Skittle Skirmish

0:08 What if I told you that in this sack of Skittles, that's right, in this little bag of Skittles, was the secret to generosity and faith? You might be thinking to yourself, are you kidding me? This bag of Skittles, it contains the secret of faith? Yes.

0:36 And here's why. Years ago, when our twins were six years of age, I took them to a football game, they wanted some candy. I handed Landra $5, I said, go to the concession stand and get some candy. So I watched her, she bought some Skittles. She gave me the change back, which was nice. she began to eat the Skittles. And I said, as many parents have said, hey, Landra, can I have some Skittles?

1:17 She said, no, they're mine. I said, Landra, just give me some Skittles. She goes, no, they're mine. She didn't understand three simple things. Number one, I bought the Skittles for her.

1:37 Number two, if I wanted to, I could take them from her because I'm stronger. Number three, if I desired, I could make it rain Skittles on her life. I could give her so many Skittles, she wouldn't know what to do with it. our great God comes up to you and me.

2:06 And we have Skittles, don't we? Some have a small pile of Skittles. Others have a medium pile of Skittles. Still others maybe have a big pile of Skittles. And God simply says, hey, can I have some Skittles? and like Landra most of us go no they're mine we don't understand three things number one God gave us all of our skittles number two if he wanted to he could take all of our skittles away number three he could make it rain with so much Skittles in our lives, we wouldn't know what to do with all of them.

2:59 I'm telling you, generosity and faith, they're sandwiched. They're contained in this package of Skittles. Abraham had a lot of Skittles. He lived 4,000 years ago. Abraham had billions of Skittles. Abraham, we'll call him the A-train, was like the guy, the man of faith. God tapped him on the shoulder and told him to leave his land to move to Canaan. He didn't know exactly where Canaan was. He didn't know how it was going to unfold. But the Bible tells us Abraham, by faith, went to a land he'd never seen before.

3:53 Now here's what Abraham did that sometimes we do. He took along with him some people he shouldn't have. You know those hangers-on, you know, I like to describe them as releach unships, those leeches, you know, and God told him, Abraham, I want you to go alone just with your family, but no, no, no. He took Lot with him, and Lot was a lot. Lot was Abraham's nephew, and Lot had a lot because Abraham had a lot. they found themselves in Canaan and there was a famine in Canaan and they made a major error. They ping-ponged from Canaan to Egypt, from Egypt back to Canaan and here's where the plot plots.

4:47 We have the first, you can write this down, skittles skirmish in scripture. Lot had so many Skittles, so much stuff. Abraham, his uncle, had so much stuff, so many Skittles that they couldn't coexist. We would say in business vernacular, it really wasn't sustainable.

5:19 At the end of the day, let me massage that. You know, all those, isn't that funny? We use those funny business terms that they're really kind of nonsensical. Anyway. the Bible says they came to a fork in the road because of this Skittles skirmish. Think about two Fortune 500 companies coexisting in the middle of nowhere, and Abraham goes, all right, it's time to separate.

5:52 They got together. I'm sure they called in the lawyers, and they papered the deal, and Abraham, you're not gonna believe this. Abraham the senior, Abraham the multibillionaire, Abraham the rainmaker gave Lot first choice. They're standing there, and Abraham goes, okay, Lot, you choose. If you choose left, I'll go right. You choose A, I'll go B.

6:21 And Lot, you're not gonna believe this, he didn't build an altar, he didn't seek the Lord, he didn't go like, hey, Abraham, I know you have made me squillions of Skittles. The least I could do is give you first shot. Come on, you have first pick. No, no, no. Lot, because of Skittles, because of wealth, said, huh, he looked and he saw the beautiful, fertile plains that led to the most wicked cities in history, Sodom and Gomorrah. He saw that. Then he looked the other way and he sees just the barren wasteland sort of Canaan. He said, Uncle Abe, I'll choose Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot moved to the hub of wickedness, Sodom and Gomorrah, and he gave Abraham the scrub of Canaan.

