Desperate for Jesus Women’s Conference – Rooted

The Desperate for Jesus 2020 Women’s Conference is a 2-day, virtual event featuring hosts Priscilla Shirer and Chrystal Evans Hurst and guest speakers Jackie Hill Perry, Katherine Wolf and Jekalyn Carr. This event is hosted in partnership by Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship and The Urban Alternative.

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[Music]

hi i’m lois evans and i want to welcome

you again to our exciting desperate for

jesus conference

hi everybody welcome i want to welcome

you to this great conference

and to this great church we have prayed

for you

and planned for you we’re so glad you’re

here so on behalf of dr tony evans our

pastor

and our women’s fellowship group and all

these wonderful people that are serving

today i’m lois evans

and i am so glad that you’re here and i

want to

welcome you to desperate for jesus

conference

welcome to desperate for jesus 2020

[Music]

welcome everybody we’re so glad you’re

here listen y’all we are

so grateful that you have set aside time

this saturday morning

to spend time with us listen desperate

for jesus has happened

every year for years a couple of decades

almost and this is what we do at oakland

bible fellowship

and to have the opportunity this year

especially in the middle of all the mess

of this year to have this wonderful

day to to set aside to engage with with

each other today i’m excited about you

joining us from all over the world

in fact right now why don’t you jump

into the chat wherever you’re watching

and just share where you’re watching

from because i think you’ll be surprised

to see how many people there are from a

variety of places and we’re happy to

have you all here

yeah y’all say hello to each other make

some folks feel welcome that are you

know on halfway across the world from

where you are

just engage with one another this

saturday is going to be incredible and

we’re glad you’re here

listen there are so many ways that

you’re going to be able to really

participate and engage in the day

and that’s really the word i think for

the day engage engage

don’t sit back and watch everything

that’s happening and it can be tempting

too because it’s on a screen

yeah so you can kind of feel like a

spectator and forget that this is

was never intended to be something that

you watch that you just spectate and

maybe

like a few parts don’t like a few parts

this part work for you critiquing what’s

happening

that’s not what this is about it’s about

you meeting with the lord we are

all so desperate for jesus this is your

opportunity

to have a meeting with him in all the

different aspects of our day

so we’re going to do that a number of

different ways throughout the day do

whatever you got to get yourself ready

you know if you gotta get make sure your

kids are situated we know you’ll have to

take care of that several times

throughout the day in different ways

but get comfortable where you are um in

a few minutes we’re gonna worship

together in fact

chris i think that’s your cue because

miss chrissy right here is gonna lead us

in worship in just a few moments so

as you go get ready time to pray it is

time to do the same thing it’s time to

the thing so as we’re getting ready for

all of that

just know that today jacqueline carr

gospel recording artist she’s going to

ministering to us and that’s what she

does it’s ministry we’re going to hear

from jackie hill perry she’s going to

teach god’s word to us

we’re going to hear from catherine wolfe

whose story is

unbelievable and her life is punctuated

by the goodness of god

despite suffering that she has faced

we’re going to hear from our pastor dr

tony evans i mean the list goes on and

you want to set aside some time today

okay

to be fully invested if you got to put

your feet up to be fully invested and

get comfortable

if you got to stand to your feet to make

sure that you’re engaged and

listen whatever you got to do do it so

that you don’t miss any part of this day

let’s start you ready seriously you

ready

here we go let’s worship together

all right listen it is time to praise

the lord now we know

that you’re sitting on the sofa or maybe

you’re in the bed

but we want you to get up and praise the

lord with us just you know put your

hands together

and start to praise with us if you don’t

know the words in a minute you will

sing along we worship

i adore you we declare

[Music]

nobody like you we worship

i shall adore you

[Music]

he is

[Music]

honor and reverence forever

our god to thee

we ascribe we ascribe glory

and honor and wisdom and strength

to our god

listen it’s time for you to sing along

you ought to have it now

i will sing praises

and i’ll declare that your name is holy

says

and all the glory above all the earth

glory and honor and wisdom and strength

to our god

listen we are worshiping god together

we’re worshiping god together and that

means that you have to get up

put your hands together and worship with

we worship adore you

we declare nobody like you

that’s why we’re saying we worship

[Music]

you

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

is not

[Music]

there’s nobody

i know

[Music]

hallelujah

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

hallelujah

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

it’s a good thing to give praise even

when you’re at home doing so

and we’re excited to continue this

moment of grace welcome

to kaelyn carr

well hello there everyone i am jk lynn

carr and thank you so much to dr tony

evans

own cliff bible fellowship for having me

be a part of this

awesome awesome experience i just want

to know if there’s any winners

out there let’s get ready to declare

that it is still

our winning season i know you believe it

so if you know that you know that it’s

your winning season shout i

will win

[Music]

come on

[Music]

business

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

but the truth is

[Music]

everything attached to me

[Music]

i’m

[Music]

everything everything i believe

[Music]

somebody

come on if you believe that it’s still

your winning season i tell you to begin

to rejoice

i tell you to begin to give god glory

for your victory

somebody shout i will win

now before i leave

i cannot leave without declaring that

whatever you want from god

it is already yours i just need you to

dance with me for just a few moments

we’re gonna extend our faith because we

know his word is true

if you want it you can have it

if you need it you can have it

[Music]

restoration restoration

[Music]

get your

[Music]

everybody

[Music]

let me

[Music]

yes it is

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

whatever you’ve been praying for when

you’re sworn

[Music]

i think when i considered jesus he

didn’t just

come and die and that’s that but he

actually lived

and in his living he was able to

understand the human condition

and therefore offer us empathy because

he got into it

hey saints how are you uh i guess we

could start this by me introducing

myself

my name is jackie hill perry i live in

atlanta with my family

i’m married to an ex-hood boy named

preston

uh we have two babies eden and autumn

eden is five

autumn is two um and then we have

another baby on the way that is

uh i guess seven months in the womb and

at any point that i run out of breath

even now i feel out of breath

uh just blaming on the child and not on

my inability to breathe correctly

um but i’m excited to join y’all via

a camera for uh for this desperate for

jesus conference i appreciate

any and everybody um who was involved in

being able to share this space with

y’all um obviously i would prefer

for us to have done this in person but

the way pandemics and things are set up

social distancing is the way to go uh

nowadays i hope wherever you are

and however you are you are blessed um i

was told that the theme verse

for this is colossians 2 7 and if you

have not read it

already i i would like to start by

reading it it says

um starting at verse 6 therefore as you

receive

christ jesus the lord so walk in him

rooted and built up in him and

established in the faith just as you

were taught

abounding in thanksgiving i guess my

role

or my goal today for the two messages

that

two messages that i plan to bring are to

do just that to

be able to offer up something that helps

you to continue in the faith that helps

you

to stay rooted in christ jesus and that

leads you

to give him thanks to be grateful to

have gratitude towards

christ and so before we begin let us

pray

i thank you for this moment thank you

for um

your son thank you for his kindness

thank you for his goodness

thank you for how he reveals you

it helps us to trust in and believe in

you

thank you for your spirit that he

empowers us to obey you

and hear you and be convicted by you i

pray

god that as we read and learn

from your word um today that you would

do what your word says in colossians

that we would be rooted that we would be

built up and that we

would be thankful i pray all these

things in jesus name

uh for this first message i don’t have a

title uh but i just want to talk about

identity

um identity is is significant because

how we see ourselves usually

gives us some type of insight into how

we see

god or how we honor god how we

understand

god um if i think i’m super smart

then i might not go to god for prayer

and everything because i’m assuming that

my own wisdom is sufficient to make

certain decisions right and so i think

how we see uh ourselves really does

matter in the grand scheme of things

of how we are to live out this thing

called the christian faith

if you’re on social media at all

specifically uh

instagram and twitter you’ve most likely

noticed

that everybody has a bio section on

their page

uh if you’re not on social media i’ll

explain it to you the bio

is the area where people put what they

want you

to know about them so my bio for example

says that i am a disciple

a wife a mother a writer a teacher a

poet and an emcee because

those are the things that i do other

people might have that they are a bad

cook

and a great dancer i don’t know i’m not

here to judge nobody but you get the

gist

the buyer is our chance to learn about

someone

before we choose to follow them or not

for those of us who have had the

opportunity

to write a social media bio there’s

usually

some level of intentionality behind it

one way

we know this to be the case is because

we when we write our bios down we don’t

we don’t ever write the things

that we are embarrassed about or the

things that we don’t want people to know

we typically leave the bad stuff out

because if this bio is the way that i

introduce myself to the world and to

people

then this bio will be the version of

myself that i prefer for them to know

for them to see

first for those of us who have not only

written

but have read a social media bio

specifically bios of people that we

don’t even know in real life

we’ll read what they have to say about

themselves

and will usually take their word for it

so if you read pastor’s wife

mother bible teacher you believe

that that is who this person is and

usually

if you follow them you will eventually

affirm them as that you might see them

post a picture

of them serving the church or cooking

for their children and

in the comments you’re right you are

such a great wife

a great mother i am encouraged by your

servant

leadership and hear me ain’t nothing

wrong with affirmations nothing wrong

with with seeing the gifts and the

traits and the good things that people

and and calling it for what it is it’s

but

this is a a small picture of what is

happening to

us and with us all the time which is

this we are constantly projecting

two people who we believe ourselves to

be and in turn we are constantly

receiving

from people who they think we are but

the question is

is who i think i am and is who people

are saying i am is it true

is it reality and if not

where do i go to find the truth of who i

am and who i should be so that i could

live

a purposeful life uh i think one of the

best places to start

in trying to to grasp our identity

and while we struggle to find our

identity where we should find it

is in genesis uh genesis 1 1

in the beginning it says that god

created

the heavens and the earth and as he did

he made light

milan water vegetation

and living creatures and if you were to

just skim through genesis 1 you’ll

notice

that the language used by god to bring

these things into

being is very consistent if you have

your bibles in your hands on your phones

if you look at genesis chapter one

starting at verse three you’ll see this

it says and god said

let there be light and there was light

in genesis 1

6 it says and god said let there be an

expanse in the midst of the waters and

let it separate the waters from the

waters

in genesis 1 verse 9 it says let the

waters under the heavens be gathered

together into one place and let the dry

land appear

in genesis 1 24 it says and god said

let the earth bring forth living

creatures according to their kind

what are the two phrases you notice

being repeated

they are and god said

and let there or let the

the entire world and universe is being

made

by the effectual word of god he speaks

and things happen let there be light and

there is like god

is god so he doesn’t use his hands or

any outside

resource to create he just says it and

it is so the interesting thing

is that as god creates light and land

and vegetation and living creatures the

language

remember is the same but

when we move on down to verse 26 the

language

changes the repetitive nature of how god

brought all things into being

stops when god decides to make something

else verse 24

says and god said let the earth

bring forth living creatures but verse

26 says

then god said let us make man

in our image after our likeness

the language is totally different as if

god is saying

what i am making now is all together

different than anything that i have made

before

and what is it that he made this time

he made man in his image and after his

likeness

so in talking about ourselves and trying

to understand our own bios if you will

we must ask ourselves the question

who am i and if you want the answer

you should start at genesis 1 and there

you will see that we

are image bearers of the living god

being an image bearer means many things

but i’m going to briefly touch on one

the first one

is that being made in the image of god

means that we

matter we as human beings

we have an innate dignity because we

bear god’s image i know for me

it doesn’t nearly take as much effort

for me to believe that i

as an image bearer deserve dignity and

honor and respect

as it actually does for me to believe it

of others

but it’s actually my treatment of other

people of other image bearers

that will testify to what i actually

believe about the doctrine of the imago

day

and so how much i value the one and

who’s

uh who was made in god’s image says a

lot about what i believe about image

bearers

period let me explain uh in genesis 9

god is making a covenant

with noah after the flood waters had

left or whatnot

in it god tells noah that there will be

consequences

for whoever takes a man’s life i’ll read

it verbatim

that’s in genesis 9 6 it says

i have to open up my lungs a little bit

whoever shut sheds the blood of man

by man shall his blood be shed for or

because

god made man in his

own image the value

of human life is so high that god

told noah that if anybody

would have the audacity to take it to

take a life

then their own life would be taken as

well why

the reason he gives is because humanity

bears the image of god

when we move in the other direction when

we move towards the new testament

and you find yourself in the book of

james over in chapter three

james is talking about the tongue now

it’s ratchet

how it’s a fire in a world of

unrighteousness how is a restless evil

it’s nasty

and do you know what example he gives

for how this

evil this the evil that the tongue is

able to produce what it looks like he

says

that we do it when we use the same

tongue to bless our lord

as the same tongue to curse other people

and he doesn’t just leave the sentence

as people he doesn’t just say this is a

restless wicked

evil ratchet nasty little thing that

curses

people he qualifies it by saying curses

people

made in the image of god

in genesis 9 we see then that there are

consequences

for what is done to a person made in the

image of god

and in james 3 we see that there are

consequences for what is said or tweeted

about a person made in the image of god

so the point is then

we can gather from that is that the

point is that every person

alive every human being black

white asian hispanic

gay straight immigrant elderly

poor privileged mentally ill mentally

disabled single

married whatever or whoever they are

they all

bear the image of the living god so we

must think twice before we ever try to

treat them as if they don’t

image bearers matter to god

so they must matter to us but

the interesting thing about that is is

the fact that we have to be

exhorted and challenged to love

other image bearers well tell us

some may write all things must not be as

they should

when it comes to our being made in the

image of god because if they were

we wouldn’t have racism we wouldn’t have

white supremacy

we wouldn’t have systemic injustice we

wouldn’t have abortion

we wouldn’t have murder we wouldn’t have

disrespect and dishonor in our marriages

we wouldn’t have gossip we wouldn’t have

slander we wouldn’t have backbite

we wouldn’t have pornography we wouldn’t

have sex trafficking

how is it then now we are all made in

the image of god

yet we live in a world surrounded by

image bearers that looks so much like

the devil it’s confusing

the reason that is is because in genesis

after god blesses adam and eve

verse 31 says that god saw everything he

made and that it was good adam and

adam and eve were included in this this

thing that god called

good but in romans 3 while paul is

talking about unrighteousness he says

that no one is good and in mark 10

jesus talking to the rich young ruler he

says no one is good except god

so obviously something happened between

god

calling people that he made in his image

good and jesus and paul telling us that

no one is good how did we

get here where we can see that goodness

is not in us nor is it all around us

what

happened to humanity what happened

to god’s image bearers

deception happened if you turn or click

to genesis 3 i’ll read it starting at

verse 1.

