Michael Todd - Faith vs Fantasy
This may be unusual for some people watching us, as I thought he would be funny by now. I’m going to try to do everything possible to present God’s word in a way that is engaging and exciting. The one thing I never want us to get into as a church is missing God because of the package it comes in. God has been maturing me and putting Himself in different packages. That’s so good! God has been speaking to me through all kinds of things, and I used to only be able to receive God in a certain package. Honestly, that’s a sign of immaturity. My daughter Gia can only eat food right now from a breast or a bottle; that’s the only way she can receive nourishment. If it comes in anything outside of that, she has not matured enough to know how to chew it, cut it up, digest it, or even understand what it is.
If I put a steak in front of her right now, she’s just going to slap it away. But when you get older, you’re able to receive in different ways. Today, I believe I’m on assignment to teach you some things about crazier faith. I’m going to intentionally not be hype today. Why not, Pastor Mike? I want you to focus on this message and not be distracted by anything except the words coming from this message. I can’t help myself; I’m going to be myself, but I really want you to get it. Everybody say, «I want to get it!»
The next five messages I have to speak will blow your mind because they already blow mine. It’s like, «Hold on, God, wait a minute! I’m doing that!» It’s that type of stuff. But it would be irresponsible of me as your pastor to give you the license to drive without the parameters to drive in. If I don’t give you the parameters and inform you that you have to stay in your lane and avoid oncoming traffic, and you should keep your eyes open while at the wheel, it will only damage you in the long run and prevent you from experiencing the fullness of what God wants for you. Today, in week three of a series we’re calling «Crazier Faith,» I want to teach you about imagination.
Last week, we unlocked something in many of you and lots of people have been imagining all kinds of things. How many of you right now, in the chat or in the room, have been imagining yourself in a different place, imagining yourself in different spheres of influence? Okay, we’ve been imagining all kinds of stuff. But God told me specifically, «Michael, now I need you to go back and tidy some things up to help people understand where their imagination has to be and what it is not.» So, let’s get into this. Y’all got your notes? Y’all ready for this?
This is the beautiful thing about being the pastor because I show up next week too, and I get to walk you through this journey—not just speak a message and then go away. I want to help you. The greatest thing for you is to become spiritually mature, and this stuff actually works in your life. I do not want you walking around saying, «That’s my past,» «The powers are my past,» «God is good,» and nothing changes in your life. If it doesn’t change in your life, there’s no proof or evidence of what we’re even talking about. Today’s message is going to help you go deeper and understand the beginnings of what God wants you to do—living in crazy faith. Let’s go to it.
I ran into a high school friend this week at a fast-food establishment, getting something for my kids because we were fasting. I walked up, and he said, «Mike, my dog!» I looked at him and thought, «Oh snap, I remember you from high school!» For some reason, he kept saying, «I would have never imagined…I would have never imagined, bro! I would have never imagined you.» Then I started to get offended. «Hold on, what do you mean?» He repeated, «I would have never imagined.» After going back to my car, I pondered his words. Of all the words he could have used, after I finished speaking a message last week on the anointed imagination, this man kept saying, «I would have never imagined.»
I started to examine those words and something rose up in me and asked, «Why not? Why wouldn’t you have imagined? Imagination is free! It can happen in a current situation that does not look like what it seems. Ray, why wouldn’t you imagine yourself whole? Why wouldn’t you imagine yourself free? Why wouldn’t you imagine your family together? Why wouldn’t you imagine yourself forgiving them?» Uh-oh! You’ve imagined yourself being mad at them for the next decade, going to their funeral, and sitting there in resentment. But why wouldn’t you imagine the great things that God has for you? Something in me said, «I will never not imagine the good that God has for me! I will never not imagine it!»
Many of you right now are thinking, «Well, if I imagine it and then it doesn’t happen, does that make God a liar? Help, help, help, Pastor Mike!» The true matter of what you need to know is this: Write this point down. «The obedience to believe is my job, but the outcome is His.» I don’t have to believe and make it happen. My job is to believe God. If He does it or not, He is sovereign. He has the ability to say, «Yep, I’ll do it,» or «No, I’ve got something better; you won’t understand that right now; you’re not ready for that.» But my job is to believe!
Somebody say, «My job is to believe!» Say it with conviction: «My job is to believe!» The truth of the matter is, most of you have skipped out on your job. You do not believe God. You will not imagine yourself healthy. You may imagine yourself healthy while putting the donut in your mouth! You could be sitting with a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts and imagine saying, «One day, I will not need this for comfort.» I’m about to step on some toes! You could be sitting there with the blunt and imagine yourself not calling the dealer and having him on speed dial. You can imagine yourself while you’re in bed waiting for someone to temporarily fulfill an insecurity that has been there since you were 14, and you won’t even remember their name. But you can imagine yourself lying down in a bed that is yours, with someone next to you who loves you and cherishes you.
