Triumphant Living
- Roger Barrier
- May 23
- 30 min read
Transcript
00:00:00 Speaker 1
The memories of my father, he taught me a lot.
00:00:04 Speaker 1
He had sayings that he would say continually, they were just bits of wisdom that became
part of my life.
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Some are familiar, for example, he would say oftentimes, Remember, Roger, don't ever
forget, life by the yard is hard, by the inch it's a cinch.
00:00:19 Speaker 1
And you've probably seen that on a ruler, haven't you?
00:00:22 Speaker 1
On a yardstick, three foot yardstick, that's oftentimes written.
00:00:25 Speaker 1
He'd say things to me like this, Remember,
00:00:28 Speaker 1
The squeaking wheel gets the grease.
00:00:30 Speaker 1
Now that's pretty good sometimes when you need to be your own advocate, need to get
something done, that works.
00:00:35 Speaker 1
Here's one he would say to me often, Don't sell your peanuts at the end of the parade.
00:00:41 Speaker 1
There's a lot of wisdom in some of these statements.
00:00:46 Speaker 1
One time he said, Remember, the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the
sweetness of low price has been forgotten.
00:00:56 Speaker 1
I remember when he said that the first time we were going out to the lake and he bought
these really inexpensive little life preserver deals and they all sank and that's when he said
this it was a good lesson I remember here's one that's good in any business he who
whispers down the well about the goods he has to sell doesn't have as many dollars as he
who climbs a tree and hollers isn't that true well that's a great statement
00:01:27 Speaker 1
Taught me a lot about life, of course, as hopefully your parents did.
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I remember one time we were playing golf together and he said, Now, when you get out
there and you're pastoring, I guess I was a little out of high school, maybe in college.
00:01:38 Speaker 1
He said, If you'll just remember, you know how to work hard and love people, you'll do well.
00:01:49 Speaker 1
That's good advice.
00:01:52 Speaker 1
Well, he also had some Bible verses that were very much his favorites.
00:01:56 Speaker 1
And I know he had many, but he had one that was as often on his lips as any of these
mottos.
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And if I heard him say it one time, I heard him say it 25 or 30,000 times.
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He'd quote Philippians chapter 4 verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.
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And how many times when I was going through things in my growing up years, going
through things in my adult years, he'd say, Don't ever forget, Roger.
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Always remember, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
00:02:28 Speaker 1
Now, the text for this morning, centered around that verse, comes from what is oftentimes
called the happiest book in the Bible.
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If you look here in chapter one, you will see
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For example, right near the beginning, chapter 1, verse 4, he talks about joy, all right?
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Chapter 1, verse number 18, he says, Because of this I rejoice.
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And yes, he says, I will continue to rejoice.
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Look over in chapter 3, for example, verse 1, Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.
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Chapter 4, verse 4, Rejoice in the Lord always.
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Again, I say rejoice.
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Chapter 4, verse 10,
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I rejoice greatly in the Lord Now, you know You know where this book was written?
00:03:18 Speaker 1
It's the happiest book in the Bible You'd have to assume that he was in a pretty happy place
when he wrote it because you know you read all this talk about joy And so you soon mean I
could easily see Paul.
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He's sitting on the beach He's got this beautiful beach umbrella the warm Mediterranean
Sun somewhere got this tall cool drink in his head Read the book
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Watching the waves.
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Kick back, relax.
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And he's writing, I think I'll write the book of Philippians.
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Rejoice in the Lord.
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Be full of joy.
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Now I can see that real easily.
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But I know that's not where he wrote the happiest book in the Bible.
00:03:52 Speaker 1
He wrote the happiest book in the Bible in Rome in the Mamertine Prison.
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If you've been to Rome, you may have found it.
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I have been in it twice.
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It was an old cistern that they tiled over and there was a little hole in the roof about a yard
00:04:08 Speaker 1
in diameter and they throw the prisoners down the hole and there was no light down in
there and Paul was 65 years old and you'd think after serving Jesus Christ all those years
God could put him in a better place than near his death in the dank, damp, rat-infested
hole in the ground about 15-20 yards in diameter ceiling is about 7 feet tall
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And in that setting, he pulls out his pen and he writes to the Philippian folks the happiest
letter ever written in the Bible.
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Well, look it here.
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Chapter four, verse 10.
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I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you've renewed your concern for me.
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Now, it's really interesting about this little church in Philippi.
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Paul was preaching in Turkey when he was about 50 years old, maybe 49, and he had a
vision to go over to Greece.
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Well, he goes over to Greece, and he lands at Philippi, and there's no church in town, of
course.
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There's no synagogue even in town, not 10 Jewish men to make one.
