See, now I know people in this church and they have tremendous impact in the community where they are because their life is just so positively different, and that's what we're called to do. We're not called to go around and conquer people, bring them under dominion, bring them and force them into your way of thinking, confront them in an ungodly way. We're called to show to them that what we have from the kingdom of God actually works and it works better. Now let me give you an example of it, then I'll finish up. About three or four years ago we had a dentist here who was a Muslim and initially when my dentist changed, he was a Muslim, I had to confront my personal attitude. I actually wanted to change dentists. [Laughter] I'll be honest about it, I did. I thought about it seriously. Then I decided no, I won't. This is an ideal opportunity; I will go and actually stay in this place and I'll stay with the new man, and I'm going to reach out to him and his wife.
So Joy and I determined we're going to reach out to him and his wife. They're from South Africa. He was dark. He was from Iranian descent and a Muslim; she was from a Christian family and she had actually given up the faith to marry him. So we had a chance to influence him. Now I won't get into how we did it all but let me just say this. At the end of the year, after all the interactions, after all the talk, after everything else, after we'd done what we could do, we were able to get both of them to the church and they came to a Christmas service here on a Christmas eve. Then they came to our home. We took them into our home and at the end of that evening we asked how are you doing? He said I am stunned. I have never had anything in my life that I could reference this to. I'm overwhelmed. I said what has overwhelmed you? He said well first of all he was just totally impressed with what he saw in the church. It was not at all what he ever thought a church would be like.
But he said the thing that really has left me stunned, I don't know what to say, and he said I'm so stunned I don't even know how to respond - is your family. He said I have never been in an environment where people love one another, had fun with one another and everyone was accepted and welcomed; there was no alcohol and there was no fighting. I have never ever experienced this in my whole life. He said I just don't know what to say. Now you see that's exactly what the Queen of Sheba did when she came to Solomon. She was stunned. The kingdom of heaven - stunning! [He's right.] It's stunning! [Applause] It's just we don't have enough of it - but the more you get, the more stunning it is. When the Queen of Sheba went in she was oh! She said I thought I was going to see something, she was oh! They said all breath was taken out. She's oh! The wow factor, oh! I love the wow factor, oh! Church should have the wow factor back. I love it when people come in to [unclear 00.44.55] and they come in here and they oh! A church, wow! A radio announcer, I couldn't understand why they're having a church, I've been worried about that all week. [Come on here, oh! 00.45.04] Wow! The kingdom of heaven is stunning.
Our king is stunning! His ways are stunning! They're different, but they're stunning! [Applause] If we could just get enough of them in our life and be bold about who we are and live it out, I tell you what, you will impact people! You may not use a verse; your whole life is a message. Your life confronts the lifestyle of the ungodly. Let me finish with one other example. I love this. I just love it when ungodly people or unsaved people are stunned and can't speak. You know I talk to young people especially about this. We really believe and value kingdom values that you keep yourself for marriage. Don't have sex with people before you're married, you mess yourself up. You keep yourself, so we've had three weddings where children have come up and other weddings where people in this church have kept themselves for marriage, and their friends have berated them and laughed at them and said how come you're going to live together, blah blah blah, all this sort of stuff, and made fun of them and mocked at them, and secretly then grudgingly began to respect them.