Pastor Ralph Douglas West - Bring The Children To Me | Mark 9:14-29

0:01 Today the Lord has made we rejoice and we are glad in it. Amen. Be glorified. Let's celebrate our children and our young people today. and especially the moms and dads that have taken your children's spiritual growth very seriously. Yeah, I really want to thank you for that. I said to some of our leaders when I came out, I said, that's all we have is three or four singers this morning. And they said to me, Pastor Wes, the young people don't want to come to church anymore. So I want to thank you mothers and fathers for those who are here today. I want to thank you for that.

1:01 I really mean that. Bring the children to me. Mark chapter 9. Let me read for you in your hearing an interesting episode that takes place between the pinnacle of the Mount of Transfiguration and the base valley of depletion and desperation. Beginning at verse 9. Mark writes for us these words about Jesus.

1:41 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. what are you arguing with them about he asked a man in the crowd answered teach I brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech and whenever it seizes him it throws him to the ground he foams at the mouth gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid I ask your disciples to drive out the spirit but they couldn't you unbelieving generation Jesus replied how long shall I stay with you how long shall I put up with you bring the boy to me they brought him and when the spirit saw that it was Jesus it immediately threw the boy into convulsion he fell to the ground rolled around foaming at the mouth and Jesus asked the boy's father how long has he been like this from childhood he answered it's often thrown him into the fire even the water to kill him but if you can do anything take pity on us and help us.

3:20 If you can, said Jesus, everything is possible for one who believes. Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. and when Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene he rebuked the impure spirit you death and mute spirit I command you come out of him and never enter him again the spirit shrieked convulsed him violently and it came out the boy looked so much like a corpse that many said he's dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet and the boy stood up. Now after Jesus had gone indoors his disciples asked him privately why couldn't we drive him out? He replied this kind can come out only by prayer.

4:25 This is the word of God. Amen. Bring the children, bring them to me. I don't think you have to be convinced now that after mountain peak experiences, valleys follow. Transfiguration and now defeat and desperation. the A team had been on the mountain and now they are coming down the mountain and the B team is having a dispute with the religion scholars the scene is set Jesus and the disciples are approaching the disciples are in a debate and there's a father who's crying for the mercy for his son.

5:34 That's the scene. Doesn't look very different from our scene if you use a little imagination. You say, that appears to be our predicament also. We worship on the pinnacle on Sunday. We leave and go back into the world and there in the valley. And you're always engaging a parent that is desperately, hopefully pleading for the compassion for their children. Not different from the world that we live in.

6:11 There's a boy who has been seized by a demonic spirit. The NIV says it's a mute spirit, something that has rendered this boy incapable of speaking and hearing. Now this is not a new scene for the New Testament. In Jesus' day, he frequently encountered spirits like this. In fact, these spirits have a connection, demonic spirits. These are not to be confused with the cinematic portrayals that we see on the screens. This is a spirit that has taken control of the life of this boy. It's more than just he can't speak and he can't hear. It violently throws him around to the point of destroying his life.

7:10 The Germans have a combination word they call zeitgeist, spirit of the age when you put them together. And when you think of life that way, you said, we got some evil spirits in our streets too. You don't have to look far. In preparation to come here, I called my research assistant Google, and she was helping me put texture to this text. I asked her, go back to January and just cite for me violence that have happened in America. in January began with the three children that were mysteriously killed in Houston I asked her to narrow her search just to Houston into the Harris County and month after month there was those kinds of sightings in California I'm stepping now out of Harris County, a father who goes into a church, kills his three daughters, and then dies by his own hand.

8:23 I'm crossing the water now. 22 mysterious deaths and funerals in South Africa. I called some of my South African pastor friends to ask them what were they doing and was it anything that we could do to help them during this. Time of the hand, these deaths, spirits, is what I'm getting to.

8:49 So when you read this, this is not one of those books where you approach intellectually and say, I don't believe people can believe something like this. Well, when you understand how evil works in the world, there are a lot of people that have been possessed. We've heard people try to interpret these scenes over the last weeks.

