It's All About The Lamb | Rev. Joel McCoy

Well, I give honor to our great God. Our great great God. Amen. Nobody has ever been as good to you in your whole life as he has. And nobody ever will. Amen. Amen. Give honor, Pastor and Sister Carpenter. Pastor and Sister Ericson, Pastor Sister Hammond, I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed and just awesome. Oified. Is that a word? My wife says I make up words all the time. I came in one day and I told her, I said, "I've had a pro a very productful day." She said, "No, you haven't." H I thought I had. She said, "You've had a productive day." I said, "I've had one of those, too." She said, 'Productful is not a word. I'm like, you knew what I was saying. How you got all the How do you think they got all those words in that dictionary? Somebody, a genius, made them up. I need somebody to recognize my gifting. God is so good. He is so good. I I could never thank him enough for if I had all the time in the world, I could never thank him enough for his goodness to me. Everything I have in my life that is good, it's from him. Every good thing in my life is from him. He has been nothing but good. And somehow in all of his wisdom and power and mercy, all of the mistakes I made and the wrong directions I went and the the the bad decision, somehow he he not only managed to bring good into my life, he went all the way back into my past and even figured out a way to use things I thought would forever be against me and somehow work them in to where even they begin to work for good. I don't know anybody but Jesus that can do that. Amen. Only God can do that. Amen. I love you, Jesus. If you have your Bibles, very quickly, I'm going to go to Exodus 12 and verses 21 and 22. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, "Draw out, and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And you shall take a bunch of hissip, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lentil, and the two sideposts with the blood that is in the basin. and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. I think I I'll give my title in a minute, but right now, would you ask that God would have his way and that God would move in this place tonight? We're asking something that is in his will because this is something he wants to do. This is something he wants to do very much. Lord, I thank you for what you have already done in this place this morning. What you've already done here this evening. For every life that you have touched, for every situation that you have moved in, for those you have healed, those you have restored, those that you have cleansed, those you have filled, those you have forgiven, for every miracle, for every healing, for everything. We give you thanks because you alone are worthy. And once again, we ask for you to move in this place and to minister to every heart and soul as only you can do. Nobody can do what you do. We ask it in your name, Jesus. said, "Everyone said, "Amen." Amen. You may be seated. I'm glad he didn't tell too many stories. There's so many to tell. And uh I I He He was very He's very wise. I'm always kind to the person that gets the microphone after me. They uh we had a lot of wonderful times. Yes, we were engaged three times. I took a lot of convincing on my part. I'm going to tell you. I did everything but give her a word from the Lord. I tried prophesying to her, you know. I mean, it was it was amazing. It uh boy, it's quite a history. First girl I ever had a crush on, I was 16 years old. I can still remember what she was wearing. I was like, "That's the one right there. That that that's it. That that's it. I'm done. I'm I'm I'm I'm done." And man, I waited. We went to a uh a youth convention and we were in different places. She was at the altar till very very late. So I had to wait in the back till she was done praying. We we were at different uh development stages in our walk with God. And uh she was near to him and I was far from him. But I waited. I waited. In fact, I'd asked my uh my very first car was a 66 Mustang and it was a piece of junk. They called it the booger. It was booger green and had so much rust at school. The kids would go and hit the side of it to see how much of an outline it would leave when we drove off. So, some of you are like, "Oh, that's so cool." No, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, my dear friend, it was not. And uh I could only go about 30 miles because there was so much rust in the gas tank. And back then I didn't know why my dad wouldn't fix it. Now that my boys are about to be 16, I know exactly why he didn't fix it. I could only go 30 miles. If I decided to run away, I'd have only made it 30 miles from there. They'd have found me somewhere 30 miles away trying to figure out why the car wouldn't run. He had a filter on it and when it would get full of rust, I'd have to the car would die. I'd get out. I carried a wrench with me. I'd take that fuel filter off, bang it against the frame until knock the rust out, put it back in, prime it, and boy, we were good for another little bit. But, uh, that particular day, it we couldn't get it fixed. And so, my mom was like, "You know what? I'm going to let you go out with your friends." And I took the family Suburban. It wasn't a cool Suburban. And I get all the friends that went with me, I told them, "When I saw her, I said, "Hey, listen. I'm going to try to get that girl to go out to eat tonight. Y'all all got to find somewhere to go. Man, all of a sudden they were running is they just scattering all over the place trying to find rides, whatever. And I waited and I waited and I waited. She was in the seventh heaven or something. And so finally she came down and begin to make her way out. And I said, "Now listen, Louis Lamore says you don't ask them, you tell them. It don't work. I tried it. I said, "Hey." She said, "Hey." I said, "I'm taking you out to eat tonight." Louie let me down. And he hadn't let me down very often. But he let me down. She said, "Well, I'm She" She said, "I I was a little forward." I said, "Well, look, I found what I wanted. I no time w ain't no sense of wasting time." I said, "Well, come on. I I want to take you out to eat tonight." She said, "I'm already going with someone." And you know what that sounds like? That sounds like competition. Well, we showed up at the same restaurant. It was with a bunch of girls. That is not the same. I mean, broke my heart, set me down. I mean, it's probably the reason for everything in my life that went wrong. It's probably because of the heartache that started at that moment. It was just I mean, I couldn't find my way. I lost my identity. I was just, who am I? You know, I've been robbed. And oh my goodness, years later, I'd u I'd come down for special service. She had just moved back from college in Mississippi. And oh my goodness, I saw her and I was like, "God's good." Boy, I'm going to tell you, we just one problem. We We