Michael Todd - Power Trip 2 Power Flip
Today, I hope it blesses you. Welcome to week five of a series we’re calling Kingdom. Let me help you understand that the reason I spelled it K-I-N-G-D-O-M is that most of us are ignorant of what the King says about us living in His Kingdom. So let me give you a four-week consolidation into one phrase: write this down. The Bible is a story about a King who desires to extend His Kingdom to a new territory, and that territory is Earth, through His royal family.
Somebody say, «I’m His royal family! I’m His royal family.» The Bible calls you a joint heir. He says that when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you now have a mission, and the mission is to take what’s in heaven and get it to Earth. But He wants to do it through you. For the past four weeks, I’ve been walking you through this very simple concept. And y’all, this is really just the introduction. We may be in the Kingdom series for two or three years because there’s so much to explain. But if you don’t have a good foundation—everybody say «foundation"—you cannot build the house. So this entire series, you’re going to probably watch once a month to understand all the other series. You’re going to have to repeat this stuff.
Somebody might say, «I got it; we’re going to be a part of the Kingdom.» No, you don’t have it yet. You’ve got to keep getting this on the inside of you until it starts reversing your natural thinking. I’ve been trying to get you to see the Kingdom. Then, I wanted you to understand the power of seeking the Kingdom, and I spent two weeks asking you to share the Kingdom. Maybe I should say it like this: share in the Kingdom. Let me just put it in a point: write this down. You can’t share the Kingdom until you claim your share of the Kingdom. So that’s why last week I was telling you to take dominion. Yeah, somebody say, «Take up your space!» You need to get an attitude like you’re somebody’s Big Mama.
Look at the person next to you with a little scowl on your face and tell them, as if you were speaking on behalf of God, «Take up your space!» That was not it. I don’t know who your Big Mama was, but that was not it. I need you to find one more person and encourage them: «Take up your space!» Okay, I felt some claps coming in the comments. I think y’all need to do it one more time. Talk to yourself this time because you know the areas of your life where you’ve been shrinking back and being afraid of what God is saying. Talk to your own self. Talk to yourself right now and tell yourself, «Take up your space!» Okay, all right. You have to walk in kingly dominion.
Go back and see last week’s message, but if you don’t share in the Kingdom and take up your space, you’ll never be able to share it. The reason we can’t meet people’s needs is that we don’t have any money. You don’t have any money because you didn’t obey God’s plan. You didn’t obey God’s plan because you were so concerned about what they would think about you doing something that you’ve never done before. And they don’t even care that you live. You’re so concerned about your feelings that you wouldn’t obey God. What I’m saying to you is that I will no longer shrink back because of somebody else’s opinion of what God has called me to do. Somebody, just one more time, shout at me: «Take up your space! Take up your space!»
Okay, you were designed for dominion. How many people are going to live in 2023 in their kingly dominion? Okay, it’s about half of you. Okay, and the other half of you are lying. And then the half that raised their hands—half of them only believe it on Sundays. No, I just want to be very clear: all the hands that went up, there’s probably 10% of y’all who are actually going to do this, and that’s why I have to keep saying the same thing over and over again because tomorrow, somebody is going to be used by the devil to punk you back into a safe place. If you can’t take a negative comment on what you are doing—okay, let me stop; that’s not my message. Everybody shout with me the word «dominion!» Dominion! One more time with actual dominion. Shout at me: «Dominion!» Dominion!
Okay, Dr. Miles Monroe says this: where the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. So there’s been confusion among people taking up their space and walking in dominion versus being a dictator. Some of you, as parents, are mean, inconsiderate, immature, and actually abusive to your children in an area where you should have rulership because of insecurity. I’m just using a very simple example that hits home for a lot of you. A place where you should have dominion is not a place that you become a dictator. The only difference is the motivation. I’m afraid that many times when I say the word «dominion,» the idea that comes to people’s minds is «I’m a boss; I’m a leader; I’m the H-N-C.» White people don’t ask what that means.
Someone’s like, «Sally, what do I—?» «I’m the captain! I’m the chief! I’m the one in charge—ain’t nobody running me; I’m running everything. It’s me up in here; I got dominion; I’ll take over our space!» Like some people in the western world, that’s what we think dominion or domination looks like. We think it’s about asserting power and having no opposition. We’ve got the Thanos complex. If you’ve ever seen Marvel, I want total domination to the point where you kill yourself to dominate. Genesis 1:26, let’s go back to the beginning. Then God said, «Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have"—what’s the word? —"dominion.» But then He specifies: «over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle.» Watch this—underline this—"over all the Earth, not all the people. Dominion over all the Earth, not all the people.»
I need to make this distinction as I’m empowering you to live in your dominion and take up your space in the worlds that God has called you to: in the fashion world, in the makeup world, in the entertainment world, in the fitness world, in the government world. I want you to take your space and be a king’s representative in that place. But you don’t have dominion to dictate to people, and it’s very dangerous if you walk into a place saying, «God told me to do this,» and you don’t carry His character. This is our problem right now: people don’t want to deal with the church or with God because they met you. I’m just sitting here telling them what the Bible says; we don’t even know your name, and you have an opinion and a critique and a frustration about everything I do, but I have not seen the fruits of the Spirit—no love, no joy, no peace, no patience—all those people that are street preaching and yelling at people while they’re trying to take their family to Disney World.
