Samuel Rodriguez - My House Stands on the Word of God
Reece, did I tell you about this? I didn't. I saw you on national day of prayer. We need to... I didn't... Did I reference what happened... Okay so, in California... We're streaming? Okay. So, in California... Right before Christmas, I get a call. Not mentioning any names, somewhere in California from San Diego all the way to the Oregon border. Pretty broad. We get a call from a prominent ministry in California that lost people during COVID, never recovered and, for various reasons and incredible amount of debt but incredible property, 70 plus acres, worth eighty million bucks, three auditoriums.
And we get a call, "Pastor Sam, this is not gonna survive. You're the first call we're making. Would you be interested in merging your ministry with ours and taking over the property"? And, you know, et cetera, et cetera. So, we were like, "Woah"! So I look back because we're in need in California, by the grace of God. He gave us multi-ethnic church, our church looks like the kingdom. We're 40% white, which means Caucasian for you in New York. Is that too much? Should we come back a little bit? Pull it back? Is that too much? Forty percent African American which means black in California, and 20% Latino, native American and Asians. Seriously, it looks like heaven, it's heaven, it looks like heaven. And it's 68% millennials, very young church, and God blew it up.
So, we're in desperate need with reservices, we're gonna start a forward forum, God's really blowing it up, I need a place bad. So, we thought this is an answered prayer, so they, "Can we call you into a meeting"? First meeting we walk in, first meeting. I walked in with four of my board members, five of us total, they have their board members, and I'm thinking first question is gonna be on, "Pastor Sam talk to us on integration of systems, fiduciary governance, what's your polity, what's your ethos, what's your creed? Your credo"? All of that, right? "You know talk to us about the anointing and artificial intelligence". No, I'm kidding about that one. Not that. Which is a conversation we should have. Anyway, not right now.
So, first meeting we walk in, his wife is right there, who is our board secretary. I sat down here, I'm thinking, "Alright, give me the questions". Right? First question, first question "Pastor Sam, thank you for coming to the meeting. Here's our first question, Pastor Sam our church leans left. Where do you lean"? Now, you got to put this in perspective, I'm a part time comedian. The stuff I wanted to say, the thoughts going through my mind. But I'm looking... I was like silent, which is a sign and a wonder. I couldn't say anything. Nothing would come out. And my team looked at me like, "Pastor". All of a sudden the Holy Spirit filled me and said, "Go ahead, say it". And I'm fighting with the Lord 'cause if I say it, I'm gonna lose this chance. And God said, "Say it"! And I'm going like this. Like, if I lacked fiber, I'm going like, "No". "Say it"!
So, I had no choice, I looked and I went, "Sir, interesting question". With great due deference, "We don't lean". We don't lean. In our church we never lean, we stand. We stand on God's promises, we stand on God's word, we stand on everything the Bible says. Everything the Bible calls sin, we call sin. Everything the Bible calls holy, we call holy. We stand on righteousness, and justice to... We don't need any churches or Christians, we need to stop leaning and start standing on everything that God places through his spirit. Is there a church in Buffalo that knows how to stand? We stand. The Spirit of God enables us, empowers us to be able to stand with righteousness, and justice, and truth, and love.
Psalm 89:14. Let me land this real quick with a testimony. Any questions here? Don't open up your eyes. Let's just do it, continuity is important. Raise your right hand, repeat after me, "I prayerfully declare in my life: My house, my family stands defined and filled with the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, every room, every family member, every room here, every room here, every one I'm connected to, filled with God's precious Spirit. In Jesus name". Give him one more clap offering like you believe actually what you just said. Jesus did not just spit, Jesus spit into the ground. You need to do a comparative analysis on another occasion.
Jesus did this, he spit into another blind man's eyes, it wasn't this man. The other blind man, the Bible says that he actually had this moment where he says, "Eh, now that you did this, I just wanna tell you I can see but not that clearly. The people look like? And the Bible says, "He restored his sight". It wasn't this man. This man was born blind. So, Jesus instead of spitting it directly, what did he do? He went where first? To the dirt. What did God make man out of? Genesis 2:7. Jesus went back to the original blueprint. He went back to... I'm preaching to at least five people now. He went back to the original design.
In God's original plan for your family there are no addicts. In God's original plan for your life you don't die of diabetes, or cancer, or heart disease. I'm preaching now. In God's original plan for your generation, for your family line, it's not multi-generational curses and alcoholism and... Are you with me right now? In God's original plan, you are blessed and favored, and you're glorious, and you are holy, and you are righteous, and there is shalom. I'm here to tell you to get ready. How many of you believe, 1 Corinthians 15:45 that when Jesus died on the cross and he resurrected, we are made according to the model of the second Adam, not the first Adam?
When we are born again, we come again, go back to God's original plan. Get ready, you and your family will live out God's original plan for your lives. "Pastor Sam, but my life is messy. What do you mean his original plan"? God has a plan for you, for your children, your children's children. For your now, and for your next. Jeremiah 29:11, 1 Corinthians 15:45, Psalms 139 and 113. You are not where you are, you are not how you are, you are not what others did to you or what you did to yourself. You are who God says you are. You are what God says you are. It's not about where you are in life, it's about who you are in Christ.
