Defending Your Field of Dreams | Jentezen Franklin

This is “Defending Your Field of Dreams”. Have you ever had a defining moment when you knew that God was speaking to you and Giving you specific guidance and direction for your life? If you have, you probably remember the place and time vividly. It’s that place where God gave you a glimpse of what he had in mind when he dreamed you up in eternity past. Well that destiny doesn’t just happen. You can be sure that the enemy will do all that he can to keep you from becoming all that God wants you to be. In this message with Jentezen Franklin, you’ll learn to remember that place and defend the dream that God placed in your heart. To hear more inspiring messages from Jentezen Franklin, visit http://jentezenfranklin.org/watch?cid… & subscribe to this channel: http://goo.gl/yfkXHy

♪ ♪

>> This is where God

took me this week.

2 Samuel 23, two verses

of Scripture, “And after him

was Shammah the son of Agee

the Hararite.

The Philistines were gathered

together into a troop,

where was a piece of ground

full of lentils,”

lentils are peas or beans.

“So, the people fled

from the Philistines.

But he, Shammah, stationed

or positioned himself

in the middle of the field,

and defended it,

and killed the Philistines.

So, the Lord brought

a great victory.”

He stood in the middle

of a lentil field, a pea patch,

a bean field, a farmer’s field,

and he defended it.

I wanna preach to you for just

a few moments on

“Defending Your Field

of Dreams”.

Defending your field of dreams.

Something in Shammah said this

is a do or die moment.

Something in Shammah said this

field is connected to my purpose

and my calling,

and I must defend

it right here.

Everyone else ran away.

Your Scripture just said all

the others fled and ran,

but Shammah stood in a field,

and he said this

is my field of dreams.

He would become the third

most powerful man.

You know, David had

a massive army, but then

he had 400 mighty men,

and the three most powerful men,

Shammah would become

number three.

When he stood in that field,

he didn’t know that,

but the fact that he stood

and defended,

he knew that God had called him,

and he was standing

in a field of dreams.

I read something the other day

in a book that I was reading.

It actually was a quote from

a businessman who said

that when his business gets

in a rut and so on —

he has a very successful,

large business,

and very famous.

And he said that he follows

this plan to get fresh vision

for his organization

and his business.

He said, “A change of pace,”

this is the formula.

“A change of pace

plus change of place

equals change of perspective.”

And when I read that I didn’t

get anything else much out

of it, but that phrase

was so powerful because

I thought that is exactly

what has happened in my life

and happened every time

God’s done something major.

It required those three things.

It required, number one,

a change of pace.

That’s why fasting

is so powerful.

Fasting is breaking

up the routine.

Fasting is changing the pace.

The second thing

is change of place.

Change of place will then bring

change of perspective.

What do you mean?

In other words,

geography and spirituality

many times are related.

Many times your view affects

your vision,

and there’s something about

a change of pace that’s

an interruption in life

as normal.

That’s fasting.

And then a change of place.

By that I mean that you begin

to get somewhere where God

can inspire you,

get away from the same old

people and the same old crowd

and just sitting in front

of a television or just

your same old routine.

You change the pace

and you change the place.

You go on walks deliberately.

It’s a change of place

to meet with God,

to show me something,

just get away.

Just get away to a place.

A change of pace.

A change of place.

You know, God spoke to Abraham

because he understood

his view affects his vision,

and he said, Abraham,

go outside your tent

and look up at the sky.

He knew he needed

a change of place.

The tent had an

eight-foot ceiling.

The tent limited his vision,

and so when he stepped outside

the tent,

and he looked up and he saw

the stars, God said as the stars

in heaven so will your seed be.

I know you and your wife can’t

have children,

but I’m giving you a vision,

and the stars represent

spiritual Israel,

the church, you and I,

and the sand.

See all this sand.

You couldn’t see that

in that place.

I mean, it’s just a few steps,

but when you change places

sometimes it feeds your vision,

things that,

and I’m not just making

this up.

I’m telling you how

it’s happened to me.

That’s why I love to go

to the beach or I love to get

away sometimes and just

walk on somewhere because

I’ve learned that a change

of pace and a change

of place can be critical

to a change of perspective.

