From the Pit to the Playlist

51:40 Thank you that what gets us down can't keep us down. The very fact that we are here today, we are receipts of your goodness. We are receipts. of the bounce back, the possibility, regardless of our predicament. We thank you now for being God and for being good, for keeping us all weak. Now, God, as we begin a new one, we need a word from you. We need to hear from you. If we don't hear from you, God, what shall we do? so please remove any distractions that may divert our attention don't let me or anything in me or about me get in the way of what you want to say and accomplish through the power of your word so please stand in my body take over my mind and think your thoughts take my mouth now and speak with power your word bless your word give such power to your word that you oh god will reach each and every one of us right where we are speak to our spirits speak to our situations speak to the spirit of the times god speak for we are listening now have your way have your way you are the potter we are the clay mold us and make us after your will while we are waiting yielded and still in jesus name we pray amen and hallelujah I want to call your attention in these few moments.

53:26 This is, again, Mental Health Awareness Month. And so we've been attempting to walk through a series entitled Keeping It Together When It All Falls Apart. And so I want to, in this service, look at a passage found in Psalm 40. Psalm 40, beginning at verse 1. Psalm 40, beginning at verse 1. I'm going to read in your hearing from first the New American Standard Bible translation of the 11th century vowed Hebrew text. And then I'm going to read from the Freddie Haynes remix of this same passage. But I want to first read New American Standard Bible. It reads, I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay.

54:24 And he set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. Freddie Haynes remix goes, I waited and waited on tiptoe expectancy for the Lord. and God heard my cry, pulled up and came through leaning in my direction. God lifted and liberated me out of a pit that was a hot mess, pulled me out of a hell hole of noise and chaos and slimy clay that was causing me to sink. Then God made sure I was secure enough to rock steady. my strong deliverer updated my praise pay playlist with the latest hallelujah hit where I give God a shout out now people will be blown away and have something to talk about and they will stand 10 toes down knowing God has got them you may be seated in God's in God's presence I want to put tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers. I want to talk about from the pit to the playlist. From the pit to the playlist. One way to get in your way is to see yourself through the wrong eyes. Kendrick Lamar puts it like this, love is not just a verb, it's you looking in the mirror. Big Sean piggybacks on the brilliance of Kendrick Lamar and raps rhetorically looking for the love in somebody else that I probably should have gave to myself. Cycles I need to break in myself. If I'm alone, I'm second to no one else. So yeah, in a real sense, both Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar are recognizing that in this life if you see yourself through the wrong eyes even if those

56:36 eyes belong to you you will end up getting in your own way. I'm not coming through like I need to but many of you I'm sure are familiar or have read the wonderful work by the brilliant sage and ancestor Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison wrote a book entitled The Bluest Eye and in this book The Bluest Eye it she tells the story of a young girl by the name of Pecola. Check this Pecola my sisters and brothers is living please get this in a world where second-class citizenship has been legalized to the point where she sees herself not only as second class but as less than and not equal to because of everything that is put in her face that reminds her that she is not white that she does not have watch this blue eyes and because she does not have blue eyes she lives life feeling that she is indeed second class.

57:46 She is insecure. No, incarcerated in insecurity, locked up in low self-esteem because she lives, please get this, in a world of whiteness where blackness is seen as a badge of inferiority. And she concludes that if God would hear her prayer and give her blue eyes that somehow she would be delivered from being a second-class citizen. I hope you get what Toni Morrison is putting down. Toni Morrison, through this phenomenal novel, is suggesting that we live in a nation where there are mirrors all around us telling us that we are less than, not equal to, that we don't quite measure up.

58:40 And as a consequence of those mirrors of whiteness, letting us know that our blackness is a badge of inferiority, we, if we're not careful, will look at ourselves through the eyes of those who look down on us. and somebody is looking at me right now. I don't know you, but God has me in your Kool-Aid. I've called out your flavor because when you think about your own insecurities, think for just a moment about your own issues where in a real sense you identify with the rap artist who said that I've got so many issues. I could be my own publisher and some of those issues have a lot to do with the eyes through which you have seen yourself. Perhaps they are the eyes of the culture and the structure around us.

