Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
forty-two years means that we have a
testimony 42 years means that you have
hindsight vision on what God has done in
your life 42 years means some clarity
has come your way that you can look back
and you can tell a story now you have a
testimony of God’s provision you have a
testimony of his sovereignty you have a
testimony of his Providence you have a
testimony of His grace and of His mercy
and of his love and of his kindness 42
years simply means that you have a
testimony and a story that you can tell
this church has a testimony but guess
what you also have a testimony each
person in this room can look back and
tell a story of how they’ve gotten to
where they currently are today I want to
talk to you about one verse one verse
that really caught my attention as I was
talking and thinking through what I
would talk about this morning and it’s
what I call a testimony for the ages
because this verse spells out how that
thing works it spells out how a
testimony works how this church has
gotten to where it is how you’ve gotten
to where you are how I’m even able to
stand on this stage right now and be
where God has called me to be at this
very moment it’s a testimony it’s found
in Genesis 50 and verse 20 now you’re
gonna know it well after you I read this
verse and say it out loud you may make
the church face because you know this is
your verse but Genesis 50:20 simply says
this Joseph was looking at his brothers
and he said you meant it for evil but
God meant it for good in order to bring
about this present result to preserve
many lives that right there is a
testimony he’s looking back on his life
and he’s recounting his story to get him
to the place where he currently is now
at about a hundred years old he died at
a hundred and ten and he’s looking back
and letting the
and his presence no his brothers that
there was something bad that happened
but God was able to turn around and make
it good it was to bring me to the place
where I’m currently standing and the
goal is always to preserve somebody’s
life
that’s this church’s testimony
everything wasn’t always good at the
beginning there were some hard things
that we had to work through in order to
get to the present place where we
currently stand but even though we had
some hard things God took those hard
things and made them good things so that
we can get to a pinnacle or present
result where he has us and the goal is
always to preserve somebody’s life
that’s how the testimony works that’s
how your testimony works that’s how
Joseph’s testimony worked and he’s
letting us know he’s giving us some of
his 20/20 vision and some of his
hindsight so that some of us that may be
in the hard part or the pit part or the
dark part the empty part the part that’s
hard give you a little bit of some of
his vision so that you don’t give up
because there’s going to be somebody in
the future that’s going to be counting
on your testimony the reason why you’re
sitting in this room is because early on
when things are tough the church didn’t
give up and now there are many people
who are benefiting on the church’s
testimony the fact that we can stand
here for 42 years but Joseph lets you
know that this testimony it’s an
investment that God makes in your life
in other words it starts in the red and
moves its way to the black most people
meet God and they wanted to start in the
black you know when God makes an
investment in your life because he has a
place where he’s trying to take you he’s
gonna make that investment and you’ll
find yourself starting in the red but
it’s for the goal of that investment to
take root so that you can move to the
black that’s why you can’t make the
mistake and look at where somebody is
currently and think that you know their
story
you can’t come to this church and sit
down and and see how big it is and all
the land and all of the buildings and
think that you know how we got here a
lot of people make a sum
when they look at other people and what
they have or what the where they live
and what they drive and they start
assuming things about them but really
the reality is you don’t know them you
don’t know what God took them through to
get them to the place where they
currently are because there were things
that each person in this room has gone
through to make it where you are or are
going through in order to get to the
place where God wants you to be it’s
called the testimony and Joseph spells
out how this thing works he said you
meant it for evil
it started bad but God meant that thing
for good in order to bring about this
present result in order to preserve
somebody’s life he starts out by telling
his brothers you meant it for evil you
know what he was talking about you know
the story I just want to survey it for a
second he’s talking about Genesis 37 you
see Joseph was the man who had favor
from his father his father loved him and
gave him a robe or a tunic a very color
tunic that represented Dominion and
authority that represented his calling
that represented the fact that he had
been handed the rights firstborn right
even though he wasn’t the firstborn so
he had that external evidence of the
father’s favor that he was wearing but
not only did he have that Joseph had a
