The Ministry of Reconciliation

God bless you. You can make your way back to your seats. Thank you worship team. Great job all this week. Amen. Amen.

Give them a hand. Thank them for their sacrifice. They have to get here way before we do. Who I do believe the media is going to cooperate with us today. I want to thank the media team for all their hard work and making sure they got things back on track. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Brother Bill, I'm going to let you off the hook, sir. Thank you very much. I pray that you've made great friendships this week and that you've received of the great ministry of Brother Shaw and this great youth committee. A lot of work goes into this to make this possible.

So young people, it's right to give thanks and give honor to whom honor is due. Would you give a hand to your great youth committee, Brother Gillan, Brother Jesse Arthur, the whole team has been fantastic. And of course, Brother Shaw coming and giving away his life here. When a minister comes, they give away their life away from their time, their church, their family, and their responsibilities. I honor you, sir, for that. And thank you for sharing your heart each time.

We have not collaborated at all or shared notes at all. And I I am going to wrap up today with what I'm going to call your calling dealing with your calling calling and purpose. I would call this the ministry of reconciliation. Now I got 10 ideas. I am going to take off and land fast today. But I I love the biblical definition of unity.

We are the united Pentecostal church. But unity is not just uniformity. We don't act like we're together. Unity means union with God's purpose. And I feel a lot of hunger in this generation that you are driven towards the things of God.

I'll read a couple of verses of scripture and then you can be seated. Those of you are standing. No pressure. I know the average I heard was two hours asleep. So God help. One of my favorite passages again in the word of the Lord.

2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 and 18. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, see, now there it is. You got to be in Christ. He is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.

And then the apostle doesn't stop there because he's dealing with your personal salvation and the and the things that you've consecrated at this camp are wonderful and good and right. But he gives us further direction after we're saved about life in the spirit. And the Bible says all things are of God, who hath reconciled us un unto himself by Jesus Christ, and then adds and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. What does that mean, brother Killmon? Your obedience matters to you, but your your obedience also matters for others. And then I want to end today with the same type of challenge last night.

Your obedience matters because the impact is real. Would you bow your heads for with me one more time? I'm going to take a risk today. All I want you to do is just pray, Lord, open my understanding. Would you do that? Lord, we pray that somehow in our last few moments we have together with these great great young people that have a passion to make an impact in your kingdom.

That you would open their understanding, Lord, that somebody can see in the spirit through the taught word today the things that you give so that they can embrace what they're called to be. We we ask this in Jesus name and we'll be careful to thank you. We give you all the praise in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. May be seated.

Now I'm just going to ask him back there. Sister Bell, you just pushed me. Give me that next slide. I I I'll give you another passage of scripture. First Chronicles 12:32, a very beautiful passage of scripture. I want to point out one big idea for this.

I' I've underlined some things there so you can catch it. The Bible reads as a this way. It says, "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do." The heads of them were 200. And then the Bible says declaring what was true of these particular types of of leaders that they had understanding of the times. They knew the complexities of the time and they knew the answers to the issues. The Bible says that all their brethren were at their commandment.

I will tell you if you have understanding of the times and you know what people ought to do, you will not have to chase down position, position will chase you down. You will not have to try to become an influencer. You will be an influencer because you have actual answers to the issues of life. Now, let me see if I can take off and lay fast. Give me that next slide, Sister Bell.

Number one, I I I want you to understand that you're in a new time. There are what I'm going to call new attacks on the word of God. And and we'll talk about some of those, but the biggest attack today isn't maybe about the science of the Bible or even brother Shaw about the the textual issues around preservation of the word of God. As important as they are to defend inherency, that's not the biggest attack in your generation. I think the biggest attack is something like this. My ethics are higher than the Bible.

That book is filled with misogyny and racism and and genocide and and and the God that you serve and the God that you claim. Actually, my ethics are better than the Bible. But I want to remind you that you got to frame all of reality. I want to help you today that everything you say ethically matters. Every demand that someone makes about value has to be grounded somewhere. And when they're telling me you that you're just giving me your subjective Christian idea, well then what you should respond in a very kind way is something like this.

Well, how are your ideas grounded? What truth claims that are you making that I need to embrace? What are they founded on? Because all ideas have consequences. Do you believe that man is fallen and limited and even well-meaning can get to bad places? Or do you believe that God is beyond what what we can think of and and what is to what ought?

