The pastor said that seven years ago God challenged him in the area of his physical health and that at first Todd was not willing to listen. He showed the congregation a picture of himself without his shirt on when he was at his heaviest at 275 pounds.
Todd said that at the time he was eating to manage the stress of leading a church. He couldn’t play with his kids like he wanted to, but no one challenged him on his health. In fact, people would pay for him to eat.
“Is diabetes going to take you out?” he asked. Todd acknowledged that there are people who are unhealthy and successful but questioned what opportunities such people are denying themselves by not addressing their physical health. “I just want you to be able to meet the required purpose God places on your life,” he said.
For example, what if people are called to minister to children in a remote village in Africa, but their physical health is preventing them from fulfilling that call? “Your desire is there,” said Todd. “Your knees aren’t.”
Todd referenced 1 Samuel 16:7, which describes when the prophet Samuel anoints David (whose appearance is not impressive) to be king over Israel. The verse says in part, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
While this verse is clearly saying that God values the state of someone’s heart over their appearance, Todd said that God revealed to him the verse also refers to people’s physical hearts.
The pastor stated that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States and said that “the enemy” is targeting people through their heart health. He claimed that God told him he (God) had called several people to preach this message, but they had refused, which is why God gave Todd the task of preaching it.
On the stage behind Todd was a set with pictures on the walls and chairs arranged in front of it, depicting a church. About two-thirds of the way through his sermon, the pastor went to a table that was on stage and uncovered it, revealing different kinds of food. He then proceeded to take food from the table and start throwing it at the pictures on the wall and all over the chairs.
He started with ketchup and Chinese food before opening a bag of Cheetos and throwing them on the chairs. He then took syrup and poured it on some communion elements that were on the stage before moving on to a Bible that was resting on a stand, eliciting gasps from those in attendance. After the syrup, the pastor started squirting whipped cream on the Bible.
