Bill Johnson - Reasons Why You Might Struggle to Hear God's Voice
He has so much he wants to tell us; he wants so badly to unload all the things that are on his heart to a willing hearer. I have so much to say to you, but he adds, «You cannot bear it now.» What does he mean by that? Thank you! Please, how many of you were at our Open Heavens conference this week or watched online? Any of you watched online? It was such a wonderful time. If you didn’t have a chance to catch any of the event, I encourage you to do so on Bethel TV. Also, Friday afternoon, Eric did an interview with Mike Bickle, John Bavaro, and myself, which was awesome. Mike Bickle is a riot; that’s all I have to say. Mike, are you here somewhere? There he is, way in the back! Bless you; I love you. We are so privileged to have Mike here. His wife, Diane, was here, but she had to go back yesterday. Actually, she went to where my wife is in Washington, D.C., for that call tomorrow. I’m assuming they usually post that stuff online. Anyway, tonight is going to be outrageous. I am so excited! We are so privileged to have Mike Bickle here; it’s the first time we’ve wanted him for years, and it finally worked out—so I’m a happy camper!
In honor of Mike, his favorite story of all— which I just found out about on the ride over here— is this one: If you’ve already heard it, pretend like you haven’t. Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, «Fried chicken.» She said I wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t have been right because everyone else in the class laughed. My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am—fried chicken is my favorite animal! I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA; he said they love animals very much, and I do too, especially chicken, pork, and beef. Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal’s office. I told him what happened, and he laughed too, then told me not to do it again. The next day in class, my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was. I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, just like she had asked the other children. I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken. She sent me back to the principal’s office. He laughed and told me not to do it again. I don’t understand; my parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn’t like it when I am.
Today, my teacher asked us to tell her what famous person we admire most. I told her, «Colonel Sanders.» Guess where I am now, right? Oh, that’s just so funny! Facial recognition software can pick a person out of a crowd, but the vending machine won’t recognize a dollar with a bent corner. Have you ever listened to some folks for a minute and thought their cornbread ain’t done in the middle? I just think that’s funny! All right, one more. When I’m sad, I sing because then I realize my voice is worse than my problem!
All right, let’s get going here. Actually, we’ve got a bunch of new stuff that I think is gone. Some of it—Seth Doll helped me with a God is Good book and turned it into a children’s picture book. I’m pretty excited about that; it just came out this week. I didn’t even know it was coming out this week! I got to my chair at the conference, and it was sitting there. So anyway, this is available somewhere in the bookstore. We have another little book titled «Is God Really Good?» This one’s a little embarrassing; the publisher made a slight mistake on the opening page. One of the introductions says, «Publisher’s note: Is God Good?» Well, they forgot one of the O’s in the word «Good,» so it says, «Is God God?» And there are already rumors circulating that someone started that I don’t believe Jesus Is God. So I’m glad to be able to contribute to that controversy. We don’t want that thing dying down because then it won’t be any fun anymore. My publisher wrote me and said, «I am so sorry! It’ll work out fine.» But anyway, if you want one of the error copies, they’re in there—the rest of it is good, I believe.
Finally, we have the first batch—actually, there are none left, but let me show you what you can’t have. Oh, there it is! The Bethel edition of the Passion Translation New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Songs. This is not leather; the leather will be here in December. But I tell you what, this is the best non-leather edition I’ve ever seen! It will be available next week; we don’t have any more now. Is there anyone? They sold after the first service, so they’re just gone. So see this? You can’t have one. Let me ask about this: is there anyone here who has had a baby in the last month? Come on! Merry Christmas! There you go! Yeah, absolutely! And then, anybody come from places like Dubai or South Africa or any faraway location like that for visiting? Not students—V from where? Australia? Russia? Argentina? Okay! Oh yeah, yeah! I wish I could give you all a copy, but I cannot. I was looking for South Africa or Dubai— is there a visitor from South Africa? You’re next to—oh, Namibia! Come here, Namibia! You almost can’t get here from South Africa! Do you fly directly into Namibia? We had four connecting flights! Where do you fly to from Namibia? Johannesburg? Yeah, so you go to South Africa and then here, so you’re farther away—so you deserve that Bible! Just take it! All right, bless you! I am always impressed by the people who get here from South Africa; every time I go, it’s like a lifestyle commitment just to get there. All the rest of you guests, we’re just thrilled you’re here, even though you didn’t get a free Bible—sorry about that!
