the the The following is a presentation from Bethel Baptist Church and Pastor Al Fieri. All right, good evening. We're going to go ahead and get started. There's a few workers in the kitchen, so we're going to sing a little bit, and then we're going to have an offering, and then we'll sing a little bit more, then Brother Fry's going to come and take over our program for the rest of the night, and he's just going to sing a little bit longer tonight. Is that okay? All right, good. Let's sing the lily of the valley. I found a friend in Jesus. He's everything to me. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. Sing it out now! I have found a friend in Jesus, He's everything to me, He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. The lily of the valley, in Him alone I see, All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay, He tells me every care on Him to roll. Hallelujah! He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. All right, let's try. Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day. A day I will never forget. Let's sing it out now. Day I will never forget. After I wandered in darkness away, Jesus, my Savior, I met. Oh, what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart. Shadows, too, smelling with joy and telling, Made all the darkness depart. Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. All right, let's try redeemed how I love to proclaim it Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. All right, we're going to take an offering tonight. So we'll have our men stand with the baskets. And thank you that you're here tonight. Again, if you're visiting, we just want to be a blessing to you. We don't expect you to put anything in. And so men, if you'll come. And they're just going to mingle through and pass through. All right, who's all? Raise your basket in the air so we can see who you are. All right, Roger, and you may have to wave at them. There's no aisles for them to come up and down, so you may have to wave. Okay, over there, Jim and Daniel. All right. And Mr. Ronson, he's got the microphone. He's going to ask God's blessing on our service tonight and on the offering. Oh, Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this week and the good messages each night by Brother Fry. We just thank you for the music and we just pray, Lord, that we'll use it in our own homes just to challenge us for what's ahead. Just continue to bless this church and as it goes forward, that we'll just take this offering and use it for your use here in Simcoe and around the world. In your name we pray. Amen. All right, as they're passing that around, we're going to sing again. It is glory just to walk with Him. You know that one? The choir's been singing it for a bit. It is glory just to walk with Him. It is glory just to walk with Him, whose blood has ransomed me. It is rapture for my soul each day. It is joy divine to feel Him near, wherever my path may be. Bless the Lord, His glory all the way. It is glory just to walk with Him. It is glory just to walk with Him. He will guide my steps aright, O'er the vale and through the night. It is glory just to walk with Him. Alright, let's have a favorite tonight. Who's got a favorite hymn? Love Lifted Me. That's a good one. Alright. Alright. Love Lifted Me. I was sinking deep in sin. All right, Colton, are you here, Colton? Do you have your ocarina? Why don't you get something ready to play for us, all right? I was sinking deep in sin, Far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, Sinking to rise no more. But the Master of the sea, Heard my despairing cry, From the One who's lifted me, Now safe am I. Love lifted me, Love lifted me, When nothing else could help, All right, you all set, Colton? Is Mrs. Baker going to play with you? You look up the number, we'll sing another song, all right? Let's sing What a Day That Will Be. There's coming a day when no heartache shall come. All right, just one minute. 334 I think. I could be wrong. All right, what a day that will be. There is coming a day, when no heartache shall come. No more clouds in the sky, no more tears sit in the eye. All is peace forevermore, on that happy day. Sing it out now! What a day that will be When my Jesus I shall see When I look upon his face The one who saved me by his grace When he takes me by the hand And leads me through the promised land A glorious day that will be. This is Colton Visser. We've been praying for Colton. He's been going through some struggles, but we praise the Lord that God's allowed him to come back to church and play for us again. We appreciate that. And this is a good young man. You need to pray for him. It's a tough go. Continue to pray for Colton. Lift him up before the Lord, and we believe God's going to do great things. you All right, well, we learned today that we've had a couple birthdays that we didn't know about. So Ashley, where's Ashley? Stand up, Ashley. Wave to everybody. Today is her birthday. And I think her husband told me she's turning 30 today. No, 27. Boy, you should have seen the stare I just got. Let's sing happy birthday to Ashley. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. God bless you. Happy birthday to you. When we were in a church in Missouri, we used to sing a second verse to happy birthday. I don't know if you've heard it. Let me sing it for you, if I can remember it all. Happy birthday to you. Only one will not do. Born again means salvation. How many have you? And we'd always follow it up with that and let people know they needed two births. One that was physical and one that was spiritual in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I heard of another birthday this Thursday. Somebody told me and I can't remember. Who has a birthday this Thursday? I can't hear them. Everybody's yelling and I can't hear any of you. Spring Wilson! And by coincidence, she is also 30 years old. Amen? Happy birthday, Frank. All right. All right. Well, we're glad to have Brother Fry. Let's give him a Southern Ontario welcome tonight. Thank You preacher I appreciate it very much and I want to say first of all thank you for that chicken that was wonderful man it was so good and everything I ate tasted good and I don't know who made it but I appreciate it very very much and I I want to thank the pastor, his wife and family, and the church family for looking after me while I've been here. It's been a joy to be with you, and I'm just humbled by your kindness to me. Thank you, thank you very, very much. I've got several songs I want to sing to you, and especially since we've got so many little ones, I thought I would sing a couple of songs off the children's CD. My brother and I just recorded a children's CD, Songs for Kids. or songs for children, however you want to say it. And this one, in the chorus of this song, it says, God still cares for me, and you're supposed to say hallelujah. And then when I say God still cares for me in the second line of the chorus, you say amen. All right? So we'll see if you can help me out with this one, all right? There's a story in the Bible, I know that it is true, About a man named Daniel and all that he went through. Evil men, they turned on him, threw him in the lion's den, Alone and without a friend. But the Lord he was present and Daniel did pray And a miracle happened that day God sent an angel to that den Shut the lion's mouth and then Daniel started to sing Ready? God still cares for me God still cares for me When the lions round me roar, I will call upon the Lord. God still cares for me. Now the lesson of this story is very plain to see. God took care of Daniel and he'll take care of me. When the world lamps at my faith and the choices that I make, God still cares for me. Here we go. God still cares for me. God still cares for me. When the lions round me roar, I will call upon the Lord. God still cares for me. One more time. God still cares for me. God still cares for me. When the lions round me roar, I will call upon the Lord. God still cares for me. Amen. Well, you did great. Give yourselves a hand. Now, I tried to do Herman the Bullfrog, a song that my brother wrote one night. I can't remember which night, and I messed it all up. So I practiced it a little bit. So I'm going to try to get through it. And on this one, you have to help me by doing this. I say, hello children, how are you? And you go, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, five times. Some of you remember it, some of you don't. Here we go. Hello children, now how are you? Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. I know your bellies are full, but I think you can do better than that. All right, let's try it one more time. Hello children, now how are you? Fine, fine. There you go. Fine, fine. Tell you right now what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell you a story written just for you. About a wide-mouthed, blue-eyed, educated, dignified, well-plaited, high-jumping, full of pride friend of mine, Herman the Bullfrog. You can find him in the evening, sitting on a log, singing and croaking his favorite song, gazing at himself in the waters there, combing and parting his slimy hair. With his long, yellow tongue and the wink of an eye, he can sneak up slow, catch and swallow a fly. That's Herman, Herman the Bullfrog. He's got his very own pony nose jungle gym He's got a hundred tadpoles named for him The king of the mud and the lily pads What a wonderful life he has Now he can jump up higher than the tallest pine And he can move a lot quicker than the naked eye Turn a triple somersault laughing all the time And then one day Lily the butterfly Came a-floaterin' a-floatin' and a-flippin' by She said, hello Herman, how are you? Got a thing or two to ask of you Where you gonna go when you die? Where you gonna be in eternity? What are you gonna say on that faithful day? Don't you know Jesus lived and died and rose again? What old Herman say? When I go on, Lily, why can't you see? I got flies to catch and frogs to meet. There ain't no need to hurry, I've got time. So goodbye girl, won't you move along Don't bother me, I'm having too much fun Go sing your song, someone new, not me And little did Herman the Bullfrog know That very same moment down deep below There was a one-eyed alligator marking time Watching and waiting with a hungry eye And poor Herman dove in right before my eyes That one-eyed gator