Jim Van Gelderen: Okay, Romans in chapter number 12, Romans chapter and number 12. Been a great time together. It goes quickly and I appreciate so much all the effort everybody made to come.

I appreciate every sponsor, mom and dad, who took the effort to bring you here. And certainly I trust God’s done something in each heart. And if He hasn’t, I guarantee He’s been knocking on your front door.

And so that’s up to you. And I appreciate these candid testimonies. Sometimes they’re uncomfortable, but they’re given because some you can relate.

Say, man, I’ve got to struggle too. And it seems like many times young people think I am all alone, or they think nobody understands. I’ve got a different battle than everybody else has.

But that really is not true. And I’m hoping that some of these testimonies resonated with you, and you realize what God has done in their lives He can do in yours.

It’s just you’ve got to take Bible steps of faith. And I hope and trust some of you have. Well, it’s been a great time.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, I enjoy each year of the Thee Generation Youth Summit. How many of you this is your second year? Can I see your hands please?

Second year. How many third year? Do we have third year?

Okay. Anybody fourth year? Fourth year.

Anybody fifth year? Fifth year. Okay.

Anybody sixth year? Okay. And I shouldn’t ask seventh year.

That means you flunked. Okay. But anyway, we’ll leave that one alone.

But some of you have been here for a while and I’m glad you’ve been able to come. How many are first year? Yeah, all our first years.

Yeah, good. A lot of first year. That’s great.

Hope it won’t be your last one, but you’ll be able to come back other times, maybe bring some friends with you. And this year was special to me because as I mentioned on the first night all these speakers have some relationship to Thee Generation, Minutemen Ministries.

And I mentioned of course Kayla Breed traveled with me in 2019, Joe Mueller 2010, Bobby Bosler 2005, Ryan Swanson 2016 and 2020. And of course Mark Gillmore does the Go Mission and of course Pastor Van Gelderen is the brainchild of the war. If you ever wondered who came up with the war, actually Pastor Ben Van Gelderen came up with the brainchild of the war in the summer of 1979.

Okay, so he’s a part of it too. And so everybody that’s speaking has had some contribution to Minutemen Ministries, and it’s been exciting to have them preaching, and I think they understand the burden of our ministry, and it’s just been an exciting time. I’m grateful for each one.

I’m excited about the Cord app. I know I’ve already said, a lot have been said about that, but particularly some that know others that could use this. I hope you’ll spread the word and even get on their YouTube channel and subscribe.

And that way you have some of the fresh materials that will be coming out. And I’m certainly excited about what the Lord is doing on so many different fronts. I know there’s going to be battles as a result of what God’s done.

Now I will tell you don’t be shocked if you go home and the devil hits you blindside because he’s going to. And you need to anticipate it. I’ve learned whenever there’s a great victory there’s going to be a counteroffensive from the enemy.

And I’ve learned to expect it. And sometimes still get blindsided even though you know it’s going to happen. So don’t get shocked by that.

Recognize you’re in a battle. And I will tell every young person in this room, God’s got something for you far bigger than you can know right now. And it’s exciting when you think about the future and what God is doing is very exciting.

Well, I want to deal with a verse of Scripture. I can’t do a thorough dealing with it. Most of you in this room, I don’t even think you could quote, I won’t make you do it, but Romans 12, 1 and 2.

Many of you know you can quote that.

It’s a wonderful verse of Scripture. And actually several parts of this verse have already been covered. And so I just want to take you one step further because Romans 12, verse 2 is clearly a very key verse when it comes to what we call sanctification.

It’s the Christian life, it’s growth, it’s really transformation. That word of course is found in the verse, and we’re going to address that in a moment. Just a couple of weeks ago I had something happen that was a great encouragement to me personally.

And occasionally God will let you see things that encourage you that many times you don’t know exactly what happens when you leave, but sometimes God gives you a little bit of picture that He’s still working in lives that were touched in a War of Special Forces.

Some of you know that I travel with a team, we conduct War of Special Forces, and it is in Christian schools. How many have ever attended a War of Special Forces in a Christian school? Okay, several of you have, and you know what I’m talking about.

But anyway, I was out in California at a church that has a Bible college as well. And I remember that we were going to be in their high school for the week. And I made an announcement that night about the week coming up.

And after the service, I had a line of young men line up. And the very first guy that came to me, I said, I recognize him.

And he was a kid from Arizona. And he was adopted. He was adopted from China.

And all of a sudden, the name popped in my brain. My hard drive doesn’t work as fast as it used to. And his nickname, I couldn’t remember his real name, but I said, you’re the Panda Express.

That kid had wheels. He could run, and we nicknamed him the Panda Express because he was so fast. And of course, he lit up, yeah, I’m the Panda Express.

And he told me that God had changed his life, and he was now studying for the ministry. Behind him was a young man, came to a War of Special Forces in Indiana. He said a couple of weeks ago, a couple of years ago, I was in special forces as I was headed in the military.

He said, God did something in my heart that week. He said, I yielded to the Lord. I responded to the call to preach, and now I’m studying for the ministry here.

Following him was another kid. He said, a year ago you counseled me about the issue of pornography. He said, now I’m studying for the ministry here at this college.

And there were several others, or at least two or three more. Now I’m going to be honest with you, if you ever travel in evangelistic work, that’s pure gold. I’m going to tell you right now, I would rather in a week of camp see five kids who go on for God the rest of their life, then 50 kids make a decision that lasts two weeks.