Open your Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 8. The challenge with our faith is not our inability to hear God’s voice; the challenge of our faith is our willingness to hear other voices. There are so many opinions, ideas, and ideologies competing for our attention and ultimately our affection. Whenever the Lord performs a miracle—a healing or something extraordinary in our lives—he’s always trying to anchor our affections into a world we cannot see. When you see cause and effect, you see someone’s ear that is deaf; somebody prays, and something unseen comes and opens the ear; they can now hear what’s happening. The Lord is awakening our affection for a world we cannot see. He’s teaching us and training us on the superiority of the unseen; Paul anchored that when he said, «What you can’t see is eternal; what you can see is temporal.»
So there’s often a conflict—but it doesn’t have to be a conflict—between those two realities when they’re supposed to be joined together in partnership. The natural is not an evil commodity, and the supernatural is not just great; they’re supposed to function together. If I can use Israel’s analogy as they went into the promised land, it’s supposed to be Israel works naturally, plants crops, God breathes on them, and they multiply in the size of the harvest. The natural is supposed to cooperate with the supernatural, and you and I are the agents that connect the two. Both hope and hopelessness are contagious; decide what kind of influence you want to have on the world around you because both are contagious. Faith comes from hearing God’s voice; everybody in the room can hear God’s voice. You wouldn’t be saved otherwise. That conviction that draws us to him—where we confess, we repent, and we turn our lives to him—is only because it’s a response to hearing his voice.
Unfortunately, as achievement-centered people, especially in the Western world, we emphasize our ability, or in this case, our inability. Instead of emphasizing our weakness in hearing God’s voice, it would be wiser for us to emphasize his ability to be heard. If you’re talking to somebody who has a difficult time hearing you, you raise your voice; perhaps you wait until they’re looking at you. You do something to help make sure that you can be heard. You take on the responsibility to be heard. If you and I know how to do that as human beings, then certainly God knows how to do that as our heavenly Father. He makes certain he can be heard. So the issue is not ability as much as willingness. In some ways, the greatest enemy of our heart is busyness. And I don’t mean busyness as having a full schedule; I mean the busyness of the heart.
Jesus had probably as full a schedule as anybody ever had. People constantly pressed about him, trying to get close, trying to draw from him—questions following him anywhere he went. They’d follow him out into the wilderness where there was no food and forget about their own needs to eat and drink. They just lost concern for those things because they were with him. So if there’s anybody who knew what it was to have demands placed on him, it was Jesus. But he maintained that sense of personal peace, and that peace enabled him to recognize that still small voice. The Lord is obviously able to speak dramatically through circumstances; I’ve seen it through unusual coincidences. There are so many ways that he talks. Sometimes he uses words, but he speaks, and oftentimes it’s that still small voice.
It doesn’t mean if it’s loud around you, you can’t hear the still small voice; it just can’t be loud inside of you. Maintaining and protecting peace—one of my greatest life verses was given to me by a friend 45 years ago from Proverbs chapter 4, where it says, «Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life.» Watching over your heart—Benny and I used that as a model in raising our children because we would actually bring correction in response to attitude instead of just behavior. If you can catch some things in attitude form, you can prevent the wrong behavior. The Lord’s inviting us into that kind of self-examination in a healthy way.
Watch over your heart with all diligence; from it flow the issues of life. Make sure that I maintain not just right attitudes, but I also protect that peace. I protect the peace that seems to welcome and respond to the slightest nudge—the slightest movement of the Holy Spirit when he speaks to me. Our life depends on his voice. Now, I want to emphasize for those who may not know us well: his voice will never contradict his word, but his voice is what makes this come alive. We need the voice of God; that’s where he activates what’s on the page into becoming flesh in us. We need that activation of his voice. Man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We live literally by the voice of God. Everything is upheld by his voice, by his word. Our need to hear from him is an ongoing, continual thing, and protecting that peace ensures that we will always be hearers of his voice.
