Taisha, come up and join me tonight. Our testimony will be shared by Taisha Holtz. She’s a new friend of the ministry, vibrant Christian, and one that’s willing to take on God’s call responsibilities in her life. Taisha, we look forward to hearing. Thank you for coming and sharing with us.
We know you’ll be sharing in other venues while you’re here, but thank you for sharing with the general church tonight. Thank you so much. Thank you all for having me. I have about 19 minutes to get this out, and I promise I’ll do the best I can. First, all, I just wanted to say thank you so much for inviting me here. Thank you for believing in my gift, trusting in my assignment.
Wow. Continue. And so I’ll go ahead and pray so we can get to the meat of my message. Bow your heads, please. First, Lord, I just want to say thank You. I trust You. But to know that You trust me is words can’t even explain. Lord, in John, chapter 15, You tell us that if we follow Your commandments, You no longer call us servants, but You call us your friend, because a servant doesn’t know of His Father’s business, but a friend You make known to them what Your Father has made known to You. So, Lord, I just ask today that every single one of us seeks to be your friend, Lord, seeks to know the secrets that other people may not know about the kingdom.
Lord God, our discerning is deepened, and our eyes are open wider to see what You see and to think how You think and to feel how You feel. So, Lord God, I just ask today that as we learning and as we’re growing to be more like You, Lord, allow us to be obedient to Your word. Allow us to not compromise and allow us to really look into the Scriptures, Father God, and understand what You’re asking us to do and what You’re commanding us to do. And also know when we do fall short, that it is a constant reminder of why we do need You. So, Lord God, I pray that You make every ear sensitive to this story on today, because it’s not my story. It’s Your story. Why You chose to give it to me, I don’t know. But I will honor You in every step of the way until I meet You face to face, Lord. So I pray that You open everyone’s eyes and their ears and prepare their hearts to receive a true story that comes directly from You, the miracle worker. So, Lord, we love You and we thank You, and all praises and honor go to You in Jesus’mighty name, I pray. Amen.
I got a little bit more time. Thank You, Lord. Do we have the pictures ready, or. We don’t need them now. Okay, well, you can keep it up. They can look at the pretty little girl. So I’ll just share this with you. I had a whole opening speech, but I’ll save that. So, when I first got saved and got delivered from homosexuality, my first thought was, wow, I’m about to go into the gay clubs, the gay parks, the gay neighborhoods, and to all the gay club owners, everyone that I knew that was in the lifestyle, and go share with them what Jesus has done for me. And the Lord said, well, wait. When you go to these gay clubs and gay parks and you go and communicate with everyone that you were once in relationship with, what happens when they listen to you and they want more of Me and they go to church, and the church is not prepared to show them the way out.
And I said, okay, Lord. That makes sense. He said, I can’t begin to prepare the hearts of the people that are battling in homosexuality, and I send them to the safest place that they can go, which is the church. And if the church doesn’t know what to do, they’ll leave them worse off than they came. So He said, Tyeesha, I don’t want you to go to the gay clubs and the gay parks.
I don’t want you to go and just reach everyone that you were once in relationship with. I need you to go and reach the church. And so then another thing happened. I said, okay, Lord, I can do that. But in my mind, I thought the church was already prepared because I’m a new believer.
So I’m like, this is confusing to me. How is the church not prepared? But I was going to be obedient, and I listened. And then the laws begin to change where more people that were involved in homosexuality could be married to the same sex in more states. And so then I asked myself, God, why would you allow this to take place?
And you already know how hard it is for an individual to overcome an obstacle like homosexuality. Now they have to overcome something but still go through the process of a divorce. Why would you allow this to become an extra obstacle? So I called a pastor I was really close with at the time, and I asked him, why would God allow this to happen?
And he said something very profound. If God wanted to stop it, He would. And I said, that makes sense. I’ll call you back. Let me go in my prayer closet. I went in my prayer closet, and I sat in silence. And I just asked God one question. Can you tell me why? And His clear words, if I didn’t allow the LGBTQ community to be so loud, would the church still be silent?
