Tri State District Campmeeting

look at your neighbor and ask them the question how are you doing tonight now look back at that same person and ask them are you telling me the truth are you telling me the truth hallelujah aren't you glad to be at camp meeting praise the lord what a great day today thank you to these two powerful preachers amen this morning what a tremendous day service here at tri-state camp meeting i'm so glad to be with you and to have my family here i have my whole family just short one we have four out of five of us that are here at tri-state camp and that is unusual for me usually traveling in the responsibilities as missions director i don't always get to have my whole family with me i'm so glad that my wife jamie is here and you're going to be hearing from her and i know the ladies are going to be blessed tomorrow hearing from sister jamie her passion for the word of god is just contagious and i know you're going to be greatly blessed by that glad to have my daughter chloe with me here tonight and my son chandler from texas bible college is here i want them to come and greet you and just say hello this is my uh only son chandler ball doing a great job at texas bible college why don't you greet this crowd tonight amen amen is anyone happy to be in his house this evening amen i'm so so honored and so privileged to be in his house it's a privilege that i could never earn or deserve but he gave me the opportunity to be here and i'm so incredibly honored and thankful to be here i've had such an incredible time at tri-state camp meeting it's actually my first time here and i really enjoyed it it's just been an awesome time and i'm so thankful that the praise team sang about the cross because i don't know about you but i'm so thankful for the cross amen it actually reminded me of a story maybe you're familiar of zacchaeus but it's a story that resonates really personally to me because i am also short and it might also resonate with my dad as well but if you're not familiar with the story a large crowd had gathered around jesus and zacchaeus was in fact so short that he was never gonna be able to see over the crowd he was never gonna be able to see jesus over the tall crowd even that has even at his very best he was never going to be able to see jesus on his own but then zacchaeus found a tree and thousands of people probably walked by that tree and didn't think anything of it they said that's just an old dead tree it's no per it has no purpose yeah he can't do anything for me but zacchaeus saw that tree and he realized that that was the only way he was ever going to be able to see jesus and it reminded me of another tree the cross of calvary and because of that tree that's the only way i'm ever going to be able to see jesus is because of that cross i'm so incredibly thankful for that cross i don't know where i'd be if it wasn't for the cross because even at my very best i was never good enough but because of the cross i can see jesus i'm so thankful for that cross thank you so much for having me and my family here this week man if you have your bibles tonight we're going to the book of luke luke chapter 6 luke chapter 6 and verse number 6 thank you jesus do you feel his presence in this place hallelujah amen luke chapter six verse number six it came to pass also on another sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught and there was a man whose right hand was withered and the scribes and pharisees watched him whether he would heal on the sabbath day that they might find an occasion against him or an accusation as luke says against him but he knew their thoughts and said to the man which had the withered hand rise up and stand forth in the midst or in the middle and he arose and stood forth and then jesus said unto them i will ask you one thing is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good or to do evil to save life or to destroy it and looking round about upon them all he said unto the man stretch forth thy hand and he did so and his hand was restored whole as the other i'd like to minister to you tonight this thought stretch forth your hand stretch forth your hand let's set our bibles down and pray together could we do that just let your voice out like you did a few moments ago we were clapping our hands under the lord this time would you let your voice out in prayer say lord speak to me tonight i pray apostolic ministry flow in this service lord the power of your word lord do a work in this place that would change our lives god that would help us minister in this place of god strengthen us oh god i pray oh god there be ministry lord that would lift us up and restore and renew and revive tonight in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in jesus name stretch forth your hand thank you for standing you may be seated this intriguing story is more about withered hearts than it is withered hands the story luke records is a story about the attitude the rotten attitude of the scribes and pharisees more than it is about the actual healing of a crippled man the bible tells us that the pharisees and the scribes they had they had tried to entrap jesus they tried to get jesus in a pickle in a pinch i believe that they actually i believe they actually planted this man in the synagogue that day it was a trap to see if they could get him to do something that would violate the law of the old testament and so they must have known that jesus was in a habit of healing people that were diseased or sick they thought to themselves we're going to trap him we're going to get him in a situation where um we can have an accusation against him or where we can try to trap him and so they bring this man in the middle of the synagogue and they are waiting lying in wait to see what jesus is going to do and jesus of course knowing their thoughts because he always knew their thoughts hallelujah he always was one step ahead of his accusers and ahead of those who sought somehow to entrap him they were using sadly this man with a withered hand as a