59:38 Perhaps they are the eyes of the people who were responsible for your upbringing when you were a child and somehow they said things to you. They looked down on you and never allowed you to feel that you were someone of value. all of that will imprison you in insecurity and lock you up in low self-esteem. I'm suggesting my sisters and brothers that it will happen. And when you are locked up in low self-esteem, when you are imprisoned in insecurity, it can leave you in a shaky situation personally. It can leave you feeling, watch this, that all of life is an insecure ground on which you're standing. You have a hard time getting your sea legs.

1:00:33 When Deb and I went on our honeymoon, we were going on a seven-day cruise. And I won't forget when we found ourselves in Barbados that I got off the ship. And even though, watch this, the ground of the island was stable. My legs were not because my legs were used. I hope you're getting this too. Being at sea on a ship and as a consequence, I'm walking on solid ground but I feel unsure and insecure. I'm still not getting y'all like I need to. The other day I went to Montgomery, Alabama yesterday and I give a shout out to LaTosha Brown as well as all of the brilliant activists. activists with Black Voters Matter and others who came together and in some eight to ten days after the horrid and evil unjust rendering of a decision, Talley versus Louisiana, that came down from our Supreme Court that has become, here it is, just a prostitute for the pimp in the White House. And so as a consequence, they rendered a decision that gutted and hallowed out the Voting Rights Act. And so with the Voting Rights Act now under siege, we decided to go back, here it is, to the scene of the crime that had been transformed into holy ground. Y'all gonna get in just a moment and I had to fly from Dallas to Montgomery Friday night and then on yesterday morning we went to Selma and there in Selma at Tabernacle Baptist Church one of the churches where our ancestors exited worship and after worship they walked to the Edmund Pettus Bridge standing for our voting rights y'all I cannot help but flash back to the fact that yesterday

1:02:41 I was able please don't miss this not only to speak at Tabernacle Church I'm the closing speaker but after I spoke then we had to march here it is from Tabernacle to the Edmund Pettus Bridge I'm about to shout you when we marched from Tabernacle to the Edmund Pettus Bridge we had a police escort and the police escort. They were all black. I thought about the fact I'm in Selma, Alabama. 61 years ago, we would not have had a black police escort, but here we are, a police escort escorting us all the way to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. And then after our rally there. We went to Montgomery, Alabama, but I've got to tell y'all what happened. I landed in Montgomery late Friday night and a young lady, one of Albany's really good friends, Chelsea, who wrote her dissertation for her PhD, looking at Friendship West as a model of social justice activism in a black faith community. I guess y'all not impressed with that, but how many of y'all know churches that have a whole dissertation written about them because they put together Jesus and justice. I'll shout all by myself, thank you, Jesus. And y'all watch what happened. The flight lands and when we landed in Montgomery, Dave, I tried to make sure that Chelsea had a rider, but Chelsea, watch this, had checked luggage. Now, if you know me, I don't believe in checking luggage. I have an allergic reaction to checking luggage. So all of mine is carry on. And so we land in Montgomery. I asked Chelsea, does she need a ride? And so she says, I'll just get an Uber. There's no way I'm going to allow you after midnight to get an Uber by yourself. As a consequence, I decided to wait on her. That ain't easy for me to do. I don't like

1:04:50 waiting when somebody did not have the sense to make sure that they did not pack heavy. Now, I can't talk about Chelsea bad because she'd been out of town for two weeks, so I can't hate on her too much for that. Plus, she's a sister, and as sisters have informed me, there's a lot of stuff that goes into packing when you travel. So, I'm not going to go there right now, but here's what happen. I search for an Uber and brother pulls up and when the brother pulls up he says how much time you got. I said I'm waiting on my niece to bring her luggage. I'm going in there to help her and I'll be right back out. I go inside. They still haven't gotten the luggage to the carousel. They are in Montgomery airport. It's not DFW. It's not the largest airport on the planet and yet they did not have the luggage and so I go back out and the brother meets me says listen man I'm gonna have to go because I got a person who wants to go right now I said man listen I'll double pay you for whatever it is this man is going to do and y'all I ain't gonna spend time telling you how the thing worked out he ended up taking the other person and of course I'm speaking in an unknown tongue, but trying to make sure that Chelsea does not hear me. And then I go back in.

