Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
Well, not in the past a choice, but with some and all of my material. I don't have much to say. But I was not a camera. Thank you. Yeah, I want to give you just a second to pray. My Father, in the name of Jesus, I just bless you Lord, and I praise you and I thank you for Lord for using me as your vessel today. Lord, I thank you for speaking to me and speaking through me. Lord, I pray with you, no matter what I have on these pages, that you would use me for your glory today, Lord, and that you would allow me to speak on your heart and that your people need to hear. And I just give you all in praise and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, you guys. So let's have a look at this message and who can face it so you can see on your paper there. And, you know, when I first came up with that title, it was basically because of what Pastor Dancy had sent us that already married, boot camp. The first thing I thought about was my military experience. And I started thinking about, first of all, we're in the last days. We all know that, right? So no matter where you have been in your marriage, up until now, if you think about where we are and how close we are to the end, even though we've been married, most of us, for a lot of years, this is new territory. It's absolutely new territory. None of us have been where we are. I don't care how long we've been married. This is brand new territory. And we have to treat it for what it is. And so with that being said, it's time for us to take things to the next level, okay? I'm not trying to put a plug in for our names for you guys, but it is time to take things to the next level. And what I mean by that is it's time for next level love, next level forgiveness, and it's a next level fight that we're in, okay? It's a next level fight. And when I was looking up some definitions of words, I started with boot camp, and boot camp basically is a training station for recruits, okay? I don't know how many military folks are in here, but some of you guys couldn't identify with that. But what is a recruiter? A recruiter is a person newly enlisted in the armed forces. So like I said, no matter how long you have been married, you are now newly enlisted in the last days of your marriage, okay? And it's also a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training. That's what boot camp is. And our time is short. So it's time to intensify the things that we do in our marriages with our spouses, because this is where it all counts. And the purpose of boot camp also is to separate the week from the strong, okay?
And so here we are today. And I want to, when I was thinking about this, y'all want to put all these notes on this paper and everything, and I thought I was going to just go down this outline, and it was just going to be real easy until Pastor Troy Catterman spoke. And I realized this morning, when I was praying about this, and I said, Lord, I don't want to just stick to this. Well, I'll go down. I want you to use me for your purpose. What is the most important thing? What is the most important point that I need to get across to everybody in this room, including myself? And God took me, right? I'm not surprised that Pastor Troy is expressing my own love, because he said, whereas it's been said, you got hurtness, you got so many times, love, or no, sorry, live each day as if it's your last, all right? We hear that all the time. Live each day as if it's your last. And most people think of that as they got a buck of this. They got all these things they want to do before they die, right? You have your little buck of this and whatever. But when I was praying about this, God said not to live each day as if it's your last, but to love each day as if it's your last. And you can start with that person sitting right next to you. Okay? And for those of you whose spouses did not make it, you can still carry this, which when you go home, to love each day as if it's your last. And I'm going to start, you guys, with John 3 16. And I'm going to say this. Everybody can recite John 3 16. I don't care if you say, not say, in the world. I mean, you could be a celebrity on TV. Everybody knows John 3 16. Okay? You can ask anybody. They can recite it without even looking at the word. But I'm going to read it because I'm going to put some emphasis on some things here that we probably think about sometimes, but I don't want to be really, really dig deep. So, for God so loved the world that He gave. Y'all, I can stop right there. Okay? I can stop right there. For He so loved the world that He gave. Not only did He give, but He gave the best. He gave the one thing that we needed that's going to save us if we will receive it, if we will accept it. And I don't know anybody in this room who has children who would actually sacrifice one of your children, especially if it's your last or your only. But I'm just saying, would you really sacrifice your children or your child so that other people might be saved? Think about, you guys are holding your babies here right now. All of us know the story. We know it's not just that He sacrificed. We all know the story. We all have read the story. We all know what Jesus