Episode 76 is a message that Jason Vallotton preached at Bethel Church on Father’s Day, 2024! Following the annual BraveCo men’s conference, Jason recalls testimonies and big wins from BraveCo’s largest men’s event of the year before diving into a profoundly impactful message.
Drawing lessons from the creation story in Genesis, Jason explores how God's structured approach to creating the world can offer us valuable insights for managing our own lives. Each day of creation holds a lesson on bringing order to our personal chaos.
To wrap it up, Jason confronts chaos head-on, exploring themes of divine order and the necessity of setting boundaries. Personal stories highlight financial struggles and the fears that come with instability, offering lessons from biblical stories like the Israelites in the wilderness. He shares the importance of seeking support and true repentance as keys to transforming chaos into order in every area of life.
Connect with Lauren:
Instagram
Facebook
Connect with Jason:
Jay’s Instagram
Jay’s Facebook
BraveCo Instagram
www.braveco.org
Episode 76 is a message that Jason Vallotton preached at Bethel Church on Father’s Day, 2024! Following the annual BraveCo men’s conference, Jason recalls testimonies and big wins from BraveCo’s largest men’s event of the year before diving into a profoundly impactful message.
Drawing lessons from the creation story in Genesis, Jason explores how God's structured approach to creating the world can offer us valuable insights for managing our own lives. Each day of creation holds a lesson on bringing order to our personal chaos.
To wrap it up, Jason confronts chaos head-on, exploring themes of divine order and the necessity of setting boundaries. Personal stories highlight financial struggles and the fears that come with instability, offering lessons from biblical stories like the Israelites in the wilderness. He shares the importance of seeking support and true repentance as keys to transforming chaos into order in every area of life.
Connect with Lauren:
Instagram
Facebook
Connect with Jason:
Jay’s Instagram
Jay’s Facebook
BraveCo Instagram
www.braveco.org
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Speaker 1:Every human was created for fulfilling relational connection. But that's not always what comes easiest. We know this because of our wide range of personal experience, as well as our years of working with people.
Speaker 2:So we're going to crack open topics like dating, marriage, family and parenting to encourage, entertain and equip you for a deeply fulfilling life of relational health.
Speaker 1:Hey everyone, here is a message I taught on chaos and order at Bethel Church in Redding, california. We really felt like it was a must listen for our audience, so I hope that you guys all enjoy it. Good morning, it's great to be here with you guys, except for I already have a little bit of beef with y'all and I just got up here. So that's okay, we're going to talk about it. Did you guys see me up there on the screen earlier? Look pretty good, huh, reading the announcements and doing all that? But when I got to the Braveco part, I noticed there wasn't a ton of cheering. I know how many of you guys came to the Braveco conference last year Like six of you. Okay, now I understand why there wasn't a ton of cheering our our men's conference. The Braveco conference, is awesome. If you haven't been to one, they are really, really cool.
Speaker 1:We've changed the way that we're doing conferences for men, because well, uh, I don't like going to conferences usually, and more than I don't like going to conferences, I don't like sitting. You guys know what I mean. Like I don't like sitting. I need. I need something to do, something to pursue something, to catch some, someone to battle against, and, and so we've created some of that at our conference. For starters, every guy that comes is in a group of 50 men. You're in a team, you have team colors, you have a team flag, you have a team chant, you have team pride. That's a good thing in a team and you're battling all the other teams because you want to see them lose. Do you see how you're cheering now? That's what I'm talking about, and we did this. You also sit together inside in your team because we wanted to create community. We want a place where men can come and be in community and not hide in the back like we want to men, but to actually come and to sit and to learn and to grow and to give and to have something given to you, to get a real impartation. That happens in a team.
Speaker 1:And then we take half of a day and we do these massive team challenges. I'm supposed to call them challenges and not competitions, but they're really competitions, which means there's winners and there's losers and there's hurt feelings, and we broke up a couple fights last time because we forget when we're in these team challenges that we're all Christians and we love each other. We don't we hate each other for a little bit of time and that creates an unbreakable bond. It does. I don't know how, but it does. There's just only a way that you trust the guy that you fought with a little bit. Do you know what I mean? Rub shoulders. But here's the thing If you're like I don't like all that competition stuff, you can just cheer the guys on. You can just be in your group and yell as loud as you can and, let's be honest, that's what a lot of us do anyways. So we just get in there and cheer as loud as you can and your team will hopefully win. But that is a real bonding experience as well.
