Are You Part of God’s Army?

I now have the privilege of introducing Pastor Paul Taylor, the Reverend Paul Taylor. He is a longtime friend and a passionate man of God. Passionate about the Gospel, radically committed. He is a man who is radically committed to the Kingdom of God.

You know that this is one of our values as a church: to produce people who are radically committed to the Kingdom of God. And he embodies that as a pastor, passionate about seeing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ established in the city and in the institutions of this nation, of this society. He has paid a price for that over the years, but he is a man of integrity who lives what he preaches and embodies that supernatural mindset we have been talking about during these days, that mindset that moves in the realm of the spirit and knows those dimensions of the spirit. I have great respect for him; as I said, he is a personal friend.

This morning he will be speaking to us specifically about how to penetrate those institutions with the values and principles of the Gospel. I will be translating for him so that this flows as smoothly as possible. Pray for me, that the Lord will give me understanding, and also pray for our brother Paul, that God will use him mightily. Give Paul a powerful round of applause to welcome him.

What a blessing it is to be here today. I want you to turn to the person next to you and say, “I am part of a great church.” Do you believe that this morning? And now I want you to say, “I am a great church.” And I hope to instill in you this morning that mindset of being the church of Christ, because too many Christians attend a great church and therefore Sunday is the best day of the entire week.

But I want you to know that through Christ Jesus, Monday can be the best day of the entire week. Amen. The Lord did not die on the cross for Sunday. He died on the cross for Monday and all the way through Saturday as well.

It was a few years ago that I came here and spoke to you; we laid hands on your pastor and anointed him as an Apostle to this city and this region. And God has blessed him mightily. Amen.

This truly is a great church, and He has not only given you a great leader, but also great leaders: Pastor Gregory, Samuel, and some of the others who are here. Wonderful men and women of God. But today I am here for you. God has placed a calling on my life to raise up an army of people, a people who seek His face but who, after seeking His face, go out into the earth as a great army of God. I believe that many people are waiting for that great army to arrive. Do you know what? It is here this morning, in this place. I just told you—did you hear me?—that it is here in this place this morning. Amen.

And therefore I want you to stand up right now. As I stood here worshiping, the Lord commanded me to pray for you and to pray concerning a mindset, a way of thinking, that often tells us, “Well, I am Hispanic, and I am in a different, foreign nation,” and therefore we feel powerless: “What can I do for God?”

And so this morning we want to break that kind of thinking. I am here to tell you that you can make a difference, but you have to think differently. You must have confidence in God’s calling upon your lives. You must understand what you were created for, why God created you, and the purpose for which you were born into this world.

How many of you believe that you have a purpose in this life? God creates nothing without a purpose. Before you were born, God already had thoughts about you, and He knew why He was going to create you. But the sad thing is that many believers do not know what their purpose in life is.

Let us pray right now. Are you believing with me, brothers and sisters? Young people, do you believe what I am saying? Let us break despair and hopelessness this morning. Let us break discouragement this morning. And I do not care what the world out there looks like; I know what the Word of God declares.

But you have to believe it. So change the way you think. Let us pray. In the name of Jesus, we take authority this morning. And we come against every thought, against our entire way of thinking. Father, these people whom You have gathered, people from different nations whom You have brought to America for such a time as this—in the name of Jesus, I break off them every thought of insignificance, every thought suggesting that they do not measure up, every thought saying that they cannot make a difference, whether because their language hinders them, or because of their education, profession, or occupation. Whatever the hindrance may be, in the name of Jesus, this morning we break these thoughts and tear them away from them. And by the power of the blood of Christ Jesus, I call them to enter into their destiny; I call them to hear, I call them to see, and I call them to understand this morning so that they may become everything You created them to be. And I declare that from this day forward they will fulfill their destiny. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Glory to the Lord. Give the Lord a great round of applause. Hallelujah! Lord, we receive Your word.

Take your seats, my brothers and sisters. I do not take those words lightly. Perhaps you took them lightly, but I believe there is an army of God in this place and that we can change this world for Jesus. But it will take more than simply prayer. Many of you know that for years I have been part of a national prayer movement. There is nothing greater we can do than pray to the Lord. But it is not only my prayers; my actions and my obedience to what God directs or commands me to do are also what make the difference.