suffered for us, right? But because God so loved us, He paid the ultimate price. And it says that whosoever believes in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting lives. Verse 17 says, for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The way I look at this and the way it translates in my mind is God proved His love for every single one of us by sacrificing. Sacrificing His Son, His most prized position, the thing that He loved the most. And so all of us in this room, I want to say this to you guys, we claim that we love each other. Every one of us in this room who has a spouse or who's planning to get married, we've all sent these words out of our minds at least one time, and I love you. We've all said that we really weigh it as for what it really costs, what it really means. I don't know if any of us really have, because do you really sacrifice for your spouse? And some of us will sit here and lie, because, hey, we're in a marriage conference, of course you want to shake your head, of course I love my spouse, but do you really understand what it means? Because if you're not willing to love outside of your comfort zone, that's not love. Most of us love within the confines of what makes us comfortable, not hate a person. We don't really do what that other person needs. We do what we want, and we do what makes us feel like we're doing a good thing. But for God so loved the world, he gave his son up to be tortured, to be beaten, to be crucified. Do you guys think about that? There is no greater price. There is no greater way to express or to prove love than to die. But the only way we have to do is die in our flesh, and that's hard for us to do. We don't have to really die a physical death. We don't have to shed every drop of card blood for ourselves. Some of us probably would. But ultimately, the only thing we're required to do is to die to this question, and we find that difficult to do, okay? But Jesus paid it all. He paid it up front, so we don't have to wonder what we get. We know what we got. We got one who literally paid the price for all of us. We might, right? So let me just say this. I know Pastor Troy touched on this a little bit. If you're holding anything against your spouse, if there's any anger, if there's any unforgiveness, all that is is an open door for any to get in. Now, we are in the last days. There is no time. Not as if we had time anyway to play around. There is no time to play around with yesterday, what happened yesterday. Because I'm going to tell you what, if you know Jesus is coming tomorrow,
is it going to matter today what happened yesterday? So we're living and loving each day as if it's our last. Does yesterday even matter anymore? It doesn't matter what they said to you. It doesn't matter what they did to you. It doesn't matter because right now we're all, we're battle ready. When I was in the Air Force, there was something called the Buddy System. Everybody know what the Buddy System is? When you're responsible, they assign somebody to you and assign you to somebody, and you're responsible for that person's well-being. You don't even have to know them, but you've got to learn them, and you are responsible for making sure that that person does not fall, that person does not fail, and if they do, guess what's wrong with these? It's yours. It's yours, okay? It's funny how a lot of things you hear in the world, they get a lot of stuff from the Bible. They get a lot of stuff about the Buddy System and all that. That's really, that's got less to do with them figuring out a way to have you take care of somebody who's going to be about us loving each other the way Christ said it to, okay? So Pastor Troy already sold 1 Corinthians 13. I'm going to talk about it a little bit more, you guys, because obviously we substitute the word charity with love, right? Love, in the way that it is intended in this word, it's a copy of it. It's selfless and it's unconditional, right? But what intrigues me about 1 Corinthians 13, starting in verse 4, it says, charity would love sufferers. It suffers, not only does it suffer, but it suffers long. Now, if you think about the word love, why does love require suffering? Love sounds like a beautiful thing. It doesn't sound like you should be suffering because you love it, but that's exactly what love is because it's long suffering, it's patient, it's kind. It endures all things, it holds all things. We know, and I'm going to finish reading the scripture, but I'm just saying, you guys, if you think about love for what it is, it's painful. It's painful to give out something without expecting anything in return. You just give and give and pour out and pour out and pour out because that's what love is and that's what love does, right? But not only does it suffer long, it's also kind. And it says love suffers long and is kind. So while it is suffering, it's also being kind. Y'all understand that? While you're suffering, while you're going through the things that you're going through, if you really have the love of God in you, you're still going to treat that person with the love of God. Love is patient and it is kind. Love suffers long and it's kind. Charity in me is not. It boasts not or vaunted not itself.