I’m in for the long haul. I preach for the long haul. I minister for the long haul.

I’m not saying it always ends up that way, but that is certainly my burden. Even theologically, that’s where I’m trying to go. So you say, why do you say that?

Because honestly, here at Thee Generation Youth Summit, I’m going to be honest with you. I would rather 10 of you have a change of direction this week that resulted in you giving your lives to Jesus following Him the rest of your life, I’d rather have 10 of you do that than all 300 of you make a decision that lasted just a week or two.

So this verse of Scripture is essential, or the truths in this verse, you find them in other verses as well, but the truths in this verse of Scripture are essential if you want to be one of those long-haul people. Now remember this about decisions. We say this about the pledge of the generation.

It is not a promise of perfection, it’s a declaration of

direction. You know the problem if you make a decision and you think it’s a promise of perfection. You know what the problem with that is?

You’re not going to be able to keep it. And you know what many people do? They make a decision, and the first time they fail, didn’t work, and they walk away.

Now I’m going to ask you to be honest with me. I’m not having heads bowed and eyes closed, because I don’t think we know each other well enough now. We don’t need to.

How many of you have ever made a decision for the Lord as a Christian? I’m not talking about salvation, but as a Christian, maybe here at Warm Acts, maybe at a revival meeting, maybe at summer camp. And you really want it.

I mean you meant the decision.

You wanted it. Even God, you sensed God in your life. And you made that decision and you wanted it to be lasting.

And maybe it was for a month, maybe two months, maybe longer, maybe shorter. I don’t know. But you’d have to admit in the long haul, decision didn’t last.

And you ended up going back and living like you were before you made that decision. Would you with me raise your hand? Because it’s happened to me far more than I’d like to admit.

Okay, you can put your hands down. See the problem was you made a promise of perfection, but you didn’t make a declaration of direction.

see when you make a promise of perfection you can’t keep it so you give up but when you make a declaration of direction you know what you’re saying I may fail and I may struggle and I might eat dirt and I may go down hard but I’m going a different direction that decision was a course of life direction and friends Romans 12 1 and 2 helps you understand the course that that

is going to be a sustaining decision it kind of helps you understand what it looks like Now in the verse of Scripture we actually, let’s just, we’ll read verse number 1. I won’t say a lot about verse number 1 because actually Evangelist Caleb Reed really dealt with it. The word present here is really the word dying is the same idea, living sacrifice.

Of course sacrifice has a clear nuance of death. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service. Now, the thing about a dead sacrifice is this, it’s passive.

You know, an animal’s sacrificed, it’s just helpless, it is killed, and that’s it, it’s done.

But God says, I want you to be a living sacrifice. So a living sacrifice, friends, is what really was preached last night. It’s the fact that you’re saying, okay, God, I’m dying to my dreams, I’m dying to my will, I’m dying to what I want to do, and now I’m alive to what you want me to do.

I’m sacrificing my desires for yours. And that’s a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice, in a certain sense, dies to what you want to do, but you’re still alive, and you’re alive to do what God wants you to do.

I remember several years ago, and some of you perhaps have heard this story, I thought about coming and reading it, but for time’s sake I won’t do that. But Walter Wilson, some of you know the books he’s written about soul winning, but there was a day in Walter Wilson’s life when he had never led anybody to Jesus Christ. He was a medical doctor.

He was an adult.

And one day somebody said to him, or I think he heard a message by James M. Gray, the old president of Moody Bible Institute years ago, and I think the message was, what is the Holy Spirit to you? And somebody asked him that question, what is the Holy Spirit to you?

And he began to spiel off a doctrinal answer. He’s third person of the Trinity and things about, you know, he’s deity. and began to kind of, and he said, no, no, no, that’s not what the question is.

The question is, what is the Holy Spirit for you? And Walter Wilson said the truth, and it shocked him when he said it. He said, he’s nothing to me.

In other words, he makes no difference in my life. He’s a theological concept. That’s it.

And God so convicted Walter Wilson as a result of a personal conversation, as a result of that message by Dr. James N. Gray, that he went into his study, and he laid down on the ground prostrate before Almighty God.

And he prayed a prayer that if you ever had a chance to

read, it’s in the book, They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edmond. It’s a tremendous prayer.

And he basically said things like this, God, my body is no longer mine, it is yours. If you want to lay it on a hospital bed and rack it with cancer, you can do that. If you want to send it to Tibet, you can do that.

And he laid out all kinds of scenarios. And he said, God, my body is no longer. Mine, it is yours.

That’s a living sacrifice. And the next morning he was sitting in his doctor’s office when two ladies came in to try to sell him something as a doctor. I don’t remember the scenario.

And the Holy Spirit said, did you mean what you said yesterday? And he said, I did. He said, okay, you know those lips you got?

You know that vocal cord you got? You know that tongue you got? I want you to use them right now.

And he began to give the gospel to these two ladies

and it was not long before he had led them to Jesus Christ, the first fruits of a phenomenal harvest of personal soul winning endeavors. We led people to Jesus Christ. And if you ever want to read his stories, there are two books put out here by the press here, Just What the Doctor Ordered, and Divine Appointments.