And when you know who you are in Christ, you will never be held back by where you are in life. You're identity in Christ will bring an end to your captivity in life. Ephesians 2:10, "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand," his original plan. "That we should walk in them". Raise your hand, everything God has planned will come to pass. Your children will not inherit your sins, your children will inherit your blessings. Your children will not inherit your mistakes, your children will inherit your mantles. You believe that say, "Amen".
Let me close with a testimony that I asked pastor Robert permission. It's not politicized. It's just what took place. In Bethel, Pennsylvania, where I was raised, I attended a church, an Assembly of God Church, nearby city Allentown, the Lehigh Valley. My parents are not preachers, my... I when to church because my mom said this, "Go to church or die". In essence, I think I made the right choice. So, I did not embrace, or accept, or believe wholeheartedly what I saw, especially the charismatic Pentecostal expressions. Speaking in tongues, people getting slain. I thought it was mass hysteria. I thought that was cuckoo for coco puffs. So, I questioned it all.
And then, I'm about 12, 13 years old, I'm there in that church already an evangelical agnostic, and I'm there, this guy walks in for the first time in our church with a teen challenge choir, his name was Bernie Gallo. He worked for David Wilkerson's Rehrersburg camp in Pennsylvania. Comes in, this is the 1980's now. He comes in on his choir, first time in our church. And he starts singing, "Holy Spirit thou art welcome in this place". Mid-stream, he goes, Holy Spirit thou art", and he says, "Woah, the Lord says, 'there is a Sammy here'". A Sammy. By the way, if you ever wanna go to a Hispanic church and prophesy, all you gotta say is, "God has a word for Jose or Maria". You can't go wrong.
So, Sammy, I'm the only Sammy in my church. My dad is Samuel. My pastor, he's still with us, he goes, "Sammy..." Which would trigger any generation Z. It would put any young person here in therapy for 40 years. They would walk out like, with a twitch. So, I'm walk, I'm going, "Oh, my goodness". I'm walking in the front of the whole church and my pastor's going, "C'mon, this is you. It's for you". And I'm going, "Man, if that rapture thing is legit, come Lord Jesus, come right now". I walk up here, Bernie Gallo looks at me and says, I'm like, 12,13 years old. He looks at me and says, "Oh, God, you're a boy". And God says, "He sees a man". Everything I'm doing now was laid out prophetically with great legitimacy. Not generically, not like, "God's gonna bless you". No. I'm talking about descriptors, items, details, items. A couple of hundred people there.
There was a young lady there who saw it, sat right there, sat right there. She saw it, and she said, "If this is true, I'mma marry that man one day". That's my wife of 33 years. By the way, if you're single and God gives a... Okay, I'm kidding, kidding, kidding. So, I get that word, he wraps up with this. He says, "And the Lord says, 'you will pray over presidents of the United States of America". Who tells you that dude? Like, get that one wrong, you're done. I'm an atheist for life. That's wild. That's how I got to the White House. George w. Bush brought me in as an advisor. I was seated with Karl Rove, working with the bush administration. Never knocked on a door, never sought it. Never said, "Oh, God gave me a word. I need to be here".
Right after bush, president Obama brought me in, served there for eight years as an advisor. Don't have to agree with them, don't even have to vote for them. I knew prophetic assignment. President Obama brought me in for his inauguration so I did his private ceremony with T.D. Jakes, Yolanda Adams, Rick Warren at St. John's Episcopal Church, the one they do right before they go up the capitol steps. And then years later, fast forward, I get a call. It's right after trump got elected. It's December, he got elected in November, and I get a call. I was driving in my car with my wife from San Francisco over to Sacramento and we were driving over and got a call, bluetooth in the car, unknown number, I usually don't pick it up because I think it's the IRS. And now, they're armed.
So, you know, unknown number. Holy Spirit said, "Pick it up". So I pick it up. Said, "We're looking for reverend Rodriguez". And I go, "Okay, speaking". "Reverend Rodriguez, the president elect, we're calling you from the senate inaugural committee. The president elect would like you to participate in his inauguration". I looked at my wife and went like, "What"? And I went, "Okay, what would you like me to..." First of all I thought this was my cousin, Paco, from the Bronx, right? We all have cousin... No, we don't. We all don't have a cousin, Paco, from the Bronx. Know your audience. So, first when I confirmed it was legit, he goes, "We want you to", I go like this, "I'm honored, can you tell the president elect that I'm grateful, I'm honored. What would like me to do"? And he says, "Participate".
So, I'm looking at my wife, driving, "Right, what would you like me to do"? He says, "Participate". "Would you like me to pray, sir"? He goes, "Sure". So, I'mma push it. "Sir, would you like me to read scripture". He goes, "Why not"? As a pastor, the third question that I wanted to ask that I did not, "Would you like me to raise the offering"? But I didn't. I was trying to get to the point, which one is it, the private one or the public one? And he finally got it and he said, "Sir, reverend Rodriguez, this is the one on the capitol steps. Over one billion people will be watching live around the world". He says, "So", he assumed, he says, "So, please give me your email address, the department of justice, the FBI has do another background check in which we can, you know, work at it constantly". So, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's fine".
