Michael Todd - Designed for Dominion
Hey, listen, um, I really think there is something happening across the world. Um, um, it’s not strange that last Sunday, as we stood up on our 24th anniversary—eight years of me and—and we stood up to preach, the Holy Spirit wanted a response more than a message. So many times when God’s been good, a lot of times we’re like, «Oh yeah, great, you’ve been good,» and then we go on to the next thing. But last week, there was a response of worship that came out of this house that extended for almost three hours. We were just in here worshiping, and I know some of y’all, your friends didn’t come back this week because they were like, «Do they do that every Sunday?» No, no, no, it’s not every Sunday.
You see, I cut the music, but last Sunday there was something that God desired. The one thing you’ll know about this church is we have tons of people who make sure we have an awesome program, and we are on point with all the other things. But if the Holy Spirit decides to do something, I know this is not normal in church today because you’ve got a program—many are the plans of men, but it’s God’s purpose that we want to prevail. So, last Sunday, God wanted us to worship, and we did that. And it was so funny; the next day I started getting text messages about college campuses like Asbury and Lee University, and people doing regular services, and God just said, «Can I come in?» I think they’ve been in almost seven days straight of prayer and worship, and then it’s happening on other campuses, and we thank God that He is pouring His Spirit on His people everywhere. Transformation Church, we celebrate that; this is what we pray for, this is what we believe God for.
Now, let me help everybody understand: when God comes and rests in a place, it’s not for us to make that place a monument. Any time God does something somewhere, He is fueling people to go, «Oh gosh, everybody is trying to make their way to a place.» But the only reason you go to the place is to receive what you need. Remember what Jesus said to the disciples: «Y’all go wait in the upper room, and you will receive power.» But after you receive that power, don’t stay there; empower each other. You’re supposed to go! Everybody shout at me, «Go!»
That’s what we do every Sunday here; when you come into this atmosphere, God meets us here every single Sunday. And when we come here, it is to fuel up, sing our worship, and get with other believers to worship the only King and the only God. Then it is for us to go. This whole Christian walk is useless if it’s just for you. If you come here like, «Oh, I feel better. Oh, that’s just what I needed,» if that’s your repetitive statement, then all this is is a spiritual high for you, and you’re waiting for the next hit. You’ve missed the purpose of the Kingdom. It’s to—everybody shout at me, «Go into all the world and make them understand what you understand.» The problem is most of us don’t understand what we should understand. This is why we’re in week four of a series called «What Kingdom?» The reason I keep reiterating that we have to get light and knowledge on the subject of the Kingdom is that most believers are Kingdom D-U-M-B—we are ignorant of the truth of the only message that Jesus Christ preached.
Today, I have been trying to preach this particular message for three weeks, but I think it had to be um preceded by worship. I feel like the weight of this message—this message is about to mess up some of y’all’s five-year plans. This message is gonna have you going back and questioning some things. Like, is this where I’m supposed to be living? Am I in the right career field? Hold on, how long have I been denying what God has called me to do? This message is paramount; it’s the shift in the series that takes it from something you’re just learning to something you’ve now got to do. So today, I had to take us back to school. I’m gonna give you some definitions today. Get your pen and your paper out. How many people like English and language? God bless you guys.
But today, I don’t care where you land on the spectrum of school; I need you to get out your phone, your notes. I need you, because again, the Bible says, «My people perish for a lack of understanding,» light knowledge. Today I’m going to take us to the Greek, I’m going to take us to the Hebrew; I’m going to take us to some stuff you ain’t never been in before. You’re like, «How do you pronounce that?» And we’re going to work it out together. The reason is that many times we miss the meaning because we don’t have the understanding. There are some new phrases that kids are saying these days that I don’t really understand, and I feel old even saying that. Because they say certain things, and I’m not going to give any examples because I’m really going to date myself, but they mean something when they say it. Without understanding, I miss the meaning. How many times has God said something, but we miss the meaning because we didn’t have understanding?
So today, I’m going to walk you through so that in all our getting, we get understanding. I’m going to take us to our anchor scripture real quick—Matthew 6:33. I want you to put a pin there because this is the framework of everything we’ve been talking about in this entire series. And I really believe that if you don’t get any other scripture that you say, «Read, listen to every day,» it should be this one for the rest of the year. Why would I do that? Because in repetition, many times there’s revelation. Let me give you a practical example. I got a new TV; okay, it’s really nice, and I watched The Lion King on this TV because MJ is right now obsessed with The Lion King.
In 1994 when The Lion King came out, I loved it, but I haven’t watched The Lion King in like 20 years. I thought I knew The Lion King until my son every day asked, «Simba,» and he’ll look at me. Y’all know how much of a miracle that is that my baby is telling me «Simba»? Okay, so Simba just found himself randomly four times a week watching The Lion King just randomly for the past two months. The repetition of seeing the same scene over and over—I was like, «Was that animal in there in 1994 when I saw the original? Did he always make that face?» There are things that I keep discovering as I keep watching and replaying the same thing that I thought I knew. The Holy Spirit began to convict me and say, «Michael, I don’t care if you know a scripture reference and you know about what it says; you have not discovered what’s in it.» It’s been another conviction for me as your pastor, and I’m trying to encourage you: go back to what you think you know and ask God for fresh revelation.
«Oh no, no, I know that! I know that! I know that Bible scripture!» My mom said that to me every day; you may be quoting it wrong because she was quoting it wrong, and you’re passing it to your children. «Oh, what does the Bible say?» We take Fred Hammond songs and make them scriptures; some of those songs are adaptations of scripture, but what he’s saying is you have now taught. I want us to go back to the word. So Matthew 6:33: «But seek…» Everybody shout at me, «First!» Y’all didn’t even shout at me, shout «First!» «But seek first.» Pastor Mike, why are you putting so much emphasis on «first»? Because you’re disobeying God. I don’t know how else to say it, but for many of us, our nails are first, our car is first, our kids are first, our job is first. I want to be very clear, and I know some of y’all, that offended you. «My kids are supposed to be first, God!» No, He didn’t. He told you to be fruitful and multiply, but He told you what to put in priority: seek. A parent without His instruction doesn’t try to repackage that broke stuff that you’ve got. You need fresh revelation from God.
But what we try to do is put God over it all after we’ve done it all. It’s like somebody who can’t bake and just thinks the icing will cover up the fact that that cake is lumpy. «What is this?» But it looked nice. «Put God over it.» Jesus tells us very clearly in Matthew 6:33, «Seek,» everybody say it, «the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all the other stuff we worry about will be added.» Kids, bills, family, health—He said do it in My order, and I will take care of everything else. I have to keep reiterating that because many of you need to stop asking God, «Why is it not working?» Here’s the answer: you did it out of order. You moved before you sought Him. You took the job because it paid well, but you did not seek. «Is this what you have for me?» You went on a date with a bum for Valentine’s Day; you didn’t even want to post the picture, but you did it, and you did not seek. Stop asking me to pray for you; that’s a waste of breath. No, I mean I will pray for you, but that’s like somebody doing the wrong thing and then looking at you like, «What happened?» You didn’t do it in order.
What I’m asking everybody is, when you wake up in the morning very practically, «Holy Spirit, what do You want me to do today? Lead me and guide me into all truth. If there’s anything I’m not supposed to be doing, God, make it clear and then give me the ability to obey.» When was the last time you said, «God, this is my plan for the day, but Father, I’m submitting it to You. If You want to change anything, would You please make it clear to me?» «Okay, but seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you.» When I begin to look at this word «Kingdom,» this is where I went, and I studied this word out. This word «Kingdom» in the Greek is a word «basilia» (B-A-S-I-L-E-I-A) for all those that are taking notes, «B-A-S-I-L-E-I-A.»
This word «basilia» has a Hebrew equivalent called—y’all studied, it’s spelled «M-A-M-L-A-K-A-H.» This is Hebrew. When I looked at it, I don’t know if I’m the only one, but words that are big in the Bible that I don’t understand, I just say whatever comes to my spirit. So when I saw this word originally, it looked like «mama laka,» and I was like, «Okay, I got that. Boom, mama laka.» That’s how I remembered it. But then I asked somebody on our staff who really studied Hebrew and Greek, and they were like, «But look at this: basilia and mamlaka—Greek and Hebrew, same word.» Guess where this word is found? In Genesis 1:26. This is going to be the subject that I talk about, and I want to tell you the word, but I want you to see it in context.
Genesis 1:26: «Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have…'» What’s this word? «Dominion.» «Basilia,» Kingdom! Hold on, Holy Spirit. Jesus, we need to make something that looks like us. We need to reproduce after us because when I look around, nothing has the swagger like us. But let’s make whatever we make—not like we made animals, not like we made the ocean, not like we made the sea or the sky or the heavens. Let’s make them in our image and our likeness. Let them have the character, integrity, and substance of what we have. What’s the first ingredient we should use to make this amazing thing that we’re about to make in our likeness and image? Hmm. Should we give them joy? Nah, that’s coming. Should we give them peace? No, they’ll have that when they’re with us. What is the characteristic of it? «Let’s give them dominion.»
