Mike Signorelli - Put an End to Procrastination In Your Life TODAY
- Watch
- Donate
Summary:
Pastor Mike draws from 2 Peter chapter 3 to stir up a fresh sense of apostolic urgency in the church, warning that losing expectation of Christ’s return opens the door to complacency, false teaching, and immorality. He reminds everyone that God is patient, not slow, desiring all to come to repentance, and challenges believers to reject panic and excuses in order to live with Holy Ghost-driven urgency every day. The call is clear: stay in motion, embrace unorthodox obedience, and step off the bench because Jesus is coming back—act like it now.
Opening and Tribute
Well, I think we know who the New Yorkers are here. Thank you so much; it’s such an honor to be here. You know, before we take another step, I want to say it was such a touching tribute to Ken Reynolds. I had the privilege of being in Israel with Dwayne Van Der Klock and the crew a couple of years ago, and I had a conversation with a rabbi. He said one of the best ways to honor someone who’s passed is to think about what their life truly stood for and then to continue that on.
When I think about Ken, he was a guy who would not let you get through that hallway without stopping you to make friends and find out about your life. So, I want to carry his legacy on here and make that a part of what we do today. Can you all join in with me and do that? Okay, one person’s clapping—anybody else? You’re like, «Make friends.» But I’m excited to be here, and I also want to take a second and just say Dwayne Van Der Klock, Pastor Duane, just preached 20 of all of my scriptures in that first session. But can we just honor him and the legacy of lead? That was such an incredible first session, and it was amazing to me. Our team had a live text going, and we were like, «Can you believe the scriptures that he’s reading and how synced up it is?» I was texting Ross, «Tell the band to come up for my session because if he doesn’t do an altar call, I’m gonna do one.» And then he did one, so we’re going to do two because I saw some people still on the bench that need to come up off the bench.
Reading from 2 Peter 3
So, why don’t you go ahead and turn your Bibles with me, and we’re going to start in 2 Peter. 2 Peter, chapter 3. 2 Peter, chapter 3. So go ahead and get your Bibles out. I’m going to read a pretty lengthy portion of scripture; is that all right to do that in church nowadays? Oh, great! But we’re going to read this, and as I read these verses in 2 Peter, chapter 3, I want you to let it speak to you. Let the scripture speak to you; I want you to hear what the Lord is saying through the word.
To start, it says in verse one, «This is now the second letter that I’m writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I’m stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. I’m stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminders.» All right, if I stir you up today and remind you who you really are, can I do that today? And it says that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all—that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, «Where is the promise of his coming?» Forever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.
They’re going to say, «Oh, we thought Jesus was coming back in the '70s, and he’s still not here. We thought he was coming back in the '80s and '90s, » and they’re going to increase the scoffing. But Peter says, «For they deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God; and that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.» Somebody’s saying, «Wow, how encouraging at this conference today!»
Verse 8: «But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.» Come on, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for what you’re going to do in this session. I thank you that you have a way of making a dividing line and causing us to cross over to you, to the other side. And I thank you, Father, that you’re going to deposit urgency in the hearts of all those who hear this message today. If you believe it, can you just shout me down and say, «Amen»? Come on, the Pentecostals are all over there! St. Anthony’s is right there.
Resurrection Power and Humor
Now, I can’t promise you that I won’t yell at you during this message today, but I can tell you the scriptures say that when Jesus was standing outside of Lazarus' tomb, he shouted with a loud voice, «Lazarus, come forth!» So sometimes when you’re doing the work of resurrection, you’ve got to do some yelling. And I came here with some fire shut up in my bones to resurrect somebody today. So if you’re going to sit down there saying, «Pastor Mike, why are you yelling at me from the stage?» well, why are you dying in your seat? I’m here with some resurrection power. Is anybody ready? Come on, St. Anthony’s, is anyone ready?
You know, it was funny because they had me on the bill for this event; there was a typo, and they had me scheduled to do the women’s breakout session. When I saw that, I thought, «Wow, man, I really am anointed to teach submission.» All right, I’m just playing. I’m so sorry I did that! I still will do that session if they want me to, though. I have a website I’m going to debut—wifecoaching.com. I’m just kidding. But I do want to honor my wife, Julie, Pastor Julie Cignarelli. I started calling her my double portion. My double portion. But I’m excited to be here because as I look at 2 Peter, chapter 3, I want to give you the historic context surrounding these verses.
Post-Pandemic Peter and Urgency
What I see is a different Peter than the one who got rebuked by Jesus. I see a different Peter. Matter of fact, I’d like to call this the post-pandemic Peter. This is Peter after he’s been through some things. Do I have any post-pandemic Peters in the house right now? I mean, this is Peter after he launched a couple of campuses, and now you shudder at the number that you give people instead of celebrating it. This is a different Peter than we see earlier in the gospel accounts. And Peter’s telling them that there has to be this urgency. He’s talking to the churches in Asia Minor, and he said that there’s sexual immorality that’s rising up among you, that there are false teachers, that there are these Facebook prophets for profit. I know there’s none here, but you’ve probably seen them.
