A proper announcement was never proclaimed, but it just sort of got around the church. I think the ladies were blinded by the glitter on somebody’s left hand. And so I’ve known Dalton West for quite a few years, and I appreciate him so very, very much for reasons we won’t go into today. And Dalton is the brother of the former pastor of this church. And of course Hazel served with her husband for 20 some years here. And the Lord suffered to take Claude to be with him, and the Lord has seen fit to bring these two people together. So they’re going to get married soon, and she’s refusing to change her last name, which I think is kind of cute. So just OE stiff neck try and turn your head around and look, that’s Dalton there. He’s the guy that’s glowing right now, that’s Dalton West. We’re so happy for you two, and we’re just trusting that we don’t lose Hazel, we gain Dalton.
Okay, that’s settled, that’s all good. Well I’m excited about a message that I really feel strongly in my heart today. And it’s really an extension of what I showed you last week. A few months ago I spoke a series of messages about what happened in the synagogue back in Biblical times. And I mentioned that a person of dignity and responsibility would stand and read the word of God. Usually it was out of what’s called the pentateuch, which is Genesis Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That person who would read from, we’ll call it the lectern from the pulpit, from the scroll, would not dare to add one word to what he was reading. He wouldn’t dare, because this was the word of God given to the chosen people. Then following that, that reader had the privilege of stepping aside from the lectern, and he would sit on what was called the seat of Moses, because we know that Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.
So he would sit in the seat of Moses, and every synagogue had a chair. I think it was an immovable chair, I think it was out of stone. He would sit there, and there he would tell the congregation his assessment of what he just read. He would be an interpreter of what he just read. So the people had the opportunity of accepting what he said, or evaluating it, you know, sprinkle a little salt on it, because what he was saying was not to be taken as the strict interpretation of the word. It was his concept. It was his construct based on what he had read all of his days. So what I’m about to share with you today is out of the word of God. You’ll know what I’m quoting, or specifically, sharing with you a verse, but then I will also be telling you what I have garnered.
And so what I’m going to tell you about what I’ve garnered, you can weigh that up and you can sift it out. Preachers seldom do that. But some of the things I’m going to share with you today, somebody might say, and that’s entirely up to you.
So first of all, I begin to read in the book of Genesis chapter 1, this is the creation story. And I’m just going to read, starting at verse 24, then God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind, and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to the kind, cattle according to its kind, living that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. I’m intrigued with every word of every verse.
To me, every word in this book is pregnant with revelation. There’s not an idle word. So I’ve never heard anyone address this. Why did God say? Why was it necessary for God to say? And I suggest this to you. Here I am. I suggest this. You see, when you read in the Gospel of John chapter 1, in the beginning was the word. Genesis 1, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. And there was nothing made without the word. And the word became flesh, Jesus, and dwelt among us.
So the fact that it’s included, you know, could God not have created ever? Why does it include it? Do you know how many times you’ll read this word? And God said, in Genesis, in the creation of the earth, ten times. And God said, and it was done. And God said, and it was done. And God saw that it was good. What we have in Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formed and void. Darkness was on the face of the deep and the spirit was hovering over the face of the waters. And later you read, and God said, so you see, you have this terminology in verse 1, in the beginning God, and the spirit hovered. That’s an interesting Hebrew word. I won’t trouble you with that.
It means to flutter. The spirit fluttered. The spirit brooded. The spirit was moving. So God made, and the spirit was moving. And then God said, there you have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is in Genesis 1. But there’s more. I want to go over now to verse 26. And God said, here comes the Trinity. God said, let us. It wasn’t like Santa speaking to his elves. Let’s make toys for the little brats.
Who’s us? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Father is knownr as God. God the Father. Speaking is the Word. Jesus, who’s the Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us. And the Holy Spirit. So in verse 26, let us make man in our image. There is the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit together. Let us make man in our image. Now, forever from a child until not so long ago, not so long ago, I was led down the garden path, not by my pastor, not by my Sunday school teacher. I was led down the path by very skillful artists who at times have depicted God somehow or other.