weren't that close. So, she came in and she was there that service. What's this got to do with the sermon? Nothing. Um I'm sure we're working in some somewhere. and she left her Bible. Now, this was either a brilliant strategy or she really did leave her Bible. I like to tell people it was, you know, trying. She says it wasn't. She left her Bible and then she called or or I tell you how back far back this was. I think it was was it MySpace? Something like that. This Oh my goodness. Sent me a message said, "Hey, I left my Bible at church. Would you send it to me?" I said, "Nope. She said, "Are you serious?" I said, "I'm serious." I said, "I tell you what, if you will go out to eat with me on Friday, I'll bring you your Bible. If not, I'm going to give it to a Sunday school bus kid." I She said, "Well, I tell you what. I I'll I I'll I'll meet you on Friday night." I can tell she really really did want to go on a date. Well, I went boy, I got it. When I got her Bible, I was checking to make sure I had the right Bible. It had her name on the outside, but I wanted, you know, somebody may have put a different cover, so I wanted to check. So, I opened it. I don't know what year of Bible college they had them do this, but someone in one of her classes had said asked them to write down everything they wanted in a husband. This is like 84 things. front and back. Likes my mama, likes babies, likes old people, gives gifts, hard worker, nice hands, nice I I'm like, boom, boom, boom. I'm going to tell you, I got I was halfway down and I'm like, she ain't looking for me. So, I did what any normal person would do. I went into the Sunday school office and I turned on the printer and I made me a copy. He like, "That's not fair." My kids call her mama. It worked. I said, "Let me tell you, this ain't me, but it can be." GOD LOOKED DOWN AT THIS COUNTRY boy and said, "He ain't got a chance. He needs a cheat sheet." Said, "Give give him some help." I was like, "What are you doing? I'm holding babies every Sunday. I'm sending pictures. Look at me. Who's baby? I don't know. I got to give it back. Family's wondering what's going on. I just what I love. I mean, I was hugging every elder. I was just just RANDOM PEOPLE IN THE MALL. I MEAN, I WAS SENDING FLOWERS AND CHOCOLATES. I was becoming a whole new man. Cuz when you find something that you want, what's easy and good for you doesn't matter anymore. Cuz when there's another desire, SOMETHING THAT'S SO GOOD AND WORTH SO MUCH THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL of your reasons are are are debatable and all you're like, "This is who I am." And this in a world that says you got to be who you are. You got to speak your truth. Yeah. Speak truth, live in a lie. What? AND THEY'RE LIKE, "OH, DO THIS." I'M TELLING YOU, YOU NEED SOMETHING THAT WHEN HE SHOWS UP, he's so good. HE'S SO MIGHTY. HE'S SO LOVING. HE'S SO FORGIVING THAT WHEN HE STARTS DEALING WITH YOU LIKE I'LL CHANGE EVERYTHING I am if it means YOU'RE GOING TO STAY AROUND. LET ME TELL YOU, THEY TALK THEY THEY TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK. SOME OF THEM THEY'RE LIKE, "OH, IT'S SUCH A HATE BOOK." OH, SWEETIE, YOU MISSED IT. UH-UH. It's a love letter is what this is. I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT THIS IS TO MY SOUL WHAT HER LIST WAS TO OUR MARRIAGE. GOD LOOKED DOWN AND SAID, "THEY AIN'T GOT A CHANCE, BUT I'M GOING TO GIVE HIM EVERY PATTERN I CAN. I'M GOING TO SHOW HIM. THIS TELLS ME WHAT MAKES HIM SMILE. IT TELLS ME WHAT MAKES HIS HEART GLAD. THIS TELLS ME WHAT MAKES HIM CRY. THIS TELLS ME WHAT LIFTS HIM UP. THIS TELLS ME WHAT GETS HIS ATTENTION. THIS TELLS ME WHAT DRAWS HIM CLOSE. OH, LET ME TELL YOU. When I was younger and trying to do my own thing, I didn't get along with this book. But the closer I get to him, man, I love it. I love it. I love it. I love this book. IT'S TRUE. IT'S PURE GOLD ON THESE PAGES. IT IS DONE. OH, LET ME TELL YOU, WHEN GETTING CLOSE TO him and getting his attention BECOMES THE PRIORITY, THIS BOOK HITS DIFFERENT. >> NOW, when I'm trying to do my own thing, it becomes different. Now, I will admit, we went to that class and they did, they told us, they said, "This is what you need in a marriage and this is what you did. Y'all need to find out. Do y'all like this? Do y'all like this? Do y'all like that?" Okay, boy. We went home or I went back to the car right after that and I did. I called her and I went through all 11 pages of questions you were supposed to talk about. We like this ain't it. We didn't agree on hardly any of it. I went back and I told Brother Shock, he said, "What happened?" I said, "Well, we broke off our engagement." He said, "What happened?" I said, "Well, I went home, went over your list." He said, "THAT'S LIKE FOUR WEEKS WORTH OF SESSIONS you're supposed to you did it in one night. Are you stupid? Apparently, oh, let me tell you, God's been good. >> God has been I could sit here all night and tell you about God being good. I if we we could have testimony service and I wouldn't have a chance to give you a turn because it would go on and on and on. I'm I'm just telling you, life's not always fair. Life's not easy. Life's not this. I'm a It's something somebody asked this. When did you get used to being in front of people? See, I was born with with this this cool little thing called Tourette's where you just wink it all the time. And it's it's amazing. Junior high was a blast. Somebody said, "Oh, what a sense of humor. Where'd you get that?" I'll tell you, my dad, I remember started uh when I got into junior high, he's like, "Let me tell you something. Two things are going to happen. Either you're going to hate it or you're going to learn to make fun of yourself." said, "If you'll learn to make fun of yourself, you'll rob all the power from the people that'll try to make fun of you. You can't take yourself too seriously." And so, man, I I've cracked jokes on me before they got a chance. And then when they do it, they just look like a copycat. I was like, "Man, be original." And then God began to call me to preach. I got a face for radio. And he c I'm like, "No." They were like, "When did you quit getting nervous? Tomorrow. Tomorrow." I still get nervous. You make me nervous. But I'm telling you, I've watched God do so much. I've watched God just answer prayers I didn't think could ever be answered. I've watched God heal when nothing I was born. I was when I was my mom was about eight and a half months pregnant. They came in, they did the test and found out, they told her, they said the baby's dead. Umbilical cord is wrapped around his neck several times. There's no brain wave. We're still looking for one, but they said there there's no brain wave. There's no heartbeat. He said, "We don't know what to do." He said, "I I I don't know. I don't know what to do." My dad was preaching a revival uh out of town, I believe in California. He jumped on a plane. They said, "You, ma'am, you, Miss