Cuffed To The Comments // Cuffing Season (Part 7) // Michael Todd

This is a deliverance series, and the results should be the fruit of the Spirit. We see that fruit through discipline in our lives, and others should be able to see those results as well. But what do we do when they start talking about that fruit? In week 7 of Cuffing Season, Pastor Mike teaches us how to deal with the comments of those people who are critical of our calling. #CuffingSeason #CuffedToTheComments #discipline #comments #Nehemiah Join us for service every Sunday at 11am (CST) and weekly for NoonDay Prayer at 12pm (CST). If you received Christ through this message, text SAVED to 828282. We would love to hear how God is touching your life through this ministry! Tell us your story by emailing [email protected]! If you would like to support TC financially you can give through the TC app, or online through our website by clicking here https://transformchurch.us/give/

. You can also Text ‘TCGIVE’ to 77977. If you need prayer, email [email protected]! For more information about Transformation Church, visit transformchurch.us. 00:00 – Intro 06:22 – The fruit of the Spirit should be obvious, not obscure 07:59 – You don’t get deliverance without discipline 10:54 – Proverbs chapter 25 verse 28 17:07 – Nehemiah chapter 1 verses 3 19:47 – No Discipline + No Discernment = Destruction 20:33 – Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 4 23:38 – Compassion + Conviction = New Commitment 24:25 – Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1 through 5 25:45 – God talks to nobodies to change things for everybody 30:57 – Stop ignoring the nudge from the Holy Spirit 32:44 – You don’t need a title, you need a task 35:05 – Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 11 & 12 36:44 – Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 16 37:05 – The anointing is not for an announcement, it’s for action 38:55 – Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 17 42:03 – Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 18 42:27 – Zechariah chapter 4 verse 10 43:05 – Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 19 44:19 – Every start has an enemy in secret 45:49 – The moment you commence, get ready for the comments 52:51 – What “they” comment does not affect your calling 59:10 – Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 1 & 2 01:00:21 – The comments first question your… 1. Actions 01:01:34 – The comments first question your… 2. Authenticity 01:05:34 – The comments first question your… 3. Assurance 01:07:58 – The comments first question your… 4. Ability 01:10:08 – The comments first question your… 5. Assets 01:11:12 – Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 4 01:11:33 – My first response to comments is to reach heaven through prayer 01:11:52 – Nehemiah chapter 4 verses 4 & 5 01:12:50 – Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 6 01:14:50 – Master the art of fulfilling your calling in the midst of comments 01:20:08 – Jeremiah chapter 12 verse 5 01:21:55 – God’s confidence is our capability is higher than our current capacity 01:23:45 – Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 1 through 3 01:24:48 – You only engage in the comments when you’re not engaged in a great work 01:25:57 – Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 4 01:29:35 – Your commitment has to be consistent 01:29:42 – Nehemiah chapter 6 verses 5 through 8 01:31:17 – Comments are a trap for you to lower your character 01:35:10 – Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 9 01:38:56 – The criteria to comment: 1. Committed to Christ 01:39:14 – The criteria to comment: 2. Connection to me 01:41:54 – The criteria to comment: 3. Compassion for others 01:44:36 – The criteria to correction: 1. Committed to Christ 01:44:40 – The criteria to correction: 2. Connection to me 01:46:20 – The criteria to correction: 3. Compassion for others 01:47:58 – Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 15 & 16 01:48:39 – Turn the comments off to anything that’s hindering your calling 01:51:59 – Fulfilling your calling in the midst of comments takes courage 01:52:50 – Joshua chapter 1 verse 9

so i want to welcome everybody to week

seven

of a series we’re calling somebody say

cuffing season

y’all doing all right after last week’s

message

somebody said nope

last week we taught a message called

cuff the cake

and i spoke a message that many of us

heard for the first time

i spoke an entire almost two hour

message on gluttony

and um the silence has fallen over the

building

on a scale from 1 to 10 10 being i

killed it this week i didn’t step over

the bite like i i i i really heard the

word and i took it to heart and i did it

10 being like i killed it and one being

like oh

it was almost like i didn’t hear the

message

tell me what number put it in the chat

what did you do this week were you at

one

or were you at 10. somebody said seven

where were you at

seven six somebody said i was a three

pastor my father saw the holy spirit

three

okay ten somebody said i killed it

garrett’s and cale all week

i wanna just reiterate

that this message and none of them are

spoken in the spirit of condemnation

it’s in the spirit of conviction replace

the lie with love okay

at the same time

we are called transformation church

if you listen to all these messages and

do the same thing

you have a hard heart

i just need to say it like

the holy spirit’s knocking at the door

of your heart

but you’re literally barricading

yourself and your or your soul in

because you don’t want to change

and i’m praying

that your heart would soften so that you

could receive

god’s word

i’m so proud of transformation nature i

saw people go to the gym that ain’t been

to the gym since they was 10 years old

i’ve seen people

walk past mcdonald’s

and literally pray the whole ya

mcflurry mcflurry shay team mcflurry i

saw

i went to get my son some french fries

and the woman at the counter

the woman at the counter at mcdonald’s

she said are those fries for you

said ma’am she said i just finished

watching cuff the cake

she in the devil’s playpen mcdonald’s

you work there

and she literally said i’m gonna post

the video and she literally said she

said i was tempted with cup of cake

caught the cookies custard she just

started going on

and i said you making it she said not

really good

[Applause]

but it’s making people watch this watch

this word reconsider

it’s hard to repent if you never

reconsider

the church always tells everybody repent

repent but what if i like what i’m doing

the first step to repenting is just

reconsidering

maybe

maybe i’m not

maybe it’s not better to sleep with all

these people

man i like i’m a kid my daddy told me

this on my wrong but

maybe it is more manly to love one woman

for years

[Music]

like

so we gotta stop

chastising people

we’re in there when they’re in the

process of reconsidering

that’s why the church we encourage

that’s good you’re gonna make it next

week it’s gonna be better this week like

that’s who we are as the church and i

heard this testimony in this story on

instagram and i gotta share it um this

this young lady wrote um

as you all know i’ve struggled she

posted this on instagram this morning

i’ve struggled to lose weight for a long

time and if i’m being honest it’s

because i have an unhealthy attachment

to food

last week i weighed an amount that had

me distraught

then i watched i am my todd and

transformation church teach about

gluttony and it changed my whole mindset

she said it changed my whole mindset on

how to intake food

one of the many important points he made

was the bite over is sin

you know eating till you feel nasty

full so i’ve been asking the holy spirit

to give me the shrimp to eat and not to

over do it

i praise god to say that i did not

overbite all this week

and i’m down 10 pounds

hey jennifer

transformation nation just wanted to say

we’re so proud of you can y’all let her

hear it real quick

this is your family

hey that’s that’s that’s right that’s

our church

[Music]

we celebrate with you

so to help you on your journey jinjin

me and pastor knight are gonna send you

three thousand dollars for a personal

fit fitness trainer this week okay

we wanna help you on this journey okay

we love you

i’m talking about real change

what would happen if we all

committed to real change for the next

six months

not the instagram you know how you do

one push-up to post on instagram

not that

i’m talking about really doing what

god’s asked us to do

well if you’re going to do that it’s

going to take today’s message

somebody said uh-oh

prepare your heart it’s going to be good

okay

um

because this is a deliverance series

when you’re coming out of something

there should be fruit from coming out of

it

a lot of people talk about they change

but

there’s no proof

so so i have to confront the notion that

you’re a different person when you do

the same thing

there should be fruit

from

the change that has happened in your

life

so so write this point down the fruit of

the spirit should be obvious

not obscure

to all believers

if i gotta guess if you have the gifts

of the spirit

if i got to search for the fruit of the

spirit in your life

it

may not be as evident

as you think it should be

have you ever met somebody who’s just

full of love

like when they walk in the room it’s

like it’s obvious

that you love people have you ever met

somebody who’s really angry

that spirit it ain’t from god but it’s

another spirit

it’s obvious too

it’s time for our fruit

not to have to be found

i’m gonna say it again

the people at your job should not have

to find your fruit

it should be falling off of you

love joy peace patience it should be

falling for too many of us who claim

christ our fruit is hidden

so it cannot nourish anybody

when they need it most

so the worst thing for us is to go

through this series and talk about

cuffing season and i’m uncuffing where’s

the fruit

[Music]

show me something

let it be obvious

and that’s why i’m telling you

you’re going to have to commit at

another level to discipline because

fruit only comes through consistency

so watch this you don’t get deliverance

without discipline

i’m sorry

your marriage is never going to be

better

unless you consistently do something

to invest in your marriage

keep looking at i can’t believe you’re

all nasty fat and you don’t do nothing

for me no more and i can’t stand up keep

doing that

but until y’all go on date night every

week

until you talk pillow talk every night

until you go to counseling once a month

until

there’s got to be some type of

discipline

attached to whatever you want

deliverance in

and too many people are so caught up in

what it looks like to other people that

they will not be disciplined for their

deliverance

i’m telling you you’re going to be

asking god to change something next year

that you could change with a discipline

now

you’re going to be next april to go will

you please change this relationship you

need to be disciplined at not answering

their phone call

you thought i was going somewhere else

you need to put distraction in your

phone every time they call you it needs

to pop up with they face the devil next

to it and distraction because what you

are gonna be asking god to deliver you

from next year you could cut off right

now

but it’s gonna take

discipline some of y’all sitting next to

him

keep stay focused stay straight right

here look at me

what if we didn’t have to use prayers

for things that we could make a priority

today

y’all want to see signs miracles and

wonders

stop clogging up the lines with stuff

you could do today

[Music]

we praying for god

[Applause]

