It’s okay to have doubts –– just don’t let them be dead ends.
of course you’ll have doubts just don’t
let them be dead ends and a lot of
people stand at the dead end of a
destiny that God is bringing them into
because they will not walk through the
doubt to get to the promise I meet these
people and they say things to me because
of my profession I guess they make
assumptions about me because there’s a
reven front of my name they make
assumptions about me that I don’t have
real doubts what one gentleman that I
was doing business with he put it this
way he was like I envy you because I
would love to have faith I always wanted
to believe in God but I just always am
the kind of person that doubts a lot and
I envy you that you don’t have those
doubts now here’s what I should have
said back to him it only took me four
months to come up with this
because he is assuming that faith is the
absence of doubt for me faith has never
been the absence of doubt faith that’s
not the absence of doubt it is the means
to overcome it do you hear what I’m
saying because we get in church and we
just all go into this walking dead
willing suspension of disbelief and we
just believe things that have no impact
on our everyday life just like we’re
binge watching Netflix like I’m just
gonna watch this for a little while and
here this little comforting word but
then we go out into the world and we
weed out the stuff but we can’t say weed
out the stuff cuz doubt is bad because
isn’t doubt bad one time I even had a
campus pastor who was giving an
invitation like we will give in a moment
for people who want to place their faith
in Christ and when we do it at our
church we have people repeat a prayer
it’s just a means of allowing them to
express their heart to God so that they
can have a moment that they look back on
and say I place my trust in Christ and
to me that prayer is a very sacred
moment it’s not a time for people to get
their person get out and beat the
parking and it’s not a time for someone
who’s preaching to start sharing their
opinions that is a time to present the
gospel and get out of the way cuz only
God can save a person and now well I
believe this campus pastor meant well
but what he said I had to correct him on
later
and I’m not a mean guy and I make
mistakes up here too but to me he made a
really big mistake when he was praying
the prayer because he was inviting the
people to pray and he said if you want
to give your heart to Christ today and
know for sure that you have a
relationship with him pray this you know
Lord Jesus I believe that I’m a sinner
in need of a savior and I believe
without a doubt that’s the party should
have left out I believe without a doubt
that Jesus Christ the Son of God and the
savior of the world did I give you my
life all of it was good
it was appropriate and there is no other
way to be saved but to confess with your
mouth Jesus is Lord believe in your
heart god raised him from the dead you
shall be saved but that one
parenthetical insert without a doubt I
told him never again when you stand in
the pulpit at elevation do I want you to
put people in a position where you’re
telling them to pray something that they
can’t honestly pray as a matter of fact
don’t put them in a position to pray
something that you can’t honestly pray
because there is not one of you in the
room even with tabs in your pink Bible
that can honestly say without a doubt
not a one of you and if you can hang on
you hadn’t had teenagers yet
somebody took my backside back me up on
this the triumph of my faith is not the
absence of doubt the triumph of my faith
is the ability for the light to shine in
the deepest darkest recesses of my heart
I got doubts but I trust him anyway so
my faith can say even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of
death and the shadow of doubt and the
shadow of dysfunction I will fear no
evil it’s not that I don’t go through
valleys I don’t die there even though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of
death this is Christmas reaching people
even
though throw us in the fire our God is
able to deliver us but even if he
doesn’t we will not bow our knee to you
O king Nebuchadnezzar I know Lazarus is
dead but if Jesus is on the scene every
tenant is a destiny waiting to begin I
[Applause]
have my doubts I don’t believe this
because I don’t doubt it
if you don’t doubt it you’re not reading
it
or you’re reading it with no intent to
live in my doubt is the evidence of my
growth is the closer I get the more
questions I have I struggled to believe
it that I’m forgiven that he forgives me
not only for what I did before I
accepted him but for what I still do Oh
y’all are gonna look at me like that on
Christmas that’s what you brought me
that face maybe he could forgive the
past stuff but what about the present
stuff what about that yeah I I have my
doubts I have my faith well I have my
doubts my man thought he couldn’t come
to Christ cuz he had the house he
thought that belief was the absence of
doubt he didn’t have the revelation that
real belief is the willingness to stand
on it even when you can’t see it feel it
or explain it I I have my doubts I read
that if any man is in Christ he’s a new
creation and the old is gone in the
newest come but that verse is still in
progress in my life there’s still some
old stuff in me comes out in traffic
hello I have my doubts I have my doubts
I have my doubts I read that whom the
Sun sets free is free indeed
but sometimes I feel bound by stuff I
have my doubts is that all right do you
