Bill Johnson - The Mountain of Unbelief
Open your Bibles, if you would, to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 9. I mentioned a couple of months ago that I felt like I needed to take at least this summer, and maybe a little longer—we’ll see—during the times that I talk, to bring up subjects that are very familiar to us. The analogy that came to my mind a couple of months ago was when a trucker takes off with his load; he will drive a distance and oftentimes pull over to tighten down the load. After this last year, I think we have a load that needs to be tightened. So, I felt the need to review some things, and that’s what I’ve been doing. I’m going to talk to you about one of my most favorite subjects today, and I’m going to look at a story that is a favorite of mine. I read these to learn; there are nuances in these stories that I need so much because, the longer I walk with Jesus, the more I find out He thinks differently than I do, and He’s not going to change. I’m the one who has to change, so that’s the journey I’m on.
What I’m going to do, though, is take a story from Mark 9, but I’ll read a verse from Matthew 13, from the parable of the seed and the sower. I know that it is sometimes dangerous to take elements from one parable or story and mix them with another because they don’t always translate well from story to story, and you can sometimes end up with false information. I know this is true, so I’m just warning you ahead of time. I’m going to do that, and you’ll have to figure it out. I know that sometimes, for example, the fire of God is always the judgment of God, except that one time in Acts 2 when the fire of God was the tongues of fire, and tongues are a language of praise, meant for edification, so it’s far from judgment. The snake is always the devil, except that one time when it was Jesus on the cross who became sin on our behalf. Earthquakes are always judgment, except for that one time in Acts 4 when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit caused the entire place to shake because of the presence of God. So, what you don’t want to do is become too rigid, and I’m going to ask you to approach these two stories loosely because I think one will actually give us the insight we need for the other.
So, let’s start with the parable of the seed and the sower. Because we’re not doing the whole story, I’m just going to read one verse. I want to remind you, if you’re unfamiliar with the story of the parable of the seed and the sower, the seed in this parable is the Word of God. The soil is the condition of the heart. Here’s a very important lesson: the productiveness or fruitfulness of a word that God spoke does not validate whether or not it was from God because that parable actually gives us four different kinds of soil; three were no good. The word was authentic, but it just didn’t bear fruit; the fault wasn’t with what God said. See, many people make the mistake of saying, «Well, we judge a tree by its fruit.» That’s absolutely right, but they will say, «We’ll know whether this was a work of God or not by the fruit.» Not always. Jesus talked about healing 10 lepers; only one had a character change sufficient to return and give thanks. Did that mean the other nine were falsely healed? No. God’s Word, the validity of His Word, is not validated by what we do with it. In other words, it’s not proven by what we do with it. God is not on trial by what I do; I am.
In this particular illustration, we have in verse 22, though, «He who received seed among thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.» So here’s the picture: my wife is the master gardener. She has not been gardening; she’s been too sick. We have a garden, though; the pepper plants are not this tall; it’s the weeds that are this tall. We have been invaded by weeds in this garden, and it’s because we planted certain seeds, but not being able to care for and tend the garden, we have other seeds that have competed for the nutrients, absorbed the moisture, and have outgrown and actually cast shade over the plants that were supposed to be prolific and grow and provide food. The Word of the Lord is the same way. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Say that with me: «Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.» Say it again: «Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.» It does not say faith comes from hearing the Word of God. If it did, then all of us could go home, put on YouTube, where they’re quoting Scripture for the next 24 hours; let’s have it playing 24/7 in our sleep, and we’ll have the Wigglesworth kind of faith by Friday. It just doesn’t work that way. Faith comes from hearing; it’s your connection to the voice of God. But the voice of God is activated by your exposure to the Word. It’s the Word that enhances and trains the hearing.
Now, here’s the challenge: I’ve got a word that God spoke to me, but I have another idea, and I have a disappointment, and I’ve got this criticism, and I’ve got this complaint, and I’ve got all these seeds that are vying for the same nutrients. And what does the Bible say happens? It says the cares of this world, the other interests, the other burdens or concerns, busyness is artificial significance. The enemy works to expand our busyness to increase our cares; the enemy works to expand our activity to increase our cares because if we can increase our cares, he plants seeds that compete with the Word of God.
