Lifestyle of Faith – Part 8 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

  Friends, thanks so much for tuning in and watching the broadcast today. Today we’re gonna be sharing from Philippians 4, and we’re gonna be talking about the benefits of being a sower. When you get involved in sowing, you’ll also get involved in reaping. You don’t want to miss this broadcast. I believe it will bless you, and it will help you move to where God wants you to be and do what God wants you to do. Blessings. Friends, I’m glad that you’re with us today. We’ve been talking this week about being consistent in your faith, and we talked last week about being consistent in your bold confession of Jesus. Then we talked about, secondly, being consistent not only in your bold confession of Jesus, of the word of God and of faith, but being consistent in your lifestyle of faith. And one aspect of being consistent in your lifestyle of faith is being consistent in giving and receiving. And when the Bible says in Hebrews 10:36, “You have need of patience, “after that you’ve done the will of God, “you might receive the promise.” That word for patience, one meaning of it is being consistent. And I feel like a whole lot of people don’t receive because they’re just not consistent, and you just need to stay at it and keep believing God, and when you’re consistent, good things happen. Amen. Now, we’ve been talking about being consistent in giving and receiving, which also is a part of our faith. And we wanna be today in Philippians 4:10-19. I’m gonna have Aaron read this in just a few minutes, but did you know Paul talks about this church in the Philippians, this is really a, he’s writing them, he says, “I thank God for you,” and then he says in this context, in verse 15, that no church communicated with me in giving and receiving, but you alone. And this church had gave with him from the very beginning of the gospel, and they continued to give completely through his ministry. And I thank God for people like that. I have people that gave to me at the beginning of my ministry. Recently the pastor and I was in his church for seven years when I was like 16 years old to 23 years old, maybe a little less than seven years. But it’s after I got spirit filled and called to preach in Andrew Wommack’s ministry. I was there, I actually was there at least seven years because once we started going to Andrew’s Bible study, we had moved over to this church. And did you know what this pastor, pastor Kenny Davis, he started partnering with us, isn’t it? It just blesses me that this man who sowed so much into me and helped me start out on the gospel, really saw the call of God in me. I’ve been in Andrew Wommack’s ministry, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, called to preach but when we went to Pastor Kenny Davis’s Church, he saw the call of God, he saw the anointing of God, and he began to develop that call. And now he’s still sowing into my ministry. Praise God. This is over 40 years ago. Praise God. And he still, give 45 years ago, and he’s still giving. Praise God. He is sowing into our ministry. It blesses me. Amen.

 

  That’s awesome.

 

  So I thank God for people that are consistent. And Paul talks about this in Philippians 4:10-19, Aaron, you can comment anywhere you want to just go ahead and start reading Philippians 4:10.

 

  Yeah, it says, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly “that now at last, your care for me has flourished again, “though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. “Not that I speak in regard to need, “for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. “I know how to be abased and I know how to abound, “everywhere and in all things, “I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, “both to abound and to suffer need. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I like that He’s saying, you know, you gauged me before, and I know you were going through a hard time and couldn’t give as much, but you know, it’s okay, God’s gonna take care of me no matter what.

 

  Amen.

 

  And he said, even if I’m in a situation where I’m abased, I’ll be abased. You know, when we were ministering in Kit Carson, I guess I was a kid at the time, but I know you pastored there, you had some fairly notable ministers come to Kit Carson to preach there at the church. And there weren’t very nice accommodations in Kit Carson. It’s just a town of 300 people out in the middle of nowhere. And I know one lady has a very strong prophetic ministry, Bobby Jean Merck, she had ministered with Benny Hinn, been to a lot of big places, big churches, and she came out to Kit Carson and–

 

  Benny Hinn, you name it.

 

  And she stayed in the one little hotel that was there at the time–

 

  First time she called it Little Russia. After that she stayed with people in the church.

 

  But you know, she’s a southern lady. She very, very noble.

 