I can go right back to the same

church or the same situations

and problems,

but because I’ve got off,

changed the pace,

got with God, changed the place,

got inspired to believe Him,

now my perspective gets changed,

and I come back,

and it’s the same situation,

but I don’t see it the same

‘cause God has lit me up.

You understand

what I’m saying?

Outside the tent the sky

was the limit.

Inside the tent,

it had an eight-foot ceiling.

So, I thought about Shammah

standing in that field,

and it was his field of dreams,

and he was defending

his field of dreams,

and my mind went back to Kenly,

North Carolina,

and I was 20 years old.

I had gone to my first

year of college.

I had a dream of being

a saxophone artist,

and I was following that dream

and had a scholarship to do that

at Barton College

in North Carolina,

and the summer we had taken off,

of course, before the next

semester started,

and I had gone home to Kenly.

I was living with my parents

there, and they lived

in a little area called Kenly,

and it was surrounded

with cornfields,

and I had developed spiritually

a discipline of reading

God’s word and praying,

and when I would read the Word

and pray, man, I felt something

stirring in me.

And so, I felt led to go on

a three-day fast.

The summer was almost over.

We were about to go back.

I was about to go back

to school, but I was not —

I felt a lack of enthusiasm

like is that really

what I’m supposed to do.

So, I said I’m gonna fast

and say, God, whatever you

want me to do with my life,

I wanna do it.

And I went on a fast

for three days.

I was a 20-year-old,

and I was very skinny.

I was 29 in the waist.

Now, it’s just muscle,

but back then, I mean,

I didn’t have any weight

to lose.

I really didn’t,

but I was so desperate

for God’s plan for my life.

The end of those three days

after just drinking liquids,

I slipped out of the house

that my parents lived in,

again, surrounded by cornfields,

and my dad was over a bunch

of churches in North Carolina,

and he oversaw the tabernacle

where this denomination

would have its camp

meeting in the summer.

Basically, the building

wasn’t used much except

for camp meeting,

maybe a prayer conference

during the winter.

And I went late at night.

The last night I knew

that it was coming up

on midnight and like,

when you really fast food,

as soon as the fast is over,

you’re watching the clock,

and I knew midnight

was coming up.

And so, I went over there

to pray one last time.

And I walked into that

sanctuary, and I walked up

on the stage,

and there was an upright piano

that sat in there all the time.

It was cold and just

kind of a metal building.

And I got down on my knees,

and I started praying,

and suddenly,

suddenly the presence of God

came in such a tangible powerful

way that that spot

in the middle of cornfields

became my field of dreams.

I knew when I got up off

my knees I could never

just be a musician again.

I’ll always be a worshipper,

but I could never

be a musician again

like that.

I knew that I was called

to preach.

I stood up.

I was broken.

I walked out of there,

and that little spot in Kenly,

North Carolina became

my field of dreams.

It’s where I had no idea where

that road would take me,

but there was no question

in my mind that fasting

and seeking God’s face,

a change of pace,

a change of place had given me

a change of perspective of who

I was in God and what

I was called to do.

My brother, Richie, said, well,

just come travel with me

the rest of the summer.

He had revivals.

He had graduated from college

in North Carolina in Charlotte,

and he said just come travel

with me, Jent.

He called me Jent,

and he said let’s finish it,

let’s see what God will do,

and he let me preach

my first sermon.

And to make a long story short,

we started evangelizing.

We started having revivals

that went three and four weeks

and all, everything just started

happening so fast,

so fast, so fast,

and we went on for several

years, and then Richie

met his wife, Rheana,

and married her,

and I met Cherise

and married her.

It was all in that field

of dreams.

You know, I wanted a woman.

I was 20 years old.

I was ready to date somebody,

something, you know,

but it was all in

that field of dreams.

That little spot in Kenly,

North Carolina where a boy

was fasting and praying

and saying what do you want

to do with my life?

What am I gonna do?

Who am I supposed to marry?

What am I supposed to do?

It was all in that spot.

All of it.

Cherise.

All of it.

What if I had said no?

What if I just kept going

playing the horn?

I’d have missed everything

that God had for me.

It was my field of dreams.

