. I know I've done that. I've lost. I know £500 in my lifetime. But I've changed plans now. I've been on the boomerang diet.
Pastor West: [00:24:48] You throw it off, you know what a boomerang does? Comes back and hits you, right? Same place that you that you threw it off of. But the Lord told us to. What? Write the vision, didn't he? What's the vision in your heart? What's the vision that you have? What's the dream that lays within you? Are you too old to dream? Are you too old to have a vision? There's so much life past that you just decided. It's too late for all that. Well, that's none of that's in this verse. He said write the vision. But many read this and they don't write the vision. They write the budget. Hello. But he says, not according to your riches. It's according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Everything that you need to do to succeed is already at your disposal. You may not know where it is, you may not know what's going to come from, but God knows every bit of it. He knows to every jot and tittle how your resources are going to come to you, because ultimately they're not those people resources. They're God's resources. And God has men and women. Now listen to me. God has men and women. I can tell you the 30 years experience. God has people who love God. They say they love God. They're going to go to heaven. But when the opportunity comes, they'll look at what they think they can do and can't do and make a decision on that.
Pastor West: [00:25:57] And they won't act upon it. But there'll be others who have the same heart of God, who hear the same word and see the same thing, and they'll gladly light the check. And they're not looking for credit. They're not looking to be recognized. They're not looking, you know, to sit upon the platform. They're just simply glad to be a part of what God's doing. But the resources are available to you. Vision will create your future. Your vision will create your future. Vision is a photograph of the things that are to happen. And I thank God for great leaders who came. I thank God for great leaders who joined the ranks. I have a library of folks who's already in heaven. I gleam most of my study time. I mean, other than the Bible itself is number one. But when you go to the when I go to my books and I go to my libraries and I pick someone like a Smith, Wordsworth or John G. Lake or Aimee Semple McPherson, you know, or Catherine Coleman. Because what? Because they they were part of the crowd. They were forerunners in their time. And thank God for what they did. But did you know what? They're gone. Who's going to be today's Kathryn Kuhlman? Who's going to be today and tomorrow. Smith Wigglesworth, who's going to stand up and be John G.
Pastor West: [00:27:11] Lakes. Who's going to be the one who's going to tell the story? Who's the one who's going to put legs to their talk? Because the kingdom of God is not talk. It's power. Yeah. Amen. So thank God for these great leaders who came and joined their ranks, taking their place and changing the world as they contributed to what they had. God given them to the greater good. They used their gift, their talents, their abilities. They they use their God given potential. Many of them ran their race and they finished their course. They blazed a trail. And now we can go further, can we not? We can go further because we can stand on the shoulders of a giant. You can see more, you know, when you go to a parade and you're a little bit a kid and you can't see and all the people in front of you, all the little kids, you know, they tug on daddy's britches. And whether that means pick me up and daddy put them on there, you know, he put him on the shoulders and they could see the whole deal. That's what we're doing. Maybe you can't see everything that you need to see for where you are, but you can stand on the shoulders of someone who's already been there and will encourage you to run your race. Amen. We have to do more than just admire their contribution.
Pastor West: [00:28:15] We do. We honor and respect them. But we have to do more than just admire what they did. We have to stand up today. We have to be the person who stands up today because we're still in a fallen world. We have to raise up with not their voice, but our voice because we're darkness tries to invade. We have to be the voice. We have to lift up high praises of our Savior and lead so that others can also follow. Now, I want to ask you today who will say yes to Jesus this morning? Our Redeemer? Who will say yes? Or will you say no to the King? Can you put off this mandate for one more generation? Is this not the hour? Is the world going to be blessed by complacent Christians? Because darkness prevails where believers refused to shine the light into the world. When David went to the heat of battle, and Israel all, all of Israel's right there you get. You got big mouth over here, Goliath telling what he's going to do. And they're all they're all terrified. Saul is terrified. They're all terrified. Terrified. And David just comes because his father says, you know, take some bread, take some cheese, give it to your brothers, come back and tell me how it's going. And so here comes David, you know, and he's a dreamer himself. He's a dreamer. You know, I always said. They said, who made David King? And they said, well, Saul did.
