The Right Weapons for This War

It is a great honor to be here with you for the next couple days and uh I feel very out of place. Um, you know, as a preacher, they say the the place that preachers least enjoy preaching is to other preachers. Probably second to that would be educators. But here we are. And when brother Sanford called me, um, I said, "Well, man, I I'm actually supposed to be, uh, traveling with my pastor and his son, uh, who just graduated this spring to New York for a few days, but we're still kind of deliberating on dates.

So, uh, if you'll have to if you'll bear with me, let me get back to you." And then I kept asking for patience and more patience and more patience. And then uh it seemed like the longer I waited, I I kind of felt like I was supposed to be here. And so I called pastor and I said, "I know you said you were about 90% sure that those dates would work, but I kind of feeling like I need to be at this meeting in in St.

Louis." And he said, "You know what? Do it. We'll reschedu for for the new year." And so I don't I don't know all of why I'm here and I feel somewhat intimidated by the fact that I am here. Um but I just trust that the Lord will speak to us through his word. Uh I'm just going to I'm going to preach as I would any other place to any other people and I I'm confident that God's word will will help us. Amen. Amen. If you have a Bible, I'm going to read this evening from 2 Corinthians chapter 10:es 3-5.

And I want to give honor to brother Samford and the leaders of this organization and meeting and uh thank them for this this noble work. uh you're here because you understand the value and the importance of Christian education and we can only hope that uh the impact of your investment in meetings like this will reverberate through the apostolic movement in much greater scale and uh this is so important. Amen. Thankful that my wife is here with me. We don't often get to travel together, but she's here.

I thank the Lord for that. And we drove over with Pastor Andrew and Sister Crystal. He is our executive pastor at New Life Fellowship in Teroot. And also the campus pastor of our school. And then brother and sister Ryan and Amanda Wallace. She is our school principal. And he's just he does whatever you need done. If every church could could have could have 25 Ryan Wallacees, it would be a great church. And I honor them and thank them uh for their leadership and friendship. 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

I know this is a familiar passage of scripture uh to students of the word, but we read it again. Paul says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exaltth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And I want to speak tonight on this subject.

The right weapons for this war. Amen. The right weapons for this war. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we love you. I thank you for each person that has sacrificed and prioritized to be at this meeting. God, I'm by myself. I'm feeble and I really don't have anything to give. But if your anointing will help us, Lord, if your word will speak, if the power of the Holy Ghost will move in this room, something can happen that would change us, it would heal us, it would make us better for the mission that is at hand.

So, I'm asking now for that help that you would anoint me to speak as the oracle of God that together you would touch our ears to hear what the spirit would say. And we ask these things in the only name that has power. In Jesus name we pray. And everybody said amen. Amen. God bless. You can be seated. I probably do not need to spend long tonight to convince you of the fact. I will proceed on the assumption that you believe this. And it's in large part why you have found yourself involved in Christian education, especially in an apostolic context.

We are at war. World views are rampant today that are anti-God that denounce the authority of scripture, the construct of family and the biological makeup that God has put in every human being. Public curriculums are filled with the revision of history and deny the scientific of reality with the changing of definitions and it is swayed by the opinion of popular popular culture. These are but a few things that would remind us tonight that we are at war. I grew up in Canada. It's where all three of my children were born and where my oldest two started their educational journey when Carson was somewhere first or second grade.

I don't remember. It feels like a long time ago. I had some hair back then. And uh I remember when he came home with a school from school one day with a letter from the administration that told us according to government policy if my child was to walk into the office of school administration and choose to change their gender that if the child was in grade three or pardon me, grade seven or under that the school would notify the parent. But in the event of a disagreement that their responsibility was to the educational development of the child and not to the parent.

Had that child been in grade eight or higher, the school would not even notify the parent. And so here we sit because we recognize there is a war. I'm sure you've seen them like I have. the wild stories of litter boxes and classrooms and the chaos that is permeating culture. What is this? This is just another reminder that we are at war. And while it is easy sometimes in our flesh to speak without restraint and direct the passion of this war towards people, it's important we understand tonight we are not at war with any human being.

Paul said in Ephesians 6 and12 that yes we do wrestle but it's not against flesh and blood but those principalities and powers and that there were rulers of darkness in this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. These are what he describes with great insight these demonic powers that rule in the world and they have influence over the affairs of humanity. They are what scripture would call seducing spirits. They are cunning in their work and they corrupt the minds of human beings and they work in all kinds of places.