[Music]

we’re praying

we’re praying that god will help us

not do things we know are harming us

when we could just

ask the holy spirit

to help us not do those things

and make a decision get accountability

around it tell somebody be disciplined

in a season admit when you mess up be

forthright about it get in the habit of

it fall get back up fall get back up the

righteous man falls seven times that’s

at burpees too do you understand you

need to go to gym i don’t want to look

stupid in there you

how do you think you look plugged up

taught in machines

what i’m saying is my coach told me this

the other day he said either you can

know why you’re hurting

that’s good by working out

or be hurting and not know why

discipline

is prerequisite for deliverance

so today i just need to come and tell

you that proverbs 25 28 for

transformation church needs to be an

iconic scripture for us as we move to do

the things that god has called us to do

a person

without self-control or discipline

is like a city with a broken down walls

i’m gonna read it one more time because

some of y’all have no context for this

right now

a person

without the fruit

of self-control self-control is the

fruit of the spirit without the fruit of

the spirit of self-control

or discipline

is like a city with broken down walls

in the context of when this was written

the strength or the wealth or the

security of a city was based on the

walls that were around the city

and so if you are like a city with no

walls with no walls you’re always

available for attack

you’re indoctrinated with insecurity

everybody’s like what’s about to happen

because we have no protection

you’re overwhelmed by anxiety

you’re not prepared for the future

and your legacy won’t last without walls

let me remix it without discipline

you’re available for attack all the time

without discipline you’re indoctrinated

with insecurity well i think do i look

good do they think i’m okay it’s okay

what i’m doing like without discipline

you’re overwhelmed by anxiety

without discipline it’s the one that

hits me you’re not prepared for the

future

most of us if god gave you what you were

preparing for you did not have the

discipline in the last season to be

ready for what you prayed for right now

lord take me on tour

so i can see the world and minister to

your people

city four

would be

incapacitated

because of all the cake we’ve been

cuffed to

the reason god may have not blessed you

with the thing you have the ability to

do is because your body doesn’t have the

availability to do it

[Music]

the reason you need to go through trauma

counseling is because when you start

helping those people going through their

trauma if it’s not healed in you you’re

gonna have a flashback

[Applause]

you better have an episode for somebody

you’re supposed to be helping

and suplex them and like oh my god

i thought you were the bully in sixth

grade like

it’s because all of that unhealed think

god’s saying would you prepare

will you discipline yourself will you

commit to something

but if you don’t have discipline you’re

not prepared for the future and this is

the saddest one without walls or without

discipline without boundaries without

accountability

your legacy won’t last

everything they would build inside of a

city

was vulnerable

if the walls weren’t up

my family

is vulnerable if i am a man of god

without discipline

because the enemy is just trying traps

trying try when i go to the mall

them leggings

trap

but i’m disciplined not to look again

oh you missed it

i got to talk real to my fellas right

here in the day and age of crop tops and

uh and leggings

biker shorts

and uh

we’re supposed to be attracted to the

other species

the other the other gender okay watch

the problem

is not the first look

the problem

is the second look

you can’t stop yourself from seeing

something that god created

but you can stop you can be disciplined

not to look see i’m trying to y’all want

this weak stuff i’m trying to give you

real tips to help you stay free

it’s the discipline

not to turn your head again

but without no discipline

have you ever seen them people walking

in the mall about to run into something

you done a full 360

looking at something you were never

supposed to focus on

and i just talked to the federals

because that was part of my struggle in

the past but what i’m telling you is

there’s areas in your life

that god’s saying would you please

commit to everybody say this cuss word

discipline

and so when i started to think about

walls and some of us being uncuffed from

things and how some of our walls i don’t

know how your walls look in your life

right now but some of our walls are in

shambles

just be honest some of the disciplines

that we need are not built all the way

up to protect us for the calling that

god has called us to do we can fake in

front of everybody else but we actually

know that our walls are turned down torn

down at midnight it all comes crumbling

down we know our weak spots and all

these different things and i started to

think about nehemiah

and what god asked nehemiah to do in

rebuilding the wall

i’m not just going to talk to you about

your walls being torn down i want to

encourage you that you can rebuild

a life of discipline and uncuffing from

things that are going against your

calling

and so i want us to go

read nehemiah chapter one and i don’t

know if we’ve ever seen this before and

i want you to think about your life as

the wall he’s rebuilding

don’t think about it just metaphorically

for people back in the day i want you to

think about the areas in your life that

you need to be disciplined

and it being torn down right now and god

giving strategy for it to be rebuilt

okay

some men arrived from judah and they

started talking to nehemiah and he asked

them how’s it going back home and this

is what they said verse three

they said to me things are not going

well

for those

who return to the province of judah

they are in great trouble and disgrace

the wall

of jerusalem has been torn down

now it’s crazy they don’t say what tore

it down

because the truth is there’s a lot of

things that’s torn down our discipline

maybe it’s environment

maybe it’s our family

maybe it’s some decisions we made the

truth of the matter is how we got here

don’t matter we’re here now

and i just need to bring that because a

lot of people use excuses well if you

would have known like i got it

but since we’re here now

somebody say i’m here now

what are we going to do he literally

says to him the walls of jerusalem has

been torn down and the gates

have been destroyed by fire oh this

speaks to me

because if the wall is disciplined

walls keep things out

but they said the walls and the gates

gates let things in

so the wall was supposed to keep things

out

and the gates

eye gates

mouth gates

ear gates

are supposed to

when your gates are turned down your

discernment is gone

you don’t know what to let in

and for many of us the problem is our

walls aren’t just not built up

our discipline is destroyed and our

discernment is gone

your gates and your walls is jacked up

so anything can come in

and anything

can get out

and that’s why you watch every new movie

they advertise well

you felt the spirit say don’t watch this

past the first five minutes but

i gotta be able to

i gotta be able to tell everybody i

watched it

i gotta be able to go on my rating on

instagram stories and say seven out of

ten

i gotta give my opinion because the 32

people that are going to like

[Music]

and god said this is going to open you

up to some stuff you don’t need to see

put up your walls

restore your

gates but the problem is

when your discipline and your

discernment is off

it equals destruction

let me give you the equation for

destruction no discipline

plus no discernment

equals destruction

apply that relationally

you weren’t disciplined to stay

accountable so you got with a

relationship you weren’t supposed to be

with

and you had no discernment that they had

a spirit of rage on them

you used to be the sweetest person in

the world

and now the people who know you the most

is like what

why you be

why your cutoff game so strong

what happened

it led to destruction because you didn’t

have discernment

and you didn’t have discipline

so pastor mike how do i change i’m glad

you asked

compassion

and conviction now watch let me show it

to you in the scripture nehemiah chapter

one verse four when nehemiah heard this

look how he responds

he sat down and he wept

in fact he didn’t weep for a moment and

give the pity cry he cried for days

and mourned

and prayed to the god of heaven

the first thing y’all got to have

when you realize that your discipline

and discernment are off

is you got to have compassion

you need to feel something

so many people in this generation are

doing the wrong things getting destroyed

and still don’t feel nothing

yeah

the worst thing

even even more

um um

disturbing than being against something

is being indifferent

somebody else gets killed uh

what

what happens when i’m not even talking

about everybody but when the church

stops paying attention

when your compassion has leaked out when

you become so callous

that you don’t see things like god sees

them god’s trying to tell you something

and if you’re watching this whole series

and you’re kind of like eh your heart is

hard

you’ve lost your compassion and i’m

asking you pray that god would give you

compassion because when you gotta when

you feel something it changes in you but

feeling is not enough

then you got to have a conviction

he had a conviction that was something

that that that he acknowledged

on the inside of him that something has

to change

compassion without conviction leaves you

in the same spot sad

but god’s saying i want you to have

compassion and then i want you to have a

conviction to do something

acknowledge something in me needs to

change this is the hardest thing

especially for people in church who are

not self-aware because we will shout and

we will not ever look at ourself

[Music]

this is for them

sally needs to hear this message oh

pastor mike was talking about jeff oh my

goodness all i could start thinking

about was trevor when that part when he

was talking you remember when he was

no self-reflection

no awareness that the whole message was

about you

until the church gets holy conviction

again

we will be sitting around talking about

people in the world

living worse than them

[Music]

