 Whether you feel it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you feel qualified or not, God has given to you a specific call that you must fulfill. And I wanna show you from the scripture how to discover the will of God for your life, how to discover that beautiful calling, and then I wanna show you the various traits that it's going to take to fulfill that calling. We don't hear much preaching anymore on sacrifice, on picking up your cross on the cost of discipleship. And so tonight, or whatever time it is when you're watching this online, it's my prayer that you would allow these words to challenge you. And be careful not to spiritualize your offense. Sometimes when we hear something that confronts something in us and deeply challenges us and we don't like it, we like to say things like, I don't know something in my spirit just doesn't sit right. When really what we're saying, I'm convicted and I don't want to admit it and I have to blame someone. But I'm gonna give you the truth because frankly, we're running out of time. We're running out of time. And the hour is calling for a true remnant. And I don't just say that as a buzzword. When I say remnant, I'm talking about a people who are different. A remnant is rising in this hour that God has anointed for a specific purpose. And I believe we are stepping into that age of a great move of the Holy Spirit. Some might say they've been saying that for years. Well, God has been moving for years. Moves of the Holy Spirit come in waves. There is a flow to the working of the Holy Spirit. Like ocean waves cresting upon the beach. So the moves of the Holy Spirit touch the earth at certain intervals of history. God is calling you. His eyes are searching the earth, looking for someone he can count on to partner with him in the earth. You may say, does God need a partner? No, but he wants one. And that's how he designed earth to work. He's looking for a partner. Now let me be very honest with you as I said because I'm just going to give it to you straight. The Holy Spirit is very grieved with cowardly preachers in this hour. And I don't say that to be facetious. I don't say that to be condescending. I don't say that to try to put others down. That's why I don't name names. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict them personally. But it's no secret that cowardly preachers just aren't standing for truth or God's word and thinking themselves to be clever. Many so-called leaders are just causing confusion by their lack of clarity and boldness. It is not clever to dance around issues. It is not wise to give half answers. This day and age calls for people who will speak clearly, who will see clearly, and who will obey God no matter what the cost. And God is exposing and replacing many now in this hour. And as he exposes and replaces, he's also raising servants who are filled with holy fire, who will not compromise the world. Unless you think me self-serving, no, I'm not just talking about me. I believe that I'm going to be able to have some part in what God is doing. But this does not point to me. This points at the body rising, collectively coming together, walking in obedience. He's looking for people who will do what he asked them to do in the way he asked them to do it, when he asked them to do it. If that's you, lift your hands and say, I'll do it, Lord. You watching online. You want that, you say, I'll respond no matter the cost. Then I want you to write it in the comments section as well. Write it in the comments section, I'll do it, Lord. Let that be your bold declaration. Don't be like those who refuse to acknowledge his word. Don't be like those who refuse to embrace the truth because it costs them something. So many people are worried these days about being canceled. I have news for you. You cannot cancel the one who God has called. You can't do it. If God called you, they can say what they want. They can speak against you. They can slander you. They can petition and they can comment and they can complain. But if God has called you, no one can stop you. And it's time we begin to walk in that again. My goodness, what would the early church martyrs think of some of the things that cause us fear these days? People were so afraid of being criticized. Back then, they didn't criticize them. They killed them. They took their lives. So first, if you're going to get serious, you have to find your calling. And this is the challenging part, isn't it? We need spiritual warriors, not faithless warriors. Warriors. Because if you're gonna fulfill the call, you're going to have to learn to stand firm. You're gonna have to learn to become unshakable and not backtrack on a statement you make simply because people don't like it. We need people who will double down. And I'm not just talking about preachers. I'm talking about every saint who will do something for the kingdom of God in the earth. So you say, I wanna do something. And you say, what is that? And then again, I wanna do something. And that's where the frustration kicks in. This questioning, this wondering, this second guessing. I know I'm called to do something and you can feel it. You can sense that deep within you. There's this inner knowing, this yearning, this desire for greater purpose. Your eyes are set on something in the distance and it's a little blurry right now. But you can see it. You feel this purposeful pool of God on your life and you may not know exactly where you're going but you know he's taking you there. And as you begin to walk this path, there's this longing for clarity. There's this desire to mark what you will do. And there will come a moment in the life of every believer that God clarifies your calling. And even as I'm talking now, I can sense it in the spirit. Many of you, there's a stirring. And you know it because that's been you for so long. You feel this pool. You sense the drawing. You see the need. Your heart breaks for the lost. Your heart breaks for the bound. Your heart breaks for those who've yet to know Christ as Savior and Lord and everything in you cries out, Lord, use me. But your question remains, what exactly do you want me to do? What do I do? Why did God form me and place me on this planet? I'm gonna read an extended portion of scripture. When I say extended, I mean extended for a service. Some of us, these 15 verses may be more Bible reading than we've done all week. So I think it's good for us, okay? Matthew 25, I'm gonna begin at verse number 14. And I'll read all the way down to verse 30. This is the parable of the talents, a lesson in stewardship. Verse 14, again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip, the servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earn five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest and I have