The Biochemical Gospel: Why Neuroplasticity Cannot Save You

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:01] Well, Transformation Church, I have an exciting announcement.
[00:00:07] Earlier this year, we found out that Derwin was named as the recipient of the prestigious John M. Perkins Justice Award.
[00:00:18] Dr. Perkins is a military veteran, he's a civil rights legend, he's a pastor, he's an author, and he was a counselor to six U.S. presidents.
[00:00:39] So this award is given to a visionary leader whose life and work exemplifies principles of biblical justice.
[00:00:51] So Friday night, Derwin and I were able to travel to Jackson, Mississippi, where he received the award in person.
[00:00:58] And while we were there, we got to hear some encouraging words from Bryan Stevenson.
[00:01:04] You may recognize his name.
[00:01:06] He is the author of Just Mercy, and he was the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
[00:01:12] He won the award the previous year, so he had these words to share.
[00:01:16] Check out this video.
[00:01:17] DR.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:01:17] BRYAN STEVENSON Hi, my name is Bryan Stevenson, and I want to celebrate and congratulate Dr. John and Vera Mae Perkins on their 65th Sapphire Jubilee anniversary.
[00:01:32] Dr. Perkins, Ms. Perkins, I love you both.
[00:01:37] You represent something so important in the world, something so vital.
[00:01:41] And I'm thrilled that your lives and your legacy lives on through this gala and through the recognition of people doing extraordinary things in the world, like Dr. Derwin Gray.
[00:01:53] Dr. Gray, congratulations.
[00:01:55] We are honored and inspired by the work you do.
[00:01:59] You have found a way to make truth the light that we need to follow in these dark and difficult times.
[00:02:06] It is an absolute thrill to know that you are receiving this recognition at a time when the politics of fear and anger are raging.
[00:02:14] There's so much division.
[00:02:16] So much polarization.
[00:02:19] Fear and anger is causing people to accept things they should never accept, to tolerate things they should never tolerate.
[00:02:24] And that's why, through the life and legacy of Dr. Perkins, through Vera Mae Perkins, we have an opportunity to show the world a better way, to show the world something that lifts us up, not tears us down.
[00:02:36] Dr. Gray, you've done that.
[00:02:38] And for that, we want to thank you and to congratulate you and celebrate you for the extraordinary work that you're doing across the world.
[00:02:46] Thank you all.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:02:49] Congratulations.
[00:02:50] Thank you.
[00:02:51] Come on, Pastor Paul, let's get Pastor Paul out here.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:52] We're going to bring Pastor Paul in if Pastor Tim was here and even if Angela was here.
[00:03:09] First of all, anything that I've done in my life, I've done in my life, I've done in my

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:03:16] life.
[00:03:16] Anything that I ever do, Vicki does, anything that she does, I do because we're one.
[00:03:22] And Pastor Paul, as well as Pastor Tim, our friend Angela back in the day, we had this crazy idea that God could do something like this.
[00:03:32] And so, this isn't just mine.
[00:03:34] This is all of ours.
[00:03:35] So let's give it up for Pastor Paul and Vicki as well.
[00:03:39] Thank you.
[00:03:41] So, thank you so much.
[00:03:45] Thank you.
[00:03:46] Thank you.
[00:03:47] Thank you.
[00:03:48] I hope you guys just take it with you and share it with everyone.
[00:03:49] We love you.
[00:03:50] Thank you.
[00:03:51] Thanks.
[00:03:52] Thank you.
[00:03:53] Thank you.
[00:03:54] You too.
[00:03:55] Dominic, how are you?
[00:03:56] Good.
[00:03:57] Thank you.
[00:03:58] Thank you so much.
[00:03:59] So, folks, so, when we first got the email, I thought it was a mistake.
[00:04:00] No, seriously, I did.
[00:04:01] I said, wait a minute.
[00:04:02] I mean, if you don't know who Bryan Stevenson is, you need to know who he is.
[00:04:03] So, please research him.
[00:04:06] He's literally helped hundreds of people get off of death row because they were falsely accused of crimes.
[00:04:13] Their lives are literally saved.
[00:04:15] lawyer, law professor. So I'm like, this has got to be a mistake because his book, Just Mercy, became a movie and Michael B. Jordan played Bryan Stevenson. I'm like, surely this is a mistake.
[00:04:29] But actually it wasn't a mistake. And so probably about 30% of our congregation, I hope everybody gets on board, to understand the significance of what God is doing.
[00:04:42] We're not merely just getting a bunch of people together in the room and you hear a couple of things and you leave and you come back. No, no, no. We are a microcosm of what God desires the church to be. Where every nation, tribe, and tongue, this ethnic diversity comes together.