1:06:20 Finally, her luggage came. And when her luggage got there, I said, okay, I'm going to get you to your hotel. She's at one hotel. I'm at another hotel. The hotel, by the way, I went to was the hotel elevation that has is the brainchild and vision of the great Bryan Stevenson. It is fly, fabulous and all the and all of that and y'all check this out we're waiting for uh an uber to come and deb check out what happened i'm talking to some people who recognized me knew me chelsea said can you go anywhere and folk don't know you and so i said i don't know but she then went on to say listen pastor haynes they're going to the same hotel i'm going to and they've offered to give me a ride. I knew them. I said, cool, you go with them. I'm still waiting on a ride. It's Montgomery after midnight. Montgomery doesn't have a whole lot of Ubers just waiting to pick me up.

1:07:20 And so about 30 minutes later, an Uber driver pulls up, gives me a ride. I get in the car and I really ain't in the best mood because it's late and we have a seven o'clock call time that morning to get from Montgomery to Selma. And so when I get in the car, a brother greets me, and the brother says, listen, I've got a playlist that is extensive. Is there anything that you want to hear? I said, I don't care. Play whatever you want to play. I just need to get to Elevation Hotel. And then the brother did this. Huh, guess you got an attitude. I'll have to check my playlist for bad attitudes. attitudes and and then he had the nerve to play earth wind and fire ain't it funny that the way you feel shows on your face and y'all by then I my face begins to break and I said all right man you got me he said well now that I've got you I'm gonna play the playlist I had never thought I was going to play this time of night because this time of night I'm doing slow jams. I'm old school slow jams. So by now I'm playing Always and Forever by Heat Wave. By now I'm playing Marvin Gaye Sexual Healing. He's giving me a lot of info that I have not asked for but I'm seated there in the car going along with the entertainment and he says but you got to hear my latest playlist because my latest playlist is a testimony to the miracle working power of God. I don't know if you believe in God, but I'm about to preach to you right now. And then y'all, he gave me the story of his twin sister. His name is Robert. His sister's name is Robin. And check out what he told me about Robin.

1:09:15 And Robin and her fiance live in Ohio. They had gone to the horse stables to check out their horses. And on their way back home, they are driving on the highway. And they came to an intersection. And a car made a left turn in front of them. And when the car made the left turn, it caused her fiance to veer. And when he veered, he was hit by another car and that car then pushed him off the road. And now here it is, the car, the very front of the car goes over a ledge and it is literally hanging. And she discovers, watch this, that her fiance has passed out and that his door could open, but her door was jammed and she could not get out.

1:10:10 I hope y'all get the picture because according to Robert, his twin sister Robin was in shock. His twin sister Robin was feeling helpless and his twin sister Robin was in a shaky situation, afraid to move because if she moved too much to the front, the car may go over the ledge. And so there she is. She is shocked by a hit that took place. She is shocked. I guess I'm looking for the word trauma because she's been hit. She feels helpless, but she's in a shaky situation where she is unsure and insecure. And y'all, that hit me because I thought about the fact that all of us, if we're honest with ourselves, know something about being imprisoned by insecurity because of something traumatic that happened back then that has caused us to feel what psychologists refer to as learned helplessness. Learned helplessness, psychologists say, is that situation where you have been programmed or conditioned to believe there's nothing you can do to remedy, resolve or rectify the situation you find yourself in. And so she's been traumatized and hit. And then the one she is with her fiance has passed out because of the hit. She is helpless herself and stuck in a situation that is downright shaky and somebody came to church.