Pastor West: [00:29:37] Now, Saul didn't make him king. Goliath made him king. What? See, you're just a little bigger than what you beat, or you're just a little smaller than what beat you last week. But stay in the game. It's because David slew Goliath and took him off. It was that story, and it was that witness of what he overcame that made David the King. Stay in the fight. Fight the fight. Fight the good fight of faith. And so David asked his brothers concerned Israel and Goliath when they were mocking him for coming there, and said, why aren't you back at home with this few sheep? Give us that cheese and get back to the house, so to speak. And so David said, what does the man get who kills him? Oh, his brothers didn't like that at all. Here you are, your arrogant self. Come down here a little 17 year old punk down here. Wanna know? You know who you know. These ceilings are just a little bit under ten foot. Most commentaries say that that Goliath was somewhere between nine and a half and ten foot tall. And I've done this before. I don't want to do well. I will do it. Uh, so Goliath was about this much taller than the ceiling. That we haven't here. So if I was David and I was standing here and I'm going to kill you. Okay, so he took his vitamins and supplements, but he wasn't feeling that good. Huh?
Pastor West: [00:31:04] Maybe he'd been to the gym, but still, he didn't get that. Here's the question he asked three times. He asked three times. Go study. He asked three times. What does the man get who kills Goliath? And they said, well, here's what he gets. He said, he he said he gets a he gets a home with no taxes. He gets money. And he said, and he gets the king's daughter, he said. I mean, wait a minute. He said, I get a free house. Uh huh. No taxes, and I get my own woman. He said, yeah, he said, he's dead. Then you think you said, well, you're making a deal? No. David asked again. He said, no. Tell me one more time, he says. He gets, he gets a free home and there'll be no taxes on that forever. And he gets the king's daughter. He says, okay, so I get the house, no taxes, I get money, and I get my own woman. He said, yeah. He said, no, he's dead. Then he said, then he said, is there not a cause? I'm asking you today. Is there still a cause?
Congregation: [00:32:04] Amen.
Pastor West: [00:32:06] You don't have to leave and go to the mission field. All you have to do is go out into your neighborhood and know there's a cause. I mean, this blesses me to see what's happening around the world, but the cause is all around you. Amen. But you are the answer to someone's problem. You are called to solve problems. When was the last time you did something for the first time? Billions of people on earth who are lost and headed to a devil's hell. Should we now not take a risk ourselves? I believe God is calling you. I believe he's calling each one of us to do things that have never been done in places that no one has even tried yet. Destiny, you see, is not a matter of. Chance. Destiny is a matter of choice. You choose to create your own. It's your choice. It doesn't matter if anyone's ever done it. No one had ever run the four minute mile until Roger Bannister did. And now over 20,000 people have done that, including high school students, because now that they have information, though, this has been done before. Well. There's things that haven't been done yet, but they still need to be done. It doesn't matter if everyone in your family or your Facebook friends agree with you. You say? Well, I have 1200 friends on Facebook. I said, I doubt it. I don't think you got 200. I don't think you got 20. Tell them all that you think and you'll lose most of them.
Congregation: [00:33:45] Huh?
Pastor West: [00:33:46] Go through hard times and see how many of them step up. It's wonderful if our family and our friends agree with us and wants to help us. But you may not even have that. Some people don't have that. You say, what do you do? You do it anyhow. Yeah, but my parents. Well. I'm sorry. Maybe they'll come around, but do it anyhow. You see, when you decide to walk a path that's different from the norm, you may not get accolades. You may get tomatoes thrown at you. If you don't like that, just stay out of leadership. Leadership is not a position like most people just want a position because they want a title. Real leaders lead. They don't talk. I think I've done everything in this ministry that anybody else has ever done, including things that you hadn't thought of. I haven't been under the building because concrete, but I've been on top of the building. I've unstopped commodes. I've put commodes in. I've tried to fix commodes, I've painted, I've put it, I've. I vacuumed, I've cleaned up, throw up, I've washed dishes. I've laid hands on the sick. I cast out devils, I cut grass, I killed weeds, I cut bushes, I put down fertilizer, I've washed windows, I've done all of it.
