Dove World Outreach Center

People so easily make decisions against God, against the church, just decide to do whatever they want to do, because we have to a certain extent lost the fear of the Lord. We have become a church that does not really believe in a Heaven, a Hell. We don’t really believe that there is an Almighty God, a Creator of the Universe, a God God God.

If we believed that we would do certain things, we would stop certain things, it would shake us up. We would take the opportunity to share with people. People who are not born again are going to Hell. It does not matter how many football games they have won, how much money they have made. It does not matter how many hit records they have, how cool they are, how happy, how sad they are, if they are not born again, they are going to die and go to Hell. We need to believe that. This is a real place. There is a real danger of us losing the fear of the Lord, of us dying and going to Hell, of not completing God’s plan.

One thing that is always going to happen to us - it does not matter what you believe, where you were born, how you were raised - every one is going to get older. And that is about the only thing you cannot reverse. If you loose all your money, you can make more. If you loose all your friends, you can make some more money and make some more friends. Most things you can get back. If someone burns your house down, you can build another one.

The only thing you cannot reverse is getting older. We will all some day lay on our dying bed and it will be too late. That does not mean much to us now, when we are 13, 14, 15, 20. Maybe not even 30 or 40. But when you hit 50 it becomes more of a reality. You will not be able to reverse that.  Oh, God will forgive you, God will love you, but you will not get a second chance. You will lay there on your dying bed and look back at what you did, and if that is the case, you will have to face the harsh reality that you did nothing. Oh, you had some fun, you ate some Big Macs, maybe you were even able to eat that 6 lb steak and get it for free, but you did not do anything for God, for the Kingdom of God, and it will be, then, too late. In the light of the Kingdom of God, every thing else seems very small. You will lay there on your bed and regret it, because one thing you cannot reverse is age.

He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." Genesis 22:2

Now, we have to try not to turn this into a story, for all you people that have kids. This is God speaking. It is not a good old Abraham story. I mean, what is closer to us than our kids, our family, our wives. Look at what happened here. “Take your son..” He did it.

What is good about the Academy, it teaches us (which hopefully we are going to increase next year), it teaches us not to talk back. It teaches us to be respectful. That is one thing Islam has. There, the older people are respected. There they do like we did Graduation night - first, they go through the buffet. If there is anything left over, then you can have some.

Abraham did what God said. He honored God. The Kingdom of God is not any further than it is, because we have not been able to offer our sons and our daughters to the Kingdom of God. We have been able to offer them to the University, to offer them to become doctors and lawyers and salesman, to run businesses, but we have never been able to offer them to the Kingdom of God. We have never said, well here they are, because the Kingdom of God appears to have nothing to offer us. We don’t see that. But Abraham offered Isaac. 

Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Genesis 24:67

He was comforted by his wife after he lost something. You see, we have to remember that as we are older, as we grow older, we will loose something, but God will comfort us. God will replace. We do not have to be afraid we are going to loose. Parents do not have to be afraid. What’s going to happen to my kids? What is going to happen to me? 

You see, he lost something and God replaced it. As we loose things, and some things we desperately need to loose… some things we will loose automatically because there is a Devil, because the world is mean, because people are mean, sometimes Christians are even meaner. And it is going to happen, but the Bible says he was comforted. God replaced his loss. God replaced his loss with something even greater, and that’s what I believe for Dove World Outreach Center, and that is what I believe for us. We have - you have no idea - we have lost a lot, more than I thought we would be able to stand and live through, but God is going to replace it.

It says here that it was for Isaac a great loss to loose his mother, but God provided something else for him. God gave him something better. Something better than a mother is a wife. God gave him something better. So what I have lost, what we have all lost, what you have lost, in your life, the time, the years, the things, the money, the possessions, God is going to give it back. God is going to make it even greater, because a wife is even better than a mother….. It could be…

Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.

But Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright."

Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

And Jacob said, "First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.  

Genesis 25:28-34

Some of you might be an Esau. I might be one. Esau sold his birthright. He gave it up. Esau had everything. His father is Isaac. He has it all. He will inherit it all. He is the oldest son. He has the guarantee, he has the promise. What did he do? He did what many of us do. He did what we do in America, being the most obese nation in the world. He sold it for some porridge. His flesh got him. Why do we not serve God? Why do we not do certain things? Because our flesh is crying. Why do we not want to do the first year of the Academy, the second year of the Academy, the third year of the Academy? Because it is bad, of the Devil? Because it’s awful, not Scriptural? Because it’s terrible? No, it’s  because of our flesh. That is why we don’t do it.

He lost everything! He lost everything because he could not say no to his flesh. He had a craving. It was not that much. He was only hungry. Not that big a deal. Was it really worth not going to the Academy? Was that porridge, that stew, really worth your birthright? Was it really that important that I’ll do what I want to do, I’ll decide what I want to decide? No it was not worth it. He lost it all. At that particular moment, for that particular second, and that is what we have to overcome, that particular second. For that second it did seem more important, otherwise he would not have done it. For that moment, for that candy bar, that stew, that hunger, that craving, it seemed that important. It grew and grew and grew. 

