So we'll get right to the big story is the Boston Red Sox trade Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers The Dodgers send Alex Verdugo an outfield lefty hitting outfielder to the Red Sox They send Kent up my Aida to the twins and the twins Send a hundred and three mile an hour reliever who throws a hundred and three miles an hour Ross who greater all is his name and The Red Sox get two controllable players neither one of them add up to Mookie Betts now obviously There's outrage in Boston Mookie Betts is one of the greatest players that the Red Sox farm system has ever produced He's 27 years old. He has won an MVP two years ago last year a little bit of a Drop from his MVP season, but he still finished eighth in the MVP voting and When Heimbloom was hired to be the GM of the Red Sox his marching orders Were get under the threshold Now the only way you get under the threshold Would be to get rid of Price's entire contract. So three years. I think he has 96 million dollars left and No one was gonna take that in its entirety So he had to piggyback him on to a great asset and The great asset that they did or used was Mookie Betts So people in Boston are very upset now Mookie Betts was due to earn 27 million dollars this year and they was gonna be free agent at the end of the season now the Red Sox It's been leaked out have offered Mookie Betts ten years 300 million dollars and he turned it down and The reports are that he came back at 420 million dollars for however many years So they were 120 million dollars apart now the Red Sox are very wealthy organization Their average ticket prices are the highest in baseball. They make a truckload of money They own Fenway Park They own Nessan, so they're doing quite quite well John Henry is a billionaire in his own right He's one of the major owners of the Red Sox But what I found out and I can't sit here and be a hypocrite and Destroy the Red Sox for wanting to get under the salary threshold When I certainly didn't do that when the Yankees spent a couple of years trying to get under the salary threshold Because all you have to do don't just look around sports Look the look around the world look in business little secret Rich people don't like paying taxes on anything Because if you look at the totality of what the Red Sox pull-in is an organization if they had not traded bets and they had not traded Price and they're picking up half a price of salary. Anyway, I Think they're they're they're taxed that they would have paid for being over the threshold was 12 million dollars chump change But there's a lot of things that come with Being over all the thresholds, which the Red Sox would be over and they've been over the threshold for the longest time They pay a lot of taxes You lose draft position You lose international signing bonus money You lose a lot of things that help you build up the system now One of the reasons that they got rid of Dave Dombrovsky Was he traded the future for the present and got himself a world series two years ago? And one of the reasons I believe that the Red Sox feel that they can do this Is because they've given their fans Three world titles very recently and a world's a world series title two years ago So John Henry made his money in analytics Not in sports analytics just analytics of the stock market He probably looked at this and said for the long term. We're not in good shape They also probably analytically looked at Mookie Betts and said 27 years old slight build He's already turned down 300 million, which was not a fair market offer They there's no way they were gonna get him for 30 million a year So I understand him turning that down makes him look like a bad guy But there's no way he was gonna take 30 million a year after what my trout got after what Garrett Cole got He just wasn't going to and they said He could break down might not be the same player This is the number the evaluation that we put on him and we're not gonna go over it and that's not gonna get it done So if they had tried to win this year and the way the Yankees are built would the Red Sox be better than the Yankees? Probably not so the way we're built now. Are we gonna win? No We're also probably not gonna resign this guy when he becomes a free agent So we'll offer him the qualifying offer, which will give us a a fifth round draft pick essentially Nothing that really moves the needle here. They got Alex Verdugo who's certainly not the top prospect for the Dodgers But he's one of the better young players in baseball and saw a lot of major league time last year And the kid greater all from the the twins who throws a hundred and three miles an hour There's debate on whether or not he's a starter or a reliever So I understand what the Red Sox did it does make them look cheap because the average Joe can't understand Why would a billionaire care about paying these taxes? But again rich people do everything in their power to avoid paying taxes They just do they have offshore companies. What if they don't want to pay taxes? They don't think it's fair to pay taxes All of us pay taxes really rich people don't pay as much taxes as that as you would think that they would So taxes bother them and he wanted to get under the threshold and also set his organization up for the future And that's why I brought a guy in from the Tampa Bay Rays Hime Bloom They're gonna build a mean lean team that's going to be competitive and not have to be over the threshold all the time now Here's the one variable Don When the Yankees were getting under the threshold They didn't lose any of their players to get under the threshold they chose not to pursue players They chose not to get a Justin Verlander. They chose not to go into the free agent market They went with their young players and the fact that their young players were so good It made them competitive and it didn't make them look as bad for going under the threshold But this would be like if the Yankees are trying to get under the threshold and they let Aaron judge get away This is a bad optic for the Red Sox Which is really hard for them to explain their fan base because Mookie Betts is the most popular Red Sox player and You let him go and in the fans mind you let him go simply for money I think it's a deeper dive that you have to make I think they let him go for the future They let him go to restock their form system They let him go to get better two years three years down the line rather than make what would be a long-shot attempt to win this year But also we don't know what's gonna happen to them this year because they're still investigating the 2018 team And they probably know what's gonna happen So there may be sanctions to come down that would have made it difficult for them to be able to compete now anyway Hind bloom is their general manager because they want to rebuild That's why the Mets didn't hire him because the Mets didn't want to rebuild But we've seen this act from the Red Sox before Where they strip it down only to come back and win.  They bottomed out with Bobby Valentine in 2012. They regrouped. They won the championship in 2013 And they use the Dodgers to get rid of all that bad money with Adrian Gonzalez that big trade But you know whether it's going out and getting JD Martinez or whoever They will put themselves in a situation at the money. They're not spending now They may be forced to spend in 21 22 Because of how bad they'll be during the rebuild the Yankees have been able to hit the reset button and still be Competitive and as you said not get rid of any core players in the process They just stop pursuing them get underneath the threshold and then go back at it again The Red Sox strip it down to build it back up again It's almost a modern-day Florida Marlins if you remember where they win the championship then everybody goes when a championship game Everybody goes that's what the Red Sox could end up doing Michael. Yeah, they'll hit the reset button But don't you see them spending big money in a couple of years again anyway? That's what they've done. That's been their MO So I don't know exactly what's gonna happen in the future. I wasn't expecting them to be that competitive in 2020 Going into the season. I thought the red the Yankees biggest concern was gonna be the Tampa rays So this deal does not surprise me But what I do think it does is set up the Red Sox to possibly be a force in another couple of years And there's a lot of people that are angry at bats for being greedy and I just I don't think that's fair When you get this close to free agency you want to see what the open market is going to give you And I think it's gonna give them a lot more than 300 million dollars for 10 years So all of us the the average Joe's that actually go to the games and root for the teams We can't even fathom Turning down 30 million dollars a year But they're playing on a different level than we are that their mindset is different than our mindset is They are not married to that uniform you are as a fan and Mookie Betts is never ever articulated any displeasure about playing in Boston. He liked playing Boston didn't say there's no way I'm signing here. He wanted to be a free agent and he figured Mike trout got all that money and was two years away from free agency If I become a free agent This is not gonna be as good a free agent market as last year. I'm gonna be the one. I'm gonna be 28 years old I'm gonna be chased. I'm gonna be given a lot more money than 30 million dollars a year And he has every right to feel that way. I don't think anybody should be upset at Mookie Betts I understand Red Sox fans being upset at the Red Sox because they pay top dollar to go in there But I also understand the Red Sox thinking we're not winning with Mookie Betts We don't think that we're gonna be able to sign him. We don't value him at $420 million we have to draw a line in the analytic sand and although he's a great player We see that there could be some deterioration and this isn't like Kano leaving to go to Seattle Where he was leaving a great situation going to a bad situation because he wanted to get his 10-year contract Betts played it right. He's won a championship in Boston already All right Now he's got a chance to win in LA and then he gets his pick of teams as a free agent So it's not like he's going from a great situation to a bad situation just because he wants to get paid He's actually going in improving his chances to win a championship in LA and then he gets to be a free agent For the first time in his career and be able to pick the team he wants to play for at the money that he wants So why is that a bad thing? I understand a Red Sox fan being upset that he's gone But you don't think that he did the right thing for himself and for you from from a baseball standpoint and a financial standpoint This is the best of both worlds for him The only thing that really interests me about this particularly is where the fans land on it You know, just does anyone care anymore?  Aren't you kind of in love with Mookie Betts? Yeah, isn't he really I mean and Andrew and I were discussing this does it still matter in baseball? I mean Harper left the Nationals Nationals go on to win the World Series Machado goes to San Diego they win 70 games. So maybe it's not everything I mean and as I said to Andrew you're even seeing Toronto right now in basketball You thought the whole thing was Kawhi Leonard they seem to be just as good So but I wonder if you're a fan and I know we have a lot of Red Sox fan in the city listening to the show Isn't there just a little bit of heartbreak because correct me if I'm wrong Michael Isn't Betts just the kind of guy you love to root for and have on your team popular Red Sox. He is kids Love him.  