Tunnel Vision for the Next Chapter

45:38 Your excellent name, Yahweh. You are the great I am. Your excellent name, Jehovah Jireh. You indeed provide. Your excellent name, Jehovah Shalom. You are our peace. Your excellent name, you're our healer. Your excellent name. You're our banner and victory, your excellent name. You are our shepherd, your excellent name. You are a heart fixer and a mind regulator, a burden bearer, a heavy load sharer. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. We bless your name. We praise your name. thank you for your name revealing your nature and how it's your nature to show up at our point of need.

46:39 Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. And now God, we thank you and praise you that you have spared us to see another year, a new year. We thank you and praise you for what you are up to. And now, God, we ask that you would order our steps in your word. Lead us and guide us every day. Send your anointing. Father, we pray, order our steps in your word. I'm available to be used as your instrument. So stand in my body. Take over my mind and think your faults. Take my mouth and speak, teach, and preach with power your word. Bless your word.

47:35 And may your word go forth with such power that none of us, in line or in the house or online, will leave this experience and encounter with you the same way we came. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen and hallelujah. Would you praise God with me for our marvelous mass choir blessing us in such a powerful way? Also thank God with me for Pastor Danielle Ayers leading us in our moment of meditation, reflection, and communion. Our theme for the year is leveling up. And for this month, we're talking about leveling up with vision. With vision, vision. And so I want to, this month, unpack a passage that's quite familiar and powerful, Habakkuk chapter 2. And there in Habakkuk chapter 2, beginning at verse 1, we find the words of our text for this message.

48:40 Habakkuk chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. Please, during your quiet moments, I encourage you to read the whole book. but I want to focus our sermonic spotlight on the first four verses of Habakkuk chapter 2 in this session. It reads from the New American Standard Bible translation of the 11th century vowed Hebrew Masoretic text, I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart, and I will keep watch to see what God will speak to me and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, record the vision and inscribe it on tablets that the one who reads it may run for the vision is yet for the appointed time.

49:43 It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it. For it will certainly come. It will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him. But the righteous will live by faith. You may be seated in God's presence. I want to put a tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers, I want to talk about tunnel vision for the next chapter. Tunnel vision for the next chapter. Amanda Gorman that premier poet laureate Who has a way of using the lyrics of language To speak to our hearts hurts and hopes Has a profound poem entitled a hymn for the hurting And in this poem a hymn for the hurting Amanda Gorman says, everything hurts.

50:56 Our hearts shadowed and strange, minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. Amanda Gorman brilliantly, poetically proclaims that pain sometimes feels omnipresent. No matter where we turn, there is hurt, suffering, and pain. It messes with our minds and dogs our footsteps. You didn't feel, Amanda, maybe you can feel Killer Mike. Because Killer Mike raps about the reality by testifying, I remember sitting hurt all alone in church service asking God to reveal to me a higher plan and purpose. Killer Mike in a real sense testifies that you can be in church and feel isolated in your own pain you see you never know what people next to you are going through you can be in church filled with people and yet you are leading an empty life and Killer Mike testifies I remember I can testify I sitting hurt all alone in church service. Don't miss it because Killer Mike says he felt all alone in church service. Who am I talking to sitting in this sacred space even right now and no one around you knows what you are going through. They see the smile on your face but they don't know the frown from the hurt in your heart.

52:38 I remember sitting hurt all alone in church service asking God to reveal to me a plan and a higher purpose. And already I'm in somebody's Kool-Aid. I've called out your flavor because here we are in a new year and yet there is old pain that is continuing to pull you back. I have yet to make it plain. And so let me take your old school to The Color Purple written by the brilliant Alice Walker. Alice Walker's work, The Color Purple, was made into a movie. I want to take you back to the classic one, not the one last year, but the classic one. And in that classic Color Purple, there is a character played by Oprah Winfrey known as Sophia. Sophia, my brothers and sisters, is a character worthy of study.

53:39 There are powerful things that as far as I'm concerned, we can learn from as we look at Sophia, this powerful personality who was, watch this, resilient and resistant. This is Sophia. Sophia refused as it were to go along to get along. She was a powerful personality in a culture of abuse. Sophia did not go along with abuse. And you recall that on one occasion that Harpo, her husband, made the mistake of listening to Celie and telling Celie to beat Sophia in order to get her in line. And Harpo ended up with a face that was blood, bloody, and bruised. And then here is what Sophia does.

