Let the Little Children Come — Mark 10

0:14 Greetings in the name of the Lord. And what a privilege it is to be here and thank God for the sunshine and for his grace and keeping us alive another day. We were in Jamaica this past Thursday, and I did get a tan. Of course, I was born with it. Yeah.

0:51 And we were with old friends that we hadn't seen in quite a while. So we had a chance to relax and calm down for a little bit. It was beautiful while we were there and God's blessing was on us. To let you know, we'll be having our men's conference May 29 through the thirty first of this year in Cedarville University, which is not far from here. And so any of you men want to sign up for that, we'll have great speakers, great time of fellowship.

1:26 And we've been looking forward to this. And so many people have written me and say, Dwight, you're have another men's conference? We're to have another men's conference. Yes, we're going to have another men's conference. But what I'm really excited about is July 19 through the twenty sixth, every two years we do this, we will have our destination conference.

1:48 Now, it's important that you know that it's for young people, adults are invited. We'd love to have you. It's for young people. It's a cruise starting in Galveston, Texas. And it's a wonderful time of fellowship and Bible study.

2:04 Nate Bramson, Pierre Cannings and myself will be preaching. We did it two years ago and from Fort Lauderdale and we had two Bible studies a day and we have our Bible study in the middle and we had a wonderful time of witnessing on a cruise ship. We had people coming from the cruise to our Bible study and just loving to be with us. We had wonderful singing. We just had a great time.

2:30 So, it's a great time for young people to get together and know other young people from all over the country and some parts of the world. So please put that on your calendar. If you kids want to come you can come for free if you're willing to pay full price. So ask your parents for that instead of a new Nintendo game. But, it's a wonderful time of fellowship.

2:58 I've I think it was the I've done multiple cruises in my life. That was by far the best one I've ever been on. Wonderful time fellowship made lifelong friends from all over the country and so and we're going to Israel this year we're going in October I would love to say I'd love to have you have you there with me but it's already sold out we announced it at one time and within three weeks it was sold out. So we're going to plan to not only go this time in October but we're going again. So if you want to be on the mailing list let let us know and you'll put on the waiting list and be one of the first to be able to sign up.

3:35 Ask you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark. The book of Mark. Mark chapter 10 verse 13. And this is a very familiar passage of scripture. I thank God that this is in the Bible because I got saved when I was four years old and under dubious circumstances I got saved is either get saved or get beat.

4:07 So, I decided on the former rather than the latter. It was one of it was assistant pastor of our church, brother Haman Cross. He thought I had beat, he had 11 kids and his ninth child was a contemporary of mine and he had just cut open my eye by hitting me with a piece of chalk. And his father thought, because of all the blood that was being shed, that I had beat his son and made him bleed. He picked me up and started beating me and he said, You need to accept Christ.

4:50 Are you going accept Christ? Yes, if you'll stop beating me. And then I still had the scar as a matter of fact, last me all these years. And his son was over there making faces at me and all of... And his father didn't know.

5:40 Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter therein. And he took them in his arms and he put his hands upon them and blessed them. Father, we thank you for your word. We ask you now father that you would empower so that we might communicate effectively that in everything you'd be glorified and magnified and exalted among your people in Jesus name. Amen.

6:10 The wonderful thing about the Christian home is that it represents the true power of God on the earth. God has so ordained that the man would be the head of the home, not the boss of the home, just the person that he has given the responsibility to to answer to him. But then he is given the woman to be the heart of the home. She's the pulse by which the home is measured. You ever want to see if a house run right, make sure the wife is happy that she's content.

6:52 And then the kids are the heritage of the home. They're the future. They're the decision on how things are being practiced in the family. I have had so many, godchildren in my life. Now, the Lord didn't see fit for me to have any natural kids of my own, but I have 48 godchildren.

7:15 Now I think word got out that I had given, made sure that my first godson got an annuity when he would turn 21 that he got some money. So, so many people said, good idea. Let's make Dwight the Godfather. So, I have three godsons from one disciple of mine and I asked them what do you want for Christmas and I got the craziest requests. IPhone, iPads, iWatch, what?