Lastly, before we get into Luke chapter 8 here, we know that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith comes from hearing, hearing by the word of God. Anyone who doesn’t have devotion to this will sometimes be misled by what they hear because there are other voices. As I said to start today, our issue in building faith and being people of faith is not so much our inability to hear from God; it’s our willingness to hear other voices. That’s what I want to talk to you about. We’re going to look at a parable. I don’t think I’ve ever taken just one verse to study out of this parable; I always read the whole thing. I like studying the whole thing, but we’re not going to do that today. It’s recorded here; I think a more complete version is in Matthew 13. It’s the parable of the seed and the sower. It is the cornerstone parable. It’s like if you get this one, everything else falls into place. In this story, Jesus uses an illustration of seed, a sower, and soil. The seed is God’s word.
Now think with me: the seed is what God says to you and me. That seed, when you take a kernel of corn, carries—excuse me—when you plant it into the ground and it grows an ear of corn, every kernel on that ear of corn has the exact same DNA as the kernel that died in the ground. Same DNA! So the Lord died that you and I might have life. Whenever he speaks to us, he actually gives us a seed that carries his entire full DNA. The DNA of God is in the seed of whatever he says, so when he speaks to us, he’s actually depositing something that has the capacity to bring complete transformation to our lives. James put it this way: «In humility receive the word implanted.» Humility is the condition of the soil—"In humility receive the word implanted.» Then it says, «which is able to save your souls.» The ability to save—you’re already born again. The people he wrote that to were already saved, so he’s talking about the ongoing transformation of life. The power for that transformation is in the seed that was received; take an acorn. There are a billion oak trees in that acorn, and more. You plant the acorn, you get an oak tree that gives many more acorns; you plant those acorns. You can see how the cycle goes.
When God speaks to us, he oftentimes speaks in seed form. He’s just looking for soil that will steward what he has said. Oftentimes, because we don’t get the full thing that we prayed for, we abort the power of the seed because we were disappointed in not getting the full measure of the promise that we prayed for. We didn’t realize that what God spoke to us was a seed that carried the capacity for the full answer if it’s stewarded well. Good!
So in the parable of the seed and the sower, we have the seed, which is God’s word that carries his DNA. The soil is the condition of the heart. The Holy Spirit is the one who takes the seed and plants it into our heart, so the condition of the heart is the soil. Now, the seed has absolute capacity to reproduce the likeness, the power, the nature of God anywhere it’s planted. Would you agree with me on that? The seed has the power; what is the limiting factor? It is the condition of the soil. When God speaks to you, speaks to me, he’s depositing something that has eternal significance. Every time he opens his mouth, he says something that has an impact on our lives directly and on eternity itself. The only limiter in the equation is the condition of the soil.
All right, that seems to go over pretty well. Let’s go right here, and let’s go right into this parable. I think I’ve already stated it; I’m only going to read one verse although the whole parable is certainly worth studying. One verse: Verse 14. «Now the seeds that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.»
Okay, look at it again: «The seed that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out, and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.» This is not describing a hard heart—that’s dealt with earlier in the parable. A hard heart would be the hard soil. This is talking about soil that receives many seeds. Let’s just say it’s corn; you put in corn, but next to it are thorns. What is that? That’s the product of another seed.
So here, I’ve received what God is saying planted into my heart, but I’ve also received this other idea and this backup idea in case this doesn’t work, and this other perspective because, you know, I’ve seen others who had that promise, and God didn’t fulfill it in their life. So what happens is it’s not that we have a problem with hearing God’s voice; we have a problem giving ourselves to other things that are not the result of God’s word, God’s voice to us. As a result, we end up entertaining ideas and thoughts that become planted in us and rob from the soil of what the word of God needs to draw from, if you will—the nutrients that seeds draw from. It’s robbing from that, and then it grows up and competes for sunlight and chokes the seed of what God said the potential was there to produce—the likeness, the nature of God, the atmosphere of heaven itself through the development of that seed that which God had spoken. But as soon as I begin to entertain—if you can picture Peter on the water, walking towards Jesus, then what did he do? He began to concern himself with the waves, which all of us have done. In fact, most of us never got out of the boat, but he’s walking, and what does he do? He begins to consider other issues and problems.