So, my brother and I,

you know, decided to go our ways

with his family and my family,

and Cherise and I

were evangelizing

all over the Nation.

We traveled all over the Nation,

just she and I,

for several years.

And Pastor Welburn,

the pastor of Free Chapel,

asked me to start coming,

and I would come once a year

and preach at Free Chapel,

and he booked me nine months

in advance,

and he got sick and died

on the Sunday that he booked me

to come nine months in advance.

And so, I preached that morning,

and the church had his funeral

that afternoon.

And then, here —

I’m going somewhere.

Change of pace.

Change of place.

Change of perspective.

Up until that point,

we had been so busy preaching,

preaching, preaching,

I’d have revivals

that would go night

after night after night,

that we had never really taken

much of a break,

and Cherise said, hey,

my aunt Margaret has moved

to Rogers, Arkansas,

her and Gene, her husband,

and Ron their oldest son

and Gene’s mother needs

to go out there,

so let’s drive them, Jentezen.

Let’s drive them.

Let’s take some time off.

Watch this.

And she didn’t say it

in these ways, but look.

Look at the genius of God.

Change of pace.

Change of place.

Change of perspective.

And so, we did something

we’d never done.

It was a 14-hour drive.

We get in the car with granny

in the back, Ron in the back,

me and Cherise in the front,

and we drive.

And Bill Stow who is

a board member here still

to this day called us,

and he had said it

to us earlier,

but he called us again,

and he said, would you consider,

Jentezen, allowing us on

the board of directors

of Free Chapel to consider

you for pastor?

And I was so honored,

but I’d never pastored a church,

and I had no desire.

I was in a different

denomination.

Everything was going great.

I had no desire to pastor.

But Cherise did,

and Cherise said we ought

to go to that church.

She said I don’t have

to pray about it.

I don’t have to pray about it.

Why do you have to pray

about it?

Why don’t we just go there?

I’m telling you.

Women have discernment.

Now watch this.

Watch this.

We get in that car,

and we start driving

to Rogers, Arkansas.

Change of pace.

If I’d have just went somewhere

and preached another revival,

I wouldn’t given it ten minutes.

Such a major thing.

Such a major shift in my life.

But if I wouldn’t have changed

the pace and the place,

I don’t know if I’d have gotten

the perspective of God.

This is why fasting

and seeking God

is so important.

Now, I speed now

to the conclusion of this,

and here’s what happened.

So, we get to Arkansas,

and I have to give him

a yes or no, you can throw

my name in the hat,

and I love that Bill Stow

reminded me

the second phone call.

He reminded me.

He said, well now,

don’t get all —

‘cause I was like, oh, no.

He said don’t get all up

about it.

He said they may reject you.

They may not want you.

The denomination

may not allow you.

The people.

Not only have you gotta

go through the filter of board.

You’ve got to go through

the people, and people may not

want a rookie preacher

for their pastor.

A good humbling little

thing right there.

But Cherise said you need

to pray about it.

And so, I began to fast and pray

while we were out in Arkansas

in Margaret and Gene’s home,

and every day I would go

and there’s a little church

in Rogers, Arkansas.

It sits up on a hill sort of,

and it had a parking lot

off the main road that

was private.

And I was looking

for a prayer place, and I pulled

in there, and they didn’t have

a staff or anything apparently

because there were never

any cars out there.

It was just an empty

parking lot.

And every day I’d get out

and walk around that parking lot

and pray, God, show me

what will I do, what will I do,

what will I do?

And toward the end of that week

I pulled into that parking lot,

and I grabbed

a little bitty book

for some reason and my Bible,

and I grabbed that book

called “The Invading Force”.

It was little bitty, thin,

you could read it quick.

And I flipped it open,

and it had a little part

in the book that was highlighted

that said, “I’m giving you

your marching orders,”

and I kept reading,

and it just —

everything you can imagine

that I needed for confirmation

was in that little booklet,

and it tore me up.

I’m sitting there weeping.

I’m crying.

I knew that I knew that I knew

God had called me to be pastor

of Free Chapel.

I drove back home after

I walked around that parking

lot and wept.

I came through the door,

and every time

I’d come through the door,

Cherise would come.

She was only 19 years old.

She would come running

and say are we going?