McCoy, you're you're bleeding to death." Said, "The baby's dead and the baby's gone, but if we don't get the baby out, it's actually now it's threatening your life." And so they wanted her to come in the next day. This was on a Wednesday. They wanted her to come in Thursday to come back in. They wanted to get just take that looked like the baby's gone. Just let it get it out of your body. My dad flying in, she said, "I went to church that Wednesday night." She said, "I sit," she said, "On the third row here on the left side," she said, and while I was sitting there, I didn't know what else to do. My my my promise was gone. My answer, everything's changed. And she said, "All of a sudden, I felt God begin to speak to me." Said, "If you'll worship me, I'll heal your baby." >> Not with the choir singing and not with the praise team singing her favorite song, but just on a Wednesday night. She said, "I got up and I started dancing the most an 8 and 1/2 month pregnant lady can dance." She said, "I begin to just dance." Usher starting to run up. She said, "And when I got to the middle of that church, I felt you turn inside of me." She said, "I went in the next day and told him, said, "Run another test. Do whatever you got to do. We're not taking a baby." God healed. God made him wait. Let me TELL YOU, FROM BEFORE I even drew my first breath, he's been GOOD TO ME. GOD'S BEEN GOOD to me. What are you saying? I HAVE DISCOVERED IN LIFE THAT PUTTING HIM FIRST and giving him everything has been the key to every good thing in my life. I'm thankful for the blood that is applied. You read that scripture. How many of you hear that? I plead the blood. I plead the blood. AREN'T YOU THANKFUL THAT WHEN THE BLOOD OF Jesus covers something, it covers IT COMPLETELY? AREN'T YOU THANKFUL THAT THERE'S NO WEAK SPOTS IN THE BLOOD? It covers alcoholism. IT COVERS WHAT? DRUG ADDICTION. IT COVERS A MESSED UP FAMILY. IT COVERS MESSED UP RELATIONSHIPS. IT COVERS DEPRESSION. IT COVERS ANXIETY. IT COVERS PAST MISTAKES. IT COVERS HATRED AND BITTERNESS AND UNFREE. OH, LET ME TELL YOU, WHEN THE BLOOD GOES, IT GOES ON THICK. IT DON'T NEED A SECOND LAYER. IT COVERS EVERYTHING. IT IS OH, THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE BLOOD OF JESUS. OH, he told him, he said, listen, he said, when you go, he said, take the blood, take a bunch of hissip, a bunch of straw. He said, dip it in the blood that's IN THE BASIN. STRIKE THE LENTIL. GET IT ON THE TOP OF IT, THEN GET it on the two doorpost. He said, "And none of you go out of the house till the morning." He said, "AND WHEN WHEN I GO THROUGH, I'M GOING TO SEE THE BLOOD." OH, I hope God sees the blood every time it goes past my house. Let me tell you what HE WAS TRYING. HE WAS TRYING TO PRESERVE THEM, BUT HE WAS ALSO TRYING TO SHOW THEM JUST BECAUSE IT'S NORMAL IN THE AREA DOESN'T MEAN IT HAS TO BE NORMAL in your home. WHAT THE STATISTIC FOR MARRIAGE IN THE WORLD SHOULD NOT BE THE STATISTIC FOR MARRIAGE IN THE CHURCH. AND THE STATISTIC FOR WHAT GOES ON IN CHILDREN'S LIVES IN THE WORLD SHOULD NOT BE THE STATISTIC FOR WHAT GOES ON IN CHILDREN THAT ARE IN THE CHURCH. WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? I'M TELLING YOU, WHEN THE BLOOD'S APPLIED, >> WELL, this is just normal. Yes, but there was a light in Gan when it was dark all over Egypt. God said, "But there's a light there >> for two reasons. Number one, a light for his people and a sign to everybody else." Let me tell you, I don't care what goes on in our country. I don't care who is president, who becomes president, what law passes, and what happens with this, what the economy does. There ought TO BE A LIGHT IN MVILLE. AND IT SHINES NOT ONLY IN MVILLE, BUT IT SHINES THROUGH TENNESSEE, AND IT SHINES THROUGH THE US, AND IT SHINES TO OTHER COUNTRIES. THERE OUGHT TO BE A LIGHT THAT IF YOU'RE IN IT, YOU'RE WALKING IN THE LIGHT. AND IF YOU'RE NOT IN IT, YOU CAN SEE IT FROM A DISTANCE. SAY, "HEY, GET THE FAMILY TOGETHER. WHERE WE GOING? WE'RE GOING TO SEE WHAT THE LIGHT IS OVER. The blood works. >> The blood works." >> And we talk a lot about the blood and rightfully so. out here, every denomination, everybody that everyone talks about the blood. But if you're not careful, if you're not careful, we'll go to that chapter, but we won't read the beginning of it. Because in the beginning, he says, "Tell the congregation," this is in verse three, "In the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to the the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. If the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it from the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. The whole assembly of the congregation shall kill it in the evening. You'll take it up though the blood. Strike it on the side post on the upper doorpost of the houses wherein you shall eat it. They shall eat it. Eat the flesh in the night. Roast it with fire and unleaven bread. With bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodom with water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs, with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning. And that which remainth of until the morning, you shall burn with fire, and thus shall ye eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Let me tell you, there's something very clear in this scripture. The blood works >> if you all if you make sure it's right with the lamb. >> The blood works, but don't ever forget, it's all about the lamb. He said, "I can TELL YOU AND THAT THAT'S WHAT I I'M GOING TELL YOU THAT'S WHAT I want to cover this evening just for a moment, for a very brief moment. The blood works. The instructions on the blood were very brief. Dip the hip up in the oil and in the blood. Put it on the top. Put it on the side piece. Everybody can do that. My goodness. We're put it on this side and on this side and on the top. Then we're done, man. BUT WHEN IT GETS TO THE LAMB, HE SAID, "NOW HOLD ON. YOU'LL NEVER GET THE BLOOD WRONG IF YOU GET THE LAMB RIGHT. YOU GOT TO TAKE TIME WHEN IT COMES TO THE LAMB BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MESS IT UP WITH THE LAMB AND still expect THE BLOOD TO WORK. YOU CAN'T TREAT THE LAMB JUST ANY WAY YOU WANT TO TREAT HIM AND then the blood do what the blood's supposed to do. THE LAMB CAN'T BE LIKE ANYTHING ELSE. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE LAMB. HE SAYS, "LISTEN, THERE'S THERE ARE 15 directions on the lamb >> and just a few for the blood." Cuz the blood is a product of the lamb. >> If you're going to give your life to anything the same way I was doing, trying to get get the love of my life, let me tell you why. Why are you in the word all the time? Why are you at prayer meeting all the time? Well, I'm making sure I got it right with the lamb. I'm I'm making sure everything that pleases the lamb, that's what I want to do. IF THERE'S I DON'T WANT TO HANDLE THE LAMB LIKE I DO EVERYTHING ELSE IN MY LIFE. THE LAMB IS DIFFERENT. He tells him, he says, when you get it, every man's got to have a lamb. >> My daddy had a lamb. Your daddy's lamb ain't your lamb. You got to GET YOUR LAMB. OH, MY GRANDPA HAD A PRAYER LIFE. That's good for grandpa. But I got to have my PRAYER LIFE. I GOT TO have my own relationship with the lamb. He said, "Every man get a lamb. A lamb for a house. If the household is too little, let him and his neighbor come into his house and take it according to the number of souls. It's got to be a lamb without blemish. It's got to be a male of the first year. