Michael Todd - Cuffed to Cap
It is a beautiful season here at Transformation Church. It’s Crazy Faith Offering Sunday, and some of y’all are wondering why they are cheering for an offering. We have found in this community that, at this time of year, when most people are very concerned about what they’re going to get for their kids, family, and household, we have decided to be concerned about the heart posture that we can align ourselves with to see what we can give to be more like Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave. That was the characteristic of Jesus; it wasn’t dependent on a paycheck, a time of year, or the economy. He made a decision that my posture, the posture of the kingdom, is generosity. So today starts—everybody say «starts"—our Crazy Faith Offering.
We understand that some people might say, «I didn’t know I wanted to do it today.» Listen, there’s no pressure or compulsion. We’ve been telling you for about eight weeks that this is what we’re going to do. If you’re new to the community, and this is your first time, you’re thinking, «I didn’t know we were doing this. Where’s the building fund? Where’s the project?» None of that! This is not in response to something we need to get. Oh God, in church so many times it’s like, «Let me show you the nice shiny thing we’re going to do.»
There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’ve found that my motive wasn’t always doing it because God said so; it was because I knew what we were going to get after we gave. There’s a part of our Christian faith—just like when you’re parenting kids—that’s because I said so, not because you know what’s going to happen after you do it. It’s simply: I ask you to do something. Generosity is one of those things that works selfishness out of our hearts and makes us more like God. Right now, if you’re wrestling with this idea, «Do they know what time of year it is? Do they know that two days ago was the first?» Yes, we know all of that, but the Bible says that God gives seed to those who have already purposed in their hearts to sow.
So many times when people say they don’t have anything to sow, it’s because they never purposed in their hearts to actually give a seed. They’re waiting for the harvest to be able to sow, but God never shows up with a harvest. He shows up with a bunch of seeds. In this atmosphere, I want to build your faith today as we are in week 15 of a series we’re calling «Cuffing Season.» Y’all, I literally could go for another 15 weeks, but God told me to stop at the end of this year, so we come until Christmas, okay? We’re cutting until Christmas because God wants people to be uncuffed from every bondage, barrier, and chain that has kept them from reaching their full purpose.
How many people are listening and watching in this room right now want to hear, «Well done,» when they get to heaven? Just, for real! Because some of us are living like we don’t want to. No, let’s just be honest. It’s like when you show up to school and there’s a test, and you’re like, «I didn’t know there was a test. If I had known there was a test and it would count for 50% of my grade, I would have studied!» But now, I’m going to fail because I didn’t study for the test. That’s how most of us are going to be when we get to heaven. «I didn’t know that what I said mattered. I just thought it was my birthday weekend. I didn’t know how I lived, how I served; I didn’t know that it wasn’t just about protecting me and my family. God, if You would have told me that, I would have lived differently!» I’m here to tell you right now that our «Well done, good and faithful servant» does not come from what we say to God when we stand before the great white throne.
Our «Well done, good and faithful servant» comes from how we live right now. So why are you saying this, Pastor Mike? We’ve got to get uncuffed from everything! I really believe that 2023 is going to be a year of freedom for the body of Christ. Now, you don’t have to believe that by faith, but as I’m praying, there is going to be an expansion of the people who have sown in seasons where it looked like nothing, and this is going to be a season of freedom. You’re going to have options—uh, you missed it, but I’ll talk to them! This is going to be a season where you don’t have to settle for just enough because that’s all the options we have. This is going to be a season of freedom! You’re going to be blessed to be a blessing!
Oh my God, I need to find the people with faith. 2023 is about to unleash another level of your generosity, your discernment, your ability to step in with no credit, and make a difference. But you can’t be free and cuffed at the same time. A prisoner that’s cuffed can’t lift their hands like this, even if instructed to. Why? Because they’re still bound to something that keeps them restricted. My question to you is: what in your life, at the end of 2022, is still binding you and keeping you restricted from being everything God has called you to be? I may not have the time to do a series about it, but God, through His word and this moment, is asking you: «Let me speak to you.» God told me this week, because I was getting anxious—there are so many more series, so many sermons I want to do—He said, «Michael, let Me speak private sermons to them.» He said, «I’ll give them a 'C' word.»
Some of y’all are cuffed to critical—uh-huh! I’m not even going to start down that road because a lot of y’all are about to be offended. God said, «This next week and a half, let Me tell you what I want to speak to you about.» Pastor Mike doesn’t need to do a sermon about it—I’ll talk to you! Come along with me. Turn the radio off, turn the iPad off, turn YouTube off—stop scrolling on TikTok. They don’t have the answer to your future! They might have a recipe, but not a revelation. You need to hear from Me. As I started looking at this whole series, God said, «But Mike, there are about three more things I need you to publicly talk to the body of Christ about.»
I want to be very clear about this for everybody who doesn’t believe in Jesus: sermons are window shopping for you. I want to be very clear: if you are not a part of and haven’t given your life to Jesus fully, I’m going to give my full expression, and I’m going to say stuff that the people who have already given their lives to Christ understand or may need to be refreshed on. This is how we live. If I say something and it’s strong and direct, it’s because it’s from the Bible. But if you haven’t given your life to Jesus, this doesn’t apply to you. I want to be very clear because a lot of people get in the comments talking about, «That doesn’t apply to you. You don’t believe in Jesus.»
Let me be very clear: these are rules for the Todd household that don’t apply to everybody’s household. Some kids can cuss at their parents. I dare Bella to even say «bubble» too hard. But do you understand? What I’m saying is this isn’t for everybody; it is for anybody. It is, oh God, it’s for anybody who wants it, but not for everyone. In these series, as I’m talking, I’m addressing people who have put their faith and allegiance in Jesus Christ. When you take on that last name and you act out of line, I can say something about that. When you aren’t even trying to make Him Lord and Savior and you aren’t trying to do anything—and you’re cuddling with everybody and their mommy and repopulating the whole world because you took one scripture out of context, «Be fruitful and multiply"—I ain’t naming names, but you need to sit down! If He’s not Lord and Savior, this doesn’t apply to you.
I want you to keep watching; maybe something that is said will resonate with your soul, will jump down into your spirit, and that thing that has probably been starving for many years could receive some fertilizer to come alive. So we want anyone to watch, but I just need everybody to know that what I’m going to say today specifically is for those who have given their allegiance to Jesus. Acting like they don’t know Him, they have decided to claim Christ but live carnally. If we don’t talk about that, then there’s just a mixture that dilutes everything. Everybody can have a comment, but everybody’s comment doesn’t weigh the same because everybody has not committed the same.