pawn jesus knew their thoughts they said to him is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days they were so blinded by their own religious tradition and hatred of jesus they were more concerned about whether a miracle would violate the sabbath law than they were about the well-being of this crippled man what they were waiting for was jesus to heal on the sabbath day so they could say aha we caught you you you have violated the law of the sabbath that says that no work can be done but jesus was one step ahead of them he knew their thoughts and he knew how to answer their questions and he knew how to accomplish the will of god without violating the old testament law so he asked them is it lawful to do evil or to do good on a sabbath day he asked them or proposes a question to them which of you having a sheep if it fell into the ditch on the sabbath would you not reach your hand forth into the ditch though it's on a sabbath day and raise that sheep or that oxen up out of the ditch and he asked them the question is this man or is a man not better than a sheep and so he turns to this crippled man and says stretch forth your hand and as the man stretches it forth it is miraculously restored if you lifted your wayward sheep up from the ditch on the sabbath you would have to touch that sheep to do it but jesus did not even touch the man how could they accuse him of doing work on the sabbath when he never even touched the man still yet they were furious one more time jesus had gotten the best of them not that that was the lord's intent he was more interested and focused on helping the suffering of this crippled man in fact mark says that jesus was grieved by the hardness of their hearts while the main message of this story touches the rotten attitude focuses on the rotten attitude of the pharisees jesus gives us some very powerful insight into healing and into what releases the miraculous power of god into one situation the man jesus healed had a right hand that was deformed the life had gone out of this hand the greek word here literally means dry and it is used in a sense that a plant that is not watered would begin to wither and to dry and so this man's right hand somehow some way some injury some congenital situation we don't know but it had withered it had dried up it had shriveled and the man had lost the function or the use of it in the original language the word for hand often refers to the whole arm from the shoulder to the fingertrips so we don't know exactly how much of his arm was withered just the hand or further up the arm it is uncertain but what we can be certain of tonight is that this man had a debilitating handicap it was his right hand the scripture is very determined to point out to us that it was his right hand and knowing that 90 of the human population are right-handed and knowing that the scripture is sure to point out that it was his right hand we can assume we can um we can estimate that it was his dominant hand that was withered regardless of of how it was injured it was certainly a devastating blow to this man crippled or handicapped people in those days were not afforded the opportunities that they are in our current society someone with a physical handicap was often an outcast often shunned in fact oftentimes unable to even enter into the temple because they were considered religiously unclean how long this man had suffered with such a debilitating condition we do not know but long enough that it had likely become his identity like the woman in matthew 9 with an issue of blood or the blind man of john 9 or the lame man of acts 3. the man in our story tonight is nameless he is only identified by his weakness or by his handicap i know that people can struggle so long with issues until their issues become their entire identity we don't know this man's name he is just called the man with a withered hand let me stop in this message just long enough to encourage you tonight in this be very careful what you allow to define you and what you allow to define your life you see we've all had failures and we've all made mistakes we've all been hurt we've all been dealt with things dealt things in life that were not fair we've all experienced things that we did not deserve things beyond our control and some people let those things define their entire lives their handicap becomes their entire identity their disadvantage becomes who they are their weakness becomes their very persona their problem becomes the very center of their lives listen to me i've made mistakes but i am not a mistake i have made mistakes but i am not a mistake i have had failures but i am not a failure do you understand the difference tonight i'm not going to let my failure become my identity i'm not going to let my mistake become my persona i may have lost some things along the way but i am not a loser some people let their handicap their weakness their mistake their problem their trouble define their entire identity but i refuse to let my handicap become my identity i refuse to let my mistake of yesterday become the thing that defines me for my entire life i may have been wounded but i am not a victim hallelujah i'm not minimizing the reality i'm not minimizing the impact of mistakes and wounds i'm just saying i refuse to let my whole life be defined by what is wrong maybe like this crippled man you were unfairly dealt a bad situation maybe you don't have parents to live for god but listen you don't have to let that become your identity maybe just maybe your dad was an alcoholic but that doesn't have to define you maybe your parents were divorced and you come from a broken home but that does not have to be your label the unfortunate thing that was dealt me will not become my label what is most crippling in people's lives it's not their mistake not their failure not their handicap not their wound not their disadvantage what's most crippling is when they let those things define who they are perhaps right now you've got some weakness some struggle some handicap and you're trying to