I Don’t Think I’m Asking for A Lot

0:24 It's our summer of surplus, and we want every person poised, postured, and positioned to be able to walk into that surplus. On Tuesday is our group therapy, as you're keenly aware of, and Dr. David Anderson is going to be sharing with us how to create three streams of income, hear this, this summer. How to create three streams of income this summer and he's going to give you practical principles in order to execute. I ask that you will make sure that that is a part of your schedule. We have no in-person Bible study for the month of July It will all be virtual for the month of July. So you only have two more weeks to be present. I ask that you would be present both at our noon and our 730 Bible study encounters.

1:23 Would you just look at the person beside you, tell them God's going to bless you today. God is going to bless you today. Hallelujah. Would you join me in the book of Joshua chapter 13? Joshua chapter 13. Musicians, you've done a wonderful job today. Thank you so very much. I hope you were blessed this week in our summer revival. God came in a strong and in a triumphant way. Joshua chapter 13, verse number one. Amen.

2:07 Joshua chapter 13, verse number 1. the 13th chapter of Joshua, first verse. Amen. Let's read together with uplifted voices. Come on, everybody. When Joshua had grown old. The Lord said to him, you are now very old. And you are still here in your heart. And you are now very old. Bless the Lord. Let's read it again with a little bit more enthusiasm and vigor. Come on, everybody. When Joshua had grown old. The Lord said to him, you are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land that you are still old. Bless the Lord. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, you are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land that you have to take over.

3:13 I want to preach for a little while today using as a subject, I don't think I'm asking for a lot. Look at the person beside you. Tell them that's how I feel. Amen. Look at the person on the other side and tell them I'm not asking for a lot. Amen.

3:37 The late South African anti-apartheid Anglican bishop, Desmond Tutu, once said, when the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bibles and we had the land. They said, let us pray. So we closed our eyes. and when we opened our eyes, we had the Bible and they had the land. In large regard, the weaponization of Western Christianity has made us impotent and apathetic towards the issues that matter. The slave Bible was printed in 1807. And in the slave Bible that was printed in 1807, it removed 70% of the Old Testament and 50% of the New Testament.

4:38 The entire book of Exodus was extracted because they did not want the slaves to feel like that there would be a coming out. They removed out of the slaves Bible any themes dealing with liberation, equality, and justice. So in the slave Bible, there was no Jeremiah 22 and 13, which condemns the use of a neighbor's labor without wages. In the slave Bible, they ripped out the entire book of revelations because encapsulated in it was John's divine revealing of the fall of the empire and a new earth emerging. With that in mind, you can't possibly think that the slave owners would have left the book of Joshua in the slave's Bible because Joshua 1 and 3 says, every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon, I'll give it to you. Why would they want the slaves to be able to read that when they were walking the plantation from sunup to sundown?

6:00 I hate this morning to be the bearer of bad news, but there are still a lot of colonized colored churches in this country. as evidenced by the fact that they aren't teaching a theology of what the late James Cone wrote in his classic book, The God of the Oppressed.

6:25 The indicators that we still have colonized churches amongst us is they have praise breaks but don't speak to public policy. They are running around the church but giving no rides to the polls. They speak in tongues but won't speak truth to power. In those churches, elected officials can sit in their services for hours in ease because they are never held accountable for the inequality of services given to our community. Not over here, partner. Not over here. Five visitors. For those of you who are streaming, I just need you to know where you are. You are in a church that recognizes and understands that Jesus was black. not only was Jesus black you are in a church that knows it was the government that killed him if you don't like that you really ain't gonna like this and you are in a church where we realize that women have a right to be an audible witness we are a church a baptist church in the south but we are not southern baptists god ordained men and women and if you are too threatened and intimidated to believe that god can use a woman you are still in a slave religion Thank you.

8:09 I'm fully aware. I'm fully aware of the Juneteenth flag that was introduced in 1997, but I am more drawn to Marcus Messiah Garvey when 1929 said, we can't be a people without a flag. So he unveiled the liberation flag of red, black, and green in Madison Square Garden. Red for the blood that we shed, and might I add, the blood that was shed for us on Calvary. Black for the beautiful sun-kished children of the diaspora from Cote d'Ivoire to Cape Verde to the Congo to South Carolina and even to Congres.