Pastor West: [00:35:05] But you know, the worst day in the ministry is much better than the best day in the world. Amen. Amen. And I'm so thankful for the opportunity to do that. How does all this start? Well, it starts with the decision. Coupled with determination. And once you know what to do in your heart, you don't have to have anyone else's consent. In Galatians chapter one. I'm in the NLT. I'm going to go from one and then 15, 16, 17 Galatians one verse 115, 1617 NLT it says, Paul said, I was not appointed, but listen to this. Paul said, I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority. I was appointed by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. Verse 15 he says, but even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace then that it pleased him, verse 16, to reveal his son to me, so that I would proclaim the good news about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. That's called wisdom. Nor did I go to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away to Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.
Pastor West: [00:36:30] Preparation is never wasted time. If he would have asked all these people, what do you think? This is what happened to me on the road to Damascus. This is what Jesus told me. And here he is, Saul of Tarsus, and his job was to take them out. And now he's saying, I'm on your side. Well, they didn't all believe him, and understandably. But he didn't ask him. He didn't confer. The King James said, I did not. Once I knew what to do, I no longer conferred with flesh and blood. What's stopping you? Who's stopping you? Once you know what to do and you make the decision, couple that decision with determination. If you have those who's on your side, call that a plus. I call that whipped cream on top of the cupcake. I call that big love coffee. Amen. Amen. A couple more commercials. You. What you need is a recognition or a call or simply the mandate of a disciple, not an apostle. A decision to obey a decision. A decision to be faithful. Just to never quit. Everyone say with me. Say I'll never quit. Say a little bit better. Say I'll never quit.
Congregation: [00:37:47] I never quit.
Pastor West: [00:37:48] Calvin Coolidge was our 30th president of the United States. And he said nothing in the world would take place of persistence. He says talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. He said genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education, he said, will not. He said the world is full of educated derelicts, but persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. That's a mouthful. He didn't say don't. He didn't say don't get an education. He didn't say he's wrong to be a genius. He didn't say it's not good to have talent. He said, but those are not the two main ingredients for success. He said persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Congregation: [00:38:35] You know.
Pastor West: [00:38:36] Thank God for those who had the the foresight and the dreams and the imagination to build some of the greatest ships in the world. But a ship that just stays at harbor plays it safe. When the nation, our nation sends out some of our ships, our naval ships, the Coast Guard in the in the Navy, they're armed with men and ammunition. And some of the greatest fighter pilots in the entire world are on that ship. But it doesn't do us any good if they just stay at bay. So you can have all the plans in the world. You can tell everybody what God told you. And you got 14,000 prophecies of what people told you you're just going to do, but you haven't left home yet. Yeah, that's right. You say, where do you start? You start with where you are. That's where you start. They are still Osborne. One time they said. The guy said, I think I'm called to China. He said, could you tell me, how did I get from here to China? He said, I sure can. They thought they were going to give him directions from his house to China with a map. He says, start working in your back yard with your neighbors and work from there and go to China. In other words, you're going to change the world. He said, maybe change your underwear first. They won't change the world. Maybe cut your grass, clean out your sock drawer, clean out your car, talk to your neighbor, bake him some cookies.
Pastor West: [00:39:55] Tell him Jesus loves him. Invite him to church. Beg him some lemonade. Do something. Don't talk about going to China when you don't know who your neighbor is. I'm doing better preaching than some of y'all doing. Amen. There to expand your imagination. Allow the Holy Spirit to recalibrate the recesses of your mind. Refuse to live in a comfort zone because it's comfortable there. The road that travels to your God given destiny starts where you are this morning. It's where you start is where you are. Michelle and I, the church blessed us a number of years ago. I sometimes throw this because, you know, a missionary trip can be anywhere. And y'all send us one time to Hawaii. There are still people in Hawaii that need Jesus. It's a long way from home. But I'm willing. I'm willing. I mean, if y'all want to send me, we'll go. But did you know we left from Birmingham and by Delta, and we. And we caught a flight of Delta Atlanta. And we flew from Atlanta to Honolulu. I would not suggest that. I would suggest go to Texas or go and then get a little rest, you know, in California. But the same plane that they fueled up in Atlanta was the same plane that landed in the most beautiful, beautiful, beautiful state, same plane. But we had to start where we were. Do you know where you're going? Well, then you have to know where you are. And then you have to make some plans.