7:49 How about a lollipop? And I spent $1,200 on them and they said, thank you uncle Dwight. Yeah, that's all I get for Christmas. Thank you. Understand something that children are the proof of God's blessing in your life.

8:07 You know, ask god for a lot of things but the fruit of the family, the legacy going on is a special privilege and you should be proud of that. Even though your children may give you headaches and cause you to worry, they are still a blessing from god. One thing though that is an issue that has come of age is the plurality of society damaging our children. It used to be we could distinguish quite clearly a Christian kid or kid that whose family were believers from the world. Not so much anymore.

8:49 Notice the first part of verse number 13. And they brought unto him young children. Not just children, but young children. And the inference here is that there were children who were probably just a little better than toddlers, Kids who were still under the very watchful eye of their parents. In other words, kids in their preformative years.

9:20 And they brought them to Jesus. They wanted him had to have contact with them. The the object of his blessing, they wanted that he had become so famous in his persona, so famous in his messages, so famous about his healings. Parents in the area at that time wanted him just to touch him. I believe that every child should be touched by Jesus.

9:51 It's amazing to me when I was in Arizona on the Navajo Reservation, I was asked by some friends of mine in Des Moines to go down with them. And it was at the Emmanuel Gospel Mission they had on that reservation and it's amazing to me of the hundreds of people that were there, they brought to me the first day, they brought to me the children. Now they were teenagers, were college students, they were out of work men and so on and so forth, but they brought to me the children. And they said, would you mind praying with them? I said, yeah, I don't mind praying with them if you let me do something afterwards.

10:32 And so they said, fine. So I prayed with them. And I prayed as long as I could and they were restless. And they said, well, what do you want to do now? I said, I want to play with them.

10:43 Play with them? Yeah. See, kids have got to be convinced that what we're doing is right. And we have to communicate to them in their language. I remember I was asked to speak at a conference at Emmaus and I got there rather early on the Friday and the guy that was there, his name was Rick said, we're Dwight you're here early.

11:09 And the meeting doesn't start to 08:30. Why don't you go over to the local school and get with the kids there? I said, yeah, no problem. I have no problem talking to teenagers. He said no, elementary.

11:20 I said elementary. It's not any of those little kids? He said yeah you know those about seven eight years old. I said what? And he said there's some kindergartner kids there too.

11:31 I said I can't, all I can do is tell them stories. He said well tell them stories. He said, really you'll have a great crowd. I said, there's a captive crowd. They don't want to be there.

11:40 And he said, no, he said go ahead. So I went to the local drugstore got a bunch of lollipops and talked to the kids. Something strange happened afterwards. This little blonde haired blue eyed kid came running through the room and jumped in the air and I caught her and she said I like you, you're fun. And I said, well, thank you, honey.

12:05 She said, I'm gonna spend all day with you. I said, well, I think your mother might not like that. And then she thought for a moment and said, I'll risk a spanking if you will. I believe that's the way Jesus was. I believe that he was...

12:25 Young children loved to nestle in his arms because they saw in his eyes that he really loved them. He really loved them. I had a chance many times to go to different places and one young man who claimed to be an atheist and didn't believe in the Bible Came up to me after one of the sessions we had and he came up to me and he said, I don't know if I believe in your Bible or not. I don't believe in God and all that kind of stuff but you have something I have never really ever seen. I said, what's that?

13:04 He said, you have eyes like you really care. You see no matter how great your theology is, no matter how sound your doctrine may be, the world needs to know that you actually love them, that you actually care about them. And that's what Jesus did. Jesus had made such an impression on the world that the world looked at Jesus and said, I want my kid to be touched by him. I want my kid to be acknowledged by him.

14:02 Saw kids as a a distraction, destructive, and you wonder where is the love of god? So often, was told when I was a little kid, get out of here. We don't have time for this here. And there was one brother who was an elderly gentleman. He had wonderful soft eyes and a wonderful smile.

14:27 They said, let him play, let him come in. And he'd give us all a nickel and we would hover around him and he would say nickels all week just to give to us. I could listen to him. When he talked about life and loving the Lord and living for the Lord, I could listen to him. And he died when I was 17, but I would listen to him because he made the impression of loving me.