And like I've been saying all week that the creator actually knows best to guide us for all of life. I'm going to concrete this in in what it will look like and materialize in your own life. It's like one of my ibc alumni said that her brother came and I'll try say this very carefully because I want to protect identity. Her brother came out of the closet and was talking about how her dad would come in and he would he would be dripping hot tears and he would feel it hit his face and he would wake up and his dad would be praying in tongues over his son to try to pull him away from the clutches of of the enemy as he was going into an alternative lifestyle. I have a question for you. Is that abuse?

And and you got to figure that out. And this young man is making claims now against his very lovely parents who love want what's best for him. You got to deal with ethics. And if you're going to call that abuse, you have to deal with the reality of how you can name that as abuse. And I'm going to I'm going to be strong today. Of course, I haven't been all week.

Don't your neighbor say that was a joke. I want to remind you that ethics and values are being sold every day. 200 Producers around 200 producers determine what 330 million Americans watch. I I will remind you that basically still five conglomerates own most of what is produced in the world in terms of entertainment and music and everything that you can think of. And I I I think you got to realize that ethics are being sold every day. And like a like a minister at headquarters that I was talking to with tears in his eyes, his daughter said to him who's in an alternative lifestyle.

Dad, your problem is that old book you have. Your problem is you need to make sure you get something updated maybe in the language and you'll understand that my lifestyle is okay. But I'm going to tell you, it still takes somebody that can ground their ethics in reality. But I'm going to show you the contrast. Give me that next slide, please, Sister Bell.

There is a witness of what I'm going to call natural law where Psalm 9:17 says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." I'll give you Proverbs 13:34. It is still true that righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Now, what does that mean, brother Killmon? I think it's fascinating the areas of science and sociology and psychology that are finally catching up to what the Bible has been saying all the time that you can try to deny reality, but you got to deal with the consequences of your own choice. Somebody's got to know what existence is. Somebody ought to try to guide somebody to blessing.

So, I I love Webster's third definition of of insanity. It's doing the same thing again and again and and and trying to get a different result. But I will tell you that the primary definition of insanity is a disconnection from reality. Now, I'm going to help you today. There is a whole lot of people that are trying to sell ideas that are disconnected from reality. That's why the fallout in people's life is not what's promised.

It's chaos and hurt and pain. I I I I'll give you an example of this. Yeah. Give me that next slide. It's it's fascinating to me and we don't have time to deal with this today. I wish I could drop here talk for an hour.

All of science scientific inquiry after Darwin has moved towards proving intelligent design. That's why even though in high school you are probably taught Darwinian the Darwinian theory of evolution that idea has been dismissed at the graduate level no one in PhD studies believes in Darwin's theory of evolution. Why brother Killmon? Because the evidence of design that that that the 40some or 10 and some constants that had to coalesce at the same time for complex life to exist you there's no way to argue that came by chance. What do you mean by that brother Killmon? The fact that the earth is tilted at a certain type of degree.

The the fact that we have large tectonic plates that lets heat out of the earth's core. The fact that we have a large moon to control the tides. The atmosphere of the earth lets the right sun rays in and filters out the bad. Now take what that means is there's 40ome depending on whose list you use 40ome tound and some constants that had to coalesce at the same time in order for complex life to exist. What's complex life, brother Killmon? You turn to your neighbor say you're complex.

Some of y'all enjoyed that a little too much. But that means that you got to win the lottery with 40ome or hundred and some numbers. And the problem is is when you look at the numbers and and and I I get it. People are saying things all the time. Robert Jastro is an atheist nasa scientist. And this is what he said.

Modern history, the scientific inquiry reads like a horror story for the atheist that has put their faith in their reason. Now you better hear that confession of faith because that confession of faith always determines their ethics as well as their cosmology. What they say about creation will always fall into the moral realm. And he says it reads like a horror story. Why? Because all of the scientific inquiry from that time to now.

He says it's like we're climbing the mountain of ignorance. We get to the top and when we get to the top what do we find but a band of theologians who have been there for centuries. Why? Because creation out of nothing seems to be something in there. We can't. We know that the earth is winding down and it's going to die a cold death.

So, it had to be created a finite time ago. Now, I'm going to tell you, when you can get some atheists saying things like that, you need to understand that you're in a new moment. That admission like one man said, I I'd like to go with you. He said, "But when I look at the constants that had to coalesce, it's like winning the lottery with that many numbers. I'd like to go with you, but I don't have enough faith." Man, I'm getting stuck here, you guys. Okay.

It's like this. There's one man is Stephen Hawking, kind of a bright dude. He would say, "Well, there could have been a time where before the big bang, the constants that we observe now didn't co they didn't cohhere." Now, what does he mean by that? That all of the laws of ex of existence that scientific empiricism can see maybe they did not exist that way before the big bang. And you know what evidence he has for that? I mean it's philosophically interesting.