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month." He said, "Listen, the lamb has to come in the house. The lamb isn't what it needs to be when you keep it in a distance. Some people like that. >> SEE, THERE'S A PROBLEM IF WHAT I FEEL IN HERE, I don't ever feel at home. >> And there's A PROBLEM IF MY KIDS ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH VERSION I am, the version on Sunday or the version at home. WHO? IT'S A PROBLEM IF THEY'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO juggle two different things because there's us at home and then there's us at church. The lamb's got to come in the house. Why? He said, "I want you to get familiar with the lamb. I want the lamb to be close to your kids. I don't want I don't want just one of you to be around the lamb. I want the whole family to be around the lamb. I I want it to be a part of your home. Bring it into your home." He says, "Keep it then." The whole assembly, he said, "You'll kill it in the evening. You'll take of the blood, strike the two side posts, the upper door post of the house where you eat it. You'll eat it the flesh at night. Roast it with fire and unleaven bread WITH BITTER HERBS. DON'T TRY TO MAKE IT PLEASANT. When truth comes, DON'T TRY TO FIX IT. AND THE BIBLE SAYS, "MANY REST." W R E S T root word from wrestle says they rest with the scripture to their own destruction. They take this book AND THEY TRY TO BEND IT AND MOLD IT TO WHERE it fits what they want to keep ON DOING. OR THEY'LL FIND SOME KIND OF WAY AND a workaround to present it in such a way that they can keep doing what they want to do, but in the end it just destroys them. No, no, no, no. I I don't want to add it. Let me tell you, I'm a cereal person, but it's not healthy by the time I eat it. Thank God for whoever invented Fruity Pebbles with Lucky Charms. It was probably an angel we entertained unaware. I'm just telling you. Now, I'm not saying that's healthy or anything like that, but it is amazing. He said, "No, no, no. Don't try. Sometimes truth, you got to let it just work on you. I used to when I was younger, boy, I didn't like it when stuff came and it hit me a certain way. But the older I get and the closer I want to get to the lamb, and the more that my mindset becomes, I just want to make it. I just want to make heaven my home, I don't I may not succeed anywhere else, but I want to succeed with the lamb. Let me tell you, I'm telling my boys, hey, I hope God blesses you and you do amazing in business. But if you DON'T HAVE A DOLLAR TO YOUR NAME, I'LL BE HAPPY IF YOU'RE LIVING FOR JUST LIVE FOR GOD. JUST LIVE FOR GOD. JUST LIVE FOR GOD. JUST LIVE FOR GOD. PLEASE THE LAMB. PLEASE THE LAMB. DON'T GET HUNG UP ON IT. YOU CAN'T take any of it with you. The only thing is going to be the things with the lamb. Make it all about the lamb. He said, "Eat not of it raw, nor soden it all with water. Don't water it down, but roast it with fire, the head with the legs, with the pertinence thereof." He said, "ALL OF IT TOGETHER. Don't pick the pieces you like. >> You take all of it." Let me tell you, there's some things I love hearing about and there's other things it feels like I get knocked sideways. But I want it. It's what makes the difference. He tells him, he says, "Don't let any of it remain until the morning. That which remain you shall burn with fire. And when you eat it, eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and eat it in haste. It's the Lord's p. He said, "And the more you get into it, the more you eat the lamb, I want you to eat it knowing this world is not my home, knowing I'm not staying here, knowing I'm ready to go to another level." Let me tell you, whatever's going on in your life. I came with the answer. But but you don't understand, brother McCoy. There's a lot of different questions. I know. But the answer is the same. The lamb. Well, my business. I don't know what to do. My business is doing that. What What would you do? I'll tell you what I would do. I'd make sure the lamb is the biggest part of my business. I'd make sure that nothing in everything I do in any kind of business is displeasing to the lamb. I'd walk into my business or my office Sunday morning or or Monday morning. I'd walk on say, "God, whatever is pleasing to you, let it be done right here. Let this business, let everything I put my hand to, let it be pleasing to you. Let it honor you. Let it glorify your name. Let of the way I treat people, THE WAY I WORK FOR PEOPLE. IF YOU'RE AN EMPLOYEE, IT OUGHT the way that you work for others, it ought to tell people who you belong to. IF YOU'RE THE BOSS, THE WAY YOU TREAT PEOPLE, OUGHT TO TELL PEOPLE WHO YOU BELONG TO. WHATEVER YOU DO, NO matter how great or how small, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING I DO, >> if you get down to the core of everything, it's all about the lamb. Well, my relationship, what do I need to do? Make sure it's all about the lamb. I want God to be the center of it. He needs to be the center of my home, the center of my finances, the center of my marriage, my children's lives. Hey, love daddy second. Love God first. AND IF DADDY EVER WALKS AWAY FROM GOD, YOU KEEP FOLLOWING GOD AND LET GOD WORK ON DADDY, BUT you keep the lamb first. >> And I messed my life up so bad. I I I grew up in this. My daddy I have a great dad. I I I have a great dad. I have a great heritage. I have a great grandfather. Incredible. I I I only messed up cuz I'm an idiot. I don't have anybody to blame it on. I don't have anybody. I was just at 18 years old. I got out, graduated, went straight to college. I had a philosophy teacher and a psychology teacher. The philosophy teacher used to he was a um debater. He went to a lot of these different places and would debate people on scripture. And he had debated my grandfather many, many times. first day of class when we came time for roll call. He's like, "What's uh what's your name?" I told him, "I I I know your uh it's so and so. You know him?" I'm like, "Yeah, that's my grandfather." He's like, "I know your grandfather. Meet me after class." "Sure." After class, I went into his office. He's not. Now, what do you believe about such and such scripture and what do you believe about this? And what do you turned out I was very familiar with the habit and I wasn't very familiar with the lamb. Turns out my daddy knew the lamb and I knew about the lamb. Turns out grandpa walked with the lamb and