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So on the Sabbath, he hears about this little lady's prayer meeting down by the river, and so
he goes down by the river, and there he meets a little group of Jewish women having a
prayer meeting, and out of that prayer meeting comes the First Baptist Church in Philippi.
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And these folks loved Paul.
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They supported him.
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They sent him gifts.
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In fact, they were the only church in all of Greece that supported him when he went around
preaching the gospel.
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And he hadn't heard from them in a long time.
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And so he says here in verse 10, I rejoice greatly in the Lord, that at last you've renewed
your concern for me.
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Now that's sweet.
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What happened?
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He hadn't heard from them in ten years.
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And now they sent him a gift.
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Somebody found out Paul was in prison in Rome.
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They sent him a gift, and he was totally destitute down there, of course, and he's really
appreciative for the gift.
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And notice how he says this next phrase, Indeed, I know you were concerned.
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You just didn't have the opportunity to show it.
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Isn't that diplomatic?
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I know you would have sent me many more gifts, but somehow you just didn't have the
chance, but now you've sent me another one.
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I really do appreciate it.
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And then he comes to one of the most oft-quoted
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most, I think, often claimed favorite passage among many Christians when he writes these
words in verse 11.
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Now, I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I've learned to be content whatever the
circumstances.
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Have you learned that yet?
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I've learned to be content in any situation.
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One of the best definitions of contentment
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I ever heard was this, contentment.
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That's a small kitten following a leaky cow.
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Is that a nice picture in your mind or what?
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I see for a lot of us problems come, difficulties arise, and we don't like it.
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We have troubles that come to our lives and we get upset.
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difficulties come and we start comparing ourselves how come his kids are doing fine and
mine aren't right because I'm the Christian he's not and we don't like that how come he's
got a better job than I does how come he's got a new house I'm still living in the old house
we start comparing ourselves Paul says listen I don't do that because I've learned the
secret of being content wouldn't you like to know his secret verse 12 I know what it is to be
in need
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I know what it is to have plenty.
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I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or living in want.
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I know what it's like to have a lot.
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I know what it's like to have a little.
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I've learned to be content.
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And you know, I was reflecting on this one day, it dawned on me.
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You know, Paul had learned to do without, he's now 65 years old, he's learned to do
without his youth.
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He's learned to do without his health.
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He had a thorn, remember, in his flesh that was hurting a lot.
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He learned to live with that.
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He learned to do without his freedom because he's in prison when he writes this thing.
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Do you know how to do without?
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Have you learned how to do without and be content?
00:08:41 Speaker 1
You know, I was really fortunate when I was a boy.
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My dad was an airline executive and we had free airplane tickets all over the world.
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I've been on every continent except Antarctica.
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And as an adult, Julian, I've had a lot of chances to minister to pastors around the world.
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And it's just flat fun.
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But I remember even growing up, half of my dad would say, OK, now watch this.
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We're going to take you to-- and he'd take us to some parts of the city.
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I just want you to see how the other side of the world lives.
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And he took us to a lot of places just to show us.
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And broaden your perspective, he'd say.
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I remember a few years ago, Julie and I had gone to the Ukraine right after the Berlin Wall
had come crashing down.
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And about 200 pastors had come from all over the Ukraine to a little communist city, ex
communist city now, Elia Sarka.
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And we were going to teach them principles of spiritual growth.
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And I'm going to tell you something.
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I met some of the happiest, most contented people I've ever met in my life, bar none, in the
Ukraine.
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I remember we'd arrived and
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Got there on a Saturday night, and of course, 12 hours, almost 11 hour time change, total,
total flip-flop.
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And I mean, we're up the next morning and I'm preaching, it's like 2 o'clock in the morning
body time.
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Oh my, I was so tired.
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But you got a lot to do when you get over there.
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And so at first night, we end up in this ex-communist hotel where it cost all the pastors 1/4
a night and it cost the Americans $42 a night.
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But they were gouging, but you know, it's still all right.
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But here we were, and I was tired.
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Julie and I got to the hotel, we hit the bed.
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We were exhausted.
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Total time change.
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there's all this commotion and laughing and joking down the hallway.
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There's a knock at our door.
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Some of the Ukrainian pastors have arrived and they're having a party.
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Come join the party.
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No, we're tired.
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We need to get, oh, come on, don't be sticking the mud, said the translator, you know,
loose.
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Come on, I get my pants on.
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Julie gets, you know, dressed there.
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And we go down to a little communist hotel room there.
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inside the hall.
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And they turned the beds on their side and they put this table, this piece of wood, and they
made a table.