And then, I gave him the email then I go, "But sir, can you give me some time"? He goes, "For what? For what"? I said, "I need time to pray about this". Awkward silence. He goes, "You need time to pray about this"? I go, "Yes sir". He goes, "You need time to pray about praying"? I said, "Yes sir". Awkward silence, my wife could attest to this. It's been thoroughly vetted. The guy didn't, just the silence. The inflection changed, and the guy goes, "How much time do you need"? And I'm trying to like, calculate, my wife is no longer looking at me, which is both a sign and a wonder. So, I go, "Three weeks". He goes, "You need three weeks to pray about praying"? I go, "Yes sir". "I guess I'll call you back in three weeks". "Okay".
The reason why that happened is because, I told you, my church is diverse. In my mind, I said, if I participate in this inauguration, I'm gonna lose a good portion of my church. Being transparent. Which means lay offs and budget cuts and all that. So, I was thinking as a CEO, and a business administrator. My wife turn around and just looked at me and said, "What are you doing"? I went, "Honey, we're gonna pray". She went, "What are you doing"? I go "Praying". She goes, "No, no, no. What are you doing"? I go, "Honey, we have to pray". She went, "I was there". I'm going, "Where"? "When you were 12 years old, and God said you were gonna end up doing this. You don't need to pray to see if it's God's will, you need to pray for God to fill you and give you the word that you need in order for you speak in front of all these people".
God's original purpose, original design. We got so... The moment the media announced that I was participating the inauguration for this president, even though I did it for Obama, we got death threats, drones coming to our home, vans parked in front of our home. George can attest to this, it became crazy, crazy. The amount of just, cuckoo for coco puffs that took place. I was told, "You do this, you're not gonna make this son. We're coming after you and your family". I'm going, "You gotta be kidding me. You're coming after me 'cause I'm praying"? And they saw it completely political, of course.
So, it was so tense, I had to walk with my mess. All of a sudden, put the picture up please, I don't know if you have it media team. I don't know if you have the picture of the inauguration or not. That day at the inauguration, there it is. If you have the wide shot, if you have the wide shot. I don't if you have the wide shot, but that's the wide shot. There, you see the Obamas, you see the Bidens, the Clintons, you have right here, the Trumps, and I was seated, I was actually seated the Bush's. Right behind here. And I'm about to come up, I'm about to go up.
Couple of days before a reporter from a magazine looked at me and said, this is about this, your mess becomes a miracle. Everything was messy. Everything was crazy. I mean, everything you could have, imaginable. A reporter looks at me and says, "Sam, please tell me", who I've worked with in the past, "Please tell me that you're not gonna do this". I said, "It's my God assignment. It's God's plan for my life. I have no choice". She went, "I don't get that, but anyway, if you're gonna do it, you're gonna lose half your audience, you're both on CNN and Fox, you're gonna lose half your people that like you". That's fine. "Please promise, you're not gonna mention the name". And I went, "What"?
She went, "Sammy, look for 12 years, that the name hasn't been mentioned. There was an unwritten agreement that anyone who would pray for the inauguration wouldn't mention the name. Because if you mention the name, you alienate everyone in America who doesn't believe in that name". So, the unspoken rule is, "Go back, look at the different inaugurations all the way, 12 years back. The last person to say it was Billy Graham". He says, "You keep, don't say the name. You could say, wind, love, faith, hope, and if you have to say God, that's the worst case scenario, but don't mention the name. Tell me you're not gonna mention it". And I went, "You're gonna have to watch and see what happens".
I'm about to go up. Cardinal Dolan from New York did not mention the name, God bless him, but he went first. I came up, I read from Matthew 5, I read it, I prayed it, I declared it prophetically. I'm here. I looked into the cameras, Supreme Court, presidents, presidents, members of congress, the crowd. Nations were streaming, BBC, Al Jazeera, all over the world, they were streaming. Different social media platforms, live. I'm about to leave and the same Holy Spirit... I'm about to walk off, with all the threats, all the mess, everything. In order for me to see what I have not seen before, I had to say something that wasn't said in a long time.
So, I looked into the cameras, into the audience, and the Holy Spirit said, "Sammy, say it. Say it, Sammy. Say it". So, I looked forward and said, "I make this prayerful declaration, respectfully in the name of Jesus Christ". Go to YouTube, the president shouted, "Amen". The members of congress said, "Amen". People, went, "He said, Jesus, amen". The crowd exploded. Some of you may have been there, when they said, "Amen". All over the news, they said, "It became a Jesus fest". The name of Jesus was mentioned in this inauguration more than ever before in human history. Why did it become a Jesus fest? Nations that never heard Jesus, heard Jesus for the first time. Why did the world react like that?