need to find another Church now that you
know that the dude with the mic has some
doubts I have my
I have my doubts and Abby is already
doing the thing that you all we all do
at some point in our life if we try to
be religious where she’s going well she
said the other day where did God come
from and I’m like you’re six
can he just have always been there at
age six do we really have to start this
now but that was about the same time I
did it and she said it so funny it was
like she had me on a witness stand or
something she said I bet she was waiting
for me to get home from work because she
asked Holly and Holly said you gonna ask
your dad but that he’d be home in a
couple of hours and she said I have he’s
got a question for you and Abby said
where did God come from and who made him
and don’t just say he’s always been
there and I’m going already yeah already
this is the first gift of mystery that
heaven is giving to my daughter it is
the beginning of a lifetime of learning
the art of faith which Richard Rohr
suggests is patience with mystery not
the absence of it patience with it to
take Mary home even when you don’t know
where this is headed so I did not give
her a cookie cutter answer partially
because she’s smarter than me and would
have seen right through it
and said I welcome the mystery and I
said I used to lay awake in my bed to
thinking about that when I was a little
boy I was probably seven or eight
because boys are two years behind but I
had that same thing I just could never
make sense of it and I still haven’t I
have my doubts but I believe it I
believe that while I was watching my dad
died and I had to preach my stuff back
to myself and I didn’t have the
protective insulation of this to stand
behind or this to hole yes sir it’s a
real it’s a real problem because a lot
of people are waiting for the doubt to
disappear let’s take the next step the
faith if the absence of doubt was a
prerequisite for being used by God Mary
could not have been the mother of Jesus
over here the angel is talking to Joseph
but before he came to Joseph he spoke to
Mary he spoke to them separately because
you have to experience faith for
yourself you have to make your own
decision as to who God is and what he
means to you so while he was speaking to
Joseph who had to endure the
embarrassment of walking through this
next season he was speaking to Mary and
you’re familiar with the story but just
put it on the screens real quick this is
Luke 1 where he said to Mary greetings
you who are highly favored the Lord is
with you that’s the verdict before I
give you the particulars of the
situation I want to bring you back to
the thing that you can always know in
every season of your life if you choose
to believe in
your verdict should you choose to accept
it God is with me God is for me you are
highly favored God is for you and he is
with you in this moment now I got
something I got to tell you the angel
starts off by reminding Mary of his
presence and it says that Mary was
greatly troubled at his words now what’s
there to be troubled about all he said
was hello God likes you seem like Giada
high-fived and this father but she
wondered what this greeting might be
often the first impulse when God really
shows up in your life is fear and it is
only in pushing through the fear that
you find the love of God on the other
side of your fear what’s this all about
but the angel said to her don’t be
afraid Mary you have found favor with
God you have found favor with God and I
got an assignment for you because he
found favor with God you will be with
child and give birth to a son and you
are to give him the name Jesus he will
be great and will be called the son of
the Most High the Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David and he
will reign over the house of Jacob
forever his kingdom will never end
now watch Mary’s response well praise
the Lord and glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth and goodwill to men
on whom his favor rests and your words
to me are like drops of gold assurance
in a heart for now Mary said first thing
out of her mouth was how I know how
pregnancy works how am i pregnant I
promised God me and Joseph been keeping
it clean I promise God we have not been
in the backseat of a camel akai promise
how
her first instinct is not yes
it’s how that is always the response
when God really nots
how how can i really be forgiven by
someone who died on a cross before I was
ever born how can somebody else’s death
really affect my life how that’s a good
starting place how can you really use me
look at me
I’m nobody I’m nothing how how how can I
move forward after this how can I
believe that I still will see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living
how how how see the greatest gifts that
God ever gives are on the other side of
your hell on the other side of your
question on the other side of your I
don’t get it on the other side of your I
don’t understand on the other side of
who me on the other side of what now on
the other side of why this that’s where
the gift is and you shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying
in the manger God wrapped his son in
something that looks so common that you
would walk by it if you weren’t looking
for it because the greatest gifts that
God gives are wrapped in doubt
[Applause]
when the promise is wrapped in doubt for
a reason because if he gave you proof
you wouldn’t need faith hey thanks for
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