dream he was a visionary he had a dream
of things that he was thinking about how
high up he would go and that his
brothers would actually be bowing down
to the to him and so somebody didn’t
give his brothers the memo that favor
ain’t fair somebody didn’t let his
brothers know that it everybody doesn’t
get Parshin out the same it doesn’t work
like that Matthew 25 wasn’t written then
so they didn’t know about the talents
and the five and the two and the one
they didn’t understand all of that so
they didn’t get the memo that favor
isn’t fair so when they saw that tunic
and when they heard those dreams they
were jealous and they did not want
Joseph to experi
against the calling on his life so it
says in Genesis 37 23 and 24 that his
brothers stripped him of his tunic his
very colored tunic and then they threw
him into the pit and the pit was empty
without any water in it so here Joseph
is going from having the father’s favor
to being stripped of the external
evidence of the father’s favor then
being thrown into a pit and then being
in a pit where he’s not even getting the
simplest of provisions water and feeling
that it’s empty here he is in the pit of
his testimony he’s thinking and
recounting Genesis 37 while he’s at
Genesis 50 32 a hundred years old and
he’s letting you know that this thing
started bad you know what my brother’s
tried to do they tried to strip me of
the father’s favor that there are people
was you know it’s bad when the people
that you think you can tell your dream –
are jealous of the very dream that you
have and people that you think will push
you towards your dreams are the ones who
want to strip you from your dreams it’s
the sad reality when the people closest
to you don’t want to see your well-being
because they didn’t get the memo their
favor is just not fair and so they
stripped him of the external evidence of
the father’s favor on his life but why
did they do that because they couldn’t
strip him of his dream that’s internal
so because they couldn’t reach into his
brain and strip him of his dream that’s
what they wanted they destruct they
decided to strip him of the evidence of
his dream so that his external body
would never make it to his dream see
this is a tactic of the enemy John 10:10
the enemy comes to steal kill and
destroy he’s trying to take your
testimony from you and the way that he
does that is to strip you of the
external evidence of the father’s favor
in your life so that you will feel like
you have lost the father’s favor in your
life and if I can make you feel like you
have lost the father’s favor then I can
make you
operate as if you do not have the
father’s favor so what the brothers were
doing is they were stripping him
externally but it was so that they can
get an internal result get him into a
pit where he can’t move if I can make
you depress if I can make you think that
your life is worthless if I can make you
think that God is not doing anything
with you that that’s where you’re going
to stay that’s who you’re going to be
that’s the identity that you’re going to
have then I can kill you even when
keeping you alive because you won’t have
a testimony you won’t have a Genesis 50
experience because me stripping you
externally has stripped you internally
that’s what the enemy did with Jobe
you’ve read the story he took his house
he took his family he put boils on his
skin he did all of these external meth
methods but it was for an internal
result you need to deny God my purpose
is to try to get you to denounce God
it’s not about all of these external
things I’m just using that as a vehicle
he did it with Adam and Eve you see this
fruit you see that tree he got him to
think about the external but the purpose
was for internal sin to mess up the
world he did it with Jesus in Matthew
chapter 4 he showed him the rock turn it
into bread he showed them the kingdoms
of this earth I’ll give him to you but I
need you to bow down and worship me he’s
always trying to do something in our
external world to strip us of what God
is trying to do in the spiritual
providential world that’s what Joseph is
talking about when he recounts this
story and that happened to us as a
church most people don’t know that there
was a time when we had nowhere to go as
a church we were at a Dale Turner which
is my elementary school right around the
corner here on Polk Street and we had
nowhere to go because the school had
decided even though we were meeting
there and God’s favor was there and we
were clothed with the place to meet in a
church house they decided they cannot
host us anymore they decided that we
have to move you along and so my parents
and the elders and deacons at that time
were
rock and a hard place because I thought
we had the father’s favor but now we’re
stripped of the external evidence that
we used to have and so this church has
experienced what it is to feel and see
the father working in your life but then
to also see the enemy try to strip it
from you but just because the enemy
strips it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t
still have it just because you lose
because the enemy does this just because
you lose the external evidence of the
father’s favor doesn’t mean you don’t
still have the internal Providence of
what God is doing we have to have
clarity of vision and Genesis 50 gives