They will manipulate the opinions of conversation in the living room of a home and they will influence minds and the offices of governments in the writing of policy. But in any context, this is what we must remember. The war is not with a human being. We are not fighting men and women. We are not battling senators and governors and politicians of any level. Paul said our fight is not against flesh and blood. But so it is that sometimes we think it is and perhaps we are naive to the reality and the depth of spiritual warfare in our world.

I would submit based on my life and experiences, I'm not sure that we are always as cognizant of the enemy's work as we ought to be. Daniel is that prophet in the Old Testament living among the Jews in Babylonian captivity when God would come to him with a spirit of revelation and reveal to him the details of the last days. His revelations that he writes of are occurring even now in the world today. And here we find him praying, seeking God so desperately when the angel Gabriel shows up sent from the Lord and tells him, "I would have come sooner, but the prince of Persia withtood me." Thank God in his inability to perceive what laid beyond the veil of the flesh, he did not surrender his commitment to spiritual things.

He persevered in prayer. And on that 21st day, the angel came and said, "The Lord heard when you prayed and answered when you prayed. I was sent from God. But when I entered into the geographical territory of the domain of Persia, there was a spirit that withtood me. And it was not until Michael the archangel came to be my help and war on my behalf that the message, the word, the answer from God could come. What it is is a jurisdictional battle. It was a conflict of two words of competing governments.

It was the word of the prince of Persia against the word of God. And by that angelic display, God would communicate to his people then and to us now this timeless truth. It it does not matter where you are, what situation you find yourself. God's word is always superior and God's word always works. There is no person, there is no place, there is no town, there is no city, there is no nation in which the word of God will not work. But Daniel knows none of this.

He just keeps praying until that angel comes and pulls back the veil to highlight to his understanding that there was a war in the spirit. His hands could not lay hold of it. His eyes could not see it. His mind likely could not comprehend the depths of it. But that spiritual conflict was ever so real. And so it is tonight I rise to tell each of us that we are at war. And this war is fought on many fronts. We are at war for holiness in our marriages, for wholeness in our families.

And as educators, in the context that you find yourself, we are at war for the lives, the salvation, and the futures of students. And so this conflict of which I speak is of most critical importance. But if we're going to have victory, it demands we have the right weapons. Time would not permit us tonight to consider all that Paul would write in our text, but I would highlight that he tells us that we have to bring every thought into captivity into the obedience of Christ. him.

It is the thought to which he draws our attention because that thought is the origin of every stronghold. That thought becomes a way of thinking and that way of thinking becomes an imagination. And that imagination is the thing which is not real. But when you believe it to be real, you know what I'm talking about. If you've especially if you've got kids tonight, all three of my kids have gone through this phase. two of them are still in it and the the almost 14year-old is too cool to imagine anymore.

But you give that child some toy with no training, knowledge or expertise through the power of imagination. They they they teleport to this world where they can do things that are so unrealistic, but they believe it to be true. And there you sit as a parent admiring and watching as through the power of an imagination they explore this unseen reality. But the devil knows that this is also true. That through the power of an imagination, somebody can be bound and chaos can be introduced and sin can reign.

And all of this, Paul says, started with a thought that wasn't taken captive. And so he says that every thought must be taken captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. And what he means is that literal impractical obedience that was demonstrated by the Lord as he walked on this earth. You think, well, what then does this mean for my obedience? Oh, it means much. But the fact is that our obedience means nothing had he not been obedient. It is the obedience of the man Christ Jesus that makes my obedience powerful.

That's why Paul would write of that high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like we are but without sin. He was saying that he had power to do right, to choose, to live right. He knows what it is to feel what we feel. But he did not sin when tempted as we are tempted. It was his obedience that made his name powerful. Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 5 that he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.

that we made the righteousness of God in him. All of this because he obeyed. This does not minimize the necessity of obedience in our lives. It simply means had he not been obedient, our obedience would mean nothing. But when we choose to be obedient to the scriptures, the power of his obedience now becomes our obedience. And we don't wrestle with that thought by the limitation of our own power. But my obedience gives me access to his obedience. And now his power becomes my power. And now I become like him.