overcome it but you do not have to be defined by that maybe you've made a horrible mistake maybe a lapse in judgment or a breakdown of your morals led to some failure but that does not have to be who you are maybe you messed up maybe you crossed a line i don't know maybe you got around the wrong crowd and did something stupid but that does not have to be your identity you don't have to put a permanent label on a temporary setback don't call me ichabod why why did this knuckle-head of a woman name that child ichabod i know it was a bad day for israel i know they had lost the ark of the covenant i know that her husband had just been killed in battle and her father-in-law had fallen off backwards and broke his neck but she attached a permanent label on a temporary situation and for the rest of that poor child's life he would be known as ichabod the glory has departed permanently defined by a temporary setback now i don't know hebrew well enough to know if there's a name that means the glory's coming back but i wish you to name your child the glory is coming back i might have a bad day today we might have made a terrible mistake we might have lost the ark of the covenant we might have been defeated by the enemy but there's another day coming there's another day coming there's a victory that's come i will not be defined permanently by a temporary setback i don't know i don't know what kind of trunk you're dealing with i don't know what kind of mistakes you've made but i tell you what i do know the message of this whole book is therefore if any man be in christ he is a new creature old things are passed away and all things are become new it's the message of the book i've been born again i've got a new nature i've got a new future i've got a new destiny i've been washed i've been sanctified i've been justified my dad may have been an addict but that's not going to define me i'm a new creature i may have come from a divorced home but that's not my identity i'm a new creature i've got some stuff in my past but that's not going to be my life's label i'm a new creation i've been wounded i've been hurt i've been mistreated i know i've been the victim of some unfortunate circumstance but old things old things i think we ought to lift our hands and say thank god for the blood thank god for the cross thank god he came out of the tomb hallelujah thank god he lives he lives and i can face tomorrow come on somebody who's been set free ought to be lifting your voice shouted at the top of your lungs right now i've been delivered i've been made free the old man is buried the past is buried i'm a new creation i'm a new creature hallelujah i i can't know what was going on in this man's mind or to what extent his handicap had affected him both physically and emotionally but i do know this he was in the right place at the right time whether he was planted there by the pharisees or he came of his own accord he was in the right place at the right time because jesus was in the synagogue i feel jesus in the room tonight i feel jesus in the house tonight and when he walks into the room everything changes when he walks into the room everything changes oh you're in the right place for a miracle the right place for a healing the right place for a breakthrough the right place for a renewal you believe it i'm in the right place [Applause] what draws me to this story jesus says stretch forth stretch forth your hand stretch forth seems to imply that the man was holding that hand close to his body if jesus said stretch forth your hand just makes sense to me that he was holding that hand close to his body in fact i believe he was concealing that hand i think he was concealing that hand for a few reasons i think i have a good argument to assume that because a withered hand would likely have excluded him from even coming into the temple many who were diseased and infirmed handicapped were considered unclean and could not enter the temple i also know human nature and his habit was very likely that of concealing the hand that was withered no one would welcome the strange looks or the glaring eyes of people in public what's wrong with that man's hand children would ask oh that poor fellow i wonder what happened to him or worse yet i wonder what sin that man committed that god would pass such judgment upon him you say could people really think that we know people think like that because jesus told us that they had that thought remember when they saw the blind man and they said who sinned did the blind man sin or did his mother and father sin that he has this terrible handicap knowing human nature i just believe that man in the temple that day he he had that withered hand tucked up into his garment i can understand him hiding his handicap i've traveled many times to papua new guinea and in all of my travels there we have our regional field supervisor somewhere here in the house i think brother namies venezuela knows what i'm talking about there's a dear brother in papua new guinea that i look forward to seeing on every trip there his name is brother barnabas and he's a great pastor and such a loving kind man and brother barnabas he he has a prosthetic arm and brother atkins living in one of the most remote areas of the world and even in the city they are in far from the capital i am sure that his prosthetic arm is not the latest model but i wouldn't know what that prosthetic arm looks like and the reason why is because i have never seen brother barnabas without a jacket on i don't mean a sport coat i mean like a windbreaker jacket that would have pockets on the side and every time i have seen brother barnabas doesn't matter if it's summertime and it's very hot outside he'll have that long sleeve jacket on and he has that pro prosthetic arm and hand tucked in to that pocket and so while everyone else is worshiping he's just got one hand raised and that prosthetic arm and that hand is always in his pocket when you hug him you gotta kind of navigate that prosthetic arm because he always has it in his pocket as many