You have got to withstand that minute, that second. That decision can cost you your life. If you make the wrong mistake, you make it with the wrong person, you have got AIDS.  After the wrong time, the wrong person, wrong second, wrong moment, you have AIDS. That is why we have to withstand that second. In that second you can go the wrong way, run off, hide. One thing wrong with running, people who run never stop running. The first time you run it is hard, the second time you run it is a little easier, then it gets a little bit easier, then it gets a little bit easier, then it gets a little bit easier. And then at the slightest conflict you are gone. 

“...because he had a taste for game,” Esau was a hunter. Esau was a man’s man. Jacob was a woman’s man! He liked vegetables. If you are a man, you don’t eat vegetables! You only eat vegetables because you have got to eat vegetables.  We like meat! We only eat vegetables because they are good for us, because we don’t want to get all fat and ugly! But the Bible here says Isaac liked Esau because he liked game. He was a hunter. We have to be the hunter. The church is the hunted right now. We hide in the buildings.

The other day I talked to a guy outside, and he said, “Well, what about this message? Can’t you take the signs down? Can’t you just talk about this stuff to your congregation?”  We are not the hunters anymore. Here we are really brave.  We say, “We are going to beat the Devil! We are going to sacrifice!” We say, “We are going to do this, we are going to do that!” And then we walk out there and we hide. We walk out there and no, we don’t want to cause no trouble. We don’t want your signs, the property values are going down. We want to be nice. We want to be loved! But we have got to hunt. We do not need to be sitting around anymore. We do not need to wait. We are not waiting on God anymore. God is waiting on us. God is waiting for us to do something. God is waiting for us to move on out there. 

Now Jacob was not a nice guy either. I don’t know how God chooses His people, but they are not very nice. First He chose this Esau, because he is the first born, and he is just as fleshly as can be.  He sold his birthright for a cheeseburger and some french fries. And then this guy is a deceiver. The next one takes advantage of his weakness. That is why you have to defeat the weaknesses in your life. No one is perfect. Everyone has them, but you have to kill as many of them as you can, because they will kill you, because there is always someone there that will take advantage of you. Even the one closest to you. This was his brother. His brother took advantage of his weakness. This is why we have the Academy. That is why we have the training here, so that we can get as many of those weaknesses out of our lives as possible, so that Devil cannot use it. 

Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am."

Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die."

Genesis 27:1-4

It takes time to prepare. We don’t really want to take time anymore. We want everything fast. That’s why the restaurants do so good. It does not matter what the economy is doing, the restaurants still do good. We want it right now. We don’t want to spend any time cooking, making an effort, investing time into it. We have become so lazy, we do not even want to get out of the car to eat. We just go through the drive through. Pretty soon, we won’t even want to eat ourselves. We will just have someone else feed us. 

It was a “savory dish,” a good dish. If you are going to prepare something really good, it takes more effort. If you want something that tastes OK, it can go really fast, you just pop it out of the can and it will be OK. It is probably not so good for you, though, and has some fat in it. But if you are going to prepare something good, you have to get it fresh, right from the vine. It was “such that he loved.” They wanted to please him, the elder, the father, the older person. They took time and effort. We need to take time and effort in the Kingdom of God. We need to honor people. We need to try to do the things that God loves, to do that things that are pleasing to the Kingdom of God. Sometimes even pleasing to people in the Kingdom of God. 

Somebody said one time, “Be careful and make sure you serve God and not man.” That is not true. It is an American, Christian rebellious attitude. There is no such thing. If you serve God, you will, to a certain extent, serve people, because the vision comes through people. I mean, God is not going to show up here in a robe and a long bread and preach to us on Sunday morning. Probably, I will show up here. 

“...and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love,” What does God love? They are doing this for someone else. They are giving all this effort, all this time, all this energy, and they are not getting anything out of it. All they are getting out of it is they are trying to please someone else. They are trying to prepare a dish because they know he likes this. 

“... and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die." It is important to get that blessing. It says they went through all this effort just so this old man would bless them. You young kids, it’s important for you to get our blessing. They went through this whole effort. It was not like in our Western society where old people are considered to be not cool, not fashionable, kind of dumb. This was a whole different situation. This was all done for this father, what he wanted, what he liked, so that he could bless them. We all need that blessing.

Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. Genesis 27:9

They were to bring ‘choice’ young goats. The best. This is the best. God wants the best. God does not want the best, God demands the best. It is not a choice. He did not say to go a get a couple of goats, we need to eat something. He said, No, you go and do the best. God wants your best, because the University does not deserve your best. Your friends do not deserve your best. God deserves your best. You do not deserve your best. Your best belongs to God. You do your best. You do give your best. The best belongs to God. That is when you give tithes and offerings, you give your best. You give the first. 