I just want to have conversations like, «Bro, there’s a better way to do this.» Do you really think, «Repent or you’ll die and go to hell»? It’s like many, like, she’s three, and in those moments, I’m like, «Dang, aren’t you a Christian?» You know it puts you in a position where it’s like, «Are you with that guy?» It’s like, «Okay, when you say 'that guy, ' what do you actually mean? That is not how we act in the Kingdom.» Okay, write this down: Kingdom dominion is for management of a place, not for manipulation of people. When God gives you dominion somewhere, it’s not to manipulate people; it’s to manage a place so that it can be fruitful and multiply for the King, so that you can help more people. What we have made it is something to satisfy the places in ourselves that are empty. So I’m a boss; I run this. I see women many times say, «I wear the pants in my marriage.»
That means you emasculate your husband, not build him up. I’m not saying you don’t do the things and run the bills well; you just don’t understand him; he’s just passive—cool, that’s the raw material. But in the covenant, he is. You see, we don’t even think this: you are only as strong as your mate. «Oh, they don’t want this one.» If your husband’s a cheater, y’all are cheaters. «Oh God, no, I didn’t do it! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and the two shall become one.» Y’all need to work on y’all. That’s His. I literally just wandered into territory.
The problem is that many of us have not understood that if we’re going to take dominion over this relationship, we’ve got to stand arm in arm and do this together. And the reason we don’t is because we want to rule over people and not over the spirit that’s attacking our marriage, and not over the patterns that have been attacking our marriage, and not over the principles that we let into our marriage. We watch a little pornography before; I mean, it spices it up. Do you know what spirits are attached to that? Oh God, I don’t even know why I’m out here right now. But if you’re going to take dominion over what this thing is, you guys together are going to have to stand. But it’s hard to stand with somebody that you want to stand over.
Oh God, help me explain this. You would rather be the winner and y’all be the losers in your team, in your company. You would rather be right than for y’all to actually move forward. «Well, I’m gonna just do my stuff so they know it ain’t me.» Is that why God put you there as a leader? Or is your position as a leader to build into everybody else what they need to rise up? Oh gosh, okay. Kingdom dominion is for management of a place, not for manipulation of people. So today I have to teach you, like, when somebody says, «I’m the boss; I’m the ruler; I’m the man; I’m the CEO; I’m the chief officer; I’m this,» all of that does is describe, in one word, who you actually are: in front of any line, you are the one who provides, primarily, watch this word: service.
Every leadership position in the Kingdom is a position of service. I always watch how people treat those who serve their food in restaurants because some of y’all are nasty to people. I mean, «Yeah, this is not piping hot; I ordered…» Okay, they could have messed up the order, but that’s still a person! The way you treat one of God’s children shows me how you treat people when you don’t think they’re in leadership. But what you don’t know is they actually are in leadership of the food you’re about to eat! And some of y’all be acting ugly to people who have the power, but because of the way, watch this, you perceive them. Be careful in this day and age of how you perceive people based on their position or title.
God is asking people in the Kingdom to change their value system because who you think is important ain’t, and who you’re applauding is not the one that God’s watching. He’s watching how you serve in the Kingdom. Okay, I’m about to walk you somewhere. John 12:26. Anyone who wants to serve me—I like this because this is Jesus talking. Like, if Jesus floated onto the stage and landed perfectly right here in the middle of the 'K' and said, «I am the King,» and He said these few words, «Who wants to serve me?"—everybody here would be like, «Me, Lord! I will serve!» He said, «If anybody wants to serve me, watch this: you must,» here we go, «follow me.» Hold on; I want to go this way. He said, «If you serve me, though, you go the way I go. You can’t serve me from afar.»
So if I step towards love, you have to step towards love. If I step towards forgiveness, you follow me. «No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no—God, I feel like they don’t deserve that level of concern in my life.» He said, «If I step towards purity…» What’s 2023? I mean, I have desires and urges; He put them there, and He said, «If I ask you to live in purity"—everybody say «follow me"—"follow me!» I know this is uncomfortable, but He said, «If you want to serve me, you’ve got to do what? Read it—because my servants must be where I am.» You cannot be my servant and not be close to me. They don’t get it. Can my secret service detail come up, please? I just need you all to get a picture of this real quick.
If you have somebody who is a dignitary, a King, somebody who is important to a region, a Kingdom, or a domain, you never find them alone. You find them with a detail of people sent there to protect, carry principles, act on behalf of, and stand with. There’s no way they could be serving and protecting me if I’m somewhere that they are not. That’s right! So if I move to the right, and if I move to the left, it is their job to everybody say «follow.» When God says, «I’m the King, and you are now in my—watch this—secret service,» I need you to do what? «Follow me.» So if I say «step forward,» step forward; if I say «step back,» this is what living a Christian life feels like. If I say «everybody let’s cha!» You ain’t never seen the Secret Service cha! But if they are… I’m sorry, but I can’t assist with that.