And he’s saying they’ve infiltrated the church, and you’ve forgotten that there used to be an urgency inside of you that said that Christ is going to return. I think when you read this chapter of 2 Peter, chapter 3, and you look at it on its surface, it’s about the return of Christ. But what I read in here is this apostolic urgency, and it’s him saying we don’t know when he’s coming back but we ought to act like it’s every single second of every single day. Because when you lose your urgency, the comfortability that’s created by leaders will create the context for sexual immorality to flood the church and false teachers, because you’ll produce the kind of people who want to hear messages that suit them and comfort them and speak to their own desires.
And so Peter is basically giving a rebuke. So I came from a thousand miles away to rebuke you into your next level today. Can I do that? Can I offend you all the way to your next level? Come on, I’m trying to help somebody! Because the reality is, when Ross said he’s such a big personality, I’m an introvert and I sweat a lot when I preach. You know the more a preacher sweats, the better the sermon is! But I never wanted to be a pastor; I never wanted to be a preacher. I identify a lot with DVK, and when Pastor Dwayne was talking about not wanting to do it and not wanting to preach, I identify with that. I’m an introvert who’s surrendered to God.
Personal Testimony: Almost Quitting the Dream
As a matter of fact, I was in the parking lot of this church in 2013, trying to assassinate the vision and the dream that God had given me to launch a church. So I’m here to stop some abortions today, because many of you are anti—you’re anti the physical abortion—but you’re killing the dreams that God gave you every day. And so I’m here to stop an abortion today. I was in the parking lot of this church in 2013; I was new to this crazy link family. We’ve got some crazy cousins and uncles here just like your family. And I told my wife, I said, «I just want—a Disney vacation club so bad!» And I keep saying that in every sermon in hopes that someone blesses me with one, but it hasn’t happened.
I was like, «Julia, I don’t want to live this life. I don’t want to live on nothing. I don’t want to be disrespected and misunderstood by people who think that I’m preaching for the income instead of the outcome.» Come on, someone! And I was just done with it. Church politics are burdensome, and I don’t even like church people; they’re lame, they’re boring. You know what I’m saying? They forgot how to laugh a long time ago, and the only time they have a good time is when they’re talking about people. And I’m like, I don’t want to be a part of this.
Anybody know who I’m talking about? You’re thinking of some church members that the Lord wants you to forgive at this altar at the conclusion of this message. I was in that place, sitting in the parking lot, trying to assassinate and murder the vision that God had given me to launch a church. And it was my wife who said, «You’re not going to give up on that dream. You’re not going because God gave you that dream.» We had no finances to do it; we had no team to do it. But we were given a dream, but God will always give that dream first before the provision. Am I right, Joseph?
And so I came in. Juan Varrikan was preaching, and he gives a message about «Go V1, » which is when the airplane takes off the runway; it’s the point of no return. You’re buckled in your seatbelt, and you say, «I can’t fly this thing because the pilot’s in control.» And how many of you know sometimes we’ve got to turn control over to God and say, «I’m not turning back. Reckless abandon. There’s nothing half-hearted that ever survives in the kingdom. Can I get an amen?» Half-hearted things die in the kingdom, and Peter, in 2 Peter, chapter 3, is saying, «There’s this half-heartedness that’s infiltrating the kingdom, and I’ve got to deal with it.» There has to be an urgency that’s reintroduced to the kingdom.
For me, I became half-hearted in the parking lot of this church. And I came in, and God used the session that Juan Varrikan preached. As a matter of fact, I came out of a conference just like this, and I turned to my wife and I said, «Not only have I recommitted to the dream, but I’m going to name it V1, because we’re going to cause a whole bunch of New Yorkers to say no turning back with us.» See, you can teach people what you know, but you only impart what you are. And so you can memorize a script; you can download a PDF script of what Pastor Dwayne Van Der Klock just taught, and you can memorize it and regurgitate it identical to him. But the impartation will not happen because you haven’t gone through what he’s gone through; you haven’t obeyed like he’s obeyed.
There’s something about Peter who is like, «I’ve been rebuked. I’ve been through.» I remember Jesus telling us to put our nets on the other side of the boat because we got comfortable in religion and tradition in the ways we used to do things. And so through impartation, he’s saying, «I know a phony when I see a phony.» Matter of fact, when Pastor Dwayne Van Der Klock shared the story about how he discerned a false prophet, I did think to myself, «Well, he’s still letting me talk today, so I’m surely not a false prophet, so thank you!»
Counterfeit Urgency and Wartime Generals
I think it’s important to understand that this post-pandemic Peter, this Peter after planting some campuses, is trying to introduce urgency. And I’m here to reintroduce urgency because, yes, tomorrow we’re going to do a session where we tell you how we started reaching four million people. But here’s the thing: if you’re a clout chaser and you’re doing it to make your name famous, ironically, the people will know your name, but no demons will. Yeah, that’s right! Because the sons of Sceva said, «Hey, I think if we start casting out demons, we can probably get famous.» And you see how that worked out for them! They were beaten and bloodied, and they came back. The demons said, «Well, we know who Paul and Peter are, but who are you?»