7:28 Abraham had to move around just to find food and water. It was brutal, but Lot, oh man, he was living large, making more and more skittles in Sodom and Gomorrah. We learn a principle. The Bible tells us bad company corrupts good morals. when we go the way of Lot, when we go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, inevitably, we're gonna be in serious trouble. The name Sodom means burning.

8:12 You hear people say all the time, that guy burned me. She burned me. Well, I guarantee it, when we get burned, more often than not we've taken the same lot as Lot we've gone and hung out with the wrong people stayed in the wrong place and done the wrong things I call that a relational noun and that's so true so everything is just you know happening all of a sudden, you guessed it, a coalition of evil and wicked kings get together. I mean, there were some wicked people back in the Bible. And these kings raid Sodom and Gomorrah. They take the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah.

9:09 they take Lot and all of his Skittles hostage and they're out of there, over a hundred miles away. They're gone. well if I'm Abraham I'm like yeah too bad lot see you don't want to be you you know I'm not gonna do anything Abraham though was so generous Abraham though was God-hearted Abraham understood the strategy of skittles so he got together this is this is really cool 318 SEAL Team 6 guys that he trained. Read about it in scripture. I don't have time to read the entire Bible to you, but it's there. And these people chased the bad people down who had Lot and the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and other people hostage.

10:11 Abraham's boys tracked them down, brought Lot and the kings back with all of their skittles, with all of their cattle, with all of their stuff, with all of the spoils. Abraham, are you ready for this? Brought all of that back. that's interesting. So Abraham has got to be feeling good. Have you ever been feeling good before? You know, like after a win, after you've closed a deal, after the lesson plan has been finished, after the procedure, after the operation, after, after, after, after. and we all live in that after mentality, don't we? Things are going.

11:08 Things are good. I'm in the zone now. Oh, it's flowing. Watch out. Let me say it again. Watch out. Because you're going to face, and I'm going to face, the same Skittles skirmish that Abraham faced. You might be thinking, Ed, what are you talking about? Abraham walks into town, put a big W in the win column. He brings back Lot, who was a lot, king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, others. And he's approached by two kings. and I'm gonna tell you tomorrow morning you are going to be approached by two kings.

12:03 So will you, so will you, so will you and so will you and so will I. Regularly we face those two kings. We're gonna face them today. We're facing them right now. Those two kings. Those two kings come up to Abraham and here's what scripture tells us about these two kings. Remember, Lot went to Sodom because of wealth.

12:38 Abraham went to Canaan because of worship. Genesis chapter 14, verses 17 through 18, after Abraham returned, the king of Sodom, king number one, came out to meet him in the valley of Sheva, that is the king's valley. Then, hard word number one, Melchizedek, say it with me, Melchizedek, another king,

13:13 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God, the most high. Now this is really deep right here. This is very interesting. Do not miss what I'm gonna unpack for you right now from the Bible. All I'm doing is telling you what the Bible says. Abraham had secured this victory. He was on a roll. He was in the zone. That quick, two kings come out. the king of Sodom, which represents wickedness, which represents compromise. The name Sodom, as I said earlier, means burning. If you want to get burned, you just kind of deal with the people who are in Sodom.

14:08 The other king, Melchizedek, was king over Salem. Think Jerusalem. Melchizedek, don't turn me off now, was a foreshadowing, a theophany of Jesus.

14:34 Melchizedek was a shadow, a type of Jesus. How can you say that, Ed? Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine Sounds like the gospel, doesn't it? Sounds like Christ's death. it sounds like Christ spilling his blood on the cross for our sins. That's interesting.

15:18 And he blessed Abram, this mysterious king, Melchizedek. I mean, he came out of nowhere. First, you got the king of Sodom. I don't want to give you too many names, but his name was Barah. And he probably sat down with Abraham and said, Abraham, have a Barah with me. And Abraham said, no way, man. No way. barah means gift Sodom where he ruled means burning I'll emphasize this again it's cozying up to the world to compromise that was an option Abraham had with his skittles but Melchizedek comes along this mysterious priestly king who was a type of Christ.