Someone say, «Imagine that!» I made a decision a long time ago that believing was my job, but the outcome is His. Too many people won’t believe unless they know the outcome. That’s not faith! Today, I need you to take a different stance in faith with me. I’m going to believe no matter what! It doesn’t matter what it looks like, what they said, or what happened for them. Brian, I’m going to believe no matter what! No matter what diagnosis they gave me, they told me what my son would be able to do, but I’m going to believe no matter what! The outcome is His job; believing is mine. I’m trying to get someone to understand this because you’ve been waiting for a guarantee on what you’re believing for, and God is waiting for you to believe no matter the outcome. You’re standing in the middle of a situation that can change, but your job is to believe while God’s job is the outcome. So, what do you do? I obey God. I believe God. It doesn’t matter what it looks like.
As I was discussing imagination last weekend, we were looking at how we need to be more childlike, trusting God, believing God, obeying God, following God, and imagining what God has for us. We learned that imagination is purified in intercession. It couldn’t have come at a better time, as we just as a church went through seven days of prayer and fasting. When I tell you what God did this week—Tammy, Charlie, y’all—the prayer that happened this week changed the trajectory of our church! I can’t fully disclose what has happened, but I’m telling you right now that because we took our imagination to intercession, God purified it, and it changed the future.
Now, as I reflect on this journey we’re on, I want to lay out the framework of our faith, so you all know where we’re going. So, everybody write this down: the framework of faith starts with imagination. Everybody say, «Imagination!» This is the spiritual womb. Once we get something in our minds that we can see before we see it, the next step is to write the vision down and make it plain. Once we go from imagination to vision—everybody say, «Vision!"—and vision is the receipt or evidence of something in the future that is going to come. But I got the receipt now! One of the things—how many people shop online? One of the things they give you when you shop online at the end of your purchase is a receipt. Why? Because the package is not in my possession yet!
But when I have that receipt, it is proof that I have paid for something that I will receive at a later time. When you get a vision, that’s your receipt! When I wrote this down 37 days after I became the lead pastor, this was my receipt. It wasn’t just in my imagination. I had the audacity to write it down, and it went from imagination to vision. What has God given you in your imagination that you have not been bold enough to turn into vision? I need your imagination to go to intercession, to be purified, and turn into vision.
Now I got evidence; nobody can tell me God didn’t tell me this. I’m preaching in this building six years later what I wrote down in my daughter’s room. I have the receipt! So even if it didn’t happen on my timetable, I can take the receipt to the owner! Y’all missed it! There’s another level of authority I have with the receipt. You know how some of you are like, «Excuse me, can I talk to your manager please?» I was given evidence that the healing was coming. I was given evidence that I would be free from that. I was given evidence that I would be joyful and not depressed all the days of my life. I was given evidence! I need you to comprehend this. I can’t even talk about that right now.
Okay, imagination turns to vision. Once you get vision—I’m just laying out the journey for you—vision has to be fueled by faith. And the fuel of faith is…everybody say, «Hope!» At least hope for it! Don’t reason why it can’t happen! If I came to you and asked, «Do you hope your family’s back together next Christmas?» a lot of people would start telling me why it can’t happen. «Well, that ain’t never gonna happen!» Because I didn’t ask how it’s gonna happen! Everybody shout, «Hope!» Hope to be out of the apartment?
Well, I just signed a 36-month lease! First off, why would you do that? But then second off, just asking, would you hope for it? Because if you go from imagining it to writing it down and then making it a vision, and then just putting hope into it—I want you to understand every step we’ve talked about so far is f-r-e-e! You don’t need a college education to do any of these steps. You don’t need a committee to agree with you to imagine, to get a vision, and to ask God for help to hope. It’s free! When you get hope, hope turns into crazy faith. When I started hoping for this building and what God was going to do, I started talking differently. I started telling people, «Well, what about this?» No, no, no, no! Until God does it this way, I don’t want to see anything else! My faith got stirred.
Do you know I live in North Tulsa, 35 miles from this building? Do you know how much gas—just regular gas, not hope gas, not faith fuel—actual gas I use to come over here and just circle the building? My crazy faith made me come into this building several times, acting like I was looking for someone when I wasn’t looking for anybody. They’d ask, «Can I help you?» I’d say, «Yeah, is John here?» They’d say, «We don’t have any Johns here.» I’d respond, «I know, but I just need to be in here!» Crazy faith is believing enough to do something. My question is, will you believe enough to just do something?
I saw one of my friends this week after last week’s imagination message put this into practice. She posted on Instagram that she was starting a crazy faith account, an account for abundance, and within two hours, someone had given her a hundred dollars into the account. I thought, «Hold on…» She went from imagination to vision. She wrote it down, put it on Instagram, and transitioned from hoping for it to believing God could do it, and it happened in an hour. At that moment, other people started giving, and God began to speak to me. At that moment, faith is contagious. She doesn’t know this, but a thousand dollars is heading to her Cash App after service because God told me in that moment. Y’all missed it; He said I just needed somebody to believe Me. I’ve got resources ready; I just need it.