I’ve seen a lot of people go into social media ministry being clout chasers trying to make their name famous, but the kingdom has a way of sifting and sorting them out. You don’t have to call them out because God will. Never mind! Peter was creating and recreating urgency, but how many of you know that the enemy is a counterfeiter? Satan is not creative; he is a counterfeiter. And so what he’s trying to do is megadose the church with panic and anxiety because panic and anxiety are cheap counterfeits for urgency. Oh, you’re not hearing me today! I mean, anxiety, fear, confusion—those are counterfeits, demonic counterfeits for urgency.
And some of us, as this pandemic has been unfolding, have accepted the counterfeit panic, the counterfeit fear, instead of receiving a righteous, Holy Ghost urgency. Oh, I wish somebody heard me today! Listen, there are peacetime generals, and there are wartime generals. Peacetime generals always have the nice creases in their uniform; peacetime generals always smell like cologne. But wartime generals smell like gunpowder; they’ve got blood on their uniform. And I don’t know about you, but we’re in an active war right now!
There are some wartime generals that God’s trying to put some urgency in that rise up for their finest hour. And our uniforms might not have a crease in them, but I’m here to tell you we’re going to get the job done. Do you feel some stirring on the inside of you? Peter said, «I don’t like what I see!» Biblical scholars believe that 2 Peter was most likely penned from a Roman jail. So imagine Peter locked up in prison—or should I say locked down? Peter’s in a lockdown, and he’s like, «What can I do?» An uneducated, unlearned fisherman.
As a matter of fact, most scholars believe that Peter probably had somebody dictate this letter to him. Isn’t it amazing that God will raise somebody up to dictate the book that He put inside of you? Some of you are disqualifying yourself; you haven’t read the Bible with context because God will always send someone on assignment to fulfill your assignment. And so you have Peter now dictating this letter most likely in a prison locked up—or some should say locked down.
But he’s like, «When you tie one hand behind my back, you’ll find the kingdom manifesting in unusual ways.» Can I just tell you my wife came to me? She’s a real big part of my story. I’m realizing this, Holy Spirit, thank you for my double portion. The first time in ministry, my wife stopped me from canceling and killing the vision I had for V1 Church. The second time my wife came to me emphatically was when this pandemic hit.
Pandemic Shift and Online Ministry
And I’m in Queens, New York City, and you know, I’m skeptical! Y’all, anybody else here skeptical? I’m skeptical! I’m like, I’ve got to go see it for myself. I remember seeing the refrigerated trucks where they’re loading bodies in from people who had passed from COVID. I said, «Julie, I want to go see these refrigerated trucks myself. I need to know what’s happening in our neighborhood because I believe God called us to pastor this city.» And sure enough, we rolled out, and we saw it for ourselves.
And I remember we couldn’t meet. At this time, we were a three-campus church, and Sundays for me were like a wild, Holy Ghost rodeo. I would saddle up Sunday morning early; we’d be loading into multiple venues, nightclubs, movie theaters. We’d have church in a McDonald’s if they let us in New York! And so Sunday was a very long, crazy day, but we were seeing so much fruit—atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Muslims—all accepting Christ as their Savior, Jews accepting Christ as their Messiah in our services. I felt like I was living the book of Acts every Sunday.
And it came to a screeching halt as a result of the pandemic. I remember telling my wife, «I just don’t know what to do, Julie.» And she was like, «You need to take your phone, hold it to your face, and do what you do on Sundays, what you do in pastoral meetings, and you just need to do it like this.» I said, «Julie, that is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard in my life!» And the Holy Spirit was like, «No, you’re dumb!» Sometimes God gives you wisdom, but most of the time, He gives you your wife. Okay, now I won the women back!
You see how I did that? So all of a sudden, my wife said to me, «Julie, you know I’m introverted! You know that God had to divinely call me to do this thing and confirm it 50 times over to get me into this position, and you just—» And I told her, I was just like, «But that, to me, is cringy!» You know, «Hey, guys, what’s up? Hey, man, let me tell you what Jesus said!» Because on the inside, I am just an 86-year-old, full-on old-school Pentecostal, right? That’s just what I am on the inside. And so the thought of being like, «Hey, guys, what’s up?» I was like, «I don’t even know if Jesus likes that kind of ministry! He’s like, ‘You’re using my name like that! ’»
But my wife said, «No, you’re different. Those other people are cringy; there’s nothing else you can do. You’re different.» See, here’s the thing: when Paul was in a lockdown—wait, I mean, when Peter was in a lockdown, 2 Peter came out of him. See, something will come out of you when you’re squeezed, when you’re put in unlikely situations.
And for those of you looking at me saying, «Well, you’re young, and I’m old, and that’s why I don’t do it.» Guess what? The generations want to hear your voice in this season like never before. Wisdom is wisdom; anointing is anointing. They don’t care! Matter of fact, they think it’s cool that you’re old! I know that sounds weird, but you know, it’s a crazy thing that’s happening.
And God is going to cause you to take on a new and unusual posture to do things that you never thought you would do. I remember the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, «Mike, I want you to confront the works of darkness on your live stream.» And I was like, «God, I tried so hard not to be that weird guy. You know what I mean? Is there anybody here who’s trying not to be weird?»