The Lord did not only pray; in John 5:19, He also declares that He did only those things He saw His Father doing and heard His Father declaring. Are you with me, my friends? It is time not only to pray, but also to listen to and obey what God is saying. You and God constitute a majority.

I am so grateful to Him for your pastor and for what God has changed me and transitioned me to do. Much of what I am doing now has a great deal to do with what your pastor represents. After many years in the national prayer movement, I have come to realize—and, by the way, I have just returned from Colorado Springs, in the state of Colorado, where I was with some of the best-known national prophets—that for the past three years I have been going through a transition that has not been comfortable at all. And to be honest, it has been hell.

Has anyone gone through that transition? Amen. And when I went to that meeting, that session in Colorado Springs, one of the things I discovered was that I was not alone in that painful transition process, but that God is moving His church to another level. How many of you know that when you gave your life to Jesus Christ, you said, “I will walk with God”? Amen. And that means that you have to go where God goes.

He does not go where you go; rather, you go where God goes. Right? Amen. That requires a change in our North American way of thinking. Somehow we are always thinking that God is going to do what I want Him to do, and when I want Him to do it. But when a person truly encounters God, things often become very uncomfortable. And I see some heads nodding out there.

I want you to know that North American Christianity has brought us to a place that is often a place of dysfunction in the body of Christ, because we tell people, for example, “Come to Jesus, and He will take care of solving all your problems.” How many of you know that, at best, this is only a half-truth? We have distorted Matthew 6:33. It does not say there that God will meet all our needs and then we can go seek the Kingdom of God. Amen. Rather, it says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” Amen.

I am saying these things this morning to establish the context, the foundation, for what I want to share with you. Because, you see, I grew up in a military household. My father never once asked me whether I felt like doing something; he would simply tell me, “Today you are going to cut the grass.” He never asked me, “Do you feel motivated or have any desire to cut the grass this morning?” I do not come this morning as the Good Shepherd; I come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And at this conference I attended, that is precisely what they said about something that is rising this morning: that spirit, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

You see, the change, the transition taking place, is that we no longer have to beg God to do something. Instead, God is calling the church to stand up, to rise to its feet, to stand firm, to declare things, and to shout so that things may be prophetically established. Do you understand the difference I am referring to? That is what the Word of the Lord says. It says, “Speak to things, and it will be established.”

Recently we had a similar experience. A grandmother from our church had a pregnant daughter. The mother’s baby was in an improper, dangerous position and could not be delivered normally, and the doctor told the mother, “If this baby does not move into the correct position, we will have to perform emergency surgery on you.” This mother is not a believer, but she immediately called the grandmother who attends our church and said to her, “Mom, this is what the doctor said, but I do not want surgery.” So the grandmother from our church said, “Let us pray.” She then shared the request with the entire congregation, and we began to pray.

And as my wife prayed and asked the Lord, God said these words to her: “Why are you asking Me?” He told her, “Speak to the baby; speak to the baby.” So we spoke to the baby and said, “Change your position in the name of Jesus.” And early the next morning, the mother went to see the doctor, and you can imagine the rest of the story.

I am talking to you about taking your authority in Christ Jesus. We have to understand this unity we have with the Spirit of God so that it is not only us speaking, but God speaking through us. Amen.

Now, let that thought soak in for a while. I am here to speak to you about something this morning. Over the past few years, your pastor has challenged me. We realized that we were fighting against same-sex marriage and that we were fighting a battle for which we were clearly unprepared. And the reason was that we are very good at going to church, but we are not very good at being the church. Amen. And that means that tomorrow, Monday morning, you are still supposed to be in church.

Doesn’t the Word of the Lord say that God will never leave you nor forsake you? And that means that the wonderful anointing you feel right now will also be with you tomorrow morning. How many of you like Monday mornings? Most people dread going to work on Monday morning. Brothers and sisters, that has to change. The sense of expectation you feel when you come to church on Sunday morning should be the same expectation you have when you go to work on Monday morning. So this morning I want to try to change the way you see things. I want to challenge your way of thinking; I want to challenge your theology.

So several years ago, I met with a group of believers who believed that we could change the region. I believe that we can change Boston, but it is not going to happen simply from this pulpit; it has to happen as you go to your workplaces and occupations. Throughout the Scriptures, we see God using people whom He has strategically placed for His purposes and for His divinely appointed times. The key is what your pastor has been speaking to you about; it is called alignment. That means becoming one with God.

