I'm Trying to Stay Afloat

0:00 Brace yourself and buckle up. You are about to hear a life-changing, history-making, world-defining message from the New Birth Podcast. Tell everybody you know, things will never be the same. Genesis chapter 6 verse 17 and 18. Genesis 6, 17 and 18. Is the couple here, Brandon, where's the couple that got married Friday? Are y'all in here? huh yeah no they leave for the honeymoon tomorrow amen okay they slip in okay thank you genesis 6 verse 17 and 18 no they told me they were coming now y'all looking at me get cocked out, huh? Genesis 6, verse 17 and 18. Come on, let's read together with uplifted voices.

1:06 I'm going to bring floodwaters on the earth. Amen.

1:29 You may be seated in the presence of the Lord, but I'll establish my covenant with you. You're going to enter the ark and your whole family is going to be safe. I want to preach for a little while today using as a subject, I'm trying to stay afloat. I'm trying to stay afloat. If you feel that thing right in your spirit, would you just shout out loud, I'm just trying to stay afloat.

1:58 I'm trying to stay afloat. Have you heard about the time the top-level executive participated in Bring Your Daughter to Work Day? All was going well at the start, but my midday, his daughter started getting antsy, and important calls were coming in. In an attempt to keep her busy, he found a map of the world in a magazine and cut it into pieces. He laid the pieces across the boardroom table and challenged her to put it back together while he went down the hall to get some work done. A few minutes later, she knocked on his door and beckoned him to come see something. Exasperated, he followed her into the boardroom, and in his amazement, he saw that the makeshift puzzle was completed.

3:09 He asked her, how did you figure it out so quickly? To which she replied, I noticed when you took the page out of the magazine, on the back of the map of the world was a picture of a man and a woman. And I thought to myself, if I can put the man and the woman back together, I can pull the whole world together. For 400 years, this nation has been trying to tear the black family apart. From the middle passage to slavery, through the prison pipeline, the forbidding of fathers from public housing, to the funneling of drugs into the community.

4:02 yet by the grace of God a measure of our families are still intact. I need you to do me a favor. Can you just give God glory for your family? As bad as things are in the world today, we're starving babies in Gaza, homeless veterans in America, conflict in the Congo, pedophilia in the presidency, unrest in the Ukraine, strife in the Sudan, hazards in Haiti, it all still pales in comparison to what's taking place in Genesis chapter 6. Verse 5 says, every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was evil at that time.

5:03 That's what Genesis 6 verse number 5 says. Every inclination of the human heart had become evil. notice it says every heart became evil except Noah's brothers and sisters comrades and friends don't take lightly with the evil that you have encountered in your life it is an act of God with all of the evil you've endured that you still have a good heart you've been lied on but you still got a good heart you've been abandoned still got a good heart you've been abused still got a good heart been neglected still got a good heart been taken for granted still got a good heart you've been deprived of emotion but you still got a good heart you've been traumatized and unsupported but you still got a good heart i don't know where you are in this room, you don't have a whole lot of money, but you still got a good heart. Don't have a whole lot of fancy degrees on the wall or fancy cars in the driveway, but you still got a good heart. If there's anybody left that still got a good heart to them, would you give God glory that your heart is still in place?

6:28 The Lord was so disgusted with how everybody was acting that he wanted to press the refresh button and start the earth all over again. God of our salvation, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, what Albert Einstein calls the unmoved mover, he wanted to start the earth over again. and some of us need to take a page from the book that God has written himself but you're too afraid to start over he wasn't afraid to deconstruct what he created when you see that stuff is toxic you don't have to stay in it if it's imbalanced you don't have to be loyal to it And if your family is dysfunctional, God is going to help you to level set it.

7:31 You don't have to go along to get along. Today is the day God is going to start your family structure life all over again. I don't know where you are, but there's some of us that need a do over button. We need a freshening of what it is that we're in right now. God was sick of everybody. don't act like you ain't never been there god was sick of everybody y'all y'all ain't ever just been sick of everybody their breathing makes you sick y'all ain't saying that the sound of their voice makes you sick the way that they eat makes you sick the way that they sit up in your living room makes you sick the way that they laying up in the bed like they ain't got nothing to do makes you sick. The way that they ask you for something else makes you sick.