54:37 She rushes to Celie and say, you told Harpo to beat me. And y'all recall that classic line when she says, I love Harpo. God knows I do, but I kill him dead if he put his hands on me. In a real sense, understand that in a culture where the subjugation of women was normal, she lived an abnormal life. I kind of like that right there because if there is anything that devalues you and robs you of your agency, you ought to be a rebel against that which is robbing you of who God made you to be. The poet put it like this. Many are somebody who fell into line but came a nobody in almost no time. Anyone can follow what the crowds do, but I'm somebody.

55:34 How about you? everybody's doing it no not yet some somebody don't you forget anyone with courage to see what's true is bound to be somebody how about you hold on not only is she a powerful personality who is resilient and and filled with resistance but that caused her to collide with the power structure There's a scene that really makes me angry in the color purple where here it is. Sophia is downtown minding her business with her well-behaved kids. And the mayor's wife sees her kids are so well-behaved and comes up to with the arrogant audacity of whiteness and white female privilege. and says to Sophia that she wanted her to be a domestic, taking care of her bad-a kids.

56:35 Well, you know what happened when Sophia heard that request? Do y'all know what Sophia did? That resistance, that rebellious personality, so powerful. I'm quoting, don't judge me, I'm quoting. This is what Sophia said with all of the strength of her black humanity. She said, hell no. And y'all, when she said that, do you know that the mayor's wife could not believe? And white women tears began to flow so much that she had the nerve to ask Sophia again. And Sophia, in essence, says, I didn't bite my tongue. And one more time, she said, hell no. In a real sense, she was saying no to anything that devalued her. No to anything that disrespected her.

57:36 No, I think I'll hang out right there. It's okay if you know God for yourself and who God made you to be. to make up your mind that in 2025, if you're going to thrive, there are some things and some people you ought to say no to. There are some situations you ought to say no to. There are things that want to rob you of your agency and your humanity. It's okay if you know who God made you to be. It's okay to say no. I'm going to go with Sophia one more time. Say it with your back straight and let your neck roll and say, hell no. My sisters and brothers, I'm simply saying that Sophia does that. But here it is.

58:29 Watch what happened. Because when she does that, she collides with the power structure. And any time you dare to straighten your back and say no to the power structure, there will be consequences that can be breaking. And that's what happened. Understand that Sophia is brutally beaten. She is thrown in jail. Fast forward now toward the end. There's that triumphant scene around the table. And watch what happened. And she testifies to Miss Seeley. She said, Miss Seeley, I sat in that jail. I sat in that jail. You don't know what it's like to want to go somewhere and paint. You don't know what it's like to want to sing but have it beaten out of you. And then she said, I was feeling mighty low.

59:26 I think I want to stop right there because that in essence is what someone has experienced and felt in the last chapter. In the last chapter, you've had days where you were feeling mighty low. You wanted to sing, but it was beaten out of you. Y'all playing holy like that ain't Bible. Listen, life can break you down and rob you of your desire to even praise God. I think I'll make it plain. Have y'all read Psalm 137 where the Bible says to kidnap Israel, the kidnapped Israelites are now in bondage in Babylon. And their captor said, we know y'all can sing. Why don't you sing some of the songs of Zion? And the Bible says they hung their harps on the willows and said, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

1:00:22 Anybody want to testify that you've been there on that job and say, how am I getting my praise on working under Satan himself? How am I going to get my praise on when I am depressed and distressed? Every now and then we find that praise is beaten out of us. Listen, she says, how about when you want to go somewhere but can't go anywhere? I think I'll stop right there. Have you ever felt circumscribed by your circumstances? And as a consequence here is what Sophia says. I was feeling down. I was feeling mighty low and somebody is listening to me right now. I just pulled up to your address and you are in church. You are online but feeling mighty low because of what happened in the last chapter. Well, that ain't the end of the story because that is exactly what Habakkuk felt in the last chapter.

1:01:27 Now let me hasten to say that the Bible as we read it now is not the same as when it was originally compiled, curated, and composed. We now have chapters and verses that allow us to find passages. But that is not how the books were originally compiled, composed, and curated. But the good news is they are that way now in order again for us to locate what we're looking for. And so this particular book of Habakkuk is divided into three chapters. Cheryl Kirk Duggan puts it like this. There is the chapter one, which is a chapter of violence. Chapter two is a chapter of vision. Chapter three is a chapter of victory.