Mark Chapter 9, verse 17. We’re going to read quite a few verses, so please do follow in your Bible or your neighbor’s as much as you can. Please. Verse 17. «Then one of the crowd answered and said, 'Teacher, I brought you my son who has a mute spirit; and whenever it seizes him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, but they could not.'» And He answered him and said, «Oh, faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?» Let me stop there. I’m annoyed by—I love this translation, but I’m annoyed by their use of the word «faithless» because it’s not what it says. The literal word is «unbelief,» and there’s a difference between faithless and unbelief. Unbelief is not the absence of faith; it’s the presence of unbelief. There is a difference. Later, he says, «I believe, but help my unbelief.» The problem is, you can have more than one seed growing in your garden. To say it’s a faithless garden is not accurate; there’s faith in the garden. Are you following my analogy here? To call it faithless is not accurate; there’s just unbelief there. People come to me and they say, «Well, I’m more—I have an intellectual bent.» Oh, you mean you have an unbelieving bent? It’s nothing to be proud of; God’s quite smart, and it doesn’t interfere with His faith. So if my intellect is affecting my faith, then I know the wrong things. The knowledge of the tree of good and evil— I know the wrong things. I fill my garden with seeds that compete with what God is saying; they compete with my destiny. True faith gives you access to your greatest point of intelligence.
I believe that in the days ahead, we’re going to see the greatest intellectualism come out of faith. Yes, Bill, amen, keep it up! The Bible says, «By faith we understand the worlds were made out of nothing.» By faith, we understand—we don’t understand by faith; we don’t understand because we understand. Excuse me, we don’t believe because we understand; we understand because we believe. Faith gives us access to a level of understanding you can’t get through human reasoning.
All right, I feel like I’m preaching all by myself here. It’s all right; I’m not going to quit. No sir, I’m not gonna quit. I’m teaching; I’m just happy to see so many people in the room. There are humans! I just want you to know this last year I discovered I was addicted to humans.
All right, let’s move on here. Verse 19. «He answered and said to him, 'Oh, unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.'» Then they brought him to Him. And when He saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. Why would he do that in front of Jesus? Because I think it worked in front of the disciples. If you can create enough disturbance with what you see in the natural, it can interfere with what you see in the spirit. The enemy was working to create a disturbance that they saw here that caused them to no longer see what they saw here, and that was what God had already willed to happen. Faith doesn’t deny a problem’s existence; it just denies the problem a place of influence. They brought him to Him, and he threw him on the ground, wallowing, foaming at the mouth.
Verse 21. «So He asked his father, 'How long has this been happening to him? ' And he said, 'From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.'» It’s interesting; this is the smallest measure of faith I can find in the entire Bible. If there’s a smaller one, please show it to me. This one barely moved the needle. When you come to God and say, «If you can, God—if you have the ability to do this,» big problem, and the Lord turned the tables on him and said, «If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.» Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said with tears, «Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.» I’ve got more than one plant growing in my garden. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to a deaf and dumb spirit, «I command you, come out of him and enter him no more.» When the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him, he became as one dead, so that many said, «He is dead.» Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him up, and he arose.
When He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, «Why could we not cast it out?» He said, «This kind comes out by nothing but prayer and fasting.»
We’ve got several things that I want to point out in this story. First of all, picture a garden. We have raised beds in our house. We didn’t raise them from the dead; they’re actually just elevated organic soil. Picture the plant you want to grow next to the plant you didn’t plant, and all these things are competing for air, for sun, for nutrients, for water, and there’s this competition that’s going on. We have an automatic watering system, and it waters the weeds too. I’m trying to figure out how you can get a watering system that only waters the plants. I mean, we’ve got an orchard, and we’ve got trees growing, but we also have weeds growing because they found out there’s water there. The point I’m trying to make is the water of God’s presence waters all seeds; whatever seed is planted will become manifest by the presence of the Lord because it will begin to show.
