- [Gordon] A singerwho can no longer sing.

- This is borderline Stage 4 cancer.

We're gonna remove most of your tongue.

- [Gordon] And a preacherwho can no longer preach.

- And I just started crying

and I'm like, "I can't do this."

- [Gordon] Is ready to end it all.

- I remember typing it inGoogle, easy ways to die.

Easy ways to die 'causeI'm tired of the pain.

- [Gordon] Hear how asong released his miracle.

- All of a sudden, in that moment,

I just felt like a presencejust entered the room.

- On today's 700 Club Interactive.

Well welcome to the show.

If anyone has an excuse to stop singing,

it's Pastor Jason David.

In 2017, after a year-longbattle with cancer,

the young pastor hadlost most of his tongue.

- But that didn't stophim from singing a song

in front of his church,and that video went viral,

reaching over four million people.

Here is Jason David and his wife, Alyson,

for the first time sharing about the night

cancer almost killed himand the amazing comeback

that led to the viral hit, "These Walls."

- It was this reallyexciting moment in my life.

We were getting this new job,

this new church family, a new city.

But while this is happening,as I get the new job,

my tongue is like swelling.

There's this thing on my tongue,

like, it was affecting my speech,

it was affecting me being able to eat.

They do a biopsy andthat's when I find out,

two weeks into this new job,this new season of life,

you have cancer.

And my first response was,"That's not my story."

I have friends and that's their story.

I have family membersand that was their story.

This is not how my story goes.

My body, like, shuts down.

All the sudden, my hip, itfeels like my hip is broken,

it's in so much pain.

The next morning, I'mtrying to take a shower,

and as I get out of the shower,

my body just collapsed to the ground

and I'm shaking on the ground,and I just start screaming.

And my wife runs over to see what's wrong

and my body is just convulsing.

I don't know how to explain it.

- [Narrator] Doctors discoveredthat the Stage 3 cancer

in Jason's tongue was secreting a chemical

that was poisoning himfrom the inside out.

His 13-day hospital stay

included a trip to the operating room.

- So, they drill a hole in my hip.

Now I'm in a wheelchair,with cancer in my mouth.

So then, they do the first surgery,

and they open me up from ear to ear

and they begin to removehalf of my lymph nodes

and they remove 20% of my tongue,

believing that they'llget all the cancer out.

It's over!

Now I'm gonna come, I'mgoing to that promised land.

I'm gonna be the pastorGod called me to be.

All the sudden at theend of June, my tongue,

that same thing is on my tongue.

I remember the doctor, he looks at it,

and he says, "I don'tknow what to tell you,

"but the cancer came back.

"It came back more aggressive.

"It's spreading quicker.

"It's already spread to your neck.

"It didn't spread this fast last time.

"This is borderline Stage 4 cancer.

"We have to operate.

"We're gonna remove most of your tongue.

"To reconstruct your tongue,

"we're going to take a chunk of your arm

"and we're going to forma tongue in your mouth.

"Oh, and your leg.

"We're going to have totake the skin from your leg.

"We're gonna put that on your arm."

I'm like, "What?"

Now I'm a piano player,

so he's like, "You're not going to be able

"to use your arm for a while."

I'm a singer and a speaker,

and he says, "You're notgonna talk the same."

He kept talking and Iliterally stopped listening

and I just start crying.

And I felt so unprofessional.

I didn't feel like an adult,like a man, in that moment,

'cause I'm just sitting in the chair

weeping as the doctor's justtelling me what's gonna happen.

I'm like, "I can't do this."

- He looked just like hehad gotten out of a warfare,

like he was just allbandaged up and everything,

and he looked like he hadtaken a pretty hard hit.

- I'm feeling like I need to throw up,

but I can't throw up, becausemy tongue is so swollen.

I'm laying in the bathroom.

I'm laying on the ground,covered in my own waste,

and I'm throwing up, I've gotmucous pouring out of my neck,

blood coming out of my mouth,and I am screaming in pain.

All I know is simple math.

The pain is too much.

The only way to end the pain is to die.

I remember typing it inGoogle, easy ways to die.

Easy ways to die 'causeI'm tired of the pain.

So, if I'm gonna kill myself,I don't want it to hurt.

- He was just in a persistent pain.

Usually he can say, "Hi"or usually he can smile,

but, you know, he couldn'tdo any of those things.