It's some type of logical argument. But what evidence does he have that all of the observable laws did not exist the way they do today before the big bang? There is no proof. And one man said, "I'd like to go with you, but I don't have that kind of faith." I'll give you another one. The multiverse theory by people like Richard Dawkins up there saying, "Well, there's all these universes because you got to get enough time and chance to equal everything." So, here's what he says. Well, if you if you here's what you do.

You got to understand that there are multiple univer think, forgive me for the reference, brother Gil, for wherever you are, bishop, forgive me, but think Star Trek. Now, I know you read that in the book somewhere. Now, what does that mean, brother Killmon? Think these multiveres and and and and there's maybe hundreds or thousands or even millions of multiveres. Why? Because you got to get enough time plus chance to equal everything.

And the problem is is you ready? He would say, well, when one when one Christian apologist said, "Well, that's interesting. You're on the cutting edge of scientific inquiry and when will we know about these other multiveres?" And he said, "We will never know." What do you mean you'll never know? No, they operate on a different plane of existence. So, what you're willing to postulate, catch this, what you're willing to postulate is thousands or millions or billions of other universes you can't see because you got to get enough time plus chance equals everything. And you don't believe in one God when all of the scientific inquiry we have now shows design in the universe.

Like to go with you, but I don't have enough faith. What's the problem, brother Killmon? It's not logical. It's moral. It's not a desire to understand what's going on in the world. It's somebody using their intellect in the service of sin to to excuse what they really want to do on the inside of their heart.

And when you get on a college campus or you're dealing with something in the culture, you have to remember it's not a mind issue. It's a heart issue. The evidence is clear. I'll try. I wish we could just talk there forever. There's but I'll leave that alone.

Please push me, Sister Bell.

Number three, not only are there witnesses in science, there's witnesses in sociology. Culture admissions that are shocking like this is in the Christian Post and it was written. It says Pentecostalism may have done more for Africa than all aid organizations combined. Give me that next slide. This is Dr. Dena Freeman.

She's got a bachelor's in anthropology from Cambridge and a PhD from the London School of Economics. Look at what she says. She says, "Pentecostals focus on some key aspects of change that secular NOS's continue to ignore. That means if you're going to go dig wells, you're not going to look a guy in the eye and say, be faithful to your family." See, that's what she's saying. There's a set of moral things that they focus on that these secular kind of dig wells people ignore. And she says the Pentecostals are ex exceptionally effective at bringing about personal transformation and empowerment.

What does that mean? Brother Killmon, she says they provide the moral legitimacy for a set of behavior changes that would otherwise clash with local values. We say, "I don't care how you were raised. I don't care what your culture is. Now don't take my sushi. I love sushi.

I think I may have been a seal in an alternative life somewhere. I can eat my weight and raw fish. So don't take my sushi. That's not what we're talking about. But when the culture that you were raised with is an antithetical to the Bible and it's against what the Bible says, somebody's got to say, "I love you, but your culture is wrong. You need to conform to the Christ of culture.

Who can give you kingdom culture?" And she says they have done more to to convert these people. And she says, "Radically reconstructing families and communities to support these new values and new behaviors because without new values, you can't get new behaviors. Without new behaviors, you can't get change." Can I just tell you that preaching against sin is still the answer. Preaching new life in the spirit. If a lady from a PhD in economics from London can say that, why aren't you going to say that to somebody? Confront sin, say you can live better, and then give them the power of the spirit because it's the Pentecostals, brother Shaw, that are doing that.

Give me that next slide. I'll hurry. Robert George, a Princeton sociologist, wrote a book called The Thriving Society. He said, "The two greatest institutions for lifting people out of poverty and enabling them to live in dignity are the market economy and the institution of what? Marriage." He gives five pillars in his book and I'll just mention two. He said now how do you build strong families?

He says number one how do you produce good people to go into the culture? Pillar number one responsible individuals are best formed in religion. Now brother Killmon why are you bringing that up? Because this is a guy from Princeton, not attached to the Christian faith, that is saying what your pastor says, what your youth pastor says, what you're going to say to your friends is you need to come to church. If you want a good life, if you want a blessed life, and you got the ministry of reconciliation in your hands, you need to invite them into blessing. I'm trying not to get too excited, but I hope I can encourage some of you to lift your head a little bit and walk back into your school and say, "I have the answer.

