Keion Henderson - Identity Theft

Today, I want to talk about identity theft. I want to discuss the reason behind it, my brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, friends. This world is stuck. The world that you and I live in right now is polarized. I keep turning on Instagram, the news, and the television, hoping that something will change. Then we see another Black man has been shot. I keep looking at television, the news, and social media, thinking that Blacks and Whites will come together, and we have, but then a certain sector of those polar opposites rears its ugly head and shows us we aren’t even interested in change; we are stuck. You need only watch the news to know this. When we are presented with the change that is necessary, when we are presented, Pastor Rhema, with the change that actually needs to happen, we see people pushing back as if the change is not required. In a time of unprecedented freedom and opportunity, so many of you, like me, feel hopeless and powerless. I sometimes look at what’s going on in the world and said this to my mentor the other day: I wish I could change the world. He said, speaking from a person twice my age, something to me that I want to share with you. He said, when I was your age, I used to want to change the world. However, you slowly recognize that you cannot. He said, but I didn’t change the world; listen, he said, but I know I impacted it. This really resonated with me because as I look with disgust at some of the progress we should be making and the change I want to make on Earth with my life, and I see that change not taking place in certain areas and cities, I have to settle for impact. This world is stuck; it’s stuck. Pastor Hammond, we have totally different perspectives. What one person looks at as racism, another person sees as classism. What one person claims as their constitutional right, another person asserts that this constitution doesn’t represent the rights of people who look like them. The world is stuck. What looks like boredom to someone else is contentment to another person, and we are just stuck. We are trying to figure out how to agree on a subject matter, but do we even know what the subject is? The world is stuck, and you don’t have to live in Houston to know that. You know it if you live in Iowa; you don’t even have to live in America to recognize it. I receive direct messages from people all around the world telling me, «Pastor, we’re praying for your country.» So, might I even expand it? Our country, not just the world, is stuck. When God gave us this series, I don’t know who will hear this, and I pray that the Holy Spirit gives me the power so that it resonates throughout time and across the world to know that a change has to come, that a change must come, that there must be an undoing of psychological patterns. There must be an undoing of how we raise our children; there must be an undoing of the economic system and structure; there must be an undoing of the educational system. There has to be a day of reckoning. My task today is to give us a few cues and clues on how to get unstuck. George, it’s not easy to do this because they spend millions, if not billions, on keeping us stuck. I’m not a big cereal eater, but they say Wheaties is the breakfast of champions; in my opinion, that’s the worst cereal ever made: no sugar, no flavor. Yet they want us to believe that if we eat this cereal, we can score 30 points like Michael Jordan. It is nothing more than an ad to keep us stuck on a cereal that, in my opinion, tastes the same as the box. Lay 's potato chips-you bet you just can’t eat one; they have us stuck. Nike says, «Put these shoes on; guess what you’ll be able to do.» I know a lot of people who wear them; they just can’t get it done. They do all they can to keep us stuck. If you pay attention to Coca — Cola, look at their ads; everything about Coca — Cola is about happiness. You can’t even have Christmas without Coke. They have their own polar bear. Isn 't that amazing that you’re so rich you have your own polar bear? They make us think we’re happy when we’re drinking Coke, and guess what? Their slogan is «Open Happiness.» Once, I had a Verizon phone, and it didn’t work, but their slogan says, «Can you hear me now?» to suggest that if I have this phone, I will always be able to hear, and that is not the case. Ladies and gentlemen, why? Because they spend millions, if not billions, making us believe that if we have their products, we will not be stuck in the dilemma that their product solves. I have discovered, and I’m taking my time, and I hope you can stay with me. I have discovered-write this down, because this is for your family-that there are three reasons why you are stuck; there are three reasons why your brother is stuck...