Everything that people are seeing and everything that you’re witnessing is a distraction. But it’s a call for us to become educated and for us to know what to do and how to have the proper approach and the proper response when showing someone the way out. Because what no longer works anymore is saying, it’s a sin. It’s an abomination. It’s against the will of God. God does not create anyone He doesn’t speak to, everyone living in sin they know that it’s a sin, it’s an abomination. It’s against the will of God. But when they asked you as a pastor, as a leader in the church, well, how can I get out?
And you say, I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with that, or, I don’t know. Just change. Just stop. That’s not enough anymore. So, if you think about everything that we’re seeing right now, it is a clear reflection of how we once responded. If you think about it, homosexuality has been around forever. And a lot of times now, while we’re having to set in settings like this with pastors and teachers and churches, that people. Majority of the people here, are not struggling, because we never took the time to understand what homosexuality really is until it was put in our faces. And we were asked the question, do you believe it’s a sin or not?
Or why are you not accepting this in your church? And so we are here because if our hearts are prepared and if we know how to respond and react, then God will bring His people. So, if you think about it, if you get a young man that walks into your church dressed like a woman, if you get a woman that walks into your church dressed like a man, one thing you have to remember, especially as a pastor and a leader, they don’t know anything about you.
But there was a member of your church that has so much confidence in your teaching and so much confidence in your character that they convinced this person that this was a good place for them to come and receive love and care and comfort and restoration. That one person. So, all of us here today, we may be pastors, leaders, teachers, evangelists, but we have to prepare the church to have a good foundation.
Because when a member walks through the doors of your church, the first person they interact with is not the leaders. It’s not the pastors, it’s the congregation. They are a reflection of the pastor, whether you want them to be or not. If you have an ugly person that in your church talking down on you, the person that they’re talking about, the church is going to have that same perception of the church. If you get a person speaking highly of your church and highly of your character, the person that has never visited your church, they’re going to have that same perception of you when they walk through the doors.
And so as leaders and teachers, we know we’re going to be judged more strictly. God may give us more insight, we have to study longer, we may have to pray harder, but it’s our job to equip the congregation. So when that man or woman walks through the doors that are different, love doesn’t mean you’re affirming. You treat them like they’re a person because you got to think about it from their perspective. If a man dresses like a woman walks in your church, whoever invited them to the church mentally, they started to think about it.
I’m going to go to the church, but I wonder what they’re going to say about my lifestyle because it’s visible. I wonder what they’re going to say about the heels I wear. I wonder what they’re going to say about the sin that I’m wearing. But guess what they do? They still wake up, get dressed, brush their teeth, wash their face, and they show up anyway.
And they prepared for the whispers. They prepared for the nasty looks. They’ve even prepared for people to say something, all so they can sit down and see this man or woman of God that’s teaching the word and hopefully they can get something from it. They went through all of that. And for us to have the audacity to say, you know, that’s a sin, it’s an abomination. It’s against the will of God. Why did you come here like that? And we don’t even think about how much it took for them to walk and take a seat and how much mentally they’re going through while they’re in the church. There are some people that have never felt a conviction until they step foot into a church. You have to imagine what that’s doing to them mentally.
It’s going against everything that they thought they loved, everything they thought they cared about, everything that they wanted. Now they’re faced with reality. I might go to hell for this. Can I really go to hell for this? This is stuff that they’re thinking about. So we have to be prepared. And the best way to understand someone or to gain an understanding of what homosexuality really is. You have to hear their story. So this is what I want you guys to do. I want everyone to close their eyes. I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to think about anything that you’ve ever heard about homosexuality.
I want you to think about the gay pride parades. I want you to think about transgender homosexuality, unisex, pansexual, everything, even people you may have in your family. And I want you to go to a gay pride parade, and I want you to remove one thing from this community. I want you to remove the sex.
