Now I wear a hat that says Army on it because I'm retired Army. I worked in the Army chaplaincy for 21 years, serving the Lord in the Army as a co-minister with the chaplain. But that's not what defines me. The Army doesn't define me. My retirement doesn't define me. My relationship with God totally defines me. So, we're starting in the right place. The Army's good, Navy's good, Marine Corps is good, Coast Guard, Air Force. Yeah, I knew that. I was saving that for last for Ed there. Are you a dependent or are you independent? We all know about dependents. We need, you know, in the Army, you have dependents. They're your wife, your children, maybe adult family members, whatnot. But we all were dependent at one point on somebody else in our life, your mom, your dad, a brother, sister, somebody who ever raised you, maybe a foster parent, things like that happen in life, right? We're dependent. And then we talk about being independent because your parents raised you to be independent. They want you to be independent so you can find that job, Find that lady that's going to marry you and give you kids and take care of you when you get old. And you're independent so you can do those things. But in the Christian walk today, I'm just going to share with you a little bit of my testimony reflecting on what Christ has done in my life in the last couple of years. And I'll make it quick. I came to know Christ at a very young age. I knew I wanted to serve the Lord in high school. That's when I really dedicated my life. At seven years old, I came near the Lord. At 11 years old, I was baptized in the largest baptistry, the Pacific Ocean. And then from there, we moved from the island to Tucson, Arizona. I was raised through Tucson, Arizona. In junior high and high school, I had a problem with dyslexia. When I was younger, I didn't learn how to read until I was 11. So now you know a little bit about me. And then from there, I was again dependent upon my dad, who is dying right now, physically. But he's alive when he comes in the presence of God, so we can rejoice in that. So I asked my dad, I said, you know, I know I want to serve the Lord, and I know I want to be in the military doing it. And we were on the island of Guam in the Air Force Base. There was a chaplain there. He lives over in Spokane, Washington. And I get to go over and see him every once in a while. His name's Tom James. He's the one that baptized me. And so Tom James had my dad leading the worship services at the Air Force Base for like five years. My dad, they even gave my dad a military ID card. So we'd drive on, he had a sticker and everything. I thought I was in the Air Force, you know. And so I learned to serve the Lord by my parents. My mother did the vacation Bible school. She did the child evangelism schools in the homes and things like that. And God is good and faithful. And I was watching and observing all of that. And they sang in the choir. My dad led worship. My dad led the choir like Gary does with his hands. Right now at home, he's doing this. And every time he does this in the bed, I'm reminded of how we would do this and have us come and stand. His hand is the same. I'm enjoying watching my dad walk through this valley of the shadow of death, but I'll fear no weaver because God's got him. So what are we worried about in life? Health problems from spouses or maybe ourselves, getting old, There's a lot of things we can be worried about in life. Things that you absolutely have no control over is who's going to be the next president of the United States. All right? And that's all I'm going to say about that. There are a lot of things we need to be worried about. I mean, concerns. Job. If I'm going to have a job. I'll give you an example. Somebody wrote a letter basically throwing me under the bus and sent it to the governor and to the Veterans Commission for the state of Idaho and to my bosses. And yesterday, I just thank the guys for praying for me because it's a team effort. We need each other, guys. And I had men praying for me because as soon as they saw this letter, I thought, people get fired over this kind of stuff. And I had nothing to do with whatever it was he was talking about. I don't know how it happened, but it happened. And I confronted the brother, the Christian brother, who threw me under the bus, went talking with this lady. And he and I are good curms, because when you have a problem with a brother, what are you supposed to do? No, you hold it inside and you get mad at him, right? No. You go in love and you just say, I think you wronged me. And that was my conversation with him in my office. He was gracious enough to come over. He and I talked about it. We even had a word of prayer over it. And then I added him back to my prayer list of prayer warriors. Because he's that kind of guy, all right? But yesterday, I got a letter from the headquarters at the Idaho Division of Veterans Services, who I now work for, and they exonerated me, of all things, and called the lady and talked to her, and she says there was no malice intended. And and so we're good. So thank you, Lord, for that. That's and that's one of the things in your work when you're when you love what you do, like I love what I do. I