I knew about the lamb. And that was two very different things. And by the time he was done I'm like man I I you know what I'm I'm not sure. But he was painting it this way and that way and he's like so you see where that doesn't mean what that means. And I'm like, man, I was so confused. Every week, he'd meet with me for hours and all these graphs. And he and I'd go and I'd try to study it, but man, I was no m I didn't know what I should have known. And it was nobody's fault but my own. And then I had a psychologist teacher, a psych psychology teacher. And boy, she man, she's like, you know what? and she was pointing out all the the things and the seemingly contradictions of this and that until PRETTY SOON, SEE ALL OF A SUDDEN I WAS IN A place where there were a lot of people that knew a lie better than I knew truth. >> Which way is it to the closest airport here? Is it right or left outside of here? When you go out, which way you go? >> Left. I got people going left and I got people going left. Give me a Bible study. Now, you could ask someone and they could be like, "Hey, where's how do you get to the airport?" Ah, man. I'm I'm I'm not real sure. I think uh I think you go right out here and I this highway. I don't know the name of it, but but I believe you get out there and you take a left on that highway and if you go down that's that's the direction of the airport, I believe. What's the name of the high? I don't know the name of the highway, but I think it's that way. And then somebody else COMES AND SAYS, "OH, THE AIRPORT." NO, NO, NO, NO. WHAT YOU GOING TO DO IS YOU'RE GOING TO COME OUT OF here and you're going to take a right on this road right here. Yeah. It's going to be a black top. When you get on that, it's two-way. So, you'll have oncoming traffic and then the way you you're going to go down and and you're going to see a station right down there on your right. When you get there, go through that. Go about seven miles that way and then take a left. That that highway is going to be 105. And then take that for 1 hour and you'll be at the airport. And y'all are like, "There ain't no airport there." Yeah, but which one of us sounded like we knew what we were talking about? There's a lot of people that are real good at telling lies and too many people that don't know how to explain truth. And turns out I was in a place where there were people that were really good at telling a lie and I didn't know the truth enough to fight it. And so, boy, it didn't take long. All of a sudden, my my lack of connection with the lamb became very apparent and I found myself in a rough situation where I grew up. It wasn't just the uh the sistine chapel of anything. I mean, it it it was something I'm going to tell you. It was uh it was pretty rough in some places and we I was connected to people from all over. If your truck got stolen there, we could make a call. My dad's truck got one stolen one evening. He's like, "Bubba, my truck got stolen." I'm like, "Okay, can you call such and such, your friend, see where our truck is?" I said, 'I will. And I called Kenny something or other. Hey, Kenny, my dad's truck got stolen. Oh, man. Yeah. Does Does your dad have it? He's like, "Hold on." Got back on the phone. He said, "Is it a Ford or a Chevy?" I said, "It's a Chevrolet." He called back. He said, "Is it red?" I said, "No, it's black." He said, "We don't have it." Hold on. There's a little wet lady. He's like, "Hey, you got write this down. Here's the address. Your truck's right there." Somebody had taken it, done a drug deal, and left it on the far side of town. I mean, there was some crazy crazy ju just people, man. They'd come to church and THIS AND THAT. AND THAT WASN'T A PROBLEM WHEN I THOUGHT I KNEW who I was. >> BUT WHEN MY IDENTITY WAS SHAKEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN, EVERYTHING ELSE BECAME THE INFLUENCE. ALL OF A SUDDEN CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE LAMB FOR the lamb to be the rock that he wanted to be in my life. And because I was living at a distance from the LAMB AND MY LIFE WASN'T ALL ABOUT THE LAMB and I didn't know the lamb and I wasn't walking in a way that pleased the lamb. ALL OF A SUDDEN EVERYTHING ELSE BEGAN TO PULL ME. AND AT BY THE TIME I WAS 19 I was in this addiction and that addiction and that addiction. And I was singlehandedly DESTROYING A GOOD NAME THAT I never worked for. I never sacrificed for. I never prayed for. I never earned. It was handed to me from incredible parents and grandparents that stood and MADE A DIFFERENCE AND SACRIFICED. AND IT WAS handed to me. And I didn't have enough appreciation for what was handed TO ME TO FIGHT TO PRESERVE IT. AND I WAS single-handedly just about wrecked everything. I buried eight of my closest friends in the next few years. One overdosed in the seat next to me, one from taking his life, another shot. We, one of them called me, said, 'Hey, can you, you want to come down and look, said, 'We going to look for so and so. I said, where is he? I just talked to him. I just met with him on I just talked to him on Sunday. He said, so and so, he was in a gang and there was a rival gang that said, hey, we wanted to meet up with him. He said he didn't know it was a setup. They emptied a 9MM IN HIS CHEST through his body IN A TRUNK. THEY DUMPED HIM IN THE RIVER AND WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO FIND THE BODY. DO YOU WANT TO COME HELP US FIND HIM? This one wrapped their car around a tree coming back drunk from a party. This one had head head-on collision over here driving it just I was walking them down the aisle in caskets. I was finally I was 23 years old. I was so far from where I needed to be. I had messed my life up, wrecked my life. I got a call. They said, "Hey, such and such great friend." He said, "He they he's just in a head-on collision right here. Jaws of life is on the way. They're going to get him. Can can you can you make it? Can you go get to him?" Boy, I jumped in the car. It's me and some friends headed down there. Got there as close as I can. We got there. His brother had got there with me. And he he had gotten into to it with the officers. And the officers had him detained over on the side. And they said, "My dad came up and they said, "He didn't make it." and they need somebody to ID the body. I said, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It was not a good wreck." I said, "I I don't I don't want to see it." He said, "No, no. You You're going to come ID this body." 23 years old. He said, "No, no. You're you're coming." I said, "Dad, I don't want to do that. My dad had showed up to the wreck." He said, "Son," he said, "Either I'm going to come visit you in prison or I'm going to do your funeral. Those are the only options the way you're headed. And I want you to at least know what it feels like for me when I have to do it. You're going to ID the body. I walked up. They unzipped that. I'm going to tell you, I had