Just let me take two more seconds on this—just two more seconds—you’re on a basketball team, and somebody doesn’t come to practice, but then in the clutch of the game, they want to have a say-so in what we do as a team. You can have a comment, but your commitment to this has not been the same as everybody that has been doing two-a-day practices and eating certain things and trying to live a disciplined life. What I’m saying to everybody is I’m glad that everyone is on this team. There are some of us that have committed our lives to Christ and we’re saying, «You know what? If all these hills are out here and we’re deciding on a hill to die on, we’re going to plant our flag that Jesus Christ is Lord, that the Bible is true, and that everything—even if it doesn’t apply to our context today—has an interpretation that can transform our context today and that we’re supposed to love people unconditionally even when we don’t want to. We don’t cancel people; we cultivate them.»
Let me say this: this cultural idea that somebody has the on-and-off switch to somebody’s purpose is misguided. You can’t control the words that come out of your lips; you can’t cancel anybody. That’s enough! I just need everybody to get out of God’s position, and I needed to make sure—because what I’m about to say is going to be heavy. It’s about to be a lot today because I have to address something that most Christians don’t think is a problem. Most everyone in this room did it five times today, and you’re not even thinking that it’s a problem. What the Holy Spirit told me is, «Michael, I need you to go back to the Ten Commandments.» Oh, okay. He said, «I need you to just start listing them off.»
Can y’all help me list off the Ten Commandments? What are they? Somebody said, «Thou shalt not steal.» You knew that one when you were three: «You better give that bubble gum back! God’s gonna get you!» «Thou shalt not steal.» Your mama was strict, wasn’t she? Okay, we got «thou shalt not steal.» What’s the other one? Huh? «Honor thy mother and father!» You know they used that one on you. Right? What else? «No other gods before thee.» We’re good with all of those, huh? We ain’t killing nobody, we ain’t stealing, we have no other gods before Him. What else? «You shall not covet.» We’re struggling with that one as a culture, aren’t we? Okay, okay. «Don’t commit adultery!»
You better not be sleeping with somebody else’s wife; you better not be sleeping with somebody else’s husband. We got that one. Okay. Now, you go look it up in Exodus and go find all of them because some of y’all are confused. Somebody was like, «He said do more!» Hold on, stop. That’s not okay. But there’s one in there that the Holy Spirit said, «Stop.» When He said it, I was kind of caught off guard because I’ve never preached a message about this before. Today, I promise you, I want to encourage your faith. Somebody shout to me, «Crazy Faith!» Address the part of us that has not been honoring God because of how we’ve been living and thinking it’s okay.
So I have a confession to make: I’ve been on a journey to lose weight and get healthy. I’m proud to report that I have lost 55 pounds this year—glory to God! And I’ve made the decision, as of this week, I’m going to gain it all back—every bit of it. I really want to see in 2023 if God can really do an overflow! I want to be 275 pounds! Okay, that’s cap. What I just did is I lied. It was funny in the moment, but we’re so used to it that it has become the currency of our culture today. I want to preach a message called «Cuffed to Cap.» And somebody’s looking at your neighbor like, «Like a bottle cap?» I don’t get it! The young people now have started to exchange the word «lying» for the phrase «That’s cap.»
What ends up happening is, if somebody says something like, «Yo, I just made a hundred thousand dollars today!» somebody who knows them will be like, «Cap! You’re lying! You just asked me to cash app you $15! How did you make a hundred thousand and still owe me 15?» People come to be like, «Yo, you see that girl over there? I’m dating her!» «Cap! Brother, there’s no way you’re dating her!» It’s a different term for lying, but all the way back in Exodus, God told us not to bear false witness and not to lie. I’m trying to protect you from something, and now our culture has been inundated with the idea that it’s more profitable to lie to make ourselves appear as something we are not so that we can have status, a place, or a job.
Let’s be honest here; we are a humble, open, and transparent church. How many people here have ever filled out a job application and lied on it? I want hands raised. Put your hand in the air! First off, if you’re 6'2», shut your mouth; your driver’s license proves you’re lying about being 172 pounds when you were 17! Come on, let’s be real. Now I’m going to look at you. How many people know they have lied on a job application before? Okay, how many people have lied to someone you love? How many people have lied to a stranger? You know when people are nosy and just ask you a question like, «What are you doing here?» You can’t just say, «None of your business» or «I feel like keeping that private.» Instead, you say, «Man, I’m about to buy some stuff,» when in reality, you don’t even have money. It just seems like the currency of our culture is cap, and we’re shackled to it. The truth is, we’re so bound to it that it’s affecting our marriages.
Now, I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand, but anyone who’s honest would answer this question: how many of you have lied to your spouse? Look at the responses; some people are like, «Oh shoot, dang it! I knew we were supposed to go to that other church!» I’m telling you, this is going to be healing by the end of it. What I’m saying to you is this: when we become comfortable with cap, it desensitizes us to the character of Christ. I’ll say it again: when we become comfortable with cap, we lie about things we don’t even need to lie about. It’s just stupid. As a child, I lied about everything; it was just dumb. When someone asked me if I went to McDonald’s, I’d say no, even while sitting there with the wrapper and the bag. When asked about the wrapper, I would say, «Someone was littering, and I just picked it up!»
I was the captain of the cap committee, and many people don’t talk about this anymore because it’s so inundated in our daily lives, and everyone does it, leading you to think God doesn’t care. There’s a way to let someone not know what you’re doing without telling them all your business and without lying. Bill collectors call, and you lie to them all the time. It’ll be tight in here for just a few minutes. «Are you going to pay us on the sixth?» «Yes, of course!"—knowing you have no intention of doing so. You’re saving that number in your phone just to never answer it again.
Let’s go to the most basic situation we see every day: «How are you doing?» How many times do you lie in a week when someone asks you that? «I’m good! Blessed and highly favored! Everything’s great,» even though you just got off the floor crying because of anxiety and depression. You were just telling someone, «Nobody cares about me,» and then someone asks how you’re doing, and your automatic reaction is to lie. It’s so common that it’s hard for me to even talk about it because you don’t think it’s a real issue. You think, «That’s just what you do; you don’t tell people all your business.» No, no, no, no. You cannot tell people all your business without being disobedient to God. That’s what we don’t understand: lying is disobedience to God. It is considered, watch this, I know you don’t like the 's' word: sin. So every time you say it was just a little white lie, God says, «That’s the language of Satan. I can’t stand that language because it’s the language that took the kingdom I was building and split it into two.» We don’t do lying, and that’s why God said, «Mike, I need you to teach a message that’s going to be unpopular but will bring freedom.» Someone say, «Cuffed to cap!»
