The rEVOLution of Racism

1:06 I am so excited about what God is about to do today. For a second week in a row, I'm seated. And y'all know that means we have something for real to talk about today. I believe God has, by his Holy Spirit, hijacked this whole Relationship Goals series because he wants to get a message to us, his church and his people. So I don't know where you're watching from today, but I'm here today with a lot more hope than I had last week. I believe that God is doing something spectacular. And the fact that he's doing it in our homes or out on our porches right now or wherever you're watching this from, I believe that this is a sign that God has paused everything in the world to highlight some things that he wants to transform. and it just so happens that the name of this church is Transformation Church and we're not shying away from anything, we're advancing towards it.

2:03 So right now, I wanna know where you're watching from all over the world. I got my cell phone here right now and I need you to tell me where you're watching from. I wanna know where transformation is happening right now. I wanna know where you and your family are gathered right now. Come on, I'm seeing people all over the world. Come on, there's a lot of people in Africa. There's a lot of people that are here in the US there's a lot of people that are streaming right now in other states and other countries and other counties. Germany, I see Detroit in the house. Dallas, Texas. Transformation Nation, somebody said from a hospital bed. see that's the thing that i need you to understand that the reason why we have to keep showing up and we have to keep praying and we're going to always be here is because somebody needs hope and today even in the crisis that we're in the the many pandemics that we're in in our world a health pandemic a racial pandemic a financial pandemic all the pandemics we're in we believe that Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. And so today we get to have a unique conversation.

3:11 Transformation Church is a place that is unique because we get to have conversations in our staff, in our leadership team, in our church that many people do not get to have because of a lack of diversity. At Transformation Church, we are a very diverse church and we decided from the very beginning that we would be a hot church, humble, open, and transparent. And that means that we get to have conversations that are usually a little difficult, conversations that are unedited and unfiltered, conversations that we can ask questions in the confines of love, and there be real, real, real understanding. And that's what I'm praying for you, is that today we're about to have a conversation that is unedited, that is really unbiased, that's going to be real experience. And I'm praying for understanding. This is the time where you call your kids in and tell them to put down Fortnite and their iPad for a second and watch this. This is the time where if you're cooking, that you steal, you can make your breakfast and your Cheerios and your checks.

4:20 But I want you to listen. I want you to get notes because I believe that you can learn from other people's experience and maybe get a different perspective. And as I begin to think about what I was going to share this week, I said, I don't want to share alone. Maybe there could be a more powerful conversation where the Bible says two are better than one. I said, what if there was a more powerful conversation if I had it with somebody else? And then I started thinking about the people that I had around me that I have real relationship with. And I was like, what if it wasn't two people? What if it was three people? What if it wasn't three people? What if it was four people? And I begin to look at the unique position that God has placed me as your pastor in, I am the biological son of a black man that was raised in the South during segregation. I am the spiritual son of a white man and a succession plan of a white man that was raised with privilege. And I'm the spiritual father of a black and white man that has now been raised with a bunch of questions.

5:24 And I want to know who has the answer. And I believe it's God. So today we're going to dive into a conversation that may make some people uncomfortable. But are you scared to talk about race? Hopefully in this place you won't be. And I believe as we go through God's word and share some of our experiences, it'll be something that changes us forever. Today, to my left, I want to introduce to you the founding pastor of Transformation Church. Ladies and gentlemen, I need you in the comments to put your hands together for Bishop Gary McIntosh. Now, this is crazy for some of y'all because y'all just seen Pastor Mike. Y'all didn't know the founding pastor of this church was white, like white, white, like gray hair, white. And I want you to know that this is the beautiful picture that we'll be even able to share later.

6:22 The fact that we're one of the only, one of the very few that has seen a white pastor transition their entire organization over to a young African-American pastor. And we've seen the blessing of God on what I believe is racial reconciliation. and uh to my to my right is um my daddy uh the captain tom todd man of god aka the captain will y'all give it up for pastor tommy todd i love that man every bit of swag that i've ever had i got from this guy right here and um y'all already know who this is um he's been one of the literal prayers from God answered into my life and me and Natalie's life of holding the vision and really moving forward. And he works tirelessly behind the scenes to make what you experience as Transformation Church come to life. Will y'all give it up for Pastor Charles Madcalf? Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, y'all, we about to go in. I put some notes in here because y'all already know when I started talking earlier, we've already had this conversation and it can go for four and a half hours because this is about to get good and you're about to see people who are different in skin color, different in experience, different in generation, but we're going to hear each other's experience and see if we can't learn something about what I'm calling a revolution of racism.

7:55 That's what we need right now. We need a revolution of racism. We need to stand against what has been and what has been okay and what has been tolerated and what has been almost the status quo. And we got to have love in the middle of it. That's why I love how they did this graphic. There has to be love in the middle of it, but we need a revolution. We need something different. As I looked at my children, I said, I will not stand here and preach messages that everybody likes and gets a thousand replays on YouTube and Instagram and Twitter, and I not make a stand for a revolution against racism and what it's supposed to look like in kingdom. And what we need is we don't need what everybody else says is a revolution. We actually need the kingdom of God as it is in heaven. We need it to come on this earth. And so today we're going to start down that journey because two weeks ago on a Tuesday, I was on my way to meet with Kirk Franklin.

8:58 I mean, like a bucket list moment in my life. And I was on the tram headed to the rental car place in the DFW airport. And I popped open Instagram. And I saw probably the most disturbing video of my life. I saw this video right here. Sun rapport

9:27 Her fear Two feet on the ground Please Please, please man. Please around me.

10:06 Well, you got him down, man. Let him breathe at least, man. I'll be trying to hear about. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. He lifted my hand in the deck, man. One of my homies died. He was very funny. I'm about to die, you see? Relax. Man, I can't breathe. That disturbing moment, we all saw the video, and if you haven't, I encourage you to watch the entire nine-minute video where George Floyd lost his life begging to breathe.

10:38 I'm still messed up by that. And if you watch that and you're not, hopefully through this conversation, there'll be something that helps you. But I want to know your one word reaction to the moment you saw that video. Pastor Tommy, what's your one word reaction to seeing that video? My one word is anger. Anger. You know, growing up in the South and seeing this type of behavior firsthand, prejudice, the spirit of hatred in men against different races not like them. I said, we've come this far. I'm 65 years old, and I've come this far, and it's still prevalent in the earth. And I was angry because we have not progressed beyond this point. Charles, what did you, what was your one word? Yeah, to be honest, I felt the word that came to me was fractured. I felt like this was a picture and a video of the deepest break in the human soul.

11:43 I just felt like there were parts of me that felt hopeless, that felt like something had been broken that couldn't be fixed. And so I just felt fractured, I felt broken. Bishop, what did you see when you saw that? the same thing I said when I saw it again I was horrified the word horrified means overwhelmingly and painful feelings caused by something frightening shocking terrifying and revolting that's what I felt you were horrified I was horrified when I saw it I was scared the reason I was scared is because that could have been me you know um I think about all of the progress that has been made in the earth and um there's a black man that is the new york times best-selling author right now there's a black man that leads a multi-ethnic church in an arena there's a black man whose kids can go to private school so like there's progress that has happened um but then nobody asked you that at the moment that i could have been in that same position and I was scared.