times as i've talked with him and seen him i have never seen that prosthetic arm or hand it is always always concealed he's embarrassed he doesn't want anybody to know about his handicapped he is ashamed of his condition but he does not need to be because people love brother barnabas and no one would think any less of him were he to expose his handicap but he is filled with shame perhaps it stems from his youth maybe kids poked fun at him when he was young maybe it comes from some unkind comment that someone made or maybe it's just the foul lies of the devil who have convinced this man of god you'll never be a great pastor with that handicap no one will ever respect you with a hand that is withered and so he hides his handicap that's what's going on here here in the synagogue this man is filled with shame here in the synagogue jesus encounters a man with a withered hand a man who has concealed his handicap he doesn't want people to see his weakness he doesn't want people to see his need and so he hides the handicap but i want to tell you something tonight jesus does not come quietly and secretly to him and says hey let's go over here in the corner because i want to heal you let's go back here behind the stage somewhere where we can have some privacy so i can heal you that is not what happens jesus says sir stand up but it just doesn't say stand up he says stand up in the midst that means in the middle come right down here right in the middle of the synagogue and stretch forth your hand because if you want me to heal it you have to reveal it if you want me to heal it then you've got to reveal it if you want a miracle you have to be willing to reveal what it is that needs heal let me say it again if you want a miracle of healing you've got to be willing to reveal what it is that needs heal i want to speak a word of faith to somebody tonight if you will reveal it god will heal it if you will stretch forth your hand god will heal it this man had to get to the point where he didn't care who was watching he didn't care what people thought of him he didn't care what people were saying about him he had to get to the place where he didn't care about folks knowing he had a handicap he was just interested in a miracle that's when that's when god did a miracle in his life if you want god to heal it you've got to reveal it oh y'all are shouting now but just wait because i'm not really preaching about a man with a withered hand in a synagogue in galilee i'm preaching to apostolic folks at tri-state camp meeting we are so often guilty of hiding concealing our issues we don't want anybody to know about our weaknesses we don't want anybody to know about our shortcomings we don't want anybody to know about our weaknesses we'd rather nobody know the things that ail us we'd rather keep concealed the things that need fixed in our lives and so like dear brother barnabas we keep our withered hand in our pocket hidden away in our jacket so everybody thinks that everything is all right with us but i want you to know tonight that kind of attitude impedes the flow of healing i'm telling you what will stop the flow of healing is when you stick your withered hand in your coat pocket and you put a smile on your face and you act like i'm all right i don't need anything i've got it all together i've got everything just the way it needs to be that impedes the flow of god's virtue if you want him to heal it you've got to be willing to reveal it you've got to be willing to stand up in the midst oh but the pharisees are watching i don't care oh but if i stretch forth my head everybody's going to see how ugly it is i don't care if let them see how ugly it is because do you want to be healed or do you want to hide your infirmity and appear to everybody you find because that's one or the other it is one or the other [Applause] stretch forth your hand and he did so and his hand was restored whole as the other if you can ever get to the point where you're more interested in a miracle than you are the opinions of others you're about to see something miraculous if you can ever get to the point where you're more concerned with getting healed than you are protecting your reputation if you can ever get to the point where you're more concerned about deliverance than you are your reputation then you are about to see a miracle of god unfold in your life because transparency releases the miraculous healing flows in a climate of transparency and honesty healing flows restoration flows in a climate of transparency and honesty transparency with god and how dumb sorry bishop mccool would never use a word like that how dumb try to act like god doesn't already know come on you think you think you're hiding that from god you think just because that man had that withered hand in his pocket man god didn't know what was going on you might as well just be transparent with god because god already knows anyhow you might as well just be oh i feel like preaching tonight you might as well just be transparent with god because god knows all about it already god knows what's going on in your mind god knows the kind of things you're dealing with god knows the kind of struggles that are going on in your life right now so what you ought to do is say lord i'm tired of hiding it i'm tired of concealing it i'm tired of pretending like everything's all right god here i am i need a healing god here i am i need deliverance stretch forth god i'm dealing with discouragement just being real transparent with you tonight my pants keep dropping just being real transparent with you [Applause] i told these fine specimen of men up here on this front row i said that pope that pulpit you got is not for fat preachers i like a pulpit big enough conceal the fact that i'm all pulling up my pants i'm just gonna be transparent with you tonight i'm just going to tell you the way it is i'm a little fat and overweight but you know what i don't care if you know that because the reality is you know about it already y'all been talking about it already might as well just