I need y’all to think about this. Whatever the core ingredient is of a thing is the essence of what that thing is. God says, «I want to make a copy of Myself, and I need to start with the foundational ingredient. The foundational ingredient of who I am that I’m gonna put in all of My children is dominion.» Oh my God! And the reason there are like two claps is that you’ve never walked in your Kingdom dominion. «Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness. Let’s give them dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle.»
Ah, instead of naming everything, let’s give them dominion over all the—oh! The first thing that is core to every human being is dominion in this earth. This is why no human likes being oppressed or depressed because it goes against your DNA. This is why no matter how much they try to put slavery on somebody, no matter how much they try to put mental oppression and all that, every time there’s something in the human species that’s bucking up against, «Oh my God, you can’t control me!» There’s some God nature on the inside of me. «You can’t stop; you can’t box me into just one thing because I have dominion!» And the truth of the matter is, the enemy has deceived us to, I think that somehow we need to beg for what God initially provided.
Oh, gosh! Let me just break down the word «dominion.» The word «dominion» means sovereign rule, kingdom reign, and royal power. When I begin to look at Genesis 1:26, which is repeated over and over, «Let us give them dominion over all the earth,» I kept saying it. God wants me to have dominion over everything on the earth. He wants me to have dominion over anything He places in front of me. I’m a joint heir with Jesus. I was placed here to actually do something, to make a difference. This is the purpose of humankind: to be a reflection of heaven on earth and to walk in the same dominion that Jesus walks in, the same dominion He had over the cross, the same dominion that God has when He said, «Son, stay here; ocean, stop there; land, come here.» I have that same dominion on the inside of me.
I came to the title of the message today to let you know, and I want to serve notice on the enemy and all those insecurities: I was designed for dominion. Oh, somebody better receive that right now! Somebody say, «I was designed for dominion!» You were not made to scrape by; you were not designed to exist. Oh God, you were not designed to just make it through. Just trying to get by—how are you doing? Just trying to move food, just trying to get through people. «How are you doing?» «I can’t complain.» Okay, you’re a Christian; you want me to be like you, man? No. Until you accept the fact that no matter what family you were born into, no matter what trauma has happened to you, no matter how you have been affected or infected in this world, your original design was dominion. Oh, my God!
Okay, God told me to simply come out and tell you today: take up your space on earth. It is time for the people of God to stop living in seed form. It is time for you to blossom and take up your space on the earth. I need five people with faith who know that this word is for you. Just five! I don’t need everybody, but I need five people who are going to say, «I’m going to take up my space on this earth.» If He put it on the inside of me, I’m going to step with dominion into what God has for me. Find three people and say, «Take up your space! Take up your space! Just take up your space!» It was designed for you! It was designed for you! There’s a space in entertainment that was designed for you. There’s a space in the educational system that was designed for you. There’s a space in the government system that was designed for you. When you don’t take up your space, you leave room for the enemy to fill it with counterfeit. And while you’re complaining about why they don’t do something about it, it’s because you didn’t take up your space. «Oh, why don’t I get an award at the Grammys?» They thought it was because you didn’t take up your space!
You’re still sitting here scared of what God put on the inside of you. You still won’t make the business plan; you still won’t pray out loud! Take up your space! I was designed for dominion. I’m going to try not to yell at y’all the whole service, but something on the inside of me is roaring. I think it’s the God nature on the inside of me, the one that can say, «Let there be!» Oh my gosh! Just say it one more time: take up your space!
What I’ve come to the conclusion of is that when we talk about the message of the kingdom, dominion is in every believer’s DNA. Even if you don’t want it, my kids have my DNA. Even if they don’t want it, they could literally say, «I don’t like him! That ain’t my daddy!» No matter what they claim, as soon as you get just a little specimen of what’s on the inside of them, they’ve got my DNA—regardless of whether they want it or not. What God is saying to all of us is that when you come into the kingdom of God, He doesn’t see you as slaves; He sees you as sons. He adopts you into the family; you get a brand new DNA. Can I tell you what DNA means? This is a little acronym that I came up with to help me remember when I walk into situations where I may appear disadvantaged: I have His D.N.A.—Dominion, Nature, Access.
You’ve seen me walk into situations where I have no qualifications, no pedigree, no connections, no hookups—nothing! But before I walk into the room, I remember who I am and whose I am. I remember that I’ve got dominion, nature, and access. So where a bank would usually tell someone like me «no,» I greet them with, «Good morning! This is what I’m looking to do over the next 24 months.» They’d say, «You’ve never done that before!» But there’s always a right time for the first time! I can’t tell you how many situations I’ve walked into where the favor that was on God— not me, but the King—has now transferred. Oh God, my DNA is dominion!
There are situations you haven’t even tried. You haven’t even let them say «no» to you. You said «no» for them! «Well, you know they’ll never—» You said «no» for them, and you’re sitting in a position forgetting what blood is running through your veins. Somebody say, «Dominion is in my DNA!» Oh, that makes me excited because then scripture says, «With man, it’s impossible,» but because of the One who has my DNA, there is nothing that is impossible! It makes me think of scriptures like, «If God is for me…» Oh yeah, period!
I don’t know if y’all are opening blinds, but the truth is most of us have been taught that dominion is worldly. No, no, no! You come in humble, lowly—nobody should know! This false humility: «Ah, you’re doing too much.» No! I’m doing what He put in me! Oh my God, I didn’t put it here! So many times, the church has not done a good job of teaching the difference between walking in your kingdom dominion and being dominating. Or let me say a different word: a dictator. See, the perversion of dominion is dictatorship, and too many people don’t care about people, things, or situations. You can walk fully in your dominion, accomplish purpose, and still maintain all the fruits of the Spirit.
I know you haven’t seen it, but you can fully walk in kingdom dominion, reach your purpose, and still have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control! You can still do it! Jesus came to this earth as our example to show us. I mean, Jesus was so gangster! What did He say? «Y’all, I’m letting you take me.» Please stop flexing because if I wanted to, I could fully exercise dominion, reach destiny, but still have a character that is desirable. The truth of the matter is, most of us don’t know our role when it comes to the king in us. We haven’t figured out what our role is. You ever been on a basketball team where somebody forgot their role? Like, «You don’t shoot on our team; all you do is rebound!» Please don’t forget your role! Or, maybe you’ve been on a friend’s trip, and there’s a person who wants to plan the trip, but everyone says, «No! You’re over games!»
But if they planned the trip, y’all would be at a motel 8 saying, «Look at the view!» They forgot their role! Okay, here’s one everyone will understand—in a family! In a family, when everyone’s cooking, there are certain people whose role is to bring the drinks. Y’all know, «Baby, we don’t want to taste it! I know you found it on TikTok, but we want to live!» Period! Like, that’s the end of the day! When they forget their role and bring something bubbling that they’re proud of, it’s like, «Who’s going to eat this? Rufus?» Like the dog!
So many times in the body of Christ, that’s children of the King—we forget our role! I want to clarify our role real quick when we talk about dominion. God has ownership; we have rulership. I need to help you understand this because Western culture will teach you that you own stuff. When you come into the kingdom, you own nothing. Oh God! Some of y’all worked your whole lives to own «my life!» But in the kingdom, it says if you want to keep your life, remember—everything in the kingdom is backwards! If you want to keep it, you’ve got to lose it. I’m trying to make the Bible make sense to you: you don’t have ownership of your kids. They aren’t yours!
I know nobody’s told you this—they look like you, they act like you, but you’re just a manager! You have been set over them for a certain amount of time, and the Bible even tells you when they find a mate, they need to leave you! «Y’all don’t want to leave and cleave?» Y’all haven’t read that in the Bible, huh? But no, it’s my baby Jimmy! And the only reason you’re obsessed with Jimmy is that you don’t like their dad, Jerome! You haven’t had any rulership over your marriage because you took ownership of your kids. Now, your insecurities about what you’re not getting here, you place on them, and now he’s trying to leave! Okay, I just went too deep—somebody’s going to need a counseling session after that!
He’s saying it’s because somewhere along the way, we got ownership and rulership mixed up. I don’t own Transformation Church; I just rule here. And see, some of y’all don’t like the word «rule.» Oh God! But you don’t understand what the word «rule» means! Anybody ever had to go to school and have a ruler? A ruler means a standard—something by which another thing is measured. If you don’t set a rule or a standard, all I do here—I don’t own Transmission. There’ll be another pastor in 10 years, five years, 50 years—I don’t know! But there will be another person. As of right now, I’m the one who holds the standard here!
