God's Preparation for Ministry — Zac Poonen

God’s Work Begins in Insignificant Places

There was a time when the world lay in desperate need and God sent his son as a little baby. No different from other babies, there was no halo around his head. In fact, when the angels told the shepherds how to find this baby, I mean if he had a halo around his head, they could have just told him, go and look for a baby with a halo around the head.

It wasn't that. The distinctive feature was, if you go around town, you'll only find one baby lying in a cattle shed, with the cows and the donkeys, and in a little sort of cradle, which is not a cradle at all, but the food, the thing in which the animals ate their food.

We talk about a baby in a manger, but it wasn't a very attractive place where Jesus was born, and that is how God began that most wonderful ministry the world has ever seen, and Christianity has forgotten that.

Christianity still thinks, like the wise men foolishly thought, that Jesus would be born in a palace. He was not born in any palace. He came in the most insignificant way, in the most insignificant place, as a little baby, and brought redemption to the world, and that's how the church is also born.

Each local church, if it's born of God, is born like that, unknown, tucked away in some corner, where nobody knows anything about what God is doing. Nobody knew anything about what God was doing in that cattle shed that day, no, but it was the most significant event in the history of the world, and so sometimes the way God works is not the way man works, with great pomp and show.

In some little corner, he begins something which looks very insignificant, which men don't care for, but one day he'll discover that that which God has planted will one day grow and influence the whole world.

So we can say that that's a little bit, those of us who have been here from the beginning, there are very few left of those who were meeting in the very first day we met. I think I can even count on my fingers how many there were, just a very, very few, less than one, two, three, four, five, six, maybe eight or nine, or ten at the most, including children who are here with us today in the church, who were with us in the first day we met on the 17th of August, 1975, but that's how God began his work, and through the years we've had many ups and downs, and God has been faithful.

Jesus’ Hidden Years and the Beginning of Ministry

And Jesus also was hidden away for many years. For many years God hid us also. But we read in the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 3, that one day this little baby that was born in a cattle shed, ignored and not known, one day this little baby was thirty years old, like we are now.

And we read about Jesus being thirty years old in Luke chapter 3, and it says here in verse 23 about Jesus' age. When Jesus began his ministry, Jesus himself was thirty years of age. And what a wonderful way his ministry began.

It says in verse 21 to 22 that Jesus was praying. You know, I've seen that all true work of God always begins with prayer. And this church was also born in prayer. Many many times. I know in the old building before this church was born, Brother Ian and I used to meet frequently for prayer.

My wife and I used to pray frequently in our own home, and over a long period of time. And then one day the church was born. So that's how it begins, all ministry. Because prayer is an expression, it's not a question of how many hours you're on your knees.

No, I don't think, the emphasis unfortunately today is on length of time. It's not that, it's an attitude. You can spend a whole night on the knees and God may not even hear you. It's the attitude of your heart that determines whether you're really praying or not.

A lot of people pray, it doesn't seem to change them. You know, I've seen people who, it always amazes me, people who spend all night fasting in prayer and days of prayer and all that, and in the end of it they still love money, they still haven't overcome anger, and they still haven't overcome lust, and they're still seeking their own honor.

I said, who are they praying to? They didn't have contact with God at all. You know, when you contact, have contact with God, it's like putting your finger into the plug point. Have you ever tried doing it?

Don't do it, but I'm just saying, if you ever do it, you'll never forget it. Imagine keeping your hand in that plug point for 15 minutes, boy, you'll really be charged. The thing is, contact with God doesn't kill us, like plug point, but it's something similar to that.

And people say, oh, we spent so many hours with God. Nothing has happened in your life, you're still in darkness. But Jesus' prayer was a living contact with God. It was power. I'd rather have one minute like that with God than all your all-night prayer meetings and hours and days of prayer.

One minute of power, contact with God, it can charge you and change your life. So that's how Jesus prayed, and that's the only way I want to pray all of my life. Not interested in preaching sermons on prayer and all that type of stuff.

A lot of people who preach long sermons on prayer, I don't see much spiritual electricity in them. I don't see the lightning of God in their life or their ministry. It means they're not in touch with God.

Jesus spoke very little about prayer. He prayed, but he hardly ever spoke about prayer. I mean, he said two or three times, but most of the time he was speaking on purity. So we see here, Jesus was baptized, and in baptism he was choosing a way of death.