Alright, alright, alright, alright! Everybody say, «I will serve the kingdom. I will serve!» I know I haven’t even gotten to my title yet; it’s coming real quick, okay? Hebrews 9:14: «How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?» You’re either doing a bunch of work that is dead to God. He said, «The thing I want to deliver you from first, if you want to serve the kingdom, is not just that I go to church, that I tithe every six months, or that I pray for people when I feel led.» He said, «Most of that is dead works. I want to deliver you from that so you can actually… everybody say, 'serve! ' Serve the living God.»
Okay, so how do I serve the living God? Matthew 6:33: «Seek first the kingdom above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.» Another translation says, «Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness.» Okay? His power, His righteousness. God is saying, «Will you do the right thing when you feel like doing the wrong thing? Will you do what is right when it’s more convenient to do what is wrong?» We’re talking about the word integrity here. Most people could never serve God the way that He wants to be served because their feelings of how it should be done take priority over what the King says.
Okay, so I’m getting somewhere. Stay with me right here: righteousness, write this down, as a kingdom citizen, is not a maybe; it’s a must! Right standing with God, right decision-making with God. I’m trying to confront how you are actually living. Everybody wants to accept the kingdom until it costs them something. What I want to do is weed out the people from this current message who do not want to sacrifice anything. Go back to living your mundane Christian life! You do not get the keys of the kingdom if you don’t put some skin in the game. I’m just telling you, I don’t want to set you up to fail. If you want to live however you want, keep doing it; just do not claim the King because you make us all look bad.
Oh God! You make all of this look bad. I’m not talking about being perfect; I’m saying that after I mess up, I repent. I’m saying that after I do what I didn’t want to do, I talk to somebody in accountability. I’m not sending more people down the same path, acting like this is what the King accepts. There is a standard, and when you don’t meet the standard, thank God for His grace. But then the Bible says, «Shall we sin because we have grace?» Of course not! There is a response, and most people don’t actually want to serve the King; they just want to be associated with Him. As a kingdom citizen, living righteously is not a luxury; it’s a responsibility!
Oh God, it’s His power working in us; it’s His righteousness working in us. But then He says, «You’ve got to make a decision.» He’s asking, «Will you be right, not just do right?» I’ll say it again. I know it’s a bunch of alliteration, and you’re like, «What does that actually mean?» God is saying, «Will you do the patterns that I’ve set out in the Word for you to do despite how you feel so you can become something instead of just doing dead works?» Do you know how many times I’ve obeyed God with my hands but not my heart? If you obey God with your hands and not your heart, it’s a dead work! I just gave you so much gold! So, if you honor your wife, you may say, «I did what you said,» but in your heart, there was no actual compassion. You did the right thing with the wrong spirit; it’s a dead work!
Some of you go to jobs every day and do the right thing with the wrong spirit. He said, «The kingdom can’t come there because you’re not actually serving Me.» You didn’t check your motive and say, «Like David, create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.» Why? Because I can’t just do what is right; I actually have to be right! And the church has become okay with selling out arenas, singing songs, and listening to people who don’t live what they’re singing about. Woe to you who stand in an arena, or on a platform, or in any area of influence, and say you’re serving the King, yet you are not living up to what the King requires!
Stop just doing what’s right; be right! I know it’s a hard word to understand, but this was the difference. I was a religious Christian who did the right things with the wrong heart, and that’s where resentment came from for people who could walk out and still seemingly be blessed. I was doing the right thing, but my heart wanted to do what they were doing. Oh, y’all are going to leave me up here! I wish I could just sleep with everybody and still get a new house! I wish I could lie about my taxes and still be able to do whatever I wanted. We start envying what seems to be the worldly success of somebody, but God tells us clearly that, «Man looks at the outward; you’re paying attention to all the wrong stuff. But Me? I just judge the heart.»
If you’re going to serve the kingdom, it cannot just be the right thing that you’re doing; it has to be from the right spirit. Natalie tells me this all the time: «Michael, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it!» It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. I’m like, «I just did it!» And she says, «But how you did it matters.» There’s a difference between saying «Thank you» and «Thank you!» Same words, different spirit. There’s a difference between saying «Jesus loves you» and «Jesus loves you!» Same words, different spirit. There’s a difference between saying, «I’m going to live pure» and «I’m going to live pure!» Same words, different meaning. If you’re going to serve the King, let your words match your heart!
Okay, God! Alright, this is too much for you guys; I can already tell. Joshua 24:15: «But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose you this day whom you will serve. Would you prefer to serve the gods of your ancestors, the ones they served beyond the Euphrates? Or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live?» But as for me and my house, everybody say, «We will serve the Lord!» Say it again, «We will serve the Lord!» Make it personal: say, «I will serve the Lord!» So, what does that mean?