earned five more. Verse 21 of Matthew chapter number 25. The master was full of praise, well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate, said the master together. The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest and I have earned two more. The master said, well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, master, I knew you were a harsh man harvesting crops you didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money so I hid it in the earth. Look, here's your money back. But the master replied, you wicked and lazy servant. You knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate. Why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it. Now watch this opposite of what society teaches. Then he ordered, take the money from this servant and give it to the one with 10 bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Here we see a parable of a master who gave his servants talents to invest. He entrusted to them resources. The first two servants we read in the scripture did well. They earned interest or they earned more based upon their work and how they invested, how they used it on that original supply that God had given to them. But that third servant did nothing with it. He was waiting around because he was afraid. As I read this parable, I noticed something interesting and it really jumped out at me. And it's the fact that the master didn't give them any specific instructions. He just gave them something and then left. He didn't say, hey, I'm gonna give you this talent. I want you to do something with it. Don't worry, I won't get mad at you. Invest it somewhere, do something with it. But when I come back, I want you to have at least added some interest to it. He didn't say that. He literally just gives them his talents and then he says goodbye. You see, knowing their master's nature, they should have responded appropriately. The first two servants knew that their master would rather have had them do something than to do nothing. The third one did not know his master. And because he did not really know what his master wanted, he was afraid. And he buries his talent, he buries that resource and the complaint that the master has against him is you should have done something, something. If you knew I was harsh, if you knew I reaped where I did not so, then you should have done something. What has he given to you? My friend, he's given you time. He's given you talent. He's given you breath. He's given you a voice. He's given you family and friends. He's given you influence. He's given you a mind. He's given you creativity. He's given you opportunities. He's given you a body. He's given you life. Now either we can stand around waiting for the sky to split open and God to give us something specific to do or we can get moving. Now, what are you supposed to do? Here it is. You want the will of God for your life? I'm gonna give it to you right now. One sentence, Bible based. Here we go. Use your specific gifts to fulfill God's broader mission. That's it. Brother David, what does that mean? It means whatever he has given to you, you use that to advance what you see in scripture. Soul winning, discipleship, kingdom building, church planting, the spreading of the kingdom message. Do something to advance that. Still some would say that's not specific enough for me. What am I called to do specifically? I'm glad you asked. And Ruben, if you could please help me with distractions here. Pay it, just listen up for anything that's out of place. The Holy Spirit guides as you go. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't something specific for you to do. I'm saying that you're not going to discover that something specific until you get moving. When God called David, he was tending sheep. When God called Moses, he was tending the flock of his father and logistical. When God called Isaiah, he was in the temple. When God called Samuel, he was serving Eli. When Elijah anointed Elisha or called him, he was doing something. He was plowing the ground. God does not anoint the lazy. Whatever your past, he can work with you. Whatever your sins, he can help you overcome them. Whatever issues you may have about your insecurities, he'll work through those, but he will not anoint a lazy person. When he called his disciples, what were they doing? They were fishing. They were doing something. Many of us say, God, what's step 10? And he's looking down and saying, you haven't even taken step one. God, I wanna cross the seas and declare the gospel. You haven't even crossed the street to declare the gospel. When he calls you, he calls you to do something. Now the paranoid Christian will never do anything for God because they're so worried that they might get it wrong. Do you really think you're gonna stand before God on judgment day? And he's gonna say to you, I did not call you to witness to that person. What were you doing? Do you really think he's gonna say, I did not call you to help with that orphanage? How dare you? You know what the Lord does, I'll show you. Acts chapter 16, I'm gonna read verses six and eight. You know Paul and Silas did not pray about every journey they took. That might shock you. I'm gonna show that to you in the Bible. Verse six, next Paul and Silas traveled to the area for Jea and Galatia because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mycia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia. But again, the spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead they went on through Mycia to the sea port of Troas. So here we see Paul and Silas on their way to Asia. They had the changed course precisely because God had to correct it, which means they did not pray about where they were going at that time. They prayed about most, I'm sure. But when they came to that sea port, when they came to that region, I should say, they said, well, let's go there and take the gospel as well. And it was just something they just decided to do when the Holy Spirit had to stop them. You see, this is why we must allow for the voice of the Holy Spirit to have influence in our lives because the voice of the Holy Spirit is that safety net that sits under our calling, sits under the timeline of our lives. And should we ever miss something, the Holy Spirit's voice will catch us. Presumption is not activity, activity is good. Presumption is activity without prayer. When we as a ministry plan things, we plan. We get to work. We look at the nations that could benefit from a visit from our ministry. We look at the places that we could hold services. We look at the types of content that we can put out. I study for messages that I think will be helpful, but every so often the Holy Spirit will go, no, I don't think so. Actually, I don't want you going there. Actually, don't preach