so we’re going to be looking at a special service today and it’s titled what kind of transition are you looking for what kind of transition are you looking for so I’m going to bring out and introduce no stranger to this church in fact they just ended last night a tremendously successful conference here yesterday and it ended last night he is a recognized author best-selling author he is a prolific author he is the host of cross-examined and it’s a Ministry podcast that is just growing I love this

guy he hails from North Carolina but whenever he’s here we like to consider Frank being home so welcome Frank Tura Dr Frank Turek oh so um we’re gonna ask all of you to stand even though even though the front row gave him a standing ovation so we’re going to do this you guys know the drill here’s the here’s the thing we’re going to do our scripture reading this morning to get into this but uh like I’ve done just a couple of times in the past this will be a montage of scriptures clumped together we’ve done

this before and um there’s no harm to the Bible in doing this it’d be like reading as it were a devotional through how about that all Bible just selective scriptures put together the numbers are changed so you and I have an even an odd number to read by but I want to reassure you this is all Bible and we’ve put it together almost like a like a topical Bible with reference scripture are you ready I’ll do the odd number versus join with Frank this time first time ever right you’ll you’ll uh you’ll read with Frank and

I’ll read with Jesus um verse one I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and ground of the truth but know this that in the last days perilous times will come for men would be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents wow unthankful Unholy unloving unforgiving Slanders without self-control brutal despisers of good Traders headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away but as the days of Noah were so also with the coming of the son of man be now when these things begin to happen look up and lift up your heads because your Redemption draws near these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will always transform our lowly body

that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself Heavenly Father Lord we pray in Jesus name that you would bless the going forth of this word Lord we admit today we are mere followers of your lead we come with a couple of fish and some bread trusting you to multiply so Lord cause this message to make an impact Lord this is your Bible and these are the last days so how about God to the ends of the Earth people need to hear this truth so Lord

please give us skill right now to teach and to handle your awesome and precious word in Jesus name and all God’s people said amen amen you may be seated everybody so you guys we’re going to go through this and um we want to warn you like most things here at church it’s it’s un uh unrehearsed but um we can simply set it up this way Frank before you do the rest of the service that is uh for for all of us I’m not going to say some of us but for all of us listen there’s Health there’s health

ges in our lives there’s debt issues there’s things such as addiction relationship issues there’s things that are going on in in your maybe theological issues maybe you’re struggling with certain things about either how you were brought up spiritually or what you’ve come to to know today and you find a conflict with the Bible and what about those that have been abused somebody recently said uh Pastor Jack I’ve come from an abusive home or dysfunctional home they said and and I said just get in line

none of us none of us have come from a perfect home I I I want you to know that none of us is we’ve not come I mean maybe you’ve come close from a perfect home but most of us have not but I want you to know we want you to know that God’s power is greater than any abuse that this world can bring to us and bring against us and um and part of the the trouble and the Heart felt pain is when a child goes astray you’ve raised them in the Lord and it seems as though you’re losing them and in our culture today

we’re hearing it here every every church every school every state is hearing it among those and that is my child’s come home from school and they’ve announced to Dad and I that they’re either LBGTQ Plus or trans and we want to address that today with Frank in town and you’ll know more later as we’ll get make sure we get the QR code up but Frank has written a book correct but not politically correct that could save somebody’s life we’ll talk about that more in the end but um Frank you want to dive on in and

share you know I was talking to my wife who serves for me as an alternate Holy Spirit and and Lee Lisa and Stephanie went to the same school for that they did they did and I said Jack and I were talking about doing a sermon together what should we do and she said you need to communicate that we need to have an eternal perspective amen and we do have to have an eternal perspective because life doesn’t end when you are put in the ground it goes on and the the verse or the chat the the section of passages that deal with this

at Great length is Paul writing in second Corinthians chapter four and he’s writing in second Corinthians chapter four to the church at Corinth because they’re dealing with pain and suffering and what does he encourage them with he says in second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16 he says our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us but it’s up there our light therefore we not lose heart though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly are we being renewed day by day for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us

an eternal glory that far outweighs them all so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what honest but what on his unseen but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal now I think what Paul is saying here to put it in plain everyday English is that when you go through difficulty you are enhancing Your Capacity to enjoy God not only now but forever there are struggles that we have that actually will enhance our capacity to know God and then to make him known amen so when you’re going through difficulty

look at it as an opportunity to actually grow in your knowledge and relationship with God because I mean Paul talks about this elsewhere as you know Jack he talks about Romans I need somebody to preach through Romans you guys know anybody that will Nobody Does that anymore right that you’re you’ve passed Romans 5 or you get you’re getting a romance we just passed Romans you just passed Romans 5.