us clarity of vision based on this
testimony that God has a testimony for
your life he has a purpose for your life
it is not random you are not here just
to sit soaked and sour in a random
mundane way of living he can’t create
the universe and create a
self-sustaining world based on the water
from Antarctica when it melts and goes
down so that we can have vegetation so
that we can still breathe and have all
of these things that are working in
unison like your body but then create
you for a random purpose it doesn’t work
like that God has a purpose for your
life if he doesn’t if he didn’t you
wouldn’t be sitting in here but what the
enemy wants you to do is think otherwise
when he put you in that pit oh I like
I’m not gonna make it I’m not really
sure that I’m not gonna get there I
don’t really know if God has my back I
feel forgotten this isn’t for me I see
what everybody else is doing but I’m my
vision is fuzzy because I don’t see what
God is doing in my life that is the
tactic of the enemy to ruin your Genesis
50 experience that God is trying to do
something and Joseph is letting us know
how this thing works my mom can tell you
of how she worked in the sweat factory
for years at the beginning we call it
that because it was our garage and in
the garage
no air conditioned up in there is hot
but she was trying to help Tony Evans
get to where he was trying to go and so
she would call my sisters into the sweat
factory so that they could put tapes in
the envelopes tapes and I see these Matt
mp3’s tapes in the envelope to mail all
over the country national and
international they used to do that from
their garage she can tell you the story
so don’t think just because this house
looks like this now that it didn’t start
with some pit experiences this palace is
just a result of the pit experiences
this palace is just a result of the
testimony of going through Genesis 37 to
get to Genesis 50 that’s what he did he
threw them into a pit that was empty and
those waterless and if the truth be told
there are people in the room that are
feeling empty you’re feeling like you’re
not even getting simple provisions but
as the testimony goes and moves along it
says that you meant it for evil but God
meant it for good
you notice when God shows up you have to
add a contrast conjunction see when God
shows up there is always a but however
conversely something changes when God
shows up matthew mark 10:18 says who was
good other than God alone and when he
shows up he shows up with his nature and
you get to experience it people often
ask well if God is so good then why do I
experience this much bad well because
when you experience the bad that’s what
illuminates that he’s so good if
everything was always good you’d be
confused on where the good is coming
from and he wants to make sure you’re
not confused when you get to your
Genesis 50 testimony
he wants to make sure you know where
this thing is coming from I don’t know
if you’ve ever been to a superhero movie
and the movie didn’t have no villain or
no problem oh that’s a dumb movie nobody
want to watch no superhero movie where
he just flying around just because he
got power he needs to be able to fix
something in order to throw on a super
to his hero and the reason why we know
we serve a superhero because we stand in
at 42 years it’s because there was some
problems that he redirected it said that
you meant it for evil but God meant it
for good in other words we’re talking
about the same Genesis 37 experience but
God changed the meaning of the same
experience because we’re talking about
the same thing but God is a meaning
changer he comes into the problem and he
changes your testimony from a problem to
appraised you’re talking about the same
thing in your testimony this is what
happened but let me tell you how God
turned that thing around because what
God does is he steps into those
scenarios that you thought you would
have never gotten out of and he pulls
you out him out of them because of who
he is not because of who you are but
it’s because of who he is
so that when you give your testimony in
your Genesis 50 experience he is not
excluded let me show you how he did that
for Joseph Joseph was stripped in
chapter 37 but in chapter 41 you see 41
verses 42 starting there you see that
pharaoh takes off his signet ring and
gives it to joseph puts it on his hand
then Pharaoh clothes Joseph with a royal
robe then Pharaoh puts a necklace around
his neck now the necklace the Royal rope
in the ring mean that you share the
authority of Pharaoh it says that when
you come through everybody’s gonna
battle their knee because Joseph had
dreams that got
stripped but he also had dreams that got
him equipped don’t you know that God
will allow you to endure a stripping but
it’s only because he’s trying to
position you in the for a future
equipping understand that when you are
down to nothing it’s only because God is
up to something
you you realize nobody can really strip
you of what God has for you but God will
allow you to be stripped so that he can
have you before he gives you what he has
we’ve got to understand that what you’re
going through is for testimony
somebody’s life is going to be preserved
by your stories so you can’t give up
because we’re being preserved by this