Let me illustrate this because you need to catch this to understand how the Lord works. When He exposes—for example, you’re just driving along and you find just a little bit of an angry attitude or just an arrogant whatever—that just begins to creep up. The Lord, in His mercy, through His presence, is exposing a seed that wants permission to be planted. You have a quick moment to deal with it repentantly—in repentance—so that it doesn’t set down roots. Because once it sets down roots, it can certainly be removed, but it starts affecting personality. So quick repentance is the best. You’re driving down; you see that attitude: «No, they just think they know,» and all of a sudden, you realize, «Oh, that’s arrogance; God forgive me!» Quickly repent, then turn and bless that person. I’m trying to have shorter and shorter times between the exposure of something and the quick repentance. Don’t go into guilt and shame because it gives you a false sense of spirituality. It creates a sense of humility that mimics humility, but it’s not real humility. It doesn’t give you access to what humility gives you access to. So doing the guilt and shame thing, «Oh, I did it again,» don’t go there! Because then, you’re making an agreement with the accuser that’s trying to draw you into the sin in the first place. If he can’t get me into this sin, then he wants me to become arrogant over the fact that I’m dealing with the sin. That’s too big of a hole to fall into, so forgive me; I’ll pull out of that one.
Let me illustrate this concept: the presence of the Lord causes all seeds to water. Picture with me the Last Supper. This is the most intense and intimate moment ever. They know; they can feel it in the air: something’s about to happen. Jesus knows He’s about to go to the cross; He’s got the 12 there in this intense moment of divine presence. This intimate moment—we see John with his head on Jesus’s chest, we have Peter announcing, «I will never deny You,» and we have Judas walking out of the room to betray Him. Because all seeds are watered in the presence; they all become manifest in these moments. Wisdom is recognizing when the Lord is bringing something to the surface, and in that moment, He’s giving you grace to deal with it quickly, deal with it thoroughly.
If you’re like me, you find all kinds of things planted in your garden bed. You’ve got the Word of the Lord over your life, but like this guy, in all honesty, you say, «God, I do believe You are my confidence, but I’m fighting; I’ve got some unbelief too.» See, we thought that the answer to this challenge is to have bigger faith. Jesus actually canceled out that concept of faith size as being the answer when He said faith the size of a mustard seed could move Mount Shasta and put it in the Pacific Ocean. That’s not just a warm fuzzy illustration; it’s not a motivational point or a rah-rah on Jesus’s behalf; it’s a statement of fact. Something this small can move something that big if it stands by itself.
See, the problem is, I’ve got other plants in my garden. This particular story— the disciples were presented with a case to bring deliverance to a child. I’ll never forget, as long as I live, probably 23 or 24 years ago, I was in a meeting, and a mom brought a little child to me who was demonized, very similar—very violent. It was horrifying. I did everything I knew to do. I’ve ministered in deliverance many, many times; I pulled out all the weapons, and nothing happened. I’ll never forget the mom looking at me with her tormented child saying, «What do I do now?» and giving some stupid answer that didn’t please her or me. Sometimes you don’t drive out a problem with power; you only do it through authority, and learning how to minister in authority is different than ministering in power. Authority is needed to deal with authority; authority is needed to deal with this kind of obstacle, this kind of problem. The father couldn’t do it, so he brought him to the disciples.
Now, I remind you the disciples were the most skilled and trained people in the area of deliverance to ever live up until that point. Nobody had the experience they had; no one had the insights; nobody had the history or the testimony. No one! Jesus could trust them enough to send them in groups of two to a city and clean out the place. All the demonized were free, and the tormented and sick were healed. In fact, it was so impacting that in Luke chapter 10, Jesus added 70 more to the group and sent them out. Picture this: He sent out 82 folks; they go out. They come back; they are so excited because demons were subject to them, and Jesus says, «By the way, I saw Satan fall like lightning.» He’s responding to their success. He’s responding to the impact of their anointing, their gift, their ministry. Jesus said, «I saw Satan fall like lightning.» Just don’t make that your point of joy; make your point of joy the fact that your name is written in my book. Great story; great point.