When people get it messed up: yes, a man is supposed to rule his home! He’s supposed to keep the… *Laughter* I will go home right now! I will go home right now! The reason your wife can’t listen to you is that what you say, you don’t keep your own standard! It’s very hard for someone to be under your rulership when you don’t keep your own rules! Dominion comes with responsibility! Oh, and everybody doesn’t want to hold the standard! This is why culture is looking to others rather than the church, because we have not kept the standard, the rule!
Okay! *Laughter* God has ownership; we have… God has ownership; we have… Okay, so Psalms 115:16: «The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to mankind.» He owns everything, but He decides to let us partner with Him and hold the standard, rule, and have dominion here! I wrote this down because I wanted to say it just like this: we own nothing but have access to everything if we operate within the parameters of the governing principles the King has established for His kingdom. I’m going to say it one more time: we own nothing but have access to everything!
Do you all know one of the greatest feelings in the world is staying in somebody’s nice house? If this doesn’t happen to me! Somebody let me and Natalie stay in their nice house on the beach. Views! Dolphins out there! «Stay as long as you want! Food is coming every day! Don’t worry about cleaning up! Do whatever you want to; the bills are on me!»
Now, there are some tendencies on the inside of me that want to test the limits of what you just said! Let’s be very honest! I’ll check anything! «Yeah, no! The restaurant down the street? Just order it! They’ll bring it to you! They’ve got filet mignon!» That’s about $25 a plate! «Order it every day! They said breakfast, lunch, and dinner!» «They said y’all are playing!» It was hard for me to understand that I had that. Oh! Then they said all the water sports—jet skiing, boating—all that you can do for free! Even a little… You start checking! Like, «The banana boat?» We can…?
They were trying to get me to understand that I had access but didn’t have ownership. If I could, I would have lived there! It’s so much easier not being responsible when things break! Good! I just have to communicate to the one who actually owns it! The reason you have so much anxiety in your life right now is because you’re in the wrong role of «owner.» So when your relationship breaks, when your money isn’t acting right, you think you’ve got to fix it! God says, «Step aside! Would you let the Lord of your life—the landlord, the one who gave you everything—do it?» That’s why in the kingdom, ownership is not the goal! Let me tell you what the goal is! Y’all know the word—not just rulership, stewardship!
Because when you become a good ruler, a good manager, a good steward, there are tons of parables in the Bible about it, trying to tell you this is how the kingdom works! The parable of the talents—where He gave one, one; two, two; five, five—that is an explanation of the Kingdom, he said. The Kingdom is like this: do it over what I give you. Take up your space on the Earth. Double everything I give you. If I give you one, make it two. If I give you two, make it four. If I give you five, make it ten. If you just do that, I’ll take from those who did not use what I gave them wisely, and I’ll give it to you all. That’s what the parable said. He said in the Kingdom, I watch how you rule what I give you, and we over here are comparing what He gave us. Well, only God won’t let it turn into two. Well, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know why Felicia got five; she isn’t even… she’s ugly. Who cares? God has ownership. We have stewardship. Practically, how does that work, Pastor Mike? God owns my finances; I rule my finances. The reason I tithe, I don’t even think about it anymore.
So, like this is—shoot, it’s weird for me as a pastor to be saying this—but I don’t tithe because I’m a pastor. I tithe because I found the Kingdom secret to being blessed. So, if I were not a pastor, if I had nothing to do with Transformation Church, I would be at First Community Baptist Church in Central Tulsa—I just made that up—and I would be taking 10% of my income and giving it to whatever local church I was in. Why? Because in the Kingdom, I don’t own my finances; I just set the standard to rule them. The reason why money’s ruling you is because you have not set the standard for it. You don’t even know where your money goes at the end of the week, the end of the month, or the end of the year.
How do you get more money than you’ve ever had, and you have nothing to show for it? Because your money has no ruler. I’m going to have to talk about that in the next series. Yeah, yeah. God owns my marriage; I rule my marriage. The reason why Pastor Natalie and I are in marriage counseling this week— we’re in counseling all the time— is because if I don’t set a standard for that, if I don’t invest in that, that will not be the thing that I store properly. Let me get one that’s going to mess with your insides a little bit: God owns my sexuality; I rule my sexuality. He owns it. He gave it to me. He gave me the parts for the car. This is an electric car; this one has a Hemi in it.
Now, I can say that I’m electric, but I still gotta put gas in that thing. I’m just trying to help you understand, and that’s why even when it doesn’t agree with what I feel, I have to say, «You know what? I gotta set a standard for this.» And that’s why we have to understand Dominion. Because if you are not stepping into your kingship role and using everything that God has called you to on this Earth, you are being punked by the enemy. Adam and Eve got punked by Satan; he didn’t even have to touch them. At least, if I might lose the Kingdom, punch me; let me walk away with a black eye. You know what I’m saying? I’m the only one… the devil, you know what I’m saying? Jack me up.
Look, they lost Dominion because of deception. I do not want you to not walk in fully what God has called you because you believed a lie. All Adam and Eve did to give up their Dominion, give up the Kingdom, give up Basilea, was believe a lie. And how many of you listening under the sound of my voice have given up your spot? God designed Eden for them; their purpose, their job, everything was in this paradigm—the first picture of Heaven on Earth, Eden—and they lost it all. They lost the Kingdom because they believed a lie. What are you losing right now because you’ve believed a lie? «I can never talk in front of that many people with all of my baggage; nobody would ever listen to me. I’m too fat to live like that.»
These are things that people actually believe. «I could never stop eating that; nobody will ever see my full potential. I can’t sing like they sing, so I shouldn’t do what God put in me at all.» Giving up your Dominion because of deception. The enemy is punking you, and he didn’t even have to touch you. Somebody’s about to get their fight back. Somebody’s about to say, «Not another year! I’ve lived 30 years; I’ve lived 20 years; I’ve lived 18 years; I’ve lived 14 years— but today, I’m about to stand in the Kingdom Dominion that I was designed for!» Somebody shout, «I was designed for Dominion!»
All right, so let me define Kingdom for you, okay? A Kingdom is the governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his personal will, purpose, and intent, producing a culture, values, morals, and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desires and nature for his citizens. This is what God has wanted from the very beginning—a Kingdom is the governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his personal will, purpose, and intent, producing a culture, values, morals, and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desires and nature for his citizens. I got this definition from a man who spent over four decades preaching the Kingdom; his name is Miles Monroe. And if you’ve never heard of him, you need to go look him up. I have to stop and give honor where honor is due. Until him, I never ever in my whole life—I’ve been in church my whole life—heard a message on the Kingdom.
And then, Bishop Gary started bringing him to Greenwood Christian Center at the time for nine straight years, and he would preach about the Kingdom. And the one thing about Dr. Miles Monroe is that in any room he walked into, he was smarter than everybody, but many times, everybody left feeling Kingdomed because we would take all the notes and wouldn’t know exactly what to do. How do I… and he spent his whole life doing this. He died tragically almost a decade ago. I began to, earlier this year, go back and pull out all my notes and listen to these sermons. I’ll just say this because I’m in the spiritual context with you: there was an impartation. It wasn’t information—like I’d heard this stuff before—but it was as if something for the first time connected with my soul and my spirit.
It was the mantle to preach the Kingdom. I was one of the people that God was going to use to represent this message to the world. And when I saw this definition in one of his books, God said, «That’s it! All I’m trying to do is get my will on this Earth because I’ve already done it in Heaven, and I just need some people to mimic my values, my culture, my speech. I need people to see them and see there’s something different, and it’s not what they want. It’s what I’ve already decided.» When you look at this definition, I want you to realize that this cannot happen. Watch what I’m saying: God’s plan—watch this—this is strong! God can’t do His plan on the Earth without you! This is heavy talk right here. There’s some like, «God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants!» He said, «I set a standard, though; I set a rule. I rule Heaven, and I need my royal family to rule Earth.
So I will not overstep my word to do what I could do, but I won’t do it because I’m a man of my word. So anything that’s going to be done on Earth needs your participation for my Dominion to come out of Heaven and actually come to Earth.» And you’re sitting here like, «I don’t know; I mean, whatever you want to do, God.» He said, «I want to do it too! Young, I can’t do this without you! Stop being insecure! Stop doubting yourself! Stop telling me your qualifications! I’m with you! I want to take over this block, but I can’t do it without you! I want to take over the music industry, but I can’t do it without you!»
And it’s so sad, many times, God doesn’t do what He wants to do because He knows it will ruin you. Shoot—this is why it’s so important to have character, because many people who are gifted enough to take over the music industry, their character is not stable enough to even be in that environment. You wouldn’t turn anything up in there; they would turn you out! Five minutes and five hundred thousand dollars would have you dressed in a different way, acting in a different way, doing stuff you would never do before. And that’s why God said, «Bring it back! Shoot, I thought they were going to be the ones, but they had too much money! I thought they were going to be the ones to change government, but they’re just as corrupt as them other people in there.»
