Breaking the Chains: The Truth About Soul Ties and True Freedom

• Invitation and Evangelism [00:02:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to invite friends and family to church, specifically for the upcoming showing of 'Ransom,' citing statistics about Easter attendance.
• Information vs. Internalization [00:04:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > He contrasts having access to information (like using Siri) with truly internalizing God's word, arguing that knowledge is useless if it cannot be accessed in real-life moments without external aids.
• Humility and Growth [00:06:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > He addresses the pride of thinking one is 'finished' growing, using an anecdote about a 70-year-old man refusing to change, to argue that humility is required for soul renovation.
• The Tripartite Nature of Man (Spirit, Soul, Body) [00:09:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > He illustrates the difference between the spirit (saved/redeemed), the soul (mind/will/emotions being saved/renewed), and the flesh (body/enemy to God), explaining that the spirit and soul must 'suplex' the body.
• Soul Prosperity and Health [00:14:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > He references 3 John 1:2 and Romans 12:2 to argue that while the spirit is already saved, the soul must be actively renewed and transformed to prosper and enable healthy relationships.
• Soul Control and Emotions [00:15:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to take captive vain imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God to regain control of their souls, ensuring the body serves the spirit.
• The Excuse of Ignorance [00:17:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using an analogy of airplane exit row seating, the pastor argues that believers no longer have the excuse of ignorance regarding God's Word and must actively study and obey it rather than assuming they know how to handle spiritual emergencies.
• Footholds vs. Strongholds [00:21:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines a 'foothold' as a strategic position where the enemy gains access (e.g., resentment, fear) and explains that if left unaddressed, it grows into a 'stronghold' (e.g., unforgiveness, bitterness) that the enemy uses to attack further.
• Spiritual Resistance [00:25:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Citing James 4:7, the pastor emphasizes that believers must actively 'resist' the devil through specific actions (like putting up gates over their minds or using joy as a weapon) rather than passively allowing temptation, causing the devil to flee.
• Demolishing Strongholds [00:28:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, the pastor teaches that spiritual weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds by taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ, countering arguments that set themselves against God.
• Spiritual Warfare and Strongholds [00:28:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that small issues (footholds) can become entrenched problems (strongholds) and teaches that believers must use divine weapons (Scripture) to demolish these arguments and take thoughts captive.
• Soul Ties [00:32:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines soul ties as intense spiritual, emotional, or physical bonds, identifying them as Satan's favorite stronghold to neutralize believers, and introduces the concept of 'anonymous anchors' that hold people back.
• Initial Ties (Family of Origin) [00:37:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses how family dynamics, upbringing, and inherited mindsets (such as poverty or greed) form the first soul ties that shape a person's worldview and can hinder spiritual progress.
• Influential Ties [00:41:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about a friend in sixth grade and discusses how friends, coaches, teachers, and relatives exert influence that forms relational ties affecting beliefs and behaviors.
• Soul Ties and Bondage [00:46:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines soul ties as relational connections that create access and influence, categorizing them into four types: initial, influential, idle, and illegitimate intimacy, arguing they hold people back from spiritual and personal progress.
• Personal Testimony and Trauma [00:49:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a detailed personal narrative about his absent father, a 'present absent' parent dynamic, an early pregnancy, and subsequent struggles with drugs and mentorship to illustrate how early life events create lasting 'ties'.
• Illegitimate Intimacy and Sex [00:45:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies 'illegitimate intimacy ties' as the most powerful form of soul tie, formed through sex, fantasy, and fornication, contrasting this with the biblical design of sex within marriage.
• Soul Ties and Spiritual Bondage [00:54:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes how past relationships and compromises create invisible 'ties' that pull believers backward, preventing them from experiencing the freedom and progress God intends for them.
• Illegitimate Intimacy and 'Sugar Mama' Dynamics [01:02:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > He analyzes specific modern relational patterns, such as younger men seeking older, successful women for nurturing and resources, identifying this as a 'hole in the soul' rather than just a moral failure.
• Inherited Ties and Generational Trauma [01:06:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor expands the concept of soul ties to include inherited spiritual and emotional patterns from ancestors, such as addiction or manipulation, which pull individuals in different directions without their awareness.
• The Path to Freedom: Recognition and Repentance [01:08:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > He outlines the practical steps to break these ties: first, recognition (calling them out/writing them down), and second, repentance (a 180-degree turn to God to accept grace and achieve salvation/refreshing).
• Recognition and Awareness [01:09:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies awareness as the first step, urging the congregation to identify and name the 'soul ties' and 'strongholds' that are affecting them.
• Repentance and Godly Sorrow [01:10:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > He defines repentance as a 180-degree turn toward God, distinguishing between 'worldly sorrow' which leads to death and 'godly sorrow' which leads to salvation and refreshment.
• Renouncing and Cutting Access [01:11:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the necessity of verbally renouncing ties and physically removing reminders (like hoodies, jerseys, or gifts) to cut off access to the past.
• Recovery and Healing [01:14:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > He warns against rushing into new relationships, emphasizing that a season of recovery and healing is necessary to realign and prevent repeating past mistakes.
• Restoration and Freedom [01:15:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The final step involves God restoring the individual, using the analogy of restoring a classic car to illustrate how God can preserve and renew a person's life.

• Sermon Illustration [00:04:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of children using Siri to spell words to illustrate that having access to information is not the same as having it internalized in one's heart. He also tells a story about counseling a 70-year-old man who refused to change his ways due to pride, using it to highlight the need for humility. Finally, he uses a humorous but vivid analogy of a dog attacking a person's legs while someone jumps on their head to describe how the spirit and soul must 'suplex' the body/flesh to gain control.
• Sermon Illustration [00:17:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of sitting in an airplane exit row: people choose it for legroom but often fail to read the safety manual or understand how to open the door in an emergency, paralleling how believers have the 'legroom' of grace but fail to study God's Word for spiritual emergencies.
• Sermon Illustration [00:25:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about a raccoon destroying his backyard trash can; he resisted the raccoon by putting bungee cables on the can, causing the raccoon to flee, illustrating how believers must actively resist the devil to make him flee.
• Sermon Illustration [00:27:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes his personal practice of resisting heaviness and confusion in his home by playing music (Bella Ava, MJ) and having a dance party, demonstrating that joy and active resistance are practical ways to keep the enemy out of the family.
• Sermon Illustration [00:36:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of an anchor being dropped to explain how soul ties act as 'anonymous anchors' that keep anointed believers from moving forward despite their talents. He also shares a personal story about a cousin who wore Polo boots and creased pants, which influenced the pastor's behavior, and a story about a friend in sixth grade who taught him about sex in the locker room.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a humorous but pointed story about people stealing ketchup packets from restaurants and hoarding them in jars at home to illustrate how a 'poverty mindset' or 'initial ties' from one's family of origin can manifest in irrational adult behaviors.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts learning about sex in the sixth-grade locker room from an influential peer rather than parents or church. He describes a cousin who influenced him through his appearance (Polo boots, creased pants) despite only seeing him twice a year. He shares a personal story about his 'present absent' father who provided financially but was emotionally absent, leading to a strained relationship and the pastor having a child out of wedlock. He details a 'friends with benefits' relationship with a friend's sister, facilitated by her brother's drug use, and his subsequent search for a wealthy mentor ('bald white man named Gary') who ultimately taught him compromise rather than freedom.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal narrative about seeking a mentor who appeared successful but was compromised ('cooked books'), leading him into a cycle of trying to move forward while being tied up. He then recounts a specific instance of 'illegitimate intimacy' with a 'sugar mama' figure, admitting he has an illegitimate child he never apologized to, and describes the emotional weight of hiding secrets from his wife and father. He uses the metaphor of a 'spider web' to describe how these ties connect people across distances and time, and illustrates the internal conflict as hearing a 'rip' when the force of God's call clashes with the pull of these ties.
• Sermon Illustration [01:15:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife wanting a 1965 car, which he found and restored for her 35th birthday. He uses this to illustrate how God can restore something old and seemingly worthless into something valuable and functional, symbolizing spiritual restoration.
• Sermon Illustration [01:23:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > He references the biblical story of the woman with the issue of blood, describing how Jesus healed her to the point where she felt compelled to tell everyone about the man who knew her sins yet still chose her.

• Pastoral Charge [00:02:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invite specific individuals (co-workers, neighbors, friends) to church next week.
• Pastoral Charge [00:05:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hands to affirm the desire for healthy relationships.
• Pastoral Charge [00:08:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally affirm humility as the posture for receiving the message.
• Pastoral Charge [00:14:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally affirm the scripture from 3 John 1:2 regarding prosperity and health.
• Pastoral Charge [00:16:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally declare that a life of perversion is not their identity in Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [00:16:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally affirm faith that one does not live a life of perversion.