- She begins to do somethingthat she rarely ever does.

She begins to sing.

She begins to sing over me.

- I was fighting, like, the worry.

I was fighting the anxiety.

I was fighting the fear

that the doctors weren'tgoing to be right again.

But I just kept on choosingto just worship God

and knowing that everythingwas gonna be okay.

- And all the sudden, in that moment,

I just felt like a presencejust entered the room.

And it was like, it waslike if peace was a person,

he entered that room in that moment,

and I just began to drift off to sleep

for the first time in three days.

I woke up the next day andI, I started telling myself,

I'm not going to give up.

- [Narrator] It was Easter Sunday.

Jason's pastor came tothe house beforehand

and asked if he was well enough to stand

before the church congregation.

- And I remember, as soonas I walked on the stage,

and Pastor Jeff hadn't warnedthem that I was coming,

I remember the wholeplace stood to their feet,

and I felt what it felt liketo be a part of a family

who will walk with youthrough any journey in life,

a family that will love you,

even when you've done nothing for them.

After many painful surgeries,the cancer came back.

I had to do more surgeries,chemotherapy, and radiation

and they said, "You might not sing again.

"You might not even speak again."

But I'm here today.

I'm standing, I'm walking, I'm jumping.

(congregation applauds)

And now I get to sing and speakabout the goodness of God.

♪ You are greater thanthese walls I'm circling ♪

♪ You are stronger thanthis army that I see ♪

♪ You are bigger ♪

After two days, it's got 200,000 views.

I'm like, "Oh, that's so cool.

"Wow, like, people arebeing blessed by it."

A week later, it hits a million views.

And we're kinda have just this feeling

of, like, "Wait, what's happening?"

All of the sudden, wehave people from Korea

who fly to California to visit our church

to see what is this,what is happening here.

All of a sudden, I've gotpeople in Sweden and Australia

and the UK who are messaging us

and saying, hey, I have tongue cancer too.

Other people saying, I stopped painting

because of my illness.

I stopped dancing because of my disease.

I stopped singing because thefirst time I heard myself sing

in the shower, I broke down crying

because of the tongue cancer,but when I saw your story,

I decided I want my own comeback story.

I don't like the false narrative

that you have to look back at your life

and be like, "Oh, it'sokay," 'cause it wasn't okay.

What happened to Jesus was not okay.

Him being nailed to a cross,being tortured, was not okay,

but it was about Jesus takingthe things in your life

that are not okay.

They represent death, and darkness,

and despair, and hopelessness

and him saying, "Watchthe ultimate comeback.

"I can redeem it.

"I can bring what was dead back to life."

And now I look back andI see, what a comeback.

Like, He did it and He gets all the glory,

and the only thing Ican do is never give up.

♪ This is my song ♪

♪ This is my dare ♪

♪ To worship You even as thesewalls are standing there ♪

(congregation applauds)

- What an amazing story,amazing story of deliverance.

Here is his at the brink of despair,

to say I'm gonna type into Google

what are the easiest ways to die.

I don't want to experience this pain.

I don't want to go through this anymore.

I'm tired of being thisand I need to get released.

Then a miracle happens,

and the miracle starts with a song

where his wife, she's so pressured,

she doesn't know what to do.

And what, who does in this situation?

Who does know what to do?

But she says, "I'mgoing to start singing,"

and in that, you unlock thiswonderful spiritual truth.

You find it in Zephaniahin the third chapter.

He sings songs of deliverance over us.

And when we join with thatsong, we unite with Him,

and then His presence invades us.

And can cancer survivethe presence of the Lord?

The answer's no.

And the key, it's always the key,

we approach Him with songs of salvation,

songs of thanksgiving,songs of deliverance

because He inhabits thepraises of His people.

Keep that in mind.

He inhabits your praise.

Is it okay to complain?

Yeah.

Can you pour out yourcomplaint before Him?

Jason did that.

This isn't the life I want to lead.

This isn't my story.

But it became God's story.

And he didn't die, he lived,

and he declared the glory of the Lord

in the assembly of that church.

And that's a huge promise.

You'll find it in Psalm 118.

No matter what you'regoing through right now,

here's a verse for you.

This is the day the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Now can you do that right now?

And then, in doing that,

Terry and I are going to agree with you

and we're going to agree

that God would stretch forth His hand

and do a miracle in your life.