And so it is that Paul would speak in so many places of disobedience. In Philippians 2, he would talk about how he took upon the form of a man. He humbled himself and became like a servant and became obedient unto death. Victory. The victory in which we need came and still comes through the cross of Jesus Christ. And this is what Paul says in Colossians 2. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily. I know this is our candy stick, right? And you are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power.

In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off of the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And now he's going to tell you what that is when you are buried with him in baptism. Thank God for a revelation of the power of baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. But he said you're risen with him through faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he now quickened together with him, having forgiven you of all trespasses.

He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. It was contrary to us. Pay attention now. He took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Thank God for the cross. And then in verse 5 15, pardon me, having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. I think sometimes we just read our Bible so quick we don't stop to actually consider what it's saying. So who is the them and what is the it?

The them is the principalities and powers, those ruling demonic forces that have been on the earth from the Garden of Eden until today, corrupting homes and governments, destroying families and young people, robbing people of futures and sanctity. This is what he's talking about. Those principalities and powers, those demonic forces, those dark slithering spirits, those works of evils, that is them. But this is what he did to them. He triumphed over them in it. What's it? The cross. And as I consider Calvary, as I consider the cross, all that led to the cross, the agony of the crucifixion, all that the scripture would ride of that horrid event.

As I consider this and what I might anticipate to find and what the scripture calls this powerful triumph, this divine moment where heaven invades earth and where God once and for all triumphs over every power. This is the moment he put addiction under his feet. This was the moment he put immorality under his feet. This is the moment he took every lying, seducing spirit and said, "You will not rule. You will not reign." He put it under his feet. So, one might think at such a powerful moment, at such a display of God's sovereignty and glory, one might think that we would see some powerful manifestation of God.

In our context, we might call it the gifts of the spirit. One might think, well, if God's power is on display, surely we should look for the gift of prophecy and the word of knowledge. Surely the discerning of spirits and the gift of wisdom will be present. Let's look where is the tongue and the interpretation? Where where's the prophetic utterance and the gift of faith? Where where's the working of miracles? Cuz to us, that's power. But I marvel as I consider the cross and what is exhibited in that moment because we find nothing of the sort.

In fact, there is what I would submit no demonstration of power unless our power is redefined to be nature. Isaiah saw it prophetically. He wrote in Isaiah 53:7 that he was oppressed and he was afflicted but he opened not his mouth. And I wonder God, how do you do that? How do you be oppressed like that? How do you be afflicted like that? How does such pressure be placed upon your body? How does such agony weigh so heavy upon your mind and you keep your mouth shut?

He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. As a sheep before shears as dumb, so openeth he not his mouth, one might think, why does it not speak of the lion of the tribe of Judah? Why not a powerful beast? Why not the roar of the beast? Why not his strength and his power? Instead, the prophet said, "I saw him like a lamb as a sheep before his shears is dung, needing to be led, unresistant to being led. No vocal opposition, no thrusting, no bucking.

This is what the scripture would speak of the Messiah concerning the moment the victory was won." And so it is that I propose to us tonight that in like manner the necessary weapon for the war is not a word of prophecy. It's not the working of miracles. And trust me, I believe in them and I do as the scripture said. I desire the best gift. But I preach tonight that the most needed weapon is not the gifts of the spirit, but it is that nature of Jesus Christ.

Paul called it the fruit of the spirit. Peter, I know he was a different man writing to a different audience, but he stepped into that similar stream of revelation in second Peter 1 and spoke of this divine power that have given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness and these exceedingly great and precious promises that he said by these you might be partakers of the divine nature. This is it. This is it. This is the right weapon for the war. I know who I'm preaching to.

I know we're spiritfilled. I know we talk in tongues. I believe in it. We've done it already and we're going to do it some more. I thank God for that. But I can't help but wonder if in our pursuit of demonstration, we have missed the inherent power that is resident when you assume that divine nature. So I preach tonight that this this is the right weapon for the war. It is the divine nature that is given to us when we become partakers of this glorious salvation.

As much as we might like to think that we are well equipped, even Peter who would hold the keys of the kingdom and profess a revelation that came from heaven in that moment that was leading up to the moment of all moments when soldiers come into the garden to do the unthinkable. He draws his sword, swings it at that Roman soldier, and surely his intent is good. He's seeking to preserve the life of the one whom he loves and has given up everything to follow. And to his shock, the Lord puts the ear of that soldier back on and rebukes Peter, "Put your sword away." I'm not sure if he understood the complexity of it in that moment, but the fact is he was standing at the threshold of a coming kingdom which operates in, by, and through the spirit.