• Pastoral Charge [00:17:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > Look at a neighbor and verbally acknowledge that they have no excuse of ignorance regarding Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the teaching point about Satan establishing strategic positions (footholds) in believers' lives.
• Pastoral Charge [00:26:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Self-examine and identify specific acts of resistance (guards/gates) placed over their mind, ears, and eyes against the devil.
• Pastoral Charge [00:28:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Immediately kill minor spiritual issues, forgive, and give grace to prevent footholds from becoming strongholds.
• Pastoral Charge [00:32:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write the phrase 'freedom is found in jesus' on their paper.
• Pastoral Charge [00:48:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward and take a seat to address and sever ungodly soul ties.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the identified soul ties and remember the steps for breaking them.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally confess repentance as a group.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is commanded to verbally say the word 'repent'.
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is commanded to verbally say 'I see you' in response to the pastor identifying spiritual enemies.
• Pastoral Charge [01:18:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is commanded to stand up and shout praise to God.
• Pastoral Charge [01:18:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is commanded to shout 'freedom' and lift their hands.
• Pastoral Charge [01:20:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is commanded to lift both hands high while the pastor prays for them.
• Pastoral Charge [01:24:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is given an opportunity to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] What's going on fam? I'm so grateful that you joined us here today. It is Palm Sunday, the beginning of the week. We celebrate what our Lord and Savior did for all of us as Resurrection Sunday is next Sunday. Today I want to invite you in this Holy Week to remember what Christ has done for us and as we get ready to celebrate I want to tell you about what we're doing here at Transformation Church. This is a beautiful time for you to fly in and drive in and get your whole family around the television because we are
[00:00:30] going to represent God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ on a scale that you've just never seen before. So let me tell you how it's going down. On Good Friday at 6 p.m., we are
[00:00:41] doing our online only exclusive presentation of Ransom. This is an allegory that talks about the love of Jesus and what he would do to be able to rescue us. And so we want you and your whole
[00:00:55] family to get around. This is for lost people and found people, people far from God and people who walk with them every day. This is going to make you laugh and dance, and you might even shed a
[00:01:06] tear, but it's going to show you the beautiful picture of how far our God would go to be in right relationship with us. And then on Saturday, if you're in the Tulsa area or you're coming in,
[00:01:16] join us on Saturday morning for our eggstravaganza. This is for the whole family.
[00:01:21] We're going to have food, and we're literally going to outreach to the community.
[00:01:25] We're doing egg drops.
[00:01:26] We're doing giveaways.
[00:01:27] We're doing the whole thing in the middle of downtown Tulsa, and we want you to come and be a part.
[00:01:32] And then on Saturday night, you get the encore presentation of Ransom.
[00:01:37] So if you have to work on Friday, don't worry.
[00:01:39] You can watch it on Saturday.
[00:01:41] Then Sunday morning, the sun is coming, and I want you to grab your whole family and put on your Sunday's best or put on your sweats.
[00:01:50] It don't matter at Transformation Church.
[00:01:51] You can come just as you are.
[00:01:54] And you can watch from your home or from the jail cell you're in or at the gym.
[00:01:59] We just want you to tap into the spirit that will be flowing from this stream on Sunday morning as we celebrate the greatest victory that Jesus Christ ever made as the undefeated champion.
[00:02:10] And I have a message that I'm going to preach to you.
[00:02:12] We've got some special things in service.
[00:02:14] You want to be there.
[00:02:15] Sunday night will be our last showing of ransom and we believe that thousands if not tens of thousands of people are going to get saved and we need your help transformation begins with invitation so I want you to think about that co-worker that person that's your neighbor
[00:02:30] that person that you your son or daughter plays on the team with or even your friend at school and I want you to invite them to church next week the Bible tells us that it is part of our job to
[00:02:41] go out and tell people about what Jesus has done. And I want to encourage you. Statistics say that at Easter, people are more likely to come to church if they are invited by a friend and you're
[00:02:53] somebody's friend. Invite them. It might be the key to their transformation. Well, we are at the end of a series that has been phenomenal. Relationship goals in real life. What started off as a sermon series I preached at 1519, became a New York Times bestselling book that
[00:03:12] blessed a lot of people. It became a reloaded series and then turned into a movie that's out on Amazon right now. Only God could do this. I believe the message that we're in right now,
[00:03:24] though, is soul renovation. It is changing us from the inside out. And I know, I know this message right here is about to do what no other message has done are you tired of being tied up
[00:03:38] tired of not going forward tired of the relationships in your past holding you back this message is going to teach you how to break ungodly soul ties get ready to receive from God I love you it's been seven weeks of us going through um relationship um health trying to give
[00:04:00] you biblical standpoints of you actually having healthy relationships. And I really don't want this series to end, but I believe that we're going to pause on it right now. And, um, but I have to
[00:04:14] end this with something that's going to help you watch this walk in freedom. Cause it's not enough to just know information. The church is full of information. We live in the most informed age with the most dumb people do y'all understand what i'm saying i was looking at something the
[00:04:35] other day it's like um most children can't spell now y'all know that they can't spell because when it's time to spell something all they do is say siri how do you spell incredible and the reason
[00:04:51] i'm saying that is because we have access to information but is it really yours if you can't access it whenever you need it without something else. That's why the Bible says thy word I have
[00:05:07] hidden in my heart. We all use technology to help us, but I'm asking you what scriptures do you got memorized? Which ones are written on your heart? Which are the ones that you can say when you're
[00:05:22] a little out of it? The reason I'm saying this is because right now having information doesn't mean anything if you cannot actually use it in real life. And so today I just want to walk us
[00:05:36] down the end of this section of the relationship goal series. And I believe it's going to bring healing to so many people. So somebody asked me, what is the goal? What is the relationship goal?
[00:05:46] Somebody say, what is the goal? I've said it from the first week, but I'm going to say it again.
[00:05:51] The goal is healthy relationships. How many people want healthy relationships just by faith?
[00:05:56] put your hand in the air that's everybody in the room okay healthy relationships with your family healthy relationships with your co-workers healthy relationships romantically you want healthy relationships watch this healthy relationships come from healthy individuals it's not them
[00:06:14] it's you now i need to say this this clearly because if when i said that everything in you was like you don't know who i'm messing with number one you picked them you did okay the other
[00:06:35] thing is there is never a time or a place that you can't keep developing and what pride has to work in somebody that thinks they're finished i was talking to an older gentleman the other day
[00:06:50] who's having marriage problems and i have one of one of my um honors in life is getting to counsel with people who are double my age and using not my wisdom but the wisdom of the word
[00:07:02] of God to help lead them. And this man began to tell me, it's like, I'm 70 years old. I ain't trying to change nothing. And I was like, and I just let him keep talking because a fool will
[00:07:16] expose himself. And he just kept talking and he was like, I don't want to change. I've been this way for years. She liked it back then. And I mean, he is, I mean, when I tell you he's talking
[00:07:33] with conviction i don't want and i and i just said i said sir i said uh respectfully you are dealing in a level of pride that is hard to even talk to because when somebody is convinced they
[00:07:52] know and they're done growing and this is it and the the the the sweet lady was like what what should i do how can i do i said you need to pray first off you need to pray because that level of
[00:08:08] pride, only God can break. This is why the Bible says, humble yourself or be humbled. And today I'm asking everybody to approach what I'm about to talk, talk about with everybody say humility.
[00:08:27] Let's just act like you don't know everything about relationships. Let's just act like you don't have all perfect relationships and let's approach this with health as an individual. Why?
[00:08:37] Because healthy individuals are built through self-awareness and surrender.