1:02:21 Chapter 1, let's go back there. It's a chapter of violence. I read from chapter 2. But before you get to chapter 2, you better know what's happening in chapter 1. In chapter 1, Habakkuk is one of those prophets, watch this, who rails against injustice and speaks truth to power. But the power Habakkuk is speaking truth to is not human power, but divine power. Habakkuk has the nerve to go in on God. Habakkuk is real and raw, uncut and uncensored. Habakkuk, my sisters and brothers, has the anointed audacity to have such an intimate relationship with God that when you read chapter 1, it's a back and forth, a series of questions where Habakkuk the prophet is going in on God on behalf of the people.

1:03:23 And y'all, don't you judge Habakkuk because when life makes no sense, when the math ain't math and you want to make it make sense, there are times that are so treacherous and terrifying that you've got some questions for God. Go back to chapter 1 and hear Habakkuk asking God, God, how are you going to be silent while evil rages? I think I'll stop right there because that's enough. Have you ever prayed to God and felt like the silence of heaven was deafening in its response to what it was you were requesting and praying for every now and then? God seems to shut up. Every now and then God goes quiet on us. Y'all sitting there like y'all not agreeing with me.

1:04:18 So I'll testify for y'all every now and then I pray and it seems like God answers somebody down the street. Every now and then I pray and it seems like God acts like God has a hearing problem. And I want to give God a hearing aid because God doesn't seem to hear what it is I'm saying. God, God, why are you silent in the face of injustice? And wait, it gets worse because Habakkuk says, hold on, God. I also want to know, why are you allowing the good to suffer and those who are bad to get over? God, what's up with you? It's almost as if you are blind and don't see what's going on in the world. How do you allow certain things to happen and people to get away with murder the way they get away with murder?

1:05:17 God, not only are you silent, but you're watching stuff happen. And I know if you were right and righteous, you know wrong when you see it. So God explained to me how Crystal Mason can serve time for casting a vote that never was counted. And yet you have someone on the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday who has 90 plus counts against him and will not serve one moment in jail. God, why are you silent in the midst of injustice and people getting away with murder? God, why are you silent? I see some of y'all looking at me right now. And you know some folk and it seems like they get away, they get over, they get off. And you know how dirty they are.

1:06:14 You know how low down they are. You know how many knives they put in your back. And yet seemingly they get away with it and God just shuts up and does nothing. Ah, that's in that chapter. But also violence is in that chapter. So much so that hear Habakkuk say, I see violence and destruction all around me. That's trauma. When you think about it, if you've witnessed violence, I hurt for our sisters and brothers in New Orleans. So this past week, watch this, while celebrating a brand new year, all of a sudden a terrorist, as it were, goes down Bourbon Street. Lives are lost, not just lost lives, but others are injured. Family members have hearts that are broken.

1:07:08 Why? Because now they say they have seen destruction and violence, but you ain't got to go to New Orleans. You can watch the streets of Dallas. You can watch the streets of New York. You can watch the streets of a nation that is the number one purveyor of violence, according to Martin Luther King Jr. And as a consequence, we ban books but not guns. And as a consequence, many people are traumatized because they've seen violence and destruction all around them. And when you see violence and destruction, it will cause you to be traumatized. And when you're traumatized, something happened in that chapter that's getting in the way of you enjoying the next chapter. But here is the good news I've got to give everybody.

1:08:06 And that is the last chapter. Doesn't have to have the last word on you. Let's go back to that table in the color purple. because here it is, Sophia is sitting at the table and Mr. has just tried to do some clowning on Celie. And y'all know what Celie did. Celie said, that's the stupidest mess I'd have never heard. And when he tried to hit her, she held up them fingers. And when she held up them fingers, until you do right by me, everything you've done to me gonna double on you. I think black folk on January 20th need to point to Washington, D.C. and say until you do right by us and give us reparations, until you do right by us and rid us of white supremacy, until you do right by us, this nation will never experience peace until it gives us justice.

1:09:08 You better preach for the Haynes. I'm doing the best I can. And then at the table, I love this Dr. Juan, because at the table, that's when Sophia says, Miss Sealy, I was feeling mighty low. I was feeling down. And when I saw you that day in the store, I knowed there's a God. Let me come talk to y'all because they just missed every shout I just said. She was in the store with Miss Millie, the mayor's wife, responsible for beating her down. She's down and she's broken. But when she sees something, when she sees someone, when she gets a vision of Miss Sealy and Miss Sealy gives her a sign to keep her head up, That's when she says, I know there's a God.