Now look at all the people right now on Instagram. You’re turning the thing off, trying to put it up there. Hold on, but a thousand dollars is going to hit her Cash App after this because God told me. He said, «Michael, she did all the free steps and then believed Me enough to wait and walk it out.» That’s when you get to crazier faith. I’m just giving you the progression, and what I need you to do this week is honestly evaluate where you are in this process because some of y’all aren’t on the board. I didn’t want to clown you, and I didn’t want to make you feel bad. The truth of the matter is you’re somewhere over here, and it’s okay because that’s where I started. I’m not going to imagine anything; I’m going to live by instinct.
Do you know what separates humans from every other creation? It’s that every creation that God made lives by instinct. What naturally comes up when I’m faced with a situation? What do I do naturally? What do I want to do? But God said, «I’ve given you a tool in imagination to look at a situation that your instinct wants to take over and say, hold on, God has given me a picture of something different than what I’m about to do naturally.» That’s why when a girl walks by with a pretty face and a little waist and everything popping where it needs to pop, as a male, I have an instinct. Y’all want to be fake today; there’s an instinct inside of me to say, «Hey, God bless you. Look what God has done through you, in you, on you.»
But because I’ve imagined myself a man of valor, because I’ve imagined myself loving one woman until the day I die, because I’ve imagined myself being able to stand and have my kids call me blessed, because I’ve imagined myself being able to stand in the face of temptation and be someone who passes the test, I don’t live by instinct. I live by the imagination that God has planted in me because I’ve lived my life by the Word of God. The saddest thing is that many of us are still living on instinct. Something happens, and the instinct kicks in; that’s why fear grips you. They gave us a bad doctor report; what do we do? Instinct freaks out. Instinct starts calling everybody, spreading fear everywhere. You haven’t even heard what the doctor said. They just called me and said deathbed, hospital, funeral— that’s all you heard.
Now you tell everybody else, and instinct has seeped in. Now we’re all freaking out instead of living by the imagination of God. The doctor calls, and before I tell anyone, I say, «Father, You said in Your Word that I could speak to disease.» It’s so crazy that we come to church every week, and you don’t believe this stuff. Go somewhere else; do something else. Because until you start believing what God’s Word says, you only live out of instinct, but God’s trying to give you an anointed imagination that then moves into a vision and then turns into hope, then crazy faith, and then you get to a level where your faith is just crazy! Like, I didn’t even believe for this, and God knew He could partner with me, and we’re about to do something that didn’t even cross my mind.
That’s the scripture that says, «Eyes haven’t seen, ears haven’t heard, neither has it entered into the imagination of those who love.» I didn’t even think it, but God wanted to do something. So then I started looking at Hebrews chapter 11. I’m just teaching you today; I’m taking you on a Bible study with me. This is what happened to me during the week. God said, «Just walk them through it.» Hebrews 11, verse 3, says, «By faith, we understand that the worlds were,» everybody say «framed.» Underline that, circle that in your Bible. It says, «By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.»
That goes back to what we talked about last week: God framed the whole world by words, but He did it with the invisible. How did He do it? With things that weren’t here, things that weren’t yet here. He framed the whole world and made it a reality. It took me back to the phrase we said, «God’s imagination created us.» We are created in His image; therefore, we can create with imagination. What are you saying? God saw it before He saw it. You have to see it. I don’t know what it is for you, but you gotta see it before you see it. You gotta see yourself being joyful before you see yourself actually being joyful in real life. You gotta see yourself being able to manage a lot before you see yourself actually being able to do it.
Somebody say, «See it before you see it.» So when I looked at this scripture and realized everything that we’re looking at right now, God saw before we saw it. This word right here, «framed,» kept messing with me, so I looked up… y’all, I love the Bible. I looked this word «framed» up in different passages. Look at Psalms 103, verse 14. It says, «For He knows our—that’s right, say 'frame! '—and He remembers that we are dust.» So now I started doing a real pastoral thing, and I went to look this word up in Hebrew and Greek. Let me tell you, y’all are not going to believe this. The word «frame» in the original Hebrew is a word called «yetzer» (Y-E-T-S-E-R). I’ve never heard of a yetzer in my life; I don’t know where to find the yetzer, and this had to be God.
Do you know what the word «yetzer» means? Imagination! If you look it up, it says, «For God knows our imagination, and He remembers that we are dust.» You can see the same word in Genesis chapter six, verse five, and First Chronicles 29, 18. This is for all the Bible nerds that need to study it, which should be all y’all. First Chronicles 28-9: God knows my imagination. Let me say it like this: your imagination frames your life. Whatever you’re imagining is the frame that God is building your whole life on. The life you have right now, you framed it. Stop blaming everybody else. It’s not your family anymore; you don’t even live in that house anymore. You are framing your life with the thoughts that you are thinking right now, and God told me to tell you it’s time to change the frame.