I know what the ministry of reconciliation looks like. He said, "Pillar number two, marriage between one man and one woman." And all of human history witnesses that Genesis is right that the creation mandate laid out by God in Revelation is still the answer to the world. Now, just we're going to have to hurry or I'm going to get stuck way too much. Sister Bell, Alexis de Tocqueville is a a French aristocrat. Many people know who he is. And he wrote an incredible two volume work on America.

And what he was saying is how in the world did America go from this fledgling new nation to becoming the monolith, the the single power of influence in the world? How did America do this? And so shortly and he was an aristocrat. He was he had a life of privilege in France. And he says what they're doing in America is better. And he said there's there's something that happens and and it's not in all of their resources and not even in their constitution and their form of democracy.

It's something else. He said because they have these strong people. And what what did he say? Three things.

Number one, there are these incredibly strong social institutions and they number two create a strong social fabric and number three they unite their communities together. And he said those three things are incredible. Now, what two institutions build strong people to go out and become good judges and good businessmen and good families and good teachers and good people in society. What does that? He said, number one, it's the family. Number two, it's the church.

Now, I'm going to tell you the best thing you can do is you can get your little friends to come to church with you and say, "You need to build a family inside the house of God." There's blessing inside the house of God. This is against everything you're going to hear in the culture. And you got to know that that's where the war is being fought. That's why the redefinition of the family is so strong. That's why the attack against the church is so strong. You need to see spiritual warfare for what it is.

But you know what? You were made for war. God gave you armor. And my God doesn't invest in losing battles. He gave you armor so that you can walk out with understanding and fight the battle that he's called you to.

Number four, me that next slide. We've already looked at this. I wish we had time to deal with it in detail, but again, but the limits of false ideas are re are reality. You consume ideas and that creates your being, your life, and and that formation can look like bondage. And again, I'll remind you Matthew 7:20, wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. There are two things that are in our society today.

The urban dictionary, I don't always go there, but it's a good resource to understand the changing definitions of values. There's something called the moo and the midriffith. And what they call the moo is a guy that's really irresponsible, and you'll forgive my cander today. Irresponsible, perverted, crash, crude, and disrespectful. Gentlemen, if you're going to live different than that, you're going to have to aim at it. I'm going to lean in a little bit.

If you're irresponsible, stop. If you're perverted, stop. If you're crass, stop. If you're crude to people, stop. You cannot be used of God and your life be still marked. You cannot lead if your life is marked by the same bad attitudes and crashness of the culture.

What we need is strong men that are in opposition to the culture. And then the midriff, crude and disrespectful men, not God's agenda. The midriff, you know, the little half shirt. This has become a meme in modern society where a girl will act, you forgive me ladies, will act stupider, more stupider. And you have to hide your brilliance because you think you won't get a date. Listen, if he has a problem with you being brilliant, don't marry a a neat little Christian boy.

Find you a godly man instead. You need to find somebody that's not intimidated by your gifts. Somebody that's looking for a partner in life to face all of the issues together. These type of ladies that flaunt their immodesty. They want to act older and show more skin and give themsel to party and drinking. All of these ideas and ethics and values are tied to things that destroy.

I'll prove it to you. There are social elites who want to drive our society. Let me give you an example. Give me that next slide, Sister Bell. Carl Marx's two daughters died in suicide packs. He can't even run his own family.

How can he run a society? I I Jean Jacqu Rouso, the French aristocrat who said, "We got to do away with Christianity and we can create a democ democracy built on pleasure and we can let children be wards of the state." and he abandoned all five of his children at an orphanage to be raised by the state. Now, I'm just going to be really plain. I do not respect a man who drops his kids off to be raised by someone else. What we need is men who be husbands and fathers and faithful. You got I'm going to tell you, you got to understand what spiritual warfare is.

I'm glad you speak in tongues, but it's got to make you a man of God. It's got to make you a husband and father worthy of respect. The 1940s only 3.8% of Americans were raised in fatherless home. 84 Years later, more than that now, 42%. I I'm going to be as controversial as I can to just make it interesting for you staying awake. There is a monster fact that nobody wants to deal with.

And one of my new heroes is is a man named Robert Woodson. You should look him up and find out who he is. He's a countercultural apologist and he says this monster fact that the poverty rate among black married couples has been in the single digits every year since 1994. Why bring that up, brother Killmon? Because all the lies about race are not true. This is about Genesis.

This listen, you cannot embrace lies. You got to embrace the truth. And when you look at that fact, you ready? Since 1994 if you just stayed married. Okay, gentlemen, what we need is for you to be men of God. I'm going to tell you what you're going to do to rescue children and save our future and get them out of the chaos of being raised alone by their mom.