you know when he says he he basically says that we glory in Tribulation because tribulation produces character and character produces hope I don’t know about you jack probably does this but I don’t when I’m in Tribulation I don’t glory in it do you glory in it no you just want to get out of it don’t you and James says count it all joy when you fall into various trials because the testing of your faith produces patience I don’t I don’t glory in Trials do you glory in Trials this is what the scripture tells us and when you’re going

to get to Romans 12 he’s going to say renew your mind we need to do this oh exactly that yeah and listen of course nobody says oh boy my car just burned down or I just lost my job or this is what just happened with my family or like we’re talking about today my son my daughter came home and said they may be something else what is happening number one whatever is happening has not missed the eye of God in fact before in second Corinthians 4 verses 8 and 9 listen to what Paul uh really prefaced what Frank read a moment

ago we are hard-pressed on every side so you may feel like that yet not crushed we are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed you might feel like that so we want to reach two groups as it were today we want to encourage those of you who are going through this drama of this era of this age this thing that we’re learning is trending and also you who think that you are in the midst of this transition yourself now I’m going to say something that is brutally honest

but let’s just get get it out on the table right now we’re living in an age that the Bible anticipated they’re called the last days we don’t have to make it up even John said we’re in the last days the last days technically deals with a time when the gospels preach to the world that’s been for two thousand years but for the last days there’s the last hour John talked about he said in the last hour of the last days You’re Gonna Know it because there’s going to be false doctrines false teachings and there are

going to be those who are coming seeking really I’m free paraphrasing this to destroy the Innocence and they’ll find every means possible to do that and listen throughout human history Satan has always targeted children always and so I want you to know that we’re not here to yell scream beat up on you we’re inviting you to hang on to your seat or stay tuned in and take it just take it you can take it know this we love you God loves you but he loves you so much he loves us so much that he won’t leave

us the way we are he wants Jack and he wants Frank transformed he wants you transformed but your description of transformation is one that is wholly demonic and not of your heavenly father you need to know that Satan wants the image of God who you are an image bearer of the almighty God every human being is an image bearer of the almighty God you were the only one created in His image Satan wants to undo that so Frank let me just give you an example of I know it’s a trivial example but I think it communicates and how you enhance your

capacity to go through difficulty I’m from New Jersey originally forget about it so I grew up in New York Giant fan and in 2004 they traded to get Eli Manning in the first round first pick and he wasn’t very good the first few years and when your brother’s name is Peyton and your pick number one in New York New York you’re not going to you’re not going to like being there because they just hammered him you’re not very good your number one pick your brother’s name is Peyton you stink you’re never gonna

make it then in 2007 he got his somehow had a decent Year got his team uh to the playoffs beat three teams on the road including the hated Dallas Cowboys we have a saying in New Jersey whenever the Cowboys win it’s living proof that Satan is Alive and Well anyway now we root for the Commanders yes we do you guys we we have a Sam Howell is a friend of ours let’s keep your eyes on the commander commanders they don’t know what a commander is the Washington Redskins remember that yeah them yeah in any event starting so yeah that’s it so

what happens is Eli gets to the Super Bowl but tragically for him he’s going up against the 18-0 New England Patriots who already had 19-0 written there they had the book written they just had to win the game and then the uh Giants actually play a good game against the Patriots and it’s 14 to 10 in the fourth quarter and Eli has the ball and he’s got to go 80 yards to win the Super Bowl and somehow he’s about to be sacked he throws his Hail Mary pass to David tyree’s helmet some of you remember that

who was a Christian last pass he ever caught in the NFL and then a few plays later he throws the winning touchdown to plexigo Burris and Giants win over the 18-0 New England Patriots and Tom Brady was deflated yay some of you will get that tomorrow after the game after the game Eli Hill Trophy and so did the third string quarterback who hardly played it down all year questioned did Eli enjoy that more than the third string quarterback yes why because he went through all the difficulty he went through all the people that said he couldn’t do it he

went through all the trouble and he actually was in the game and he came out Victorious that is how you enhance your capacity to enjoy a reward if you go through life with no troubles you might live A Pleasant life but it will be a shallow life you will not enhance your capacity to know God and to know Jesus and so that’s just an illustration of how I think this works now some of you are going to say well I don’t see the victory now I don’t see how my in my capacity is enhance I didn’t win the Super Bowl I didn’t hold

up the Lombardi trophy even if you don’t see the victory always know that despite any trouble you’re going through there’s always a ripple effect what’s the ripple effect the ripple effect is that everything that happens ripples forward to affect trillions of other events let me give you a one ripple effect that affects you affects everybody in this room affects everybody watching out there in the 1970s a teenager went into a church not looking for God but looking for girls pick it up from here

[Laughter] [Applause] I did not see that coming there’s a ripple effect long story short ripple effect was this the gospel got preached to a guy with the name of Greg Laurie Greg Laurie gets up on a Podium starts preaching the gospel I happen to have been sitting there I heard the gospel and that same gospel that changed uh that hippie guy on the stage changed my heart changed Frank’s heart changes listen not only changes but it’s hard to explain those of you who you’ll know what I mean in a moment

I didn’t know what was going on in that moment on June 20th 1977 just around 9 00 pm at night on a Monday night I just knew something had confronted me and it wasn’t any human being there wasn’t somebody pushing me around there wasn’t somebody pressuring me to sign up none of that stuff was going on someone I wouldn’t even call it a someone I didn’t know I was listening to what Greg Laurie was preaching but I couldn’t I didn’t know christianese I couldn’t talk it I didn’t