He was telling him that we do not fight. Paul hadn't yet written the words, but the principle was there. We do not fight with flesh and blood. Our weapons are not of the earth. This is not how the kingdom operates. And so we read in our text, Paul said, "Our weapons are not carnal." But consider this. He said, "We walk in the flesh, but we don't war after the flesh." He uses contrast to bring understanding. You feel the reality of the war in your natural being.

Your mind is weary and your body is stressed and you just want to go home and eat ice cream and scroll social media. But because you feel it in your flesh, you cannot be seduced into responding in your flesh. And here in lies the battle that is raged within all of us. The temptation to be seduced by feeling, to act in a manner that is not consistent with our faith. And it's this contrast that yes, you feel it naturally, but you cannot respond naturally. And I would submit that perhaps this contrast ought to be carried in to the next verse.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. And he says this because it may seem to us as if they are carnal. For who would describe love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, or faith? Who would speak of meekness and temperance as some powerful work of the spirit? God would. Paul wrote it in Galatians 5:22. I know you know this, but he said, "The fruit of the spirit is all these things." And so it is as we consider these powerful works of God that are only revealed through the nature in which we live, we find these things that look carnal, Paul says, are not actually carnal.

Well, you say, "My cousin Sally serves doesn't serve God and she loves her husband." Yes, she may. But the difference is when you yield that to God through the spirit, the thing which looks carnal ceases to be carnal. And you say, "Well, I had a conflict on the job with with my coworker John, and John doesn't serve God, and John was pretty patient toward me." Well, thank God that John was patient. But the difference is when you exhibit that patience through the inddwelling of the spirit, the thing that seems carnal ceases to be carnal and actually becomes the weapon through which God wins the war in your world.

And so what I'm preaching to you tonight is the right weapon for the war is the fruit of the spirit. This is what we all have need of. It's what you have need of in your marriage. It's what you have need of in your family and your parenting. It's what you have need of in your classroom and your Sunday school room. It's what you have need of in your church and your youth group. It's what we all have need of. We need that divine nature that is exhibited in our life through the fruit of his spirit.

And I can't help but wonder sometimes if we grow to think that these things are somehow inherent in us because we are all made in the image and likeness of God in in some reduced measure in some form or fashion. All of these things exist in us to some degree, but they do not yield the reward in the spirit unless they are of the spirit and through the spirit. He said the fruit of the spirit, it is of the spirit. This is what he was talking about in John 15 when he said, "I am going to abide in you and you are going to abide in me." He was telling them, "I am the vine, and you are the branches.

He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing." What was he talking about? He wasn't talking about the fruit as we so often speak of it as increase and blessings and abundance and material things. It was this fruit. Scripture must interpret scripture. This is the fruit of which he speaks. It was his nature. He said, "I am the vine. I am the source of every good thing. You have none of this apart from me.

But if I abide in you and you abide in me, if you get in me through baptism and I get in you through the Holy Ghost, you can draw from the vine which can be found no other way." See, it's the work of God in my life. It's the work of his spirit in me and through me. For without me, you can do nothing. Or just the keyboard can come back. That's like when this the light comes on the plane that we're going to land, but the pilot doesn't tell you how long he's going to circle the runway.

love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness and goodness, faith and meekness and temperance. Who would think that as God works these in my life that this is the weapon that wins the war? I would submit that you can find all nine of these characteristics in the steps leading and on the cross. You'll find no prophecy. You'll find no word of knowledge or gift of faith. The things that we define as power are not the highest form of spirituality. I preach to you tonight concerning the war in which you are engaged by your service in the kingdom.

the context of which we've gathered here to address is Christian education. And I know for many of us, those who fill our classrooms probably come from our churches. But I think like I you've been around long enough to know just because they go to your church and they go to your school doesn't mean all is well. And I know sometimes we may think, well, if I could just get another degree and another this, if I could just manage this and if I could figure this out and if I had more support, if I had more money and all of that is good and well, I'm not preaching against it.

But what I am saying is there was a war in that classroom. There is a war in the mind of that young man. There's a war in the heart of that young girl. I don't know. I've heard I've heard Sister Tammy make the statements many times at home or I think in our fourth year of Life Academy and she said, "I'll tell you what starting a Christian school did for us. It let us see into the living room of every family in the church." and our eyes are open to the reality of a war.