You got to have men of integrity, men of understanding that says, "God has made me to sacrifice. He's made me to give. He's built me as a protector for my home, and I know my role. That's spiritual warfare. If you lose that battle, you're going to lose your marriage. If you lose that battle, you're going to lose your family.

But if you get understanding on the inside of you, you'll be the type of man that can revolutionize your society. What are you saying, brother Killmon? Those who want to build society, press their vision. But Bob Woodson, that beautiful man, give me that next slide. What makes us free is knowing truth. And creation's witness is plain.

When you get outside of the paradigm of Genesis, you fail. Bob Woodson pointed out what I mentioned yesterday, that in Silicon Valley, that's where you have six times the average suicide rate in the rest of in the rest of the United States. Turn to your neighbor say it's not a money issue. He says that fascinating to me. We're we're in wild times and this is his language. He's a man of color, so I'm going to use his language.

He says, "Black teens in the inner city are dying by homicide, particularly boys. Lowincome white kids in Appalachia are dying from prescription drugs. And if we don't get faith, he says, and family right, we'll never get self-determination right." You got to discipline yourself into some freedoms. That's why I didn't play basketball last night. I haven't disciplined myself into that freedom. You can't ride the bench your whole life and then expect to be put in the game and perform well.

You got to start working on your character now. You got to start working on your ethics now. You got to start working on your attitude now. You got to say, "God, any weakness inside of me, God, protect my future. Pound it out of me, God. Whatever it takes to get that type of victory on the inside of me so I can be the man you're calling me to to get into my future.

God, work on my heart. Work on my desires. Make me into your image. If we don't do it, I I think the Lord's going to turn it over to somebody else. Robert Woodson says that it's fascinating to him that black women in the inner city whose children whose sons have died in gang wars are now traveling to Appalachia to help help white women in Appalachia whose sons have died to drug overdose. Hear me.

There is so much good happening in our culture. And when women that have suffered loss understand I'm going to try to help. And when you get thousands of them across America reaching, can the church do any less? Can we work in reconciliation any less? When they're doing it, why aren't we doing it? We don't have time.

Skip that next slide. I wish I had time. Genesis is right. Give me give me that next slide. We don't even have time to deal with the success sequence. You should look that up.

I think it's fascinating that we've been picking on him. It's it's good for us to pick on him. Jordan Peterson, but he was in a he was in an interview with Warren Ferrell, and this is what he said. Warren Ferrell is a California feminist and you have a c California feminist and some type of quasi liberal almost Christian-ish guy. That's what you got. And and this is what they said.

They're talking about the issues with boys in America and the rates of suicide. And all I'm showing you is creation testifies to the glory of God. That in science and now in sociology, you have people feminist listen. I hope we can be as strong as feminism. Warren Farrell says Jordan Peterson asked him, "If you have a single mom, what can she do if she has a boy with all the complexities and all the suicide issues and homicide issues?" Four to one, gentlemen. Four to one.

You got to realize what your job is. And he said, "This is what I would do if I was a single mom in America. I would find a strong, he said, I'd get them involved with a Christian organization with strong male leadership. If a feminist can say that, what in the world, why in the world would the church stay silent? Can I give you one more? I was in Sacramento, California.

One of my best friends, Nate Royer, he's got a great church carving out. God is doing a great work. I met Michelle there. She grew up in China. Because I I promise you the Lord is always reaching for broken people. The question is after he's done reaching, what will you do?

When the spirit and the bride say come. That's what the book of Revelation says. Michelle grew up in China. Her parents were engineers and under Mao's revolution because of the socialism and the opposition against freedom, he moved them to a farm so that they could raise their family on their farm by themselves. He didn't want them to influence politics. They almost died.

They knew nothing about farmer. They had multiple children. They almost died. Michelle said from starvation. Michelle said, "Brother Killmon, when I laid down at night, I I don't remember a time where I wasn't wasn't being touched on both sides." She said, "We had a large family." And she said, "To get alone by myself, sometimes I would go and I would lay on the roof of our little little one room place that they lived in." And she said, "I would look up at the stars and dream about a day when I could have a house with my own bedroom." She said, "I was up there one night and I was looking up at the stars." She said, "It was like the universe reached down and hugged me because creation witnesses. You hear me?

There are hungry people. There are hungry people everywhere." And she said she didn't understand what that was. She got her parents got asylum and came to the United States and and and now she's got an engineering degree. She's raising her daughter in church. We've hung out with her many times. She came and helped us or came and and participated in an internship here in Indiana and it was Calvary for a while.