And I’m like, «I don’t want them to think I’m weird! I already try so hard.» And I’ll never forget, I was going live every day during the pandemic mainly just to serve our own church people. And then what happened was one day I said, «I’m going to confront the demonic today!» My live stream went from 40 to 400 in about five minutes, 400 to 1,000, 1,000 to 2,000, and videos started going viral, and people were like, «I’m vomiting! I’m coughing! I’m hacking!» And I’m reading the comments—I’m like, «People are receiving deliverance through the phone!»
You can do this! And for those of you who are like, «That’s crazy, » I mean, how do you deal with Acts, chapter 19, where they sent handkerchiefs and said, «I can’t physically be with you, but I’m going to send something as a point of contact.» And it doesn’t just say they were healed; it says they were delivered from demons as they encountered handkerchiefs. What if I just told you your phone could be a handkerchief if you’d allow God to use it this way? BecauseHe’ll take the foolish things of the world and confound the wise.
And then what I found out is there are people who will not come to church, but they will go to their phone all day, every day. And God’s using unusual things. And so once again, I was forced to admit that God was right, and so was my wife! Come on now! Calm down over there.
Windshield Wipers and Accumulation of Nuisances
But to be honest with you, we get good at the things that stop working. It got real quiet. We get real good at the things that stop working, and we hold on to those things, and we wait for the little moments where it flares up, and God uses it again. And for me, I thank God that I was in a place like New York City where I had both hands tied behind my back because it opened up a completely new reality for me. You know, my wife—it’s funny because she hates driving in the rain. She is convinced every time she gets in the car it is multiple near-death experiences that never happened.
And it’s made our marriage very difficult because I have to forgive her over and over as she clutches and grabs the handle. It’s almost offensive that she doesn’t think I can drive after all these years! But whenever the rain starts to come down, my wife panics! I mean, I’m talking like literally, she’ll just—she’s driving, then she goes—and she keeps driving, and she keeps driving. And over the years, now if you were in the backseat, you would think I was heartless, like, «You don’t care about your wife!» I’m like, «No, I am used to what she’s going through right now, and it’s never going to go away.»
But you know what happens? That rain is just the accumulation of a lot of little raindrops. And when it hits your windshield and obscures your view, it takes away your confidence. And see, what happens through this pandemic and what happens in ministry is the accumulation of a lot of nuisances, and the accumulation every day of something else in the news—and they accumulate like raindrops on the windshield of our vision. And as it’s obscured, we find ourselves panicking. But how many of you are thankful for windshield wipers? Because windshield wipers say, «I have a destination, therefore I have a purpose, and I’m going to reach my destination!»
You don’t say, «I’m not going to drive when there’s rain.» You say, «I’m going to turn my windshield wipers on, and I’m going to push forward into the next season.» And so urgency is the windshield wiper of your soul! When you first met your spouse, you would do anything and everything you could to be with them and around them! There was an urgency inside of you that was like, «I have a make-out session, and I’m going to get there!» Yeah, there you go! God’s restoring marriages now—supernaturally!
But here’s the thing: there was a purpose that you had, and that purpose produced urgency. See, it’s like when you have a destination and you have a purpose, the windshield wiper will remove the accumulation of all the raindrops that appear over time. And what was happening is Peter was addressing the churches of Asia Minor by saying simply, «You’ve gotten off; you’ve lost your urgency. Your vision has been deluded, and as a result of that, we’ve been infiltrated with people that do not carry the heart of the One—Jesus Christ—who trained me directly.»
Ready, Set… Excuses
You know, leading a team of people in a transformation at any level will require you as the leader to create urgency. But just like Julie, when she’s in the car and it starts raining, she goes, «Ready, set?» Nope! And a lot of times, we end up in life saying, «Ready, set, no!» I’m discouraged! Because we don’t have atmospheres of urgency; we have atmospheres of anxiety, atmospheres of discouragement.
To be honest with you, I’ve always thought that I have a face for radio, not for television, and I didn’t ever intend on going online. I remember hating the sound of my own voice on the podcast of our own church’s preaching. Can I be real with you? How real can we be today? You live in this environment of negativity, where over 80,000 negative thoughts a day. And then you come to a conference like this, and you get so fired up and you receive impartation, and Pastor Dwayne’s laying hands on you and said, «Yes, God, this is what I needed!»
Then Pastor Mike preaches, and we continue on. And then you go home, and you’re like, «Okay, ready, set, Netflix!» Now listen, I’m going to ask you what your favorite shows are in the lobby, and I know some of you are binge-watching. Ready, set, Netflix! Another distraction to take our mind away! And then you ante up again. You’re like, «Okay, okay, ready, set, Instagram!» Addicted to the scroll. You tell people you hate social media but spend about six hours a day on it! I’m just throwing rocks into a pack of dogs right now; if it hits one, I’m just an equal opportunity offender!