it says now the serpent was more crafty

than any other beast of the field that

the lord god had made

he said to the woman did god actually

say you shall not eat of any tree in the

garden

and the woman said to the serpent we may

eat of the fruit of the trees in the

garden

but god said you shall not eat of the

fruit of the tree that is in the midst

of the garden neither shall you touch it

lest you die but the serpent said to the

woman

you will not surely die but god knows

that when you eat of it

your eyes will be opened and you will be

like god

knowing good and evil so when the woman

saw

that the tree was good for food that it

was a delight to the eyes and that the

tree

was to be desired to make one wise she

took of its fruit and ate

and she also gave some to her husband

who was with her

and he ate there’s so much here

genesis 3 is one of my favorite passages

personally

but i just want to talk about one thing

and that is

did you notice that when the devil came

up to eve

and was tempting her to distrust the

word and the person of god that one of

the ways he did it

was by telling her that she could

have another identity look at verse five

it says

for god knows that when you eat of it

your eyes will be opened and you

will be like

god what an intoxicating idea

that somehow i could eat a little piece

of fruit

and it can make me like the one who

created it

when the devil told either she would be

like god knowing good and evil

he wasn’t telling her a full well he was

lying

he was lying with a smidge of truth but

he wasn’t telling her the whole truth

god

being god knows good and evil because he

knows everything

so in a sense her eating from the true

wood of

tree would have given her a knowledge

that she did not have

but what the devil did not tell her is

that she would not know good and evil in

the same way that god knows

because she would know evil

experientially let me flesh that out god

is holy he has never and will never know

evil from personal

experience he only knows goodness this

way

goodness is the only thing that is

intrinsic to him in this talk about

morality he knows

evil like a doctor might know cancer

something

he fully understands but there’s

something that is outside of himself but

when eve

disobeyed the commandment of god she

would not know evil

like a doctor knows cancer but she would

come to know evil

like a patient knows cancer she would

not be the physician

she would be the one who was sick and in

need of health

it is in this deception that she did not

realize

that by sinning against god her and adam

would become

inherently unlike god because this evil

would not be over there somewhere

would not be outside of her but it would

be in her and in it

being in her and her husband this image

that they were made in would be

blurred you would then see the image of

god

marred by expressions of sin which

inevitably would take the glory

that god intended to get all out of all

of humanity and put all of that glory

that he deserved into the hands of

people

that it never belonged to and this

deception

isn’t us even though we are still very

much

image bearers of the living god when we

were born into this world we were also

born as sinners who sin

against the living god and for that

reason we do not fully image him as we

should

in this deception this sin

that is the reason then that is one of

the reasons

or one of the things that then shapes

who we think we are

when we are deceived we go about life

gathering information about ourselves

from everyone else but god

i am who this relationship says i am i

am what my bank statement says i am i am

what my feelings and my passions and my

sexuality says i am i went to

an ivy league school so my personhood is

centered around my intelligence i have

children so everything that i do finds

his completion in my being a mother

i’m over 35 and still single so i must

not be worth love i’ve

been married for 25 years and my husband

still hasn’t changed

i deserve another spouse we allow our

life stages

and our difficulties and our

accomplishments and our blessings to

become the things that

name us but that that should not be the

case

the good things that god has given us

and the good things or the hard things

that god is taking us through

is not the basis of our personhood sin

wants you and me to listen to what

everyone else

has to say about who we think we are

or who we should be just as satan did

with eve in the garden

he dangled the possibility of her being

someone else before her heart and do you

know why she took it

it isn’t because she forgot who she was

she didn’t send because she wasn’t

looking at herself or because she didn’t

know herself or because she had low

self-esteem if anything

her esteem was extremely high she sinned

because she stopped believing the truth

about who

god was we don’t find ourselves

by looking to ourselves we find who we

are by looking at and learning from the

one we were made

for if eve would have remembered

that god himself not this tree was the

one to be desired to make one wise that

god himself was pleasurable to the sight

that god

himself could satisfy the body that

before anything was made god was always

here so

so having a right theology of god would

have reminded her that

he is everything if he is everything

then the created thing can possibly make

me whole

and that if he is eternal then she is

not and if she is not then there is

nothing she could do to become

him it is the faith then that comes by

looking to christ that makes us

men and women that are satisfied with

being exactly

what we were created to be and that is

namely

his so where do we go

where do we go to find out the truth of

who we are

i’ve said it a couple times but i’ll say

it again we go to god

and as you do then you remind yourself

that it’s

jesus who is the exact

image of the invisible god it’s in our

repentance

in our turning from all the lies that

we’ve allowed to define

us and turning towards god and faith

believing in the truths that describe

him that sets us free so what

has god what is god the authoritative

god said about you he says that you are

a child of god he said that you

are a friend of god he says that you are

justified by god he says that you

are a fellow heir with christ he says

that you

are a saint that you are a new creature

in christ that you

have been made new in christ that you

are no longer a

slave that you uh have been set free in

christ that you

are god’s workmanship that you are a

member of god’s body that you

are light in the lord that you have been

raised up with christ and that

you are restored in christ that is the

scripture therefore it is true

god is restoring

his image in us through christ jesus so

it does not

matter who they say you are or even who

you

think you are what matters is

do you know who god is

if so believe him

trust him when he tells you who you

should be

thank you jackie for such a great word i

i knew you were going to come with it

because that’s what you always do she

always just comes

with it and i was convicted even

listening to you listen i want you to

think about

what you were hearing as jackie was uh

declaring the word of god

how is this going to affect your life we

don’t just want to be hearers of the

word we want to be

doers of the word and i want you to

consider what the holy spirit might have

been saying to you what you need to

change

what you need to do differently how you

need to shift your perspective because

doing the word walking in obedience is

what will change your life

and you know what you said walking in

obedience and

more than anything else that makes me

think of someone that we really want to

take a few minutes with you to honor

she was our mother her name was lois

evans

she went home to be with the lord

actually not long ago

not very many months ago this is the

first desperate for jesus conference

that our

church has held without lois evans

she started this conference along with a

beautiful committee of women that have

just been with her through the years

almost almost 20 years ago can you

believe that

so this has been an outworking of our

mom’s life her ministry and her desire

to see women

know the word of god adjust their lives

to the word of god and see the blessings

of god

fall upon their lives so as a church the

women of this church

and the women of the committee that have

worked alongside of her for so many

years wanted to take a minute

to honor first lady lois evans

[Music]

defend us

[Applause]

lois evans is the definition of

thoughtfulness lois evans is the

definition

of a gracious woman with purpose

and power mrs evans raised the bar

mrs evans always made me feel

appreciated

mrs evans always made me feel inspired

and encouraged she always made me think

beyond what

i thought was a nice gift sister evans

always made me feel inspired

she always wanted the best for the

desperate for jesus women’s

conference she always wanted the ladies

to feel appreciated to be encouraged

and lifted up no matter who they were

she always wanted to make them feel like

they were seen

mrs evans always made the court team

feel

so appreciated she was so gracious

in letting us know how important it is

and how appreciative she was of the work

we put in

for the desperate for jesus conference

lois evans

built an enduring lasting a remarkable

incredible legacy legacy legacy

and it started with being desperate

for jesus desperate for jesus desperate

for jesus

desperate for jesus the lord said in

this world you will have tribulation

but he also said you’re an overcomer and

we want to assist you

in walking as an overcomer all year long

through our women’s ministry

cast all your cares be anxious for

nothing read word to word

in the bible cast all your cares be

anxious for

nothing but in some situations there

might be a need for renewing the mind

mom what would you i know you yes i’m

postmenopausal but uh

i did go through and you look good too

and um just a funny note when you have

the haagen-dazs craving go ahead

and do it

you know desperate for jesus is exactly

what we

got to experience our mom be all of our

lives it wasn’t just

a conference or a ministry it was about

her pursuit

her her honest personal

pursuit of wanting to live out god’s

design for her life

and a big part of that was her ministry

to women

through conferences and all the like but

it was also you know her ministry to you

and i

prioritizing even her girls well that’s

what i was just thinking when i think

about legacy with mom

it wasn’t just her legacy to all of the

women it was her

legacy with us if she were here right

now mom would be sitting

right here in the center flanked by the

two of

her daughters and that’s because she

just felt like it was her primary goal

to influence the girls that god had

given her we’re so grateful for that

because she did the thing

i mean she she did the thing she passed

away when she was 70 years old and so we

saw her

all throughout her 50s and 60s we saw

her not

slowing down in her devotion to the lord

but continuing to

plow forward to serve women and ministry

at her local church and beyond

through the pastor’s wives ministry and

continuing to serve us

she just wanted to imprint us with jesus

yeah she

she is in fact there’s a term that we’ve

coined

um to describe attributes of our mother

physical uh external or internal

well we’ll say that was very lowest e

yes it’s very low c

it means dignified dignified excellent

done well because she did that in her

life

and i think about um often the stories

that we tell

about her um just the personal stories

that we have of her

she just did everything well cooking

dinner hosting people

dressing well working well educating

herself all of those different things

and that that overflow of who she

desired to be for jesus is what i think

impacted us

and that is continuing even today to

impact this conference

i completely agree and you know we just

heard all the committee talking about

what kind of legacy she left and i just

want to celebrate

that there was a legacy there is a

legacy

period that means someone has been

faithful for a long time

and has left something for the next

generation and whether it’s in our mom’s

writings i was going to say like in her

published writings but not even that

just her journal entries the little

notes she put beside photographs that

were taken

we’re still turning things over in the

house and realizing she left a note

behind it about

her grandmother that it came from or her

great aunt that it came from

so just little bits of her legacy so the

fact that there is legacy

to me is a beautiful thing and desperate

for jesus

is a part of her legacy which means

you’re a part of her legacy because here

you are

in the year 2020 when so much has just

been turned over

in all of our lives here we all are a

beneficiary of her faithfulness

and speaking of legacy there is another

incredible woman who you are going to

learn from glean from her in her life is

gonna change your perspective

um and the legacy she is leaving because

the way she has committed herself to the

lord and to her family

despite lots of difficulty that she’s

faced what you’re gonna hear in the next

few minutes

is gonna mark you in a way that you’ll

never forget i love

katherine wolfe and i can’t wait for you

to meet her right now

what happens to you in life as bad

or as great as it is is it really what

matters

it’s how you respond

[Music]