14:53 Disciples had lost that view that Jesus was too busy for that. Jesus said, wait a minute, wait a minute, hold it. This is the first time in the Bible when it says Jesus was displeased. He was displeased. That's something they had done.

15:12 They were so concerned about the meeting and so concerned about the order and so concerned about the announcements and the bulletin. They forgot that people were people and Jesus loves people. And I remember so accurately, my grandfather who was a father figure for me for years. He was a Brethren elder for forty seven years and he was quite an example to me. He was probably my greatest hero.

15:48 And he said, Dwight, never on his deathbed, he said, never grow up. Be an adult but never grow up. I said, daddy, what do you mean by that? He said, son, you'll understand. You'll understand.

16:05 If you were to ask me right day today, I'm 60 years old, I'm kind of ashamed of but I'm 60 years old but I feel like I'm 19. I'm just as silly as I can be. I feel like I'm 19. I don't like it when people say I'm so old. No, you're not.

16:24 You're living. You're only old when they put you in the ground. You're living. Because if you're old now, you have nothing to look forward to. You have nothing to set your gaze on.

16:39 You're always thinking about, oh, I'm going to die. No, listen, you're still alive. You're still alive. One of the blessings about Christianity is we have something that the world doesn't understand, eternal life. Now there is this mentality that eternal life and everlasting life are the same thing.

17:03 Well, to some degree, eternal life is different from everlasting life because yeah, everlasting life is living forever. Every person who is saved, every person in the world is going to live forever just the way you're to do it in HE AVN or HE double hockey sticks. But you're to live forever. There's no doubt about that. Everybody has eternal life, but it's where will they spend it.

17:28 But Jesus says, look at what it says in John chapter 17 verse three. In the high priestly prayer of Jesus, notice what he says in John chapter 17 verse three, and this is life eternal that they may know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Life eternal is knowing God. Knowing him. And I say there's a difference because notice the words of Paul.

18:05 Second Timothy chapter one verse 12, for I know in whom I had what? Believed. I know him. I know him. I know him.

18:18 I know him. What did God say about Abraham in Genesis chapter 18? For I know Abraham, that he's going to raise his family right. I know him. And everlasting life, yes, is guaranteed at salvation, but eternal life is the encounter of walking with Him day by day, knowing God and being known of Him.

19:30 Understand something. I understand you have a building and you have nice chairs and nice furniture and you don't want to tore up because it costs money and all that kind of stuff. But at some point, we have got to make it a concerted effort to pass on Jesus, not the tradition of church. We have to pass on Jesus, the person of Jesus. We have several young people that are associated with me that even some of them I have discipled who have jumped the curb and denounced Christ completely.

20:08 Young men who at one time were promising in what they knew about the word and of the scriptures have renounced him and now say they're atheists and don't follow Christ. And they always point back to their parents. The reason is my parents. The reason is my father didn't. The reason is my family didn't.

20:30 The reason is our family was always this, always that. And the family, the thing that they highlight most is their family was deeply entrenched in rules and not relationship. Ray asked me an important question last night. He said, what did you learn from this? What was your thinking?

20:52 What were you going through? I have to be honest with you, Satan attacked me greatly while I was in the hospital and some months afterwards. Is your God really God? Then why did you have a stroke Dwight? Think of all the places you had to cancel from speaking, all the people who are affected by you.

21:11 Is God really God? Your brother just died two months ago. Is God really God? Your brother's the healthiest person you've ever met, worked out every day of his life, looked like a Greek god. I mean, we could almost be twins.

21:28 He he was a handsome guy. He was a father of three. Where's god in all this, Dwight? If God is the sum total of my experiences, then he's not God. At no point has he ever stopped being God.

21:51 Yes, I had those moments of weakness. Yes, I had those moments of wonder, But I always go back and I think of my life, that had to be God. That had to be God. When I was a little kid, it had to be God. Listening to my mother pray and God answering her prayers right away, that had to be God.