9:05 Green for the land. And isn't it amazing that they are still shedding our blood? Red for the blood of George Floyd, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack. But today we came to reclaim the green because we demand some land. and demanding land, I don't think, is too much to ask for. America has given reparations to Japanese Americans. Not only did they give them reparations, they gave Japanese Americans reparations and an apology. America's given reparations to Alaskan natives. They've given reparation to Native Americans, and Trump had the nerve to give or tried to give reparations to January 6th insurrectionists, but they haven't given black people one red cent when the entire nation was built off of our blood, sweat, and tears. In the words of Denzel Washington, I'm leaving here with something. Y'all going to have to give something, and something has got to be given for the castration of your grandfathers, for the murdering of our children, for the middle passage, for the injustice of Jen Crow, of having to sit in the back of the bus, of having to drink from a different water, found having inferior education. And you think that we just gonna roll over and play dead? The devil is a lie. You gonna have to give something.

10:52 After slavery, we were promised 40 acres and a mule to rebuild our lives. But after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson rescinded the order. And from that time to this, they have been fighting like the Dickens to stop us from holding deeds. that's why today I'm cracking open the book that they never wanted black people to read the book of Joshua and in Joshua chapter 13 verse 1 it says when Joshua had grown old the Lord said to him you are now very old and there are still large areas of land that you are going to take over. God was saying to him in no uncertain terms, I know a lot of time has passed, but it is not too late.

11:58 And that's a word for somebody sitting on the road behind you. I better read that all over again. A lot of time has passed, but it still is not too late. That didn't mean anything to that neighbor. Let me try it again. I know a whole lot of time has pass, but it is not too late. Whatever God has promised you, you still gonna get it. It doesn't matter what has happened. It is still going to come to pass. The race is not given to the swift nor to the strong, but to those that endure to the end. January 1st, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared, all enslaved people were free. But for two years, many of our ancestors were still held in bondage until June 19th, 1865.

12:58 It is amazing that we were declared free on January 1st, 1863, but we're not set free until June 19th, 1865. You are so brilliant. You are so creative. You are so gifted. You are so intelligent. You are so anointed that the only way white supremacists can beat you is to cheat. whenever the playing field is even whenever the rules are clear you always are gonna make it to the top y'all ain't saying nothing to me whenever it is that you put your mind to something you are always gonna rise to the front of the line and so they will do everything in their power to block you from emerging but I want you to see how supernaturally bad you are after everything that you've been through you've still got your right mind do you understand how much God's hand must be on your life that you are able to be able to come out of oppression and slavery and segregation and Jim Crow.

14:22 You think MAGA can stop you now? There is something on your life. Governor Kemp thought he was going to redraw the lines in Georgia, but he had to think twice and say, I better not play with these black people in Georgia. If they were able to shift it before, they'll do it again. Our most recent ancestor, our most recent ancestor, the Honorable Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson, in his last Juneteenth address said that we may need to consider what are we celebrating?

15:12 The slaves were set free, and here's what Reverend Jackson asked, free to do what? free and you couldn't own any property free and you couldn't vote free and you couldn't have a bank account free to do what and you ought to be grateful on this day of the things the enemy used to have you in bondage to that somehow or another god gave you a way of escape i know you sitting in church with your fancy Sunday clothes on but you ought to look back over your life and thank God that God got you out of some stuff that you used to be in bondage to. Let me start if you're gonna try to act shy. Thank God you are free from other people's opinion. Thank God you are free of what people think about you. Thank God you are free from the addiction you used to have.

16:16 some people don't like it you ought to thank God you are free from low self-esteem you ought to thank God you are free from self-sabotage you're free from who you used to be It took two years for them to get the message in Galveston, Texas, that they were free. June 19, 1865, when the announcement went out, January 1, 1863, whenever there is a conversation about reparations in the nation's capital, they always claim they don't have the money. But they'll find billions of dollars to go into a war that a black man already solved years ago. If you would have just given Obama his credit and get him out of your mind rent free, you would realize a black man already solved it.