Let’s look at Exodus 20:16; you can view it later: «You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.» Stop lying! It’s one of the Ten Commandments, and many people get technical like that was in the Old Testament. Let me bring it to you from the New Testament. This is Jesus in Matthew 19:18. Jesus said, «You shall not murder,» got that one, «You shall not commit adultery,» got that one, «You shall not steal,» got that one, «You shall not bear false witness or lie or cap.» Right now, if I were to ask people in this room if they are telling the truth about every area of their lives, most people could not answer that question honestly. You would have to plead the Fifth. God told me to say, «I never meant for this Christian life to be lived in lies. I am the one who lives in truth.»
This might be uncomfortable because some of you were born out of lies. Oh, this is going to be uncomfortable because you still don’t even know the truth of your origin. We don’t talk about that in our households. We don’t bring up issues. Is everybody going to be okay at Christmas? We’re going to act like it, and then we’re going to leave feeling something else. We’ll confide in someone we trust who we think can handle the issue, and we’ll tell them the truth while lying to the people we claim to love. Uh-oh! This is why I have to ask you to uncuff from the cap. Everyone say, «Cuffed to cap!»
This is what some of you have been cuddling with because the seed of a lie usually multiplies. That’s significant! You will never lie once without needing another lie; it is so quiet in here today. Everybody was shouting a second ago, and now everyone is silent. People are leaving like, «I need to get my kids out of here because they are going to find out their daddy isn’t their daddy.» Listen to me: it’s better if the lies are exposed now so that you can start living in the truth. The longer you lie, the more it multiplies.
Okay, I’m going to need real security on the way out of here. Are you ready, sir? Okay, you’ve got me. See, I’m just telling myself this because it’s easier to talk about heavy subjects when I can reflect on my own experiences. Lying is a sin; I knew that from a young age, but I had an expertise, a knack for it. I don’t know; it just came naturally. How many kid liars were in the room or are here right now? Come on, raise your hands. Okay, thank you, my people. We’re here, I love you. God has transformed us. But if you were a kid liar and you’ve never transformed, you’re an adult liar. Let me just say, it doesn’t go away with age; it becomes more cemented, making it harder to distinguish between the lie and the truth.
I lied for so long that it followed me into adulthood. When I was a youth pastor at this church, I lied in my early 20s about car insurance. It was stupid; there was no reason for me to lie about it. I got into a wreck and did not have insurance. When the man asked if I had insurance, I should have just told him the truth: «No, I do not have insurance.» I would have paid a fine, had to cover the car repair out of pocket, and my license may have been suspended. Instead, I lied.
At the moment of the accident, I pulled out my Nokia phone and called the insurance company; I recalled their commercial, «15 minutes or less can save you 15%.» I called and got insurance. When they called back to confirm if I had insurance at the time of the accident, I lied seven times. They said, «Sir, let me clarify: did you have insurance on the day of the accident?» I kept insisting that I did, and they were persistent.
Fast forward five years later, I found myself in a sticky situation when I was stalked at a gas station by an unmarked car. These people showed up at my house, and eventually, I ended up with my license suspended anyway. All of this culminated in them saying I needed to turn myself in. I was over there serving the youth, trying to do good, and getting in trouble for a lie. You could say, «Let’s praise God with our whole lives!» But God was telling me, «Okay, I’m progressing you, not perfecting you, but we need to deal with this lie.»
And do you know who confronted me about the lie? Bishop Gary McIntosh! Scott called the bishop and said, «You know there’s a warrant out for Pastor Michael’s arrest, right?» I was just mortified. Bishop said, «Mike, I need to talk to you real quick.» I panicked, thinking everything was going great, and he said, «Did you know there’s a warrant out for your arrest?» At that moment, my whole body went cold. My heart sank. I looked at him, and once again, I was faced with the opportunity to multiply the lie, poised to act as if I had no idea. The Holy Spirit nudged me, reminding me that after five years, I should know that lie only multiplies.
So, I told him, «Bishop, I did it.» I recounted the whole story about the car insurance fraud. He said we would figure it out, and I replied, «I hope so.» Then Scott came in to tell me what needed to happen. It was nerve-wracking; Scott was not great with emotions, and I was scared stiff when he told me I had to turn myself in. I said, «Turn myself in? I can’t go to jail.» My father went with me because he used to be an usher at my church. We drove to the bail bondsman because I said, «I need you to save me!» He said, «Yeah, we’ll go in there.»
I was scared! I just told him to wait outside while I turned myself in. I felt terrified but eventually got out by 6:35 a.m. and went straight to preach to the youth. I later had to stand up in front of the entire church on Sunday and explain what happened because I was on the brink of being in a magazine for '90s criminals! If I would have just told the truth at the start, my high school friends who hadn’t seen me in years wouldn’t have had to see me in that situation. As I picked up trash for community service—talk about humiliation—God reminded me, «You should have just told the truth.»
I think about that every time I am on the verge of lying again. It’s as if God is communicating, «Just tell the truth! If you tell the truth, I can protect you in it. If you tell the truth, we can work toward a better outcome.» Somebody say, «Just tell the truth!» But we can’t because we’re cuffed to cap. This is why God is trying to uncuff us from cap: what you are trying to avoid by lying will, in the long run, cost you much more if you continue. I paid more money, wasted more time, and faced more embarrassment because I didn’t tell the truth at the moment it needed to be told. It lasted for five years and now lives on in my testimony of my life, okay? What God is saying is to stop sowing the seeds of lies and start sowing the seeds of truth.
Right now, everybody is contemplating what you’ve been lying about. People think you are from a place you’re not even from. Where are you from? The East Coast? Oh, like New York or something? Yeah, you’ve never been to New York, but they think the fashion sense you have is, «Oh, you know, she’s from New York,» because people just run with stuff. And you’re like, «Yeah, stop lying, stop capping, stop cutting off the blessing of God.» The moment you feel it would be easier if they did not know the truth, what lying does is cut off the flow of God. Okay, I’m going to get into it. We’ve heard this; I know we’re going to give in just a minute, and everybody’s excited about giving.