[00:05:02] We're not colorblind. God didn't make a mistake making you Filipino. He didn't make you a mistake making you Puerto Rican. He didn't make my wife a mistake coming from Mexico. He didn't make you from Denmark. I love that Viking woman. So we're color blessed. And we believe that the God who reconciles us vertically, reconciles us horizontally, and that his blood that brought us together, we will not allow politics to pull us apart. We will not allow chaos to pull us apart.
[00:05:35] Because listen, when this season is over, we still going to be here. And if you've been here for 15 years, you're going to be here. You're going to be here. You're going to be here. You're my messages have not changed whatsoever. We're going to stay on the wall and we're going to continue. But not only that, I shared with you guys a few weeks ago is we're going to raise another half million dollars to create the multi-ethnic church planting network because we're going to continue to do locations and campuses, but we're going to train more pastors and more people to do what we're doing here at Transformation Church because we believe what happens in the seat...
[00:06:12] It's supposed to transform the streets.
[00:06:15] And so when we're all gone years from now, the church in America is going to look different because of your prayers, because of your faith, because of your sacrifice.
[00:06:25] So we're not just doing a little thing.
[00:06:26] You've got to understand, this message is going to help you personally.
[00:06:30] But if that's all it does, it's not enough.
[00:06:33] If the dreams you have and the dreams I have only make our life better, it is not the kingdom of God.
[00:06:42] The kingdom of God puts dreams in our hearts to where the world is different, the world is better, where the hungry are fed and the naked are clothed and the broken are mended.
[00:06:52] That's the gospel we believe.
[00:06:58] So this is our award.
[00:07:03] And a time long ago, I was a 29-year-old seminary student.
[00:07:11] And Dr. Perkins came.
[00:07:12] And I was like, I don't know who this man is, but that sounds like the Bible.
[00:07:18] That sounds like Jesus.
[00:07:20] I want to learn from him.
[00:07:22] And we eventually became friends.
[00:07:25] I've stayed at his home.
[00:07:26] I wrote my doctoral thesis in honor of him.
[00:07:30] And so together, we share in this.
[00:07:34] And I hope you sense the weight and the gravity of what God is calling us to do and to be.
[00:07:41] Let me pray.
[00:07:41] Let me pray for us.
[00:07:43] And we're going to get going.
[00:07:46] Holy God of grace and mercy, bless us with your presence and your power.
[00:07:50] Meet us where we need to be met.
[00:07:51] Take us where we need to go.
[00:07:53] Show us Jesus in his name.
[00:07:56] Amen.
[00:07:57] So we're kicking off a brand new series called the Five Solas.
[00:08:01] And the Five Solas started in part because of a man named Martin Luther.
[00:08:10] The world changed.
[00:08:11] On October 31st, 1517, not because it was Halloween, Halloween did not exist then.
[00:08:17] It's because a German monk who was a part of the Roman Catholic Church had a revelation of who God was.
[00:08:25] And here's his backstory.
[00:08:27] As a Catholic monk, he always lived with this spiritual anxiety of I'm not good enough.
[00:08:33] I need to do more.
[00:08:34] Will God forgive me?
[00:08:36] Will God love me?
[00:08:37] And he tried and he tried.
[00:08:38] And he's like, I just can't do it.
[00:08:40] So.
[00:08:41] One of his mentors.
[00:08:41] He was a pastor.
[00:08:41] His mentor said, you need to read the Bible.
[00:08:44] Now, please understand back then the printing press was relatively new and there wasn't a lot of Bible.
[00:08:49] So can you imagine trying to teach somebody about Jesus without reading the Bible?
[00:08:55] Anyway, he gets the Bible and it's written in Latin and he begins to read it and he's like, wait a minute.
[00:09:01] He came across Romans 1, 17, it says the just or the righteous should live by faith.
[00:09:07] Those who are made righteous by God are not those who strive and earn.
[00:09:11] They are those who are made to be righteous, they are those who are made to be righteous.
[00:09:12] Now, when he says that and he says that, but he's not having faith, he's saying that he is not going to be righteous.
[00:09:14] He is going to be faithful.
[00:09:15] Now, he's saying that he is faithful.
[00:09:16] That he is faithful.
[00:09:17] So the reason why he was so faithful to God and become good enough is because God is great enough.
[00:09:19] And he himself declares those who trust him to be righteous, that all the work is finished.
[00:09:20] And he took it to his leaders and said, did you guys know this?