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And I mean, this room was packed with these Ukrainian pastors and wives just having a
party, no alcohol, just having fun in the Lord.
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They got on the table their food, because there are no restaurants there.
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You don't go over there and go to a restaurant.
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There's not many grocery stores either.
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You kind of bring your food.
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ride the train for 100 miles and spend a week, you pretty much bring some of your food.
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And on the table is this two-gallon glass jug of this putrid-looking yellow liquid.
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And then it is all this stuff floating around inside there.
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And they're eating it with some bread.
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Well, I come in there, and we've been teaching the Bible a little bit, and they say to me,
Here, have some, have some.
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Have some dog.
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And I looked in this putrid yellow liquid.
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You can imagine what I thought that might have been.
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I mean, it was just, oh, you can't imagine.
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Well, there's pieces of stuff floating around in there.
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Here, have some dog.
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Dog.
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Well, I've eaten a lot of stuff in my life.
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I guess the worst I've chewed on is ripped off octopus tentacle raw.
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That was pretty tough.
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But dog?
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And I realized all of a sudden this is a test of my manhood, all right?
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with these Ukrainians.
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'Cause I'm the American who's come over to teach them the Bible and they wanna know
what kind of man I am.
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And I'm thinking, oh God, if I eat that, I'm gonna get sick as a dog.
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It's gonna be bad.
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Eat it, eat it! They were saying, dog, dog.
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Well, all right.
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I reached my hand in this yellow putrid looking liquid and pulled out a hunk of dog and I
started eating it and I ate the whole piece.
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And they were just grinning, just grinning.
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When I got it all down, one of them said,
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Chicken, chicken, chicken.
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It was just chicken.
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Well, you know what?
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It didn't help a bit.
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It was still on that yellow liquid.
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I tell you, it just didn't help.
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And I'm going to tell you something.
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You and I were there with these folks for almost two weeks teaching.
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Happiest people I ever met.
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They don't have anything.
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We stayed for almost 10 days with a family named Colia, and they didn't have anything.
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This is true.
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Julie and I opened up suitcases.
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We have more stuff in our suitcase for this trip than they've got in their whole closet.
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They lived with their family in a little apartment that was less than your garage, I promise
you.
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It had five rooms in it, but it was less square foot than your garage.
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And they were the happiest folks.
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But the light of the day was in the morning when they had tea.
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And that was the big deal.
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They'd have tea with sugar and cream.
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And you know, before it was over, I was looking forward to getting them having tea.
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That was the highlight of the day.
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I saw one of the children had a University of Texas at El Paso, you know, college miners
jacket, a sports jacket.
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And I'm thinking, can you believe how small the world is that this kid is a fan of the UTEP
miners?
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And I was getting ready to comment on that when it hit me, oh, I know what happened.
00:13:51 Speaker 1
some American churches bundled up some clothes and shipped them over here and that
just happened to be the jacket this kid got that's all he had I'm gonna tell you something I'm
the happiest people I ever met in my life in the Ukraine where they have nothing let me ask
you a question is it easier to be content when you have nothing or when you have a lot
because see what Paul says here is I've learned to be content
00:14:18 Speaker 1
with nothing and I've learned to be content with lots.
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I've learned to be content when I'm needy.
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I've learned to be content when I have everything.
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I know what it's like to be in the hospital bed.
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I know it's like to be out of the hospital bed.
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I can be content in any situation.
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Is it easier to be content when you have nothing when you have a lot?
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I know the answer to that question.
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I've seen it many times.
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I see the children of America with video games and books and toys and teenagers with cars
and coats and
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Closets fill with clothes.
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And I've been in the slums of Rio, where their houses are built out of sticks, little wood,
where the walls are composed of torn cardboard box material, oftentimes not enough to
cover the wall, and the sewage is flowing down the middle of the open streets there.
00:15:16 Speaker 1
and I've seen children playing soccer in the street with tin cans more happy and content
than a lot of the children I see here in these United States because the fact is we have
raised one of the most discontented nations in the world and we've got everything see it's
easier to be content when you have nothing it's really tough to be content when you have a
lot have you learned to be content
00:15:48 Speaker 1
Look what he says here.
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Verse 12.
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I know what it is to be in need.
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I know what it is to have plenty.
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I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or living in want.
00:16:02 Speaker 1
Now, lest you think Paul didn't understand what it was like to learn to be content in all
situations, I want you to leave your fingers here in Philippians 3 and turn back just a little bit
to the front of your Bible, not many pages.
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You'll come to 2 Corinthians, four or five pages.
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You'll be there.