So when I read Genesis 1, let us make man in our image. I thought of images, pictures, and visuals. But God is a spirit. And you cannot necessarily see spirit, lest God’s glory from his spirit, verse 4th. So when it says, let us make man in our image, it’s not talking about form. Now we have the challenge of reading in wonderful passages like Isaiah. I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And in that particular situation, I saw him. I saw him high and lifted up. Did he see spirit? Well he saw form for that passage of Scripture. The prophet is talking in words to accommodate you and I so that we can get some semblance because we are picture oriented, even in our minds. We are picture oriented.
So God, the book of Revelation, description of Jesus, his eyes like flames of fire, his tongue was like a sword. We get pictures, but we needn’t be worried that when we get to heaven, God’s going to have a ten foot sword hanging out of his mouth. Well, we’re smarter than that. So let us make man in our image. As a youngster and coming up even through my teens, I somehow pictured God. I somehow picked a look in the mirror and I’d see my form. I saw my image in the mirror. And so just I concluded, well God has, I guess God has a, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let us make God, can I put in a different word there? Let’s, let’s make man so that he is a reflection of our essence, our essence, so that he’s like us. Why did God make us to be like him so that we could communicate?
So we could say this morning, I adore you. I love you, I worship you. If we weren’t made in, with his essence, if we weren’t made in his image, I don’t like the word image, but it’s, it’s what we’ve got. But it indicates God’s essence, his very basic essence, so that when we get to heaven, we’re not going to be the strange animals that live in that zoo down the way. We are like him. There’s a promise. It’s in Corinthians. We know not what we shall be, but when we see him, help me, we shall be again. We shall be again. So we shall be like him. So what does that mean? We get lost and I’m sorry I’m playing with what’s called semantics words, words, words, but words is all I, words is all I have to work from.
We shall be like him. We won’t have nail prints in our hands. We won’t be like that. The artist likes to picture Jesus as having long hair, high cheekbones. Now the Jesus of Africa has high cheekbones, but he’s very black. That’s the African Jesus. Let it be. Just let it be. We shall be like him. We shall be like him because he’s made us acceptable. The word says that God made this man, Genesis, and when he had finished him, he talked with Adam and he said, it’s not good that you’re alone. We’re going to come up with a partner for you, a wife and the very next verse.
Follow this now. Hey Adam, you need a wife and immediately an elephant appeared and then a giraffe and lizards and snakes and bugs. And the next verse says, I’m going to embellish it a little bit, by the end of the day, Adam’s worn out. I just threw that in and there was no wife found for him. I’m telling you, every word has value. Hey Adam, we’re going to find a partner for you and the animals pass by. And at the end of the day, Adam has said, no, no, no, no, no. A hippopotamus comes by. No. Was God trying to figure something out? No. He was trying to exasperate the man.
He really was. Have a go, Adam. Let’s see. The giraffe. What do you think of the giraffe? Beautiful Lord. Wife, nay, nay. God knew. He wanted Adam to know. And it says at that verse, but at the end of it, when every creature, every creature had passed before him, Adam was frustrated and God said, good. Now go to sleep. And God reaches into his side. I want you to know this was a true surgical move.
God broke. He could have done it a different way. Forget that. He broke a rib off of Adam’s side. And Adam bled like a stuck pig. And the word says that God had to put his flesh back together again. Like a good surgeon, he knitted it back together. So many of you people missed this.
There was a time when I had to have surgery on my ear. Went to the doctor.
We think it’s cancer. He sent me to a guy. And I told the people that I came on a Sunday morning, a big patch here. And it was still all bloody because I was told, don’t touch it.
Don’t touch it. Don’t. Don’t worry. I’m not touching it. And so I told the congregation that Sunday morning, he said, you know, the guy really is a pro. And those who were here sat here and they’re watching me and they’re listening to every word. They’re glued to this. Pastor went for surgery. Oh, I said the first thing that the guy did is he laid all this apron around me, you know, and I could see what he’s doing. And he turned and he had this, he had this all day cooker. You’ve had those, right?