You see, if I am in alignment with God, that means that wherever I am, the Lord is there as well. Not only is He there, but He is also doing the same thing I am doing; He is in alignment with me. There is unity because what I am doing is what He is doing. I want you to believe tomorrow, when you go to work, that you are carrying out God’s business, that you are doing God’s work, and that Pastor Roberto is not the only one doing the work of the Lord.

Do you understand the change that has to take place in your way of thinking? For centuries we have taught—and I myself have taught—that it is the man of God who is doing the work of God. And that is true up to a point, but when you do what you were created to do, you too are doing the work of God. How many of you know that not everyone was created to stand behind a pulpit preaching? Would it not be truly horrible if we were the only ones doing the work of God in the world? That would be terrible. That God created you to do something that he did not want you to do. If we can understand this this morning, I want to release an army of God this morning. I am here to anoint the army of God this morning, believing that you are going to go out under the anointing of the Holy Spirit to do what you have always done on Mondays, but begin to see it in a different way.

The Word of God says that as a man thinks, so is he. The way you think is very important. You are not simply going to work; you are going to minister. When you work, you are going to do what God wants you to do; you are going to do what God has equipped you to do; you are going to do what God has gifted you to do.

How many carpenters do we have here this morning? Do you know what? Pastor Roberto cannot do carpentry; he was not called to do that, but you were called to do that. And you were called to do carpentry for the glory of God. I am speaking the truth, brothers and sisters.

The first people in Scripture whom we see being specifically anointed are carpenters and craftsmen. They were anointed to build the temple, the tabernacle of God. So this morning I want to help you change your way of thinking.

A few years ago—you will be able to read it here on the transparency—by the way, I am here representing a ministry called Fishgate, or Fish Gate, the Fish Gate ministry. That Fish Gate is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah as one of the gates in the walls of Jerusalem where all the workers, the laborers, gathered and where the commerce of the city of Jerusalem took place. And I still pastor a church, but I am also trying to model for my people that one can go out into the world and make a difference. So I want to show you some other areas of this ministry in which I am involved.

And I also want you to say the following with me: the problems of the world are my opportunity. Let us say it again. The problems of the world are my opportunity. You see, if you are rubbing your hands because the world is becoming darker and more terrible, you have to change your way of thinking, because you were created to be the solution to someone’s problem. I could preach about this, but I am not going to do so this morning.

Ten years ago—perhaps fifteen years ago—a man named Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade, and another man named Loren Cunningham had lunch together, and without either of them knowing it, the previous night each man had had a dream, each of those two men, and in that dream they saw seven hills, seven mountains. And those seven hills or mountains represented the molders of minds, that is, the shapers of minds, or what we might also call those who exert influence in our culture—each one of those mountains. And God spoke to each of the two of them through this dream and told them, unless the church succeeds in influencing those seven mountains of influence in society, there will never be a lasting revival on the earth.

How many of you know that Christ said, “Do business until I come”? He did not say, “Hang on by your fingernails until I return.” He said, “I have called you to exercise dominion. I have called you to subdue the world. I have called you to be more than conquerors. I have called you to be conquerors. I have called you to be victorious.” But most of the church is crying, “Oh Lord Jesus, come soon and take us out of this world.” I want you to know that I am not here this morning to help you go to heaven. I am here so that you will bring heaven to earth.

Is that not what Christ asked his disciples to pray? “Your Kingdom come, your will be done”—where?—“on earth as it is in heaven.” How is that going to happen if we all go to heaven? It will happen only when you begin to think differently. When you know that you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and when you know that you walk under the anointing of God long after you leave this building; that you have authority; that wherever your feet tread—amen—wherever you walk, the Word of God says, you will possess the land. Amen.

The next day Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham met for lunch and began to share this same dream they had had. The two of them had had the same dream, and they were absolutely overwhelmed and amazed. These seven molders of mindsets, these areas, are here before you. Notice that of those seven, only one is religion. We have done a fairly good job in the religious sphere, although even in that sphere we have our struggles. But for years the church has surrendered the arts and entertainment to the world; for years the church has surrendered the worlds of business and government, the media, and education to the world. We have taken the words of the New Testament that tell us, “Come out from among them and be separate, and do not touch anything dirty or unclean.”