And while it's easy to think there's so many things we need, I would submit tonight that the right weapon for this war is this thing called fruit. Because you know what love does? Your love can overpower the offense that that young man carries because how he's been treated by somebody else. You don't know what some authority figure has done to that boy or girl and the fear they have towards those who try to lead them. that perfect love, perfect love casts out all fear. And as his love that shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost starts working through us, you understand this.

I hope my trees don't bear fruit for themselves. That fruit growing under the branch of my life is not for me and it's not for a decoration. It's to be consumed by somebody so they can taste that divine nature and they can do what the psalmist said. Taste and see that the Lord is good. You think, "Well, if I just had more support in the classroom, if I had more money, if I could change the layout, if I could decorate the room, decorate it with love." You don't know what kind of home they live in.

You don't know what kind of arguments they heard between their mother and father on the way to school that morning. You just think, "Well, they're a bad kid. They're a struggling kid. They're a rebellious kid." You don't know the war. But oh, if you could let the spirit put a little joy on the branches of your life, your joy could defeat their despair. You have no idea. Listen, let me just be a little vulnerable with you. I've moved my kids around the world. They've gone through some transitions.

I took him from Canada to Europe and then from Europe back to America. And I can tell you the moment anxiety settled on my middle boy when he looked at me and said, "You made us leave our friends in Canada and you brought us to Europe and now you're making us leave them." And I don't mean any disrespect, but when we got to Terote, it was not pretty. For the first two weeks, I literally pulled him out from underneath a bed to go to school. Dr.

Shelby, a very educated and qualified individual, said, "I think maybe you ought to have him assessed. I think he might have some disabilities, and I don't, you know, we need to look at this." And I said, "I can tell you what it is. He has emotional instability from major life transitions." And I can tell you the day it settled on him. So, after $1,500 and 12 appointments, you know what the report said? He has emotional instability from major life transitions. Said, "How'd you know that?" Because I I qualify for the 10,000 hour rule.

I'm an expert in that field called fatherhood. I don't have it all figured out, but I have him figured out. And that's not an excuse for his behavior, but it gives me sympathy to walk with him because I know if peace if peace can grow through my life when he's overwhelmed and his emotions are out of whack and to somebody else. It looks like he's a bad kid or a rebellious individual, but if he could just get a hold of the piece growing out of the branch of my life, and I can't tell you how many times you could ask my wife when his emotions are out of control and he's angry and he's sad and he seems to struggle to regulate.

Dad can get in there in that world cuz I know where it came from and I know what he needs. Oh God, if we could see through the spirit, if we could know the kids in our classrooms and Sunday schools and youth groups, if we could know the people that sit around us day in and day out, who've never been shown patience, who've never experienced someone who's willing to suffer long with them. Oh God, I don't want to show them something that's not like you. My middle boy's class, you know, they're they're a bunch of 10, 11 year old kids.

They're they're rowdy. They're disruptive. They're they got to get it in line. And so, you know, they called me a couple weeks ago. Will you come in here and say something to these kids? So, I did. I walked in. I said, "Does everybody know why I'm here?" Kind of just like that. And it got their attention. One of the little boys said, "Our behavior said, "You are correct." So, they got a little taste of what the Mloud boys get when their behavior merits conversation. But then I left the room that day thinking about what I'm preaching to you tonight.

And so I can't say I've done it every day, but most days since when I've been home and at the church, I walk over to the cafeteria on their lunch break and I sit down at a table and they all sit around. I say, "How we doing today, boys?" "Okay, good. Not good. I don't have it all figured out. I'm just trying to get them to see the fruit that I'm trying to let God do in me. I don't I don't have high education. Most of you are probably far more educated than I am.

But I do know the war of which I speak and the weapon that's needed. You can get three PhDs and never win the heart of a child. You can go to school for the next decade of your life and the spirit not be working in you. But if when the atmosphere calls for aggression, but the spirit makes you gentle, man, that tastes good. And they may not have enough faith to believe, but if they could just taste of the faith that the spirit's producing in your life, stand with me.