be transparent might as well just be honest god already knows all about it god knows what you've been thinking god knows the struggles have been going on god knows you felt like quitting your pastorate god knows you felt like getting out of the ministry god knows so why don't you just be transparent say god i'm battling discouragement god i'm battling frustration god it seems like every sunday night or monday morning i'm ready to resign god i need some help but that's not what we do how you doing brother oh i'm doing how's your great doing oh we're blowing and going you're lying you you just told your wife last week that you're done you just told your wife last week that you don't want to be a pastor anymore you you just told your dearest friend you don't think you could handle it anymore and you're ready to resign your church and then you come to camp meeting and someone says how you doing oh i'm doing fine everything's great you're just not being truthful let me tell you what what what impedes the flow of anointing what impedes the flow of god's healing is when we're not open and we're not i'm not talking about going around by cry baby and to everybody all the time i'm just saying we need a climate of transparency a claimant of honesty with one another because that is what causes the healing virtue of god to flow lord i need you we got to be transparent with god [Applause] we need transparency with with one another james said it like this confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be confess your faults one two another false i point out in the greek tonight that this word is not the word that is generally used for sin that is another word this word fault in the greek in this passage is referring to a falling away a slip or a lapse this word fault is dealing with areas of my life where i am slipping or areas of my life where i am weak or where i am vulnerable here james is talking about transparency and honesty one with another about areas of weakness and shortcomings and handicaps i'm not talking about confessing your sin to everybody you can confess your sin to god but james said if you want to be healed then you're going to have to be willing to be transparent about the things that are withered if you're wanting restoration in your withered hand you're gonna have to stretch it forth and not be afraid to let somebody know about the withered hand healing is released when we open up about our needs healing is released when we are transparent about the issues that we need help with when i'm open with my brother about my handicap my weakness my need then healing begins to flow what did james say confess your faults and pray so what james is saying is be honest with one another what's next and pray maybe you're so spiritual you don't have to know what you're praying for but as soon as you pray for your brother divine revelation comes and you know exactly what they're dealing with now i believe in the gift of word of knowledge but i don't think that happens every day at least not to me so if i come to you and we're having a serious conversation and i'm brother name you how you doing and you got your withered hand in your pocket and you're saying oh everything's great great great great i'm gonna walk away and there's not much prayer that's going on and because there's not much prayer going on there's not much healing that's happening but if you ever come to a brother and you're having an honest conversation with a trusted brother and that brother says let me tell you what i'm just going to be transparent with you i need some prayer right now because i'm really struggling with this or with that or i'm really dealing with this emotion or that emotion or i'm really i'm really struggling with discouraging oh then i'm going to lay my hands on you or i'm going to put my arm around you and i'm going to pray and i'm going to cry with you and we're going to kneel down at the altar together and i'm going to shed tear oh i feel the holy ghost flowing i feel healing virtue beginning to flow in this room right now oh i wanna i'm gonna shed some tears on that altar with you and you're gonna shed some tears and we're gonna mingle our tears and mingle our faith together we're going to pray and i'm going to tell you what god is going to do a miracle of restoration and of healing but our problem is like brother barnabas we've always got our hand in our pocket we don't want anybody to know that everything's not perfect 24 7 365. and then you come to tri-state camp gotta be on my very best behavior here i don't want any buddy to know that i've got issues and so we sing and we shout a little we smile at one another and we walk out just as crippled as we were when we came in we come to church we want everybody around us on sunday to know everything is all right i'm okay i've got it all together i'm having victory 24 7 365. i don't have any struggles i don't have any issues i don't have any battles you know there have been good good people that i've tried to win to god and taught bible study to and got in the church and got baptized and last about three months and then they're not around anymore and and i contact them and say hey we love you and we're missing you where have you been and i've had him tell me i'm just not cut out to be apostol i say what do you mean you're not cut out well everybody at faith apostolic church is just has their act together and every but nobody at that church has problems like i have and nobody has issues like i have and i just come to church and everybody just looks so perfect and everybody's got everything all together and i'm like oh brother oh sister i apologize on behalf of our church that we've all had our withered hands in our pockets because let me tell you whether you've been in church 30 years or three months i'm not saying we shouldn't be growing spiritually i understand that i understand ought to be more mature now than i was 20 years ago or two months ago i'm just telling you it doesn't matter if you've been in church 30 years there's going