God’s literally standing over the balcony of Heaven saying, «Who? Who is going to actually like do what I built you for? I put Dominion in your DNA. I gave you the core part of me. Would you just write the paper? Would you just start the business? Would you just go on the prayer walk? Would you start the Bible study? You don’t have to know how it’s going to end; I do! I’m the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. You just watch this. All I need you to do—I don’t need you to figure it out; the plans of a good man are ordered by Him.» I’ll tell you, you’re denying your Dominion! Feel that electricity! I’m not even playing, y’all! Okay, okay, so remember the word «Basileia,» B-A-S-I-L-E-I-A, which means royal power, kingship, Dominion, rule, Kingdom. Okay?
There’s another word that’s kind of like it. We also get this word «Basilus,» which means the leader of the people, Prince, Commander, King. Okay? But the root word for both of those words is «Basis,» and this word that’s in both of those words means royal power, kingship, Dominion, rule, Kingdom, leader, Prince, Commander, King. Look what this word means—it tripped me out! It means the soul of the foot, a stepping, a pace. Y’all, this is how the Bible comes to me. So, a king is legitimized by having a kingdom, but a kingdom is only expanded when somebody’s foot steps on new territory. The way a kingdom is expanded is you see an area that the king does not have a standard in, and somebody from the king’s company puts the sole of their foot in that arena, and now it becomes a place where the King has rulership.
When you go to your job, when you step your basis in that area, does it now become a Kingdom embassy, or do you shrink back from your Dominion? Oh, God, and don’t do what He called you to change it? Not leave it! Trying to leave your job, and He sent you there as an ambassador from the Kingdom! Oh my God! The problem with the body of Christ is everywhere we go, we think it should be set up. But kingdoms conquer places! The opposition you feel, «They didn’t welcome me there.» Go over there to celebrate it, not tolerate it! That’s not Kingdom! You’re not going to like how I step in here at first—it is backwards from culture! I come to work on time! I hold people accountable for what they say they’re actually going to do better!
Oh my God! The people we read about in the Bible when we talk about Daniel, when we talk about his boys—they were so much better than everybody else at what they did! They walked in Dominion and excellence that demanded attention. The problem is, most Believers are mid-pack or lower anywhere they go, just doing enough to get a check! I’m in your business! You haven’t been faithful to that job; you’re taking a check—you’re actually stealing! You’re a thief! And that’s why God won’t give you any rulership, because you reap what you sow! And every… oh, let me stop. Let me stop because some of y’all think God doesn’t hold the people to a standard, but He’s a ruler, and He’s a good God! He keeps His word, and what He’s asking us is, «That doesn’t represent me; when you go there and act like that, you go off on everybody like everybody else? You’re not just… that’s them!»
I wonder how many times God’s like, «That’s them! I don’t remember! Aren’t you a Christian? That shouldn’t be a diss or a slight; it should be a term of endearment!» But because we have not stepped into our full Dominion—oh God! When I looked at this about the Kingdom, and wherever an ambassador of the King walks, wherever the soul of their foot treads, that’s new territory for the Kingdom! It let me know that we gotta walk some new places. There are some places the church has been quiet in; there are some places that we have been scared to walk; there are some places that we’ve been intimidated by!
But He said, «I’m giving you Dominion over all the Earth! Everything that’s on this planet! If I send you there, you have Dominion in that place! You have rulership in that place! You can set a standard in that place! You can get Heaven to touch Earth in the middle of a club!» Oh my God! Oh my God! Now, somebody, I was like, «What’s Pastor Mike saying? We go to the club?» See, the truth of the matter is your sinful nature is looking for an excuse to do what gets you out of right standing with the King. Remember, seek first the Kingdom and righteousness. I gotta be in right standing, but I have gone into places that were not set up or a conducive environment for me to live in… but they created a conducive environment to establish the Kingdom and rescue someone in those circumstances.
Oh my gosh, that’s why we stand outside of places; we don’t sit around tables and have conversations anymore. We judge behind a screen, scared to resemble anyone who doesn’t believe what you believe or doesn’t look like you. The truth is, you haven’t stepped into the dominion that God has put in your DNA. Joshua 1:3 says, «Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you, just as I promised Moses.» Walk into that school; I gave it to you. Walk into that business; I gave it to you. You are not standing under your own authority when you enter as a Kingdom Ambassador. If you step there, and I step with you, it’s yours. God, what are you trying to say?
Pastor Mike, you reign where you walk. I establish the reign of God wherever I walk. That’s why you shouldn’t invite me if you don’t want God to show up. Don’t invite me if you don’t want the atmosphere to shift when I come in. I walk into places, and you can be doing whatever, but when I walk in, Heaven shows up with me. So, yes, I’ll disrupt your boss; I’ll shake up your whole situation because when I walk in, Heaven walks in with me. Wherever I go, His reign is established. If it’s in the fashion industry, you are about to see designs from Heaven. You all are trying to copy Balenciaga and Prada, while I’m seeking downloads from Heaven. Show me what hasn’t been seen before. I don’t want a song that sounds like Drake; I want a sound that resonates with Heaven.
This is why the Bible says I walk by faith, because I’m entering areas of dominion that I can’t define. I have no qualifications for this; it’s not normal for people like me. I was born in Tulsa, so how am I doing all of this? But I walk by faith; I won’t let my fear keep me from stepping into dominion. I’ll do it scared. I’ll walk in, even with my doubts, because wherever I walk, I have dominion. Somebody shout, «I’m designed for dominion!» But you cannot dominate what you can’t define. You were designed for dominion, but can you define what that looks like? One thing you’re never meant to have dominion over is people. Some of you think, «That’s why I’m going to be a boss; nobody will treat me badly again because I’ll treat them badly first.»
You’ve missed the point! You’re supposed to partner and collaborate with others to have dominion on Earth. I love how God has set up the ministry here. I have collaborated with Pastor Charles, Pastor Brie, Pastor Tammy, and Pastor Amberly. Our staff collaborates, too. For example, the camera you’re watching me on isn’t currently operated by a person; there’s a robot here. You might not know that, but there is. I’m looking at this robot and asking it to move down. Can you go down, robot? Oh, it’s listening to me now. Now go back up! Move left or right, robot. It’s still going down? Okay, can you move on the track, robot?
Now watch. There’s a guy named Chad who knows a lot about video. Chad dominates; he has taken his dominion in the area of video and cameras. I don’t need to know how to have dominion in that area if I’m partnered with someone who knows how. You all better hear me in this house today! The enemy tries to pit us against each other so we do not rule and take over together. «I have to be the boss, and I have to be this,» but if I gather enough people who can have dominion in finance, structure, and creativity—this is why we’re called the body. Oh my God, many members, the same body. My thumb has dominion that my pinky doesn’t. There are certain things my thumb can do that my pinky cannot, but there are certain places my pinky can fit that my thumb cannot.
Every joint is supplying the dominion of the area it was created for. If you don’t find your spot of dominion, we all lose. If you don’t take your space, we are weaker. That’s why we must understand God’s original plan. His original plan for the Kingdom is outlined in the beginning when God created the heavens and the Earth. In fact, I want to show you what this looked like. This is my best creative depiction: «In the beginning, God created…» I tried channeling the James Earl Jones voice; I couldn’t pull it off. But I need heaven and Earth light. This was God’s plan at the beginning: to create Heaven and Earth.
What did God create in the beginning? Heaven and Earth. Most of us have been taught that we are just trying to reach Heaven, especially in the black church. It’s Black History Month, so let me tell you about escaping slavery and getting to Heaven. It’s generationally passed down that life is just about surviving, making it through, and waiting for what a day it will be. But when I read the Bible, Heaven is not the purpose for why God put humans on Earth. If Heaven were the goal, He could have just kept us there. Have you ever thought about it? If Heaven were the endgame, we wouldn’t bother with Earth at all. Everyone would just sing, «Holy, holy, holy.» Let me help you understand Heaven. Everybody say, «Heaven.» I want to share a few things about Heaven; you probably never heard it put this way.
Okay, Heaven is our home; this is my home country. Heaven is where my citizenship is. Okay, just like if you go to Asia, and you can dress in the authentic garb, you can speak Mandarin, you can eat Chinese food, noodles, you can eat whatever squid— you can eat it all. When they ask you where you’re from, you’re going to have to say, if you live in America, «I’m from America.» The same way, when you are born again, and you put your allegiance into your faith in Jesus Christ, your citizenship changes. Heaven is my heart; it’s my home country. The reason I want peace is that in my home country, it’s peaceful. Oh my God! The reason why every human desires love is that in Heaven, in my home country, the King of my home country, God, is there. He is more. The reason we want unity, even though we’ve been taught division, is that in our home country, every tongue, every race, every nation—Heaven is home. Everybody say that with me: Heaven is home. One more time: Heaven is home. I’m a citizen of Heaven.