Pastor West: [00:41:21] Is there going to be adversity? I promise you, there will be. She's obviously well, just for all. Jesus is all going to turn out. Yeah, it'll turn out. But they're not telling you about some of the ugly mess in the middle ministry. Now, listen to me. Ministry is messy. Oh, the building's clean and everything. And here's brand new. And we love that. But this was a mess to get us to this place. It was an absolute mess at one time in this building. The things. If you could see above the ceiling that had to take place for all the electrical work and all that kind of stuff. The things that the electrician found that shouldn't be there are now fixed. You know, it's amazing what you can fix for $10,000. Today can be your new launch. Tomorrow never gets here. All you have is now. I was just writing what I was hearing. I love this particular, if you want to call it a sermon, whatever. But this is the Lord speaking to me. I'm just sharing with you what he shared with me. What are you going to do with your one and only life? You only have one. What are you going to do with it? Will you waste it on living safe and low risk? You take that path of just low risk where many seldom ever, ever use the minutes, the days, the hours of their day to make any difference in their life. They're just living a natural life.
Pastor West: [00:42:44] Or will you invest your life? You know you're going to have to if you're going to succeed in whatever God's called you to do, you're going to have to invest in yourself. Sometimes that means going to seminars. For some people it may be. It may be taking a class. Or classes. It may be going back to school. It may be learning the market of some, you know, some product that you want to sell a market or getting a certain business people for a business that you're thinking about starting in your area around the world. But it starts with the investment that you put in yourself. I probably could buy me a really nice, a really, really nice motorcycle or really nice boat with what I've spent on books. You said, why would you do that? Well, because I found out. Well, someone like Peter Daniels, which is a billionaire in Australia that I bought. Just one. Just one book used autobiography was $100. You said, why in the world would you buy a $100 book? You say, was it worth it? That's the wrong question. It wasn't worth it. Was I worth it? I was investing in me so that I could invest in you. Because I think you're worth it. Amen. See? I'm supposed to lay my life down for you. I didn't invest just for me. I invested for you. Are you worth it? Boy, I hope so. You are. So what are you going to do with your one and only life? You invest in yourself.
Pastor West: [00:44:20] You take the time to learn and grow and develop, and you step out. And sometimes you fail. But you get up going again and again. Maybe this is a very simple formula of success. I want to give you, number one, just to be determined to not quit after you know what you're going to do, and you start just to be determined not to quit. Number two, know this you will stumble and you will fall, and many times you'll want to quit. I've quit several times. For a few minutes. Sometimes they even quit for a day. I remember years ago I stomped off in the ministry and said, I ain't got to take this. I don't even remember what this was, but that day it was just too much. I said, I don't have to take this. I don't even have to stay in this town. I got my car and I ended up somewhere in mountain Brook, and I had a nice restaurant and I thought, yeah, I take this. Then it started getting dark and I said, well, I guess I better go home. Then I came home Sunday and I was all refreshed, but for for a few moments, it just felt good for me, so I quit. Well, you may have some of those moments. I hope you don't even have to do that. But you might. But it's okay. You just get back up and you start again, getting up and going again and again.
Congregation: [00:45:30] Simply put.
Pastor West: [00:45:31] If you can get up and stay up one more time than when you quit, you win. All you have to do is just get up and go one more time than what you quit. And you. And you're the winner.
Congregation: [00:45:41] Amen. Amen.