Put the rose potatoes in. You can make it six hours later and so on. He had that and he’s got this wooden spoon and he’s stirring. I said, what are you doing? Oh, he said, this is clay. I said, what are you going to do with the clay? I said, he turned and he’s got this big handful of mud and he said, I’m going to make a model of your ear. I thought we were just going to take cancer off. It was pretty ugly. It wasn’t a smile. He had to make a mess. I said, why are we doing this? He said, well, it happens.
He said, we take a little bit and he said, you’re back in six months and it’s growing again. So then we have to take some more and then you come back and we take, he said, I’ve had patients that totally lost their air entirely. I had to operate so many times. He said, people are very annoyed. Well, I don’t want to go around with one ear. So I’m making a mold. When I finish the mold, I’ll be sending it to China. That’s where everything that’s good is made. And you said, well, we’ll come back within a month or so. He said, tin ear that will look identical to your ear. So we said, if worse comes to worse, he said, we’ll at least have an ear to put back on the side of your head.
He said, no, don’t worry. Don’t worry how we’re going to make that stay there. He said, I need you to sign this little document here that gives me permission to put little magnets in here. So if worse comes to worse, we can just put it on there. You people are laughing at the time people are sitting there going, I said, the weirdest thing happened just hours ago. I said, I said, open up the office drawer. Click, click, click, click, click, click. I said, I ran and looked in the mirror and here’s all these paper clips stuck to the side of my head. Do I like to have fun? God did surgery on the man and he had to close up the hole on him and there was a scar left. Why?
Because Adam was the first Adam and Jesus in the New Testament is called the second Adam the first Adam bears the marks of the bride for the bride was taken from his side. Jesus the second Adam bears the marks. I will know him when I get to heaven by the nail prints in his hands. I will get to know him. All these animals passed by and Adam said no. When Adam awoke, the first thing he felt was, oh, he felt pain. Oh, no, God, God wouldn’t do that. Oh, yeah, God wanted him to know. I took a rib. And when the woman came to him, the first record of a bride in the sacred history, God said, now what do you think? Adam says, why, Lord? She’s a bone of my bone. She’s the flesh of my flesh. Of course. She’s perfect. So that which was taken from him miraculously was brought back to him. She was acceptable to him. But when God was fashioning the first man, he was making him acceptable. And how did he do so?
Not by making, not by making him in God’s image, his eyes, his nose. Forget that nonsense. His physical form was made in the same way as all the animals. God took the dust of the earth and he made these animals. It says so. And God formed the men also out of dust because that’s in the next chapter. It’s in chapter 2 and verse 7.
And the Lord God formed man. I just made a mistake. Did you see that? Oh, now I messed it up. I may get a tinier one. Genesis 2 verse 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. And then he breathed into his nostrils. The breath of life. What life? He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Same as the hippopotamus. No, no, no, no, no, no. God never breathed into the hippo.
Because you see what God was breathing into him was not oxygen, honey. He was breathing his absence into this lifeless form. And as God breathed into him, I believe like the Jewish theologians. The first thing that came out of Adam was the exhale. That which flowed in. God’s essence began to flow out. Drink of me, he said, and out of your innermost being will flow. That which flowed in. Rivers of living water. And as Adam breathed in, he said, yeah. And when he breathed out, way, your way. And the first thing that his ears heard were Adam. The first thing that this man heard with his ear organ was his name. Adam.
Now this is cute. Adam, I looked it up. Is from another derivative Adam, an AH. added on to the name Adam. The letters D. A. M. speak of blood. So it’s not A-dam, it’s Adam, and it means soil. Adam was known for the rest of his days to boys. Daddy, where did you come from? The dirt. But boys, you remember this.
We’re special. Contrary to what the scientists so called say, we’re the same as the pollywogs. Wrong. Lie. Anti God. I don’t believe in that. See, I can’t find evolution. I don’t believe it. Not even a word. There are now evangelical pastors. Bless their pointy heads. Well, I believe in creation. But I also believe that God used evolution in the process of evolution. That’s a lie from the pit hell.