Pastors are like, «I can’t stand social media!» Really? Let me see how many hours a day you’re on! Because what happens is we actually enjoy being drawn away a little bit because there’s this restlessness in our soul. «Ready, set, another podcast!» How many Christians are addicted to learning? You know that you can get a little hit of dopamine when you learn something that almost feels like you accomplished something! Man, somebody’s like, «I don’t like him anymore because Christians love podcasts!»
But we’ve heard more of the word than almost the entire first-century church combined, but we’ve been obedient to significantly less of it. So we love podcasts, and people love serving you up podcasts to sell you stuff from podcasts. But just like Peter, I’m here on assignment to put some urgency in you today. Ready, set, I need a season of rest! I need a season of rest! Don’t you love how Christians use the phrase «season»? If you want to make something sound prophetic, just say «season» in front of it!
We need Pastor, we need a season of rest! Do you know that a season of rest is never going to replace a rhythm of Sabbath? Can I say it again for my non-Jewish friends? A season of rest is never going to replace a rhythm of Sabbath! Your pastor can’t fix your lack of discipline! You don’t need a season of rest; you need a rhythm of Sabbath.
This little section is why it’s going to be the most listened-to session right now, because you’re going to serve this up to your staff and say, «You’re not allowed to use the word season unless you’re talking about fall, winter, spring, and summer!» But we see the first-century church being stripped, exiled, executed, talked about, ostracized! You got Nero literally burning down Rome and blaming it on Christians while the book of Mark is being written! But there’s no mention of it in the book of Mark because the gospel was more important than current events!
But you got Christians nowadays that have actually recruited more people to their political party than they did to the kingdom in the last five years! Notice I didn’t say which party. I’m not trying to be that offensive! But seek first the kingdom, right? It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be politically active, but if we’re not supernaturally active, we’re going to miss it. And so, ready, set—I need a season of rest!
You know, Proverbs actually says something different. Proverbs says that they who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. Isn’t it amazing that Jesus did not fight the devil with a Maverick City worship song? He didn’t fight the devil with an elevation worship song; He fought the devil with the Word! Could the reason we are losing so much spiritual warfare be because we’re trying to fight the devil with a worship song while we’re ignorant of what the Word actually says? You got Christians saying, «I need a season of rest!» But we need to respond with, «No, I’m going to refresh others so that I myself will be refreshed!»
And what I found as I was going on live every day—"Hey everyone!"—is that as I was pouring out, I suddenly came alive on a level that I had never experienced before because I thought that preaching only happened on Sundays. And then I started to open my life to a greater capacity, but what happened was my capacity was increased.
Here’s another one: ready, set, relapse. Relapse! And then you’re condemned because there’s an opportunity for you to use this for the kingdom, but you use it for pornography! Chances are 50% of you in this room use your phone for that, so I’m coming for you today because we’re going to set the captives free! There’s no ready, set, relapse in this room! I listen; Pastor Dwayne already opened the altar; it’s gonna be one of those today! Ready, set—here’s my favorite one, because this is me. I’m telling myself, «Ready, set, distracted by a new idea!»
Now, some of you have a pastor that loves new ideas better than his old ideas, and we’re going to pray for you, okay? But see, can I just tell you that the old idea didn’t work because you never fully committed to it? Did you know that oftentimes in church, what works is what everybody agrees on? And so the power of agreement is significantly more powerful than the power of a new idea. People always say, «Oh, you can’t have church where people watch you preach on video!» I’m like, «If everybody agrees you can have church that way, it will work!»
We launched three campuses off of me preaching via video to a whole campus, and sometimes they shout louder with me on video than in person, which kind of offends me, but that’s okay too! Here’s another one: ready, set, self-doubt! Oh, there’s no way— not me. God, I just stutter! Oh, you don’t know the family I came from! Well, I was raised in a trailer park—what’s your excuse now?
Oh, well, I’m not a second-generation pastor that had this ministry opportunity handed to me? Well, that was my excuse! I bled all over the people that I tried to lead with a father wound that I thought was going to be healed by a father other than this one. And so I would come into conferences like this full of jealousy, rage, anger, bitterness, saying, «Man, God, I had multiple abusive step-dads, but these guys had pastors as their dad!»
But then I realized that no one goes through life without a father wound, even with a good father, because there’s a big difference between a good father and a perfect father. And so there are some great fathers in this room, but until you get healed by the perfect Father, you’ll never even appreciate a great one. And so God, I had to be so emotional going through today because I was thinking about the journey that I’ve been on since 2013.
And I mean, I used to come out of conferences like this more depressed than inspired. But God began to take me on a journey of ready-set self-doubt to ready-set experiencing Him in an amazing way. Here’s another one: ready, set, defeated! Here’s my favorite; we do this all the time: ready, set, not yet! I’ll do it later; I’ll do it later. You know, discipline is what happens when you reverse engineer vision. Discipline happens when you reverse engineer vision!
When you lose vision for your marriage, what will happen is you stop disciplining the things in your life that produce a good marriage because you’ll say, «What does it matter anyway?» Sometimes, with our churches, we go through the motions, we’re hurt that only 30% return during the pandemic; we’re upset that they don’t share our stuff online, and we deal with all these heart issues. But really what’s happening is the death of vision, not the death of discipline, because vision always dies first, and then discipline dies second.