And and Michelle said the thing that was fascinating to her is that when she walked into the church there in Sacramento, she felt the same presence that that night in China when she was a little girl. See, you got to have a church to connect them with what's already drawing them. You have the ministry of reconciliation. And God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save. It is God's method. You should never belittle it.

You should get your friends in church so they can hear your pastor thunder away because the spirit that's already drawing them will be they'll witness that when they walk into the church building and God will confirm his word. Give me that next slide. I got to hurry. What is freedom? Maybe we should just go dig wells. Brother Killmon, we did have one minister that said one time, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pit have done more for Africa than our missionaries.

That's and I I'm going to be really plain today. That's not just mistaken. That's dangerous because you cut yourself off from the real source of change. I I'll give you two examples. My bishop, brother Mooney, was in an airport and he bumped into a guy and he said, "What are you doing?" And then and where are you headed? And he said, "I'm headed to Brazil, South America." He said, "I I teach South American studies at Indiana University." And he said, "I I I'm one of the heads of in the South American studies department." and and he said, "I'm going to Brazil because the topography and all of the culture is changing so quickly that we can't keep up with it.

In order to be current for next year, I have to go over and see what the current trends are." And brother Mooney just slid it in. He said, yeah, but you can't really talk about Brazil without talking about the Pentecostal revival, can you?" He said, "That's exactly right. Who are you?" He said, "I'm a Pentecostal preacher." He said that revival in Brazil and in South America has shut down revolutions. Hear me young people. It has stopped wars. I I I think of brother Stewart, Bishop Steuart Tess's dad, that wonderful man of God that was in Africa in Liberia so many years without even running water and the Lord used him.

He has four generals that participated in apartheid, killed tons and tons of people that are now Jesus name preachers. I'm going to tell you, you have the ministry of reconciliation. It's in your hands to bring about real cultural change in the world.

I'll hasten to a close. Somebody come and play and put pressure on me. I There's so much I wanted to do. I just I get I'm going to go to Colossians 1 9 and 10. I'll try I really will try to land. I I want you to slow down and look at this scripture.

If you have your Bible or your whatever app you're using, maybe highlight this and think about this because the Apostle Paul's writing, he's talking to the church about their role in society. And this is the ministry of reconciliation. Paul says, "For this cause we also since the day we heard of it, he's talking about their faith." He says, "Do not cease to pray for you." If Paul had a prayer request, how many of you think it was probably important? If Paul had a prayer request that God wanted inspired and written and preserved in scripture, how many of you think it's important? How many of you want to know how to pray? Then you need to pray like this.

He says, "I do not cease to pray for you and to desire. Here's my desire. That you might be filled with knowledge of his will and all wisdom, spiritual understanding. What does that mean, brother Killmon? You need to know what the will of God is. And you need to know with spiritual understanding because you can only live this book when you're connected to life in the spirit.

What will my life do, brother Killmon? What will happen is then he says and that ye might walk worthy because when you get understanding and you get the power that comes with that spiritual understanding then you can walk worthy. Reconciliation that's when you begin to show the world what reconciliation is. See, what God wants to do in his church is to show what humanity should be. That your life becomes the tip of the spear of demonstrating what reconciliation and union with God's purposes looks like. That men would see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.

And that becomes the opportunity for your life to confront principalities and powers that somebody could see your life, your attitude, your commitments, your separation, your life in the spirit and see true humanity reconciled to God on display that you'll become a living epistle read and known of all men. And they don't need a Bible because you are one. The fruit of your life giving praise to God is the tip of the spear in this cultural war. That's why your obedience matters. I I wish I had time. Can I take Can you give me five minutes?

You You do know that the third revival of the Ku Klux Clan happened 45 minutes south of Indianapolis in Martinsville. Anybody from Martinsville? It's okay. Don't be scared. We had a congressman, a senator, brother Shaw, and a governor that were all vocal clan supporters. My dean of theology, Brother French, in his book on gt Haywood makes it plain.

He's the mayor of Indianapolis said they could never get inside the city of Indianapolis because of the apostolic. Reconciliation to God will create union. It'll create true unity across every boundary. Hear me. You're the answer. You're the answer.

You need to hear me. You're the answer. You're the only answer in the world that can truly unite people to God's purposes. I I I'll close. Ephesians 3:10, 11, and 12. And to make all men see, that's what God wants to do.

He wants to make all men see. What is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God? God wanted to do something. Who created all things by Jesus Christ. Why did he create all things? Why did Jesus come and die?