So last year they have Dave Dombrovsky who was a spin-and-trade guy I'm gonna spend the money. I'm gonna try to win. I'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow So they inked Chris out to this ridiculous contract. What are they need Chris sale now for he's unmovable Nathan of Aldi who we're gonna talk to on Friday when we go to the Connecticut Cancer Foundation dinner at Mohegan Sun Why did you need Nathan of Aldi if you were going to hit reset? Why would you make those signings? And then they change over to a guy highly analytical who's not gonna spend the money that? That Dombrovsky spent and you could see that is a change of philosophy because John Henry Probably looks over the Yankees and see how they've transitioned now They still spend a lot of money and the Red Sox still will spend a lot of money But the Yankees are not gonna have a 300 million dollar payroll with a highly analytic for an office, but Chris sales 30 Nathan of Aldi's 29 right bets is your best everyday player and he's 25 27 27 I don't know it just seems backwards right wouldn't it seem like the person you'd probably stick to ride this thing out would be Mookie bets like they can't they can't trade those guys those guys are untradeable no matter with the money that they're being You know that they had to decide who do we piggyback on top of bets because they probably thought to themselves We can't sign bets we don't we are not now obviously they can afford anybody they want That's how rich they are But we don't value him at the number that he's gonna get on the free agent market So let's get rid of them and get more than a fifth round draft pick compensation and get a real good player in Verdugo and a great arm in great role. Well, let's just spin this out locally. Okay? The New York Yankees sit there as the best team in the American League One of their closest competitors the Boston Red Sox have hit the reset button The Rays don't have any money really to improve their team Baltimore's awful Toronto is getting better younger, but I don't think they're close yet. Twins are great All right, twins are great can't beat the Yankees on a bet Houston's great But they've just lost their manager and their best pitcher and their best pitcher. Oh And by the way a manager that I like but still has improved he can win big games in the postseason The Cleveland Indians are trying to trade their best player Although Terry said they're not on I know but that's all you hear okay So you're sitting the Yankees are in great shape. I mean the Yankees have their players They have the wherewithal and all of their competition competition has taken major hits or are at a major disadvantage I think the Rays are good I think the Rays are the second best team and they could be a threat to the Yankees But are they going to be able to add at the trading deadline? Are they going to be able to improve themselves other than through their farm system?  How many different players different managers different organizations different buildings have they had and then did they play the Yankees in a Big spot and cannot beat them. Where's the threat? Where's the threat in the American League Michael? Well, I think the Yankees are the best but anything can happen in a short series and the twins are very good And just because of their past history that they've never beaten them before the twins have gotten better After winning 100 games last year Josh Donaldson They their offense is really stout and they made their pitching better. They did now. Is that pitching great? No, we'll see better, but I think the angels of them right? It's still not a team of Jack Peterson last night to from the Dodgers It's still not a team in your division All right, and they still have a lot to prove that it's a team that is gonna be a big time threat to you In the postseason and the Yankees will have that home field advantage You'll be the best team in the American League and you're right anything can happen in a short series Especially a five-game series and who knows what happens in the world series because everybody thought the Astros are gonna win And the nationals took care of business and the Dodgers look like they could be a force But right now you're excited about the Yankees two years ago when they got Stan You're excited about the Yankees last year because they were coming off 100 win season You should be very really fired up right now Not that the Red Sox were a threat, but the Red Sox might go away here for a little while


Since the start of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, the African continent has been divided into different sides, with some countries choosing to remain silent while others have openly expressed their solidarity with either Israel or Palestine. Kenya, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are some of the African countries that have openly expressed support for Israel despite condemnation from people around the world. On October 7, after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, Kenyan President William Ruto wrote on X, stating that Kenya joins the rest of the world in solidarity with the state of Israel and unequivocally condemns terrorism and attacks on innocent civilians in the country. There exists no justification whatsoever for terrorism, which constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security, he added. One thing that can be observed, however, is that those African countries that have expressed support for Palestine did not only do so in words. Some of them went further to show their support by organizing protests and condemning Western countries for supporting Israel. Take, for example, Tunisia, a country in North Africa where on October 21, thousands of Tunisians gathered at the French Embassy to demand the expulsion of the French ambassador because France was one of those Western nations that supported Israel. Some of the protesters waved Palestinian flags while others urged the withdrawal of the French ambassador and accused France of being one of the Western allies of the Zionists. And now again, this same scenario has happened in another African country, Libya, but this time it's not just the French ambassador that has been asked to leave, the US, the UK, and Italian ambassadors have also been asked to withdraw from Libya. The Libyan parliament, the House of Representatives based in eastern Libya, made this known on Wednesday, October 26. According to the statement posted on its official website, the eastern-based parliament, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in Libya, which is split between two rival administrations, threatened to suspend energy supply if the massacres against Palestinians did not stop. We demand that the ambassadors of the states that support the Zionist entity, Israel, in its crimes leave the territory of Libya immediately, the statement says. If the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy do not stop, we demand that the Libyan government suspend the export of oil and gas to the states that support it, it continues. The parliament denounced, in the strongest terms, the actions of the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It said these nations support the Zionist entity in its crimes in the Gaza Strip, while their leaders lecture on human rights and the right of peoples to self-determination. Since the latest war between Israel and Palestine broke out, Libyans have rallied across the country in solidarity with Palestinians. Like Tunisia, Libya's support for Palestine grew strong after a deadly hospital blast in Gaza on October 17, which Hamas has blamed on Israel. But the Israeli military said the explosion was caused by a mis-fired Palestinian rocket. According to reports, Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Hamas launched the attack that Israeli officials say killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that Israel strikes have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, mainly civilians. Tunisia and Libya are not alone in showing solidarity with Palestine. South Africa and Algeria have also expressed their support and condemned Israel for their attacks. In South Africa, hundreds of people gathered at the Israeli embassy, led by the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighter, Julius Malima, on October 26. During the protests, Malima demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and likened Hamas's fight against Israel to that of Mandela's fight against apartheid. He boldly called the president of Israel a terrorist and a murderer who would never know peace, and he vowed that if he was elected as president of South Africa in 2024, he would fund Hamas. Malima also warned that, as long as our children are being killed in Palestine, this place outside the Israeli embassy will become our permanent residence, meaning that the protest on October 26 would not be the last one. In fact, it wasn't the first one either, because on October 20, hundreds of South Africans participated in another picket led by Ramfosa's own ruling African National Congress, ANC. The Israeli embassy must close, and the ambassador must leave, ANC First Deputy Secretary General Nomvula Mokonyen urged picketers, asking South Africans to boycott Israeli goods. It remains to be seen how everything will play out in all these African countries that strongly support Palestine. Will the ambassadors of the US, UK, France, and Italy truly leave Libya, and will the Israeli embassy shut down in South Africa? Time will only tell. What are our thoughts? Let us know in the comment section below, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this video.


My special guest, this year, and bring your whole family to Pace Family Fest, right here on the grounds of Pace Assembly, 3948, Highway 90, Pace, Florida, between Milton and Pensacola, you're going to enjoy a great time with your family for three days, November the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, right here at Pace Assembly. The Lumberjack Show, the PBR rodeo, and Carnival rides for the whole family. Good miss this year's Pace Family Fest. Share it out, and I'll see you there. Join us today in just a moment, we're going to go into the sanctuary where we're worshiping the Lord in every portion of the service, from giving, the lifting of our hands, singing, and the word of God that's going to come your way today. We hope that you will engage the service right there where you are, and that the presence of God will be made real no matter where you are around the globe. We know that we're reaching so many people around the world right now, and our effort and every part that we do is about reaching one more soul in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for helping us accomplish that through your giving and your prayerful support. May God bless you now, as we enter into the service, let's go live into the presence of God.  As I stand here today, prophecy of old has been fulfilled. Let me say it like this, Israel lives. Whatever sickness, whatever disease, whatever trouble, whatever problem, whatever issue that they may be having inside of their body physically, whatever may be going on in their mind, friends that are watching online around, let the spirit of God that is in this place move. Today, Lord, we ask that you would save, heal the awesome power of the mighty God we serve. And just because two of us now stand in agreement as touching this one thing, it shall be done in the mighty name of Jesus. Now lift those hands and go to blessing God like you know how to do in this place. I say, come on, lift those hands and bless the Lord, oh my soul, and bless his holy name. I want you to get out and shake somebody's hand, let them know how glad you are to see them in the house of the Lord. Thank you that are joining us online watching all God is going to bless you for being a part of this service today. I have no doubt about it. You stay tuned. I believe that God is going to use your life, touch your life, share it out with somebody right now. Let them know where they could join in a live worship service right here.  