Speaker 1:At the conference, we are creating a battle plan for every single man that comes. So you'll be working on your battle plan while you go through the conference, which is awesome because we focus on the five main areas of your life that need to be strengthened. And so why we do this is because we don't want you to just come to a conference and go. Man, I hope the speakers say good things Well, that's great, but we all forget what people say anyways once we leave and I know that because I've been to church for 44 years now. By the time I get home, I'm like what did he say? I don't know, but it was. It felt really good. Okay, we want you to leave the conference with a plan Not the conference to be the plan, but for you to leave with a plan for you to go.
Speaker 1:I got a plan for my marriage. I got a plan for my finances. I got a plan for my kids. I got a plan for this area of my life that I don't know how to solve. Each one of the speakers are delivering a piece of your battle plan, so they're not just getting up here and speaking on what they want to speak on. They're getting up here and giving a piece of their life to you to help you grow and face the challenges that you're facing. The other piece that I'm really excited about this year is our rite of passage for young men, and I've talked about it a little bit, but I want to talk about it more.
Speaker 1:There's something that happens when other men gather around and pour into our sons. It's one thing for me to pour into my sons I have three sons it's a whole nother thing for Dan, for Ben, for you guys, to look at my sons and to pour in strength, courage, peace, to look at the places in their life where they may be struggling and to pour into them. John Eldredge said masculinity is not something a man is born with. It's something that's poured into him through other men, and for a lot of our young men, they've never actually been given the opportunity to be welcomed into manhood, into this journey of manhood, with other men who have faced it with courage. It's the greatest way to learn if you're a young man is to actually gain the wisdom from all these other guys.
Speaker 1:Listen, I don't want my sons to go fight a battle that I've already won. I want them to take that victory and from there to go and fight the battles that they need to fight. That's what we're doing. So these men have a two and a half mile tough mudder course and yes, moms, it won't be easy and it will be hard and it'll be challenging. That's what we're doing. So these men have a two and a half mile tough mudder course and yes, moms, it won't be easy and it will be hard and it'll be challenging. That's what it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1:In case we haven't noticed, life is hard and challenging and makes you face with grit. Life that's coming, but you learn that you can do it, not because of you, but the community that's surrounding you and what God's given you. And so I really, really, really want to encourage you guys, if you, if you haven't been to our conference, actually let's just do this. Ladies, look at your husbands. We know that you're the ones that spend the money. Ladies, we know that you're the ones that really dictate what's happening. So we're just going to do this. Ladies, I want you to look at your husbands, husbands, husbands this is a marriage connection thing. Just look in your wife's eyes. And ladies repeat after me I want you to go, or else, okay, you can just. Ladies, you can fill in the blank there. Whatever you want that or else to be, you just fill that in. But no, I'm excited about our conference. It's going to be awesome. June 12th through the 14th there we go. Okay, now we can talk about church. I'm excited to preach.
Speaker 1:I've been thinking a lot about what I was going to say, as you can imagine, mostly because I have to preach four times and if you don't pick a message that you really like, then you are stuck with you for four times. It's its own little hell, I guess. So I thought a lot about it. You know, and I know that I know why you guys showed up today, especially those of you that knew I was preaching today. You came because you knew I was going to make you feel normal. I was going to tell you a part of my life that was worse than your life, and then you were gonna walk away feeling encouraged, because that's what always happens. So that's gonna happen today. I'm gonna tell you a little bit about my life too, and then you guys will laugh a little bit and you'll leave. You'll actually probably look over at your spouse and go. I'm so thankful I came today, not because the passages reread, but because of my story that I've had to work through. That is giving you guys hope.
Speaker 1:So Lauren always also asked me. This morning. She said did you tell your friends, are they coming? And I was like I didn't tell any of my friends that I was preaching. This is the truth. I have NASCAR friends. Do you guys have NASCAR friends? You don't even know what that is, do you? Yeah, I have NASCAR friends. So, my friends, well, if you watch NASCAR, you don't watch cars. You don't watch it so that you can see cars go round and round and round. You watch it to see the crash. My friends would come to see the crash, y'all. They're not taking notes on the good points. I say they're taking notes to remember, when this is over, what I messed up on. So I didn't invite any of those guys here, and some of you have friends like that too, and it just means that we're all loved, aren't we?