That's another thing. Jesus began his ministry by choosing the way of death to the world, to the opinions of men, to his own self, to his own will. That's what he decided at the age of 30. That's the way he's going to give.

The Holy Spirit came upon him. That's another thing that happened at the age of 30. The Holy Spirit descended upon him in power, and there's no ministry that can ever be fulfilled without the Holy Spirit coming upon us in power.

And heavens were open. That's another thing that happened. Heaven was open, and that's how God wants us to live all the time, that heaven is open over us, and we can have contact with God all the time.

The Bible says, brothers, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence with God, 1 John 3. Heaven is always open over us. And the other thing we see there is, there was a voice from heaven which said, I'm well pleased with you.

And that's the thing Jesus lived for. Father, are you happy with me? That's all that matters. That's the true church of Jesus Christ today. Because today, the church is called the body of Christ. That's the same body we read of here.

And those values that we see here in this, in Jesus Christ, is what we must have. This is what Jesus was at the age of 30. My own belief is, my faith is this, and I want you to join with me in faith, that at the age of 30, Jesus was moving out into a ministry such as he had never seen before.

And we want to believe that for our church too. See all that time, it's not that he didn't live a holy life, he lived a holy life. I'm sure for 30 years he was a blessing to numerous people in Nazareth, people who visited his home, people who visited his carpenter shop, and people he contacted, the people whose houses he visited.

But this was going to be different. Now his influence was going to spread all over the country. And it wasn't going to stop. And let's have faith for that. Not for our glory. Jesus never did a single thing for his glory.

Everything was the glory of the Father. At the end of his life, he could say in John 17 and verse 4, Father, I have glorified you on earth. He never glorified himself. And so when we say all this, we're not talking about people thinking greatly about church or CFC, no.

God, there's many things God will give us. He'll give us his blessing, he'll give us power, he'll give us wealth, he'll give us health, he'll give us a thousand things, but there's one thing he'll never give us.

It says in Isaiah 42, verse 8, I am the Lord, my glory I will never give to another. Because it's not good for us. It's never good for us to have glory. God will give us everything good for us, and glory is not one of those good things.

Exalting Jesus Rather Than Ourselves

And that's why a lot of Christians have gone astray, preachers, churches, seeking honor for themselves, their name, their honor, promoting themselves, their families, their church. We're not interested in that.

We want to lift up Jesus. For 30 years, our message has been Jesus only, and that's what it'll be until he comes again. We will lift up Jesus ever, Jesus only will we see, all the time. And if people see him, I remember as a young man I read a little poem about a painting of Jesus Christ, and somebody in the darkness was holding up a lamp to that painting, and everybody was seeing that beautiful painting, nobody could even see the hand that was holding the lamp.

And I said, Lord, that's the way I want to be. That people see Jesus and they don't see the hand that's holding the lamp and shining on that painting. That's how it must be. And the second verse said about a trumpeter who blew the trumpet so loud and clear that everybody got the message, but nobody could see the trumpeter.

And that's how we must be, brothers and sisters, as a church, that we exalt Jesus Christ our Lord and proclaim the message so loud and clear that people don't need to know our name. People don't even need to know where we are located on the earth.

I mean, if people get a message through the internet, they don't need to know that it is from this particular church, this particular town, they don't even need to know it. So long as they are drawn to Jesus and they are prepared for the coming of the Lord, we have done our job, that's all.

That's why in 30 years we have never sent a report of our work anywhere, we don't send photographs, we don't ask anybody for money, because we're not interested in promoting ourselves. That's how Jesus was.

God Sends People to Meet Particular Needs

And so if we live like that, I believe that the blessing of the Lord will be upon our lives. It says about John the Baptist, these wonderful words, John chapter 1, verse 6, there was a particular time and a particular need among God's people.

And for that time and that particular need, God sent a prophet. His name was John. And it says about him in John chapter 1, verse 6, there came a man sent from God, whose name was John. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

And at different times in history, when God sees a particular need of a particular people, God sends a man, because he always does his work through a man. He doesn't do it, I mean, or a woman, but he doesn't do it through angels.