[00:09:25] And it fell on deaf ears.
[00:09:27] And so on this date, legend has it that he went to the Whittenboro Castle church.
[00:09:32] So Vicki and I went there.
[00:09:34] Our son was with us as well.
[00:09:37] And supposedly on his door he put up what's called the 95 theses.
[00:09:39] 95 theses. This right here is the pulpit that Martin Luther preached from. Now, I would break that if I sat in it. I thought, I mean, for his day, he was a bigger man, but back then, you know, people were small, nutrition and stuff, didn't eat much protein. Anyway, I wanted to climb up there, but I figured I'd probably get arrested, so I didn't. But anyway, it was cool to be at a place where history was literally made. And so, what Martin Luther did is he actually spent the rest of his life on the run because he was going to be killed. And so, he translated from Latin into German the Bible. And you know what? It changed education because of the printing press.
[00:10:26] They were like, it's a good idea for normal people to be able to read because only the elite and the priests could read, so now everybody could read.
[00:10:33] So, if you read in school, part of it is because of this Protestant Reformation. The word Protestant comes from the word protest, that it was protesting, saying, hey, all this other stuff is not in the Bible. And so, the Reformation was the Spirit of God moving people back to the Word of God and the essential truth. So, picture this. Following Jesus, his church, Christianity, is like a big old house with a lot of rooms in it. And you come to faith, and you walk into the house, and you begin to check out the rooms, the different streams of the faith. Some rooms you walk in, you're like, no, that's crazy, I'm out. And then some of the rooms you get comfortable in, then another room. And so, the true church is not an institution or denomination. It is a people who truly know Jesus all around the world. So, as a theologian, as a New Testament scholar, I like to go into every one of the rooms and learn from the different traditions and give it all to you. And so, when people go, what denomination are you? I go, we're not a denomination. They go, well, what are you? I go, we're Christians that love Jesus and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We want to be a people of love rooted in the ancient soil. And so, that's what we're trying to do in this series. Now, if you're new here, I'm going to reel you in just a wee bit. Most of the time, when people go to church, it's to use Jesus to fix something in their life, not to worship Jesus and be transformed to glorify Him. It's a small, subtle thing. One is, I want to use you. And the other is, if you don't do anything, I just want you. We are a, I just want you kind of church. And when you get God, transformation begins to take place. So, we're going to walk through the five solas. On the count of three, say five. One, two, three. By the way, my number in college was five. So, I'm going to walk through the five solas. On the count of three, say five. One, two, three. By the way, my number in college was number. Vicky, Vicky used to wear a gold necklace with number five with a diamond on it. I'd be like, that's my girl. Teenagers, young adults, what are the five solas?
[00:12:46] Sola scriptura. That's Latin, by the way. This means scripture alone. That's what we're going to preach on today. Solus Christus, Christ alone for salvation. Sola fidea, faith alone through faith in Christ. Sola gratias, grace alone. Sola de gloria, God's glory.
[00:13:02] God's glory alone. And so, we're going to walk through this. And that's why we've done the five solas study group, so we can immerse ourselves in this ancient text. So, let's dive into it, okay? Here we go. We are Bible alone people because the Bible alone points you to Jesus and his gift of salvation. So, let me pause here. When Vicky had thyroid cancer, she had one of the best thyroid surgeons in the world. He was a white man. He was a man, incredible. He was friendly. His faith was Vedanta Hinduism, New Age, and we would talk about it. And he would say, well, pastor, there's more truth out there other than in the Bible. And I'll say, you're right. However, the Bible is the only truth, the 66 books, 39 of the New Testament, 27 of the New, is only that points to Jesus and salvation, his revelation for salvation. Of course, there's other things that we can learn.
[00:14:02] For example, Aristotle is my influence for philosophy. I'm a Thomistic philosopher. By the way, you don't know it, but I give it to you all the time. You guys are philosophers and don't even know it. I don't tell you because if I did, you'd put up a wall. So, I just smuggle it in. You know, it's like when you want your kids to have vitamins, you don't give them a big old pill. You crush it up and you mix it up. Y'all Thomistic philosophers don't even know it. I'll be teaching y'all the correspondence theory of reality all the time in epistemology. I just don't use big words.
[00:14:32] Of course, we can learn other things, but only the Bible leads us to a revelation of salvation. If you're not a follower of Jesus yet, this isn't for you. Just put this in your pockets. But for those of you that are, let me ask you this. Do you remember the first time you met him? Do you remember the first time that his love just melted your heart?