16:18 Jesus is our high priest. Melchizedek was the priest of Salem. Jesus is our prince of peace. Melchizedek was the king of peace. Melchizedek means righteousness and Jesus is the ruler of righteousness. And he blessed Abram saying, blessed be Abram by God most high, creator of heaven and earth, and praise be to God most high who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then. Abram gave him a tenth of everything. write this down it's the first time we have the concept of tithing mentioned in scripture and this is 400 years before the law and notice he's directing the tithe to jesus He wasn't coerced.

17:24 He wasn't forced. He saw Melchizedek gave him this generous gift of his skittles. well, it had proven to me that Melchizedek was a foreshadowing of Jesus. I'm glad you're thinking along those lines. Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Hebrews. I'm sure you were probably reading this this morning. Hebrews chapter seven, verses one through four. For this Melchizedek, this is in the New Testament now, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. Abraham was a bad dude. Don't think he's some softy out there, okay? He wasn't a snowflake, okay? To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness and then king of Salem, meaning king of peace.

18:22 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the what? Son of God, remains a priest continuously. Now, continually, now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. So I think it's pretty evident, isn't it? We're talking about a type of foreshadowing of Jesus.

18:54 Abraham is just one. King Bera shows up, the king of Sodom. King Melchizedek shows up and Abraham says no to Sodom and yes to Salem. No to Barah and yes to Melchizedek. And I guess it's time for him just to write the check. Tithing. this is a hermeneutical principle that everyone needs to understand. Hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation. Whenever something is mentioned first in the Bible, that's very, very important because every other time it's mentioned, it refers to, it goes back to the first time it's mentioned. Tithing is throughout the scriptures from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

19:52 Jesus talked about tithing, specifically Matthew 23, 23. And sometimes people will go, well, isn't the tithe kind of an Old Testament thing? Because in the Old Testament, people were commanded to bring, not give, but you can say give, to give 10% of all the Skittles to the house of the Lord, to God. That was commanded. And then some people say, well, in the New Testament, it's not really mentioned a lot. Well, as you study the New Testament, you'll discover that click, the bar is raised every time something is mentioned in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament. Jesus said, like, okay, let me say this. The 10th Commandment, it says, do not commit adultery. It's pretty plain, isn't it? Don't sleep in the wrong bed. That's what the Old Testament said.

20:44 You know what Jesus said? if you look at someone with lust in your eyes, you've committed adultery. Whoa. So, wow. The minimum worship requirement in the Old Testament is 10%. So most of the real followers of Christ back in the New Testament, they were bringing 20, 30, 40% of their Skittles to the Lord. hear how quiet I got money's personal it really is and what's so funny about money is people get funny when you talk about money and especially the guys those of us who have money we're we're kind of control freaks we think we control our money it's just laughable really and some of you looking at me like oh no I do no you don't you don't control it you're one germ one drunk driver away from going to the other side. You don't control your money. Zero. If you want to understand your money, you have to understand it's God's money. It starts with surrender, then control.

21:53 Say it with me. Surrender, then control. That's what the skirmish was over. And it's It's stunning how often money and possessions is talked about in the Bible. Like money and possession is talked about over 2,000 times, prayer and faith talked about maybe 500 times. And I've really not preached on money enough. I should preach about it more because if I preached about it as much as Jesus talked about it, I would, I don't know, talk about it once every eight weeks. But I don't. but there's no pressure involved. I'm not pressuring anybody. I'm just sharing with you scripture. I'm just saying if you want to live in the zone,

22:41 if you want to understand that God's the blesser and you're blessed, and here's the rub. If you want to be a blessing, you're going to live in the zone, and it always is going to be traced back, I hate to say this, to those Skittles. Money is personal. It means something to me. It means something to you. Money's not evil. Money's neutral. God, though, wants us to understand his currency. God wants us to understand what it means to fully commit, what it means not only to be blessed and to stop, but to say, God, I'm going to be a blessing. I'm going to hold everything you give me loosely.