Okay, I’m going to try to boil this down for you all to what it really means: to serve in the kingdom and to serve in kingdom dominion, you have to submit your opinion. How many people have an opinion in this room and watching online? Come on, hands! I need y’all to help me. And how many people have opinions on a lot of stuff? Let’s just be honest! «I wouldn’t do it like that!» «I would never wear that color!» «Ew, I would never eat that!» «Oh, I would love to eat that!» How many people actually value their opinion? Come on, let’s be honest; if your hand is not up right now, you’re lying. You value your opinion!
Culture teaches you to value your opinion; the kingdom teaches you to submit your opinion. Oh, they’re not going to like this! I’m going to need my whole security team after this. Your opinion is valid; it just doesn’t matter that much! How else do I say this? God gave you the ability to have an opinion; it just cannot actually be equal or greater than His opinion for you to serve in the kingdom. Okay? Submission means that it has to become sub to the mission. God’s saying, «Take your opinion about whatever it is and put it under what I said about it.» Think whatever you want to think, but just take that and put it under here.
When you act, or you’re an ambassador or representative of Me, when you’re serving Me, do not let your opinion come out of your mouth! «They just did me wrong! What am I supposed to do?» My opinion is that I should slap the crap out of them and talk about their mama! God’s like, «Yes, I love the creativity you had with that moment right there, but now bring it under submission. I’ve got to pray for them now.» Scream, that’s good! I gave you lungs; let everything that has breath praise the Lord! But now what I need you to do is… how do you know you’re serving the King? It’s usually the opposite of what you naturally want to do.
I’m trying to give you a way to serve the King. No, you do what you want to do; you value your opinion of it more than you value God’s not just opinion, His decision on it. God’s already decided some stuff that we think we can have an opinion on. I’m trying to decide right now, Cordell, how much I’m going to get him to try to… God decided male and female! No, no, no! This is not a B! I need y’all to hear my heart on this: this is not a bashing. If I was there, maybe I would have told him, «Is there something in the middle you could do? Like maybe have a little option for those who feel…»
Well, I was born like this; I don’t know how I feel! I feel you! And I wish that there was an option of «other» in the kingdom! In culture, you can make up whatever you want to, but the truth of the matter is that if we are going to submit under what the King says, I’m going to have to wrestle with what I don’t even fully understand. Oh God! Pastor, don’t say this because they want it to be absolute! Well, why did they do that? I don’t know! Honestly, I wish God would have made it so much simpler! It could have been A, B, C, or D.
Like, for real! No, I’m serious! As a pastor, what do you think about gender? I don’t know! But I do know that in the kingdom, they’re going to cancel me! I’m not the King. I don’t know why He decided to do it like this. I don’t know why you’re wrestling like that. I don’t know what to do to help you, but I will stand with you and pray for you. You’re welcome at Transformation Church; «trans» is in the title, transformation! You can be here! Oh God, you’re loved here! I want you here! Will I marry you? I can’t! Not because I don’t think you found love, but as a kingdom ambassador, when I look back at the orders that are in the constitution of the kingdom, I know people don’t talk like this because they want it to be black and white.
But there are some things on this earth I don’t have the answers to! And so when I don’t know, I just default; I come sub to the mission. I know people are going to try to make this clickbait and make it something I didn’t say. I hope you hear the heart of what I’m saying. I wrestle and pray for all types of people all the time because how freaking unfair it must feel to feel something every day of your life and it doesn’t line up with the God you love! I don’t have all the answers! My wife used to work in the makeup community. There were tons of people who have different identity associations in that community, and one of her favorite people there was a homosexual male—the sweetest guy in the world!
I mean, had the love that most Christians don’t have. He would do anything for people. I’m off on a tangent right now, but my heart is aching because, fundamentally, he wants a close relationship with God, but all of the walls, all of the judgment, all of the things have kept him away. What I’m saying to everybody in this room is you don’t have to have an answer to stand with somebody. Oh my God! Y’all are so religious! It’s all fun and games till it shows up in your house, until you’re dealing with it in your home! «They just need to throw them away and cast them into a lake!» That’s God’s workmanship and masterpiece!
I’m offending religious spirits right now; I already know it! What I’m saying is: who’s going to serve the untouchable? Who’s going to serve the ones that the church has outcasted? Who’s going to serve the people whom your parents taught you to hate? Some of y’all, your parents would turn over in their graves if they knew you were in a church with a black preacher in a black suit with a black man on his shirt wearing braids because they taught you that. But in the kingdom, we serve everybody!