17:22 what if your reparations doesn't come from the government what if your reparation comes from god y'all don't like this what if your reparations is time it took two years for them to get the news that they were free. And God sent me on this Sunday morning to say to 90 of you that can hear my voice, how would you act if I gave you two years of your life back? I got the wrong church in here. That whatever you went through over the last two years, I am going to restore back to you the years that the enemy stole from you. You ought to be doing somersaults in the air.

18:21 That God is going to bless you for everything you've been through since 2024. Lord, thank you for every mountain you brought me over. Thank you for every valley you brought me through. Thank you for every disease you healed me from. thank you for every bill that you paid for me God said I'm going to restore back to you the last two years of your life Hallelujah you may be seated he's going to make up to you the last two years of your struggle, the last two years of your frustration, the last two years of your anguish.

19:12 It took a long time for you to get to this point, but it's not too late. It ain't too late for you to go back to school. it's not too late for you to start a business it's not too late for you to start saving money it's not too late for you to get your health under control when Jesus went to the cemetery to raise Lazarus Mary and Martha said it was too late but God said point to me where you laid it and I wanted you to know you got that same authority. Stop pointing out what you want to get done and point it out even if your own family don't think that you can get it. I don't know who needs to hear this, but I'm speaking to some woman in this room.

20:06 I'm speaking to some sister in this room. I'm speaking to some lady in this room. Don't you dare let the enemy convince you. You got to wait to get married to buy a house. I got the wrong church. You don't have to wait for a family member to die in order for you to walk into your inheritance. You don't have to wait until you have a 700 credit score to believe that God has something amazing for you. God said, point out what it is that you want. I need to know what kind of faith do you have. If you believe God can give you houses that you didn't build, How come you haven't found the realtor yet? If you believe God to give you a harvest that you didn't plan, how come you are not planning for your next move? I need you to look at somebody and say, you better act like it's on the way.

21:02 Because if God promised it to you, delay is not denial. And the enemy been trying to convince you that if you haven't gotten it up to this point, that is not coming, but I came to ruin the enemy's party, that you can't hurry God. You just got to wait. And I declare to somebody that got faith that this is the summer, that everything you've been waiting on, everything you've been praying to get, everything you've been holding on to is going to hit your life before the year is over. Hallelujah. You may be seated.

21:55 Hallelujah. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, the one who has brought us thus far along the way, today we are going to bless acres of land, and I need you to hear this. today we are going to bless acres of land that black people own. all the runaway slaves ain't clapping but those of you who know that if God did it for my church he'll do it for me Today we're going to bless acres that black people own to build houses for black people to live in. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a radical revolutionary act.

22:58 White supremacy has been trying to keep you as a renter and not as an owner. The last thing white supremacists want is for black people to own their own property. We had more homeowners in 1968 than we do in 2026. But God is getting ready to turn the tables.

23:26 There have been so many attacks to stop you from home ownership. so much has been thrown at you to block you from getting to this moment. You've had to navigate predatory lending. You've had to jump over foreclosures. You had to wiggle your way around bankruptcy. You had to deal with income disparities. You had to deal with the absence of down payment obstacles. You had to confront the devaluation of property. You had to see right before your eyes gentrification. you've had to struggle with the weight of student loan debt and god said in spite of all of that you still gonna get it because every place the soul of your feet shall tread upon i'm getting ready to give it to you i dare somebody to just lift your right foot up in the air lift that right foot up in the air i need you to know you can be do something spiritual he said when you put your foot down you are letting the earth know i'm ready to be an owner i'm ready to go from the back of the line to the front of the line now put that foot down like you stepping on something lift that other foot up the reason why they don't want you to be a homeowner is home ownership is the cornerstone of generational wealth and they know if you got a house to leave your children your children will have a running head start for the generation that comes behind them.

25:06 When you put your foot down, your sons and your daughters will have property with their name on it. And you ought to shout unto God like God is able to do it. You may be seated. Hallelujah. I think you misunderstood what I said. That's why your shout is so tepid. Why your faith is so short-wired. I ain't talking about one house your children got to share. God, I can't hear nobody in here. You ought to be shouting that every single one of your children, by the time your life is over, will walk into a home you made possible for them.