it’s because

anything god brings into our view the

first place we should look

is inside

that thing you hate about that person

that you saw on on the social media

platform

why does it bother you so much

because there’s probably a little bit of

it in you

okay

getting too real and i ain’t even told

you the title of the message

write this equation down if no

discipline plus discernment equals

destruction compassion

plus conviction

equals a new commitment

and some of us in this uncuffing season

we need to make a new commitment

and some of us don’t know how to make a

new commitment i just gave you the

equation feel something

and then get conviction like you know

what holy spirit i need to do something

different i need to stop people pleasing

i need to not be there for everybody

because i’m depleting myself i need to

like you need to you need to feel it

and then you need to ask the holy spirit

for a new conviction and then you give a

new commitment

watch what happens to nehemiah after he

feels and hears that the walls are torn

down at his home

at his home and in nehemiah chapter two

verse one early the following spring

in the month of nissan maxima

during the 20th year

of king anthrax reign i was serving the

king his wine sometimes some of them

words you just got to fill them in you

know what i’m saying some of them are

just so big just don’t even worry about

it okay

that helped me remember it

now i want you to catch this

nehemiah was serving the king’s wine

i had never before appeared sad in the

king’s presence so the king asked me why

are you looking so sad

you don’t look sick to me

you must be deeply troubled

then i was terrified but i replied

lonely the king

how can i not be sad for the city where

my ancestors are buried is in ruins

this is generational

these these walls have been torn down

and it’s got my whole family at risk

and the gates have been destroyed by

fire the king asked well

how can i help you

with a prayer to the god of heaven i

reply

if it pleases the king

and if you are pleased with me your

servant

send me to judah to rebuild the city

where my ancestors are buried first

thing i need to point out

god talks to nobodies to change things

for everybody

all my life

i thought nehemiah was like

this big

warrior character like even when you say

the night name nehemiah

like i was like what did he do like

david

and abraham like

nehemiah was a waitress

he was a cupbearer

i need everybody to see this the dude

that’s about to rebuild the wall for an

entire nation

all she did

was bring the the king

drinks

in the kingdom structure

a nobody

his life was not worth more than making

sure

if somebody tried to poison the king

he died first

he wasn’t

a dignitary

a council member

he was a waitress

but god gave a burden to a so-called

nobody

that was about to change the destinies

of everybody i need to take three

seconds and talk to some people who feel

like nobodies nobody notices me nobody

knows my gifting nobody’s seen my

potential nobody knows what god placed

inside of me it don’t matter they ain’t

gotta know as long god has placed a

burden on the inside of you

call me whatever you wanna call me

today but what god is about to do

through nehemiah

did not become

did not happen because he had pedigree

it happened because he had a burden

and i’m asking you right now

as you are in the space that you are

looking and fighting for a title or

somebody to know you are a different tax

bracket you don’t need any of that to

change the world

okay let me okay

all nehemiah did was obey the nudge of

the holy spirit

the nobody that gets a nudge from the

holy spirit can change everything

somebody say to somebody i’m a nobody

but don’t let me get a nudge from the

holy spirit see see nobody knew me when

i was in the sound booth back there

nobody knew when i was turning up

microphones what god was gonna do to

transformation church but i was a nobody

with a nudge from the holy spirit the

holy spirit said don’t go on tour keep

serving in this church the holy spirit

said when bishop asked me to take over

the praise team he said i’ve never done

that before i’ve not done that the holy

spirit said no just in you

and then i got a nudge from the holy

spirit to start serving my parents

in youth ministry at a church that had

seven adults going to it

kind of ridiculous

i’m supposed to be in the prime of my

youth

but god saw the beginning from the end

and he knew nobody would be able to get

me in ministry except my mom and dad

so when i heard the nudge of the holy

spirit to help them with the music

because they’re my family

and two weeks later my mom looked at me

with that

color purple

the holy spirit

[Applause]

told me you’re supposed to do something

with the youth say you got four other

sons let one of them do it she said it’s

you

i obeyed that command

within three months it went from seven

youth

some of them in the room today as adults

to over 200 young people coming

with no w with with their parents not

being there it was on sunday nights

15 adults in the church 200 young people

but my parents listened to the nudge of

the holy spirit to start a church in

their mid-50s

does crazy it was part of the calling

when a nobody gets a nudge from the holy

spirit

watch out you ain’t gotta know my name

but god been talking to me

you don’t gotta know who’s backing me

cause the god of the universe stands up

strong behind what he asked me to do all

i need is a nudge from the holy spirit

what is crazy faith a nudge from the

holy spirit

nobody was shouting me down

when i woke up

and i wrote down that the spirit bank

event center would be transformation

church that was a nudge from the holy

spirit oh my god

all i’m trying to tell you and i’m

spending a time on this because a lot of

people think god only does great things

with people who already are great

and i come to tear down or uncuff you

from that lie

that even if you’re

a nobody in man’s eyes

get in his presence

and all you need is a nudge from the

holy spirit so this is what i want to

say stop ignoring the nudge from the

holy spirit

some of y’all god’s done told y’all some

stuff that you’ve been ignoring cause

you’ve been trying to figure out how

it’s gonna happen

and who’s gonna support you and where’s

the funding coming from

who’s gonna fund this

nehemiah didn’t need a title he needed a

task

[Music]

some of y’all so worried about the title

you need to stop praying for a title you

need to ask god for a task give me

whatever you want me to do put my hands

on whatever they can call me whatever

they want to but god give me a holy task

that you have given me from heaven that

every day i wake up i know what i’m

built to do i feel this thing i don’t

care what culture says if you tell me

and i feel that thing in my gut i’ma

wake up every day and do what i’m called

to do

some of y’all are so caught up on titles

you want to be the professor of the

doctor of

the superintendent who cares

the worst level of leadership is people

respecting you out of title

oh y’all missed it

that’s the lowest level of leadership

[Applause]

oh i gotta okay i gotta respect you

you want influential leadership

you wanna be able to walk in a room and

nobody know your name but they’d be like

who is that

[Music]

what did they do

they they just came the room the

atmosphere the room changed

when the person with the task showed up

okay

okay

[Music]

just please put in a point you don’t

need a title

you need a task

what has god called you to do that’s

bigger than you

what have you cried and wept over

gotten conviction about

and moved god

did not die for you to have a career

[Applause]

he did not go on the cross

so that you could be

raised with him

so you could live comfortable

in a career

this is where you

you’ve been cuffed to culture

you bought into the lie that somehow

that god just wants me to have a good

career so i could just bless people

that that’s that’s what i believe

just god bless me so i can bless people

and that’s the end of it

they bless ain’t they

i bless them you bless me to bless them

so ain’t the words they blessed being

blessed

like that’s how we

but what if the blessing is carrying

their burden

nobody talks about this

what if they’ll never be a non-profit

that supports you but you’re supposed to

make 10 sandwiches for the homeless

every day

we always want everything to be

organized and with the committee in a

group and somebody funding it but you

can go get a loaf of bread

and sandwich me

and chips and waters

and you could wake up an hour and a half

early

and you could go to that place that you

pass every day you know they’re out

there begging for something well it

might be a scam who cares

you ain’t done nothing

to help them move okay let me stop

[Applause]

all i’m saying to you is it doesn’t have

to be committee approved

it just has to be a burden god’s called

you to fulfill

no business cards

no instagram

no title

just a task

so nehemiah picks this mantle up

and the king gives him the ability to go

nehemiah chapter 2 verse 11. so i

arrived in jerusalem three days later oh

i like that

it didn’t take him a year

well first you know i just want to tell

everybody

i’m going to start a bible study

this is my bible study graphic it

doesn’t start for another two years

wait on me

want to make sure i have the music and

the graphics

three days

who you performing for

the people are dying

the walls are torn down your community

is suffering that business arena is

going under they got money but they

don’t got no character they need you in

there

and you keeping up appearances

what i’m saying is he went three days

later

he said i slipped out during the night

oh i love his gangster taking only a few

others with me

i had not told anyone

about the plans god had put in my heart

for jerusalem

oh

you don’t have to tell everybody

what god’s called you to do

before you do it

i thought you had i thought it was

prerequisite to being used by god

to let everybody know

he said we took no pack animals

with us except the donkey i was riding

in

no pomp and circumstance to do the call

god’s call no title to do it

it says verse 16 the city officials did

not know

i had been out there

and what i was doing for i had not yet

said anything to anyone about my plans

i had not yet spoken to the jewish

leaders the priests the nobles the off

the officials or anyone else in the

administration write this down to the

point your anointing is not for an

announcement it’s for action

[Applause]

god’s not an anointing you for

announcement that’s why nobody liked the

poster reshared it it wasn’t for them to

know about it oh my god

it wasn’t for them to know about it he

said i need you to do what i ask you to

do and i’m anoint you to do it but this

is not i need to go meet with the mayor

first no you don’t baby you need to get

in your position you need to do what god

called you to do you don’t even have to

know the team owner you can go to that

one player that shows up in your coffee

shop every day and start ministering to

them you don’t even have to know the

superintendent you can meet those three

teachers that you see at the ymca league

with that oh y’all don’t hear me and you

can start ministering right there stop

announcing what god told you to take

action on

[Music]