9:19 Killings in Uvalde, killings in Buffalo, New York, killings, killings. Psychologists and psychiatrists have weighed in on mental behavior and I appreciate their expertise. We're opening soon a center just to care for people like that in our community. Yeah, be open and you'll hear more about it in the days to come. I appreciate that. I appreciate the sociologists take on it as they study human behavior culturally. Social anthropologists as they search back on how men and women have developed and progressed. But then there's another side that nobody seems to invite us in on the conversation. When we speak it's almost dismissed as being mythical and you know it's just too spiritual well when you get through with everything else there's a sin problem at the core of what is happening in the hearts of our people oh I didn't expect much response from the church it's a word that we don't use anymore and we've tried to chalk everything up to mental behavior or misbehavior. Well this boy didn't have epilepsy that was not his problem. I'm aware as Mark is of that day that that type of condition can lead to trauma and chemical imbalance in the brain and cause mysterious misbehavior but that's not what Mark writes about he's saying I'm not entering into somebody else's sphere and domain of study this boy has a spirit an evil spirit a demonic spirit and the goal of that spirit is to mar his life you've been created in the image and the likeness

11:33 of God to glorify God that's what the young man was trying to get us to sing along with I watched you to get us to say we glorify him you know hard to give glory when we want all the glory isn't it and so the demonic role is to mar the life of the people and so when Jesus gets to the scene and people are amazed at his coming there and they rush him Jesus overlooks the excitement of the people to see and receive him and he said what are y'all arguing about what's the debate about pastor West says that it's not a problem of psychology only and anthropology only and we say that it's not a spiritual problem it's just a cultural problem it's environmental and we're having a hard time hearing what you have to say because the world says that that's not their problem Thank you.

12:42 and Jesus simply says bring the boy to me because the father is in on this he said well I brought him to your disciples they couldn't do nothing about him You see the problem with this story? this is not the first time the disciples have engaged demonic activity remember now come on you've been to some kind of bible study once in 35 years haven't you that this is not the first time that these disciples have heard this they have been commissioned to expel demons to exercise demons and they had done that. Jesus had given them authority over the demons. Wait, this is chapter one of Mark chapter, what happened in chapter five? They were with Jesus when he got rid of not one demon, not 10 demons, not a hundred demons, but a thousand demons. So they knew that Jesus could exercise power over demons and that power that they had Jesus had invested in them and now they are impotent against the problem of the demonic.

14:09 and so the father brought his son to where he knew he could get healing and that was at the church now there's something interesting in this i don't know what the spirit is in here today i i feel a weight i don't know what you weigh down about the lord woke you up that ought to be enough to be happy about There's a change. What is the title? I don't like preaching like this when I have to engage you where you seem so disengaged.

14:53 What does the man call him? He called him teacher. Now don't forget he called him that. now the word they normally use for Jesus when they refer to him is the word Lord but now the man calls him teacher this is important now when he calls him teacher the disciples are arguing with the religion scholars the scribes and the man addresses Jesus on the same level as the religion scholars he's no more than a good teacher and said, teacher, we brought him.

15:41 Jesus said, well, bring him to me. And then Jesus asked a question. He says, how long has it been like this since he's been a boy? That's a long time to have worked with this type of condition. and the disciples were powerless to do anything about it and the man brought him and boy had been like that for a long time and how did jesus answer that he says oh faithless generation not a demonic and evil and filth in the life of a person all of these are problems but they're not problems so big that God has not been able to handle them he has already proven by this time that he can address all of these issues.

16:45 Leprosy, blindness, deafness, muteness, people that needed new legs, he gave it to them. So this wasn't beyond the realm. Notice what he says, oh, faithless generation. Evil is evil, but evil is not the big problem in the story. the demonic is the demonic but the devil ain't the problem in the story Jesus had on occasion dealt with the demonic when he tried to sidestep Jesus purpose in in in the inauguration of his ministry when the enemy tried to sidestep Jesus and say uh turn stone in the bread Jesus said I'm not the bread king man doesn't live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God I'll give you all of what the world has to offer.