[00:08:41] So, oh, that's something I can work on. Oh, that's something god's trying to change in me Oh, that's something that I learned a long time ago, and i'm still working, but it doesn't serve me anymore
[00:08:51] oh and I'll give it to you god I'll go to counseling Wife, i'm sorry husband. I'm sorry. I'll surrender how i've been to pick up a new level of living last part Self-awareness and surrender are the substance or the essence of a healthy soul
[00:09:10] and that's what everybody in this life is striving for a healthy soul pastor charles said it so beautifully last week but i want to illustrate it for you didn't pastor charles preach so good last week man ain't nothing like having a dog who can go like this is you this is your body this is
[00:09:35] what everybody sees this is what everybody is is trying to beautify and take care of one of the most neglected places in our life though is our soul which is housed inside of our body and then
[00:09:47] the realest version of you is spirit this is the pneuma this is the breath of god that when he took dirt he took it and he blew into this and what happens is all of us are these three parts in
[00:10:00] a reflection of the three parts of god father son holy spirit and what god is wanting to do is let you know how these work and i've been in church for years and people don't explain this
[00:10:10] to you when you get saved your spirit is the only one that gets saved your spirit is your spirit is shouting and singing hallelujah but your soul is being saved oh god that's why you could be like
[00:10:32] god i give you everything your spirit is like we here oh it's been so many years not eating spiritual food and not not being nourished and your soul mind will emotions like what are we
[00:10:48] doing now because we've been doing other things for a long time oh we read the bible now okay we like reading oh we go to church now oh we try to change our thoughts now when we know i'm thinking
[00:11:04] of fighting no okay we pray for them it's being saved your flesh or body the bible says it's enmity against god your flesh hates everything god likes god says do it in moderation you want
[00:11:23] to do it in excess god says take just one you take 10 prove it all the way back to the garden you can eat out of off of any tree it'd be different if there was only one tree
[00:11:37] but what's the one tree they ate off of the one they weren't supposed to so what i'm telling you is your spirit and your soul have to team up on your body this is why these two gotta become
[00:11:59] strong and he's like so okay you go to the back and hit him in the legs and then i'm gonna jump on his head and bop bop bop bop like do you understand like you gotta because this body
[00:12:14] is strong the flesh is pulling you to things like why am i watching this why do i want to do that and your spirit's like no and your soul is like i know it's wrong but that looked kind of interesting
[00:12:27] come on y'all and that's why you gotta suplex your body i'm trying to give you a very funny but real because at the end of the day what everybody wants you to do is just put your spirit man back inside
[00:12:48] put your soul back inside and live only out of what your flesh wants to do your flesh can go to church and walk right out of church oh come on y'all you can be making the plans to sin while in
[00:13:06] church hold on one second i'm doing something you're at the altar you're at the altar singing i want to be altered give me 15 minutes i'll be outside a ratchet our flesh is you can commit to
[00:13:25] a fast and you know what i'm gonna be fast and then go to the buffet it'd be that your okay your flesh don't care nothing about doing what god calls you to do this is why we have to
[00:13:42] actually take care of our soul because if you've come to christ your spirit man's ready but you don't have usually enough power to do what you need to do because your mind, will, and emotions
[00:13:53] have not submitted to God yet either. And I know people who've been in church for 30 years and are still led by their flesh. So when it comes to relationships, it's the same thing. That's why
[00:14:04] third John one verse two says, beloved, I pray that you may prosper. Everybody say prosper in all things and be in health. Everybody say health just as your soul prospers.
[00:14:18] So what if the rest of this year how you are going to be moving forward would be to make sure your soul is growing My spirit is ready at all times because when I become a new creation in jesus
[00:14:31] My spirit man gets fully renewed your spirit man ain't gonna become more spirit man than it is right now It is now saved redeemed righteous. It is ready to go now. The thing that's got to be saved is my soul
[00:14:43] How i'm thinking That's why romans 12 2 says don't follow the customs of the world but be transformed by the renewing of your he's trying to get to your soul and that's why we say
[00:14:57] not my will but your will he's trying to get to your soul and that's why i tells you when your emotions are out you got to take captive every vain imagination that would exalt itself against
[00:15:10] the knowledge of god he's trying to get you to get watch this control of your soul and once you get control of your soul. It's easy. Your body is no longer the master. It serves what the spirit
[00:15:26] wants you to do. And so today, Pastor Mike, how does this go over relationships? I'm going to show you. Because Ephesians 4.18 gives us a beautiful picture. And I'm going to read a little lengthy portion of scripture, but we're in church, so this is good. And I'm going to read it
[00:15:44] from the message version because it really blessed me. And then I'm going to get into the meat of what I got to say. And it says, this is Paul talking. And so I insist, and I think God backs
[00:15:53] me up on this, that there be no going along with the crowd anymore. The empty headed, mindless crowd. They refuse for so long to deal with God that they have lost touch, not only with God,
[00:16:08] but with reality itself. Have y'all ever met somebody like that? They've lost touch with reality it says they can't think straight anymore feeling no pain they let themselves go in sexual obsessions addicted to every sort of perversion so it's not just sexual perversion perversion
[00:16:25] just means twisted it's just anything that's supposed to be one way you twist it so people are giving themselves to all type of perversions but that's no life for you somebody say that's not my life say it with faith that's not my life you learn christ my assumption i love how paul
[00:16:43] says that my assumption is you've been listening my assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him christ been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in jesus since then we do not have the watch this excuse of ignorance look at your neighbor and say we do
[00:17:06] not have the excuse of ignorance i know that's a weird thing that you're saying to your neighbor right now, but I need you to hear this. When you find out about Jesus, you no longer watch this,
[00:17:18] have the excuse of ignorance. And there are too many people that are sitting under the sound of my voice that are just saying, well, I didn't know. Yes, you did. You chose not to obey it.
[00:17:29] You chose to ignore it. You chose not to. Has anybody ever sat in the exit row seating on an airplane? Why do you sit in the exit row? What is the advantage of sitting in the exit row?
[00:17:40] more leg room everybody more leg room you four four and you want more leg room it just doesn't even matter okay so so so let me let me help you do you know what the requirements that they ask
[00:17:56] you for for sitting in the exit row to help in case of an emergency but because there hasn't been an emergency that you've been a part of most of us do not do what the stewards ask us to do
[00:18:14] do you know what they ask you to do they ask you somebody like no i don't need what we're supposed to do you're supposed to read the manual to actually figure out watch this how to open the
[00:18:29] door at 33,000 feet in the air while it's going down. Now I've played this out in my head several times because I had been on many flights sitting in the exit row and then I sat next to somebody
[00:18:51] it was their first time sitting in the exit row and when I tell you they studied that pamphlet it convicted me because I knew about sitting in the exit row. I had no idea how to open the door
[00:19:05] and I thought because it's a door hit the handle it opens but because of the certain pressure that that would be released in I had to listen not be ignorant of the usage of this what I'm saying to
[00:19:29] you is I'm trying to draw a parallel that many of us think we know how God's word works because we've heard it said in church, but there is a time where God is calling all of us to no longer
[00:19:42] have the excuse of ignorance. What you going to do with it? This is what he's saying. He says, you no longer have the excuse of ignorance, everything. And I do mean everything connected with the old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through get rid of it and then take
[00:20:05] on an entirely new life, a new way of life, a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside working itself into your conduct as a God accurately reproduced his character in you.
[00:20:25] What this adds up to is this, no more lies, no more pretense, telling your neighbor the truth.
[00:20:34] in Christ's body we are all connected to each other after all so when you lie to others you end up lying to yourself this is bible y'all so go ahead and be angry I'm good with that
[00:20:47] you do well to be angry but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge and don't stay angry don't go to bed angry so you can be angry until it's time for night night that's what the best that's what
[00:21:00] to say. This is the part I read all of this scripture for. And don't give the devil that kind of foothold in your life. Don't give the devil a foothold in your life. The word of the
[00:21:19] year at Transformation Church is what? Forward. Say it with faith. Forward. I believe God wants to take everything forward, but the thing that's stopping you from going forward is a foothold.
[00:21:29] And most of us don't understand what a foothold is. So let me give you a definition. A foothold is a secure strategic position from which an enemy can advance this term is usually used in war
[00:21:41] this would be like you being on this side and somebody being on that side and your enemy setting up camp secretly on your side so they could tell the people that they're working with what you're
[00:21:52] doing so that they can execute you faster a foothold is a is a place in your life where you have given the enemy access and in relationships is the enemies one of the enemy's biggest footholds
[00:22:09] in everybody's life that he will set up around your emotions around your heart around your trauma and he will use those things to try to to actually take you out watch this a foothold begins as
[00:22:24] seemingly minor issues it can be something as subtle as resentment fear grudges bitterness or unchecked pride. However, if it's left unaddressed, a foothold can grow into something much more dangerous. Write this point down. Satan is looking to establish a strategic position in
[00:22:43] your life. Pastor Mike, why are you saying that? Number one, it's in the Bible. And I'm about to educate you on how you can kick the enemy out of your life. But most of you won't kick somebody
[00:22:56] out that you don't know is there. So many of you don't even think, I mean, I feel like I'm good.
[00:23:02] Like, I feel like everything's good.
[00:23:04] And you don't understand the enemy has camp in your life, in your cell phone, in your feed.
[00:23:09] There's one account that you post that they can post something and it changes your psychological thoughts about yourself in your day.
[00:23:17] Oh, y'all don't play with me because I'll start pulling up some of the accounts I see your little bubble on.
[00:23:25] Y'all know that they telling on y'all.
[00:23:28] It shows when you liked it.
[00:23:30] It shows where you was at.
[00:23:31] It's leaving a trace of what has a foothold on the inside of you.
[00:23:37] Okay, all right.