1:11:51 No, you've tuned in and the bottom line is you know what it's like to feel insecure. I'll park right there because all of us have some insecurities. None of us feel like we've got it together all the time. There is something about us that makes us feel that we are not as much as we could be and should be. There's an insecurity that will cause us to move into spaces and feel like we don't belong. And as a consequence, we'll try to adjust to the atmosphere. We may even shrink ourselves in order to make sure that no one feels offended by our presence. And in a real sense, it happens because of our own sense of insecurity. I guess related to that is imposter syndrome where you feel like I got this but I really don't want to get found out.

1:12:52 Because if I get found out then someone may discover I'm not worth what it is I have. I'm not all that people think I am. They see me on the outside but they don't know that I'm really not all that they see. I'm simply trying to say insecurity is a part of what it means to be human. So don't feel bad about yourself. Don't look down on yourself because if you're not careful, you've been looking at yourself through eyes that make you feel less than and not equal to that you don't quite measure up. And that's why I thought it was necessary during this month to take a look at this powerful passage that Deb has been trying to get me to preach for years. Psalm 40, I preached it years ago and the sermon was entitled, When You Need a Lift. But this week, I took a fresh look at this old text and got some fresh water from this old well because I look at the fact. I hope y'all get this, that the psalmist, the book says it's a psalm of David. It's a praise song of the sweet singer of Israel. It's a praise song where David is testifying about what God has done and what God did that David could not do for himself. And I think I'll park right there because it's a praise song where David is basically giving it up to God for what God did for David that David knew he could not do for himself. I'm not coming through. I'll give it to you one more time. David says, I'm going to get my praise on because God did something for me. I can't explain it with my own intellect. I can't explain that I did it because I had the right connections or resources. I can't explain it because I was able to use my brain power and syllogistically deduce

1:15:00 my way out of that situation. I can't explain it like that. All I can say is if it had not been for God on my side, all I can say is that God did for me what I could not do for myself. All I'm trying to say when I can't, God can. And that means I've got to give God praise for what God can do that I can do. And y'all, I'm gonna stop right here because I think it's praise break time because if you look back over your life and think about some stuff that happened for you that you really can't explain by what you did yourself, you can't explain by your own sense and reason and education, But God did for you what you could not do for yourself. God kept you sane when everything around you was jumping crazy. God opened up doors you didn't knock on.

1:15:57 God made a way where you thought there was no way. God kept you together when everything in your world was falling apart. You didn't do that. God did that. And David said, when God does something for you that you couldn't do for yourself, you ought to have some home training and you ought to give God some praise. You ought to say thank you for making a way. Thank you for watching over me. Thank you for being better to me than I've been to myself. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. I love it. David writes this praise song and uses poetry,

1:16:53 lovely lyrics to describe something. He said, I waited and I kept on waiting. patiently expectantly for God and God heard me God leaned in my direction God heard me cry and when God heard me cry God didn't just hear me but God heard me determined to act on what God heard me crying out about because I was in a pit a horrible pit I gotta help y'all right here because I did my homework and the pit was a pit of destruction. That's how the New American Standard Bible translates it. But really in the Hebrew, it's a hole, please don't miss this, where there is mud at the bottom and it's like mud on top of mud.

1:17:56 And every time you try and get your footing, that's when the mud causes you to sink deeper and deeper. I'm not even done because it says it's a horrible pit. It's a pit of destruction. And really, it's a picture of a noisy hole where there is a lot of noise in the hole. So you got all this noise in the hole. You're stuck in the mud. The mud has you feeling unsure and insecure. And on top of that, you got all this noise in the hole. You're in a hail hole. You're in a hell hole that has mud on top of mud. You can't get your footing in. The noise is, what's this, attacking your mental health. You feel insecure and unsure. I hope y'all get this picture right now.

1:18:49 David says, in that hell hole, I began to cry out to God. And when I cried out to God, leaned over from the balcony of eternity. And God stooped and scooped. I like that. God leaned and lifted. God, the old folk would say, pick me up, turn me around, place my feet on solid ground. And the book lets us know that David, as soon as God got him out of that hell hole, David went to saying hallelujah and praising God for what God had done. And David's testimony is I went from a pit of insecurity to a playlist of praise that had me rock steady, baby. I'm trying to let somebody know right now that if you're feeling unsure and insecure, if you've ever been in a hell hole, God will take you from a hell hole to hallelujah. God will take you from a pit to a playlist.