Why was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world? Because death was ne necessary for reconciliation. Then God says, "Let me show you what I'm going to do to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenly space places." That just means the spirit world that that might be known. Everybody say, "By the church, by the church, the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus." What is he saying? You become the pressure point. God looks for earthly cooperation to get heavenly permission to move.

That's why the devil's after your obedience, young man. He wants you to mirror every broken idea and fleshly desire that's in the culture. And that's why brother Shaw is thundering away at you. Because if you can strip yourself of all of those terrible ideas and step into your calling, you become the thing God uses to confront hell. And when he gets cooperation in the physical, you will feel the anointing in the spiritual. And it's your obedience that will get you.

Ladies, I you know, I I got to close. It's like the little girl, I'll call her Jill because that's not her name. Brother Shaw, she came to Indiana Bible College, came from a good church, but she had big questions, big ideas, and how can I believe that that book is something from God? How can I defend that it's something other than a human book? And and well-meaning, but there were good people in her life that just accused her, I think, mistakenly, and maybe out of embarrassment said, "I you're just being rebellious." And she came to Indiana Bible College and said, "God, I'm going to give you one year and if you're real, you're going to have to show me. She fell in love with strange topics like science in the Bible and Christian evidences.

And then she understood that this this book is a uni unique book of all the holy books in the world. The only unique inherent no errors inspired by God preserved text and she could defend her faith and she could embrace her encounter with God her experience with God. Listen, they're having experiences with God with with not with God with with they're having spiritual experiences in Hindu temples because Paul says behind every idol is a demon spirit. Now, if you're called to missions, and I pray some of you are, what you're going to have to understand is you're going to leave maybe America and walk slap into hell because we don't have that much here. But I'm going to tell you, greater is he that is in you. And you're going to help people see there is a book that vindicates our encounter with God and can demonstrate that our life is not boundless.

A life that manifests the rule of God. We keep unity by following union in the spirit. I I I I'll give you one more. I'm trying to quit. I promise. It's like the extrans.

You were talking about it, brother Shaw. It's like the extrans that one of the most powerful things that were ever said to her was your body is not in conflict with yourself, that God has made you. She said she was working and she was in the middle of all those type of surgeries that you were mentioning the other day, brother Shaw, that you're dealing with. Wonderful people that you're reaching that are so broken and are discontent and it's like Abigail Shrier says she says the the most transgendered surgeries right now in America are per performed on pre-teen girls and she be she's a feminist and she's saying why are you saying this why why do you want to do this or do you want to be a boy they said well I I I don't know if I want to be a boy but I definitely don't want to be a girl why because I'm not beautiful enough you have the ministry of reconciliation This particular lady said her lesbian boss looked at her finally and said, "I want the old you back." And it began to dawn on her, "All of these lies are not fixing me, and I'm not becoming more happy." And she started turning back to her faith in God a little bit. And and God said to her one time, "When are you going to let me define you?" And then finally he pressed her in an altar call and said, "When are you going to quit hating my creation?" And you have the ministry of reconciliation. And if God can save them out of all of those complexities, the question is when he deals with them, can you bring them in and say, "Come to church with me.

Come to church with me. Don't look at what they look like. Don't forget all of that. Can you come to church with me? There is a God who loves you. What can I do, brother Killmon, to embrace this ministry of reconciliation?

It's very simple.

Here's my close today. Simply offer God your time and your obedience. If you will give him your time and your obedience, he can get every promise in your life fulfilled.

Stand with me. There's a Minnesota youth camp. There's a young man from ibc there who's now a youth pastor, Christian Ramirez. And having a powerful altar, brother Jeremy Stafford was preaching. I love that guy. He was talking about gators in the water.

Then he started talking about how many alligators are in Florida. I'm like, I'm never going. I'm never going. Only thing that bites me when I fish in Indiana are mosquitoes. But he was talking about all of these issues in the culture and things lurking in the waters where we play. We're just swimming around having a good time.

And what happens is there are things waiting in the water to pull us down. Look at this. These young kids are flocking forward and making commitments around getting out of the wrong friendships and laying down the wrong things and they're consecrating. This is what the apostle Paul says. He that prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself. The Greek word for edify is okodomio.

It means to build yourself up. Paul is saying when you pray in another tongue, you build yourself up in the spirit. And you can pray things. The Bible says, Paul says that you don't even know what you need. The spirit knows how to make intercession. Can I tell you when you bring people to church, the ministry of reconciliation, when you reach, what goes on in the church is way further than what you can see because you've embraced the calling that God will back.