We have interpreted that as meaning that we must not touch any of those areas of the secular world and culture. And that mindset has to be broken. If that way of thinking does not change, we will never be able to impact our society, and we will never become the church, that bride of Christ for whom he is coming at his second coming. The Lord is coming for a church, brothers and sisters, without spot or wrinkle—a victorious church, an overcoming church—not a church standing there waving a little white flag, asking for peace and asking the Lord to take it out of the world.

But brothers and sisters, I believe that you are the army of God, and you are continually hearing it from your pastor and your leaders: what has to change for you to become the people of God for this specific time. And so many of us believers have come together to say, “Hey, let us look at the problems of the world, and let us try to solve those problems in the world.”

We created a company called Generational Solutions because we believe that we can impact every age group for the Kingdom of God. We began with a company called ROI International. It is a company that goes into corporate America, business companies, and so forth, and provides teaching on ethics and leadership, particularly ethics.

How many of you know that the business world needs teaching on ethics and moral conduct? How many of you know that the government itself is requiring many companies to receive training in business ethics and morality? The government is sending us and requiring them to have us teach them about ethics.

I am telling you something: the problems of this world will ultimately work in our favor; they will turn out for our benefit, and some of you will, in fact, make a great deal of money doing this kind of teaching. Do you understand what I am telling you? The transfer of the money that the world is holding and that will enter the church will come through a change in the way we see things. How many of you know that you do not have to go into the secular world constantly quoting John 3:16? That you do not have to go around telling people, “Oh, I am the Reverend So-and-so,” and that you do not always have to speak in obscure Christian terms.

Do you know what that kind of Christianese is? It is the language we speak while we are here within the four walls of the church, but the people out there do not know what we are talking about; they do not understand that language.

God is saying, “Hey, be real; be normal. Do not speak to people in scriptural terms, with obscure words they do not understand; speak to them in a way that allows them to understand your language.” And we also created another company called the ABCs of Life. The public schools are calling us to go into the schools and teach their students about the facts of life, because many young people—do you know how serious the problems are in the school systems? Our young people are not prepared for life when they graduate from school.

Listen, we have to be gentle as doves but shrewd as serpents. So even in the public schools, it is being required that those young people who are suspended from school not be allowed to return home, because the schools cannot go to their homes and teach them while they are suspended at home. And we are here saying, “Oh God, please change the world.” And God is telling us, “Open your eyes to see the problems that are everywhere, and begin to stand up and do the work of the ministry”—but one has to go.

I believe these are Jesus’ words: “Go, go”—where?—“into the world.” Go into the world, where the problems are, where Jesus is needed. So we are going into those places and teaching these people Kingdom principles found in the Bible. We never use the name of God; we never use the name of Jesus. And yet, after the class ended, a student named José, a Hispanic young man who was in trouble, came to our teacher and asked, “What is the difference? What is so different about you?” And now it becomes something completely different. So then the teacher began to tell José about the love of God, and right there José bowed his head and gave his life to Christ Jesus.

And that is only the beginning of what God is beginning to do. I feel so encouraged about what God is getting ready to do. Our desire is to begin this in every community, to train pastors so that they can go into the schools and teach this kind of material, establish relationships with these children and young people, and this, as I see it, will be the way we can expand the Kingdom of God.

I am encouraging you, and I have not even begun to preach in earnest yet. If you would only begin to talk to the people around you, the reason we do not need... is that many times we do not talk to the people who have these problems. If you were talking to people who have problems, you would discover what the problems are, and then you could find out whether or not it is possible to meet those needs.

I talk with my superintendent of schools all the time. I continually go out to see the police chief of my town, and I speak with the leaders of my community constantly. They have problems. You see, the great problem with the church is that we have not faced the problems before. We are here, shut away in the temple, doing our own things and having a wonderful time in our services. And I told you, I have not come here today as the Good Shepherd, but as the Lion of Judah, so perhaps you may feel a little uncomfortable. This is the only way we are going to see the Kingdom of God, as it is in heaven, manifested on earth. You carry that power within you, because the Kingdom of God—where is the Kingdom of God?—is within us.

