[0:00] Thanks for checking in on this podcast. You are about to hear an inspirational teaching from Caris Ministries. If God has used this ministry to bless you in any way, please take a moment and write to us at amen at caris.org.
[0:15] We are always inspired and blessed to hear how God is blessing people all over the world through what he is doing here at Caris. Also, if you would like to support this ministry financially, you can do so online at caris.org so we can continue making podcasts such as this available free of charge.
[0:39] God is no respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of faith. Peter said, of a truth I perceive, that God is no respecter of persons.
[0:54] Acts chapter 10 verse 34, I think so. Acts 10 verse 34. Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality.
[1:06] Some other translations say, God is no respecter of persons, let alone dress and certificate. When you come to church, don't pull your certificate.
[1:19] It doesn't work. Don't pull your CV and don't pull your job description, your job title, and your profession. Don't you know, I'm a professional monkey trainer.
[1:34] So what has that got to do with our jumping in church? No, it's not as God. You come to church and you come with your self-importance.
[1:45] God is no respecter of persons. That's a strong one. Your import, it's like, I always, this is one of my favorite analogies, like labor world. You don't go to labor world with your, can you imagine, Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.
[2:05] She went to the labor world. And she can't say, no, no one touches me. I'm just, no, no, no. She was screaming, yeah, baby must come out. And the, the midwives and the doctors were helping her.
[2:17] She needed their help. Don't take that, your self-importance to the place where you desperately need help. They won't look at you.
[2:32] You know how politicians, when they want to win elections, sometimes they go to all kinds of places. People look at their faces and say, you have no help. They say, don't worry. I understand. I understand. We were very upset with this.
[2:44] Because why? When you need help from people, you don't go with your self-importance. No, no, no. So why is it that people come to church and feel so important? We say, say hallelujah. They say, no, I don't say that.
[2:55] I don't say that. I don't feel like it today. We are singing and lifting our hands. I don't know. I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't do that.
[3:06] I'm a bourgeois, you know. I'm very, I can't do that. And people are kneeling down to receive blessings. I can't kneel down because my trousers is Louis Vuitton, you know.
[3:16] I can't kneel down. This floor seems to not to be too neat for my liking. So I can't kneel down. If I were you, I will remove my wig.
[3:31] When they are laying on of hands, I remove them. I said, man of God, lay your hands. You see what is stopping a lot of people?
[3:46] Self-importance. You see, can I, can I, can I, can I draw attention to something? Many people think God loses when they don't serve him. It's like a child telling mom, I won't eat.
[4:00] I won't eat. You want to spite your mom, so I won't eat. I won't eat. I won't eat. He's chopping your nose to spite my face. No, God has never been in need.
[4:16] He's fine without you. But I don't know about you. Even you couldn't manage without a boyfriend. The last time your boss called you, you were panicking.
[4:37] He thought you were about to lose your job. You can't, you can't survive without a job. Your job is your wealth. You see how susceptible you are to circumstances?
[4:50] This is fragile. Very fragile. So when we come to God, a smart person will always say, like the woman, I don't care.
[5:01] You can't call me dog. I don't like the way the person is talking. I don't like the way the person is talking. When he's talking, he's so confident. If you have seen what I've seen, he will be talking the way I talk. When a blind man threatens you, that is going to throw a stone at you, or stone you, that means that his foot must be on a stone.
[5:25] Hallelujah. God will help you. God will surprise you. Amen. You don't have to say amen.
[5:39] Okay. If you don't believe it, or you don't, you don't want it. But faith will always speak.
[5:52] She was talking after Jesus, crying after, and when Jesus saw her faith, Jesus said, woman, I saw her, Jesus said, great is your faith. And then, when your faith says yes, do you know what Jesus said?
[6:03] Jesus said, remember, initially he said, I can't do anything. Did he say that? He said, if I actually ignored her, she will not answer anything. Then the disciple said, no, just get, let her get off her back.
[6:17] So Jesus said, I'm not ready for this. And she said, yes, but I'm ready. He said, no, that's not my plan. After her faith said yes, Jesus said, do you know what Jesus said? He said, oh woman, great is thy faith.