1:10:12 And I came to tell somebody today, I know last year was rough. I know you had some disappointments. But if you catch a vision of the right thing at the right time, your testimony can be, I know there's a God. Anybody here who goes to testify, that's all I need to make it in 25. to know there's a God because when you know there's a God, you can say, I love the Lord. He heard my cry and pitied every groan. When you know there's a God, you can testify God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. When you know there's a God, You may testify, can't nobody do me like Jesus. Can't nobody do me like when you know, anybody know there's a God.

1:11:09 The ancestors sang over my head. I hear music in the air. There must be a God somewhere. she saw Miss Sealy I knowed there's a God it was a vision watch this that got her ready for the next chapter okay okay I'm gonna just shout myself now because because because God here it is it's so good that that oh here's what I'm trying to say uh oh my God I'm gonna say this real slow because this is so important do not miss it my prayer for you is that this year will be a new year and not just another year There's a big difference between a new year and another year.

1:12:28 Another year means the calendar just flipped and another year has passed by. But the same thing that happened last year is going to happen this year and the year before that next year. And I'm simply saying that the times are too treacherous and life is too short for you just to say, I'm going to have another year. I need a new year, a new year where God does a new thing. I need a new year where I allow the stuff behind me to no longer define me. I need tunnel vision for a new year.

1:13:10 All right. All right. All right. So I'm going to have to unpack this because y'all missing shout after shout. My subject, Brother Finley, my subject is fire. My subject is fire. Tunnel vision. For the next chapter. Tunnel vision. I wish I could take credit. Don't judge me.

1:13:35 I'm checking out Kodak Black. and Kodak Black has a song called Tunnel Vision. And the lyrics were killing me so I watched the video. Don't judge me. I watched Kodak Black's Tunnel Vision. The story behind Tunnel Vision by Kodak Black is that Kodak Black had spent time in jail And now he is lyrically indicting a criminal justice system that is criminal and downright unjust. In the video, he has watched this, a white man wearing a cap that's red that says, make America hate again. Of course, he's alluding to the person who's about to be inaugurated on the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.

1:14:30 I'm going to keep saying that until we get how crazy this thing is. And y'all then Kodak Black in the song has this line that messes me up. He said, my mama said, son, make a decision. I've got to have tunnel vision. That's what I want to stop at because Kodak Black is connecting our decisions with our vision. And tunnel vision means I become focused on what's in front of me. everything on the periphery, that's a distraction. And so I'm not going to have distractions, even if they look like attractions. I think I'll stop and give y'all a moment to shout because some of y'all got distracted by what you were attracted to. And because you were attracted, you got thrown off instead of staying tunnel vision focused on where God has you to go.

1:15:28 It's time to make decisions with a tunnel vision. So the last chapter is not the next chapter. And this year is a new year and not just another year. Oh, Freddie Haynes, you preaching today. Thank you.

1:15:48 So, so how does it work? I'm almost done. text says it works when you position yourself for a better view after you position yourself for a better view you have a perception that will get you through even the delays that are holding things up and then the good news is you have a perspective that will keep you going when life seems to be unfair. So watch it. Those are the three I'm going to unpack. Watch the first one. The first one messes me up. You've got to get in position. Get in position. Get in position. He says in verse 1, I will. He makes a decision.

1:16:40 He makes a decision. I will station myself at the rampart so I can see what God is about to say. I'm going to unpack that, y'all. I'm going to unpack that. I will. He makes a decision. If you want 25 to be a new year and not another year, it starts with decisions. I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages. Hence, two roads diverge in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all of the difference. Our decisions, that's Robert Frost, not Freddie Haynes. And in a real sense, Robert Frost is saying our decisions are decisive in our dates with destiny. And so as a consequence, you have to have the willpower to make decisions that are consistent with your vision. vision. I'm still not coming through like I need to. I, I will, he says, I will station myself.

1:17:45 I will station myself. I'm getting in position for what to hear from God. I'm getting in position to get a vision from God. Ha ha. Okay. Okay. I'm getting in position to hear from God. Uh, meaning, oh, and I got this from Lurie Daniel Favors this week. It was so powerful. she did this piece that blew my mind. She was talking about the fact, watch this, that in a new year as opposed to another year, you have to curate habits. Habits. Because old habits in a new year make it another year. Okay, okay. So, habits, watch this, habits become second nature. And so, when you curate the right habits, all of a sudden you can create a new year.