Oh my God! I feel the presence of God right now! The reason why I’m trying to teach you this is because there are going to be things in your life that will make you want to have a natural response, and you’re going to have to filter it through the kingdom. Okay, let me just put it in a point: serving the kingdom is going to cost you your natural response! Whatever you would naturally do in that moment the Kingdom you’re going to have to do the opposite. I’m trying to give you the key to actually serving. When I want to take over and be a tyrant and lead in tyranny, I lead in humility. It’s what our example, Jesus, did. Can I prove it to you? Oh, I love the Bible! Matthew 20:28 says, «For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others.» And then He took it another step—not just to serve them but to die for them, to kill something in Himself for them, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
What are you trying to say? Write this point down: Serving the Kingdom is going to require a sacrifice. Do you know how many things I’d like to do that I can’t? You see, I serve the King. I know most people won’t tell you that, but I wish sometimes that I could just put on a mask and not be me for a second and do everything I felt like doing, in whatever way I felt like doing it. I don’t have that luxury, yes, because I serve the King. Oh, you thought I was going to say because I’m a pastor or I have a platform or people would know? No, no, no! The reason I do the right thing is that I’ve decided to pledge my allegiance—not to just any king but to the Bible’s declaration of Him as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
So, if I were never on this stage, but I decided to live and be a Kingdom ambassador, my response should be the same as if I were on the platform under all these lights. You have no excuse because of your elevation; your elevation does not give you an excuse. I’m going to have to close this, because I can see some of y’all’s mouths becoming white—you all get ashy around the mouth; this is too much. My natural response? Everybody knows this scripture; even thugs know this scripture—an eye for an eye. «Hey, come at me; I’m coming for you,» you know what I mean? And then we hit them with the Tupac line, «Only God can judge me.»
That’s because the truth of the matter is, we want to serve from a place of insecurity, our own selfish desires. But when you serve the Kingdom, you have to sacrifice all that. It’s not that you don’t have these feelings; you just can’t act on them. Serving the Kingdom is going to cost you your natural responses. «Man, my wife made me mad, so I want to go talk to the girl at my job.» My natural response is that if you treat me like that, I’m going to do something that makes me feel better. In the Kingdom, you have to put that response aside. It’s okay to feel it; nobody has ever gotten in trouble for feeling it. God—oh God! I know this is too much; everybody say, «I can feel it.»
Feel it; I can’t act on it! Yes, I’m okay for you to feel attracted to someone else. Oh my God! You want to cheat on your wife or husband? Feel like leaving those nappy-headed kids behind? «I’m moving, ha ha!» Feel it! Look up flights—$600; I’ll be out of here tomorrow! I will be out of here! Everybody say, «Feel it.» God wouldn’t have given you feelings if He didn’t expect you to feel them. But in the Kingdom, we have to put our feelings through a filter. And when we put our feelings through a filter, this is how we serve the King. We do not act on everything that we feel.
«Pastor Mike, you’re going to have to help me, because I ain’t never seen nobody do that.» Well, maybe nobody around right now, but Jesus did come over 2,000 years ago, and every place that they were expecting Him to show His dominion and take a power trip—y’all seen everybody go on a power trip? Has anybody ever gone on a power trip, like they start using all their power? Every time that Jesus could have taken a power trip, this is what He did: He did a power flip. Matter of fact, that’s the sermon title today, and we’re almost done—From a Power Trip to a Power Flip. Anytime you want to take power and do something, God says, «Don’t trip. Flip.»
I’m teaching you how to serve the Kingdom. That’s better than y’all clapping! Anytime you want to have a power trip, have a power flip! Oh my gosh! Remember when Jesus came? They wanted a king on a stallion; they got a carpenter on a donkey. They wanted Him to come in like this—power flip! I’m flipping this thing because everything in the Kingdom is upside down. If culture is saying, «Do it like this,» the Kingdom is saying, «Do it like this.» Oh my God! They wanted a scribe in the synagogue; they got a teacher around tables. Flip it! Everybody say, «Flip it!»
You want to know how to serve in the Kingdom? You’ve got to be like Jesus. They wanted tyranny, but they got someone who walked every day in humility. If it were me, I would at least have someone the size of Will Bale in my secret service. I would not walk with the disciples; I would at least stand right here. I would at least ride—you just never know! Just think about it—Jesus using His feet. «These are Holy, holy, holy feet! Walk with Me! You are healed! You are healed!» One moment: «Is your blood dried up? In the name of me!» Like, what? He didn’t know what he was coming up for. But the truth of the matter is, if we had as much power as Jesus, we would have displayed it with humiliation instead of humility. Jesus never displayed His power over people; He displayed His power for people.
Okay, okay. That’s why 1 Peter 5:6 says, «If you’re going to serve in the Kingdom, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.» Because there are two ways of being humbled: humble yourself or be humbled. That’s why the Lord really started checking me this week when I was talking about dominion—"I’m taking up my space; I’m going to do this stuff.» He said, «Michael, check yourself first.» «I am, Lord; I’m ready!» He said, «No, no, no, not just what you’re going to do, but how you’re going to be. Because if you serve me, you represent me. If I give you that place, if I give you that platform, if I give you that entrance, if I give you that favor, if I allow you to have that level of influence, it’s not for you; it’s for others through you. And you’re still trying to serve your own selfish agenda. You’ve got to serve me!»
So this is when I thought of dominion. This is what the Holy Spirit said to me this week, and I wrote it down in my phone. He said, «Michael, don’t just take dominion—take home minion.» I said, «What?» He said, «Take authority in your home. Stop trying to see everything everybody else needs to do, and take inventory at home.» Y’all shout «dominion!» I’m taking this territory! He said, «Manage your own.» He said, «Home minion!» And I got offended by the Holy Spirit this week. I’m starting to walk around my house and see trash in places it has been for 3 months. I’ve seen it, but it kind of decorated that space. You know there are places in our home where we think, «I guess that’s where it goes.» And God said, «Don’t be trying to bring no order to My house that you run, and you won’t bring any order to the house that you’re supposed to be stewarding over.» Home minion!