Phenomenal stories of a man who had surrendered himself to be a living sacrifice. So his lips were no longer his. And in almost every one of his stories, he’ll be on a trip or whatever, and he says, Lord, if you have somebody you want me to talk to, I’m willing.

And the amazing divine appointments that Walter Wilson had because of one point, he was a living sacrifice. He had presented himself. Now I think we all understand that because we heard the message last night, so we won’t further develop it.

But into verse number two, because I want us to kind of set up where we’re going here. God says, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. Now there’s a little

word in both of those in the original language, it’s the word we get the word morph from. Morphage, right in there. Conformed and transformed, even in English.

You have four letters that are the same, the word form. Now conform is the idea of being on the outside what you are not on the inside. Do you know you can act like you’re something on the outside when you’re really not?

That’s conformity. Conformity is acting like you’re something you’re not. It’s dressing like you’re something you’re not.

It’s living a life of something that you’re not. Okay, that’s conformity. And if you’re saved on your way to heaven, and you dress like you’re worldly, that’s the idea.

You are acting like something you are not. It’s false advertising. Now, there’s, you know, all of us know that just putting on a uniform does not make you something.

For instance, I could get some skates on, and I could dress up in a hockey uniform with a NHL sweater, they call them.

I could do that. But I guarantee you this, that does not make me an NHL hockey player. And all I’d have to do is be on the ice for about two seconds and everybody would know it.

You see, it’s just like this, putting on a baseball uniform, I don’t care if it’s a favorite team or not, you can put on a baseball uniform, but that does not make you a major league baseball player. See, you’re being conformed. You wear a uniform, but it’s not who you are.

We all get that. We know what conformity is. And if you’re saved on your way to heaven, some of you may want to look like the world.

You may, your hairstyle, you may say, oh, that’s cool.

Or are you wearing certain clothes that identify you with a certain subculture? And young people are often very sensitive to not be out of it. And so many times it affects their dress.

I remember years ago I had a team member on the team, and I remember toward the end of the tour, I was meeting with two of the guys, and he was not a part of that meeting. And I remember he came into that meeting, and he was on the verge of tears, and he had some clothing in his hands, and he said this, he said, I’m sick of it, I’m absolutely sick of it.

He said, I bought each one of these clothing articles for the wrong reason, and tonight in the fire I’m going to burn them. This was one of our team members. You know what he was doing?

He said, I’m sick and tired of wearing a uniform of something that does not represent Jesus Christ very well. Now he understood why he bought them. I kind of thought they were a little odd, but I

didn’t know. See, I don’t know what your issue is, but you understand conformity of the world is when you’re acting like something you’re really not. And if you’re saved on your way to heaven, I want to tell you, you are not of the world.

And you can put on the uniform. You can get a worldly hairstyle. I kind of, you know, I travel with teens, I kind of know what the in-hairstyles are.

I’m not saying they’re all wrong, intrinsically wrong, but some of them clearly identify with a subculture that hates God. You have to understand that the world is simply this. It is that part of the world that hates God.

There are certain areas of music, people that are, they hate God. There are certain parts of media, we all know, they can have no regard for God. They hate God.

And God is basically saying, don’t look like you have allegiance to that part of the world. Don’t do that. That’s not who you are.

Don’t be conformed to this world. Now the opposite of being conformed

world. I could preach on that. I’m really not burdened right now to preach on that.

Well, I’ve certainly burdened over all about the issue. My burden goes to the word transform. So conform means acting like something you’re not, but transform means what you really are becomes on the outside.

So what’s going on inside transforms you. You become that on the outside. Now, most of you know that the word transform here is a word that we have in English.

In fact, if you’ve ever taken science, you know the word, metamorphosis. And metamorphosis, we all know, it kind of is that amazing transformation of a little caterpillar that goes up on the tree and spins a cocoon, and a certain amount of time later it comes out, and now is a beautiful butterfly.

And it’s a tremendous picture of metamorphosis. Because the very, I mean, the form of the caterpillar is completely changed. But may I say this carefully?

Its DNA didn’t change. See, its DNA was always what it was. It just needed to do something called mature.

And as it began to mature, it came through a process, so eventually what was really on the inside came out, and it became what it really was. Now that’s what metamorphosis is. And I will tell you something, friends, don’t miss this.

When you got saved, something happened that is cataclysmic. We call it in theology sometimes, one of the words we use is the word regeneration. You’ve been born again.

You’ve been born from on high.

It’s a life birth. In other words, you’ve been born into a new life. Sometimes we call it the new birth.

Now the thing you need to understand when you got saved, the word regenerate, sometimes I like to say it, what it means is you got re-gened. You had spiritual, now you have a spiritual genetic code. And what happened, may I say this, before you got saved, your spirit was dead.

Now don’t miss this. It was not non-existent. Got a question for you.

Do lost people interact with the spirit world? And the answer is, yeah, they do. Just the dark spirit world until there’s Holy Spirit conviction.

Yeah, lost people, in fact, you talk to any missionary who’s gone on a third world country and they can tell you they run across religions that worship Satan.

And there is interaction with demons. They know the reality of the spirit world. And it’s a very real thing.

Not so much in our country, though it’s becoming more and more that way, but it’s a very real thing. Lost people, spirit is not non-existent. It’s just dead.

Don’t miss this to God. So when a lost man gets saved, he trusts Jesus Christ to wash his sins away and saves him, what happens, friends, is that spirit becomes alive. It’s born again, and it becomes regened.