that message just yet. But he guides as we go. And the problem is, some of us will never go because we're waiting for him to tell us where exactly. The call of God is not a map, it's a path. You want it all at once so you can get moving. God says, I know where you're going, just trust me. And we're so afraid that God is going to be angry with us for moving in the wrong direction that we instead wait and do nothing when nothing angers him more than that inactivity. And then we spiritualize our stagnation by saying things like I'm waiting on God or I have to pray about it when, yes, to some degree you do, but I'm talking about using that as an excuse under which we hide our inactivity. God is looking for people who will take bold steps of faith in this hour and get moving. So you wanna discover the call of God, I'm telling you how to find it. Number one, you have to start serving somewhere doing something. The call of God for your life is to use your specific gifts and abilities to fulfill his broader purposes, period. So whatever you have to offer, use that to accomplish whatever the scripture tells us we ought to build. And while you're doing that, he's gonna find you doing something and he's gonna pick you out. You know, I did not start in ministry as an evangelist. I was what you would call the song flipper. How many know what a song flipper is? Let me see your hand. Okay, this is all millennials and backwards. Gen Z thinks it's a dance that you do on TikTok. The song flip. No, no, it was a projector and I would have these transparent sheets with words on them for the lyrics and I would flip them and then the overhead projector would project overhead the image and the words would be on the screen. That's where I began in ministry. I started in the sound room and it was there while serving that the Holy Spirit began to work in my life to move me into evangelism. But if I wasn't flipping songs, God would not have called me. If I wasn't at that projector, he would not have moved me to the pulpit. In fact, do something, don't spiritualize your stagnation. That's how you find it. Now, what are the traits that you need? I'll go through these briefly. Number one, you need certainty. How do you get that? You need a God encounter. If you read Isaiah six, Exodus three, Matthew four, 18 through 22, where the disciples were called, you see that in every instance where someone was called by God, there was an encounter that marked them. Tonight, it is my prayer that at this service and as that anointing eternally lingers on this footage for whoever may watch this later, I pray that people would come into God encounters tonight. And it is in your encounter with God that you find the certainty concerning his call. The certainty of your calling can only be found in a God encounter if you only think that you're called. Then when trials come and they will, you'll be swept away by those trials. Your parents cannot call you. Your pastor cannot call you. Your family members cannot call you. Your friends cannot call you. Only God can call you. And to know that he's called you, there must be that certain moment that encounter where you've experienced the fullness of who he is. I grew up as a pastor's kid. Fourth generation Christian, third generation preacher. And everyone in the church around me would say those things like, you're gonna preach one day, you're gonna preach one day. And because they did that to me, it caused doubt. And I didn't know if it was God calling me or the church people calling me. I thank God my dad would tell me something very simple. He said, son, you can do whatever you want as long as you love Jesus. Make him the center of your life. And if you're a Christian businessman, you're a Christian businessman. If you're a Christian politician, you're a Christian politician. I know those words don't always seem to go together, but it's possible. Nothing is impossible with God. I've met some good ones. But he said, you don't have to preach like I preach. You don't have to pastor a church like I pastor a church. And because of the fact that my parents never put that pressure on me. When God finally did call me, I knew it was him and not my parents. I knew it was him and not social pressures. I knew that God had marked me. It was actually several encounters that I had. In fact, at the building just across the street from here. There's a skate park, you'll see it. And right across from the skate park right here where many of you lined up years ago when I was just about 15 years old, I had an encounter there with God. I wrote about it in one of the books. And there are many different encounters I've come by that have marked certain seasons of my life. But if you want to be certain of your calling, you need to have that encounter. Your salvation is the assurance that you belong to him. But there's another encounter you must have that will mark you for the purpose of ministry. Now, many of you have had that already. And it's my prayer that you would encounter that tonight if you haven't. That's number one, you need certainty if you're gonna make it in this calling. Number two, you need clarity. First Corinthians two, one through five says, when I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you, I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness, timid and trembling and my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would not trust in human wisdom but in the power of God. Now here, Paul is saying that for a season, not in every instance, for a season, at least when he was with the Corinthians, Paul simplified his message that he might clearly communicate the gospel. And as they come back in, just sit them toward the back. Ruben, please, my friend, I need your eyes open, especially because it's so crowded here. So for a season, Paul said that simplicity was the name of the game and he focused in his message. In fact, your specific assignment might change from season to season. Perhaps you might be in a transition now but this clarity, I'm gonna ask you a seemingly silly question. When I say Ikea, what's the first word that comes to your mind? When I say Starbucks, don't say the devil just in terms of their product, okay? When I say Starbucks, you think? Coffee, okay, so they have their one thing. Don't they have other things besides furniture at Ikea? And doesn't Starbucks sell other things besides coffee? Right, why? Because it's the focus on their one thing. Now in ministry, I'm giving you guys some ministry, I don't wanna call them secrets but these are real keys that have been taught to me and that I've seen work. These are real treasures that I've held dear that I'm sharing with you tonight. In order to become dynamic, you must first become specific. This is why I focus in on messages on the Holy Spirit because when you think of this ministry, my prayer is that you think of the Holy Spirit. There are some who God has given other assignments to. Other ministries, when you think of them, you think of healing. You think of them, you think of deliverance. You think of them, you think of the end times. You think of them, you think of prophecy. Why? Because in order to become dynamic, you must first become specific. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to preachers and teachers who were changing their calling every other weekend. One week they were a prophet, the next week they were an entrepreneur, the next week they were an apostle and the next week they got elevated to global apostolic, like in a week from Apostolic Global Apostolic Leader. I thought that was pretty impressive. And all this jumping around and moving about and because you jump around and move about, you never become dynamic. You never gain momentum. If you wanna gain momentum, you have to go in one direction for a long time. And so people lose their focus. So once you have found that, find clarity on that. Focus in on what God has given to you and don't apologize for it. You know that if I preach a sermon on the Holy Spirit, the number one criticism, well, what about Jesus? And I'm thinking the Holy Spirit points to Jesus. But the Bible also talks about the Holy Spirit. If I talk about healing, cross their arms. What about holiness? I talk about miracles, what about discipline? Talk about the spiritual gifts, yes, brother David, but what about salvation? For every message you speak, someone's gonna say you forgot something. And if you try to cover it all, they're gonna say you're being unclear. People are gonna talk and talk and talk and talk and you can't let that sway you. Now, all of us are called to preach the whole counsel of God. All of us are called to serve the body as a whole. But there's something God has given to you that's very special. Maybe it's an orphanage. Maybe it's a feeding program. Maybe it's a business. Maybe it's a class. Maybe it's the discipleship of children. Maybe it's in music. Whatever it is, my friend, you've got to find it. And you'll find it because God has put in you certain passions and abilities and talents that will always align with what he's called you to do. So number one, certainty. Number two, clarity. Number three, persistence. Jesus said anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom. Can we go a little deeper here tonight? Hmm. Had I known what I would go through for the anointing that's on my life, had I known what I would go through to see fruitfulness in the ministry that we do today, I may have second guessed it. I am being absolutely serious. You may say, brother David, that doesn't sound very spiritual. No, it's not. That's my flesh, but I'm telling you that's how heavy the attacks are. For example, people will twist your words. You know, there's a very clever way to twist people's words these days with editing. And they'll say, well, those are your words, we have it right there. And really what it is, it's put in their context with their commentary and you can make anyone say anything you want, possibly. But that's not the hard part. The hard part is when people twist your words and those who should know you better believe them. Don't ask for names and don't shout if you know what I'm talking about. But there's been times where even preachers have attacked me, yes. Someone says, what? Sometimes they're the worst guys. For there was a certain biblical teaching that I just got open my eyes. I said, oh, I have to teach this. I taught it, preachers attacked me by name. It took everything in me not to say anything. And what began to happen is people, instead of seeing that I wasn't joining in and even acknowledging that, the rumor was, oh, they're fighting now. They're going against one another. And then I had people who would say, I'm sorry, I can't follow and support anymore because you're involved in an argument. I'm thinking, I didn't even know about what was happening. It's a little crazy. Someone I read on an article one time that I make a million and a half dollars a year. And I said, if I make a million and a half dollars a year someone should have told me that a long time ago. And what happened is they had confused me for the baseball player. And so whoever was doing the research messed up on the biography and that became a rumor we had to deal with. And Steve was like, wait, what, you what? I was like, please don't show my wife. She'll be asking me questions. Preachers will attack you, people will attack you. People will twist your words. Those who should know better will believe the words that are spoken about you. A new type of attack. And I'm not complaining. I'm just preparing you for some of the things that are ahead. You know, people make fake accounts of me and start messaging people. I've had people literally leave and say, I have nothing to do with you anymore. And I'm thinking, we were good last week. And it turns out for the whole week they were talking to a fake account and thought it was me. People who were with us 15, 20 years get a message from a fake account. And then suddenly they're going, well, you were trying to manipulate me out of money saying God would curse me. I was like, I would never say that. And they said, well, you did. It's right here. It's not the account. People, your loved ones will mock you. Your family will mock you. Other lukewarm Christians will mock you. You start to get serious about the things of God. Those who are not serious about the things of God are convicted by your seriousness. And instead of allowing themselves to be challenged by you, they become jealous of you. That's a reality. I've had people who I looked up to, heroes in the faith, turn on me when the ministry saw fruit because they became jealous of what God was doing. No one you know, just people. Like Saul against it, you'll have your Saul. You'll have your Judas. You'll have your struggles and your trials. You'll question whether or not God picked the right person. You'll even start to question whether or not it's even going to work. That was a time where I asked my dad, I said, Dad, at what point do I call this quits? Because nothing seems to be working. The enemy will throw doubt. You will south doubt. But remember this, persistence doesn't even begin until you feel like giving up. Oh, I've been doing this for three years. That's not persistence. That's just consistency. Not many trials yet. Wait until they start questioning your motives. Wait until the people who said we're gonna support you begin to talk bad about you. Wait until friends you've made in ministry go off on weird doctrines and you're forced to separate because you're standing for truth. Wait