Like, Pastor Mike, you are not making me feel very faith-filled for giving and crazy faith. Just stay with me; I promise you this thing will flip in a second, but we’ve got to deal with your lying self. I’m going to give you a scripture, but nobody thinks about this: Luke 6:38. We always hear this at offering time: «Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. Make room because it’s going to be poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.» Is the word «money» in that anywhere? So if you sow seeds of lying, give lying, and it will be returned to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Will men start lying back to you? Nobody talks about the multiplication of our words that are not grounded in the truth. A lot of the things you’re praying to be out of are the harvests from the lies you sowed in a different season.
Okay, just write it down: lying is a seed that shows back up in your life, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Every time you lie, know you’re getting it back—a good measure, pressed down and shaken together. Every white lie and every time you lie about what time you got to work, when you become a CEO, you’re going to have an employee who gives it back to you—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Be disrespectful to authority, and you’re going to get it back—a good measure, pressed down. I’m just trying to tell you the principle that it’s not about money; it’s about whatever you give. Most of us want it to be about the good things and not about the bad things, but we are bound to the idea that God is not a man of His word. This is why—somebody say it—lying shows back up.
Lying shows back up as depression, lying shows back up as shame, lying shows back up as anxiety, and lying shows back up as addictions. Let me say it like this: lying turns you into the devil you didn’t want to be. When you start lying about little things, you will end up in a place, doing things, being someone you never wanted to be—becoming the very person you hated. Can I prove it to you? Write this point down: lying is the language of Lucifer. Notice I didn’t say Satan or the devil. Most people don’t realize, oh, Lucy was an archangel. No one delineates this, but it was Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer; they were the three archangels. Lucifer started lying and turned into the devil.
He wasn’t the devil; he was Lucifer who started capping. «Maybe this praise belongs to me; maybe I’m the one that’s supposed to be running heaven; maybe I have a better plan than God.» But it was Lucifer’s lies that turned him into the devil. Oh God, let me say it to you like this: bad people don’t lie. Good people lie and become bad. Lord, help me till the angry soil of Your people’s hearts. The truth hurts sometimes; that’s why I said I’m talking to people who have put their allegiance in Christ. God is telling you today, through a revelation: stop lying.
Stop lying to people. Stop lying about what time you’re going to be there. You’re not going to be there in 10 minutes; just tell them 30. Stop—look at the faces in here. They’re like, «Oh my God, I did that this morning! Thank you for saving my seat!» Stop lying to your kids. Stop lying that you’re going to actually spend time with them this week. What you’re doing is creating an environment that desensitizes—watch this: the enemy only wants to make your word powerless. So, the more you lie and the more you don’t show up, the less people around you believe you.
Some of y’all, it was hard for your husband or your wife to agree with you in crazy faith for what the offering was to be because you’ve been lying about saving money for the budget. Your words in one season didn’t line up with your actions, and then when God calls on you to do something, they don’t believe your word because you’ve been desensitized—you’re bound to capping. This is what the church doesn’t talk about; we deal with the ramifications of people lying, but we never talk about the root issue, the root cause, which is capping.
Stop capping. Stop lying. Stop doing it because you think it’s easier today. Lying is a seed that shows back up, multiplied. I’ve heard it said this way: lying takes you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you want to pay. When you lie, it takes you further than you want to go. I didn’t even know I’d be out here lying about a monkey and a shoelace and a toothbrush. Why? I’ve been in some lies that are so elaborate that I don’t even believe I said them. It’s because it takes you further than you want to go and it keeps you longer than you want to stay. Some of us have been living a lie for so long that it feels like less work to live it out than to actually come clean.
It’s like, to actually go back and tell the truth about these situations. «I’ll just wait till they die.» I’ve had someone tell me that. They know the truth about something, but they’re not going to get healed and live in the truth; they’ll just wait till the person dies because they can’t deal with their response to what actually happened. The whole body of Christ is doing this right now, and what you’re living in is a state of perpetual trauma. You hate the reason why people don’t answer phone calls anymore; it’s because you don’t know what trauma is on the other side of that call.
That’s why we say, «Text me. Give me some words to let me know where we’re going in this conversation.» «Hello? What are you doing?» «I’m going to lie to you.» «What are you doing today?» «Nothing.» You just lied. You’re fully dressed, sitting there ready to go out, but you don’t want your life to be impeded by somebody else. So we just keep on communicating in a language that is contradictory to heaven.
I just said a mouthful. The language not accepted in heaven is lies, and we’ve been practicing it our whole time on Earth. What will you be fluent in when you get to heaven? Will you be fluent in the truth or will you be fluent in lies? Will you be fluent in building up people’s character or will you be fluent in capping? The truth is that most believers will get to heaven and not be able to speak the language. If the language of heaven is truth, most of us will not be able to speak that language, and we will be in a foreign country.
God says, «If you uncuff right now, I can teach you how to speak in truth. I can teach you how to use your words to represent and represent me.» This is what I’m trying to believe for everybody—that we would adopt a practice of trying our hardest every day to no longer lie. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy today or tomorrow because you’re so used to it. You’re going to have to practice your responses. Someone’s going to say, «How are you doing today?» and you’re not doing good, and you’re going to have to say, «I’ve had better days.» That’s still the truth; you just tweaked it—not being fake because I’m not going to be fake.
You lying is fake, but maybe I can ask the Holy Spirit to help me be intentional. «How do I respond without triggering my husband or wife when I’ve had a hard day but without lying to them?» Oh God, like, «Is something wrong with you?» «No, I’m good. I’m cool. It’ll be all right.» Those are all lies, but we do it every day. Then, «Okay, don’t ask for dinner. Don’t ask.» Come on, y’all. He wants to act like that; I ain’t going to give him his face, but I promise you, he better not be coming over here.
Sometimes, they’re touching me and want to give me a massage or a full massage if I’m on the top, but why would you have that response if it was the truth? You have that response because you feel there is a disconnect, because it’s a lie. So I want to acknowledge this right now as we make a quick switch: the reason people lie, the reason we don’t tell the truth is rooted in fear. I need to address this right now because it’s impeding our relationship with God.