Pastor West: [00:45:42] When you're playing sports, it just takes one more point to win than it is to lose. One more victory than a defeat and you're the winner. A fable is told about three apprentice devils that were going to Earth to finish their apprenticeship. And they were talking to Satan, the king of the devils, about their plans to attempt to ruin humanity. And it said, the first devil said I. He said, I'll just tell them there's no God. And Satan said, he said, that won't work. He said, people, people know there's a God. Uh, the second devil said, well, I'll just tell them there's no hell. And the devil said to him. He said, well, most people know deep down in their hearts that there is a hell, and they know there's a judgment to come that's not going to work. Then the third devil, working on his apprenticeship said, he said, I'll just tell them there's no hurry. And Satan said, that's it, that'll work. He said, that'll ruin millions of lives. Cause, see, that's how procrastination works. Does it say I'm not going to do it? It doesn't say it's final, it's too absolute. It just says, I'll get around to it soon. And Satan told that demon, that's the key. That'll work. Go spread your gospel. So all we have to do is get up one more time. Then. Then we fell down or we quit. Did you know the majority of people never go beyond the normal? They just don't.
Pastor West: [00:47:12] Are you willing to settle for mere existence? The kingdom of God needs trailblazers. Trailblazers had the same problems of everybody else in the room. I know years ago when we had the full praise team up here, mostly in Clanton, Barber could tell you this. She had to several times because you get out there like Christie chemo, you know, and like bubbly and all this kind of stuff. Well, but she didn't tell you is is okay to say she's with child. And sometimes in the first couple of months, you want to hug the porcelain receptacle. So she comes up here up and says, this is the day the Lord had made. Because it's just life. You know, when you're with child, sometimes the first 2 or 3 months is not always that fun. Well, Barbara's talking about one time because, you know, get up on stage and say, you know, leading people in worship and praise and, you know, people would tell us that I wish, I wish my life was like yours. I mean, you're just so happy all the time. And you just you're just a worshiper and praise God. And but I have so many problems. I mean, I'm not like you. I have so many problems. She looked at him like, you know, like a cow. Looks at a metal gate, a new metal gate.
Congregation: [00:48:34] So she might.
Pastor West: [00:48:34] Have had 10,000 times more problems than they did. But she didn't let it rule her world. She knew who she was and she knew who God was. She knew the answer to it. David knew the answer to it. He looked like no king out there. A few sheep, 17 year olds, red headed boy with freckles. He's out there, you know, with his shepherd's staff and act like he's at a Van Halen concert, right in Psalms. But God saw something in David that even he couldn't see in himself. God sees in you what you don't see in yourself. Sometimes. That's why we want to encourage people, because sometimes some people will act off the faith that you have in them when they don't have faith for themselves. Sometimes it's just that little spark. That you can give someone that they'll borrow from you by just your belief in them. Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick. And I think there's a lot of sick people in church with with with really hope deferred. Whether it be from, you know, something, a relationship or a divorce or, you know, whatever happened, a tragedy of a of a loved one that passed and they're and they're by the wayside, I don't mean they're not saved, I just mean but they become ineffective. There. They need. They need a hope dealer, not a drug dealer. See, we all should be. Hope dealers. Because you have the message, you are the answer to their problems. You have the solution. People enter the workforce every day, whatever their vocation is.
Pastor West: [00:50:19] And what they do is think about it in this terms. They solve problems. Whatever your vocation is, whether you market something or whether you are a service or whether you're whatever industry that you're in, that market services, people with some type of commodity or service, and someone pays for that service, but you're solving their problem. I mean, the guy that runs a grocery store certainly solves a problem. The guy who brings the groceries and truck is solving a problem. The guy who pumps out the septic tank. You want his job? Thank God for him. The people who picks up your trash. Do you want their job? No, but they are big problem solvers. The guy that and nurse that opens you up and does surgery and takes out something that's not working in your body and helps you. They're solving problems. Do we need them? Yes. So if you want to really succeed, just solve more problems. I'm going to start praying your problems get worse. Amen. If you want me to, I will lay hands on you for that right before you leave. But these people find themselves in the same impossible situations. But they just do it anyhow because they know the greatness of their God. Let me finish with this and I want to show you a short video. You see people who do it anyhow. They don't live life as the Israelites did with the grasshopper complex. You know, numbers chapter 13 and 14. We can't because we can't. Because the cities are fortified.