love helping veterans and I love serving God's people. And that's why I'm where I am today. We use our gifts, our talents, all of those things right to glorify the Lord, but to edify the body of Christ. And we all need each other and praise God that we've got men that are meeting together on a regular basis now. And those are all good things. We cannot do it alone. I want to share with you why that is the reason. I have learned to rely on God, and I can tell you this morning that I can rest in the love and His grace. And in fact, all of us have the ability to surrender. Surrender to our will and allow God to work in our lives. That's the issue there. That's the key. Because I could have been fretting about this whole thing, losing sleep over it. Guess what? I didn't. The issue with my dad, I sleep well at night, knowing my dad is dying right now, physically, in our basement, in his apartment. But I can rejoice because I know his life, and I know he knows the Lord. So you see what I'm saying? There are things I need to be worrying about, but I don't need to, because God's got it. He knows the outcome. He already knows it. The battle's already been won. So I'm just letting you know that I've learned to rest. Those songs represent my life. I listen to this type of music all day long at work, when I'm traveling, going to Boise, or going up north to visit veterans. I'm listening to Christian music, I'm listening to Christian talk radio. I'm listening to those things, why? Because I'm gonna fill my mind with Christ, and I'm gonna empty whatever it is Satan wants me to have. I need to have that relationship with God that's so close that when a thing pops off of my pressure washer in my driveway, which is gravel, I don't just go, where is it, where is it? First thing for me is, Lord, I just lost that thing, can you help me find it? And then when I find it, I go, oh, it only took you 30 minutes, 30 seconds. And I pick it up, put it on, thank you, Lord. What kind of relationship is that? That's the relationship Jesus wants with you. He wants a relationship where you and him walk together in this life. You have been blessed, some of you have been blessed with godly women. Man, I am so grateful for my wife. She is a Proverbs 31 woman, plus, plus, plus. And I mean that with all my heart and my sincerity. I have been through the whole thing of divorce. I have come home to a house that has been empty three times and not knowing where my children are. My wife got pregnant with another man's baby in the army, and I helped to raise that baby. I named that baby. I was there for the birth. And my wife decided she didn't love me anymore. She filed the divorce papers, and off she went. About a week later, I get a call from her after she marries the man after the divorce is finalized in Alaska. She tells me she doesn't love him. She loves me. At that point, I just says, you know, I'm going to be praying for that man because he's got my two daughters and a third daughter that's his. And he finally adopted her. But I gave her her name and she still has that name today. So I've been through the fire and I've been through the rain and I've been through the valley. But the whole time, my Jesus was carrying me the whole time. And I'll tell you, I cried tears of sorrow because a divorce is death. If you've ever experienced a divorce, you'd be better off staying married. It's a death. And it took me a while to figure that out, but then God did something I was not expecting. He provided a wife named Nana, and I married her. And we didn't have the kids. The kids were gone. And about five years later, I had to go rescue those children. Now, my wife and I had five years. She just got pregnant with Olivia. And so we went up to Montana and we captured those girls. We rescued them because they were in a very dangerous situation. Because my ex-wife had done the same thing to her husband that she had done to me on him. So that's one of those things you just go, well, how does God carry you through that? You know, the interesting thing is when I was going to ask my wife, Anna, to marry me, or actually to go out with me, She says, I'm going to have to think about that and pray about that because you've been divorced. And you know what I said? I said, here's my testimony. And I said, here's the script you're searching for yourself. And if you still don't think it would, I will leave you alone. Well, that was February. Was it February, March, April? We were married in July of that year. It's about three months or something like that. We were engaged and we were married in July. And then we then we left. to go to Fort Carson, Colorado. Got to Fort Carson, Colorado, and when I was there, we got the call that kids were, kids were needing help after five years of marriage with no, a new baby, and now getting ready to go to the chaplain's center in school to be an instructor. So we go and we rescue the kids. So now we go from husband and wife to two kids, get to New Jersey, now I have a third child. And we're in New Jersey. Then we move after 18 months from there, we go down to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the chaplain's center in school where it's located right now. Joshua starts to get incepted