Ever since we were young kids—how many liars did I have in this room right now that wouldn’t tell their parents the full truth? Okay, that’s like 85 to 90% of the room. We have to ask God, as parents—any parents in here—we have to ask God for wisdom right now on how to raise our children in an environment where there is discipline, but there is also honesty and transparency. Because many of us did not tell the truth, not because we didn’t know the truth, but because we feared the consequences of the truth.
Slowly but surely, our response was based in fear instead of faith that our parents would do the right thing. Even if they would, we didn’t give them a chance. «You’re not about to punch me; you’re not about to whoop me in front of them.» And subconsciously—watch this—I’m trying to connect this scientifically right now; I’m trying to let you see that what you’ve done for the past two, three, four decades in lying has created fear about telling God what’s really wrong.
So then you come to God, and now God’s calling cap on you because your prayers sound like cap. «God, I just want to be used by you.» No, you want a position; you want people to know your name. You don’t want to be used by me; you want them to know I’m using you—cap. Oh, we won’t say what it really is. You just say, «God, I want to be married.» No, you actually are comparing yourself with your best friend since sixth grade—cap. You don’t want to be married; you don’t want to serve; you don’t want to die; you just want Instagram pictures to look good.
You want to have cap, and what we’re doing is coming to God capping in His presence. «God, if you give me this job, I’ll use my resources to help anybody"—cap. You only use your resources for people that make you feel like the man or the woman, give you a position on the board, or make sure you feel like cap. Because I’ll tell you, get to somebody you’ll never see in that same spot. It’s effective, and many times, we’re not coming to God with authenticity because it was rooted in trauma or fear we had in a different series.
And God said, «Would you uncuff from cap? Would you stop lying?» The real reason you don’t actually go to the gym—she said, «All right, okay pastor, let’s be honest"—the real reason you don’t go to the gym is not because you can’t afford the membership. I gave you a ten-thousand-dollar raise last year—cap. Don’t say it’s resources; it’s because you don’t want anybody to look down on you and make you feel like you did when you were 10 in PE class because the clothes didn’t fit. So now you’re bringing it to God and God’s like, «I see through all of that. Would you just come to me and be honest, authentic, and would you not lie?»
This is what I’m going to give you as homework. To uncuff from cap, you must examine four things: the lies you’ve learned, the lies you let slide, the lies you live, and then, watch this, this is the hard one, the lies you love. There are some lies you love that don’t love you back. Oh baby, you know what I’m saying? «I’m just a player.» No, you’re not; you’re just an insecure person who won’t commit because you want multiple strokes to your ego, but you’re actually scared that you could never please just one.
You’re not a player; you’re scared, but we’re not going to say that. That’s a lie we tell ourselves, and then we get to the end of our lives and feel frustrated. The reason I built all of this out—I took 54 minutes to build this—is because I need you to understand the most dangerous consequence of lying is that you become comfortable with capping. When you continue to lie and lie all the time, and your kids lie, and your husband lies, and your boss lies, and you lie so you don’t get in trouble, or lie so you don’t have to have a meeting, or lie so you don’t have to answer the email, or lie about where you went or why you left the job—You lied about it, and you just keep lying.
It makes you desensitized and comfortable with deception; it makes you comfortable with lying, and this is the truth. Write this down, everybody: if you haven’t taken a note, I need you to write this down: man lies. That’s a part of the fallen nature of man. We are always going to struggle with telling the truth in any situation; that is a part of the Fall. Man lies; that’s why there’s grace. But God doesn’t lie; that’s why He is God. Now I need you to see this, because if you do not get this revelation, you will be putting man’s standards on God. You will look at a man who lied to you and say, «Because my dad lied to me,» or «My coach lied to me,» or «That boss lied to me,» that maybe I can’t trust God. Baby, God is not a man that He should lie!
Oh, oh, here’s the flip: Numbers chapter 23, verse 19. Every person that has ever lied to you, everything that you’ve ever done to lie, you cannot copy and paste that character to our omniscient God. You cannot put man’s position on a holy God who made you with purpose. Many of us have been lied to for so long that we think God is not going to do what He said He would do. He is not your cousin or your baby daddy, nor is He your best friend. He is the God of the universe.
When He speaks a promise, He cannot lie! I’m about to get happy in this moment; He is the God that keeps every promise. The stars are hung in place by the words that He spoke one time; He did not have to come back for an annual checkup on Mars, Pluto, or Saturn. He spoke the word, and He did not lie; that’s why it’s still standing today! Somebody say, «God can’t lie!» You didn’t even say it like you believe it! In the middle, somebody’s saying, «God can’t lie!» Type it in the chat; I want you to say it with your chest: «God can’t lie!» Everybody in this room, stand up right now! I need your faith to be activated! Somebody has been believing God for something, and I need you to yell it from your belly: «God can’t lie!»
Sit down. This gets me excited because I’ve been chained to deception, but God has not! Ah! I’m getting excited because when I look at the promises of God, I cannot apply my earthly experiences to His heavenly existence. I cannot act like just because people let me down, God is going to do the same thing. Most of us, as believers, put human stipulations on someone who is not human. Numbers chapter 23, verse 19: so you can have context—God is not a man; He is not a woman. He does not lie. Say it with me: «He does not lie!» One more time: «He does not lie!» He doesn’t know humanity, so He does not change His mind about you.
The purpose He put on you—yes, you—He knew you were going to go through a divorce; He didn’t change His mind! Yes, He knew you were going to be abused in that situation and tried to save you, but humanity got in the way. But He still didn’t change His mind about you! He knew I was going to have a car insurance fraud case and face a felony charge, and He said, «Yeah, I still haven’t changed My mind about you!» He has never spoken and failed to act. Oh my God, this is the only Bible scripture you need to meditate on! Everybody that’s believing God in crazy faith, this is the one you need right now: He will not lie! He is not human, so He doesn’t change His mind. He has never spoken and failed to act. Has He ever promised and not carried it through?
See, and this is where we get real tit for tat. «Well, I did ask for a baby by the age of 23, and God—» No, no, no, no, no, no! He’s not Santa. He’s not your big daddy or your sugar daddy. He doesn’t give you what you want when you want it; He gives you what you need when you need it! Oh my God, the truth of the matter is He knows how to interpret the difference between what you’re saying and what you actually need to fulfill purpose. He only gives in line with His will for your life, and He cannot lie! If my daughter asked me for a machete right now because she wants to reenact something from a movie she saw, as a good father, I am not going to give her what she asked for because I know it would harm her. That does not mean I don’t care about her; it proves that I care about her. In her delusion to ask for something dangerous, I, as her loving father, would pull her close and say, «Baby, we don’t play with machetes.»