Pastor West: [00:51:54] We can't because there's been over a great stature, which to me, I jokingly say, you just saw all you went through all the plagues of Egypt, you went through the Red sea. The Red sea was standing up on both sides while you walked through on dry ground. And you can't go over there because the people are tall. Could you go if they were shorter? I mean, what's your deal? Tall people is keeping you out of the promised land. Well, that's funny in one sense, but it's very sad because they died. But the scripture says that we're supposed to we're supposed to use their their lack of success as an example so that we don't follow the same pattern of unbelief. Amen. It's God calls it unbelief, which God calls unbelief, evil and demonic. Have you accomplished everything that you've been put here to do yet? Have you seen it all? Do you suppose there's still some battles to be won? Is there people to reach that you need to reach? Do you still have music in you? Been a lot of books written. I don't know if a lot, but some and used the title. It's a really good title, so you ought to live life full when you leave here. You ought to leave empty. In other words, live full but die empty. Don't die with regrets. Live the life that you're called to. Tap the potential God gave you. Use what you got. Don't compare yours to someone else. I'm never going to be Billy Graham.
Pastor West: [00:53:34] I already figured that out. I'm never going to be T.L. Osborn. I can't even think that fast. Much less preach that fast. I can't do it. I mean, I can say, get ready, get ready, get ready. But, I mean, I don't think I'm ever going to be him. I don't think I'm ever going to be Joel Osteen. This is my Bible. I don't think I can do that either. But millions of people around the planet are thrilled with it. A number of years ago. We'll stop there. A number of years ago, I was probably Zack's age, Michel, and I was, and we were in the business that we were interested in building, and we were some leaders that encouraged us to to go to a meeting, said it would be life changing and people that were doing what we were interested in doing, you know, there was going to be several multi-millionaires there and we would learn information and some of it would be inspirational, but we were at a place to where, you know, it's like, do you have $5? I don't, but somehow we made the decision to go there and we went to Charlotte, North Carolina, and we went to a Coliseum. We were there for a weekend and we found out when we went in there was 15,000 more people like this to think this thing might work. And there was a man there, and I'm going to tell you his name. You'll know who he is. He was an inspirational motivational speaker, and he was married to Gladys Pitt.
Pastor West: [00:54:49] His name was Les Brown. And the guy of the organization that we were a part of was given to Lester Brown, his first shot to ever speak to more than 2000 people. And it was his first time to get to speak to 15,000 people. Rock Hill, South Carolina, is just a just a stone's throw away from Charlotte, North Carolina. And but so there wasn't a Coliseum big enough to put this organization in. So he put 10,000 of them in in Rock Hill. And he put another 15,000 in Charlotte. And then he sent this man around the globe speaking to his organization, because this man had a half a million people in his organization. But we sat there and we probably 23, 24 years old, and we were sitting there with all these people for a whole weekend. If the at the end of that weekend there was a non-denominational service. If you wanted to stay in town. It wasn't about business principles, it was just people who had succeeded in this business who were Christians, and they just kind of gave their testimony of how this thing had changed their whole life and how they came to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. At the end of that service, they gave an altar call, and we watched thousands of people go down in a coliseum in the business arena. So most people wouldn't think about that, that we could actually stay here on Sunday. I've already paid for this place.
Pastor West: [00:56:11] Who knows, some of them might stay well out of 15,000. Look like there was about 8000 that stayed over and listened to 3 or 4 couples share their testimony about how their life changed. They'd heard how this business had changed their life, but now they're going to hear about how God had blessed them in this business. And we watched as as these couples just shared a simple gospel through their personal experiences, how it had changed their life, and they were telling it was through the Lord Jesus Christ. There was Muslims there. There was people of all religions. I don't know if they got up or they left. I don't know what happened to them. All I know is when the music played, 2 to 3000 people came out of the seats, and every time we went to a function just like that, the same thing happened over and over again. I want to play a short clip. It's not a very good audio, a video, because this is the video of the Coliseum. We were in this Coliseum when you watched a little five minute clip of what Les Brown said to encourage the people, and I wanted to encourage you so I know there's greatness in you, and I know that you know it. But I just want to remind you today, it's there. It's not going away because greater is he. That's what in you. That he that's in the world. It's in there. All we need to do is release it. Let's go. All right.