[00:23:38] let me just keep going stay to your notes Michael if we give Satan a foothold in our lives he will have an easier time watching this attacking us in other areas so when an enemy is in your life in a
[00:23:49] place you don't understand or don't want to acknowledge it's easier to attack other things that they wasn't even coming for once Satan establishes a foothold he always looks to make further advances watch this he will continue to spread his lies and multiply temptations
[00:24:05] ultimately his foothold wants to become a stronghold. So I'm trying to explain these big biblical terms that if you read the Bible, you'll see, but nobody really explains them. The enemy wants a foothold. I want something that they don't even really recognize is a problem. And I just want
[00:24:22] to be in their territory so I can be able to use it at any moment, but I'll keep it until I can build up a fence. So it's a stronghold. And when something becomes a stronghold, let me just help
[00:24:35] you write this down. The goal of the enemy is to turn a foothold into a stronghold. I want you to know that because this is going to help you be able to see the plan of the enemy. We're going
[00:24:45] somewhere. An example is a foothold could be a grudge that you may feel warranted to have because they did me wrong. How many people been done wrong before? Okay, cool. Yeah, I don't like you no more
[00:24:55] holding the grudge, but it opens up the door. Watch this for bitterness. And if bitterness can grow into a stronghold, it grows into a stronghold of unforgiveness. You see how easy it just happened. I feel justified. I'm bitter. I don't like that. I don't now I'm holding a grudge. Now
[00:25:14] it's bitterness. Now it's unforgiveness. And now I don't trust nobody. And it starts affecting all my relationships and my, my ability to experience God's grace. That's why James four seven says this you need to submit yourselves then to God resist the devil and he will flee resist now a
[00:25:36] lot of people don't understand what resists they just they just try to run away resist means you got to know the power you have you have to put up some type of resistance if I don't want something
[00:25:46] coming into my yards uh into my yard I put up a gate that is an act of resistance we had a raccoon that was coming to our trash can and trying to literally destroy our backyard by going through
[00:26:00] and having a feast in our trash can so we resisted him by putting bungee cables on our trash can and guess what he don't come back no more because we resisted him and now he
[00:26:10] fleed what have you put up as a guard in a gate over your mind what have you put up as a guard in a gate over your ears over your eyes what have you resist how have you resisted the devil you
[00:26:23] keep falling into temptation because there's no resistance the bible is giving you resist and he'll flee he'll go find the other person that's open he'll go find the other couple that's open he'll go find somebody else but if you put up a resistance and some of the believers biggest
[00:26:39] battle is you just didn't try you did not try to resist you literally was like oh the devil's here and like well come on in bud what you been doing it's like no you can't come here you're not
[00:26:55] welcomed here I know what you're trying to do to me back up like okay some of y'all gotta resist the devil in your family I see depression trying to come on my family this family is full of joy
[00:27:08] I resist you matter of fact let's have a dance party right now no see y'all don't see joy is an act of resistance y'all don't hear me when stuff is going crazy in my house I'll put on music
[00:27:21] bella ava mj we start dead i trade i'm talking practical now i trade that heaviness and i take that garment off and no no no no no no no confusion's trying to come in here what's your
[00:27:35] name you are called you are special where is your act of resistance as a believer the enemy only responds to resistance and this is why i'm saying some of y'all he's got a foothold and all you need
[00:27:53] to do is resist. Resist that a foothold and it doesn't become a stronghold. Did y'all hear what I just said? The Bible says it's the little foxes that spoiled the whole vine. It's the stuff that
[00:28:07] you're not paying attention. Yeah, I don't like her, but I mean, I'm good. No, kill it now. Kill it now. Kill that thing now. Forgive now. Give grace now because it's harder to take a foothold
[00:28:23] that has turned into a stronghold and now you've passed it on to generations let me keep going okay so that's what but we have good news with the word of god we know how to defeat a foothold
[00:28:39] we know how to defeat a stronghold second corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 and 5 i'm just teaching you the bible i need you to understand the weapons of our warfare that we fight with are not weapons of this world another translation said they're not carnal on the contrary they have
[00:28:53] divine power to demolish strongholds so i want you to understand what's happening in your life because everybody acts remember spirit and the soul and the body we just talk in body terms all the time i don't feel good that's your body but the spirit something is really happening he's
[00:29:14] saying the wrestle you're going through is you're dealing with strongholds and footholds and you got to know how to fight those he said we demolish arguments and every pretentious thing that sets itself against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make it
[00:29:27] obedient to Christ. How do you destroy a stronghold? You take the thought and you put it up against God's word. You're going to be, you're going to, you're going to live in poverty. Do you know
[00:29:41] what's going on with the government and the oil prices? And do you know what's happening to your 401k? He is Jehovah Jireh, my provider. Every need that I have will be supplied. If the birds don't
[00:29:55] worry about what they gonna eat and the flowers do not worry about how they're gonna be dressed how much more does he care you take strong y'all don't hear me you gotta take strongholds and put
[00:30:06] them but most believers don't know how to fight you getting whooped by footholds and getting pummeled by strongholds and then you barely come in here and just like god please do a work on the
[00:30:25] inside of me and God's saying I need you to resist the devil and he will flee and I need you to bring every vain imagination and put it under the word of God find you a scripture that's my whole thing
[00:30:41] whatever you're thinking about find you a scripture that's the exact opposite and just say that scripture you ain't got to go deep you ain't got to do just find a scripture that says the exact
[00:30:50] opposite. My marriage is going to fail. I'm so glad that thought is now in my hands. What God has put together. Let no man, let no, y'all just letting them thoughts fly around. You just letting
[00:31:11] those thoughts go. But I miss them. I'm grieving. That's fine. But I don't grieve as one that does not have hope because my hope is in g i'm just so anxious be anxious for nothing but in everything
[00:31:40] through prayer and supplication make your requests nothing i'm trying to teach y'all this is because the footholds and the strongholds are beating up on god's children and he's saying fight fight

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:58] fight back i can't do what do what you was trying to do okay y'all gotta give me 10 extra minutes

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:32:16] because this about is i'm okay okay east i promise we're gonna be out but this one i got to give it to you watch this don't be discouraged if you have footholds or strongholds because freedom is found in jesus i need everybody to write that big on your paper freedom is found
[00:32:33] in jesus oh i love god that he never lets you go through something that he doesn't give you a way of escape he never lets you go through anything that there is not a way to be able to get out of
[00:32:43] that thing and this is why i have to say this is because i'm about to expose satan's favorite stronghold. And this, we've been in a fight all week about it, but this one is going to help set
[00:32:55] you free. Satan's favorite stronghold is a soul tie. Satan's favorite stronghold is a soul tie.
[00:33:08] Pastor Mike, what is a soul tie? I'm glad you asked. Let me give you a definition. A soul tie is an intense spiritual, emotional, or physical bond connecting two people, often described at times as unbreakable attachments. While sometimes positive, like through marriage or a great
[00:33:26] friendship, they are frequently associated with unhealthy, addictive, or toxic dependencies, making it hard for people to move forward. Soul ties. Now, I know nobody in here has any soul ties but today I want you to be able to understand the enemy's plan to keep you tied up is so that he
[00:33:55] doesn't have to come back and check on you because you've already been neutralized the reason you put a dog on a chain is because you don't have to wonder where it goes after that once you put it
[00:34:07] on a chain it only can go so far and there are too many believers that are tied to things that are keeping them from moving forward. There are too many people that can speak in tongues and
[00:34:16] prophesy and quote scriptures that cannot move forward. And the reason is maybe because you let a foothold turn into a stronghold and now it's become a soul tie. And as we end this relationship series, I want you to understand something about relationships. This is why it's important the
[00:34:35] ones you pick because all relationships are the fabric or the breeding ground of souls being tied together. There is nobody who has a soul tie that doesn't have some type of relationship with the thing that they are being tied to. So today I want to give you the understanding of what God
[00:34:55] wants to provide for everybody by exposing four things that create soul ties. I'm going to give you four things that create soul ties. And this, I wanted to help people be able to understand where
[00:35:08] they are formed, because if you can't kill it at the root, you only deal with the fruit. And a lot of people are dealing with the fruit of soul ties but they don't know where it came from
[00:35:16] so I wanted to study this thing so you can understand it those emotional connections how you had sex with them one time and now you look like them talk like them smell like them walk like them and now you in your third relationship but it ain't just y'all two it's
[00:35:30] y'all six and everybody is trying to figure out why can't I move past this I didn't even used to like that I never was this angry I didn't even listen to this type of music why are these things
[00:35:41] because it's a soul tie that foothold turned into a stronghold that turned into a soul tie and now you're like why can't i move forward it's because you're tied to something that is watch this
[00:35:53] an anonymous anchor an anchor gets dropped so something can't move forward and there are too many people that are walking around anointed but tied to anonymous anchors can sing and prophesy but that that anchor got you at this level and nobody can fit you ever met somebody's like they
[00:36:14] got the talent and everything to go to the moon. It's like, why are they still in Coweta? What I found out is there's a lot of anonymous anchors that it doesn't matter how much talent you got.