Speaker 1:So we're going to turn to Genesis. We're going to talk about chaos and order today, and I know a thing or two about chaos and order because I have five kids. You didn't laugh because you don't have five kids, you have two kids and you think that you're a great parent. It's not your parenting skills, it's your kids. You got lucky. God gave you a couple of good kids and you think that you know what you're doing. I know this, but I also have four chickens, and I had five, but one of them died. I won't tell you how.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for my birthday, my wife said you're never gonna guess what I got you. I thought it was gonna be like a new gun or a bow or some broadheads. I got you four chicken, five chickens. I was shocked, but it's honestly, it's probably what I needed. You know another thing to chase around.
Speaker 1:Chickens are so dumb there's I don't know how they survived. I asked my wife that how did these things survive? I put my the water and the food in there, you know, and they take all the shavings and they fill up their whole water container with shavings until they all stand around and they're just looking and they're like do you see a spot to eat, drink? No, I'm so thirsty, or it's either that or one chicken sabotaging the whole one bad chicken. They fill up their food too, so they can't even eat and they can't drink. It's like what is happening here. So I have that.
Speaker 1:And then we got a puppy too. I know, I told you chaos in order. This is why I'm talking about it. We just got a puppy, a brand new puppy. It's a week old. It's a week and a day old. It's a golden doodle. What's that? Yeah, I've had it a week and a day. Did I say something else? My mom's here. I'm going to be corrected. This whole message. You can't do that to me the whole time, mom. I'll give you one. I'll give you one. You can't have the whole time. I'm just going to read. I'm going to start reading, but apparently my dog has been programmed for 5.30 in the morning because that's when it's playtime. Yeah, I'm not complaining, though the dog's awesome.
Speaker 1:All right, genesis 1.1. That's where we're starting. If you don't know where that is, open your Bible anywhere and turn left and just keep turning until you run out of pages and then turn one over. That's where we're starting. There's a lot of chapters in the Bible where you can't find them. The pro tip for that is to see where the pastor's turning and then mirror him. That's how you find that. But this one just start in the beginning.
Speaker 1:Okay, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said let there be light. And there was light. God saw the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, and that was the first day. And God said let there be a vault between the waters to separate the water from the water. So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it, and it was so. God called the vault sky, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day there's going to be a pop quiz after this, by the way. So and God said let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let the dry ground appear. And it was so. God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas, and God saw that it was good. Then God said let the land produce vegetation, seed bearing plants, and trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds in it according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation plants bearing seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seeds in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning.
Speaker 1:And the third day In case you haven't figured it out, we're reading all the way to the sixth day and God said let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark the sacred times and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give the light on earth. And it was so. God made two great lights the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth to govern the day and the night and to separate light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Speaker 1:And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day, and God said let the water team with living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth and across the vault of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing which the water team with that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said be fruitful, increase in numbers and fill the waters in the seas and let the birds increase on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning. And the fifth day we're getting close y'all. And God said let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds, livestock, the creatures that move along the ground and the wild animals, each according to its kind. And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God said that it was yes. Then God said let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the sky, over the livestock, over all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female. He created them. God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and increase in numbers, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said I give you every seed bearing plant in the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground, everything that has breath in it. I give you every green plant for food, and it was so, and God saw all that he had made and it was very good y'all. That was part of the quiz. And there was evening and there was morning and the sixth day. This is awesome. This is awesome.
Speaker 1:If you look at how God created creation, how he set up creation, you can see that God is creating a masterpiece. God is creating a masterpiece, but God is separating chaos and creating order. Actually, if you look at the very beginning, it says in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. Now, the earth was formless and empty. If you look at those words formless and empty the actual Hebrew says there was chaos, that it was actual chaos. The word there is tohu and vavohu, and so Dan's here, you can ask him later, but it actually means empty or void, and so what you have is you have God and he is coming to this chaos. There's all this chaos that's happening and God starts to create these boundaries. He is separating darkness from light, he's separating water from water, he's separating water from land and he's moving things around as a creator and he's going. This chaos needs to move over here. No longer is it chaos and this peace that's in the wrong spot needs to go over here, and the darkness needs to go only during this time and the light only this long. He has a plan in mind and he's executing perfectly. See, god is always bringing peace to chaos. He's always bringing order to chaos, and we see that all throughout the creation story. It's interesting.