hi hey girl we’ve been so excited to see

you

oh i’m so excited to be with you all in

this weird way

i know but i i’m blessed that i can do

it and y’all can do this it’s cool

yes it’s a weird and wonderful way as

crystal said but you know what

we want to jump right in because for

those folks that

are on the other side of the screen and

have not met you before we

cannot wait for them to not only meet

you as a person

but also to see the holy spirit as he

shines through your life because you

have been one of the most

incredible testaments to the power and

presence of the holy spirit that i have

ever met in my life so i’m so excited

for them to meet you

oh thank you for so long i i will tell

you in a nutshell and you can ask me to

elaborate if you want to

basically at 26 years old

with a new baby boy at home i had a

massive brainstem stroke out of

absolutely

nowhere no warning no family history

no symptoms nothing and um

afterwards after surviving the surgery

to keep me alive

i went through two years of rehabs and

hospitals

to get back to a baseline having

re-learned to eat

speak and walk and then subsequently

five years to kind of come up for air

and recognize what the lord was doing in

my story

and that god was on the move in my story

catherine can you just back up for those

who’ve not heard you really talk about

what it looked like on the day this

happened

and then what transpired in those next

few days

as your life just suddenly changed just

tell us the dynamics of that day

absolutely so when i had the massive

stroke

basically i had the rupture of what’s

called an

abm which is an arterial venous

malformation that i never knew i had

that’s just a really weird collection of

blood vessels

that forms wrongly in your

mother’s womb i believe i was fearfully

and wonderfully made there

with um this male formation that would

rupture when i was 26

and subsequently it was in my brain stem

so the surgeon had to scrape my brain

stem to get it out which is why i’m so

impaired today

so it’s really cool the careful

wise surgeon knew what he was

doing and made the decision

to wound me very greatly in order for my

healing to come

and it gives me chills because it is so

powerful that

in my very deep wounding where he

sacrificed much i cannot walk you can’t

see it because i’m not

in my wheelchair but i can’t walk my

hand doesn’t work

my face is paralyzed i’m deaf in one ear

i’m blind in one eye

i have huge physical problems but the

wise and careful surgeon

was able to sustain my

life because he sacrificed much

and the same is true in all of our

stories

that we are able to flourish because

of the sacrifices that are made in our

lives

you know you you mentioned the period of

time for healing and then you said this

five years to kind of

reckon with the reality of the change in

your life

can you have a picture of what life was

like before the stroke

and then kind of what you were

struggling with in those five years

and what those feelings were of what you

were grieving in those

in those five years absolutely yes

i i love that you asked that because i

always like to point out

five years not five weeks or five

minutes before you write a book

and come up for air and launch a

ministry

five years like hard hard five years

of surgeries and endless rehab they’re

relearning everything

and really above all else wrestling with

god

can this be my story can this be

what you have for me or is this some

sort of mistake and you messed up god

and clearly

you were not looking or this would not

be my story

and i think we all have those moments

but to answer your question

crystal before the stroke

perfectly helped me married my

amazing college sweetheart husband moved

to california

from georgia had a baby

life is awesome and easy and

actually this is funny making um the

only

income while he’s in law school by being

a catalog

model so i’m modeling for disney ads and

target ads it’s not really modeling but

catalog work commercials

and um we’re living at the beach

and college housing but still

living at the beach and life is easy and

carefree

and then everything changed to a deep

reckoning of do i believe in the dark

what i know to be true in the light

and it all was it’s

so powerful to tell you that the same

god

was on both sides of life before and

like now

and in many ways which you probably can

attest to through trials of all kinds

the lord is so near in the moments

of deep near despair

you know catherine there’s this one day

that you

have described where you were sitting i

think in the physical therapy

rehabilitation center where you were and

you had this moment as you watched your

family

could you just describe you in that

moment physically

and emotionally and describe what was

going on inside of you

absolutely i had just failed

my ninth swallow test so they would test

me to see if i could eat food again

and i would fail and fail and fail

so i had just failed my ninth test and

knew i would not be swallowing

and my chest just hung down

like that on my neck because i couldn’t

even hold it up yet

and i saw my husband playing with my son

and some friends like in my mind kind of

frog looking around with them

and looking like the picture of what

life should look like

and i’m like a spectator that doesn’t

fit

i’m caught between life and death

and it like dawns on me

god made the mistake here

this could not be what he intended

for my story

if i were gone jay could remarry

little james could have a normal mommy

eventually everyone would stop being so

sad

and this cannot be what god

intended this this cannot be part of

the story that god is writing

i don’t i don’t understand how this

could be part of the abundant life

and um you want me to continue telling

the story

please please um

in that moment of the nearest

like deep dark despair i have ever felt

um there was this just

wash over me of

like everything i’ve ever known to be

true

of jesus my entire life

and i know it was supernatural

but it was also from years of this right

here

of conferences and being in the word

and listening to people speak about the

truth

that was so deeply in my psyche

that when the depth of

near hellish living was where i was

i had no choice but to say

even deeper than all of these feelings

i know jesus is doing something

very powerful through my life and i

don’t

get it i don’t even know

how to make any sense of it but i

somehow

feel like god chose me for this

and i can remember almost seeing

ephesians 4

1 that passage that he’s called us to

live a life worthy of the special

callings he’s given to us

and it was the weirdest thing ever

but i’m like seated in my little

wheelchair and i like

i feel suddenly like special

i just feel so chosen

and i somehow know on a very deep level

that our lives are these stories

that god is writing and that there are

really hard

chapters in the story and that god’s

story is

somehow beautiful and good because

that’s the only kind of story he can

write

and i knew that so deeply that i wanted

to act like

this can’t be it god but

i knew on some level this is it

and i’m up for this not because

i’m up for this but because second

corinthians 12

9 is true that his power is perfect in

my weakness

and he’s equipped me for this his divine

power

has given me everything i need for life

and godliness

by him called my own glory and goodness

it says and

i think it’s second peter 1 3

that i i knew on a very deep level

and i think you ladies would too

that everything i’ve ever known in the

deep

truth of jesus this was the moment when

the

what is that expression rubber hits the

road or whatever that expression is like

the pedal hit the metal and i needed to

know like

jesus is up to something fabulous

and here i am 12 years later

and i’ve gone on to have a second baby

and um my husband and i just have this

incredible ministry

that reaches people with disabilities of

all kinds we say with

broken brains broken hearts broken

stories

that we don’t discriminate people that

are broken which is all of us come on in

and let me tell you the hope

that established jesus yeah i think you

know

as i’m sitting here listening to you

catherine i i think about the person

who’s

who’s somewhere in that five years you

know

that they are they are asking the

question you know god

um where are you in all of this and they

haven’t quite gotten to the i feel

special part maybe

or they haven’t quite gotten to the the

seeing the light at the end of the

tunnel

they’re they’re literally you know in

the dark i mean as you were talking

you know some of the things that you

were saying you know god you got this

wrong

because obviously you know we just lost

her mom

yeah those are things i say they’re not

even

tied to me directly you know they’re

about her

so the for the woman who’s in that

spot right now where she is literally

in the dark asking the questions

listening to you

and thinking the light at the end of the

tunnel is so

i mean i see not even a pinprick of

light

what would you say to her to encourage

her when she’s in the spot you were

in asking those questions and wrestling

with god

you know i love it so much that you

referenced

twice there this light versus being in

the dark because that’s it

when you lady listening who is in the

deep

darkness those five years or ten years

of or twenty or ten minutes whatever if

you’re in the darkness

don’t hate it like

recognize somehow this

darkness is doing something very

powerful

in me i will emerge differently

because of what i’m currently going

through

that is what we have to do to our brains

is take captive the thoughts and say i’m

a victim

and instead live into

i don’t understand but i’m going to

recognize

that there is treasure in the darkness

it says in isaiah

isaiah 45 that he gives hidden treasure

in the darkness

which is stored in secret places

so that we may know him the god who

summons

us my name and how powerful

is it to recognize if you are in

deep deep darkness there is

special treasure that god has for you

there

that god is doing something uniquely

that you can only get when you are in a

season

of deep darkness and that

god meets you there and the beauty of

deep

real treasure is then we get to carry in

our whole lives

we get to bear that special treasure

with us

on our journey through life and no doubt

we live

differently once we have this treasure

you know it says in romans

5 i think that suffering

produces perseverance perseverance

character and character hope

and hope will not disappoint and our

whole lives

we get a different perseverance and

character

to go through other things and live to

tell

and we have scars no doubt scars like

what we go through i mean

hello we got big scars from what

where we’ve been physically and not

physical scars and yet scars did the

best part

scars mean we lived scars mean we’re

here and get to tell

about how jesus shows up time and time

again

in our nightmares and somehow delivers

through them uh you know i really do

katherine want you to just talk even

about your that basically a theology on

suffering

um all the times that i’ve spent with

you

it’s one of the things and it brings

tears to my eyes even talking to you

about it but

it’s one of the things that i’ve walked

away with the most when i’m with you

is this this shift in perspective on

what suffering is and that sometimes

particularly those of us who live in the

western part of the world

that we’re always trying to pray the

suffering away

as opposed to asking god how he can be

glorified while we’re in it

even when he doesn’t answer our prayers

the way we would want them to be

answered and come up with the solutions

that we think are best so

just speak more to that whole theology

on suffering that god has used this

experience in your life to reshape it

in your in your own um relationship with

him absolutely

i do not pretend to get it all right

but um i am trying very hard to instill

in my little voice

that god made them to do hard

things in the good story he’s writing in

their lives

and i think in a western world

we have got to be about teaching

the next generation and preaching it to

our own hearts

that god made us to do this

and that god is with us carrying us

through it

and that he has chosen us for these

battles because he knows he is strong

enough to get us through them

we can’t handle a lot of stuff in our

lives we can’t

it’s totally a myth but he handles it

through us he is able to handle it so i

i would say that the bravery

is something we’re all missing so

desperately

that yes it’s it’s going to be hard

life is hard it had that been the

baseline

when i was growing up i don’t know about

you girls maybe your dad

really really harped on this that life

is hard but that life is

good at the same time those are not

mutually exclusive

good things and hard things coexist

that’s life it’s very bittersweet

and in good things there are hard things

and in hard things there are good things

and that is the gospel story

and the beauty of getting to

enter into life with jesus in the

hardship

of it all is we know the end of the

story

we know in the end jesus wins we’re

going to be with him forever

so it may be hard in this moment but

let’s not

lose sight of the big picture here and

that sustains

that very powerfully comforts even when

things are very

uncomfortable i mean even now i mean the

tempted the temptation

of people who would hear you speak today

and share with us they um they they may

think okay well you know she’s got

something i don’t have you know we look

at other people

and we think okay god uh allowed this to

happen her

in her life because he knew that she

could handle it

but i can’t handle it like i’m missing

something um

maybe she’s a more positive person or

maybe she had greater family support

or you know maybe you know that you know

she

she was able to for one reason or

another make it through and i don’t have

what she had i think it’s interesting

for people to know right now how you

still

have to struggle with your health

challenges it’s not like you went

through it

and then we can see some physical

challenges but you know you feel good

every day

i mean can you talk a little bit about

what it looks like for you in the here

and now

right now to walk your story out

absolutely

as i am literally sitting in my special

back chair because i have chronic back

pain so when i’m not in the wheelchair

i sit back in this chair

and i get casual which is fine this is

awesome

to sit in the back here because i’m

dealing with um

some pretty bad chronic pain in my lower

back

and um tragically

i have some ongoing

brain issues i don’t love to talk about

it but it feels like i’m just do

so i will um my brain

being very messed up

um means that there are ongoing issues

and currently i have on two

dissections in my um neck

so basically they’re called bads

vertebral artery dissections and i have

one

currently on each side of my neck and

untreated they could cause

a new stroke and

if we trace back to 2008 with avm

2013 with an unrelated brain aneurysm

and then 2017 with the previous

dissection

and then now here we are in 2020 and i

have these two new conditions

um the the brain issues

alone are unbelievable

i mean i can’t think too much about it

it’s awful and that doesn’t even speak

the physical ailments not associated

with the brain

i’m dealing with um i don’t drive a car

i can’t see well enough to drive i can

barely hear

um my shoulder is dislocated after the

stroke i can’t walk

we’re talking legit physical issues and

ongoing health issues

so um yeah

i want to i want to answer your first

question too though crystal but

i love that you asked that because i’m

not on the other side

i didn’t get a miraculous healing and

live to tell hallelujah

i’m living a hard story in some ways

i would never see it that way but um

my body is very broken and messed up

and one day it will not be so but

today and likely for the rest of my life

it does not work very well and um

to answer your first question this

deep joy is cultivated

it is not instilled in me i did not

um whatever the i wasn’t a pastor’s kid

i like you ladies where i am

i definitely had walked with the lord in

the christian household from the time i

was a child

absolutely and i highly recommend

everybody raise their children that way

because storms are coming

however i’m not remotely superhuman

i just recognize my need

to cultivate a deep joy that sustains

and is real

that i i can’t handle a jesus band-aid

because i got a bullet wound here not

enough

i can’t handle platitudes about how god

is good all the time

he is good all the time but i’m going to

need more than that nugget to get me

through tomorrow

and the deep truth of jesus and the

story of jesus coming

into our world dying being resurrected

saving us provides a

fascinating cry of the soul

to there is more here

and it is beautiful and

i’m going to live for that and

not going to make sense catherine um

the very first time the very first time

that we met each other

was um right before

the grove was meeting at um in atlanta

gathering of women there i was about to

speak there

and you were back in the back where

everybody was sort of gathering to

prepare

and someone said in the group as the

group gathered to pray

before the event started someone said

this is catherine wolf and

and we we met each other you were in

your wheelchair and they said we’re

going to have her pray

and oh my goodness i can’t i can’t even

get through this

but somehow you made your way uh

sort of in this humble position

before this group and you prayed for us

and the fervency and

fire and intimacy and joy

that you had and this is me just meeting

you for the first time

i was looking at you in the position

that you were in physically and the

struggles that it’s clear that you have

and speaking to god with such an

intentionality

and an authority that you can’t come

across just because you’ve been in

church a long time

that you can only come across if you

have your own like you said

relationship and joy that you have

cultivated intentionally with the lord

for these last minutes i i really would

love for you to talk about

how practically someone cultivates that

kind of joy

and friendship and intimacy with the

lord especially

when the current climate of their life

is really hard

whether it’s their marriage whether it’s

a child a pr

you know an issue with their child that

their parenting or whether it’s a health

crisis or emotional crisis whatever it

practical steps on what you did that

began to cultivate this friendship with

the lord

yeah um awesome question i wish i

fully knew the answer um

but i have a few thoughts um

one is that so much of

our healings come when we are a part

of healing other people yeah it is this

powerful deep truth of 2nd corinthians 1

that we comfort others with the comfort

that we’ve received

and that’s how god wired it is that

when we get outside of ourselves it

changes how we see our situation

and that was very powerful for me early

is in this terrible state i’m in with

all these problems

i’m going to minister and i’m going to

love somebody really well during this

time

and my overcoming story

my nightmare will become

someone else’s survival guide for their

own

story and when you can get to that place

when you know

god is using me with the comforts he’s

given me to comfort somebody else

it is a game changer you’re like i’m in

this and

i get to live well my hard story

because i i’ve got the person behind me

who i’m going to pull up with me in it

and that is powerful other things

i would say that i was able to

recognize the gratitude for what

remained

so much had been taken away but

it was gone and what do you do

you pick up the pieces of what remains

and you make a life and that’s what i

did

i recognized this is gone i’ll never

walk again normally never i mean short

of a miracle which could happen

i won’t walk normally to heaven and yet

i love the fact i get to ride around in

a wheelchair

[Laughter]