  I gotta tell a story about this. Bobby Jean Merck came to Pastor Kenny Davis’ Church when I was just like 17 years old. And I just started out my senior year in high school and my dad had just passed away and went to be with Jesus. And she prophesied over me. And it was amazing. And I didn’t, but that just ministered to me. I mean, I remember one time she prayed for people and they were healed. The power of God was evident and you could see physically, you could see the glory of God on her. And one time there was this child, and we probably had 120 people in the service. There was this small building Kenny had at that time. And this baby was just crying out loud. And she just said, “Bring me that baby.” And generally you take a baby away from its mother, it’s gonna get worse. And as soon as she held that baby in her arms, it just immediately calmed down and it was just a sign. But Bobby Jean prophesied over me and things, and I remembered that. And I talked about this physically seeing the glory of God on her for years. And then I met her years later, and this is after I’d started pastoring at Kit Carson. And we invited her to come to Kit Carson and minister. And she said, “I’ll come.” And I asked her, I said, “Bob Jean, why did you come?” She said that look but ’cause she had a lot of invitations that she didn’t take. She said, “The Lord told me to come,” but she prophesied over us. She prophesied over our church, she prophesied over you boys. And we have taken those prophecies and written them down. And it’s amazing how accurate they are. We were worried somewhat about you, Aaron, because we knew at that point in time you had a gift in music. And we knew that there’s a lot of homosexual gay stuff. and she prophesied over you that the Lord would make you a witness. And he had given you iron boots and things and you’d go into these places and praise God that never affected you negatively whatsoever. You had a strong Christian testimony.

 

  That’s awesome.

 

  You took those people to Bible studies into church and shared with them the word of God. And you said a lot of them never heard what we preach.

 

  That’s true. So, but I was just thinking about someone who knows how to be abased and isn’t, you know, some people won’t go anywhere where they have to give up comfort. But Paul is one of these people who said, “I can be abased. ” I know how to abound and I know how to be content “because I know that God, “He’s the one who strengthens me.”

 

  Yeah.

 

  Amen.

 

  If you read this from verse 10 to verse 19, there are at least seven statements of abundance. And Paul is preaching from a prison where he’s been writing this letter from a prison where he has been in prison for preaching the gospel. And most people would be crying the victim song. And he is not doing that. He is rejoicing in the Lord. So that’s one of those statements. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” “I’m not speaking in respect of want. “I’ve learned how to be abased and how to abound.” Praise God. Go ahead.

 

  Verse 14 says, “Nevertheless, you have done well “that you’ve shared in my distress. “Now, you Philippians know also “that in the beginning of the gospel “when I departed from Macedonia, “no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving. “But you only,” that’s really sad to think about.

 

  But it’s a powerful statement. You know, when Paul started out, there weren’t a lot of people for him. There were a lot of people that fought him. When Andrew Wommack started on television in like 2001, people talked about how he had instant success. Well, you know what? He started preaching at about 1968 or something. I mean, 32 year instant success. I mean, he had 32 years in the ministry before his ministry really grew and exploded. And Andrew’s ministry in 2001 wasn’t any bigger financially than our ministry is today, and yet it has exploded. He had about less than 4 million income, and now he has over a hundred million dollars a year. And he’s believing for a lot more. I believe he’ll get it. Praise God. I prayed for Andrew when he’s coming to speak at my church. And this was probably, I mean, this was years and years ago. This probably was in 2000, you know, I’m guessing right now, eight or nine, you know, that I prayed for him and I prayed that it, and his ministry probably there was 30 million a year, but I prayed that his ministry would go to a hundred million a year, and now it’s at a hundred million a year. And that touches me, praise God. But you know what, God, God has done amazing things. And he said, “No church communicated concerning giving and receiving, “but you only.” Man, people love to quote like Philippians 4:19, where we’re gonna be in a minute that my God shall supply all your need according to his richest and glory by Christ Jesus. But they don’t put it in context. And this is a promise to givers. And you know what? If you wanna be on the receiving end of these promises, you need to be on the giving end. Praise God. So go ahead.

 

  Verse 16 says, “For even in Thessalonica, “you sent aid once and again for my necessities, “not that I seek the gift, “but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.” I love that, that’s a great promise for believers too.

 

  Amen.

 

  When you give, it’s not just necessarily about the gift, but there’s a blessing that comes from giving.

 

  You know, I’m anointed to teach finances. I’ve written a great book on finances. People ought to get it. It’s called the “Provision: Releasing Supernatural Increase” and it’s powerful. I’m telling you, it’s working in my life. All three of you boys, my sons, it’s working in all of their lives and it’ll work in your life too, because God is no respecter of persons. He’s a respecter of faith. But when I came to Colorado Springs, Andrew Wommack told me, “Lawson, you’ll have to preach more on the area of finances.” He said, “Number one, because the people need it. “And if you don’t teach what the scripture says, “it will be hard for them to believe and receive “what God wants them to receive.” Teaching on finances is not self-motivated. Paul says, “Not that I…”

 

  “Seek the gift,” yeah.