This is our vision, the Fish Gate ministry, and all I want is to help change the way you think. So this morning we are looking at the theology of work. How many of you have often thought that work is the curse? Be honest. Thank you, thank you. There are a few hands belonging to honest people. We have always thought that work is the curse. And I want you to know that work is not a curse. I want you to know that from the beginning, the God who created you—you were born as a result of what God had deposited in you. That has already been deposited in you. You were created by a word. You were created, I say, by a word, and you know that God spoke you, uttered you, into existence. According to Psalm 139, verse 16, I believe, David says that God knew my essence before I was even created.

Look, I am filled with joy when I think about that, because who I am in God has very little to do with where I was born; it has very little to do with whether I am rich or poor; it has very little to do with whether I am black, yellow, red, or whatever. Do you understand me this morning? It has to do with the fact that I was created before the foundation of the world. And he created me for a purpose. And when I do what God created me to do, that is true worship. Let me say it again: when creatures do that for which they were created, that constitutes true worship.

Do you believe that worship only happens at 9:00 on Sunday mornings? Let me tell you, I am doing what I was created to do right now. I am worshiping the Lord, and when you go to work tomorrow and know that you are doing what God created you to do, I do not care if it is hammering nails. That is worship before God. And then people begin to look and say, “There is something different about that person.” When you do what you do, it is incredible; an anointing comes upon your life. They may not know what it means, but that is what they will be saying. They will say, “There is something different about that person.”

Are you with me this morning? So you were created by a word from God. You were not created merely to die; you were created for a purpose. Amen.

Here are some Scriptures for you. God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness, so that he may have dominion over all the earth.” Ephesians 2:10 also says that we are His workmanship. Do you believe that?

I am God’s workmanship, fearfully and wonderfully made, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in.

Go back and look at Genesis 2. God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” You look like Him. Turn to the person next to you and say, “I look like God.” That will stop you when you feel bad about your appearance.

Now, let us understand: we are not talking about our physical appearance; we are talking about the Spirit of God who dwells within us. I look like God. Because when you begin to think that way, you begin to be filled with courage and energy. I believe that the Creator of the universe spoke me into existence and created me for His purposes. You can tell me whatever you want; it makes no difference. I am telling you that many of you have been told, “You cannot do that,” but God says, “Yes, you can do it.” And it is important that you begin to listen to God. He is the One who created you to do it. Stop listening to those who tell you, “No way. You cannot do it. It is not going to happen.” I am telling you that yes, it is going to happen. But you have to believe it.

And here it says, “God said, ‘Let us make him in our image. Let them have dominion.’” Tell the person next to you, “Let them have dominion.” You were created to have dominion. You were created to be the head, not the tail. You were called to live; you were called to lend to others, not to borrow. This is the Word of God. We have to change the way we think.

It says here that we have the account of man on the day when the Lord created the heavens and the earth, before there were plants in the fields, before there were herbs in the fields, because the Lord had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

So we see here that there is no soil, there is no rain, there are no plants, there is no man—in other words, there was no work. Nothing is happening, and God is waiting for you. God is waiting for you. I want you to know that God is still waiting for you. When I declared to the Lord, “Lord, change the baby’s position,” God told me, “No, I am waiting for you.” I am telling you today that the reason God is not answering many of the prayers you are uttering is that God is waiting for you.

That changes everything. Today I am giving you the power to go and fulfill your dreams. Where do you think those dreams come from? They came from God. And you were created to have dominion, yet you are waiting for God, and God is saying to you, “Hey, what are you waiting for? Do it.”

Oh, at least there is someone over there saying amen. And then the Lord formed man; He formed him from the ground, but that is not what you are. You were created before the dust. Do we not thank the Lord for that? This is not what I am. Thank God I am not merely flesh. I have the mind of Christ. I said, “I have the mind of Christ.” If you are in Christ Jesus today, you do not have the mind that man says you have; rather, you have the mind of Christ. You have the power to think as God thinks.

Some may think, “Well, it is prideful to say that you think as God thinks.” And do you know what? What is prideful is thinking merely like a man. I said that what is prideful is thinking merely like a man. You were not created to think like a man. I am talking about before the Fall in Eden. How many of you understand that the blood of Jesus—do you know what?—Christ did not do that merely so I could go to heaven.

Second Corinthians, chapter 5—what does it say there? It says, “I have been reconciled.” To whom? To God. I have been brought back to God. Amen.