Okay, let me tell you something else about Heaven: Heaven is holy. The reason why we didn’t just stay in Heaven is that we had an adversary who messed the plan up. Because He is holy, He has to make sure— and all holy means people make it so deep; it means set apart. Access denied if you don’t come up to a certain level. Heaven is holy. The reason we have to understand that is that God is saying to us there’s a certain standard that has to be accepted for you to have this level of access. Okay, let me tell you one more thing about Heaven: Heaven is His; it’s my home country, it’s holy, but it isn’t mine—it’s whose? It’s His!
Okay, Isaiah 66:1. Heaven is my throne! I’ve never even thought about how profound this scripture is. He literally says, «Heaven’s where I sit and Earth is my ottoman.» You know, like when you get ready to relax and you sit out of your chair; do you put your feet up on the footstool? He literally said, «I’m so great, my chair is Heaven, my footstool is the Earth.» Get how massive our God is!
Okay, now I want to say something else about Heaven that really made it practical for me. Okay, because you could be all in, «Heaven is holy, Heaven is okay, Pastor Mike,» make it practical. Heaven’s headquarters is HQ; it’s where all of the directions, the creativity, the ideas, all of the new changes, the updates—it’s where it comes from. Most of us don’t live like that; we’re looking for all of our instructions from things on the Earth. Heaven is my headquarters. Me and Pastor Nat took a trip this past week, and we went out to California, and when we were out there, we visited a headquarters, and it made this thing make total sense. This is why I think the message couldn’t be preached until now. We went to the headquarters of Apple. Now, for everybody who uses an Android phone, I don’t know where their headquarters are; it might be in hell. I’m just kidding, but we went to the headquarters in technology, Heaven—okay, that’s what I’m saying!
As me and Nat were out there, someone just logged off. I’m just playing, guys; calm down. As we were flying in, I saw this big circle. This is from my phone. I saw this big circle and said, «What is that?» This is from my phone, 30,000 feet in the air. I see this big circle; it is Apple’s headquarters, built for five billion dollars. This is why my phone’s so expensive; it’s the place that has technologies already invented that we will not receive for another decade. This is the place where all the updates transfer; this is the place where all of the testing is going on for what needs to be replicated in our homes—how we live. They’re making a car right now, and you don’t even know it. You’re still in the Honda, the Focus—what is that? The Ford Focus? You’re just trying to focus. But Apple is in the works right now at this headquarters, developing a vehicle that you will be able to type a location into, and it will take you there.
There are technologies and advancements and ideas and things that have already materialized that we will not experience until a later time. Heaven has answers, healings, ideas, songs, creativity. Headquarters have technologies that have not even been thought of on this Earth yet that are waiting for the proper time for them to be released on this Earth. Now, this helps me understand that Heaven is God’s domain; it’s the place where He has full dominion. If you want to know where God has dominion, it’s in Heaven.
Okay, so this is why in John 18:36, I just need a few more minutes to walk you through this because it’s going to change everything. John 18:36, Jesus answered, «My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.» He’s telling them if it weren’t, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world. What is He saying? My kingdom, my domain, is in Heaven; but the reason I came here was to expand my kingdom. So write this down: the Bible is a story about a king who desires to extend his kingdom to a new territory through his royal family. If you want to know why this matters, the Bible is a story about a king who desires to extend his kingdom, his domain, to new territory—Earth—through his royal family—us. That’s why I said we’re heirs; we’re royalty.
Okay, so this is why Earth was made. Let me just give it to you in Michael’s version: God was in Heaven like, «Man, I’m God, but I’m good. Got Heaven on lock; we need to expand this. How can I expand it? Because I can’t leave here, so I’m going to make something.» Because you know the deal: «Oh, I can’t believe he did that. I’m going to replace him. I’m going to replace him with dirt that I breathe into"—yeah, key component: dominion. «Hey, I created this place called Earth; your replication of that is Eden. Eden is on Earth. What Heaven is up here is just manage this, rule this.
Matter of fact, it’s not good for you to be alone; go to sleep. Take his rib out. Adam, wake up! Whoa! Man! Yeah, that’s what we’ll call it: woman. I’m just trying to—you two together, walk with me! Stay in righteousness! Seek first this kingdom! Yeah, Adam, that’s why I had you name all the animals. That’s why I want you to rule, subdue. No, don’t put any clothes on. Walk in your full dominion. You don’t have to hide anything here; you can be all of you here. You don’t have to shrink back from any of what I put in you here. And just one thing—don’t. This is my rule, this is my standard: don’t eat from this one tree. Everything else you have access to—just stay within my principles.»
The devil comes in to deceive, and the one thing God asked them not to do, they did. What did Adam and Eve lose in the garden? What did they lose? Talk to me. They lost dominion. Or let me say it a different way: Adam and Eve lost the kingdom. So that’s why—watch what they call Jesus—the second Adam. Why would you call Him the second Adam? Because He showed up to restore to humanity what the first Adam lost. That’s why His first message was, «Repent, for the kingdom is here.» He literally said, «I’m bringing the kingdom back to Earth, and when you accept Me, you get back your dominion.»
The reason I’m a Christian is not just to go to Heaven; the reason I believe in Jesus is so I can get my dominion on this Earth. I need to be able to expand the kingdom here; that was why I was born. So when you go to Earth, this is what Earth is: Earth is God’s expansion project. That’s all I’m trying to break this down to in the simplest form, so you can understand why you have to have dominion. It is the expansion project of God. «Hey, I want to take over a new territory; I need somebody to do it. I need somebody to go into the special needs community on Earth and give Me what Heaven is. I need somebody to go into the music industry, and I need them to get what’s in Heaven and bring it to Earth. I need somebody to go into the government system and get what I already have in Heaven—I need to get it on Earth. I need somebody to go into the beauty industry and get what’s already in Heaven; I need to bring it to Earth. I need somebody to go into the church—you didn’t think we needed Heaven in there, but it’s just become as corrupt as everything else. I need somebody to get what I have in Heaven.»
This is how we expand the kingdom. So, Earth is God’s expansion. Earth, watch this, is God’s expression. He’s a creator. In the beginning, God. The first characteristic of God. Why? The enemy has lied to you that you’re not creative—it’s in your DNA. It may not be a song or a sculpture or a painting, but it may be the way to solve a problem; it may be an administrative thought; it may be organizing. But in your DNA, part of your dominion is to be creative; He made you in His image and His likeness. But y’all don’t believe the Bible, man! This is why certain things bother you that don’t bother other people; because it’s trying to agitate the solution out of you! Oh my God, I just said a mouthful right there!
Okay, Earth is God’s expansion; Earth is God’s expression; and Earth, watch this, is expiring. There’s a time limit on this, and there’s a time limit on how long you will be on this Earth to do anything. Either the worst—or the wealthiest place in the world is the graveyard. A bunch of people who were sent here with purpose, but did not take up their space and walk in their kingdom dominion, and all we have of them is Facebook posts and memories of birthdays, but they did not leave their mark on this Earth.
1 John 2:17: «And this world is fading away along with everything that people crave.» Everything you crave, it’s worth nothing. But anyone, watch this, who does what pleases God will live forever. What pleases God? Matthew 6:33: «Seek first what? The kingdom and what? His righteousness, and everything else will be added, and you get to live forever.» Oh God!
So if we’re going to be a part of this kingdom, a couple of things you gotta know. A kingdom needs a King. Jesus is King; this is not negotiable. Kanye had this completely right: this is not up for debate. Everybody say, «Jesus is King!» We don’t need another king—there is no pastor that’s going to rise to this level. There is nobody—like we don’t need another king. Jesus is King!
Okay, you can go back and read Isaiah 9:6-7. We only read it at Christmas time, but I want you to see the kingdom language. Isaiah 9:6-7: «For unto us, a child is born; to us, a son is given. And the government, the kingdom, the reign shall be upon his shoulder. He’s got the whole thing on his back, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government, His kingdom, His Basileia, and of peace, there will be no end on the throne of David and over His kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.»
We think that’s a nice thing at Christmas time; that’s king language! He said, «I put the whole thing on my back!» When I came, kingdom on my shoulders—do you see how profound that is? So, we have a king; somebody say, «Jesus is King!» Okay, so if we’re also going to have a kingdom, a kingdom needs a domain. Heaven is God’s domain. Okay, He has dominion in Heaven; He wants to—this is a good word for you to understand—duplicate it on Earth. He wants to duplicate Heaven on Earth.
Um, maybe even an easier way to think about it: God wants to franchise Heaven. I’m just trying to help you get it. Okay, let me give you an example. Me and Natalie have always traveled since we’ve been together. That’s one thing I said: «Girl, I’m going to show you where I hit the Aladdin! I can show you the real!» Sometimes we’d be just in Oklahoma City, but I told her I was going to show her the world.