so the wheelchair is not my confining

you know she’s confined to a wheelchair

no no i’m not it’s the opposite

i’m freed by the wheelchair because the

wheelchair

enables me to go where i want to

go and do my life so actually

we got to think about things a little

differently the wheelchair doesn’t hold

me back

it frees me and when you can start to

ponder

oh wait god is doing something unique

with my story if i have eyes to see it

that way

it changes everything and

a lot of a lot more to say do you want

to keep going yes yes

yes okay when we fix our eyes on jesus

focusing only on him with that great

cloud of witnesses all around us

we’re not consumed by what’s happening

here

we just had this terrible self-focus

happening

just incredible victimhood like

this is the worst thing that’s ever

happened and i don’t know how we’ll go

but like who’s got time for that like

my eyes are fixed on jesus so i’m going

to run my race

and i’m not going to be so obsessed with

going inward you know what i mean

is this terrible tragic

self-focused prevents healing

like we can’t really show our

scars authentically to each other

when we’re obsessed with healing them

first you know

what if i was still waiting around for

god to heal me

like that’s so silly god has healed my

soul

the broken place was my heart god says

guess what you are free to go and tell

and that’s

that’s not what i wanted to do with my

whole life so i feel like

a lot of the battle of victimhood

is at work and we can overcome that with

the power of christ

i love romans 8 so much

it’s such an incredible chapter i bet

you all know robin say really well

i love the thought that we are more than

conquerors through him who loved us his

overcoming power

changes how we feel about our

circumstances

keep going well yes keep going if you’ve

got more keep going yeah girl we’re here

to hear you

oh well i mean i love it but i don’t

want to take the whole thing but okay

i love take the whole thing take it okay

okay

i love the thought that he who did not

spare his

own son but gave him up for us

all how will he not also

graciously give us all things

who is he that brings any charge against

those who god has chosen

it is god who justifies suicide that

condemns

christ jesus who died more than that

who was raised to life and is

interceding for

us and that’s romans 8 somewhere

29 30 something

what’s so cool is that we

have this savior who

nothing has been like kept from us

his desire is for us to flourish in

whatever situation our life is

in and god has equipped us

to do that he’s given us everything that

we need

for life and godliness and to do

the hard things and i think back to what

i was saying about teaching my boys

i think we would all be different people

if we recognized

that the good things in life and the

hard things are all part of what god’s

doing

in this fallen place it won’t always be

this way

so while we are on earth and it is

broken and fallen and not right

we get to live well and show

the world what it means to suffer well

to suffer

strong i love love love love this

thought

that we all have different brands of

brokenness we don’t all have this

but we all got stuff all different but

we all got

a list of just stuff that is not right

hurts that we have insecurities pain

shame

nightmares i mean really bad stuff like

fill in the blade nightmares

and yet well each kind of brokenness

is distinct we all have the same

ultimately story of suffering

and next step the same story of

strength in jesus that it’s really all

the same

you know mine is extreme

physically fairly extreme but like

it’s no different we’ve all got bad

brokenness and we all need healing

i love that i would love for you to you

know as we

look to wrapping up you mentioned

something as you were just talking you

said i get to

and i know that that’s one of the things

that you have said before about

all the things that you could look at in

life that you can’t do or you can’t do

the way you want to

but there are all these things that you

get to do and just as a practical way

for those who are in attendance today to

watch you do the mental work of shifting

perspective

could you just give a short list of a

few things that you get to do

you know in this season in your life oh

my gosh

i love this question crystal cause like

i mean basically everything

i mean but the list that would be

important to decipher is like the tiny

shred of things i can’t do versus the

ginormous list of things i can do

which is travel everywhere i want to go

well

except during covent but normally travel

everywhere i want to go

and live an incredible full life i have

two

amazing children an incredible husband

i get to share the truth of jesus

we’ve written several books we get to

talk and

just celebrate the life god has given me

and

oh my goodness like the list that would

be this long

is all the limits you know all the

things that are not going to happen

short of heaven the list of what is

available is like

endless and i mean that like the

possibilities are endless here

and that’s the truth in all of our

stories

you know not just me like the

possibilities

are endless i love the truth that all

things are possible

oh that’s so great and you know we we

cannot let you go without giving a nod

to jay your sweet husband because you

know he’s one of my favorite people on

the planet this man

is amazing for so many reasons the truth

be told

we could let him swap chairs with you

and sit right there and have a whole

another hour-long conversation just with

jay

oh i know i know he now he’s not in that

room with you right now is he

oh hey jay are you in here are you

making me happy

he’s got to lean his head down into the

camera and let us see him

i love him you’re really looking for him

that’s great i know i’m like where is he

i don’t think he’s gonna just tell him

that we celebrate him

and um oh lean your head in jay

everybody needs to see this incredible

guy oh

there he is hey jay camera ready yeah

not really

it’s so good to see you hello oh it’s

great to see you

good to see you too absolutely and i

want you all to know

that um everything this couple has

written

you have to have in your life there are

people

that are joining us from all over the

globe right now and i’m telling you

that suffer strong and hope heals

you have got to have these books in your

arsenal to

help to shift your perspective on life

on the joy of the lord

on what it means to suffer well and to

enjoy your life

even with the tough stuff that you’re

going through catherine and jay listen

thank you we are so grateful not just

for these 40 minutes i mean thank you

for that too but i’m saying

for your life for the choices you’ve

made over the past more than a decade

now to honor god

well we thank you we are grateful for

your ministry in our lives

yes oh thank you right back at you

yeah like you too same

amazing keep up the great work

bye y’all love y’all thank you

have you ever wanted to be just a little

bit more consistent in your prayer life

and pray more often than you currently

well me too i felt that way and there

was a time when i actually created a

28-day prayer journey

to help me be more accountable with some

friends for doing just that

those 28 days weren’t necessarily easy

but they were rich and i finished that

challenge

and that challenge invigorated my prayer

life this book and bible study was born

out of that original challenge in it

we’re going to look at why

a practice of prayer is worth the effort

how you can cultivate a heart of

gratitude

what repentance offers to all of us how

to ask for what we want

boldly and humbly and what it means to

surrender to god

but why it can also be sweetly

satisfying

i’d love for you to join me because i

believe what i’ve learned and

experienced

can help you form new habits little by

little every day and i believe that god

can become more real to you

than ever before as you spend

intentional time

with him

i’m really glad that we we saw that

because connecting that with what we

just heard catherine describing about

cultivating your relationship with the

lord

why do you think it’s important um to

just have a roadmap to follow in regards

to our prayer lives i love this 28 days

of prayer this is great

well you know our grandmother was a

prayer warrior she had her spiral

notebooks she wrote down our prayer

requests

if we didn’t tell her that the prayer

requests were answered she’d say you

need to tell me because

i need to know if i need to cross that

off or not right and so i was reminded

about that when you wrote fervent and

you dedicated that book to grandma

and i was thinking i got to get my

prayer life together like you know

you know you should pray you pray when

you need something you pray when you’re

in pain

but just consistently showing up um

i didn’t have a problem talking with god

i had a problem consistently

showing up to talk to god and so i did

this instagram challenge where i said

i want to make sure i pray for 28 days

and every day i showed up on instagram

back when instagram used to be

chronological

and i would post and say this is a

prayer and i did that five times a day

for 28 days

and then afterwards it was like we

should probably do something with all of

that so i had no intention of

writing a book but it was me asking my

instagram followers to hold me

accountable

to showing up every day to consistently

pray about accountability

accountability and since i had already

provided that

road map and so many people seem to need

that and

be helped by it we decided to put it

into a book

and so do you think that what the 28 day

prayer journey will do is just

provide some accountabilities for folks

to keep showing up and keep on pouring

into that part of their spiritual

journey is that what the intention was

when you

the intention the intention is is

twofold number one

to give you no excuse for ever saying i

don’t know what to say

to give you ideas of what to talk to god

about

i think that we can talk to him about

anything i know we can but i’m surprised

often by how many people don’t pray

because they say i don’t know what to

say

so the first thing is giving you words

the second one is yes

to challenge you to say i’m gonna do

this i’m not going to become a prayer

warrior tonight but i’m going to pray

for 28 days

and then after it’s over we even say

here’s what you do day 29 and beyond

because really

talking to god like the bible says in

first thessalonians pray without ceasing

it’s just about having the habit of

keeping god on your mind

and talking to him throughout your day

about whatever whatever concerns you

yeah that’s really great and prayer

prayer has to be just a centerpiece in

our life

and i love that you said which some

people also shy away from some people

shy away from

having words to pray they feel like if

these are words that are written down

then that’s that means it’s not from my

heart or it’s not

fervent vibrant prayer personal prayer

and that’s not the case sometimes

we just need what becomes then a

springboard yeah of prayers

so i have these like i have some real

old books that are

like you know the vision of valley you

know these these beautiful books that

were written in decades gone by

and it’s basically prayers on the page

and i will literally pray them just read

them right off the page

and then different parts of it spring

board me into

an area of my life that i recognize i

wasn’t praying about

or it just gives me new language

starting point because you can get in a

rut you can get in a rut you’ll be

praying me down to sleep i pray the lord

my soul

i mean god of the universe said

i’m going to put a plan into action so

that the people that i created

can have fellowship with me we have the

privilege of having ongoing

communication

with the god of the universe why

wouldn’t we do

why wouldn’t we talk to him yeah and

figure out what he thinks about what

we’re

what we’re going through and to engage

in relationship with him

that way and i think when you realize

that it’s just a simple

conversation and maybe some words on the

page help you

to kind of get in the rhythm of that i

mean i know it’s been helpful for me

that’s all that the psalms are the

psalms are just we we pray them we

praise them we it’s just somebody else’s

prayers

we use as a springboard and that’s what

i hope that this uh this resource will

do for people who pick it up

that’s great and and for people that are

still thinking about whether or not

that’s something that can be a useful

tool to them which i don’t know who it

couldn’t be a useful tool tool for but

you know as we’ve encouraged

you toward generosity today in sowing a

seed and giving a donation

for um toward this ministry for the free

event that we’ve been able to put on

today which we’re so excited that we

could offer this globally for free

so exciting but when you give a gift of

any

donation amount um there’s a sampler

of this journal of this book that is

going to be given to you as a gift

you’ll be able to just download it

you’ll just be able to

you’ll be able to download it and it’ll

just give you a taste yeah and you know

hopefully get you going and then if you

want more

then there’s 28 days worth and a few

other things that we’ve thrown in there

too

oh that’s great crystal thank you thank

you for providing that we need that

listen well thank you for being this war

room and spurring me on to want to be a

prayer warrior

i put my stickies on the wall i’m

thinking what am i doing over here

that’s fervent over here i just need to

pray for 28 days

okay we’re going to keep having just

great conversations throughout the day

like this just encouraging

us in regular stuff like

prayer like the practical stuff of life

and

one of my favorite parts about desperate

for jesus is when we get to do that in a

setting with

with quite a few of us sitting around

the table together so

we’ve got a real real real special guest

joining us for the real view

he’s going to be sitting right between

us but we’re also going to have jackie

hill perry

and catherine wolf both lending their

just their wisdom to the conversation

you are not going to want to miss what

we discuss over the next

uh segment of our time together okay so

let’s go to

the real view

[Music]

please don’t ask daddy what he said

you date to marry but you should really

marry to date you

gotta communicate he’s gotta know where

you are because there’s gotta be

compromise

in your marriage as it relates to the

sex issue issue

it’s just gotta be but he wouldn’t know

unless you communicate

other than that you’re seeing a bad

attitude and think you just don’t want

to give it up

[Applause]