Speaker 1:There's something that is repeated over and over and over again in this creation story God is talking about the things that he's creating. Right, he's creating the plants, but he's not just creating plants. It doesn't say God created plants and put them on the earth and they were awesome. It says God created plants according to their. He's very specific. He's going through because why he has a job for the plants. This is really important that we get this. What God, as a creator, has? A job. He has a master plan in mind. He's going I'm putting blueberries down there according to blueberries, and the blueberries have seeds to reproduce blueberries. And I'm putting lemon trees according to lemon trees, and lemon trees have seeds that grow more lemon trees. I have a master plan. It's divine order. God isn't just creating order, he's creating divine order based upon how he's created them to create. You get all the way down.
Speaker 1:And if you look at the fish, god doesn't just put fish and animals in the water. He creates fish according to their kind and he gives them the instructions. You're like he gives a fish instructions. Yes, he has instructed the whole entire planet. This is really interesting. He says to the fish to be fruitful and to multiply, to populate the seas. And same things to the birds Be fruitful, multiply in your kind and populate. And that's what I came here to tell you about today. I'm kidding. There's more what's happening. God is creating a divine ecosystem. He's creating an ecosystem. He's setting it all up.
Speaker 1:And then we get to verse 27,. And then we get to verse 27. And verse 27, it says God created mankind in his image of God. He created him both male and female. Isn't it interesting that when he's talking about the plants and the fish and the animals, he says according to their kind, but when he's talking about human beings, he doesn't say that he created mankind according to their kind. He says he creates them in the image of God. This is really powerful. Why does he do that? Well, he does that because the animals and the plants aren't supposed to govern the earth. They're not supposed to bring peace to chaos. They're not supposed to bring order to chaos. Mankind is, mankind is.
Speaker 1:When God creates mankind, he says I am creating you to be a creator like me, in my image. Your whole entire job is going to bring order to chaos. That's your job, that's what you're going to do. And then he puts man on the planet and he doesn't just go, have fun, enjoy what I've created. Go, really go and just live life. Life is supposed to be about you. He says here we go.
Speaker 1:He says God blessed them and said to them isn't it interesting that he blessed them? He blesses them with responsibility. This is powerful, especially raising kids. This is powerful. God blessed Adam and Eve, and then God blessed mankind, and then he gave him a bunch of responsibility. God blessed mankind and then he gave him a bunch of responsibility. He said to them be fruitful, increase in numbers, fill the earth, subdue it, rule over the fish.
Speaker 1:Why? Why is God doing all of this? Because God has a master plan. What he's doing is setting a place where family can thrive. It's a perfect ecosystem. You notice that God didn't create the heavens and the earth and Adam, and Adam was floating through the earth. You notice that God didn't create the heavens and the earth and the waters and Adam was trying to swim. God actually had a divine order. Some of our problem is that we are out of order. God has this divine order. He puts Adam in where Adam's going to thrive. He sets up this perfect ecosystem. He goes night, day, star so Adam can navigate Food, gives the food, instruction, be fruitful and multiply. Do all this stuff, adam. Now you're gonna come in. You're gonna come in at a place where you are perfectly set up for success and you're gonna rule and reign from here and you're gonna grow this ecosystem and you're gonna grow your family and you're gonna teach them how I taught you, and they're going to thrive and their children's children are gonna thrive. And they are going to teach them how I taught you, and they're going to thrive and their children's children are going to thrive and they are going to. Are you with me? That's God's original design for you and me was to separate chaos and order and to create an ecosystem where we can thrive ecosystem where we can thrive.
Speaker 1:This is so important. See, there's three origin stories that really matter in divine order. The first origin story that really matters for each person in here was how God created the heavens and the earth. Well, how everything was created the heavens and the earth. Well, how everything was created. See, if you think that God was just this, well, if you don't think that there was a God and you think that there was matter, somehow, how do we get matter from nothing? I don't know. Ask somebody who does. It's going to be an enlightening conversation for you. Yeah, it takes a lot of faith.
