I really wanted to share a few things, just a few minutes here, summarize the last ten years of ministry for myself. And I put it this way to somebody recently, it's been a lot of pain and a lot of gain. A lot of pain. God has broken me down. I think that's the best description of what has happened over the last number of years.

He's broken my arms and my legs. He's broken me like breaking a horse. He's broken me down in terms of my pride, myself. It's all of that. Apparently there was a lot to break.

I didn't realize that I was this much of a project. But what struck me is that just the significance in terms of the whole from which I have been dug, I get a stronger sense all the time for how I have been such a sinner in need of such a salvation, such a Savior. And so really my Christian life I think as raised in a Christian home, taking on Christian ministry for well probably 35, 40 years, I've still found myself to be a greater sinner all the time and Jesus to be a greater Savior. I'm overwhelmed by the glory of God in the salvation of sinners, specifically myself, and the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ, which has been shared so many times this afternoon. Thank you, Brother Jason, Paul, Paul, Scott, Jeff, Carlton, and Josh as well.

I'm also struck by the brokenness not just of myself, but the brokenness of this nation. The brokenness of myself is sometimes, I think, a picture of what is happening around me as well. We are seeing broken churches, broken families. The West is broken. I wrote an entire 700-page book on that called Epoch, The Rise and Fall of the West.

The brokenness of this nation, the brokenness of our churches in the western world is just overwhelming to me. The facades don't cover the cracks or the fissures anymore. We need revival. More than any time in this nation's history, we need revival now. The need is urgent.

Sardis is not doing well. Sardis has turned itself into a mega church. It appears to be something, but it's pretty much nothing. We were in a grocery store at a coffee shop, four or five of us, our men's group. This would have been about four or five years ago, and a man walked into the coffee shop, sat down with us.

He was dressed in strange clothing. I asked him what he was doing. He said, can I join you men? I need to study the Word of God this morning. He told me that he had been a special forces in Cambodia a number of years ago, eight, ten years ago.

He had lived a perverse lifestyle for quite a number of years and he had come upon a church out in the middle of Cambodia where he was marvelously converted and became a follower of Jesus Christ. So the first time he made it back to the States, came back to share his newfound faith with his daughter in Castle Rock, Colorado where I live. And he said he went to church on Sunday. And he took his daughter to church and he said he just sat there and wept through the whole service. He said there was all this music and all these screens and all this stuff.

And he said he just sat there and wept. He said there was no power. The Spirit of God was not there. And that has had a profound effect upon me as well. I see that we need the Holy Spirit of God to come back into our preaching, into our services, into our church.

We need men to pack out the prayer meetings. We need weeping and mourning. We need to hear it. We don't hear it in our services. We need to see unbelievers come into our service, fall down on their faces, acknowledge that God is present of a truth.

We need shouts of rejoicing. We need people so disturbed by their sins that they receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and the shouts of rejoicing will ring in our churches unlike we have ever experienced in our lifetime. We need revival in this country. Let me just close with this personal testimony. The question has come back to me over and over again, brothers, and this is for leaders.

How can God use somebody so broken as myself? Why would God break somebody or something that He intends to use? This seems counterintuitive to everything I've learned about leadership and getting things done. But God comes to me, the Father comes to me, He loves me, I sense His love for me, He's investing so much in me, and He says something like this, now that you're broken I want you to do this and then I say by how Lord how will I do this now that I'm broken and That of course is the point at which his strength is perfected in my weakness and the kingdom doesn't come by word but by power in the Spirit. Increasingly I can identify with these statements in Scripture, Psalm 39, I was silent because thou didst it though he slay me yet while I trust in him.

You know I have no concern to speak of with the devil's buffetings. I have no time to consider what the Sabeans are doing and the justices that men are working upon me and my family and ministry. God's hand is all that matters to me. God's presence is all that matters. God is what matters.

Psalm 57 says, My soul is among lions. Indeed we are often surrounded by these lions, great white sharks, whatever it is, bumping against our leg. The 27-foot shark comes up against our leg. But all we can think is, be thou exalted, O God, be thou exalted. We have better things to do than to be concerned with the enemies.

We need to cut through the flack, worship our God, and there should be nothing, say nothing, to distract our worship, dilute our reverence and fear of God, or divert us from our trust in our God. Who is this we worship, brothers, sisters? Any distraction from our worship is a cosmic insult to God. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast. Who is this we trust?

It is God we trust. Any discussions about the enemy, the devil, certain conspiracies, future cataclysms, economic debacle, political tyranny, any other giants of the land, They must never diminish one iota, our trust in Jesus Christ and our acknowledgement of his total victory, the total and absolute sovereignty of God over all things, and the glory of God that is coming to pass in all things that occur around us. So brothers and sisters, let us say with Joshua and Caleb every day we are well able to take the land. Psalm 118 as well, in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. Or as Moses said, do not be terrified or afraid of them.

The Lord your God who goes before you, he will fight for you according to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes." So as examples to the flock of brothers, leaders, fathers, pastors, we are called to be ultimate examples of his strength perfected and weakness, waiting only upon God, trusting, praying, relying, utterly cast upon Him. It is faith, brothers. It is to raise the rod in the air and to wait on God to separate the ocean waters, whether that be to separate the hearts of men to bring about revival in our churches or whatever it be, it is for us to raise the rod and wait for God to do his work. And God will do his work in his way. God is doing a great work in me, in my family, my church, but I never imagined it would happen this way.

As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far are His ways above my ways and His thoughts above my thoughts. Now that makes sense to me now. Praise be to God for His glorious way in my life and yours too. Amen.