1:18:49 Okay. And so, your habits that you curate and create are habits, watch this, and AC turned me on to a book and the book is called Watch This Atomic Habits. Atomic Habits by Clear. And Clear Watch This is saying atomic habits are those habits that watch this are small. You don't start out big but you have these small habits that make a big difference. And as you create small habits before you know it, you are now now envisioning not just what you want, but who you want to become. And one of the things that tripped me out in the book, Atomic Habits, is that he says instead of envisioning what you want to do, envision who you want to become.

1:19:46 Okay. Okay. So, so I'm going to make it real plain and do not be offended. Okay. Because I'm not trying to be offensive. if I'm just trying to be helpful. So I talk about me. So my doc told me you got to lose weight. Got to lose weight. So if I decide, okay, what I want to do is lose weight. That's going, some days I feel it. And then I see key lime pie. are you judging me you judging me uh uh uh some days i'm on it and the next thing i know i run into something that is so delectably delightful and then other days i don't feel like working out so he says he says that's the what he says instead envision who you want to be who you want to be.

1:20:43 So it's not what losing 15 pounds, it's who. I want to be someone who is healthy and vibrant and my next years are my best years. And so I see myself healthy. I see myself strong. I see myself looking good with swag like I know I should. I see what I want to be as opposed to what I need to do. Preach, Frederick Haynes. I am! And so look what he says. Here are the habits. Here are the habits. Habs of entry. He says, he says, I'm going to station myself on the rampart. Here it is. The word rampart means safe place. I'm going to get in a safe place in order to see what God is going to say. I'm going to position myself in a safe place.

1:21:39 what's your safe place? In 25, if you're going to thrive and be all the way live, I promise you, you better have a safe place you can go to when I need a shelter, when I need a friend, I go to the rock. All of us ought to have that closet. All of us ought to have that quiet space. Jesus put it like this. I got a quiet space and he would pull apart and pray because Jesus said, I am trying to make sure to develop such a connection with God as a part of my habit, curating second nature, that before I know it, I'm in my safe place. In my safe place, I connect with God. And then he says, so I can see what God is going to say. The picture is of one standing on tiptoe expectancy. to use the language of Frederick Samson.

1:22:34 I want to see what God is going to say from my safe space. because I've got tunnel vision. Is that biblical Freddie Hayes? Tunnel vision? Uh-huh. Paul put it like this. Paul said, listen, I count not myself to have apprehended the stuff that apprehended me, but I'm forgetting what's behind me and pressing toward the mark for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That's called tunnel vision. Jesus is only 12 years old, but he's in the temple, gets separated from his parents, and his parents run back and find him in the temple, blowing away the teachers of the law. And when they see him, they said, don't you know we were worried about you? He said, you don't see my tunnel vision. I must be about my father's business. And then in John chapter 9, the Bible says Jesus tells his disciples, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day because night is coming when no man can work.

1:23:41 You need to have tunnel vision that comes from habits you curate so you can create a new you for a new year and not fall back into what was but move forward to what should become. Okay, okay. Let me make this real plain. This is good. This is so good right here.

1:24:05 So I'm watching some old highlights of, you'll like this, Doc, the Lakers. The Lakers. When they had Showtime Magic Johnson. Showtime Magic Johnson. And James Worthy is testifying. If you don't know nothing about magic, y'all, it's worth it. just to check out the highlights from Magic. Magic was so cold. Magic, watch this, would be dribbling the basketball down court. Magic didn't major in scoring, though he could score. Magic was trying to make others better around him so his team would win. And what Magic would do, watch this, Magic could throw the ball to you without looking at you. Here is what James Worthy said. Magic would be looking one way, not even your way, but you better have your eyes locked and your hands ready because magic will find you if you're in position.

1:25:00 I didn't say it right. Magic may not be looking at you, but if you are in position, magic will find you. Even if magic ain't looking at you, God ain't gotta be looking at you to get a blessing to you. God can be looking somewhere else and bless you in a way that blows your mind. Anybody here knows that if you just get in position and have your hands ready, you can testify the Lord is blessing me right now. He woke me up this morning. I thought y'all would get with this. Started me on my way. The Lord is blessing me right now. Oh, right. He woke me up this morning. Started me on my way. God says get in position. because because there is such a thing as being out of position I'm gonna do this and rush on but but but like especially in on the south side if you were driving and talking to somebody on this side of town they'd be dogging us on this side of town you driving and if you especially get like on 67 near where 35 come together and you're talking to somebody phone a die or they can't hear you or static will get all on the line because where your position precludes connection.