The way in which this war will be won is every time you walk into the classroom, every time you look them in the eye, every time you have a conversation, whether it's teaching in peace or correcting in chaos, you do it in, through, and by the spirit. I'll tell you, my wife could tell you. Don't amen right now, though. By nature, I'm really not the most patient person. But I really am trying to let God change me so there's less of me and less of my nature and there's more of him.

Because I don't want my kids to walk out of my house when they're 18 or 19 or 20 or 21 and say, "I never tasted of the Lord through the life of my dad." And God forbid that a child could ever say, "Well, they taught me how to count. She taught me how to read. I learned biology and geometry. I was on the honor roll, but I never tasted the Lord when they taught. My intent is not to minimize education, but I will tell you that every time you walk into that classroom, you exhibit something of greater importance and greater power than any form of education.

It's the fruit of the spirit. an author I very much enjoy. I've read multiple books by him. This is not a blanket endorsement. There's probably some things in there that are not great. His name is Rafé Esquith. He was a winner of the American Teacher Award. He's an author of several books. His most popular is called Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire. drawing from decades of experience teaching fifth graders in a low-income area of Los Angeles. The title of the book gets its story from a chemistry experiment gone bad.

When his hair caught fire and he was so enthralled with teaching the kids, he did not even notice. And when he realized, he just calmly put it out and kept teaching. And he said, "That moment shaped my philosophy concerning the classroom." That every time I walk in, doesn't matter what I'm teaching, I will teach like my hair is on fire. And this is what he said. I didn't realize that so many people who were good people felt that working in a school was just a job and not a holy mission.

And if that is the perspective of a man who does not know the Lord as we do and whose perspective is not shaped by the scripture and does not live under the crushing weight of eternity as we do, how much more must we assume the burden and take hold of this perspective that what we are doing is a holy mission of the most high God. because there is a war. But thanks be to God, we have the right weapon for this war. Would you lift your hands right now?

Help us God. Oh God, we need you working in us, working through us. Come on to Mr. Rothy in Los Angeles. He said, "I'm going to teach like my hair is on fire." But to us, the bornag again, Holy Ghost filled, waterbaptized, in the name of Jesus, we're going to teach like the fruit is working in our lives. Come on. You You may be the only love they ever feel. You may be the only joy they ever experience. You may be the only person who's ever shown them patience.

God, do it in me. Do it in me. I know that you're the vine. I'm the branch. You are the source. There is no good thing in my flesh. Come on. We've got to be educated. We've got to be trained. We've got to be qualified. We need policies and programs. We need structure. All of that is good, but we need the spirit. It's already been spoken here tonight. This is not just Christian education, but we are apostolic. We are a people of the spirit. Come on.

Would you open up your mouth? Let this be a house of prayer. Lift up your hands. Lift up your heart to the Lord. Let the spirit work in you. Come on. Maybe maybe we ought to step out of our seat. Fill this altar. Step into the aisles. Let this whole sanctuary become a house of prayer. Come on. Let the vine pour into you. Come on. That's it. I feel like I've got direction from the Lord for a specific prayer here in a moment. But first, we've just got to cultivate the atmosphere.

We need to let the spirit of the Lord move upon us and move through us. We need our mind to be his mind and our heart to be his heart. Oh God. Oh, work in me, God. Work in me. Shandal. Love my heart. on. The Holy Ghost is moving in here right now. Come on. I must decrease and he must increase. Less of me and more of him. Eloch. Come on. The the greatest display of his power is his nature. It's the fruit being produced in your life.

It's when you think like he does and you speak like he does. You respond like he does. You love like his perfect loved you. And so you love them. You are patient with them as he has been patient with you. Oh God, heal our hearts tonight. Jesus. Jesus. Hallelujah. I go out. I didn't have the the blessing of growing up in an environment of Christian education. But I can attest tonight of the influence of a teacher in any capacity. I remember Mrs. Springer who made kindergarten fun.

I remember the sandbox and the water table, the reading corner and the building blocks. I remember Mrs. Hamilton in grade three. She taught my older brother Aaron and she would always call me Aaron, too. She took me and a guy named Jordan Greer. We were the advanced writing club. got to start cursive writing two years before the all all the other students. I remember Mrs. Hayward. I was trying to remember those years in between, but there's some I forgot. There might be a reason why, but I remember Mrs.