Speaker 1:If you think that everything just happened then and you don't actually understand God's divine structure and his divine order, and that God set mankind up for success, to rule and reign, then you actually miss out on your purpose here on this earth. You miss out on it. You think that your purpose on this earth is to get a good job and to retire and to live life, because life is what Life is drink, be merry and eat. Drink, be merry, because we're all going to die. Right, that's what you think. Unless you understand God's divine order and the origin that man was created in and brought into, then you start to go oh, I am like the creator. I was built to create, to rule and reign. Incredibly important, it's incredibly important that we have that origin story in order.
Speaker 1:The next origin story that really matters is your home life. What were you born into? See, you were supposed to be born into a home of unconditional love, of peace. Actually, your first inheritance was supposed to be an inheritance of identity, of confidence, of comfort, of peace, where your parents helped you separate chaos and create order in your life. That's what was supposed to happen. You understand, your parents were supposed to create an ecosystem that you were brought into where you can succeed, where you could thrive, and they help you separate chaos and create order in your life. That's parenting, and we know it right. Like we can look at the scripture and it says Proverbs 22 says raise up a child in the way that they should go and when they're older, they won't depart from it. Right, that's our job as parents is we're helping to separate. This is chaotic. This is order. I'm going to help wire you.
Speaker 1:Do you realize that you're not the one that wired you? You're not the one that created the ecosystem in which you are living out of? God had designed that you wouldn't have to. He designed that you would be programmed and wired the same way that he wired and programmed Adam and Eve. You come into a place that's all perfectly set up for you, where you can actually thrive and you can grow and you can learn.
Speaker 1:You didn't get a chance to choose your parents. You didn't get a chance to choose the school you went to. You didn't get a chance to choose the food that you eat, that you ate. You didn't get to choose the jeans and the clothes that you wear. That was all chosen for you and God's perfect design. It was supposed to be a blessing, but so many of us right, you weren't born into that. You weren't born into a blessing. You were born into a chaotic life, a life with distress, a life with distress.
Speaker 1:And what were you wired for? You were wired for chaos. Why? Well, because somebody didn't understand the origin story. They didn't understand God's creation and they didn't understand that they were born, supposed to be born into a family full of love. And because of that now there's a ton of chaos, right? And if you never actually confront your origin story, how you came into this earth, then you're stuck in chaos Because that got all messed up.
Speaker 1:Then the third story that matters a ton is your birth into the kingdom of God. That's the third origin story that really matters a ton your birth into the kingdom of God, because you can understand that God created the heavens and the earth and he had this divine order and you could be born into a loving, healthy, helpful family. But if you don't understand that you are no longer a sinner saved by grace, but you're a saint, then you produce chaos, don't you? Yeah, see, when you came into the kingdom, you came in as a son, as a daughter. You didn't come in all cleaned up. God cleaned you up. You didn't come in perfect. God drove the chaos out of your life and he created order in your life. And then he says now go and do greater things that I did In our house. That's raise the dead, that's heal the sick, that's cast out demons. We owe the world an encounter and we get excited about it because in this house we understand the origin story of the kingdom. This is what you're supposed to step into.
Speaker 1:And how many of you have gotten that story wrong before in your life? You had that wrong for a while. You go okay, I know God created the heavens and the earth and, okay, I have got this family and maybe they're a little bit messed up, maybe I work on my family story. But when I came into church, I came in clean. I came in to impress God and I got to impress everyone and I got to just somehow squeak by. That's its own kind of torture, isn't it? Because you're never good enough, because you've already been made good enough. You don't have to be better. That origin story matters a ton because you've already been made good enough. You don't have to be better. That origin story matters a ton because you will never heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and please God, apart from actually understanding his divine design for you. So we work way too hard, okay, what kills? Divine order For 1995, I'll tell you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, adam and Eve are in the garden and God God tells Adam that you're not supposed to eat of this fruit. Now, now, I know that a lot of you women are probably frustrated with this, because we ultimately know the problem with Adam and Eve in Eve eating the fruit, was she didn't get instructed by Adam to not eat the fruit. I'm just kidding, it's just a joke, but in my house that's what would have happened, right, is I would have forgot to tell Lauren don't eat the fruit, and then she would eat the fruit because God didn't tell Eve. God sat Adam down and said hey, adam, don't eat the fruit. Here's what you can and can't do. Adam was supposed to relay the story and he probably didn't. And so could you imagine the story that Adam and Eve were having for all those years.