[00:36:31] It doesn't matter how many people think you're great. There are things that are tying us down that watch this many times we don't even acknowledge. So I'm going to expose the devil today and I can't wait. He'd been fighting me all week to give you this, but I'm going to give it
[00:36:45] to you. Four things that create soul ties. These are the ties that get created. Number one, initial ties. Now this one is the one that you have really no control over when you're young because your initial ties are your family. It is your house of origin. It is your uncle who
[00:37:04] raised you or your grandmama who raised you, whatever house you might've been adopted, whatever house adopted you, that is your initial ties. And watch this, however healthy or unhealthy they are they are your first forming soul ties that is why doctors tell fathers and mothers when
[00:37:22] the baby comes out put them skin to skin your your your body innately knows that this is the person who's supposed to nurture me and make sure that my soul is safe soothed seen and secure all those
[00:37:34] things your soul needs that we talked about in week one that we're trying to build it's supposed to come from our parents but the enemy tries to make fractured homes he tries to pervert what our
[00:37:44] parents think and how they raise us. They raising us the way they was raised. They didn't get no education on certain things. They're fighting their own battles, dealing with their own drum.
[00:37:52] It's all of these things. And your first tie are the initial ties. Watch this, that form how you grow. And many of you may have not considered, but some of you are being held back by the culture
[00:38:05] you were born into. You've always lived in poverty because you were born into it. And I'm not talking about an amount of money. I'm talking about a way of thinking. I know people that have their kids
[00:38:22] filling their pockets with ketchup at restaurants. You're laughing, but we come to your house too.
[00:38:30] Because we're going to take it. Well, we pay. We ate here. We did this. And they're filling their house with pockets. And you go to their house, and they have a jar full of ketchup that
[00:38:41] they basically took from restaurants they ate at. Because we shouldn't have to pay for a take.
[00:38:45] This is Heinz. This is Heinz. And it's funny to some people. For some people, their face is straight because it's at their house right now. Look at him. My man was scratching. He's like, here, here, what I'm here, what I'm saying to you that even if your lights never got caught off
[00:39:06] is a poverty mindset. But if you were taught that tie has you now telling your kids, eat all that food. You don't know what I did to pay for this food. Eat all that food. I'm not hungry no more.
[00:39:21] watch this watch this and that same principle transforms and shows up in your house differently and I don't know if you've ever considered it but some of you are being held back watch this by just the ties that were formed from the family you were born into some of you your family did
[00:39:45] nothing for nobody so you were born into a house of greed and selfishness so when somebody tries to ask you to do something for somebody else like what did they do for me and I mean this is after
[00:40:00] knowing what God has said for us to do and that Jesus came to serve and not be served that's good for him but uh have you ever considered the ties that were here before you got to choose
[00:40:18] what I found out is that blinders from birth become binders from birth like if you won't ever acknowledge it. It'll be the thing that some of y'all are only children. Some of you had all
[00:40:36] the brothers and sisters in the world and got forgotten. What are those things that developed on the inside of your, watch this, soul? They attach to your mind, will, and emotions to the point where you can't move forward as a grown adult because of what happened back there. Watch
[00:40:54] this. And nobody ever acknowledged it because they were doing the best they could with what they had.
[00:40:57] but have you ever stopped to evaluate how it affected you and how it's watched as affecting you obeying God's word okay I'm gonna keep moving the first one is initial ties second one influential ties so so you can't help the family you're born into but then as you start to develop
[00:41:17] I remember for me it was in sixth grade I had a young friend that took me into the sixth grade boys locker room and he was influential in my life and told me everything about sex told me
[00:41:27] everything about, I didn't learn it in church. I didn't learn it from my parents. I learned it in the sixth grade boys' locker room by somebody who had influence in my life. And I don't know
[00:41:37] if you think about in your formation years, even when I'm talking to my high school students and my middle school students, the influential ties are your friends and coaches and teachers and big cousins. I don't know why so much happened with cousins. I don't know. Is anybody's cousins
[00:41:52] in their story? Because cousins, I'm telling you, but it may be somebody who's influential or they look a certain way or they and they start to influence the way that you do things and those
[00:42:04] are relational ties watch this that start to form how you believe i remember i had a big cousin that always had polo boots y'all know the duck boots that was black on the top and then they had the
[00:42:16] thing and his pants was always creased this before we this one we used to iron clothes and then his pants was always creasing he always had the polo on i was like i and i'm telling you he had more
[00:42:27] influenced the two times that I saw him a year I only saw him two times at Thanksgiving and Christmas but the influence that he had on me and I think had me going back trying to be like him
[00:42:38] because there was a tie that was based on his influence in my life who are those ties that tied to your mind will and emotion those soul ties that have nothing to do with your family
[00:42:51] but they were influential in that way what word did that coach speak over you or how did that coach illegitimately touch you that tied to your soul to where you can't trust authority ever again what i'm saying is you were violated in a moment and it now has tied to you
[00:43:13] never trusting anybody with authority they always have bad intentions these are things we have not considered but the influential ties along with those initial ties may be holding you back let me give you the third one and this one you're not going to see coming it's the idle ties
[00:43:31] see when you get into the formation of your identity and trying to become who you want to be a lot of times we see people and things that that look like the future we want to be i know people
[00:43:42] who started dressing like eminem talking like eminem started saying hello my name is and all of that other stuff because watch this they on my staff too and this is what i'm trying to say
[00:43:53] what i'm what i'm trying to say what i'm trying to say what i'm trying to say is all of us have people that we begin to look to and we start to idle and our soul becomes tied to them so much
[00:44:06] so we start walking like them talking like them listening to the things they listen to finding out about their past going to the town that they were born in what i remember a girl i met one time
[00:44:19] uh she loved bob marley so so much ain't never been to jamaica ain't never been to an island don't know how to speak none of the like but started only wearing certain colors and getting
[00:44:31] dreads, and your hair don't even do that. Don't even do that. You've got your hair stinking and long, but people become so upset, and your idol doesn't have to be somebody who's famous. It could
[00:44:44] be somebody that you just saw, a business person, an athlete. What do you think happens when we start to form these soul ties, watch this, with artists and musicians and actors? Okay, y'all don't want to hear me. Idle ties happen through fascination, fame, and future. I could see my
[00:45:12] future in them. That's the type of family I want. That's the type of things I desire. So initial ties, influential ties, idle ties, and this is the one everybody talks about, but it is the most
[00:45:24] powerful one. It's the illegitimate intimacy ties. These ties are formed through sex, fantasy, and fornication now the beauty on this is most people start and stop with this one you got soul ties only with all the people that you have sex with yes and it is a very hard bond to break that's
[00:45:50] why god puts sex inside of the marriage container so that it can be beautiful in there but if it gets outside of there it can burn everything down does everybody understand what i'm saying but there's three other levels of soul ties that happen and have access even before you get to
[00:46:09] this one so that means everybody in this room has ties that you may have not considered an ungodly soul tie do i have any soul ties yeah especially if you haven't considered it you probably do have
[00:46:24] some ungodly soul ties pastor how do i know i could play a song right now and some of y'all go back to a place don't make me turn on the music because your body won't even you automatically
[00:46:43] ain't said nothing all service come on y'all why why is that why can you why can you be thinking i won't do this but then as soon as something comes on to trigger your soul you go right there's
[00:46:59] certain cities when you go into you know what it is there's certain place you can't go to atlanta you shouldn't go to atlanta now i'm not saying you i'm saying you know who you are that shouldn't go
[00:47:12] to atlanta you understand you some of y'all should never go to miami and it don't got to be a a city that you know some some of y'all should never go to certain apartment complexes okay okay okay okay
[00:47:27] okay i'm here i'm here why because the vicinity the atmosphere that turn y'all know that turn some of y'all it's one turn it's like oh no oh no some of y'all you have cards that you should
[00:47:46] never get in again they don't want me to tell the truth it's your soul is tight and you watch this you went away from things that you never severed and let me help somebody that thinks that you know
[00:48:08] one night stands and doing things like that is okay because culture everybody does it help me let me help you that you're not just sharing a night with that person you're sharing your future Hear me, I'm trying to give you the keys
[00:48:24] that's gonna help you not be held back.
[00:48:27] Okay, I think some of y'all are hearing me, but you're not seeing it.
[00:48:31] So my family, I need y'all to bring me this stuff.
[00:48:34] Because y'all, some of y'all have had ties going on in your life for years, and you had a cousin and a family member.
[00:48:43] Come on, y'all take a seat.
[00:48:43] This is the family of my life.
[00:48:45] And the thing that you don't understand is all of these people have access to me.
[00:48:49] See, relationship, watch this, is everybody say access. And the only person that can give them access is you. In this first part of it, you have initial ties. I got people all around me.