testimony if my parents were to stop
because they were stripped of elder a
Dale Turner we wouldn’t be in here right
now preserving people’s lives the
testimony has to start in the read but
it’s only so God can move you to the
black and you can say it wasn’t me he
did it as I recount that story in my
dad’s story and LDL Turner because I
didn’t finish it
we got stripped and I remember him
telling me that he went in to talk to a
former linebacker of the Dallas Cowboys
named Bob runic Bob runic was in there
and I don’t know what my dad was doing
but I could probably guess don’t have
anywhere to go
Bob Bernick plays for the Cowboys maybe
it was to get a check
because he’ll talk about some given now
make sure we’ve got lights and so he was
in there talking to Bob brunette they’re
great friends are probably just
explaining to him that I had God’s favor
and now we’re stripped of a place to go
and so the church was homeless for a
little while and so he was explaining
that to Bob runic in his office but then
some random guy walked past the room and
he walked past the room and then he
backed up and stood in the doorway so
Nomad is talking to Bob but he’s looking
back over his shoulder like who is this
cat okay so he’s trying to figure out
who this dude is being nosy about our
conversation so he’s starting to feel
you know when somebody’s in your stuff
you start to kind of feel some kind of
way about why are you standing there
keep on moving and then the guy who’s
standing there gets comfortable on the
doorway and crosses his leg so now he’s
giving him a hint that I ain’t going
nowhere I’m gonna stay here and watch
and listen to what’s going on then that
dude comes and sits down next to my dad
so now Tony Evans got smoke coming out
of his ears and fire coming out of his
nose because he’s trying to explain to
Bob runic what’s going on with the
church then the dudes start asking
questions and so now my dad is giving
him short answers yes No
why are you here in his mind he just yes
you know okay we’re trying to do this so
the guy is as it’s probing him for
answers and giving him questions and he
tells him well you know there’s this
this little chapel that we have right
down the street and we’re looking at it
we’ve been talking to the people about
it but we just don’t have the money for
it so we’re trying to figure out what
we’re going to do and that’s when the
guy asked a question he said well how
much does it cost and my dad said in his
brain what’s it to you why are you here
my dad told him he said well you know
it’s just $200,000 then that man pulls
out his checkbook and he opens it up now
the countenance on my father’s face just
changes all of a sudden now he he’s
popping his suit and he’s answering
questions well you know my overall
vision is to have all of the land and he
started doing his sermon kicks you know
he started he started stepping around
because he trying to figure out what’s
about to happen up in here but that man
he wrote a check for $200,000 and handed
it to my father then got up out of that
seat that used to be a nuisance and went
back to that hallway and just walked
right off this church has a testimony
God will allow you to be stripped but
it’s only so that he can show up and do
some equipping up in here so that you
can talk about the goodness of God so
that you can see how you got to from
point A to your point B don’t forget you
didn’t get here because of yo two feet
you got here because of his mercy and
His grace you got here because of where
he’s taking you then he has a testimony
he’s telling his brothers you meant it
for evil but don’t worry it’s okay
because God meant this thing for good
and the last time I checked when he cast
that check it went through because when
God comes through his stuff don’t bounce
[Applause]
so I want to use our church our
testimony to encourage somebody in their
testimony
you can’t quit in the pit you can’t stop
you can’t give up you got to understand
that this good God wants to use that bad
scenario to bring you to the pinnacle
point that he created you for and it may
not be me it may not be Tony Evans it
may not be Carolyn it may not be but
it’s yours and what’s yours is yours
he’s telling him you meant it for evil
but God meant this thing for good so God
really was stripped you got that but I
want to show you how else God took that
same scenario to turn it and make it
good it says that the pit Genesis 37 it
says verse 24 it says that the pit was
empty without any water in it now I was
thinking to myself now why in the world
sometimes you have to read the Bible and
then step back and think a little bit
why in the world would the author go
into so much trouble to tell you the
nature of the pit it’s good enough that
he got stripped and he in there why are
you telling me that it’s empty and it
has no water in it so I prayed about
that for about three days what is the
correlation between Joseph’s having to
experience not just a stripping not just
a pit but also a pit that’s also empty
and doesn’t have the provision of water
in it then the Spirit threw it up into
my mind and said this is how it works
God will always prepare you for how he’s
about to use you if you see in chapter
41 he’s giving Pharaoh answers to his
dreams that there is a famine coming