8:28 God was sick of everybody except Noah because he managed to keep his heart and his hands clean. The Bible says Noah was blameless. That's what the Bible says is Noah was blameless, but the original Hebrew word was not blameless. It was uncontaminated. What a remarkable example Noah was for his children, that he was uncontaminated by the culture. Their father wasn't acting like he was one of their little friends. The parents weren't twerking on TikTok.

9:19 Wasn't trying to hit a lick. They didn't go to more parties than they went to PTA. The parents weren't dressing down for the bus down. Y'all ain't saying nothing. Parents have got to be an example and not the status quo. You walk up in the school, the teachers don't even know who is the child and who is the parent. Y'all ain't saying nothing. Have some distinction about yourself. Have some honor about yourself. Have some dignity about yourself. Have some love for yourself. Don't walk up to that school like you just got out of the bed. put some lotion on your face and put some appropriate clothes on you got to have some honor for yourself You are expected to be the exception and to model ebony excellence.

10:27 The theme for 100 black men is that they cannot be it if they do not see it. Stop impairing your children for mediocrity. telling them you didn't do math well and you didn't graduate. Your children are supposed to go further than you. Don't bring your children down to your failure. Raise your children to go beyond your success. Noah was instructed to build an ark because the world as he knew it was going to end. And it was going to end because of unrelenting raindrops. It was a massive undertaking and Noah had no experience. He had no expertise, but he trusted the sovereign one.

11:27 Martin Luther King Jr. said that faith is taking the first step when you haven't seen the staircase. You remember when it is that Jesus went to a wedding in John chapter 2 and they ran out of wine and his mother ran up to him and said, we got a problem. There is no wine. And Mary said to all of the catering staff, whatever he tells you to do, then just do it. I got to ask you a question that does not necessitate you turn into your neighbor because I ain't talking to them. I'm talking to you. What dangerous undertaking has your family seen you step out on? has your family seen you take God for his word they sing you talk about faith but have they seen you exhibited they've seen you worried they've seen you stressed but they have they seen you take a leap of faith what have you shared with your family that you are believing God for that if God doesn't get involved that you're going to be embarrassed and it's going to fall apart.

12:41 You got to let your children know that what's getting ready to happen is not going to be from osmosis. It is going to happen because God got favor on the life of this family and I am trusting him for unusual exploits. Do you believe God or you don't? Do you trust God for something unusual? I hope somebody threw your child in the car today and said, let's drive to new birth. I don't know what God got in mind, but I believe God's got something for you. Because I done prayed too hard, cried too long, walked around too much to let my child end up as a status quo. And as a statistic, the devil is a lie. No child of mine is going to be in the street. No child of mine is going to be running the street.

13:35 No child of mine is going to be selling drugs. But every child that comes out of my womb is going to change the world and do something of impact. Because God made me a promise. have you shared with your family the vision for your house have you shared the prophecy that God told you about your children are you going along idly just hoping for the best are you just praying with your family around food or do you pray for faith that God is going to help us to build something. 87% of black businesses never become second generation because the children are not interested and are not invested.

14:34 You have given your children all of the fruit without any of the labor. Kwaisi and Fumé in his book, No Free Ride, said we've given our children everything they wanted and forgot to give them what they needed. Come on, y'all ain't saying nothing to me. You have got to stop raising children who operate with white privilege with no black consciousness. so you are raising these soft suburban entitled kids who got flat screen televisions in their bedroom but the negroes can't conjugate verbs they got a thousand dollar cell phones and don't know how to reduce fractions they got expensive tennis shoes and you don't even make the little negro go out for the team stop making your children soft because it's an evil world out there and they're not prepared for it Scholars surmise.

15:52 Scholars surmise that the project that God gave Noah took 50 years to complete. That wasn't a weekend. It took Noah 50 years to build that ark. years of cutting years of measuring years of nailing years of shellacking years of adjusting they must see you work so that they can understand your weight In the Old Testament, the prophet told the widow woman, bring your two sons in the room and shut the door. Let them see you poor. If they don't see your exertion, they'll confuse you for an ATM.