nightmares for months. I had that. It messed me up. It must have all of a sudden you, you know, you get stuck. You didn't mean to go where you went. Just life happened. Next thing you know, especially you young people, let me tell you, >> I wore my tie and I wore my suit and I made it to every service. My body was here and the rest of me never walked in the building. And I was perfect at two lives. I was perfect. I had my FRIENDS ON SUNDAY AND I had my FRIENDS THAT THESE FRIENDS didn't know about. And I had this version of me on Sunday and I had another VERSION ON AND I WAS A PROFESSIONAL. I WAS SO GOOD AT LIVING TWO LIVES. ONE DIDN'T KNOW THE OTHER EXISTED. And then it started bowling over and it started a little bit. It started with all of a sudden the altar. I DIDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE around the altar. LET ME TELL YOU, MAMA, I I DON'T DON'T BE THE COOL MAMA, OKAY? I had a mama that could care less about my reputation. I'd sit there and sometimes if I'd come in the back, man, I remember my life was so messed up. My mom would come in, she'd look at me, she wouldn't say a word. She knew. She said, "Baby, you got to live for God. You got to My mama never gave up on me. I mean, I I've made that life so hard on that sweet lady, and she's an angel. She'd say, "Baby, I'm praying for I'd come in late late at night, and I'd walk into my room. It'd be 2:30 in the morning. I'd walk into my room, coming back from only God knows where, and I'd walk in and I before I'd even get to my room. They'd ask me, I I was I was going to go stay with friends and go here." And God said, "No, no, I want you to stay here. At least I know where you're coming home to." And boy, I'd come in and I'd walk and I'd hear somebody talking in my room. When I'd walk into my room, my mother would be laid across my bed, her head buried in my pillow, crying and praying and praying for me. And she'd walk out of the room, she'd get up, she wouldn't say a word, she'd dry her eyes. She'd, "I love you, baby. I'm glad you're home. I love you. I'm praying for you, okay?" And she'd walk out of the room. I'd try to lay my head down on that pillow. It was still wet from the tears. She cried. And there was so much conviction in that room. I'd get my stuff and I'd head back out in the night because I couldn't even stand to be in that room cuz the prayers that she prayed were just messing with me. She come up. She said, "Baby, I'm praying for you." She said, "I'd rather you go to heaven in a wheelchair than to walk into hell on both feet." She said, "You're not my problem. You're God's problem. I put him," She said, "The day he healed you on that Wednesday night, I made a promise. He's yours. He's yours and you do whatever you want to do with his life." She said, "Baby, you're not fighting me. YOU'RE FIGHTING HIM." AND BOY, SHE never I'd sit there and while everybody else was shouting, I'd find my convenient little place back on the side and I could sit there for so long, even grown or at least thinking I was grown, and a little hand would slip into mine. And all of a sudden, this little lady get around me and start praying and crying. And boy, SHE'D START JUMPING AND SHOUTING. I'M LIKE, "OH, oh my goodness." She didn't care. You tell young person, you better let make everything about the lamb. Because let me tell you, if it's not, you're going to find out. You will find yourself in a place where you can learn to do all the outside parts right. And the world never has a clue. I GOT THE BLOOD ON THE DOORPOST AND FROM THE OUTSIDE IT LOOKS LIKE I BELONG. BUT THE LAMB DOESN'T LIVE HERE. >> THE LAMB WOULD NEVER FEEL COMFORTABLE HERE. THE LAMB WOULDN'T LOOK AT WHAT I'M LOOKING AT. THE LAMB WOULDN'T LISTEN TO WHAT I'M LISTENING TO. THE LAMB WOULDN'T BE DRIVING WHERE I'M DRIVING AND THE LAMB WOULDN'T BE HANGING OUT WHERE I'M HANGING OUT. THE LAMB WOULD NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE WHERE I AM. BUT THE BLOOD, I plead the blood. I'm just not living with the lamb. I remember I walked up and when I saw him, let me tell you something broke in me. And God be to deal with me. I went in that night. I went in. I told him, I said, "God, I'm I know I've been going a little bit. Musician, go ahead and get ready. I don't at least be ready. I thought I'd been going an hour. It's only 39 minutes. I still got an hour left. This is good. Let me tell you, young person, how how many of you are under the age of 19? Come on, raise your hands. Raise them high. You going to be real proud of that one day. Take your take. I don't care who your mama is and I don't care who your daddy is and who your grandpa is. If you don't get it for yourself, and I mean you got to love it. I'm not talking about you have to get used to it. You got to love it. I mean, this has got to become something you would live for and you would die for. If whether you're all by yourself or in a crowd of friends, I mean, it's got to get so into you. You got to get your own prayer life. You got to get along WITH GOD. I FOUND MYSELF at 23 years old. I went home and I told my dad, I said, "Dad, is in the middle of the night." Middle of the night, HE WAS ASLEEP. IT'S PROBABLY 3:00 in the morning, 4:00 in the morning at this point. And I went in and I'm telling you, I was frustrated. AND I REALIZED IS MY LIFE is a mess. I've wrecked my life. I'VE WRECKED MY FUTURE. AND I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO TO FIX IT. But when I was four years old, my daddy would take me to the prayer room, but probably even younger, but my memor is at around four. And he'd take us upstairs, the men's prayer room. He said, "Come on, Bubba. You're coming with me. We'd go up to that prayer room and he'd put a he'd put one of those big metal folding chairs out for him. And then they had these little ones. You seen the little, you know, they've got the small. He put a little one next to the big one. He said, "Come on, Bubba. Come pray with daddy." Four years old, 5 years old, 6 years old. Whenever daddy go pray, he'd take me by the hand. Come on, Bubba. We going to go pray. And I'd sit down there and I can distinctly remember sometimes I didn't know what to pray. I didn't know what to say. And he'd say, "But you, that's all right. You just say what daddy says. And daddy start praying. I didn't even know what some of the words meant. I was just copying daddy's prayer. I was praying what daddy pray. You say, "Oh, well, you're brainwashing." You bet your sweet life. I had met anybody in this world that's not trying to brainwash my kids. I HAVEN'T MET ANYTHING IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OR FACEBOOK OR INSTA. EVERYWHERE I TURN, THERE'S SOMEBODY TRYING TO TELL MY KIDS HOW TO THINK, HOW TO LIVE, HOW TO PLEAD. I'VE GOT A WHOLE WORLD TRYING TO BRAINWASH THEM. MY GOODNESS. IF ANYTHING'S GOING TO GET THEY'RE GOING TO BE WASHED IN ANYTHING. I WANT THEM WASHED AT THE LAMB'S BLOOD. THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. I