[6:30] Be it, let it be unto you, as I have desired. No. You. You. The one with the faith is the one who gets the answers. Sometimes, I don't know what people think.
[6:49] There are people here who believe that you own seven bedroom house one day. but you are still living the way you have been living for the past five years.
[7:02] You have not changed your approach, your hard work. You have not changed your approach and you come and shout in church, amen, amen, and just, that justifies you to have a five bedroom house. No, they said, you buy it.
[7:18] Yes. Huh? Am I communicating? Some of you, the job you do can't afford you by a five bedroom house. And you haven't done anything for the past five years.
[7:28] It's the same job. And you are saying, I will own it one day. And you have these wishes. Unrealistic wishes. And you slap it and blame it on God that God will do it.
[7:41] How is it going to do with the way you are sleeping? You want to have a good marriage, but you don't know how to talk to a wife. Or you don't know how to talk to a husband.
[7:52] And you are, you want, you are believing, oh, I know one day I'm going to have a gross. When is that one day? Today is the tomorrow you spoke about yesterday. So, what you got to do, oh boy, do, wake up and do it now.
[8:11] If you have to go and do other courses, get up and do it now. There will be 101 reasons why you shouldn't do that. But if you have one reason why you should do it, get up and do it.
[8:25] Too many poor people are too lazy. Lazy. Laziness is what endorses your poverty. not discrimination. Go up.
[8:37] Discrimination doesn't endorse poverty. It's laziness, inactivity, and lack of determination. And perseverance, persistence, and diligence.
[8:51] That is the reason for people's poor state. It's not because somebody doesn't like you. There are other people too, people don't like them. but they are making it.
[9:05] They are moving. I see your story changing from today. I see your story changing from today. I see your story changing from today. It's not nice.
[9:19] It's not nice to pastor lazy people. It's not nice. Even, laziness, it's not in the hands. Laziness is a state of mind. So, the way you are underperforming at work is the same way you underperforming church when we ask you to join the choir.
[9:38] People who are late for work most of the time are also usually late for church. But you are casting your boss. My boss hates me.
[9:49] My boss doesn't like me. My boss is like this. My boss is like this. And remember, your previous boss was also the same. And then the one before your previous boss was the same.
[10:01] So, you can tell that there's a constant here. The people have changed but something hasn't changed and you haven't changed. So, probably, you are carrying something that makes people not really enjoy working with you.
[10:12] You know why Michael Jackson died? He died because he was pushing himself. You want to be a celebrity but the way you are sleeping. And he said, oh, that's for me.
[10:23] I don't joke with my sleep. That is a disgraceful thing to say. Don't say it if you want to be great. Don't say that. I don't joke with my sleep. I have to sleep eight hours. Ah! You can't sleep eight hours a day and make it.
[10:38] Make it great. When you sleep eight hours a day, you have commonized your destiny. You have become common, common, common. You are sleeping too much.
[10:50] And entertainment, most of us, all work and no play, makes Jack a doorboard. But you are playing more of the time than working. Look at your children.
[11:02] Look at your wife. Look at your husband. Most of the problems in the house is money related. the child just summer, but she felt cold and turn on the heat.
[11:15] You are screaming like someone is pulling out the roof. Hey! Hey! Turn off the heat! Turn off the heat! Turn off the heat! What kind of child are you?
[11:25] I've been telling you. Turn off the heat! Hey! Hey! Like they are pulling the whole roof down. Why? Money is talking. Money is talking. Money is talking. Money is talking. Money is talking.
[11:37] Money is talking. Money is talking. Money is talking. Money is talking. Money is talking. You are sleeping too much. Hey! Anyone who tells you a normal person you have to sleep eight hours a day doesn't have the working knowledge of becoming great.
[11:56] Eight hours sleep is for babies. But look at your situation. you know. I mean how can you be sleeping when your backyard is on fire?
[12:13] I'm not talking especially young ones. Young ones. Young ones. All your focus is fashion. Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. And entertainment. Fashion. And entertainment. Fashion.