And even when you remove that, you can open your eyes when you remove the sex, because being a homosexual, you’re only in that category if you decide to have an intimate relationship with someone that is in homosexuality. So what happens when you take away the sex? You still have a community of people that are confused about who they are, and they have a disconnect from their natural identity. Homosexuality is not about sex. It’s very minute to the issue, and the only way you can understand that is by hearing someone’s story.
So I’ll start with mine. In Ephesians, chapter four, verse 14-16, it says, “then we would no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the ways and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and the cunning and craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming. Instead speaking truth in love, we will grow to become, in every respect, the mature body of Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.”
So, when you look at this picture, beautiful little girl, it looks like she has a bright future ahead of her. Maybe some father daughter dances, tea parties, dress up, prom, et cetera. But by looking at the picture, very innocent baby girl, bright eyes, very nice smile. Now let’s go to the next picture. The next picture, please.
So, what happened to that little girl? How could the little girl in a pretty red dress, smiling, holding a ball, eyes lit up full of joy, turn into that? How? Something happened? Because nobody is born like that. That’s why when people say, I was born gay, my first question is, when did you have your first same sex attraction? Oh, second grade.
I didn’t know people were born in second grade. The reason why they say I was born this way, because the first time they felt a real sense of identity, a real sense of belonging, was when they connected with the thought of homosexuality. When they connected with the thought of same sex attraction. That’s when a spark hit. When people say, coming out of the closet, sometimes we asked ourselves the wrong questions. What do you mean you’re gay? You like women now. You like men now, when the question should be, I didn’t know you were trapped in one.
In order for you to come out of a closet, you first have to feel trapped in one. So the result of you coming out, I need to know what happened in there. We’ll focus on this when that’s the sign of I gave up because you don’t know what happened in that closet. I begged Jesus to change the way I feel. I cried out to the Lord and asked Him to change me, change my mind. I begged Him. I didn’t know how to articulate it. I didn’t know what to do.
So I was in this dark closet by myself, crying out to the Lord. And for me, my closet was seven years. Had my first same sex attraction in third grade. What third grader knows how to articulate that? And so while you’re in this closet, you’re sitting there and you’re searching and you’re screaming from within, but nobody hears you.
You’re changing from the outside, but nobody says anything. And then the only light you see is when you decide to say, I am gay. I was born this way. This is who I’m going to be. Because this fight I’ve been fighting by myself in this closet, I can’t do it. So I’m going to leave all the truth I know in this closet. I’m going to leave everything I know about Jesus in this closet, and I’m going to walk away. And when I come out, I’m going to have a different name, I’m going to have a different personality. I’m going to have a different demeanor about myself. Although they may not articulate it the way I am, that is what’s happening.
So, I want us to open our eyes a little bit. When we hear someone say, I’m gay. I’m coming out of the closet. The first thing we have to remember, they started out as someone’s little boy and little girl. Something happened, and what I was doing here, that was the best way I could protect that little girl that nobody protected.
That Was the best way I could make sure nobody else harmed her. I didn’t know how to cry anymore. So everything I was going through internally, I expressed it outwardly. So my clothes were a sign to see who would know how to read them well, who would know how to respond to them well? Or would they just react, oh, you’re gay. I’m saying a lot. I’m saying extremely a lot. Even when we think about the Stonewall riots, just to go back a bit, because I don’t have a lot of time, when we think about the Stonewall riots, some people think about the Stonewall riots. One perspective. It was a gay riot.
I have a different theory. Back in 1969, here’s my theory. There were two men that identified as gay, and they were walking down the street in their own personal affliction, trying to figure things out, and they decided to show public affection. And because of people that didn’t understand what they were seeing and what they were looking at, they decided to harass them, to abuse them, and sometimes murder people because they didn’t understand what they were watching. And so I believe when these two men took a stand, they didn’t take a stand to ask your permission to be gay.