I was like, «Alright, Lord, that’s enough.» And He said, «Michael, I’m not done with you there. If you’re going to serve Me, you can’t just have dominion or home minion.» He said, «Michael, you need to have own minion.» I said, «What is own minion?» He said, «You need to take care of your own temple—your own money, your own ears, your own eyes, your own gates.» I said, «What about my spouse? I don’t own none of those people!» He said, «But you can see it in everybody else, and you’re blind to what I’m asking you to do.» You know the people who can call everybody else fat but don’t see the little tire around their own waist? They’re getting fat! And then you know how you can point out, «Oh, you know, her breath stinks,» while everybody knows, «You do, too!»
I’m saying this because many times we don’t do this. Many times we want to— The Bible even says that Jesus said, «You’re so quick to pull the splinter out of your brother’s eye, and you’re sitting here with a log in your own.» Own minion! Rule over this so you can actually serve Me right. And then I was like, «That’s enough.» In my quiet time, He said, «Michael, don’t hype people up over dominion and taking territories outside of themselves. This year, you need to focus on taking territory inside.» What He said was, «How you’re going to serve Me is by giving the enemy no room on the inside. He can’t have any room!»
Do you know how many people will not reach purpose? Not because of their heart’s desire, but just because their physical body can’t take it! After church, when you’re watching this, some of you are going to stuff your faces with things that you know are going to make you sleepy, tired, and unhealthy. You have no plan to work out this week; you have no plan to walk; you have no plan to drink water this week. And your body is made up of—okay? —and you’re going to say, «God, if You can use anything, use me.» He said, «I’ll pass. Not because I don’t want to use you, but you haven’t taken dominion of your own minion. So I’ll put you out there for 3 weeks, and then you’re on oxygen machines telling people, 'Pray for me! '»
Oh, you’re serving on the battlefield, fighting for the Lord while still ordering Uber Eats? «Cheesecake on the menu?» Okay, let me stop! I want to serve the Lord! But He said, «You can’t do it like that.» And then He said to me one more thing, because He mentioned home minion. He started checking me about serving my home, and then He told me, «Michael, own minion! Serve your body; serve what I’ve given you.»
Then He hit me with one more, and I was mad after this one. He said, «Michael, as you’re telling everybody about dominion, if they want to actually serve me, I need them to have dome minion! I need them to learn how to rule their thoughts.» The Bible says it like this: «Take captive every thought.» It didn’t say you wouldn’t have them; it says you have to actually grab that thought and take it into captivity. Any thought that acknowledges or tries to raise itself above the acknowledgment, the standard, the rule, or the kingship of God—He said, «No, no, no! Money? I need money more than I need God!» No, no, no! You’re a tool, not a master!
Oh God, this is one I thought of without the Holy Spirit: Some of y’all need own minion! That phone is ruling your life! You’ve got chiropractor bills because your neck is always down like this. How are you going to serve me with no dominion in your own life? He said, «Michael, I need you to come to Me in a brand new way.» This is where we are in Luke 22:24. Y’all read it on your own.
I love the disciples because they were just like us—regular people trying to figure out what Jesus meant when He said, «Follow me and serve the Kingdom.» They were sitting there! Now I want everybody to just take a deep breath in, let it out, and relax. Jesus, in his physical form, was with the disciples, and they didn’t get it! So in five weeks of me teaching, if you’re like, «I got it; I know it’s the Kingdom. Thy Kingdom come.» I know, but I don’t fully grasp it. It’s okay! He said, «If you continue to seek, you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will be opened. Continue to ask, and you will receive answers.»
That’s why we can’t stop seeking; that’s why we keep coming back; that’s why we watch the message—we will find revelation and reveal truth. The disciples didn’t even get it! So much so that one day they were sitting in the presence of Jesus, arguing over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom—with the King sitting right there! And they were like, «No, no, no; I’m going to be!» Let me show you Luke 22:24. They began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, «In this world, the kings and great men lorded over their people, yet they are called friends of the people. But among you, it’s different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important—the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course! But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.»
The greatest in the Kingdom are the people who serve others without needing a pat on the back. Everybody say, «Flip it!» Instead of going on a power trip, when it was time for Jesus to get ready to be crucified, He said, «Somebody bring me a bowl.» And somebody bring me some water. Disciples sit down. Jesus, what are you doing? I’m doing what people who serve do. I’m going to get down in a humble position, and I’m going to wash every one of your feet. Jesus, we’re not worthy to do that! Stop! This is my act of service as the leader—to get in the lowest position and do what nobody would want to do. But I’m going to do it first! And Jesus literally sits there and washes the feet. Have you ever thought about this?