took him by surprise Swallowed him whole in the wink of an eye He never had a chance to say goodbye And now Lily, she cried and said with a sigh Herman, I tried, I tried, I tried But you lived your life and died so foolishly And you were so hung up on frogs and flies and thinking you had lots of time Well it's too late now, it's too late now for you So boys and girls please listen good, don't do like a dumb old bullfrog would Please don't wait, say yes to Jesus now And if Herman could have a word with you, well, I'm sure he'd say the same thing, too. Please don't wait, say yes to Jesus now. Amen and amen. All right, I'll go ahead and do the flying frog, too, since the kids are doing so well. And I nicknamed this frog, Felton. That's my daddy's middle name. And when you're one of the songwriters, you can do that kind of stuff and get away with it, all right? Well, Felton the frog was known to complain. He wasn't content with his stubby frame. Hated to hop and never satisfied, but he always wanted to fly. Then he spied two crows and hatched a plan. If y'all help me, I know I can. I've got a great idea if I can use your mic, sharing the joys of flight. Take a stick in your beaks and then you'll see As a bite on the middle you can carry me Quick as a wing they were in the air Flyin' high as a kite without a care And then a fellow crow passin' by Blinked at the sight that caught his eye Flew alongside to see just why A flying frog could ever survive Now what a great idea he was heard to say, I never saw a frog fly quite this way. A novel plan for any day, whose idea was this anyway? And now Felton's heart was filled with pride, saw his chance with a beady eye. He loudly proclaimed, it was I! Promptly fail like a rock and die. Now the moral here is plain to see, The credit may go to you or me, It means so little you will agree, When seeking the glory we cease to be. Two crows and a frog, what a sight to see, Like the Wright brothers going down in history, If he'd only kept his mouth shut tight. He'd still be bragging about his first flight. But the Bible says that pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Amen? Amen. All right, well I'm gonna get away from the sacred desk for a minute and just do you a little fun song. I did this one, I think, the first night or second night, I can't remember. But it's just a little cute little tune. It goes like this. She said, everyone has got one, so my wife wants one too. A knee-length fuzzy fur coat and nothing else will do. She said it'd make her classy and make me proud of her, if I break down by her fur. Well, it got me to thinking, how am I gonna swing that sort of deal? Well, I sure don't have the money, and I know it's wrong to steal. But the problem finally solved itself like a bolt out of the blue. Jumped right out in front of me on Highway 22. Now that big old German Shepherd, my car he did not see. Now he's in doggy heaven, but his hide belongs to me. So I went down in the basement, yes, I worked hard every night. It was mostly trial and error, but I finally got it right. And I put it in a cardboard box and carried it upstairs to her. Oh, she was tickled pink to see that fur. Now she's got a fancy fur coat that reaches all the way to her knees. But she's been complaining lately, said her closet's full of fleas. And she don't know old Fido is wrapped around her tight. She's putting on the dog when she goes out at night. Well, she's been depressed here lately since I backed out over the cat. But I think she'll feel much better when I give her this new fur hat. There you have it, the old fur coat, right? Well, back in the day, oh, you're very kind. Back in the day when I would be entertaining in the clubs and things, I used to do a lot of voices. If I could listen to somebody long enough, I could sing just about like them. I'll give you an example. There was a guy in country music years ago by the name of John Conley, and this was his voice. And he made millions of dollars singing just like that. Go figure. Then there was Merle Haggard. He was one of my favorite singers, and he had a really smooth voice. That's Merle. I could do a lot of other ones, but I'm going to try to do three voices here for you. And my brother Sammy and I went to Wisconsin to a Bible college there. They were having Spirit Week, and so they wanted us to do a little fun time. And so my brother dressed up in this outfit that he puts on. He puts on these crazy glasses, these bubba teeth, and we do this little skit together. As a matter of fact, it's on the DVD that's on the table there. And so we do this little skit, but then after the skit, then we settle down. And he said, Bruce, he said, wouldn't it be great if some of those country music stars you used to hang out with and open shows for would get saved? And maybe their music wouldn't change right off, but maybe they changed some of the words to their songs. And so we took some of the words to these country singer songs and changed them as if they got saved. And this was the first person I'm going to try to do for you is Johnny Cash. The second one I'm going to try to do is Randy Travis, and then the third one, his voice, the voice of Willie Nelson. Now, when we did this, it was before Johnny Cash died, and from what I understand, he made a profession of faith before he died, and I thank the Lord for that. And this was before Randy Travis had also made a profession of faith. And Willie Nelson's on my everyday prayer list. I've been praying for him since I've been saved. And as a disclaimer, I don't listen to country music anymore, so I'm doing these by memory. And so maybe Johnny would have sounded something like this. And if you don't know these country singers, that's all right. That's okay. But this is just for fun, all right? You ready? I know the Lord is comin', He's comin' back again, He's comin' for His children, I know I'm one of them, And I'll keep workin' for my Savior, until He takes me home. I'll keep workin' for my Savior, until He takes me home. And there's Johnny. And Randy's a little hard to do. I have to put my teeth together to do his voice. I'm gonna live now forever in heaven together with him. I'm gonna serve him forever and ever, forever and ever. Amen. Then there's Willie. I'm lost forever, now I'm pardoned. Jesus took away my sin. Now I have a home in heaven. And it's all because of him. All right, there you have it. Yeah, some of you enjoying that too much. We better move on to something else, all right? Oh, maybe I should preach on the right kind of music tonight. But you know what? It's great to have a good time. The Bible says a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, amen? And so I hope you enjoyed some of that. I was trying to think of another funny song, but it's just kind of falling off my brain. Oh, I know one the kids liked a little bit with my own grandpa, so I'll try that one. Many, many years ago when I was 23 Was married to a widow who was pretty as could be Widow had a grown-up daughter, she had hair of red My father fell in love with her and soon the two were wed This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life My daughter was my mother because she was my father's wife To complicate the matters even though it brought me joy I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy Little Junior then became a brother-in-law to Dad And so became my uncle, though it made me rather sad For if he is my uncle, then that also makes him brother To the widow gone-up daughter, who of course is my stepmother My father's wife had had a son that kept him on the run And he became a grandchild because he was my daughter's son My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue Because although she is my wife, she's my grandmother too And if my wife's my grandmother, then I'm her grandchild. Every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild. Now I have become the strangest thing you ever saw. As husband to my own grandma, I am my own grandpa. I have my own grandpa. I am my own grandpa. It's funny, I know it really is so. I am my own grandpa. It's hard even to get out there. Oh, you're very kind. You know, I want to do this song. I know the pastor really likes this one. This is one of my favorite songs as well. I didn't write this song. A guy by the name of Dale Way wrote this song. He's a cowboy preacher. He does the rodeo circuit, and he goes around to all the rodeos and shares Christ with those cowboys. When I went to California years ago is when I first heard this song, but I heard it on a CD by a fellow by the name of Jim. Hey, buddy, how you doing? You doing all right? That's what my head used to look like when I was a kid. My mother couldn't afford to take us to the barber, so we had horses, and she would take the horse shears and shave our heads every summer. I mean, you talk about having a hard time, not being good-looking and ball-headed and having to go to school with all that. You know, and I got made fun of a lot when I was a kid. Bruce the moose, Bruce the goose, french fry, stir fry. And coming from your mom and dad all them years, it just kind of puts you down on the lower shelf, you know what I mean? I'm just kidding. But anyway, I went to California. And this guy named Dr. Jim Delishmitt had been doing the winter revival for this church for 11 years in a row. And then he died, went home to be with the Lord. And so they called another preacher, Tony Hudson, to come and preach the meeting. They called me to come and sing. And I guess it took two of us to take Big Jim's place. And Tony Hudson, I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but he's a real big man. And here I am, the little bitty guy. It was like the hamburger and the french fry. I went to California. And so we got there, and everybody asked me, did you ever hear Dr. Jim Dillashmith preach, or did you ever hear him sing? And I said, no, I never knew anything about him until I got here. And so they gave me one of his testimony CDs, and his testimony was called, From Dope to Hope. Citizens are asked! All right, well, somebody has a car, it's a beefing. There you go. Not yours. All right. But anyway, where was it? Oh, yeah. His testimony was dope to hope. And real quickly, I'll tell you his testimony. He was not always Dr. Jim Dellishmid. At one time in his life, he was the president of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in