there in North Carolina. He's born in Hawaii because that's my next stop. And all this time we're serving the Lord in churches and in chapels and things like that in in men's ministry, things of that nature. But I've learned to rely on God. But it all starts in our mind. Colossians 3 2 says, set your mind on things above, not on things on earth. That's why I say I got lots of tools, I got trailers, I got a truck. It's not mine, it's the Lord's. If somebody needs it in the church, you just have to ask. In fact, if you know me good enough, you can just come over and just get the stuff and just let me know. Oh yeah, where's my trailer? Oh yeah, that's right, so and so's got it. Guys, stuff should not be holding us. Things of this world should not be holding us. I'll give you an example. I was doing a praise and worship service over at Emmanuel Baptist Church, and I bought this brand new guitar. It was almost $1,000. The first time I ever bought a brand new guitar, a six-string guitar. It was a handmade guitar, beautiful guitar. You know what I did? I put it up there, and I'm like, wow, that is a beautiful guitar. You know what? That guitar, on the first time I used it, and I think Bob might have been there, the first day I used it, it fell over three times. Three times, yeah. And I go, you know what? God's trying to get my attention. And he did. And then I broke about five or six picks. The first time I did, I'm like, pick's breaking, string's popping. This is a brand new guitar. Guys, God will get your attention when he needs to get it. And that's what he did. And I realized in my worship that I needed, it was about me. It wasn't about him. So God took me and changed my life and changed my heart in worship. If I'm worshiping the Lord, I don't care what everybody else is doing in the whole sanctuary. I'm worshiping the Lord. I'm singing, I'm praising, I'm using my guitar and my voice. I'm doing that because I love him, because he loved me. And so, keep that in mind. I love the verses here, you know, as we're getting together, iron sharpening iron, Colossians 4.28 says, we proclaim him, admonishing every man with all wisdom so that we are present, we present or may present every man complete in Christ. Colossians 4.28, great verse. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man with all wisdom. So that's what we do on Sunday, that's what we do when we get in small groups, that we do when we get together, just to have coffee with one another, encourage one another in prayer. Those are things that we need to be doing on a regular basis. Men, if you've ever watched a fire, and it's at the campfire, and we love campfires, and you see a coal get away from the fire, it starts to dim, it gets black. Why is it getting black? It's not in the warmth of the fire. It's not in the fellowship of the fire. God puts it in men's hearts, right? It's hard for us to submit that we need help, right? Because you know as well as I do, when your wife starts to tell you about something that you think she needs to fix, you end up giving her all the advice, you listen to her, and then you go, well, this is what I think you should do, this, this, this, and this, and this. And the next thing you know, she's like, all I just wanted was you to listen. I didn't want you to solve my problem. We're all problem solvers, aren't we? Men of God are like that. I know I am. So I try to listen more to my wife, all right? But we have to encourage one another, admonish each other, using wisdom from God's word. Certainly we're doing this. I wanted to just go back to the word dependent and let you know that I am dependent upon God. I cannot do anything. I cannot do my job. I cannot put my pants on. I will not get up out of bed until I actually have a conversation with my Lord. I do it because I want to have that relationship. I want to get in God's Word on a daily basis. I'm going to do that. I have Bible verses that I send to about 35 people. Some of them are adults, some of them are kids I've known since they were like 7 or 8 years old, and they're still getting verses, and I get them Monday through Friday. And then I tell them I'm praying for them. So I send that out, and I pray for these guys and these gals that were sending this verse out. Why? Because it's God's Word. It's not going to return to us void. It's an encouraging thing. It lets him know that somebody out there cares about him and somebody's praying for him. I don't know about you, but the fire, the valley of death we're walking through as a family right now with my dad dying, I couldn't do it without the Lord and without the saints of God praying for our family. I can feel those prayers. And you know what? There's no worry, no concern. Man, he's in good hands. And the Lord's going to take him home very soon. And I praise God that he's going to do that. And I praise God for my dad's life, that he was an example to us boys. Psalm 62, 5 says, and through verse 5, you turn there if you have it. Psalm 62, verses 5 through 12. The Good News translation, I liked what it said. And I'm going to read that for you. Psalm 62, 5 through 12. I depend on God alone. I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me. He is my defender and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God. He is my strong protector. He is my shelter. Trust in God at all times. My people tell him all your troubles. Whoo. I love that one. I don't leave him out of anything. For he is our refuge. Human beings are all like a puff of breath. Great and small alike are worthless. Put them on the scales and they weigh nothing. They are lighter than a mere breath. Verse 10, don't put your trust in violence. Don't hope to gain anything by robbery, even if your riches increase. Don't depend on them. World has nothing for us. Verse 11, more than once, more than once, I have heard God say that power belongs to him. And that his love is constant. You yourself, O Lord, reward everyone according to their deeds. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 is my mother's favorite verse. She died on the 1st of August of 2009. Interesting, it's August, right? Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight. That verse will preach every day of your life. John 15, 5, I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. Guys, I want to remind you something, too. When I was going through that little valley of the shadow of death, when my wife was trying to find herself in Alaska, I was put in the barracks and eight men came to know Christ because I was there. And guess what? Their wives did the same thing to them that they have done to me. So why would God allow me to go through that stuff so I could be placed in a barracks where I wouldn't be going anywhere, but I'd be meeting these guys, fellow soldiers, and they'd be coming to my bedroom, in the barracks, and we'd be having fellowship, talking about what's going on and how I was walking through the same thing they were walking through, but I wasn't being walked, I was being carried. And through that process, eight men came to know Christ. That's a God thing. I mean, I don't know what else you can say about that, but God puts you and allows things to happen to you in your life that He can use for His glory, and He gets the glory for that. And you're hearing that testimony today. And Hebrews 4.16 says, therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I clung to that verse. I've been clinging to that verse my whole life because it's so true. So true. I mean, if you have a computer, one of the easiest things you can do is, what does God's Word say about this? Got questions? That's a great place to start. It's biblically founded. It falls in line with what our church believes, but it's questions that people might be asking you. And He gives you scriptures, and He gives you theological background, and He gives you the thoughts on what the scripture is actually saying and who is it addressing. So good tools for us to use. Hearing God's Word. going to church, being in fellowship with the other believers. This is so important. Galatians 5.16 says, In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God for help. He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry for help before him came into his ears. Now I have cried tears for my dad, I've cried tears for my mom, and boy, I have cried tears for a loss of a wife. And just on this mountain, just up here, Fernand Saddle, I cried out to the Lord because my daughter should have been killed in an accident on an ATV. And my God says, nope, I got something for her. But even in the midst of that terrible potential accident, He restored her, I believe, because you can't come off of a cliff this high, land in the softest spot on the road where there's sand, literally, and then have an ATV flop down and lean over onto its backside and not have her crushed and dead underneath. I am grateful to the Lord that He had a hold of Olivia. Now, was I in fear? Was I worried? Absolutely I was. I, you know what, but the first thing came to my mouth was Jesus. That's the name I called because he's the one that can say so we walked up to well ran up to her. She's laying there and her helmet visor is crushed. This is stuff that's happened in my life just recently. We're just talking weeks. And I'm just thinking, okay, she's holding her knee, she's in her fetal position. I decide, oh my goodness, she's got a bad back, got a bad neck. All this stuff is going on with her. Okay, Lord, she's yours. You're just going to have to, whatever. Whatever is going to happen, we're just going to rest in you. It's like the music we've been singing. We're resting in God. The scriptures we've been reading. Resting in God. Coming together with the body of believers. Why? For that encouragement. for that sustained encouragement to worship together. But in the midst of that, I was able to use that psalm that I just read, Psalm 18.6. In my distress, I called upon the Lord. I was distressed. Because it's my daughter. She's precious to me. And I cried to the Lord, God, for help. And He heard my voice out of His temple. And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. Boy, I tell you what, the relationship you want is one where you can walk with the Lord, and He's holding your hand, He's got His hand over your shoulder, you can feel that physically, and you're just like, man, I can just talk to God about anything. I have men that come to talk to me and they