You see, brothers and sisters, North American Christianity is always declaring this, simply asking the Lord to take us to heaven. The Lord did not die merely so that you could go to heaven. He died on the cross so that you could enter into a new relationship with your heavenly Father, so that you could be one with God again, so that you could have unity with God.

You see, that prefix “re-” means to do it again; it means to return to the unity with God that we once had. When I was created in God, I was not created merely as a human being. I was created—God breathed into our nostrils and breathed forth the breath of life, and then man became what? A human being? No, he became a living being, a living being, a living being.

When you come to Christ, that human part—we are talking about the flesh, the body—and I believe we know that it remains; but as for the living part, God makes us a living being again so that we can walk naturally and supernaturally upon the earth, so that those things men think are impossible are not impossible with God, so that we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.

This is why Christ died on the cross—not merely so that you could say a prayer and then go to heaven while living miserably here on earth. Do you understand? Do you know how many Christian people live miserably on earth? They live miserably on earth; they go to church merely out of obligation, and some of you here today are here out of obligation—the same thing every Sunday. But that is not why we come to church. We come to church to unite with the body, to hear words of life, words of life, because, you see, none of us lives by the bread we eat, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Adam and Eve did not live merely on the things they ate from the Garden of Eden; they lived by listening to God.

And that is why it is important for you to have a personal relationship with God. You cannot live on your pastor’s words; you have to hear God directly and personally. Because when you hear God, when you hear God—I remember, for example, that I grew up in the church, and at the age of ten, in a small Baptist church, I went to the altar and prayed the sinner’s prayer, and I knew immediately that I would go to heaven. But it was not until I was 22 that I had a true encounter with God, and God spoke to me, and those words changed my life, and I went from being a human being to being a living being. And I have never been the same again.

People would say to me, “What is wrong with you?” And even in the church they began to say, “What is happening to you? What is wrong with you?” They told me, “But you used to love baseball. You were normal; you liked the things of the world.” Then they would tell me—when you hear the Word of God, when He begins to speak into your life, all the other things pale and lose their importance, but then God gives us the desires of our heart.

My wife and I dated for six years. We had the American dream of owning our own home. We saved every last penny, and just before we got married, we bought our first house: that house cost us 47,000 dollars. My father thought I would never be able to pay for it in 1979. We got married in June 1980. And it was precisely at that time that I had my encounter with God.

We did everything possible to build that home. We were so happy as a newly married couple, and a couple of years later the first child came, and the second child after that, but that encounter with God changed me. Everything that had seemed so important to me then began to change. After living in that house for five years, I sold it and went to do what God had called me to do. And like a good wife, my wife followed me, but I had never realized this: for her, giving up that house—you know, that nesting instinct, that place that is yours—was very difficult. And I do not know why I am sharing that with you this morning. So for 20 years we lived in homes that belonged to the church, parsonages, but there was always that place in my wife’s heart that said, “We do not have a home of our own.”

A time came when the church told us, “You have to leave now.” At that time, we had four children. And I said to the Lord, “God, I obeyed You. Where am I going to go?” And God gave me a place to go. And I am saying these things to share something specific: on Thursday night, I finally signed the papers for a new house, a home of our own. God gives you the desires of your heart. Not only did I sign the papers for a home of our own, but I bought it for zero dollars.

I am telling you, if you do what God has called you to do, all these other things will be added to you. It says—the mind—it says that man is formed, the garden is planted, and God establishes work, and work is then supposed to be a partnership with God. Notice that sin is not mentioned at any point; there is no curse. Work is creative, and it is clear that work is not a result of the Fall, but rather God’s purpose for creation, for your life.

Do you know how many people in America want to retire? Do you know how many die young? Listen to me: it is not God’s desire for you to retire and simply do nothing, merely vegetating. My work is my worship, and if you find what God called you to do, you no longer work. Let me say it again: if you discover what God called you to do when He formed you before the foundation of the world, you will never work another day in your life.

And that is why I do not go to work saying, “Oh my God, I have to go to work again.” I go to worship God through my work. There are three words for work: one is the word “abad,” which means to cultivate the ground; “abodad,” the ground; and “shamar,” which means to maintain and care for the ground. There are three words meaning to serve and to cultivate, as in the sense of developing a culture or changing the climate of a culture. How many of you know that you were created to be a thermostat, not a thermometer? A thermometer merely records the temperature outside. That is what many of us have been doing in our culture for a long time—merely confirming how bad the culture is. And we do not know what we are going to do with our young people, for example.