But here we are: we’ve got those with the greatest expertise who couldn’t bring healing or deliverance to this child. The dad was lucky enough to see Jesus coming and brought the child to Jesus. Jesus wasn’t impressed by the demonic manifestation. Sometimes we take our identity in the size of our problem. Be careful how you describe your problem because sometimes we’d rather have sympathy from a friend than breakthrough from a person of faith. I’m not saying don’t share; I’m just saying be careful where your heart is going because sometimes we feed on that stuff. So, they brought him to Jesus. Jesus was unmoved by the demonic manifestation and brought deliverance to the child. The disciples saw it, and it says they took Jesus aside and asked Him, «How come we couldn’t do it?» Jesus gave them this profound advice: «This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting,» which I’ll talk about in a minute.
For me, the biggest lesson in this story is that when the disciples couldn’t bring about a breakthrough, they didn’t create a theology around what didn’t happen. They didn’t look for biblical reasons why it wasn’t God’s will to deliver that child. Instead, they took Jesus aside and asked, «Why not?» I pray the day comes for you and for me that instead of being shocked when a breakthrough happens, we’re shocked when it doesn’t—shocked enough to take Jesus aside and ask Him to please explain why it didn’t work in this situation. Jesus said, «This kind only comes out with prayer and fasting,» but He neither prayed nor fasted.
We know Jesus fasted; the one time we know that He fasted was 40 days at the beginning of His ministry. It’s kind of at the initiation, but He didn’t—I’m not saying it’s wrong, but He didn’t fast for a problem. He fasted into a lifestyle. So, Jesus said, «This kind only comes out with prayer and fasting,» but He neither prayed nor fasted and brought deliverance. What did Jesus identify as the problem in this story? Unbelief. Unbelief was the problem. What did the dad think the problem was? A demon. Yes, he wants the demon out of his son. What’s the problem for the dad? The demon. What’s the problem for Jesus? Unbelief. There are times when you face a situation that is bigger than your unbelief can handle. I could feel it; there’s a sucking sound into this hole. There are times when the measure of faith, when compared to all the questions that you keep pondering and keep questioning, can be too big of a battle.
When you actually have the faith of God Himself, that when it stands by itself, is more than enough to move the mountain, but because you’ve allowed it to be planted with other competing things, you’re in a war He didn’t create for you. Prayer and fasting do not drive out demons; the devil doesn’t get intimidated when I miss a meal. I think he finds it entertaining. It may be because I’m such a pitiful faster. I was fasting this week, watching hunting shows where they cooked the food they shot. I gravitate towards those—leave me alone; just be quiet! I don’t think the devil is intimidated by my fasting; he’s intimidated by my authority.
What happens in prayer and fasting is you discover who He is and you discover who you are—that’s it. Let me rephrase it: fasting, for some of us at times, has been more likely called a hunger strike. It’s where you announce to God you’re not eating until something happens. That’s funny to me; it’s funny that that would ever cross our minds: «All right, You want me to fast? I’m fasting until this…» It’s not like fasting earns brownie points. You know what it does? Fasting is where you are hungrier for something you can’t see than for what you can see. That’s what it is! What does faith operate in? If it operates in the unseen, what does unbelief operate in? It operates in what you can see. It’s the wallowing child foaming at the mouth.
That’s the challenge the disciples had; they had not been given a proper amount of authority to deal with that child. They had been. Jesus gave them all the authority they needed to deal with any problem they faced. Did they deal with it? No. Why? Too many seeds in the garden, too much competing with what God had given them. They had the authority; it was just deluded in its use to minister to this problem. Fasting is learning to have an appetite for things you can’t see.
As abstract as that sounds, it is the life of faith. As abstract and unreasonable as that appears, it is where I become anchored in what Paul said: «What you can’t see is eternal; what you can see is temporal.» So, if my confidence is in this, that I can see, my confidence will crash; it will fail because this is not reliable. My own human strength is not reliable. It can’t be on any of those things; it can’t be on human talent or skill. It has to be on something that is outside of that, that brings influence. A miracle comes. I’ve watched so many times where a miracle comes. It’s hard to explain, but it’s in the unseen, and I see a problem, and the miracle just through faith gets released into that situation. I’ve watched it change before my eyes. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen bones that were missing grow; I’ve seen bones that were deformed dissolve. I’ve watched it! I’ve watched it where there was absolute 100% deafness, and all of a sudden, they hear. It’s in the unseen, but it’s released into the visible—into something that was inferior, into something damaged, destroyed, afflicted, or whatever it might be. It’s that connection of the believer between the unseen world and the visible world.