[00:49:03] I got people that are walking into my life, walking out of my life. What school I went to, where I might've been an army brat and we moved from place to place to place. I don't have any
[00:49:14] control over things when I'm young a lot of times. And so what ends up happening is I have to decipher what's happening after it happens. But many times we're in such a pattern where the
[00:49:24] foothold becomes a stronghold and we become comfortable. They become soul ties and we walk in it that then we end up 40 and don't realize why we can't move forward. Cause I had a dad,
[00:49:35] come on dad. I had a dad who was there. He was there for me physically, but he wasn't there for me emotionally. And so every time I try to go forward and now I got kids and I mean, he provided
[00:49:52] for me, you know what I'm saying? And he, he, he was there, but he was absent present. Y'all know what I'm talking about? The present absent father, the one that got to work so much to make sure
[00:50:08] you're provided for, but it's never there for the pivotal moments. And because he, because he was there I had a baby out of wedlock and this was my daughter out of wedlock and so we more like
[00:50:23] friends than we are dad and daughter because now she doesn't know this but I resent her this is my first baby but I resent her because because I didn't really know how to be a father
[00:50:41] she came and I like her but she stopped my purpose and so I'm mad every time and these initial times in my life, stuff that people didn't have any control over, but they came into this
[00:50:56] world and now they're tying me up. And so when I was young, I used to leave the house because my dad was never there. So he couldn't stop me from leaving. And I got hooked up with some friends
[00:51:08] and this was my friend. And my friend, you know what I'm saying? She's kind of cute too.
[00:51:15] And we didn't really want to be together, but we wanted to try things together.
[00:51:19] oh it's quiet in did y'all did y'all I mean like she was more like my homeboy but she did have things that I did not have I'm in somebody's business so I mean she cool like one of the
[00:51:44] guys you know what I'm saying like but for some reason my dad wasn't there and we played we hooped together and, and she spent the night sometimes. I mean, when she would spend a night, we would,
[00:52:00] you know, watch old, uh, basketball games. I love the dribbles, the dribbles, great dribbling.
[00:52:16] No, but hear me. I'm talking real stuff. It never was serious. We never going to marry each other.
[00:52:22] We never going to be together. People ask us, y'all got chemistry. We ain't trying to do nothing.
[00:52:25] we were just friends with benefits. And this is something I chose. And the reason I was able to keep it up is because I was friends with her brother. And because we was boys, it gave me
[00:52:45] access. We knew what we had. He didn't really know, but he was the reason she could always come around. And because he was doing some things with medicinal drugs and trying to get away from the
[00:53:05] pain in his own family. And I found a brother and sister that were my safe place because my pops wasn't there. And I had an illegitimate child when I was young and my parents had to raise her.
[00:53:23] So I'm feeling bad about myself because I'm not even in my daughter's life for real because I'm too young. I had this baby in high school. I don't know. I don't know how to wipe
[00:53:33] myself i can't wipe up okay y'all want to be i bet i still got streaks how can i i'm being too real for y'all today so so i found i found friends and and i did start going to church and i did
[00:53:51] start trying to figure out what was going on but every time i tried to move forward it felt like too much felt like too much energy i never had to work this hard for anything
[00:54:05] and what people didn't know so I thought that all I had to do was become successful because if I could become successful then I could provide for my daughter and I could get my daughter back
[00:54:22] and then I could find a woman that I really want to be with because I don't want to keep calling her because we're not going to really be together but this is the only way that I know I can get my
[00:54:29] knees met right now she ain't gonna say nothing I ain't gonna say nothing we're not gonna say nothing and then and then the truth of the matter is her brother is getting further and further into
[00:54:36] drugs and I don't want to do that, but he's my A1 from day one. And so I'm going to try it because he gives it to me. And I'm really just trying to figure out, like my dad's getting older and he's
[00:54:46] sick, but I can't talk to him because I don't really have a real relationship with him. And so I'm just now in a place. And so I need a mentor. I'll pay for it even. I need somebody who's
[00:55:00] successful. I need somebody that's made a few million. Because yeah, oh, the bald white man, yes let me find a bald white man to mentor me named Gary but but now watch but I find out
[00:55:21] that the success that he has on the outside has been manipulated by compromise on the inside and so now I'll work for him for free I'll be a mentor but he's showing me things and
[00:55:33] showing me shortcuts and showing me cooked books and showing me how to get what I want when they say I can't have it and oh come on y'all and now I'm walking into this new level of understanding
[00:55:50] but I'm not walking in freedom because God's trying to move me forward but every time I'm trying to move forward I'm all tied up God says forward I'm going forward I'm going forward I'm sick of using all of this energy to do what God said. Well, if the initial tithes can't get
[00:56:17] me free and the influential tithes can't get me free, and even the idol tithes looking at people that, man, seemingly are successful. Well, you know what? No, I'm not going to stop there because I really saw somebody who gave their life to Christ and was walking this out,
[00:56:41] and she used to be somebody that I looked up to when I was younger. And you know what? I want you to help me. I want you to give me wisdom. I want you to give me wisdom. But can we have a Bible
[00:56:54] study at your house? And because of the things that I used to do over here, when I get in the environment alone with even a godly girl, Proverbs 31, a virtuous woman. Come on, don't y'all act
[00:57:17] like this she wears skirts easy access you better quit all I'm saying y'all know whole religions is formed on skirts what are y'all talking about that's easier than anyway I I'm trying to set somebody free and now and now I've brought what was a foothold and a stronghold in my life and
[00:57:43] now I've infected and become tied to somebody who was walking with God was doing the right thing it started off with the right intentions but ended up in a bad place and this is the thing your soul
[00:58:03] ties will let you move forward for a season they'll let you go forward they'll let you feel like there's progress because you haven't acknowledged them i'm older now and just right when you're about to walk into a place of purity it's what is this why can i don't know it's right

[00:58:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:58:25] there. My future is there. My purity is there. Me actually being in freedom is there. Me actually being able to love and not have to perform is right there. That's tiring. What you doing for

[00:58:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:58:48] your birthday? No, not you yet. You. Watch, watch, watch, watch. So you'll take people who've been out of your life for years, look them up on Facebook. How you been? I missed you. You look
[00:59:10] good. I ain't seen you in a long minute. You eating good? Watch, watch, and it'll be a connection.
[00:59:24] Do you understand that? But now that tie is stronger than ever. You can go back to your seat, but it's just tugging on me. I just heard a rip. Hold on. I just heard a rip. Why? Because the
[00:59:39] force of what I'm trying to go after and what's trying to pull me back is at war. I said, Mike, why are you doing this? Because I just want you to see, maybe you've never acknowledged
[00:59:52] that these are the relationship ties that have you stuck. And until you find your freedom in Jesus, this will always be an issue. The beautiful thing right now is you can see them, but every one of you in this room, this room looks like a big spider web.
[01:00:16] And for everybody online, it's a big spider web. There's webs. You're in one city and there's a soul tie. That's literally in another country. You don't even remember their name. Just because you forgot them doesn't mean the soul tie is not connected to you. And again, the illusion is that
[01:00:41] you can be set free for a season and it lets you go and lets you keep going. And watch this. It'll even let you get to a point where you can fake like, keep going, let it go. You can fake like
[01:00:52] you're in your right position. Glory to God. He's so good to me. So how do I break this?
[01:01:07] Write it down and we're going home. Because some of you feel the weight. What you don't understand is I'm standing up here, but I'm having to use energy to stay forward. I'm having to use energy
[01:01:18] to stand because there's something that is pulling me back right now that is reminding me that I couldn't be fully honest with my wife and that weight of not ever telling her that me and old
[01:01:31] girl and the reason I don't do taxes the way she did taxes is because I do some other stuff on our taxes that she don't even know about the reason that I can't admit to my father that what he did
[01:01:42] hurt me thank you for providing for me but I needed you to be there in a different way for me can we start over from now the way that I need to tell my friend who been with me for 27 years
[01:01:52] that we can't be friends no more all of those things weigh on me but the problem is is that a lot of y'all get so fed up that you find an illegitimate intimacy tie and i'm gonna bring
[01:02:10] one y'all not expecting come here tanya some of these young dudes is going after older women come here sugar mama and she white and she got a big black dark chocolate piece of coffee oh i'm i want to talk about what it really is i'm about to live the soft life miss chloe put
[01:02:45] your hands down mama chloe sit down what what what i'm telling you watch what perversion will do perversion is taking older women who are bitter or divorced or left but have success and have resources and know how to nurture and getting these young boys who have no desire for emotional
[01:03:15] connection, but really need to be mothered. Y'all don't hear me. And they want a fun night and they want somebody to take care of them. And these one night stands and these sugar mama setups and these sugar daddy setups and these people dating people 30 years younger than them,
[01:03:37] old enough to be their kids. And I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just saying there may be a hole.