In that case, you are merely telling them what they already know. You were created to be a thermostat. The thermostat has the power to change the temperature, to change the climate.

When you go to work tomorrow, by your mere presence—because you do not go alone, you see; when you show up at work, God also shows up there—you are going to change the climate of the culture in your workplace. That is the only way Boston is going to be changed. Some of you have been praying for your workplace. The only way for you to change your workplace is through that word “aboda,” which means to work, to serve, to worship. This is the word used in the original Hebrew to speak about worship.

So in other parts of Scripture, the word used for worship is also the same word used for work. Do you understand what I am saying?

“Shamar,” another word, means to be like a guard, to stand watch, and that is what God has placed us here to do. It says, “You may eat from every tree in the garden”—there is provision—“but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” That produced scarcity. So the Word says that God cursed the ground; He cursed the ground. He did not curse you, but He cursed the ground.

Jesus broke the curse; He removed the curse. How many of you believe in transformation? Have any of you seen the transformation videos? How many believe that Boston can be transformed? How do you think that is going to happen? It is going to happen through you and me, not merely through our prayers. We have to infiltrate those very mountains, because when we do that, we break the curse that is upon the land.

So your provision is connected to your land. The land was cursed; the curse was broken when Christ died on the cross and salvation came. When you were saved, your provision was also redeemed. Do you understand what I am saying? That means God can take your five loaves and two fish and feed an entire multitude. One plus one does not equal two in God’s way of thinking. Do you believe that? Especially when you are living in obedience to the Lord—that is called tithing. If you are withholding from God what belongs to God, then he is not obligated to honor his word. But he is a wonderful God; sometimes he blesses us when we are not giving him what belongs to him. What a beautiful God we serve.

It says here that creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the children of God. Do you know what creation is waiting for? Creation is waiting for you. How many of you know that you are a child of God? I have to finish because I could go on forever. You are a child of the living God.

The book of Hebrews says that the Lord is not ashamed to call us brothers. Did you hear that? The Lord is not ashamed to call us brothers. It is time to rise up; let us stand, brothers. It says here that creation was subjected to suffering and hardship, so why do we go through the problems we have? Why does the world have so many problems? God has subjected creation to futility. Why? So that we will turn our hearts toward him. That is why darkness—what is happening in the world right now—is our greatest ally. Do you understand? If you are praying for that person who does not know Christ and asking God to take that person’s problem away, you may even be working against God’s purposes in trying to bring those people to Christ. Do you understand this? God often allows people to have problems so that they can say, “I need God,” because creation itself will be set free. Can we say amen? From the bondage of corruption into glorious freedom, and also so that you may understand who you are in Christ Jesus.

I am going to finish here. I know I have spoken for a long time, but I want to pray for you this morning. I came here once many years ago to anoint your pastor, and I want to anoint you this morning; I want to anoint you as men and women of God. I want to declare over this congregation that you are God’s army and that you are anointed to do what God has called you to do, and that from this day forward you will not go to work simply as mere workers, but you will go to work as God’s anointed ones.

Do you believe that this morning? Come on, raise your hands this morning if you believe that. Keep your hands raised at this moment; let us pray. I am going to pray for an anointing upon your lives. I did not come here by mere coincidence; I was sent by God. I came with a message so that God’s people might be set free. And I came because you are so special, so special to him.

So right now, Lord, Father, in the name of Jesus and in the power and anointing you have given me, I declare in the name of Jesus over your people that they shall go forth as workers created in Christ Jesus for such a time as this, and that even right now, Lord, they will know that they are in that place for a purpose. It may not be a comfortable place for them, but you called Joseph to go into Pharaoh’s kingdom to be the answer to your word.

And Daniel entered Babylon, Esther on the throne of ..... Father, you have placed these people here for such a time as this, and now, Father, breathe; blow your Holy Spirit upon them, blow your anointing upon them, and may they receive right now a fresh vision, a fresh revelation, a fresh anointing to do the work you have called them to do. And we ask these things in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, and everyone says amen.

Glory to God. Amen. Amen. I am expecting great things from you. To whom much is given, much is required, but I say: go in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. You can do it; I say, you can do it. Confirm that to your neighbor and say, “You can do it.” God bless you.