You listen to the pastor. God made the man, the form of the man, like he made the alligator like the elephant. But then God did something unique. God bent down and breathed in him. And that person, that body became a living soul. He wasn’t a pollywog. Thank you. Once I was a pollywog, the scientists would say, with my tail so long and thin. But then I was a chimpanzee swinging from a tree by my tail. But then I got my tail tucked in. And now I have my PhD. The whole concept of evolution. Listen, listen, listen. The concept of evolution supports abortion.
Sister Kamala Harris. Evolution says, you’re nothing but dirt. And that’s what you were in the garden until God breathed into your nostrils the breath of life. And the first thing you said was, you’re a wah. God gave to this creature his very essence. What came out of God flowed into this body that was dirt. Adam, never forget your only dirt. You remember that. That’s your royal dirt. You’re perfect. Because that’s how I made you. And God did this so that Adam could relate to God. And the responsibility of this man was to nurture the relationship that was made possible
by the breath of God. In the beginning was the word. With God was God. All things were made by him. And in him was life. God breathed into man his breath, life, the breath of life. And man became a living soul. I love this.
I was just thinking about it the other day. God cruising around this. Jesus calls the disciples together. And what did he do? He breathed on them. Dear God.
He breathed on them. What was he breathing into them? Another dimension of the life of God. It changed. It transformed them. You’re saved. Congratulations. There’s another level where God wants you to breathe in his presence, of his divine glory. And what you breathe out will sound like something from another world. He’s speaking in a language that the devil doesn’t understand. It’s called baptism. It’s called the overflow of the inflow. It’s that second level.
And please get interested in it because it’s God’s divine plan from the beginning. It’s not an add on. They were filled with the Holy Ghost Acts chapter. It was not an add on. It was not a little explanatory note at the end of the passage. It was part and parcel. And this promises unto you and to your children and your grandchildren and for generations to come. It promises unto you. I’m not angry. I’m happy. In him was life. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. In him was life.
And life was the brilliance of men. In him was life, John 1 and 4. And that life is the light of all men. Ten times, ten times God said, watch this, God said, the Father willed it. The Son spoke it. The Spirit breathed it. And it was. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Father wills it. The Son, the Word speaks it. And the Spirit breathes it. God made the beasts of the earth after his kind, the cattle and so on and so forth. Genesis 1. 25.
And then God made the men from the soil and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The creation, everything that we know is the world. It was made for you. This is a place for you to dwell. God made all of it. God took a throw walk in the garden and said, this is the best of it. And I did it all for you. I did all this for you. The world was created as a place for us to dwell. We were not an afterthought. And your body was created as a temple and not an afterthought. So your soul that God breathed into you will take a moment to look at that. Let’s make man in our image.
Let them have dominion. Genesis 1. 26. And the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul. What’s a soul? And became a living soul. First of all, the soul is that part of God that is in you. It’s his essence, it’s his divinity. Watch this. I preached on this last week. Romans, the first couple of chapters, speaks of all men all over the world. They are without excuse.
It says that. Well, I don’t know God. I’ve never met him. I guess I get a pass. No, no. Because part of God is in you. It’s called your soul. And I said last week that I won’t take it back. I’ve told several people this week and they’ve said, well, I said, I’m just talking about David. You can believe what you want about you. This is my journey. My journey began when my father sperm, men in a gig in my mother’s womb. And when those two joined, I became a living soul. And I further believe this, because God is life. And I was supposed to be a soul. I have to have his divine life imparted. He was there. And I further believe with all my heart. He spoke to me. He spoke to me. And I believe he called me by the name that he knew my parents would call me. David.
The moment I became a living soul, part of God was deposited in me. And watch this. This body is getting pretty tired. I’m hurting all over. I’m not making this up.