What are you saying, Pastor Michael? Let me give you an example that hits close to home. This is a drum set I want to show you, likely from around 1921. I don’t even know; this thing is old. This drum set was a top-of-the-line, world-class drum set when it came out, but it only has the frame for one cymbal, a cowbell, and a snare— that’s all the frame can hold. This is our drummer Tony’s drum set. This thing is huge! Now, I want everybody to see this real quick. This drum set is massive; it has a frame that can hold all of these. That’s why… come with me because they don’t even know they’re seeing it from the front. I want y’all to see how crazy this little boy has gotten with this drum set. No, no, come on back here; I’m exposing it right now!
There are cymbals everywhere; there are electronic pads; there’s all kinds of stuff; there are electronic double basses—there are four pedals down here! Do you see the difference between this drum set and that drum set? It’s the frame it was built on. God might help us. This is what the frame of that drum set looks like. Look at this; this right here is the frame. I need somebody, camera, come on— y’all, somebody come over here so they can see this. This is big enough to allow me to imagine when I build my drum set on this frame. There are all kinds of options—there are all kinds of toms and cymbals and everything! That’s the only reason that 1921 drum set doesn’t have the frame to build something great.
God said to me, «Michael, the saddest part about this crazier faith message I’m trying to get to people is that most of them do not have the frame big enough for what I want to do in their life.» They don’t have it; they haven’t believed Me; they haven’t taken the limits off of Me, and today when I looked at that word «yetzer» and it said that the worlds were framed or imagined and that God knows our frame, our imagination, God said, «Michael, the music I want to make in your life depends on the frame that you have.»
See, many people don’t know this, but I’ve played drums since I was two. The difference between this drum set and that drum set on the screen is there are a lot more options here. Hmm. Hey, let me stop! What I was able to do, the sounds that came out, and the expressions I made were based on something that was built on a frame big enough for me to hold what I imagined. Pastor Mike, what are you trying to say? Could you imagine for more? I just feel like the rest of the weeks for most of you are going to be futile if you don’t get this one point: make the frame bigger! Take the limits off of God. He will not go past your belief to bring you into a place and a space that He already ordained for you.
Ask the children of Israel; the promise from the beginning is, «I’m taking you to a land flowing with milk and honey. I’m about to take you to a promised land.» These people could not believe it! These people literally were like, «We want to go back to slavery! Kill the guy who brought us out; let’s worship golden calves!» They turned an 11-day journey into a 40-year death because they could not get a bigger frame for what God wanted to do.
And what I’m telling you right now is that a lot of y’all are out here being like, «Yeah, if God would just do this,» and God was like, «That is so little; that is so low; that is so whack! You just want to be married? That’s it? You don’t want to impact people with your marriage? You just want to be married? You just want to be able to have sex without feeling guilty? What? You don’t want to raise generation after generation after generation that stands up and changes the trajectory of other people’s lives? Do you just want to have money, or do you want to be able to change the trajectory of communities and walk into situations and not just pray for it but be the answer to the prayer? Would you just widen the frame?»
I feel like an alien up here preaching because I’ve been to a planet that a lot of people never get to. I’ve started believing God for stuff that I can’t say to people because it would change how they think about me. Now when it happens, you’re gonna say I’m a man of faith, but right now, Amberly, there’s stuff that God has shown me in the past two weeks since we started this series that I dare not utter because it would fry the belief of people who say they believe. And I said, «God, why is this?» He said, «Because the frame is too small. Make the frame bigger.» Write that down on your piece of paper: «I’m going to make the frame bigger.» Because your imagination frames your life.
Now, the one thing you got to know about imagination, and I told you today, I’m not preaching to you; I’m teaching you: imagination is neutral. I want you to understand this: your imagination is neutral. Your imagination can work for you, and your imagination can work against you. Oh, but it’s always working. Like Brianna, it’s your imagination right now. Some of y’all are imagining what you’re going to eat after this fast is over. Right now, some of y’all haven’t seen the steak; you’ve already seen the Chinese food. I have seen the Chinese buffet, the nasty dirty one. I go in there; I love that stuff. Hey, my God, I feel it. I’ve imagined it— I’m there right now, Wong Tong and all! You understand what I’m saying?
Okay, but the thing you have to understand is your imagination is always working. Your imagination is neutral, though. It depends on what you feed it regarding how it’s going to produce for you. Okay, I’m trying to help you. All of this mental health that everybody’s talking about right now, do you know where all these mental health issues come from? Your imagination! It’s taken me all this time to get here, but I thought it would be imperative as a pastor to teach you the difference between faith and fantasy—faith versus fantasy. Because last night we opened a can of—or last week we opened a can of worms that had people imagining all kinds of stuff, and as a pastor, it would be wrong of me to tell you to go out there and imagine everything in crazy faith and not tell you there’s a difference between faith and fantasy.
Let me give you a point you need to write down: perverted imagination. Remember last week we talked about the anointed imagination—a perverted imagination is fantasy, and all the word «perverted» means is twisted, wicked. So when you take something and you twist it, it becomes a fantasy. Write this definition down: A fantasy messes me up. A fantasy is the process of creating, especially unrealistic mental images, in response to a psychological need. The crazy thing about this definition, which I love, is that it came from a real need I had—a real need to be loved.