12:48 And I've been really going and taking inventory in my life trying to figure out like, where does this fear come from? And I've been trying to point out different things because if we're gonna have a revolution of racism, you gotta start at home. You gotta start with you. And Transformation Church, I want to applaud you because so many of you have taken the risk this week. I'm talking about so many of you. Y'all have sold out of almost all the books I suggested on Amazon or sold out. Y'all have watched all of those movies. People are beginning to take steps and having hard conversation. I had one of our members say that they went out with another member. They were different ethnicities and they asked real and raw questions to each other. That is what is going to start moving this thing forward. And as a pastor, I'm telling you, I am proud of you. But the reason we're still talking about this and we got to talk about it even at another level is because even this morning, that fear of racism showed back up at my front door, Bishop.

13:48 The call went out for what we were all going to wear. Everybody just wear black and white, you know, play on black and white and wear black and white. Okay, cool. So I have this leather shirt that I was going to wear. It's right here. And I went in my closet to pick up this leather shirt. But one thing you'll notice is that there's a tag on it and there's a sensor still on it. And I bought this shirt like seven months ago, and this Sunday was my second time trying to wear this shirt, and I forgot. Like, dang, the sensor is still on it. And I asked myself this morning when I went to change, why haven't I gotten the sensor taken off of this jacket? And when I ask myself that, honestly, it's because I don't want to go into the store that I bought it from because I feel like they're going to think I stole it. I have three other ones don't I Scott I have three other ones this exact same a yellow one and a blue one but they forgot the sensor on something I paid for but I haven't taken it back because of the color of my skin I may think that I would be questioned and so something that's paid for, I can't enjoy. It's kind of like some of the things that our country says it's founded on.

15:09 It's the land of the free, the home of the brave. We pay taxes, we do all these other things, but are there things that are at the core, things that allow us to see freedom but not experience it? See that we can buy it, but we can't wear it yet. And today, I won't stand and not be ones that are part of the solution. I'm not coming to beat anybody up. 50% of our church is white. My heart is that we would go and move and represent into what God has called us to be as a church. And what I want to let everybody know is that we have all inherited this skin the same way that we have inherited all of this sin. Like this is not just the skin issue. This is a sin issue. This is something that all of us are having to deal with and can I put somebody at ease right now the truth is everything that we're dealing with right now with racism and injustice it was not started by anybody alive this was inherited yeah come on you didn't start this but you can change it yeah you didn't start it but we can move this thing down the field and I want to let you know because Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 9 and 10 you can read the whole context he's talking to the children of Israel right here but he God says to us he says listen I'm a jealous God I need people to understand and listen to me and he said and the iniquities of the fathers they pass down to the third and fourth generations of those who hate those who hate and then it says those who hate me and God's saying, when you hate your brother and sister, you're hating me because they were made in the image of me. Come on. That's so good. I need everybody to see this right now. He said, it passes down. We're dealing with third and fourth generation hate. We're dealing with third and fourth generation taking scriptures and religious things and building them for gain and all that other stuff. And God's saying, these are just sins that are visiting sons and grandsons

17:19 and great-grandsons that I wanted somebody to stand up and deal with. And now they've run into us. And we will not be the generation that sits back and says, well, it's really, it's just how it is, and I guess we'll do our best. No, we're going to do better. And that's why God says in verse 10, but we still serve the same God that is showing mercy to thousands, to those who love. And that's when you love your brothers and sisters. He's saying when you love them, you're loving me. He said and they keep my commands. And so today if we're going to see this thing, this generational thing turned around, we need a revolution. And if we're going to see a revolution happen, I need you to understand that we're going to have to overthrow some things. We're going to have to replace some things. And today I started to think about this and I want you to start taking notes. If we're going to see a revolution on everything, we're going to have to address what I'm calling raising racism.

18:17 Come on. Do you know all of us are raised in racism? Whether you believe it or not, we are currently raising racism. How we respond in this moment will either feed the monster or starve the monster. And I'm asking you right now, what are you doing with your Twitter fingers? Is what you're posting feeding the monster? Are you raising racism right now? Are you starving racism right now? How you stand, what church you go to, what you give your money to, what you do with your neighbors, who you invite to your children's birthday party. Are you feeding this monster that will grow up and devour the next generation? Or are you starving that thing and stopping conversations in boardrooms? Come on. Yeah. And in back rooms. Yeah. And at basketball courts and in that tennis courts and at country clubs.

19:12 Yeah. Right now, you are raising racism. Come on. And I think the one thing that you have to understand is that when you're raising racism, racism is something that is either experienced, you experienced racism, or you were exposed to it, or you were silent from it. And then, Charles, you told me another one. You said it's not just being exposed or experienced, it's what? Yeah, it's what you explain. So there are some people that, like, maybe you experience racism or different ethnicities. Maybe you're exposed to it. But there are some people that have a responsibility to explain it. Come on. Because just because it isn't your experience and just because you're not exposed to it doesn't mean you don't have the responsibility to explain the injustice that happens in a world. To explain that there are people who have the same rights of you and are the same on the internal and God paid the same price for their sin as he did for yours. but just because you don't experience or you're not exposed to that and it's not happened to you, I think there's a responsibility that parents, that individuals, that teachers, that government officials, they have a responsibility to explain that even though we say it's the land of the free and the home of the brave, when that was written, they meant it was the land of the free, really, white man, and it was the home of people who had to be brave because they weren't free.

20:28 So I think we have really a responsibility to explain the state of where we really are. And what Charles is saying right now is if we don't say something, if we don't explain it, if we don't move, we're going to raise something. That means we're feeding it. And we're raising something. And the reason that I start here of if we're going to see a revolution of racism, we're going to have to acknowledge that we're raising racism right now. Is because if you don't acknowledge that you're raising it and if it's like, well, it's not that big a deal. It hasn't hit my home yet. It's not really. Then we're going to repeat racism. Come on. And that's the next point I want you to write down. if we're going to have a revolution, we got to talk about this thing of repeating racism. Because what you don't address repeats itself. Come on, all of us right now have made decisions that we're going to lose weight. And if you don't address going to the donut shop, that weight is going to come right back even if you lose it. And this is the thing that I'm asking everybody right now.

21:24 If we don't address it, do not be surprised that three months from now we have another Ahmaud Arbery. If we don't address it now, don't be surprised when people are in the streets for another Breonna Taylor or a George Floyd. And those are just three names that I've mentioned that have happened in the last month. It's been 30 days. So what I'm asking everybody to do right now is let's stop repeating racism. Let's stop. And then we have to move to a place that takes a lot of self-reflection, Bishop. We have to get to the place if we're going to say, no, we're not going to feed the monster. We're not going to raise racism. Okay, so now we're not going to repeat racism. Then the thing you have to do, and this is practical for your home, and today I wanted it to be very practical. I wanted us to explain this thing. You're going to have to be one that is starting to remember racism.

22:20 You need to be one that is remembering racism. Where did it start for you? Where's the first time you heard it? Where's the first time you experienced it? Where is the first time you participated in it? Where's the first time you used the N-word? Where's the first time you called somebody white a cracker or a honky? Where's the first? I need y'all to, let's go real today. Yeah, come on. Because if we don't remember it, we act like we're not a part of it. We act like this is something that, oh no, that's not where my life is from. So today I want to hear real. Where is the first time that you remember racism, Pastor Tommy? The first time I remember racism was when I was eight years old. We lived in a small town in southern Alabama called Jackson, Alabama, and we were going to Mobile to shop because they had more malls and stuff there. Well, we didn't have a mall. They only had malls in Mobile.