1:26:35 And if you're not careful, you can be positioned to preclude connection where you hear from God. And so for 25 to thrive and you to be all the way live, you've got to be positioned. But not only are you positioned, but there's a perception even in the midst of the delay that may come. Listen to what Habakkuk says. Habakkuk says this, I position myself knowing God is about to go in on me because I have the nerve to complain to God. But isn't God good that when you question God, God ain't going to slap you around. God ain't intimidated by your questions. God ain't scared of you raising questions.

1:27:28 and questions. God says, talk to me, but understand I may not explain, but I will sustain. I may not give you an answer, but I'll give you assurance and assistance. Why y'all sitting there looking at me like you didn't got every answer from God? God ain't got to answer you. You can't handle the answer if God gives it to you. And God says, I won't explain myself because my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways and thoughts above your ways and thoughts. But what I do do, I'll give you enough strength. I'll sustain you. So when you wake up in the morning, you can put one foot in front of the other and somehow keep on walking and keep on moving and keep on making progress. Is there anybody here Who knows God will give you what you need to keep on stepping because God doesn't explain, but God will sustain.

1:28:33 I like that. That was hot. That wasn't in my sermon, but it felt good. So watch this, watch this. He says, here's your perception. Write the vision. Record the vision. I'm about to show you something. I'm about to show you what will be in the midst of what is. Because here's the thing, and don't forget what the man Clear says in Atomic Vision. A vision of who you will be and not what you will do. I like that because Habakkuk's name etymologically means embrace. Embrace, to embrace.

1:29:29 It could be God. It could be God's vision. But the concept is embracing. and here is where Habakkuk hears from God. Write the vision. Write the revelation. The possibility. You didn't get it. John Kennedy popularized a phrase authored by George Bernard Shaw. Some people see things as they are. Ask why. I see things as they ought to be. And I ask, why not? And when you know God for yourself, You ain't spending all your energy asking why. You're believing in the why not. And so Harriet D'Ultremont poetically puts it, no vision and you perish. No ideal, you are lost. Your heart must ever cherish some hope at any cost, some faith, some dream to cling to, some melody in the sky, some service to ring to, some service that is high.

1:30:29 What she is saying in essence is that you've got to have vision if you are going to move forward in this thing called life. Y'all didn't feel a Harriet. Maybe I messed it up. So I'll give you Langston Hughes. Langston put it like this. Langston says, hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams for when dreams go, life becomes a barren field frozen with snow. You got to have a vision. Wait, he says the vision may seem to tarry, but it's going to be on time.

1:31:08 And I think that's the word I want to talk to somebody about because for somebody, you got the vision. You know where you want to go, but stuff ain't lining up. Okay, I'm just talking to myself since you act like this didn't hit you. I'm simply trying to say God can give you a vision and it not happen tomorrow.

1:31:31 God can give you a dream, but then you've got to go through the process from getting from where you are to where God had you to be. And only to discover that there is no straight line between where you are and where God wants to take you. There are delays.

1:31:53 delays and then question becomes how do you dream when you have backer with the background of chapter one uh i shared this when we were talking uh uh on a wednesday night uh i guess it was last month so i'm gonna give it to all of y'all now and it was a trip but uh last year last year uh pastor Mike McBride orchestrated that we would do a series of social justice masterclasses. We being Breonna Parker, Frederick Haynes, Tamika Mallory, D1, D1 and Pastor Mike McBride. And so we went around the country offering social justice masterclasses. And so of course they would always have me do something on either preaching or structuring your church for social justice witness.