[Music]

this is one of our favorite times of

desperate for jesus uh for many reasons

but one of them is that

we get to be with our guy right here

this is our dad he’s the pastor of

oklahoma fellowship church dad say hi

this is

everybody’s first time seeing you today

okay hi everybody

i’m glad to be a part they uh draft me

every year

to be part of this this year online but

i’m excited to be with

my oldest daughter crystal this

personality priscilla

and me okay yes and we have two friends

with us

jackie hill perry as you you know we’ve

already heard her teaching

hey jackie how you doing girl hey hey

and and then catherine is with us as

well thank you catherine

from there she goes for being a part of

this panel discussion okay y’all

we don’t have that long that we never

have enough time in this real view

conversation

so we have to just jump right into some

real heavy topics

and go ahead and try to get some answers

to those questions okay um so i’m gonna

jump right in

okay dad i’m starting with you and the

reason why i’m starting with you is

because lots of folks have been wanting

to hear from you

on what is one of the most tense issues

that we’re facing right now

not only in our nation of america but

you know there are people viewing from

all over the world

so even across the world this has been

an issue

but right now particularly in america i

mean it’s at crisis fever pitch point

and that is this issue of racial tension

so what i’ve noticed a lot of people

wrote in to us

was to ask you and jackie i would love

to get your response to this too

but how can predominantly white churches

be more

sensitive during this this time of of

racial tension in our nation

how do uh churches and um

people that are our white brothers and

sisters what can they do

to really rally around this time

well this issue of of race and

reconciliation

this is really as bad as things are

opened up a critical

opportunity for some healing and from

some leadership from the church

because the culture doesn’t have any

answers we have answers that we haven’t

applied

they can do three things first of all

they can get

with other churches of like faith

to bring christians together who share

the same identity in christ

because that should overrule color

differences

second thing that we need to do is speak

with one voice god has

two principles uh uh psalm 89 verse 14

righteousness and justice you don’t

choose between the two there sami’s

twins

they’re joined at the hip so we deal

with the righteousness issues and we

deal with justice issues

because god deals with both but then

they do good works together

whether it’s adopting every school

adopting the police precinct but

they do something together put it in

another way reconciliation comes through

service not through having a bunch of

seminars

we can talk all day about how we all get

along kumbaya

but if we assert when you’re in a war

you don’t care about the color class or

culture of the god fighting next to you

as long as he’s shooting in the same

direction you are we have a common

problem

and we need to face it in a common way

through our service

while we get one get to know one another

along the way

so if christian leaders we get their

congregations

to connect and serving others who are

less fortunate than they are

we are beginning the process of

reconciliation while making things

better in the communities where we need

demonstrate that reconciliation process

and jackie i want you to

layer layer on top of that i see you

making that that face girl you’re like

well he just answered that but listen

i really want your your commentary to

that because this is something that

you’re

extremely passionate about and that

really god has gifted you to be able to

speak too clearly in this hour

so what what do we say um to a lot of

our white brothers and sisters who

honestly are a little bit afraid of

stepping on the land mine of this issue

so maybe they’ve been silent

as they’ve watched it unfold what would

you do to encourage

them about the necessity of us all being

involved

in this issue in this day and age yeah

one i would

i would warn against the tendency of

anybody

to think that they can enter into a

conversation on justice and race and

remain comfortable

that’s not going to happen you’re going

to step on somebody’s toes

you’re going to step on somebody’s feet

because we’re dealing with sin

we’re dealing with injustice we’re

dealing with flat-out wickedness

uh to really call it what it is and so i

think you you got to know that

in the same way that white evangelicals

have had not

have not had the uh i guess um

they haven’t been as concerned with

stepping on toes when it comes to

abortion issues so that same fervor that

same

courage that same boldness we need to

also move it

towards those issues that deal with

people outside of the womb

i think the second thing i would say is

history educate yourselves uh

read books listen to people that know

what they’re talking about

uh whether that’s the warmth of other

sons tony morrison books james baldwin

um white fragility

education helps with empathy and i think

if we were to connect that to jesus

jesus became like us therefore he can

empathize with us

and i think it’s easier to not empathize

with people when you don’t know what

people have actually been through

and so history helps that’s great thank

you so much

um crystal i’m going to start with you

here and then move on to catherine as

well this question about

really parenting our children during

this time when

maybe this particular person has asked

and they’ve said my child has accepted

the lord as their savior so they’re a

christian we’re dealing with christian

children here

but now with the culture the way it is

we live in a post-christian culture

where

the more the systems of morality are not

set up and centered around

at least biblical directions and

biblical compassing as it was in decades

maybe gone by

how do we continue to cultivate in our

children a biblic

bibliocentric worldview

when they’re just hearing so many other

voices that are leading them down

a different path what are you doing and

then katherine even with your children

what are you all doing to

to cultivate that in the lives of your

children i mean i think that

you know and dad could speak really

academically to this about historically

um the philosophies of thought like like

the greeks had a way of thinking

and the romans had a way of thinking and

i think that we

are not um we’ve got to give ourselves

more credit for how we can train

our children to think now they’re free

beings and god was the greatest parent

ever and adam and eve you know screwed

up in the garden of eden

but as parents we still have the

opportunity

and the gift of training them how to

think

and so just yesterday after we listened

to the sermon from church

you know we were sitting around eating

leftover pancakes and bacon because we

were going to finish it all

and i i printed out the study guide and

i was asking them questions and and the

kids assignments this week were to read

the scriptures that were referenced in

the sermon

and say how do what does that look like

for you to to

and i think you know my kids are older

now but when they’re little it’s

teaching them scriptures

because and i’ll never forget a friend

of ours said

and she’s older now but she said when

she’s been dealing with some

life’s most difficult situations the

scriptures that she remembers are not

the ones she learned in her 30s and 40s

it’s the ones that she learned when she

was at her mother’s knee that are so

deeply ingrained in her mind and her

heart

and many of us know this to be true when

we’re away from our mothers we can still

hear their voices in our heads that

there is a

there’s a way that you can get in your

kids heads with

your own wisdom that your god-given god

inspired

a wisdom that comes from a godly

worldview but also

the word of god and also training them

how to think and asking questions

i think as your kids get older you don’t

shy away from hard conversations you

engage in them

because it’s an opportunity to train

them in thinking and looking at that and

say what

what is the world view that this

commentator or this newscaster is

sharing

and what does god’s word say about that

and if you don’t know google it

i mean it’s okay for you to learn

alongside your kids so

i think you can train them and be

intentional about it and realize that

your thought training gives them a track

to run on as they engage with culture as

they get older

okay so catherine what does this look

like for you you have two younger ones i

know jackie’s got one bacon in the oven

on the way soon so talk to us a little

bit catherine about what this looks like

with younger ones

for you absolutely well well james is 12

now so he’s kind of a preteen

and john is five and we are having

constant conversations these days

about who who do they want to be

as people and even the five year old is

very

interested in like well why and why

and what it’s just kind of making sense

of the world

but i think so much of our parenting

comes from them seeing mommy and daddy

and the experiences of our lives and how

we let them

learn from what we’ve been through

and to me even my current

physical disabilities are actually

teaching my children in ways i never

could

they’re informing their lives and

marking them the fact that my husband

has to like literally get me out of the

bathtub

drive me everywhere like majorly help me

do my life

is gonna change the kind of husband they

will be one day

the same is true with our faith of

course that

when we are seeing a picture through

someone’s experience

of life we we respond i think that deep

part of the brain

latches on to story and we can’t help

but

somehow create a narrative in

our lives based on what we’ve seen so i

think there’s a powerful connect to

be sure to tell them the hard stories

not before it’s appropriate and not you

know

big caveat there don’t just explode

things on them

however when it is appropriate let them

into the heart

stuff like don’t just teach them sweet

baby angel you’re special and life’s

going to be

good and easy it’s life is

hard but john 16 33

is true that even in the heart

god shows up and we live in a fallen

messed up world and it’s not going to be

easy

but you’ve got what god needs to get

through it

god needs you to rise up and you

you’ve got it god’s equipped you for the

hard story

and that is game changer for kids i

think

priscilla can i ask you that same

question and you’ve said it before

but the thing that you do with your boys

where you speak identity statements over

them

and um just share what it is that you do

because i think whether you’re doing it

for your kids or doing it for yourself

like deciding who god says you are and

retraining your brain about even the way

you view yourself

it matters can you share that well um

honestly i have to be honest with you i

think that the idea for this

really came from mom because

there is to this day sitting on the wall

in our house

these little plaques that have our name

on them and what our names mean

just whatever that description is i

don’t know if our names actually

literally mean that now that i think

about i just

always grew up thinking well that’s what

mama said that i am so

here it is and it’s still on the wall in

the bathroom dad i don’t know if you

know that

but um i i now since my boys were

very little i would speak over them and

i’ve said pretty much the same thing

it starts with you are a man of

integrity character

and honesty and it goes from there and

they can now say it back to me most of

the time with rolled eyes and like oh my

gosh mom do we have to do this again

today

and i’m like yeah we gonna do it every

single day and the fact that they can

quote it back to me

even though they’re trying to just hurry

me through it when they do what that

says to me is that it’s being absorbed

into their heart just a little bit

and so to your point catherine i do

think that as they watch us

and engage with us and we just are sort

of doing life with them

that um you know that it does absorb

into them

in a way we’re not even expecting and

dad before we jump off this topic i

wanted to ask you about it because

you’re the only one sitting around this

table that has raised a bunch of kids

um all the way to adulthood and um

you know we turned out okay dad we’re

not perfect but we turned out all right

it depends on the day but go ahead okay

looking back if you could well

two things what did you do well what are

you glad that you consistently did

and then looking back if you could do

something differently

what would you have done differently

well i think uh what you

what what me and your mom did well was

use the table

for more than eating because that became

fun

time that became a devotion time

that became training time correcting

time

around a meal and so that was a biblical

principle that

that i think laid a great foundation

because it was regular

and it was predictable then we’d have

certain shows that we would look at

together as a family

so those family times our vacations

together we spent a lot of time together

as a family so so that was good

i would have probably adjusted back

some of the time that i spent working at

church

and ministry we were developing the

church building the church building

ministry national

and that just took a lot so while we

didn’t intentionally

neglect our family i would have

sacrificed a few of those things to even

engage more heavily

in the individual lives so that would be

the adjustment and it’s so

interesting and challenging i think for

all

all four of us are all in ministry and

all are raising our families and

that’s so encouraging and challenging to

hear you say that because from our

vantage point you were never not there

like i i just remember you being

full-on in getting me up from school

coming to the track meet going to the

football games

cheering the boys on in their soccer

games and i mean we remember your books

and commentaries all

all with you i had my had my tools yeah

you were studying but i mean you did the

thing you were there so to hear you even

say

even with that you still would have just

used more time to invest in that that’s

challenging for those of us who are

still raising our children yeah i think

and even

today when you were growing up there was

much more of

a christianized

environment right the public school held

certain value systems

that would be consistent with us the

community held

more consistent value systems those are

slowly being

eradicated today so there is even a

greater responsibility today

and need for parental engagement because

we’re living in a post-christian culture

yeah okay jackie i’m coming to you

you have been feeding us the word of god

not just today but you know

people have been really edified by what

you’ve been sharing

online and through your resources your

books and

materials and bible study on jude which

is phenomenal

but a lot of people who might have just

heard you today may not know your

testimony so sort of in brief form

i want you to share the life that the

lord has

um you know given you the freedom that

you’ve experienced in this specific area

because it’s going to really speak

particularly to people who are

struggling with that in their own

experience

or are dealing with it in the life of a

loved one so can you just

and listen i know you’ve gotten so this

is what i respect about you you’ve

gotten

so much flack and pushback from people

who

just think you are teaching the wrong

thing on this

and still you are unashamed and

unapologetic about what the lord has

done in your life

so we can’t let this day go past without

you sharing this

amen um well i think the

the short abbreviated version is that um

when i was

five or six i don’t remember i just know

it was before i knew how to spell my

name

is when i i noticed that i had same sex

desires didn’t know

the name forward didn’t have you know

this was early 90s and so it wasn’t like

you know tv and culture and all of the

it’s not like i had all these options

for how to identify myself

until i went to church and that’s when i

heard that what i was dealing with was

called homosexuality

and initially uh what kept me from i

guess telling people was that the way in

which homosexuality was addressed

was just kind of mean you know and um

harsh and they were being honest and

they were being uh very accurate i think