St. Louis, Missouri. But he had a mom who prayed for him and prayed for him and prayed for him. And every now and then, he would call his mother on the telephone just to check on her, and she would always end the conversation with these words. She would say, Jim, will you please come to church Sunday? And he would always say this, no mom, I don't need church, I don't need God, I'm okay, don't worry about me. And so, but she would always invite him and just kept on praying for him. And one day, his mother was talking to his younger brother on the phone, and she just broke down and started crying. And the younger brother said, Mom, what's the matter? Why are you crying? She said, I'm concerned about Jim. I'm afraid he's going to die and go to hell. And the younger brother was not saved either. And he said, Oh, Jim's all right, Mom. She said, No, he is not either, because he's made his motorcycle his God. And so after that conversation, the younger brother called Big Jim up, gonna play around with him a little bit, and he got him on the phone, and he said, Hey, Big Jim. He said, I heard you've been praying to your motorcycle. Is that true? He said, No, I don't pray to my motorcycle. Who told you that? He said, Mama did. And Jim got mad, called his mother on the phone. He said, Why did you tell my brother I pray to my motorcycle? Mama, I don't do that. She said, I didn't say that, Jim. He said, What did you say? She said, I told your brother that you had made your motorcycle your God. He said, what do you mean by that? And she said, well, you see, Jim, the Bible says, he said, stop right there. I don't want to hear nothing that the Bible has to say. You just tell me what you meant by that statement. She said, OK, son, I will. She said, Jim, the Bible says, he said, I told you, mom, I don't want to hear what the Bible says. But being his little mama, she finally just told him to be quiet. She said, Jim, the Bible says thou shalt have no other gods before me, and that motorcycle has become a little god in your life. Will you please come to church Sunday? And he said that he was so mad, so angry, he said, yes, mom, I'm coming Sunday. As a matter of fact, you tell that preacher I'm coming and you tell that congregation I'm coming. And he slammed the phone down, and Sunday morning, Big Jim went to church. He had his Hell's Angels leather motorcycle clothes on, and a big Harley Davidson, and he revved it up when he got in the parking lot. It may have backfired two or three times. He said he even popped some pills. He said he didn't want to be feeling any pain when he went to church that day. And he walked into the church and went and sat down in the back pew. There were some other people on the back pew back there, and they kind of looked at him like this, and he looked at them right quick, and they got scared. He was a really rough-looking dude. He had one of these Fu Manchu things with the rubber bands all in them, and, I mean, he was just a big old rough biker. And so, all of a sudden, the service started, And the door in the back opened, and the choir started coming through. It was back in those days where they wore those beautiful choir robes with all the colors and everything. And of course, Jim had popped a few pills, so he was seeing all those colors in a different light, you know. He was going, whoa, look at that! And they all walked out and got in the choir, and the last one to come through the door was his little mom. And when she saw Big Jim back there, she dipped her head, acknowledging he was in the service. The choir sang, the preacher preached, and when the invitation was given, this big motorcycle president, full of pills, full of pride, got out of his pew and walked forward, and knelt at an old-fashioned altar, and cried out and begged God for forgiveness, and was born again into God's family by trusting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And then he became an evangelist preacher for many, many years, and this was his favorite song. As a matter of fact, The pastor of that church, this was his favorite song, and some of the guys in the church had already told me that, so I told him, I said, you be quiet, and the last day of the revival, I'll learn that song and sing it for the pastor. The last day of the revival was on a Friday night, and I was getting ready to walk out on the platform, and the pastor put a cassette tape in my pocket. He said, Bruce, He said, there's a song on here called The Old Man is Dead. It's my favorite song and I just wanted you to have a copy of it. And he didn't realize I was getting ready to walk out there and sing that very song. And when I started singing that song, the pastor started weeping and everybody in the congregation started weeping because that man had ministered to them through this song for so many years. And this is called The Old Man is Dead. Now and then an old friend of mine I've not seen for some time will stop by and ask me, hey where you been? What's on your mind? They wonder why I'm not drinking and still painting this old town red. Tell them I'm serving Jesus now, and the old man is dead. The man you see before you may look a lot the same, may wear the same clothes, have the same old name. But you're looking on the outside, you'll see inside instead. You would see a brand new man, cause the old man is dead. See, according to the word of God in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17, the Bible says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. I used to live such a wicked life. I had no hope inside. I was lost in darkness and searching for the light. Then one night in a little church, after hearing what the preacher said, I gave my life to Jesus and the old man was dead. The man you see before you May look a lot the same May wear the same clothes Have the same old name But you're looking on the outside You could see inside instead You would see a brand new man But the old man is dead you're still looking on the outside you could see inside instead you would see a brand new man the old man is dead thank god the old man is dead. Amen. Well, amen. Well, I'm gonna open the word of God and give you a message. And then after this is over, I'll sing as long as you want me to. All right. That be all right? Good deal. Well, if you have your Bibles, if you want to open to John chapter 3, I had a whole different message that I thought that I was going to preach tonight, but God has changed my mind. And so, if you'll just turn your Bibles to John chapter 3, and if you don't have a Bible, that's okay. If you'll just listen, I'll read the Word of God, and we'll jump right in here. And John chapter 3 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, in God's Word. The Bible says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now back in those days, these religious rulers like Nicodemus would wear what they call phylacteries. They would have Bible verses sewn in their clothes, wrapped around their head, they prayed three times a day, they fasted two times a week, gave 10% of their money. They did everything according to the law, thinking that would get them to heaven. But then he heard about somebody by the name of Jesus Christ who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. So there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night. I believe that phrase, by night, was a symbol of the darkness of his heart. He had religion, but he had no relationship with the Christ. And said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. If you notice there, Nicodemus didn't ask Jesus Christ a question. He just made a statement. But Jesus Christ is God. He read his heart. He knew why he was there. And he answered the question that was on the heart of Nicodemus in verse 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, Ye must be born again. And this is going to be our text verse for the evening. The Bible says, The wind bloweth where it listeth, And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. I'd like to bring you a message tonight entitled, Do You Remember the Wind? Let's bow for prayer. Father God in heaven. Lord, I pray that you'll bless the reading of your word and the preaching of your word this evening. And Father, as we recall the winds in our lives, I pray that you would speak to hearts. I pray for those who are born again and saved, Lord, that you would remind them of when they got saved and how you drew them to that place. And Father, there may be one here who knows about you, but they don't know you personally. And so, Father, for those, I pray that you would convict them and draw them by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, so that they would be born again into your family by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so they could miss hell and go to heaven one day. And Lord, again, we'll give you all the glory and honor for any good that comes out of this service, for you deserve it all. For it's in Jesus' name I pray with thanksgiving. Amen and amen. I wrote a song around this theme. And basically, we're going to talk about three winds tonight. We're going to talk about the wind of conviction. We're going to talk about the wind of conversion. And then we're going to talk about the wind of change. And I was thinking about that and reading in the Bible, trying to write a song around that theme. And I came to Saul's conversion in the Bible, in the book of Acts. Of course, his name was Saul. And then when he got saved, God changed his name to Paul. And so that's what this song's about. And it goes like this. When the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed There was a man named Saul who watched him as he bled He held the coats of the men who stoned him to death He never saw a man die like that You remember the wind of conviction Deep inside you knew that something was wrong The tug on your heart was gentle then strong You remember the wind Saul was on the road to Damascus one day When a light shone from heaven and he heard a voice say Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Then he fell on his knees. Do you remember the wind of conversion? When you called on the Lord to save your soul? Gone was your burden of guilt and sin, you remember the wind. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told you. And Ananias put his hands on him, that he might receive his sight. and the scales fell off of his eyes. Do you remember the wind of change when the world no longer looked the same and God gave you a brand new name? Do you remember the wind The wind of conviction blew into your soul The wind of conversion has now made you whole The wind of change will continue to grow As you meditate on His holy word You remember the wind You remember the wind You remember the wind. And the Bible says, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof. But canst thou not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth? So is every one that is born of the Spirit. And part of what God is talking about in this passage of Scripture is that, you know, you can't really see the wind. We've been out here and the wind's been blowing. You can look up at those trees and you can see the leaves moving. but you can't see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind. And that's what God is talking about here. When a person gets saved and is born again, you're going to be able to see the change in their life. Of course, on my gospel track, many of you laughed at me about my hair and stuff, and we joke about, yeah, I was an ugly woman before I got saved and stuff. And yeah, so It was not that I had the hair problem, it was that I had the heart problem. Once my heart got right, my hair got right, and we talk about that. But you can't look up here, I am indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God. But you can't look up here and see that in me, but hopefully you can see the effects that He's made on my life. And that's what the Scripture's talking about here, the effects of the wind. And so it's like the little boy that came to his dad one time, and he said, Hey, Dad. He said, I was thinking about something. He said, uh, how tall do you think Jesus Christ was? And his dad looked at him and said, son, that's not in the Bible. I can't, I can't answer that question for you. He said, well, dad, I was thinking about something. I'm four feet tall and maybe Jesus was six feet tall like you, dad. And I've asked Jesus to be my savior. He lives inside of me. And I was thinking if that's true and I'm four feet tall and he's maybe six feet tall, he ought to stick out. Don't you think? The Bible says that people ought to be able to see Christ in you. Let your light so shine before men they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So I'm going to talk about three winds tonight, and I want you to go back and remember in your life these three winds. And the first one is the wind of conviction. Can you go back in your mind and remember when God started knocking on the door of your heart, started making you miserable in your sin and drawing you to Himself? In John chapter 6 and verse 44, Jesus said, No man can come to Me except the Father which has sent Me. Draw him. So before a person gets saved, there's a drawing that happens from the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus Christ left heaven, came here, died on the cross, and then when He left, He said, I will send you a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that will come inside, that will convict you of sin, that will bring you to Me. And so, I don't know if you can remember when that happened for you. I remember when it happened for me. It was in 1997. My band members and I were, I can't remember what town we were in, we were on a stage, we were setting our equipment up, getting ready to sing that night, and I could hear my band members talking, and I was just setting up some stuff, and as I was listening to them talking, the filth that was coming out of their mouth, which was the same way that I talked, all of a sudden, when I heard it for the first time in my life, I went, That sounds bad. It never sounded bad to me before, but all of a sudden, it was filthy to me. Why is that? Because there was an invisible hand from a holy God reaching down and squeezing my heart, and it was almost like God was saying, Bruce, I want you to hear what you sound like. And when I heard them talking like that, I said, man, I need to change my, the way I talk. You know, when I got saved, I lost half of my vocabulary right then, that quick. And see what happened as I was listening to them, that's when I started making a list. I said, you know, I need to stop cussing because that sounds bad. It never sounded bad to me before. I could watch any movies on television with cussing in it, didn't bother me. I could listen to any kind of music or anything with filth in it, nothing bothered me. But all of a sudden, things are sounding a little different. And it was the Holy Spirit of God drawing me. let me hear myself, revealing to me my sin." It was the wind of conviction. And sometimes the wind of conviction was very small, sometimes it was very hard. I remember playing in my hometown one time and I was staying with my mom and dad. And I played that Saturday night, and the next day I was laying on the couch watching football. I felt like I had a football in my head from the night before, and I had a hangover, just to be totally honest with you. I just wasn't feeling good at all. My brother and his family went to church, and when they got back from church, they came to my mom and dad's house and had dinner. I was feeling so sick that I couldn't even eat. And after they had dinner, they went out in the yard and were throwing the football, having a big time. And while that was going on, one of my nieces had to go to the bathroom, and she ran back through past me, went to the bathroom, and when she came out, she stopped in front of me, and she said, Uncle Bruce, do you know that Jesus loves you? And I remember looking at that little girl, and I said, yeah, Jordan, I know that. And she took off and went back outside. And I remember thinking, why did she say that to me? The wind of conviction. There's one of those times, God knocking on the door of your heart, Bruce, I love you. You need me. And he was drawing me. So it was just a little win. But it kept getting stronger and stronger. And I may have mentioned this this morning, but I was at a club in Goldsboro, North Carolina. And I remember this like it was yesterday, standing in front of a crowd of people. I said, thank you for paying your way in here to come and hear me sing tonight. I'm going to give you the best show that I can give you. But before I start singing, I want to tell you something. There's something going on in my heart. I don't know what it is. I don't know why I'm telling you. I just wanted you to know. And it was the Holy Spirit, that drawing, that wind of conviction. I did my show that night, packed up my stuff, got in my van, and I'd cry like a baby all the way to the next town that I was driving to. And I didn't know what was going on. But God was after me, and He was drawing me by the power of His Holy Spirit. Do you remember the wind of conviction in your life? And as it kept getting stronger, it kept getting stronger, that's when I started my list. I'm going to quit cussing, I'm going to quit drinking, I'm going to quit partying, and I was trying to change things in my life. The only time that I went to church was on Christmas and Easter. I was a Christ-Easter, I guess. And that was the only time I darkened the doors. You know, I've done my duty to God for the year, whatever. And so it was in 1997, and I can't remember if it was Easter or Christmas. I think it was Christmas. But usually I would sit in the back of the church, but everybody had the back seats taken, so I was sitting about halfway. And after the service was over, I was going to get up and leave, but before I even got out of my seat, a man walked up to me, grabbed me by the hand, and he said these words to me. He said, Bruce, I'm so glad you came to church today." He said, I've been praying for you, son. He said, your brother Sammy loves you, and he's been praying for you for over 21 years. And he said, I just want you to know that Jesus Christ loves you. And he was holding on to my hand, and I'm sitting there, and the more he talked to me, I started sweating. I almost felt like I was going to throw up. And he wouldn't let go of my hand. And finally I looked at him and I said, sir, I don't mean to be rude to you, but I feel like I'm going to get sick. And he said, well, don't get sick on me. And he let go of me. And I ran out of the back of the church and I went through those doors and I remember I said, whew, I can breathe out here. I couldn't breathe in that place. You know why? Because darkness has no place with light. And I was in the darkness and the light was choking me. And it was the wind of conviction. And as I told you in my testimony this morning, I went to hear my brother preach on a Sunday night, and I was in the back of the church. I was weeping, and I was crying. The Holy Spirit of God was drawing me. The wind of conviction was so strong. But I was so proud, so full of myself that I didn't go forward to trust Christ that night. But my brother did. I asked if anybody wanted prayer, and I put my hand up. I'm not sure I'm going to heaven. And he prayed for me. Do you remember the wind of conviction? Can you go back in your mind and remember God drawing you and making you miserable in your sin? Secondly tonight, do you remember the wind of conversion? Do you remember when you got saved? Where you were and how it happened? You know, I talk to people all over the country and some people say, well, I just don't remember a whole lot about it. I ask them this question, I say, are you married? Yes. Do you remember when you got married? Yes. Do you remember where you were when you got married? Yes. But you say you married Jesus Christ and you can't remember when that happened? And I know not everybody has an exact date and exact time like I do, but I believe everybody should have a place where they can go back in their mind and remember the wind of their conversion. You know, in the Bible, Saul, who later became Paul the Apostle, he had a Damascus road. That's where he got saved. The wind of conviction started when he watched Stephen die, and he never saw anybody die like that. And then the wind of conversion happened to him on the Damascus Road. Hey, there was a man named Zacchaeus. I bet every time he saw a sycamore tree, he went, hell boy, I remember that. I remember that place. There was a woman at the well, and Jesus led her to Christ there at