1:32:50 So we go all over the country. We hit the Methodist. We hit Kojic. We were all over the place, y'all. And then they had the nerve to go to Martha's Vineyard without me. But we went a whole lot of places and we had a wonderful time. And one of the places we went to was Myrtle Beach for the United Methodist Black Caucus. So we go to Myrtle Beach and the only thing about it is that Mike McBride, we fired him at that moment from choosing hotels. Because, well, first of all, I'm a hotel snob. I have to stay at a certain address. Don't judge me, but especially post-COVID, I don't need no nasty spots. I need the finest. I mean, I am. and so so I got to stay to find a spot can't stand on nasty mess and Mike McBride bless his heart he picked this hotel on the beach on Myrtle Beach but it was a hot mess it was trash it was trash and so uh so but we didn't get in till like 11 o'clock that night and I opened that door to that room and I'm like oh my god and so I'm speaking in an unknown tongue I don't judge me it's like I don't believe this mess it's too late to go somewhere else I called Alicia look up please find me another hotel I'll leave right now and of course I couldn't leave we next day we do the social justice master class we then and the class is all day long we then go to dinner after dinner We have to go back to the dreaded hotel, get to the hotel.

1:34:35 And so we all agree that we're going to meet on the beach and walk on the beach. And so I'm saying, thank you, Jesus. The more I stay out of that room, the happier I will be. And so we leave. I leave the room. I go downstairs and then we eat and we walk on the beach. We're walking on the beach and finally Tamika can take it no more. Our next trip is St. Louis. Tamika says, we are not letting Mike McBride do any more hotel reservations. I will handle the hotel reservations. I said, thank you, Jesus. Praise the Lord. And D1 said, Pastor, not you too. You're going to chime in on that? You don't like the hotel? Pastor, I said with Sophia, hell no.

1:35:27 So, so, so, so, so, so D1, y'all remember D1, right? D1 straight out of New Orleans. D1, Lord have mercy. Pastor, you too? I said, I ain't letting him do no more hotels. I said, I don't stay in hotels like this. He said, but pastor, what about the view? I said I couldn't enjoy the view because of the hot mess in my room. Parenthetically, I got to tell y'all that. This, because even the devil did this or God. But Ivany called me and Ivany called me and sent a whole lot of these little things on, what's it called? Who? On TikTok. Thank you. On TikTok. Where you are a champion and queen. And so I said, all this TikTok stuff about bed bugs in hotels.

1:36:24 You remember that, Deb? You remember that? I had just landed in Myrtle Beach. And Albany has all of these TikToks, how to discover if your hotel room has bed bugs. And then we get to that hotel and it's a hot mess. And so I did the little experience. I sprayed Lysol everywhere. Thank God, no bed bugs that I found. And so as a consequence, as a consequence, I'm telling D1, my daughter sent me this video last night about bed bugs. I couldn't even sleep thinking about bed bugs. Do I did the bed bug test? No, I don't want to stay in a hotel. He said, but pastor, the view. I said I don't care about no view when I got to sleep in some mess and that's when D1 went to preaching to me he said pastor this is what I did last night when I saw what the room looked like I opened up the sliding door I looked out and beheld the stars I saw the ocean white the the white caps on the ocean and all I could do was give God praise and worship and he said pastor here's what you do just thank God for a beautiful view even when you're in an ugly place I gotta stop right there because and y'all know he's from New Orleans and so D1 said you heard me and y'all when he did that I went up to my room after we didn't go to the room until one o'clock in the morning and I I opened up that patio door.

1:38:06 I looked out. I saw the stars. I saw the moon. I saw the white caps on the waves. And all I could do was hear what D1 said. I may be in an ugly place, but God gave me a beautiful view. And I think that's what I want to give to somebody right now. God will give you a beautiful view to let you know the ugly place ain't your destination. You heard me? All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to God's purposes. You heard me? Even the youth shall faint and be weary. Young folks shall fall, but they that wait on the Lord shall renew. You heard me? God will give you something better. You ain't seen nothing yet. The best is yet to come. You heard me?

1:39:01 Here it is. Here it is. Lastly, here it is. I love it. Verse 4. He says, the wicked, they jacked up on the inside. But the just shall live by faith. He says, he says, those who are wicked look like they getting away. They are ticking time bombs. because what's in them is twisted and messed up. There's an expiration date on what they will get away with. Y'all, that gets me right there. Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. Yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown stands God within the shadows keeping watch above God's own. God says there's an expiration date on evil.

1:39:57 So, let me quick. The just shall live by their faithfulness. Deb has been trying to get me to tell you all about my experiences with Jimmy Carter. And she told me about one to tell you, I'm going to give you this other one. Instead, maybe I'll give you the one she talks about another time. Y'all, Jimmy Carter, the late president, Jimmy Carter. Pastor Ayers knows this. Jimmy Carter honored Friendship West for our work fighting payday loans.