Let us hear from you. There's somebody chatting online with you right now. God is good in this sanctuary today. He's good all the way around the world. And where are they watching from around the world? Put it back up from Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Sicily, Italy, Brazos Valley, Texas, Riemstein Air Force Base in Germany, Kenya, and parts and regions beyond. Would you welcome all of those that are joining us online from around the world? Come on. We're glad that you're watching and pray. My son and daughter-in-law and our grandchildren are watching online as I speak. Henry, Adeline, if you're listening, your mother and father have a hundred dollar bill they want to give to each of you right now. Hey, like that for grandparenting from afar. I don't teach them to leave town. Amen. Amen. I miss them being up here, I miss them taking care of this service. They're out of town enjoying some family time together, and we look forward to seeing them today. Y'all better get back today. I will be seeing you tomorrow, if not later on today, making sure you gave a hundred dollar bill to them grandbabies who ain't got a dime and they'd need something in their piggy bank. So glad to have all of you with us in service this morning. Even if you're a first-time guest, we're honored to be able to have you. If you are first-time with us here in the sanctuary, would you slip your hand up? We want to be able to recognize you, amen. God bless you for being in service with us today. And all of you that are watching online, we're glad to have you as well. Come on, let them know one more time how much you appreciate all of them being here with us today. Praise God. And I want to get the opportunity, what I love doing is giving away a Bible in this service. Somebody's got a Bible that's coming your way this morning and our ushers are standing by and I don't know where it is, but wherever it is, let's help them find it wherever it is.  And what's a shame is that they can't find it. You keep reaching but they can't find it. But where is it? Oh, there you go. You got to reach way up underneath there. So some of y'all need to go ahead and break down and do some exercises this week. Amen. Would you let her know how much you appreciate her receiving that Bible? God bless you. God bless you. I want you to make sure that you use the prayer list that's on the inside of your bulletin this morning as a guide for prayer this coming week.  As I was walking out here this morning, still receiving reports from people that have been healed of cancer this week. At least three people this week. I wonder how you clap if it was you that got healed. Somebody said, well, I haven't got my healing. Well, you ought to put yet on the end of that because the Lord has not done healing people today. I told you there is a huge conference that's going on by a number of named preachers out in California that are preaching cessation. That miracles went out when the disciples died. But I just want to let you know miracles are still happening. Not because disciples have died, but because God is still alive. And he's still a miracle worker. Can you say amen? I'm expecting a miracle. Let me see your hand right here. That's all it takes. You can't pay for it. You can't conjure it. You can't pray enough. But if you'll just have a spirit of expectation that God is able at any moment, then you can expect God to work on your behalf. I know I've seen it and I've been witness to it. And I'm thankful to God that he's still a miracle working God. I want you to get ready. Here's a miracle. I'm going to give an offering and a tithe. Oh, 10 people, y'all are all excited. You needed a miracle a minute ago. Let me tell you what happens.  And God's not on Facebook waiting for you to push the like button. But I can tell you this. He says that if you'll bring your tithe and your offering into the storehouse and prove me herewith of all the things that God could have said prove me on, he said prove me in the tithe and in the offering. In other words, whenever you give your tithe and your offering, you should recognize and expect that I'm the God who is more than enough. Oh, I wish I had more than three people, but that's okay. Whatever you do, I'm going to preach on opportunities in a minute, so you take your opportunity to say amen where you feel like it, but I'm just going to say amen to myself this morning because I've proved him time and time again. And one thing that God doesn't run out of, that's resources because he is the source. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Amen. They're pushing all kinds of stuff going on today and you ought to buy this and you ought to get this.  How many of you know what I'm talking about? Anybody ever been blessed simply because you recognize the faithfulness of God? For those of you that haven't, there's a 30-day money-back guarantee here at Pace Assembly. Oh, I promise you, that's how much I believe it.   He's El Shaddai. Can you say amen? Amen, and I encourage you to be a giver today. Do that right now. You can do it online. You can do that there at PaceAssembly.org on the app. You can scan the QR code that's available. We've got buckets in the back.   Anybody blessed in this building right now? Lift your hand right now and ask God to just bless what God is using you and through you. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you that you're the God who is more than enough and you supply all of our needs according to your riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Today, I pray your blessings upon the gift and the giver. Lord, multiply it like you did the fish and the loaves. And because you do that, Lord, we go ahead and praise you in advance because we know that you're a God who is able and we give you praise and honor. In Jesus' mighty name, and everybody believes it, shout a great big amen. God bless you this morning as you give online or in the buckets wherever that you're deciding to do that. I want to just mention to you a couple of things we have coming up in just a few weeks, the Pace Family Fest that's going to be happening. It's now, amen, go ahead and give God praise for that. It's an outreach and I will tell you that now it's becoming the talk around town and I'm glad about it because I told someone this past week, I wish I would have thought about it last week when I was telling you, but here it is. I was contemplating what the Lord is using that outreach to do and I just want to let you know I want to take all of Pace Assembly on November the 3rd, 4th, and 5th on a fishing trip. I want to let you know that you're not going to have to use your fish finder or nothing like that. They're going to come on the campus right here and we're going to go fishing for souls. Come on somebody. He said, I will make you fishers of men and if you'll propose yourself to do that as an attendee or a person that is a faithful member of this church, I'm going to tell you there are heavenly dividends that come when you win one soul into the kingdom. Amen. So I just want you to be praying that God would use that outreach. We need more volunteers. You can do that. Register online. We'll put you to work in some capacity and we appreciate you doing that. This is way too self-serving so I'm just going to say this, I'm going to read it. This year, Mark's Pastor Roger's 60th birthday in 33 years of full-time ministry. To honor this occasion, you're invited to his 60-33 celebration on Sunday, October the 22nd at 5 p.m. RSVP to info at paceassembly.org or call the church office by October 15th. Enough of that. It's amazing what Adobe Photoshop will do for a 60 year old. Amen.  Amen. They're doing a great job back there. I want to, okay, you can take it off now. How's that? Is that what it is? And you can put this one on because a head of me in this month is the best of the best. And I want our board wives and Sister Pam to come. And I want you to honor, would you please, the woman that is behind all of the machine. I can assure you my best. Let's honor the first lady, Rita Rogers. Happy birthday. A few days early, I know. But we just, the ladies here at Pace Assembly love you so much. And you know, we say a lot of times that we've been put here for such a time as this.  And boy, are we thankful. So the ladies have gotten together and given you some gifts that we hope will make your birthday a little bit, you know, more special. There's one thing, you don't, we don't have to take it all out, but there's one thing we really wanted to show her that, so this is, this is actually a puzzle. We know that Pastor Rita loves puzzles and it's a puzzle of her, a family picture. So, so we just want to tell you how much we love you. Happy birthday. All right. I love you. Yeah. Love you very much. Thank you. I love you. All right. Good morning. Well, we are so grateful to be here and the reason we're here today. We're grateful every week, but we're here today to wish the happiest of birthdays to Sister Rita. I know you don't like to be called Sister Rita or Miss Aussie, Miss Rita, but we're profoundly grateful for your support, affection and devotion to our congregation. May your birthday be overflowing with the same warmth and love that you share with us every single day. A friend once said to me, I love you on purpose. You know who you are. We now make it a point to say this each time that we connect, but what does that truly mean? It signifies that our love for you is an intentional and purposeful, and it's not by mere chance why we love you. On behalf of the board, their wives, and the entire congregation, we wholeheartedly wish you the most joyous of birthdays, Miss Rita. Your presence among us is cherished and the impact you have made on each of our lives is truly monumental. We love you and happy birthday. So I don't know about you all women, we are very nosy. We want to know what is in the bag. We do know of one of your favorite places in Dustin to shop, so we did get you a gift certificate and also to go pamper yourself. Get a massage, get a pedicure, a manicure, facial, whatever you want to do, but just take care of you because you take care of us and we love you. Thank you so much. You know, this is probably one of the happiest birthdays that I have because Pastor's going to be turning 60 in just a couple of weeks after me too bad. But it's an honor to be in the position that I'm in here at Pace Assembly. We're a family, and when we were singing the dry bones a rattle, and you know, what came to my mind was God just bind us together, bind every person here in this congregation together on one gold, and then it's to see another soul saved. I love you. Thank you so much for the flowers, the gifts.  We cherish you and we count it an honor to be here and a servant for you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Well, the Bible says to give honor to whom honor is due. There is far more things that are taking place around this campus than what happens on a daily basis that she is involved in than what she'll ever get recognition for. But I will tell you that there probably would not be a Pastor Rogers without a Miss Rita. I can just about assure you of that. And since she writes all of my sermons you should indeed be grateful if you like them. I just wanna add my two cents here because I know what it means. Every time that there's another turn of the calendar there's all kinds of thoughts that come into your mind. And for the past 18 years that we've had the privilege of being your Pastors you've been with us during some great times and you've been with us during some walks in the valley health-wise and things like that. So every time that I see her on this front row it makes me very grateful to be able to know that there is not only a survivor but there's someone who is thriving in the power of the spirit and is leading this congregation as well to greater, greater things. You have a miracle that's walking among you and you can always witness that and I am grateful to God for that. And I would think that some nice things could be said about me later in the month. I wanna shift gears here for just a moment. I need to ask all of you that are attendees and members that love this church and love what God is doing in and through it to please after the conclusion of the altar call this morning and the ultra service to please just remain in the building if you possibly can. I have some very important information that I need to be able to bring to you and say to you and ask you to help in and I need you to make sure that you stay with us. It will not be something that is live streamed. I don't need to do that but I need you to be praying and it is urgent. And so please stay with us at the conclusion of the service