[12:23] And entertainment. Fashion. Fashion. You have every type of fashionable but you see you see you attract the wrong men. And the good ones who come to they can't stay because you haven't fashioned you have not fashioned your inside.
[12:41] The fashion is all slapped on. It's an addition. It's not intrinsic. It's not from within. And so the quality is not inside. It's just slapped on.
[12:51] So when the stage is set they find out that you are a paper tiger. With all the biceps and triceps driving BMW.
[13:06] You are not good material for marriage. Because you don't know how to treat women. You don't know how to treat a woman different from all the other women. Every woman is good enough for you.
[13:17] There's a problem with your eyes. I see you shout yes! I feel like preaching.
[13:38] Sometimes you have to look at yourself look at where you want to go and see if you fit there. That's what I was saying to the sisters. You want to be married to a man.
[13:51] You say I want a man like this man. You admire him. I don't have time. You like him. I want a man like this one. If I were you instead of focusing on him I'll focus on the kind of woman such men would like.
[14:08] I'll look at his wife and begin to pick something. Sometimes begin to pick the banarisms begin to pick some things because maybe men like this don't just look at the exterior.
[14:20] But you are slapping everything on yourself thinking that's what will get their attention and you are wondering why? Because you don't eat beauty do you? Why don't you go to do beauty?
[14:31] You just watch and after watching you are tired. You have to move on with life. Get busy. Be busy about life. life. So when you see a man like this and you believe that in your destiny there's supposed to be a man like this then look at yourself and look at the kind of woman a man like this went for and see if you look like that.
[15:00] Pastor is so sweet and most of us have been deluded. You focus on a man. Can you match a woman? You are moved by a man's figure.
[15:13] You have a problem. Because everyone who has been in any relationship will tell you that most of the things that attract you into the relationship really don't matter.
[15:25] Most of the time. That's why people just break relations because I thought you were all that but I can't take this. This is too much for me. I can't take it. Your previous experiences should advise you about how you update yourself.
[15:53] There is nothing wrong with you as a person but your understanding and your approach may really need a lot of updates. So you have bought that iPhone, you've bought that Samsung phone, Galaxy 7S or whatever, but you are not doing anything with you.
[16:14] You think the phone is wrong. No, it's not the phone. It's how you understand the way it works. Am I communicating to somebody? you're going to have a thing?
[16:24] Because you have this grandiose idea. But how is it going to happen? How is it going to happen? Most of us want big, big, big, big things, but the work ethics, what it takes together, we don't want it.
[16:40] Every little girl, I mean, how can a young person, a young woman, a young man, say, the work is too stressful, I stop it. Come on, come on, you are a disgrace. Stay there till you get another job.
[16:53] How are you going to pay your bills? How are you going to, hey, somebody will help me, the government. That's why you are a failure. And you realize that if you don't deal with it, the thing follows. Everywhere you go is stressful. Every important job is stressful.
[17:14] You go and be fighting with everybody. You don't know how to submit to authority. It's from home. You were fighting your mom, fighting your dad. No one could control you. Now you can't sustain a job because you lack the ethics of staying under authority.
[17:29] And there's a social system created for your demise that you don't know. Systems to make you, don't worry, we refer you. You need common sense, not referral.
[17:42] You are free. at your age, you already have two children with a woman you are not married to.
[17:54] Two different women. 23-year-old boy. Three children. Why? Why? Life is not about sex. Hey, sister, I want a man who is very hot.
[18:07] Life is not about sex. I was thinking about sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. That is foolish thinking.
[18:21] Wow, that's hard. You need someone to say it's hard to wake you up. Because you have been, some of us always want to be pampered. Want to pampered. Oh, don't worry.
[18:32] Even when you are messing up. Oh, don't worry. Okay. No, no, no, no, no, no. Sometimes you need someone to stare to you in the face and say stop this. Stop it. Something must hit you to wake you up.
[18:44] Then greatness, the nice package inside you begin to manifest. Because some of our children are so talented, so gifted, but without ethics, your talent won't take you anywhere.