Pharaoh puts him in charge over a famine
a famine means you have people who are
experiencing emptiness no food and who
are experiencing no water so what God
will allow you to do is experience the
purpose of what he’s going to do when he
puts you in the palace because he
doesn’t just want you to have the
information when you preserve somebody’s
life you need to be able to sympathize
with their weaknesses so he has Joseph
in a pit that’s empty and waterless
because I need you to be able to
sympathize with some people who are
about to be empty and waterless when I
reclose you I need you to know what to
do you can’t if somebody’s experiencing
sexual abuse well that’s nice that you
can talk to me from a book but I want to
know that you feel my pain
if somebody’s experiencing a falling out
of the family or a divorce where it’s
nice that you maybe even the pastor but
let me talk to somebody that’s
experienced what I’m going through
there’s the way that God wants to use
you and you can always get the
identifiers by how he’s going to use you
by keeping your eyes open in the pit God
will always give you evidence in your
struggle see most people are thinking
about the struggle but they don’t have
their eyes open to the evidence if you
have your eyes open to the evidence then
even though you’re in the pit you know
what God is gonna do later you know that
he’s gonna use it that’s why people are
passionate about things they previously
experienced have you ever noticed that
your passion to help somebody comes from
the very thing you used to struggle with
God uses that and turns it upside down
so that you can have a testimony to
preserve somebody’s life realize this is
not just about you okay we like to to
correlate scriptures you know from the
New Testament I can correlate scriptures
you know you got Romans 8:28 God will
work all things out for good for those
who love God and are called according to
his see we jump over pews and we
swinging from the rafters on the first
part but he works it out for good
because of his purposes he’s thinking
about whose life he needs you to
preserve he’s thinking about the
outworking of his kingdom a lot of
people sit in the pit for an extended
amount of time because they want God to
change things for their own Christian
narcissism they want God to bring a
cloud down to sit on them for
for their throne for their omniscience
for their omnipresence for what they
want to do in their life
you ain’t the King boo boo Jesus is
trying to do this for his kingdom for
his glory that’s why you’re going
through what you’re going through so you
can’t quit you can’t give up we’re
sitting in these pews because not
because we haven’t been stripped but
because we kept walking and God equipped
he put us in this place Joseph’s got to
a point
it’s 41 51 he named his son Genesis 41
51 he named the fruit Manasseh he named
him Manasseh because it means the Lord
has made me forget about all my troubles
hold on you forgot so you don’t remember
what you went through
no he remembers cuz in Genesis 50 he
said you meant it for evil so it’s not
that he forgot it’s not that his
cognitive capacity has failed it’s just
that where he is is so plush where God
has taken him from is so good that where
he’s been no longer controls him where
he is so even the fruit that comes from
me has to get named based on where I am
I didn’t name him pain I named him
Manasseh which means I don’t even
remember that stuff my mom could tell
you I told you about the sweat factory
but you know when I asked her about the
sweat factor you know she would always
call my sisters in there to help and you
know they’d be like oh here we go as hot
you know you get frustrated when it’s
hot you know so they’re in there trying
to help my mom out in the sweat factory
and when I asked her about those days I
said man I know that was rough because I
wasn’t there I uh I got the best
position in the house baby at a family
all of that rough stuff is over it’s
just party sleep have fun bring me
something to drink um
having fun but they had it hard but when
I asked her about it she says yeah that
was tough but now we got a ministry that
just pumps that stuff out but now we’re
on a thousand stations in over 130
countries but now I’m not in the sweat
factory anymore I’m in this
air-conditioned building that we
purchase that pumps out the Ministry of
Tony Evans but now I’ve been the
executive director for a national and
international ministry for 30 years but
now because when God shows up he makes
you forget a little bit you got a little
bit of amnesia when it comes to what’s
going on in your life not because you
forgotten but because he’s just that
good um my wife our first child for all
of you pregnant ladies in the room right
now this won’t be your story but our
first child
sweet Kelsie if she is down there I’m
not looking at me now I know why God
used me and why my dad used me
illustrations all the time easy pickins
but it wasn’t her fault
we got induced with Kelsie probably a
week before she was scheduled to be born
because they said she was gonna be a big
baby and sure enough she came out at 8 8
so if we would have waited a week
she might have hit that 9 ok our two
sons were 9 5 and 91 so so we ain’t
playing no games but we went in and they