23:12 But anyway, we stopped at a restaurant, and I got out the car because we were going to get a hamburger or something, and I was going to the front door, and my daddy stopped me, and he said, you can't go in the front door. we have to go around here to the side. And I said, why? He said, we aren't allowed to go in the front door. So when we went around to the side, it was the kitchen door, and above the door it had the word colored. So where we had to go to get our food was in the back, in the kitchen. We couldn't go through the front door like the regular patrons did. So I want to let everybody know this is not a movie. No. This is not something that was a good scene. This was your actual experience. This was my life. Yeah, this was my life experience, just one of them. Okay, so tell me about another one because I know you in Alabama, like the Deep South, very prejudiced, Confederate at the time. All of these different things were happening, and you and your twin sister Aunt Faye were a part of desegregation when you went to the seventh grade.

24:11 Tell us about that. Well, when I was in the sixth grade, my mother was an educator, and she was my teacher. So at the end of the sixth grade, we were looking forward to going to the seventh grade with all of our friends. But she said that summer, she said, you guys are going to go to the white school uptown. She said, you're going to have a good education because we had always got the raggedy books, leftover equipment, all that kind of stuff. But she said, no, you're going to go to the white school. So that was in 1966. And we had to fight basically every day. They did all kind of things because they didn't want us. That was when integration first started. You said you had to fight every day? Every day. We had confrontations every day. When we would go down the hall changing classes, you know, we didn't know anybody. It was a school of about 800 kids, and it was about 10 black kids. So the odds were so much against us.

25:05 So everybody was, you know, wanting to make us feel a certain way. So when we would change classes, they would knock our books out of our hands, and everybody would be kicking. and all the white kids would be kicking our books down the hall in the opposite direction. So we'd have to go and try to gather our books. And when we got to our class, the teacher said, well, why are you late? Why are you tired? I'm going to give you a target. Well, we had nothing to do with it except we were trying to do what they required, come to class with your books. And then they would turn their class rings under their seniors. You know, I'm here in the seventh grade, and these seniors five years above me turn their class rings over and go down the hall and hit you on the top of the head, you know, just aggravating and doing things. So we had to fight every day. We didn't want to go to lunch because we had to fight. We'd have to find a place to sit because no white kids wanted us to sit at their table. So it was just a constant battle every day.

25:59 Now, I want everybody to understand this, that this was not my experience, but this was your experience. Right. And you have carried that experience every day of your life. and I have watched my dad love every race. I've watched my dad invite and teach us grace. I've watched him do this. And I don't know, like I'm the pastor right now, but I don't know if I could have done that and experienced all of those things. But you've told us that love has been a huge part of forgiveness. Love has been a huge part of you being able to understand where we were. But I need everybody to understand this wasn't even 50 years ago. No. Like, I want you to understand that. And when we remember what we've been through and remember what's happened, that's when we can start from that point and go forward. Bishop, talk to me about remembering racism. Where does racism start for you?

26:54 Well, I was raised a little different than Pastor Tommy, but I was raised in an all-white home in a white neighborhood, not affluent, but a white neighborhood and went to a white high school. but it was in high school that during the early 60s when Martin Luther King started his marches I started hearing comments from people that were very foreign for me to hear because our family wasn't racial at all in that respect so there was no racism but I started hearing racial comments from people at school from their parents and so I had that exposure probably when I was 14, 15 years old. But before that, I had no experience. And then you go from being basically in an experience that is all white, and then you started being introduced to different ethnicities because of sports.

27:50 Absolutely. And if y'all don't know this, like back in the day, Bishop could cross you, dunk on you. He played basketball. He played football. He played every sport. No, he was cold-blooded. I've seen the trophies. but but and then your experience really gotten broadened when you moved to Tulsa Oklahoma to go old Roberts University absolutely tell us about that it was at old Roberts University of course there was a an increase of blacks that were starting to attend and I became friends with many of them it was during that time Souls of Fire Choir was started and so I interacted with that and then my roommate then was black hold on so you went from an all-white experience to now living with somebody that was black. Yes. Tell me, was that culture shock? Was it different? What happened? How was that? There was some culture shock. Back then, I remember I woke up and there was smoke in the room, and I thought there was a fire.

28:50 But back then, they were pressing their hair. Oh, he was just doing his hair. Yeah. He was just laying it back. You understand? And I was in the fog of God's presence. It's the fog of God's presence. But I want everybody to see this right now. It's because what Bishop just told us is that his exposure changed his experience. Absolutely. That if you get exposed to something different, it can change the way you experience everything. And there's many of you that are watching right now that it is safer to keep your experience. It's safer and it's comfortable to stay at your exposure level. But the fact that you're even watching this, the fact that you watched last week, it means you're getting exposed to something different. And I believe by the power of God that this exposure and even the lines that you're going to cross this week to interact with people that are not like you and take the risk, it's going to increase your world. And I believe that we wouldn't be standing here today if you weren't willing to allow there to be another level exposure, which gave you a different experience.

29:56 It changed Bishop's experience so much that it changed how he would interact in the future. I don't know if people know this, Bishop, but I want them to see a picture of your family. Do y'all got a picture of Bishop's family somewhere? This is Bishop's family. And if you notice something, that Bishop has four children. Three of them are black.

30:21 Now, those are your kids, right? And there's a fourth one in one of those, a fifth one. A fifth one. Yeah. And those are your kids. Those are my children. Those are, they carry the last name McIntyre. Correct. Wow. Now, you're a white man in America with black children. Can you explain to me how do you go from no experience with that race to being exposed to it to then adopting it into your everyday life? And adoption was actually what happened. My wife was running an adoption agency. And sometimes black children become available, but they were not being adopted. And so anytime that happened, we started reaching out and adopting those children. In fact, I was traveling on the road, and people say, how many children do you have? And I'd say, I don't know.

31:15 I haven't been home yet. Because it kept increasing, you know. But that was our joy. Our joy was to bring them to be a part of our family and to be our children. And I watched this firsthand because the way that I know Bishop is because I used to play with his son, Josh. And mom and dad went back in higher dimensions. They lived right across the street. And that's the way. Like the fact that Bishop would hand me the church probably 20-something years later, I started playing at Bishop's house and had a crush on his white daughter, Angela. when I was younger. And just to see God weaving that. But it all came because you as a white man that was raised with privilege begin to expose yourself to the point where then you became so intertwined with people, not because of the color of the skin, but because of who they were, that you begin to make them a part of your everyday life.

32:13 That's preaching. And I'm not even going in right now. And this is the crazy thing I need to ask you about because this ain't happening nowhere at anybody else's church right now. This right now is a unique conversation that we get to have. What changed in your view racially when you went from just being a white man in America to now a white man with black children in America? And I have to be careful in answering that because I cannot answer that question from a black man standpoint. I'm a white man, but I had black children. And so I started to experience racism as a non-white family. And that was shocking. And so to a certain extent, I've experienced it, not like many, of course, in this country. but I started experiencing racism against our family.

33:13 Come on, tell me a story. Let's make this real. Let's be honest. We were in a state close here. I don't want to get the name. Yeah, don't say it. Don't. And we were at an amusement park, and we had divided, and my two boys went off to ride a ride, and then we were over here, and all of a sudden I heard a conversation that was getting very loud. I looked over, and there was a white man that was addressing my children. and very aggressively. So I immediately went over there, and Angela followed me. And I had to interrupt. And so he was being very aggressive, used the N-word, called them ignorant, and on and on and on. Then his wife came and started doing the same. And at that point, it's getting very strong. And I looked over, and he's 6'5", 6'6", 285 pounds. And I'm thinking, I'm going to have to fight this man. You're about to lay hands on him.