What are those? Those are rapidly growing seeds that create thorns that choke the promise of the word that God said. Jesus looked at Peter and said, «Come.» That was the word. He saw the waves—that was another word. Is the picture clear?
All right, so here it says that the thorns—they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures, and they bring no fruit to maturity. Take those three things—cares, riches, and pleasures. The word «cares» here, I didn’t know until today, means «divided mind.» In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5, Jesus talked about whoever’s eye is single. I mean, he wasn’t talking about having one eye in the middle of your forehead; he means whoever’s eye is single, their body will be full of light.
I have this hunch that there’s revelation in that thought about divine health, but let’s leave that aside for a moment. Just take the concept. He says whoever’s eye is single, your body will be full of light. Look at it this way. The word «single» here means it’s two words: the number one and the word «voyage.» Whoever’s eyes of their heart are set on one voyage—I am alive for one reason—everything about them will be enlightened by God’s own personal presence. There will be no shadows, no dark places—one voyage! The word «cares» means «divided mind.»
It goes on and says, «Now the fruit of these thorns,» if you will, we’ve got the Word of God planted, we have thorns; and the fruit that these thorns create that actually takes the life of God’s word, his seed—the fruit is cares, divided mind, riches, and pleasures of life. God is the king of pleasures of life; he himself is undistracted and quite wealthy. Yes, the problem isn’t the pleasure; the problem isn’t the riches or the provision or the abundance of God’s blessing—that’s never the issue. The issue is the place it has in my heart.
Whenever my attention turns from seeking first the kingdom to focus on the reward of the breakthrough, and I take the blessing and make that my goal, I have actually sown into that which will now choke the word for the next season, and I’ve chosen where I’m going to level off. Did that make sense?
The seed of God’s word is planted; I feed these other things by what? Suddenly, the cares of life—I’m anxious—why? I’m anxious for this; I need to buy that; I need to purchase this; I need to make this decision. I live with this tension, this anxiety in life—I’ve got the riches—I need more of this, and I’ve got to have that—and the pleasures of life—that’s a real focus! I’ve got to make sure that we have this in our life and that anxiety, that stress of life, actually deadens my sensitivity to the voice, but it also shifts my focus from being a Kingdom-oriented person with an appetite and a hunger, an affection for the unseen—I am now prioritizing what I can see. When I do that, the scripture says that fruit actually competes with God’s word and chokes it.
It’s amazing because God’s word is the most powerful thing in the universe, but the Lord, for a season, Mark chapter 7 says, «Through your traditions, you make the word of God of no effect.» This means you render powerless the most powerful thing in the universe. So God, for a season, has allowed us to have a voice in the effect of that seed. So in this case, he says, «All right, now suddenly what you’ve been entertaining—the anxieties, the stresses, all these issues of life—they now have fruit in your life.» And that fruit is pleasures, riches, these other things that now draw you away from your devotion to what you can’t see.
Amen! Verse 18 says, «Take heed how you hear. Whoever has, to him more will be given; whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken away.» Look at it again—"Therefore take heed how you hear, for whoever has, to him more will be given.» That’s implying that we obtain increase through hearing. Remember, this is in the context of the voice of God, him speaking into our lives. He says, «All right, whoever has, take heed how you hear.» It’s about hearing. Whoever has, to him more will be given. That’s implying that we obtain increase through hearing.
If you value testimony—not just as a mental thing, but truly in your heart of hearts—you love to hear what God is doing—you will attract people with stories. In the negative, if you value gossip or slander, people who gossip will find you; it’s an unseen thing, but they’re attracted to you. That you carry— they recognize subconsciously—and they will be drawn to you. A person who likes foul language or dirty jokes attracts those stories. Put them in the middle of any business, and within a week, the people that are there that like to tell those kinds of stories will be attracted to that individual because like attracts like.
This also pertains to the kingdom. Those who value words of promise, who value the tenderness of what God is saying into a given situation, attract that. Here’s the thing I’ve been watching in my life for a number of years now: revelation attracts revelation. Insight that is stewarded well attracts more, and there are certain environments that are so pregnant with revelation. Now, revelation, for those who may not know us well, I don’t mean in addition to scripture. I mean where God highlights and gives us insight to what’s from him. Don’t tell me you love Jesus there if you don’t love him here! Show me your love for Jesus through your lips!