23:39 you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. Are you living in the land of Ing, where Lot resided? Or are you living in the land of blessing? Two kings, two kings. So then Sodom shows up, Barah, and he says, Abraham, have a Barah with me. So he begins to negotiate with Abraham. He had nothing to negotiate with. No force, no advantage whatsoever. He was, though, trying to, the scripture suggests, woo him into the seduction of Sodom. And Abraham was like, no. I'm going with Melchizedek.

24:36 I'm committing my all to the Lord. So Genesis 14, 21 through 23. The king of Sodom said to Abraham, give me the people and keep the goods for yourself. But Abraham said to the king of Sodom with raised hand, see his hand was open, right?

24:56 I've sworn an oath to the Lord, God most high creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of your sandal so that you will never be able to say, oh, I made Abraham rich. that's a crazy story isn't it it's a true story we're facing the two kings right now as we face this amazing opportunity to build this amazing anchor center we're facing you're facing two kings and it has to do with skittles it's a treasure test Jesus said where your treasure is That's where your heart is. We've all been blessed. We can all do something. And what are we going to do with Melchizedek?

25:53 what are we gonna do with Bera? What are we gonna do with the zone? What are we gonna do if we're in the land of Ing? I'm a white guy. Why do you think we should get involved as believers in this endeavor? because it's up to you before God. I cannot make this decision for you. This is a decision, an advanced decision that Lisa and I made decades and decades ago. Every real estate deal we do, every book deal we do, every speaking fee when I travel, I receive right off the top. First 10% goes right here.

26:47 That's a non-negotiable because I learned a long time ago, if I don't bring the first, God's not gonna bless the rest. And you'll never, and friends, I want you to get in on this. You'll never understand money. You'll never understand the beauty of it. You'll never understand the freedom of it until you get in the zone.

27:12 And some of you are like, yeah, I can tell by looking at you. You're there. You're on it. but others are like, I'm not sure. And I totally understand where you're coming from. Why do this? Because I'm a why guy. Number one, it's a response to God's blessings. Think about Abraham. God has blessed us so much. Yeah, but man, my creativity and my work ethic built the company. Who gave it to you? Who gave you the breath? who gave us this beautiful, beautiful place. It's a response to God's blessings. Not only is it a response to God's blessings, it declares my dependence on God. When I bring the Skittles, when I give the Skittles, I'm saying, God, you, you are Lord.

28:09 You're the provider. You're the source because my source determines my course. Are you really dependent on God? I mean, you can't put your Skittles out here and say, oh yeah, I'm dependent on you, Lord. Doesn't work that way. Almost every time you see the word faith or trust mentioned, right near it in the Bible is something tangible. Matter matters. another reason is it's an act of worship number three i am worshiping god in a tangible way when this transpires the bible says in proverbs 3 9 honor the lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce and then number four it reflects faith in god's promises The Bible is a book about promises.

29:06 God says over and over and over and over again, if you bless me, I'll bless you. If you bless me, I'll bless you. So if we're not blessing God with Skittles, we're not in the zone, we're in the land of ink, and it's just not gonna happen for you. Yeah, you'll have some good times and this and that, It's just not going to happen for you. So again, the choice is up to you. The choice is up to me. What do you do with those two kings? You're going to face them and you're facing them now. You'll face them tomorrow at work, tomorrow at school. You're going to go the way of Sodom or the way of Salem, the way of Barah or the way of Melchizedek. It's your choice.

29:52 I'll never forget what happened the first time I shared this story about Skittles because I've shared this story before. I've written about this story in several books about the Skittles with Landra. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. I know it's hard to laugh when I'm talking about money. People get funny. I'm telling you, it's hilarious. It's hilarious. The only time when people freak like this is when I talk about sex.

30:17 I'm just not going to talk about sex anymore. I'm 63 years old and I've written about it and I've talked about it. If you want to know about it, just go back in the archives and messages and I'm just not gonna do it. I'm a grandfather now. I'm not, no. I'll let someone like Sam talk about that, not me. Well, maybe not that either. Anyway, after I shared this story for the first time, I shared it on a Sunday, obviously, and like Wednesday, someone goes, hey, Ed, someone sent you a letter in a package of Skittles. I'm like, what?