And when vision dies, discipline disappears. So this pandemic didn’t take your discipline; the conditions probably killed your vision. Well, I know I’m going deep by the sound of silence right now, but urgency happens when you believe something. Stagnation happens when you believe something. You have to change what you believe.
Here’s the thing we all struggle with: could it be me? Could it be me—the one who got divorced? Could it be me—the one who didn’t come from all of this? Could it be me—the one who doesn’t know the Bible like they know the Bible? And we all struggle with that! This is why I think Peter is the perfect person to actually give us this chunk of text that we’re looking at today. Because what happened is he was one of those people that said: «I’m just going to keep this thing in motion. I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep taking one step at a time.»
Isn’t it funny that the Bible says that His word is a lamp unto our feet, and it doesn’t say it’s a floodlight? See, He gives us a foot lamp, but we want a floodlight! A foot lamp will take you one step at a time. And God doesn’t give us a floodlight; He gives us a foot lamp. And what I love about Peter is that he stayed in motion! So for those of you who showed up today saying, «Maybe today is the last day. Maybe today is the day I quit, » can I just tell you if you will stay in motion, you will see the things fulfilled that God has promised!
Because He is not like man that He would lie! If He said it and you believe it, you better stand on it! Don’t make me preach every cliché you need to be reminded of right now! Urgency wants to change; panic wants to feel better. Urgency wants to change; something’s got to change! There’s an urgency inside of me! But panic just wants to feel better! God’s not calling you to panic; He’s calling you to an urgency!
Unorthodox Obedience and the Other Side
Oh, come on now! Peter is sensing this need to create and recreate urgency in the church, and he’s saying these false teachers have normalized sexual immorality. They’ve normalized this version of success that’s powerless—it’s completely powerless—where they’re so good with words, but we haven’t seen fruit that remains! And he’s saying there’s got to be an urgency that’s created! And we have a world that wants to feel better but not a world that wants to change! We want to grow, but we don’t want to go! But I’m telling you, going is growing!
John, chapter 21, verse 6, you have this picture, and I believe Peter was probably going back to that memory of when Jesus said, «Go ahead and put your nets on the other side of the boat!» He was always causing them to take this unorthodox stance, to do something that was a little bit different than what their first reaction was. God will call you into the deeper things, but they often will feel like the very thing you don’t want to do! And really, your future is often on the other side of the things you don’t want to do!
And see, He’ll give you the destination, but He won’t give you the pathway to it because, if you have the pathway, you wouldn’t need Him. And so instead of giving you a plan, He gave you a person called the Holy Spirit. And He’s saying, «My Person, the person of the Holy Spirit, is better than the plan!» I’ve given you the destination and a purpose, not the destination and a plan, but I’m going to be the one that leads you!
And as I’ve been going on this journey for the last couple of years and seeing what God has done by me staying in motion, I’m embracing these unorthodox positions that suddenly have started slowly but surely becoming comfortable to me. I’ll never forget when it finally became comfortable for me to hold the phone in front of my face because I said people don’t want me to be the best preacher; they want to be a…they need a consistent spiritual father.
And the problem is weird people are the ones that go and do weird things, but when normal people activate faith, that’s when the supernatural happens! Is there anybody who’s ready to activate their faith to step into the supernatural today and believe for something new, something unorthodox, something different, something that changes and challenges you?
Seven Ways to Generate Urgency
Now here’s the thing. I want to give you seven ways to generate urgency.
And see, what happens is the more you begin to operate in urgency, you suffocate panic. To operate in urgency is to suffocate panic, and God doesn’t want you living in self-doubt and panic; He wants you to have this urgency that says, «Jesus is coming back! I don’t know when, but I’m going to act like it’s now!» And I’ve come to talk to some lions and lionesses that have exchanged a roar for a yelp because you have been so castrated, and you have been so imprisoned, and you’re living in a zoo that somebody provided for you! It’s the opinions of people that have literally domesticated you!
It’s a denomination that domesticated you! But I want to open up the cage today and introduce some urgency that you are reminded of the roar that your Father, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, has placed inside of you for the world! Because it was never by might nor by power, but by His Spirit the entire time! They can’t cancel you because they didn’t call you—He called you! And what happened was I got so obsessed with church culture; I got so obsessed with the strategies and the tactics that you read in the books from the gurus. And I’m so grateful for gurus, but sometimes you’ve got to stop listening to gurus and start listening to God for what He has!
And then I found that I was wild! It took me being a wild man to sell my house with a half-acre backyard and a parking spot, praise God, to go to New York to plant a church! But then I got to church, and I was domesticated because I suddenly became obsessed with trying to replicate the things that I saw in conferences instead of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. So I want to give you seven ways to create this urgency:
Number one: Don’t exhibit panic or stress! God’s promises breed confidence. Let me just say it again: God’s promises breed confidence! The promises of God! So don’t exhibit panic, don’t have your staff chasing a new idea! Don’t create this panic that says, «We’ve got to do something now before the door is closed!» No, we are responding to the voice of God, not reacting to the panic of Satan!