yeah

yeah we live in a culture of announcing

i’m gonna work out all week

and then the enemy hits you with

condemnation because you missed the

first day

and we don’t see you no more for a month

the next time we see you don’t blow it

up

what happened to sherry i don’t know

last i heard she was gonna start working

out

like

why don’t we do this

why don’t we do this to ourselves

get a couple days in at least damn

but since he was not anointed to

announce

he was anointed for action somebody say

i’m anointed for action

that made me feel good

verse 17 but now i said to them you know

very well what trouble we are in

jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates

have been destroyed by fire

let us

somebody say let us

say it with your

chest say it loud

let us

uh oh

rebuild

god’s not gonna rebuild

the government’s not going to rebuild it

the police force is not going to rebuild

it our school system is not going to

rebuild the church

if we’re going to see what we

believe that god wants heaven to come to

earth we always say to heaven

heaven come to earth how is it coming

you think you think it’s going to drop

down like a sci-fi movie

you see another

let us

let us rebuild the banking system

let us rebuild housing

let us rebuild entertainment

let us rebuild the school system all i

need is six of y’all to get this

let us redefine what it looks like to be

able to walk into an area and cause

transformation let us redefine church

somebody say let us

rebuild some of y’all are waiting

for somebody else to do

what god said we have to do

he said let us rebuild the wall of

jerusalem

watch this

and end the disgrace

the disgrace

only ends

when we

rebuild

apply this to

everything all of the disgrace ends

when we come together

and rebuild

what’s been torn down

black people

the disgrace

when we

come together with our brothers and

sisters who are like mine it don’t

matter what color their skin is

and we as a multi-ethnic

multi-generational church

we rebuild

nobody’s coming to give you 40 acres in

a mule

i’m

nobody’s going to tell you this because

we’re going to be mad at this for the

rest of nobody’s coming to give it to

you

a stimulus check ain’t going to change

your financial situation

they can keep giving 3 000 checks for

the next 10 years

that don’t change this

if we don’t rebuild

i don’t care what you think about me

what i’m telling you is the disgrace

sins

when we

rebuild

then i told them about how the gracious

hand of god had been on me

and about my conversation with the king

they replied look what happened when the

man with no title came into the room

had a task and walked in his authority

they all said yes

let’s reveal the world

so they began

a what good work oh and this takes me to

zechariah 4 10 that says do not despise

small beginnings for the lord rejoices

to see the work begin

everybody in culture shouts when we’re

done

god shouts when it starts

he like oh first week they started

working out

why because he’s the god that knows the

beginning from the end he’s the alpha

and the omega he knows if he starts the

good work he can help you finish it

start it

do the good work verse 19 but when sand

ballot

the arab heard

of our plan

they scoffed

contemptuously

i don’t even know how you scoff

contemptuously

what are you doing

are you rebuilding

against the kion

[Music]

i don’t even know that’s just what

happened in my mind

what are you doing

are you rebuilding against the king they

asked

i need to let everybody know this every

start has a sand ballot

every time you start write it in a point

because i looked up what sam ballot

means his name means it means enemy in

secret

[Applause]

every time you start something

you will have an enemy in secret

the same people that push in the heart

the same people that was like all right

go ahead try it

the same people every start has a sand

ballad every start has an enemy in

secret and watch the tension watch the

dynamic

while god is rejoicing over the start

people be out here retweeting about your

start

you obeying god

and they giving their opinion

while heaven is celebrating

they are hating

this is the tension

of anybody that will ever rebuild

anything

when you’re being uncuffed

please know you’re being discussed

[Applause]

when you decide to change for real i no

longer do that oh she thinks she did for

now

she don’t want to call him out to the

club

she don’t want invited us to the club

how in the world oh now she’s saying she

don’t wanna

come out

[Applause]

somebody said how you know i don’t

conviction um

what what i’m trying to say i’m trying

to teach you how to navigate this

because the people started commenting

but it did not change the calling

and if you’re ever going to do anything

that god has called you to do in this

culture

you need to know this the moment you

commence get ready for the comments

start doing anything great for god

they’re gonna start commenting about it

who you think he is

gonna come up in this city

and build a church you can have one

church

but two churches three churches four

churches

national influence who they think they

are

start that little business

when they call your stuff little

you don’t know who i am

oh i see you with your little graphics

business

it’s your little cupcake i see what you

doing with your little

you don’t even know what i do how you

gonna call it little

at the moment you commence at the moment

you start at the moment you make the

plan at the moment you step out and get

the loan at the moment you open the bank

account at the moment you post your

flyer at the moment just know

that at the moment you commence

there’s gonna be comments

so today

i want to give you

the ability to uncuff

from the comments

yeah yeah yeah yeah

because you are going to forfeit the

call god’s given you

if you down in the comments looking at

what people who don’t know the plan the

purpose

or the pattern god set for you and

you’re engaging with them about what god

has called you to do come about them

comments

and some of y’all been cuffed to the

comments and it’s been robbing you of

your calling and i yes i am coming for

the facebook freaks and the ins insecure

instagramers and the traumatized

tweeters but i’m also coming for the

people who are people pleasers

who have the mindset that i don’t i

don’t want them to not like me

the the people who won’t follow god

because they might lose followers

and i’m not just talking about on a

social media platform there’s family

members that would leave you

and friends that would forsake you

if you really followed the call god

asked you to to walk on

okay

somebody say cuff to the comments

yep and the reason i had to do this

because god just began to speak to me

this is one thing i’ve had to overcome

answering my calling

anything that i do

people comment on

if i post a picture of me and my

daughter dancing

people are gonna comment

most of them

are good comments oh that’s sweet oh

that’s great but there’ll be one random

saved chick john 3 16.

that will be like in deuteronomy it says

that thine shall not dance with a

daughter on instagram like what

and then we’re going to a a full

soliloquy

a whole a whole essay

on how i’m a false prophet

and create youtube channels

and and do all this other stuff

based on

me dancing with my daughter

and when i first

got into ministry

i was cuffed to the comments

oh can i be honest

pastors don’t tell you this because they

want you to think they flood off the

stage and go into a place of somber rest

and

and regroup from the anointing that god

babies be right on instagram was it good

was the sermon okay did i did it

resonate

we’re humans

i want to know what i do what god called

me to do did it work did anybody change

is it what

but i had an unhealthy relationship with

the comments

i would i would go there and for some

reason i was looking for affirmation

instead of information

see there’s nothing wrong with the

analytics

there’s nothing wrong with knowing the

impact

but when you start drawing from people’s

comments

more than what you were supposed to get

there and some of y’all like i don’t

even do instagram i don’t do a facebook

that’s not what i do

but you’re looking for affirmation from

that person on your job

you’re cuffed to their comments

good job sally

you stayed up three days straight

hopped up on coffee and red bull

to be able to out position yourself with

the partner in the firm

so the head honcho could notice you

you’re still cuffed to their comments

this is for every one of us

that have something other than god that

we’re looking to draw our affirmation

from or we’re getting distracted by and

god is saying i want you to be uncuffed

from other people’s comments if i didn’t

say it about you it don’t matter

oh

[Applause]

you see them we claps

it’s cause there’s somebody right here

that you would feel better getting

affirmation from than the god of the

universe yo some of y’all would flip out

if your favorite celebrity told you i

see what you’re doing

you’re doing a great job and i love you

that would feel your spirit up

and god been saying that over you for a

decade

since you were born

and it’s like god i know that but like i

need somebody else to say you want the

creation to affirm the creation instead

of the creator to affirm and give oh god

can i ask you a question like a serious

question

who are they

because everybody has this group

of people

that they always talk about

they don’t they don’t they don’t really

support me

who exactly are you talking about

they don’t they don’t want me to go to

college they don’t they don’t want me to

have that job they don’t want me

i don’t know this is a serious question

who is day in your life

okay

because we got a defined day

write this point down what they comment

does not affect your calling

day

has

has been controlling too much

of your calling

and that’s why i’m challenging you to

this message

really define the day

who is they for some people they

are people you don’t know like side

chick john 3 16 like i don’t know you

like

but

they’ll say sachik

[Music]

some of y’all watching hey stop

commenting on my stuff um this is what

i’m gonna say

uh

there’s people you don’t know but many

people pay

people they don’t know attention that

they don’t even have time to give them

[Music]