1:19:52 God will take you from something bad to something beautiful. God will pick you up and place you on a solid ground. God will take you from what's ugly to something that upgrades you. God will take you from what has you down and deliver you. And before you know it, you're on a level you never anticipated being on. God will do for you what you could never do for yourself. yourself and once God does it you got a brand new playlist and the playlist is one of praise for what God has done in your life so so the question becomes how does this work because Freddie Haynes I don't know how you knew I was coming to church I don't know how you knew I would tune in but but but I've been grappling with wrestling with my own issues of insecurity I'm in my own hell hole where I can't seem to get my footing and the more I try to get my footing the more I sink and I'm sinking and I'm sinking and I'm sinking help me out of this sinking situation help me to get over this help me to get delivered from this well let me give you these three and I'm out number one the text shouts me because the text lets us know that we ought to have, we ought to recognize that your condition should never define your disposition. Let me do that thing one more time. Your condition should never define your disposition. Get the conditions.

1:21:32 I think I've broken them down already. It's mud on top of mud and he's in a sinking situation. It's noisy in there. So he's got noise attacking his mental health and he's in a sinking situation. but look at the disposition. I waited patiently for the Lord. Y'all didn't get that because I guess you got to have the Hebrew understanding. In the Hebrew, it's literally translated, I waited and in waiting, I became patiently expecting of God to pull up and come through. the Hebrew word for wait is not passive chilling but the Hebrew word for wait is I'm looking on tiptoe so imagine this I'm in mud on tiptoe expectancy that's the language one of my late great mentors Frederick G. Sampson he often talked about being on tiptoe expectancy because it's one thing, watch this, to be expecting. But when you're on tiptoe expectation, you find yourself looking forward to what's about to come. I hope y'all get this because he says, I waited and waited and kept on waiting patiently for God, expectantly for God, meaning that there was a long time before God pulled up and came through. And y'all, I feel that because sometimes I wonder if God knows what time it is. Sometimes I wonder about what the old folks say. And you know what the old folks say. He may not want him when you want him, but he's always on time. According to what? Central time, Eastern time, Pacific time. What time are you talking about? It's like God.

1:23:31 Okay, I know I'm offending some of y'all, but I'm just going to be honest with you. God be taking God's time. And I wonder why God is so slow sometimes. It's like, God, did you not know that the bill is due on the first? Did you not know that this has to happen immediately? God, I need you to show up. But the text says, I waited. I'm in the mud. It's all kind of noise around me. But I waited. patiently on tiptoe expectancy. I'm in the mud sinking on my toes.

1:24:14 Okay, okay. That was a shout right there, but I'm going to go ahead and help you get to your shout. And so the Bible lets us know, I waited patiently on my toes for God to pull up and come through. I had this is what I'm looking for hope while God had me on hold now now now i i hang out right there because i don't care how big your bible is how long you've been going to church every now and then god puts you on hold it's like it's like you praying and god says hold please uh are you tripping what you mean hold please it's like you're you're asking you're seeking you're knocking and God has you on hold for real on hold at this time knowing everything that's going on but the text says when even when you won't hold make sure you're on tiptoe in the mud so so so those of you don't know last September had surgery and I'm for the first time in my 43 years of ministry, I'm sidelined.

1:25:35 Sidelined, ain't never been sidelined. So it was rough on impatient me to be sidelined. It was rough, y'all, it was rough. And to go through the whole process of surgery and then recovery and the good news is I had just a phenomenal doctor. And the doctor told me when we had a consultation after where he said, he said, now you're ready to drive. So start driving. So I didn't tell Deb. And so what happened, Deb had a meeting. I forgot what the meeting was, but she had a meeting. So she left me at home alone. I'm home alone. But what she did not know is I had to go get blood work done at Baylor. And so she wasn't there.