Les Brown [Video]: [00:57:31] I told Mr. Washington I wanted to become a disc jockey. Someone asked me to tell this story, and he said, Les Brown. He said, if you want to do anything worthwhile in life, you've got to be hungry. And so I started working to develop myself. He said, I want you to practice every day being a disc jockey, I said, but I don't have any job now. He said, it doesn't matter. He said that it's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared. So every day I was working to develop myself. And that's what you must do. And as I was working to develop myself, I applied for a job as a disc jockey Wmrb am on Miami Beach and went to a guy named Milton Butterball. And I said, how are you doing, Mr. Butterball? I like to get a job as a disc jockey. He looked at me. He said, do you have any broadcast background? I said, no, sir, I don't you have any journalism background? I said, no, sir, I don't. He said, we don't have any jobs available. I said, yes, sir. I went back to Mr. Washington and I told him, he said, don't take it personally. He said, most people are so negative, they will have to say no seven times before they say yes. He said, go back again. So I went back again. I said, how are you doing, Mr. Butterball? My name is Les Brown. He said, I know what your name is. What do you want? I said, I'd like to know whether or not you have any jobs for disc jockey, sir, he said, didn't I just tell you yesterday we didn't have any jobs? I said, yes, sir, but I don't know whether or not somebody got laid off or somebody was fired, sir, he said no one was laid off a fire.
Les Brown [Video]: [00:59:02] Now get on out of here. I came back the next day. Hello, Mr. Butterball, how are you? He said, fine. What do you want now? I said, I like to know whether or not you got any job, sir. Didn't I tell you the last two days we didn't have any jobs? I said, yes, sir, but I don't know whether or not somebody got sick or somebody died, sir. He said no one got sick or died. No, don't come back here and throw me out again. I came back the next day like I was seeing him for the first time and said, hello, Mr. Butterball, how are you? He looked at me with rage. He said, go get me some coffee. I said, yes, sir. And I went to get him some coffee. After a while, I was getting that lunch and dinner, and I would go in the control rooms and take the disc jockeys their food, and I would not leave until they would ask me to leave. Then they'd started trusting me to pick up entertainers that came to town, entertainers like the Four Tops and and the Temptations and Diana Ross and the Supremes. I would drive them all over Miami Beach and the disc jockeys, big, long Cadillacs. I didn't have any driver's license, but I was driving like I had some. And one day. One Saturday afternoon, while I was at the radio station, a guy named Rock was drinking while he was on the air.
Les Brown [Video]: [01:00:26] I was the only one there looking at him through the control room windows, walking back and forth, young, ready and hungry. House and drink. Rock. Drink. Drake Rock. Got it goin to get him some more if he'd ask me to. Pretty soon the phone rang and it was a general manager and I answered the phone. I said hello, he said, les, this is Mr. Klein. I said, I know. He said, rod can't finish his program. I said, I know. He said, would you call one of the other DJs in? I said, yes, sir. I hung the phone up. I said, now he must be Think I'm crazy? I call my mom and my girlfriend Cassandra. I said, y'all turn up the radio and come out on the front porch. I'm about to come on the air. I waited for about 20 minutes and I call him back. I said, Mr. Klein, I can't find nobody. He said, young boy, do you know how to work the controls? I said, yes, sir. He said, go in there and don't say nothing here. I said, yes, sir. I couldn't wait to get behind those controls. I put on old Stevie Wonder record called fingertips. I sat down behind that turntable. I said, look out, this is me, Elvis, triple P, Les Brown, your platter playing Papa. There were none before me. And there will be none after me. Therefore that makes me the one and only, young and single and love to mingle. Certified, bonafide, indubitably qualified to bring you satisfaction a whole lot of action. Look out babe, I'm your love. Man I was hungry.
Les Brown [Video]: [01:02:08] You gotta be hungry.
Write a comment