26:04 That your grandchildren will be in a safe space because your name is going to outlive you. because every place the sole of your feet is tread upon. He's going to give it to you. In Joshua chapter 13, watch what happens. In Joshua chapter 13, the 12 tribes of Israel have converged and they have gone and made it into the promised land and they're starting to divide the land amongst the tribes of Israel.

26:44 And this culture and white supremacy wants you in Joshua chapter 13 to be locked in at verse 14. Pastor, what'd that say? Verse 14 is where the tribe of Levi, I'm in Joshua chapter 13, verse 14, The tribe of Levi got no land and had to eat off the offerings. The Levites, hear this, were the priest.

27:21 Here's where we argue with the text, ladies and gentlemen. They were holy but not homeowners. They're dividing out the land to the 12 tribes of Israel. When it gets to the tribe of Levi, he says, you will have access to the mercy, to the favor, to the love of God, but you will own no land.

27:52 And that's where they have tried to delude black Christians to be consecrated but never live in a cul-de-sac. They want you to have the fruit of the Spirit but not own a semi-detached. They want you to have a testimony but no townhouse. In my Father's house is many mansions. But here's what I needed you to know. I don't want to die to get in it. I want to be able to be above ground. Here it is to experience the love of God. They want black people to take a vow of poverty while they live in the penthouse. This week, Elon Musk became a trillionaire. While it is that the average worker doing 40 hours a week still does not have enough to provide for their family. something is wrong with us that our mindset has adopted an impoverished consciousness and think that our poverty is synonymous with our Christianity and it is only regulated to black people who were slaves the devil is a lie interestingly enough in chapter 14 in chapter 13, the tribe of Levi, they get holiness, but don't get any holdings. But in chapter 14, here's what I wanted you to see. In chapter 14, Judah got a whole bunch of land. I got two different tribes, Jonathan. I got the Levites who are the worshipers and they get access to God, but get no real estate.

29:43 but in chapter 14 I find the tribe of Judah who are the praisers and when they shout unto God they get more land than anybody they want us to just be worshipers who have a welfare mindset but i need you to be a praiser who understand that the possession is about to be mine now the difference ladies and gentlemen the difference is praise is an outward expression of adulation, where worship is an inward attitude of admiration. All right, let me see if I can help you real quick. Let me take a moment. Let me take a moment. Those of you, you ain't got to do it.

30:40 You ain't forced to do it, but just those of you who are compelled to do it, would you lift your hand right there? Would you lift your hand right there? And here it is. The Christmas song is, oh come let us adore him Christ the Lord here it is when I'm worshiping him I am not worshiping him for what he's done I am worshiping him just for who he is so I'm not asking for anything but just to be in his presence see some of you don't have the maturity to worship him because you only love God for what's in his hand but you don't know how to value God for what's in your heart. But those of you who like my grandmother would say, if he don't do nothing else, he done enough already. Would you just take 60 seconds and worship?

31:40 Hey. Come on. He is the great I am. He's Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning and the end. Come on, open up your mouth at the name of Jesus. Every knee must bow. Every tongue must confess. Come on, let me hear you worship him. Angels bow down before him. Heaven and earth must adore him. I get joy when I think about. Come on, let me hear you worship him. Hey, all day, all night, the angels are worshiping my God. Hallelujah. The angels circle around the throne night and day, and they only do to her glory. Hallelujah.

32:38 Come on open up your mouth and cry out glory. Hey, hey, thank you. With no music let me hear the sound of worshipers. Hamamasha. Hey. Hamasha. Thank you. I give you glory. Come on, I can't hear you. You only got five seconds left. Worship him.

33:08 Worship him. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon his shoulders. Worship him. Hallelujah.

33:29 Softly, sir. You may be seated. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Levites who are the worshipers. they were consecrated as the priest.

33:50 They had the charge of the maintenance of the temple. And the Bible records for us that their inheritance was the Lord. It's a healthy inheritance to know that the Lord is my portion. Hallelujah. He is the joy and the strength of my life. I'm looking for my church. In him I move. In him I live. In him I have my very being. I can't live without him. I can't move without him. From the rising of the sun to the going down of the sun. the Levites were worshipers and their portion was the inheritance of the glory of God.