[00:15:00] Do you remember the first time that his love just melted your heart? Do you remember the that his grace took your breath away oh I remember in the words of Michael Jackson I remember the time August 2nd 1997 small dorm room Anderson Indiana fifth year in NFL Anderson College I'm supposed to be getting ready to play a season and God meets me and for three nights after practice I would just sit in that dorm room and cry I was taught a man never cries and I just wept and I wept and I kept going are you sure you are you sure you like do you know about this do you know about this do you know about this and it was like God was going son I knew about it before you ever did it before you ever called my name I was on the way so you got to understand this we didn't find Jesus we weren't even looking for him he came looking for us and calling for us in the midst of our sin in the midst of chaos and and brokenness he was calling in and wooing us and I just remember God are you sure you could forgive me and he goes not only am I sure but it is done I'm like are you sure you can love someone like me he goes son you gotta understand I only got somebody's like you to love I love I love you like you love me like you love me like you love me like you love somebody like you to love I love you like you love me like you love me like world full of sinners that's what I do is I love people so please understand this please understand this if you're really mature in Christ you love Jesus more not less it's like I love the Lord and I'm a jerk follow Jesus and become a jerk too have you ever met those people I'm like don't tell them you followed take the Jesus thing off your car tell them you're atheist and they always find like that one Christian do an interview with I'm like surely there was somebody else why this is why we preach the Bible while we're scripture alone people Jesus Jesus Jesus for you to get his life to you to live his life through you for you to get his life to you to live his life to you to love you love you love you he's a reminder of who you belong to guys we baptized 233 people that puts us over 300 for the year again that's a big deal so so when we give generously we are giving so that people can receive the greatest gift of all early early early in the history of Transmence Church there was no Costco there was no traffic people are like why are y'all going to Indian land literally we had nowhere else to go we found an abandoned warehouse and I had a church planning experts say this Indian land is where church planners go to die if you baptize one person a year you're doing good guys we're getting close to 3,000 don't tell us what our God cannot do he is unlimited and power it's a big deal check this out now here's the text we're gonna marinate from 2nd Timothy 3 14 and 15 here's the context really quick quickly Timothy is a protege of the Apostle Paul Timothy is a pastor in a city called Ephesus Vicki and I have been there it is amazing it is a city with everybody from everywhere and there was deep division ethnically class gender male female all this stuff and Paul is telling Timothy how to minister to them here's something that's important about Timothy that you got to understand his mom was a Jew and his dad was a nun Jew and guess what that made him a perfect candidate to lead a church that was Jew and Gentile he grew up with a Gentile dad so he could understand them he grew up with Jewish mom he could understand them if no one has ever taught you that you've been in church your whole life I'm sorry because you can't even understand a scripture if you don't understand the ethnic dimension Paul says this and by the way he's going through it y'all them people were wearing him out let me say this really quick if you're young you like I want to be a pastor do anything else this is 5% of what I get to do the other 95% is I'm like a referee and God's sheep bite I've never been more disrespected in my life than since being a pastor people talk to you crazy because they know as a pastor I'm gonna walk in a spirit and I'm not gonna I mean I'm like Lord you have to help me this is wild like some of the meanest people and petty people I mean seriously and there are times where you're going do you know Jesus like in the club it was different so so please be careful it takes a level of maturity to help people who think you're trying to hurt them God's sheep bite and sometimes you get bit in the process of helping and loving people that's why humility is so important so Timothy's getting worn out and Paul says this to him but as for you continue and what you learned and firmly believe continue in it you know those who taught you who taught him his Jewish grandmother and mom taught him by the way mom and dad really quick quickly my job is not to equip your kids it's your job my job is to equip you to equip your kids hey dads if you know more about fantasy football than a gospel of John you got a problem hey moms if you know more about Saint John Laurent and Louis Vuitton and I don't know about you but we top it at Walmart if you know if you know her at Target if you know all about that more than Scripture we got a problem and here's another thing too I know you read your little Christian books because we read them too and it's like okay you're gonna have your little devotional with your little kids before school no you're not they're gonna be a wrestling match you're gonna be all over the place and you know where you're gonna teach your kids is when they watch you argue do you speak with love and grace it is hypocrisy if you cuss at your spouse cuss at your children and then think you're gonna come up in here and sing about God time to repent come out well the church doesn't disciple the discipling is with you you want to you want to disciple your kids you're gonna watch how you