I’m hurting. I’m hurting badly. That’s my complaint. I’m getting slower. I was always stupid. Now I’m just plain dense. This morning I couldn’t find my glasses. Before that I couldn’t find my wallet. Sometimes my wife says, what are you looking for, my glasses? They’re on the top of your head. Just reach up. Can’t find my keys. You introduced me to your two friends. What are their names?
You told me. I don’t know. I believe that I’d hear better if I’d leave the wax there so at least something would stay. This body is wearing down. And here’s what I know. And this excites me. Say, oh, David, relax. I can’t. When this body quits, the apostle Paul says, when this tabernacle wears out, he said, we will not be naked. He said, I, it’s his soul talking. When my body quits, I have another home with him in heaven. You see this?
Your soul came from him and to your, to him, your soul will return. All souls are mine, he says. They’re all mine. They’re not just his, like a collection of valuable coins. When he says, all are mine, when she came to him, Eve, when she came to Adam, every soul in her body had come from him. She now belonged to him. That which was taken returns. And that which was given to you, your soul will return. And we’re without excuse. God breathed into us his divine essence. And that essence remains in you. There’s a little bit of God in every one of us. The soul is composed of three parts.
You’re a triune being. There’s your mind. Intellect. There’s your emotion and there’s your will. Mind, emotion, will. I did these little arrows to show you something. What goes on in your mind affects your emotions. You already know that. She said something to you and that ticks you off. She tells you what a good boy you are and your emotions are lifted. Your emotions are affected by what you know. I watched the debate the other night. I got so emotional I turned it off. I was so ticked off.
ABC needs to get a life. Free I’m ganged up on him. That’s politics David. Get out of it. I’m just telling you I got emotional. And April came out this morning. She’s all dressed up like a china doll ready for church. She said, how am I doing? I said, you look awesome to me. She said, you don’t look so bad yourself. And I felt little champagne bubbles rolling around in here. What you hear, what you disseminate, what you congregate, what you work with up here. Get a picture of emotions and your emotions determine the state of your will. When you’re ticked off, your will gets bent the wrong way.
I will not apologize. I would not. So be careful little mind what you think about because it affects you emotionally. And your emotions will dictate your will. So when you get this word into your mind, it affects your emotions toward God. And when your emotions are lined up with God, you have a will to serve him. Mind motion and will. And then there’s another part of you which is called spirit. With your mind you interact with what you see and you hear. With your emotions you interact because of what you saw, what you thought. And then with your will you interact. You try to run over that dog that barks at you every day. You react emotionally to the world around you, but your spirit is not designed to react to the world.
Your spirit is set free. Once your mind is set upon the good things of God and your emotions are turned toward him and your will is bent toward him. Set my spirit free. The song says so I can worship you. God said my spirit free and I hear an echo coming from heaven where God is saying you get your mind in line, get your emotions in gear, let your will be determined by what you know. And I will bless you and I will set your spirit free. God is spirit he said to the woman at the well and they the one that connect have to do so in the spirit. There are so many people in church today everywhere. Intellectually they’re plugged in and as they’re leaving, nice sermon, Reverend. May or may not have touched the emotion.
And if they didn’t, didn’t do anything to their will and they’re stuck. They’re stuck. Mind emotion will. That’s the soul. Set my spirit free. Adam, Adam, I got to move on quickly here. When God created this soul, Adam was totally committed to the father creator, totally committed. He was totally dependent. He was massively in love and he was totally obedient until he stepped across the line. And the moment he crossed the line, he was no longer committed. He was no longer dependent. He lost his first love and he was now a child of disobedience. Doesn’t take much to wreck your soul, honey. Doesn’t take much at all.
And this is what repentance is all about. Coming back and being dependent upon him, Father, I’ve sinned. This is what repentance is about. It’s getting right with God and falling in love with him. It’s about being obedient to him. The soul is that part of you, which is eternal. How long will people suffer in hell? If my assessment is right, the soul will cringe forever and ever because the soul will never forget. I heard his voice. I heard his voice. I have so much more to share with you. I’ve got to stop because there’s a little piece that I want to share with you. I want to thank Elle Grubb.