WANT THEM WASHED IN THE WORD. I WANT THEM WASHED IN PRAYER. AND HE MADE IT A HABIT. GOING TO THE PRAYER ROOM WAS A HABIT. GOING TO THE PRAYER ROOM WAS JUST SOMETHING WE DID EVERY SINGLE SERVICE. What were you doing? I'll tell you what he was doing. Looking back now, I realize I got an amazing dad. an incredible mom. He knew then what I'm only learning now and recently, Bubba, there will come a day daddy won't be able to get you out of every situation. You're going to find yourself hung up on some things. Only God knows what addictions this generation fights with everything that's available. I do. I I feel for you. I know the battle's real. There's so much access, so much that is out there. It's amazing. My dad, he didn't even have a clue what was coming in my generation. He's like, "There will come a day I won't be able to fix your problem. And mama's not going to be able to fix what's wrong. But there is a lamb. And if I can just get within you a memory of being in his presence, there will come a day when you may not be able to I may not be able to fix your problem, but you'll remember where you can go. And I can remember it was 3:00 or 4 in the morning. I had messed my life up in so many ways. I mean, I had wrecked it. I came in like I saw him laying there. This is the eighth friend that I've lost. 23 years old and none of them were older than that. And everything is like I saw myself and I realized what am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING? IT'S NOT COOL. I'M MISERABLE. MY LIFE IS MISERABLE. EVERYBODY I'M ACTING LIKE IT'S COOL. BUT WHEN THE CROWD IS GONE, I'm empty. THE LAMB DON'T LIVE HERE. AND WHEN THE LAMB DOESN'T LIVE THERE, EVERYTHING ELSE WANTS TO LIVE THERE. AND IT AIN'T THE same as when the lamb lives there. I was angry. Oh, I was angry. I didn't know where to go. I went in. My poor mama, they were awake. It was about 3:00 in the 4 in the morning. I went home. I said, "Daddy, I woke him up." Bubba, what's wrong with what's going? I said, "Daddy, I need your keys." What are you doing? I need your keys. My mama got up. Baby, you all right? I'm my mom. I'm fine. Fine. I just need your keys. Boy, I was trying not to break. I was trying to act like I had it all together. They're like, "Man, what's what's going on? What's going on?" Like, you finally I remember talking to THEM LIKE, "YOU CAN'T FIX THIS. I'M INTO SOME STUFF THAT YOU CAN'T FIX. You can't I don't EVEN WANT TO TELL YOU. I GOT A LIFE THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT." OUT AND IT you know parts of it but you could never believe all of it and I don't even want to tell you and I'm tired and I'm something's got to break and I don't know what to do but you can't do it. What do you need? I need your keys. What keys do you need? Your church keys. as I remember a place where you brought me a long, long time. I do think there's a place I can go. I don't know where else to go. But daddy, if you just give me your keys. Where you going? I want to see the lamb. And if the lamb is still willing to live here and I'll make everything else move out if he wants to move in. He gave me my keys. I remember I went up there and boy, it wasn't like this. Let me tell you, when Noah landed his ark, they took the wood and built our church. If the Holy Ghost wasn't there, there were all kinds of others. You could hear them. I was a grown I felt grown. 23 years old and I was turning lights on when I walked in the building. I walked into that place and I'm closing but I'm I want to get this right. There's some young people and I I was going one direction but I'm telling you the whole time I'm tonight it's more than one. There's a few and I I'm not going to point you out because I can see you. You you you think you're here but you it's like a beacon. You're just right there. And you got this whole part of you and you are on the verge of making decision. Well, I can come back. Yes, you can. But take it from me. You don't want to. There's a road. There's one road that's never gotten easy. Whether it's from that pew here or whether it's from the chair at my platform back at home, I have never had a day yet where I could walk from that chair to this pull pit without every memory of every mistake, every failure. See, I didn't manage to tell you that when I went away, there were people that went with me and I buried them before we ever came home. I know what it's like. I know what it's like to go home and someone come up and say, "If you'd have only lived for God, my baby would be here." And that's okay. That's on me. I don't blame him for saying it. I should have I could have done better. Somebody said, "Well, that's not my it's not that's not up to me. That's not my responsibility." No, no, no. I'll never forget the day my dad sat down. He said, "Son, you're a leader." I'm like, "I don't want to be a leader." He said, "A leader doesn't get to choose." If you've got influence in someone's life, you simply get to choose where you lead them. You don't get to just be absent of how your decisions affect someone else. You have to bear the responsibility of what someone does with the path you set. It's not about being fair. Someone's following you and you have to live with where you lead. I went in, I got those keys. It was late. I walked in and I laid on that altar and I begged God and I plead with God. I God, please, I don't care what it takes. I don't care what anybody thinks about me. I don't care what anybody says. I cannot keep living this way. Something has got to break. I'll do whatever it takes. But Zach, you may not know this. It was just weeks after that. And what God did in my life is when he told me, he said, "You need to leave for just a little while." That's when I met your pastor. God had be to do SOMETHING IN MY LIFE. HE SAID, "YOU'VE GOT FRIENDSHIPS THAT HAVE GOT TO BREAK OR IT'S GOING TO PULL YOU BACK INTO THIS LIFE. YOU'VE GOT TO LEAVE." I never dreamed what God would do. I will never forget when the lamb met me on that altar. I didn't deserve it. The whole life I have, I do not deserve. I won't even try to paint it as a pretty picture. I don't deserve it. I deserve nothing. Nothing good. But he ain't like everybody else. The lamb's not like fickle friends. I don't understand how he is, but I can tell you laying on that altar, an old familiar place, I threw those keys down and I laid everything I was on that altar. God, if you can do anything, I don't know how TO BREAK THIS. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIT. