May 14, 2025
"7 Mountains, 1 Mission: The Mandate to Impact Culture 🏔️"
Join us as we tackle life’s challenges with faith, hope, and a whole lot of heart. Living Up In A Down World is a podcast where we dive deep into real conversations about navigating today’s world while staying grounded in truth and purpose.
WEBVTT
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This is Jimmy and Annette and we want to welcome
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you to Living Up and Down World. This is our
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podcast that we've been doing. We're on like
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episode 98 or 9. I think we're 99. Wait, are
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you sure we're not at over 100? No, we're at
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99 right now. So we want to welcome you. Glad
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that you're with us today. We're going to be
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short to the point, but we want to talk about
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something that's really important to us. And
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it started with a trip out to Colorado. Where
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do we go? Went to Colorado Springs, Colorado
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to a Flashpoint live event, which was our first
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one that we've attended. And we've watched it
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on TV on streaming. But this was. And boy, when
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you can go to a place and be in the atmosphere
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that we were in, it changes everything. It's
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like church. You can watch it online or you can
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go to church and you will feel the presence of
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God. Not that you can't at home, but there is
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a collective presence that you feel with others
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that is amazing. So it was a wonderful trip.
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Great trip. Flashpoint Live. That's Gene Bailey
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and his team, Lance Wallnau, Rick Green. Hank
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Kudeman. Yeah, several different. And then they
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have different guests that they bring in. Amazing
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commentary from a biblical worldview on what's
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going on in our world. And we call that cultural
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engagement. And one of the things we've come
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to learn really over the last few years is how
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much the entire Bible is cultural engagement.
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It's 100 percent. It's taking the gospel, the
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good news of Jesus Christ. into culture, every
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arena of culture and being salt and light. Can
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I read a scripture? Yes, absolutely. All right,
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check this out. This is out of Matthew chapter
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five, part of the Sermon on the Mount. And it's
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a teaching about salt and light. And this is
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what the scripture says. This is Jesus teaching.
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He says, you are the salt of the earth, but what
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good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you
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make it salty again? It will be thrown out and
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trampled underfoot or as worthless. You are the
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light of the world, like a city on a hilltop
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that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp,
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then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp
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is placed on a stand where it gives light to
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everyone in the house. In the same way, let your
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good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone
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will praise your heavenly Father. So this idea
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that Jesus was teaching that, you know, we know
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from the Great Commission in Matthew 28 that
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we're to go and as we're going, we're to make
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disciples of all the nations. It's called discipling
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the nations. This was pre. Great commission.
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This is when Jesus started his ministry. And
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he's addressing in this Sermon on the Mount out
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on the Lake of Galilee, beautiful place. And
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he's telling them that we have a responsibility
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to be salt and to be light. And here's what we
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know about salt and light. Whatever is touched
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or exposed to salt and light changes. Right.
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Nothing can stay the same when it's exposed.
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That's why we can't eat steak without salt. No
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doubt. We can't even drink water without salt
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these days. Lots of sodium. Right. Stay salty,
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right? And so being salt and light in this culture,
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again, we call it cultural engagement. And it
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is where we go out into the world as salt, as
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light. The light exposes. It illuminates. It
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shows the way. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth,
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and the light. And so it shows the way to Christ.
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And then the salty part, salt preserves, salt
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flavors, salt enhances. It brings out. So there's
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so many impact moments when you talk about salt
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and light. So we go out to the Flashpoint. It
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was out at Karis Bible College up in Woodland
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Park, Colorado. Beautiful, beautiful area. Stunning
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campus. Stunning campus, yes. Major. And Pastor
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Brian and Naomi, his wife, got to go with us.
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So we go out there. There's roughly, I would
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guess, around 2 ,500 people. Probably so. Around
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2 ,500, maybe 3 ,000. A lot of people. Huge.
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Amazing place. And Lance Wallnau was one of the
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speakers of the group, and he talks about this
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thing that he calls the Seven Mountain Mandate.
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Yes. So let's talk a little bit about that. Do
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you have the Seven Mountains written down there?
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I do. Show what those are. The Seven Mountains
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are media, family, arts and entertainment, economy,
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religion, education, and government. So those
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are seven mountains that represent our culture.