today. I wanna take this moment because I know that you've been watching the news like I have intently and seeing what's taking place. Rita was saying on our way here this morning since only 1% of pulpit in the United States of America deal with Bible prophecy. I wonder what churches are going to say and pastors are going to say this morning concerning what is the equivalent of Israel's 911? To which I responded nothing. I have found more and more especially since my involvement with Christians United for Israel and involvement that's been taking place now for several years that there is more and more anti-Semitism more and more that absolutely reject and I'm not just talking about average citizens in the street, I'm talking about whole denominations that have now rejected Israel as God's chosen people. And I want you to know the only reason why that they are being attacked today is not because they're the largest group of people in the world and not because they have the most choice property but they are being under attack in an absolute brutal way. Simply because they are God's chosen people and Jewish. And so I must make a statement this morning to bring you up to date if you're not familiar with what all this going on then you need to be because as Christians and especially from this pulpit Pace Assembly has since its inception been a staunch supporter of the nation of Israel and the people that are called by the name of God as God's chosen people, the Jewish people. And we continue to do that even as they're marching in the streets of New York today to celebrate what has been a brutal and horrible attack upon the nation of Israel. I have seen the videos many of you perhaps have too of the brutality to children, to adults, to senior adults, to Holocaust victims that are now being assaulted for a second time in a brutal way, paraded through the streets, their bodies drugged through the streets, raped, abused and drug into the tunnels of Hamas. Hamas is a proxy terrorist organization along with Hezbollah in the North, Hamas in Gaza in the South that are all supported by the terrorist regime of Iran. I know there's been a lot of conversation concerning the Palestinian people. Let me say this to you, Hamas is separate from those that want peace, who live and want to work and live in peace in Israel. I've witnessed that myself, but I can assure you as it has been said from the leadership of Israel that there is no ability now to live in what is called peace or a two-state solution. It was at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, a day of rejoicing on Shabbat, the holiest day of the Jewish people during the week that they were asleep, many people, turning their cell phones off and all in honor and the acknowledgement of Shabbat for the Jewish people when Hamas came across the Gaza border into Israel proper and attacked more than 50 locations with over 5,000 rockets being launched in a short 12-hour period. The breach in the border fence was in more than two dozen locations with 1,000 or more Hamas terrorists coming across the border, coming across the border. Hamas has now abducted, according to their own sayings, over 100 Israeli hostages that are now being held as human shields. The Iron Dome, as you've heard, is a very effective tool and weapon to shoot down rockets, but one of the things that was feared, and I've heard it in my own ears, one of the things that was feared was that if they overwhelm it by so many rockets coming in, that it won't be able to get every one of them. 5,000 rockets coming, thousands at a time. And Russia is the only one that could actually train them to attack like they did. The Taliban has now announced that they are now ready to take Jerusalem. And if the other Sunni army countries will give them access, they will use the $80 billion worth that was left behind of military equipment of the United States of America. Iran is now praising the attacks, and two senators of the United States of America are leading the parade in New York City today in celebration. The Palestinian Authority has called for Israel to not retaliate. This is the 9-11 of Israel. It is like taking over at least half of New York City. There has not been an attack like this since 1973, the Yom Kippur War. But it did happen on the day in the 50th celebration, or the 50th remembrance, I should say, of the Yom Kippur War. When Israel was attacked on every side, this attack is unlike any other before it. Currently, we have no United States Ambassador to Israel. Israel has declared war, and Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, who I am so glad is seating in that seat today, said that he will not stop until it is completed because there is no way to coexist with terrorism. I don't care what your political persuasions are. The truth is, is that the Biden administration, just a few weeks ago, took $6 billion of taxpayer money and gave it to Iran in an exchange for hostages that have been held in Iran. We, supposed to have, we did receive and five prisoners, American prisoners, that were held by Iran, and we released five of Iranian prisoners back to them, plus we wrote them a check for $6 billion. And the Biden administration has been saying in the past 24 hours that this money has nothing to do with Hamas or Hezbollah or what is happening. Well, all you've got to do and anything I say here can be looked up online. This is the article from NBC that reads on September the 12th when the money was exchanged. Iranian President says, Tehran will spend the $6 billion released in prisoner exchange wherever we need it. You cannot say that it is gonna be used exclusively for food and for medical supplies. You don't know what it's gonna be used for, but I do, because the rockets that they've been using, and I've seen the Kattusha rockets in the northern portions of Israel, they're not guided and usually go about 100 yards or so. These are more strategic, more sophisticated, and they are able to reach from the Gaza all the way up to Tel Aviv and to Jerusalem where they landed already. So in the south you have Hamas, in the north you have Hezbollah. Both of these terrorist organizations are both supported, underwritten, and supplied financially by Iran. That's a fact. Now Hamas has taken these hostages from Israel and the Hamas terrorists have butchered Israelis, going house to house, shooting, killing, and decimating Israeli citizens. I want you to understand in this very, very small, that's one of the phenomenons that I saw visiting Israel several years ago is that how small the geography of Israel really is. In fact, if you'll put that one map up on the wall, I want them to be able to see that what you're looking at at the top where that dot is up there, all the way down, just a little bit further into the Negev Desert is all of the landmass of Israel. It's about the size of New Jersey. It's about the size of Northwest Florida. Israeli leaders have declared that no longer can they coexist with Hamas. Many people from Gaza come to work in Israel every day, but they say now that that has failed, which is a warning to the United States of America that on the southern border, the United States of America are coming in terrorists, drugs, and everything else, and the administration of the United States of America refuses to do anything about it. So from little old one traffic light pace, Pace Assembly is calling on the administration to immediately, and Congress, to immediately halt, cease, and desist on the southern border of America right now. As I speak today, put that other map up, will you please? As I speak today, the warnings have come from the prime minister to Hezbollah, who occupies the northern part, Syria, to my right, Lebanon, to the north. If you see the top dot up there, the Sheba Farms, they have already started lobbing rockets into that location. The identification on this road, as you track this little road, comes all the way over to Misgiv-M. That is the kaboots that I stood upon the top of that mountain, and looking over into Lebanon, that's about 20 minutes drive from where they're dropping bombs right now. And because of that particular location, they're watching across the border into Lebanon, because in Lebanon, there are no windows in the houses that are in Lebanon on that border. Why? Because there are 150 Cattouche rockets that are inside of those windows being ready to fire upon Israel at any moment. Those are the ones that Israel has numbers for. There are more than that. These missiles are new technology, and they've reached all the way to Jerusalem. One portion of this is because they are trying to disrupt the Abrahamic Accords with Saudi Arabia. If you remember, the Abrahamic Accords is something that everybody said could never be done. And now Israel is having normalized relationships with different countries in that region because of what President Trump did in his administration. Just a few weeks ago, and I don't care what your political persuasions are, just hold your claps a minute, but it was declared by President Trump on the trail on his campaign trail several weeks ago that if the $6 billion is released to Iran, that it will be followed up with kidnappings and a missile launches that will be coming. He don't have to be a prophet, it's a fact. Now Saudi Arabia is calling for resistance to resist any kind of retaliation. Let me say, the best thing that we could do is pray for the leadership of Israel and the Israeli people. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and then let Israel do what Israel needs to do to squish every terrorist that would try to annihilate, kidnap, butcher, or in any way take over what belongs to God's people. If you're in agreement with me this morning, that's why we put this flag up here because I want you to stand because we're gonna pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I sent a few moments before this service to Ronny Nestor, the guide that I have had, Israeli guide that I have had for two times that I've been over, and letting him know that this church is gonna be praying specifically for him and for his fellow citizens. In 2005, there were negotiations in order to release the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian people. That happened in 2005. In 2007, two years later, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. They are in complete control with tunnels that are 30 feet under the ground that you can drive trucks through. This is where they've come from. There are two million people residing in the Gaza Strip. Not all of them are terrorists. Some of them are trying to live in peace, but the leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah continue to be a threat every day. If I could tell you just how close as I stood and looked over into the Lebanon border that they are to the war that's taking place right now, this is war for them. I want you to understand, this is the worst attack that has happened in more, I believe they said in more than three decades. I wonder how you were to respond if someone came across the border, came to your house and knocked on the doors or just kicked down the doors of your house and started shooting randomly, taking your children, your grandmother, your grandmother, your Holocaust surviving grandmother into captivity. My friends, that's exactly what they're living under today, but I want to let you know that this pastor who is glad to be able to be a representative of Christians United for Israel and this church that stands with Israel is going to stand with them and pray for the peace of Jerusalem today. And I pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will hear the voices of people that genuinely love and understand Bible prophecy. And I can assure you that he that keepeth Israel doesn't sleep and he doesn't slumber. Now just talking about it right now makes the hair on the back of my head stand straight up. You know why? Cause the Holy Ghost is going to go before them and he's gonna guide them and leave them in every step that they need to take. And the United Nothing, the UN that just said a few days ago, Jericho is now the Palestinian capital who's going to vote today once again about Israel. Watch what takes place there, ladies and gentlemen. I just say to all of those that are at the UN I can care less who you are. I respect the office, but I don't respect what you've done. 15 times you have renounced Israel. I want you to know those that bless Israel, God will bless and those that trifle with them, God is going to take care of. I want you to lift your hands towards heaven, would you? And would you join with me in prayer for the Israeli people and for the peace of Jerusalem today? Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before you today, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who watches over Israel today. You watch over your chosen people and God we recognize and understand that you are the one who is actually the dome that is over the top of Israel and its leadership. We pray today that you would guide the leadership of Israel. Guide them, Lord, in every step that they take. We recognize the eyes of the world are upon them and some would say that they don't have a right to the land and some would say that they don't have a right to exist and others would want to wipe them off of the map. But he that keepeth Israel does not slumber or sleep.  They are the apple of your eye. May we, Lord, today pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the keeping power of our God upon those that are your chosen people. Every teenage IDF member and every person who will fight this fight, may they be protected by the angels of heaven. And may this church and may America forever stand with the nation of Israel. I pray this, Lord, in your awesome and powerful name because you are the keeper of your people. We give you the glory, the honor, and the praise and everybody believes it, shout a great big amen. I want you to pray earnestly for the rest of this week. It's not gonna be over in a day. It won't be over in a week, but if we'll keep on praying, God will keep what's been committed to him against that day. Can you say amen to that today? Let me tell you, as they come back to lead us in worship, let me tell you that there is but one God who sits on the throne. And today, ladies and gentlemen, you'll be glad to know that you serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And you'll be glad to know that God will bless your life because of what you just prayed. Can you say amen to that today? Come on, lift your hands and sin, praise all the way to the throne as you prepare your heart for the things of God today. I want you to remain standing and take your Bibles, please, in this atmosphere of God's presence, the Word that has the power to make men free. Are you ready for that Word this morning? Open your Bibles up, please, to the book of Revelation chapter three, Revelation chapter number three, down in verse number seven, the presence of the Lord that's in this place today. Revelation three, verse number seven, if you've found it, say amen. The angel of the church in Philadelphia, right, these things say, if he that is holy, he that is true, you know, it's one thing to start reading the scripture, but it's another thing to recognize that the one you're reading about is in the room with you. These things, right, he that is holy, he that is true, he that at the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shuddereth, and shuddereth, and no man openeth. I know thy works, behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength and has kept my word and has not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell in the earth. Behold, I come quickly, behold, that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. He shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, just in case you didn't know who owns the city, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. Look with me in a book of Ephesians. Flip back, Ephesians chapter number five. Ephesians five, and verse, look with me in verse 14. Ephesians five verse 14, if you found that, say amen. Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Another translation of that phrase is making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. I have had a number of people since preaching the first portion of this last week that have found those opportunities to be real in their life, recognizing eyes wide open to be able to see this opportunity and that opportunity.  I want you to know that's an opportunity right there. Why don't you take this opportunity and lift those hands and thank God for what he's about to speak to your life. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for your word. We recognize it as a lamp and a light to our path. Open our ears to hear and we believe God that this opportunity will open doors of other opportunities and what you want to shut, close the door and what you want to open, open that door and we give you praise for it in the mighty name of Jesus. Everybody believes it, shout a great big amen.  Last week I began preaching to you about this message and I only got so far, if you got your paper and pen, you might want to get it out. And I will say to you, as I was mentioning to you a few moments ago concerning Israel and our support of Israel, there is an opportunity that's coming our way for this church to be specifically involved in, God willing, to help the nation of Israel. It could take place before the end of this day. And so I just want you to continue to recognize that God gives God opportunities to his people. And this is very evident in the Word of God, especially in the life of Jesus. And he knew that his opportunity was right in front of him when he came to this earth and walked around. The Bible tells us in the ministry portion of his life on this earth, which of course began when he came, but the last three and a half years specifically, that his time was limited and that the opportunities that were afforded to him would be limited to be able to show people what the kingdom of God was really like and to open the door of opportunity for whosoever will to let them come. This is true of most of the opportunities that God places in front of us, that if we delay, hear me now, or hesitate too long the opportunities that God gives us will pass us by. Think of how many people that you know who were given amazing, remarkable opportunities to do something tremendous, but failed to take advantage of that moment because perhaps of their laziness or their hesitation or their fear or the take it easy kind of mentality, the opportunity given to those people slipped away and was lost. When you're running a business, many of you business owners are out here, you understand that opportunity is always knocking at your door, but I want you to know the art, the structure, the true measure of a true leader is to detect what is a God opportunity and what is just a good opportunity. You can find these examples that are found in the Word of God over and over again. Those opportunities that were given to individuals and their names stand out to us. Rahab was given an opportunity when the spies came into the city of Jericho to let her know that there's gonna be destruction that's gonna happen, but if you'll place that scarlet thread outside of your window, I will preserve, they will be, you will be preserved, you and your family in that house. What an opportunity. You either believe God for opportunities or you don't. And I can assure you that there are God opportunities that are coming your way every day.  Look at Nehemiah who gained the permission and an opportunity to be able to go back and build the walls around Jerusalem. And in 52 days, a feat that has never been done before, building and rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem for the protection of that ancient city. Nehemiah accomplished it because the people had a mind to work and they laid their hands to that opportunity. Look at Esther. Esther saved the Jewish people from Haman's plot. The Bible says in Esther chapter number four and as a result of that, the Jewish people were preserved because Esther saw the opportunity and it was a God opportunity. Look at Daniel. Daniel having an opportunity to be able to serve in the highest places of government and that afforded him to outlast six different kings in their administrations because God put him in that position and he never compromised his faith to do it. It was a God opportunity. I believe beyond the shut of any doubt, especially in these last days, that God has called this church by a holy calling to be able to recognize the God opportunities that are right in front of us and to be able to seize those opportunities individually and corporately as a body of Christ. Opportunities, ladies and gentlemen, is something that we need to wrap our minds around on a daily basis because they're coming but the problem is time is running out. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. Let me go ahead and say this before I forget it. I believe the Holy Spirit's bringing it. If you're not born again, if you're not saved and ready to go to heaven, then right now is an opportunity that Jesus Christ is giving you and he says, come into me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest. It's an opportunity to go to heaven. Don't miss your opportunity. If you miss your opportunity, it could be for eternity.  I do not believe that Pace Assembly and people that are watching right now, members of this church are just here to gather for a religious function today. I truly believe that there is a mandated call upon your lives individually, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here this morning. You could go to any one of the churches that you pass by coming here, but God has foreordained you to be here, to hear this message and to mobilize us in this late day to say, God, whatever opportunity is in front of me, whether it's in the hospital, the funeral home, the grocery store, wherever I am, don't let me miss my God opportunity. I gave you some observations, I won't take time to preach them all, but I do want to put it on the wall up here so you can see it.  How many of you have had God opportunities just this past week? Let me see your hand. For those of you that may not be raising your hand, you need to open your spiritual eyes. Because I do not believe in the order of God inside of your individual life that you can go an entire week without one God opportunity coming your way. I truly believe there are many, many God opportunities that he gives to us, but perhaps we slip by them because we've got something else on our mind. God is giving us a God opportunity every day. Not only that, but all good opportunities are not necessarily God opportunities. I've taken some good opportunities and wished to God and prayed to God to get me out of them. Anybody know what I'm talking about? How many of you are glad for that learning experience? How many of you don't want to go through that school again? Amen, amen, and amen. God opportunities are not measurable. Look at Abraham. Look at Abraham when God promises him the land and his descendants would be as many as the sands of the seas or the stars of the sky.  The whole argument over in the Middle East right now is over property, over land, but God gave the Jewish people the property from the great river all the way to the sea and they will retrieve that by the order of Almighty God. It's a God opportunity that was unmeasurable. It's still multiplying today. God opportunities start in small places. Sometimes too many people, especially today, I'm really concerned that young people come educated out of college and all of a sudden they want to step right into a six-figure kind of job.  