laid down and they gave her medication
we know now that she doesn’t need
medication to have babies because her
Labor’s are quick our last child from
the start of her labor to the delivery
was an hour and a half I mean she she
like a bullet but this one we didn’t
knows our first time and so we we had
some medication we got induced that
medication had a negative effect on my
wife she had contractions with no breaks
so she would have exactly all the ladies
that had babies left
that’s whack so so her contractions are
going up because I’m looking at it on
the monitor and then it’s falling down
and I see her breathing soon and that
thing goes right back up and she would
say Oh Lord here it comes again
and I’m like Lord Jesus and I’m thinking
you know I’m saying out loud I wish I
could take it from you I wish I can in
my mind I’m like man forget about that
thing I can say that now I kept it in
then that’s not right they know heroes
around here we go then we went through
16 hours of labor okay this is not gonna
be your experience though and then
finally the baby came and it was just
yay you know what I was so I had already
shut down in my mind that because of
this experience we just had we done
well who we want and out of there I’m
pretty sure that my wife is not gonna
want to do this again after going
through that type of experience we can’t
so after about ten months past she came
to me and she said I’m ready for number
two I said hmm I said but don’t you
remember what happened with number one
don’t you remember
she said I remember but look at this
baby
so what she was looking at overrode what
she remembered about the pain of the
birth so I said are you sure you want to
do this and she said I’m sure I want to
do this now start getting excited
because while she was telling me she
wants another child I’d kind of know
what that means for me so while she was
talking I was just like this I’m ready
whenever you ready I was just doing the
stanky leg I’m like you take just give
me a word Cornelius just give me a word
I didn’t know we were gonna do it but if
you’re gonna do it just say something
it was that funny yeah it was the baby
see when God delivers what he’s gonna
deliver in your life you’ll look at that
baby and say oh it was worth it
let’s do this thing again there is a
testimony and he said it was so good
that I can’t even remember my troubles
in my father’s household that God is
trying to do something in your life he’s
trying to birth something and produce
something and bring fruit about but you
can’t quit you can’t throw in the towel
in the middle of your testimony or the
stripping from the enemy would have won
that he’s taking you down and you never
lost the father’s favor just because you
lost a little bit of physical evidence
physical evidence those doesn’t override
God’s spiritual providence so never get
it twisted as you’re walking through
this life that I got to keep doing
because somebody’s life is going to be
preserved based on my testimony let me
tell you a story about my testimony just
for a second and most people know I was
a sports guy was the thing is over now
but I was a sports guy football player
played at Duncanville high school won
the state championship then one debate
went to Baylor got educated we don’t win
no games but my parents thought I was a
winner cuz I got a full scholarship that
means you won I care less how many games
you win so I’ve got a full scholarship
full ride to go to Baylor University and
I had a dream everybody knows my dream
was to to play in the NFL I wanted to
play in the NFL and I told God just
allow me to run out the tunnel I just
want to run out the tunnel I just want
to feel the fire and see the planes and
and hear the crowd I just wanted that
opportunity to play a few games in the
NFL and I got a chance I was picked up
in the 2005 draft class by the Dallas
Cowboys some of you cowboy fans know
that’s the draft class of Marion Barber
and DeMarcus Ware and J Ratliff and all
of those guys you don’t know me because
they were better but I was there they
still write checks to everybody I was in
there so I was there but three weeks
into being equipped I was stripped I
walked up to the door and the guy that
we called the Grim Reaper he stepped out
and put his hands on my chest then he
reached out and he took the playbook he
didn’t say a word he just pointed that
way because you know what that means
he’s just going back now only had 20
minutes to mope because I’m playing for
the Cowboys I’ll be home in 20 minutes
so it’s not like I got a flight to cry
about it know I’ve got to go home and
try to reassemble and then I got a call
from the San Diego Chargers I said okay
God let’s make this thing happen
let’s make this dream come to life and
then they said but we’re going to
allocate you to NFL Europe so that you
can develop I was like develop I don’t
need to develop so I go to this NFL
Europe league and things keep going
downhill we’re in training camp and you
have a two hour practice then they let
you take off your helmet and eat a
banana and an apple put it back on and
go do another two-hour practice I said
this ain’t for me I don’t want to do
this we’re out there in Tampa it’s hot
we finally fly to Germany it’s white
walls white sheets no english-speaking