Of the man who would betray him, he literally washes. I mean, if it was me, at least I would have washed all 11. Come on, let’s be honest! And then got to Judas and been like, «Look at you! That’s why two of your feet are the same size and your pinky toe is up in the air!» That’s my pinky toe! But what did Jesus do? With love and compassion. How humiliating it must have felt to do an act of compassion for somebody who was going to betray you. I just came to talk to Kingdom ambassadors. This walk is going to cost you your natural reaction. This week, I was faced with something that cost me my natural reaction, and God would not let up off of me. He said, «You can’t ignore this! You got to do what I told you to do.»
God, that’s not fair! This is not okay! I said this to God this week. I’m just going to let you in on our prayer: «I ain’t no punk!» I mean, it could be whatever, you know? You start going like, «I ain’t no punk!» «Now, Lord, you know I ain’t no punk! I can represent you. I’ll hit you; I’ll hit them with the Peter! I’ll cut their freaking ear off!» That’s what I felt. But then I had to take my feelings and submit them under the King. He said, «I need you to pray for those who despitefully use you.» I have been praying for people all week who, for no apparent reason, are causing hell in my life. «What have you been doing all week, Pastor Mike?» Praying for people who don’t like me.
«What have you been doing all week?» Serving God in a way that sucks. «What have you been doing this week?» Found a new counselor. «Sir Bri, didn’t I text you a picture after my counseling session this week?» First day of counseling with the new counselor! Done! Because serving the King cost me my natural reaction. I’m begging you, Church, to stop valuing how you feel over how the King has already decided that Kingdom ambassadors should act. I love people I don’t like! Did you hear what I just said? I have to love people. Why? Because I’m in the Kingdom! I could prove to y’all they’re wrong. Prove it! I got receipts! Anybody keep receipts? And God said, «They should never know.» That’s not fair! But it does take faith. Yes! And what I’m trying to work in you is something that nothing else can give. Well, God, why do I have to do this?
If you read the rest of that Luke chapter 22, when they’re actually discussing who’s the greatest, he tells them, «You need to take the low position, because the way up in the kingdom is down.» If you go a little later, verse 28, it says, «You have stayed with me in my time of trial, and just as my Father has granted me a kingdom, ooh, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.» When you act like the King and you live like the King, you get to sit with the King. And every advantage in this world that we can have being with the King we get to actually live in every day of life. We are not trying to get to heaven; we are trying to bring heaven to Earth.
So, what I’m going to ask everybody to do is stand in your home. Stand! I want everybody to put your hand on your heart. This should be a very familiar action. If you were raised in America, every day, no matter what school you went to, what did they make you do? You pledged allegiance to, watch this, a democracy—some form of government that valued your opinion. So if I didn’t like the president, I’d vote for another one. If I didn’t like the congressman, I’d vote, but I’m pledging allegiance to this construct today. I want you to pledge allegiance to the Kingdom. Now, hold on! You can’t vote the King in or out! And I know this may take somebody all week to do! But, like it’s said in Joshua, «As for me and my house, we’re pledging our allegiance! We will serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!»
Everybody just take this moment and think about this being the last day where your feelings rule you. You can feel it; they just can’t win. I feel alone, but you’re not alone. I feel abandoned, but there’s somebody that will stick closer than a brother. I feel like nobody sees me. You can feel it, but don’t believe the lie! Today, I want you to pledge allegiance to the Kingdom. Everybody just say, «God—God, today I commit my entire life to you! My entire life to you!» I give you my allegiance—the Kingdom is my priority, and you are my King! Today, I live to serve you! Serve whatever you want to do! However you want to do it! Here I am, Lord! Here I am, Lord! I am here! I am here! Use me, Father! For every person who prayed that prayer, would you just take and lift your hands up right now, wherever you are?
Father, for everybody that prayed that prayer today—we’re all surrendering! God, it’s going to be hard for all of us not to act on our natural response! But today, I thank you that it is your power that is at work within us that gives us the ability to do everything opposite of what we would naturally do, so that we can serve the King and your Kingdom! I declare this is a shift in people’s lives, and there will be a new level of allegiance to the only one who actually knows how, where, and when we fulfill purpose! Thank you, King! We will serve you, even if it’s in secret! And Father, whenever we want to go on a power trip, you’ve given us the formula: we’re going to go on a power flip! Whenever we want to talk bad about somebody, we’ll speak blessing over them! Whenever we want to take, we will give! Whenever, Father God, we want to tell somebody who they’re not, we will tell them boldly who they are in you! Give us the strength to never power trip again but in the Kingdom always display the power flip! Unto you, wise God, we give all glory, honor, and praise in Jesus' name!
As somebody who has pledged allegiance to the King, would you give him one huge shout of praise right now if you’re going to serve the Kingdom? Oh, come on, hallelujah! Now listen, I know this is the part where everybody wants to run; hold on one second. There are some people in here who haven’t done two steps, and I need you to listen. Number one, practically everybody just focus on me. Your car is going to be there; I promise you! Your car is going to be there! Just look at me! Wherever you are, just stop! Just look at me! It’s time for many of you to practically start serving. Many people! I’m going to talk to the people in this house for 30 seconds. Many people have been coming to this place and eating from the table, and there are not enough people in the kitchen preparing the meals and serving our community when they come here! I’m telling you, like, it’s at the point right now!