you are so busy and tired

yet you are up worried about somebody

you don’t

sometimes as a millennial i i wonder

what it would have been like to be born

in like i don’t know

1956

because it would have been like 30 years

without everybody having constant access

to giving me feedback

like

your hips look big in that outfit pastor

what oh

this is what i had to wear

i don’t know i didn’t need your feedback

now i’m in the mirror like oh my god did

i do what

y’all don’t act like i’m the only one it

can be one person and give you feedback

what’s wrong with your left tooth now

what oh

something wrong with my left hoo

we weren’t built

for this much feedback

i’ma say what somebody should have told

you my faith

was not built

for everybody’s feedback

everybody is not supposed to have access

to be able to speak into my life and me

even consider it

you can have your opinions and your

thoughts but i have to set up walls and

gates boundaries and lines so that i

have the stuff that y’all be saying

about me i don’t even know it

my team knows don’t bring me that crap

don’t don’t bring me nothing that will

distract me from what god’s called me to

do

pastor you know you trending on

okay

you know they made a pose it’s kind of

funny

okay

you know they talking about

i wasn’t built for that much feedback

the feedback i desire is the one that

comes from heaven

that the feedback that i need is the one

that’s going to help me make this next

move

and and this is what happens

when you don’t define your day everybody

becomes your enemy

i got to say this stuff that nobody will

say everybody’s not hating on you

but you think they are because you don’t

know that they

that you keep talking about they don’t

want our church to succeed no there’s

like 50 people in the community that are

praying that your church actually comes

there but because you want to be a mega

church off rip and you want to have 2

000 people you negate the 50 people that

god actually called you to raise up

there that would be the leadership team

for you to build this big thing that

god’s called you to do they ain’t all

hating on you

but if we do not uncough

from the comments we’ll let three people

give us a perspective

about

some of y’all the day is your friend

some of you the day is this a hard one

your family

yeah

and let me go even deeper real quick

stay with me for just 30 seconds

for some of you the day that you’re

talking about

is the critical version of you

projected on other people

which stops you from being obedient

so because you’re so critical of other

people

you won’t even do it cause if they do it

you gonna make fun of them talk about

them do all that other stuff so because

you know what you would do if you

stepped out and it didn’t work out

you convince yourself you shouldn’t step

out and obey god because you don’t want

nobody to do that to you

rewind that back five times

but some of y’all

have been in your own way of doing what

god called you to do

because you won’t extend grace to

anybody else so you can’t receive it

from anybody else

okay

uh-huh cuff to the comments

i i feel that

i feel prophet dj khaled coming on me

yeah y’all know what he said

he he said

they didn’t believe in us

god did

somebody needs to get this

oh come on somebody needs to get this

encouragement in it doesn’t matter if

they believe in you god did nehemiah did

not need everybody’s comments

when he was called to that wall

sam ballard and all his homies they

didn’t believe

that he was called to do it

but he had the dj catlett anointing

god did

somebody say god did

what i’m telling you is there has to be

an assurance that if nobody else

believes in you

and if people are commenting about what

god called you to do

you have to still be able to stand and

answer the call

in the face of comments

okay nehemiah chapter four

um let’s go verse one

this is important because too many

people are being discouraged in their

calling because they’re cuffed to the

comments

and i’m seeing it all over the place

that we’re waiting for affirmation from

people to do what god has purposed us to

do

so now sam ballot was very angry

when he learned that we were rebuilding

the wall why are you so involved

he flew into a rage

and mocked the jews saying in front of

his friends and the sumerian army

officers

what does this bunch of par feeble jews

think they’re doing

do they think they’re going to rebuild

the wall in a single day by just

offering a few sacrifices do they

actually think these are the comments do

they actually think they can make

something of the stones and the rubbish

and heat do they actually think they can

go to the north side and play a

multi-ethnic church do they actually

think that he could be the pastor of

that church and go to the other side of

the city and buy an arena do they

actually think they can go in when

government hasn’t done reparations and

give away six hundred thousand dollars

to people who are affected in the 1921

race riots do they actually think

[Applause]

[Music]

let me help you write these down

the comments first

questions i want to tell you what your

what people who comment or the comments

what they question in you

the first thing they do

is comments question your actions

same ballot’s first thing was uh what

are you doing

and when god tells you to do something

people are going to comment and question

your actions

keep doing it

keep going

do another event

host another podcast

do it again somebody say do it again

we keep asking god to do it again he’s

asking us do it again

do the miracles again

do the book again

do the signs

do the study

do a miracle

save your money

do it again

somebody say do it again

sam ballot doesn’t have any reason to be

in this business but he’s questioning or

he’s commenting on their actions

but but you got to do it again second

thing that comments i’m trying to expose

this thing so you can get uncuffed okay

the the the second thing that the comets

come to question in you

is your authenticity

or your

motive

he he literally comes and says what are

you doing and then he says

are you rebelling against the king

are your motives to overthrow the

government

oh you have wrong motives i know what it

is guys they just want to be seen no god

asked me to do this

actually i don’t want to do this

like i didn’t i didn’t sign up for this

i got a burden i just asked somebody how

they were doing

at a party and they said they were doing

bad the balls rebuilt and then i started

crying i got emotional and then other

than i’m here

i ain’t asked to be no pastor

god did not call me consult with me and

give me three options of a purpose

you need to be a pastor you can be a

producer or we can take you into like

you know you could be a botanist or

something i didn’t get no options

it was obey god’s will or not

so so so when i do the things god has

called me to do he put me this arena i’m

expressing i would be expressive if i

was a fedex worker

if if i delivered your boxes

i

cameraman follow me

i will be delivering your boxes with

such flair

it’s me

god doesn’t call you to change your

personality to answer his purpose

i just messed you up because a pastor is

supposed to wear a suit and do i ain’t

wearing that imma wear these travis

scots imma have on ripped up shirts imma

do what i would do if i was working at

uh-huh

[Music]

don’t put me in your box

cause you’re scared to answer god

and be yourself

oh

so when god asked me to be

a pastor

he just does too much

it’s just you get to see it

but go ask my wife

no cameras on

when i’m at the house

i’m a fool

like

6 a.m

six

this is me

the greatest gift i have

is i don’t have to be somebody else

like

i watch some of my pastor friends i

watch people in business code switch

they be like what up

and then the next hello sally how are

you doing

i walk up into board rooms like this

i make million dollar deals

just like why

because

i’m

i’m who god’s called me to be

as me

that don’t mean i won’t change

that doesn’t mean i can’t progress

that doesn’t mean if there’s an area

that god wants to touch and change and

heal in my life he can’t move me forward

in that area but the worst thing i can

be is an imposter in my own body

but people will come and comment

about your authenticity

oh yeah he has to be doing he got to be

doing something crooked he got to be

i promise you look at him

he looked too nice

look at them kids they got to be bad

the people comment

these aren’t made up things

but don’t let anybody challenge the

motive god gave

you to fulfill your calling for him

the third thing the comments come to

question is your assurance

because a lot of times you got to be

sure before you go to do it

and then them comments start coming and

you’ll be like hold on did i hear from

god

i thought everybody was going to cheer

for me

when i told him i was about to move to

be a part of that church and then

like you know we was in 24 hours of

prayer and

they said god’s speaking to you and they

believe me about that but then they

don’t believe me about this and then i

don’t

it said

he flew into a rage and start mocking

these

people and say in front of the friend he

tried to embarrass these people

and make them not sure of what he knew

have you ever been sure something and

then somebody said something then you

weren’t sure

and depending how close they are to you

then it’d be like hold on

the thing i want everybody to know is

everybody doesn’t pray about what god

showed you

okay so some people use their authority

to give you their comment or their

opinion

but

just because they have a title in your

life

does not mean they went to god about

what you talked to them about and this

is something that the church uses as

manipulation a lot of time then i just

want to go ahead and pull the cover off

real quick

if you’re going to ask me about it what

i’m going to tell you is let me pray

about it i’m not about to just give you

no answer but i ain’t been thinking

about you all day and you come up and

tell me god told me to move to nebraska

okay

let me go pray about it and and the

worst thing though

is to have already made the decision

and then you come and tell your spirit

spiritual authority and all this other

stuff that you say

what you doing and you don’t you don’t

even ask

for them to pray would you just give

would you just pray and it ain’t saying

nothing and all that stuff then go with

what god told you to do but like this

dynamic

of unhealthy relational between leader

and follower

we got to get this right in the church

because it makes you question your

assurance

maybe god said it maybe he did it but

that’s what the comments will do

fourth thing i’m only going to give you

five right here fourth thing that the

comments come to question is your

ability

like

what did this bunch of poor what

feeble

what’d you say about my mom

jews think they are doing he didn’t have

to add all the majesties

he

he was trying to remind them

of what their reality was

when you start

doing the thing god’s called you to do

people are going to comment and try to

remind you of the reality of where you

are

the truth is they were poor and feeble

that was truth but this ain’t the moment

for you to tell me what i already know

[Music]

i know i ain’t got no college education

i know i don’t got the money to do i’m

trying to live by faith i’m trying to

obey god i’m trying to do what he asked

me to do this is hard why won’t you

encourage me instead of discourage me

[Applause]

but if you’re cuffed to the

comments you’ll go in being sure that

god is with you

and then they question who you think you

are

you from north tulsa how your church

gonna touch the whole world

huh what seminar you go to

these are things people have

commented on my life

you ain’t you don’t got enough

i know god’s with you

i’ve heard somebody literally say this

i know god’s with you but that ain’t

enough

beware

of listening and letting people in

who question your ability

to do what god’s told you to do

last thing that the comments

come to question are your assets

watch this

do they actually think they can make

something

out of these stones

and

this rubbish

this charred heap of crap

if people always remind you of what you

don’t have

you don’t need them

as a

as as somebody who runs an organization

when employees come to me

and tell me what they can’t do because

of what we don’t have

and never have no solutions of what they

did with what we do have

your time is expired

because because what ends up happening

is what they’re doing is they don’t want

you to rebuild the wall they don’t want

you to reach the vision god’s called for

you all they want to do is remind you of

why it can’t happen and the same ballots

always come when you start look at this

so i want you to see what nehemiah’s

response was his response in the in chap

and uh verse 4 then i prayed

he did not respond back to sam ballot

the comments came he went to god oh god

he’s talking in front of everybody

and sam ballard’s response

is prayer look what it says my first

response to comments is to reach heaven

through prayer

write it down

my first response to comments

whoever it is my mom my dad

people i don’t know people i love people

i respect

go to god in prayer

reach heaven

then i prayed hear us oh god

for we are being mocked

may their scoffing fall back on their

own heads

and make them they themselves become

captives in a foreigner land

do not ignore their guilt do not blot

out their sins for they have provoked

you to anger here in front of the

builders uh oh

did you see what he just did

he took it off for him

he didn’t say they have provoked me to

slap the crap out of them and give them

god you told me to do this

so when they mocking

me

god i wouldn’t let them talk to you like

that

hey bro did you hear what they said

about us

i’m just out here trying to do what you

said

did you hear what he said

look look what it does so many of us are

concerned about our image and our and

our appearances and god’s saying put it

back on me

god they provoked you to anger

in front of the builders

at last the wall was completed to half

in height around the entire city for the

people had worked with enthusiasm so

this is what that little thing tells me

they’re hating

nehemiah’s praying

and people still working

most of the time we stop for all of

those things

commenting about me

i’m depressed no i’m not coming to the

meeting

no i need some days to regroup

no no no i can’t i cannot go out and do

what god’s called me to do

because they’re they’re commenting about

me

i feel a little better today i’m gonna

spend four days in prayer

god you hear what they’re saying

god said you can do all three of them

things at the same time

you can hear them talking

father in the name of jesus

while i’m here

i thank you

that you are moving every obstacle out

of the way of my purpose and destiny god

i thank you that as i build what you’ve

called me to build i am going to be

steadfast and not give up father as you

do what you’ve called me to do

you can hear the comments

pray

and keep on building

what would have happened

if they would have

did those exclusively yeah

i’m gonna be depressed for a little bit

because they’re commenting

i’m gonna take some time and pray

and then i’m gonna get back to work

they were halfway done

by the time

the comments had ceased in this moment

i just got to keep going

master the art watch this

of fulfilling your calling

in the midst of comments

i’ma keep doing it

somebody say i’ma keep doing it

today there’ll be comments about the

sermon yeah

people will comment good things people

will comment bad things

they’ll be mad because i had a

a picture of my wife

on my shirt in a bathing suit

how a pastor gonna get up there tempting

everybody

but if you’re going to forever 21 right

now

your daughter

has on a shirt with somebody they don’t

know

within a bathing suit right now and you

did i love her and she wears bathing

suits first ladies wear baggages oh my

god

[Applause]