They didn’t take a stand where they wanted all of this LGBTQ to go on in the schools or in the entertainment industry or on television or anywhere you go or try to bombard our churches with this. Their first intention was, hey, I’m a human. You may not understand what I’m going through, but you have no right to spit on me. You have no right to hit me. You have no right to murder me. You have no right to beat me. And so words spread throughout the country of their demonstration, and they were joined the next day by thousands and thousands of other gay identified people that was in the same affliction that said, I’m with you.
I’m tired of people being allowed to spit on me and hit me and tell me I’m an abomination and shun me from the church just because I’m battling something that they don’t know how to comprehend. It was a stand to be taken as a human being. But even though their intentions may not have been what we see today, there’s still a spiritual force, unclean spiritual force that is going on behind the scenes in homosexuality that we can’t forget about.
Now we can never forget. There’s a little girl in there somewhere, but she’s not standing at the forefront. So one of the things we have to understand is, remember, we got to know when we’re talking to that little girl and when we’re talking to that demonic spirit, because those are two different people. So I’m going to take you into her world, because, see, her? Her name wasn’t Tyeesha, they called her Nephew. That’s why a lot of people change their names, because the name reminds them of who they really are. It reminds them of life, it reminds them of hope, it reminds them of faith.
It sometimes reminds them of Jesus, you calling them simply by their first name. So I’m going to take you into her world, and it gets really dark in here, but I won’t leave you there. So looking at Romans chapter one, starting at verse 18, it says, “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress truth by their wickedness. I’m going to skip down to 21. For although they knew God, they neither glorify him as God nor gave thanks to Him. And their thinking became frutile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. 24 Therefore, God gave them over, in the simple desires of their hearts, to sexual impurity and the degrading of their bodies with one another, they exchange.”
This is where their exchange takes place, in that closet. They exchange the truth about God for a lie and begin to worship and serve created things rather than the Creator. That exchange takes place in that closet. That’s why when a person says they come out and they’re familiar, but they’re unfamiliar because they left so much in that closet.
And you think a person like this can step foot into a church and you tell them what they’re doing wrong, and a light bulb pops off and they say, okay, I have to get it together. No, because when they hear you have to change, they hear, I got to go back into that closet.
I don’t think I want to go back in there because nobody knew what it was like in there. So we have to be prepared to go back into that closet with them until they dig through all that mess and find the truth they left in there, find the love that they forgot about, find that faith that they forgot about, and they have to pick it up. And sometimes us, we have to get a little dirty until they get clean, we have to continue to walk the walk with them in obedience. “Because of this, they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. God gave them over to shameful lust. Even the women exchanged natural relationships for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relationships.”
Here’s the worst part. “Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over.” That is, three times He gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. And it says here, “they become filled with every kind of wickedness, eil, greed, depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossipers, slanders, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful. They invent ways of doing evil.” LGBTQ, two genders inventing evil.
They have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous degree that those who do such things deserve death. Not only do they continue to do these very things, but they also approve of those who practice them. So when someone comes out to me and they say, I’m gay, I don’t hear surface. I don’t hear you’re attracted to the same sex.
You want to be in a relationship with someone of the same sex. I don’t hear that. I don’t even hear that. They’re an unbeliever. What I hear is, hey, my name is Tyeesha. I’m becoming filled with all kinds of wickedness. Evil, greed, murder, strife, depravity. I slander God’s name. I’m arrogant, boastful. I invent ways of doing evil.
It was nice to meet you. Oh, wait. I forgot a few things. I have no understanding, no love, no fidelity. I know what I’m doing is wrong, but I’m going to continue to do it, and I’m also going to approve of those who do it. So I just came out. Nice to meet you.
It shifts your perception. The person is not the problem. The spiritual nature behind what they’re doing is the issue. So if we don’t know when we’re talking to a demonic spirit and a person, again, it’s not them that have the problem. It’s us. Because a sinner is going to do what a sinner does. If a sinner has an addiction, they’re going to find something to fulfill that addiction. If they have a same sex attraction, they’re going to connect with something that makes them feel connected to that same sex attraction.