17:49 Say, listen. Listen, you can't tempt me. I'm the maker of all creation. I'm the Lord over what you're trying to lease out or lease back to me. So this ain't the problem. The devil ain't the problem. The sickness ain't the problem or the dumbness and the muteness is not the problem. The problem is bigger than that. He says, my problem with you ain't the devil, it's your unbelief. You don't believe. Bring the boy to me. And the man does. how long has it been like this since the boy and what did this spirit do to him oh it throws him around it convulses him the whole period uh description of these words and is really to point out that this demon is killing this boy it's a slow death Thank you.

19:10 If you ever had a loved one who's battled with drug addiction or alcoholism or some control in their life, you've seen what it looks like for somebody to be dying right before your eyes. you know when you say and you lovingly said but it that you ought to just stop if they could trust me they would may not be helping nobody in this room but I know somebody that will listen to this sermon today that I'm helping them because there are people that are grappling with this and they say well you know you ought to just stop consider your wife consider your children consider your husband consider your job your future you ought to just stop no you can just stop because they've heard somebody stand up and say to them you know you can just stop but I'm here to tell you if they could just stop they would and there are some demons and there are some spirits and there are some things that's beyond your human ability to control you need a power outside of yourself to step into your situation to make a difference.

20:32 So the big problem is not the devil. You don't believe. And so Jesus said We'll bring your children to me you ought to bring the children to Jesus when you consider what they are overrun with and I listen I know who I'm preaching to I know most of you have made it and you've done well hallelujah for that you know you don't have to come walking up to me write me a letter where I've never had this problem with my children my child ain't never well that's you that's not the problem where most people live. You know, you sit back arrogantly like you're untouched. And that's good if you haven't been. but I'm here to tell you, you can do it all right, and evil can still invade your ranks.

21:33 I'm just trying to encourage somebody here, and so Jesus said, bring the boy to me, because in many times in the course of a week, the only word that a child may get is what they get in the community called the church. They get words everywhere else, but the only word of God that they might receive might be when you bring them right here you with them to hear what God has to say bring the child to me how long has he been like this from childhood what does this spirit do to this child it makes him act out beyond what they were created to be I think this is one of the beautiful statements in all of the scripture and that is throughout all the Bible all the New Testament is that when God looks at us, he never sees us as we are. He always sees us for what we can become. Preach Ralph West. You missed that.

22:35 Tony Campola helped me with that. He said that when he taught at Eastern College that he was talking about how Jesus met a prostitute and a young man said to him, Jesus never met a prostitute. And he opened up the Bible and showed him the different places where Jesus met a prostitute and the boy said, you're reading it wrong. Jesus met What looked like a prostitute What he really did was Called out What somebody could become You didn't get that When God meets you Whatever your condition is He's looking beyond that Not for who you are But for who you can become I'm glad of that I'm glad of that bring the child to me I can see beyond where the child is to what the child can become what is the problem?

23:48 you don't believe Lord now notice I said pay attention to he said teacher he said the father said I believe but help my unbelief that's a powerful statement he's on the fringe he hasn't come all the way in yet he's on the fringe siehen I believe but help my unbelief there's always that dichotomy of belief and disbelief Frederick Buechner the Presbyterian theologian said once that doubt is the faith in the pants the ants in the pants of faith that doubt is the ants in the pants you know what ants in the pants will do. It'll make you move.

24:47 And there are times that when we don't believe, it's what moves us to believe. I know you can, but help me believe that you can. I know you can, but help me in my unbelief to believe that you can. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. I'm done now. and so Jesus did something. He rebuked The spirit said get out and don't come back That's the story Now when the story opens It speaks of the teacher On the same level as the scribes and then it moves to the disciples and their inability to make a difference.

25:48 but it ends with the real teacher, the Lord, who has all power to expel whatever problem has arrested us. I'm not coming through clear today. I'm going to have to go back and work on this. You see, when it first starts,

26:12 they're bringing the problem to those that are powerless to make a difference. There are some things that the scripture now is pointing to that regardless of what your credentials, what your position in the church is, there are some things that only God is able to do. He's the one who has the strength to make the difference. And then when it was all over with, that boy was left like he was dead. You see that?