We're going to thank Himin advance of the miracle.

We're going to praiseHim in advance of it.

And let's see what God will do.

Let's pray.

Lord, we just lift those,

we lift everyone who haschronic pain, chronic disease,

going through the mostterrible circumstances.

We come into agreement with them

and we declare over them thisis the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

We rejoice in theresurrection that is to come.

We rejoice in the healing.

We rejoice in the deliverance.

We rejoice in the freedomthat You have given us.

And so with that freedom, wechoose right now to praise.

We praise You for who You are,

for You are the healer,You are the deliverer,

You are the one who hasborne away all our sin,

all our transgression, all of our pain,

all of our infirmity,You have taken it all.

And if You have taken it, wedon't have to take it anymore.

So we leave it here atthe foot of the cross.

We leave it and we rejoice overwhat You have already done,

the sacrifice You have already made.

For by Your stripes I am healed

and I receive it now in Jesus' name.

There's someone, you've been diagnosed

with Stage 3 lung cancer.

There's a lump and it's apain in your right lung.

God is healing you.

He is destroying that cancer now.

That pain is leaving you now.

There will be no more cancercells left in your body.

It's not reproducing anymore.

It's leaving.

In Jesus' name, behealed and be made whole.

Terry.

- There's someone, your name is Stuart

and you too have had avery drastic diagnosis

and it has really thrown you.

You are so used to being ableto control your circumstances

and you feel this kind of, justanxious rush inside of you.

You don't know what to do.

In your weakness, Stuart, He is strong.

Let it go, take three deep breaths.

Rest in the Lord.

Watch what He will do.

- There's someone saying,

"Please say mouth cancer, tongue cancer."

You've got that.

You're blaming yourself

because it comes from chewing tobacco.

And God has just released you from it.

You don't have to blame yourself.

You don't have to haveguilt and shame anymore.

Just rejoice in what He'sgiving you right now.

Open your mouth and let theLord fill it with His goodness.

Begin to praise Him for themiracle He's doing for you.

Right now, He's taking awayall cancer in Jesus' name.

Everything on the leftside in the lower jaw

leaving you right nowin the name of Jesus.

Everything on your tongueleaving you right now.

In Jesus' name, behealed and be made whole.

Lord, we just thank You.

We thank You for who You are.

Your very name is healer.

Your very name is salvation.

Your very name is restoration.

Your very name is comfort.

And we thank You for who You are

and for what You have done.

We receive it now inJesus' name, amen and amen.

If you've been healed, let us know.

Send in your good report by calling us.

Call us, 1-800-700-7000.

If you need prayer, we're here for you,

24 hours a day, seven days a week,

and it's our honor to pray with you

and we believe in prevailing prayer,

the prayer that gets an answer.

So if that's you, you wantprayer, call us, 1-800-700-7000.

Terry.

- Well we want to thank our friends

at Bonita Valley Community Church

in Bonita Valley, California

for sharing Pastor JasonDavid's story with us.

And now, coming up, the millennial pastor

who uses social media as his pulpit,

and he's reaching aroundfive million people a month.

(uplifting music)

- I want to minister topeople right where they are

through social media,through the internet,

through Google and these things,

and so it's just an opportunityand a place to communicate.

- Matt Brown shares howhe's trying to change

the online landscape, so don't go away.

Today's political divide

mirrors another growing gap in America,

the dramatic rise of younger people

who claim no religion at all.

John Jessup introduces usto one millennial evangelist

who says the key to healing the division

lies in two gospel ideas: truth plus love.

- Matt Brown may not bea common household name

like other more well-knownChristian evangelists,

yet his influence after 17years of ministry is undeniable,

sending him hopscotching orbroadcasting across the country,

reaching millions of people daily

the message of the gospel.

- Hey, I'm Matt, and Ithink that we'd all agree

that this world is full of bad news.

- [John] As a young influencer

with a large social following,

Matt Brown laughs at how heonce resisted technology.

- I was slow to get a cellphone.

I was slow to get a computer.

I was slow to get on social media.

- [John] Then, he learnedhow those same technologies

could serve as a pulpit.

- I was an evangelist soI was waiting on pastors

to have me come in and preach

and so I was like, "Idon't need to wait here.

"I can just write, I can just minister."