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second Corinthians chapter 11 one day Paul wrote a letter to Corinth and and he described
in there his sufferings and there's a reason that he did it I won't go into I just want you to see
what he went through he knew what this was like he says second Corinthians chapter 11
verse 23 here's what he writes I've worked much harder been in prison more frequently
been flogged more severely been exposed to death again and again five times I received
from the Jews 40 lashes minus one
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Now Jesus got that when he was at the cross.
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Paul says, I got it five times.
00:16:48 Speaker 1
They take a man, they tie his hands to a pole, at the top of this pole, and then they take his
robe off, his pants off, and they take these, well the pirates used to call them cat o' nine
tails, 10 or 15 leather strips with pieces of bone or metal tied in the end.
00:17:04 Speaker 1
And then they had two men, one each had one, and they'd stand behind this guy's back,
and they'd do it, and the goal was you wanted to wrap it kind of around their neck, so you
got a little bit of the front, then you dragged it all the way down his back.
00:17:14 Speaker 1
And of course, as it did, it just ripped flesh wide open.
00:17:16 Speaker 1
And this guy hit it from this side, and the other guy hit it from the other side.
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And most of the folks who experienced this punishment died.
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The reason it was 40 lashes minus 1, well, that was grace.
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They only gave him 39 instead of 40.
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That was their grace.
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Five times, Paul says, I took that whipping.
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Three times I was beaten with rods.
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Now, what was that?
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That was a Roman punishment.
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A tie man between the two sawhorses, and then, again, two soldiers did this, each had a
metal rod, and one would hit the back on this side, the other hit the back on the other side,
and your body would just blow down, it'd pop back up and hit it again, and go down and
pop my back, hit it again.
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And the goal of that was to break somebody's back.
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It's heard a lot of folks who think maybe Paul's thorn was back trouble.
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And he probably walked stooped over, maybe even broke some bones back there from the
three times he was beaten with the rods.
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Once I was stoned, and that wasn't with marijuana.
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That was at Lystra.
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When they persecuted him, they picked up stones, and the mob threw so many stones
they beat him until they left him for dead in a rock pile.
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Three times I was shipwrecked.
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I spent a day and a night in the open sea.
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I've been constantly on the move.
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I've been in danger from rivers, in dangers from bandits, in danger from my countrymen, in
danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, in
danger from false brothers.
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There's stories behind each one of these phrases.
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I've labored and toiled, I've often gone without sleep, I've known hunger and thirst, I've
often gone without food, I've been cold and naked.
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Besides everything else, I daily face the pressure of my concern for all these churches.
00:19:01 Speaker 1
Hey, listen, I know what it's like.
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I've run the gauntlet.
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Well fed to hungry, warm to cold, in jail, out of jail.
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I've been in the hospital bed, now in the hospital bed.
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But I've learned, no matter what the circumstance, to be content through Jesus Christ who
just keeps pouring in the power.
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look back there in Philippians 4 verse 13 he writes I can do all things everything through
Christ through him who gives me the strength now you know that verse used to bug me
because I see I used to really struggle here because my daddy quoted that a lot but I I
wondered how that could be true because he says I can do all things through Christ but I
know this I know he had this thorn in his flesh
00:19:54 Speaker 1
Remember?
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Was it eye trouble?
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Could have been.
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Might have been malaria.
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Could have been the broken back problems.
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God knows something else.
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And three times he says, God, take it away, take it away, take it away.
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And each time God said, no, no, no.
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And I'm thinking, wait a minute, is there a contradiction here?
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I can do all things through Christ, but he couldn't get rid of that thorn.
00:20:13 Speaker 1
I know that Paul in Romans 9, 10, and 11 pours his heart out for three chapters over the
Jewish people who aren't Christians and who aren't coming to Christ and don't see the
Messiah.
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talks about some reasons why, and then you want to read a passionate section of the
Bible, he says, God, if it's possible, I would die.
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And he was in the process of doing that.
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I would die if somehow my Jewish brothers and sisters could have their eyes open to see
the glory of Christ.
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But that didn't happen.
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But he said, I could do all things through Christ, but that didn't happen.
00:20:48 Speaker 1
I know he was in prison.
00:20:49 Speaker 1
He was in prison when he wrote the happiest letter in the Bible.
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He's in prison.
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I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
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But he couldn't get out of jail.
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And this used to really bother me because there's a lot of us Christians who feel like that
just being a Christian guarantees us a safe and happy passage through life, and they use
this verse to prove it.
00:21:14 Speaker 1
think that Paul says I can move anything, I can do anything, I can always get my way
because I'm a Christian and through Christ I can count on victory after victory after victory
because I can do all things through Christ.
00:21:25 Speaker 1
But I'm struggling because there's a lot of things I realize he couldn't do.