i’m so done with church people

what i’m saying to you is comment on it

i don’t care

next week we’re going to miami we’re

going to be at vu conference

and

i’m gonna get comments

and i’m gonna do what god called me to

do

oh all over the screen

comments but i’ma preach

but you gonna see me

like it don’t matter

what they say

what they do master the art

of continue i’ll preach the rest of the

message like this because you ain’t even

got to see me what i really want you to

see is jesus and if god has to use me

and block me out it don’t even matter

you can still hear him through me

[Applause]

and the truth of the matter is

when people try to cancel you

that’s a new word in

202 counsel culture you can’t cancel

what god is called

you can’t

you can log off or you can do whatever

okay

but for every one of you there’s five

more

and if god has placed it on the inside

of you to rebuild something

god’s called me to represent god to the

lost and the found for transformation in

christ that is what i’m called to do and

it doesn’t matter who comments on it

i’ma still do it

even

if i’m covered by comments

i need you

to get a holy ghost decision of

consistency on the inside of you

that if they don’t trust you you’re the

worst at that you failed don’t talk to

me i’m disappointed in you you let me

down you really messed up what are you

thinking and i’m still gonna love you

and i’m still gonna pray for you and i’m

still going to talk that talk and give

you the word of god why because i’ve

mastered

still doing my calling

in the midst of comments

pastor mike why are you telling us this

today because god’s about to call some

of y’all to do audacious things

oh yeah somebody needs to lift their

hands and receive it right now god’s

about to call you to do some stuff that

don’t make any sense

and right now your life looks fine

because there’s not a lot of comments

but when you start doing what god calls

you to do the comments will fire up as

soon as you tell them that that i’m

going to step out and do it that i’m

going to be the one to break this

generational curse oh you’re an idiot

you really messed up now how could you

do that but i’m praying that there would

be a holy ghost contentment to stay the

course that would come up on god’s

people i’ll keep doing the podcast i’ll

keep doing the bible study i’ll keep

showing up after school no matter what

they comment no matter what god says

about me being an intern no matter what

god says about me moving to that place i

will stay consistent

in the midst of all the comments

jeremiah 12 5.

this one’s going to help you because it

helped me

i read this book called leadership pain

by sam chan

before i started pastoring it changed my

paradigm it prepared me for when the

spit hit the fan

because up until that point

everything we had done we was winning

tmz i thought literally somebody told me

tmz covered the message i thought wow

god is about to use

tmz somebody was blessed and he’s going

to spread the message

to the world

i was very wrong

they wanted to comment

on a moment

with no context

and

and that’s all of their

right

we gotta stop trying to change

the fact that it’s able to happen

everything you do somebody can give

their opinion

my uncle said opinions are like never

mind

okay y’all know the rest some of y’all

was raised with that same uncle

okay

all i’m saying to you

is this scripture is going to help you

know what god thinks about your calling

jeremiah 12 5 oh

if racing against mere man makes you

tired

how will you race against horses

if you stumble and fall

on open ground

what will you do

in the thickets near the jordan

hold on

you mean

what i’m going through with these

comments and these people and all this

other stuff ain’t even the highest level

of endurance i have to have

it’s actually preparation for what god

actually sees in me

michael if you can’t handle these

comments yeah

how you gonna

handle when i do this in your life

god’s saying to you

if you can’t handle these relationship

issues

if you can’t show up to work on time

if you can’t do this how are you going

to be the ceo how are you going to

believe for family if you cannot run

with these mere men

how are you going to run with horses

something on four legs is always faster

than something on two

but god thinks that

us with his strength

could keep up with something he created

to naturally outrun us

have you ever thought about running with

horses

i know you thought about riding on

horses

running with them this exposes the

character of god watch this y’all

god’s confidence and our capability is

higher than our current capacity

god thinks so much more of you than you

think of you

he said

stop being cuffed to these comments

because this is mere men’s stuff

i want you to run with horses

god’s confidence in me

is bigger and better than what i even

see my current capability when god had

me go through controversy in high school

running for the senior class president

that was the mere men stuff that would

prepare me

to be able to run with horses when i got

to this next level

but this becomes mere men’s stuff

for the next level that god and all i’m

saying to everybody right now is the

reason you have to uncuff from the

comments is because they’re not going to

stop coming

well let me say it like this

comment stop

when you forfeit your calling

nobody comments on people who do nothing

or let me say it like this

the only people who do comment

it’s people who do nothing

i’m too busy to comment on what you’re

doing

what i look like being 72 comments down

giving you my spiel

on what god didn’t what what i didn’t

even have the decency to ask god about

this is strictly my opinion

and god’s saying would you run with

horses

would you do something different

we’re coming to close nehemiah 6 and 3.

sam violet tobiah geshem the arab and

the rest of the enemies found out that i

finished rebuilding the wall

and that no gaps remain

they were able to last

though we had not yet set up the doors

in the gates

so sam balot geshem sent a message

asking me

to meet them at one of the villages

in the plane of oh no

i don’t know how you say that but when i

read it was like oh no

they wanted me to meet them in the plano

oh no

but i realized

that they were plotting to harm me

so i replied

by sending them this message

i

am engaged in a great word

so i can’t come down

why should i stop to come and meet with

you

you can only engage in the comments when

you’re not engaged in a great work

[Applause]

you only have time

to be that petty

when you when you’re not putting your

hands

to a great work

if you have time to be that petty you

need to ask god for new purpose

i’m gonna say it one more time

if you have time to be that petty and

comment on all of their stuff and

critique everybody’s outfit and tell why

you didn’t like that movie and that

music and all that other stuff you need

to ask god for a new purpose you

obviously have a lot of time on your

hands and not a lot of tasks and you

don’t need a title to do a task you need

a word from god so i’m begging you get

off the internet for a little bit get

out of that friend group for a little

bit get off the corporate ladder for a

little bit and go to god and ask him for

a burden

to be able to fulfill a purpose on this

earth

these enemies were persistent four times

they sent the same message

and each time i gave the same reply

i’m doing great work

do you know what

it probably felt very minimal to

nehemiah when he was doing it

but he called it what it would be

remembered as

not what it was

he called it a great work

while they were still putting it

together brick by brick

oh god

some of y’all if you could see this by

faith i called this church a great

church when nobody was here

i stood in this very spot after painting

these walls black the day of my um

transition service half sleep because i

wanted the people of god to be able to

experience this place this place

everybody in here on the day of the

commission was probably high because we

just finished paying 13 minutes before

this thing start i mean fumes everywhere

and

i just wanted to give god my best

and i stood up here with my knee shaking

i said this church

is going to represent god to the laws of

hell

for translation in christ

and we will be multi-ethnic

multi-generational

multiplying and multi-campus

everybody

because god didn’t show it to him

we had 800 people here on that day

because they wanted to see they wanted

to comment

next week

305 people

it’s fine

because i was committed to what god

called me to

and i called it great

i said it was a great work

when we couldn’t pay no employees

i called it a great work

a year later when i lost the entire

staff it was me tammy and miss k

and i would come in here

literally talking to hallways good

morning jim

good morning susan how was the kids

becky take me be in her office cracking

up

cause i

i had to faith my way to stay consistent

i called it a great work

i just would ask you

that you would have a faith enough in

what god called you to do even if it’s

my nuke right now

to stop looking at the comments and call

what god’s put your hands on a great

word

mother raising those three kids

what you’re doing

is a great work

oh god

your highest title right now

is mommy

and you don’t know what kind of world

changer you’re raising

but don’t let people

put you put their co

oh all you do is stay at home

it must be nice

to not have to go to the workforce

and then you you’ll literally look at

your blessing

john i want to talk to you

and it’s like hold on wait wait wait a

minute

it’s because you were cuffed to the

comments

one person’s opinion about you who don’t

even know you

changing the trajectory of your

children’s life okay okay okay okay

write this down your commitment has to

be consistent

he was consistent to what god called him

to do

the fifth time they asked again

sand balance service came with an open

letter in his hand said i know you ain’t

even been opening our messages

you ain’t been seeing our dm so we’re

going to come to where you act

and this is what it said there is a

ruler

among the surrounding nations that we

heard

tell me is this true

that you are the jews you and the jews

are planning to rebel

um

and that this is why you’re building the

wall

according to his reports

you plan to be their king

is this true

he also reports that you have appointed

prophets in jerusalem to proclaim about

you look

there’s the king of judah

you can be very sure that this report

will go back to the king

nehemiah said nothing

and he’s basically telling him what was

said and then telling me about the

telelona

this report will go back to the king so

i suggest that you come and talk it over

with me he replied there is no truth

in any part of your story you are making

the whole thing up

[Applause]