But I can just tell you that you should not despise the days of small beginnings. Because once you learn, I must add this in very quickly because we were getting ready to build the church there at Destin and when we were pastoring there and there were plenty of different opportunities and looking at different properties and so forth and the next thing I know, I'm looking in the wrong direction and one of my senior saints walked into my little tiny office and she had not even spoken about it or anything she said, I've talked to God pastor and I want you to know that the first vision he gave you is the one you need to do. She turned right around and walked out the door and from that day forward it was settled, small beginnings. At that time I only had about 20. Come on somebody. I don't wanna clean the toilets, small beginnings. I wanna do that. Why am I the only one on the job that has to do that? Small beginnings. I wanna drive that great big car. You better thank God for small beginnings. I wanna live in that house. You better thank God for the one you're living in right now. And then you ought to thank God you don't have the pavement of that great big house. Come on, save me. God opportunities are hidden inside of us. The Bible says our life is hidden with Christ, hidden with Christ. In other words, it is up to us in our desire for God to be able to search out the hidden things that God has placed on the inside of us. Do you realize there's more that God has placed on the inside of you than what you are actually experiencing right now? The hidden things of God. I wish I had time to preach on that, but I don't. God opportunities are time sensitive. Time sensitive. The clock is ticking from the moment that he gives you the opportunity. If you receive it and you act upon it. Please notice in the book of Ecclesiastes he tells us very clearly there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. And he's gonna bring it to maturity. When does that maturity come? Just about the time that you think that everything is where it needs to be. God would begin to bring the maturity about. Look at the rose in its bud state. It's a season. As it matures, when do we call a rose in its full maturity? When it's opened up and the fragrance busts out and you can smell that all around the room. They would call that mature. Ladies and gentlemen, those are time sensitive things we cannot afford in this hour to waste time or to miss the God timing. God opportunities have the power you need to succeed. The book of Acts chapter number one, Jesus speaks these words, but you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth. I want you to understand something.  Don't look outside of your anointing to do what God's called you to do. And whatever that it is, I have seen this time and again that money and finances and resources follow vision and mission. If you have no vision, the people perish. But when you set a vision out for your family, God opportunities are gonna open up and the time you take a step of faith, all the sudden resources that you have, no idea we're waiting on you to take a step, suddenly start coming into your life. I know what I'm talking about. I'm a living witness and this church is a living witness that if you'll go ahead and do what God's called you to do, God will come in and make everything the way it needs to be. God opportunities finally in this list and this is just a few, there's probably more you could add to it are in the opposition. I didn't even wanna write that one down. Because I always, I say I, most people only have the idea that God opportunities are on the slick golden road all the way to heaven. But I submit to you today that God opportunities will be found in opposition and with opposition. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Ephesians six and this is where we are today because some people look at it and they say, well, there's too much adversarial things that are going on. I can't, that must not be God, but you better read what the apostle Paul said. He said, there's been given to me a very effectual opportunity, but many adversaries. I've got an open door of opportunity but the devil is waiting just on the other side. I'm just gonna tell you, if the Lord would get rid of the devil I could live for Jesus carefree too. Look straight at me. I'm not talking about people sitting beside you. Look straight at me right now. There is a real enemy who's out to kill, steal and destroy. And the book the writer says, the apostle Paul does in Ephesians chapter six, he says what we're dealing with here is a fight, it's a good fight of faith, but you're gonna have to put on the whole armor of God and be able to stand because what you're fighting is not your neighbor and not your boss and not your pastor and not your marriage partner and all that kind of stuff. What you're fighting is principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in high places. You wanna know what's going on behind the activity and Hamas and all of that? I can tell you very clearly there are principalities that are ancient spirits of old that are behind the killing of the Jewish people.  He said, those that fear the Lord, he encamps around about them. So let me deal with that for just a moment because Satan's number one plan, you might think it is to get you to sin but he can't make you sin.  His number one goal is to distract you from the purpose of God inside of your life. To detour you, that's what we're involved in today. I told my wife the other day, something was coming up. I said, all that is is a distraction. I'm sort of using that word a whole lot more frequently because when I hear my own self say that's a distraction, it will cause me to get back on the path that I need to be. Am I talking anybody here today?  Write this down if you're writing some things down. The plan of God will not be defeated by distractions. Let me put it to you like this. God created Adam and Eve and put them in the garden. Adam sins and every one of us fell with him after the fact into the sin nature but God said, I already knew they were gonna do that and I got a plan. I got a God opportunity. And what does he do? The next thing you know, he calls up old Noah. He said, I found a man who's got favor in my sight. Noah, go build a boat.  It is my plan of provision. It's a God opportunity. Noah, I'm giving you a building opportunity. You will be ridiculed for it. You'll be ostracized.   But trust me, Noah, this is a God opportunity. You mean I've got to whittle all this wood and put it all together in a boat and then get animals on board? He said, don't worry about the animals. I talk elephant. I speak cockroach, I'll get them all on board. You just build an art to the saving of your household. This is a God opportunity. Man, I feel some push of the Holy Ghost here this morning and all of a sudden Noah takes up the opportunity and builds an art. Nobody's seen rain, nobody's felt drops from heaven but all of a sudden Noah's preaching, it's gonna rain. Nobody wanted to listen. At that moment, that's the moment when you start thinking, did I really hear from God because if this is a God opportunity, nobody's listening to me. And now the evidence of my foolishness is sitting behind me, the ark. But if God told you to do it, I said, if God told you to do it, can we hear from God anymore? God said, you know what, no, I got a plan.  Then what happens, Noah gets on board.  Abram, I'm just gonna tell you, God's plan will not be destroyed by the opposition or the detour of anybody. Let me just say this to you very clearly. God is giving you an opportunity but if you don't take it, he's got somebody in the wings that'll step in and do what he's called them to do. It can be hindered by distractions, there's no doubt. You see that throughout the Word of God but God always puts somebody in.  You give them another one. How do you destroy somebody's dream? You just give them another one. That is the tactic of Satan, to try to convince you to move your focus of faith onto something other than Christ in him crucified for your daily activity and daily victory. The cross is the only place of victory. Do you understand what I'm saying? I know you've heard me say that 100 times right here but you're gonna hear it 101 because there is no other place of victory. There is no other place. Well pastor, over here in my good works, the devil will laugh at your good works but when he approaches the cross he knows it's the one place where it is finished.  That's the reason why Paul stated I wanna know nothing among you save Christ in him crucified. Why? Because God has never established a doctrine of defeat only for the overcomer. For all seven of these churches including the church of Laodicea in Revelation chapter number three he says to them after reading some of them the riot act and letting them know that they have done so far and that they're miserable poor, blind and naked in the Laodicean church but he comes back and says but to him that overcomeeth, to him that overcomeeth. Ladies and gentlemen, there's an opportunity right there for you that no matter where you've been and how far you've dropped and how great a sin that you may look at it in your life God said to him that overcomeeth all you've got to do is take a step into the opportunity that God has given to you today. Focus is critical because if you expect to reach the purpose of God in your life or to be able to accomplish the favor, see the favor of God and the will of God you've got to know this and if you don't miss everything else I say today get this in the power of the spirit. Watch this, you have to learn how to function in the middle of a multitude of distractions. Can you do that? I've watched people tell me before I'm a multitasker. You give them two things and they're out of their mind. What do you mean? I'm talking about seen and unseen distractions. It's those unseen distractions that really catch us but even sometimes those that are seen we walk right into the middle of it not knowing what a plot the devil has but for every plot that the devil has God has got a plan, a multitude of distractions. Today, look at the physical example again I'm making reference here to what's happening in Israel but look at the physical example in order for them to gain the victory on Israel they had to send 5,000 rockets to overwhelm the system and if it isn't coming from this side they said they had boats coming from the Mediterranean landing on the beach and running in and then they broke down the border fence and then what do you know when the northern end here comes rockets from Hezbollah. Do you feel like sometimes when you're trying to accomplish the opportunity of God that suddenly the enemy unleashes hell in your life and you start taking it from every angle? You've got to be able to stay focused because in there will be distractions for us. There's distractions for every one of us. Look at us for almost three years we had a distraction called the coronavirus and some still won't let it go and in the middle of that we got a political atmosphere of distractions and family issues of distractions and all kinds of stuff.  The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations. The enemy just wants you to repeat over and over again I can't, I can't, I can't. You need to throw that from the dictionary of your mind and say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God if you gave me this opportunity then you will strengthen my hands for this good work. Fighting distractions means learning how to stay focused in a state of distraction. So don't let distractions make you miss your God opportunity. That's all the enemy wants to do.  Come on now. How do I know this happened? It's gonna happen immediately after this service. Here's how it happens. What do you want to eat today? You know the biggest problem we have right now is people can't make up their minds about anything. Now you hear me purport all the time Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A but I just want to let you know something. They're selling chicken everywhere. People that ain't supposed to be selling chicken or selling chicken. Come on somebody. Do you ever want to look at somebody and say hey, would you please just make up your mind? That's what Joshua said to the children of Israel. He said, I'm sick and tired of all of your murmur and griking and complaining over here on this side of the Jordan. If you want to stay over here and fight with the Moabites, fine and dandy but as for me and my house, I have made up my mind. We're going to church, we're gonna pay our time. I'm gonna read my Bible, I'm gonna trust God and when the rapture happens it's gonna be an opportunity. Opposition will fight your God opportunity. Why did you get on the team if you didn't want to play and get hit?  