So, although this person may not know what they’re doing and to what degree they’ve become filled with, they’re making themselves accessible to these things. We have to know so we can be aware and alert. Because I’m going to take you into her world.
So, because I was pretending to be a man, I never pull from natural emotions. I always pull from unnatural places. And anything unnatural is not of God. Growing up, I grew up around men that sexually, physically, and mentally abused every single woman that they were with. And because I wasn’t a biological male, I had to look at what I was exposed to. In order to understand how to take on the persona of a man. And so as I began relationships with these women, and they begin to hurt my feelings.
And I told myself, I can’t cry because I’m a boy, and boys don’t cry. I can’t express my emotions because growing up, I heard men don’t express their emotions. So I’m suppressing my natural woman instincts. I’m suppressing everything that makes me me. And then I had to pull from these unnatural places.
So I, too, became not only physically, but sexually and mentally abusive to every single woman that I was with. Don’t forget about that little girl somewhere deep in there. But this is the reality of what I was becoming, what I was filled with. I knew what I was doing. When I went to the household of parents, I knew to act like I was just a great basketball player, so they wouldn’t question too much of why I was dressed like a boy.
They would just say, oh, she’s an athlete. She’s a tomboy. I don’t remember in the Bible where God put anybody between a gender what is tomboy? Because Tomboy makes me believe I’m less than a girl. I’ll never amount to what a girl is supposed to be. So you put me in the middle, and I’m going to choose what you acknowledge the most, and you acknowledge me acting more like a boy than a girl. And so it gets really bad, because I don’t know how to operate as my natural self. So what I began to do to express my emotions, I began to choke these women until they pass out. I wasn’t afraid of jail. I didn’t even know Jesus.
And as they would lay there trying to gain consciousness, I remember I would kneel down, and I would whisper in their ear, who do you belong to? Who do you belong to? Now, I know it was a demon, but then I just thought I was being a man.
And so it gets worse. I was able to go back and speak with, after seven years of being delivered, I was able to go back and speak with several women that I was in relationship with just to ask their perspective on what happened in the relationship, because I only remember from mine. And I also was able to ask for forgiveness and to sit with them and let them know what Jesus has done for me.
And one of the ladies says something that still makes my stomach hurt to this day. She says, after I got out of relationship with you, I could no longer have children. And I said, please help me understand why that was my problem. And she goes, on to say, because the lifestyle we were living wasn’t natural to my body. And the instruments we strapped on that were not meant for a Woman’s natural body. They damaged me. And so I can no longer have children.
We only know the surface of homosexuality. I would take you deeper into that dark world, but I see children, but it is not what you see that is a distraction. And I asked her a very important question. I said, why didn’t you stop whenever we were in the act? She said, I knew I had to play my role.
Wow. Everybody that is involved in homosexuality, they are playing a role and taking on a position that they believe they have to, because once you get in homosexuality, there are certain things that are in it that you didn’t want to sign up for, but you begin to adjust to it because you feel like, if I don’t do this, I’m going to be discriminated. I’m going to be discriminating them how people discriminated me in the church. So I’m going to adjust to feeling unpleasant while I lay down with this person. I’m going to adjust to do things that I may not want to behind closed doors because I chose to be gay.
And so you begin to develop a lifestyle that offers you everything aside from love and truth. And it all changed one day. Got four minutes. I had a friend. We would rob people on Saturday. She would go to church Sunday. I’m like, we was just at the club Saturday. How you go to church Sunday? We would do all this crazy stuff during the week. But she always went to church, and I just made fun of her. And she was like, I think you should come.
You would really enjoy it. I said, no. She said, no. The pastor is really funny. Like, I’m not going to change. He’s just a comedian. I was like, oh, I like a good laugh. I’ll go. So just like I told you before, with the pastors and leaders here, there’s a member at your church speaking highly of you that brings people to your church, and if the foundation is not set, they won’t come back.