- [John] While he frequently speaks

at conferences andchurches and even TV shows,

Brown reaches around fivemillion people a month

through his onlineministry, Think Eternity,

helping hundreds each year toaccept Jesus as their Savior.

- It's been said that complaining

about God being silentwhen your Bible is closed

is like complaining aboutnot getting text messages

when your phone is turned off.

I want to minister topeople right where they are

through social media,through the internet,

through Google and these things,

and so it's just an opportunityand a place to communicate.

(mouse clicking)

- [John] But Matt also noticedsomething that disturbed him,

people behaving poorly on social media,

including Christians,especially when conversations

turn political.

- I'm not telling people

that they should engage politics

or other things any certain way.

You know, there's differentthoughts about that.

But just, we gotta be carefulabout how we disagree,

you know, who we call intolerant.

- [John] It's a topic hediscusses in a new book,

"Truth Plus Love."

Growing up in a Christian home,

he measured spiritual maturity

by how often he prayedor studied the Bible.

Now, he says, it's about something deeper,

the fruit of the spirit.

- When you're passionateabout the Word of God

and miss all the scripturesabout being compassionate

and being kind, there's so many.

Like be gentle, bear with each other.

Like keep the unity.

This is why I'm so passionate

about this message I wantedto write, "Truth Plus Love."

- [John] Matt says, asChristian ambassadors,

believers need to modelboth in a balanced way.

He believes failing todo so may be one factor

turning others away from religion.

Today, about one in four Americans

claim no religious affiliation,

and that number ishigher among millennials.

Young adults are morethan three times as likely

to identify as religiouslyunaffiliated as seniors.

- Lying is not the path of salvation.

- [John] Many feel turnedoff by a view of Christianity

seemingly defined by politicsor hot button issues.

- This world is full of bad news.

I mean, we get it every day on our phones,

we get it on our social.

- [John] Matt's on a mission

to redeem the social media landscape,

urging Christians tobe good online stewards

and model Christlike truth and love

rather than sound off withanger or try to win arguments.

- So we stop for a second, we go,

"Is this loving?

"Is this joyful, isthis kind, is it gentle?

"Am I exhibiting self-control?"

If you think about someonewho has a lot of love

and a lot of joy and a lot of peace,

I mean, who does not wantto be around that person?

I've never met an encourager

who doesn't have a lot of friends.

So I think God calls us to this,

and so, as we do that,it'll make us more effective

for His kingdom, more effectivein our lives in general.

- [John] His wife, Michelle, sees that

as the key to Matt's ministry.

- He's encouraging, andthere's not many people

that are authentically encouraging,

and that would be my two words for him,

that he's authentic and encouraging.

What you see is the real deal.

- [John] His effort toreclaim social media

connects him with otherpartners big and small

and, in some cases, totally unexpected,

like last year whenFacebook, of all places,

invited Matt to host a summit

of Christian social media influencers.

- And that was just like areally interesting gathering

of church leaders.

There was about 80 of us

and we actually got to worship and pray

in one of the meetingrooms there at one point

with some of the employees.

- [John] For Matt, this redemption goal

means pouring into youngevangelical leaders,

helping many to grow theirinfluence and sign book deals.

- I've learned just the joyof generosity through that,

to open doors for young leaders,

to try to be a blessing to them,

to not try to seek to get something

or build our ministry throughthem, but to build them.

- Whether using his influencethrough social media,

his podcast, or as an author,

Matt Brown says he remains committed

to helping people thinkfrom an eternal perspective,

extending the truth, love,joy, and grace of Jesus Christ

to a hungry and hurting world.

John Jessup, CBN News,

reporting in Orange County, California.

- Truth, love, joy, and grace.

The world has never needed it more.

Great job, Matt.

Well, still ahead, it's somethingyour pastor may not know,

but it could save your church.

Find out more after this.

(upbeat music)

- You probably never thinkof the church you attend

as a business, and your pastorprobably doesn't either,

and that could lead to bigproblems for your church.

Take a look.

- [Reporter] Most pastorssay they entered the ministry

to help people and topreach the Word of God.

But the reality is, upto 90% of a pastor's time

is spent on things that have nothing to do

with those noble goals.

Instead, they spend their time

caught up in the businessof running a church.

Stephen Lentz, a pastorwho's also a lawyer,

says the average pastor is ill-equipped

to handle the pressuresand responsibilities

of running a church, andthat's why many of them fail.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

Lentz offers a practical guide for pastors

in his book, "The Business of Church:

"The Concise BusinessHandbook for Pastors."