This guy’s my buddy. I love him, aren’t I? I can tell you. And thank you for bringing your little friend to him. These guys are like twins, Bojango’s. Elle was at some kind of a sporting thing. And there was a person there who was a native person. He just told me this 10 minutes before he came in the store. He said, I’ve got something for you. He said, there’s a ratal you. I didn’t know if that meant my emotions were going to get excited or. . . He said it was at this event.
And I guess somebody was asked to pray, a native person. So he said, they prayed in their own language. But he said, the theme of the prayer apparently was breath because these people from another walk from another society, from another nurture, they have their own language. And their language also speaks of their beliefs. They have their own design of theology. So they value breath. So apparently this man prayed and now heard it how many times? Pardon? Probably around 20 times. And what did he say to that fellow who was praying to some deity? And what did he say 20 times? Loud. Y’all wait.
You see, this is Jewish. It’s Hebrew. And we don’t have to learn it. And we don’t have to copy. We don’t have to do anything. But we learn things through this. We learn things. Adam knew God is Yahweh. And the theologians believe that every time he breathed, he was saying God’s name. Yah, Yah, Yah, Yah, Yah. I love it. I love it. Prove it. No can do. But if a Jewish theologian said it, it’s got to be good. God spoke to Adam. And he said, Adam, let’s be communicating from now on.
When Adam made his error and he hid, did God know where he was? Of course he did. What did God do? God came into the garden. Adam, Adam, where are you, Adam? Remember the good times, Adam? Remember your obedience, Adam? Adam, where’s your love gone? Adam, what have you done? You’re breaking the Father’s heart. Adam!
And Sinner, wherever he spent the night last night, he’s accountable because God is calling. Every Sinner by their name, he’s calling. And I’m going to say, underly, earnestly, Jesus is calling. He’s calling for you and for me. When I hear that song, I want to get saved all over again. That song is so tender and so beautiful. Jesus is calling. I’m going to tell you right up front now, I’m going to tell you a little bit about my journey. But my time’s gone. I have to do this. I have to forgive myself. I’ve never heard God’s voice here. Never.
The only way God has ever spoken to me is here. And this has validated when God spoke to me here. God speaks to me here, in here. Little Church in Hager’s, Ville, Ontario, I was about seven or eight years of age. Master came to the end of the service and essentially he said, essentially, who’s God speaking to today? And then he said these words, I see that little hand, that little hand was David Charles. He took me into a little room, this side right here. I could verbatim tell you the prayer he led me in that morning. Assured as God made little green apples. I heard God call me that morning and so lasted till this very moment. It’s as real to me as it was then. My grandma, of course, was thrilled. It was at her church, a church that I found out later, my daddy started.
That’s incredible. Hager’s, Ville, Church. My dad started that. A farm boy. Never forget it. My grandma was so excited. She said, next Sunday is communion Sunday. You get to take communion. I was so excited. The bread and the wine came. I popped the cracker and took the juice. Wayne Warner, who’s now a retired seminary degree guy down somewhere in the States, turned and went, I said, what? He said, you’re unsaved again.
I said, what? He said, you ate the bread. You drank the wine before you’re supposed to. You just drank damnation to your soul. Be careful who your teacher is. At 18 years of age, I wanted nothing to do. I wanted to serve God, but my pastor’s wife had been saying to me, knowing me like a beaver at a tree. God’s calling you David. No, no, no, no, no. Sister Mallory doesn’t say, I don’t like it, I can’t be a pastor. Never, never, never, never. I actually got angry. I said, don’t say it anymore.