the well, and I bet every time she went to get a drink of water, she'd go, oh, that's my place. That's my spot right there. Do you have a place like that? See, when I was a 13 year old boy, I prayed a prayer, got baptized and joined a church, but I did not get saved. My wife even asked me one time, Bruce, do you think you got saved when you were a little kid and just got away from God and then came back to God? I said, no, honey, I was lost because I continued in my sin. And this is the key. It did not bother me to do it. You know, Lot in the Bible, in the Old Testament, was in Sodom and Gomorrah, a wicked, wicked city. But the Bible later says in the New Testament that his righteous soul was vexed every day. He was living in sin, but he was not comfortable living there. Guess what? I was comfortable in my sin. I knew I was doing wrong, and sometimes I felt bad about it, but I never felt bad enough to quit it. And so I told her, I said, no, honey. No, I didn't get saved then. I was lost. But on March the 10th of 1998, I fell on my knees beside my bed. I cried out and begged God for forgiveness and mercy. And I put my trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And that night, I was born again into God's family. You see, there's a lot of churches everywhere you go that teach that we're all children of God. But that's not true. We are all created by God, but you don't become a child of God until you're born again into His family by faith in His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And see, I celebrate two birthdays every year. November the 5th is my physical birthday. I celebrated 60 years. That was my birthday, November the 5th. But then this past March, the 10th, was my spiritual birthday, and I separated 17 years. So I'm still a teenager. Hallelujah. I'm 17 years old in the Lord. And so, my question to you tonight, do you have two birthdays, like the pastor said? If you only have one birthday, that's not enough, because Jesus Christ said you must be born again. You know, I had an evangelist preacher friend of mine, and he preached a message on this passage of Scripture, and he used four W's, I've never forgotten it. He said, why should a person be born again? Because Jesus Christ said so, and he's God, right? When can a person be born again? Anytime. Where can a person be born again? Anywhere. I have led people to Christ in airports and airplanes and grocery stores and churches. And then who can be born again? The Bible says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I was born again in an apartment in Nashville, Tennessee at 1230 in the morning. And I've never forgotten that place. You know, every time I'm near there as I travel, I'll always go by the old apartment where I lived in. I go into the doors of Tanglewood Court. I take a right and go down past the mailboxes, go to the third building on the right. I go down the steps, go down the hall, and the last room on the right is number 374. That was my apartment. For the last 17 years, I've been doing that, knocking on that door, and when the people answer the door that are living there, this is what I tell them. You don't know me from Adam's house, Cat, but I used to live in this apartment, and on March the 10th of 1998, at 1230 in the morning, back there in that bedroom, I trusted Jesus Christ as my savior, and this is a very sacred place to me, and I always like to come by and see who's living in my spot, and I'd like to ask you a question today. If you were to die right now, are you sure you'd go to heaven? And I've been able to share the gospel over the years with many people. Nobody has ever invited me in except for one lady. And this lady was saved. My daughter was in the van. I left her locked in the van because we were kind of in a hurry. And I just wanted to go by and knock on the door. And this lady named Shirley answered the door. And I talked to Shirley. She was born again. She was saved. She said, I always wondered why there was such a sweet presence in this place. She was such a sweet lady, and I shared some things with her, and I said, Shirley, the next time I'm through here, I'm gonna stop by again. She said, well, come on in. I said, I can't. My daughter's in the van. I've got to go, but the next time, hopefully we can spend some time together. And I went back another time and took a fellow with me and was able to spend some time with Shirley, and it was a great time. Then the next time I went by there, there was an American Indian living there, and guess what? His name was Bruce. Go figure, you know, and so I shared the gospel with Bruce and I remember he had a lot of different ideas about how he was going to get to heaven, but I shared the gospel as best I could with Bruce. And then the next time I went there, almost a year later, Bruce was not living there, but there was another American Indian lady living there, and I couldn't tell. I said, this is either his aunt, his sister, or his mom, one or the other, and I didn't want to say the wrong thing, and I asked her. I knocked on the door, and she didn't open the door. It had a little chain on it, and I understood that. She didn't know me, and I said, ma'am, I said, does Bruce still live here? She said, no, I do. And I said, oh, look, I said, I'm not trying to bother you. I'm not trying to scare you. I said, but I used to live in this apartment. And back in that bedroom in 1998, I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. And I want to share my testimony with you. And she said this to me. She said, I heard about you. And she didn't give me a chance to share the gospel with her, but I gave her a gospel track and left. And, you know, it's a wonderful thing to have a place you can go back to in your mind. Do you remember the wind of conviction? Do you remember the wind of conversion? And then lastly here, and we'll be done tonight, do you remember the wind of change? How after you got saved, it totally, erratically changed your life. The night that I got saved, I remember I woke up the next day, and I lived eight miles from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, and I'm telling you, when you live that close to the city, it usually doesn't smell that great. But you know what? I went outside that day, I looked up, and I said, God, I have never seen the sky this blue. I could hear the birds chirping. I said, God, it even smells good out here today. This is amazing. What happened? God, it removed the scales from my eyes. I'm seeing things different. I'm hearing things different. Everything is changed. I go back into my apartment. I turn my television on and I usually camped out on MTV or CMT, country music or rock and roll. And I would watch that stuff all the time. And when I turn my television on, there was a Rolling Stone video on. I'll never forget this. And when I saw it, I went. How in the world could I have ever watched anything so filthy? Because I was blind. The Bible says that Satan has blinded the minds of them which believe not. And see, I was blind. It didn't bother me to watch. One of my favorite shows was a show called Friends. I used to watch it all the time. I loved that show back then. But then when I got saved, I said, I can't watch that show anymore. Those people aren't married and they're jumping in and out of bed with each other. I said, that is a wicked show. But it was never wicked until God opened my eyes and I started seeing things different. And then I looked at all my movies and my DVDs and my CDs and my collection of all this music that I had and I said, I can't listen to this stuff anymore. This is ungodly. Nobody had to tell me that rock and roll and country music was not good to listen to. And I gathered everything I had and put it in a big box. And I was a brand new baby Christian, one day old, I hadn't read the book of Acts where they burnt things like that, and I took it down to the store and sold it. It was a lot of money, and I even gave some of the money to the church. I don't know whether God used it or not, but I was just trying to get these things out of my life because I knew I didn't want them anymore. I called the cable company out, and I said, you can get this out of my house. I don't want this anymore. All these changes started to happen. one right after the other. And slowly things were changing for me. And then I knew that I was going to go to church that Sunday. And so I went in my closet. I'm telling you, back in the day, I was so full of pride that sometimes I would put my stage clothes on just to go get my groceries so people would look at me and say, he must be a star. I'm telling you, I was full of me. And I remember opening my closet and I said, I'm going to worship God Sunday. And I went, oh my, I can't wear that. And I don't want to wear that. Everything I had had fringe or sparkle or moved or made noise or something. And I looked at my closet and I said, there's nothing in my closet that I want to wear to the house of God. So I went to this clothing store, and when I walked in there, this man walked up to me, and he said, Bruce, well, he didn't know my name, he said, sir, can I help you? And I said, yes, sir. I said, I'm going to church Sunday. I said, I need some shoes, I need some pants, I need a shirt, I need a tie, and I said, I'm not good with that stuff, I've never worn stuff like that, but I'm going to worship God Sunday, and could you help me with that? And he said, I sure could. And I said, hey, while you're helping me with that, I said, could I tell you what happened to me in my apartment the other night? I said, man, it's incredible. I fell on my knees. I cried out to God. I said, I've never felt this great in my life. It was wonderful. And I said, I'm going to church Sunday. You want to go with me? And he went, I don't think so. And the wind of conviction started coming on, and that boy, he couldn't wait to get me out of that store. And I had my new clothes and everything, and Sunday morning came. I got all dressed up, and I'm standing in front of the mirror, and I've got all this hair hanging on my head. And I'm looking in the mirror, and I went, oh, wow. What am I going to do with that? So I slicked it back, and I put it in a ponytail, and I went, oh yeah, that looks good. I'll do that. So I went to church with my ponytail, my new clothes, worshiping God. It was wonderful. My pastor never said one word to me about my