00:21:30 Speaker 1
When I was in seminary, I had this disease in my colon.
00:21:33 Speaker 1
And of course, when you're young, you're testing your faith.
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If you were a Christian when you were young, and if you were serious about it, you'd ask
questions like this, you'd want to test your faith, and I remember thinking,
00:21:43 Speaker 1
Because my dad said it so many times, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me.
00:21:46 Speaker 1
And I began to think, if I just had enough faith, God will heal my colon.
00:21:51 Speaker 1
But see, I was taking all these powerful drugs.
00:21:53 Speaker 1
It wasn't healing it, but it was sure trying to keep it under control.
00:21:56 Speaker 1
And I'm thinking, it sure must not be much faith if I'm still taking the pills.
00:22:02 Speaker 1
If I had real faith, I'd stop taking the pills.
00:22:05 Speaker 1
Because that's real faith.
00:22:06 Speaker 1
And maybe God's waiting for me to really launch out in real faith and do anything through
Christ.
00:22:12 Speaker 1
So I remember praying one evening, Okay, God, I'm stepping out on faith.
00:22:16 Speaker 1
I will no longer take these pills, and I'm going to trust.
00:22:19 Speaker 1
You're going to do all things.
00:22:20 Speaker 1
You're going to heal my colon, and it's going to be a great healing, and I'm going to testify
about it, and it's going to be great.
00:22:25 Speaker 1
So I stopped my pills, prayed earnestly for healing, and ten days later, I'm in the hospital,
and two weeks later, they're taking out my whole colon.
00:22:41 Speaker 1
and I don't go to work or school for six months but I can do all things through Christ and all
of a sudden it began to dawn on me maybe Paul had something else in mind when he wrote
these words I remember I remember still in the hospital recovering and thinking hmm
maybe there's something else going on here you see
00:23:15 Speaker 1
I have the power through Jesus Christ to be victorious in any situation.
00:23:23 Speaker 1
See, a lot of us are still crying out for God to change the circumstances.
00:23:26 Speaker 1
And we'll quote verses like this to prove it.
00:23:28 Speaker 1
But maybe that's not what Paul's getting at at all.
00:23:30 Speaker 1
Maybe he's saying is, it's time to stop praying all the time for God to change the
circumstances and realize that God's goal sometimes is to allow us to be victorious right in
the middle of the circumstances.
00:23:41 Speaker 1
And when Jesus Christ pours in the power, I can do anything because He's pouring in the
power.
00:23:48 Speaker 1
Now, I know what a lot of us would do if we were in jail.
00:23:51 Speaker 1
We'd cry out for God to change the circumstances.
00:23:54 Speaker 1
Hey, I'm a Christian.
00:23:56 Speaker 1
How come I'm in jail for preaching the gospel?
00:23:59 Speaker 1
Is this how you treat your preachers?
00:24:01 Speaker 1
we might say.
00:24:02 Speaker 1
But that's not what Paul did.
00:24:05 Speaker 1
I love the opening verses of this book.
00:24:07 Speaker 1
He says there, Hey, I rejoice that I'm in prison in Rome.
00:24:12 Speaker 1
What?
00:24:13 Speaker 1
He says, Yeah.
00:24:13 Speaker 1
He says, See, these guards come in and they chain me to the guards, and what they think's
happening is that I'm chained to the guard for three hours till the next shift.
00:24:22 Speaker 1
The truth is that guard's chained to me, and every three hours I get a new lost person to
share the gospel with.
00:24:28 Speaker 1
I rejoice.
00:24:29 Speaker 1
He says this, listen, you read this in the book, I rejoice.
00:24:33 Speaker 1
that everyone in Caesar's household, think of that, has heard the gospel of Jesus Christ
because of me being here in chains in this prison.
00:24:46 Speaker 1
And I began to realize, maybe God never promised to change my circumstances and
always get me out of jail.
00:24:52 Speaker 1
Maybe what He promised was, Listen, Roger, no matter what jail you're in, no matter what
change you're bound to, I promise you this, I've got the power
00:25:01 Speaker 1
Through Jesus Christ, I'll pour in the power.
00:25:04 Speaker 1
And you can be victorious right there in the middle of those circumstances.
00:25:10 Speaker 1
Remember the first car you ever had?
00:25:13 Speaker 1
You never forget your first car.
00:25:14 Speaker 1
I don't know how women are, maybe you do or don't, but I know men, you know, your first
car is pretty precious to you.
00:25:19 Speaker 1
First car I had was this ugly green, it was called Chartreuse, but it wasn't a very pretty
green.
00:25:25 Speaker 1
1960 Rambler American, six cylinder, acted like it had two, just wasn't much power in that
thing.