And I look over and Christian Ramirez has got these big eyes and he's saying, and you know, you got people and they're like, what? He said, I said, "What's up, Christian?" He said, "Brother Killmon, you want to know what happened?" I said, "I guess I do." He said, 'You see that young man over there? I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'He was down there praying in tongues.' And he got done and I walked up and I said I said, 'Hey, were you speaking in tongues?' He said, 'Yes, I was speaking in tongues.' He says, 'Well, do you want to know what you're saying? You were saying. He said, I don't know what I was saying, Brother Ramirez. He said, well, you were speaking in tongues in Spanish.' He said, Brother Ramirez, I don't know Spanish.

He said, I know you don't know, but I know Spanish. He said, you kept praying oaroso, which means in Spanish, oh powerful one. And while that young man is making commitments in the spirit that he doesn't even know how to handle, the spirit is praying through him a confession of the strength of the Lord. Yes, my weakness but his strength. Oh powerful one, if you will give yourself to it, I promise you things will happen in the unseen because you're cooperating with your life of obedience in the scene. So, I'm calling you to the ministry of reconciliation.

We don't need a big explosive altar call today. What I feel is just say something like this. I'm going to give you my time, God. Gentlemen, you can't give it all to pleasure. I'm not against having fun. I'm even going to try to play softball today.

God help me. But you can't give it all the pleasure. You got to say, "Lord, what am I giving my time to? If you show me what you give your time to, I'll show you what you worship. You You can know everything about sports, but you can't explain the oneness of God." That's not a rebuke. It's a call.

Lord, help me to form myself. Help me to equip myself. Help me to give my time and my obedience. Can I lean in a little bit? I'm going to take a risk. If you know you have attitudes and you know you have things in your life that are marks of the fallen world, if you look like every other guy on the ball court, if you look like every other guy in the school, you're flying way too low under the radar.

And you need to go ahead and say, "God, help me give you my time and my obedience." Come on, gentlemen. Ask and say, "Lord, I I want that ministry of reconciliation. Help me to give you my time and obedience. Show me, God, where my commitments need to be. Ain't going to be overnight. All of it's going to happen.

But if you just stay consistent and your time and I'm going to prepare and I'm going to equip myself and I'm going to follow pastor and I'm going to learn how to share my faith. Your time and your obedience God will use hear me to confront hell and save people. Ladies, time obedience. Refuse. Refuse to give yourself to frivolous things. You can give yourself to a career.

You can give yourself to go making a bunch of money and getting your thing. Or you can say, "God, help me to embrace the biblical paradigm and realize that my character and what I'm doing in my youth group may matter more than my education." Brother Killmon, you're anti-education. I teach at a college. I have pieces of paper on the wall that matter little. The question is, what comes out of a life of obedience and formation? Can you be equipped for God to use you to save people?

It's in your hands. See, see, God is saying, I I have something for your youth group. The question is, can I get your obedience? Because God always looks to his church to see if he can perform his action in the world. Somebody will do it. Why shouldn't it be you?

Come on, slip up a hand and say, "God, I want it to be me. I want it to be me, Jesus." If you're going to put the weight of responsibility on someone's shoulders, come on, young lady. I dare you. Say, "Lord, put it on mine. Put it on me. I'll give you my time.

I'll give you my time. I'll give you my obedience." possible. I want to look at what I've been spending that on and say, "God, help me to be given to the right things." Come on, Matt. Say, "This is a deep work that will change your life." I want you to shout. I want you to speak in tongues. But I promise you, if you make a commitment, I'm going to give my time and my obedience, God will trust your hands with the ministry of reconciliation.

Come on. That's it. In Jesus name. We're going to do it, Lord. We're going to do it, Lord. Gentlemen, maybe you can help find somebody next to you.

God, give me brothers, brothers in the faith. Help me to embrace spiritual fathers. Help me to find my band of brothers that are doing right things. Help me to encourage each other up and not pull each other down. We want to be men made for the hour. Come on.

That's Come on. That's it. Lord, bless my brother. Bless my brother. You don't know what he's going back home to. Lord, bless my brother.

Bless my brother with strength. Come on, ladies. Some of you have already talked to me about what you have to go home to. Maybe you need to reach to a friend next to you and say, "Would you stay in contact with me? Would you help me stay strong? I want to I want to serve the Lord.

I want to make a difference. Come on, that's it. Maybe find somebody next to you. We need unity. We need unity. We need people united around God's purposes.

You got to drop making fun of each other. You got to drop all of the nonsense about hierarchy and insiders and outsiders. If you're going to win people, you got to love weak people. Create a context in which they can be changed. Your character matters. Your character all through you.

Everything I need to