sometimes you just gotta

it’s not even worth going to pay you’re

a liar

you made that up

i wasn’t there

you didn’t see me

i don’t even own i don’t even i don’t

even live there like

but do you know what i found out by this

what he was saying was he was trying to

trap nehemiah

right this point comments are a trap for

you to lower your

[Music]

character when you start engaging in the

comments

that first text is like praise the lord

brother i think you should just back up

and by that six tests you’ll be like

where you at fool see me outside i’ll

beat your mother then they’ll be like

what

[Music]

it’s a chance to lower your character

[Music]

and god’s asking everybody right now

stay out of the comments

so you can have integrity in your

character

[Music]

don’t let nobody screenshot a moment of

insanity

and use it against you

in a season

that you are elevated

you don’t need to vent on facetime

and and instagram live you need to get a

counselor

i know ain’t nobody but i love you i

want you to understand this

they going through the same crap they

can’t help you

you need to go to a pastor an elder a

leader you you need to find somebody

with wisdom

find somebody with some gray in your

hair and gray people find somebody

with some young in them

you don’t know everything you’re old

there are things you don’t know no more

no

but because you groan

you won’t ask somebody now what does it

mean

how can i

you got the juice but you’re not

relevant because you won’t ask nobody

for help

okay what i’m saying to you is

don’t lower your character because

you’re going to need that

if i would have responded when the spit

hit the fan

how i felt

i wouldn’t be preaching to y’all right

now

because i would have said some stuff way

worse

my character would have plummeted

because of a moment of emotion

can i have emotion

yes

but when i put the emotion in the right

place

with the right walls and gates

they can handle

i re i cussed

i thought it was unfair

i i called some i called uh save chick

399 out her name

but i didn’t do it in the comments

i did it in community

so when you

express

in

community they can point you back

to god

so it’s not about not getting it out

it’s about you getting it out in the

wrong place

and god’s saying i need you to protect

your character so your work issues don’t

talk to him with the people that work

with

the people that

three months from now they both not

gonna like you and so then

well she told me one time when she was

going through

this story of

you might need a life coach

a professional businessman you may need

somebody who had been in business for

years to

take them out to

find the right container

so that you can communicate your

feelings

but don’t do it in the comments

because then you turn into what you hate

verse 9 they were just trying to

intimidate us

all the comments

all they trying to do is intimidate you

from doing what god called you to do

they were trying to intimidate us watch

this imagining

imagining they could discourage us and

stop the work

it wasn’t even about us

they wanted to stop the work

they don’t even really care about you

because after me there’ll be another one

that god uses and after then there’ll be

several other people don’t care about

you as much as they don’t want what you

have been given to give to the earth to

actually happen

so i continued the work eve with even

greater determination

this makes me excited

because i made a decision after the spit

hits the fan i hear the comments but i

can’t come down

i have a nehemiah level ignorance now

say what you want to say

but i bet you next week we’ll be here

building god’s people

say what you want to say but i bet you

there’s a piece of property we’re going

to buy you might be

you might be about to get bought out i’m

telling you right now that as long as

god is with me

as long as god is with us we’re going to

keep doing what god’s called us to do no

matter what they saying in the comments

somebody shot at me i can’t come down

then why did you

why’d you stop

why’d you stop dreaming

why’d you stop believing

why did you stop looking for your home

oh cause the economy is bad right now

whose economy are you tied to

[Applause]

but whatever this world does

it don’t matter do you know where my

source is

all i’m just asking you is

if you can’t come down

why has the work been stopped for two

years

why are you on chapter two

of a book god gave you six years

ago

you were supposed to have a volume of

movies out

and you don’t even have

a trailer

no no i’m being serious

god told you you’re going to turn this

family around but you won’t even get up

early to bring your kids to church

why did you why did you come oh you

heard the comments

you heard that

you you don’t have enough to raise these

kids you don’t you don’t have enough

team staff there’s no way that you will

be and i’m just encouraging you

like nehemiah would encourage you

don’t come down

the work is too great

so this is what i’m going to give you in

closing

if somebody’s going to comment in your

life

make sure they meet these three criteria

because i want you to know that people

should have access to your life

the right people

not everybody

but the right somebody say the right

people

and it’s so funny

that what you need is what you should be

so a lot of you are reaping what you’ve

sown

so the reason you don’t have

the right people commenting is because

you one of those people commenting on

everything and so you just getting back

tenfold which you’ve already sown okay

chats is going to be weak this week

so the criteria to comment in my life

just write that

you got to be committed to christ

why am i listening to you if we don’t

hold the same principles and values

if you want to comment in my life or

sheena you got to be committed to christ

if you want to comment in my life

you have to have connection with me

i am sick

of people that don’t know my middle name

trying to tell me

how to raise my kids we’re not connected

and church take somebody out to coffee

to dinner

to lunch

three times

before you try to tell them that the way

they living is foul

[Applause]

y’all not even smart

like that’s not even that’s not even

smart you wouldn’t respond to that

that’s why you be dodging the jehovah

witness when they come to your door

you’re like we’re not home we not i

don’t even wanna

the truth of the matter is

if you would connect with more people

you could actually comment on their

lives

church has been horrible

with the lgbtq community

horrible

cousin you don’t connect with them

and the truth of the matter is this is

where you have to really have your

character together

the truth of the matter is some of y’all

y’all walk over there and connect you

gonna get turned out

cause your walls

and your gates

are torn down

but if you rebuild your discipline and

discernment

they’re not gonna like this one i’m uh

this is

but if you rebuild your discipline and

discernment

you could actually go into that

community and connect with people

learn people’s name

love them be able to help them in what

they do and then maybe one day

god will give you an opportunity to be

there in the time of need

and you can say you know what i do when

i feel like this

but you want a comment from afar

and say the bible says

like that’s not god’s creation too

okay

we just lost 3 000 people it’s okay

cause i can’t come down

i’m not going to stop what god has

called us to do i can’t come the truth

is the truth even if you don’t think

[Applause]

[Music]

so so criteria to comment in my life

you got to be committed to christ

you got to be connected to me

last thing

you got to have compassion for others

nehemiah was able to connect with the

group of people that didn’t even know

him

because he was moved by compassion

my friend will bell

is in africa right now where is he at

he’s in tanzania

and and him in a group asking for the

nations is building

a school

and in a community that they could never

like literally coming back to the states

raising money

and then taking weeks out of their

summer to go over there and build

they’ve been in the project for how long

three years

of being moved by compassion

to go over

and help people that can’t help them

he could take that money and that time

and build houses here and make money

but he’s deciding

that i got compassion for others

so so maybe for you to go into different

arenas

different cultures

different communities and make a

difference

they got to be able to see your

compassion before they see your critique

your compassion has to outweigh your

critique

well if they have fathers in this

neighborhood oh

it’s a really bad hello

like

let’s let’s come in with

compassion

the bible tells us jesus was moved with

what compassion

that’s what made him meet the need

and i’m saying is if you want to come

into my life come tell me but just do it

with a little bit of

come back act like it could have been

you

i know you didn’t do it but think just

before you start talking to me think

about how you would feel if you were in

my

shoes talk to me like i was your kid

now some of y’all mean to y’all kids

so

oh maybe you need a new heart

do you know what i found out about these

three things

to actually comment in my life

because some of y’all about to take this

role like i don’t need nobody

that’s why i don’t listen to nobody no

no no the bible is clear that all of us

need correction

so the same

criteria

to actually comment on my life

is the same criteria that you need for

correction

if you want to correct me

you have to be committed to christ

you want to correct me you have to be

connected to me

do not correct and you don’t connect

[Music]