Speaker 1:When they're kicked out of the garden Like day one. Out of the garden, adam's like straggling behind Eve Every labor pain. She was like this is your fault. You didn't tell me. Ladies, we're sorry, we are, we're working hard, but look where we came from. You know, adam couldn't even get it right. So they're in the garden.
Speaker 1:Adam and Eve are in the garden and Eve is talking with the enemy, with the devil, and she takes the fruit and she eats it. And she goes looking for Adam all over the place and finally finds him he was talking with God and says eat this fruit. No, adam was standing right next to her. He's standing right next to her. He's the one with the instructions. He's looking at the enemy. Well, that's a snake or whatever. The serpent talked to Eve and Adam fails to confront the chaos. He fails to confront the chaos. See, our ability to create order is only limited by our unwillingness to confront chaos in our life, because a lot of the chaos in our life looks tempting.
Speaker 1:It looks tempting when Adam and Eve looked at the fruit. It wasn't this stinky little slimy, nasty tree full of thorns. That's the fruit I would have made if I was God. I would have made this little stinky thorn bushes smell like farts and have all these thorns on it and the fruit would be drippy, you know, like snot, and I'd put it on Mount Sinai and be like there's a choice. God knew there had to be a choice. There is a choice, you can climb up there. God knew there had to be a choice. There is a choice, you can climb up there. But he didn't do that Because for God, the boundaries weren't to keep Adam and Eve away, it was to protect their love. For them, god was trying to protect Adam and Eve in love and it wouldn't really be a choice if it wasn't really tempting. A lot of the areas that we're failing in it's because it's tempting.
Speaker 1:I've been married a long time. Y'all A long time 23 years. I know you may not understand that because you're like Jay and Lauren haven't been married for 23 years. I have been married for 23 years. I was married. You guys aren't laughing because you well, that's my story y'all, so I can tell it however I want. I was married for 10 years and then I was married again and I count those years because I was hard work. It was hard work. I earned those years. Because I was hard work, it was hard work, I earned those years.
Speaker 1:For a long time in my marriage, I was terrified of conflict. I'm still terrified of conflict. Anybody terrified of conflict Like you, just don't like conflict. Those of you who aren't raising your hands are probably scared of conflict too. All you want is for me to not get you in an argument with your wife today. It's true, conflict was so scary that I would avoid it. I would avoid sharing my needs. I would avoid setting boundaries because I didn't want to.
Speaker 1:I used to think that I was being like Jesus. That's what I told myself for a long time. Oh, you're being like Jesus, except for it wasn't bearing Jesus-like fruit, it was bearing serpent-like fruit. It's true, I would battle my wife in my mind. She wouldn't know, because I'd be filled with frustration and resentment and anger. Oh, but I'm being like God? No, you're not. You are a coward in this moment and therefore you are creating chaos. That's what the result of me running away from my fear was creating. I didn't create connection. That's actually what happens in a great marriage.
Speaker 1:Right Is when you, when you push into confrontation, or in a good relationship, when I push into confrontation, it actually does the opposite of what we think it's going to do. If you do it in love, right, if you come to serve, which is how Christ has called us, right, husbands and wives submit that we submitted ourselves to God and then we submit ourselves to one another. So when I come to my wife, I'm coming to her like I'd come to God and therefore I push into the conflict, and that creates order. It creates a place where we can thrive. I've done this with my kids too.
Speaker 1:If we're being really honest, I have created chaos in my life with my kids because I don't want to confront them. I'm like, oh, please, please, please, please. How quickly can you say please? And then we go into bribe mode and then we go to threat mode. If bribe mode isn't working, you will never, ever watch that show again, that Bluey show. I hate Bluey. Bluey's actually awesome.
Speaker 1:We become afraid because we feel powerless, and so the other option looks really tempting, it looks really good, looks like it's going to bring life to us. It's like, okay, I'll just give you what you want so that you're okay. It's not my child's job to bring order to chaos. It's my job. It's my job to help lead them out of this place of chaos and into order. And if I get afraid, then what happens? Well, I leave them to try to create something they can't possibly create on their own. I'm supposed to set up this ecosystem and if I fail to confront this in my life, it breeds more disorder. I've done the same thing with my finances. Yes, it's true, I know this is why you come. I told you earlier. You came to hear my stories.