One of the things we started noticing when we traveled is this donut place called Krispy Kreme. Oklahoma was one of the last places to get a Krispy Kreme. For many years, I remember us going to other places and all we would want is them devil donuts because they are so good. It just feels like there are no calories in them because of how—they just don’t feel like much. But then it shows up! I remember asking somebody, «When will Krispy Kreme come to Tulsa?» They said, «We will not bring it there until somebody decides that they found a domain—a piece of land that is within regulations of our company’s requirements—and invest in franchising, bringing what we already know works to this place.»
God says, «When will somebody franchise Heaven? When will somebody find a piece of this Earth that doesn’t have Me on the sign outside and will invest there until everybody knows that it’s a kingdom establishment.» I don’t know what it is about that gym, but every time I go there, I don’t even feel stronger, but I feel better for my day. If we don’t take Dominion, who will? You know what? It’s crazy. When I went to the headquarters of Apple, it was wild that when I walked into the visitor center, it looked just like a duplicate of what’s at the Apple Store in the Woodland Hills Mall. I looked around, and I knew what to do there because I’ve definitely gone into the Apple Store and put my music on their devices, taking pictures. Some of y’all know what I’m saying—taking pictures. Uh, you know you can’t afford the phone, but you’re going to actually play the games. Everything was set up just the same; every piece of equipment, even the people who worked there, wore plain shirts with the Apple logo.
Now, I had never been to the headquarters before, but I had been to Woodland Hills Mall, and it doesn’t matter what mall you walk into. Even if the mall is jacked up, if the Apple Store is there, it looks nothing like anything else in the mall. It’s a replication of headquarters in a foreign location. I’m about to preach this thing. When God looks at us, our homes, our churches, our businesses, they are not supposed to look like anything else that is around. Apple holds a different standard than every other store around them, and if they cannot find a piece of property inside of a mall that represents their standard, they will build their own freestanding operation outside. It’s time for the church to start building our own stuff! Y’all want the world to accept what we do? Forget you! We’ll build our own awards show. We’ll build—y’all, my God—we’ll build our own car dealership; we’ll build our own banks.
If they don’t want to meet our standard, now I don’t think they can handle no more today. All right, y’all want to be Christians. They want to be Christians; they just want to go to heaven. I want to rule on this Earth. I want to take up my space on this Earth. That’s why I don’t have time for sin. You’re so preoccupied with not watching pornography and not sleeping with this person or stealing from that person. I’ve got too much to take over. I’ve got too much to do. I only have 60 years, 70 years, or 80 years. I only have so much time! You don’t have time to be sneaking around and doing childish stuff. When I was a child, I acted like a child, but when I understood my kingdom authority, I put away childish things.
Transformation Church is a franchise of Heaven. My house is a franchise of Heaven. When you get in my car, it’s a franchise of Heaven. I don’t let certain things in; Heaven is holy. Oh God, I don’t let certain stuff in my bedroom; it’s holy. I don’t let certain stuff in my mind because this is the King’s domain too. My mind is His domain. Oh my God, I’ve got to watch what I put here! Oh my God. Okay, so the kingdom needs a people. Somebody say we are His people! He already chose you, but if you keep taking off the name tag, He already chose you. I am chosen! I am who you say I am until I don’t want to be, until I want to impress people who didn’t make me. Somebody said we are His people! See, that’s why it’s so beautiful in the Kingdom. God doesn’t want subjects. All earthly kingdoms have subjects.
In God’s kingdom, there are sons. He wants family—sons and daughters who walk in the authority that He’s given. And this is what I want you to write down: God’s kingdom has sons, not subjects. Somebody say I’m an heir; we’re joint heirs with Jesus. Okay, but there’s another level that you can go to than just being an heir. Watch this: we are—watch this—ambassadors of the Kingdom. Okay, so this word «ambassador» most people would only know like they hear somebody say, «I’m a brand ambassador,» like on social media. «I wear this» or «I use this makeup,» «I’m a brand ambassador.» Well, that’s pretty much what God wants us to be. He wants us to be the billboard of what it looks like when somebody is clothed in Heaven. My accents, my talk, my language, my family—none are perfect but progressing. He wants you. There’s a difference between somebody who wears Jordan and somebody who’s sponsored by Jordan. They get releases that don’t come out. They get to try stuff before it happens.
God’s saying, «I will give you special access to information and technologies in Heaven. I will show you stuff before things happen, but I need you to be mine.» Everybody say ambassador! I don’t really claim to be Christian that much because that word in culture means a lot of different things. I’m a kingdom—I’ll use Christian for people if that’s the only thing; but what I know my identity is? I’m an impact. When I walk somewhere, the reason I treat people a certain way is because I don’t represent me. The reason you can go off on people is because you think you can go off on people. I’m sorry; you have that luxury. I don’t have that luxury to go off on people in the comments when they talk about me. I have to pray for them because my Bible constitution says that I pray for those who despitefully use me.
I don’t represent me; I represent the kingdom of Heaven. And this is the difference between a Christian and an ambassador. You can still sleep with people and live however you want and come to church when you’re a Christian. When you’re a kingdom ambassador, you can still use other substances to find peace when you’re a Christian. You can drink; you can do wine; you can do alcohol; you can do weed; you can do gummies; you can do Adderall; you can do whatever you need to when you’re a Christian. But when you’re a kingdom ambassador, He said He is the Prince of Peace. He said that He will give me peace that surpasses all my understanding. Somebody say I’m a kingdom ambassador! I’m a kingdom ambassador! I represent the King or represent the King!
This is all I’ve been trying to do the whole time. All eight years I’ve been in ministry, I’ve taken hits. People think I’m from the devil—the people—all I’m trying to do is let you know you don’t have to wear a suit to get close to God. All I’m trying to let you know is that you can have been addicted to everything, and if you actually give your allegiance to the King, He can transform you! All I’m trying to let you know is you can go to the beach with your wife and love your wife and wear a bathing suit and not be in Santa Claus and ashes. I want to let you know people are weird; well, I’m supposed to wear a robe to the beach? I might be fat, but dang I’m going to take my shirt off! But pastors don’t do that. All I’m trying to say is, as an ambassador, God is concerned about what’s on the inside and how it comes out. I’m just praying that through this year, you would take on your role as a kingdom ambassador.
There are certain things I don’t do, not because I can’t do it. Paul told us everything is lawful, but this is not beneficial for my role as a kingdom ambassador. Look, I could roll up in here and act unholy and knock everybody out, but that’s going to affect my—watch this—witness. I’m not going to be able to claim that I did this for the King because I actually did it for me. Remember, I don’t have ownership. I have 2 Corinthians 5:20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. Basically, they’re saying you are the only Jesus somebody is going to see, so the way you act, and the way you talk, and the way you live, is going to represent the King.
Last one: we are citizens of Heaven. We are citizens of Heaven. Did I bring my bag down here? Did you have my bag? It’s upstairs. DeSean’s got it. You’ve got my passport. Long story short, y’all know where the passport is? Or maybe some of y’all don’t know what a passport is. A passport is your access from one country to another country and back to the other country. That’s not good! If you go from one country to another and can’t get back, let me be very clear: it’s your—everybody say—access! When you become saved, and put your faith in Jesus Christ, you get a new passport, and you become a citizen of the kingdom. Do you know people swim for days from other countries trying to get into this country for the simple idea of being a citizen?
Now, I want you to understand how powerful citizenship is because when you get citizenship, you get rights. When you get rights, rights are non-negotiable. That’s why I believe that Jesus never in the Bible says anything about membership. You will not find membership in the Bible because members don’t have rights. Your membership to whatever gym you don’t go to doesn’t guarantee you a say; if they decide to move all the treadmills, you don’t have a say. If they decide to take all of the machines out and put in bands, you just signed up to do whatever they decide for you. But in citizenship, you have—everybody say—I have rights! So because you’re a citizen of Heaven, healing is not an option; healing is a right. He literally says, «By His stripes, you"—what’s the next one? —next time, everybody says—"are healed!» We will be healed! He said this is already done in Heaven; it’s a part of the rights of my citizens!
So in the Kingdom, when I go to God asking for healing, I’m not begging. And I know this challenges you because God is still Sovereign; these are kingdom terms that you don’t really hear. He’s Sovereign; there are reasons many times when He allows things to happen that are beyond your understanding at the time. But you still have to put your trust in the King. That does not stop me from reminding Him of my rights. «Hey God, You said when I became a citizen of this Kingdom, You said.» And that’s where we stand on what the Word of God says. Somebody say, «I’m a citizen of Heaven!» I’m going to have to do a whole other teaching on that—John 17:13. Y’all can read that, okay? God doesn’t just want us to get to Heaven; He wants to bring Heaven to Earth. That’s why we sing, «Thy kingdom come.»
That’s why we’re doing this and that’s why we read the Bible. The Bible is our governing instructions. This is what the Constitution is; this is where we get our instructions for what we are supposed to do. That’s why Matthew 24:25 says, «Heaven and Earth will pass away.» Oh no, that’s what He started with. Remember in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Matthew 24:25 says, «Yeah, both of those will pass away, but my words will last.» Why do you need to read the Bible? Because it’s the only thing that’s going to continue to reverberate throughout all of eternity. I need to know this! Okay, last thing: so I’m an ambassador. Somebody say: «I’m an ambassador! I’m a citizen of Heaven! I have governing instructions!»