26:52 That spirit leaves. And you would think if the evil moves out the house, the boy would be up on his feet. But the spirit leaves out and leave the boy like he's dead. and from sinking sand he lifted me with loving hand he lifted me from the shade of night to the plane of life praise the Lord he lifted me and that's what happens when God gets a hold of us, he's the one that reaches down and picks us up. It's also a preview of a coming attraction that all of us are dead in our trespasses and in our sins, but when we meet Christ Jesus and he reaches down to lift us up, he gives us new life and new insight and new determination.

28:03 and Jesus says, don't you come back. Now that one last scene in this, the disciples want to ask Jesus something, but they don't want to be heard in front of the people. And when they get behind closed doors, they just want to know this, why we couldn't do that? Because you had given us the power to do it and we had done it on other occasions. So why couldn't we deal with this one?

28:38 And Jesus had to remind him, said, now all those others I gave you with, you know, authority to do, and you did that. But this one here takes place only through prayer. When you bring your children to Christ and you come to him, pray with them sometime. Stop trying to sound like a professional prayer and just open up your mouth and talk to God. Now I'm serious about that. You hear people when you put them up, they just start trying to sound like something that they sound. You got a headache, what would you say? My head aches. Your foot hurt, what would you say? My foot hurt.

29:32 But when you go to God with a headache, say, Lord, I got a headache. My foot hurt. Just saying. Because where there's prayer, there's power. That's what happened one Sunday morning when the organist took the stand trying to play and nothing came out of the box. And while they were praying, the janitor had the good sense to look around and notice somebody had kicked the socket from the plug. And he just plugged in the organ and wrote a note and says when the prayer is ended, the organ will play. And there comes a time when you get plugged in, God will give you the power that you need. Let me say it again. God will give you the power in your marriage with your children, with your spouse, with your life, with your career, if you get plugged in.

30:34 Why we couldn't do it, Lord? He said simply because there are some things you can't reason away. You can't debate away. There are some things that you have to pray away. And if you pray, God will give you the power. Come on, let's pray together this morning. in fact I said I was going to do this and I'm going to do it this way today real quick you got to move quick now just all my children and youth that's in the room and if your mom and dads are with them you know but if not all my children and you just come on hurry up real fast you got good strong legs and come on down here to the altar with me this morning thank you yeah just stand wherever you can get there you go welcome come on Don't have to come in the water, just come on around, wherever you can get, thank you.

31:48 I want to pray for you today.

32:09 Let me tell you what happened to me. I wanted to get a young preacher to come preach today because I remember when I was a teenager, I know it's hard for you to believe that I was a teenager once, but I actually was a teenager once. I used to always preach all the youth days. That was just a big thing here in Houston, the young preacher. It was a lot of us. So I was looking for, you know, a young preacher. So they gave me some names of people in their 30s. I said, they middle age. I said, I don't want no middle age. I said I want I want a young preacher you know 15 16 17 18 somebody in college that's gonna go and get in ministry and uh they couldn't they couldn't they couldn't find nobody I'm disappointed now now I was I asked around all through the city now you can't make yourself be a preacher now I understand that you can't make yourself be a preacher but at the same time I believe God is they're calling people when they're young and this is where parents can help when you say i'm bringing you to jesus one of the heartbreaking scenes for me was when a young man said to me where i live he said he wanted to be in ministry his dad was a very successful businessman and ask him, how you gonna make a living in ministry?

33:46 And it turned him away from ministry. My heart broke behind that. And if you're gonna play music, play me something that I can pray about. I don't wanna beat you. And so, Yeah, yeah. And by the way, that correction is, remember that my goal is not just to inspire you, it's to educate you too. Yeah, yeah. And I'm serious. And it hurt me. Now, everybody's not going to be in full-time ministry. You don't have to worry. Everybody's not going to be a preacher. Everybody's going to be a pastor. But all of us can serve God.