00:25:32 Speaker 1
It wasn't even a cool stick shift.
00:25:34 Speaker 1
It didn't even have an automatic shifter.
00:25:36 Speaker 1
It was so primitive it had push buttons over here on the dashboard when I changed from
drive to reverse.
00:25:40 Speaker 1
That's all it had.
00:25:41 Speaker 1
And I had to be real careful with that car because it didn't have much power.
00:25:45 Speaker 1
And I remember trying to get on the freeway.
00:25:46 Speaker 1
I'd be looking back on that access road and I'm thinking, okay, I need about a mile, mile
and a half worth of hole here to slide this thing in there.
00:25:55 Speaker 1
And I'd get on the access road and I'd, you know, be looking for my hole and I'm slamming
on the accelerator and off we go, you know, 30, 31, 32, you know.
00:26:09 Speaker 1
I'm telling you, I needed a mile, I needed a mile to get in that thing, to get on the freeway.
00:26:14 Speaker 1
And then one day, I got a 1967 old Cutlass Supreme, two-door, hard-top coupe,
00:26:26 Speaker 1
350 horsepower, eight cylinders, and I didn't even bother to look back when I got on the
accelerating lane.
00:26:33 Speaker 1
I could slide her into any place because I'd step on the gas and it just soared.
00:26:40 Speaker 1
And one day it dawned on me.
00:26:42 Speaker 1
You know, a lot of us Christians live the Christian life like we're driving a 1960 Rambler
American.
00:26:47 Speaker 1
And a lot of us in our Christian lives like we step on the gas and nothing happens.
00:26:51 Speaker 1
And what Paul's saying here is, listen, I've learned
00:26:54 Speaker 1
In Jesus Christ, I'm not driving a Rambler American.
00:26:58 Speaker 1
I'm driving some kind of souped up sports car here, so to speak.
00:27:02 Speaker 1
And no matter what circumstances I'm going through, when I'm in the middle of it, Jesus
Christ just pours on the power and I just slide right through.
00:27:11 Speaker 1
Now here's where a lot of us fail so miserably.
00:27:15 Speaker 1
Troubles come to us and we whine and pine and complain like all the other people in the
world.
00:27:23 Speaker 1
Like we don't have any power.
00:27:25 Speaker 1
And we're crying, Oh God, change my circumstances.
00:27:28 Speaker 1
God, if you really love me, you'd fix this, you'd fix that.
00:27:31 Speaker 1
We sound just like everybody else out there, as if we had no power.
00:27:39 Speaker 1
See, a lot of us are still praying for God to change our circumstances.
00:27:44 Speaker 1
Well, if I could just have a new house, I'd be happy.
00:27:46 Speaker 1
God, if I just get this new house, never ask for any more, if I just get the new house.
00:27:49 Speaker 1
And I've seen it, I see it all the time.
00:27:51 Speaker 1
People get the new house and they're just as miserable in the new house as they were in
the old house.
00:27:55 Speaker 1
Why?
00:27:56 Speaker 1
Because it's the same old people living in a new house used to live in the old house.
00:27:59 Speaker 1
Nothing's changed.
00:28:02 Speaker 1
If we could just get that new TV set, I'd be happy.
00:28:05 Speaker 1
Let me get the 35 incher, I'd be happy.
00:28:08 Speaker 1
They'd give me a joke.
00:28:09 Speaker 1
I'd be happy.
00:28:10 Speaker 1
And they'd get the new 35-inch TV set, and I see it all the time.
00:28:13 Speaker 1
They're no more happy in the day with the big TV set than with the smaller TV set.
00:28:16 Speaker 1
Why?
00:28:17 Speaker 1
Because the same old guys watching the new TV used to watch the old one.
00:28:20 Speaker 1
Nothing's changed.
00:28:25 Speaker 1
Have you learned the secret of being content in any situation?
00:28:32 Speaker 1
You know, I think that's something that comes a little bit with age and experience and
maturity.
00:28:38 Speaker 1
You got to start when you're young.
00:28:39 Speaker 1
I think the sooner you start working on it, the sooner it'll come to you.
00:28:43 Speaker 1
I haven't mastered it yet.
00:28:44 Speaker 1
I'm still working on it.
00:28:45 Speaker 1
Remember when I was in college, I pastored a little church in Penelope, Texas.
00:28:50 Speaker 1
It was a part-time church.
00:28:52 Speaker 1
Average attendance on Sunday morning was 18 to 20.
00:28:54 Speaker 1
The biggest crowd we ever had in the two years I was there was 34.
00:28:58 Speaker 1
That was a big Sunday.