Speaker 1:In March last year, lauren and I had $1,000 left in our bank account and I know you might be thinking that's a lot of money. It's not. If you have five kids, that's less than a day's ration. I was driving to Taiwan to preach, which I was really excited about, but man, it was going to be a long trip. They don't take it easy on you over there. Yeah, I was driving to fly to Taiwan. That's the second time, mom, I heard it. I hear it. I got $1,000 left in my bank. I'm about to preach 15 times in five days, 80 minute sessions, translated. My wife's sick.
Speaker 1:I call my friends. I'm like, hey, fellas, I'm not doing good, right, I've got this place in my life. That's hurting. And I ultimately called my dad and not to borrow money, although I'm not below that. I am not below that and I remind him often. It's better to get the inheritance while you can see me be happy than it is for you to be dead and then never see it. I invite them over yeah, I invite them over to look at my finances.
Speaker 1:Now, I've never felt less than 44. When my parents come over to look at my bank statements, my mom's savage She'll be like where's this 37 cents going? I don't know. I don't know where I spent that 37 cents. Who does know? Only God knows. That's the truth. Do you know what really happened? How I got to that spot wasn't because I wasn't trained, wasn't because I have a pastor's salary and pastors don't make a lot.
Speaker 1:Honestly, it's because that was an area in my life that I felt afraid of. I felt afraid of it, felt overwhelming, I felt powerless, I don't know how to do it, and so I just left it alone. I left it alone until it hurt more than the fear of touching it. That's our life, that's our kids too, right, and that's your marriage. You leave it alone until it hurts more than the fear of doing something. But the pain of not focusing on that eventually gets so tough, it gets so painful that we finally see our job is to be like our creator, to drive chaos out of our lives and to bring order, to bring divine order to our lives. And it's. It is really hard for all, for for us, for all of us. It's really hard, if we're honest, for every single person in here. It's hard Because you're having to confront the places in your life that feel the scariest All of us. If you're going to be a businessman, there's no businessman that's not confronting the fear in their life. There's no parent alive that's not confronting the fear in their life. There's no marriage that you go. That's a great marriage without them confronting fear in their life. Nobody has anything that you actually want where they didn't have to confront fear in their life. It hasn't happened, it's never happened. It doesn't happen. It's not going to happen.
Speaker 1:You guys remember the story of the Israelites. I hope you remember some of it, because I don't have enough time to tell all of it. They're in bondage for 400 years. They're slaves and Moses comes with Aaron. Because Moses is afraid, he's afraid, he goes and he, he confronts God. God helps him. He confronts Pharaoh. They get out of the land after the series of events, go back and read it and they get to. They get to the Red Sea and Moses parts the Red Sea and then they start wandering around the wilderness for 40 years. For 40 years. This is a 40-day journey.
Speaker 1:Now think about it like this these are people who know how to navigate. These are not like you and me Dad. This is not a guy like you. My dad doesn't have directional sense. He has a watch with a compass on it. That's God's honest truth. He just looked over at me earlier and said I'm facing north. That's not what was happening. They were going around and around and around and around and around for 40 years. Why you ever think about that? Why it takes 40 days? I mean you have to almost try to not get there. You'd have to be like, oh, we're almost there, take them left. You'd have to be like, oh, we're almost there, take them left, take them left. Don't let them see it.
Speaker 1:They finally, after 40 years, get to the promised land, the land that was promised to them. Anybody have a promised land. You've got some promises from God. Anybody have some promises from God? Pay attention to the story.
Speaker 1:They get to the promised land and they send in 12 spies. Two of them come out and they're holding fruit and they say look at this fruit. Look, it really is the land flowing with milk and honey. This is what God has promised us. 10 come out and what do they say? We were like grasshoppers in their eyes. How do they even know? Was there one guy that saw a really big guy and he's like what do I look like to you? He said you look like a grasshopper. Then he ran back.
Speaker 1:Why did they not see the fruit? They didn't see the fruit because they were still stuck in Egypt. They were stuck in all their bondage and all their trauma. So what looked like fruit to Jonathan and Caleb? Joshua and Caleb sorry Thanks for that, dad, notice, my mom didn't say anything Joshua and Caleb. What looked like fruit to Joshua and Caleb looked like bondage to everyone else. They couldn't even see the fruit. All they were looking at was the chaos, was the problems was how was their impending doom.