It's not puffed up with meaning. It's not hearty. It doesn't behave itself unseemly. It's seeking not our own. It doesn't act alone. When you're in a marriage, you're in a relationship, a courtship. You're not seeking out your own. It's about the other person, right? It's not easily provoked. I think of no evil. Pastor Troy already went over that. Rejoice in not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things. Believe with all things. Hold with all things. Endures all things. And love never fails. Now, just going back to what I just said, if you're saying you love somebody, you have to be willing to sacrifice beyond your comfort zone. Now, John 3 16, for God so loved the world, and he gave his only God's Son. We've already read that, but guess what? John 15 12. This is my commandment. It's not a suggestion. This is my commandment. That you do what? Love one another. Ask. I have loved you. What does it ask me? Just like I just read here. For God so loved the world, and he did what he gave. So the same way that he loved you, there's a same way you're supposed to love others. That is what this word is telling us. And it's like I said, it's not a suggestion. It's a commandment that you love one another. Give of yourself. You sacrifice of yourself. Your comforts. For the betterment of the other person, just like the bloody system. You are responsible for that other person's wealthy. Okay. Now, Pastor Charney stole Genesis 2 24. Therefore shall the man leave his father and mother and cleave his wife, and they shall be one flesh. He's already explained that enough, so I'm not going to also go over that. So I'm going to go here. Matthew 6 14 and 15. If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But guess what? Verse 15, what is the same? But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. Are you holding anything against anybody that you claim to love? Okay. So I'm going to let that sit there for me. Y'all just meditate on that for a minute. And here's the thing too. Let me go to Ecclesiastes 5, and I'm going to verse 5, except for the same example. I've got a story I've got to tell you guys. Okay. Verse 5 says, the better is it that thou should not vow that thou should vow cannot pay. Okay. How many of us took wedding vows? All right. Why don't you take those vows? Because here's the thing, you guys, most of us, when we think about getting married, we're only thinking about the wedding day. We're not thinking about the eternity that comes after. We're not thinking about that.
I don't know anyone. I've got girlfriends, you guys who have had scrapbooks from when they were little girls up until the day they got married, because they picked out their colors, they knew their flowers, they knew what kind of cake they wanted, they had their dress picked out, they knew how they were going to wear their hair, what their jewelry was going to look like, how many rives makes, all the stuff that leads up to the day. Nothing after. Everybody's longing for that wedding day. Oh, I want to wear this. I want to look like this. Everything that you can think of that goes into the day of the marriage. You have picked out everything, and you want it to be exact. Y'all seen the... What is that? Um, bridezilla? Y'all seen that show? That is real. People are serious about that day, but didn't give account to the vows that they were going to take. Nobody studies the vows. Nobody studies the wedding vows and says, oh, I want to do this. No. I want to look good on that day. They're going to only want that train to be on the wedding gown, but nobody takes into account what they're really professing when they speak those vows. Most of us only spoke those vows. You know why? Because the preacher said, repeat after me. He was just being obedient. Right? It was a requirement. It was just a requirement, and that's what most of us did. But if you are not married yet, and even if you are married, I challenge you to look up your wedding vows. Go back and look at what you promised to do, for better or for worse, sickness and health, till death do us part. Nobody knows, bro, what they're... Everybody loves that for better part. Right? But what is for worse? I didn't know what my for worse was going to be, but I made a vow that for better or for worse, I was going to love this man. Right? For worse came in ways that I didn't burn him for. I never thought that was going to happen. But I found myself one day, facing my for worse hand-on, and I had to ask myself, what am I going to do now? So, let me say this. 2 Timothy 3, 16, he says, all scripture is given by inspiration God and is a prophet of the doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Everything in this word, yes, will profit you in your marriage. If you have not read this word, I encourage you and I challenge you to do so with your spouse. Right?
With your spouse, it's so vitally important that both of you are on one court. You're on the same page, that you go into your marriage fully armed with this word, because if you don't, you will suffer at the hands of the enemy. You're going to suffer when warfare comes, and it's not about that love-suffering law. You're going to suffer because you don't know what love really is, and you don't know what you committed to. And you don't have any fight in you to deal with the things that are going to come at you because the devil is on ambition to destroy. He cometh not but for to what? Everybody knows that. But we don't get prepared for it. He is not going to remember that. He is not going to sit back and just let you have some meritfulness. It's not going to be like everybody else in the movies. I promise you that. I don't care how many movies you've seen. You can scrap all that. It does not happen that way, okay? And I'm moving along because I have got to get to one of my stories, you guys. But I do want to say, let me read Romans 12, verse 2. Be not conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may prove what is that doing acceptable and perfect will of God. If we could just renew our minds to loving the way God loved, most of the battles that we face in our marriage will be so much easier. If we just get it right up here, okay? And lastly, it was in Luke 10-19 before I go on to this story. Behold, I give unto you how it treads on certain goods and scorpions, and over all the powers of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means forgive you. If we can get that down in our bones, you guys, know the power and authority that we have over demonic spirits, we will have a fighting chance, especially in these last days when we had given in to save our inheritance and the enemies trying so hard to destroy, okay? So, with those things being said, let me just tell you guys, when I'm 19 years old, I joined the Air Force, okay? And I didn't just join the Air Force. My sister took me down to the map station to speak to a recruiter, take a test and all. Long story short, I scored high enough to join the Air Force, so yay, right? Okay. Well, the only problem was, I hadn't even told my parents that I took the test. And this is April of 1987. I'm not supposed to leave until September. So, I've got time to kind of break them in and, you know, get my mom prepared, especially that, you know, her youngest is leaving, right? I'm the youngest of seven. And I'm supposed to spend these next four months getting them ready, letting them know, oh, I'm leaving, whatever. So, I'm trying to figure out my plan.