Talk to me somebody. We're bad on themselfies, ain't we? And we haven't even started a game yet. Everybody can talk a lot of trash until the game starts happening and everybody's bad to the bone until you get down on the field and you're looking at 350 pound ox that's looking back at you who's bowing smoke out of his nose and said, I'm gonna run you right over and mash you in the ground. Ready, set, hut. That is the reality of the opposition that the enemy is trying to do everything he can to kill you.  Do you know? Come on, talk to me somebody. Do you know the most important thing that they do with coaches and the team is they sit down, not even on the field. They sit down and watch what the other team does. You see it, play it back. Play it back. Play it back. You see that? There's his vulnerability right there. There's his weakness right there. Well, what's the goal? Well, it's an opportunity that's affording me every time I get on the field. It's called a touchdown. I'm supposed to get the ball there and I get points for getting there. I get rewards for getting there. And I got faith to believe it. And I got a whole bunch of guys that are suited out. Got mighty quiet and here your team must have lost yesterday. One person that will remain nameless but that I'm very close to. Got all suited out with pads. Don't play football. Parents paid the money, paid for the suit, paid for the pads, paid for the helmet. He's looking good. He got on the field. And wherever the ball was, he was not.  God has a plan and he's affording it. He's giving it to us. I promise you, God's got a plan for this church. God is not gonna leave us visionless from now to the coming of the Lord and he's not gonna leave you visionless from now to the coming of the Lord. Do you have a vision for your house? Do you have something? Watch this, watch this. I got you. It's amazing how much work can get done on your job and you'd make that work. How much work you get done when you know four weeks from now, I'm going on vacation. Nobody's phone calls get returned until the day before you leave and your desk is as clean as a whistle. Why? Because there's something out in front of me that I am excited about. Come on, somebody. Something in front of me that I've got a vision for. Something in front of me.  He's put something in front of you individually and the enemy's gonna try to keep you from doing it and I can promise you this is not for the faint of heart in the last days that we're living in because I read last night that there is a battery of places around the world where Christians are being targeted and pastors are being taken out and all kind of opposition is coming against those that name the name of the Lord. But when it's all said and done, I've got an opportunity and when Jesus gives me that opportunity, whether it's on the job, in the church, or in the street, I will stand up for Jesus Christ and make his declaration and kingdom known. Come on, give him a praise right now. I wanna let you know, church, Satan would not be fighting you over something that has no value. So you're praying for your children, but it keeps getting worse. You're messing with his kingdom. Why is he getting worse, pastor? Because the devil don't want you to get it. Because if you get one prayer, listen, three people have testified this week. One just before I walked in the door. His daddy calls him on the phone, had cancer, a tumor on his liver and suddenly he started calling out on God. He calls this boy up and says, they told me this, son. The tumor is dead. I came to tell you, it's not just about the tumor being dead, it's about him being able to see the hand of God inside of his life. Somebody ought to shout over your life, the tumor is dead. Let me give you some things quickly that I believe will be important for you because there's a common thread throughout the word of God that will help you in these areas of being able to know these God opportunities. First of all, in the Bible you'll find foresight, meaning this, the opportunity was noticed by the individual. In other words, their eyes were open, they could see. Look at Elijah, he could see that there was a necessity of building an altar and calling out to the one true God because Jezebel had pounced on everybody and killed the prophets of God. But he said this is an opportunity in the medieval famine and a drought to show the mighty hand of God. It's easy to see in hindsight, isn't it? It's easy to look back and say, oh, that was, it's not so easy to see in foresight. That's the reason why you need the Holy Ghost and you need to pray. That's the reason why the Bible says watch and pray. Come on, say that with me, watch and pray. Well, what happens when I watch and pray? You are literally submitting yourself to the Almighty and the Holy Spirit will come and prompt you about those opportunities. I had to go to an appointment this week and you know what I got on my phone? I got this thing called notice, notification and it gives me an opportunity. I can punch in there and get an alert one minute till the appointment, 10 minutes to the appointment, a one hour before the appointment happens, my little phone will go off and there it was, popped up. Just like the opportunity I'm getting right now, I just picked this phone up and they're telling me up in the media department right now that while I'm preaching in this auditorium, let me just go ahead and say this real quick. Hello, Destin, Florida and the Seafood Festival. They're broadcasting this service live at the Seafood Festival right now. Come on, welcome the Seafood Festival into this service this morning. I said, that's a God opportunity hanging out there. They're not just fishing for fish. I'm fishing for men down at the Seafood Festival. Look at number two, action. That is the person always took action in the Bible. You'll see it wasn't just, oh, I'm gonna pray about it. Some of y'all been praying about it long enough you need to get up and do it. Oh, I've been praying about getting a job, get up and find one and about ministering to somebody. Get up and minister to somebody. Don't despise the small things. Get up and do the little thing and watch God enlarge your territory. How about discernment? Discernment, not all opportunities should be followed. Not all opportunities are God opportunities. You gotta have discernment. I said to myself one time when I was pastoring down at Destin, I needed a worship pastor and I couldn't afford one. So all of a sudden this opportunity came to buy a carpet cleaning company with all the accounts and I could afford to do it. I bought the company. I said, God, this is your company. I didn't hear anything from God. I saw it as a God opportunity. We're gonna help God out. See, you can't see a man right now cause you've been right there.  I said, does anybody talk to me? Here I am, I'm out there. And all of a sudden, I'm gonna hire somebody in. This will pay for it. I got it all figured out. Don't, God, this one, God, talk to me, somebody. God, this one, I got this, this is most of, I'll handle this. You know what God said? Nothing, but I saw it as God opportunity. So I hired somebody, put him in there. I said, what you're gonna do is you're gonna clean carpet during the day and then you'll be my worship leader.  Have you ever been blessed and then would pay somebody to take the blessing? I did, don't need this, don't want it. It's an albatross. Not every opportunity is a God opportunity. Don't say yes to everything. I said, don't say yes to everything. You're looking for the God opportunity. Come on, somebody. Discernment, how about risk? Pastor, that would be fine. I'll risk it as long as it don't cost me nothing.  And it may not be money, it may be time, it may be energy, it may be, this is the reason why people don't have time for God no more, because it costs me too much, but they'll pay exorbitant prices to sit in the nosebleed section to watch the game. See, the risk is all up to whether you want to or not. And you know, the one thing I found out about it, are y'all still with me? I know you are. The one thing I found out about it is this, God won't twist my arm for the opportunity. In other words, he just lays it out there and says, here's the land. Send 12 spies in, it's an opportunity. They come back, two of them said, let's go get it. Two of them said, let's go get it. The other 10 looked at him and said, I don't care what God said. There's giants in the land and I'm not going in there. It will cost me too much. Yeah, but your heritage is waiting on you to get up and fight the good fight.  How about dependents? Everybody who took the God opportunity in the Bible were dependent upon God. See, this is one of the things that we mess up on, because whenever God gives us the God opportunity, we step into it and then we act like we don't need God anymore. I'm gonna tell you, I need him more today 18 years later after pastoring this church for this long as I did the first day I stepped on this campus, because I've tried a lot of different things, punched a lot of holes. Lord, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? What's, what, what, what, what? Because you want a shepherd that has a vision for more sheep, right? There's 10 of you. If you don't depend on the Lord, it will fail. Even the God opportunity will fail. Are you hearing me? Everybody in this, in the Word of God, you'll find them prepared before the opportunity arrived. Are you prepared for the storm that's inevitable? I don't have to be a prophet to know that there'll be a storm come sooner or later. Now, all of us are praising God right now because it's like 50 degrees this morning, and we're thinking hurricane season is over, but I wanna let you know there's still a few more weeks. You better not throw them beanie-weenies out because the potentials are still there. And I'm gonna just tell you, there've been some times when the season quote was over and then all of a sudden something showed up. So it is a prudent man that prepares for a day of trouble. Come on, somebody. Are you prepared? The worst thing you could do, listen to me, I tell my staff this the whole time, the worst thing you could do is wait until the event to get prepared. Here's a better one. So you got married. That was a beautiful day. Everything was beautiful on that day. The day was miraculous. It was awesome. It was a day to remember. You got pictures, you got video. Your glasses with your name on it is still on the shelf collecting dust. You got married. The wedding day was awesome. Everybody was happy. The dress fit. He finally learned how to tie bow tie. Your way ahead of me this morning. That day after, and the day after that, and the month after that, and the year after that, suddenly the day fades and reality hits. And you say to her, but I don't know how to cook. I wish you could see the elbows flying in this room right now. What have I gotta do? I gotta be prepared before I get there. You know one of the worst things that could happen is for me to step up here and not be prepared. I'm just gonna follow the Holy Ghost. No, you're not. You haven't read the Bible. You don't know what's going on, but following the Holy Ghost. Listen, come on, the Lord ain't gonna work in a vacuum. Come on, somebody. All you students out here that have got a test this coming week, you better wake up and realize you better study. Right? I said, you better study those ABCs in one, two, three, because the test is coming. And if you're not prepared for it, don't blame it on God or the devil. You blame it on the devil. He's gonna say, I didn't do it. Look at somebody tell him, get prepared. And then watch this, and I'm coming to a close. Unique, what do you mean? Each opportunity has a season. And I must confess to you, I have missed some of my seasons. So I don't feel alone. How many of you miss some seasons in your life? Yeah, seasons come, seasons go. And the next thing you know, wait a minute, wait a minute. I missed that. I missed that. I lost that. Why wasn't I paying attention to that? The uniqueness of the opportunity is that it has a season. Listen to me, that likely may never come again. So there is on the calendar of God the next great event called the Rapture of the Church. It is the snatching away off of this earth of every believer simultaneously, both dead and living. It's a phenomenon that has never happened just like that before, though there have been other raptures, Enoch and Elijah and so forth. But for the whole church at one time, worldwide, there is going to come a rapture. Now, with every God opportunity, there is opposition. So today we've got preachers that are not preaching about the rapture, or the ones that do want to tell you it'll be all right. Don't worry about it. I was telling Reid on the way to church this morning, one famous Bible teacher looked into the podcast video and said, I don't see any signs of the last days of the Lord Jesus Christ or His coming.  