30:57 Because, you know, we get some weird stuff now and then. So open the letter. It said, dear Ed, recently you talked about giving. You talked about how our stuff comes from God and belongs to him. You told an especially entertaining story about one of your daughters and her refusal to share with you the Skittles that you just bought her. That was probably one of the most moving illustrations I've ever heard about giving. Giving back to the one who's given it all to you. Thanks for sharing that. And I'm thinking like, okay, that's cool. We truly thank God for everything. And then my eyes started getting bigger. And if enclosed an offering, the Skittles we're joyously sharing are enclosed inside the bag. Please use this in whatever way you feel will best serve the Lord through fellowship.

31:54 And in this Skittles package was a check for $86,000. Skittles! Skittles! Why are we blessed? I mean, it's bigger than we are. We have these Skittles. Why are we blessed? It's to change the world, friends, and to reach the next one. How can you start a domino effect that can change the world, that can change one life after another? It's simple. One person telling another person about Jesus, reaching the next one and the next one.

32:50 My name is Alessandro. My name is Connor Domlin. My name is Nick, and I was the next one. My name is Axel. My name is A. And I was the next one. My name is Arlie. And I was the next one. We are Fellowship Church, and for over 34 years, we've been about one thing, reaching the next one and telling them about Jesus. It was like a 10-year battle with depression and suicidal thoughts. I was struggling with purpose, not really knowing why I was waking up. My very strong and vibrant husband unexpectedly died. Going through two divorces, had a hole in my soul. I suffered from an overdose in my home. A friend here at Fellowship Church, he asked me, can you please give me one hour of your week? Please come to church with me. Little did I know how much that one hour would change my entire life. I had really bad problems with self-harm and stuff.

33:49 I so badly want to live for the people in my life, like my mom, my dad, but I just, I couldn't do it. This girl has no idea how loved she is by her Heavenly Father. And I asked her, do you want a personal relationship with Jesus? I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. And I basically was just like, God, like you were my last hope. I've seen what you've done in other people's lives. And I just want you to do that for me. And I just became a Christ follower. And now I'm crying.

34:19 God wants every single person to be saved. The radically rescued are rescuing radically. It's really a true domino effect because Sean invited me, and then I invited Dom, Malachi, Devo, Gavin, Jair. Mason invites his friend Logan, and then Gavin invites Cooper. Cooper invites his little brother. Then Cooper brings his whole family here. Gavin brings his whole family here. And one after another, so many gave their lives to Christ. My husband and I found what was missing in our relationship, and it was Jesus. We decided to get baptized and give our lives to Jesus together.

35:00 Recently, my sister accepted Jesus and got baptized. She's also invited about 15 of her friends to the mix, and through that, they have all given their lives to Jesus. I invited all my friends, one person after another person after another person. People have given their lives to Christ. I joined Fellowship Church 30 years ago. 30 years later, I'm still trying to be the front door for this church, for many people to change their lives. I'm so grateful for our pastors, Ed and Lisa Young. They helped me be bold in my faith. I've been able to see my mom give her life to Christ and my sister give her life to Christ and my aunt. This is how we change the world. The next one reaching the next one. And right now we can play a part in reaching an entire new generation of next ones. How do we do it?

35:53 By building a beacon of hope for our community, The Anchor Project. 60,000 square feet of holy ground to reach children, students, and families, anchoring them to Christ. Imagine a safe haven from the storms of life where students will invite their friends and come together to worship and discover our anchor of hope, Jesus. Imagine a Bible and leadership college raising up a new generation of world changers on fire to reach the next one. Imagine new environments to reach families where kids are excited to come to church and together families are being connected to the one who can change the entire course of their lives. I'm excited to be a part of the Anchor Center. I'm so proud of what we're doing for the next generation. I'm so excited. My sister's 10. She's not a Christian yet, but with the Anchor Project, she'll be able to experience the same things that I was able to experience.

36:52 We can't let the domino effect stop with us. The time is now to play our part to do what others did for us, to commit, sacrifice, and build to reach the next one and the next one and the next one. It's time to build a beacon of hope for our community and anchor the next one to Jesus. It's time to build the Anchor Project.