 

  “Seek the gift “but I desire that fruit may bound to your account.” He said, “Number two, “you’ll have to teach more in finances, “because if you’re gonna do anything substantial “in this city, it’ll take some money and you need it. “So you’re gonna have to teach them “so they can receive and give. “And then you’re gonna have to get involved in this.” And I know I have people that are envious. They say we were wish we were like Pastor Lawson. Well, I’ll tell you what, you never criticize a man’s harvest till you’ve seen his seed. And we have sown at this church consistently, we have consistently given between 10 and 27% cash of all the cash that comes in. But we’ve given many non-cash gifts. And a lot of times those are over a $100-200,000 a year in non-cash gifts that we’ve given out. And so, praise God, the Lord has blessed this church, and you know what we’ve received, praise God. And if you get involved in giving, you’ll get involved in receiving. So we want people to prosper, and because of that, you ought to check out our church. You ought to check out “Grace for Today,” check out this ministry, Charis Ministry, Charis Christian Center, and just get involved in the realm of giving and receiving. There is anointing on this ministry to prosper. And I believe that if you start sowing seed here, you’ll receive a harvest. We’ve had this happen. You had somebody, they watch online, and you know what, if you’re not attending church physically here, maybe you live, we had somebody watching from Texas over a thousand miles away, and they started giving here on a regular basis and they contacted the church and they said, “Listen, since we started giving there, “we’re receiving like we’ve never received before.” And you know what, that’ll happen. This has happened to many, many people who come into relationship with us. And man, you get involved in a ministry that has an anointing in this realm, and that anointing will flow over and you’ll receive that blessing. So we’re gonna take a short break, but you stay tuned. We’re gonna be right back and we’ll continue to teach right here, Philippians 4, you don’t want to miss the rest of this book. Friends, I’ve been teaching with two of my greatest friends, Andrew Wommack and Jesse Duplantis, and we talked with Andrew on the revelation of grace. And then with Jesse on insights to faith. You don’t want to miss this great teaching that is the heart of the gospel. Grace, what Jesus has done and faith our positive response to it. Blessings.

 

  Remember Lot’s life, now is the time to stay focused. Keep looking ahead, keep looking unto Jesus. Really, it’s all about Jesus. You need to stay focused on what really matters. I think it’s like a lot of us, we get distracted by things that don’t matter, and it really slows us down from where God is trying to get us, that causes us to lose focus. And what we really need to do is put your head down and go, go, go. Amen.

 

  Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed with us. I have my son Aaron with us, and we’re teaching on giving and receiving. We’re talking about being consistent. And I think a lot of people just quit before their harvest, but, or they don’t believe, like you said, “You gotta believe to receive, “just like you believe to give,” and giving is a faith deal, but receiving is a faith deal. So you can continue reading there in Philippians 4:18 and 19.

 

  Yeah, I like that you talked about consistency. You know, we’re talking about consistency in faith, having a lifestyle of faith, really, one aspect of of being consistent in the realm of faith is being consistent with generosity. And recently Mark Hankins was here ministering and between services he told my son Fisher, who’s nine years old, “I want to take you and go buy you a pair of shoes.” And so I went to a sporting goods store and–

 

  Shields?

 

  Yeah. Fisher picked out the most expensive pair of boy shoes. I think they’re $140.

 

  I’d have gone after you boys.

 

  And then Mark said, “Well, you need these too,” and pointed out another pair of Jordans and said, “You need to get these too.” So he got two pairs of shoes, it’s like 250 bucks. Then he said, Aaron, “You need a new pair of shoes too.” And I ended up getting like the same kind of shoes that he was wearing, which they were pretty expensive too. And when I came home, my wife Heather was kind of surprised, we were carrying in all these bags of shoes. And she said, “What happened?” And this just kind of came outta me, but I said, “Well, I think just, “Pastor Mark was a practicing generosity.”

 

  Man, he is very generous.

 

  And but when you practice something, you do it consistently, and I was thinking about my background as a classical musician, I play the flute, to really excel and at a high level as a classical musician, maybe as an athlete, you have to practice consistently. I would practice three to four hours a day, every day for probably 20 years. And to really excel at something, you have to practice consistently. And that way when you get the opportunity for a big moment to really shine, I’ve had invitations to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City, to play at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and when you get an invitation to play on a big stage, you’re not gonna choke up. You’re gonna be able to do it. And every now and then, God’s gonna call you to be a very big giver. To sow a very big seed, to really invest in the gospel in a big way. And if you’ve never practiced, you’re probably gonna choke. You probably won’t be able to do it. So it’s good to make a practice of generosity and people of faith are very generous people.