hair, and I'm glad he didn't. When I went home back to North Carolina one of those times, and my brother did mention one thing to me. He said, Bruce, I noticed you've been wearing your hair in a ponytail. You didn't used to do that. And I said, yeah, I didn't want to talk about it. Then I started doing discipleship lessons and I came across a verse in the Bible that said, it's a shame for a man to have long hair. And when I read that, I remember looking at the Bible and I said, God, did you mean that? Well, you wrote it, I guess you meant it. But I'll be honest with you, it was a very hard change for me. I left home when I was 17 years old, and one of the reasons I did was because I wanted to grow my hair long. And my dad said, you're not going to live in this house and have long hair. And he had every right to say that because he paid the bills. But I was a rebel. I left home. And so this was a hard change for me. And even though I'd read that in the scripture, God was starting to deal with me by the power of the Holy Spirit, and I was getting very uncomfortable about it, I was still having a hard time. But God's so merciful, He's so patient, He's so kind, and this is what He did for me personally. Went back to North Carolina to see my brother and I was getting ready to head back to Nashville a Friend of mine and his wife had recently gotten saved and they called me and they said Bruce before you go back to Nashville Why don't you come by the house and we'll pray with you and hug you and we we just had a little girl We'd love for you to see her and I said, all right, I'll do that and I knocked on the door And when my friend Kevin opened the door I said Kevin You cut your hair And he said, yeah, brother. He said, I'm telling everybody that Jesus has changed my life. And you know, I started, I was keeping my hair long. And he said, brother, I can't explain it to you, but I felt dirty. Do you know what I mean? I went, yes, I know exactly what you mean. It was a change that God wanted me to make, and I hadn't made it yet, and I felt dirty. And I remember that moment. I said, I'm gonna get my hair cut. And so I left there, drove back to Nashville, Tennessee, and the next day when I woke up, I put some clothes in the laundromat, and then I went to the salon where I used to get my hair styled. You see, I didn't get it cut, I got it styled. There was a girl there, her name was Faye, and I walked up to her and I said, Faye, I said, I need to get my hair cut today. And she said, Bruce, I can't cut your hair today. I said, why not? She said, I am booked up. She said, matter of fact, I'm booked up all week long. I said, what about one of these other girls? She said, no. She said, they're booked up too. I said, well, I'm getting my hair cut today. And she said, well, you're not going to get it cut here. I said, I'm going to get it cut somewhere. Now, I had been in and out of this salon for seven years of my life and never seen it before. But right next door, When I walked out of that salon that day was Mr. B's barbershop. I'd never seen it. I hadn't been to a barbershop since I was a little boy. And when I walked out of there, I went, look at that. Wow. So I walked in, bless his heart. Mr. B is sitting in the barber chair asleep, mouth wide open. And I'm thinking, What in the world? Some red flags going on here. The salon's full, the barbershop's empty, but I want to get my hair cut. So I cleared my throat. Mr. B woke up and he said, can I help you? And I said, are you Mr. B? He said, I'm Bob. What can I do for you, sir? I said, Bob, I need a haircut. He said, OK. He said, what kind of haircut do you want? I said, I want it off my head. He said, well, you're going to have to do better than that. And he handed me one of those magazines. And he said, look at these guys. And them guys, all of them. You know, they all look good, right? And so I found one, I said, well, he looks good, do me like that. And it was a guy with a short haircut. He sat me down in the chair, turned me away from the mirror. My wife told me later that's just the style that they use, which I didn't really want to watch it anyway, to be honest with you. And he started cutting my hair, and he started singing Elvis Presley. And in between verses, I'm trying to tell him about Jesus, you know. He told me that he was saved. And then he got through, and he said, Bruce, are you ready? And I said, I'm ready, Bob, let me have it. He spun me around, and I'm telling you, when I saw myself in that mirror, I went into shock. My hair was already in shock. It looked like I had a toupee sitting on top of my head. It had a rooster thing going out like this. And I went, what in the world? He could tell I was a little upset. And he said, now, Bruce, he said, if you don't like your haircut, you come back tomorrow and we'll work on it some more. I said, you bet we will. And he said, and I won't charge you. And I said, That's right. You definitely not going to charge me if I come back. And so I went home and I washed my hair and I tried to get it to do this. I couldn't get it to do anything. So the next day I went back in there and I said, Bob, I said, we're going to have to work on this, buddy. OK. And he said, oh, sure. Sit down. So he cut some more. He sang some more. Turn me around. So what do you think? I said, that's OK, Bob, I appreciate it. In his defense, I believe he was scared to cut it too much. I think he thought that I would get mad at him. And so I walked out of there, and I walked into the salon, and I walked up and got this close to my friend Faye, and I said, Faye, I need a haircut. She went, oh my life, Bruce, what happened to you? Sit down, I'll make time for you. And she gave me my third haircut. Then I went to church, and then I came back and I got my fourth haircut. Then I went to church again, I came back and got my fifth haircut. My pastor's daughter was about this tall and she walked up to me one day and she said, Every time you come to church, you got a new haircut. I said, Leave me alone, girl. God's doing the work in me and it's not easy for me. Just leave me alone. Do you remember the wind of conviction? Do you remember the wind of conversion? How about the wind of change? Has coming to Christ changed your life? Can I tell you this? A prayer that saves a person changes a person. A prayer that never changes a person never saves a person. Because the Bible says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. I hope you've gone back in your mind and remembered some things tonight. You remember the wind of conviction? Do you remember the wind of conversion? How about the wind of change? Is there anything in your life that you know God wants you to change and you're fighting it on Him? You know what? You give in and you'll win every single time. If you're here tonight and you're not 100% sure that you go to heaven, I pray that before you leave this place that you would trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. You know, my daughter, she's 13 years old now, and when she was 6 years old, so that was 7 years ago, We were going through Nashville, Tennessee, and I wanted to take her by the apartment and show her. I said, Callie, I want to show you where your daddy got saved. I want to show you where God changed my life. And when I took her by there, they were renovating those apartments. So I was able to take her right down the hallway. There's number 374. The door was wide open. I had her by the hand and I said, Callie. I said, there was my living room. There's my little dining room. There's my kitchen. We walked down the hall. I said, there's my bathroom. We went in the bedroom and I said, Callie, my bed was right here. My nightstand was right there. And that spot right there is where your daddy knelt and trusted Christ as his savior. And I looked over as I was telling her this story and she had my wife's camera hanging around her wrist. And I said, Callie, will you take a picture of Daddy kneeling in the spot where he got saved? She said, Sure, Dad. And I knelt down and looked up to heaven. My daughter took my picture, and I'll never forget this as long as I live. Right after she took the picture, she said, Hey, Dad, I have a spot like that. I said, you do, honey? She said, yeah, dad. You remember when that group came to our church back there in Children's Church? She said, Dad, when we go home, I'll take you and show you where my spot is. And you can take my picture in my spot, Dad. Do you have a spot like that? If you don't, right where you're sitting right now could be your spot. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? And with every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to ask you a question tonight. If you were to die right where you're sitting right now, are you 100% sure you'd go to heaven? As a testimony to Jesus Christ, if you are, if you'd say, yes, Bruce, I know I'm heaven-born, I'm heaven-bound, I have no question about where I'd go if I died right now. As a testimony to Jesus, would you raise your hands so I could celebrate with you? God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. As I was looking around, a lot of hands were raised, but there were several hands that weren't raised. And I appreciate you being honest tonight. So I want to ask you a question. You weren't able to raise your hand. Would you let me pray for you? If you're not sure heaven's your home, if you were to die right where you're sitting, would you be honest with me and honest with God? I'm not going to come to you, I'm not going to embarrass you, but I do want to pray for you. Would you raise your hand and say, Bruce, pray for me, because if I died right this second, I'm not sure heaven's my home, and I don't want to go to hell. God bless you, buddy. Thank you. God bless you, sir. God bless you, ma'am. Anybody else? Just raise your hand. I'll acknowledge you and pray for you. I don't want to miss you. God bless you, little buddy. God sees your little heart. Anybody else at all? God bless you. I see your hand back there. Thank you so much. Anybody else? Bruce, pray for me. I'm just not sure that I'd go to heaven if I died right where I'm sitting. And I sure don't want to go to hell. As you pray for these others, will you please pray for me? Anybody else at all? Anybody else at all? Father, you've seen the hands that were raised. And Lord Jesus, I pray that you would continue to send the wind of conviction into their heart and into their life. I pray that you would draw them to a place where you'd show them how much they need you in their life. And I pray that they would find them a spot. and bow their head and bow their heart and cry out to you because the Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you can give them that peace and that assurance that heaven would be their home. Real quickly, while every head is bowed and every eye is closed, I want to share the gospel in a nutshell. First of all, I'll mention the word grace. Grace means that heaven is a free gift. It's not earned or deserved. For by grace are you saved through faith. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And then there's man. Man is a sinner and can't save himself, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then there's God. God is merciful. He really does not want to punish you because the Bible says in 1 John 8, God is love, but He's also just and He must punish sin. The Bible says, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. And then there's Jesus Christ. Who is He? He's the God-man who left heaven and came here and died on the cross and paid for your sin and my sin. The Bible says, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God became a man like us so we could learn how to be a man like Him. And then lastly, what did He do? He died on the cross. rose from the grave to pay your sin debt and my sin debt. He was virgin born. He was the sinless Son of God. And He died in your place and my place. And then He rose from the grave. And because He has resurrected Himself, if you trust Him as your Savior, then one day He will resurrect you. And then lastly, there's faith. What is faith? Well, I'll tell you what it's not. It's not just headliners because the devils believe in God and tremble. It's not a temporary thing where you think, well, you know, I'm traveling today, so I'm going to pray for traveling faith. And once you get to your destination, you don't need that faith anymore because that's temporary. But true Bible believing faith is trusting Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. And if you've never trusted Christ right there where you're sitting, you could pray something just as simple as this, realizing it's not the prayer that saves you, but the person you're praying to Jesus. You could say, God, I know that I'm a sinner. And God, I believe that you lived, that you died, that you rose from the dead, and I believe that you did that for me. And the best way I know how I want to trust you as Lord of my life right here in this spot where I am right this second. Jesus, I don't trust my feelings. I don't trust my good works. I trust in the work that you did on the cross and nothing else. Would you forgive me of my sin? Would you save me right now in the spot where I sit? And again, if you prayed a prayer something like that, only God can see your heart. God says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And if you prayed something like that, and you meant it with all your heart. After this service, would you come tell me? Or would you come tell the preacher? We would like to rejoice with you. I'm gonna let the pastor in the service as he sees fit. Amen. Well, this is a great opportunity for you to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. You know, you're not guaranteed tomorrow. We don't know what the future may hold, so let me encourage you to take the advice of this preacher, but more importantly, the words of this book, and apply them to your heart tonight. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, don't leave here without knowing. If you raised your hand, you're already acknowledging, I need Jesus Christ. And we'd be happy to take a Bible and show you what it means to have eternal life. We're not going to show you some church creed, or we're not going to show you what we think or believe. We're going to show you what the Word of God says, and that you can know this is the only source of truth in the world, the Word of God. And so let us take that time and help you tonight if we can. We're so thankful that you've come. It's only 7.30. There's nothing on TV worth watching. Where else are we going to go? So we might as well have some more singing, amen? No? Okay, there you go. Did you doze off? No? All right. So we'll have a little bit more singing. And we'll just sing for a while. And I understand if some say I have to go, maybe a kid's got to go to bed, whatever. But if not, it's cooled down really nicely, hasn't it? Beautiful evening. We'll enjoy some music. And we'll sing till his voice is gone. All right? Let me say this, I'm not encouraging you to do anything or to go looking for anything, but the nurses came over this afternoon because it's so far for them to go home and come back, and while we were sitting there talking, we looked up a couple of his old country music things. I didn't mean to, I was just looking up Bruce Fry, and up came some of his old country stuff. Let me tell you, boy, the Lord changed his life. And the Lord can do the same for you. We saw what He used to be, and I've spent a few days with Him, and I saw what He is now, and I'm telling you, the Lord will do the very same thing for you if you just trust Him tonight and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me say this also. We've had a good time this week. Everywhere we've been going, we've been handing out His track and talking to people about the Lord and things, and probably 50, 60 people now. He lost a putter. We went golfing and he lost a putter. You never lose a putter because it's the last club in your hand. But somehow we had a mix-up and he used my putter and we left one laying there. And we believe with all our heart, it was just so we'd go back to the guys behind us and say, did you see a putter? And they said no, but we gave them both the gospel and shared the gospel track. And next thing you know, they were up there ahead of us now, and they said, we found your putter! We heard yelling through the woods there, and so praise the Lord. But let me say this, of the 50, 60 people we got to talk to in the last few days, not one person got angry. Not one person said no. Thank you Everybody was not one. Am I telling the truth? Not one person you we say well, we don't want people getting mad at us. Nobody got mad Everybody was glad to take it. And and and so let me encourage you. It's not that bad around here We're not as persecuted as we think sometimes so get out and share the gospel and see what the Lord will do All right. All right. Let's have some singing tonight brother fry you come. All right. I Well again, before I start singing, I want to just say thank you so, so much again for everything you've done for me, for the room, and the basket of goodies, and the meals, and the kind words that you've said to me. Thank you for those of you that are praying for my family. Still praying for my dad to be saved. My younger brother's name is Dale. Praying for him to be saved. If you'll pray for my children. You know, being an evangelist, being a preacher, just like your pastor there, there's a target on my back. And when the devil can't get to me, he comes after my kids. And he's going to come after your pastor's kids too. So you pray for your pastor and you pray for his kids. You know, when you try to live right, the devil hates that. He hates it terribly. And so he's going to do everything in his power to discourage you. And I hope there's something that I've said while I was here or something God allowed me to say has encouraged you in the Lord. And again, if you need to talk to me after this is over, if you want to sit down with me one-on-one and let me show you from the Bible how to be saved, if I can help you, please just come talk to me. I would be honored to do that. Because I know I'm going to heaven and I sure want to see you there one day. But Jesus said, you must be born again. Alright? Well, let's sing a song together. How about that? This is one of my favorites, and if you know it, sing it with me. Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it, Mount of thy redeeming love. Here I praise mine Ebenezer, Hither by thy help I'm come. And I know by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood. Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above. On my first CD, I wrote a song. It's the third song I wrote after I got saved. I was dating a girl that lived on one side of the airport and I lived on the other side. And every time I would go by to see her, there was a church and it had a sign out front that said, you better get right. or you're going to get left. And being a songwriter, I said, oh, that's kind of catchy and I wrote it down on a piece of paper. Maybe I'll write a song about that. But I didn't realize the meaning behind it. I was lost. And if Jesus were to come back, I would have been left behind. And so after I got saved, I wrote this song. And I've always thought that maybe the music was a little too peppy for the message. But I'm going to play it for you anyway. It's called, You Better Get Right or You're Going to Get Left. Where would you be if Christ came today All alone in a car on a long highway At home, at work, on your knees to pray When the Lord comes back for his church one day You better get right or you're gonna get left With your best foot forward when you take that step Trust in Him and you won't regret You better get right or you're gonna get left Now when He opens the book of life There's your name on a page somewhere inside And will He welcome you, arms open wide? Or are you headed for the lake of fire? You better get right or you're gonna get left Put your best foot forward when you take that step Trust in Him and you won't regret You better get right or you're gonna get left Bow your head and beg forgiveness Jesus Christ will make you free. You better get right or you're gonna get left. Put your best foot forward when you take that step. Trust in Christ and you won't regret. You better get right or you're gonna get left. You better get right or you're gonna get left. Amen. Well, you know, when I first got saved, I didn't know anything about bus ministry where people would go and knock on doors on Saturday, invite kids to come to church and then go pick them up Sunday and bring them to Sunday school. I had