34:06 Because if he makes a move against my children, that's against me. Now, I want you to understand he didn't say his black children. He said his children. At that moment, their skin color did not matter to you because you had met them on a heart level. You were their father. You changed their diapers. You provided for them. You had an experience that was so intertwined. and now somebody was coming against them because of their skin color. Yes. And what happened? Well, he kept going on, and I'm thinking, I'm going to have to make a move here. And so I shifted from my character to anger. I was pastoring at the time, but I realized that if he didn't stop, I was going to have to intervene. My daughter told me later she was with me.

34:58 She had jumped him too. But it was a serious situation. because then they brought the manager over, and the manager sided with the man against my boys, and they kicked us out of the park. I had to spend the rest of the day talking to my children, which they didn't understand, and we have never been back to that city since, and they refused to go because it so hurt them so deeply. Now, I want everybody to understand what Bishop just said. There's a couple of things I want to pull out of that, and thank you for sharing so transparently. He said that the situation was moving at a rate that got him so angry that it made him want to act out of his character. Yes.

35:50 Which I need to just say for everybody who's taken a very strong opinion against protesters and people who are doing all of this stuff, I don't agree with everything that's going on, but I want us to pray and get a little more empathy for some people who have been in a place where they've not been listened to. They've been marginalized. They've been talked about. They've been assumed about. And they've gotten so angry that they may act out of their character. They're not bad people. They're hurting people. I need everybody to hear me say that. They're not bad people. They're hurting people. And if you hear it from a white man because he was in that position, like I was so mad. We got kicked out of the park because of the color of my kids, the color of skin of my children, that it made me want to act out of character. That may not be a black thing.

36:46 That may be a humanity thing. And I think that we really need to pray and be able to ask God, how can we have empathy and actually pray for the peace of God for people and have conversations with them? And then the other thing that Bishop said right there is he had to spend time explaining to his kid a moment that scarred them for life. That didn't scar them for that one trip. They still talk about it. They still talk about it and they've never been back to the city, not the park. They've never been back to the city. we got to remember where racism started for us. And I know this is hard, and some of you want to tune off right now because it's easier to act like it doesn't exist, but you can never change anything that you don't confront. Charles, tell me about racism. Remember it for us. Where did it start for you, bro?

37:39 Well, people may not know, but I was raised by a white mom and a black dad, and so that created a couple of different dynamics. One, I grew up listening to Run DMC, Eric B and Rakim and Willie Nelson and James Taylor. And I can go back and forth on all the lyrics. Let's go. Mamas don't let your boys grow up to be cowboys, Willie Nelson. But, you know, it's crazy. It created this inner tension in me, even right now, with everything going on, of feeling like, specifically right now, one half of me is safe and the other one isn't. That if I get pulled over right now, I hope you know my mom is white. that it just created this tension. And it really started, I think my parents did a great job of teaching me that being biracial wasn't something to be looked at as a disadvantage, but really was my advantage, that I could walk into rooms and relate to two sides of people, that I could be friends. I could be a bridge for people.

38:33 But really, I remember when I was 16 years old, I was a sophomore in high school, and I was dating this girl. I was so excited. She was the senior cheerleader. She was a cheerleader. I was like, I was like, I thought I was the man. And we had been talking for about a month. And I remember I got home from school one day. And right when I walked inside, my mom started screaming at me. She is yelling. My mom just going off. And I didn't even know. I was like, what is happening? What is going on? And she calmed down and she started explaining to me that this girl's mom had called my football coach. He had called my principal. He had called the pastor of the church we went to. And he had called my dad's boss. Are you serious? She had called all these people, and she said, that kid and that boy will never talk to my daughter again. I will not have my daughter date a black boy like that. He cannot be around her. It's not right that his parents are together. It's not right that he's mixed races.

39:26 And just said some really horrible things. And I remember sitting in the car. We lived in Nashville, Tennessee, and I remember crying because it was the first time I felt less than for something I couldn't control. it was the first time that I realized like I didn't I didn't do anything I would have understood if I did something wrong if I had said something wrong if I had done something bad but I literally I mean I I realized that this was nothing I could control and as I grew older it just created this really duality in me of understanding that there was a part of me that was in some circles I was the black friend and in other friend circles I was the white friend and I would realize this going back and forth, even as I got older, I remember me and my wife were actually driving in the car, and a cop car got behind us, and I said, oh, dang, we're about to get pulled over, and she said, what are you talking, no, we're not, like, if you don't know Abby, Abby's 5'2", white, just clear, beautiful skin, just, but I said, we're about to get pulled over, and she's like, what do you, no, we're not, what do you mean? I said, I've never had a cop car get behind me and not get pulled over, ever, like, I just knew it, and right as I said that, the car flipped on, and we pulled over. It just really created this tension of realizing that regardless, to me, I realized it wasn't that I was all the way black or I had really dark skin. It's just that I wasn't white is what made me unsafe. It's just that I wasn't that. And so really, for me, that's where it started, that memory in high school. Bishop, I need to ask you this real quick because there's a lot of religious leaders watching and there's a lot of churches and a lot of people and they think that racism is outside of the church. Like it's, this only happens for people who aren't saved. But can a pastor, can a worship leader, can somebody that stands up and proclaims the name of Jesus and raises their hands and gives offering, can they have racism still in their heart? They can. In fact, I had an acquaintance. He wasn't a friend, but I had preached in his church and he knew of higher dimensions. So he called me and he said, all right, can we have a

41:36 frank conversation? I said, absolutely. He said, will you be honest? I said, absolutely. He said, okay, I need to ask you, what are you going to do if your daughter wants to date a black man? He asked you that. He asked me that. I said, are you serious? He said, yes. What do you want? What would you do? I said, absolutely nothing. He said, what do you mean? Let's talk real. I said, I'm talking real. And he said, so don't you think that we ought to stay to our own kind? And I said, absolutely, mankind.

42:10 And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about race. Don't you think we ought to stay to our own race? I said, yes, for sure, the human race. Come on. And then I had a picture, that picture that they put up. And I said, if you're going to ask me, what would I do if my daughter would want to date a black man? Then you're going to have to ask me, what would you do if my black sons want to date a white woman? Which one of them did marry a white woman? Yes. Yes. And he looked at it and everything went silent. And I just enjoyed the moment. I didn't say anything. I just enjoyed the moment of silence. And he said, I guess this conversation is over. I said, I guess it is. and and and I think that's we need a lot of conversations to be over we need a lot of the conversations there are a lot that have to start but there's a lot of them that need to be over yes if it has to do with white and black skin that conversation maybe we should have a conversation about character commitment like what people actually do and what they bring but the color of my skin that conversation has to be over somebody needs to put in the chat it needs to be over. It needs to be over because God has done a great work and for it to be over, you need to pray what Bible says in Psalms 51 10, creating me a pure heart, oh Lord, renewing me a right spirit, a steadfast spirit within me. And I'm telling you, when God starts allowing us to realize that we're not going to raise racism, that we're not going to repeat racism, that God is going to allow us to have the self-identification to see where we remember where it started, then God starts a process of revealing racism. And I believe that's what God is doing right now in America.

43:58 He is revealing racism. I told Charles earlier, I said, racism is not worse, it's just revealed. Like, this is not anything new. You can do your research, you can go back to the race massacre in 1921, you can go back to slavery, you can go back to Emmett Till, you can go back to the Jews, you can go back to the Native Americans, you can, I mean, we can go through the whole, this is not new, it's just being revealed because of cell phones. And I believe, watch this, this is bold, I believe this is what America is a result of America taking God out of the middle. we've prayed prayers like god make us a country that represents you and he looks down at america and he's like that ain't it and i'm not just talking about america this is all over the world because we have people that are in south africa and apartheid we have people that are all over the world that are dealing with different injustices and all i'm saying and god is saying i'm about to reveal it to you right now and what you do from this point is on you and today i want everybody to know that as we stand here and we're saying, okay, we're going to look at what God is exposing right now, and we want you to change us. See, God doesn't bless who we pretend to be.