00:28:59 Speaker 1
I've preached to as few as three, Mr.
00:29:02 Speaker 1
and Mrs.
00:29:03 Speaker 1
Beard and Julie.
00:29:04 Speaker 1
That was the smallest crowd I ever preached to.
00:29:06 Speaker 1
There was a man who never came to our church, but he was one of the founders of it.
00:29:09 Speaker 1
His name was Mr.
00:29:10 Speaker 1
Green.
00:29:11 Speaker 1
His wife was always there.
00:29:13 Speaker 1
And oftentimes after church, Julie and I would go visit Mr.
00:29:16 Speaker 1
Green.
00:29:16 Speaker 1
The reason he didn't come to church was because he was so bedridden with arthritis.
00:29:20 Speaker 1
His hands were kind of gnarled and twisted like this.
00:29:22 Speaker 1
I mean, his toes were so twisted and turned under he couldn't get shoes on.
00:29:27 Speaker 1
And he lived in this little bedroom in a little frame house around that Texas prairie in a
hospital bed.
00:29:35 Speaker 1
So twisted with arthritis, he just couldn't move around.
00:29:38 Speaker 1
We'd go over sometimes to their house for lunch or dinner on Sundays and we'd watch
him.
00:29:41 Speaker 1
He'd slowly get a spoon or a fork and he'd get his fingers right and he could just hold that
fork and then he'd eat, you know, kind of like this, just so deformed with arthritis.
00:29:50 Speaker 1
Remember one cold January night, Julie and I had finished church that evening and gone
over to visit with Mr.
00:29:54 Speaker 1
and Miss Green.
00:29:55 Speaker 1
We were sitting in the back bedroom of his house.
00:29:57 Speaker 1
It was on the north side of the house, and it was a cold norther coming through.
00:30:00 Speaker 1
I remember sitting there in that room thinking, My, it's cold in here.
00:30:03 Speaker 1
Well, the reason it was cold was the drafts were coming in through the boards of the house
in his bedroom there as he's sitting on his hospital bed, all gnarled up there.
00:30:12 Speaker 1
Well, we visited for a while, as we often did with him, and then we left, and we were outside
kind of bundling up, get out in our car.
00:30:17 Speaker 1
We got in the car, and Zuli looks over at me and says, Have you noticed
00:30:23 Speaker 1
that every time we go visit Mr.
00:30:25 Speaker 1
Green it seems like we're the ones who leave cheered up and we go there cheer him up but
he's the one that cheers us up you know I got to thinking I never once heard Mr.
00:30:43 Speaker 1
Green pray for God to spare the pain I never heard him pray that and I heard him pray a lot I
never once heard Mr.
00:30:50 Speaker 1
Green pray for God to change his circumstances
00:30:54 Speaker 1
But I'll tell you what I heard often prayed, Dear God, would you please give me the strength
to be victorious right here in this bed?
00:31:03 Speaker 1
And God did it.
00:31:08 Speaker 1
In the light of that, I don't think God ever promised to remove all of our pains and troubles
and sorrows.
00:31:17 Speaker 1
But I do believe God promised
00:31:20 Speaker 1
to pour in the power whenever you and I need it the most so that you and I can be
victorious in any circumstance.
00:31:32 Speaker 1
Well, I'll show you another picture of my dad.
00:31:34 Speaker 1
He's now 85 years old.
00:31:36 Speaker 1
I had that picture, but I didn't want to put that up here on the screen.
00:31:41 Speaker 1
I'll probably remember him always in a shot like this.
00:31:45 Speaker 1
He's 85 and he's dying.
00:31:48 Speaker 1
went home last Christmas, a year ago, and watched him walk around a bit.
00:31:52 Speaker 1
I said to my mom, He's in heart failure.
00:31:54 Speaker 1
Well, she'd been so close to him, she didn't notice deterioration going on there.
00:31:57 Speaker 1
I said, He's in heart failure.
00:31:58 Speaker 1
She said, No, he's in heart failure.
00:32:00 Speaker 1
We got him to the doc, and he was failing.
00:32:03 Speaker 1
So they worked on him for the last year or so with medicines to take care of that.
00:32:07 Speaker 1
He was getting really, really weak about October and November, and they ran some blood
tests, and he's got cancer.
00:32:13 Speaker 1
He's got lymphoma.
00:32:16 Speaker 1
So I flew over in the middle of December for his first round of chemotherapy because that
was going to be a hard time and he was going to be in the hospital for this first set.
00:32:24 Speaker 1
Craig Brew, one of my friends, just before I left to leave, knew I was going.
00:32:28 Speaker 1
He said, let me tell you something, Roger.