spend your money they're gonna watch how you treat people who can't do nothing for you they're gonna watch how you resolve conflict then the discipleship is going to match what we learned is as we go throughout the day at football practice a hard day at school working through things that's where discipleship takes place so our job is the partner with you and by the way you're always discipling your kids the question is what are you discipling them in we want to help you disciple them in the gospel and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred scriptures this is talking about the the old testament because the new testament was not written at that time which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in christ jesus that's what the scriptures do wisdom of salvation in christ jesus not just the trip to heaven when you die but how to bring heaven to earth through the life and the power of the spirit and jesus while talking to the pharisees quickly the pharisees were a group of six to seven thousand jewish men they were more of the blue collar types they believed the word pharisee means separate ones they believed their job was to get the nation of israel to live the torah first five books of the bible and they took the ten commandments and from the torah added 603 for 613 laws and they thought if all of israel can live these laws the Messiah would come back and guess what he would do kick out the pagan Romans that they hated one of the reasons why they didn't like Jesus is because Jesus said I don't want to kick the Romans out I want to bring them in the family so they wanted the kingdom without the king be careful of people who try to create laws for unbelievers to follow when they don't have the Holy Spirit in them I have never cleaned a fish that I have not caught why are we asking non-christians to act like Christians when most of the time Christians don't act like Christians so please be careful that you don't end up being a Pharisee those were the people that Jesus argued with the most read your Bible it wasn't unbelievers it was the religious establishment that he argued with the most you should have known better case in point this is John chapter 5 39 through 40 he's talking to the Pharisees and he says this you pour over the scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them Jesus is going scriptures don't save you and yet they testify about me wouldn't it be sad to be religious and miss Jesus he's literally right there by the age of 12 to be a Pharisee you had to know from Genesis to Malachi but you had they would destroy me in the Bible and the king is literally right there in front of them and what did they do why is he eating with sinners oh my god is such a spirit of Phariseeism in the American Church look at those people instead of looking at them go serve them go love them go pray for them I was them but the scriptures point to Jesus but he says but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life quickly really quickly don't hide from Jesus by hiding behind the Bible don't hide from Jesus by hiding behind the Bible that's exactly what the Pharisees did read Matthew 23 Jesus said things like your parents are starving and you talking about you giving 10% and your parents are starving and you don't give to them because you're doing this religious stuff just read it matter of fact please read it more than political podcast you listen to all the time and being brainwashed please stop brainwashing you'll see yourself some of you get up in the morning and you're listening to a political podcast and not the Word of God how in the world you gonna notice scriptures if you don't spend time listening to them how are you going to know the Scriptures if you don't spend time listening to them how are you going to know the Scriptures if you don't spend time I'm in the scriptures. We are Bible alone people because the Bible alone is inspired by God. Now what does inspired mean? A simple way to say it is this. The pages, the words on the page is God's heart to us. Every word is breathed out by God through human authors. How many know that the Bible did not fall down from heaven in the NIV version in English? My son taught me this. If you and I lived in the 1500s in England and we tried to speak English the way we do, they wouldn't have understand us. Language changes. Here's a simple illustration, simple.
[00:27:55] When I was a kid and I go, man, that's dope. That meant not good. Now I go, that's dope. And that means good. That's just a simple thing. So language changes, but the meaning of scripture does not change. Okay. So the Bible is inspired by God. It is trustworthy and true and all that it teaches, it is infallible. It is without error.
[00:28:25] So one of the things I want to encourage you to do is to pray the sacred scriptures. I want to challenge you here. I wrote a whole book called God, Do You Hear Me? It's based on prayer. It was my worst selling book and it's one of my best written books. Why is that? Because people don't really want to pray. Hear my heart. What we want to do is manipulate God to do things that we want him to do.
[00:28:55] If you don't believe me, journal your prayers and see how much it says, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. How often do you pray, God, your will be done? God, I want you. I really want to encourage you. I pray the scriptures over my family. I pray scripture over you because this is what I know. Those are inspired words of God.
[00:29:25] Besides, God is much smarter than me, and I want to trust him. So I really want to encourage you. The ancients called it licta divina. That's fancy Latin, just letting you know I studied a little bit. It means sacred reading, where you're reading it slow and just letting it churn inside of you. Matter of fact, that's what the apostle Paul did.