Hayward, grade six. She was just maybe like 4 foot 10, but man, she could command a room and just she was like the grandmother of the school. I mean, she she taught my brothers, my cousins. She just she had a way. I remember Marissa Gordon. I don't recall all the disabilities that she was medically diagnosed with, but in a wheelchair her whole life, could only communicate through one of those verbal touchboards and had to be fed. And I remember watching her show so much kindness to her, treating her no different than anybody else in the room.

And she just she could command her. She made learning fun. I remember Paul Catella taught me physics and chemistry in high school, grades 10 through 12. I mean, he he he made science interesting. He was different. He'd sit back and put his feet up on the table and cross his arms and he'd just kind of talk. it. But he found a way to connect in that chaotic and sinful environment. I remember Mr. Boyd, he wore wool socks all 12 months of the year with Birkenstock sandals and he he would hardly ever get up from the desk sitting at the front of the room and he he would just teach whatever he would write on the board.

It was usually written before you ever got to class. He made math fun. Now, I was an athlete, but I I was also in the math club. Some people thought that was weird, but Mr. Boyd had a way of making math exciting. All those language teachers, that language was way too subjective for me. All about your interpretation and my feeling and your feeling. What I like about math is there's a right and there's a wrong. But I can think back to even my upbringing that was so far from an environment of Christian education and the profound effect that teachers had on me.

But you get to do it in, through, and by the spirit with an eternal perspective. Now, I want my teachers to make sure my kids can read. I want to know that they can count and they can do their math. And I want them to cultivate a desire to learn. But above all, I want them to be able to walk out of school come May and say somewhere in the classroom, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, even when I was struggling and being disobedient because that was me.

I was the kid you would have looked at 13 and 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 said, "Ah, he's just rebellious. He has no heart for God. But holy God knew what went through my mind when my head hit the pillow every night and how desperately I wanted to be free from the pressure of my peers. All I needed was somebody to let me taste that fruit. So here's what I'd like us to do. an acknowledgment of the war in which we are all engaged.

You're here because in some capacity you serve in an environment of Christian education. That means you've enlisted. You've signed up. I don't know if you realize all that you signed up for, but you're in the field now. So, I want you to think of somebody you know right now. Some boy, some girl, child or teen, I do not know. But I want you to get their face in your mind. Cuz that's who you're fighting for. It's not just about arithmetic and language. It's not just about science.

It's about their soul and it's about their future. Now, across this sanctuary, I want you to stand to your feet. And here in just a moment, we're going to lift up our hands and we're going to lift up our voice. And here's what we're praying for. We're praying warfare prayer for the person you just thought of. Maybe it's more than one. God knows if your context is like ours. There's probably more than one, but this is why we're here. Would you lift up your hands? And I want you to lift up your voice.

You can call their name out loud. You can speak the name of the Lord Jesus. Come on. This is the war and you are the soldier. It's not just what God is doing in you, but it's what he's doing through you. It's your prayer. It's your leadership. It's your teaching. It's your presence. You're not the source. You're not the vine, but you are the branch. God will do the work, but he'll do it through you. We're praying against every work of the enemy, every work of division, every lie of the enemy, every seducing spirit, every lying spirit, all shame, all hurt, all bondage.

We cast down every high thing in the name of Jesus. We speak the name of Jesus over our schools and over our churches. We plead the blood of Jesus over our campuses and our classrooms. We pray the angels of God would walk the hallways, would live in our gymnasiums, would sit in our cafeterias. We pray the glory of God would fill every room. Yeah. I know their mom and dad might attend your church, but that doesn't mean they pray for them. You might be the only one that calls their name in prayer.

They may not have anybody else saying, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." But you can. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Pray. Pray. Prayer. The power of your prayer is not limited by time, space, or geography. What you pray in this moment right now can travel across state lines, can move into somebody's living room or bedroom. Their heart can change, their mind can change, their life can be changed through you. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. That's it. I'm telling you, God's trying to do something. There's a conflict, but your eye can't see it.

Your hands can't feel it. But I feel like I was sent here tonight like God sent an angel to that prophet of old to pull back the curtain and say, "There's more than meets the eye." You don't know what that child's carrying. You don't know what they've lived through. Say shal. Do it in me, God. Do it in me, through my voice, and through my hands. Come on, God. Let my classroom smell like the fruit of the spirit. Let my words, even when I speak of math and science, let my words be seasoned with the salt in Jesus name.

in Jesus name. We love you Lord. We love you Lord. Thank you Jesus. Lord we wait upon you. Renew us in Jesus name. Thank you Lord. I I know you may feel like in this moment we're waiting for a tongue or interpretation, a prophecy, but I really don't feel like that's what's here right now. This is just the blanket of God's peace. This is not the gift. This is the fruit that he's just let settle in this atmosphere as a confirmation of his word. A peace that passes all understanding.