22:09 It's not coincidence. The friends that I've encountered had to be God. The witnessing and the lives that God has allowed me to touch had to be God. The testimony of his greatness had to be God because I learned early in a good Godly church that it was more than rules, it's relationship. Look at verse number 14.

22:34 Look at the reaction that Jesus gave. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased and said unto them, suffer the children. In other words, allow in our book of vernacular, allow the little children to come unto me, to come unto me. Don't bring them so much to me, but let the kids come to me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of God. And I relish the idea that nine years old, I wanted to preach God's word.

23:06 I remember when I was seven years old, standing on a a sewer, top and preaching to all the kids in our neighborhood. And when I was 10 years old, I went to the one of the elders of our church and said, I have a message. I I think I want to preach today. He said, really? I said, yes.

23:23 I want to preach. So he let me preach. He let me preach a very convoluted, stupid message. But he patted me on the head, and all the congregation saw that he was proud of the fact that I wanted to be a preacher. Let the children, the little children come unto me.

23:51 Heart full of wonder. Mine may be mixed up and confused, but the desire is there. And they asked me quite plainly, who do you want to live with Dwight? They asked me that when I was 12 years old. I said, I want to live with Jesus Christ.

24:05 I want to honor him in my life. And that has been the theme of my life. You ask me every day, Dwight, what do you want? I want him to honor him with my life. I want the world to see me, who he really is.

24:17 Years ago, I was speaking at Clemson University and I was set to speak that Friday night and a guy and a girl were driving to the meeting. The girl's name was Becky and the guy's name was Josh. And Becky and Josh were driving down the road to go to the meeting and all of a sudden Bucky, Becky, now Becky's a beautiful girl, beautiful girl, beautiful thick curly blonde hair. And she said, wait, wait, stop, stop. And Josh said, what?

24:49 She said, turn around, turn around quickly, turn around. And he said what's wrong with you we're going to be late he she said turn around and he turned the car around and he said where am I going said just go back and he said back where you forget something and she was totally uncommunicating with him. He says, Just go back. And she said, Turn into gas station. And it was a highway gas station.

25:11 It was also a convenience store. And he said, What's wrong with you? I don't need gas. Just stop. And he pulled over and she jumped out of the car and ran to the gas station.

25:22 He said, well, maybe she has to go to the bathroom or something like that, you know, and he went after her and she went in, ran past the front counter where two guys were talking and she went into a corner and stood on her head. Now this is a true story. She stood on her head. All of a sudden one of the guys at the counter screamed and threw his hand up and ran out the gas station. So Josh and Becky collected themselves and went to the counter and said what just happened?

25:59 The guy said that's really strange. What's strange? Here I am, I'm a Christian and I was witnessing to this guy about Jesus Christ and the guy was a staunch atheist. And as we were talking, discussing, was trying to reason with him, he said, listen, if God is God and wants me to know his son, have the most beautiful girl, blonde haired, come in here and stand her head in that corner. And that's exactly what Becky did.

26:27 And instead of giving his life to Jesus Christ, he ran out screaming. You know what that means? Jesus going to every link that you need so you'll know who he is. Sometimes that encounter with people happens when they are children. Some one foot in the grave.

26:52 Sometimes it's in college. Sometimes it's after you're married. But he wants people to come to him and know him and know him. I dare say nothing would have shook me from my faith when I was a little child. The reaction of Jesus lets us know that he was demonstrative about his relationship with children.

27:55 You know what a child does? He believes. He believes. That's why we would tell our kids, some of us, that there was a Santa Claus and kids would believe that. They believe in it because kids want to believe in wonder.

28:10 See, the whole idea is that we've lost the idea of wonder with our kids. Eternity is about wonder. One day he's coming back. He's coming back. He's coming back.

28:21 My godson Michael was the only boy among his three sisters and he was the youngest. And I was over there at his house one day and I was spending time with his father. His father is my best friend. And we're talking about something that was getting ready for a conference and we're discussing all those kinds of things. And Michael was just looking from the edge of the living room into the kitchen hoping that I have a little time for him.