How am I going to break it? Am I going to call them and sit them down and have a conversation with them or whatever? I didn't know how I was going to do it. But then, I'm going to say this, I'm going to save them, and I'm going to say, the Lord answered that question for me because what happened was I gave a phone call, and I'm not supposed to leave until September, but my recruiter calls me, and they had a sloth in them that earned it, right? So, I'm like, okay, so now what, right? Well, when he told me when I was supposed to be leaving, it's now the middle of May, and my report date was June 2nd, and the mama didn't know that I was leaving, right? And like I said, I'm the youngest of seven. You guys, I was in college. I was doing well. Never gave my parents any problems or anything like that. You guys said, for all they knew, I still had several years left at home because I'm going through college, right? So, imagine they're surprised when I'm standing there in the kitchen, talking to my recruiter, and my mama was, we didn't have cell phones, you guys, so I'm in the kitchen on that phone, it's got that long cord, you know, and I'm trying to stretch it as far away from her as I can, so she can't hear my conversation with the recruiter. And when I'm coming back closer to her, she's like, what was that all about? And I'm like, what? You can't let it see what happened was. I was going to surprise you. Four months from now, he wants the surprise, the leaving, you know? And my dad, who admitted to Air Force before, and he had been in and out before I was even born, he's like, what? You know, he got excited. He's like, so what we got to do, you know? And I told him to do the list of things, and he told me, and my mom was like, what? She's like, D, Ann, are you sure? I was like, yeah, I had no doubt, I had no fear, I had no worry. I was like, yeah, this is, I'm ready to go, right? You know? For two straight weeks, until I went to have my physical, my mom asked me every single day, are you sure? D, Ann, are you sure? And she kept on and kept on asking me, I was 100% sure, no fear, no worries, no doubts, right? Until that bus started moving from the back station, and I'm on there by myself. I'm the youngest of seven, I've never been away from home. For real, for real, and I'm going from Phoenix, Arizona to San Antonio, Texas, on my bus by myself, and yeah, so all kind of fear jumped on me, and y'all know, y'all seen things in movies where people have been under hypnosis, and it's this one sound that they hear, and all of a sudden, it's like, when you hear this sound, you're gonna wake up, right? Y'all, I was sitting on that bus, and I'd already waited for my mom and dad, and everybody, I'm good, I get on that bus, and I sit down, and everybody else is getting down, all of a sudden, I hear that, shh! Y'all know that sound?