to be times when the devil's fighting you and you're just putting one foot in front of the next and you're just barely hanging on oh i think it would do us well to be honest with one another and say yes lord here is my withered hand would you heal me would you touch me we've got leaders pastors saints dealing with depression dealing with anxiety dealing with discouragement leaders in our churches that are ready to quit the ministry people struggling to deal with the foul spirits of our age that are relentlessly bombarding our minds and we see our brothers and we stick our hand in our pocket and say everything's good now i can't stand a drama king or a drama queen and i wish i wish like the reality show we could vote some people off social media i wish there was some way that we could just all vote and vote some people off because you know there are some folks that you dare not say how are you doing you dare not say how things going with you unless you've got 45 minutes and then you need a prayer meeting when you're done hearing all that i'm not talking about that you understand that's not what i'm talking about you you listen i've been in the ministry a long time now i've been in here long enough to know there are times i understand bishop mccool taught us well there are times no matter how you feel you've got to walk out on that platform get behind that pulpit and pick up the mic and preach the word of god and preach faith and preach revival and i understand that i understand you can't be a pastor and wearing your feelings around on your shoulders all the time i understand that you're not going to have a stable church if you're up and down like a roller coaster and every other service people don't know what they're going to get from their pastor when they show up i'm not talking about that i'm just telling you there are times when we do not get the healing that we need because we can conceal the handicap i took my family out west for spring break and i i think i look younger than i am that's a good place for a good amen and i i think i feel younger than i am we were up about 8 000 feet up going up to a lodge up to go see one of those parks in utah and we stopped off on the side of the road because this hoosier who only sees flat farmland was in all of those now i love the smokies and i love east tennessee but i got out there in the west and i'm like good grief wow you got to stop here so we pulled over the side of the road and i saw this ridge that only looked like it was a couple hundred feet up and on the other side of that ridge it just opened sky and i thought if i can just get there to the top i'm gonna have quite a view and so i told my wife i said i'm gonna climb up to the top she said honey don't do it i said ah i'm going so i start i start chugging up up that and i'm telling you it's about this steep and i'm i'm going up and i get about halfway up half the way up and and i'm sucking wind i'm determined i'm gonna get to the top so by now about about three quarters the way up i'm on my hands and knees but i'm still still going up there toward the top i'm about sliding on my belly by the time i got to the very top and i saw that view and then i turned around and looked down and where i had to go to get back down i started thinking lord and i'm i'm breathing hard i start coming down that mountain and i'm i'm having a hard time catching my breath and my wife sees this look on my face and and uh she says honey you've overdone it and uh i get it back down in the car and man i'm i can hardly catch my breath and i just said just give me a minute just give me a minute i'm gonna be fine and she goes like she said honey there's something's not right and i said no i'm gonna be fine everything's fine just just give me a minute i said you drive and i'll get in the back i got in the back seat i said roll the window down i'm driving down the highway with the window down and i'm sucking in wind and she's saying honey something's not right i said i'm gonna be fine about 15 minutes from the hotel just get us to the hotel we got to the hotel and pop the trunk and start picking the luggage up and i cannot pick the luggage out of the back of that trunk my sister-in-law sees me struggling and she says you're going in in the room and i'm gonna get to look at you i go in and lay down on the bed and man it goes from bad to worse and i think i'm having a heart attack and she goes we need to get to the hospital and i said no we're not going i'm just just let me catch my breath my dear friend my dear friend brother mcknight had just passed away about a week before and she said i bet that's what what brother mcknight said i said all right let's go to the hospital and so i start to get up and i can't get up and i said honey i can't get up she goes i'm calling the ambulance i said call the ambulance it goes from mad to worse my arms are numb my body's going numb so help me i thought i was dying i said this is it i even really scared my wife because i said i said honey i'm not afraid she goes well i'm afraid we're talking like that long story short got to the er ran a bunch of tests i said you know you're at 8 000 feet don't you and i'm like i didn't realize it was 8 000 feet at the bottom of where we're just starting he said yeah you've been on a plane today you're dehydrated there's nothing wrong with your heart you have altitude sickness and you've you've got yourself worked up into a into a frenzy here everything's gonna be fine and so i was relieved and we finished our vacation went home but we'll tell you what happened the next sunday as i'm walking to the platform the devil says you're gonna die of a heart attack while you're preaching this morning i start breathing heavy and i look at josh knows there's something wrong and josh starts praying and i said no no no this is the devil there's nothing on my heart and so i got up and started preaching everything was fine doctor said well i know it was just altered to sickness but you need to have you need to get tested so i went through a