I come as a representative, and that’s why we don’t beg God for the miracle; He’s already decided to do it. We’re just learning to cooperate with the way He moves, the way He works, the way He thinks. I’m so thankful for the Lord’s prayer that He taught us to pray: «Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» The rest of the prayer gives us this day all petition prayer, but those two statements can be translated like this: «Will of God be done; Kingdom of God come.» They are decrees. It’s a part of the prayer life. The prayer life has woven into it the responsibility to take the heart and mind of God and proclaim it into a given situation. The worlds were made out of Him speaking; that’s why He wants us to talk! But talk as a yielded vessel to Him because then it’s not just good ideas being declared into a situation. It’s not just the power of positive thinking—which, if that’s all you have, don’t lose it; you’re depressing otherwise! It just felt good to say; I don’t know why.
So, He says, «This kind only comes out with prayer and fasting.» Do you know what He’s telling them? He’s saying, «Listen, the way to deal with unbelief is to put your attention on that which is eternal.» There’s something about prayer; I don’t understand this, and I find that when I need this kind of praying the most is when I want to do it the least. It’s the prayer that’s beyond words. It’s the prayer that’s beyond words. Sometimes it’s praying in the Spirit—praying in tongues. Sometimes it’s literally just being engaged with the presence of God with a groaning that’s too deep for words. There are no words for what I feel, but I’m not going to leave this engagement; I’m not going to leave this moment. It’s a face-to-face moment! I’m not manipulating or controlling God; I simply want to be shaped by Him. I want my heart to reflect His heart; I want my words to reflect His words, and there are these moments where He’s just saying, «Listen, the problem isn’t the demon; the problem is unbelief.» And the antidote? Learn to pray beyond convenience, and be willing to skip a meal to anchor into what you can’t see. Why? Because that’s where your authority functions from.
Typically, what gets done is creating all kinds of bad theology to explain why something didn’t happen. Picture this today: if this were today and we were the disciples and we tried to get the child free, but the child doesn’t get free and there’s no Jesus in the flesh to bring deliverance, what do we do at the end of the day? Well, in most places, it’s «Well, God works in mysterious ways.» We know that God is able to use this; I’m sure what He’s doing is trying to increase the level of devotion to Christ and the prayer effort of this household. Wow! Instead of saying, «There’s too many seeds planted in my garden; I’ve got too many options; I’ve got too many other things to think, too many other things to believe.» Because according to Jesus’s example on the size of faith, it doesn’t take this much faith to move something as large as a mountain; it just takes this kind of faith.
So, when Jesus talks about great faith and greater faith, I don’t know that He’s talking about greater in a sense of size. I think He’s describing whether or not that faith is by itself. It’s the only seed in the garden; the only seed in the garden. That’s why it’s great. Its impact, its significance, its mountain-moving weightiness is not in its size; it’s in its quality; it’s in its ability to stand by itself.
I’ve been asking the Lord, in my own personal prayer time, about this thing of authority. I became aware several months ago, maybe six or eight months ago, maybe a little longer, that I was so much stronger in being able to move in power than to move in authority. I don’t mean to imply I don’t move in authority; I feel like I do, but I could tell if you could have power and authority, I’ve got one leg that’s a lot longer than the other one. I want to be able to walk in a way that represents Him well in any situation. Some situations require power, but some power won’t fix it. Sometimes it’s knowing who He is, knowing who you are, unashamedly taking your position and posture and expelling that influence that is wreaking havoc on a household, on a city, on a situation.
I pray that in this next season, every one of us would see personal breakthroughs, family breakthroughs, and corporate breakthroughs. To me, it’s a mystery; it may be clear to you, but to me, it’s a mystery that this mystery would become clear. I pray there would be something more deeply rooted in who He made me to be that knows how to operate in both power and authority because I feel like we need it. I know I do. I know I’m in a situation right now where it’s an issue of authority, and I’ve had plenty of occasions to do the guilt and shame thing, but I danced with that partner years ago, and it just wasn’t any fun. I learned a long time ago—hopefully I’ll remember—that that one’s not any fun and not rewarding at all. It gives such a false sense of spirituality; it’s not authentic; it’s not real.