And all of a sudden, I'm going, oh, God, what did you do? What did you do? What did you do? Fear got all over me. I wanted to run off that bus, you guys, and guess what? The last station I went to before I had to get on that bus, so when you go and raise your right hand, then you got to swear in. And they had told me before I raised my right hand and swore in, and I'm in a room full of people. They said, up until now, you could go home. As a matter of fact, if anybody has any doubt that you still want to go home, leave now. But once you swear in, you take that bus, you're in. It's a dumb deal, but that's where we are right now. It's a dumb deal. There is no turnaround. There is no runaway. I don't care what noises you hear. I don't care what happens. You've already signed up. You've already sworn in. You've already made a vow to open for the Lord. You're all in, right? Now, we arrive at the Blackwood Air Force Base, you guys. And I'm going to tell you what, just like in the movies. The movies got some of that ride. The bus arrives, you guys, and goes through the gate. And we don't know where we're going, but once it comes to a stop, I'm looking, first of all, I'm looking around, and it's like, oh, this is nice. They were with y'all. Beautiful base, pristine. And it's nighttime now, because it was a long ride that we had not eaten or anything, whatever. I'm looking around, and I'm like, oh, this is nice. Now, I'm ready to get out and get my warm welcome and all that. I'm the new recruit, and they're going to show me the ropes and all that, y'all. Those doors open. I'm going to tell you what. They started yelling, fussing, cussing. I heard some things. I had never heard before. I had been a shelter child, you know what I'm saying? I was just like, what? And y'all, I'm in the middle of the bus, and I'm looking out the window like, who are they yelling at? We just got here. We ain't done nothing wrong. You know, they sure think they're not killing at us, you know? But why nobody else out there? And the only thing that could have been getting yelled at was the ones who was in the front of the bus, and they had gotten off, and I'm like, oh, my God, what are they doing? Why? They're so mean. Y'all? And all I'm hearing, I'm hearing toe to toe, heel to toe, face front, you know? I don't know what toe to lie means. I don't know what heel towe means. I don't know what heel towe means. I don't know nothing, bro. Y'all, as I'm getting off the bus, I'm seeing these recruits, and they're packed like sardines, right?
The person that was yelling toe to line is the first person that gets off the bus, and if you put your toes on the line, everybody behind you is heel toed. Your toes have to be touching the heels of the person in front of you. Yes, ma'am. I sneeze that face, Angie. Yes. You have to literally work your toes, and look, and they are coming down, looking, making sure your toes are touching the heels of the person in front of you, okay? You're a germaphobe? Wrong career. Don't you? Okay? Because it doesn't matter. So, yeah, you've got to stand there with your toes in any way, and once they do that, if you look into the lunchtime and they're yelling face front, face front, and look, you should be looking directly at the back of the person head in front of you. That's true. That's all you know to do. So, what you're learning is follow orders. Follow directions. Just do what I say, okay? There is no deviation from what's in front of you. Do exactly what I say, the way I say it, and you're going to be fine, right? Well, for the first few weeks, I did everything just fine, all right? You can get some rules to follow with all the rules, okay? No trouble out of me, right? And I'm trying to still be that. I told you, I was a shelter child. I'm the one that's kind of staying in the bag. Don't look at me. Don't talk to me. I'm good, you know, whatever. That's me. Well, when you're in the military, it's a whole different story, right? Because they are trying to separate the week from a straw. And, y'all, it's a mental game. If they can take this from you, they got you, right? So, fast forward a few weeks, and I had to get separated from my flight because I had to do some administrative stuff, but when I came back to the dorm, everybody looked out on the flight line, and they were already in formation. They were doing some, basically, they were learning how to march, right? Y'all, I knew as I was walking to join the flight, I was about to get it. I just had this, I was like, oh, here we go. Here we go. I didn't know what was going to happen, but y'all, I get out there, Sergeant Becca, she's a little five foot two black lady, right? Had that big smoke there, had all y'all seen them hats, right? And she saw me coming, and she started yelling, double-town, double-town, double-town. Fall in, fall in. If you don't know anything about marching, you can't fall in until moving flight, okay? You can only fall in when everybody's still, right? And if they say you fall in, then they size you up and, you know, call you to attention or whatever. So she's telling me, fall in. I'm like, I'm knowing I can't do that. I'm supposed to follow the orders, right? So I get over there, and I try to get behind the flight so I can just fall in and start marching. What does she do? She called that face. Knowing I was trying to get in line, she called them, so they go this way now, okay? And now I'm over here somewhere, right? She yelled, double-town, get in line. I'm taking soul now. I'm trying to get over to something. What's she doing? Right face. So she just trying to make this idiot out of me, right? Well, y'all, I had to get broken in.