Last thing: every embassy—every kingdom has an embassy. To have a kingdom, you have to have an embassy. Transformation Church is an embassy. Okay, let me explain. Not Embassy Suites; this is not the hotel. Okay? This is an embassy! It’s sovereign territory in a foreign land, so Heaven sets up shop in a foreign land and that foreign land is no longer what it was; it is Heaven! Okay? If I go to China, and it’s the Fourth of July, nowhere in China are there fireworks going off except at the American embassy. At the moment you step foot on that sovereign land, you are no longer in China; you are in America—in China. But now it’s sovereign territory. When you step foot on that embassy, American flags, fireworks, hot dogs, barbecue—the people right across the street are like, «What is going on?»
I’m sorry, you don’t understand this because this is foreign to you, but where I’m from, this is an embassy where I am able to be protected, safe, taken care of, as well as celebrated because everybody knows what we do here. Oh God! Every church should be an embassy of Heaven. And do you know if somebody’s in trouble, it’s easier to get protection? If I was in China and I needed protection, or somebody else needed protection, it’s easier if I run to a country. I’m still in China; I can’t get to America. But if I run to the embassy where I know the principles that the country was founded on, I can actually get help from people who aren’t even obligated to help me because I know the character of the country.
Every church should be a place where no matter where people are coming from, they should be able to run to this embassy because they know the character of the country we come from. They should be experiencing Heaven—how Heaven would love somebody. I don’t care if you’re in an alternate lifestyle; I don’t care if you’re strung out on this; I don’t care how many bad things you did! Everything—people aren’t even clapping because you don’t want the responsibility of being an embassy. But what God asks us to do is be a place that represents Him. And not just the church should be an embassy—your house! You better take dominion in your house over that spirit of depression that has been hovering over your home—over that confusion, dysfunction, and all that other stuff that is a kingdom.
As it is in heaven, let it be in this house. Uh oh, y’all are going to start saying different things right now. As it is in heaven, let it be in this house—not just your house, but your school should be an embassy. Wherever your feet touch, wherever your soul treads—not just your school, but your cubicle at work should be an embassy. It should be heaven on earth; when you walk into that space, I need you to take your kingdom dominion. As I sit at this desk, I declare that this is kingdom territory—whatever ideas, intelligence, and protection you want to give me from heaven, God, it is welcome here. I clear all distractions that would block heaven from coming to earth. This is your embassy; I am your ambassador, and I will do whatever you say to do.
This is the kingdom. Think about it—when it comes to this church, many times God starts expanding His kingdom through physical domains. I think about this church; as we celebrated last week, it’s been 24 years. This church started in a house—no physical building, but it occupied people’s minds and hearts enough for them to invest in it. Some of you, that’s where it’s going to start. God is saying, «Can I give you a vision, and can it be in your heart so you can start investing in it?» They started praying and moved to the Fairview Mansion in 1998. In 1999, they started renting what’s now a club on First Street and began having church there. I think about the faith of Bishop Gary and Pastor Debbie. In 1999, they moved to North Tulsa, 1519 West Pine, and in 2001 they started a church at that location. It was the first time they owned property; that’s where I started pastoring.
How many people ever went to 1519? How many people? Okay, y’all know we had none of this. Let me be very clear—people were parking on the grass. How many parked on the grass? Just a few people. Okay, who parked on the grass? It was hot. There were all kinds of different issues, but it was a domain. God said it doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be where My presence rests. He told me, «Michael, I’m going to start establishing My kingdom, and I’m going to use your church as a template.»
Now, I want you to see this—anytime God does anything for His church, He’s trying to show you what He will do for your life. He said, «Mike, I’m going to start using this as a template.» These kingdom principles were in me; I just didn’t have all the definitions. I started believing God 37 days after I became the lead pastor of this church that we were going to acquire the Spirit Bank Event Center. In 2019, God gave us this building right here. Yeah, we can thank God for that; we’ll never stop thanking God for that.
Now, watch—I was fine with this being the only domain. Once God did this, it blew my mind! This building is almost 200,000 square feet; I did not have enough vision for that. I thought, «Well, God, You’ve given me what I need for the next 20 years.» He said, «This is not about what you want; this is about My kingdom being expanded.» So a year after we acquired this building, in the middle of a pandemic, I’m driving up the driveway, and if you’ve never been here, we’re in the back of a business complex. The Holy Spirit said, «Don’t take your foot off the gas; believe me for the entire complex.» I said, «God, we don’t need this entire complex.» He said, «I know; I do.»
So remember what I told you at the beginning: God does nothing on earth without a partner. He came and asked me and this church to partner with Him to acquire the entire complex—even the land where Chick-fil-A sits. Glory to God! No, no, no—one year later, we purchased the whole complex. I am a Black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a multi-ethnic church that people said could never succeed. There are all kinds of people here: young Black people, young White people, Hispanic people, Indians, Mexicans—the essence is that everybody is here. But they told me this would never work. Everybody say, «But God!» He wanted to expand His kingdom.
So when this happened in 2020, I was like, «Thank You, Lord, for Your kingdom. Man, You’ve done it!» Because this is the kingdom that I will rule, Lord, and I will set a standard here. The Lord said, «No, no, no, no—I found somebody with faith. You believe me like it’s crazy, but you actually believe me! You’ll stand up in front of people and say what I told you to say. You’ll actually give your own money to it; you won’t ask them to do what you haven’t already decided in your heart to do.»
No, we’ve got more domain to take over. I had two. Everybody say, «Decide to continue to partner with God.» What happens when God wants to do more than you’re willing to invest in? Many of you don’t want to exercise your faith again, and God’s saying, «Hey, here we go! You ready?» And you’re like, «Ah, but I told God I’m not qualified to be here.» So as long as there’s breath in my body, I will be Your ambassador here on earth. If You want to do it on earth, You can do it through me. Here I am, Lord. Remember that scripture? Here I am, Lord. What did He say? «Send me!»
One year later—I mean, it’s literally been year after year after year—we were planning to build children’s spaces on the third floor after preparing for construction, so our staff needed to move elsewhere. We sent them out to look for some space; we were looking for three small floors to renovate and everything. Then the people came to us and said, «Do you want to buy the building?» We didn’t even ask! If it had gone up for sale, there were companies in the city that would have bought it right away, but God put—oh, those two words right there will get me in trouble—But God decided that in heaven, the Unit Court building was supposed to be Transformation Church’s headquarters so that we could dispatch even what we don’t have yet.
So a year later, we bought the Unit Court building. It looked like something Tony Stark built—like a Marvel set about to land on top of it. Another almost 200,000 square feet of office space! It happened while I was on sabbatical. How am I resting while God is taking territory? Some of y’all are about to get a revelation this next season: you’re going to get more by doing less. You’re about to find your stride, your pace of grace. God said, «Hold on, I got this one. You rest and let Me give you some more domain.» It’s even crazier—it’s so crazy that the company we bought it from said, «Hold on, there’s one thing you can’t buy it unless we can lease space from you.»
You want us to be rulers over it but you want us to pay you? It’s just crazy, y’all. Don’t get me started! So I was like, «Okay, cool, we’re done now.» This is how quickly it happens: for almost 17 years, we were at one location in North Tulsa, and the moment God says, «Now I see you’re ready to take domain,» within three years we go from one property to four properties.
Okay? He said, «I’m expanding my kingdom, and I gotta be places where people are.» I was like, «Alright, Lord.» I’ve been like, I don’t even pray for stuff anymore. No, no, no, no. I want to be honest with you; sometimes I’m like, «Lord, just let Your will be done.» I’m saying when you start walking at this level, you stop just saying things because you know your words actually have weight if you agree with God. Then I messed up—I met Cordell, best stuff cause God, this was last year, 2021. I haven’t even told anybody about this. The church staff didn’t know; nobody knows. So calm down. I told somebody that God told me to go back and recount what He’s blessed in our church, and I just started doing that around last year’s church anniversary.
God has for some reason blessed our church’s content; we’ll create something here, and 2,000 to 3,000 people will enjoy it here in the house. But then once it leaves here, it goes all over the world—like «Relationship Goals,» «Crazy Faith,» «Marked,» «Planet Not Buried"—those weren’t things we put any marketing dollars or plans behind to help them blow up. God said, «I bless the content of this house. In this next season, I need you to make more content. I need you to have your own Breakfast Club. I need you to have your own talk shows. I need you to have your own podcasts. I need you to do whatever movies you want to create.»
I need you to be able to do all those things. Y’all not hearing me like that. Now, I didn’t make this up; this is what He said to me. So, I need you to start partnering with me and believe me for a media house. «A media house? What does that mean?» He said, «The whole soul of this thing is to create content that is not just Sunday content, but goes to the world in different mediums all throughout the week.»
