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Could you describe a time in which
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the Lord disciplined you,
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and you look back on that time
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with utter thankfulness
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for the fruit it yielded in your life?
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Kevin: I mean, over the years,
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as a Christian and a pastor,
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there's been many times
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where the Lord's disciplining you.
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Whether it's for something
you're doing wrong
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or whether it's just to help you
trust Him more and grow,
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when you stand back later,
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you look back and you can see
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how the Lord's grown you.
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The example that most comes to mind
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is the first church I pastored.
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I went in.
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There weren't believers apart
from maybe a handful,
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but I preached a sermon:
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"You Must Be Born Again."
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All hell broke loose.
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They're saying, "We don't
have that talk in here."
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They just wanted me out the door.
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I was quickly out there,
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but it was a major crisis and so forth.
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They meant it for evil -
those who were doing it.
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I'm not excusing them.
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But I had so much pride in me at the time
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and the Lord really just grounded me
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to a powder in the whole experience.
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But afterwards, I was
just so thankful for it.
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And you start to realize as well,
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things where you'd been overly harsh
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with certain people,
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or expecting too much
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and things like that as well afterwards,
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through seeing your own weaknesses too
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in those situations.