34:47 When we turn the chapter and go to chapter 14, you find the tribe of Judah and the people from the tribe of Judah were not known for being worshipers. They were known for being praisers. Hallelujah. And when they praised God, they did it boisterously. I'd sing unto the Lord a new song. I'll cry out unto God with a voice of triumph. It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. See, you can't praise him if you don't have a memory. you got to remember what he's done for you and you got to thank him for waking me up this morning and clothing me in my right mind and putting food on my table here's what the old slaves would say covering me from danger see and unseen are y'all ready?

35:52 when I think of the goodness of Jesus and oh he's done for me hallelujahs you you can worship softly because it is a reflection of what's happening internally but when i praise him i get joy when i think about what he's done for me some of y'all can't praise him because you don't remember what he did for you i don't even need you to go all the way back here's where y'all better tear it down is you ought to thank god for what he did in the last two years you you ought to praise him right there hallelujah listen with no music i'm coming when i'm praising him i'm not praising him quietly because god has demonstrated his loving kindness is better than life for me.

36:52 Hallelujah. I can't praise him enough. If I had a thousand tongues, I would use all of them to praise him. If I had a thousand hands, I would use all of them to clap. If I had a thousand feet, I would use all of them to dance. But with the two hands that I have, with the two feet that I have, with the one mouth that I have, I will bless the Lord. at all time. It is praise Shep. Hallelujah.

37:30 Hallelujah. I'm coming. I feel something getting better to break. I told you this. I told you this before. I told you this before, but it's appropriate that I tell it to you again. I said it before, but I got to tell you this again. Did you know there is absolutely, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, there is absolutely no difference between an ambulance and a minivan. Did you know that? There's no difference between an ambulance and a minivan. They have the same suspension. They take the exact same amount of gas. They weigh almost the same.

38:24 The difference here, this, between a minivan and an ambulance, you ain't going to believe it. The difference between an ambulance and a minivan is a siren. When they are in traffic, when they are in traffic, the ambulance has no greater authority than the minivan. The only way the ambulance has authority is the ambulance has to turn its siren on. You get ready to miss it. When the ambulance turns its siren on, everything by law, everything by law that's in the way has got to move to the side.

39:12 I got the wrong church. Everybody on your row is a minivan until your siren comes on. when you open up your mouth everything that's in the way of you getting your home has got to be moved everything that's been blocking you from your next level is about to shift everything Hallelujah. You may be seated for the last time. For the last time, you may be seated. Hallelujah.

40:10 You may be seated for the last time. I don't think I'm asking for too much. I don't think I'm asking the Lord for too much. When we got here, we lost our name. Lost our identity. Didn't even know where you were from. A lot of you have done a genealogy test to figure out where your roots come from.

40:40 You have no idea that the overwhelming majority of us in this room are mixed with different tribes. Part of you is from the Congo. Part of you is from Ghana. Part of you is from Kenya. Part of you is from Cameroon. And I came to God on your behalf this week, telling God, I want every person under the sound of my voice to be mixed with something.

41:17 Hear this. I want every person who can hear my voice, you're going to be mixed with something. You're going to be part Levite. and part Judah you are a praiser and a worshiper God I can't hear nobody and because both of them is in me I want the Lord and I want to be a landlord y'all don't like this kind of preaching in here God says everything I hope y'all can handle it without tearing this church up everything your grandparents never got is getting ready to be released into your family bloodline. Everything they stop you from getting.

42:08 I'm mixing with something. And so there's maybe a sound in this room that's getting ready to throw the enemy off because he thought it was only one trait in you. Half the room is going to be Levites. The other half is going to be from Judah. I need praisers and I need worshipers. And God said, when you give me glory, land is about to be released to you. God, y'all didn't hear what I just said. I said, land is about to be released to you. Look at your neighbor and say, you ain't got a screen. Praise is what I do. but when I give God this glory know that I got a real estate deal on the line when I praise him I'll lie there'll be no background check there'll be no money dial I'm gonna bless my children my children's children's children my children's children's children are gonna be exceedingly abundantly beyond what I think what I dream what I imagine I don't need you to shout for a job shout for a business I don't want you to shout for a car shout for a dealership I don't want you to shout for no money I need you to shout for capital the joy of the Lord is your strength.