[18:58] Akwesi, semi-pro footballer, he said something to me I won't forget. He said, the black boys, because he used to do it from young, training and football, he said, most times, some of his black colleagues don't get to the top in the football career.
[19:15] They don't get to the top. The guys are so good, and some of their white counterparts are not that good. This is generalization. He said some of them are not good, but for some reason, the ones who are not good tend to get opportunities and rise.
[19:33] somebody will say racism. No, it's not. Akwesi said because the guys are good and they think because I'm good, that's it. They have good abilities with bad attitudes.
[19:46] Whilst the other guys have good attitudes with not so good abilities. But a coach prefers the attitude. He said, if you have a good attitude, I can make something better out of your life.
[19:57] If you have a good attitude, I can do something good with your life. But it doesn't matter how good you are. With this bad attitude, you are not going anywhere. So we are here to preach the Bible.
[20:14] But some of us have not realized that we are digging our own graves with this attitude of lack of diligence, lack of submission to authority.
[20:26] I don't want anyone to tell me what I have to do. No, life is sometimes you need people to tell you, sit down. You need somebody. And if you don't know how to do that, you can't survive in marriage. And if you don't survive in marriage, listen, it's not a nice thing, you may think, oh, I don't mind, I'll be okay, I'll be okay, I'll just work hard.
[20:43] A time comes when you realize that human relationships are more important than money. Even when you buy a new and a nice car, you need somebody to share it with, oh, look at my car. When you get success, got a start.
[20:59] But if you don't have anybody, you can have eight rockets. And no one wants to know what you going to do. You want to, you have a lot of money, you throw a party and no one is coming.
[21:14] Because they don't want to come to your house because your attitude. But you may not have much and you're just serving, cooking in your house and the whole place is flooded with people. Why? Because people like hanging around you.
[21:27] Don't blame anybody for your failure in life. Take responsibility. Stop pointing at who raised you. Stop pointing accusing figures at your teachers, what they told you.
[21:37] That is in the past. Today you can pick yourself up and move forward. You can pick yourself up and say it doesn't matter. Come rain or shine. I'm going to move forward. I'm going to make it.
[21:47] I'll make it in marriage. I'll make it in my family. I'll make it in my career. I'm going forward. I'll succeed. I will succeed. I will succeed. I will succeed.
[21:58] I will make it. Share the ears. Please sit down. I grew up in Ghana.
[22:13] So many of my spiritual colleagues struggling. Very spiritual. Fasting. But fasting, prayer and fasting does not guarantee success in life. Stop boasting about your prayer and fasting and start boasting about your diligence.
[22:30] Hard work. Hard work. Hard work. For the past few days, only God knows the number of hours I've slept. Hard work.
[22:43] Oh, I just go and read your Bible. You don't so. How many of you, when you're in trouble, you come to pastor and say, pastor, can you quote a scripture for me?
[22:55] No. You say, pastor, I'm losing my job. I need help. I need help. There are no quotations. So being a pastor doesn't mean just go and read Bible and get quotations in your head and come and cram it on people.
[23:11] It doesn't work like that. Work hard. Seek God. Change your attitude. Sometimes you don't know what to change. Listen to what people who are close to you keep telling you about yourself.
[23:24] Your mom used to tell you, take a shower every evening. Take a shower every evening. Take a shower every evening. After a while, take a shower. You didn't do it. I said, mom, why? I'm fine.
[23:35] Mom, but dad has not taken a shower. And my brother has said, no, no, that's a brother. Women have many calves on their body. So it's very important. am I communicating at all?
[23:55] Watch this. Why am I talking the way I talk? It breaks my heart when I see a potential great person failing. And failure, listen, success is never a gift.
[24:10] There are many gifts in life. Unfortunately, success is not one of it. Hard working! Hard working! Hard working.
[24:22] Success. If you want your relationship to work, work hard at it. And stop the tantrums and everything must be about how you feel, must be about how you think, must be about you and you and you.
[24:33] But you have to also be smart when it comes to relationship. Some people, they are not going anywhere with you. You can tell that this guy's philosophy in life, if I stay around him, I'm going to fail. Chop it off.