- Well Stephen Lentz joins us now,

and let's get right to it.

Pastors and I would saymany in the congregation

don't know how to reallyrun the church as an entity.

- True.- I will avoid

the word business, but justhow do you run it as an entity?

- Right.- Why is that?

- Well, first of all, let me just mention,

this is a handbook.

And, you know, my publisher,

he said, "Steve, thisbook needs to be bigger."

I said, "You don'tunderstand my audience."

(Gordon laughs)

This is written for pastors.- That was one of the things

I love about it, it's thin.

- This is written for pastors,- I'll hold it up and show you

just how,- right,

- oh, it's thin.- and for church leaders.

- Yeah.- It's easy

to get through.- Yeah, we're hoping

to work with you and Regentand some other colleges

to actually create a textbook

called "The Business of Church"

to be carried in the seminaries

and in the different schools.

But, you know, thereason this is important

is because even a small churchhas all the moving parts

of any other corporation,

and so it has budgeting,it has accountability,

it has reporting, ithas compliance issues,

it has employment issues.

It is a business, and so, you know,

the research that we've shown

from pastors who have burned out,

invariably, they say they get involved,

to be called pastors 'causethey want to preach the Bible

and they want to help people.

But 90% of their actual work,

their core responsibility is business

and they're not trained.

So the idea of this particular handbook

was to give them at least touch points

to say these are areasthat really matter to you,

and if you don't understand them,

find somebody to help you,but you have to address

certain issues like hiring the board.

Who's on your board of directors?

It's not your golfing buddies.

It's not your recreational buddies.

These are fiduciaries withresponsibilities and liabilities.

And so you have to addressthe legal components

of what's going on.

- One of the things you put into the book

that I find veryinteresting is that churches

really need to put onthe whole armor of God.

Why is that so, that'sa very spiritual term,

but you're saying we needthe whole armor of God

on the church and take advantage

of the armor that's available.

Why is that so important today?

- That's a great question.

You know, we live in Tidewater, Virginia,

the largest military presence,

at least on the eastern seaboard

if not in the entire United States.

It's not tough for us tobe able to see a picture

of a soldier decked outin all of the equipment,

realizing that everypiece of that equipment

was designed not only to help him survive,

but also win the battle.

But the church is famousfor selecting pieces

and leaving the rest on the shelf.

So in our world here in Tidewater,

it'd be absurd for oneof our special ops guys

to say, "Well I don't want towear the night vision goggles

"because the color greenmakes me nauseous,"

or "I don't want to wear

"the Kevlar vest."- You wouldn't get through,

I'm sorry.

- "I don't want to wear--"- You'd be cut first day.

- "I don't want to wear the Kevlar vest

"because it's restrictive."

Obviously, they'regonna put everything on.

And so there's a chapter in the book

that says it's not unspiritualto know your legal rights.

We're using Paul, in the book of Acts,

when he was about ready to be beaten

and he turned over his shoulder

and he said to his jailer, "Youknow I am a Roman citizen."

And that basically led to theentire moment being shut down.

It extended his ministry

because he knew his legal rights.

And I believe in America today,

Gordon, we're living ina period of extension.

God wants the church to take ground.

We have the First Amendment.

We have the ability to take ground,

but we have to do it ina wise, intentional way,

which includes knowing our legal rights.

It's never been more important

for the churches to address this.

- Yeah, and know the forums

where you can really express- Absolutely.

- your legal rights.

I think many churchesdon't want to appeal.

I'll use another example.

Paul appealed to Caesar.

- I was gonna mention that,

yep.- He was getting ready

to win the trial, but he says,"No, God has an appointment

"for me in Rome,"- That's right.

- and so he appealed to Caesar.

And with that, some reallygreat things happened.

- He chose his forum.

- You choose wisely,get that whole armor on.

- That's correct.

- And if you're a church pastor or leader,

you need this book.

It's called "Business of Church."

It's available on Amazon.

And Steve, thanks for being with us.

- Thanks, brother.

It's good to see you.

- Here's a word from Ephesians:

Put on all of God's armorso that you will be able

to stand firm against the strategies,

all the strategies of the devil.

God bless you, we'll see you again.

(uplifting music)