So what I did was use my imagination to create something unrealistic in my images, and now I’m trying to live out a fantasy instead of letting God lead me in an anointed imagination. Yeah, yeah, I know nobody talks about it, but the reason why you’re in an emotional affair with the guy at work is not just because you need to be seen, loved, or noticed; it’s because that legitimate need has found a way to get twisted. Now you’re imagining, «What if my husband talked to me like he does? What if we went out to dinner as a business thing but stayed a little longer, had a couple of drinks, and got to know each other better? It would really help our work performance to understand the people we work with.» I’m in your business; I counsel these people.
See, it starts very subtly. What’s the difference between an anointed imagination and fantasy? It says somewhere along the way it got perverted. God told me I would have money. Why? Because many of us are trying to run away from something we were born into, and God is saying, «I want you to have resources to bless other people.» But you want resources so you can make others feel like you used to feel—perverted—and it’s become a fantasy. That’s why the Bible talks about vain imaginations. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, «Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.»
The thought can come, but you’re the sheriff, and some of you are letting fugitive thoughts rampage in your mind without locking up these fantasies. God is not going to bless you to be married to somebody else’s husband. You need to take that thought and lock it up. Y’all don’t hear me right now. God is not going to bless your business with stolen money from your last job. You need to take that thought captive and cast down every imagination. God is not going to allow you to minister to people about forgiveness while still holding unforgiveness against them. You need to lock up your pride and allow God to do the work inside you. Pastor Mike, you’re preaching good! I know, because at the end of the day, your fugitive fantasies are wrecking your life. You’re the sheriff just letting all these vain thoughts run rampant in your mind. God said, «I need you to get these thoughts under control.»
Romans 1:21 says, «Because when they knew God…» Oh, that’s like us! We come to church; we know God. We love God! But they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful. We know God, but for many, He’s just an additive in our daily routine, and we’re not thankful for what He’s done. «I got myself here, I grinded, I hustled, I did all this.» Okay, what that produces is that they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. You didn’t know imagination was this prevalent in Scripture, and I didn’t know either. What God was saying was, «Michael, if you don’t tell this church to allow Me to anoint their imagination and stop dealing with fantasy, they will never be able to see what I already have planned for them.»
There was a group of people; some of you remember this in Genesis chapter 11. It was a group that decided they were going to do their own thing and build a tower to God. They thought, «We don’t need God; we’re going to unify and build this tower.» Look at what God says: He had to come down and confuse their language for one reason. Genesis 11:6 says, «And the Lord said, 'Behold, these people are one and have all one language, and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.'» What God said was, «If I don’t confuse their language, they’re going to do everything they’ve imagined to do.» This means your imagination is working no matter what you do; it’s either working for you or against you. Let me say it another way: Your imagination is either bringing you towards God or away from Him.
You can say, «Oh, I got money,» but did it take you away from God? «Oh, I got status,» but did it take you away from God? «Oh, my family is great,» but did it take you away from God? It’s either taking you towards Him or away, and it starts from birth. Genesis 8:21 provides scriptures for you to study because God is planting a seed that’s going to come out of your heart. As we go into this next level of crazier faith, I have to lay this anchor.
What’s the word of the year? An anchor makes you not drift away. If I start unlocking these principles that God is giving me over the next few weeks, and you haven’t been anchored by the truth of God’s word, some of you are going to drift into places with no return. So today, as a pastor, I’m coming to let you know right after God destroyed the entire world and brought Noah and his family to rebuild it, Genesis 8:21 says, «And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.'» What’s wrong with what’s inside me? Without God, we will fantasize and ask Him to bless it with our faith. We’ll believe for things that God isn’t in, that He’s never been around, that He doesn’t have a desire for in your life, and you’re out here believing God and saying, «God’s gonna give me this, that, and the other.» Some of you have been posting in front of houses and cars that God isn’t going to give you.
This is not a prosperity gospel. This is not «name it and claim it.» This is God saying, «If you said it, I imagined it; but if I bring it to You and You give it back to me, then I know this is going somewhere.» Some of you are going to turn off right now, but I’m trying to set proper expectations. It’s not a fantasy where you rub the lamp and God becomes your genie. This is the part that nobody wants to teach because people leave after this. I don’t care; at the end of the day, what God wants you to know is that He has something for you that is specific to you and must be purified by being in His will for your life.
Alright, let me keep moving. Can I help you understand what fantasy is fueled by? Remember that imagination leads to vision, and vision leads to hope. Let me tell you what fantasy is fueled by: Fantasy is fueled by the flesh. Anytime you start dreaming about things that God isn’t in, your flesh is empowering that. «Well, Pastor Mike, how do I know the difference between fantasy and anointed imagination?» I’m glad you asked. This is what I’m going to tell you today: Fantasy is fueled by the flesh, but anointed imagination is fueled by the Spirit.
Okay, this is why you cannot live a victorious Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out this life. I know some of you may be wondering, «What scripture is that in?» It’s in a lot of them! But this is where we give up control. We don’t just make God our Savior; He becomes our Lord. Everybody wants Jesus to save them, but they want Him to save them so they can live however they want. He doesn’t just want to be your Savior; He wants to be your Lord.