45:19 He blesses who we really are. That is also America. He doesn't bless who we pretend to be. He blesses who we really are, and today we get to pull back the cover on this, and we get to ask God, creating us a clean hand right now. I want you, everybody that's watching, just lift your hands. Let's pray that prayer. Father God, I'm asking you to create in us a clean heart. Father, anything that's not like you, anything that we are remembering, anything that we participated in that was not like you, Father, that has fed the monster of racism, God, we're asking you right now. Come on. This is a real moment. God, I'm asking you to reveal it right now, God, and we're asking you to cleanse us. Give us a clean heart, pure motives, pure thoughts, Father God, that we can be a part of the solution. and not just be a bystander to the problem. We ask you to reveal it to us in Jesus' name. Guys, what we're doing right now is this conversation is I'm praying is a seed that is going into grounds all over the world that is going to mess with you in your sleep.

46:20 Like I'm praying that you're going to see stuff and not be able to be okay with it anymore because God is starting something. And after something is revealed, you have a decision to make. If we're going to see a revolution in this thing called racism, you either have two options. You can be one of those who is repenting for racism or reasoning with racism. And this is what we get to see every day, real time on social media. We're getting to see people repent for racism or their reasoning with racism. and I'm telling you so so clearly that if you are a Christian and you're reasoning with racism shame on you that is not what Christ has called you to do we are called to bring reconciliation and I'm not just talking about white people I'm talking about black people I know black people pastor Tommy that tell their family don't associate with them don't go over there oh you you an uncle Tom all the hey listen wherever that evil is in your heart it's gotta go and I'm telling you that right now because if we don't deal with that we lock ourself out of the kingdom of God what he wants to see in our life as it is in heaven being on this earth and God right now is revealing this stuff to us and we gotta make a decision that's why Romans 12 2 says something I want you to look at this because I know some of y'all like where's the scripture where is the Bible let me help you Romans 12 2 don't copy the behaviors and the customs or the patterns of this world don't be ones to repeat this don't be ones to keep the systemic stuff going don't be ones to just chomp it up to I mean if they could afford being in this neighborhood they'd be in this neighborhood look up redlining and look up all of these things that have kept people separated. Like, don't conform to the patterns, but as the church of Jesus Christ, let God transform you into a new person by doing what, Pastor Mike? What do we need to do? We need to

48:27 pray more. We need to worship more. I think we need to have a worship service. No, what does it say? By changing the way you think. Ooh, I'm telling you right now that the greatest miracle that is going to happen in your life in 2020 is you think different. It's that some of the things that are natural for you to think that God's saying don't conform to that but be transformed by me by the renewing of your mind. Change the way you think. Somebody needs to put that in the chat. I'm changing the way I think. I'm changing the way I think about different ethnicities. I'm changing the way I view people that don't look like me. I'm changing the way I view people that are different ages and come from different communities. I'm changing the way I think. He says, then when you change the way you think, then you will learn to know God's will for you. Hold on. Until I change the way I think, I don't get to fully know what God's will is for me. A lot of people pray that prayer. Bishop, I get that question all the time. How do I know what God's will for me is? There's a prerequisite.

49:34 Change the way you think. Change the way that you're thinking about your situation and who's in your life and what's comfortable change the way you think and it says um you will know god's will for you which is good pleasing and perfect what i'm telling everybody is that if you get proper reasoning it'll lead to you repenting and the word repenting all it means is to turn all I'm asking everybody if there's an ounce of racism in you and I have had to confront it in my own life over this past two weeks because I was wondering can I be completely hot I was like I saw some white people after I'm in the airport when it happened and now my bus driver's white that's taking us to the thing and he says how you doing and there's a part of me that was like how how I'm doing? How I'm that? And I just want, can I be real? And I said, where is that at?

50:36 Is that lined in my heart somewhere? God, is there something in me that when I see injustice, now I want to take it out on people who had nothing to do with it. What's happening in my heart? And all I'm asking everybody is maybe this is a time where we all have to repent, where we all have to get on our knees and we have to turn and not just turn to anything, turn back to God. Y'all, if I'm telling you that I've been praying and reading the word more in this past two weeks, and some of us haven't, we've been consuming and feeding the monster, the wrong part of us, by every news source and every feed and every post, and God says, that's not the answer. I am. If you're going to turn to anything, if you're going to turn to anything, please turn to me. And right now, God's asking us to turn because once he reveals it, Once we have the fortitude to be able to repent from it, then we have to respond to racism. Uh-oh!

51:35 This is the one that we wish that we could just have a quiet time with God and be okay by ourselves and then keep living our life. But if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it is your job to now respond to racism. And I want to help people with this because a lot of people, I keep getting calls from my friends and pastors and leaders and people that I've grown up with. And there's like, hey, this is wrong. I feel horrible. And I want to do something to change. How can people practically and spiritually respond to racism? Pastor Tommy. Well, the first thing that we have to do is we have to look at our heart and have to understand that in our heart, the Bible says that the heart is wicked. God knows our heart. You can say one thing with your mouth, but God knows what your heart is. The Bible says also, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

52:33 And what we have to do is we have to inspect our heart and get the heart of God. Because the answer is God. You know, I read the scriptures about love, and the only reason that I can love unconditionally is because God unconditionally loved me. He said, while I was yet a sinner, he died for me. And the first act of racial reconciliation was God sending his son to reconcile the human race back to himself. And I'm a part of that. So I got to look at my heart and see what are the fears that I have. But the Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. So if I'm walking in love, then I have no fear of anything. I have no fear of people. I don't see people as a threat. I see people as individuals who have challenges just like I do, and I'm here to help bear their burdens. He says, bear ye one another's burden.

53:28 And how can we love God who we haven't seen and we hate our brothers and we don't do what we can to help them out? Whether they be black, white, Hispanic, it doesn't matter. The key is, is the love of God being shown through our lives. So we got to understand that the only thing that's going to solve this is the love of God. I remember a story that you told us all the time in the Bible about the Good Samaritan. Yeah. And how that was an actual racial situation and not just racial, but it was religious as well. Can you tell everybody? Well, in Luke 10, verse 25, Jesus is talking and the religious leaders or the teachers of the law come to him and ask him because he was just telling the disciples and those that are around him, love your neighbor as you love yourself. And they were asking him, trying to catch him and say, well, who is our neighbor?

54:25 Are they black? Are they white? Are they women? Is it the person that lived next door to me? And is it who? But Jesus said the parable of the Samaritan. He said there was a man that was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, Jericho, Jerusalem. But he came upon thieves who robbed him, beat him up, stripped him of his clothes and left him on the road half dead. So along came this priest, the religious leader of that time. So he saw it, but he crossed over to the other side of the road and passed by him. And the other person that came along was a Levite. He was also an assistant to the priest, so he didn't bother. He crossed over on the other side. He was a worshiper. He's going to the temple. Now, they're on their way to the temple to do their religious duty, but there's a man in the ditch that's half dead, and they pass by him.

55:23 Come on. So then a foreigner came by in the parable, somebody that wasn't like him, but somebody that had compassion for him. And that's the thing that moves Jesus, compassion. He always touched people because of the compassion that he had for people. So he came by and he picked the man up out of the ditch. He took him to an inn and he gave the innkeeper two days wages. But he didn't just give him wages. He stayed with the man overnight and took care of his wounds and helped heal his sorrows. So the next day he got up, he said, I have to go take care of some business. But if there's anything else that this man needs, charge it to my account. And when I come back, I will pay for it.