And some of you have been asking for men named Martin Machete and women named Michelle Machete, and God says, «You can’t have them because that’s dangerous for your health!» The reason you’re not in a relationship right now is not because I’m keeping you from something; I’m keeping you for something! Oh my God, I’m trying to preach in here today! What God is saying to you is: «I don’t lie! If I told you I was going to provide, I will! It may not be what you thought it was going to be, but it’ll be everything you need it to be!» Somebody say, «He can’t lie!»
But if we don’t walk with that confidence, we start living in the delusion that God is like everybody else. That’s why I have to confront everything in our lives that we’ve been exaggerating about. God said, «Be like Me! Stop the capping, stop telling lies, tell the truth, and watch Me honor My word and My promises!» And tell the truth and actually perform! My favorite part of that scripture is the second half, where He says, «He has never spoken and failed to act!» Oh, that’s why we get disappointed in people: it’s because they speak! Just tell me if you’re not going to do it! Let’s be honest: if you’re not getting married, just tell me so I can move on. But if He spoke it, He said, «I’ve never spoken anything and not acted on it!»
That’s why when my family and I get ready to give in crazy faith, what I’m writing down on this card is not an exercise of spiritual gambling. We’re not writing our things down and putting money in a slot machine, praying that God does it. This is an exercise of my faith! When I pray and ask God what to put on this card, I trust Him by faith to interpret what I’m saying and what my needs look like now, and to do what’s best for me! What’s best for me? I don’t always write down what seems best for me because of the pain I’m experiencing in the season. But God is so good! It says that the Holy Spirit is interpreting; He’s making intercession for us at the right hand of the Father. I know that’s what they’re praying for, but what they really need is peace in their minds. I know they’re praying for a new house, but more square footage won’t provide the peace they truly need. What they really need is a good counselor, a good friend, and how about throwing in a puppy? Yeah, Sparky will help them just with one little lick, and they’ll be okay!
God is interpreting, and He’s saying, «Will you trust Me? Will you trust Me? Because I can’t cap; I can’t lie! It’s not in My DNA; it’s not in My blood! The whole world is dependent on My word being the truth! If I lie to you, then I lied about the cross! If I lie to you about the promise, then I lie to you about salvation and atonement. I lie to you about grace and repentance, and I am not a man that I should lie! I am not the son of man that I ever would have to repent or turn because I did it the wrong way!» God said, «The reason you can believe Me in crazy faith is because I can’t cap; I will not lie!»
And do you know why that makes me so excited? Oh shoot, write this point down: if He said it, it’s settled! Oh, I’m about to shout all by myself! I don’t need a word of agreement from anybody else! If He said it to me, what He told me about my son MJ, when He said it, it was settled! What He told me about Transformation Church, when He said it—somebody say, «It’s settled!» The truth of the matter is many people don’t believe it because you think God is a man that He should lie, but I’m standing in the fact that we’re in this building right now! Do you know how far-fetched it is for somebody? Do you know how long people have been doing dream boards and putting pictures of buildings and houses on stuff they will never live in? I got too much proof! I got too much proof! Somebody say, «I got too much proof!» You’re thinking about me, but the fact that you’re still here is proof of what God has done.
Somebody said, «I got too much proof!» If He said it, how do you act when it hits the account? See, it’s so crazy—like, when you get paid, you don’t actually get anything physical; all you get is an alert: «Bing!» Now, some of you are so confident that it’s coming, you don’t even need the alert. You just need to know what day it is! You walk differently, you drink your coffee differently, you put your glasses on differently when you get paid! Huh? Hello, are you speaking to me? Ah! Why? Because you know—everybody say, «Settled!»
The reason I’m excited today to step out in crazy faith and give, as a family, more than we’ve ever done before in our lives is not because we got it, but because God asked for it! The reason I’m excited is that God can’t cap, so there is no cap! Hold on, you missed it! He can’t lie! So every cap that I thought God was doing is, in fact, Him taking off the lid, taking off the limits! He said, «If you trust Me in this and believe My word that I’m not lying to you and obey, and give, and trust, and serve, and move, and do what I ask you to do, you have just taken off the cap!»
The reason you have to stop believing the lies is that when you believe that God can’t cap, you remove the cap! There is no limit to what God will do! Oh my God, I’m living proof! There is no limit to what God will do for someone who will obey, even in the midst of other people thinking they can’t! Nobody believed me when I said this would be our building! Thank God! Somebody said, «I did!» That’s questionable. I’m just trying to get everybody to see that even in the face of other people thinking it’s cap, it was the very act that took off the cap!
The reason many of you have to step over this line of maturity and start tithing, giving offerings, and giving extravagant gifts— even when your parents, who are multi-millionaires, say, «We don’t do that!"—is because they don’t have peace! What God is saying to you is: You know the dysfunction! You know the drama! You know the things! God says, «I want you to step over the line of what other people think, and I’m letting you know, I’m not lying! You’ve been believing God that the fertility treatment will actually work, and you’re on your third round of IVF. You can’t afford it, and more than that, your emotional tank is empty, and God, You still would ask me to do something for somebody else?» He said, «Every seed you sow, every tear you sow, every dollar you give, every hug you extend, you are being used as a vessel!»
And my daughter and my son, hold fast to My promises because I cannot cap! I’m not lying to you; He who was faithful to begin the work is going to be faithful to see it to its completion! And there is faith rising in everybody that is in this room and watching right now! Even in the midst of situations that look unfavorable, God is reminding you: «I’m not like man; I’m not like that person. I am not trying to pull the okay-doke on you! This is not a scam or a scheme or a manipulation tactic to fund the church! This is your opportunity to trust Me beyond anything you have ever done before! And let Me make you a guarantee: I cannot lie! If I said it, it’s settled! Put your faith in it, take it to the bank, and believe it because we serve a God who cannot lie!» Will somebody give God praise in this room right now? Oh, if you know—matter of fact, let me just pray for myself. Thank You, God, that Your word is true! Thank You, God, that Your promises are true! I got too much proof!
Yeah, I wonder what Noah would have said when people said it wouldn’t rain—they yelled «cap!» But when the earth flooded, God said, «No cap!» Huh, think about it! What happened when God told Abraham he was going to have a son? His wife called «cap!» Ain’t nothing more devastating than the people you know intimately being like «cap!» She laughed! But at 90, when she gave birth to a son named Isaac, God said, «No cap!» When a few years later, God said, «Hey, you know that thing I blessed you with? I want it back!» Hold on, not Isaac, not my son!