 

  Amen. You know, three of my greatest friends, Andrew Wommack, my mentor, Mark Hankins, who’s a good friend, Brother Jesse Duplantis, they’re very, very good friends. In fact, we’ve just done teaching with them recently and with Andrew talking about the revelation of grace with Jesse talking about faith and principles of faith, with Mark Hankins talking about how faith works. But you know, they are all very, very generous people. And I just love, you know, God is the most generous. And I remember Mark Hankins talking about when he pastored, somebody got mad at him and quit the church. And he talked to God and said, “God, the biggest giver just quit my church.” And God said, “The biggest giver hadn’t quit your church.” And he went to the books and said, “God, right here, “you see the biggest giver just quit your church.” He said, “No, the biggest giver has not quit my church.” And then God spoke to him that I’m the biggest giver. And you know, so many people, they live to please people rather than please God, but we need to please God. And you know, sometimes in the realm of finances, you will make religious people mad. In fact, we had Mark Hankins here for camp meeting, and I have to ask him to take up the offering on what not to preach, and he took the whole time and I didn’t preach. And we had this person visiting and this woman actually came to me and talked to me a few weeks later at Andrew Wommack Summer Family Bible Conference where I was attending. And she said, we were there for that service, and my husband, Mark made him really mad. And then you got up there and sang the money song. And that made him mad. And God gave me this money song and I sing it and I got it from Kenneth Hagin. He wasn’t singing a money song, but he talked about how God increased him and how he just believed and they wouldn’t twist people’s arm and pressure. And I said, “Listen, God gave me that song “when we were building our church. “And I sang that song and danced and praised God. “And I never told the people what I needed. “And I never twisted people’s arms “and I never put pressure on anybody. “And you know what, we got more than enough money. “Hell, that’s a lot better singing a song “and dancing and praising the Lord, “than pressuring people and squeezing people “and telling them you’re gonna go under if they don’t give. “And you know what, “I just don’t believe in that and I’m never gonna do it.” And I don’t believe in manipulating people for money. But this made this person mad and I said, “You know what, “the first time,” I told her that I heard Mark Hankins, and this is interesting because years ago she attended Mark’s brother’s church and she said Mark’s brother was the exact same way. And his dad, B B Hankins, B B Hankins had a church of 600 people in a town of 1200. And he gave millions and millions of dollars to missions and to the gospel. And he was an amazing man of faith. But she said, B B Hankins and his son was just like, Mark. And she said, but it made my husband mad. And they go to some dead religious church. I’m not gonna say what church is, but I said, “Your husband is just religious.” But I said, “You know what, “he doesn’t have to feel bad because I was religious.” And the first time I heard, one of the first times I heard Mark, it wasn’t the first time, but in 1998 I heard Mark Hankins preaching and he was preaching in Billy Upper Heart’s church in Denver, Colorado. And you know what, Mark made me mad. He made my religion mad. And you know what I told mom, “I just don’t know.” And mom said, “I know he’s right and you’re wrong “and you need to get over it.” Praise God. And you know what, I got over it and Mark come and preached for me and said, “I see that you got well over it.” Well, you know what, God had to change my mind. God said, “He’s right and you’re wrong.” And it’s not a problem for me to bless my people like this. But people a lot of times limit God by their stinking thinking. And that was in 1998, and I began to take the limits off of God and we were pastoring and Kit Carson. It was amazing. God was good to us. We pastored that church and we gave about half of our money to missions. We gave about $50,000 a year to missions and other ministries but then God began to tell me, if you could pastor a church of a hundred people, and there were about 120 some people attend the church, there’d be about 75 on a average Sunday. But he said, “If God,” he says that God spoke to me and said, “If you could pastor a church of a hundred people “and give away $50,000 a year, “you can pastor a church of a thousand people “and give $500,000 a year.” And Aaron, I’m believing God, right, today we’re pastoring a church and that happened in 1998. God told me that and that happened in 2016. And nearly every year since then, we’ve given $500,000 or more to missions and other ministries out of this church. We have a church. We have about a thousand a week in physical attendance, about 2000, call this church home at this present time. And you know what, I’m believing for far more than that. Amen, and I believe it’s gonna happen by the grace of God.

 

  That’s awesome.

 

  Amen. It’s the grace of God working in us. But I told this woman, I said, “You get your husband.” She said, “Would you talk to him?” I said, “Listen, you get my book on “Provision: Releasing Supernatural Increase” in your life and I guarantee you these principles work. They’re from the Bible. And I said, “If he’ll read that and then wants to come and talk to me, “I’ll meet with him.” Praise God. He’s religious just like I was. Amen. But you know what, he goes on and listen to what he says. Listen to this testimony in prison. Read verse 18 and 19.