I mean, there are millions of angels who would be delighted if God would say, hey, you better go and do that. There'd be competition among them to go. But it's so sad that God can find so few, so few men and women, very rarely can he find a man or a woman totally given over to him.

I've heard stories of some of the great men of God. I don't remember whether it was George Muller or William Booth, one of the two, when somebody asked them the end of his life, what was the secret of his life, and he bowed down low to the ground and he said, there was a day that came in my life as a young man, when I decided that God would have all that there was of me, completely, totally, and that was the secret of his life.

And that's been the secret of every man and woman God has ever used. At some time in their life, they decided that God would have everything, from head to foot, all their ambitions, plans, desires, money, time, energy, everything would be God's.

And he finds very few like that. He finds very few people and very few churches like that. But that's always God's way. There was a man sent from God. So I want to look at three such examples this morning.

Joseph: God’s Preparation for Ministry During Spiritual Famine

First of all, in Psalm 106, Psalm 106, God knew that in the land of Egypt, and Egypt is a picture of the world, there was going to be a great famine, a famine that would kill everybody. It would last for seven years.

But God in his mercy was going to send seven years of plenty before the seven years of famine. But there wouldn't be anybody with wisdom to think about it, because they didn't know the future. I mean, when you have plenty, do you think about the time when a famine may come?

I mean, how many of you, brothers and sisters, who earn a lot of money today, think of saving something for the future? No, you say, oh, plenty, I can spend it all. That's how foolish man is. Even the ants have got more wisdom, the Bible says.

They store up for the future. They don't eat it all up. They are not gluttonous, because they think of another day. And people who think like that will never have to beg or borrow or steal when the time of need comes, because they have planned ahead, learning from the ants.

But in Egypt, there wouldn't be people like that, because they think, oh, plenty means there will always be plenty. And so God sent a man into that situation. It's the one we read of in Psalm 106. We read about this man whom the Lord sent into, sorry, Psalm 105, not 106, verse 17.

Psalm 105, verse 17. God sent a man before them, Joseph. And when he was sent into Egypt, he was to be the savior of Egypt in a few years. You know how they treated him? They sold him as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters and laid him in irons.

This man whom God sent to be the savior of that nation, that is how blind man is. How did they treat Jesus when he came to save the world? That's how blind man is. The world doesn't realize what a blessing it is to have God's people.

The Bible says that if there were 10 people in the city of Sodom, Sodom would have been saved. Do you know that the blessing of God on any city depends on the number of righteous people in that city? The Lord told Abraham in Genesis 18 that if I find 10 righteous men in Sodom, there may be thousands there, but I'm not bothered about all of them.

If I can find 10 righteous men, I'll save that city. Not 1 ,000 compromisers who come and praise the Lord on Sunday morning and live for themselves the rest of the week. No, they will not have any influence in the city.

But if God can find 10 righteous men, it's the same today. People don't recognize that one righteous man can make a difference. In fact, in the time of when God wanted to send the Babylonians to punish Israel for all their sin, God gave them one last chance.

He said, before I send the Babylonians to take you into captivity for 70 years, Jeremiah, I'll give them one last chance. I want you to read this verse. Jeremiah 5, verse 1. The Lord told Jeremiah, roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is a picture of Christianity, the church. Jeremiah 5, verse 1. Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. Look now, search in the market squares. See if you can find one man, not 10. In Sodom it was 10.

Here it is 1. If you can find one man in the whole of Jerusalem, not those who go and offer the sacrifices and praise the Lord on the Saturdays and go to the temple. No, no, no, there are thousands like that, the Lord says.

But one man who does what is right. Who speaks the truth. Who lives a true life. And I will pardon the whole city. Of course, Jeremiah himself was like that, but he was a prophet of God, he was excluded.

The Lord said to Jeremiah, go and search, search, search, search, search. There was not even one. God said, okay, judgment. So, remember this, brothers and sisters, if you want to bless your city, you don't need to get a mega church with 10 ,000 people.

That's what a lot of people think, we're going to influence the city with mega churches. They haven't read these stories in the Old Testament. God is looking for one man. Let me show you another verse, Ezekiel, chapter 22.

This is also in the time of Babylonian captivity, where the Lord says, Ezekiel 22, and verse 30. I searched for a man. You know, the people did so many wrong things, verse 29. They practiced oppression, committed robbery, they wronged the poor immediately, oppressed the surgeons without justice.