56:18 I'm ready to preach. I will pay for it. I'm ready to preach. So he wasn't like this man. He was a foreigner, but he was different from this man. But we have to realize that there are people in this world that are different from you, not just in skin color, but in ideology. Muslims think different from you. But if you saw him in the ditch, would you pass by? Would you pick him up? Or would you just go about your way? No, God is calling us to be one race. Jesus said, Father, make them one as we are one. so that the world might know that you sent me. Come on. Okay. I want to preach. Tag. Tag me. Okay. Tag me. Tag me. I want everybody to see in this story of the Good Samaritan. Now I want to stand up. I want you to see what happened. The man, he stayed overnight with him. That means he stopped. Yes.

57:10 And a lot of us are in this moment where we've stopped because of George Floyd and all the situation. But my question is, will you stay? See, he stopped, but then he stayed overnight with him. And most of us will do our little post and we stopped for a second. We did it for a second, but the man stayed with him. And he stayed long enough to be able to understand this story. He stayed long enough to be able to hear him beyond where he was currently and see where he came from. He stayed with him long enough that he was moved compassion to be able to pay for him to be there for two more days. He didn't just stop. He didn't just stay, but he also sacrificed. And my question to you is, what are you willing to sacrifice to see somebody that doesn't have your same situation come into a place of healing and wholeness? That man paid for his stay for two more days and then told the innkeeper whatever he needs.

58:12 whatever he needs if it's counseling that he needs if it's a grocery store in an impoverished area if it's alone if it's something whatever he needs and god says this is what loving your neighbor looks like okay all right charles i'm gonna tag to you bro what can people do to actually be ones that respond to racism well i think something we have to do is we have to respond in humility I think pride cast the responsibility of racism onto other people. Pride says it's not my problem. I didn't do anything with it. I'm not racist. I got a black friend. I got a white friend. You know, like, it's not like, come on. But the person who helps me clean my house, they're a different ethnicity. And it casts the restraint. But I think there's a sense of humility that has to respond. The Bible says if my people who are called by my name will repent and humble themselves, if they'll start with humbling themselves.

59:10 And there was a scripture actually in Acts 15 that I want to read, and really even in this time it reads so differently. But the context of the scripture in Acts 15 is Paul is talking to the leaders at the religious time, and they're talking about the difference between Jews and Gentiles. And this would have been a racially charged conversation. It would have been a religiously charged conversation. And what the Jews believe is that Gentiles, they shouldn't be saved like us. They're different. They don't have the rights we do. They don't have access to grace like we do. And Paul is arguing with them that, no, it's the same grace that saved you. It's the same grace that saved me. And look at this response. It's so powerful. It says, God knows the heart, not their skin color, not where they grew up, not their zip code. God knows the heart. And he showed that he accepted them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he gave it to us. He did not discriminate between us and them.

1:00:06 Come on. He purified their hearts by faith. Now, look at this. So powerful. It says, now, why then do you try to test God by putting on the neck of the Gentiles? In this putting on the neck of people who don't look like you, putting on the neck of the Gentiles, a yoke that neither you or your ancestors were able to earn. It literally says it goes on. It says God saved us and he saved them in the same way. yikes the scripture even I was reading that days after that happened and it says why do you put this burden on the neck of these people he was talking about why do you put this this pride that says I earned what I got this pride that says I earned that's what they were saying they said I earned my salvation I earned what in the same way bishop you you didn't do anything to earn your white skin people didn't do anything to earn this thing that they feel like they hold but yet there's a pride that says because of who I am because of where I live because of how much money I have because of the school I go to, because of my experience, I'm better than people.

1:01:06 We have to humble ourselves. You want to talk about remembering? Remembering that without God, we are all broken. If we want to talk about what we deserve, the Bible says the wages of sin is death. So regardless if you're black, white, we do not deserve this, but God in his grace, he extends this to us. And I think there's a humbling in our hearts to understand regardless of where you live, regardless of who you grew up around, that literally there is a humility and understanding that ultimately that God is the one that wakes you up every morning. Like regardless of what job you feel like, God is the one who allowed you to get into that job. God is the one who blessed you to be born into that family. People who think like, oh, I'm just privileged. You didn't control what family you were born into. So like what is the pride to think that? And I think right now there is a humility, a humility to seek to understand, a humility to not make assumptions, a humility to understand that, you know what, even though it's not I won't ever be in their shoes, I can still seek to understand the humility to raise our kids different.

1:02:04 We not just need to raise kids that are aware. We need to raise advocates, people who will stand up and say, I'm not okay with this. People who will, like, we got to change, I think, and it starts with us humbling ourselves. That's so good, Charles. Bishop, how can people respond? I think of the story of 1 Chronicles 4, the story of Jabez. Yeah. Jabez's mother, the Bible says, birthed him in pain. And the word Jabez actually means pain or sorrow. Wow. So she labeled him through her experience. We have to be careful that we don't, generation after generation, keep giving that generation out of our pain their pain.

1:02:55 And that does not discredit the fact that you had pain. Yeah. and that you have scars. And we can learn from those, but don't put it on the next generation. Because then he had to deal with that. Could you imagine if they were choosing sides for a basketball game? And who would want pain on their team?

1:03:18 So he had to overcome that to produce his future. And so God's looking for a generation now to overcome the past that was real and produce a new future. And that's becoming the people of God. He said, for once you were not a people, now you're the people of God. Think about the prayer he ended up praying out of pain and sorrow. Enlarge my territory. Come on. He started speaking his future. He spoke his future. And I think that's something so powerful. That's why we're having this conversation. That's why we're saying we need a revolution in racism. It's because we got to speak a better word. We got to speak a different word. We have to denounce everything that has been our experience and been real and start from here to create something that's going to be better for generations to come. And that's why I'm telling you, we got to respond right to racism because now as the church of Jesus Christ, we have a responsibility of racism.

1:04:21 That's where 2 Corinthians 5.18, you're going to continue to hear me say it. And all of this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ. That's the reconciliation that Pastor Tommy was talking about. And God has given us. Who did he give it to? I said, who did he give it to? He has given it to us, believers. He's given us this task. What task? Of reconciling people to him. but you cannot reconcile anybody to him if they first don't touch you so we have to be reconciled to each other so that we can reconcile them to god for god was in christ reconciling the world to himself no longer counting people's skin i mean sin against them and he gave us this powerful wonderful message of reconciliation so we are Christ's ambassadors that's me and you God is making this part jacks me up every time God is making his appeal to the entire world through us through what you say through how you text through how you protest through how you love through who you hate. He is making his appeal through us. We, this is dangerous, we speak for Christ when we plead, come back to God. We also speak for Christ when we say we hate other people.

1:05:58 God forbid we take the authority we've been given as believers and squander it for an Instagram post. God forbid that we take this moment where I could have you up jumping and shouting and people have tuned off because they don't want to hear about that God forbid we take our responsibility as Christians and squander it because we don't want anybody to think bad about it yeah y'all know they did the same thing to Jesus y'all know he was executed publicly because of what he believed and who he was. God forbid that pastors would stand up on their platforms today and not even acknowledge where we are in our country. We speak for God.