Number two: Make biblical decisions and act on them quickly! Obey! Don’t overthink! Obey! Don’t overthink! Overthinking has killed more dreams in poverty! Overthinking has killed more dreams than any other factor! Because the more we overthink, the less of an obedience that we have represented in our lives.
Number three: Identify obstacles and remove them fast! Can I just tell you people are your main obstacles? Oh, it’s okay; there’s a block button for a reason! Now they have a new button on social media that says, «Block their profile and every other profile they will ever make!» I feel the anointing on that! Remove obstacles! Identify them and remove them! And oftentimes people are your obstacles! Listen, maybe sometimes in life if you’re Joshua, all you get is Caleb, but I’d rather have one that’s in agreement than a staff of 100 in disagreement because the power of agreement will take you to the Promised Land! But the power of disagreement will cost many lives!
And so I’ve learned to identify obstacles and say maybe we’re going to have to thin this thing out! Remember when Jesus said, «Drink my blood and eat my flesh, “ and He just preached the most offensive thing possible to see who didn’t show up next week? That was the first block button ever recorded in scripture! Identify obstacles and remove them!
Number four: Establish an outcome-focused life instead of a task-focused life! I mean, we have whole systems that we use to identify tasks that we’re supposed to do, but we have to establish an outcome-focused life! You know what the outcome is? I want to see people free, delivered! I want to see people saved! That’s the outcome!
And yeah, there are tasks that take place, but are you focused on the task, or are you focused on the outcome? Is this helping anybody today?
Number five: Exhibit urgency in your body language! Don’t shuffle; start to hustle! Your body language! Get your body moving! Going is growing! You know, some of us have become so sanctified that it’s so religious that, you know, it’s like come on! This is not the frozen chosen; this is not the us four no more! This is the body of Christ! I want to see the spirit of the living God—even in the bodies of those that serve in our teams and in our church!
Number six: Find reasons to celebrate small successes and then communicate them far and wide! Small successes! Everybody wants to go viral online, but you have to forsake the 13 people who watched your video and diminish the importance of those 13 people to lust after virality! I would rather take 13 people that watch a video of mine, and their life has changed forever than 13 million critics watching that video!
And see what happens if you don’t learn how to celebrate the small successes! I remember we launched our church, and only 40 people came to launch Sunday. And I did everything they told me to do, and on the drive home, I was so depressed! And I told Julie, I said, „I’ve got to make up my mind! If it’s only these 40 for the rest of my life, then that’s my lot, and I will never diminish the importance of all 40 of those people and how precious they are to God!“
So I don’t know how to teach you how to reach 4 million, but I know how to tell you to appreciate 40. Because if you can’t cherish and love and appreciate 40, why would He entrust you with 4 million?
Number seven: Clarify the consequences of inaction! This is how you create urgency: you ask yourself, „What happens if I don’t do it?“ I’ll never forget we brought in an outside company to look at and evaluate our finances and all the metrics of our church after three years of our church. And they came in, and they came back with this report, and they said, „You have broken every record that we’ve ever had, and you’re in the fastest growing church in America category!“
And when they announced that, my team and I just started crying immediately because we had no idea we did it! Because we had launched three locations in three years; we were doing 2 to 3 services in each location, but we only ever saw a couple hundred people at a time because they were scattered, and everyone watching online—we didn’t even know we hit the metrics!
I paused, and I looked at them, and I said, „Guys, what if Julie and I said no to New York?“ And everyone just started weeping! As a matter of fact, I look at the team that we have here today, and I think about, you know, an NYPD guy that I met, Edwin Perez, and he was just a New Yorker who was without a shepherd, and his family could not find a church to call home!
I think about Patrick and Natalie Francis that were on Long Island, just struggling to church plant and do what God had put in their heart, and they felt disconnected without family. I just think about those that God has called us to minister to! And when I think and clarify the consequences of inaction, it trivializes everything that I gave up to do what I did! And I would do it a million times over!
So when you ask yourself, „What if I don’t?“ sometimes that’s where the urgency comes from!
Altar Call and Final Prayer
Would you stand on your feet with me? You know, at the root of the lack of urgency is this abundance of a feeling of inadequacy! But Peter knew that God is not looking for the most eloquent; He’s not looking for the most intelligent! He’s looking for surrendered, yielded vessels! He’s saying, „I can empower you! I can anoint you! I can equip you! I can impart and release strategy from heaven!“
He’s still using poor shepherd boys to kill giants by giving them strategies that defy what military generals would do! I mean, when you read scripture, isn’t it always Him using the least likely? So why not you? Why not you?
And this is what I’m feeling in my gut! I’m feeling in my gut right now that someone needs to be reminded that He called you despite you! He called you despite you! And that the cross is sufficient for every single one of your shortcomings! The blood of Jesus—just one drop of it—is still enough! Does anybody believe that today?
And I’m on assignment to tell somebody right now that your ready-set no is getting ready to turn into a ready-set okay! Let me just tell you, this is the phrase that God gave me for this session, and I want this to drop into somebody’s gut: THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT! Do you hear me? The phrase that I have from heaven for you right now is, „This time is different!“ You thought about retiring? You’re getting ready to re-fire and reignite—not retire! You’re getting ready to go up in a glory cloud! I know I got a Smith Wigglesworth in here that’s just about to quit plumbing and start their purpose right now!