16:52 Come on, y'all ain't saying nothing to me. Those of us who are 80s babies, 70s babies, mama used to tell you now when we go in that store don't ask me for nothing come on y'all ain't saying nothing you got to tell them don't ask me for nothing because this is the third rent is due utilities is due car note is due insurance is due student loans are due y'all ain't saying nothing your children have no mind frame for a budget because you have not sat down with your family and let them know we can't do what everybody else is doing because we are working on something. Those of y'all that are working for something and believe you got to leave something for your next generation, give God glory right now. You don't need to be the fly mama with the Birkin bag, with red bottom shoes, a Louis bag and a Gucci belt.

17:57 You got to make some sacrifices and delay some stuff and let your children understand I didn't send you to school for a fashion show. I didn't send you to school to be famous or to be popular. You are there to get your work done and to make a difference because I want you to have the opportunities that were never afforded to me. I declare over every person that is working on an idea and a business plan, God said when this gets off the ground, every generational curse is getting ready to be broken. And when you get this started, nobody in your bloodline will suffer again. He had to work for 50 years and did it in front of his children. I'm going to say the quiet part out loud.

18:55 Your work ethic is your line of credit. I done lost half the crowd because some of y'all think shouting and clapping and dancing going to give you the breakthrough. It's going to help. But Negro, you got to get up and work. You got to get up and make a difference and at least put forth some effort. You have to teach your children the discipline and the devotion to details. everybody in the room, repeat after me. Excellence is connected to details. If one board on the ark was not nailed down properly, y'all just missed it.

19:52 If one board on the ark was not nailed down properly, water would have seeped in and the whole family would have gone down you have got to require excellence from your children so that mediocrity is not acceptable in this house I expect the spirit of excellence come on somebody shouted out loud I expect the spirit of excellence say it again I expect the spirit of Everything you do must have the spirit of excellence. If you turning that paper in with your name on it. It's got to have the spirit of excellence.

20:55 I remember one time, one time, it was just one time. One time I got suspended. I didn't get suspended one time. This is one of the times I got suspended. One time I got suspended, my dad came up to the school and put me up against a whole wall.

21:25 I don't know if I was more scared, he was getting ready to punch me, or that one of my classmates was going to see me. But I was having an anxiety attack. That's when kids used to hyperventilate. come on y'all and uh he he looked at me with me up against the wall with one fist hold my shirt up against the wall and said what is your name i said jamal he said no what is your name i said jamal he said no what's your what's your whole name I said Jamal Harrison Brian he said yes when you walk in this class all of your ancestors come on I can't hear nobody that got your name are looking to see how you gonna represent our name in this class your child walks in that class they are not going by themselves they're going for the nameless and faceless ancestors who it was illegal for them to read and illegal for them to write and illegal for them to hold a pencil or to have a book and you're gonna come in here acting like a clown your ancestry is dependent on you What is your name?

22:56 I preferred my dad dropping me off at school. That was my preference. I like my dad dropping me off. I didn't like my mother dropping me off at school. My mother was an intercessor. she gonna wait till we pull in front of the school and then start praying you could have started this prayer two lights ago she wait till we pull up in front of the school with my friends banging on the window waiting for me to come out i'm praying with one eye open telling them get back get back Not right now. My mother is praying.

23:49 Then my mother would do this invariably before I could get out the car. Would tell me and Tamar, lean up. We both sitting in the back. Lean up. I tell Tamar, you go first. I would lean up and my mother would pull out a flask of oil. put it on my sister's forehead y'all ain't saying nothing they said Jamal lean up I lean up she put oil on my forehead I'm embarrassed because I'm going into school looking shiny come on y'all didn't grow up with Vaseline come on I need some real people here it is and I didn't understand it then I was embarrassed I was ashamed but what I didn't realize is when my mother was covering me true Startship Netflix encounter listen music 세요 segment surf labeling Let's not forget, Noah is building something that took 50 years, and nobody would lend assistance.

25:19 Behind his back, they all laughed at Noah. They scoffed him. They pushed him off. They undermined him. Wrote blogs about him. But he kept building anyway. Show your children it's alright to stand out even if they don't fit in. I'm waiting for y'all to help me. Show your children uniqueness is your secret sauce. It's okay to color outside of the lines and dance to the beat of your own drum. Miles Davis said you'll never find greatness until you're comfortable in aloneness. Some of your children are brilliant and bright, but they have no peers. Y'all ain't saying nothing because the rest of the children don't think as advanced as your child does.