1:06:52 That's why this is so important. And that's why I love this church. That's why I love that I'm standing here and I'm sitting, I'm not standing, I'm sitting here with all of you. And I want to say something with everybody on the platform, I want to say it very strong. Which camera I'm looking at? I want you to see me. Is it you? Okay, I'm looking at you. This is not your fault, but it is now your fight. i want you to hear me say that so strong if you are a believer in jesus christ whether you're white whether you're black whether you're hispanic whether you're asian whether you're native american whether you're african whether you're african i don't care what it is it is not your fault but this is now your fight we've been given the ministry of reconciliation and if you're at Transformation Church. I'm so sorry that we have been given a real responsibility to make this thing, what did he say our vision was? To represent. So now we have been given the task of representing racism. Every day that we show up here, every time we put a bumper sticker that says we're a part of Transformation Church, every time we get a shirt that says represent, and I'm sorry for everybody that don't live in Tulsa, we coming to y'all soon, merch on the way.

1:08:17 But every time that we want a represent shirt, we get an opportunity to be ones that are representing racism. And we gotta create a brand new narrative. We gotta be the ones that say, no longer is this going to last or be able to stand. It's why the church was even created. Many of you don't know this, but Bishop Gary McIntosh was pastoring in a different area than went on the road in itinerant ministry. And then God told them very clearly. He said that you're supposed to go to the north side of Tulsa and reverse the curse. He took his shoes off on the intersection of Greenwood and Archer, I believe it was. And standing there, God said, reverse the curse. Can you tell us how we even got here today? Yeah, let me, if I can make one statement. Yes, sir. Because I had a pastor friend call me after we started the church. and he said, I just want to thank you.

1:09:12 You're doing a good thing. And I told him, I said, I appreciate you making that statement, but you have no idea. This is my privilege. I. I wouldn't be the person I am. if it weren't for black people in my life. so that was my privilege it wasn't a responsibility it wasn't a good thing i did yeah it was it was my joy and i wouldn't be who i am today if i hadn't obeyed god in 1999 and started greenwood christian center at the time which is now transformation church and it was on Greenwood and Archer that I said yes to God because I was traveling and having a fruitful ministry and things were going really well but it had to be we wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for that moment and to say yes to God then produced a lot of things I studied the race riots And we tried to make an impact In North Tulsa Which I love North Tulsa I live there to this day I live there We're neighbors And I'm thrilled to be a part of that community And will always be a part And so have you You've proved that over and over And I just want to say publicly That people compliment me For choosing you But it was an honor for me Because I saw God's hand on your life and there was no other.

1:10:58 I thought another person could have been early on and it fell apart only for you to come on the scene and for me to recognize the hand of God on your life at a level that you didn't even at the time, but it was there as much as it is today. And I am thrilled to be a part of that and the work that's happening worldwide just from me standing with you. And I told Pastor Michael when we handed the baton a little over five years ago, I said, you have walked with me for five years, and I appreciate that. Now I get to walk with you for five years. And, of course, it's got more than that now. We're on the sixth year. And I told him, I said, I'm going to be here. Every time I'm in town, I'm right there in that third row. And I'd rather be here than anywhere in the world. But it was a joy to birth the work in North Tulsa and to have an impact. And you are still doing major work in North Tulsa, even as we're out of North Tulsa now.

1:12:01 And what a joy. And this church has to be a beacon of light in this season of racism. And our life together has to make that statement to the world. And I think we're doing it. And I want to thank you publicly and personally. Bishop, I want to say this. Like, you don't got to clap for that because without Bishop and Pastor Debbie using their privilege, using their power to empower, I would not be standing here. He gave me. Now, I want you to see this picture that we don't see very often. he gave me his life work and trusted me to take it to another level the first bank loan that I ever got was because you took me and introduced me to the banker you use your influence and your power and you stood behind me and said this is he doesn't have the credit but I back him and because you use your privilege and your power now me and that banker or best of friends.

1:13:14 Because you used your privilege and your power and you stood next to me, we've walked into places and been treated differently. But I want to thank you publicly for using your privilege and your power to give me an equal opportunity. And because you've given me equal opportunities, now I'm able to give other people equal opportunity. and when we stood here with all of our staff with the staff that was in the room and I saw all those different ethnicities it was the decision you made on Greenwood and Archer that 20 something years later would produce a staff that could look like him and today Transformation Nation if you love anything about this ministry can we give God praise for Bishop Gary and Pastor. Oh, we can do better than that.

1:14:07 Oh, no, we need to applaud and be proud of and give grace. We don't just attack people when they don't do it. We celebrate people when they do do it, when they do make a difference. And I want to say thank you. Transformation Church, if you made it through all of this, you ride or die. And we could go another five hours with this conversation. But if you're a part of this church and you're a part of the kingdom of God, you can't be indifferent. You can't be silent anymore. We have to bear each other's burdens.

1:14:46 To all my black people that are watching this right now, I have a question for you. Would you be willing, this is so serious. would you be willing to lay down the validity of your pain to see unity I know that's going to be hard I know that's going to be tough but if we're ever going to see racial reconciliation it's valid it hasn't been fair it's not right there's injustices but it's going to take all of us to change legislation to move things in the spirit to be able to create new communities to start our own banks to be able to do I'm just saying stuff right now but we got it's going to take all of us but would you be willing to my black brothers and sisters to lay down the validity of the pain so that we could see unity and to my white brothers and sisters I have something very hard to ask you but would you be willing to use your privilege to cover the burden of somebody that doesn't look like you?

1:15:58 Would you take your privilege off and put it around somebody else to give them an opportunity for warmth? These are hard questions. people i lost some people right when i said white privilege or anything like that but i want you to know it's real and i want you to understand it maybe they'll understand it like this if you're i want to do a social experiment right now if you're right-handed out there and in here everybody can you if you're right-handed lift up your right hand right now if you're right-handed okay the majority of the people in here come on watching online come on lift your right hand up, okay? If you're left-handed on this stage or around the world, lift your hand right now. Pastor Tommy, you're the only one on the platform. Now, I want you to see this real quick.

1:16:51 Myself, Bishop, and Charles are the majority right here, and we are all right-handed. Pastor Tommy is the minority. He is left-handed. The entire world has been set up for right-handed people. think about it right-handed people have a privilege when you go into a school and the desks that are made right-handed people it's made so that you can rest your elbow on it and you can write left-handed people you know they'd be struggling it's just like they'd be drawing and stuff like that okay if you play golf if you're right-handed you can go to any golf shop and find a driver or a wedge that's already right-handed. But if you're left-handed, you got to get that stuff special made. So we would have right privilege. I didn't say white privilege. I said right privilege. And that would give us an advantage at things, but we need to use our right privilege to make it equal for everybody else that's the same thing with white privilege you didn't choose it you just got it and it would be foolish of us not to use it to make the picture of heaven come onto the earth as it is in heaven let it be here on earth maybe that's still hard to understand but maybe um this short video could help you understand Hey, line up!

1:25:39 If you did it before Would you do it again? All that you can do is Jesus Hear I cry, Lord Hear I cry God be like it

1:26:12 what we're asking God to do is heal us again I'm praying that the power of the Holy Spirit is penetrating your house right now and more than your house it's penetrating your heart we're going to be ones that ask God to heal us again as we stand here different ethnicities different experiences different generations but united under the one name of Jesus Christ. We're about to pray. If you're in the house with anybody, I want you to grab hands with them right now. All over this room, I want you to grab hands and I'm going to ask each one of them to pray because we're going to ask God to heal us. I'm going to ask God to do something in us that would start at the heart level but would end at changing humanity. And so as we pray, I want you to join your faith all around the world, literally all around the world.