May I say this? The Holy Spirit comes in to union with that spirit, and now the Holy Spirit has regened the human spirit. It is now alive to God.

very alive to God. And that is really who you are. Now, it’s interesting because the Bible says some things that sometimes we puzzle with, because in the book of 1 John, the Bible says this, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.

Now, I believe that to be this. When you and I got saved and the Holy Spirit came into union with your human spirit, that part of you can’t sin.

You know why? Because Jesus can’t sin. That’s not hard.

That’s why in the book of Romans when Paul is talking about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit, he says, it is no more that I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. And he says the real me, the regenerated me, can’t sin anymore. Now our flesh can, we all know that.

That’s why the Bible says the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. Every teenager in this room understands the battle.

In fact, some of you understand the fact that the flesh has become so dominant in your life, you’re far more defeated than you are victorious.

The flesh is a reality, but I’ve got a question for you. So like a million years from now, where will your flesh be? And the answer is, it won’t be with you.

See, your flesh is not who you are. who you are is the fact that you’ve been born from on high you’ve been regened you have been regenerated that is now who you are and you are a union with divine life and the bible says that divine life now defines who you are so one day when you die you won’t sin you know why because that’s who you are you get rid of your flesh guess what you don’t sin anymore well that’s kind of encouraging, isn’t it?

So, you friends, I want you to see this theologically. We call this in theology anthropology, trying to help us understand what the Bible is saying about man and how this all works together. And so, this is what happens when you’re born again.

You got re-gened. And this new set of

genes, how do I say it, is divine. You say, what’s the problem? Well, the problem is maturity.

See, the metamorphosis picture, we all know a caterpillar, it’s got the genes of a butterfly, but it takes a while before it is, what does it take? Maturity. It takes time.

Maturity, doesn’t it? In fact, in nature, do you know what we call that? Instinct.

It happens automatically. No caterpillar has to come forward in an invitation and say, oh, I want to be a butterfly. They don’t have to do that.

It just automatically happens. God set it up that way. He put it in their genetic code.

It’s their DNA. And so it takes time and time and maturity, and pretty soon it transforms into a butterfly. But the Bible tells us in humanity it is not automatic.

It’s not instinctive. The Bible says there’s an important step you and I have to take to kick the maturing process into gear. So here it is.

This is the message now. We’re getting down to this, and this is the message. Notice what it says.

Be not conformed to this

through, but be ye transformed, help me out now, by? Wow. So the renewing of your mind is what kicks the metamorphosis or the transformation into high gear, so that your spiritual genetics, your been re-gene, that regenerated part of you, now begins to change the inside, and eventually it comes out the outside.

But see, in nature, they didn’t have to do that. See, in nature, genes just do what they’re going to do. Most of you are too young, but all you guys out here, sooner and later, what’s going to happen one day when you’re in your 40s, maybe 50s?

You’re going to wake up one morning, look in the mirror, and you’re going to think, oh, wow, I’m looking at my dad.

Yeah, it’s going to happen. Like, whoa, how did that happen? Well, it was always there.

Your genetics, that’s what happened. You just, you know, it just kind of marches on. But like I said, when it comes to the spiritual realm, the Bible tells us you’ve got to renew your mind.

And don’t miss this. Hopefully one day in your Christian life, you’ll look in the so-called mirror, and you’ll see your Father, your Heavenly Father. Because you know what happens, friends?

The genetics, the Holy Spirit, is now in union with the human spirit. and as you renew your mind the Bible says the transformation process kicks into gear and you become transformed. Have you ever been around older saints and you thought to yourself for a moment I don’t think these people sin.

Now they’d be the first to tell you that they do because they’re far more sensitive to sin than they were when they were your age.

But I will tell you you know what’s happened? They have spent years allowing the metamorphosis this transformation by renewing their mind to take place in such a way that it’s just like you’ve sensed the presence of God in their life. My grandmother was that way.

I’m sure my grandmother sinned, but I don’t think I ever saw it. The woman was remarkable. Around her, I felt like she scared me half to death.

You know why? Because she walked with God. You felt like you were in the presence of God.

And when you’re an eight-year-old kid, you’re thinking all the bad, she knows everything. All the stuff I’ve been doing, she knows me. Remarkable woman.

Now, what was I witnessing at that point?

I was witnessing a lifetime of a woman who was allowing her mind to be renewed, and as she did that, the transformation process took in place. I’m going to tell you right now, if you don’t renew your mind, you’re not going to be transformed. The genetics aren’t going to come out, because God tells us that’s how you’re transformed, by the renewal of your mind.

Now, it’s very interesting when God says be transformed, that’s, well, we could argue middle passive voice. I won’t go into the debate right now. If you want to talk to Dr.

Paul, he can talk to you later about it. But it’s clearly passive voice here for several reasons, which indicates you don’t transform yourself, the Holy Spirit does.

It’s clearly inferred there. Okay, so you’re transformed, here it is, by the renewing of your mind. Now, what in the world does that mean?

I can only open the door on this, because there’s so much I want to say here. But the word renew is found in the Bible. I think five times in the New Testament, five times.

And each time it’s found, four of the times it’s found, it has no subject. Now, how many of you remember English enough to know subject, verb, object? Raise your hand, please.

Okay, so like jack, subject, hit, verb, the ball, object. You tracking with me? Everybody tracking with me?