26:19 Ain't nothing wrong with that child. That just child needs the space to be able to spread their wings and think differently and do differently. You ought to be proud that you got a child that don't dress like everybody else. You got to be proud you got a child that got different hobbies than whatever people got hobbies in. You ought to love the uniqueness that's in that child.

26:46 Nobody would lend no assistance. You got to tell your child, you are a creative and not an imposter. You were born an original. You cannot die a copy. 33% of Gen Z in a recent poll, 33% of Gen Z asked, were asked what do they want to do in their careers and 33% of them said they wanted to be YouTubers. Y'all done go quiet. No parents clapping. No parents cheering. Because I'm preaching to parents who don't understand more money is going to be made on the internet than in sports and entertainment combined. The internet is about to produce more millionaires than anybody who is in the record industry.

27:45 Instead of laughing at what you don't understand, you better figure out how do I support them. Come on, I can't hear nobody. How can I get behind them? Even if I'm the only one that subscribes to their page at this level, I want it on record that I believed in them when they had no following, but they had an idea.

28:09 You got to sit down with it. Sit down with your children. Sit down with your family. and understand that nobody, nobody has a record of the dialogue that took place when God shut the door on them in the ark. Noah in the ark with his sons and his son's wife and his wife and there is no recording and I wanted to be clear because I'm mindful that we're living in a misogynistic age and era I wanted to be clear do not think that Noah's wife while he was building the ark was baking cookies Let's go. it got quiet right through here Noah's wife had a hammer right alongside of him and said we are building this thing together come on I'm talking to married couples in here you got to figure out you got to figure out what can we build as a family what can we build as a married couple what can we build so that we can shift this family into a whole nother position.

29:28 And whatever it takes, whatever it takes, we got to do it together. Noah had to sit with his children, his sons and his daughter-in-law while they're on the boat and talk to them about the wild animals that were on board. Your problem, ladies and gentlemen, is you raising children that's as green as Kermit the Frog. you still think you live in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.

30:01 It's a lot of wild animals that are around your children. I better drop that right here. I said it's a whole lot of wild animals that are around your children and you got to talk to them and warn them about the animals that are around. You got to warn them that it's vultures around. Vultures, people who don't mind seeing them die and seeing them suffer. You got to tell them they got to be selective about the company that they hang out with. Because some of them don't mind going to jail. Some of them don't mind getting shot. Some of them don't mind being in rehab. Let them know you cannot be around vultures. people who will eat off of your bad decision people who will take delight over your poor choices people who will celebrate you slipping into being average warn your children about vultures but don't just warn your children about vultures you gotta warn them about snakes come on y'all ain't saying nothing i'm preaching to those of y'all that was raised by a black mama and your black mom would tell you know that ain't your friend come on i can't hear nobody you know they jealous of you you you gotta be careful of snakes some people just want to be around you to get access to what it is that you have they see the favor that is on your life you better be careful a lot of snakes You got to warn your sons.

31:50 Done got quiet. warn your sons, sit down with your sons and tell your sons, look at Travis and Shannon. y'all done got mad if ain't nobody else gonna say it i'ma say it you gonna lose everything playing yourself y'all gonna be quiet y'all better sit with me if you don't see the beauty in your own mama you don't see the beauty in your own sister i can't hear nobody if you don't see the beauty in the women that raised you there's something wrong with you You gotta learn how to identify the greatness that's in you. I'm not raising you to be a success and then you walk away from black women. Warn your daughter that on board are dogs.

32:59 There are some people that just want to hump on them. but have no interest in who they really are. Come on, I can't hear nobody. You better tell your daughter, don't you send them pictures. Don't you open up nothing on OnlyFans. They can get that from anybody, but as for my daughter, you better put some clothes on and hold your head up and realize I'm raising you to be a queen. You ain't no jump off of no side chick. I wish you would. I'm raising you to change the world. Warn your children that it's rats on the boat.

33:49 People that will sell you out at any cost just to get ahead. They will stab you in your back. They'll smile in your face. Come on, 70s, all the while. Come on. They're trying to take your place. You better be careful of rats that are on your boat. They got on the boat, ladies and gentlemen, and then it began to rain.