until they begin to write things about you that you've never even heard of. And I'm just talking about preachers. That's not even to say everyone will experience it that, but that has been my experience. There will be things that come your way that make you want to quit. My friend, you may even want to quit because it's not working out financially. Maybe God called you with the gift of administration or a business that God has given you. Maybe God has given you a dream for a certain work, a certain type of service, a certain type of expression of ministry and you just don't have the resources to make it happen. You'll feel like quitting sometimes. I'm just being real with you. I know this is not, it's not 100, this is just raw, guys. I know I'm supposed to stand up here and say, oh, it's perfect. I'm fellowshiping with the Holy Spirit, 24 seven singing hallelujah and never have an issue. There are trials. I'm not playing the victim. This is a blessing, but you need to be prepared for the things that will come your way. Here's what you must do. You must make up your mind now. That's what I did when I was 14 years old. I said, this is it. No matter what happens or doesn't happen, this is it. Persistence. Number one, certainty. Number two, clarity. Number three, persistence. Is this blessing you tonight? Number four, holiness. Ephesians four one, therefore, I a prisoner for serving the Lord beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God. None are so tormented as those who walk in the anointing while also walking in sin. None are so tormented as those who walk in the anointing while also walking in sin. You can have a measure of power living a life of hypocrisy. That's a fact. Read Matthew seven. Lord, Lord, did we not drive out devils in your name? Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we do many mighty works in your name and he doesn't deny that they moved in power. He denies that he knew them. You say, brother David, how can that be? That's because the word of God is so powerful that it holds power even when a hypocrite preaches it. Word of God works, but there is only a measure of power that can come upon a life of hypocrisy. If you want to not just move in power but move in his presence, it's going to take consecration. Jesus doesn't want a part of your life. He wants all of it. He's calling you to hire places. He's calling you to give up those little things inside of you. And I'm telling you right now, those things that you think are not hurting are doing more damage than you could possibly realize. Even if you never get caught on this side of eternity and there are some who've never been caught, they went on and they had to face the Lord. And I'm sure they escaped barely as of flames of fire, the scripture says, as if through a wall of fire, they barely escaped the judgment. Even if you can keep those things, and I'm not just talking about secrets, when I say secret sin, everyone thinks of pornography and sexual sin. It's more than that. I'm talking about pride. I'm talking about bitterness. I'm talking about entitlement. I'm talking about this moodiness, this anger. I'm talking about this sense of self-righteousness. I'm talking about impure motives. I'm talking about the desire for money. I'm talking about the desire for fame. I'm talking about the desire for the praises of man. Those are the things that choke out the purity in a ministry. You know, the power anyone can flow in that. I've seen the worst kinds of people flow in power, like blatantly sinful. Not like, well, it's debatable. Maybe they're like blatantly sinful people walk in power and they knew it and they didn't care. God will always back his word with his power, but he only backs his people with his presence. That beautiful sense of who he is that comes on this room. I treasure that more than anything. More than the miracles that will happen, more than the healing and deliverance that will take place. I treasure that beautiful presence and that comes through holiness. The greater the purity within your life, the greater the power upon your life. Number five, devotion. Jesus said, I am divine. You are the branches. A preacher without a prayer life isn't a preacher. He's a performer, an actor. He plays a character on stage and that applies to all believers. Now I'm looking down on the floor here and I see a lot of youth. That's what we wanna see, because it's the next generation. Now listen, people ask, what's the key? What's the key? What's the key? It's the one thing. Do not ever sacrifice your time with Jesus for anyone or anything. See, people want shortcuts. How much is that e-course? I can get an anointing with that. Does it come with the anointing? Register for the conference, 250. You get a musical download. You get a lanyard, an impartation. Like no, there's no shortcuts. There's no secret. I tell people all the time, you have to pray. You have to seek the Lord. You have to be with them daily. The word worship prayer and they go, yeah, yeah, yeah. But what else? What else is there? And they're looking for that little hidden gem that nobody else knows that we preachers just keep to ourselves. You wanna see miracles? I'll tell you in 40 years once I'm done doing my thing. No, it's one thing. And it's so simple, yet the flesh fights us on this. It is your devotion. Private prayer is revealed in public power. You want that same power. You want that same prayer. It's time with Jesus. It's just spending time with him. Fellowship, worship in the word. You lose that, you lose it all. You lose that and it's done. Hang on to that. Number six, boldness. In Acts chapter four, the scripture describes the early church praying for the power of God to embolden them that they might continue to preach the gospel. The Bible declares that the righteous or as bold is a lion. Maybe the reason we lack boldness is because we lack righteousness. Boldness, preachers who will declare the word of God without compromise, preachers who will speak the truth even if it costs them their reputation. I am so tired of preachers and leaders and spiritual gurus meticulously calculating their statements to make sure that they don't offend one side while also placating to the church. I am so sick and tired of looking at PR responses and carefully crafted words that don't really commit to any one truth. I am sick and tired of people walking around the word of God as if it's a suggestion or a nice philosophy or something to be worn like a nice costume on their culture every now and then when it's convenient. We are looking, the world is looking, God is looking for the believer that is filled with boldness that will speak the truth no matter what it costs them that will open their mouth and declare what God says. That's kind of liberating, you know, once you