If you’re not, you’re in trouble. Okay, but anyway, yeah, okay, by this time you better get that much down on grammar. Okay, so four times you have an object you have something’s renewing your mind.

Something’s renewing the spirit of your mind. Something’s renewing the new man. Something’s renewing the inward man.

Those are the four references. But there’s only one verse of Scripture that

gives us the subject. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of, anybody know? Yeah, Holy Spirit is the subject.

So if you’re ever going to be transformed and you’re ever going to be renewed, it comes because of the Holy Spirit. So the renewal, the mind renewal, is the Holy Spirit renewing your mind. Now it’s very interesting when we talk about mind.

I’ll just give you a little something because I think this is important to think about. I don’t have time to fully develop it here. But I, several years ago I was introduced to the Conquer Series.

Some of you that have been around Falls here kind of know the journey we’ve been on, which the Lord has used several people in it, and now is resulting in the launching of Renew here in 2024. We’re excited about that. So several years ago I watched Conquer Series, but there was a statement in it.

I understand

what he is saying. The leader of the Conquer Series was, or the instructor on the Conquer Series was saying, but he said something about the issue of pornography. He said, I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like this, and I could have a word or two off, but it was something like, you don’t have a sin problem, or you don’t have a moral problem, you have a brain problem.

And basically in Conquer Series, a lot of things I appreciate about Conquer Series, but there’s one thing that the Lord has used several things to help me understand I believe was not precise, and that is this. There was an equivalency between the brain and the mind. They are not equivalents.

See, the brain, friends, by the way, pornography is a brain problem, but it is a moral and a sin problem. Okay, you have to put it all in there. I don’t have time to go into it all right now theologically.

But you have to understand the mind is more than the

brain. It includes the brain, but it’s more than the brain. There’s an immaterial part of your brain.

In fact, Ephesians 4 helps us. It says, the spirit of your mind. Now, most commentators believe that’s not talking about the Holy Spirit.

It is talking about the human spirit. So a believer makes this understand. For a believer, the mind also includes a spiritual dynamic.

So the renewing of the mind is not just learning some new things. If you ever take education or pedagogy, you will learn how to teach people. And there’s ways to physiologically affect a person’s brain.

So they learn something. They cut new paths in their mind. Okay, we all understand that’s not a bad thing.

It’s a good thing. But that’s not what the renewing of your mind is.

the renewing of your mind is not just physiological it is deeply spiritual that’s the thing i want you to see and can i can i say this it’s not just by learning new material see it’s it’s really a deeply spiritual thing and so if you’re going to get your mind renewed friends it is going to be through the power of the holy spirit of god and it is he and he can take And may I say, the one instrument that the Holy Spirit of God uses

to renew your mind is His sword. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

You put the sword and the Spirit together, and it is powerful. And those two things, you don’t want a swordless spirit, and you don’t want a spiritless sword. You put them together, and they are powerful to renew your mind.

In other words, they are powerful, friends, for you to begin to think biblically. And not only think biblically, there’s a supernatural understanding. Now, there to be honest with you, I grew up in church.

I had a wonderful dad who preached the truth. I am sure I heard things that I now preach many years ago. I just didn’t understand it, didn’t get them.

And then I probably began to just theologically or mentally understand the truth. But there comes a time, sometimes reading a book about the book, the Bible, sometimes hearing a message, sometimes reading the Word of God itself, sometimes meditating on a scripture.

But there comes a time when there’s sometimes a truth that I’ve known, and it’s just like the Lord takes a switch and He turns the switch, and I don’t know how to explain it, you’re illuminated. And from that point on you think differently, and you think far more supernaturally about that truth. And you become excited about it.

It becomes profound in your life. It becomes life-changing. It’s no longer just academic intellectual.

it becomes life-changing. See, some of you know the truth. You can intellectually even spew it out, but it hasn’t transformed you at all.

You know what that teaches me? Your mind is not renewed. You may know facts, but that’s not the renewing of your mind.

Listen, how many of you kids grew up in a Christian home and gone to church most of your life? Raise your hand. Okay.

You know facts. You know things. Some of you can read my book, 0100, and you can learn facts.

But 0100 won’t change your life. The Holy Spirit has to turn on the lights so you get it. I’ve had people tell me, you know, I thought I understood that truth, or another truth, or whatever.

I thought I understood it. I think academically I did. But all of a sudden, one day I got it.

And you know what happened? It began to be transformed. It began to affect them.

In other words, the DNA started working, and their Heavenly Father began to come out.

So what was inside began to come on the outside, and people began to, look, wow, God’s doing something in that life. Well, what happened was their mind got renewed. And obviously, transformation is a present tense verb there.

It’s a present tense command. God, in other words, God’s commanding us the rest of our life for the transformation process to continue, and it occurs as we allow our mind to be renewed. And friends, may I say this?

If you haven’t presented yourself to God, if you have not died to yourself, if you’re not presented as a living sacrifice, your mind will not be renewed. See, some of you know everything, but you’re holding out on God. You could quote verses of Scripture.

You could teach sanctification. You could come up here and preach 0100. You could preach that you’re in Jesus.

You know the facts, but they have not transformed you. Because it starts with, God, I’m all in. I mean, I’m giving myself to you.

It starts with presentation. And then it says, I do not want to act like I’m something I’m not. Inside I’m born from on high, I’ve been re-gened.