about what god expects of people and his

design but it was the way in which he

was communicated

that let me know oh i this ain’t

something church people like so i’ma

just you know keep this to myself

until high school came high school it

got to a point where it just became

more difficult to behave like a

heterosexual than it would have been to

just actively be a lesbian so i just

decided i’mma just be gay and that’s

just gonna be that

and so i did that but um god is so

um consistent that he would not allow me

to continue sinning against him in a

variety of ways

without the acknowledgement of my

conscience it was just

everything that i heard in sunday school

everything that i saw in my aunt who was

a christian

she used to read and sing the psalms and

it was confusing to me because

ain’t none of them rhyme but she’s

saying with all our heart mind and joy

and strength

and so it just it’s that stuff sat in me

you know and reminded me that god had so

much more for me so when i was 19

i was in my room and i felt god speak to

my heart in such a way where he showed

me that my sin

all of it would be the death of me and i

think that was the first time that i saw

that it wasn’t just lesbianism or my

sexuality or my identity that i need to

repent of

but it was fundamentally i needed to

repent of feeling as if

everything else belongs to god except me

that i needed to give god like my

whole life and my whole heart my whole

mind and all of that was the holy spirit

none of that

made any sense apart from the holy

spirit unveiling my eyes to see the

beauty that is jesus

and so now you know i’m just trying to

live this life to the best of my ability

into the glory of his name

so what is the biggest pushback that

you’re getting to my dad’s point just

now he mentioned just how our culture

is really steering away from the

morality presented in

the word of god and you’ve got people

that are really

just trumpeting this live your own truth

be whoever you want to be and that’s

fine what is the pushback that you are

mostly getting as you try to

describe to people what surrendering

your whole life to jesus means and what

it looks like

it’s two things that are kind of the

same but i think one

that this rhetoric is considered harmful

and to a certain degree it has

been used with people saying that god

you know talking about homosexuality as

abominable and etc

has been used as weapons against people

and it has harmed people so that when

when i come with the same content yet a

different character

it’s still triggering you know it still

reminds them of the way it’s been

presented

before but i think also the overarching

narrative in this culture is that of

autonomy i think we

have a really difficult time

understanding the fact that god created

the body

and if god created the body he’s lord

over the body and if he’s lord over the

body he defines what we do with the body

that’s so hard for sinners to get and i

get it

it’s not natural uh but it’s by faith

that we really do believe that god is

not only master and lord but he’s good

and so for him to tell us what to do

with our bodies really is the best way

or the best pathway to joy

and so yeah so dad what does the church

to help folks who are struggling with

this issue or any number of issues

regarding the body

how um and sins regarding the body how

does the church

make sure that people don’t feel

railroaded

by what is righteousness and what is

holiness they feel loved but at the same

time the standard

of god’s holiness is not lessened

to sort of placate our flesh

you hold god’s standard high and it’s

non-negotiable

but you love people up to it you don’t

oppress them with it

you don’t change it but you are walking

with them if that the whole

purpose of the church is to be a

environment

that facilitates spiritual development

so you want to grow people

and you can’t grow people if you dismiss

them

reject them and oppress them but if you

love them and show compassion to them

as long as they want to learn are

willing to learn

but need help to learn then you’re

presenting an environment that is

facilitating

the very thing you’re after you know i

want to

ask this question because you know what

you just said jackie about

you know going to church you’re like oh

this is not for me um

you know there are some people who are

asking questions about kids that they’ve

raised and now that they’re doubting god

and even katherine um you know with with

your

story and how you’ve had difficulty and

suffering

making you go okay god you made a

mistake for people who are doubting god

i mean you’ve got people

of all the time that are that are losing

loved ones but right now

it’s super sticky of course with coven

19 and feeling that

things are socially unfair uh racially

that

injustice is not being dealt with and an

outcome of that is that individuals

could go

god where are you if god is good he

wouldn’t you know he wouldn’t have

allowed this or

um i don’t want to deal with god because

of god’s people

they’ve been mean to me they’ve been

harmful i was harmed in church

for the person who’s watching because

there are a lot of people i’ve found who

are watching church online who wouldn’t

go to church right now

but they have a problem with god they

have a problem with god they’re doubting

god

struggling with questions or maybe just

not understanding

what he expects of them and rather than

deal with anything they just shy away

what would you say from your vantage

point to the person who has a problem

with god

what how would you encourage them right

now based on but based on your story

coming to god and drawing near to him

what would you what would you how would

you encourage them

let’s start with you let’s start with

let’s start with you catherine

oh sure oh gosh um

i’m trying to think it’s my lens is

so hard to imagine

not being aware that even though there

are tragedies god is so at work

it’s really difficult to pull back and

see a world view that

doesn’t understand that on some level

there is

something else at work here so it’s

it’s honestly pretty tough for me to

to see that because the

thread of the god

story everywhere is

so deep i have a theory

that every atheist on some

level knows there is more

to the story because otherwise why not

just tell yourself

why stay around honestly life’s too hard

um but i i what’s the actual question

again so sorry crystal what would you

say to the person who’s doubting god in

your case because of suffering

right god’s the only way to get

through it it’s what i want to say but i

don’t know if that would speak to them

i think i guess again

just like me teaching my little voice

what speaks to people

even in seasons of doubt is experiences

that are real that can’t be denied and

for me

the tragedies came and who picked up the

pieces

was jesus so all throughout

the the terrible sad brokenness

of my life in this world my only

hope was getting pulled out of it

by jesus coming in and giving me hope in

him

so i i think when someone tells the

story

even when someone else is really

doubting it almost is

undeniable like sure you may think i’m

totally nuts

but something’s working for me so maybe

it’s worth looking into a little more

jackie i imagine you could say the same

thing

you may think i’m nuts but does

this seem like what the product of

totally nuts

looks like or does this seem like maybe

something worth looking

into because it’s very effective

i mean i say that very humbly but i

think there is an

element of when people are really

doubting god

look around like oh my gosh there are

stories of the

overcoming of jesus happening

all around us if we have eyes to see it

what would you say jackie that was a

word that’s what i would say

whatever oh my gosh that was a word

can we ask dad that same question

because i know of course

you know we you’ve spoken at church

locally

about that you know just when mom first

passed and you were you went you know

got back right in the pulpit

sharing but when people come to you and

look at you and say wow you’re so strong

but they’re struggling with doubting god

because they prayed and god didn’t

answer

um and they want to believe god but

there’s that struggle

how how do you respond to the person and

you know what dad before you respond

to i want to echo what crystal’s saying

and sort of layer it with

when you came back to church i think

what i heard from so many people

first of all you never left church you

were back um sitting and receiving you

had pastors come in and preach on

sundays

but when you did stand up to talk to the

church you said something that i can’t

tell you how many times people have said

to me your father ministered to me so

much

when you stood up to say i actually feel

sad

and i feel unmotivated and i feel

that they saw your humanity that there

was a

loss there was devastation there’s

disappointment because we’ve been

praying so fervently

and so many people across the world had

been praying for mom

in that way so it wasn’t that you

weren’t human

it’s just that you kept going despite

the disappointment and discouragement

you were feeling

so i just wanted people to know that too

that you’re like a real guy like some

people see you kind of as a little bit

like a superhero

because you’ve been doing the thing for

so long faithful writing bibles and

comments

commentaries and all that stuff but the

reality is you’re a man

who lost his wife his love um

and it’s been a lot it’s been actually a

lot of loss in the last couple of years

sorry well it’s um

i ask god questions without questioning

god

you have to make a distinction between

the two rebecca said why lord how long

lord

but then he closes and he says but i’m

still going to trust you

so i asked god questions but what i

didn’t do was question him

god has a conditional will and an

unconditional will

the conditional will says if you meet

certain conditions

i’ll do this the unconditional will

means this is my plan regardless of what

you do

so he will answer some prayers because

they were based on a condition

others you won’t answer because he’s

already made an unconditional decision

and you have to trust him enough with

both

and so god put me in a position where i

had to believe my own sermons

and i had to walk through the emotion

the pain

the loss the hurt

and still trust him um isaiah 40

they wanted to know this is not fair and

then god came back with

but who am i are you going to

trust my heart when you don’t understand

my hand

and so i was forced to believe the god

that i preached about

even through the tears and the

sufferings of the loss

can you even right as we get ready to

close just say the part again

about really which is an answer to one

of these questions that has been asked

if god is sovereign and his will is

already determined

why do we pray because

god has a conditional and

unconditional will his conditional will

says i am only going to do this if you

meet my requirements

prayer is one of those requirements you

have not because you asked not

but his unconditional will is what he

has determined to do

regardless of what you do because it is

a sovereign decision

that lies only with him sometimes you

don’t know which one is conditional

or unconditional so paul says pray about

all things

pray about all things and man we saw we

saw

um well our family but we saw our dad

doing that praying over our mom

praying with our mom praying together as

a family

um and so your faithfulness has been a

great example to so many people

i want to just close the time that we

have together by asking you guys a real

quick

question right around the table and we

always end this way every year the

question is

what is a book that you have read that

has been one of the most

influential books of your entire

christian life like if somebody was

going to get a book they got i mean they

got to read this one

what would that book be dad you start

oh okay um final final destiny

by jodi dillo okay yes okay crystal what

would be the book

i know right it’s a hard question um

battle of the mind joyce meyer

oh yes okay jackie what you got

uh desiring god by john piper yes

okay catherine the hiding place

by corey tenbu that’s great

and i would say the epic of eden which

is by a scholar named sandra richter it

takes you through the whole bible and

it’s daddy you read that one too the

epic of eden that one’s really good

okay thank you guys so much that’s great

you all need to get those books on your

bookshelves

but not only that i talked to all of you

about catherine’s books earlier which

you have to have

but i i can’t let the opportunity pass

to also tell you

that when jackie hill perry writes a

book

you have got to get your hands on what

this girl is telling you

okay her books are masterful not only

has she written a bible study

on the book of jude which is an

incredible bible study that lifeway

has published but she has other writings

as well jackie tell us

the name of your your book that you’ve

written

uh gay girl good god the story of who i

was and who god has always been

yes amen you’ve got 27

57 1100 books like you do i only got

two i got the name that’s easy

well however many you got we all need

these books so wherever you are

in the world today listen these two

women um

are incredible and the resources that

they have given you really will imprint

your life so

just avail yourself to those of course

dfj2020.com you’ll see links there for

everything

that is available by these incredible

women thank you guys

thank y’all for joining us for staying

tuned and dad

thank you well thank you for having me

yeah this congratulations on your

conference and you’re a great guest

well you know really it’s mom’s

conference true yeah it’s mom’s

conference

continuing a legacy we are we’re

continuing a legacy and you know this is

your 16th year i believe

on the panel as sort of the centerpiece

of the discussions that we’ve had so

thank you for showing up every year i’m

uh i’m throwing between two roses

oh lord thank you guys

thank you see you later that was such a

great conversation we’re grateful for

our speakers and their participation in

our panel but i can’t help but feel

a little funny yeah because when we do

these panel discussions mom is always

here and always very much so

part of me not just creating vision

for the conference overall but being

here and lending her voice

she’d be sitting right here at the table

next today yes in this conversation yes

and offering wisdom and offering wisdom

and the beautiful thing about mom is not

only do we have

the benefit as her daughters of being

beneficiaries of that wisdom she’s been

so gracious to

leave that wisdom in different forms

we’re sharing on social media

and of course there’s a book books that

she’s written seasons of a woman’s life

being the first one

i’m so excited because that legacy

is now available in a printed form in a

new way

the the seasons of a woman’s life book

was her wisdom sharing her wisdom for

living

but she actually took that content and

it created a bible study

which is now available as a printed

workbook this is the biblical principles

that undergird

the wisdom that she shared with us

personally and with us in that book and

um i’m glad for that legacy and i’m i

you know the other thing that she we’re

looking at these flowers right here yeah

it’s making me feel like it’s so her and

you know how

when in december when she passed away

one of the things that we

asked women to do was to celebrate their

pastors wives

by sharing flowers yeah i mean whether

it was sharing wisdom

or sharing flowers mom was always really

wanting to make women know that they

were seen

all women but specifically pastor’s

wives

and so you know i just think about

looking at these flowers and sitting

here missing her

the beautiful thing about mommy is that

she didn’t just leave a legacy for us

she left a legacy for everybody

and i want to encourage you all if you

want to know more about mom

want to pick up that printed workbook

want to know more about her ministry to

pastors wives

at dfj 2020 you can find out more about

all of our speakers but mom would have

always been here with a mic in her hand

and we don’t want to leave her out of

you knowing more about her legacy and

the ministry that she has left

left for you that i’m sitting here

watching your eyes a little bit

what do you want to say about mom and

her legacy what’s important to you for

women to know today

well what you need to know is whatever

impact god has allowed me to have