1:26:28 The doctor said I could drive. Judge, I drove. I got in my car. I let the top down. I was digging the scene with my preacher lean. Woo, woo. I am back in stride again. And y'all, I drive to the hospital to get the blood work done. And I had a sister. Jesus, thank you, Jesus. I had a sister, a sister. This was a God-fearing, Jesus-loving sister. She had scriptures all up and down her wall. And so I'm looking at the scriptures. She said, you recognize some of those, don't you, Pastor? I said, I recognize all of them. She says, yeah, because I got to have them to work in this place. Because these folk think I'm crazy. And they don't understand that whenever they don't get cussed out, it's because I come here and look at this wall.

1:27:23 And so I said, well, you keep on looking at the wall. Whatever works for you, baby girl. whatever works for you. But then she said, pastor, how you doing? Because I know you're not used to being down like this. You don't come to hospitals for yourself. You go to hospitals to see other people and now you're down. Pastor, how you been dealing with this? I said, I don't like it one bit. She said, pastor, aren't you a basketball fan? I said, yeah, you know I am. She said, well, I got to tell you what happened. I went to see Michael Jordan when he came to play for the Bulls against the Mavericks and when Jordan came to play against the Mavericks I'm rooting for Jordan and the Bulls and the Mavericks were beating Jordan my but they were beating my Bulls and Michael Jordan but that didn't get me upset though we were down I knew that because we had Jordan at any moment something could break out at any moment Jordan could hit a three Jordan could do a move that nobody had seen before. I said, yeah, I'm kind of feeling where you're going. She said, yeah, because in a game where I'm losing, as long as I know I got Jordan on my team, I don't sit there as if I have no hope. I sit there looking forward to what Jordan is going to do, even when stuff ain't looking good. And y'all, she thought that about Jordan. What do you think about Jesus?

1:28:55 Because my thing is, whenever life ain't looking good, you go to life's game like she went to see Jordan. Because you never know when God is going to show up and show out. You never know when God is going to do something you never saw coming. You never know when you're going to end up testifying now unto him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all. Is there anybody here who has seen God move before? If God has moved before, God can move again. So make sure you have hope while you're on hold. Get on your tiptoes and expect God to come through. I got to give you something else. Text says there's liberation from your situation.

1:29:53 I like it because the text says I waited patiently on God. And God, here it is, God inclined unto me and heard my cry. I'm not silent. about my situation so as noisy as the pit is I'm yelling over the noise for God to hear me so the pit says ah I say Lord have mercy the louder the pit the louder I cry oh man y'all still not getting this thing I'm crying on tiptoe in the mud on tiptoe expecting God to come through and God leans in my direction and God watch this picks me up and places me on a solid rock okay okay okay I'm gonna read one more time the Freddie Haynes remix since y'all missing your shout because this gets me right here verse two God lifted and liberated me out of a pit that was a hot mess pulled me out of a hell hole of noise and chaos and slimy clay that was causing me to sink then God made sure I was sure secure enough to rock steady I hope y'all get that okay let me give you a new American standard he brought me up out of the pit of destruction

1:31:58 out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm are y'all getting this yet in a real sense I went from being on tiptoe in mud to being on a solid rock here's what gets me the text don't even say how God did it okay I'm gonna come over here because I really thought y'all would get this but but y'all seem to y'all say the text I'll read it I'll read it I'll read it I'll read it because it just really messes me up and I'm almost done I promise you it says God brought me up out of the pit of destruction out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm okay it don't say that God came down where I was put me in his hands and then carried me to where I needed to be on solid rock doesn't say that it doesn't say that God sent someone it doesn't say that God uh uh let down some kind of contraption put me in the contraption and lifted me up it doesn't say any of that why because the text just gives us room for God to do whatever God wants to do however God wants to do it plus and here's my shout right here there's some stuff that God does, there's no human language that can actually depict or describe what God did.