get past that point. They'll call you whatever, well, they're a bigot. You're so narrow-minded, you're so, you're so close-minded. I'm thinking, yeah, narrow-minded, Jesus said narrow is the way. Yes, I am narrow-minded, there's one truth. I don't care what they say, what are they gonna do? I would rather offend someone into heaven than comfort them into hell. I would rather tell them a truth that sets them free than a lie that slowly cradles them and then rocks them into eternal damnation. People asleep in the darkness when we have the light. I'm not saying being rude, I'm not saying be mean. I'm saying be honest, be truthful. No more, no, you realize that every generation it seems the line gets a little further and further back. We surrender just a little more with each generation. That's why it's my prayer that this generation would just erase that line and get back to the word. Finally, number seven is faith. I'm not talking about saving faith, I'm talking about the bold kind of faith that seizes opportunities when God places them before you. The call of God is a great adventure. I really don't know what's next, to be honest with you. People kind of think that we have just years in advance planned and I have a general idea but the boss doesn't always give me all the details. I know what I'm doing now, what he said to do. I know how an idea of what's coming in the next few weeks. You know, there've been times where I've stepped out for projects and ministry events and things that we've done or I'm looking at it saying, Lord, I don't have the finances and God says, but do you have the faith? Faith is the currency of heaven and it's more than just finances. It's trusting him with your life. It's the willingness to step into that unknown place knowing only the word of God, knowing only what he's promised. My question to you is, what is waiting for you on the other side of your step of faith? We've talked about it. We've prayed about it. We've analyzed it. We've researched it. We've discussed it. But when are we going to do anything with the call of God? If you're waiting for the ideal moment to present itself, it won't. There will always be something that can be used as an excuse to not step into the destiny that God has for you. I'm not talking about foolishness. Somebody said, what's the difference between faith and foolishness? The only difference is whether or not God has spoken. If God said it, you have to be willing to step into it. And even as I'm speaking now, I can sense the Holy Spirit stirring faith in the hearts of people. There are callings. There are destinies. There are gifts. That God is beginning to deposit here tonight. When I started preaching at the age of 13, I didn't know what to do. I didn't even know how to prepare a sermon. Seven and a half, really. Scramble together what I couldn't. All I needed to do was share my heart. And I shared a sermon that maybe wasn't the greatest thing I probably would. Quince, I had no clear presentation. I don't think I don't know. Preaching the first youth conference was in Fullerton, California. A man by the name of Johnny Caldera invited me to come preach at the youth conference. And I was nervous because now it just wasn't my peers. It was a bunch of other kids who I'd never seen before in my life. I remember I got up there and I preached on stirring the spiritual gifts. Even then I was preaching Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, prayer, preached on the spiritual gifts. It wasn't a good message. The point was clearly communicated, I'm sure. But it wasn't well articulated. And the altar packed with teenagers, weeping and crying and shaking under the power of God. And the Holy Spirit did what he did. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have the resources. I just took the step. I remember the first few times I was called to go and preach somewhere. I was a little bit of a drive. I'm thinking I'm getting invited to places to speak and I can't even drive. I don't even have my license. One instance, I had to believe God for a ride to go to Big Bear in the mountains to preach. And it just so happened that weekend that it was one of the largest storms in Big Bear's history. We were slipping and sliding in the ice, but I made it. I preached. God moved. Just had to take the step. And then we began to say, well, we need to do some more media. And I said, Lord, I don't know how we're gonna do this, but I'm just gonna start media and we're just gonna go and see what God provides. I started with my mom and dad's camera. It was a little tape. I had to take hours to take the tape and put it in the digital for it was this whole thing. And then one day, church gentleman comes up to me and says the Lord told me to give this to you. He gave us our first camera. We use that camera. I said, Lord, I need, if we're gonna up this cause things started to grow a little bit. I said, we need, we need better equipment than this. We did the math. It was $14,000 and $14,000 in a way. It was, that was impossible. There was no way. Now the ministry events we do, you look at the events that we hold across the United States. Each event alone could be upwards to $200,000 a service. People don't realize how expensive it is to get these conference centers these days. Back then, 14,000, oh my gosh. I thought it was gonna take me five years to get there. God sends a man who admittedly wasn't too fond of me. He said, I didn't even like you, but God told me to give this to you and he gave me $14,000 for the ministry. So we took that, step of faith. I said, okay, we're taking a step of faith. And we started doing, remember that Steve? You were, Steve was helping me with those and we would film Monday nights. Then I started believing, God, we wanna get on a TV network. We believe God, it happened. I remember we didn't have the resources. I walked into a major Christian network, met with their executives, presented what we had. I said, I have no money. They kicked me out of the room for a few minutes. They deliberated, brought me back in. They said, we're gonna do this. We're gonna give you half hour, three times a week. We're not gonna charge you a thing. We're putting you on in a month. And it went national. And then I said, Lord, I wanna get a book out. I don't know how I'm gonna do it. You need to bring a publisher my way. And I just wrote the book without a publisher. Just wrote it. Somebody said one day when it all, all the pieces that I said, Lord, I don't have a publisher. I don't even think anybody will read this thing. I don't have an editor. I've never really done this well before. I wrote it. Within a year it was published. That was Carriers of the Glory. Some of you may know what that is, but it was a book that actually launched our ministry to a whole