That means He’s in control. That means I have the money to buy the house, and God says, «Don’t buy it.» Huh? He said, «Am I Savior and Lord, or am I just your Savior?» So many people are going to make it to heaven without ever having obeyed anything after they said yes to Jesus. How sad it will be for you to see the plans that God had for you and never reach them because you still want to be Lord. Today, I’m asking you to give up being Lord; let Him be Savior, and everybody say, «Lord.»
This means you have to live a life empowered by the Spirit. Let me give you four things to help you know the difference, and then we’re going to wrap it up. This is very heavy in here for y’all. Some of you look like you’ve been baptized in pickle juice. At some point, this message is going to be the anchor for this whole series. We’re going to get out into space, and then I’ll say, «Go back and listen to message number three,» to ensure this is not just fantasy but the anointed imagination that God has given you.
So how do I know, Pastor Mike? One way you know if it’s fantasy or anointed imagination is if it does not glorify God. If it does not glorify God, it’s a fantasy. «Well, I believe God has given me this song for the nations called 'Drop That, ' and I just see people all over the world lifting their hands.» I’m being dramatic, but this is what we do: award shows. «I just want to give God glory and honor, but let me be here and use what I want.» «I just want to thank God for blessing my sixth marriage and my tons of kids.» You have made a fantasy for yourself and started living a fantasy that doesn’t bring God any glory.
I know this is tight, but it’s right. Unfollow; it doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day, the Bible tells us that he who builds a house but doesn’t build it with God builds in vain. Unless the Lord builds the house, all your labor, all your grinding, all your working, all your awards, all your accolades, are going to burn up. I know it doesn’t work for your Instagram aesthetic because you think that God is rewarding you based on followers. He only needs you to be a follower of One—Him. If whatever imagination you have doesn’t bring God glory, it’s a fantasy.
When I wrote this down, it was an anointed imagination because I wasn’t writing it down for me to get glory. This was all about God doing something that would show people that regular people like me, who have all kinds of problems and issues, could get a vision from God, write it down, and hope for it. This was anointed imagination. But I could have easily named it «Michael Todd’s Luxury Car Lot» because I wanted to stunt on everyone with a new Bentley. I could have made up a whole situation to make myself feel better. I can’t believe I’m telling you this; I researched for three weeks what it takes to become a car dealer. In my mind, I thought it could be used for the glory of God, but more for my glory, to get expensive cars at a cheap rate.
Y’all are acting like you don’t want what the world wants, but you want to keep God in the mix. You think maybe you can bless them? It wasn’t about giving God glory; it was about boosting my self-esteem. I know nobody’s teaching like this, but at the end of the day, I need you to bring everything you’re imagining and ask yourself, «Is this going to bring God glory?» Because if it doesn’t bring God glory, then what you’re imagining is simply a fantasy.
Let me say something else: If it doesn’t produce the fruits of the Spirit, it’s a fantasy. It may produce finances, but if it doesn’t produce the fruits of the Spirit, it’s a fantasy. Let me go back to our discussions. People who told me that this couldn’t happen had self-control. I almost slapped our realtor several times for showing me buildings with poles. I mean, to be able to believe it was one of the things that God is saying to you: Is this working my character in you? Is this making you more like me? Because I promise you, it’s not a fantasy. If the fruits of the Spirit are coming out of you, it’s like, why in the heck am I being gentle about this situation? I’m usually like, «Oh, do it, make it happen, push it!»
I can’t tell you how many situations I’ve come to, and I’m about to be upset, and God’s like, «Well, that makes sense. We need to wait a little longer.» I’m like, «That ain’t you! Go back and be different!» All right, bad Mike, go back and be different—talk to him about needing us to wait and pray on the Lord. Why is this opposite? It’s because this is the anointed imagination that God wants you to have, not a fantasy. Let me give you one more: if it is birthed in deception, it’s fantasy. Some of you have been in a straight lie, asking God to bless it. I had this guy come to me one time, asking me to pray that God would bless his new relationship. I was like, «Okay, God bless you.»
You know, people ask me to pray all the time. I said, «How did y’all meet?» He was like, «Well, we met two years ago at my work.» And I was like, «Okay, that’s amazing.» I asked, «How long have y’all been married?» He said, «Well, that’s the thing; we’re getting married next week.» I was like, «Okay.» I asked, «Um, what’s going on?» He replied, «Well, you know, I feel like I should tell you that I’m still married right now.» I thought, «Nope, that was not God.» But God is specifically in this. How did y’all meet?
Well, let me just be transparent. Faster Todd, I want you to know we met on a one-night stand. As we got all of the other things out of us, then God. You are in a full fantasy right now. You want God to bless the mess that you won’t even acknowledge while asking Him to help you get out of it. You are in straight delusion. The sad part is there are so many people in the body of Christ right now living in fantasy because it started in delusion. God said until we correct this, until we go back to the heart of the matter, until we submit ourselves anew to God, that is a fantasy. Thank you, son. My son is saying amen.