But he is, I’m praying for you, David, I’m interceding for you. And on a Sunday morning, April and I were dating her. She’s sitting beside me. And every Sunday, we would go to church and then we would go to her mom and dad’s for lunch or my mom and dad’s for lunch. That was called a date. I’m sitting in a service and the pastor’s sermon was as dry as last year’s bird’s nest. I got nothing, nothing out of it. That’s important for me to mention. I was bored out of my mind, except I heard something in here. Had no relation to what was coming from the pulpit. I heard something. And to the service, I said, April, you go to your mom and dad’s and have lunch. I have to go elsewhere. Where are you going? I said, it’s private. Just, just leave me, just go. I ran to the basement of the church, big old building. Mr. Edwards, I know, was going to close up the church. He has this formula. He closes it all up. It was a big church. Everybody left. I’m in the men’s washroom and I know he always goes and opens the washroom. You didn’t know this, right?
Caretakers. The first thing they learn about caretaking is when they’re checking a building, they go into the bathroom and they go like this. They’re looking for shoes, right? In the cubicles. He didn’t see mine. I’m standing up on the seat and I’m hanging on up here. Then I heard the big locks on the door clunk. I’m alone in this big old church. I wandered out and as I did so, I’m walking on these hardwood floors that talk to you all the way. Click, click, click, right, right, right. And it went on and out down the don’t old-fashioned wooden chair and I screamed at the top of my lungs, what are you doing to me? I don’t understand. What is it you want?
God made it abundantly clear. I just want you. I said something to the effect of, I’m a zero. God said I can use zeros. I have nothing to offer. I was not yet 18 years of age. I had never read a book from cover to cover. I hated reading. I hated it. I hated it. I hated it. I hated it. And now I’m going to be a preacher. I beg no.
But he spoke to me in here. I went to my mom and dad. I said I’m called to be a preacher. My dad, Brittany, fell off his chair. My brother didn’t believe it for almost 10 years. He said, you of all people. I was an angry person. I used to carry a knife. I used to look for fights. I was a brawler. I was pathetic. And I went to church. I was a Sunday morning 11 o’clock Christian. Sellem went Sunday night, too much conviction.
You of all people. But I tell you there was something in the universe that said, yes, David, I choose you. I went to Bible College. I’m sitting in the chapel. My father had told me before I went off to college, my brother, your uncle, was called. His name was Milton. He was called. And he and three others got in a car out of Lina Gospel Temple in London. And they drove off on a Sunday night heading for Springfield, Missouri. Your uncle Melvin was going, uncle Milton was going to Bible College in Springfield. He was already a dynamic evangelist. He was to be preaching Crusades. He’d never spent a day in Bible College. He never made it.
A truck came over a hill and three of the four were killed. My uncle was decapitated. Explain that. When I told my dad, I’m going to Bible College. My dad actually took me out in the potato patch and my dad wept. And he said, David, I’ve never told you this, but my prayer has always been God calling my son to take my brother’s place. He said, I don’t know if God works that way. I’m going to tell you something. You trust me, right? You got to trust me. I’m not embellishing this one Iota sitting in the chapel. And somebody at the back tapped somebody on the shoulder and said, whichever one is David for us, tell them I want to see him.
And all the way up there were tapped. It’s a service tapping on the shoulder. There’s a man at the back who wants to see Dave. There’s a man at the back, all of a sudden a chap on my shoulder. David, the other service is a man at the back. He wants to see you. Okay? Service ended. As I started walking toward the back to the church, the chapel, I saw something out of a horror movie. I saw a man standing there. He had no ears. He didn’t know my surgeon. His face was all modeled with skin grafts. Each hand had only a thumb. He’d been burned almost burned alive in that car crash. He was the one that survived. And now in the 1960s, he’s one of the top executives in the Assemblies of God, U. S. of A. For some reason he came up to Toronto to the headquarters. And apparently while he was there, he said, I’m looking for any remnants of a family that I knew.
Are you aware of people by the name of forest? They had records. Yes. How can I find him? He’s at Bible College in Peterborough.