I'm going to tell y'all like this. I wasn't having it. You try to make a fool out of me. I ain't doing it. So I just stop walking. Y'all know what happened, right? Get over here, Evan. So you guys are like, you know, I walk over to her, and she put that brim. She fought that, she walked five states, and she put that brim on her ankle bone. It might not touch her feet. And she went in on me. She invented some words, you know? He went in front of me. I'm going back. I'm going back. Look, y'all, just as I was starting to break, and I was so slightly, I was starting to break, and I'm pretty tough, you guys. But in that moment, I'm going to angle. I didn't know what to do, right? But y'all, I promise you, in that moment, I saw myself back in my kitchen at home with my dad before I left him. My dad stood there, Jesus. In that kitchen, he told me, he said, all of my children, he said, you're my baby. I went down to some seven, y'all. He said, all of my children, I wanted somebody to join the military because he had been in the Air Force. And he said, I want you to know you like this. He said, if anybody can do this, you can. And I said, yes, sir. Everybody told me, y'all. He said, if you don't remember anything else, you remember just one thing. He said, they could yell, they could cuss, they could scream, they could call you out your name, but they can't put that on. He said, you remember that. You're going to be just fine. So in that moment, when this lady is in my face, doing all of that, I remember what my dad said to me. That was the only piece of advice that he gave me. And it kept me from the duration of my time in the military because it's a victim of their power. If you know they can't hurt you, for real, for real, it's all just worry. It's all just love. Oh, you're just putting on a show. Because if you don't let them take your mind, they can't get the rest of it. So when I realized it was a mind getaway, it's wrong now. You know what I'm saying? So as she was standing there yelling at me, I tensed up, I clenched my fist, and I was just bringing, I got you now. You can't do nothing to me. And I think she realized in that moment that she was defeated because all of a sudden, she was like, are you listening to me, Aaron? And y'all, I looked and I stared at her dead in her eyes. I said, yes, ma'am. But I didn't flinch. All fear was gone. And that five-foot-two shot down at three feet. I promise you, she was done for. Because she knew I figured out the game.
And the rest of that six weeks that I was there, she did not bother me. Because as a matter of fact, she was telling me I have to kick. And I say that because there was another not-so-nice T.I. And T.I. was training instructor, who had it out for me. Because I had a problem with my knees. Those patellar tendons inflamed the whole time I was there. Y'all know if you ever ran in formation before, but you don't get to stretch your legs like you're supposed to. You're running those short chocolate steps, and somebody calling Kate. Y'all, my knees were done. Y'all hear me? So I had a waiver, and I wasn't supposed to have to run, because I had this waiver, which is a good thing for me, but not so sharp. Because she didn't want anybody on her flight to make her look bad, right? So she had it out for me. But anyway, long story short, y'all, I didn't know that she was going to try to recycle me, and make me fall back into the flight behind me, and make me repeat some of my basic training. But guess who told me? That little five-foot-two leg that I stood up to. She gave me just enough information to keep me, so that I could graduate. But what happened was, she said, if you don't make this run, they're going to recycle you, and you're going to get a setback. And I'm like, recycle? I didn't know what recycle meant. She said, sorry, Sean, I didn't tell you. I said, no, ma'am. And so, she said, well, what that means is, and what I just told you, she said, I sent you back, and I'm like, well, no, see, here's the thing. You think you're going to set me back. All you did was give me ammunition to fight. So, once again, that's where we are. The devil wants to send us back by the things that we are enduring with our spouses, whatever it is. I don't care if it's infidelic. I don't care what type of mental abuse, whatever you may be going through. The devil's position is to take you out, you guys. But you know what? There's got to be some fighting in here. Look, whenever he comes in, whenever he comes in like I love, the spirit of a little race and standing together, you be that standard that is raised against the devil, when he's trying to come against you, your spouse, and your marriage, right? So, when he, when she told me, oh, if you don't do this, they're going to set you back on. That's a set up for a step up, especially as Todd from Next Level Ministries, you guys. So, let me tell you something. I'm going to fast forward to lap six. When it came time for us to make this run, and you have to make this run in order to qualify to graduate from basic training. You have got to do that. Now, I'm going to have six laps. First week, you work one lap a day, second week you want to run two, and they gradually increase until you get to six. Well, here we are. It's time for us to go out and do this final run, and y'all, my knees are in flames. I can feel fire coming out of it. You understand? I was hurting so bad, but by the time we got around to lap six,