1:40:43 Yeah. Jimmy Carter got so sick and tired of white Jesus and Southern Baptist, he basically said, bump y'all. And became a part of a new Baptist cooperative that was justice focused. Please read Vincent Hall's latest piece. Vincent Hall does a powerful piece on Jimmy Carter being influenced by Clarence Jordan. Dr. Clarence Jordan, a white man in Georgia who wrote what Clarence Jordan's cotton patch version of the Gospels and Hebrews and Paul's epistles. And I was turned on to them by Harry S. Wright when I was a student at now defunct but never did Bishop College. Clarence Jordan was about justice. He knew that Jesus and justice were united in holy wedlock and never should be divorced. And so that's how Jimmy Carter came up in his faith. His faith formation was under the justice consciousness of Clarence Jordan. And Jimmy Carter as a consequence had problems with the racism and white supremacist leanings of the Southern Baptist Church. And as a consequence New Baptist came together and when New Baptist came together I got a phone call I answered my cell phone and I said hello it's a 404 number that's Atlanta so I answered the phone and Dr. Stace it's a voice I recognized nah this ain't him he said is this Pastor Haynes and so I said yes sir who is this he said this is Jimmy Carter I said quit playing he said no sir this is Jimmy Carter I said President

1:42:50 Jimmy Carter he said yes sir and you saying yes sir to me he said yes sir I like that I accept that in honor of my mother and grandmothers and and grandfather and ancestors. Say yes, sir. And Jimmy Carter and I had a conversation and he was congratulating us on our work fighting the payday loan industry. And he said, I want to honor you and Friendship West for the work that you were doing. I'm inviting you to the Carter Center. And so I said, thank you, Mr. President. And I thank you for this call. He said, oh, you have to go? I said well no but I know you're busy he said well I called to talk to you so can we talk some more because I'd like to get to know you Jimmy Carter want to get to know me as I said okay well uh what you want to know he said and he asked me about my justice orientation he asked me about the way I preach. He said that he had received a tape from me from a sermon I preached and it was based on what was it? Ephesians chapter 3 verse 29. I went to him who was able to do exceedingly abundantly and he said somehow you got justice out of that passage. He said do you preach justice every sermon? I said uh if you ask my members I do. And he said he said that he said that's wonderful because Clarence Jordan taught me there's no separation of Jesus and justice.

1:44:40 So there's justice all in the Bible and we're having the best conversation and since he wants to talk, I said, Mr. President, may I just apologize on behalf of this nation for the nation not electing you to a second term, but instead electing a white supremacist evil person by the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan. I'm sorry you lost the election to Ronald Wilson Reagan. Jimmy Carter clapped back at me in the most respectable way. Listen to what he said, Vince, because they're not getting this. I think you feel me right here. Jimmy Carter said to me, he said, I didn't lose to Reagan. God redirected me because God had more for me to do outside of the White House. and so as a consequence, I don't think Reagan defeated me. I think God redirected me.

1:45:33 I think I'll stop right there because somebody needs to know that just because you lost that job, it doesn't mean that that defines you. God can redirect you just because that relationship broke down. God redirected you. Anybody been redirected by God? God can use rejection for your redirection and protection. Anybody been redirected by God? And then Jimmy Carter blessed me with this. He said, after all, look what I did in my first term. In my first term, we formed the Department of Education. In my first term, that's where we got the Department of Environmental Justice. In my first term, I focused on human rights. In my first term, I had the Camp David Accord and brought down the hostilities between Egypt and Israel. I did all of that in one term.

1:46:31 But look what happened after I got out of the White House. I won the Nobel Peace Prize. Look what happened after the White House. I gave energy to Habitat for Humanity. And I'm reading letters right now of people who have homes who did not have homes because of what was going on in this country. All over this world, I've been able to do good things, not in spite of losing the Reagan, but because God redirected me. And then Jimmy Carter said, I've discovered that Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4, it really reads in the Septuagint. And the righteous shall live by God's faithfulness. Y'all, that's a word right there. It's not just the just shall live by faith, but the just shall live by the faithfulness of God.

1:47:28 That's my shout for you right now. I'm not just living by my faith. I'm living because God is faithful. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me anybody know God is faithful faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness I said thank you Mr. President and then I said Mr. President what can I do for you he said will you pray for me I prayed for the President of the United States I said in Jesus name amen Mr. President said you forgot one thing I said what's that your sermon I said what sermon now unto him who is able to do exceed