They did all types of wrong things, and in the midst of all this compromise, the Lord says, I searched for one man, who would stand up for the truth. Who would build the wall. Build the wall means, you know, the wall was broken down.

When a broken down wall means compromise. You know, the walls of Jerusalem were the thing that separated Jerusalem from the rest of the world. So, when the church loses its walls, it's like a church that's compromised.

And the Lord said, I looked for one man who would build the wall again, and stand up for the things that I stood for, so that I don't destroy that. But I did not find even one. I believe it's the same today.

It's the same today. There are many people who come to church and praise the Lord, and say so many wonderful things, but they don't have 100 integrity in their life. They're not true before God. God is not everything to them.

There are other things in life which are more important to them. God doesn't force them. He says, OK, come, do what you like. But God can't use them. There was a man sent from God, and like we read about Joseph, they treated him so badly, they put him in fetters, they put him in a jail.

But, notice this, what it says about, in the book of Genesis chapter 39, what it says about Joseph in the years when they treated him badly. Genesis chapter 39, he was first put as a slave in the house of an Egyptian general called Potiphar.

And it says here in verse 2, the Lord was with Joseph. And not only that, his master saw, verse 3, the Lord was with him. He was a slave. Slave means without a salary, lower than servants. This is the lowest level of people, bought.

You don't have to pay them, you can make them work day and night, you don't have to feed them, you can kill them, nobody questions. Like furniture. Slaves were like that. And this man Potiphar, this general, looked around and said, boy, that slave, whatever he does, there's something about him.

He saw that God was with that man. You know, that's how it is with a man of God. When God sends a man, the whole world may oppose him. He may not be dressed properly because he's a slave. But you'll see that God is with him.

And you can't fight against it. Then we read that his wife falsely accused him and put him in jail. What happened in the jail? It says, when he was put inside the jail, So, verse 20, same chapter, Joseph's master took him and put him into jail because of this false allegation, this lie that his wife told him.

But in the jail, verse 21, the Lord was with Joseph in the jail. You see, it's just that the Lord was in Potiphar's house because Joseph was there. When Joseph moved to the jail, the Lord moved to the jail.

Isn't that great? Poor Potiphar, the Lord left his house. He was so stupid to push Joseph out. That's what happens when you push a man of God out of somewhere. God goes with him. And you're left alone, without God.

Poor Potiphar. I've seen churches where they pushed a man of God out. God went with that man. And the church is left without God. See, exactly what happened. The Lord was with Joseph. Think, my brothers and sisters, I don't know whether this challenges you.

I don't know how many of you rise up to this challenge. To be a man or a woman sent by God to this generation. My generation is getting over. You know that. It's your generation, young people. Be a man and a woman sent by God to your generation.

That's very, very important. So we read here, in Genesis, in chapter 41. No, one more verse. Sorry, verse 23. Genesis 39, 23. The chief jailer did not supervise anything because he saw the Lord was with him.

I mean, the jailer saw, hey, something happened in this jail after this new prisoner came. Isn't that wonderful? You know, you move into a hostel and all the boys and girls say, hey, something's happened here.

This person, one person has come and everything's different. Or somebody comes into an office and says, hey, something's happened in this office because this guy has come here. Or this girl has come here.

Things are different. That's how it was and it doesn't matter. I mean, he may be a despised prisoner, but everybody recognized that God was with him. Now we turn to chapter 41, verse 46. After all this time of difficulty, we read in chapter 41, verse 46.

Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh. This is like we are. And there, at the age of 30, Joseph moved out into the most wonderful ministry that anyone had ever seen in the land of Egypt.

For 80 years, 80 years. And he administered the collection of all the food in the time of plenty. So that in the time of famine, he could give it out. And that's what saved that nation. Otherwise, the nation of Egypt might have disappeared from the face of the earth.

If there's an Egypt there in the world today, you got to thank Joseph for it. Otherwise, all those guys would have died. The entire population. There wouldn't be any Egypt today. I don't think Egypt recognizes their gratitude to Joseph.

He was the man who saved that land. Can you imagine seven years of famine? If you have seven years of famine in India, there won't be any Indians left. Somebody else will come and take over this country.