no clue that was going on. I was so far away from God. I didn't know there was Christian music. I didn't know there were Christian colleges. I didn't know there were buses. I knew none of that. And then after I got saved, I was introduced to the bus ministry. And my brother and I, this is the first song we wrote as brothers in Christ, and it's very dear to my heart, and it's called The Captain of the Bus. Staring out the window as the rain comes pouring down. My heart soars as he rounds the bend. He's always right on time. He greets me with candy and a big smile on his face. An angel on my doorstep at this ungodly place. Then he drives me to Sunday school where they teach about God's grace. Well, I learned that I'm a sinner, but I don't have to die that way. Cause Jesus shed his blood for me on Calvary one day. When it's time to go back home, I'm wishing I could stay. But my Lord will protect me as I trust Him and obey. For my Savior lives within me. I was lost but now I'm saved. And I thank God that Jesus died for little kids like us. In his wisdom he had planned someone who cared enough A tender heart, soft-spoken, gentle with his touch Thank you, Lord, for sending me the captain of the boat I still remember singing ♪ Jesus loves me, this I know ♪ So grateful for the peace I've found ♪ And the joy that fills my soul ♪ So if you're lost and searching ♪ Confused and all alone ♪ The shepherd came to give you life ♪ If only you will come Our father sends his servant to make his presence known. I thank God that Jesus died for little kids like us. In his wisdom he had planned someone who cared enough. Tender heart, soft spoke, gentle with his touch. Thank you, Lord, for sending me the captain of the bus. Thank you, Lord, for Jesus, the captain of the bus. In this world full of broken lives, Trials and temptations on every side In the face of such uncertain times There's a peace that I find I'm one day closer home Looking up and pressing on I guess I'll just keep on ♪ One day closer home ♪ In a changing world where wrong is right ♪ Some turn away and say no use to try ♪ My hope is certain and one thing I know ♪ It is well with my soul ♪ I'm one day closer home Lookin' up and pressin' on Guess I'll just keep on keepin' on One day closer home When you're tempted to give up my friend Look to Jesus, place your trust in Him Cast your cares upon the Lord and then Remember soon he's coming back again. Well, I'm one day closer home. I'm looking up and pressing on. Guess I'll just keep on keeping on. One day closer home. One day closer home. Amen. Well the Bible says go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It's a little soul winning song. Everywhere you look and everywhere you go there are people who need to be told About the gospel of Jesus Christ God offers sinful people eternal life Called to capture this city for Christ We've been sent to reach the lost ♪ And are you willing to sacrifice ♪ ♪ Call to capture this city for Christ ♪ ♪ There are many who believe and few who will receive ♪ ♪ The gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord ♪ The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. May God use someone, someone like you. We're called to capture this city for Christ. We've been sent to reach the law. Are you willing to sacrifice? Call to capture this city for Christ. Call to capture this city for Christ. You know, I want to play you a song that I wrote for my Uncle Pete, who lost his life in the Vietnam War. I try to pray often for people that are in the military, putting their lives on the lines. The Bible says, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. taller than a mountain, my father's baby brother. We would all pile on him, nearly knock him off his feet. When he would take us fishing, he made us feel important. To me, there never was a bigger man than Uncle Pete. I found a note he wrote to Grandma in postmarked Vietnam. He was trying to explain why he had to return and he said life's a gamble but if I can't save someone going through this hell I'd fight forever if I could So for Pete's sake, don't forget that they died for our freedom, the ones who sacrificed it all with everything at stake. When we forget to remember, just dig a little deeper. If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for Pete's sake. There's a picture on my wall of Pete out in the jungle and a tattered flag stirring in the wind. Sittin' there on foreign soil, workin' on a letter Tryin' to smile, all he could muster was a grin Some folks give their time, others give their money Some folks only look to share the pain Some people lose their lives for somethin' they believe in You only have to look upon the wall to find their names. So for Pete's sake, don't forget that they died for our freedom. The ones who sacrificed it all with everything at stake. When we forget to remember, just dig a little deeper. If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for Pete's sake. If you can't do it for yourself, at least do it for Pete's sake. He called him Uncle Pete, my father's baby brother. Praise the Lord. You know, I should have sang this song for that message. You know, Nicodemus came seeking Jesus that night. He was seeking the truth, and Jesus was the truth. And He found the truth that night. Because the next time you see His name in the Bible, in John chapter 7, He's standing up for the truth. And the next time you see His name in the Bible, in chapter 19, He's one of the two men that took the body of Jesus down from the cross to prepare it for burial. So He was seeking the truth, standing up for the truth, and now serving the truth. Why? Because Nicodemus was born again. And that's a wonderful thing. And I'll do this last song tonight. Unless you want me to do some more, it's up to you. It was late at night and the Savior he was waiting For a man named Nicodemus to arrive A master of the Jews yet he was searching The law he taught had never satisfied Nicodemus came and slowly bowed in greeting As he sat he quietly wondered where to start With nowhere else to turn, this teacher came to learn Not knowing that the Lord had read his heart, and he said we know thou art a teacher from heaven sent to man no man could do these miracles except God be with him Jesus paused and then he answered The question's on his mind If you want to see God's kingdom You must be born again Born again Of the water and the spirit Like the wind you may not see it But you must be born again Are you willing now to listen to the Word of God this day? There are angels all around us, for godly folks have prayed. Could there be a Nicodemus listening today? If you want to see God's kingdom, you must be born again. Born again of the water and the spirit. Like the wind, you may not see it, but you must be born again. Born again of the water and the spirit, like the wind you may not see it, but you must be born again. And you must be born again, born again. Well, you know, I love acrostics, praise the Lord. You're very kind. I love the one for Bible, believers' instructions before leaving earth. I love the one for faith, forsaking all, I trust Him. Then there's one for grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. And then I love the one for gospel, God offers sinful people eternal life. Amen? And you can find the word gospel right in the middle of John 3.16. For God, there's the G, loves the world that He gave His only, there's the O, begotten Son, there's the S, whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, there's the P, but have everlasting, there's the E, life. The word gospel right in the middle of John 3.16. And then for those of you that laid down and rested your eyes this afternoon, there's always one for Saint. Sunday afternoon is nap time. God bless you. All right, let's thank Brother Fry one more time. Man, that was a real blessing this week. I appreciate him so much for coming. And I've already had people say, when's he coming back? And so I like how you guys appreciate music, because every group that comes through, you say, when are we having him back? And so we try to have something new, but we do like to bring folks back that we enjoy. So no doubt, we'll try to have Brother Fry back again. Please step into the gym if you'd like to get some music before you go. There's not much left. Maybe 10 CDs there of different varieties and then a couple DVDs and some of his testimonies that you heard this morning a little bit. So please pick some of that up. That helps him in the ministry as well. You know, he gives away all those gospel tracts. It must cost thousands of dollars a year just in gospel tracts people take. And so that helps offset that cost and some of the other things that he can do and help others. And so if you're able to help, please go ahead and do that. And if you're going to help tonight clean up, we'd appreciate it. Please don't forget, if you have dishes in the gym, pick those up. Don't forget those, please. And if you have chairs or anything extra, maybe you had some extra chairs there in the gym, please put those away. Tonight, if you're going to help at all, please, please, please ask Brother Judge if you're going to help carry anything. He's very particular about things, but we appreciate that so much because the sound was fantastic. Remember years ago when everything crackled and popped and the wind would come? It was wonderful this year, and it just improves every year, so we appreciate Brother Judge and Austin taking care of that. So please be very careful with the equipment. But we do, tonight we can't just stick it in the gym. We gotta carry it all the way back, and so we need a couple young men to take the piano at least, and things like that, different places. And we'd appreciate that so much. Let's stand tonight and be dismissed with a word of prayer. And Brother Gord Spong, would you just use your big preacher's voice and lead us in a word of prayer tonight, please? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Couple prayer requests real quick. I'm sorry, before you go, I forgot to mention, Mrs. Martha Lamb has had kind of like a flu today. She's not feeling real well. And then Jim Wilson has been sick. I think Jim works out in that heat 15, 16 hours a day, and I think he just got run down. He got pretty sick today. So would you remember them in prayer? Thank you so much. Have a great day. God bless you.