28:49 And I wanted to get to an appointment so I left Micah's house and got in my car and drove down the street. And Micah turned to his sisters his sisters who were taunting him at the time. Micah said, one day he's going to come back and he's just going to come for me. He's going do something just with me. And while I was in the car, the strange thing was, I said, you know, I really don't have to go to this meeting.

29:16 I could spend the day with Micah. I could take him to the zoo. I could take him to the park. I could take him to a movie. I could take him, you know where he wants to go.

29:22 I think yeah, I'd turn around and go back and pick up Micah. It was a warm summer day and Michael was looking out the window and he said he's turning around, he's turning around. His sisters who are really mean said he's just turning around because he has a different place to go home before he goes home. Said, no, I think he's coming back for me. He's coming back for me.

29:43 No, you stupid. You're going to be disappointed. No. And I pulled into their driveway. Micah says, he's coming back.

29:50 He's coming back. He's back. He's coming back. And he says, So what? He just forgot to tell daddy something.

29:56 He's not coming back for you. Micah said, No, he's coming back for me. I bet he's coming back for me. And I came into the room, into the house opened the door and said, Micah, come here. He said, see, he's coming back for me.

30:09 He's coming back for me. That has been my story all of my life. One day my savior is coming back from me. I'm absolutely sure that our Lord, when he comes home to pick us up to go home, he's going to call each one of us by name. But I hate to tell you this, he's going to call for me first.

30:36 And you can say the same thing. He's going call for me first. Somehow or another he's going to call each one of us by name. Arise my fair one, my beloved, and come away. And you'll hear his voice and you'll come away.

30:49 And that's not a fairy tale. That's the truth. He's going to call for you. I've been loving that thought ever since I was four years old that he's coming back for me. That he's coming back for me.

31:02 That wonderful savior of the universe who kept me when I was afraid of the dark. When the world didn't make sense and caused me to cry, he stayed with me. Who fulfilled all my hopes and all my dreams, all those crazy prayers I prayed when I was young. The Lord answered those prayers and that's why I serve him. Look at what the next thing it says in verse number 16.

31:46 I believe he did that with every child that he met. He hugged them. You know one thing I love the old hymns that we used to sing, and probably one of my favorites is In the Garden. And the Course says, and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.

32:18 Now, I'll be honest with you. Of all the 48 godchildren I have, somehow another I've been able to communicate with them as best as humanly possible that they're the most important. Each one of my godchildren believes that I'm the most important one. As a matter of fact, one of my godsons in South Carolina says, Uncle Dwight, this is your favorite godson. Now he doesn't tell me his name.

32:43 He said this is my your favorite godson. I said really, how have you been? Oh, I've been doing alright. Are you sure? Yes.

32:50 Do you know who this is? I always knew who it was. Do you know who you are? Yes, I'm Jeremiah. Yeah, thought it was you Jeremiah.

32:57 That's how we tricked him into saying that. But he took them in his arms. The hug of the savior that he embraces me with shows his love. And then after that, notice the touch of the savior. It says, he took them in his arms and put his hands on bond them.

33:22 Wait a minute, he's already touching them, he's hugging them, but he deliberately put his hands on him, on them. Those hands, the hands that would one day be nailed to a cross, The hands that had touched leopards. The hands that had raised the dead touched him, touched him. One of our camp directors, I was on a camp staff for years, said it is important that we remember, she said this at a staff meeting, it is important that we touch every child. We touch them.

34:02 That they feel our touch in our heart. We might have to sometimes be stern with them. Sometimes we have to be administrative with them, but every one of them should feel our love. And let me tell you something. I've been the camp director and camp program director and so on and so forth for several years and I've seen hundreds of thousands of kids and I'd be in the oddest places sometimes in another state but a kid will see me with a smile who's now an adult, married, maybe we have kids of his own.

34:32 Say, Brother Dwight, do you remember me? What would I remember you from? From camp. Remember when I was at Lake Geneva? Oh yeah, I remember.

34:41 Lake Geneva, yeah, I remember you. Well, I really enjoyed you Brother Dwight, thank you. And so I I pat myself on the back saying, that kid I touched. See, the the person of Jesus Christ is communicated through us. Communicated through us.