1:33:44 And all you end up doing is doing, I got to go back to Jordan again. Y'all remember, no, y'all are too young, but watch, watch this, the last dance. In the last dance, they show when Jordan and the Bulls were playing, who was it? The Portland Trail Blazers. They're playing the Portland Trail Blazers and Jordan goes off. He went off go van. He did a go van didn't he? Because Jordan watched this had like six three-pointers in one quarter and he's running back down the other end of the court after hitting another three-pointer and here's what Jordan did. I'm about to mess y'all up. He hits the three-pointer. It goes in. Shouldn't have gone in but it did go in and Jordan runs back down the court looks at Magic Johnson who is doing color commentating and does like this. It's like I really can't explain what's going on right now. There are no words to explain what just happened right there. So I'm just going to do one of these and every now and then God will come through for you in such a way that all you can do is just do one of these. How'd you get that job? How did that door opened up for you? How did you overcome what you overcame and you just hold up your hands because you're saying God did it.

1:35:08 uh uh uh yeah I'm gonna quit I'm gonna quit let me give you this last piece uh because God will will liberate you and then when God liberates you God gives you a playlist a playlist that that's what this text says it's a playlist right here it's a beautiful thing no I can't I can't jump to that let me give you this right quick they got liberated David gets set free because God here it is whoever you are wherever you are is in tune and in touch with you so much so that God says this is it you ain't got to be good enough for my rescue I need to talk to my sisters right quick because one of the best compliments that we give black women can be negative strong black woman it's true y'all strong thank you for being strong but if you start leaning leaning into being the strong black woman all the time that ain't real that ain't life because there will be moments when you ain't feeling like you want to feel there will be moments when when life will break you down you will grieve when loss comes your way you will have moments where you don't feel your best self You will find yourself not wanting to wake up in the morning because you just ain't got the strength to deal another day with racism and sexism, misogyny and misogynoir.

1:37:05 You ain't got it in you to do it. And so please, I say this in love, it's good to be a strong black woman, but you ain't got to always be. Brothers, can I talk to us right quick? Because as black men, we are conditioned, programmed, here it is, to be the brothers that protect and are strong for our community, for our woman, for our family. But there are moments, even as men, when we try to lift the weight, but we don't have the strength.

1:37:42 But here's how good God is. God says you ain't got to be strong enough for me to lift you up. You ain't got to be strong enough. Sometimes you just got to stand on your tiptoes and believe I'm on my way. And that's when I'll do for you what you can't do for yourself. That will set you free. It will set you free to know you ain't always got to be good enough. You ain't always got to live by the politics of respectability. God didn't wait for you to get right God is right and God will come for you rescue you, deliver you heal you even if you don't feel like you deserve it but God says you deserve it because you're my child man did y'all hear it was on the outskirts of houston about this girl who went uh walking her dog and she didn't come back hours go by little 15 year old but what had happened is that she got kidnapped by someone who was wicked and wrong kidnapped but what he didn't know is that her phone had a tracking device her phone had parental controls and so her father noticing she had not come back checked out what was connected to her phone and then notified the police and then went where because he wasn't waiting on the police. He went there where his daughter was. His daughter had been kidnapped by this pedophile. This wicked individual must be related to the president of the United States and this daughter had been kidnapped and when the daughter got kidnapped, y'all, I said what I said, yeah. That's why we in a war over in Iran that we ain't got

1:39:54 no business being in because he's trying to distract us because his name is all over the Epstein files because Epstein was his friend his pal he's been impeached twice are you ready for it sir time Donald that wasn't him a sermon but it was good uh and so so he goes to get his daughter and his daughter was like daddy. I thought I was going to be really messed up, but you found me. How'd you find me, daddy? He said, because I have a tracking device on you. Daddy always knows where you are. Daddy always knows when my baby girl is in trouble. I'm going to always come and find you and come see about you.

1:40:47 Now, if he did that for his daughter, is there anybody here who knows we got a father our father will come see about you may i go old school just one time i love the lord he heard my cry I'm trying to let you know our ancestors They would get down on their knees during devotion Anybody remember devotion? And during devotion they pray the same prayer During devotion they talk to God And then they do an old 100 And pitied every groan Long as I live When troubles rise I'll hasten to his throne Is there anybody here who knows your father will locate you? Your father will come see about you.