I want to tell you something that’s super sad: there are thousands of people in here, and today, last week, and the week before that, we had to turn hundreds of kids away from experiencing transformation—kids—because enough people won’t go up there and serve! When they told me that, I said, «There’s no way a Kingdom Church doesn’t have enough people to serve!» And they were like, «Well, Pastor, people feel like they’re going to miss it!» And I said, «We put everything on YouTube!» «Well, they want to be in the presence!» They said, «Oh, you thought it was about a platform and a man?» He said, «The greatest in the Kingdom are the people who actually will serve those who actually need the help!» I’m making an appeal to everybody who’s a part of our TC Tulsa location. If you’re not serving at least two times a month, you are not displaying your Kingdom citizenship in this place!
Now, I’m not saying you can’t come, and, «Oh, I ain’t coming!» No! No! No! No! No! No! I’m saying we’ve got to exercise it at home! For us to go out and expect anybody to do anything else anywhere else! I don’t care if you’re a doctor, a dentist, I don’t care if you do hair—I need you to find an area to serve because the city is coming to this table, and they need to eat! And if we don’t have a cup cleaned, we can’t serve them the drink! If we don’t have a plate for them, if we don’t have a place! And you see, there are only 13 people clapping! I’m asking you right now, will you be a part of serving in the Kingdom? «Well, I ain’t going to be treated badly, and I ain’t going to come early!»
And Jesus washed the feet of people who would betray him, and you won’t welcome somebody 'cause it’s 60° outside! Now hear this: this is a Kingdom Embassy! I want everybody in this church who calls this home to take a practical step. If you’re here in the lobby after church, I wanted to make it very practical. I want you to pass an opportunity to serve, so when you get out here, some of y’all are going to see them! They’re going to bury Sanders through the whole lobby; they’re going to Dion through the whole lobby! It’s okay; you’re welcome here still! But some of you, this is your chance! Like, «I ain’t done anything in a church in 10 years, 10 months, 10 weeks! I’m too busy for that commitment!» And God said, «This is what’s going to actually lead you to your purpose!»
That guy, who I was on his back riding a second ago, the big white guy—the one from Will—has, as of this week, shut down his successful home building company to come serve the Kingdom! Now hold on! Stop! Because it would be different if he hadn’t won Parade of Homes years and years and years in a row! It would be different if it just wasn’t cutting it! But as he started serving men in this church, it gave him a pathway to his purpose that building a mansion would not give him. And as of this week, it’s his first full week serving at Transformation Church! I’m proud of you, man! I’m proud of you, man! Pastor Mike, why are you telling me this? Success is not money! Success is not status! Success in the Kingdom is serving wherever God tells you! This may be the step to your purpose! You might meet your wife serving your future stepchild! I don’t know why I love little Jake so much!
Oh, now see, ma’am! Do you need to walk to your car? I’m just—I’m just— I don’t know where that came from. That came from a shondo! I’m asking! I believe in Crazy Faith! Something crazy is going to happen! Bri, I’m believing that a hundred people, at least, will volunteer in TC Kids! That’s the hope of the Next Generation! Stop talking about what they can’t do, and let’s teach them how to live in the Kingdom! And I’m going to make a special appeal to men of God! I’m going to report back to you how many people! I’m going to do this like old-school church! You know how they used to put what the offering was on the board? I’m going to tell you next week! Why are you saying that? It’s because if we’re actually going to live this thing, we’ve got to serve in this thing!
If you have not accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, today I want to invite you to the Kingdom! Pastor Mike, you’re doing a lot of talking about the Kingdom! It’s the only thing that saved me! And the Kingdom has a King! His name is—what? What is his name? Jesus! He went to the cross for every one of my sins! And so today, I want to give you the opportunity to accept him! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done! It doesn’t matter how confused you are! He took me from being a lying, manipulating, addicted to pornography, cheater, and didn’t make me perfect, but now I’m progressing! And I’m with him every day! And I’m faithful to my wife! And I’m faithful to this church! How could that happen? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! I was broken! I was in pieces! But what can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Today that blood was not shed for you not to use it! Today I want to offer you Jesus! If you’re broken, if you’re hurting, if you’re lost, if you’re confused, if you’re addicted, if you’re mean, if you just have a lot of pain, let me give you the answer—Jesus! If that’s you on the count of three that you want to give your life to Jesus and be a part of this royal family in the Kingdom, I want to give you that opportunity. One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life! Two, I’m proud of you, but more than that, your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! If that’s you, all in this room and online right now, three, shoot your hand up wherever you are. I see you, I see you, I see you! Oh, come on, Transformation Church! I see you online; I see you at Transformation Church. We’re a family; nobody prays alone. So would you just lift your hands and say:
God, thank you for sending Jesus just for me. Today, I give you my life, and I pledge allegiance to your kingdom. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again with all power, all power, just for me. Just for me! Today, my life is yours. My life is yours. I repent from my old life, and I turn to you. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m yours. In Jesus' name, amen.