It won't be India anymore. And, you know, we are living in a time like that. I don't know whether you realize. There's a famine of the Word of God everywhere. And it is going to get worse. What people are preaching from the pulpits of Christendom today and a lot of it over television is psychology.

Christian psychology. Make people feel nice. Make people feel secure. Don't talk to them about sin. Don't preach like the prophets of old against sin. Don't tell them that you cannot serve God and money.

Don't talk about such things. They don't want to hear it. I preached that once on television. They took me off the next week. That's it. They don't want to hear it. The famine of God's Word is being replaced by psychology.

Gimmicks. Magic tricks on the platform. Evangelists who come dressed like magicians. Have you seen magicians? Evangelists who come dressed like magicians for their magic show and disappear after the magic show is over.

They're in it for the money just like the magicians are in it for the money. The magicians become millionaires and the evangelists become millionaires. Do you think this is the gospel of Jesus Christ?

You've got to be off your head. You've got to have a few screws loose in your head if you think that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not, my brothers and sisters. Can you imagine Jesus coming like that?

Doing a magic show on a platform and collecting money and becoming a millionaire through that and saying God bless them. You've got to really be off your head if you think that's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is another Jesus. Yeah, there's a famine. There's a famine all over. And it's going to get worse and worse and worse and worse. It doesn't look like a famine. Because a lot of believers don't have discernment.

I mean if they look at their own lives and ask themselves a very simple question. After watching all these TV programs how much victory have I got over my anger? How much happier is my home life? The only thing that happens to a lot of people after watching too many TV programs is their bank account becomes a little less because it's gone to that evangelist.

That's all. It doesn't get them holier, godlier, bolder. Listening to a lot of preachers today. That's the famine. And in the midst of that famine you know what God does? What did He do in Egypt? He sent a man.

Do you want to be that man or that woman in your generation? Well, I'll tell you it's not going to be easy. They'll treat you like a slave. They'll treat you like a prisoner. They'll afflict your feet with irons.

They'll tell false stories about you. They'll call you the biggest heretic around. Are you willing for that? To be the man God sends? That's what they call Joseph. That's how they treated him. Criminal, adulterer.

Imagine calling this man who was perhaps the purest young man on the face of the earth. I think so. I think Joseph at the age of 20 was perhaps the purest young man on the face of the earth and they charged him with adultery.

Locked him up. Are you willing for that? To be falsely accused? To be pure in the midst of temptation? Then you can be the man who will minister God's word in a time of famine. That's our calling as a church.

To minister God's word purely without compromise. None of all this psychology. Not the power of positive thinking. Not the power of possibility thinking. But the power of the Holy Spirit. Not the power of music or emotional power.

No. Not the power of money. But the power of the Holy Spirit. Very very few have that. I'll tell you this. I've been around Christendom for 46 years. And I've seen very few men in my life whom I can really say there is an anointed man.

Every time he opens his mouth, I hear God. You can be like that, brothers and sisters. That's how Joseph was. A man who represented God in a wicked, godless nation. In a time of famine, he had enough to give to everybody.

And in a time of famine, God has called us, God has sent the church in a time of famine, in the midst of Christendom. And Joseph, at the age of 30, began that ministry. And that's what we need to do also.

Now that we've come to the age of 30, that's our calling. And for that, there was a long preparation. He was faithful at home for many years. God tested him in his home. And God tests people in the home.

He'll test you in your home. He will test you in your workplace. Joseph was tested in his workplace, whether he'd be faithful. How many young men, Christians, who are unfaithful in the workplace, fooling around with women.

Not committing adultery, but flirtatious type of conversation. Can you imagine Joseph as a young man, even if he didn't touch potty for his wife, having a flirtatious type of conversation with her. Can you imagine Joseph doing that?

There are married people doing that today, who call themselves Christians. That's because they don't know God's word. They've just been influenced by all this psychology. In the midst of this famine of purity, godless Christendom, he wants young men and young women, who are pure in their workplace, who are faithful in their home, in such a way that people will recognize God is with you.

Your clothes may not be the smartest in your office or in your home, but they'll recognize God is with you. Jesus' clothes were not the smartest. Joseph's clothes as a slave were certainly not the smartest, but people recognized God is with that man.