[24:45] It doesn't matter how hard you are. You don't eat hard. I ask people, normally singles, after, he says so sweet, he's so romantic, he's so very hard.
[25:01] Some of you have been together for a whole night or a whole day. After one or two sessions, you finish, you are lying down. So, what would you do? You are lying down. Okay, try again. You finish, you are lying down.
[25:11] Try again. you got to get up and you call life is not about sex. Even though it's part of it, but it's not the whole thing. I'm not communicating to somebody at all.
[25:37] I'm speaking this way because I owe you that responsibility. You should know in my heart, I respect you, I honor you, but Paul said, I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God to you.
[25:54] Then he said, because of that I am innocent of anyone's blood. Acts chapter 20, I think verse 24, Acts 20, 24. He said, I'm innocent because I haven't shunned.
[26:06] He said, I haven't shunned to declare the whole counsel of God to you. I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel. Why did he say? He said, for, for, I testify that I'm innocent of anyone's blood.
[26:18] Why did he say that? Look at the next verse. For, I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel. So, it's too late to say I didn't know.
[26:39] Maybe that's why you had to be here today. As I grow up, I realize anybody at all can be great because success is a habit.
[27:00] There is a habit behind every success and there is a habit behind every failure. There's a reason why your relationships are not working.
[27:14] because probably the kind of men you have been going for are not compatible to where you are going and your makeup.
[27:32] I don't mean your makeup, but your composition, your constituent components, intrinsic values. values. So you always have a crash.
[27:45] You always have a problem. There is a clash. So maybe the earlier you stop making decisions based on your feelings, the better.
[27:57] don't choose a partner, as they say it, because of how you feel about them. It's not smart thinking.
[28:09] Because the feelings may change just like British weather. And then you find out that you have a problem on your hands. Some of you are in relationships, you realize that it's a very childish pediatric decision you made some time ago.
[28:27] Now you're wondering, what made me make this decision? And you're stuck with it. And you have told the person, you know, nothing you do, nothing. You have tattooed his name on your thighs, or her name on your ears.
[28:42] I mean. And now there you are. Don't tattoo unless you are married, because marriage is a covenant. why would you tattoo a girlfriend's name on your gums?
[29:01] Think about it. I'm not saying if you have done it, you are bad. But I'm saying that situations may change. Best friend may become your worst enemy.
[29:15] I think I've said a lot of stuff. I speak the way I speak because I'm a man of passion.
[29:30] I see through what is happening to people. Your exposure accounts for how your life turns out to be.
[29:42] So if they want to destroy you, they just have to give you opportunity. Whatever you call opportunity, they can give it to you, but control your exposure. Get you exposed. Affect the way you think.
[29:54] So some of our children, their approach to success has already been damaged. You are busy saying, my child is going to be a doctor. And you don't even bother to spend time with the child, speak into their life, teach them the word of God.
[30:08] You have left that for Sunday school teachers. And you believe in the education so much. Education so much. There are a lot of people you attended school with.
[30:19] They were in your class who were very intelligent, but today they have messed up in life. So academic prowess doesn't guarantee great future. It's your healthy worldview and healthy philosophy of life.
[30:41] Very expensive car. Sports car. Nice one, expensive. expensive. But sometimes when you look at them, you know that this man has nothing in his head. Maybe it's some fraud money or something.
[30:55] You can't tell. So they are sitting in what looks great, but what is in their mind is very low in class. I'm not the only stranger here.
[31:09] Am I talking to them? people. They are pretty. And sometimes a nice car and a young man who is not working properly and is maybe in pharmaceutical industry has bought a nice car and changed the ties and made the car look like Dracula.
[31:28] You know what I'm talking about. may God help us. Because most of the people in church are also victims.
[31:40] Do you know why? Because we come to church and we believe, but the way we have been wired in life, we don't want it to be touched.
[31:53] No one touches you. Maybe the reason why you get offended with the ushers, God actually is allowing it. At least to know how someone can upset you.