[00:29:49] So one of the prayers I pray for you often is Ephesians 3, 14 through 21. But where did Paul get his ideas to pray the Old Testament the Old Testament is like a treasure chest that he would reach into to write prayers so watch this check this out this is so fun I couldn't wait to put this on you Ephesians 3 14 I bow my knee before the Father Isaiah 45 23 from whom every family in heaven on earth is named Genesis 12 3 that he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being Ezekiel 36 26 27 so that in Christ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith Exodus 25 8 rooted and grounded in love Jeremiah 17 18 Psalm 1 3 may have strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ job 11 7 9 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God Exodus 40 1st Kings 8 to him who is able to do more abundantly than all we ask or think Jeremiah 32 Isaiah 55 you see what Paul was doing Paul was reaching into the treasure chest of the Old Testament and giving life toward around Jesus I want to encourage you to pray prayers I'm gonna give you an example this is literally how I prayed for you this morning how I prayed for me I pray for my family how I prayed for the whole church around the world father thank you for loving us and adopting us as your children that's Romans 8 14 Lord I want to set you apart as Lord you are holy I want to love you with all my heart my soul and strength and love my neighbors I love myself because you first loved me Matthew 22 I want your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth and it's a kingdom of love and righteousness and joy Matthew 6 9 Jesus you are the bread of life you can meet all of my needs and may I live in the forgiveness and grace and mercy and kindness may I soak in it and dripped in it and give it away and Lord thank you that on the cross and in your resurrection you defeated the dark powers of death and evil and you've given me the helmet of salvation the breastplate of righteousness the shield of faith the belt of truth the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God and the gospel of peace on my feet that's Ephesians chapter 6 14 through 18 question why wouldn't God answer his own words that's a lot different than the way we pray ain't it I'm trying to help you I'm trying to help you I know the control and you don't believe it because sometimes people be praying I'm like good gracious man are you ever gonna acknowledge the greatness of God are you just he's a vending machine Oh God give me give me give me give me give me I was like okay listen hey listen I double-dog dare you just to go this week God I just want you and your will give me eyes to see your heart Lord I trust my kids do you by the way some of your kids are your idols and you're suffocating them oh and at 18 they gonna be gone they are gonna be out give a whole new meaning to helicopter parenting I promise you it's probably not the teachers fault y'all remember in the day back in the day we used to believe teachers that the kids were being bad listen if you let them watch video screens all the time from two years old to 12 you think they gonna be able to sit in the class I remember back in the day at dinnertime my mom my grandpa sit here and be quiet you know what that teaches you you ready you're ready here it is discipline oh you know what you need discipline in life I know I know I know hey if I didn't love you I wouldn't tell you I'm gonna give on back on track here just in a minute people will ask me particularly like young pastors or young NFL players and our young dudes that want to go to NFL like like man what is it I'm going are you willing to suffer are you willing to be lonely because all my friends after about two weeks like now you go work out you good and many of them go man water I should have stayed working out with you you know what fun is achieving your goals it's called delayed gratification we are Bible alone people because the Bible alone sola scriptura equips God's people to do his will on earth get worked out we need to look at the biblical earth check this out men all scriptures inspired by God and it's profitable for teaching oh man let's let God teach us men and women boys and girls let's let God teach us the ways of Jesus the heart of Jesus and then I like this right here but I never get to use it for rebuking just one time I just want to tell somebody like one of the medieval dudes you know I'm saying rebuke rebuke I just want to do it one time such a good word parents do that to your kids be like I rebuke you Jonathan no I'm kidding you know what rebuke means it means that God will jack you up because he loves you if you don't have anybody who ever jacks you up in your life they probably don't love you you here's another thing too when people don't rebuke you in your life they like the toxic version of you because they can use you oh thank you oh man the people who let you just act crazy and do all it's because they're using you and your dysfunction benefits them and when you start putting in boundaries guess what they're gonna be too oh you changed yeah I changed I don't want to be crazy no more yes I've changed I don't want to be an emotional wreck anymore yes I've changed for correcting God will correct us because he loves us that's what the Word of God does and then the football player in me loves this for training and righteousness Diakonos righteousness what does that means it means integrity it means Holy Spirit integrity that your yes is your yes you know is your no you don't tell half truths telling a half truth is like saying I'm half pregnant.
[00:36:35] A half truth is like saying I'm half pregnant.
[00:36:36] A half truth is like saying I'm half pregnant.
[00:36:36] The whole thing is like if you're going to take a look at your life.
[00:36:37] You're not going to do the right thing.
[00:36:37] You're not going to do the right thing.
[00:36:37] But you're going to do the right thing.
[00:36:38] Truth is a full lie.
[00:36:40] So that the man, in context, he's speaking to Timothy about being a pastor, but application is for all of us.
[00:36:45] Listen to this.
[00:36:46] So that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
[00:36:57] For the last eight years now, before I go to bed, this is what I pray for me, my family, Transformation Church, and the whole world.
[00:37:04] Before I go to bed, for his church around the world.
[00:37:08] The Lord is my shepherd.
[00:37:11] I shall not want.