locally or nationally or internationally

is because

your mom’s my wife’s fingerprints have

been all over my life

all over my family all over my church

all over the urban alternative all over

the radio the television the books

so anything that has been a blessing you

need to think of her

because her fingerprints are on all of

i love that she’s a part of it i feel

her here today

you know so be sure and go there to dfj

2020

to check out the legacy that she left

for you speaking of legacy and impact

um you know i always say dad okay dad

you’re still here what are you working

on what’s what’s in your hands to do and

i know

one of the things that’s really

important to you is that the church

doesn’t just have you know service on

sunday but there is service

that we’re engaged in can you talk about

how we do that in our local church a

little bit

oh yeah well here we have a whole

outreach ministry we call it the

turnaround agenda

where we impact the community with food

with clothes with job training job

placement with health issues

with unplanned pregnancies a

comprehensive program

the biggest of which is the adoption of

over 40 public schools where we provide

mentoring and family support services as

our way

of bringing healing to young people

their families and

strength for our community that’s a

that’s a lot for legacy and impact here

locally in fact i think we have a video

that will share in more detail

what that is all about the turnaround

agenda

a social outreach program is a

refreshing answer to a seemingly

hopeless situation within dallas urban

communities with a plethora of issues

absent fathers teen pregnancy abortions

school failure unemployment and hunger

the problems appear to be insurmountable

established by dr tony evans

the turnaround agenda has a mission to

rebuild communities

from the inside out with comprehensive

faith-based services

that transform the lives of urban youth

and families

our array of services specifically

target public school youth

their families and communities such as

our weekly school-based mentoring

sessions

in which positive adult role models

build trusting relationships

with students we help students to stay

in school

say no to drugs and alcohol choose

sexual abstinence

and resolve conflict our technology

education and career services give

students their families

and communities access to education and

technology computer training and

certifications which are critical in

today’s competitive workplace

our family services is committed to

providing food housing assistance and

clothing to help our students

families and communities function to

their fullest our pregnancy services

help protect life

by preparing young girls and women to

value life in

and out of the womb at our retail store

we sell

quality name brand merchandise at very

affordable prices

proceeds from the resale store go back

into supported individuals

students and families served by our

programs

the turnaround agenda is a gateway to

opportunities that empower individuals

to make life-affirming decisions

learn more about the turnaround agenda

at turnaroundagenda.org

i mean it’s pretty it’s pretty

impressive i’m really excited about all

that we’re able to do locally

but we don’t just do things locally can

you talk about what that looks like even

from the national ministry

well i believe that all that’s happening

now has opened the door for the church

nationally to step in with the racial

strife and cultural strife

and let the community see what the

church can do in bringing unity

as well as community impact so

nationally we have this three-point plan

of churches coming together in a

community that are kingdom-minded

that have a solemn assembly together

that speak with one voice

but then they do good works together

adopt every school in their community

adopt the police precinct have

businesses create opportunities

for underserved communities and then the

local community can see the power of the

church so

what’s been developed here locally we

use for training nationally

because every community has churches

schools

and families and so you you make that

connection

then the community can see what god can

through his people when his people have

left the sanctuary

and invade the community with the bible

calls good works

i love that so much so in other words

we’re not just supposed to be sitting in

church having a good time on sundays we

should be not only for

worship services but we shouldn’t be

worship selfish we should be worship

service

and that means we are serving and the

community ought to feel our presence

okay dad you you might not even remember

this i’m kind of putting you on the spot

but there was this occasion

where there was a young person at one of

these public schools that was in trouble

with the law

and you and the members of the church or

the leadership of our church

showed up on behalf of the student can

you just describe what happened

well this particular student stole

fifteen hundred dollars and was caught

and they were going to sentence the

student we went to the judge and we said

judge

if you will give him back to the church

we’ll put a male didn’t have a father

we’ll put a male mentor over him

will hold him accountable we will get

him a part-time job

we will garnish his wages so he pays

back the guy

he stole from and we will put character

building

principles in his life so we were able

to work with this kid

he paid back the guy he stole from we

took him back to the judge

the judge then took away the sentence

and then the judge called me and asked

me will you take 20 more

so that’s the impact that we’ve seen and

now

we have hundreds and hundreds of kids

that are seeing a new lease on life

you know the bible says god is the

mother to the motherless and the father

to the fatherless that’s not a floating

spirit and never neverland

that’s god using his people to provide

surrogate parenting

for the next generation and given our

family structure breakdown

they need to see the church make the

difference and fill in the gaps

well you know there are so many pastors

and church leaders and pastors wives

even that are joining us ministry

leaders

and they’re really trying to figure out

practical ways to handle all these

systemic issues that are bubbling up to

the surfing and that need practical

solutions and they don’t know what to do

so really this is an invitation for them

to look at what

your the ministry is doing nationally

because you can step in and offer

training

in these departments yeah through the

urban alternative we’ve got a

three-point plan and so i’m up online

and all the churches have got to do is

decide to get together

and get it done and we can facilitate

them

in doing it in their local community

well there you have it there you have it

there you have it i mean this is what

the church is supposed to be the hands

and feet of jesus

actually dealing with the practical

everyday stuff that’s going on in

people’s lives absolutely

that’s great thank you so much dad i

appreciate that

you’ve been he’s been our male insert

into the day but here we go back to the

ladies because

jakaylan carr and jackie hill perry are

going to be coming up in just a few

minutes

so even while you’re praying about how

you can um give and how you can just be

a part of ministry in that way

uh jacqueline is going to sing for us

she has been blessing us

already and i want you to know that her

music is on constant rotation in my

in my playlist i mean powerful powerful

yes

she is powerful a young woman that god’s

hand is on

she goes all over the world literally

being a blessing to people

and so jacqueline’s gonna minister to us

please make sure that at dfj dfj2020.com

you see that her resources are available

there you’re going to want her music

as a part of your playlist as well so

jacqueline’s going to minister to us and

then right after that we’ll hear from

jackie hill perry

enjoy hello everybody this is jacqueline

carr

and thank you so much to dr tony evans

and oak cliff bible fellowship for

having me

if y’all don’t mind can we just start

off declaring that god

is changing our story wherever you are

do you just begin to release your faith

and we’re going to make this declaration

come up

i need you to extend your faith today

i know what you’ve been through but i

can’t maintain that god is changing your

story if you believe that he’s changing

your story

release this in your atmosphere i know

you’ve been defeated before

[Music]

but i can’t even

[Music]

hey unemployment

[Music]

what it looks like

[Music]

relate to the abundance

[Music]

defeated

[Music]

now listen i don’t know when you may

find yourself

right now but wherever you are i want

you to make that your sanctuary

i want you to think about that thing

that’s it think about that

everything you believe in god for and

lift your hands in the air come on

lift your head in the air listen i don’t

know

what the enemy has been using against

you to keep you from being regarded i

want you to be

but i came to tell somebody your story

is changing

i speak to everything that’s been

holding you accountable

and i’m commanded to let you go let you

lift your horses

[Music]

one more time leave your voice and say

this won’t be

this won’t be my story no more

now wherever you are can you just lift

your hands towards heaven

i just want to declare over your life

despite everything you see in the

natural

i see miracles happening if you believe

in something

long and hard if you believe in

something

[Music]

i see miracles

[Music]

you believe in something

all

[Music]

i’ve been here

[Music]

take this opportunity lay hands on

yourself after you declare this shape

i am a miracle

i am a miracle even in the midst of

impossible situations i am a miracle

i am a miracle my home

[Music]

my is is a miracle everything about me

these are making it a miracle today i

just want to remind you

to keep on i hope you know

you’ve got a grip and stroke in the

spirit i know you’re hurting right now

but you can never let it go the spirit

[Music]

goes

[Music]

you’ve

[Music]

stay right there where you are keep

thinking keep speaking it

keep faith in it cause then

so every day you gotta say this i

[Music]

believe

[Music]

i see miracles

i see me because every day that happened

hey saints uh hope you enjoyed uh the

worship that just went before us

um i’m back to talk about

you know how we can live a purposeful

life

how we can stay rooted and build up in

god and grow in thankfulness towards him

as colossians speaks to

um one of the ways i plan to do that in

this session

is to talk about falling to talk about

what happens in our hearts when we fall

into sin

but to point to the hope of how jesus

restores

i think a part of living a purposeful

life is to acknowledge the fact that we

have so

many snares and so many things inside of

and outside of us that are keeping us or

attempting to keep us

from living to the glory of god i

first talked about how we were made in

the image of god but also how

being made in the image of god sometimes

is deterred by us

being born as sinners you know and so to

talk about our sinfulness

is not to condemn us but it is to

acknowledge the reality

of what we’re dealing with here but also

in acknowledging the reality of who we

are um as sinners we can also

i i’m saying also too much

in us acknowledging the reality of who

we are as sinners

uh should not we should never stay there

you know we should move toward

acknowledging who we are as saints

and what it means to be made a new

creation

in christ jesus and so i want to go to

john

chapter 21.

john chapter 21.

starting at verse 15. i

i love this story it encourages me

starting at verse 15 it says when they

have finished breakfast breakfast

jesus said to simon peter simon son of

john

do you love me more than these he said

to him yes lord

you know that i love you he said to him

feed my lambs

he said to him a second time simon son

of john

do you love me he said to him yes lord

you know that i love you he said to him

ten my sheep

he said to him the third time simon son

of john

do you love me peter was grieved because

he said to him the third time do you

love me and he said to him

lord you know everything you know that i

love you

jesus said to him feed my sheep truly

truly i say to you

when you were young you used to dress

yourself and walk wherever you wanted

now when you are old you will stretch

out your hands and another will dress

you

and carry you where you do not want to

go this he said to show by what kind of

death he was to glorify god

and after saying this he said to him

follow me

when jesus said you know i can’t breathe

if anyone

would come after me let him deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow

a man that we might know by name by the

name of peter was there

he heard him say it he was only there

because of the two words

follow me is what jesus told him

to while fishing with his brother one

day peter

met christ and on hearing him saying

those two words he left

everything behind so that he could obey

and peter obeyed it to the best of his

ability he followed jesus

everywhere he went he followed jesus

when he preached he followed jesus

when he prayed he followed him when he

did miracles and i don’t think that his

following him was limited to being only

what his

feet did but his following jesus

also meant that he was obedient to jesus

that all that jesus preached was for him

to believe and all that jesus did

was for him to imitate when jesus told

peter to

follow him it declared that peter

was to have a new master now

and this master jesus had an agenda

he wasn’t just some random man telling

folks what to do he was god

himself who had come so that the

consequences for people following other

folks and other gods would be dealt with

come to die so that everyone who

followed him could live a little time

before jesus was about to die he told

his disciples something interesting he

said

that they would all fall away because of

him

peter doing the most as usual peter

being the presumptuous man that he is he

told jesus who was god

though they all fall away because of you

i will never fall away never

peter never as if we don’t have

evidence that you fall often like when

you had enough confidence

to walk on the water with jesus but not

enough faith

to keep you from sinking when the winds

made you think that they had more power

than god

before we began we read john 21

in it uh is the exchange between jesus

and peter following peter’s betrayal of

jesus follow me so clearly

when peter says uh

that he won’t ever deny jesus when peter

says that something uh that this won’t

ever happen we see then that it does

happen he does fall away for a time but

why do you think that he thought

he was exempt from falling why

do we think that we’re exempt from

falling what what

what book did we read that gives us this

kind of confidence

it’s because of pride

pride will really have you believing

that being committed to jesus with your

words

means that you are committed to jesus

with your heart

words don’t ensure commitment to

anybody well somebody might say well the

bible says

that out of the abundance of the heart

the mouth speaks so it could have been

that peter’s words are just evidence of

his great love

and worship toward god and i would

respond by saying

listen to his words again he says

though they all fall away because of you

i will never fall away he says this to

jesus so in other words he’s saying

jesus you might be right about

them but you’re wrong about me

we are all in the same boat as peter pun

intended

when we think that we are stronger

than everyone around us when you see

uh this person divorce their spouse and

declare i would never

do that when you see this person fall

into sexual sin and you say

i would never do that when you see this

person sat down in ministry and you say

i will never go through that how can you

so sure most folks

that have fallen into sin at some point

were very confident that they wouldn’t

it’s actually the judgment the arrogance

and the misplaced confidence it’s the

inability

to take heed to what god has told us

about our nature

in our flesh that will ensure that sin

will get the best of us you are not

simply in danger when you start sinning

you are in danger when you start

believing that you can’t

jesus tells peter truly

i tell you this very night

before the rooster crows you will deny

three times i want to read you what

follows

it’s in luke 22 starting at verse 54.