I'll tell you, his brothers were jealous of him. That's another thing Joseph faced. Wherever you're a man of God, you'll find your family members causing you problems. Jesus said that. The man's enemies will be those of his own family.

And if you don't have problems, if your family members don't oppose you, I wonder whether you're a first-class compromiser, who's out to please those unconverted, nominal Christians in your family. You don't care whether they go to hell.

Your family members, nominal Christians are on their way to hell. Why? Because you never took a stand against them. You want to please them instead of pleasing Almighty God. Well, not only your family members go to hell, because you don't take a stand against, stand for the Lord.

But God can't make you the man you should be. If God's laid hold of you like He laid hold of young Joseph. I want to say that by the time you're 30, God wants you to be His representative. But during those 30 years, He has to break you, humble you, test you, in all types of situations, to see whether you'll be true to Him.

David: A Heart That Beats With God’s Heart

I want to move on to another example. In Acts chapter 13, we read of another man who began a ministry at the age of 30, just like Joseph. Acts chapter 13, we read of another time when God's name was being dishonored.

Acts 13, we read about the time when Saul, verse 21, was king. They asked for a king and God gave them Saul. And He removed him, verse 22. And He raised up David. He sent a man. David. You know what God said about David?

I want to read it in the Message Bible. In verse 22, I have searched throughout the land and I found this young man, David. He's a man whose heart beats with my heart. A man who will do exactly what I tell him to do.

I want to be like that. I hope you want to be like that. A man whose heart beats with the heart of God. When do you get excited? When you make money? God's not excited when He makes money. That's what I mean by your heart beating with the heart of God.

He's not at all excited. You know if somebody puts one million rupees in the offering box, God's heart doesn't start beating fast. No. What's that? Just the same. He's not excited by somebody giving him money.

I'll tell you what excites him. When somebody humbles himself in some situation. When somebody stands for purity. When somebody loves his enemies. That's when God's excited. Boy! How excited he was when he saw Job standing up for righteousness when he lost all his children and business.

Whose heart beats with my heart. That's what David was. Young man. His parents despised him. And if you want to see how much they despised him, we read of a time when Samuel went to his father's house, Jesse's house and said, bring all your children.

I've got to anoint one of them to be king. And we read in 1 Samuel 16. Jesse didn't call all of them. He had 8 sons. And at least one daughter. But he had 8 sons. And Samuel said, call all your sons. You know what he did?

He called 7 of them. The oldest 7. King. Must be these ones. And if you had asked Jesse, hey, isn't there another one out there? Ah! Just strumming his guitar all the time and singing songs to God. He's not fit to be the king.

And he called his 7 sons and we read 1 Samuel 16, verse 10. Jesse made all his 7 sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said, the Lord has not chosen any of these. And Samuel said, you mean that's all? Children, did I make a mistake?

Are these all your children? Oh, he said, that's the youngest one. He's just pretty useless. We just sent him to look after the sheep. It can't be him. Can't be him. Samuel said, bring him in. Till he comes, we're not going to sit down.

And as soon as he came, young, the Lord said in verse 12 to Samuel, arise, this is the one I've chosen. You know, it doesn't care what your father, it doesn't matter what your father thought about you.

It's what God thinks about you that matters. I love that, you know. I go to home sometimes and in many homes there's a black sheep. You know what a black sheep means? The one that always does something wrong.

And very often the parents will complain to me, Brother Zach, please pray for this one. He didn't study properly. He's always messing up and going on the wrong trends. And I never pray for them. Because I feel like praying for the mother and father.

The problem is with them, you see. Because I have hope for this black sheep. I've seen it in so many homes. That black sheep is the one God picks up. Because that's the one who is despised by everybody.

Nobody has any hope for him. This is the one God picks up and says, OK. You all despise him, I'll pick him up. Imagine when Samuel, the prophet says, call all your sons. He's a prophet speaking from God.

Call all your sons. One of them is going to be king. He doesn't even call this person. Can you imagine how much he despised David? That's the one God chose. Because God saw in that young 17 year old boy's heart.

A heart that beat with his heart. Concerned about his name. And next chapter you read that. It was a time, in Joseph's time it was a time of famine. We saw that spiritually. In David's time it was a time when everybody was afraid of Goliath.