 

  It says here in Philippians 4:18 and 19, “Indeed, I have all and abound. “I am full having received from Epaphroditus “the thing sent from you, “a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, “well pleasing to God. “And my God shall supply all your need “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

 

  Man, I love this. He is in prison. He is in prison for preaching the gospel. And listen to Paul’s confession. We started off this series by being bold in your confession. And listen to what he says. He says, “I have all.” Man, most people in prison are not saying that. Most people, if they got thrown in prison for preaching the word of God would be mad, would be upset, would be crying the blues. He says, “I abound.” Man he’s in prison. And he says, “I have all, and I abound.” He says, “I am full.” Man, listen to his confession. Listen to his faith. Look at the consistency of Paul’s life. He is not a whiner, he is not a complainer. Man, he is a giver and he is a receiver. And he’s talking about what he has received. He says, “I have received from Epaphroditus “the things which were sent from you.” And then he talks about these off, when you get involved in giving and receiving, it’s a sweet smell to God. Man, God says, “That smells good to me.” Hallelujah! Get over your old religious self lost at Purdue. I had to do it. You need to do it too. I mean, I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t be living where I’m living. I wouldn’t be given what I’m giving. I wouldn’t be in the church that I’m pastoring. We wouldn’t have half of the finances that we do if I had not obeyed God and believe what God told me. Man, when you start believing what God says, it’ll change your destination. It’ll change what you’re doing. And some of you can’t get to where God wants you to go thinking like you think. You’re gonna limit God in your own life by your stinking thinking. And so you gotta change what you’re thinking and change what you’re believing so you can change what you’re receiving. He says, “They were a odor, a sweet smell, “a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing.” Man, I want to please, I seek to please God in the area of giving and receiving. But Aaron, you comment on verse 19, praise God, “My God shall supply all your needs “according to his riches and glory of by Christ Jesus.”

 

  I like that you said that’s actually a promise for givers. It’s not just an isolated scripture, it’s a promise for people who are givers. And man, I’ve consistently, it’s something that you taught me a as a kid was to be a tither and be consistent with it and I remember the first time I made money as a kid, me and my brothers went over to the high school football field Saturday morning, the morning after a football game. We picked up pop cans that were under the bleachers and even in the trash there. And we took them to recycling place. And we each made like five bucks. But you taught us what the tithe was. We each gave like 50 cents and I’ve tithed since. But God has always taken care of me. I’ve never gone without. I’ve abased at times. I’ve abounded at times, but God’s always taken care of all my needs. And that’s the testimony of a giver, as someone who consistently–

 

  You know, my pastor told me this when I got married, I was making $800 a month and I was given $200 a month away. And I told him, “I don’t know how I’m gonna do this.” And we took on a $300 a month house payment when mom and I got married in 1984. And my pastor told me, “Lawson you’re a tither. “and you’re a giver and you’re never gonna lack.” And you know what, Kenny Davis, you’re right, I’m a tither and I’m a giver and I never have lacked. Thank you for what you sowed into my life. And I want to thank you all that are watching who are partnering with us. And I wanna extend that challenge. I double dog dare you to start giving, to start planting seed and believing God for harvest and see what happens in your life. Amen.

 

  Yeah.

 

  I believe God will do it. If you need prayer today, we have trained prayer ministers that are waiting here to receive your calls. And you know what, we broadcast right now on five networks. I believe we’re gonna go on more five days a week. And you know what, I have a huge staff. Our payroll with all the people I give to in different things is about $90,000 a month, over a million dollars a year. And you know what, God meets all our needs. But I believe if you’ll get involved in this ministry with giving, you will receive. And I believe that you will have increase. Thank you for tuning in. God bless you.

 

  Faith isn’t just a momentary thought or a burst of emotion. It’s a lifestyle of trusting in God and his unfailing word. Take a step of faith and trust in God’s plan for your life. Faith is a journey, so enjoy the trip. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of the teaching “Lifestyle of Faith,” a $20 value free of charge. Download today at CharisChristianCenter.com.

 

  Hey everyone, my good friend Jesse Duplantis is gonna be here Sunday, November 5th at 6:30 PM at Charis Christian Center in Colorado Springs. You don’t wanna miss it.

 

  You let God do what he wants and he’ll bless you beyond your wildest dreams, spiritually, physically, and financially.

 

  Come, be encouraged with the word of God in Brother Jesse Duplantis. Sunday, November 5th at Charis Christian Center.

 

  Thanks for watching “Grace for Today”. This broadcast has been made possible by our faithful partners. If you would like to become a partner, need prayer or have a question, please call us at 719-418-4000 or to partner online, go to CharisChristianCenter.com/Give. You can write us at P.O. BOX 63733, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80962. See you next time on “Grace for Today”.