I see this man standing. He’s such a sordid looking thing. And he said these words, yes, you are a forest. You’d look just like your uncle Milton tears running down his cheeks. He threw his arms around me. And he said, David, David, David, I’ve come to tell you the mantle of Milton is upon you. He’s calling you to be a preacher. Get ready for what God is going to do. God spoke to my ears, but it resonated in my heart. I can’t get away from it. I’ll never forget it. God is calling to Adam from that moment when you were conceived. He’s trying to get your attention. He’s calling you by name.
Calling you. In 1984, we went to Africa. I’m closing. I’m closing. I went to Africa. I took my wife with me. And it was over there to preach as an evangelist at crusade. And at that time, the largest brand new church auditorium in all of Africa, sat 5,000. Today was an incredible week. I met the president. I became friends of the president of Kenya, Daniel Arapmoy. Spent time with him in his special palace. It was unbelievable, all because I was just the preacher. He heard my preaching.
He came every night. The press followed him. He had people ambassadors from all over the world. He was saying, I want you to come and hear my friend preach. It was an incredible week. It was the beginning of a break for me. I ended up with April Oda and then Mylon called to say shells out. In the middle of the Indian Ocean at 5 o’clock in the morning, I couldn’t sleep. I got up. I went down to the shore. I sat there as his son was coming up. The tears are running down my cheeks. And it was reminiscent of that morning in the church in Hamilton. What are you doing to me?
I was on the verge of a massive multi-million dollar building program in a church in Toronto. And God was speaking to me. He said, your pastoring days are over. Oh, except by land. Your pastoring days are over. You’re called to Africa. I woke up, people in the morning and I said, we’re moving here. She said, what? God speaks. It’s here. You’ve got to learn. You’ve got to learn to trust the voice in here. And when you doubt it, you’re in big trouble, honey. You’ve got to listen.
He speaks. Lastly, No, it’s not the last. The day was just celebrated. It was the year 201, September the 11th, 201. Am I right? 201. I was in Africa. I just escaped snipers who were there to pick me off because they were Muslim. I hate you. They’re there to kill me. And the way I escaped was on a raft across the Nile. Been there, done that. And I ended up on this compound.
It was a doctor from Germany. She said, David, you want to go with me? I want to go over and check my nursery ward, my maternity ward. I always go there before I retire. I said, let’s go. So we went over to this. There were more people outside the ward than there were inside. The ward was a room smaller than this. I was packed with mamas and crying babies. No furniture, no room. Every mama’s holding a baby. You come with a sick baby, you take care of your baby. We’ll take care of you. You can’t leave your baby here. We don’t have enough staff. It’s incredible.
I cried when I looked at all this humanity, broken humanity, outside. Mosquitoes, malaria, the whole thing, drooping nuts.
I had a sleepless night. In the morning, I said to the doctor’s husband, take me back to that place. I’ve got to see it again. He took me there. I stood there in an open field looking over a hedge. I said, who owns that property? Next door. He said, the town, the council. How much is it worth? Can we buy it?
He said, you’re a mazuku. You can buy it. I mean, you’re a white man. You’re rich. I said, get me a price. I had no idea where I was getting the money. But God spoke to me. Eight years later, I flew over to Uganda. Oh, by the way, when I was standing there looking at that, you were watching a horrific story on the television. That very day. That very day. Went back to the celebration. I’ve got videos.
I’m dying to bring them and show you the nurses dancing and screaming. First day to go in. There’s a two story, massive building that takes up an acre. It was a dream. It was a God thing. God spoke to me so clearly. I’m not here to brag to you. I’m saying, God will talk to you and He is talking to you. He has got to learn to listen to Him. You’re not just mud. You’re not just mud. He breathed into you and inside you is the very essence of God. And it’s your responsibility to maintain contact with Him. Heavenly Father, thank you for these people who have been so patient with me today.
A horrendous voice. Oh, God. I just pray that something that was passed on this morning, whether it was truly scriptural or David’s assumption, oh, God, I prayed that something has resonated in hearts and in lives in this place today. Thank you, Jesus, for loving us. Amen.
We were going to sing another song, but I think it’s best to let you go. You need a sugar rush. You need a sugar rush. I can see it.
Blessings,
To all.