First Sunday, I went to this church, had an amazing time. Nobody said anything in my mind. That was the first time I ever felt convicted. I said, somebody’s going to say something to me because I’m dressed like a boy, they’re going to say something. Nobody said anything. So I said, oh, good. I like this church. They’re accepting. I’m going to go back. Let’s say second Sunday was set up.
Sunday, that second Sunday, there was a lady that came up to me that had the authority of Jesus Christ. I was listening to Ms. Jude, and I believe her husband name is Tony. Their interview last night, their no’s to their daughter. A person may not want to accept it at the time, but that is the only thing that will stop that spirit in its tracks. No. When you say no, you’ll see it. You’ll hear it. But if we continue, I love you no matter what. The love is right. But what does no matter what mean? I love you enough not to hold you accountable to who you tell me you believe in. I love you enough not to warn you about the destruction you’re headed towards.
And so, second Sunday, I walked into this church. This lady is telling me she had authority. I don’t expect everyone to do this, but this lady had authority because she didn’t budge. She walked up to me and my friend. We were dressed like boys.
She said, you two are women. God created you both to be women. We cursed her out in the church and she stood her ground. You both are beautiful women. She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t get loud. We got to the point she was so gentle, so kind, but with an authority that put whatever spirits we had at a halt. We still cursed her out, but we didn’t walk out. So my friend says she’s not going to leave us alone. Let’s go up to get prayer.
We go up to get prayer. The pastor, one of the deacons that’s praying for me, he thinks I’m a real boy. Oh, Father, God, help this young man become really successful in his walk with you. I want this young man to really strive to be really great in all that he does. So I’m thinking, he’s praying for two people, and I’m next.
So I lift up. It’s only him and I. I’m like, he doesn’t even know I’m a girl. That was the first time I ever felt ashamed that nobody recognized that little girl that I was hiding. I said, nobody can see her. So whatever prayer he gave, I didn’t receive it because he didn’t see that little girl. I walked back to my desk. I mean, I walked back to my seat, and the pastor says, hey, you, come here. And I was there with my friend.
So I pushed her to the front. This is your church. Go see what your pastor want. He says, no, you. I was like, okay. He got the right one. Because I know he’s about to say it’s a sin. It’s an abomination. It’s against the will of God.
Why did you walk in here like that? And I was ready. I was going to curse him out in front of the whole church. But he did something I didn’t prepare for. And he did some that a lot of people don’t prepare for when they come to your church seeking a way out of homosexuality. Because if you think about it, our churches should be flooded with people trying to get out of homosexuality.
The question is not if they’re believers or not. Are we safe enough? Are we safe enough? Do we know what to do? Because if you think about it, the government helped us a lot in all the other sins because there’s worldly consequences. You can go to jail for a lot of the stuff that we do, but homosexuality, where do they have enough time to really think about their consequences and what they have done outside of church?
And so this pastor did something that I wasn’t prepared for. I prepared to cuss them out. I prepared to fight. Because anybody that is living in a lifestyle of homosexuality, this is how they live when they walk out of their house. And the only reason they live like this is because the first time they expressed a personal emotion and a personal issue that they were going through, nobody was too concerned about them.
They called him nasty. They called him disgusting. They called him sinful. They called him a disgrace. They kicked him out of the house. They beat them. They spit on them. They did all this. So now they’re prepared. So, this is how I walked in. And the closer I got to him, I was ready to curse him out. And he didn’t say anything. He just hugged me. I didn’t prepare for that. I never received a hug from a man. I didn’t know what to do. So guess what happened? He disarmed every demonic spirit I had in me. And I melted. I melted in his arms. And I don’t even remember everything we talked about, but everything he said. I looked in his eyes and said, yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, sir.