A calm assurance that God is present and God is at work. If we just lift our hands one more time, would you just let that let that peace fall upon you right now? Come on. Let that peace wrap you in its arms. The Bible said the God of peace would crush Satan. Peace is the ultimate sign of authority. And I'm speaking peace into your mind tonight. I speak peace into your heart. Let every trouble subside. Let the peace of God rain. I pray the peace of God into your life and your ministry.

It's not your job. It's your ministry. It's unto the Lord. And I pray when you return to work, when you walk into that classroom, when you enter into that school, that the peace of God would go with you. It would change atmospheres. It would subdue behaviors and fears. Lord, I speak the peace of God over every school that's represented here right now. I speak the peace of God into the home of every worker. I speak the peace of God. Let it be. Let it be in Jesus name.

to thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. I found myself the past couple of days getting on social media and making the journey down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Between my kindergarten first grade year, my mom, my stepdad, and our family moved to Baton Rouge from North Louisiana. Don't remember much about my first grade year, but in my second grade year of school, my mom and stepdad enrolled my sister and I in a school called Victory Christian Academy in Baton Rouge. That second grade year, I had a teacher and I had no idea whether Mloud was going to start naming teachers because this last 30 minutes or so, I could almost feel what I felt at Victory Christian Academy, not an apostolic school, non-denominational Baptist church it was connected to, but Miss Chapman told me in second grade that I could be the president of the United States one day.

I never forgot that. They took us out of victory for our third my third and fourth grade year. The only thing that really sticks out about that time period was a kid trying to fight me on a playground in a public school. So they put us back in Victory Christian Academy for fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. And I can name some of those teachers because the impact that they made on my life. I don't know if any of them were spiritfilled, but looking back, it sure felt like they were.

Miss Prather and Miss Toller and Miss Vernon and Coach Ericson. And if there was a season in my life before marriage and kids and where I am now that I could go back to and relive, it would definitely be during that window of time. when I was going to Victory Christian Academy. The impact they made on my life. I've had a number of people, I don't think it was with any ill intent, try to minimize the role that that I'm in as far as administration at our school because of what they think that we could or should be doing in ministry.

But I'm reminded over and over again, there is no greater avenue of disciplehip. Nothing than what you and I are involved in on a daily basis. No greater form of disciplehip. I want to encourage you tonight. If you've been doing it just for a paycheck, I think the Lord has quickened all of us in this house. The value of what we're doing on a daily basis. One more time, could you lift your hands to him? Lord Jesus, so many times we hear a word from you that is so clear as it was tonight.

And God, with a matter of hours for some and days for others, God, that word seems to have disintegrated, God. But I'm asking right now that this word be sealed, dear Lord. And God, that it be sealed in our minds, our hearts, our spirits. God, that it not just be something that we feel here, but Lord, let there be a transformation that takes place in us. That we realize that one day, 30 years down the road, Lord, that somebody may be talking about the impact that we made upon their lives, God, in a fifth grade class, a sixth grade class, or whatever grade that we're involved in teaching.

And let us approach every single day, dear Lord, slowing down long enough to be intentional, God, about bearing fruit with the kids we're involved with. Seal it right now in the name of Jesus in Jesus name. Amen. I've and I'll dismiss you here in a moment, but my kids have heard me say this publicly the past 18 to 20 years and 15 16 nearly being a dad. One thing that I've probably prayed for the most and this is contrary to my personality is God, let me be gentle.

I want my kids to be able to say my dad was gentle. My two boys are here. They're probably rolling their eyes right now. But I want to be like him. I want to exemplify his nature in all that we do. And hey, the kids you teach, they're telling their parents how you treat them. They know. I got some teachers in here teaching my kids right now. I know our teachers love our students. So, right out the back doors to your right, fellowship hall, tables set up, and Sister Tammy Strader and her team are prepared a meal for you tonight.

Relax, enjoy yourself. Don't kick your feet up like a science teacher did, but enjoy yourself tonight. And uh make sure you network with somebody in Jesus name.