00:32:29 Speaker 1
He says, I was hunting with my father in Minnesota.
00:32:32 Speaker 1
My dad was 50 and he had a heart attack on the hunting trip and he died right there in my
arms, never regained conscious.
00:32:38 Speaker 1
And you know, Roger, how many things I'd like to have said to my dad, but I just didn't have
a chance?
00:32:43 Speaker 1
And I said, thanks, Craig.
00:32:46 Speaker 1
So when I went back in November, excuse me, December, I decided every time I was in
that room with my father, I'd sit there by the bed and I'd tell him all the stuff while he was
still here that I knew later on I'd want to tell him.
00:32:59 Speaker 1
So for four or five days I did.
00:33:02 Speaker 1
He talked about a lot of things.
00:33:04 Speaker 1
Well, I've been back several times since, of course.
00:33:07 Speaker 1
It's getting near.
00:33:09 Speaker 1
I was over there a week or so ago for his next set of chemo.
00:33:14 Speaker 1
went to the hospital, a doctor came in and says to my dad, says, well, Roger, my dad's
name is Roger, uh...
00:33:21 Speaker 1
your blood work shows this is not working.
00:33:24 Speaker 1
It's just not working.
00:33:27 Speaker 1
Um...
00:33:27 Speaker 1
I can give you another dose, but it's not going to do any good, and I don't want to continue
this because this is hard on you, but I'll give you another dose if you'd like one more.
00:33:36 Speaker 1
I remember my dad looked at him and kind of grinned a little bit, and of course, he's, you
know,
00:33:43 Speaker 1
85, probably weighs 90 pounds now or 100, not much.
00:33:46 Speaker 1
Touch his back, you can feel all the bones in his vertebra, his face is pretty thin.
00:33:51 Speaker 1
He says, kind of gleamed at him, said, Oh, let's give her, okay, let's give her the full
treatment.
00:33:56 Speaker 1
I'll take it.
00:33:58 Speaker 1
That's like my dad.
00:34:00 Speaker 1
And then my father says, But what are you going to do after that?
00:34:07 Speaker 1
And the doctor looks at him and very compassionately says, Well, we're not going to do
anything.
00:34:13 Speaker 1
There is nothing more we can do for you.
00:34:17 Speaker 1
Well, my mom and I are kind of watching this scene.
00:34:21 Speaker 1
My dad thanks him.
00:34:24 Speaker 1
Doctor leaves, we roll the wheelchair down to the nursing station and my mom's kind of
talking to the nurse there making some arrangements for some other tests and things.
00:34:33 Speaker 1
And I'm standing there looking at my father in that wheelchair and thinking, my, my, what's
it like to just hear the doctor say,
00:34:41 Speaker 1
There's nothing more we can do for you.
00:34:43 Speaker 1
We're finished.
00:34:47 Speaker 1
So I looked at him, he was sitting there very quietly.
00:34:50 Speaker 1
So I got down on my knees and I said, I looked up at him and I said, I can't imagine how
much that must have hurt, Dad.
00:34:57 Speaker 1
I'm so sorry.
00:34:59 Speaker 1
He said, Yeah, that hurt.
00:35:00 Speaker 1
I said, Yeah, you know, I just, I saw how he handled when he told you there was nothing
more to be done.
00:35:06 Speaker 1
I know that's a really hard, hard thing to hear.
00:35:09 Speaker 1
I'm so sorry.
00:35:12 Speaker 1
He said, Yeah, Rods, that really was hard.
00:35:14 Speaker 1
And he sat there for a moment and he looked over at me and he said, But that's okay,
because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
00:35:30 Speaker 1
Have you learned a secret yet of the reserve power of Jesus Christ that just comes flowing
in?
00:35:39 Speaker 1
Are you still crying out for God to change all your circumstances?
00:35:46 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to be up.
00:35:47 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to be down.
00:35:48 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to be in the jail or out of jail.
00:35:50 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to be in that hospital bed.
00:35:53 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to be healthy and well.
00:35:54 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to be hungry.
00:35:56 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to have lots to eat.
00:36:00 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to have lots of clothes.
00:36:01 Speaker 1
I know what it's like to have nothing.
00:36:06 Speaker 1
But I've learned the secret of contentment.
00:36:10 Speaker 1
Because I know that when I need it, the Lord Jesus Christ just pours in the power.
00:36:18 Speaker 1
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
00:36:23 Speaker 1
Will you bow your heads with me and pray?
00:36:31 Speaker 1
Thank you for your support of the Shepherd's Heart Ministry.
00:36:34 Speaker 1
If you would like a catalog on other topics or any other information,