34:34 All of us can do that. Now, don't play with me now. You know, give me. I listen to you today. I want you to listen to me today. I listen to you. I didn't disrupt you I clapped when you danced Now come on listen to me now And I mean that because We've lost all of that in church We've lost discipline And anybody that Corrects you we mad We don't want to speak to them no more You know and the only people that can make a difference with our young people is mama and daddy now let me say something else to you just because you bring them to jesus don't mean it's going to turn out all right but you give them a better run at life if you bring them to jesus and that way you train up a child the way that they should go when they're old they don't depart from them all right i'm that's my second sermon and so i'm just wanted to pray with you because i love you and i praise god for you we're getting ready to go back to school in a few weeks praying that god would watch over you and protect you you ought to be praying this over your children don't you think what happened in your vault that can't happen around the corner in our neighborhood Look.

35:54 Pray over your children. I told you last week, I'm tired of standing up at 20-something years' funerals, preaching them. You don't come to those funerals. I have to be there at those funerals. I watched them just like they were young for you to have to do that. So if I sound a little agitated on a day, I probably am. Because you don't have to do that. You don't have to call a mama and say, I'm praying for you. I got a picture. I remember holding your son, all that kind of stuff. Or your daughter. You can do all everything that's right. And for those of you that are listening at home and around the world who live under guilt and shame, what did I do wrong? You didn't have to do nothing wrong.

36:47 You can do it all right. we have an enemy, an adversary that is working against us to destroy our children. That's why we have to pray for them. You don't have to be perfect. but you ought to hold a standard of perfection you ought to tell them we can't reach it but it don't stop us from aspiring for it I didn't hear you clap much on that one No we don't reduce the standards Pastor Westway I got so much baggage In my background Well join the club God has been working through baggage people forever Alright come on let me pray That's sermon number three I'm going on But my soul have been so vexed and troubled by what I see.

37:55 I'm praying the best for all of you. I really am. Come on, let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. And we ask of you now that you'll watch over our children, protect them, keep them. Every last one of them at home in their neighborhood, their communities the places where they frequent some of them have jobs and places protect them there from vandals bandits and whoever else comes in and then lord so many people with just bad dispositions now just mad about everything watch over them keep them protect them shield them watch over these parents Lord who trying to rear them and some of them got to do it all alone and and with very little means and give them what they need to make a difference give them the strength and the energy they can't expel the evil one alone but they have the power in you to do it do it Lord we pray in Jesus name for his sake and God's people say amen before you leave if there are any of you that are standing here already and you're not in the church not a member of a church and you're saying today I want to give my life to Christ I want to become part of God's family then you just stay here when everybody else go back and let this be the day that the Lord sets anew for you and while they're leaving if there are others of you that are here and you're saying I want to unite with the church then you come on down the aisle and let the day be a day that you start brand new with Jesus Christ.

39:54 There's nothing better than knowing Jesus. He will pick you up and turn your life around.

40:19 We want to know Him. Can't let you know Him right now To the angels come There's nothing better than knowing Jesus Keep His will as the days go by You wanna know Him You can't know Him Right now, today, just not Amen. Praise the Lord.

41:27 Let's prepare to give our gifts, our tithe, our offerings as the Lord has blessed us to be able to give the day. Tyrone, thank you, Rosalind. Thank you so much for your leadership. Come on, man, we ought to do better than that. Come on. You know we're getting ready up for 35 years I've been trying to get this done and I just got word that I think in the fall we'll do it start our after school and we'll be helping and partnering educating our children when they have to take that big, bold, bad test to help our teachers. And it's been a real challenge in Texas education. And, you know, we got a lot of educators here.

42:22 And those that I've talked to, you know, I didn't ask them to help. I told them I didn't want to do that because most of them, when they get through with the ISD, man, they ready to leave and they don't want to be bothered. but I did pray that the Lord would give us people I told him if I need to teach a class I will teach a class I mean that I mean I teach everywhere else I'd be glad to do it to help our students this is our future this is our present future our young people yeah yeah you know and it's always funny now that we're on the other side of it, how we forget how people made big investments in us. And let's tell the truth, most of us wouldn't be where we are now had it not been for the people that made big investments in us. And that's the God's honest truth right now. Coaches, not just pastors and Sunday school teachers. I was thinking that next year I want you to help me with a big thing next year.