43:47 We got to get out of here. Would you grab your neighbor by the hand and say, neighbor, for 400 years, they tried to stop my family from owning property for 400 years. They tried to stop my bloodline from knowing who they are. But for the next four minutes, I'm going to give God glory to erase the last 400 years. You ought to shout right now like the curse.

44:28 The curse is broken. The curse is broken. The curse. Come on. There you go. Lift up that hand. Thank you, Lord Jesus. My late mother. Lift up that hand, my late mother. Grew up in the projects in New York.

45:41 Ten children in a two-bedroom apartment. My grandfather spent the majority of his life in a veterans hospital. My grandmother by herself was raising 10 kids in the projects.

46:04 245 North Broadway, cottage projects, third floor. My grandmother raising 10 kids in the projects, didn't lose one of them to jail. Didn't lose one of them to addiction. then lose one of them to the streets. Y'all ain't saying nothing in here.

46:36 God said, when you give me glory, whatever was the lowest point of your family narrative, I'm getting ready to turn it around for you. Come on, I can't hear nobody in here. You ought to be giving God glory that there's a future for you that your grandmother never dreamed about. Not one of those 10 children live in public housing.

47:10 Not one of those 10 children are on governmental assistance. It's the grace of God. I'm going to pray for you. I want you to lift up your hand. God, I'm not asking for a lot. I'm praying you do something for every worshiper with lifted hands. Thank you. that you'll give them the discipline, give them the focus, give them the fortitude to remember that property is a part of your promise.

47:44 Put something in them that they want more for their children than they have for themselves. Anoint their head with oil so that they will own property that they never live in. Y'all didn't hear what I just said. that they'll own property that they never sleep in. I pray, dear Lord, that you will put something in their son and in their daughter that they won't run after diminishing assets, but they'll be sober of mind to realize they are carrying the future of their family on their back and that great things are getting ready to happen. God, I need you to do it in the next two years because you saw how we struggled the last two years. And those of you who believe by faith that you ain't asking God for a lot, but you believe it is a reasonable portion, would you give God thanksgiving and honor right now?

48:46 Come on, shout like you see yourself moving into it. Shout like you believe that God's got great things in store for you. I'm going to just stand to your feet all over this room. Stand to your feet. the two most prominent contributors to the being unhoused in America. The two most prominent contributors of being unhoused in America, you ain't going to believe it, number one is mental health for veterans. Number two, you are not going to believe it, the second highest reason for being unhoused in America is the fault of student loans.

49:41 And I'm believing that God is going to close that gap for every person who's in this room. Y'all don't believe that? Ladies and gentlemen, I don't want you to be spiritually unhoused. I don't want you to be spiritually uncovered. I want you to know that you are connected to a place that believes in your future, wants to build your faith, and wants to strengthen your family. I'm telling you, if you come in here, this ain't going to be the slave religion. this is going to set you free from everything that you've been in bondage to.

50:27 I'm believing that God is going to do it. No smoking mirrors, no moving other peanut shells. I want to be up front with you. Listen to me. I wanted to tell you so you didn't have to guess. I'm telling you up front. I want to be your pastor for the rest of your life. I don't want you having to look for anywhere else to go. I want new birth to be your church because I believe that you're going to grow. I believe that you're going to be developed. I believe you're going to be transformed. Hear this. And I want heaven to be your home. Jesus said I came that you might have life but not no regular life I want you to have life and to have it more abundantly how many of you believe you should have an abundant life if that's who you are that's where you are you saying pastor i feel locked in i feel connected i feel like this is what my soul has been looking for i want you to come meet me at this altar please you need to join the church this morning i need you to come as quickly as you possibly can some father needs this connection some young person needs this connection Oh.

51:47 Y'all ain't shouting good enough for me. Would y'all shout for this father coming? Honored to have you. Thank you. I hope you are energized that you don't need an energy drink. What you just heard should have you off and running, chasing your dreams, pursuing your purpose, and answering your call. If this was a blessing, share it with somebody else. Don't be selfish. This is what God gave you so that you can be a blessing to somebody who needs it worse.