Because not only do I see the signs that are happening all around us, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm also recognizing the pull, the gravitational release that is about to take place. So with that, I'm getting prepared because there is a unique opportunity that's going to come just any day now. It's called the rapture of the church, the voice of the archangel and the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up, snatched off of this earth in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Ladies and gentlemen, that is a season that is so fast that the blinking of the eyes, how fast they calculated in the Word of God. And can I tell you, it will never happen like that again. Whatever you do, don't miss your opportunity to meet Jesus Christ in the air. Somebody that's glad about that, shout hallelujah. Come on, musicians, I will tell you from the book of Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 13, all these the Bible said, after running down the list of those who were so confident in their faith and looked danger in the eye and said that's an opportunity. We've got enough history on this to know because the Bible says that Abel worshiped, watch what it says about him, being dead yet speaketh, his faith is still talking today. You know what God said? He said, Abel, Cain, I'm gonna give y'all an opportunity to worship me, build an altar and bring me a sacrifice and make sure it's pleasing. They both knew what that meant. Come on somebody. Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice that was not from the fruit of his own hands in doing. It wasn't works. It was offering a lamb in my stead. And God said, I accept that sacrifice. Cain, on the other hand, brought fruit from the ground, which means most likely that he was the first drug pusher in the entirety of the known world. He had his hands on the herbs. Something caused him to go off because the opportunity that was afforded to him was just like Abel, remember what God said. He said, Cain, why is your countenance fallen? I gave you the same opportunity I gave Abel.  Why is your countenance fallen? Why do you act like that I don't provide and take care of you? The Bible said, Cain, watch this, one of two people in the Bible, Cain went away from God. Hear what I'm telling you? The Bible says that Abel's blood is still speaking from the ground today. Do you realize that one God opportunity has got God Almighty testifying of Abel's acceptable sacrifice? You find all of these characters found in Hebrews chapter number 11. I wish I had time to preach on them but Enoch walked with God and was not. He said, I got an opportunity, let me walk with God. Now Enoch could have said, I don't wanna walk with you God, I got some things to do, I'm here with my relatives, no one I need to help build this ark. He said, come on walk with me, come on walk with me. And the Bible says that Enoch walked with God and was not for God, took him. First rapture, opportunity. How about an opportunity with Joseph? Joseph, I wanna make you, I'm gonna do great things with you. Let me show you a dream. He tells all of his brothers and they try to kill him. That don't look like a God opportunity to me because right now I'm in the bottom of a pit. This is not a God opportunity down in the pit. God said, just hang on, I got a taxi ride for you. They pick him up and drive him into Egypt. It looks like my God opportunity, my day has arrived. Look, I'm hired by Potiphar, I'm in the house, I'm in the palace zone. No, suddenly he gets somebody lying about him and they throw him into prison from the pit to the palace to the prison.  God said, just hang on, keep doing what I told you to do. Because I want you to know, I'm letting everybody know very clearly that it makes no difference if you're in the pit or the palace or in the prison.  How about that for an opportunity? Yeah, but I'm still in the prison and I just told these two jokers about my dream and they forgot me and I'm down here for 12, 25 years. What's going on?  You said, I haven't forgotten you. I'm just proving, the psalmist said, I'm just proving what you're made of.  You'll give me the glory and not take the credit for yourself. Come on somebody, I'm talking about a God opportunity. And this is what the Bible said, and these all died in the faith, not having received the promise, but they saw them afar off and were persuaded and embraced and confessed that they were strangers in pilgrims. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible says that if they would have thought about their homeland so much, they might have taken an opportunity to go back but what they saw up ahead was better than anything that they had behind. There's a God opportunity that's ahead of me. Come on somebody, touch somebody around you and tell them there's a God opportunity ahead of you. You may not, it may not look like it right now but just keep on walking with God.  Now you can reject it or you can accept it but today's the day of salvation. Tomorrow may be too late. And then for those of you that have been saved for a while, are you been born again 15 seconds? God said I got an opportunity to put all of my power on the inside of you if you'll seek me in the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I'll give you the power you need to be witnesses. And for others of you, God has given you an opportunity that you can see. It seems small right now like about the size of a man's hand but if you won't despise the days of small beginnings, I must confess, I can't tell your story but I must confess that I never thought that I'd be standing here looking at all the eyes that I am right now and online by the thousands because when you're pastoring 10 people in a 40 by 80 with an eight foot roof that when you jump up like I do on these pews and hit your knuckles on that popcorn ceiling and come back with bloody knuckles after a service, you're thinking I'm gonna be right here for the rest of my days. And then God begins to swing doors, swing doors. Now one thing I know, I didn't swing the door myself. Come on somebody, nor did I kick it down and call it God. But I do know this, when God, if you'll be faithful, if you'll be faithful, he said if you'll be faithful and to me I'll give you a crown of righteousness, you just gotta walk it out because not everything comes in one moment, you couldn't handle it. It's an opportunity, Mary, it's an opportunity. Mary, Mary, you're gonna, would you be available, would your womb be available for the Messiah?  Blessed art thou, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. It's an opportunity.  She said, oh no, I heard the voice, I heard the voice of my father, and he sent Gabriel to tell me I'm gonna carry the Messiah. Oh, let me let you in on a secret. The Messiah is Jesus Christ, otherwise known as the seed. And guess who came into your life? What every day you got saved was the day that the voice of Gabriel the angel said, you're highly favored, I'm gonna give you an opportunity in these last days to carry the seed, Jesus, but he can't stay on the inside. Cause when I give you an opportunity, I gotta give other people an opportunity, but I'm gonna use you to do it. This entire message, and I may go another week on some things here because I started hearing about God's opportunities, and I may bring that to you, Lord willing, next week, but here's what I want you to know before we pray. And I say this to this whole church because this is one of the most difficult hours that we've ever been in in the life of the church. But I am asking every person here, and those of you watching, if you're part and parcel of the church, you've been born again, please do not pass by the opportunity that God is giving to you to be the witness. Are you available for God's use? Can you sacrifice at the grocery counter when tears are streaming down their face to stop there and not worry about what anybody says and tell them about the seed that's on the inside of you?  Because ladies and gentlemen, there are teenagers by the tens of thousands that are in this community that need Jesus. And there are people watching online, and there's people moving into this area, and they need Jesus. And there's only one location where they can find that. That's in the mouth of someone who's already met the man. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I wanna pray for that opportunity for you. Would you stand all over this building? Today, if you don't know Jesus Christ, I offer you the opportunity of salvation. Jesus said he loves you so much that he went to the cross and died for you. If you're in this building or watching online right now and you say, pastor, I wanna give my life to Jesus, I see my opportunity. If that's you, just lift your hand right where you are right now. Maybe backslidden, maybe you need the Lord to come into your life. Now I'm gonna pray this prayer, I want you to pray it with me because I don't know who's watching in Germany or Kenya or around the world, but I do know this is my opportunity to get in to their heart with the gospel. Would you pray this prayer with me right out loud? Mean it in your heart once again. Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus' name. I am a sinner and I need Jesus to save me. I see my opportunity given my life to Jesus Christ. I know right now that if I don't do it right now, I'll miss this opportunity.  Forgive me of my sins.  And when you come again, take me to heaven when you come in Jesus' name.  Would you celebrate for somebody who's just given their life to Jesus Christ? Come on, give God praise right now. Hallelujah. Father, I pray for the opportunities of people that are here and are watching. I don't know what you're gonna do to open a door this week for somebody, but Lord, when you do, let them recognize that this isn't my hands that's doing it. It's not my education. It's not my good works, but it is you, Lord, that is opening this door and it's a God opportunity. I pray that your people would have faith to take a step. Lord, more than that, I pray for people that are going to come in contact with someone who needs Jesus, that are broken, hurting, wounded, tears running down their cheeks just this morning because they don't know where else to go. And when you open that door of opportunity in the barber shop, in the grocery store, at the mall, driving down the road, I pray at that very moment that we won't pass it by. But we'll take the opportunity to give them Jesus and leave the consequences to you. Thank you, Lord, that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life this morning. Is anybody glad you're saved? Come on, lift those hands and let's bless the Lord for that one thing right here. I don't care that demons are subject to me. I care that my name is listed and written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Can you say amen to that today? Amen, if you're born again, you know it to the bone and you're ready for the rapture. I want you to turn around to somebody and tell them I'm rapture ready. Shake their hand, let them know how glad you are to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Then I'm gonna meet with you in about two minutes. Shake hands and be friends. God bless all of you that are joining us today. We love you, we look forward to seeing you again. Next service on Wednesday night at seven, don't miss it.