I want my life to be transformed by this new genetics, this regeneration. And my friend, as you begin with that passion to study the Word of God and look to the Holy Spirit to change you, He renews your mind. it’s not academic.

It’s spiritual. That’s what transforms you. See, how do I say this?

One of the dangers with truth is, you get used to it. You know it. Listen, I am talking to kids who hear some of the greatest messages you can hear in 2023.

I’m talking to some of you here, some of the best preachers we’ve got. I’m talking to some of you who have no truth. You can articulated, which you’re not being transformed, which tells me your mind is not being renewed.

You have cut new pathways in your brain, but it hasn’t changed your life. You’ve learned facts. That’s it.

You need the immaterial part of your mind to be changed. And that is, don’t miss this, supernatural. It’s God at work.

And it starts, that’s why total surrender is so important.

And I’m just telling you, there are a couple of truths that when you get a hold of, they absolutely blow the circuits, I mean on the flesh, and you’re starting to see victory like you’ve never seen. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not. Okay, so I want to ask you guys, when’s the last time your brain went in the wrong direction and you fantasized and thought about things you shouldn’t have?

May I say this carefully? You weren’t walking in the Spirit. When’s the last time you smirked that your parents were disrespectful?

You when’s the last time you cheated like we talked about a little while ago you were not walking in the Spirit when’s the last time you treated your brother’s sister like trash you were not walking in the Spirit and the truth is some of you in this room know what the Bible teaches about some of that stuff but it hadn’t transformed you because your mind has to be supernaturally renewed by the Holy Spirit he’s got to turn

the lights on And I’m telling you friends, can I say this carefully? The Holy Spirit is not up there waiting for you to bribe Him to turn the lights on. He wants to turn the lights on.

The problem is us. We’re too busy pursuing our own agenda and we don’t get desperate for Him. And we’re too busy trying to look like the world and think we’ll find some satisfaction in the world trying to be cool.

Well just drop kick that cool stuff. Can I just tell you, you don’t need to be cool. I’m living proof.

You do not need to be cool. I work with young people. It was about 30, 40 years ago I came to the realization, I’m not cool.

And you know what? It really doesn’t bother me. You don’t have to be cool to reach teenagers.

You have to be called to God. I’m just telling you friends, I remember one time I said that. I said, I’m not cool.

I had a kid come up to me really concerned. He said, Brother Van Gelden, you really are cool. I said, you really are cool.

Well, I’m glad you think so. But anyway, I know I’m not. Okay, that’s okay.

Some of you are far more concerned about being cool than you are being godly. And you’re constantly looking to the world, trying to find out what’s cool. The only problem is, that keeps changing.

It’s a carrot you never can meet.

And you know how it is. Kids say, hey, man, we’re not going to be like the mainstream. We’re going to be different.

And I think to myself, yeah, you and every other teenager I know, You’re all wearing the uniform. You know what I’m talking about? Some of you are so concerned that you wear the uniform.

If the pants are droopy, I’m wearing the droopy. Wear the boxers, you know, and everybody’s walking around thinking, this could be embarrassing in just a moment. You remember the old droopy drawers?

Yeah, the old droopy drawers. Yeah, that was bad. It’s had issues.

Now, it’s like you get three people holding the person’s pants in the morning, and they go up to the third study, jump out, and, okay, I think we got them.

You know, they’ve got to use scissors to cut them off. You know what I’m talking about? Yeah.

One from droopy to being, you know, like they’re spray painted on. You know, unbelievable. Couldn’t you make up your mind?

Now, I’m not advocating being out of style. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that you are, my dad always said, never be the first one to adopt a style and never be the last one.

Okay, somewhere in the middle. Okay, as long as it’s not unbiblical. But the point is, that’s conformity to the world.

If those things are in your life, you’re going to miss this. But the renewing of your mind. I just want to conclude with this because I don’t know how to explain this.

There are times, many times, over the years, sanctification has been my theological hobby. I love to read books on sanctification. I think sanctification is such a cool doctrine.

I really do. It’s just an amazing doctrine. And I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I even read theological books on sanctification models that I wouldn’t personally agree with.

I always try to find out, I wonder why they believe this. and I’ll read different sanctification models. And I would say each model that’s Orthodox, or at least in the house of Orthodoxy, has something to offer.

You say it has some truth, sometimes they take it too far or whatever. But I find it very interesting.

But I have learned this about theology. The Lord has to turn the lights on for it to change my life. And you know when I found most theological books on sanctification, and I like to read warm books mostly, books that really convict me and minister to me.

But I will tell you, most of the books that God has used, that present truth, that has transformed my life, were read, don’t miss this, in the crucible of need. I was at a point, God, I need something. God, you’ve got to show me.

God, I’m not getting this Christian life stuff. God, you’ve got to help me see this. And many times God would lead me to something reading that would open a truth, like preaching in print would open a truth that was life-transformative.

And I could point you to certain chapters of certain books that I’ve read that pointed to me to Bible truth, and it was like a light bulb went on. And that truth ended up being transforming. Now we’re all on a journey.

Yeah, I’m not perfect. Nobody in this room is perfect. We’re all on a journey.

But there are some of you in this room who know what I mean, for the lights to go on, thinking, Wow, what a great truth is that one. The latest light bulb for me was the one I just preached to you a moment ago about the fact that there’s a part of me that is regenerated, re-gened. And friends, that’s who you are.