Sometimes we have our mind made up about quitting, but that is literally the precipice of the next level for what God has for us! But we’ve got to leave everything behind! Because ready-set no, when you go full reckless abandon, when you say, „No turning back, “ it turns into a ready-set restored! It turns into a ready-set refreshed!
It turns into a ready-set true rest! True rest! It turns into a ready-set forgiven! Ready-set—it’s forgotten, devil! Come on! It turns into a ready-set breakthrough! Come on! Not a breakdown! It says ready-set, „I’m going again! I’m doing it again!“ I have found myself in the last several months doing the weirdest, craziest things imaginable, but God is sending hungry people!
We’re going to sing this song, „Build Your Church, “ and I just want to tell you that the have-nots, the ones from the gutters, the highways and the byways, they don’t know a thing about the Bible, but they are spiritually hungry like never before! You go to my Instagram and watch footage where, during the storm that you saw, I had an event planned for the same day, and over 200 people in the midst of that storm met me under a bridge in Central Park! Flash floods were happening, and I was wearing my cool sneakers!
I tried so hard to be the „preachers and sneakers“ guy, and these TikTok influencers had invited me! There were these young guys, and I’m like, „I’m going to be cool for these young guys.“ And all of a sudden, as these 200 people are there, people are manifesting demons, people are getting medically verifiable miracles! I mean, the Spirit of God was moving so strongly!
But when the flash floods rolled in, the water began to go up over my ankles, and I saw the line of prayer of people waiting for me to pray for them! My heart was so filled with repentance because I said, „God, we are so upset about who is coming and not coming to our church! But I’ve got over 200 people under a bridge in a flash flood who’ve lined up for prayer! And my sneakers are completely ruined!“
Because you’re not going to let me be that guy! And so, you know what’s hard? Church culture is hard, but His burden is light! His yoke is easy! And I want to release you out of your cage! I want to release you out of the restrictions! And I want to change a ready-set not yet into a ready-set go! Is there anyone here? Just wave at me if this word is just depositing in you! Come on, just wave at me if you feel something stirring inside of you right now! New ways, new strategies, new insights, new anointings, new mantles in the earth!
Come on! We just lost Youngie Cho! Who’s going to rise up with the mantle of an intercessor in this time? Who’s going to pick it up and say, „God, let it begin with me?“ I’m going to step into something! Is there anyone here?
So, as we sing this song, „Build Your Church, “ I want you to say, „God, let it start with me!“ I’m breaking through—not breaking down! This time. Would you all just close your eyes right now? Just with outstretched hands towards heaven, just as a sign of surrender. I want to pray over every single one of you because I believe that something is shifting right now. Ordinary people stepping into faith begin to access the extraordinary. Ordinary people with their inadequacies, with their past and their failures.
And just like Peter said, He’s coming back! You’ve lost your urgency, but I want to remind you that He’s coming for a bride without spot or without blemish! And He will equip you! He will call you! He will anoint you! And He will put you in position! But all you have to do is say YES!
And I fear that there are many of you who have sat down on the bench—many of you who have maybe even said, „This is my time to bow out!“ But the Bible says, „Pray for laborers!“ So I’m travailing and praying that you would get in the game! That you would count yourself among those and say we’re not going to build an audience! We’re building an army!
So I want to speak to some dry bones right now! I want to yell at some Lazarus who have comfortably tucked himself away in the tomb right now, and I want to shout, „Come forth! Come forth now in Jesus’ name!“ I feel the anointing so strongly! I break off every discouragement! I break off every false identity! I break off every spirit of religion and tradition that’s tried to silence you and turn the roar of the Lion of Judah into a whimper!
You are more than your programming! You are more than your attendance! You are more than the amount of money that comes in on Sunday! You are destined, called, anointed, and chosen by God for such a time as this! And I’m saying this to someone now—yes, you! I’m talking to the person who doesn’t think I’m talking to them—yes, you!
And Father, I thank you for a breakthrough right now! Breakthrough right now! I thank you for an urgency that says NO Walmart, NO Target, NO grocery store is going to be safe when we’re in it because we’re going to send demons in a hundred different directions when we walk down that aisle! That signs, miracles, and wonders are going to follow us as we’re following Jesus into the next season!
I got one more word I want to drop, and it’s very simple! And God has taken me all over the United States during this pandemic at different key points to signal a prophetic changing over! I declare the end of a mourning season right now! I want somebody to hear me say that! You’ve been mourning; you’ve been grieving! And sometimes you need permission! I declare the end of a mourning season in your life!
I declare the end of a mourning season in your ministry! I declare the end of a mourning season! Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning! And you’re going to find yourself enjoying — enjoy-because joy is a fruit of the Spirit! So when you co-labor with the Spirit, guess what? You have rejoicing! Are you guys ready? Let’s build this church! Are you guys ready? Just sing this out as a bold declaration that God would do it through you!