then they seized him jesus and led him

away

bringing him into the high priest’s

house and peter was following

he’s still following jesus at a distance

and when they had kindled a fire in the

middle of the courtyard and sat down

together

peter sat down among them and the

servant girl seeing him as he sat in the

light

looking closely at him said this man

also was with him

but he denied it same woman i do not

know him

and a little later someone else saw him

and said

you are also one of them but peter said

man

i am not and after an interval of about

hour still another insisted saying

certainly

this man also was with him for he too is

a galilean

but peter said man i did not know what

you are talking about other virgins talk

about peter curse

and immediately while he was still

speaking

the rooster crow and the lord turned and

looked at peter

and peter remembered the saying of the

lord how he had said to him

before the rooster crows you will

deny me three times and he went out and

wept

bitterly

peter did what jesus said he would do

he denied him he’d been with jesus for

three years but now

when confronted and questioned about his

allegiance he denies that he even knows

him

the first time peter denies jesus is

when a servant girl recognizes him

you think that as soon as the words i do

not know him

came out of his mouth that he would have

been convicted then

that he would have said oh did i just do

what i thought i wasn’t gonna do did i

just

deny jesus you think that the

first denial would have straightened him

up would have gotten

him right would have caused him to

repent would have caused him to go to

the altar but it doesn’t

he denies jesus again and again what

does this speak to this speaks to the

fact that sin will harden you

i’ve seen this in my life and in others

where you tell yourself

i’ma just send this one time once is

never enough

you do it again and again until it

becomes a pattern and you become a slave

to that thing that god

previously set you free from peter as

far as we can see

doesn’t feel any grief about his denials

at first the text

even says that an hour goes by an

hour 60 minutes before he does it again

so he had time to

think and realize that he has fallen

but do you know what wakes him up do you

know what finally

shakes up his world it’s when he sees

god’s face

you can’t count on conviction all of the

time

to be the thing that makes you repent if

you are in sin and have been in sin the

heart

becomes hard and unfeeling so it doesn’t

respond to the truth

like it used to that’s why you can sit

under certain teaching and listen to

certain songs and sing along and read

the bible but it does not move you to

being fruitful like you used to but the

crazy thing

is that you cannot you cannot or even

expect then

for you to just randomly start to feel

like you want

god you have to want him by faith

even if your heart does not you have to

fight to look for him by

faith and not by feeling you cannot wait

feel obedient to be obedient but the

crazy thing about peter’s situation

is is that in all of this in his

hardness

in his his his apathetic uh

experience of god it says that the lord

looked at him i don’t know if that means

that peter wasn’t looking for jesus

but it means that god clearly saw him

and i just always wondered how jesus

might have looked

you know jesus had called peter to

follow him jesus had

given peter a new name jesus had

transfigured before peter jesus had

given

peter a ministry and jesus is the one he

refused

to acknowledge when following him got

too hard got too difficult got too

tiresome how my jesus has felt he

was god but he was also fully man and

being made in the image of god means

that we are made in a god

in the image of a god who has feelings

and emotions peter’s sin

was against him so

how did his eyes look

was there wrath in them

anger sadness

mercy even when peter

saw them when peter saw the

face of god is when his

it went in his sin he was then able to

remember

the word of god for us

we seek the face of god by looking into

the word of god that will make any

hard heart soft again

peter he left where he was and the text

says

that he wept bitterly in other words

peter left

grieving in his grief which was good for

him to feel

because paul says that godly grief

produces repentance it’s

it’s it’s the realization of who it is

that peter has sinned against that puts

him

uh in this space to feel

to experience what it is that he has

done but in that grief i wonder what he

might

have been thinking once he left the

courtyard

while he was crying and weeping did he

wonder what jesus thought about him now

i did did he wonder if god changed his

mind about him if god

changed his mind about if he loved him

if not if he if

if peter if he thought about do i even

deserve to be called a rock anymore a

rock that jesus said he’ll build his

church on when i’ve shown myself

to be unstable does jesus still want to

give me a ministry i wonder if he

questioned his ministry if

all uh if coming to terms with his

weaknesses

if he was tempted to be the christian

who because of shame is

fearful to be in ministry again in john

after the resurrection of jesus peter

and a few of his disciples are a few of

jesus’s disciples they’re fishing

they they’ve been up all night with no

fish to show for it

and jesus appears on the shore and tells

them to cast their net on the right side

of the boat

this is the right and it’s after doing

that

uh the text says that they can’t even

hold a net in because the amount of fish

that they suddenly got

one of the disciples tells peter that

the man who just told

them to cast their net is jesus so peter

he’s still impulsive

he might have failed from sin but they

didn’t change his personality

being the impulsive man that he is he

jumps into the water

and starts to swim towards jesus which

tells us

that if peter had any shame due to his

betrayal he doesn’t

anymore he does not let his sin keep him

from his savior when he gets

to the shore verse 9 says that

jesus had a fire set up with fish

and bread on it jesus was so healthy i

love it the smell of fire

think about this the smell of fire

might have brought back a few memories

for peter

such as when he was standing near a fire

warming his hands while he denied his

god

ain’t that interesting that over a fire

is where peter stopped serving jesus for

a moment and now

over a fire jesus is serving him

after they eat they all fool

jesus asked peter simon son of john

do you love me more than these if you

can recall

when peter made his boastful

proclamation on

not being the one or not being one to

fall away he made sure to emphasize that

these

that these other men would fall away

so the question for peter now is that a

mind renewal

how does peter see himself in relation

to jesus as compared with the other

disciples now

will he again claim to love jesus more

than they do peter responds

in verse 15 16 and 17 by saying yes lord

you know that i love you notice

he does not include more than these

in his response to jesus peter’s

denial we can see has humbled him

a hard fall is a good teacher to those

who want to be taught

peter knows where arrogance got him last

time he knows better and not only that

he appeals to jesus’s full knowledge of

him

as confirmation of his answer unlike

before

when jesus told him what his heart was

like he refused to believe it but now

he might be more convinced that jesus

not only knows what you’ll do

but why you’ll do it yes lord you

know that i love you

he says this three times after being

asked if he loves god

three times after not denying jesus

three times each time peter says this

jesus says something unexpected he says

feed my lambs tend

my sheep feed my sheep

you think that after denying the lord

jesus that peter would be

excluded from this kind of ministry

but jesus still invites peter on mission

with him by giving him the privilege of

serving his

people these sheep are jesus sheep these

lambs

are jesus’s lambs and peter is being

called to take care of them why

should somebody that failed

that bad be given another chance

because jesus knows that he loves him

and because he loves him

he loves his sheep and his lambs it’s

not his academic

study that qualifies him for ministry it

is not

perfection that qualify qualifies him

for ministry it’s not

sinlessness that qualifies him for

ministry it is his affection for god

that does but not only that jesus

knows where this love will carry peter

verse 18 he says

truly truly i say to you when you were

young

you used to dress yourself and walk

wherever you wanted this is jesus

talking to peter remember

but when you are old you will stretch

out your hands and another

will dress you and carry you where you

do not want to go

this he said to show by what kind of

death he was to glorify god

peter is going to die one day

but did you see what his death would do

tex says

his death would glorify

god we have a man who met jesus as a

fisherman

followed jesus as a disciple denied

jesus before his

crucifixion but the peter that denied

jesus at one point

will not god bless me

ah but the peter that denied jesus at

one point

will not be the peter that died for

jesus at another point

the character trait that caused him to

fall

will not have the final say over how he

will live the rest of his life

the bible says that peter will die

glorifying god and you can too the sons

sins that some of us have or will find

ourselves mastered by

don’t have to shake don’t don’t don’t

have to be

uh what defines the rest of our days we

may not know

how we’ll die like peter did who was

martyred on the cross while hanging

upside down but we have just as much

hope

for ourselves as he did we have just as

much hope for our future as he did why

because the bible says that he who

started a good work in us will finish it

why because the bible says

those who god predestined he also called

and those who he called he also

justified and those he justified

also glorified how because to him who

was able to keep you from stumbling and

to present you blameless for the

presence of his glory with great joy

how we are now does not have to

determine

how we’ll finish those

who love god will see god

do you know another reason and i’m about

to close

another reason why

peter’s life will not ending ending him

giving

or denying jesus again it’s because

jesus prayed for him what are you

talking about jackie

in luke 22 when jesus tells peter that

he will deny him three times

he began by saying this simon simon

behold

satan demanded to have you that he might

sift you like weed

but i have prayed for you that your

faith

may not fail when satan went before god

asking to sift peter just as he went

before god asking to test job jesus

prays

that in the sifting that his faith would

not fail you might say

well his faith did fail because he

denied jesus right and i’d say

do you suppose that jesus doesn’t get

his prayers answered

if jesus prayed that peter’s faith would

not fail then his faith will not fail

even though his faith was tested and his

faith fell momentarily

it did not fail forever jesus prayed a

prayer that ensured that peter would

stay

strong even when he was weak and don’t

think

that jesus only prayed for peter that

peter was somehow special

that peter was all together different

than the rest of the church because

guess what

jesus is praying for you too we have

both the spirit of god

and the son of god making intercession

for us what are you talking about jackie

i’ll read text romans

8 26 likewise the spirit helps us in our

weaknesses

for we do not know what to pray as we

all but the spirit himself

intercedes for us with groanings too

deep for words

well you just said jesus prays for us

that was talking about the spirit i’ll

bring another text romans 8 34

christ jesus is the one who died more

than that who was raised who is at the

right hand of god who is indeed

interceding for us i don’t know about

you

but that kind of helps me that does

something to me to know that jesus not

only lived the life that i couldn’t live

and died the death that i deserved and

resurrected from the grace that i could

have an eternal life but he is also

praying for me to get there to make it

to keep

going to keep fighting to keep getting

back up to keep reading when nothing in

me wants to to keep praying

when i don’t feel heard to keep myself

in community when i rather be alone

jesus prayer

for peter was heard and answered by god

and is by virtue of that fact

that carried peter to glory and in the

same way

even now the fallen saint whoever you

are wherever you are and whenever it’s

you by looking at the face of jesus you

can be upheld

by the intercession of jesus until one

day

you see god’s face

after telling peter all of this

jesus says something to peter that

peter’s heard before

jesus told him follow me

jesus’s words are simple he wants

peter to continue in the way that he

started

yes you messed up yes you sinned against

god

yes you denied me three times don’t stay

there

don’t stay there get up and

follow me again and these are jesus’s

words

to all of us no matter where you are in

your walk of god

even if you you think you’re good and

you’re holy and you

put this message in your back pocket for

the day where you fall to

whether you are barely making making it

or delusional about the fall that is on

the way jesus is saying to all of us

bump all that other stuff follow me

listen to me watch me

imitate me talk to me

read about me get around saints that

look like me and that will encourage you

to do the same

follow me and as you do

i have a strong hunch that one day

whether that’s next year 20 years from

now

one day you’re gonna look up

and see his face and if you are in

christ there will not be

a rooster crow to remind you of your sin

but the sound you will hear is a

well done from the mouth of our savior

and on that day

i can only imagine what his eyes will

look like

let me pray for us

father i pray for us all all of us who

call you by name

all of us that you have called to follow

you

help our legs to keep going help our

hearts to stay

soft help our minds to stay clear and

sober minded

i pray god that we would keep going that

we would follow you

that we would obey you but i pray that

when we do fall

that we will look to you too that we

would not be like adam and eve who in

genesis 3 instead of running towards you

faith and in repentance they hid from

you behind the tree as if this tree

could save them as if this tree offered

forgiveness i pray god that we would

recognize that through christ jesus

forgiveness is available for us all

help us help us to obey you forever in

jesus name

amen jackie thank you so much

always we are blessed when jackie hope

harry shares the word of god because she

ain’t messing around with nobody

with nobody saints or they ain’t that’s

right she’s going to share with us the

truth of god’s word and that’s the way

we like it around here so thank you so

much jackie

and listen what a way to end our day we

want to thank you thank you for carving

out

a whole day i know it took some some

acrobatics to get everything in your

house arranged

so that you could be here with us today

thank you for doing it i hope you

can already sense that it was well worth

it all that you had to do to carve out

this time

that it was worth it and i do believe

that god is going to pour back into you

tenfold whatever it is that you had to

invest to make today happen

in terms of time or energy or whatever

details and dynamics you had to work

through to make it happen thank you for

doing that i hope you’ve been encouraged

today

as we close there’s just a couple of

things that we want to make sure that

you are aware of

and continue to be reminded of as we end

our time together

the first thing and i think one of the

most incredible things about our day

is that we prayed together remember and

that prayer wall

is going to stay up on our website for

the next seven days which means

that anytime over the next seven days

that you want to go there and post a

request

please do it folks are going to be going

by picking up those requests they’re

going to be praying over them

and asking god to move in your life in

regards to that a request

here at our local church in dallas oak

cliff bible fellowship

we have a whole prayer team that’s what

they’re going to be doing going to get

your request off that prayer wall

and praying over you so please know

that’s going to continue to be available

to you even after the event is over

today

the second thing i want to remind you of

is that it has been

a privilege to be able to present

desperate for jesus worldwide

for free it’s been our joy to do that

we’re asking you if you would consider

responding in generosity over the

pandemic crystal i have been

real intentional about praying about

ministries that are being a blessing to

me or i’m watching them really reach a

lot of people

outreaches churches ministries that have

been impacting my family

or have been impacting others as god

lays them on my heart and i’ve been able

i’ve been asking god how can i give to

that ministry to pour back

in to what it is that they’re doing

we’re asking you to consider that

and remember when you give right there

on the website you’ll see how

when you give a gift of any amount we’re

gonna be it’s gonna be our joy actually

to bless you with some

some things just to keep you encouraged

and that if you give at least

25 then man you get a copy of one of our

mother’s books

stones of remembrance as well as some

other substantial more substantial

things from death

for jesus ministry and we can’t wait to

be a blessing to you so

please be as generous as you possibly

can and help to support this ministry

it’s been a blessing to serve you today

and we want to see

how you’ve enjoyed the event so be sure

and share a picture

of yourself about uh how you were when

you were

watching this were you at your kitchen

table were you in the bed were you

sitting in the living room with your

feet propped up on the ottoman or in

your favorite chair

take a picture of your feet we want to

see your feet were you facetiming with

some girlfriends take a picture of y’all

yeah

however it worked because we’d love to

see and we’d love to share um so that

because this will be up for a while for

sure and we want as many people as

possible to know that this was a great

opportunity for

for you to grow and to be encouraged in

the word so sharon just use the hashtag

dfj2020 and then also if the

encouragement from today was a blessing

to you

and you want to continue to dive into

growing

in your faith and refreshing your soul

even in this season

consider going to the conference

resource store you can see the

information there

on our site dfj2020.com and take

advantage of the resources that are

available

from all of our speakers today and last

but not least

we’re already thinking about you for

next year as you’ve heard us say before

this is an

annual gathering that we have at our

church usually right here

in this building thousands of us are

gathered together but this year

we’re gathered together virtually

already planning for next year

hoping we’re going to be back back into

building my church house

in the church house by 2021 but listen

we’re making plans for you

already july 24th girl go ahead and

write it down on your calendar because

you’re going to want to be

in this place whether physically

virtually however you can be here you’re

not going to want to miss what we’re

already planning and preparing

for july 24th 2021.

thank you for being here we have had the

time of our lives

on behalf of oak cliff bible fellowship

church dr

tony evans and first lady lois evans

her girls would like to say thank you so

much for being here

god bless you

we’re so happy you joined us today for

desperate for jesus

we’ve heard great messages from our

speakers and perhaps you’re thinking

that was great now what well we thought

you might say that so

we’ve prepared a special experience just

for you

on august 3rd join me for a 21-day

journey to embrace the purpose

power and possibilities of a kingdom

woman a woman who has decided

to operate according to the rule of god

in every area of her life

you don’t want to miss this experience

forward slash kingdom woman

[Music]

you

Desperate for Jesus Women’s Conference – Rooted – July 25th, 2020

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ONLINE SERMONS BY FAMOUS PREACHERS

WHAT DO WE DO?

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION STATEMENT

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ONLINE SERMONS BY FAMOUS PREACHERS

WHAT DO WE DO?

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION STATEMENT

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