[32:03] Because you can't be a great person in life, a TV personality or a political figure and people accept you and begin to misbehave. You can't do that.
[32:14] You can't do that. So some of us, the way we don't have a hold on our emotions when you are upset, maybe you need someone to keep upsetting you. In places where you least expect it.
[32:26] Someone is sitting near you in church and keeps shouting hallelujah, hallelujah, spreading gastric juice on you. But you are in church, so you don't want to show your true self.
[32:40] am I communicating at all?
[32:52] I know some of you are not happy with me, but I'm not here because I want something from you.
[33:05] I'm here because I want to get something to you. I want to stand here and say your marriage will work.
[33:16] Your marriage will work. But what makes marriage work is not just a shout. Amen. What make marriage? Because there are people who don't go to church and their marriages are working fantastic.
[33:29] You are speaking 100 tongues per minute. And you jarrate, you jarrate. And you are such an unpleasant person to live with.
[33:43] God sent me to somebody.
[33:57] The days of your programmed failure, those days are over. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[34:07] Amen. Amen. Tomorrow, if you don't have a job, first thing you are supposed to do after 6 a.m. prayers, don't go back to bed. And 10 a.m., you are still in bed praying.
[34:24] Why? Jeremy Kyle, is it Jeremy Kyle? Every day, 11 a.m., you are watching TV.
[34:36] There's no time for watching TV. Yeah, with a white towel on your waist. No. People who are making life tick don't watch TV recklessly.
[34:49] No. Some of you who are very busy at work and with your career, you don't actually know what's going on. But most of the people who don't have anything to do in life, they know everything, every channel is showing.
[35:06] And you tell me I need entertainment. Listen, there's a lot of entertainment in life. I'm telling you. Just sometimes on the bus going to work or going to town, look at people, you'll be laughing.
[35:19] You'll just be laughing. Because, excuse me in one language, human beings, most human beings are actually stupid or do stupid things at some times.
[35:33] That's enough entertainment for you. I told some people, church, I don't go looking for entertainment because church is full of entertainment. Full of entertainment.
[35:46] Sometimes you look at someone and he's talking to you and say, you know what, pastor, I believe, I believe I am going to be the next prime minister. I believe it. I believe next election, I'm going to win.
[35:59] And I ask, where do you work? I don't have a job now. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You know, is that not enough entertainment? I've so sit at the altar.
[36:14] I've so sit at the altar. And so, it's enough entertainment. You speak to people and sometimes you can't laugh in their face. But in your heart, in your heart, in your heart, Jesus said, great is your faith.
[36:34] But sometimes you look at people, oh man, great is your foolishness. You're a probation officer.
[36:46] Don't you see a lot of that? Oba Isado, some of the people are so lost in life, it's heartbreaking. Just basic common sense has eluded them.
[36:59] And sometimes you're wondering, how can someone do this? A mother, you leave your three year old child in the house, they say, oh I've left, they know how to drink anything.
[37:13] And you have gone to a nightclub, or you've gone partying for about 12 hours. You expect everything, oh it's sad. It's sad.
[37:25] And you wonder, why? What went wrong up there? That's why I said some time ago, that many people have mental health challenges.
[37:38] It's true. It's true. A man look at his wife, and he said, I don't want you in the house again. A man, a woman who you have had children with, good woman, I don't want you in my house, because my brother went to a certain prophet, and they said, you're a witch, so please leave the house.
[37:57] Now, please tell me if this man is not stupid. And the prophet said, I should bring 1,000 pounds. He will work something for me. And all the challenges and I've lost about 17 jobs.
[38:11] It's that woman. And he said, if I can give him 1,000 pounds, he will do something for me and everything will come back. Or if I'm able to give 10,000, then he'll make me a millionaire. And you too. I mean, I mean, I mean, please, let's call a spade a spade.
[38:27] Someone must say the empire is naked. There are a lot of things going on in the name of spirituality, which is just pure acute imbecillity. chronic imbecillity.
[38:47] You have moved from your house. You don't know where you are going. Because a prophet said, Abraham, God told Abraham, leave your house. You have left the house.