35:03 We have to touch the lives of children. Not only the touch of the Lord Jesus, look at finally the consecration of the Lord Jesus. Look what it says at the end of verse number 16. He put took them up in his arms. He put his hands on them and blessed them.

35:24 And blessed them. When I was a little boy, there was an elder in our church who, was very famous. He and his three brothers had left Philadelphia. They were from The Bahamas. They had left Philadelphia and one went to New York, one went to the South to Atlanta and one went to New York, I mean to Detroit.

35:47 And the one that went to Detroit was the most famous of all three of them. His name was BM Nottage. And Doctor. Nottage is responsible for maybe 30 or 40 brethren churches are getting started in the Midwest and even today people you mentioned B. M.

36:04 Nottage name in Detroit and people are really revered by what a man of God he was. Well Doctor. Nottage died at 66 years of age and he died in 1965. Well, in 1965, right before he died, he was in a wheelchair. But he had preached a message, a message that a five year old Dwight could understand and he called it Speckled Birds.

36:31 Wonderful message, I still remember it. And after it was over, and it was the last time I would see him, I didn't know at that time, I ran up to his wheelchair and I grabbed it and I said, Doctor. Nottage, how can you preach like that? Adults everywhere said, Go on. Goodbye.

36:47 Don't bother him. He said, No, no, no. How can I preach like that? And he, with those big hands of his, just clapped him and well, I... And he began to cry.

37:04 He grabbed my hands. I tried to pull away from him, but he grabbed my hands and let them feel his tears. And I was scared. And he said, I really can't tell you, son. I can't put it into words, but I pray one day you'll understand.

37:24 I really pray that one day you'll understand. He had reached a point with Jesus Christ. Jesus had done something to his soul that could not be communicated in English. Language failed him. Words that normally we were glib with bailed him.

37:51 And he prayed that one day the passion of Jesus, the love of Jesus, and the conviction and the consecration of Jesus will be communicated to this boy. And I remember when they told me that Doctor. Nottage had died that I cried and I told my mother the last time I had seen him. And you know parents and adults don't always listen to five year olds. But my mother took note of that.

39:02 Thank you, man. Wow. That was really a powerful message. He said, I'm going to live for Christ. I'm not going to do drugs anymore.

39:09 I'm not going to have sex out of wedlock anymore. I'm going live for the Lord. Well, I hear that all the time. Oh, okay. All right.

39:15 All right. Sure. Six months later, I was there at the winter retreat and he was there and he said, Brother White, you remember me? I said, Yeah, kinda remember you. He said, It's been six months.

39:25 It's been hard, but it's been six months. I'm still walking with the Lord. I said, Well, I don't hear that very much. Good, good for you. And the next summer I was there and he said, Brother White, I'm on program staff here.

39:37 It's been a year and I'm still walking with the Lord. Brother Dwight, I'm going stay with it all my life. I said, Well, the Lord. Praise, that's good to hear. Don't give up.

39:47 He said, I'm really trying not to. I want to serve the Lord. Well, months later, I was there for another camp retreat and he said, Brother Dwight, he said, I'm still on program team and I'm thinking about going to Bible College and I'm still walking with the Lord, Brother Dwight. I'm still walking with the Lord. I said, man, good for you.

40:06 He said, that see that girl over there? I like her. I said, really? I said, he said, I'm going ask her out. I'm going see if she wants to be my girlfriend.

40:15 And, Summer came around and there he was again and he was program director. And I said, wow, you did pretty good for yourself. He said, well, I've learned a lot of things. He said, I got accepted in the movie. I said, really?

40:27 He said, yeah, I'm leaving for a movie. He said, I want to be a missionary. The young lady over there, I think I'm going to marry her. I said, wow, same girl, same girl. I said, okay, that sounds good.

40:36 It's really good. Let me know if you go to Moody's. When a retreat comes around, he says, I came back for this weekend because they told me you're going to be here. He said, I've already done a semester in Moody and she and I are engaged and we're going to be flying missionaries in South America. And that's what I'm getting training for, to be a flying missionary.