[00:37:12] He makes me lie down in green pastures.
[00:37:15] He leads me to quiet waters.
[00:37:18] He renews my soul.
[00:37:20] He guides me along the path of righteousness for his name's sake.
[00:37:24] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for he is with me.
[00:37:29] His rod and his staff, they comfort me.
[00:37:31] He makes me a table in the midst of my enemies.
[00:37:33] He anoints.
[00:37:35] He paints my head with oil, and my cup overflows.
[00:37:38] Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
[00:37:45] Sometimes I go to sleep halfway through it and wake up finishing it.
[00:37:51] Okay.
[00:37:52] Number one, here's what happens from a biochemical, neurological perspective.
[00:37:57] When you go to sleep with the word of God while you're sleeping, new neural pathways are being created.
[00:38:04] Dopamine is releasing.
[00:38:06] That makes you feel good.
[00:38:08] Serotonin is releasing.
[00:38:10] That makes you feel good.
[00:38:12] And you're creating new pathways in your mind.
[00:38:14] That's called neuroplasticity.
[00:38:16] You're getting rid of the toxic thoughts, replacing them with truth.
[00:38:20] And then your nervous system goes, ooh, I like that.
[00:38:22] I want to respond out of that instead of the toxicness.
[00:38:28] Paul calls that being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[00:38:33] What are you thinking about when you go to bed?
[00:38:38] I mean, just find one verse.
[00:38:40] It don't have to be Psalm 23.
[00:38:44] I want to introduce you to somebody really quick.
[00:38:47] By God's grace, we have thousands of new people, and so you probably don't know Alan.
[00:38:51] This is Alan Bacon.
[00:38:52] I met him in 1997.
[00:38:54] It was the week a couple days after we played the New England Patriots.
[00:38:57] Man, I was killing them boys out there, killing them.
[00:39:00] And you know what them jokers did?
[00:39:02] They jumped on my back and clipped me.
[00:39:04] And I heard the ligament snap in my knee, and it hurt.
[00:39:08] This is one of the times I think I heard God's voice.
[00:39:11] I heard it snap.
[00:39:12] I went down, and I heard, you're going to be okay.
[00:39:14] Now, the pain was excruciating, but I heard, you're going to be okay.
[00:39:17] And I was calm.
[00:39:19] My teammate, Ray McElroy, said, hey, man, I know you're just new to the faith.
[00:39:23] I want to invite you to a Bible study at Blessed Hope Baptist Church in downtown Indianapolis.
[00:39:28] So Vicki and I went.
[00:39:30] She's the only white person there.
[00:39:31] It was glorious.
[00:39:34] And Alan was up preaching the Bible in Acts chapter 5.
[00:39:38] And I was like, I was captured.
[00:39:40] I was like, oh, my gosh.
[00:39:42] I want to do that.
[00:39:43] Like something in my spirit resonated.
[00:39:45] So I had my crutches, and I go up there, and I was like, man, will you teach me?
[00:39:49] He gave me his number.
[00:39:50] He says, any time you got a question, you call me.
[00:39:53] Now, I took that literally, so I called him like at 1 in the morning.
[00:39:57] What does this mean?
[00:39:59] And you know what?
[00:40:00] Every time, he would answer me.
[00:40:02] And his wife said, I always know when he's talking to Dewey because he's walking around with the phone.
[00:40:09] Over the years, this man showed me what a godly husband looks like.
[00:40:16] This man showed me a desperation to reach people who didn't know Christ.
[00:40:20] This man showed me what faithful work looks like for 40 years working for the city of Indianapolis.
[00:40:27] He showed me what it looked like when your kids are going to church.
[00:40:29] When your kids are going through turmoil and chaos.
[00:40:32] And whenever I had a question, this is what he would say.
[00:40:36] He would say, well, son, what does the Word say?
[00:40:41] And I didn't know he was discipling me to go to the Word.
[00:40:46] He didn't want to give me his opinion.
[00:40:47] He said, what does the Word say?
[00:40:49] And so when I was getting my degrees and my doctorate and writing books, his fingerprint is on all of it.
[00:40:57] The way I preach.
[00:40:58] The way I teach.
[00:41:00] The way I parent.
[00:41:02] The way I've walked through difficulty with our kids.
[00:41:06] His imprints are there.
[00:41:08] What does the Word say?
[00:41:10] What does the Word say?
[00:41:13] I was trying to reach him a couple of years ago.
[00:41:16] And I'm like, man, where's Alan?
[00:41:18] Couldn't get a hold to him.
[00:41:20] And I got a phone call from his wife.