43:33 I want us to send out young people, if you haven't already taken them, to the, because whenever I say something, there's always some member got to trump you, you know. Oh, well, we've already done that with our child. I'm not talking to you then. I'm talking about those who have not, that next year we want to take them on the civil rights tour, that they go from Montgomery to Selma to Birmingham. And I have some friends who are historians in each place that will describe and talk about it. And so I was talking to Pam about how we wanted to go about doing it. Here, listen to me now, because I'm going to need your help. We want to fly there, and then we want to have a bus to pick us up, and then take us where we're going. And then we want to stay in the best hotels that we can and we want to eat at the best places. So we'll work out all of that and how much it's going to cost. But those of you who got, you know, 25, 30,000 sitting around and you're looking forward to investing in some children, I really would appreciate you doing that. You know, and you know, I'll tell you what happened the last time when you laughed at me when I said that. So So I want you to know that, you know, so if you're saying, I've been looking for something to give to and I really want to give and help young people, this would be a great way.

45:06 Because in our community, if we don't know who we are and where we come from, we don't know where we're supposed to be going. And that's a constant battle that we battle with and grapple with in America even now. All right. So I want you to consider that. I want to lay it out now so that we have a year to do it. So be praying about how God's going to use you to give. You know, you lived a great prosperous life and the Lord has blessed you and the children are doing good. They got big money, call them too and tell them that we need that to help some of our young people. And then we're going to make sure that our young people participate in some kind of project where they can work and earn some of their own way. We don't want to just give it all to them. want them to, because you got to pay your way now. You got to pay your way. Don't ever forget that in life. I don't care what come your way. You got to work and you got to pay. Don't nobody give you nothing. Nobody give you nothing. Jane Brown said, I don't want nobody to give me nothing. Just open the door and I'll get it myself. And so we want to open up the door so you can get some of it, so you can be proud about that plane ride, bus ride, those restaurants and those visitations. All right. Let's prepare to give our gifts as God has blessed us to give. Let's say it together. Where there's a temple, there's a need.

46:32 Where there's a need, there's a provision. Where there's a provision, there's God. And where there's God, he'll supply in miraculous ways. It's offering time. Praise the Lord. While you're giving, come on, Taylor, while you're doing that, why y'all always go to the side like that? Why y'all stand in the middle? Yeah, why y'all always go to the side? That throws my equilibrium off sometimes. It does, it throws me off. Does it do it to you sometimes? You see it to the side and say, why are we doing that? Yeah, let's pray over our gift in the day. Yeah. Amen. Those of you that are worshiping with us for the first time, the people standing in the aisle are our First Impressions Ministry.

47:32 They have an extended welcome for you if you wish. And if you do and want to know more about the church that I was, immediately, if you would stand right now and follow them, They'll come to you and they will lead you to a place where you can receive your extended welcome. And last week they gave away a truck, but you had to give it back. All right then. Nobody, let's stand there. All right. Huh?

48:14 Oh, yeah. Yeah, go ahead. Tyrone's going to do it. Come on, Ty. Hey, how's it going, everybody? Y'all doing all right? Give him some mic, please. All right, all right. Are we live? Look at live. Look at live. Hey, so check this out. We're about to actually have an open house in K-Wall. And we have some special items and treats we're going to show you all. That's right. Our past has a vision. Past has a vision that when the children come, they don't want to go home. And today we get to give them a glimpse of all that God has for them. So we invite you to come after church and come down to see a very special presentation Not only in KWOW, but also over in Ignite So we have a big reveal So what you're going to do, you're going to actually exit on the first floor to go to KWOW Straight out the doors to the left And for Ignite, you're going to go up the stairways or take the elevator And go to the second area to Ignite Student Life Center But now check this out, we need you all to actually go Don't just go home, right?

49:15 We need you to go so you can get involved and get engaged and see what we're about and what we're doing along with the big reveal, Paz. Yeah, there you go. Man, y'all go do it. You know, I'm not going to go that day. I'm not going to do that. Now, what do you want me to do, Ty? No, I said we need them to go. Oh, yeah, I need you to. I really do. Let me be ethnic for just a minute Now I'm serious This has always bothered me When black folk In my church They'll go to A few other places And they'll say Well they have so much for the young people That's what black folks say to me And so one of the places they went was Tallowwood Where Dwayne Brooks is And Dwayne called me Because a lot of my members would come in his church Because of what they did for the youth And this is what the man told me Said well where y'all coming from Said the church without walls He said well we worked our program out Talking to Tyrone So I know No, no, see you missed it.