1:41:46 I got to quit. I've held y'all too long. Here it is, Casey. I'm done. Text says this. I got a playlist. I got a playlist. Let me read it because I ain't making none of this up. This is good. It says in verse 3, he put a new song in my mouth. A song of praise. Stop. Praise. trail watch this i got the word praise y'all are omg the word praise is to healer One of the meanings is to boast, to brag. So you brag about God.

1:42:42 Okay, watch this, watch this. Last year, last year at this time, graduated, earned PhD from earned, earned it. I earned it. My dissertation is public. You can find my dissertation. I earned it. I earned it. I earned it. If you know, you know. And so I earned this Ph.D. And y'all, I'll never forget when they called my name. To this day, it makes me want to cry. Called my name, Frederick Douglas Haynes III, graduating with distinction. Yeah. And y'all, I wanted to go across the stage with my Freddie swag. that's what I wanted to do but I started thinking about what I was going through at the time thinking I had cancer was about to die started thinking about all I had to overcome to get to that point and I couldn't swag across I had to walk across with tears saying thank you Jesus but this is what messed me up as I'm going to get my degree Albany yells out that's my dad okay I'm talking fast because y'all missed it Albany saw me walking across that stage Albany saw my accomplishment and Albany decided to brag and let everybody know in that sophisticated academic environment, I don't care how sophisticated y'all are.

1:44:34 I don't care how academic this environment is. All I know is that's my dad. And I'm going to shout about the fact that that's my dad. I got to stop right there. If Albany can do that for her earthly father, Is there anybody here who can see God move and say, that's my dad who just opened up that door? That's my dad who's a bridge over troubled waters. That's my dad who's a doctor who's never lost a case. That's my dad. okay I don't know what's up with the rest of y'all but this is some good stuff I just gave you oh I do know I do know and I love y'all for that I gave you a shout but you say no not yet what happened to Robin Robin was in a bad situation stuck like Chuck in that car that was about to go over that ledge.

1:45:39 What happened to Robin? Oh, I give y'all how it happened, and then I'll sit down. Here's what happened. According to Robert, her twin brother, Robin, watch this, is in the car. And Robin says, God, please help me. And then she said, in the words of Big Mama, Lord, have mercy. That lets you know what color they are. Lord, have mercy. And the moment she said, Lord, have mercy, that's when she said she tried to open up the door one more time. It would not open. But then somehow she said she's outside of the car, even though she could not open up the door. And the person that was responsible for hitting them then comes up and says, I don't know how you got outside of this door. But I looked up and one moment you are trapped in there. in the next moment you're out and that's when she looked back and thought about the fact that some dark figure had hovered over her car and somehow she felt a pulling when she was in the car and then she got out of the car and she said she opened up her eyes and she's out of the car that's when she said if God can show up for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in a fiery furnace then God can show up for me right here in a car accident and she began to shout right there I got to give it to you she said to her brother Robert I started shouting right there they asked me are you okay because the person that hit them doesn't look like her and so as a consequence they couldn't understand her saying oh God thank you oh God bless your holy name hallelujah thank you Jesus Let's praise the Lord.

1:47:29 And they're just looking at her like she's crazy. She just said, you don't know like I know what God just did for me. You can't explain it, but I know too much about them. God heard my cry. God heard me saying, Lord, have mercy. And now all I want to do is praise him because God's been good to me. And then right there on the spot, she started singing, I love to praise him. I love to praise his name. He's my rock, my rock, my sword, my shield. He's my will in the middle of a wheel. And y'all, that's when Robert said, now I want to play my playlist for you. And y'all, he played praise song after praise song. I trust in God. He played praise song after praise song. God is good all the time.

1:48:23 He played praise song after praise song because he has a playlist. And y'all, it dawned on me. If God has ever done something for you, you ought to have a playlist. Anybody got a playlist? I got a playlist. Can't nobody do me like Jesus. Can't nobody do me like the Lord. he is my friend i got a playlist the lord is blessing me right now woke me up this morning started me on my way the lord is blessing me right now i got a playlist blessed assurance jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine i'm an heir of salvation purchased by god born of his spirit washed in his blood this is