[00:41:22] He had had a massive heart attack.
[00:41:28] And his wife, Mary, they met when they were 16 and 17.
[00:41:32] So she was holding him and looking into his eyes.
[00:41:36] Isn't it kind of beautiful that the last face you see on this side of eternity is the one you love the most?
[00:41:43] But then on the other side of eternity, you wake up in the arms of Jesus and you see his face, the one you love the most.
[00:41:50] This man.
[00:41:53] In 2021, we went through some difficult things on staff.
[00:41:57] And heartbreaking.
[00:41:59] And I felt like I was going to die.
[00:42:01] And one day, Vicki and I were driving.
[00:42:04] And he called me out of the blue.
[00:42:06] He said, Dewey, what's wrong?
[00:42:08] I was like, what do you mean?
[00:42:10] He goes, the Holy Spirit is telling me something is wrong.
[00:42:12] And I just started weeping.
[00:42:14] And just to hear his comforting voice, what does the Word say?
[00:42:16] What does the Word say?
[00:42:18] What does the Word say?
[00:42:20] Transformation Church, we want to be a people that go, what does the Word say?
[00:42:26] We are a Word people.
[00:42:28] We are a sola scriptura people.
[00:42:30] Because it points to Jesus.
[00:42:35] Will you pray with me?
[00:42:38] God of immense grace and mercy, we don't take the Bible for granted.
[00:42:44] Because in those sacred pages is your breath that leads us to King Jesus.
[00:42:51] Our Savior and our King.
[00:42:54] May we treasure him.
[00:42:56] May we adore him.
[00:42:58] Right now in this moment, I believe that there are a few of you saying, hey preacher, I need to know Jesus.
[00:43:06] I need to give my life to Jesus.
[00:43:08] If there's never been a time that you've said, Jesus, I want to give you my life.
[00:43:12] I believe you died on the cross for me.
[00:43:14] I believe you rose again for me.
[00:43:16] And I trust you.
[00:43:18] Listen, today's the day to get serious with him.
[00:43:20] Time is short.
[00:43:21] The time is now.
[00:43:22] The time is now.
[00:43:23] The time is now.
[00:43:25] Say this with me.
[00:43:26] He's here.
[00:43:28] His nail-pierced hands is inviting you into his refuge of grace.
[00:43:33] Say this to him.
[00:43:34] Today, King Jesus, as I behold the cross, take hold of me.
[00:43:38] I believe that on that cross you bled and died to forever forgive me, to make me righteous.
[00:43:43] It is by grace.
[00:43:44] It is a free gift.
[00:43:45] I believe that on the third day when you rose again, I rose to new life with you.
[00:43:49] You've given me a new heart.
[00:43:51] I choose to follow you all the days of my life.
[00:43:54] In Jesus' name, amen, amen, and amen.
[00:43:57] Let's give God a round of applause.
[00:44:02] Yes.
[00:44:05] All right, if you prayed with me, there's a connection card on the seat in front of you.
[00:44:09] Would you grab it and check, I prayed to receive Christ.
[00:44:12] I renewed my faith in Christ.
[00:44:14] Let us know we want to walk alongside of you.
[00:44:18] Okay?
[00:44:19] Family, here's our soul.
[00:44:20] Here's our soul tattoo, our big idea.
[00:44:22] Read the Bible daily, treasure it.
[00:44:25] Turn on the You version of the Bible and let the word be read to you.
[00:44:30] Let us be filled with the word of God.
[00:44:33] Here's our action step.
[00:44:35] Join a short-term group starting on Tuesday.
[00:44:39] It is five weeks.
[00:44:40] Just give us five weeks and let us be sola scriptura people.
[00:44:45] Also, I didn't mention this to the other services, but I want you to pray for Vicki and I.
[00:44:49] I will be preaching in Christensen, Norway.
[00:44:54] The Norwegians love me.
[00:44:57] And so we're going back.
[00:44:59] All right?
[00:45:03] And then we'll be in Berlin, Germany where I will be equipping European pastors to build multi-ethnic churches.
[00:45:13] Now listen.
[00:45:15] There are brothers and sisters from all over the world coming to church.
[00:45:17] There are brothers and sisters from all over the world coming to Europe.
[00:45:20] And they're actually bringing life to the dead churches in Europe.
[00:45:25] So please remember this.
[00:45:27] When people are moving from around the world and relocating, many of them are taking the gospel.
[00:45:34] So we're going to help them learn how to build multi-ethnic churches.
[00:45:38] I love you guys.
[00:45:39] I pray for you.
[00:45:41] Would you pray for us as well?