I just mentioned it; I was like, «Y’all, I think the next thing is good.» Not even a month later, my man calls me and says, «Hey, Pastor Mike, I think I found the media house.» I said, «No, no, it has to be very specific because it has to have a music studio; it has to have a big space for cameras and cranes,» because I’m really trying to make it happen. «And it’s got to have editing bays.» And he said, «Yeah, I think I found your space.» I said, «What?» We’re not ready for it. The Holy Spirit said, «I am.»
So, as of August 2022, we closed on Transformation Church’s first media house; it’s called the Ice House, and it’s downtown. This entire building is going to be used to export kingdom content— to create kingdom movies. Y’all better hear me; we’re expanding the kingdom, creating jobs. See, y’all didn’t hear what I said—creating jobs. You can’t snap somebody out of poverty if you can’t give them anything. We’re going to create jobs; we’re going to increase the economy. Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying; it’s kingdom!
What I found out through this process is that God has designated domain for you to dominate. Before I was a pastor, God placed music and entertainment and fashion and all this other stuff in me. When I step back and I look at this, God said, «No, no, no; I put it in you to create the space for so many others to be able to do.» It wasn’t about me; He had to give me the burden so I could be the one to step into a place and say, «No, we’re going to take dominion right here.» But what does it do? It affects everybody else, the next generation.
When we die, there will be videos, books, CDs, and music that we left on this earth filled with the kingdom message. Oh, can I tell you one last thing? We gotta go home. I know we have to go home, but write this down—last point: My domain knows my name. Okay, Charles, should I tell them? Okay, I mean, it’s Black History Month, so this is my Black history. This building, the Ice House, was Tulsa’s central place for getting ice back in the day before your freezer made ice and before even the little trays that you put the water in and then put in the freezer to crack. How many know what I’m talking about? Some of y’all still use those!
Before that, you had to get ice from an actual building. This was the place where all of Tulsa’s ice came from. When we went to buy it, we didn’t know that it was set up for us not to buy. Could you put it on the screen for me? I just want everybody to see this in the clause of the original deed. Oh, they can’t see it? Just highlight the part that I need them to see: «This property shall not permit said lots or any part thereof to be held or occupied by any persons of African descent.»
Well, somebody, my domain knows my name! Oh, it doesn’t matter what my color is; it doesn’t matter what my background is. It does not matter if God is for me! They planned for me not to even be eligible. But everybody, stand up! Don’t tell me what God can’t do! Don’t tell me that you can’t step into your full authority. Somebody say, «I was designed for dominion!» It’s time for our full expression! Y’all hear me!
Everybody listen! Don’t miss this. The word «glory» means full expression. So, if you have a rosebud, to see the rose in bloom is the bud’s glory. For you to be your full expression is the glory of God. When the scripture says, «the earth shall be filled with His glory,» that means all of us being our full expression. It brings God glory when you laugh; how you laugh brings God glory. When you share what you have, it brings God glory. When you sing in the key of Z, even if it’s just a joyful noise, it brings God glory.
It’s time for you to divorce the four things that kill dominion. The same things that got Adam and Eve are the same things that try to rob us of our dominion. Remember, Adam and Eve lost dominion in the garden, and Jesus came to give it back to us. The four killers of dominion—remember these—pray that God would keep you. Deception is a killer of dominion. If you’re confused about who you are and what God has called you to do, and you’re believing lies, deception kills your dominion.
Distraction kills your dominion. Some of us have been so distracted by social media and TV shows. It’s not just taking your time; it’s killing your dominion. After you celebrate every win in everyone else’s life, you have nothing to celebrate because you have been distracted. The third thing that kills dominion is delusion. Some of us just won’t believe what the truth is. You’ve been told the truth and even been counseled on it. At this moment, something supernatural will have to happen for you to see what is holding you back from your dominion.
There’s an area you need to grow in, and I don’t want you to be delusional for the rest of this year. If you keep changing friends and keep losing, there’s something you may be ignoring. You may not be seeing correctly, and that’s why you need community. You need people around you to point out the areas that aren’t clear to you. The last killer of dominion—listen to this—is depression. When you feel so depressed and oppressed, it makes you feel like there’s nothing in you that is a ruler, a governor, a king, or a queen.
Today, if you’ve been suffering under any of those—distraction, delusion, depression, or deception—wherever you are in this room or watching online, and you want to reclaim and walk in your kingly dominion but know you have to get rid of one of those, would you just lift your hands all over this building? I feel the presence of God. There’s something happening right here. Yes, this is the sign of surrender: «God, I’m surrendering. I’m surrendering. I’m letting go of everything that has kept me away from my kingly, my royal dominion.»
Right now, I’m going to pray, but this is an agreement with what’s already in you. I don’t have to pray for God to give you something; what we’re about to pray is for God to uncover something that’s already in you. In the name of Jesus, I pray for every person under the sound of my voice, and I declare the key ingredient you gave us in creation was dominion. I declare that our royal dominion, our rulership, our kingdom, will come back to our lives.
I pray for every one of my brothers and sisters who have believed the lies of the enemy. I come against, Father God, deception—deception about their identity, deception about their worth, deception about why you made them. Father, I thank you they will stand boldly and confidently knowing you have a purpose for their lives, and part of their purpose is found in establishing your kingdom right here on Earth.
I come against the spirit of distraction—everything inside us that needs something else to turn to. Father, I thank you that we would set our eyes upon Jesus; that we would focus on you, the author and the finisher of our faith. Father, I thank you that Jesus would be the center of our lives. Jesus, you would be the center of our homes. Jesus, you would be the center of our marriages. Jesus, you will be the center of our relationships. Jesus, you will be the center of our day.
God, we pray that every distraction that has come to rob us of dominion would be removed so we can focus. I declare that this week will be the best week of focus that we’ve ever had because we are walking in our kingly dominion. Father, now we pray against delusion. Everything, Father, that we have been stubborn to see, even when you’ve tried to reveal it to us; God, give us another opportunity for revelation. I don’t care how old or how young—God, I thank you right now there is a revealed truth so that we do not walk in darkness another day.
You will show us who we are, what we are, where we are to go, and where we are to live. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Say it again: «God, and he that has ears to hear, let them hear.» God, I thank you that every one of us has been depressed. I come against the foul spirit that is trying to take away our dominion. I thank you that the royalty in our blood, provided by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, would begin to rise up inside us. You literally said the dominion you walked in was nothing compared to the greater works we should do.
I pray for greater works, greater miracles, greater peace, greater understanding, and greater communication. Relationships—we, as a church and as a transformation nation, will walk in our kingly dominion that has been given to us from heaven to now live right here on Earth because our God is an awesome God; He reigns. Our God is an awesome God. Just right now, say, «Our God! He is our King. He had a plan for all of us. This is on purpose—you are on purpose. We will walk in our dominion. That’s His wisdom.»
Just one more time, lift it up—say «Our God!» It’s so awesome that He reigns. He’s King. This is His wisdom for us to partner with Him on this Earth. If you have never pledged your allegiance to our King, you can become a part of the kingdom today through a simple process called salvation. It requires just a few things: repent—everybody say «repent.» That means turn, denounce the way you were living, and turn to God. Then, all you have to do is believe that Jesus died and rose for you, putting you in right relationship with the Father.
Today, I want to invite you to the kingdom. All of this is available to you. First, you have to put your trust in what Jesus Christ has done for you. If that’s you and you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today, I want you to seize the dominion you were created for—to live on this Earth with the God of the universe who will walk and talk with you. But it’s just a decision.
It took me from being a liar and a manipulator, someone who was addicted to pornography, with a lot of bad things in my heart, and I did a lot of wrong things. God said, «Give it all to me.» I know churches tell you to change your habits first, but God told me, «If you give me your heart, I’ll help you change your habits.» Today, we are a bunch of progressing people, not perfect people, saying, «Here we are! We’re going to serve the King with everything we’ve got. We’re going to fulfill our purpose, and we want to invite you into that today.»
Your eternity will be secure, but your history can actually be lived with dominion. I’m so excited for every person. If that’s you, on the count of three, I just want you to slip your hand up—whether in the room, online, watching at your cubicle, or on rebroadcast. If that’s you, there are some hands already going up: one—you’re making the greatest decision of your life; two—I’m proud of you, and your name is going to be written in heaven; three—just shoot your hand up if that’s you.
I see you, sister. I see you, bro. I see you, sister! Oh, transformation starts all over the world. See you, bro! Transformation Church is a family; nobody prays alone here, so we’re all going to pray this prayer for the benefit of those coming to Christ. Everybody, lift your hands and say:
God, thank you for being an awesome God. Today I’m repenting of all my sin and I’m turning to you. I believe that you lived, you died, and you rose again with all power just for me. Today, I give you my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’ll serve you all the days of my life. In Jesus' name, amen.