Last one: if it’s all about you, it’s a fantasy. If it’s selfish, if it’s only about you, it’s a fantasy. God doesn’t—He is not obligated to make that happen because what He’s trying to do is make His name great through you to others. Many of us, our whole lives are wrapped up in us, and we’re living in a fantasy. This is not Aladdin, y’all. This is not a genie. This is not God saying, «What do you imagine? You have three wishes.» No! I’ll put it on the screen because you all know Aladdin. This is not «Tell me your wish. Imagine what you can see.»
All of Aladdin’s stuff didn’t bring glory to God; he was trying to bring glory to himself. Aladdin’s story was a fantasy that didn’t produce the fruits of the Spirit. It actually produced all kinds of lies and deceit; people got hurt. I watched Aladdin this week with my kids, and the things that were produced out of this were birthed in deception. This man said he was a king or a prince but was a street rat, and the thing that God wanted him to be in the palace was who he really was. God does not bless who you pretend to be; He blesses who you really are. And it was all about him, not anybody else. What are you saying, Pastor Mike? I want us to not live in fantasy. I want us to submit our anointed imagination and get the right framework, allowing God to do something in us that will change us forever. I’m going to read a long passage of Scripture, and then we’re going to go home because this ends this message.
Galatians chapter 5, verse 16 says, «So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives; then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves or what your fantasies crave. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. That’s why it’s faith always versus your fantasy. It’s always fighting each other so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear.
Look at what gets birthed: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.» But the Holy Spirit—everybody say, «But the Holy Spirit.» Say it one more time: «But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus—that’s us—have nailed their fantasies, their desires, their passions, their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.»
What’s your last point, Pastor Mike? Faith doesn’t work for fantasies. If the Spirit of God is not leading you to it, He’s not going to make it come to pass. Pin drops! Why? Because this means we have to go back to Him to check our motives. Why do you want it? What is it going to do for you? What does it feed on the inside of you? Does it bring God glory? Are you trying to do something that makes you look better? This thing is all about Jesus. What I’ve had to do—I’m going to be very transparent with y’all—I am in a metamorphosis. I’m in the middle of changing my whole life. I gotta sit down for this because I can’t believe I’m telling y’all—I’m your pastor, and I’m someone that has always wanted to do more, greater, big, amazing things, and the Holy Spirit has been asking me all summer, «Bishop, why? Why do you want it bigger? Why do you want to go on Crazy Faith Tour? Why do you want a book every year? Why do you want it to be this? Why do you want to?»
He has been—I feel like I’ve been in a strainer all summer. Y’all, did you all pray for me while I was gone? It was like, «Get up off me!» I thought this was all for you, and He said, «Yeah, but some of you have been mixed in there, and I don’t want you to get up here telling everybody about Crazy Faith, promising them something I didn’t promise them.»
The reason I had to preach this message is that it is the exclamation mark of something God’s doing in my life, and I promised I would never get up here and teach you something that God has not already been working in my life. This is the first version of this, but what I know is that a lot of the things that Michael believed God for were fantasies. The reason many things did not happen is because I was praying for something and believing for something that was not in God’s will for my life, and I was disappointed and frustrated at God at times because He didn’t do what I thought He would do for me. He never promised to do it for me; I made it up out of my vain imagination. God never promised me that all my kids would be healthy and whole.
That’s what I thought, that’s what I prayed. He didn’t say I would never go through any challenge with my family, but the pastor should be able to be an example. He said, «I’m making you one. I’m going to show you how to believe me.» And He’s giving me promises, and I have to go back and make sure I’m founding my anointed imagination on the promises He gave, not just on what I desire. This is hard to say, y’all, but I don’t want to lead you to a place of fantasy: «God’s going to do this, then He’s going to do this, and God’s like, 'Nope, didn’t say that. Never was me. They didn’t even pray about that.'»
I’m trying to bring us to a place of maturity, church. There are a lot of people out here saying «name it and claim it. Just put your feet on the ground and it’s going to happen to you.» And there are parts of that that are real; I believe it. But the only way that I believe it is by making sure it’s not fantasy first. I make sure that I’m not just going around saying stuff that brings me glory, or saying stuff that allows me to look like I know what I’m doing, or all that other stuff. No, this is all about God. So what do I do? Hebrews 12:2 says, «Fixing our eyes on Jesus.»
This whole summer, this is the hardest message I’ve preached since I’ve been back—not to communicate, but to preach and know what it’s killing inside of me. What do you do, Mike, when some of the things you wrote down on your Crazy Faith board were fantasy? I know it may be easier for me to act like, «No, God does everything I put my mind to.» He does it, and I don’t want you to think that God’s goodness is wrapped up in His gifts. I don’t want anybody to think, «Oh, God’s not good because He didn’t do…» No, that’s not true. He’s still good, despite whatever I see in my life. He’s still good, despite me having loved ones be lost due to sickness. This is a level that we’re going to pump you up next week, and I’m going to help you see what God has for you. But I felt it would be really irresponsible if I didn’t live this out in front of you and let you know that God does not want you to use faith for fantasies.