whole litany i had a heart scan they came back and you said they said you scored a perfect score on your heart scan zero there is zero plaque they ran all kinds of tests every test came back fine there was nothing wrong with my heart there was nothing wrong with my blood pressure there was nothing wrong with anything but the devil every day i would get up and feel any kind of little pain in my body the devil said you're gonna die of a heart attack for weeks for the next several weeks every time i'd come to church and get ready to take the pulpit to preach the word of god i'd give a little pain in my chest and the devil would say you better take it easy or you're gonna die of a heart attack but you know what as long as i had my hand my withered hand in my pocket there was no healing from the spirit of fear and anxiety that was troubling my mind i just had my hand in my pocket and i said everything is all right how you doing pastor oh everything's great having revival everything's great till one sunday morning the lord said you're a hypocrite why don't you tell the truth and maybe i can do something in this place this morning so i came behind the pulpit and i said i got to be honest with you faith apostolic church the devil has been messing with my mind with fear and with anxiety it's kind of tough for a grown man to get behind a pulpit tell his congregation i've been dealing with fear and i wake up every day and i think there's something wrong with my body but the lord spoke to me this morning and said you are not alone in dealing with this spirit of fear and i said i want to tell you there is healing that's going to happen in this room today because transparency produces healing confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed i said there are men and there are women in this room that for the last two or three weeks every time you get a little ache in your body the devil tells you you have cancer and every time you get a little flutter in your chest the devil's lying to you and telling you that you're going to die of a heart attack but we're going to bind the spirit of fear and anxiety and there's going to be deliverance in healing in this house tonight and if you've been dealing with this i want you to come out of your seat right now i want you to stretch forth your hand and i thought i thought there might be one or two i thought there might be one or two but i about fell over when neither the entire congregation came out of their seat with their hands raised tears flowing down their cheeks grown men said i've been living in fear for the last month thinking i'm going to die of a heart attack i want to tell some pastor there isn't anything wrong with your body you're not going to die you've got a ministry to fulfill you don't have cancer there's nothing wrong with you the devil's messing with your mind the devils are trying to bring you into bondage of fear and anxiety but you know what we're going to stretch forth our hand tonight we're going to stretch forth our hand tonight and say lord i'm not ashamed i'm more interested in deliverance than i am my reputation i'm more interested in healing than i am the opinions of others come on come on stretch it forth stretch it forth right now in the name of jesus in the name of jesus don't be ashamed of your withered hand if you want a miracle you got to be willing to stretch forth your hand if you want a miracle you got to get to the point where you don't care who is watching you don't care who knows about it stretch forth your hand [Applause] in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hold on just a second if you have been dealing with fear if you have been dealing with fear and anxiety i want you to lift your hand high right now if you've been dealing with fear and anxiety i want you to lift your hand right now just kind of wave it just like you're saying here i am right here i don't care who knows i don't care now brother i want you to find a brother who's got his hand up i want you to put your arm around him and pray with him in the name of jesus i speak to the spirit of fear to that foul spirit of anxiety loose my brother right now loose my sister right now in the name of jesus by the authority of jesus name i rebuke every line spirit of hell in the name of the lord in the name of the lord in the name of jesus in the name of jesus you're not going to die you've been dealing with the fear of dying you've been dealing with the fear that your body's going to be eating up with cancer i refute that foul spirit in the name of jesus be free in jesus name be free in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah [Applause] jesus be healed in the name of jesus healing flow in the name of jesus healing flow in this room right now in the name of jesus in the name in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hold all the music we'll get to music in a minute the only sound the only sound in this room for the next few moments is the sound of prayer the sound of crying out to god the sound of travail and crying now come on come on come on the only sound there's something that's about to break in this room tonight there's an oppression of the enemy that is about to break off of the people of god tonight i need you to help me every intercessor pray every intercessor let your voice out in prayer right now come on child of god come on brother sister let your voice out loud in prayer in the name of jesus be free in the name of jesus be delivered by the power of jesus name be free in the name of jesus in the name of jesus healing healing flow healing flow in the name of the lord deliverance flow every lie we cast down every lie of the enemy every imagination every foul spirit be cast out be gone in the name of jesus casting down imaginations everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of god we cast it down we cast it down every imagination every lie every untruth of hell we cast it down in the name of jesus in the name of jesus [Applause] come on don't stop praying don't stop praying musicians