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE FOR ME. BUT IF YOU WILL, I WANT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE FOR ME AND I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING I AM. I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER GOD, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO IN MY LIFE. I JUST DON'T WANT TO LIVE THIS WAY ANYMORE. I remember this happened. I kept going. I remember one night I said I was closing, but now I'm really closing. You get three closings. Your last one's final. This is my second one, but I'm going to make it my third. One night we were sitting there, we were having these all night prayer meetings and I was sitting there and it was about 2:00 in the morning. I got in the same thing. I was just needing something to break and I walked in and I I laid down. I was praying and I was praying at 2:00 in the morning. Man, I prayed and I prayed and I was just desperate. Finally, I realized I am in a place built to him, to connect with him, but I can't feel him going through everything I know to do, but nothing's breaking. I made up in my mind, God, I'm not leaving here until something breaks inside of me. And I begin to pray. Let me tell you, I started praying. I I I quit whispering. It was amazing. Even in a church that size with nobody in, I was still whispering. I said, "I know." Then I I I got to pray loud. SO I STARTED PRAYING, "GOD, I LOVE YOU. GOD, I I MEAN LOUD AS I COULD." I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THAT WAS WORKING. As I said, fine. I went to the very back row and I laid down on the floor, buried my face IN THE CARPET, AND I PRAYED. GOD, I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY THINKS. GOD, I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS. GOD, I JUST NEED YOU. I DON'T CARE. NOTHING. 4:00 rolled in or five, whatever it was, and the next people started coming in. I could hear that door shutting and I could hear them scattering all over the audience. And my prayer instantly went to I'm not saying it's an audible voice. But I felt something so strong said now I was very arrogant very very arrogant very full of myself and I don't know why I had so much messed up stuff in my life I don't know what I was so prideful about I was worried about how people saw me pray worried about how I mean just very very arrogant an arrogant idiot a fool and I started started just kind of whispering cuz somebody could hear me. Oh, I was worried. What will they think about the way I pray? What will they think? No, no, I can't. And I felt God deal with me. Now, someone can hear you. Are you still willing to do whatever it takes? Something. welled up in me. I'm not saying this is for you, but it's how it was for me. And I made up my mind right then, God, I cannot leave here the way I am. I cannot live this way another day. I'm tired of living a lie. I'm tired of I'm tired of living THE WAY I AM. I DON'T CARE IF THEY MAKE FUN OF ME FROM every day from now on. IT MAY BE THE FUNNIEST THING IN CHURCH, THE THE THE FOOL THAT I MADE OF MYSELF, BUT IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES, SO BE IT. I CANNOT LIVE LIKE THIS ANYMORE. SOMETHING'S GOT TO BREAK. AND I JUST BEGIN TO PRAY AS LOUD AS I COULD, KNOWING THAT PEOPLE WERE LISTENING, KNOWING THAT IT WAS PROBABLY EMBARRASSING. AND I LAID OUT THERE AND I JUST BEGAN TO CRY. AND LET ME TELL YOU, THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S NOT IN the biology books. When you look at the anatomy and the the the makeup of who we are, there's something you don't see. And it's these big walls right here. And everything that happens in your life, you put it in there. Every heartache, you hide it and you keep smiling. Everything that comes your way in life, you you we we just tuck it away and WE HIDE IT. AND THE PRESSURE BUILDS. THE pressure of living a lie. The pressure OF PRETENDING. THE PRESSURE OF TRYING TO LIVE TWO LIVES. THE PRESSURE OF NOT MAKING A DECISION. THE PRESSURE OF NOT BEING SOLD OUT. THE PRESSURE OF ONE FOOT IN THE CHURCH AND ONE FOOT IN THE WORLD. THE PRESSURE OF TRYING TO PERFORM WHEN THE LAMB DOESN'T LIVE INSIDE. AND YOU it's it feel it's about to explode. All of a sudden, it was like someone reached in and grabbed those gates and just pulled them open wide. And all the pain and the anger and the frustration and the guilt AND THE THE CONDEMNATION, EVERYTHING THAT I WAS LEARNING TO LIVE WITH, IT WAS LIKE THE LAMB WENT IN AND STARTED KICKING EVERYTHING ELSE OUT. AND IT WAS LIKE, OH, ALL OF A SUDDEN TEARS BEGIN TO FALL OUT OF MY EYES. ALL OF A SUDDEN, THERE WAS ANOTHER LANGUAGE THAT STARTED COMING OUT. OH, I COULDN'T STOP IT. I COULDN'T QUIT IT. IT WAS JUST I I IT WAS UNCONTROLLABLE. AND I TILL THIS DAY, I COULD NEVER EXPLAIN IT. And while I was sitting there praying, Pastor Hammond, I I felt two hands. And y'all can get ready. I'm I'm I'm done. See? Done. time. I felt two hands on my back. You know that feeling when you're dealing with your stuff and somebody's like, "I got you. You're not by yourself. There's just one problem. I burned every bridge there was to burn." I'm like, "Who who still cares? What bridge that I had not burned that I thought I burned? Who is it that still cares? Finally, I couldn't come up with the name. And I looked this way and I looked out and there wasn't anybody there. I found someone that doesn't walk away when everybody else walks away. And I found someone that could look inside and see everything that I didn't want anybody to see, but he wouldn't run OUT AND RUN. I FOUND SOMEONE THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER. I FOUND SOMEONE WHO WAS WILLING TO TAKE WHAT NOBODY ELSE WANTED. I FOUND SOMEBODY THAT DIDN'T QUIT WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE QUIT. LET ME TELL YOU, THERE'S A YOUNG PERSON IN THIS PLACE. AND I'M BEGGING YOU. I'm pleading with you. I I'LL GET ON MY HANDS AND KNEES CUZ I'M TELLING YOU, I CAN SEE YOU. AND I'M TRYING NOT TO STARE AT YOU, BUT I SEE YOU CUZ I SEE ME. AND YOU'RE ON THE EDGE. AND THE PRETENDING'S WORKING RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU'RE FIXING TO STEP INTO A WORLD THAT YOU'VE ALREADY PUT YOUR FOOT IN. AND LET ME TELL YOU, YOU CAN COME BACK, BUT YOU WON'T COME BACK THE SAME. AND IT'S NOT worth it. You don't have to. But you got to make a decision tonight. And it's got to be the kind of decision that you don't care who's sitting NEXT TO YOU. IT'S GOT TO be the KIND OF DECISION THAT RIGHT NOW YOU PUSH THEM OUT OF THE WAY AND YOU GET TO THE END OF THAT PEW AND YOU MAKE YOUR WAY TO AN ALTAR AND YOU FALL DOWN AT IT AND YOU DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY THINKS ABOUT THE WAY YOU PRAY, ABOUT THE WAY YOU CRY AND SAY, "GOD, SOMETHING HAS GOT TO BREAK." MAMA, DADDY, let me tell you, YOU MAY NOT HAVE A CLUE WHAT they're fighting, BUT EVERY CHANCE YOU GET, IF YOUR BABY'S AT AN ALTAR, I'D FIND MY WAY TO THEM. AND I'D NEVER QUIT FINDING MY WAY TO THEM. every day in your hands. You were there before time. >> Come on. >> SOMEBODY'S WATCHING. SOMEBODY WILL BE WATCHING YOU ALL YOUR LIFE. YOU GOT TO FIND A WAY. YOU GOT TO BE WILLING TO BREAK WITH EVERYBODY WATCHING. WELL, I CAN'T GET TO THE ALTAR. THEN WHEREVER YOU'RE AT, TURN IT INTO AN ALTAR. FIND SOMEWHERE ON THAT CARPET. FIND SOMEWHERE ON THE FLOOR. LAY DOWN ON YOUR FACE. WHATEVER YOU GOT TO DO, BUT DON'T LEAVE HERE THE WAY YOU walked in.