[01:03:43] There may be a hole in your soul that I'm fine. Y'all great. It's your greatest marriage. I'm not saying is bad. I'm just saying what was not addressed. And maybe you need to ask God to
[01:03:55] feel that because it's what's happening. And look at me, look at me up here trying to teach y'all all tied up. The truth of the matter is I'm not in control of my arms. The truth is they can do
[01:04:10] whatever they want to to me. One post, one email, one text message, one truth about, and they're literally putting me out here and I'm now maneuvering in my life and I'm trying to build a family and I'm trying to teach my children, right? And I, listen, watch this. My illegitimate
[01:04:31] kid doesn't know me, but I got three other kids now and I'm building the family with the people that I love. The problem is I have a daughter out here that has prayed to everything else that's
[01:04:44] coming because I never went back and apologized. I never said daddy didn't know what he was doing and i regret what my heart this should be the posture i regret with my whole heart not being
[01:05:03] able to be there for you and you've had to grow up and learn things in a way that you were never supposed to see them i was supposed to protect you i didn't i gave you to your grandparents
[01:05:14] they were the source of a lot of my hurt and i i kept you unprotected and i wasn't mature enough to deal with it. But today I'm telling you that I'm breaking every tie that had me trapped to the
[01:05:25] old life. And I found Jesus and your daddy is about to become a man that you never know. I know this is going to take some time, but would you give me a chance to restart with you? Can I build
[01:05:35] trust with you? Can I become something that you've never seen? And that's going to take a lot of work.
[01:05:39] And I understand if you need time, but I'm going to prove to you every day that I've become a different person. And I want this relationship to be a reflection of how God can change somebody.
[01:05:49] And I hope that you can believe that I will change so that we can have a relationship going forward.
[01:05:57] Do you know how much healing would come to somebody?
[01:06:00] I don't even think that's necessary to most people.
[01:06:09] I'm going to just keep living, keep moving, and I'll make slow progress.
[01:06:15] And God says forward and I'll say, well, I'm doing the best I can.
[01:06:19] I'm doing the most I can.
[01:06:22] And this is the crazy thing about it.
[01:06:25] There's inherited ties.
[01:06:27] there's some other ones i ain't even talk about let me let me show you what inherited ties look like these are people in your in your past that you don't even know about this is your great great
[01:06:41] great grandfather and his alcoholism addiction and your great great great great great grandfather brother who who literally taught him how to lie and be a cheater and a manipulator and watch what ends up happening is now all of these ties are pulling me in different directions
[01:07:05] and I can't even see where they're coming from. Oh God. Do you know how tired it would be to just stand up here, trying to fight to live, trying to fight, forget doing God's will.
[01:07:25] I'm just trying to survive. And if this is how you look emotionally, spiritually, or even relationally. I need to let you know it's time for you to get free.
[01:07:41] Now it's possible. There's freedom in Jesus. Somebody say there's freedom in Jesus.
[01:07:48] Everybody let it go just a little bit. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Yeah. I got to get to my notes. Now watch. You see, I'm bargaining. I'm asking permission. Hey, would you give me just
[01:08:11] a little more slack so I could get married? Would you just give me a little more slack so that I can raise these curtains. You just give me a little more slack.
[01:08:21] I'm going to teach you how to break the soul ties because somebody said, how do I do this?
[01:08:24] Watch this. I'm going to teach you how to break it. Write these down. Don't ever forget this.
[01:08:28] The first way that you have to break soul ties through action is recognition. The whole reason I did this example and took my time is because some of you through this example are now aware.
[01:08:43] you're even thinking, you know what? Yes, I do have some ties that are ungodly.
[01:08:51] And if you recognize them, I want you to call them out, not call them. Let me clarify. Call them out. That could be writing them down. That could be confessing to somebody that could be
[01:09:07] actually jotting that. But like, I need you to acknowledge this was a soul tie. I had a soul tie to this celebrity. Some of y'all have a soul tie to a celebrity. That's that idol tie.
[01:09:21] Anything they do, they can do no wrong. Every song that they come out with, no matter what it says, you're singing it at the top of your lungs. You worship with them. Come on, y'all. Pastor Mike,
[01:09:34] why are you saying this? Because these chords are strengthened through what you say, sing, watch. But the first thing is you have to be aware of it. This is a soul tie. Second thing, how you break soul tie is repentance. So recognition is number one. Number two is
[01:09:55] repentance. That means turn. How do you turn? You accept God's grace. God literally said, you don't have to live like this. You can live like this, but you don't have to live like this.
[01:10:07] So I want you to, everybody say repent. This is God's whole message. Look at Acts 3.19. Repent, then turn to god do a 180 not a 360 because if you do a 360 you'll be back in the same spot
[01:10:22] do a 180 he said repent and turn to god so that your sins may be wiped out and that times of refreshing may come from the lord do you know what would be so good right now refreshing
[01:10:34] like not all this pool intention just being refreshed second corinthians 7 10 says godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. So God, he's like, yo, I need you to have some remorse for what happened, but not in a way
[01:10:54] that you're defeated. I want you to understand that it brings you to repentance and leads to salvation and then you'll have no regret. So the first thing is recognition. It's awareness. We're breaking it because we're recognizing it. You can't hide here no more. There's no more foothold
[01:11:09] and it can't be a stronghold. I see you. I see you enemy. I see you big cousin. I see you in front. I see you father wound. I see you. Somebody say, I see you. There's tensions that you've never
[01:11:24] called out and nobody's ever said anything. And then you repent and you accept God's grace.
[01:11:30] Number three, renouncing. You got to cut off access. Now, a lot of people like renouncing.
[01:11:39] well what is renouncing uh have a word like it is announcing it's what you're using we are together that's announcing we are together so you need to renounce it we are no longer together the same
[01:11:57] level of energy use you use to announce it you need to use to renounce it i used to have to go to bed with a bottle. Only bottle next to my bed is water. I am free from addiction. I am free from
[01:12:13] pornography. I am free from bitterness. I, but most people won't renounce it. You walk away from it, but you never confess that that tie no longer is mine. And the next step to renouncing it,
[01:12:31] that's the spiritual side of repenting. But the other side of it is renouncing is get rid of everything that reminds you of it. Some of y'all go to sleep in hoodies and jerseys of people that
[01:12:42] have been the worst representation of love. You are abused by the people you still drive in the car. I'm saying that you got to trust that God's big enough to replace anything that they gave you.
[01:13:00] Some of y'all still taking money and still doing different things. I'm not saying your child's support that he got to pay for that child, pay for the child. But what I'm saying, do y'all hear
[01:13:08] what I'm saying? But there are certain things. Well, he still give me something for Valentine's day because I am his baby mama. Don't accept it no more. What the heck? That's a tie. And every
[01:13:19] two or three years between every other girl he's doing, y'all have one slip up. What are we talking about? These are ties. And let me say something to you. You have to renounce these things because
[01:13:32] God wants you to cut off its access with your power because Proverbs 18 21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit I want you to know that God
[01:13:47] wants you to renounce these things second Corinthians 4 2 I'm giving you scripture to stand on because some of y'all going home to renounce things to cut the ties off the things that have been really holding you back it says but we have renounced disgraceful underhanded ways
[01:14:02] we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with god's word but by the open statement of the truth we would command ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of god renounce it number four recovery so you don't it's not just enough to renounce it you got to go through a
[01:14:23] season of recovery and people try to go from relationship to relationship immediately well I found somebody and God has just redeemed he redeems everything baby you're not healed you're about to mess that one up too because when you're with them you're with them like because there's
[01:14:44] still ties and this is why in recovery you got to realign and I would almost say recovering because you never are just fully recovered i'm gonna keep being recovered like i'm recovering i'm gonna become healthy enough to do this but this is the thing that everybody understands when you go into
[01:15:01] surgery nobody hops up for surgery that was a deep work they always tell you to plan for recovery what is the other word for recovery healing you need time to heal that's why james 5 16 says
[01:15:19] therefore confess your sins the ties the the missteps the mismarks one to another pray for each other that you may be healed the prayer of the righteous person has great power and is working the last one how do we cut these soul ties let God restore you it's restoration it's your ability
[01:15:44] to now go into another level of usage I told y'all this a long time ago my wife um I asked her one day what was her dream car. And I thought she was going to say something new and nice. And she said
[01:15:57] a 1965 car. And I said, neither one of us was alive. Why you want a car that's older than both of us? And what I did is I found that car for her 35th birthday and I had it restored. And I'd seen
[01:16:12] that car other places, but it wasn't in the place to be able to drive. So it wasn't restored. It was the car but it wasn't restored it was worth less because it wasn't restored but every time we drive
[01:16:29] her car people honking and well what year is that and I'm like 1965 and like it's like it's like a whole like thing because people are amazed in a world where everything is new to see something
[01:16:43] old still running that this means that God can preserve you preserve your marriage preserve your you, preserve you, if you would let him restore you. Psalms 23. I love it. The Lord is my shepherd.