different place, a whole different stratosphere. And it's just been faith after faith, after faith after faith. When we pray for the sick, it's faith. When we pray for the bound, it's faith. When we hold events like this, we don't know if anybody's gonna show up. But here you are. It's faith. What is waiting for you? On the other side of your step of faith, no more waiting. It's time to do. Now, we won't be able to do a full on altar call here tonight. So what I'm gonna have you do is this. And please only respond if you're serious. You're here tonight, and you'll say within yourself, you know what? I know God has called me to do something, and I'm tired of the excuses that I make. I'm ready to respond to that call. Only respond if you are serious. But you're ready to respond to that call. I want you to stand up right in your seat. Look around the room, church. You're online? Two simple words, write them. This is your altar call now, right? I'm ready. It's a simple altar call for you. Now we're gonna pray. We're gonna pray. We're gonna ask the Holy Spirit to begin to stir up those gifts in you. Hands lifted, eyes closed, begin praying out loud in the spirit, please. Stephen, please, I stand in awe of you. Every voice lifted now. Everything in the team, guys. I stand, I stand in awe. I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand. I think that song is a prayer I surrender all. We're gonna sing this in a moment. There, just say it. Take my life. Use me for your glory. I give you my time. I give you my energy. I give you my finances. I give you my family. I give you my mind. I give you my strength. I give you my passion. I give you my creativity. In Jesus' name. I want everyone for the next 30 seconds or so praying out loud, how? Hands lifted, loudly and boldly in the Holy Ghost. Come on, loudly and boldly in the Holy Ghost. You online, praying loudly and boldly in the Holy Ghost as well. The Holy Spirit, let there be a fresh baptism. Fresh baptism. Fresh baptism. Yes. Fresh power from on high. Fresh power from on high. Oh Holy Spirit, overcome us. Overwhelm us tonight. Come on Church, pray. Fire, fire, fire, fire in the name of Jesus. You in the comment section, write, I surrender all. Again, church, say, I surrender all. I surrender all. Say it again. I surrender all. One more time. We give it to you, Lord. We give it to you. Now do something with what He's given you. Do something with what He's deposited. Ishmael, as you stay with me, as the worship team stays with me as well, would you all please take your seats quietly, reverently? I'm going to minister God's power in a moment, but there's something we need to do. We have to honor the Lord with our giving tonight. Now, I just spoke briefly about faith that was faith in regards to ministry. Can I tell you that our world today is pumping fear into the atmosphere? And it's an agenda of the enemy. Right now in this hour, I'll tell you, the attack of the enemy is one of fear. And it's wave after wave after wave of reasons as to why you should be terrified. Have you noticed that? It's the antichrist system working against God's people. Through the media, they give you thing after thing, event after event, problem after problem. Here's why you should be afraid. Here's why everything's about to fall apart. Here's why everything's on the verge of collapse. Here's why everything is going downhill. And they're constantly pumping this fear-mongering machine and it's turning out lies and it's turning out darkness and it's causing people to live in fear. I came here to declare tonight that spirit of fear cannot have God's people. Spirit of fear cannot have God's people. So where the enemy is attacking this world now is this fear over finance. But do you realize that while many people are panicking, there are certain wicked men and women in the world who understand how the world actually works and they're not panicking. They're taking opportunities in this hour. Jesus said sometimes the children of the world can be a little more shrewd in the ways of the world than the body of Christ. And it's true. Sometimes we kind of just fall for these things, don't we? And I'm susceptible just like anybody else. We can be worked up, we're human. This isn't to say you don't have the sermon or you don't have faith. This is just an attack the enemy uses because sometimes it's successful. But can I stand here as a testimony tonight? Our ministry has not shrunk in this hour. It's grown. It's grown. And I wanna say this to every pastor, to every evangelist, to every preacher, to every apostle, to everyone in ministry, especially. Don't be afraid. You're not going down. You're going up. You are not going down. You're going up. This isn't an hour of defeat. This is an hour of victory. This is an hour of opportunity before us. And that's not just for preachers. I say that because sometimes we need a little extra encouragement. I wanna give that to you. Don't be afraid. You know God's people are not gonna stop their support of the gospel. They love the gospel. They love the work. God's people understand. And I think that especially ministries need to realize everything's gonna be fine. I don't know what, I'm not an economist. I can't predict ups and downs. All I do know is this, no matter how bad it gets out there, those in the kingdom are taken care of. Period. Period. And so I really wanna challenge you that when you give tonight, don't let fear change the way you give. Don't let fear change the way you give. And this is for you watching online as well. I wanna ask you all to take bold steps of faith with me tonight. Today, as we are live, once you watch this later one on the replay, it will no longer be live. But as we're live, it is July 31st of 2022. And people are panicking around the world. But we're not. We're filled with faith. And this ministry is expanding and I want you to take this step of faith with us. Don't do as the world does and worry. Plan, be wise, save. Sure, but don't worry. And so I wanna challenge God's people tonight here present and watching online to give in consideration of what this ministry is doing. We are continuing all around the world with our events and we need to continue with those events. We have to. People need salvation. People need deliverance and people need healing. We need to continue around the world with those. We're gonna continue with the live streams. You know, if I wanted to save on costs, I could just leave all the camera guys and equipment at home and we would just have a nice little service just for us. It would cost about a third of what it actually costs us now. But we want a live stream so we can impact the thousands who are watching so that they can receive ministry too. So it's for you as well. We wanna continue with the live streams. We