Speaker 1:Do you know that the giants were in the land on purpose, that God left them there? God could have drove them out. He didn't want to drive them out. He left them there to take care of the land until Israel got there. What was God trying to do? Here's what God was trying to do.
Speaker 1:The Israelites were wandering around for 40 years and God was trying to change their ecosystem. They had a miracle coming in, a miracle coming in. Then they had fire by night, cloud by day. Imagine if you walked out here and there was a cloud over your head and you're like, okay, maybe coincidence. But then you woke up at 3 am and there was a fire every night for 40 years.
Speaker 1:Their clothes didn't wear out. Some of you ladies would be disappointed because you couldn't go shopping. Their clothes didn't wear out. They didn't wear out. They were eating food of angels. There was manna and meat, which I think the meat is also angel food as well. Extraordinary miracles.
Speaker 1:But all along the way, god could tell these people are still living in Egypt. As soon as Moses goes, they're making an idol. They want to worship another God. They're asking to go back. You brought us out here to die. No, I brought you out here so that you could change your ecosystem. Look at what's happening.
Speaker 1:Some of us, a lot of us, in different areas of our lives, you've been brought into the kingdom. You experienced God's goodness, and yet we still go. He's not gonna come through for me here and instead of facing the chaos and the giants in our land, we run away from them and then we go. But God's promised me life. It's like, yes, but he's promised that you're going to get the victory. God's not going to come into your life. He doesn't wake you up in the morning. Go to work, Jay. Please go to work. Wake up, do that. Face this conflict with your wife. He doesn't do that. God put trees on the earth. He didn't put furniture. He says you make furniture, you, you all provide and you actually create. Now I'll give you the raw materials you create. I put creation in you and your job is to take the chaos in your life and to drive it out and to create divine order where you and your family can thrive and we have an ecosystem of health. Y'all. That's our job.
Speaker 1:Jesus was on the planet and every time he was confronted with chaos, every time he brought order to it Every time. You see him heal the sick, you see him raise the dead. You see him cast out demons. You see him create healthy relationship. You see the disciples say something chaotic and Jesus looks at Peter and he goes get behind me, satan. That's chaos. He was bringing order. That is our life. Can we stand up? See, there are often places in our life, there's places in every one of our lives, where we actually have chaos running around and we need to confront it. We need to confront it, and so I want you to just take a second and I really do. Just take it. It's going to get better. Guys, there's some people leaving. I did the best I could. I'm sorry. Bill will be here next week. It's a joke. It's just a joke.
Speaker 1:I want you to take a look at the area of your life that the Lord wants you to bring order to. That could be your marriage, it could be your kids, it could be your finances. It could be the way that you see God. Just take a second. Just take a second. There are sometimes these places in our life where we've tried to bring order, but you can't do it on your own and you weren't able to do it on your own. It could be trauma from your past and if you're trying to rewire your brain on your own, that's a very, very challenging thing to do and therefore you've had cycles, could be addiction in your life. You've had this cycle that you've been unable to break, even as a Christian. I wanna encourage you not to try to solve it on your own, but to reach out for help, and we have a whole transformation center that is geared up to help bring order to the places of chaos in your life, and sometimes you do. Sometimes you have to invest in those places.
Speaker 1:My wife and I didn't just stop with my mom and dad for our finances. I actually go and see a guy now that helps me go through my finance because he has brought order to his life and he has strategy for me. It's not enough for me to just confront at one time. I have to actually build an ecosystem. I need a coach to build an ecosystem. I'm trying. I'm doing repentance.
Speaker 1:Repentance isn't. I'm sorry, we're all sorry. Repentance is to change the way you think that's what we're doing. Repentance is to change the way you think that's what we're doing. So, father, I ask that you would pour out your grace on each one of us. This area, you know these areas, god. You know these areas. It's our kids or our marriage, or this addiction that they've been carrying. And, lord, you know that these places, god, were not designed for us to live in, but we were designed to have power and dominion and authority over those. Lord, would you bring the courage for us to face those? Would you bring people into our lives? Lord, would you bring creative ways of overcoming the chaos to bring order? In Jesus' name, amen, thank you guys.