[38:58] I'm saying that. Am I angry? No. I'm angry at the way great, I'm seeing greatness being submerged.
[39:15] Do you understand? The civil right movement in America, the guy who spearheaded it, or the most vocal one we know, Reverend Martin Luther King, genuine.
[39:27] Sometimes, the more you get closer to God, the more you see through things that mustn't be so. You just can't tell not that this can't be.
[39:39] And sometimes, that is why, sometimes society looks up to the church to rise up to speak about some things. Because we can't see through things that this is not right. And the way things have been programmed around you, and your job, work ethics tells me, if we are waiting for you, for the church to buy our multi-billion million dollar property, it will never happen, because you can't have that money.
[40:09] Poverty, Bible says that a little sleep, not too much, a little sleep, and poverty will come on you like an armed bandit. Bible said it.
[40:21] When God wants to bless you, he leaves you with an instruction. He just doesn't come and say, no, no, he tells you, get up, do this, do this, do this, do this.
[40:34] So, teaching in itself, Bible teaching, sound Bible teaching in itself, must be didactic, instructive. You want a priest to come and say, let us pray, may the Lord Almighty bless you.
[40:51] And I come and tell you Bible stories, after which you listen, listen, and your life is still sorry. George, are you getting what I'm saying?
[41:04] You, George, I know you know some people, when you look at them, you know they won't break through in life. They are in church, but the way they approach life, you know they won't break through. Don't you know people like that? You know people like that?
[41:16] You can tell this sister, this brother, he won't break through. If you are a business, or you have some money, you want to invest into business, do you think you give it to some people?
[41:27] Oh, let's speak in tongues. You say, please, no. You won't give it to them. You will never give it to them because it's the same way, maybe your brother is a mechanic, and you just bought this new car, or this car, you know this car, this is your Jaguar, you will never take it to your brother's shop.
[41:44] car, you know, you actually want him to break through, but you know, if you take your car down, even though you want him to break through, your car will break down. some of you, a gentleman may look very nice, handsome, but you know, you can't marry such a person.
[42:03] You know, even though, listen, I'm a pastor, I pray for people for marriage, but most of the people I pray for for marriage, if I have, I'm now about to marry, I will never consider them.
[42:18] It's serious statement. It's serious statement. I've said something very serious. I'm praying for you, Lord, help him to get married, help him to get married, I pray, because I'm believing God for you, but if I have to make a choice, if I'm now about to marry, I know, this one will not come near my list.
[42:39] Why? Because marriage is not about empathy or sympathy. I can't take my destiny and trust it into your hands. If I know, you don't know what my destiny is about, how to handle my destiny.
[42:51] That's what I'm saying. The woman I married, she didn't come looking for prayer for marriage.
[43:04] She was just a normal sister in church, but after observing her, I said, this one can be part of my destiny. So it wasn't her prayer, prayer, prayer, which is necessary.
[43:15] It wasn't her dressing, dressing, dressing, no, which is good, because nice things are good. But it was her values and intrinsic character.
[43:27] That attracted me to her like a moth attracted to light. to light. Oh, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, that for yourself, did I make a good choice?
[43:45] No, if I had married somebody else, by now, I would have left ministry saying, God doesn't exist.
[44:00] It's true. Or, or, or, I, there, you can marry a woman who will fight with all the church members and scatter them. Fight with everybody.
[44:11] Hey, I'm not like my woman. Hey, I'm not like my woman. She will fight all of them. Key people, who maybe may have personal issues, but they can be helped out.
[44:23] Your wife can drive them away. And so, I didn't see you in church, oh, I will come later. But it's your wife. Your front door is open, and your, your wife has opened the back door.
[44:35] When they come, he's like, come on. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So, the way you want to do ministry, choose wisely.
[44:50] Choose with the proper perspective of your future in mind, not your feelings at the moment. Wow. Because feelings change. Don't let your feelings determine your direction.
[45:10] Oh, so you clap for me. Hallelujah. Has someone learned anything at all? Please.
[45:22] Last week, I was talking to one of the choir sisters. The sisters in the choir. She said, Pastor, my job, I'm on probation.