1:27:08 We are joining in faith, and we're believing that God is going to start a revolution of racism right now. And we are going to believe it, and we're going to pray in crazy faith. Charles, go ahead and start us off. Right now, Lord God, we speak, Lord Jesus, to the injustice and the hate that is happening, Lord Jesus, and we speak love. Right now, I thank you that today things are shifting. Right now, I thank you that today it changes and it starts with us. Right now, I thank you, Lord, that there would not be another day that we downplay who you've called us to be, that we would downplay our voice, but we stand in our position. And I thank you for small obedience in small moments that people won't see. But, Lord, we're going to raise our children different, Lord God. Lord, certain conversations won't be allowed to be had around us, Lord Jesus. I thank you that today, Lord, with our obedience, Lord Jesus, as we humble ourselves to you, Lord God, that the revolution would start with us.

1:28:04 May we not put it on the responsibility of the government, of a law, of a certain individual, Lord God, but every single person under the sound of my voice, that they would take the responsibility and it would start with our obedience to you. We thank you for it in the name of Jesus. And God, right now, I pray for healing to come to every wound, every scar, every experience that tried to affect not only the present, not only the days after, but the future of every individual. I pray let the oil of your Holy Spirit come upon them right now. I pray, O God, that you would pour that oil upon every wound, every scar, every experience, that this day would start a revolution of change, that this day would start a revolution of transferring to another generation healing and unity and power and love.

1:29:02 I thank you, oh God, that what you have begun today, we're going to see moment by moment, month by month, year by year, radical change in this nation and the nations of the world. And we'll give you praise for it in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Father God, we just thank you, Lord God. First, God, I thank you that you give me the ability, Lord God, to know you as my Lord and Savior. And I thank you, Lord God, that we rely on you. Father, we thank you that we are a part of the solution. We thank you, Lord God, that you have called us and you have chosen us to be ambassadors for you in this earth, Lord God. And we thank you, Lord God, that we take up the fight, Lord God, to bring about reconciliation, Lord God, between races, between sexes, between people that are different, Lord God. I thank you, Lord God, that we will not promote racism, but we will promote erasism, Lord God, that we will come and destroy that spirit that has permeated this world, Lord God, for you died so that all men would be one.

1:30:07 And I thank you, Lord God, for it. We thank you, Lord God, that you're going to get the glory out of it. And this world will change because we say yes to your will in the earth. In Jesus name. Amen. Father, I thank you that our yes is turning into action. Father God, I thank you that right now you're going to allow us. You don't just send us out to do something. You will give us instructions and give us the power to do what pleases you. So today our hearts are open. Our ears are open. Our wallets are open. Our feet are open. Our homes are open to do what you call us to do. Father, I thank you that the burden is not on one person. But Father God, as we all take our place, that this burden will become light as we all say yes to what is right. Again, the burden will become light as we all say yes to what is right. Again, the burden will become light as we all say yes to what is right.

1:31:06 And what is right is that we would all be equal. That we would not see the melanin or lack of melanin in somebody's skin. but we would see your image in every creation and today let us bring value back to what you have valued and i just thank you god that even as we'll lose some people watching and even as father god some people they can't stomach it we will always stand for what you stand for God I thank you that we'll always be bold enough to not just preach the message of Jesus but we will still be able to use the method of Jesus. God we thank you that you're healing people right now. That song said God heal again. And Father we need you to heal us.

1:32:00 In Jesus name. If you're watching me right now and you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. that is the first step to every healing you need to see is by inviting god and being reconciled back to him and it's very simple i know religion would tell you that you got to stop smoking stop drinking change do all this other stuff but we believe that you can belong here before you behave and very simply if you believe by faith that jesus christ was sent by the father to come and he lived a perfect life and he died in your place for your punishment and he rose again with all power you are saved according to Romans 10 9 and then you have to do what what what we talked about today you have to repent and all that means is turn turn from the ways that you've been doing things and turn to God today if that's you I don't know how you got on this broadcast I don't know um if you're watching by re-broadcast listening on podcast or with your family or whatever Right now god's saying today is the day of salvation. I would hate for you to be in this crazy world without a lifesaver And god's saying i'm the lifesaver I'm the one that you can walk around and be bold and you can have the fruits of the spirit without drinks and and Substances and all that other stuff. I'll give you peace. I'll give you love. I'll give you joy I am those things and he wants to offer that to you I even hear very strongly that somebody's not been sleeping your sleep has been disrupted by everything god said Let me come in and be the prince of peace.

1:33:31 Let me come in and stand in the gap. Today all you do is have to receive it. On the count of three, I want you, if you want to be added in that prayer, I want you to lift your hand wherever you are. I don't care who's around you and what's going on. Today is the day of salvation. This is the decision I made that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, somebody who was addicted to pornography. I had all kind of bad thoughts and addictions and all that other stuff. And God said, here, I'll take all of that if you'll give it to me. And I can change it. And today I'm a living witness of the grace of God. So I'm not judging you. I'm encouraging you. There's a better life for you. And it can start today. One, if you decide for Jesus Christ, you're making the greatest decision of your life. Two, maybe you need to come back to God and this is your moment of salvation. Three, hands lifted all over the world. Come on, lift your hands all over the world. And I'm telling you right now, we are so proud of you.

1:34:27 but more than that God is proud of you today I want to pray with you and at Transformation Church nobody prays alone because we're one big family white black Hispanic Native American we're one big family so everybody all around the world let's pray this prayer together for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ today everybody say God thank you for sending Jesus just for me today I make you my Lord and Savior I believe you lived you died and you rose again just for me come into my life and change me renew me transform me I'm yours in Jesus name amen hey there are claps from heaven and all around the world oh come on this is what our church is all about seeing people transformed in christ and if you just made that decision i want you to text the number on the screen right now just take save to that number and we want to walk with you not just through a season that's hard with racial reconciliation injustice but through every season of life we want to walk with you we're gonna stand with you and we're gonna let you know that no matter what you're going through God is for you he is with you and so are we I honestly believe that this conversation needs to be shared all over the world I think people need to see this dynamic maybe one little thing could spark something in their mind or their remembrance or cause a revolution.

1:36:05 How did you say it, Dad? A re-lovolution. Say it in the mic because they can't hear you. A re-lovolution. A re-lovolution. We need something different. And we want to start this and screenshot this picture right here. You understand what I'm saying? Screenshot this. This is what it looks like when somebody says yes to God, uses their privilege, and moves interracially, and moves us into a place where we can see way more with one man's yes and then another man's yes who are different ethnicities and then another man's yes who are both ethnicities thanks charles um there need to be more pictures like this around the world in boardrooms and businesses intentional this will not happen on accident yet this will happen intentionally. Today I'm praying this for your family. I'm praying it for your businesses. I'm praying it for your neighborhoods. I'm praying it for your neighborhood watch. I'm praying it for the police force. I'm praying it for our government. I'm praying it for our school districts.

1:37:15 I'm praying that every place will begin to look like heaven. This week we're praying that you would live a transformed life. Share this with everybody. Tell people what you've learned. We're not going to raise racism. We're getting revelation that will lead to a revolution. Transformation Church, we love you, and we can't wait to see you next week as we go out and live a transformed life. Thank you so much for watching this message. And if this has impacted you in any way, I'm asking you to do a couple of things. Number one, join Transformation Nation. Join us right here every Sunday. Gather your friends and your family and be a part of not just this moment, but this movement. The second thing I would ask you to do is share. Share this with your friends, your coworkers, people that are around you, because transformation is just one click away. The last thing I would ask you to do is partner with us financially.

1:38:15 If this ministry is impacting your life, transforming you, I would ask you to consider, pray about what you could give to help us take this message to the whole world. I want you to know that we love you and your best days are right in front of you. This week, I want you to live a transformed life. See you next week.