34:18 It began to flood. It began to storm. Ladies and gentlemen, and none of the family jumped off the boat. I'm going to say it to you. You may not like it, but I got to give it to you. Every family is going to live through a storm. Every family is going to go through a flood. Every family is going to go through something that might tear you apart. But when you get in the covenant of God, you got to let earth, wind and fire know. Come what may. I will trust the Lord with all my heart and lean not to my own understanding. Some of y'all are phony and plastic. But if your family is going through a flood right now and you need God to pull your family through it, I dare you to lift up your hand and open up your mouth. Lord, the storm is passing over.

35:15 Come on, lift that hand. Your family is going through a flood. Somebody in your family is sick. Somebody in your family has lost their focus. Somebody in your family can't find a job. Somebody in your family is relapsing on drugs and alcohol. Somebody in your family got a court case that's coming up. Somebody in your family is going through a divorce. somebody in your family is raising somebody with special needs somebody in your family been drafted to be a caregiver but I need you in this moment while you're going through the flood I need you to lift that hand and just begin to worship him like the storm is passing over Maya Angelou said every cloud runs out of rain the storm is passing over I don't know where you are in this room but God sent you in this place today just to hear from the voice of heaven whatever flood your family is in the storm He's passing over.

36:35 You may be seated. The storm is passing. the storm is getting ready to pass the road is rough the going's been tough the hills have been hard to climb but I started out a long time ago and there's no doubt in my mind I decided to make Jesus my choice I got 70 people in this room the only thing they are trying to do is stay afloat they're dealing with a rebellious teenager they're dealing with children who got the spirit of disrespect come on I can't hear nobody you're in a match where they're withholding affection you're connected to somebody who doesn't know the spirit of forgiveness God said the flood is getting ready to come to an end I got good news for you I want your hand in somebody else's hand.

37:47 I got good news and I'll close here. It may not do anything for you, but it's going to do something for somebody whose hand you're holding. it's going to do something for somebody whose hand you're holding it's going to do something at the end of the flood I need you to pull on that neighbor's hand we don't shout about this stuff no more I know this is old timey but I hope it resonates in your soul at the end of the day as I believe for your family by the end of the year just like Noah's family the entire family here's your shout is going to be saved come on I can't hear nobody it ain't going to just be you the entire family what I wanted you to see I'm almost finished is God saw Noah's heart but because they were related to him they were able to get a benefits package that the same favor that was on Noah now got on the children I can't hear nobody I don't know where y'all are But God said if you give me glory whatever I promised your mama

39:22 Whatever covered it. I made with your dad that same grace I got one last thing. I got one last thing that I need to say to parents. Everybody else, you can check out for two minutes. I got to say this to parents, and I hope you explode in gratitude and thanksgiving. Because Noah's heart was right, and he had relationship with God, I need y'all to hear this all of his children y'all don't know when to scream here it is all of his children end up here's your shout in healthy marriages oh come on I can't hear nobody you ought to be giving God glory that God already got a spouse for your daughter he already got a spouse for your son and whoever comes in alignment with your children whoever comes in alignment with your children are going to have to have relationship with God you're going to know that they got a relationship with God because they're not going to mind helping to build something lift up that hand I'm going to pray for you I'm finished I'm finished I prophetically declare and decree that your family is going to stay afloat The enemy been trying to drown the whole family.

41:14 but your whole family is coming out on top. All three of Noah's children get married. And here's what you need to give God glory for. And stay married. you're clapping your hands because the spirit of divorce has just left your family you're clapping your hands because broken marriages will not be a part of your children's legacy something significant, something meaningful is getting ready to happen. I want you to lift up your hands.

42:07 It may seem inordinate because your child is 12. Your child is 15. Your child is 9. But I pray in this moment for your grandchildren. I pray for your God children. I don't know how many of y'all are shouting with it. I pray for your nieces and for your nephews.

42:32 I'm still not hearing the sound I want. Maybe y'all are shouting on this. I'm praying for your best friends, kids. God will have them to build something meaningful. He'll have them build something significant.

42:54 They'll be able to scale something you never fathomed. I pray that God will put them in healthy relationships. I'm praying by faith that you will live long enough to see your children healthy and thriving. you will live long enough to see your entire family saved and in the service of the Most High God. Those of you who want that to be a reality for your family, would you give God thanksgiving now? You want that to be a reality.