channels for several months I wanted to
quit I called my dad and I told him I
said I’m gonna quit football I’m out I’m
done this is not for me
so I said book a flight cuz I don’t have
no money me and my brother always
talking about we ain’t got no money and
he needed him to co-sign I don’t need
him to co-sign I need you to sign by
himself
I need you to book this ticket so I can
get home because this is not for me I
can’t handle this stripping that I’m
going through my favor it seems like
it’s been lost or gone I need to go home
so he he said are you sure son I said
I’m really sure booked the ticket he
booked the ticket I go sit in the
coach’s office and tell him I’m going
home he said well we really don’t want
you to go home cuz you’re a good player
I said literally I don’t care what you
want it’s Jonathan Evans talk I care
less what you want because I was
frustrated and I’m 22 years old 23 years
old I’m going home right now and he said
well you can’t go home right now because
you haven’t done your exit physicals you
can do your exit physical tomorrow night
because that’s a liability you let a
player go home before he does his exit
physicals they can come back and say I
was hurt on the job and try to get paid
that way so I called my dad and said I
can’t go home till tomorrow night my dad
said don’t you think it’s interesting I
said our Lord here goes this philosopher
that you couldn’t leave when you wanted
to leave he said so I want you to do
something for me I want you to go out to
one more practice and I want you to ask
God if he wants you there and spider
whether you think you want to be there
so I went back out to that practice and
I kid you not
in the practice I was crying you know
when you’re really crying because you
can’t control your neck
I’m crying my neck is cocking back I
can’t do nothing about it because I
don’t want to be there this is a pit for
me it’s a pit experience but I asked God
if you want me to be here then you’re
gonna have to give me a peace that
surpasses all understanding and I kid
you not the next time I put my hand in
the dirt that’s exactly what I felt made
the next play and turned around and
looked at my coach and I said I’m
staying and he said okay great I don’t
know where this came from but then I
realized by the end of the season my
teammates had given me a new nickname
they call me Reyes seven players
accepted Jesus Christ
so now I know the business transaction
that has to take place to get on the
field in the NFL so I like I do is pray
for people and lead people to Jesus now
you gonna let me run out the tunnel
right so I’m young so I’m trying to
manipulate God for him to put me in the
palace where I see myself so I go to the
Titans I’d do it what God has called me
to do but I still get cut I go to the
Washington Redskins I do it but I still
get cut but finally in 2011 I’m standing
in the tunnel I circled back around to
the Dallas Cowboys and I called my dad
and I said dad we did it we here I’m
about to run out the tunnel for the
first time and my dad said Amen son Amen
now what you should be wondering is why
in the world you got your cell phone in
the tunnel because the first time I ran
out of the tunnel for my first NFL game
I wasn’t the player I was the chaplain
[Applause]
because God has a plan for your
testimony now it may not be your plan
but it’s a good plan and it’s to give
you a future and to give you a hope you
have a testimony in the room what I came
here to say this morning is the church
has a testimony but it’s to preserve
somebody’s life you have a testimony but
it’s to preserve somebody’s life don’t
think it’s about you unless you end up
like a fruit that’s eating itself
rotten you’ve been placed here to
preserve somebody’s life by the blood of
the Lamb and the word of your testimony
Jesus Christ has a testimony the reason
why we have a testimony is because he
has a testimony he was rejected by the
people who he came to save but he lived
a perfect life he experienced death and
then he rose to be with the Father and
the only reason why you can be grateful
in your testimony is because of his
testimony the only reason why we can
celebrate a Jackie Robinson anniversary
of 42 years is like you remember Jackie
Robinson he would go into the stadiums
where he was rejected but he would still
hit homeruns Jesus stepped up to the
plate over 2,000 years ago the enemy
tried to throw him a curveball but he
had a perfect swing with his life and he
knocked that thing over the centerfield
wall he ran around first base of his
humanity second base of death and
rejection third base of resurrection but
then he came home to be seated at the
far by the right hand of the Father and
we can celebrate our testimony because
of the home run that he hit we can get
excited about our testimony because he
gave us a good at-bat we can be excited
about who we are because of who he is
and I’m excited about our testimony as a
church because Jesus knocked that thing
over the centerfield wall and the crowd
goes wild because Jesus made that thing
happen because he has a testimony we
have a testimony and you have a
testimony
tell your story live your story because
it will preserve somebody’s life
somebody ought to praise them because
that’s why we have a testimony in the
room
[Applause]