40:55 I said, well, that's great, man. That's really great. About nine months later, I got a letter in the mail. We're flying missionaries now and we're going into South America and we're dropping Bibles off and dropping in God's servants and then we're leaving and we're doing well. We got married and we have a child on the way.

41:13 Well, praise the lord. Alright. Three years later, I got a message that one of the cartels had him killed and his wife. But his testimony remains strong. I love the lord Jesus Christ.

41:36 We don't know who we're touching. We don't know how many saints have come to know Jesus Christ because of their work. We don't know what the future that they have has wrought or will bring about. But it's our job to touch them. To touch them.

42:17 I had him from the time he was seven years old and now he's 16. And I look at Roberto and I said, Roberto, you're to do great things with your community because he lived in Southwest Chicago among the Hispanics there. I saw him develop and saw him become a strong teen and he graduated from high school and he came to me at 18. And he said, well brother Dwight, it's the last time I see you for a while. Oh really Roberto, why?

42:45 You got accepted into college? Your family moving? What is it? No, I'm going to the Air Force, brother Dwight. I've decided to join the Air Force because there's nothing really for me to do here and I'm tired of looking for a job.

43:01 And I got mad at him. I said, Roberto, how dare you? I said, you don't want to go in the air force and the air force doesn't want you. When you go to the recorded future tomorrow to get on the bus, the recruiter is going to stop you and say, no son, you don't want to go to the air force and we don't want you in the air force. Take the money we've given you and do something important with your life.

43:24 He laughed at me and said, Dwight are you crazy? I've already signed up. I've signed the papers. I've got the check. I've cashed the check.

43:30 I said goodbye to my family. I'm packed. I'm going to leave. I said no Roberto. You're going to serve Jesus.

43:36 He said Dwight, okay I can serve the Lord in the air force. No. You're going to serve Jesus out in the field. You're to minister to people in Chicago. You're to minister to people all around you.

43:46 You're to be a great youth leader Roberto. Dwight Adams will see it. I don't care what you see, you're blind. God wants to use you. The next day about 04:00 Roberto drives up.

44:01 I said Roberto I thought you were going to the Air Force, that you were going with a recruiter at 06:00 this morning. He said Dwight I hate you. Why do you hate me Roberto? He said because I get to the recruiter's office, I've given all my goodbyes to the family, I've got all my stuff and guess what the recruiter said. The recruiter said Rizzo, come here.

44:25 And he said there's 40 other guys. Look you don't want to be in the air force and the air force doesn't want you. Take the money we've given you and do something useful with your life. He said exactly what you said he would say. I really hate you Dwight.

44:43 Why do you hate me? This is God ordained. Roberto God wants you to serve him. He said well, yeah but I really was expecting to go to the air force. I said son listen, you'll have a bigger ministry than the air force can ever give you.

44:59 He said what am I supposed to do? I said why don't you seek the Lord for the week? Roberto Rizzo is one of the most popular pastors in the Chicago area this time today. He became the father of two kids, husband of a wonderful wife named Maria. They have conferences every year in Chicago.

45:19 They go back and forth to Puerto Rico to minister there and he's led so many people to the Lord and shame on him, he always forgets my birthday. So, it's important that we touch children. Not just children but the lives of everyone but God has given us a ministry to young people. It really has, I'm sure, frustrated my wife that I always take in young men and love them and be an example to them, to disciple them, and to father them. And my wife is always taking care of four or five boys at a time.

46:01 But the lives we touched, the lives we changed For Jesus Christ and for the kingdom. I think we're honoring god. Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven. Are you touching children? Are you touching them?

46:22 Are you introducing them to the person of Jesus Christ or to the religion of Christianity? I welcome you please. Let them know the lord Jesus Christ. Know that knowing him is the greatest thing they'll ever experience. Father, we thank you for this time together.

46:40 We pray lord that the things that are shared in your word might be the rule of our life that we'll follow you completely and trust in you, have faith in what you're doing in our lives and the people we reach. We ask in the blessed name of Jesus, amen.