We do not always have to do this. It is not always that the father, the Pastor, the parent, the elder our best, but it is a principle we have missed, serving, wanting them to have the best. If the parent then says, no you go ahead and take it, then good. But here there is an honoring, an honoring of this person, this position. If we do not honor God, honor the church, honor the call! Why should the quarterback, the pitcher, the rock star, the business man, mean more than honoring the church and God? We do that because of our flesh. That is why we do it. 

So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved. Genesis 27:14

He did it, and I hope he did it with heart. This is where we as older people, and the younger people, we need to watch it. It is not only the obedience. We need to be obedient and from the heart. We need to see that this is an honor. Go and get the two goats. You have been chosen to get the goats. You have been chosen to deliver, to do this, to do that in the Kingdom. You have been chosen to do that. 

It should not be, “Oh man, now I have to do this, go and deliver furniture, now I have to wash the car, now I have to wax the car, and now the job wasn’t good enough and now I have to do it again.” No, let’s do it the first time with our whole heart. 

They did not have to send him back. His mother did not send him to get the two goats and she had to say, no, take the goats back. They are not good enough. In what ever we do - take those pictures back, they are not god enough. Wash that car again, it is not good enough. God and clean your room again. It is not good enough. It’s about giving our best from the very beginning. He went and got the goats. He took time. He took energy. He wasn’t resentful. He considered it an honor to get those goats and bring them to his father.

He went and got them and brought them to his mother. Who did he bring them to? The right person. To the authority. The one that would get the job done. If you have something to bring, such as a complaint, bring it to the right person. He did not take the goats to the father, to one of the sisters, and say, “Here are the old goats. This is what our mother made me do. Made me get those old goats. Do you know what is going to happen? They are going to kill those goats.” turn obedience into accusation. That is what people do.  

If you are not careful, you turn obedience into accusation. “I have to wash that car because old Terry is too lazy to do it himself. Now I have to wash it again because he is somehow here the big cheese!” “We’ve got these goats. They are going to kill the poor goats. Don’t you feel sorry for the poor goats?” You are being humanistic. You feel sorry for the poor goats. Goats are week, dumb, they cannot even do anything. Oh, they are making me work, making me get a goat! I don’t want to get a goat. Neh, I want to play basketball! How come I have to get a goat? What about Tommy. Let him get a goat!

Just get the goat and be happy. Because actually, the reward is in getting the goat. There is no reward in not getting the goat! I mean, you didn’t do anything. 

Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 1 Samuel 18:3

This is an example of the church. This is an example of sacrifice. We were all raised think about ourselves, to be concerned about what I want, what I get, what can I get. That’s why we do everything. That is why we go to school, partly because we have to, but also because you can get an education and get what you want. That is why the Universities are full. They are not full of people who just love to study and live in dorms. They are there because they want something. They are going to study, get a degree, get a better life so they can get what they want, so they can buy what they want. That is what our whole society is. 

But look at this verse. Jonathan was the son of the King. Jonathan had it made. Now if you had it made (not that any of us have it this made) but if you were the son of the King, you had more money than you could ever spend, you were popular, you were liked, you were loved, would you give that all away for David? Now that is really a thought. 

Would you give it all away because there is a David, there is a Dove World Outreach Center, there is a Sylvia, a Terry, a Waynes or Lukes, there is somebody who has it? You’ve got it but you don’t have it. In other words, what you’ve got is from your father but not from God. You don’t have that position, you don’t have that place, you don’t have that authority. 

What would we do? I have to say that most of us would hold on to it with all of our strength. We would let David go to hell, we would let David die, we would let David get killed because we want to keep our throne. We want to keep what we’ve got. We want to keep our money, our thing, our position. My father is Saul, the King! I am going to keep that. 

Even though I know David should actually have that, even though I know I should sacrifice it, I should give it up, I should give it to him, I should do it, I should pay the price, I should do the second year Academy, third year Academy, first year Academy, I should do it, I should work, I should give those three years. Jacob gave fourteen years, and we can’t give three. Jacob gave fourteen years, and we can’t give one year, or one day, or six months. Jonathan made a covenant with david because he loved him as himself. Now that is something! That is a relationship. That is what we are looking for. A few of those people. 

You know, they say it only takes ten percent to change a society. You don’t even need the majority. Most people are so apathetic, so selfish, most people don’t really care. Like some guy told us, “Why should I care! Why should I care about the sign, about Islam? Why should I care? It doesn’t touch my life.” You see, that is the problem. If it does touch your life, then it is probably too late. In other words, if it has grown to that extent, if  it has become that large that it is beginning to touch individuals, instead of just isolated instances, then probably it is too late, it is already too late. 

Let’s not be stupid. Stupid people are people who ignore God, ignore the warnings of God, ignore the men and women of God.