Business is not my social media page that blew up during the pandemic, nor the proceeds from—uh—my vacation fund. Hold on! You didn’t even have this to be frustrated about 15 years ago, but now I’m asking for what I gave you back, and you’ve got a problem with it. Abraham said, «Nope! I will rise early in the morning and I will go; me and the boy will go worship.» He remembered, «Hold on! Let me not trip out with the one who provided everything.» But watch this: him, the boy, and the servants go, and they don’t have any sacrifice. He knew he was about to give God the very thing God gave him. Oh my gosh! They stopped at the bottom of the hill, and he looked at his servants and said, «You stay here; me and the boy are going to go worship.»
I don’t know who those servants and assistants were, but they were like, «This is about to be bad. There’s no sacrifice. We know how this goes; he’s going to kill him.» When he said, «We’ll be back; me and the boy are going to go worship,» those servants probably said, «Cap!» But as Abraham laid his son Isaac, the promise that God gave him, on that altar and said, «God, I don’t understand this. There’s no way you would ask me to sacrifice this, but if you don’t make another way, if this means I gotta move from that house and move back into an apartment, if this means I gotta work a second job, if this means I have to leave what’s comfortable, now you have my full allegiance.» And as the knife was coming down, he hears it back and says, «What is that?» God said, «No cap! I just needed to make sure that everything you had, I still had ownership of.»
Church, when Daniel got in the Lion’s Den and they thought he would be dead within moments, all the people said, «Cap!» When they thought he was going to live, they were like, «Cap!» The next morning, when King Darius came and saw that he was there, watch this: he said, «Daniel is still here.» God said, «No cap!» And Darius said, «From now on, we’re going to worship the God.» Some of the trials that you’re going through are just a platform for God to capture the hearts of the people around you. But if we do not believe God—cap ourselves—and we believe the lies, which is «cap,» God’s saying, «Take the limits off!»
When Bishop Gary went to North Tulsa to build a multi-ethnic church, the whole city said «cap,» claiming black people weren’t going to let him be there, and if he did stay, they would go. We can tell story after story, but when he transitioned that service to a young black man in 2015, God said, «No cap!» Wil Heckenbach was in jail seven years ago, and they told him he would always be addicted to those substances and would always need this and that. But then, when I see him standing up here telling his testimony every Sunday, God’s looking over from heaven saying, «No cap!»
When Osby told us that his daughter had a little chance to live and the doctors said Samaria wasn’t going to make it, all the doctors, the professionals, said, «Cap!» But that girl is praising and singing today, and God’s looking over from heaven today saying, «What? No cap!» All I’m trying to tell you today is if we believe the God who cannot lie, we will see the limits taken off of our lives. You’re talking about just being uncuffed; I’m talking about having no boundaries. See, most of us are just trying to get right here, and God said, «Man, if y’all would just go ahead and get uncuffed so you can run this whole thing—so you can be in government, in entertainment, in education, in the schooling system, in sports—you can be in every sphere with no limit!»
We have to stop capping so that we can believe that God has no cap. Today, I’m encouraging everybody who is giving, everybody who’s starting, because right now some of your hearts have been hardened. You’re actually going to stop lying, and you’re going to believe that God tells the truth! Pastor Mike, that’s all you wanted us to get? Yeah, I took the long way to tell you: stop lying, and God only tells the truth! Believe His promises and stop lying to people about yours. If you would get that combination before the end of 2023, it would change the trajectory of your entire life. People are now going to have to start believing God on another level.
Look what it says in Ephesians 3:20: «Now unto him who is able to do through His mighty power at work within us, accomplishing infinitely more than we might ask or think!» As we give in this crazy faith offering that we’re about to start today, many people are going to have an opportunity to give. Some of us are going to have to go home and transfer funds, close accounts, change different things. Pastor Mike, God would never ask me to change my lifestyle to obey Him! Sweetheart, all the disciples gave up businesses; they had their biggest, most successful business day and left everything to follow Jesus. Please do not think that serving God is comfortable; it’s not comfortable. Serving God is your calling, and as a church, we’re going to give Him crazy faith.
Some of you, God is going to give you even in this present moment. I’m going to invite the worship team back up, and we’re going to pray. I need everybody to fill out these cards, even if you don’t have anything to give. This is not about amounts; it’s about obedience. God gives seed to those who want to sow. Some of you all just made a decision: «God, in this place, I’m going to believe You in crazy faith and I’m going to sow a seed this year.» Some of you are going to give more than you’ve ever given; some of you are going to give millions of dollars, some of you will give hundreds of dollars, and some of you will give the coins that you have. Hear me when I say this: it has no bearing on the amount; it’s about obedience. I’m telling you, some of the greatest gifts I’ve ever seen given were not from people dropping bands; they were from people sacrificially saying, «God, this is all I have, and I’m going to obey You.» I watch God over and over make ways supernaturally because God cannot lie. If He’s given you a promise, you need to be reminded of that promise today.
This is the thing I want to let everybody know: the reason Transformation Church is so generous is because there’s already a sea of people who have made a decision: «This is how we live, Linda. This is what we do. We give just to give—not to get.» We’re going to be able to touch so many lives through the generosity of this church, but this is not about money; it’s about heart posture. All week God is going to deal with people because He says, «I need you to remember I can’t lie; I won’t cap.» If I could get some of the pastoral staff to come up here, anyone who has filled this out, anyone who does not have one—if you don’t have one of these cards, would you just raise your hand in the room? I need y’all to get some cards to pass out to everybody because this is the moment that some people are going to actually be filling out what they’re believing God for in crazy faith.
The three things I believed God for last year on my crazy faith card; two of them God exceeded my expectation, and right now I’m still waiting on one of them. How can I wait? Because God can’t lie! Today, your faith should expand wherever you are, wherever you’re watching this—even if it’s next week or next year, we’re going to be here, and you’re going to have an opportunity to give. Some people are saying, «Well, Pastor Mike, I wasn’t ready today; I didn’t have anything.» I get paid next week; it doesn’t matter. If your heart has been set to give, God will give seed to the sower.