[01:17:05] I shall not want. He makes me lie down. Hold on. That's recovery in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Why? Because back then, still waters was the only place you could see your
[01:17:18] reflection. There were no mirrors on the wall. It was only in still waters that I could see who I really am and he restores my church if you know it's time to move forward but you're feeling all
[01:17:39] tied up there was another man that took this position this is why we celebrate Easter this is why we worship the king it's because he took a stretched out position and Jesus becomes the initial tie it says any man that be in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away
[01:18:06] behold he has made everything new i feel that somebody's ties are about to be broken in this place it says jesus is the one that can influence everything in my life that every time that has
[01:18:18] come to keep me severed i feel a break coming for somebody this is about to be a season where everything that has been tied to you is now gonna be loose and there is freedom in jesus if you
[01:18:33] believe it why don't you stand to your feet and give god a shout of praise is what freedom looks like and somebody will say well why don't you unhook them i dare you to take my testimony
[01:18:54] this is how we overcome yeah by the blood of the lamb you can look at it and the words of our testimony somebody shout at me freedom if you're sick of the soul ties if you're tired of
[01:19:18] being tied up? Here's your answer. His name is hands lifted all over this place. Oh, I feel this.
[01:19:30] See, Jesus is not just the initial tie or the influential tie. He can be your idol tie too, because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess and he will not be an illegitimate tie.
[01:19:44] He'll be the legitimate tie to your future. There's one more. He's the invincible tie.
[01:19:49] the Bible tells us neither death nor light neither death nor darkness nor separation nor hell can separate us from the love of God today here we are God and we're asking for you to break
[01:20:10] every chain break every tie every soul tie if you know you're here under the sound of my voice and there's been some things tied to you that are not like God and you want prayer just at your seat or
[01:20:25] watching online, I just want you to lift both of your hands high. Just come on. I'm going to pray for you. Yep. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the courage to actually not just
[01:20:39] hear your word, but obey it. God, I thank you that your people today are making a decision to acknowledge the people that they have been tied to that have formed ungodly soul ties. People who
[01:20:54] have been in marriages, but they've been in marriages with several people that have not been contacted in years and they're holding on to ideas and thoughts and fantasies and secrets and even hurts and pains from a family member or aunt or uncle or people that aren't even alive
[01:21:16] anymore. God, I'm asking you to heal us and give us freedom because whom the sun sets free is free indeed. But we cannot resist what we don't know is there. So today we cut every foothold and
[01:21:33] every stronghold and every soul tie, and we will walk in freedom. I feel like this whole week God is going to do surgery. I don't try to preach messages where it's started and finished in the
[01:21:52] message. Today, some of y'all are going to fill trash cans, delete accounts. Oh yeah, you don't need to know anything that's happening with them soul ties. You don't need to know it's their birthday. You don't need to know they got a promotion. You don't need to know if they're
[01:22:09] live. Pray for them. Pray. Bless them, Lord. Pastor Mike, why are you saying that? Because it's holding you back from moving forward. Some of you, it's worth you moving. You heard what I just said. That apartment is a place full of memories that continue. It's worth you downgrading
[01:22:36] to get into your freedom. It's worth you switching colognes. I promise you there's something else that smells good, but every time you smell that scent, oh, I'm just, there's certain restaurants you can't go to no more. There's certain movies you shouldn't watch. Come on, y'all. How bad do
[01:23:08] you want your freedom? The week before Easter, I wanted to preach this message because I believe by this time next week, there's another level of freedom that you're going to experience, that you're going to have to run into every person in the town and tell, come meet a man.
[01:23:34] Hear what I'm saying?
[01:23:35] There was a woman with an issue of blood and Jesus healed her to the place where she's like, y'all come meet a man who told me everything that I did.
[01:23:44] He knew all of this and he still chose me and he still gave me a drink of living water.
[01:23:49] And I'm not thirsty no more.
[01:23:51] Some of y'all got to hear me.
[01:23:53] And this is why you're going to invite people because you know they need to meet the man that took the stripes and bear the scars for their salvation.
[01:24:05] today freedom is coming in Jesus if you've never accepted Jesus I want to give you an opportunity to make him your personal Lord and Savior he's the only one that can free you he's the only one
[01:24:21] that gives us power to do this if that's you under the sound of my voice watching online or rebroadcast or in this room on the count of three I just want you to slip your hand in the air I
[01:24:32] want you to be bold about it I want you to identify the Bible tells us if we claim him here on earth. It says he will claim us in front of the father in heaven. This is our chance. Today
[01:24:45] is the day of salvation. It's the greatest decision I've ever made. It took me from being a liar, a manipulator, addicted to pornography, all of this. And I share it with you every day because I don't want to ever forget the grace of God. And it turned me into a man that desires to
[01:25:03] help other people as I progress on my journey forward with Christ. And today I believe is your day of salvation. So if you're in this room and you're ready to give your life to Jesus Christ
[01:25:13] for the first time or give your life back to him for the last time in the name of jesus on the count of three i want you to lift your hand one you're making a decision that is going to transform
[01:25:24] your life forever two i'm proud of you but more than that your name is about to be written in the lamb's book of life three if you want to accept jesus lift your hand in the air i see you my
[01:25:32] brother i see you my brother i see you my sister i see you i see you i see this couple more than that God sees you. Transformation Church, how do we celebrate what God is doing? I see you, brother.
[01:25:44] I see you, my friend. Hey, listen. Here it is. Everybody standing. At Transformation Church, nobody prays alone. We pray for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ. We're a family here. You get new ties here, godly ties. Just everybody say, Father, thank you for seeing me
[01:26:07] in sending Jesus. Today, I repent and I turn to you. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again with power over sin. So today, here's my life. Change me. Renew me. Transform me. I'm yours.
[01:26:31] cut every tie that is not like you. I give you my life in Jesus name. Amen. All over this place, let's celebrate the God who breaks every tie and forms a tie that can never be broken.
[01:26:50] As the altar workers come, I'm so proud of you. If you made that decision for Jesus, I need you to pull out your phone and text SAVE to 828282. And I want to give everybody
[01:27:03] the opportunity to pray that james scripture said confess one to another and pray for healing somebody today is your day of healing these altar workers are here our staff our team is here if you
[01:27:14] need prayer the worship team's gonna sing just for a moment if you're online i'm gonna pray for you in just a moment just lift your hands in a moment of worship there are people have to go and get
[01:27:24] their kids but there's just been a sweet anointing in this place next week get here early because we are going to celebrate our risen Savior. The sun is coming. Next Friday, you can watch Ransom
[01:27:38] Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's going to be phenomenal, and we're going to see people saved.
[01:27:43] I said we're going to see people saved. Join us at the extravaganza on Saturday.
[01:27:50] But before all of that, maybe you need to get altered right here at this altar.
[01:27:55] From all over this place, if you want to just stay and worship, if you need to leave, you can, But if you need prayer, I want you to come and get the prayer you need because God, the surgery is God wants to do the surgery that your soul needs.
[01:28:09] So today, Father, we're open to you. Have your way in this place. In Jesus name, we pray.

[01:28:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:28:15] Come on, just lift your hands right there. Thank you, Lord.

[01:28:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:28:21] God wants to break every chain, every tie on your life.
[01:28:25] And this is the season where you are going to be restored.
[01:28:30] If you enjoyed that message today, I want you to know it's just the beginning.
[01:28:34] All ungodly soul ties are being broken off of your life.
[01:28:37] And I believe that this is the start of something brand new.
[01:28:41] Let God continue the work.
[01:28:42] Finish the work.
[01:28:43] Continue to do what only he can do.
[01:28:46] But I believe this is a new start for you.
[01:28:49] If you believe it, say amen.
[01:28:51] Well, it's Easter Sunday next Sunday.
[01:28:54] And I want you to join us right here at Transformation Church.
[01:28:57] It's going to be crazy Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
[01:29:00] And we believe that the sun is coming.
[01:29:02] And so let me ask you to do two things.
[01:29:04] Number one, if this message has blessed you or this ministry has blessed you, I want you to share this with somebody.
[01:29:10] Transformation starts with an invitation.
[01:29:12] And maybe this message is for somebody in your family or somebody you work with or somebody you just met.
[01:29:17] You could be the key to somebody coming to know Jesus and literally being healed.
[01:29:22] and number two if this ministry has ever blessed you I want you to pray about sowing a seed or giving whatever amount that God places on your heart to help us reach more people next week
[01:29:32] we're doing a lot of outreach we are sending messages and events and blessing to people who are far from God in hopes that they might get to know him we are people that hold the door and
[01:29:43] introduce people to Jesus and your sowing into this helps us do that and people are being changed all over the world because of people just like you.
[01:29:52] I love you.
[01:29:53] I can't wait to celebrate with you next week.
[01:29:55] Run this whole sermon series back from week one all the way to week seven.
[01:29:59] It'll transform all your relationships in real life.
[01:30:02] Go out and live a transformed life.