let me tell you what. I'm shocking myself. Hey, I can't believe I've run this far because my knees were hurting so bad, but I was so deterred. You are not going to set me back, right? Y'all, we come around the last curve, we hit straight away, and I'm like, I'm almost done. I'm almost done, right? Well, wouldn't you know? The little girl in front of me gave up. Y'all ever seen people running in formation? Y'all know how tight that formation is? The little girl in front of me, Phil, guess what happened? Blamey, I hit the floor. I hit that ground. The cement? We were running on a flight line. I hit that pavement, and everybody behind me, we followed like dominoes. You know, one person in front of you followed everybody, and everything behind it is going to fall. We hit that pavement. I didn't just fall. I skid across the ground. I'm scarred up. I tore the knees out of my fatigues. I mean, I messed up, right? All of a sudden, I hear somebody think, in my ear, get up. Get up. I mean, just screaming, get up. I look up into Sergeant Sharp, the lady who was trying to recycle me. She was in my ear yelling, get up. Y'all, if y'all can even imagine somebody who hates you, here you are. God will use anybody. I won't even save you, God, but God will use anybody if he has to. He will use anybody, right? He used this moment. She's in my ear. She's screaming, get up, and I managed to get to my feet, and she ran with me across that finish line. The timekeeper yelled at my time. She recorded my time. Y'all, I was about three seconds away from not making it. About three seconds away from not making it, but she ran across that finish line with me. Now, she still made me go out for remedial PC that afternoon, okay, because I wasn't able to run. Whenever you're not able to run, they put you on remedial PC. You have to go in physical conditioning. You have to go out in the afternoon to run again, or if you can't run, you can walk the whole thing, but you still have to go out, because that's your punishment for not being able to run with the regular flight. But once you make that run with the regular flight, you're supposed to cancel out remedial PC, but you speak because that can't be, y'all. Now, she made me go out anyway, right? But it's all good. I had just enough time to get across that line, so she couldn't hold me back from graduation, right? But it all started with Sergeant Beckles giving me that little nugget of information that I needed in order for me to make it even go out there to run. But what I really wanted you guys, like I said, it's just a mind game. So while this lady is berating me,
like I said, I remember what my dad said, and that helped me get through basic training. What I want to say to you guys is this, life is going to be full of examples, like Sergeant Beckles. You're going to have a lot of little junior demons in your face. That's what I'm calling for you, that little little age. Those little junior demons are going to get in your face. They want to intimidate you, and they want to break you. They want to take your mind out of the game, but you don't have to let that happen. You have a choice of what you're going to do, because by the time you get to the Sergeant Sharps, those big demons, and y'all, she looks like, y'all might have seen, what is that, the Wizard of Oz? Y'all got that green witch? That was Sergeant Sharps. She looked just like, without the green paint, of course, but she looked just like, she was scary looking just like that lady who played that role. That ain't scary looking. But you're going to have those, we wrestle not against legislation of the level, we wrestle against what? Principalities, against powers, against rules over the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. That's what she represents to me, but God even uses her in that situation to help you get across that finish line. We'll use anything and anybody for what it is. Y'all want to stay where I'm saying? Now, I'm going to fast forward to this, through this rather, because I'm going to, oh no, let me check like 10 of you guys. I'm real bad about going on. So I'm going to be good, because past and past, you know. But here's what I want to say to you guys, just like my dad gave me advice, you guys, our dad left us. All the advice we give right here in this world, right, to your husbands it sounds like, love your wives as Christ though the church, and to you wives and stuff, like wives be a subjection to your own husbands, right? If you can master those things, you are well on your way to having a successful marriage. And because I don't have a whole lot of time, I'm going to fast forward all the way right here, you guys. My dad taught me, we used to build things at home. I was like the son he never had, even though he had three boys. They would never, I'm not going to say they were good for nothing, but they were just like the best sons. You can let him tell anybody to say they were good for nothing, but I was like the son he never had, because I was the one that stuck under him. I was when he taught how to build things. We used to build cabinets and entertainment centers. He taught me how to lay tile and things like that. So I just stayed. When I did go to college,