He said, «Well, I don’t understand it.» I don’t understand him either; he’s way beyond what I could understand. «Well, I don’t remember what I read.» I don’t remember what I had for breakfast last week either, but it still nourished me. People say, «Well, I pray; I fall asleep.» I never got mad at my kids for falling asleep in my arms! If you can picture, the foundation of a house has been laid—it’s all set, the flooring is there, there’s no walls, roof, walls, or windows, nothing else, just the flooring.
If I could sum that up in a cartoon, I could show you that revelation is when you establish the foundational principles of God’s kingdom deep into your heart and you live them; it attracts the walls, the windows, the ceiling, the carpet; it actually draws it! That’s what he’s saying: whoever has, more will be given. Besides, you will attract what you value into your life.
So good! Now take a quick look with me at John 16, and we’ll wrap this up in the next 13 minutes and 15 seconds. John 16—the reason I wanted to share this particular passage with you, which we’ve studied before—has been a while— is because of this first verse, Verse 12. He says, «I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.» That messes me up! I want you to see it this way: of course, this is addressed to the disciples. The disciples have spent time with him now for three and a half years; he’s about to die, be crucified; he’s with them and he says, «I’ve got so much I want to tell you.» Here’s the deal: God has so much to say to you. He has so much he wants to tell us. He wants so badly for the opportunity to unload the things that are on his heart to a willing hearer.
I have so much to say to you, but he adds, «You cannot bear it now.» What does he mean by that? Do you remember the cares of this world? The divided mind? What happens if you put the weightiness of God’s revelation on a divided mind? A fracture gets worse! I like to put it this way: whenever God speaks, he creates; the reality of his kingdom is released. Whenever he talks, his voice is always creative. Whenever he speaks to us, he’s looking for people that have the weight-carrying capacity for what he wants to say. When he says, «I have so many things to say to you, but you can’t bear it now,» he’s talking about weight-carrying capacity. You don’t have the capacity to carry what I would release over you if I were to tell you all that was in my heart.
It’s not punishment; it’s protection. The word «glory» is a word that means weight or heavy weightiness. Whenever God speaks, words become spirit (John chapter 6). The Holy Spirit is released into the atmosphere every time Jesus spoke. Remember the word of God made flesh (John 1:14)? The word of God made flesh. Whenever Jesus spoke, the word of God was made spirit—that Holy Spirit contains the full realm and measure of the kingdom of God. Just work with me here. Whenever he spoke, the reality of presence and kingdom became manifest in that crowd. That’s why he could say, «Change your way of thinking; the kingdom is within reach.» I just released it; it’s over you; it’s there now.
Every time he speaks, there’s a weightiness of presence released. I like to put it this way: the glory of God, the weightiness of God’s word, his promise, his presence, his person—the weightiness of glory establishes a sanctified life, but it crushes the unsanctified life. If I could use the example of the single eye versus the life filled with cares—the fractures, the divided mind—you put the weightiness on a divided mind, and the division gets worse. Does that make sense? You put more weight where there’s a fracture; the fracture increases. But you put the weightiness of God upon the single focus—the one voyage—something becomes established; purpose is enhanced.
When Jesus withholds a word, it’s never punishment. He’s never silent out of punishment. He’s either wanting us to get prepared or positioned to hear what he has to say, or he has already told us what we needed to hear, and he wants us to review the catalog to see if maybe there’s something he gave us six months ago that we’re not living in.
The rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus quoted a few commands, then asked him, «What does the law say to you?» The guy quoted a few commands, and Jesus said, «Do that; you’ll be fine.» What’s the point? Here’s the great opportunity to unload the purpose of God for this guy’s life, and Jesus doesn’t give him anything. He wasn’t being cruel; it’s just that the guy wasn’t living in what he already knew.
«I still have many things to say to you,» Verse 12. Verse 13 says, «However, when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.» He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. That’s just like Jesus did! He will tell you things to come; he will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things the Father has are mine; therefore, I said he will take of mine and declare it to you.