do not correct

some parents

you only the last time you connected

with your kids is when they were seven

and now they’re teenagers

and you’re trying to tell them what they

can’t do and what they cannot do you are

drawing a chasm

between you and them

that will never be breached until you’re

on your deathbed it’s going to be three

decades of them hating you

and you’re going to send them down a

path where they actually need you and

the truth of the matter is you’re so

arrogant at this moment that you will

not take the time to reinvest in them

and connect with them again

play the video game with them

i’m too grown for that

you’re about to lose your child

take them to the skate park

get in a bathing suit and get in the

water

no i don’t go swimming i’ve heard people

say my parents i’ve never seen them swim

you’re just on the on the porch just

drinking a beer just

doing your thing

connect

because when they need you

they’re going to the person they’re

connected with

i went to the people i was connected

with even if they didn’t have the

information i needed

and many times it kept me in the same

cycles

so don’t correct

if you don’t what connect

and then have compassion for others

i found this out about the comments on

your phone

there’s this powerful little switch

on everybody’s phone like if you have a

smartphone

it’s it’s a thing that you can switch

that says turn off

comments

and there’s many days

that i do what god called me to do and i

call my social media people and say

turn off the comments

and they’d be like

okay

because

what god’s called me to say and proclaim

i don’t care what anybody has to say

about it

and that’s a powerful switch on social

media

but it may be a more powerful switch in

your soul

turn off the comments of what mama said

about you

turn off the comments of what daddy said

about you

turn off the comments of that teacher

who didn’t believe in you turn off the

comments of that coach who wouldn’t put

you on the team turn off the comet some

of us are still living

under the voice of comments of people

who are no longer alive

we are letting the comments resonate

from the other side

affecting us in our today

and they can’t even speak to you in

person

turn off

the comments

nehemiah 6 15. so on october 2nd the

wall was finished

just 52 days after we had begun

it didn’t even take a year

that’s what i’m challenging we’re at

half point of the year do you know what

we could have rebuilt

by the end of this year

it took him 52 days to build the wall

back again when our enemies and the

surrounding nations heard about it they

were frightened oh i love this and

humiliated

they realized

the work had been done

with the help

of our god

turn the comments off

to anything that’s hindering your

calling

i remember

going to um napa

with two with my wife and two of my

closest friends

after the spit hit the fan um

happened

and i don’t know if it was just instinct

because i’m an eight on the enneagram

yes that’s that’s good

and it could be bad

because i’m a fighter

so like i’m ready

like

my words are

and that’s why god had to purify me

because i could cut somebody

and i felt my old nature rising up and

because i felt justified

and the holy spirit said get off social

media for the whole week

no i’m gonna make it to

i’m like what

and i tried to give myself more credit

than i

than i needed to

i got this

god i’m a pastor

man of god i’ll pray for the people

said he said i don’t even want you to

see the comments

people came to tell me did you see you

was on i said hi

gates

walls

what i’m doing is too great to come down

my mama called me she said baby how you

doing i said i’m just trying to get all

the venom out of my heart

so that i can get back to my assignment

i will not come down off this wall

my friends and community say you know

you don’t got to preach

next sunday we can call tim he can come

preach i called tim he said you think

you want to preach it’s my covering he’s

like you think you want to preach i said

i’ve been called to this

and i wouldn’t do it

if i felt like god said don’t do it but

he told me i got to go back and get in

my position i got to rebuild this wall

he said i’m there with you

and i got back up in my spot

seven days

after

the spit hit the fan

and i literally conquered every sand

ballad

in my life

at that moment

when the work did not stop

because of the comments

did we lose people watching

it don’t matter

did some people have a bad perception of

it

i’m human

i’m probably to mess up again

there will be something that i do or

that somebody does

that will

make you want to comment

but what i’ve learned is that to do

anything great

to answer and fulfill your calling

you have to do it in the midst of

comments

what are you trying to say to us pastor

mike

god’s about to use you in a big way

if you’re still cuffed to the comments

it’s gonna make you come down

last point

fulfilling your calling

in the midst of comments

takes courage

today i want to encourage you or put

courage

in

when i was in the middle of this moment

where i was cuffed to the comments and

god says

turn them off

turn the comments off turn the lies off

turn turn the

the the misguided truth off

he doesn’t say turn something off to

just sit in silence

you’re supposed to turn the comments off

so you can turn to him

and many of you have turned comments off

but you haven’t turned to him

and i’m asking you in this season turn

to god

so that he can in

courage you

reminds me of the courage joshua needed

to do what god had called him to do and

lead the people of israel into the

promised land joshua 1 9 have i not

commanded you to do this

didn’t i call you didn’t i move you to

that city didn’t i tell you to do this

haven’t i commanded you be strong

and courageous

do not be afraid

for the lord your god will be with you

wherever

you

go lift your hands all over the world

god is with you

just close your eyes right now and see

god coming to you

with the overwhelming amount of courage

that you need to fulfill the purpose

he’s called you to do

father i pray over these people that

they would be strong and courageous

that they would uncuff from every

comment every lie every distorted truth

father everything that was true father

god but as no longer attached to their

future

god i thank you that they would not be

afraid

or discouraged

because you our god

you will be with us wherever we go

that’s why we can say here

is

holy

[Music]

but i’m praying for your people

that every one of us

would uncuff

from the comments that have kept us from

answering your call

no longer will anybody else’s opinion

be more important than our obedience

today

we take our compassion and our

conviction and we make a fresh

commitment

god changed us so that we can change the

world

today we are submitting and

giving you our lives new and afresh

we won’t come down

the work is too great

we won’t come down

if you’re in this room or watching

online

you’ve never given your life to jesus

to rebuild your walls

today i want to give you that

opportunity god’s ministering to people

all over the world right now

we’re not going to rush this moment

we’re going to just flow in this moment

and i just want to ask somebody

who knows their walls have been turned

down

that they’re in a place right now

no discipline no discernment

[Music]

things around you are just coming in and

going out it feels like you’re being

plundered and plummeted you’re always

being in this place of insecurity and

anxiety is overtaking you you just know

you’ve been living your life

outside of the best or god’s will for

you today i want to give you a chance to

accept jesus as your personal lord and

savior

it’s the greatest decision i’ve ever

made it took me from being a liar a

manipulator somebody who was addicted to

pornography pornography

had a felony a case for car insurance

fraud had all kinds of dark things in my

heart perversion everywhere and god said

yeah with all of that bring it to me

i’ll use it

[Music]

don’t worry about the comments of others

i’ll clean you

and i gave my life to christ and it

didn’t make me a perfect man it made me

a progressing man

i’ve never walked a day without god

since i invited him in and right now

he’s standing at the door of your heart

and he’s knocking

and some of y’all been hearing that

knock for years ignoring it and god’s

saying today is the day of salvation let

me in

let me come in and change you renew you

transform you change redecorate matter

of fact let’s remodel this house

or rebuild your walls

today if that’s you

and you know this moment is just for you

and god

i want you to give your life to christ

for the first time or give your life

back to christ today

if that’s you

and you want to be included in this

prayer we’re about to say on a count of

three i just want you to lift your hands

very simple i want you to identify

wherever you’re at no matter if you’re

watching it live or on rebroadcast if

you’re watching this five years from now

god’s saying today is the day of

salvation

one you’re making the greatest decision

of your life

two i’m proud of you but that is really

low level when god is going to write

your name

in the lamb’s book of life and your

eternity is going to be secure three

you’re saying i want to ask jesus to be

my personal lord and savior

hands in the room i see you

hands online god sees you

[Music]

at transformation church we’re a family

nobody prays alone

and because we don’t care about the

comments of the people that are sitting

next to us

we’re about to make this declaration

unashamed

and as a family so for the benefit of

those coming to christ i want us all to

say this together say god

thank you

for sending jesus

just for me

today

i’m uncuffing

from everything

that has kept me bound

and i’m giving you my life

i believe you lived

you died and you rose again

just for me

so today

i’m giving you everything

change me

renew me

transform me

i’m yours

in jesus name amen can we thank god and

turn up oh all of heaven is turning up

transformation church y’all know how we

do we’re joining heaven

giving god praise for every soul

hallelujah

[Music]

that’s what we’re called to

transformation in christ

and for everybody who just made that

decision i want you to text the number

on the screen i saw this comment

from a girl the other day

and she said when fred hammond was here

they started playing my song no weapon

and that was my sign that i was supposed

to give my life back to god

and she said i gave i called the number

and i gave god my life and this has been

the best two weeks of my life

and i just wrote her back and celebrated

why

because this will be the best year of

your life

if it’s your best year what spiritually

standing everywhere

so proud of our church

[Music]

for making the decision to do the hard

work

what we preaching is the hard work

if you don’t go back and listen to these

messages

it wasn’t able to penetrate the years of

dysfunction that we’ve been having

we got to meditate on what god’s saying

to us through this series so i’m

challenging everybody

this week go about

go back and watch uncuffed to the

comments

go back and watch the ones that we’ve

done before and i believe that god’s

gonna give you fresh revelation

but i’m telling you

mark my words

there is about to be an explosion

of purpose

fulfilled in our house

things that you’ve been dreaming of

praying for

things that you have been believing that

god was going to do things in your

family things in your business mark my

word it’s about to start happening but

god is trying to prepare you by saying

everybody’s not going to cheer

so you have to have your character in

place

to be able to keep building

even when you hear the comments amen

father i thank you that this will be the

best week of our lives

because we’re drawing closer to you

and we declare here is holy somebody

just say it right now here here is hope

father bless our church

do what only you can do in us father god

give fresh insight wisdom in revelation

and i bind the spirit of condemnation

right now every week i bind it

thank you that compassion and conviction

would rise up

and that we would walk into a

transformed life

in jesus name

amen

[Music]

hey just don’t don’t don’t rush rush out

of a place where god could speak to you

would you just set some time

today

tomorrow

the rest of your life

to just give god space to speak to you

to change correct

i feel like even in this building even

in this church like god’s not done

with showing you how your actions today

have been connected to comments

yesterday

god’s changing us from the inside out

[Music]

right here

[Music]

sit right here

[Music]

he’s gonna change me right here

[Music]

even though it’s uncomfortable i know

i’m

right here

for a purpose

sitting right here

[Music]

transformation nation i’m going to be in

miami this week at vue conference if

anybody is in miami um we’re going to be

representing down there we bring in a

bunch of the staff and

we would love to see you and meet you at

the conference and

next week is father’s day y’all go do

something for your daddy

mother’s day y’all be turnt up

father’s day is afterthought y’all do

something for your daddy

we’re gonna see god keep on cuffing us

go out

i feel the presence of god y’all even as

we leave and i want you to live a

transformed life don’t do this thing

without god amen

let’s give god one more clap of praise

in this place

i love you

you