Are we going?

Did God speak to you yet?

And she’d follow me.

She’d follow me.

Did God speak to you yet?

Did God speak to you?

And I went in the bedroom,

and I fell across the bed,

and I started weeping,

and I said God has told us

that we are to go to that church

in Gainesville, Free Chapel,

and I told her

what God told me He would do,

and that parking lot,

that parking lot of that church.

People drive by it every day,

and it means nothing to them,

but to me, that parking lot —

think of —

it was a field of dreams

that afternoon that would shift

everything in my life

to step into God’s plan.

Your dream from God

is more than a dream.

It’s a calling.

And Shammah found himself

in a field fighting

for his field of dreams.

That was Shammah’s

field of dreams.

It’s powerful to go back

to places where God has done

something significant

in your life.

Sometimes when I go

to North Carolina,

I’ll go back to that tabernacle.

Sometimes I’ll even go over

here on Browns Bridge Road

to our first sanctuary

that seats maybe 300

and something people in there,

and those people

were kind enough.

There’s a ministry that bought

it from us,

but they were kind enough

to let me go in sometimes,

and every once in a while,

I’ll just stop by,

and I’ll walk around

that sanctuary.

It’s something about going back,

going back to where God

brought you from that births

faith for where you are.

I wonder if Shammah ever went

back to that field

of dreams when he became

powerful and he was sitting

in the palace with David’s

administration,

third most powerful

in the army of Israel.

I wonder if he ever

went back to that field

of dreams where it all started

where he first took his stand,

and he said I heard from God,

and I’m gonna stand up and do

what He’s called me to do.

I wonder if Abraham ever went

back to Mount Moriah

where he raised a knife

and was willing to offer Isaac

as a sacrifice and the voice

of the angel said don’t do it.

God provided rhema.

I wondered if he ever

went back there.

I wonder if Jacob ever doubled

back to the River Jabbok

where he wrestled

with an angel until the breaking

of day, and God changed

his destiny and changed

everything about him

through that experience.

I wonder if David ever went

to the Valley of Elah

where he picked

a fight with a giant.

I mean, after he became king

and after he sat

on a powerful throne.

Did he ever go back to

that valley where it all started

where the giant came laughing

and bellowing threats,

and David picked up

a rock and a sling

and slew that giant.

When you go back to the place

where God has already

done a miracle,

you have twice as much faith.

Sometimes the way forward

is backward.

Sometimes you’ve gotta go back

to humility and go back

to just repentance

and go back to crying out

to God, go back to fasting

and praying,

and saying I need a move of God.

I need that Holy Ghost

stuff again.

Sometimes the way forward

is to go back.

The movie “Field of Dreams”,

the 1989 classic

with Kevin Costner, the actor,

he played a man who bought

a farm and everybody said

he was crazy because one day

when he was walking

through the cornfield,

he heard a mysterious whisper

say if you will build it,

he will come,

and some say they will come,

but it does actually say

he will come.

But it’s a great point.

If you build it, they will come.

And what’s he talking about?

He had a dream of building

a baseball mound,

and he heard a voice

in that field,

just heard a voice,

and he built a baseball mound,

a baseball field in Iowa,

true story,

in the middle of nowhere,

and he just felt like

he was supposed to do it,

and I don’t have time to explain

the whole story.

You ought to watch

that movie some time.

But here’s the point.

Here’s the point.

He called it his field

of dreams, and it almost cost

him financial ruin.

It looks like he’s gonna

lose everything.

It looks like it’s over,

and he’s crazy and he’s

following if you build it,

they will come, but he

built it and sure enough

on the day that it opens,

they come from everywhere,

and it becomes a huge success.

The point is this.

You have to stand in the field

of dreams and defend what God

has shown you and God

has mysteriously whispered

to you about your life.

You have to bet

the farm sometimes.

Well, I’m waiting

on God to go first.

The last time I read this Book

in Mark 16 it said,

“Signs follow.”

Signs follow people who

step out in faith.

Here’s the definition of faith.

Faith is taking the first step

before God reveals

the second step.

Faith is going first knowing

that signs and wonders

will follow a person

who has heard the voice of God.