See, do not be defined by your flesh. Do not be defined by your past failure. Do not be defined by sins against you.

If you’re from a divorced home, don’t let that define you. If you’ve been taken advantage of, don’t let that define you.

If you’ve been wrong, don’t let that define you. If you’ve been addicted to anger, don’t let that define you. If you’ve got a problem with lust, don’t let that define you.

What needs to define you is that you’re in Jesus. Jesus is in you. You’ve been re-gened, and that’s who you really are.

I don’t care how bad you are. If you’re saved on your way to heaven, the answer is already inside of you. You’ve been born again.

And what I’m telling you is this. Your problem is, you say, well, why isn’t it? Because sometimes people say, well, I got saved for a while.

I really did well. And man, now I’m so defeated. Well, the problem is you’re not renewing your mind.

When you renew your mind, you are automatically transformed. And the Holy Spirit does it. So you say, well, how do you renew your mind?

Well, the point is, it’s all been said all week long. You present your body and you pursue a relationship with the one who renews your mind. And as you begin to study the Word of God and you begin to pray and you begin to seek a relationship with the Lord and you begin to seek truth, He starts turning on lights.

Wow. And the truth, I mean the Holy Spirit that’s in you begins to illumine that truth, and all of a sudden you find the fact that your mind, and I’m not talking about your gray matter, I’m talking about that immaterial part of it, I’m talking about that spiritual part of your brain.

Things unsafe people don’t have. Unsafe people’s minds cannot be renewed. Because they don’t have the Holy Spirit to do it.

And I will tell you sometimes, friends, you know what I’ve seen some Christians do? if they’re not careful they start looking to the world for their answers. The world can’t teach you how to be renewed and transformed.

They don’t have the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that takes that truth and renews your mind. And it’s a remarkable thing when He does it, friends.

And the two sides of the truth I want to conclude with, and we’re going to have to shut it down here, but the two sides of the truth I want to get a hold of that are two very important truths that when the lights go on you will be transformed.

Number one, Jesus lives in me. When you get a hold of the fact that deity lives in you. Now you and I are not deity, you never will be.

Some people go out that crazy window. I’m a sinner and I will be a sinner saved by grace, and I get it too. You and I are all sinners.

We’ll always be sinners that were saved by grace. Thank the Lord our sins washed away so we become saints. I get that.

So in one sense we’re saints. But we’re saints because we’re in union with Jesus Christ. But the point is, friends, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and He can enable you.

Sometimes I put it like this.

You know, if I was called to the dugout of a Major League Baseball team, let’s imagine the Philadelphia Phillies called me up and said, hey, I think we can win the World Series, but why don’t you come be on the team here for a night? Now, this is crazy, because it never would happen. But anyway, so I get in the Phillies’ dugout.

I love baseball, so I wouldn’t want to be in the Phillies dugout. But let’s just imagine I was in the Phillies dugout. Probably rather be in the Rangers dugout.

But anyway, okay, so I’m in the Phillies dugout. I’m scared to death. I don’t think there’s a person in this room who could stand in a Major League baseball plate and even have a hope of making contact with that ball.

By the time you swung that bat, it would have been in the catcher’s mitt for about three seconds. You know what I’m talking about? 90 miles an hour is fast.

I’ve set it a pitching machine that pitched 60 miles an hour I couldn’t even hit that not even come close I can’t imagine 90 or 100 but let’s imagine I’m sitting in that dugout I’m thinking I can’t do this I can’t hit a baseball I can’t do this man I’m gonna be a fool if they put me up there I mean I’m gonna be booed out of the stadium and Phillies fans are the worst in baseball you know what I’m talking about they have no patience

see some of you don’t know what I’m talking about okay but anyway yeah they’re rough okay so here I am now let’s imagine I know this is stupid really dumb, but you’re going to get this. Let’s imagine the spirit of Ted Williams came to me.

Ted Williams was the best hitter in Major League Baseball history. He hit 400. That’s four hits out of 10.

That’s really good. And so let’s imagine the spirit of Ted Williams comes and says, hey, I’m going to get inside of you and give you my ability to hit a baseball. Now, I want to ask you a question.

Would that change things? It changed a lot. Now, I know it’s a stupid illustration, But here’s what I want you to understand, friends.

Some of you haven’t gotten a hold of that yet. If you really get a hold of it, you never get discouraged. Because some of you say, I can’t win anybody to Jesus.

But the Holy Spirit can.

He’s a real good soul winner. Some of you say, Preacher, I can’t get victory over it. I’ve got lust in my heart.

I’m just overwhelmed with filth. I can’t get victory. Well, I’ve got real good news.

The Holy Spirit can. If you ever catch His first name, it’s holy. He can enable you to have victory.

Holy Spirit doesn’t struggle with lust. Did you know that? I’m not trying to be irreverent, but He doesn’t struggle with it.

You tracking with me? You get a hold of the fact that Jesus lives in you, and I want to tell you something, friends, you have got a hold of a great truth. Be strong in the Lord in the power of?

Oh, yeah. See, the Christian life is not me trying harder. The Christian life is me tapping into a strength I’ll never have because it’s supernatural.

And my friend, all I want you to understand is you’re sitting here, if you get a hold of the fact that Jesus lives in me, He can enable me to do whatever he wants me to do. I can do, anybody know? Through?