I wanted to be like my dad. I was going to be an electrical engineer just because my dad was. So that was my ambition until I realized he couldn't afford to keep me in college, and we couldn't qualify at the time for me to get a grandson. That's why I ended up joining the Air Force, but he was in the Air Force so that way, too. So like I said, I was like that son he never had, but I remember when we used to build things together. He always asked me, he said, Brad, don't ask me why he called me Brad. That's off the table. I was like, what that mean? But anyway, he said, first of all, before you begin to build, he said, always read the instructions. Read all of the instructions. He said, read the instructions, identify the parts, count the pieces. Okay? Read the instructions, identify the parts, and count the pieces. That was prerequisite to before you build anything, right? So here's the thing that happens with us, most of us in marriage, that we just try to figure it out. We just try to link it. You know, we just go ahead and get that marriage certificate and we go move in this house together and we think that everything is going to fall in place. If you ever put anything together, if you have not read the instructions, if you have not identified all the parts, if you're not counting the pieces, you may end up with something that's, look, it's not going to look like a picture. You know what I'm saying? It's not going to look like a picture. But here's the thing, this right here, these are our instructions. And I encourage, I just said before, all of you sit together. Read the instructions. And when I say read the instructions, everything that pertains to life and God and uncertainty, this word, everything that pertains to marriage is in this word, right? If you don't get together and read it together, you're not going to know what it says. And guess what? You cannot identify the parts. Identify the parts. There's no one in your role. What is your role as a husband? How do you know what your role is? What part do you play? It's right here in this word. Identify your role as a wife. That's knowing what part do you play? It's right here in this word, right? And counting the pieces, Pastor Chol talked about this, that threefold cord is all you need. You, your spouse, and your Lord. That threefold cord is not easily broken. If you don't have the Lord in your marriage, you may as well wake up the cord. You may as well go ahead and cut. If it's just you and him, then you're going to work. If you have not read the instructions, it's not going to work. If you don't identify the part, your role that you are supposed to play,
you're going to work. Read the instructions. Identify the parts, write, count the pieces. That's what I want to say to you guys today because the devil ain't playing. And we are in the last days, you guys. This is boot camp. So, just like I said in the beginning, what is the definition of boot camp? What you didn't get before, you need to get it now because this is that intensive and rigorous course. This is like, you're getting fast-tracked today. What you didn't know before, you need to get it now because the definition of boot camp is a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training because we are out of time. Long time no hold grudges. Long time no to lick your wounds because you fell over that little devil that was in front of you. That knocked you off course. It's just a stumbling block. That girl fell in front of me. That was just like a stumbling block. But I had the choice to lay there. I had the choice to listen to that voice and start screaming, get up. And I'm telling you guys right now, I don't care what you've been through. Get up. Get up. You could still make it across that finish line. And you may have to drag. You may have to drag your buddy wrong. Okay? But it's worth it because you want to see them make it too. You don't just want to arrive at the finish line and look back at your husband's way back here because he got caught up in infidelity. You know what I'm saying? Look, that's real. Because you got caught up in something back here. I'm leaving you because you hurt me. Well, how is that love? I'm not saying that every situation is salvageable. Okay? There are some people who will divorce for the right reasons. And the Bible doesn't give us those right reasons, right? But I want to ask you something. Is there anything to offer God? And I'm going to tell you what, just like it was sent to me so many years ago, there's nothing too hard for God, not giving divorce. It's too hard for God. I had a prophet speak to me. She said, there's something in your life that you feel is unforgivable. But God says forgive. Because God had money. God knew what that plan was. And as bad as I was hurting, you know, the Lord said, You can do this. Just like my dad told me before I joined the Air Force.
And he said, I love anybody, all of my children. He said, I know you can do this. That's what I believe the Lord had me to say to you guys today. If you're still here after all these years, some of us have been there for a long time. Some of us are just getting started. But I know you've been there. But you've got to forgive. And you've got to love. For God's soul, love, and you give. Are you willing to give? Are you willing to sacrifice? Look, if you're not, if you're not married yet, and you're not willing to give, if you're not willing to sacrifice, don't do it. Save yourself the trouble and sink the earth from the headache, the heartache, all that. Don't even do it if you can't do it with love and a heart for that person. Now, you're not going to give hope in the Bible and look up Mary's vows, okay? But there aren't Mary's vows, right? There are vows that we all took. I don't care whether it was something that you were familiar with because you heard about it and you went to a lot of weddings. I've heard a lot of people say words that they did not mean. I'm going to ask you guys, if you have not studied your wedding vows or something, you said, go back and look at it, and remind yourself, just like I said earlier today, it's time to get up. And it's time to ride the race, the race if I can, to the swing, but those who would endure to the pain. I believe y'all have that best answer. Well, I'll leave it to you later.