and singers help me pray we'll get your music in a minute help me pray if you're on the piano help me pray if you're on the drums help me pray come on singers help me pray in the name of jesus somebody needs to go out of this camp meeting night free somebody needs to go out with a hand that is restored time to quit hiding the withered hand time to quit hiding the handicap somebody is going to leave here healed somebody is going to leave here delivered in the name of jesus by the power of the name of jesus by the power of the name of jesus [Applause] in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus [Applause] uh jesus name [Applause] come on call on his name jesus here i am jesus stretching forth my withered hand tonight jesus here i am jesus i need healing god i need restoration in my life i need renewal lord replenish my faith and my strength in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus jesus come on one once you lay your hand on another brother or sister just just lay your hand on somebody else oh god strengthened my brother my sister in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus healing let it flow right now healing let it flow right now healing in jesus name jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah in the name of jesus in the name of jesus by the power of jesus by the name of jesus name [Applause] hallelujah in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hallelujah healing healing virtue flow healing virtue flow health [Applause] now oh [Applause] his name in jesus name in jesus name hallelujah you you know why you know why we're so reluctant you know why we're so reluctant for the mccool to pull our hand out because for so long there have been too many pharisees in the house you know who i'm talking about those folks who act like everything is fine this poor man had his hand concealed because he knew he was in a house of pharisees the same guys that said of the blind man who was sinned well if you were living for god you wouldn't have discouragement like that if your life was right you wouldn't be dealing with these sorts of things if your prayer life was the way it should be you wouldn't have depression if you if you had a holiness standard like you should everything would be all right god i want to be in an atmosphere i feel like we're in that kind of place tonight where nobody's going to judge you if you say hey i've i've been struggling i'm so glad i'm so glad we're in a church tonight where there's not a bunch of pharisees in here you know you're in a safe place to say hey i've i feel like i feel like the lord gave me some direction today i i hope i have the liberty just to do what i feel but but i'm i'm asking if if everyone that's around this altar would just take a step or two back if there's if there's room just to take a step or two back and i felt this afternoon the lord speak to my heart that there were people with withered hands in this room tonight and i don't mean the way i've been preaching it like it the withered hand means whatever kind of issue we're dealing with no i'm talking about that the life has gone out like a plant would wither and contract because of the lack of water and nutrients and the life has started to em out i feel like i feel so awkward doing this but i feel like they're men and women precious men and women of god who you feel like the life has just been ebbing out of you and you feel like your ministry like your walk with god is just withered and you just need refreshing tonight and you know what i wanted to do tonight i just i just want to say lord you know you can do it and we can just all shout and pray and all be done and i know it can be done like that but just i feel like tonight i feel like the way god wants to do it it's for somebody to say i don't care if it's camp meeting i don't care if all my ministering brothers and sisters know i need some refreshing in my spirit tonight i need some renewal in my life tonight i i need just a fresh touch of the holy ghost in my life if that's you you know what i'm doing i'm doing just what jesus did in that synagogue stand up in the middle and stretch forth your hand i'm telling you if you just need a refreshing and a renewal in your life i just want you to come all the way and i want you to stand to your feet or against this front against this front step if you just need there's this is a judgment-free zone tonight nobody there aren't any pharisees looking at you nobody cares because we all we've all been at this place but i feel like the healing's going to happen if we'll just be honest enough to say i just need a refreshing in my spirit now here's what we're going to do is look at this look at this ultra field that can't even fit can't even fit in the first row now i want the rest of y'all i want you to come and stand behind your dear brother your dear pastor brother your dear sister your dear sister's pastor's wife i want you to come lay your hand on their back because they've stretched forth their hand tonight they've said i don't care who knows i need to renew one i need a renewal i need some restoration in my life i just feel dry i just feel dry i need renewal i need the well of living water just spring up come on that's it healing is flowing healing is flowing healing come on that's it revival renewal renew renew strengthen and renew right now in the name of jesus come on brother help me pray come on say to god help me pray come on pastor lay your hand on somebody and say oh god fresh oil threshold in the name of jesus healing virtues flow healing virtue flow no restoration and renewal the joy and peace of the holy ghost let it flow let it flow let it flow in this place right now let healing flow in this place right now in the name of jesus by the power of the name of jesus by the power of the name of jesus holy ghost oh holy ghost oh renewal revival and renewal renewal and restoration is in this room right now restoration and revival and renewal is in this place right now right now right now in the name of jesus