Oh, which? So whose strength is it, yours or his? His, and it’s not physical.

That’s why some of the most powerful Christians alive are in their 80s and 90s. They couldn’t win an arm wrestling contest. We’re not talking about physical strength.

But they’re not afraid of anything. they walk with Jesus. They believe Jesus lives in me.

For some of you in this room, you know that truth. I didn’t tell you anything new. But it’s not transformed you.

Because the Holy Spirit has never turned on the lights because for whatever reason. He could today because when He turns on those lights, you will be transformed. You all of a sudden start winning people to Jesus.

You all of a sudden start seeing answers to prayer.

you’ll all of a sudden start spending time with God you’ll all of a sudden I mean you’ll be in the Word of God God will illumine the Scripture you’ll start seeing things you’ve never seen you’ll be enabled to preach or speak or do whatever God’s called you to do and it will all be don’t miss this supernatural it won’t be because you’ve learned facts in your brain it’ll be because the Holy Spirit has supernaturally illumined the truth see that’s what mind renewal is. It’s supernatural.

So the first part is, Jesus lives in me. And the second one is, shock of shocks, I live in Jesus. Those two truths, when the light bulb is turned on, will transform your life.

And I’ve really almost kind of already gone over that. But I’m telling

you right now, friend, I’m in Jesus. You know something about Jesus? He’s dead to sin.

You know something else about Jesus? He’s alive unto God. You know something else about Jesus?

He’s seated at the right hand. You know something else about Jesus? He’s victorious over the devil.

All power in heaven and earth has been given unto me. That’s what Jesus said. Can I say this carefully?

Jesus can boss the devil around. Did you know that? And I’m in Him who’s far above all principality and power.

How about this? I’m complete in Jesus. How about this?

I’m accepted in Jesus. I am telling you, friend, if you read the New Testament and you read books like 1 Ephesians chapter number 1, and you get a hold of the fact of who you are in Jesus Christ, and God turns the light bulbs on, you will be transformed. That’s who you really are.

And you will no longer be defined by your failure and your sin and your junk. You will be defined by the fact, I’m in Jesus, Jesus is in me, and there’s an inseparable union, and I have been re-gened, and I am telling you, the supernatural has been illumined in my heart and life, and you begin to live a different way, and live in a supernatural power you never understood.

I’m just telling you right now, if you’re not being transformed, I can tell you this, either you’re not saved, and I’m not saying for most of you that’s probably not the issue, either you’re not saved, or you’re saved and you are not allowing your mind to be renewed. And Romans 12, 1 and 2 is a key verse. There’s so much more that can be said here.

But I wanted to get to this, because I feel like it’s a follow-up to what we talked about last night.

So some of you last night really did say, okay, God, you got everything. But I’m telling you right now, you want your decision to last? You want to be transformed?

Your mind’s going to have to get renewed. And that’s not a one-time thing. It’s a constant lifestyle of looking to Jesus, hungry for truth.

And I remember I had this guy call me one time and he said, Brother Van Gelden, he said, I’ve been seeking the Lord and I’m in a desert. Why am I in a desert? I said, well I can tell you why you’re in a desert.

Deserts are always God’s prelude to learning something you never would have learned without the desert. You know why God lets you get in the desert? Because you need truth and you want it.

And I thank God if you’re in now? You ought to be getting ready for some light bulb to come on if you’re looking to Jesus to turn them on. Hey, you know what?

Life is full of deserts, and God brings those

deserts so you get hungry for truth so He can turn the lights on again. How many of you that are 20 years or older have ever been in the desert and all of a sudden God turned on the lights and gave you a truth that just illumined your soul? Raise your hand high.

Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Yeah. I want these kids to get a hold of this.

And I’m telling you the Christian life, if you’re going to be transformed is a process of lights going on. It’s the Holy Spirit turning on the lights, turning on the lights, turning on the lights, turning on the lights. And it doesn’t stop until the day you step into Heaven.

But I’ll tell you what, friends, is a part of that is transformation. Some of you cannot even imagine your life touching other lives. You can’t imagine God doing transforming work.

But I’m going to tell you something, friends, that’s what He wants to do in all of your lives. He wants to transform your life and then transform

others through your transformed life. We’re not talking about perfection, but we are talking about direction. You could be the, how do I say this, the most defeated, backslidden kid in this room.

And if you’re saved on your way to Heaven, you have within you everything you need to be transformed. You say, I do? Yeah, it’s called the Holy Spirit.

And He’s a light turner-onner. As you seek Him, as you get in His Word, as you seek a Some of you spent that hour with God. You start to understand what we’re talking about.

As you begin to do that, God begins to renew your mind. And I’m just begging some of you, because some of you, here’s what you think, well, I know a lot of truth.

You do, but you still roll your eyes at your parents. You still live a defeated Christian life. Treat younger brothers and sisters like trash.

Fight with your siblings. Go to school, get involved, all the gossip and all the intrigue. Another transformation about your life.

And yet you know more truth than a kid in this room who maybe grew up in an unsaved home. But I’m telling you, friends, the only way you’re going to be transformed is to get totally surrendered to God and say to the Holy Spirit, okay, you’re in charge. You will begin to see Him turn on those lights from within your mind.

Can I ask every head bowed, please, and every eye closed?