50:36 Okay, I can't talk to y'all in code. They left the black church, went to the white church because it was better than the black church. And the white church told the black people that we're doing what we're doing because we got what we're doing from Tyrone. And we're always crying about our community. We're always talking about what we don't do. and everything that we need to do all we got to do is go and do it so so so i'm not the person to ever come to and talk about what the african american no the black church because that is the the term that is used scholarly for the church the black church is not doing we can do it if we do it Thank you.

51:31 When we were building, we wanted to make sure that we, not just now, you know that, for the history of our church, we always prepare a place for our children. Always. And then we got to fight our own people to go support what we do.

51:54 I can take that story all the way. If you don't like the church story, just look at our colleges and universities. It's inexcusable for one of our black colleges and universities to be closed. But they closed not because they don't have great academic achievements, it's because we don't give money back to our schools. I don't go anywhere where I don't leave money somewhere for our schools. I don't care where it is, where I go. Always. So then we would start talking about what other people are doing. When Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself, until black folk can love themselves the way that God has created us to love ourselves, we can't love nobody else.

52:44 And I can say that. You know, I live in both worlds. I live in both worlds. I preach in both worlds. And I don't preach and live in those worlds every now and then. and the reason why I can love white folk is because I love me and I love me just the way I am all my flaws all my idiosyncratic tendencies I love me just the way I am and people that know me know it's true you know so I don't I ain't blaming nobody for this blaming nobody for that no I'm not doing that no I'm not doing that so that's my fourth sermon in the day. So when I bless you, you get yourself up there. If you ain't doing nothing but a drive by or a walk by, you go do that. And know where your children are. Know where your children are.

53:49 Boy, y'all are a rough crowd. Because I know I'm talking to grandmamas and granddaddies in here for the most part. I got you. But know where your children are. One of the things in the tragedy of your body that really caught my attention i paid close attention to this when the parents spoke they knew what classroom their children were in i thought that fascinating they they named it room this room that room this room that know where your children are don't don't be don't don't rely on no no who's there who who's teaching them who's around them go in there and investigate be around it and then and then here was the last thing at tallowood duane i don't mean to be throwing y'all out like this my members came back and they said man they got over they got a waiting list for volunteers that's why that's why our members left to go there because they have a waiting list I ain't even going to tell you what I really said when I was younger I would have just went on and said it but one thing I've done is I've gotten older for Dale I have really mellowed out because she know over the day I would have just said but it's just I've mellowed out but that's what they said to us I know you remember that man they got a waiting list uh you know why they got a waiting list don't you because the parents donate their time and and nobody's asking you to go every sunday 52 weeks in the year how about you just say one sunday out of the year i'm gonna donate some time to K-Wild.

55:47 You know, we're rebuilding our whole church now. So it's like doing it all over again. But anyway, look this way. Let me bless you. And go on by. Go on by, Ty. Get them. You got people up there waiting on them? We have people waiting. Folk waiting on y'all. People waiting on you. First floor and second floor. First and second floor. We sound like Muhammad Ali at the hype man.

56:15 Echo and everything that you say. Lord have mercy. And let me tell you, Ty didn't grow up in the children's church or the youth church. But Ty, I met Ty when he was a teenager. And shaped and discipled him on through college, on through his career in the NFL. And I've been trying to get him. and these jobs keep coming up that they want him to come and coach. I said, you ought to go do it so we can hang out.

56:57 And Ty said, no. And he keep telling me, this is true. I'm committed to the development of young people. I tell him that's awesome. Because I've been telling him, I said, well, you can take a year off, Ty. You know, just where we can go. So, and then it's, yeah, I'm a stop. Because I could go on story and story and story of young people in our church who have grown up in that. And now, thank God, they're coming home and they're giving back to ignite.