It’s understanding

I’m in a cornfield in Kenly,

North Carolina,

or I’m in a parking lot

in Rogers, Arkansas, and yet,

I have just been downloaded

a vision from Heaven.

I don’t have any money.

I don’t have anything.

I don’t have any surety

in my life, any certainty

in my life.

All I know is you can’t walk

on the water if you don’t

get out of the boat

and do what God said do.

Defend your field of dreams.

♪ ♪

>> I pray today that what

you’ve heard has touched

your heart.

I don’t know the issues

that are very real to you,

may feel completely overwhelming

and you don’t know what to do,

and you don’t know

where to turn.

Well, that’s when you turn

to Jesus.

Pray with me right where

you are.

Just say these words.

“Lord Jesus,

today I surrender all.

I give my life,

I give my all to you today.

Take me, wash me, cleanse me.

Forgive me and release me

from the power of Satan.

I recieve today

a brand new life.

I need you in my life,

in my home, in my family.”

In Jesus’ name, amen.

We would love

to be there for you,

we’ve got free material

we want to send you,

and we want to help you

in your brand new life.

Teach you what to do,

and how to go to the next level

in your relationship

with God.

I know there’s a team here

that really cares.

In our closing moments

together, I want to take

a moment and just address

what we’re seeing on the news

every day.

I’m sure that you have been

watching the conflict between

Israel and the Palestinians.

I want to make very clear

how much we love

the Palestinian people.

I know many Christian pastors

are in that area of Palestine

and they’re preaching

the Gospel, and they have

wonderful brothers and sisters

in Christ, and this is not

about that.

This is about the fact

that Hamas is a terrorist

organization.

Their leadership is a terrorist

organization recognized

all over the world

as terrorists,

and they have started a war

by the rockets,

by the hundreds

and even thousands that

they have shot into Israel.

God moved on our hearts

some months ago,

really a couple years ago,

almost two years now

we have been building

a school, and play area

for children and feeding center

that is a bomb shelter.

And together we’re building

these centers so that people

can run and be sheltered

as they’re having hundreds

of rockets.

Recently, two people were killed

and several more injured

right in the area

where we have those

bomb shelters.

One completed,

another under construction,

and the other two to be built

as soon as possible.

It’s really something,

and you, our wonderful partners

are making this kind of support

for the nation of Israel.

Would you help me with these

tremedous projects?

If God speaks to your heart,

we would deeply appreciate

you helping us help Israel

and build these shelters.

Thank you, and we love you,

and God we pray for the peace

of Jerusalem.

God bless you,

we’ll see you next time

right here on

Kingdom Connection.

>> Palestinian militant groups

fired more rockets

into Israel overnight.

>> Israel’s missile defense

systems lighting up.

>> The worst seen in years.

>> More rockets towards Israeli.

>> Launched just today.

>> Seven rockets targeted

the city.

>> Your overwhelming

financial support has allowed

Jentezen Franklin

Media Ministries to not only

construct critical bomb shelters

in Israel,

but now we are able to provide

trauma therapy through

the Post Trauma Resilience

Center Program in Eshkol.

>> We understand that one

of the most important resources

for someone to go through

a traumatic moment is to know

that we are not alone.

To know that we have friends

across the ocean

that take care of us.

Our thank you for your gift

of $50 or more

we want to bless you with

the Healing Tree bundle.

Through this uplifting resource

bundle you’re going

to discover the wonderful

blessings God has for you.

Our thank you for your gift

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we want to bless you with

the Healing Tree Gift Set

featuring Jentezen’s uplifting

book, Acres of Diamonds.

Our thank you for your gift

of $1,000 or more,

we want to bless you with

the Healing Tree Collection.

To thank you for your generosity

towards this ministry

and your heart

for the Jewish people.

We want to plant a tree

in your honor in Israel

and send you a beautiful

Comfort My People coin

made with soil from Jerusalem,

as well as the many other

resources in this

powerpack collection.

Your gift will provide healing

and hope to the families

living in a war zone.

Call now or visit us online.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> We hope you’ve enjoyed

this teaching

by Jentezen Franklin,

and thank you

for your continued support

of this ministry.

Your prayers

and financial support

make these programs possible.

♪ ♪