And he kept saying, me looking like this. You are a beautiful baby girl. Remember that. You’re a beautiful baby girl. Has anybody ever told you you’re beautiful? And in my mind, you see her. You see that little girl? I’ve been purposely hiding because I can’t trust nobody with her. You see her? You see the little girl that was abused by her sister when she was growing up. Where she, in order to play with her older sister, she would have to lay down on the floor and her sister would grab a needle and poke one thigh 100 times. Poke the other thigh 100 times until blood was drawn. You see her. You see the little girl that was introduced to porn and for seven years had to imitate everything she watched on her girl cousins. You see her?
No way. You don’t see her. He saw her and he loved on her. And at the very end he said, do you like sports? I said, I love basketball, but I’m a one man fan. I love LeBron James. Where he go, I go. Perfect setup. He said, well, LeBron James just changed teams. What do you have to do?
I said, change uniforms. And it hit. I said, what a perfect way he had to have the Holy Spirit guide him through that whole process. Because I was evil, very evil. I wish I had longer. I would tell you guys, but there’s a little girl in there somewhere, but she’s not at the forefront. There is an evil that is at the forefront of a person that is involved in homosexuality. And they might not know that they’re operating in this because all they want to do is be gay, but because they decide to not retain the knowledge of God, they make themselves accessible to all this demonic influence.
And so, no, you can’t take it personal, but you do have to be aware when you’re communicating with the person, your friend, family member, daughter, niece, nephew, uncle, are you communicating with the person you know? Or is that spirit testing you and challenging you to compromise?
Because it’s very easy. Because everybody. The worst part of my story, everybody respected my demon. Everybody, when she walked in the room, everybody called her Nephew because they didn’t want to offend me. They treated me how I told them to treat me. And the worst part of my story was not that I was involved in homosexuality. It was not that I became an abusive monster. It was not that my dad walked out on me. It was not that I was abused when I was a child. The worst part of my story was that it took so long for somebody to speak truth into my life.
The worst part, we have a responsibility. If we want people to change, you got to ask yourself the most important question, can I show them the way out? If not, you can learn it. Be gentle, be kind. Do life with people.
But like the Lord said, watch yourself while you also may be tempted. So many people grow tired and begin to compromise because they don’t want to deal with the fight. Jesus didn’t give up on you. He stayed in the fight with you. So don’t forget where you come from, because sometimes when your life is really, really good, walking with Jesus, you can forget how bad sin had you bound because it’s lovely here. But when you see someone, don’t get tired. Especially if God called you to them. Continue to be that light in their life because you may be the only Jesus they recognize and see until they know Him for themself.
So that’s my word today.
Yeah. Let’s bring that other picture up. All right.
Oh, and I look good. Jesus did a great job.
There you go. Isn’t that beautiful? You know, we’ve spent two days with the pastors, teachers, and the elders trying to understand about identity, understand about security, belonging. And each of these nights, we have these testimonies.
We’re being reminded, challenged, educated, and I know, just sitting and having a little bit of supper there, listening to you. God is a good God. Oh, man. And He’s now using you actively to bring the love, the security, and the safety to other little girls.
Yeah.
And by God’s grace, we’ll all remember through this week that everybody has a story, and we better learn to understand before we judge. And while nobody here has encouraged us to lower our standards, everybody’s encouraged us raise the standard on the bar of love, which is going to take a whole lot more than just any kind of simple, trite, quick, get you out of my life with condemnation.
Our world’s pretty messed up, but God keeps plucking the brands from the fire, doesn’t He?
Yeah.
All right. Let me pray for you.
Oh, man. Thank you.
Lord, Thank you that You’re good. And the only condemnation you had in the Scriptures was for the people who thought they were good. You never quenched a smoldering reed, but you fanned the flame. Thank You, Lord. Bless Tyeesha.
Bless her in all her roles. Thank You for being here tonight to share and for how she’ll be sharing in other times and places this week. And may we have a heart like Yours to find those people who are trying to find themselves. And, thank You for the power to drive back the evil one. In Jesus name. Amen.
Amen, Lord.
God bless.