say, Darrell, how do I pray? A guy I've been ministering to for a long time, he and his wife, and I says, you know, it's just like us having a conversation. He just wants to hear what's on your heart, what you're struggling with, what's happening in your life. And so that's the stuff that when we start thinking about discipling one another, keeping each other accountable for things that are in our life. Now, keep in mind, we all have worries and we're still being tempted. I mean, you're being tempted on a daily basis. That's a struggle with the spirit, with light and light and truth and darkness from Satan. You're always being bombarded. And if you're and if you're doing God's will, you're going to be tested by him. You're going to be pushed to the edge and you're going to hopefully just say, Jesus, I trust in you. Trust in him. Galatians 5 16, but I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. That's another thing. Renewing the mind, walking in the spirit like that fire. We start to get away. We don't come to church or we're not touching that Bible. We haven't touched it in a week, maybe two weeks. And you wonder why you're feeling miserable. That's what happens in my life if that happens. And then I realized I have to repent, surrender and come back. It's a good thing. And God is always faithful to hear my cry. And the same with yours. In Psalm 5 2, it says, Heed the sounds of my cry for help, my king and my God. For to you, I pray. My dad is a prayer warrior. He has a list that he's been praying off of with my mother for years. I would remember going into the bathroom right next to their door and I would hear them praying for pastors they had met, missionaries that they had met, Sunday school teachers, deacons, elders. He's praying for each one of the pastors in this church, the deacons, the elders, and anybody in charge of any type of ministry. My dad has your name on it. I mean, I've got the list at home. And he's just a prayer warrior. Well, I want to have that kind of life, too. A prayer life that matters, a prayer life that changes. Because, you know, if we're not right with God, we're going to have a little bit of trouble with answering your prayer. You've got to get right with God, and then he'll answer your prayer. And this is interesting, because how is it that a person that doesn't know Christ can come to know Christ? Well, because the Holy Spirit's working in their life. and the sincerity of the heart. God knows the heart. We don't. But I'm grateful that our God, we can cry out to him and for him we can pray. Psalm 23, one and two. Oh, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Wow. I thank God for the body of Christ. And I've used them in many testimonies over the years. And I don't know how anybody can go through this life without having the body of Christ with them, without having God in their life. We have the best gift of all. He lives and dwells within us. He loves us. He cares about us. And we can share that openly with people. He wants us to do that as well. Sharing your testimony is a pretty easy way to do that. And I challenge you to do that as well. Psalm 73, 26 says, My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I am grateful that God loves me. I'm grateful that He cares about me. In fact, it overflows into my prayer life, my times alone with the Lord. In closing, I'd like to sing you a song that I wrote when my mother was dying because it was a source of comfort for me to pen words and to pick up a guitar and realize that God has everything under control. Nothing takes him by surprise, not even the two worst people that are vying for the highest seat in America. Even with that. My God truly cares. In the midst of the darkness, in the midst of despair, I know, Lord, you're with me. I know you truly care. I know you truly care. Lifted away on wings. Lifted away on wings. Come unto me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. And I will give you rest. In the silence of loneliness, in the sting and dismay, I know, Lord, you're with me. I feel your love is there. Lift it away on wings. Come to me, all you who are weary. Oh, Lord, I thank you now. Oh, Lord, I know you care. Oh, Lord, you are with me when no one else is here. Oh, Lord, you are with me I feel your love in my fear. Lift it away on me. Lift it away on me. Come unto me, all you who are weary, and I Help me, Lord, to be silent Help me, Lord, to call on you Help me, Lord, when I'm lonely And feel like no one is there Lift it away on wings Lift it away on wings Come unto me all you who are weary And I will give you rest And I will give you rest. Thank you, Lord, for this comfort. Thank you, Lord, for your love. Thank you, Lord, in the answer. I know that you are here. I know that you are here Lifted away on wings Lifted away on wings Come unto me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. And I will give you rest. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for these men. Lord, thank you for their lives and the families they represent. Lord, I just pray that they've been encouraged today. to know that they can always rely on you. No matter what happens, you're always there, and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.