I remember the experience I had when I saw this passage for at least the measure that I understand it now; it pierced my heart. Here’s Jesus saying, «I’ve got so much to tell you,» and then he moves on. He says, «Everything’s mine; it’s all mine.» Now, that wouldn’t be news for us as God because Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, already owns everything. But would it make sense to you that he forfeited his right to everything by becoming a man? He then reinherits it; it’s all mine. This Holy Spirit is going to come, and he’s going to take what belongs to Jesus, and he’s going to declare it to you. Now, remember this is all set up so you could step fully into the inheritance that God has prepared for us.
So, he said the Holy Spirit is going to take what’s mine and declare it to you. Picture it this way: if this stage could somehow represent everything that exists—every power, every authority, every realm, every possession, every planet—everything is represented on this stage, and it all belongs to Jesus. It was all the Father’s, and he gave it to Jesus, the Son of Man. Now, Jesus, the Son of Man, says earlier in the chapter, «It really is to your advantage that I go because if I go, I will send the Holy Spirit; otherwise, he won’t come; he won’t come unless I send him.»
So, he goes back and releases the Holy Spirit. He says the Holy Spirit is going to take what belongs to Jesus and come to you and me, and he’s going to declare what that is. What is he doing? He’s transferring from that account to yours! Every time he talks, he’s transferring resource of another world into our lives. The reason we protect our hearts to hear is that every time he speaks, he transfers. He’s going to take what is mine and declare it to you! The seed creates the oak tree that creates more seeds, more acorns that create more oaks! Every time he speaks, he carries the eternal DNA of God into every word that he says. That’s what makes it catastrophic when I entertain all these other voices in the name of objectivity because I actually invite and empower inferior seed to compete with the eternal.
Amen! That should just about do it. Why don’t you stand up? It’s a pretty graceful ending. I feel like our plane just flew into the side of a mountain. Sometimes you land well; sometimes you just don’t. You land. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a plane when they are flying so fast it didn’t feel like the right speed to land a plane in. Oh, that’s not fun at all! I’m thinking, «Oh, I should never fly in this country again; their approach to safety is a little different.»
Thank you! I receive that blessing! I just accept all the blessings I can get! Amen! Thank you! Whenever we come together with such a great number of people, there’s always a high probability that we have people here who have never surrendered their life or given their life to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible calls it being born again; it’s where God actually forgives us and brings us into his family. It’s where we leave that life and come entirely to him. Most everyone in this room has made that decision. If you will, God spoke; we heard; there was sorrow for our sin; we turned from that; we came to God; we said, «God, we want what you have for us. We want you to forgive us. We receive you as our Father.»
That opportunity is made available every time we come together. I want to do this before we do anything else this morning. If there’s anyone here that would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave the building until I know I’m at peace with God, until I know I’ve been forgiven of sin, until I know he’s actually adopted me and brought me into his family.» If that’s you, then right where you’re at, I just want you to put a hand up and say, «That’s me; I don’t want to leave until I know that.» Right here! Anyone else real quick? There’s another one right here—another one! Beautiful, wonderful! Thank you, Lord!
Anyone else? Wave your hand at me if I missed you! All right, we’ve got at least three! That’s so beautiful. Here’s what I’m going to ask the three of you that put your hands up: we’ve got a team right over here—maybe somebody can get that banner up for me so it creates a marker. With somebody, put the banner— the banner, the banner, the banner—thank you! Wow, there were eight people that received Christ during communion today!
Wonderful! Now I’m going to ask the three that just raised their hands and the eight: I want you to come over to this side, and I have a team of people here—trusted friends—I want to talk and pray with you. It has nothing to do with church membership; it has nothing to do with anything of that nature; that’s of no concern. All we want is for you to have a very healthy, fresh start in your relationship with God. So I’m going to ask those who responded to the Lord that way this morning to make your way right over here to my right. At the same time, I want to ask the ministry team to come on down to the front real quickly. Come on down! And those who raised your hands, just come on down over here to my right. We have a team of people that are ready here for you. Come on down! Church, bless them as they come; this is absolutely wonderful!