wanna continue making the content. We wanna continue with our television broadcast studio, which is almost fully funded for phase one, by the way. It's only almost fully funded. We have a goal date of August 31st, I believe it's the goal date. Ruben, is that right? August 31st is the goal date to finish up with the fundraising so that we can stay on schedule. So given consideration of all these things tonight, but I challenge you, don't give in to fear. That's the flesh. It's gonna fight you. It's gonna say, no, no, no. Do this amount instead of that amount. You wanted to do that, but do this instead. And the flesh is picturing the amounts in the accounts, right? Here's what I have. There's what I need. I don't know if I can give that, but you have to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, whatever he's telling you to give. So turn to your neighbor, say fight the flesh, fight the flesh. You know that little part of us is like, no, I'm gonna hang on to this. No, I need that for maybe a couple of extra things I wanted and we have to learn to just let it go. It's gonna be okay. Just trust the Lord. And everyone in here has that part of them that's generous, that's giving, but we all struggle sometimes with that little guy who just wants to hold on, fight the flesh and give that the work might continue. I believe God will bless you. I believe God will increase you. I believe that what you do for this ministry, God will cause others to do for your ministry and your business and your vision. I believe that, but remember why we give. We give because we love Jesus. We give because we wanna see souls saved. So with that said, will the ushers please come and pass out the offering envelopes? They're gonna hand you those. Now there's a couple of ways you can do this. Those of you watching online, there's a link right there at the bottom of the screen. You can either click it in the comments, make sure it's from our channel. There'll be a verified check mark on there. Or you can also use the information on the bottom of the screen, davidhernan, asministries.com slash donate. You who are here, you have several options. You can give at the website, you can write a check tonight, or you can fill out the envelope. But if you give by envelope and you're using a card, make sure to fill out all the information so that we can process this properly. And that we can actually contact you to give you your tax receipts and so forth. Now if you're watching online and you're wondering where can you give from, you can give from any country in the world. And we'll be able to, with our automated system, we'll be able to read where you're watching from and then we'll be able to convert the currency to your currency. That doesn't work. Maybe you're blocking certain things with your browser. But for the most part, that should work. That form takes PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, all of it. It's a really well-coded form, so it should work all across the board. And for those of you who are giving here again, you have the option of envelope. If you're writing a check, make it payable to davidhernan, asministries. You presence can also use this QR code that was just up on the screen. It'll come back soon, I'm sure. And you can use that to give. And while you're giving, I want you just to begin to ask the Lord concerning your vision too. And I'm gonna ask the Lord to take special notice tonight of what you're doing. And we're gonna pray that what you're making happen for this ministry, God will make happen for your vision. That what you're making happen for others, God will make happen for you. I believe that. In times of challenge, we as a ministry, so you've seen us do it before. When we're fundraising, when we're trying to do things of our own, our seasons, we've got to just say, hey, you need to sow to also participate in the act of faith. And while we're doing that, by the way, I see two seats there available. If there's a seat available next to you, raise your hand. Cause there's people standing up all along the walls still. And then even in the overflow room, I'm sure they'd love to come. So let's do that quickly, please, quickly. And then we'll get that going over there just because we have to transition to the other side right now. Yeah, thank you guys. So they're gonna help them find their seats. You have a seat next to you, please raise your hand. And I just wanna thank you as you're giving, because I know this isn't just something that you're doing just because. This is gonna take great sacrifice. And while you're filling that out, I say thank you, but I also wanna thank those of you who are giving online. I can see your names coming in here from around the world. It's loading on my phone, several emails here, about 100, over 100 of you online. Thank you, Rehman. Thank you, Michio. Thank you, Hope. Thank you, Cynthia. Thank you, Marum. Thank you, Brandon, Vivian, Santiago, and Edna, and Jose, and Sharon, and Nathaniel, and Rita, and Mitchell, and Helga, and Ingrid, Abigail, David. I like that name. Thank you, David. Jenny, Sabina, and Kathy, and Oscar, and Daniel, and Richard, and so, I mean, Kayla. I mean, it's literally hundreds and hundreds of people giving right now through the online giving, and thank you for those of you who are supporting, and thank you, all of you in person. We honor you and appreciate you. Now, let's pray that I want you to prepare your hearts for what's about to happen. And as we pray, I want you to let your faith be activated. Don't just pray it to pray it. Pray it and believe it, amen? So come on, boldly with me now, church. Boldly with me now, church. Everybody praying in the Holy Ghost. Father, in the name of Jesus, I rebuke the devourer. And I speak to every demonic attack, and I say you cannot touch their finances. Father, I thank you that you are prospering your people for the purpose of world evangelism. I thank you, Father, that you're blessing the giver. I thank you, Father, that you're expanding the kingdom through our sacrifice collectively. And we ask you, Lord, that you would make these offerings as a weapon in your hand, and break the power of darkness over America. Break the power of darkness over the nations of the world. You know what, you who are present here, start praying for revival in America. Come on. You who are watching online, start praying for revival in your nation. Kende robobo centeri eter roboboke. The enemy cannot stop a people who are fully surrendered. Devil, take notice. These people are serious about the gospel. Father, I thank you in the name of Jesus that you are putting the enemy on notice. I thank you that you are causing us to expose and eliminate the works of darkness. Lord, destroy the works of the devil in the mighty name of Jesus.