[45:36] But when you were preaching, you made a statement that because you are lazy, that's why you always probation after probation, they don't want you. So, she was so determined. She started working hard. I said, I'm glad.
[45:49] Working hard. They did not employ you to look at you. No. It's okay to have...
[46:06] Turn this down. It's okay to have sleepless nights. No, I won't say sleepless. You have not had enough sleep. I traveled to Birmingham on Friday.
[46:20] I arrived at seven straight into the service. Preached. They were shouting more, so I preached more than now. Preached afterwards. Had a meeting with some of the leaders.
[46:31] And then drove back that same night. Because I didn't think I should stay. The next day, we are going for outreach. Drove back that same night. Got home after three. Half three.
[46:43] Catch a little bit of rest. Woke up, pray. And then we did the prayer in the... Be on it. Right from that, take a quick shower. Get ready. Go for outreach.
[46:54] From outreach, come here and come and make sure. Setting up. Went and have a meeting with my pastor friend. Came back. We left here, what time last night? Last one. Yeah, after one.
[47:05] Left here after one. I go home after three. Because... No, no. I go home after three. Just before three also. And then went. Catch some rest. I can't sleep normally on the bed.
[47:17] Because... You can't be here and the first pastor will wake up early. No, but with some of us, if you are the pastor, this will happen. This is likely to happen.
[47:31] Because you oversleep. And I woke up. I have to be here early. And then after service, I have another meeting with the leaders. And we will leave after four.
[47:43] After last week, we went to... We had another meeting. Even didn't come home. But we ended up having a meeting. Leaving after one. A.M. But Monday, I had a meeting that started at seven. Finished at 2.30. A.M.
[47:55] Seven to two. A.M. How many hours is that? You can't even calculate. You see? And then on Tuesday, another meeting from seven.
[48:06] Finished at midnight. On Wednesday, another meeting from seven. No, from eight. No, no. Care group. Thursday, another meeting from eight or seven. Thursday. Eight. Finished. I have one or so.
[48:18] Friday, traveled to Birmingham. Came back. Slept. This morning, I'm here. This evening, I'm here. You have to work. And I even feel I'm not working harder. It is necessary.
[48:29] Those people who tell you, slow down. Or take it easy. Look at your life before you decide to take it easy. Look at your mother. Look at your father. Look at them.
[48:40] Look at where you are coming from. And look at the opportunities and the challenges ahead of you. Don't take it easy. You are too young to be taking it easy. Let people who have worked hard and retired take it easy.
[48:52] But you, you are too young to take it easy. Work hard. Work hard. Work hard. Work hard. If you see any young person sitting near you, the person looks like under 45, under 50, tell them, you, you are the one pastor is talking about.
[49:14] If they are not telling you, that means the person thinks you are very old. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[49:29] Work hard and work right and work smart. Amen. If you are not saved, you are not safe because life is dangerous. Life is not under your command.
[49:40] I don't see why I should end this service without giving you an opportunity to say, yes, Lord. Pastor, pray with me because I want to have this bread. It means I want to put all my confidence in him, all my hope in him.
[49:51] I want to give my life to Jesus. If that is your genuine desire, just lift up your hand and say this after me. Say it genuinely from your heart. Say, Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I've sinned against you.
[50:03] I ask you to forgive my sins. Wash me with your blood. Thank you, Lord, for dying on the cross to save me. From today, I will serve you.
[50:14] I believe in you. I put all my hope in you. I put my faith in you as my Lord and personal Savior. I receive you into my life. I make a vow with you that I'll save you all the days of my life.
[50:30] Satan, get behind me. I don't belong to you. I belong to Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for saving me in Jesus' name. Father, I thank you. Your word says that you know your sheep and your sheep know your voice.
[50:43] No one can come to you except your father brings him. I pray that let your grace be upon them. Help them to be strong. I pray that the grace of God will come upon you. The power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you.
[50:54] And help you to be a strong Christian. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Thank you for listening. For more resources, please visit caris.org or call us on 0207-740-9960.
[51:10] God bless you.