He wants you to come to Him and take all your imagination, bring it to Him in intercession, let Him purify it, and whatever He gives you back after that, believe with all your heart for that. The things He showed me about my son, I’m believing with all my heart for that. The things that He placed in the word of God concerning me I’m believing with all my heart for that. But anything that I made up and threw in there hoping that He would add it in… You know how when somebody’s ordering a bunch of food from a fast-food restaurant and they just start throwing stuff in, like, «Give me some donuts and a McFlurry, and then just give me cookies»? It ain’t nowhere on the order, but it’s like, «And then could you just give us slushies too? Get a slushie, a large Coke,» and it’s like, «Where did—? I’m not paying for all that! I asked for a number one with a Sprite!»
You can do all that if you want to, but you’re going to have to hold that up; you’re going to have to make that happen. What I’m responsible for paying for is what I ordered. The steps of the righteous are ordered by who? The Lord. Check the order. Make sure that as we start believing in Crazy Faith, we’re not believing for fantasy. Everybody say, «I’m believing in faith!» Lord, I did to the best of my abilities what you asked me to do today.
You said, «Be real and authentic about this journey,» and God, as people are evaluating what they’ve said, what they felt, and what they made up, God, I’m asking you to be so gracious and correct, confirm, or cancel anything we’ve been believing for that’s not like you—whether it be in a relationship, a business, a material thing, a deeper revelation, or a platform. Whatever you did not say, we give it back to you, and we’re willing to sacrifice because, God, we don’t want to live in a fantasy world; we want to live in Crazy Faith. So God, I’m praying for those who are hearing this today, that as they spend time with you, you would give them clarity. Come on, just lift your hands right there.
God, right now we’re praying for clarity. I thank You, Lord, for giving us clarity. Should we go? Should we stay? Should we move, Father God? Should we stay planted? Give us clarity, Father God. Should we have the conversation? Should we just write it in a letter? Whatever it is, God, give us clarity. Father God, let every vain imagination be torn down in our lives, anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge You have for us and where we’re going in our will and Your will for our lives. God, I just thank You today. I thank You for the privilege to pastor Your people and lead them to You as we do what Hebrews 12:2 says: fixing our eyes on Jesus. Thank You for the spanking, Lord. Thank You for this surgery. We know it’s a surgery because it comes to heal us. Thank You, Lord, that in my life I’ll be able to lead this church in transparency. Father, we don’t lead them to crowds and things; we lead them to Your throne. Thank You for the word You gave us today. We will be Spirit-led in Jesus' name. Everybody all over the world, say amen!
Okay, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen! I want us to get used to different dynamics of the Holy Spirit. I told you I’m changing right now, so I just need everybody to know that we’re never into the service like this. It’s usually that there’ll be more services ending like this, because I want you to go home and reflect: «Am I driving a car that I fantasized about but can no longer afford, and now the payment is killing me while I ask God to make a way for something He never intended?» I want us to reflect a lot, and I do believe that what we’re about to do in this Crazier Faith series will help us grow. I promise you, if you stick with every sermon in this series for the next nine or ten weeks—however long it is—God is going to speak something to you that will transform your life.
That last scripture I mentioned, fixing our eyes on Jesus, applies to people right now who have never accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. I need everybody who knows how to pray to start praying right now, because this is what it’s all about. It’s not about things; it’s not about positions; it’s about a loving God who didn’t have a fantasy about us but an imagination about us being together. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on a cross just for me and you, taking me from being a liar, a manipulator, and someone addicted to pornography—someone with all kinds of bad things in my heart—and transformed me into not a perfect man, but a progressing man. I stand here before you, able to admit my faults, and not only made Him my Savior but my Lord too.
Today, God wants to do that for you. I don’t care what addiction you’re in, what pain you’re going through, or how far you feel from God; He is pursuing a relationship with you. The crazy thing about Him is that He won’t stop knocking. He won’t stop coming after you. So today is the day of salvation. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching this because someone told you about it, if it’s playing in a public place, or if someone sent you the link—this was purposefully designed for your life. This year, over 32,000 people have given their lives to Christ, but this moment is just for you.
In just a moment, we’re all going to pray a prayer together. If you want to be included in the prayer of salvation, I want you to lift your hand on the count of three. One: You’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two: I’m proud of you, but that doesn’t even matter; your name is about to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Three: Just lift your hand up wherever you are right now—in the auditorium, online, wherever you are—God sees you. I’m so excited for what’s about to change.
Now, at TC, we’re a family; everybody prays together for the benefit of those coming to Christ, and your life is about to change. Oh, I feel the presence of God! Come on, TC Nation, let’s pray this together:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Today, I believe that You lived and You died just for me—for my sins, for my fantasies, for my mess-ups. Today, I ask You to be my Lord and Savior. I believe You lived, You died, and You rose again with all power just for me. Come into my life, change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, amen.