There are people all over with their hands up, and if you’re online right now, you can go to [email protected], or you can go to Instagram, and it’s on everybody’s Instagram right now. You can just screenshot it, and I want you to write it. I want you to repost it. Some of y’all might have to print it out because you’re going to need a paper copy. In fact, some of y’all will have to make a booklet. It doesn’t matter; God is big enough to hear your requests. And let me say it one more time: man may be cuffed to cap, but God can’t lie!
Let me say it to you like this, as my last point: you’re not giving to a good man; you’re giving to God. I have to remind myself of that every time I give. It’s like, «Oh, I’m giving to a church!» No, no, no, no, no! The Bible tells us so clearly—I think it’s in Hebrews 7:8: «Here mortal men receive your tithes and your offerings, but there He receives them, of whom it is witnessed that He lives.» The buckets, the Cash App, the American Express—this is just revealing our heart. Yes, Transformation Church is going to be able to steward over the resources we give. You all see we’re feeding people in Africa, giving to homeless people; we are making a difference all over the world! We were able to give a church a million dollars to keep the vision going; there’s so much we are going to do and continue doing.
This is not what this exercise is for. This exercise is to make sure that our hearts are in a place where we believe God cannot cap. Some of y’all are going to have to pray over this for another day or two because you had an amount you were going to give, and the whole time in this service the Holy Spirit has been saying, «You know that ain’t Me.» And somebody’s like, «That’s got to be the devil.» The devil will never tell you to give anything because that’s the character of God. Some of you are thinking, «I’m too young; I’m a college student.» Some of the greatest investments you could ever make for your future are in the season where you don’t have much to lose. This is your moment! There’s not a pair of Jordans that can provide for you what God can. There’s not an outfit that will give you the self-esteem that you actually need.
What we’re saying is, «Here’s my Holy Spirit.» Would everybody stand all over this building? I invited our team up here; this is a holy moment for us as a church. This is three generations of pastoring right here, and all of us have stood in these moments. I remember the first Crazy Faith offering; it was called «Heart for the Kingdom.» I stood up and said, «Our church is going to be a generous church"—and all I had to give in that offering was $200. I said, «All I had to give—that was all I had—but I stood up and that Sunday, $8,300 came in. Eighty-three; that might as well have been $8.3 million on top of our normal offering. Giving people gave, and we went to North Tulsa, found churches, and gave all of the money away. That seed went into good ground and multiplied, and continues to show back up in this house every single week. Whether you decide to give or not, you’re not a bad person or a good person; this is just an opportunity when somebody says, „You can get in on this deal.“ If I could have gotten in on buying stock in Apple when it was two dollars a share, I would have done it! This is that moment. God is saying, „I have an opportunity for you at all times to remember the heart of what I’ve called you to do.“
I cannot lie! Today we will pray for you as a point of contact for everybody in Transformation Nation. We will pray for everybody in the room, but the pastors will begin to touch these cards. There’s no distance in prayer. Everyone around here will be instructed; the worship team’s going to sing, and you’re going to come and give. There are families that are going to give together afterwards; my daughters already know they each have a certain amount of money that’s going to go to God, and they’ve filled out their crazy faith cards. Their mother and I are believing God for some things that money can’t buy. This is not just about giving; this is saying, „God, here’s my life; here’s my heart—and here’s something that most people hold on to: here’s my treasure! You can have whatever You gave me back.“ So today, whether you’re in your home or in this room, we’re going to pray and ask God what He wants us to do. Would you just lift your hands all over? And team, just begin to pray for the people on the card.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we’re ready to receive instructions from You, God. We need You right now. Come on, I want you to begin to pray: „God, you are not a man that you should lie; you’re not confused.“ God, we’re praying specifically for Transformation Church. This may seem crazy to people, and it is. They may think this is something that benefits th church, no! This is for our benefit, God. Every time I’ve done this, you’ve changed me from the inside out. Today, I stand boldly in the face of critics, in the face of those who have been critiqued, and I declare that we have seen you be faithful to your promise over and over again. You are not a man that you should lie, so today we believe in your Word. As these people hear from you, I thank you, God, that we would have the audacity and boldness to obey. Father, you are making ways where there were none before. Right now, you are bringing water out of deserts. Father God, you are giving people ideas; you’re making things come through; you’re showing them where the resources are. God, I thank you that we will be able to obey you without hesitation, pressure, or anxiety. Your Word says to give what we have already determined in our hearts to give, not with pressure or anything. God, I thank you for peace in giving, and I thank you, Father, that you are a man of your Word. Today, we trust you. Somebody say, „Holy Spirit, what are you trying to say to me?“ Now listen, speak, God, today as husbands and wives stand together, as families stand together, as business partners stand together, as people give from their overflow and as people give from their need. Today, I thank you, Father, that you would be bigger than all of us, and you would be faithful.
We just sing this little song: we say, „Great is your faithfulness.“ He can’t lie! Somebody just said it didn’t just start today, but from… somebody just say great! So, we’re about to turn this place into a big altar. Okay? You’re going to be able to come into the sections and give. You’re going to be able to worship in here. If you’re in Tulsa and couldn’t be here because of work, or you’re in Dallas or Kansas, or some people came from New Orleans—I heard New Orleans is in the building—and California, people flew here.
Listen, if you came, the Crazy Faith Room will be open at 2 o’clock today, and it’s going to be open. We’re starting today. We had it open last week; some people couldn’t get here this week, so we’ve extended it. For the rest of this week, even through next Sunday, as God gives you what you are supposed to do, we want you to go, and we want you to give. We want you to know that God can’t lie. If He said it, it’s settled! Somebody said, „If He said it, it’s settled!“ This is going to mark a moment of turnaround for so many people because this is a moment of maturity. Here is Holy. If you’re online, if you’re giving on the app, it’s not different. That’s a holy moment. Allow God to speak to you, and we lift our hands right now and just sing it one more time. Say, „Great!“ I feel the presence of God! Faith is rising in this room! Yeah, faith is rising in this room! We trust you, God! We believe you, God! You’re not going to lie. You are too big; you know what you’re doing right now:
Father, I thank you that everyone who is going to give in this room, giving online, or already giving—God, I thank you that this will mark a moment of transformation for them. I thank you, Father, that even as there’s a wrestle between people doing what they say and you doing what you say, God, we will lean into our crazy faith that you cannot lie. Today, we are sowing to see you do more than we could ever imagine. Have your way is our prayer. In Jesus' name, we agree. Amen!