So for me, staying connected to the presence of God, the peace of God, the heart of God, living simply—I don’t need overexposure to things outside my call. Busyness, artificial significance—I don’t need that because I know my temptation is—I’m a responsible person, and I will start taking responsibility for things He didn’t say I was responsible for, and those very things become the cares of this world that compete for the nutrient of the seed.
So I pray for that for you. I pray that the Lord would give us wisdom and grace for this next season—a wisdom and grace that knows the difference between God’s assignment and what just looks appealing. I pray that the Lord would put a spirit of wisdom and revelation on us as a people to know the difference between authority and power and to help us recognize when He spotlights attitudes—simple things. I’ve been asking God; I’ve been seeing the connection between certain kinds of infirmities and ways of thinking. I’ve been asking the Lord, «Point that out to me when it starts with me because I don’t want to let that thing grow.» I’m not even aware of it, and these last two weeks I’ve been seeing so many things— it just reminds me of an experience I had 30 years ago, and I go, «Oh yeah, I released that person from all judgment; I refuse to come to a conclusion that would indict them.» It’s not my job; I release them from that. I pray the blessing of the Lord, and it just means throughout the day I’ve got stuff just popping up all day long because I want to make sure—I want to do what Jesus did; He said, «Satan has nothing in Me.» There was zero attachment; there was not one thought or idea in His head that somehow had its origin in the mind of the enemy.
I pray that for you, and I especially pray that for me. Father, help us in this season to come into a level of authority that we’ve not known before and a true level of effectiveness that has been outside of our reach. Help us to never be the people that create a theology to allow a problem to exist. Instead, I pray that we would learn to take You aside and find out why. I feel like I need to take about 30 seconds for something. There’s this kind of praying; it’s the groaning that’s beyond words. It’s not a show; it’s just—all I know is to say as you get into this time into the presence of the Lord, where all you have—you don’t have words, you don’t have a song, you just have that deep, deep moving of the heart that just— that’s all you’ve got! That’s all you’ve got! Don’t leave it because it doesn’t make sense! Stay locked in! Do what, like Chris said earlier: you pray until the burden lifts. You stay there. You may go into a song; you may go into a scripture; you may go into that. But don’t be quick to leave those moments of engagement where you just stop and you just say, «No, this must move.» This has been set against my household, my family, or my friend; this must move. Complacency does not demonstrate the kingdom.
You’ve got two ways of progressing in the kingdom: the violence of faith and receiving as a child. Both are positions of extraordinary strength—one is authority, the other is realized identity, where you receive the inheritance. And I pray this next season that you make these two things increase in our thinking and in our influence. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
One more thing: I want to know if there’s anybody here who has never— you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. You don’t know what it is to be forgiven; you don’t know what it is to truly be a disciple and follow Him. You’re one who would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave the building until I know what it is to have peace with God—to be forgiven by God—but also to be truly a disciple, one who follows Jesus.» If that’s anybody in the room, anybody online—and by the way, I forgot to welcome all of our online family. I bless you. Anyone online? Anyone in the room? Just put a hand up and say, «Bill, that’s me! I don’t want to leave until I know what it is to be born again. I know what it is.» Right over here, wonderful. Yes! Anyone else? Real quickly, those who are online, please put it in the chat box. We’ve got pastors on there ready to talk and pray with you. Take advantage of this moment! We have so many people come to Christ online. I want to encourage you; please respond to this.
I want to have everybody stand; I’m going to ask for the two gentlemen that raised their hands over here—maybe if you brought them as a friend, come with them. Come on down to the front, and I need to have a couple of our guys come on over here. Yes, bless them as they come down. We want them to leave with the entire package today, yes? Filled with the Spirit of God, touched so powerfully. Others in this room—there is somebody else in here that needs to join them. There’s at least one more person. I’m going to encourage you to get out of your seat right now and get down here. This group of people will love you, pray for you, and serve you in a way that will change the rest of your life. I’m going to ask you just to get out right now; church, just pray for that—pray for those who are even online. It’s just—it’s not a day to be doing your own thing; it’s a day to be found in the safety of following Jesus. Amen.