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This is what society is made up of. And this
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has been talked about in sociological classes,
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sociology, social studies. I had a teacher come
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to me on Sunday morning after the service and
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say, this is something that I've taught to my
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students. So sometimes you'll hear it called
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the seven pillars or the seven spheres. Lance
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Wall now came out about 30 years ago and he.
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taking from a scripture out of the Old Testament,
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it's a prophetic scripture, I don't have it in
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front of me, talking about the mountains. And
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so he likens these to a seven mountain strategy
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or seven mountain mandate. And I'm doing a Bible
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study right now called Restore Seven, I believe
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it is what it's called. But they talk about the
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demonic strategy on the mountains. of these particular
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mountains. There's a demonic strategy to tear
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down all seven of these mountains, which is very
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interesting because God has his own strategy,
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but the enemy has his strategy as well. And somebody's
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going to win. It's all going to depend on who.
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And if we know our identity in Christ, we can
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win over these strategies. But if we don't, we
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will succumb to the enemy's strategy of taking
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us down. That's very well said. One of the things
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that I say a lot is, is that we have got to get
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our voice back in the public square. Absolutely.
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And I say our voice, I mean, as Christians. Yes.
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Here in America, as the Church of Jesus Christ.
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And not put our head in the sand. Right. And
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not capitulate and give over to what the culture
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is doing. And I talk to so many people, pastors,
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individuals who say things like, yeah, but we're
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here to teach the Bible. And yet the Bible is,
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the Bible hits all seven of these mountains on
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an ongoing basis. You read the Old Testament
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cover to cover and the New Testament, and everything
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was about engaging the kings, engaging government,
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engaging civil government, local government,
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religious government. Yes. Everything has to
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do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you think
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of it in terms of a flood. When there's a flood
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that happens, a flash flood, anything that's
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in the path of water will be touched. Absolutely.
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It's the same way. The gospel is to flood the
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earth. And we don't live in a synagogue with
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Jesus and the Holy Spirit God right there. We
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live out in the world where we are to be salt
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and light. And so we have to know how to navigate
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the world, the culture that we live in. recognize
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that these seven mountains exist. And that, I
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don't know why pastors will not go there on this.
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So I heard this statistic while we're at the
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conference. I think it was Jean Bailey who said
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this, said that only 10 % of churches. in America
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are actually engaged in cultural engagement,
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in actually impacting these mountains, impacting
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the mountains of media, family, all these different
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government, all these different areas. Only 10
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% are doing it, which is unconscionable. It's
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criminal. Yes. And pastors and churches, people
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are going to have to stand before God one day
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and give an account when he says, why did you
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not do what I told you to do? That was to go
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into all the world, preach the gospel, baptize
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people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
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Spirit. But why did you not go out and be the
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salt and light that I called you to be? Why did
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you just hover in one area and not get outside
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of the church? Case in point, which is why we
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started the Life Enrichment Center. Back in 2000,
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I think it was 10 or 6, no, it was 6, 7. Because
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we wanted to get outside of the walls of the
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church. You were preaching, and I was preaching
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a little bit, teaching and preaching in the church.
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But we were like, how are we going to affect
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people and get the gospel out without them knowing
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we're getting the gospel out? outside of the
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walls of the church to people that will never
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step into a church. And thus we started the Life
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Enrichment Center and went into the schools,
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taught abstinence education from a biblical standpoint,
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but they didn't even, we didn't use, okay, go
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to chapter three in Roman. You know, we didn't
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do that. We just gave them what is. biblical,
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what's the biblical worldview, and just couched
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it in a pill that they could handle. And we saw
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a massive fruit from that. Oh my goodness. It
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was unbelievable. We taught that to anywhere
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between 11 ,000 and 13 ,000 students in the Central
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Texas area. Pastor Brian Mandel was with us.
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He was a part of that. Our kids were with us.
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But that many students, we were able to go in
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and impact in the public school system, bringing
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the gospel. The way I like to say it is putting
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the go. In the gospel, the first two letters
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of gospel are go. Jesus said, go. And that's
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the education mountain right there. We were educating
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these kids into what God's word says about how
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they're to live their life and how they will
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have freedom in their life. So let me read to
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you the basic definition of seven mountain mandate.
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Seven mountain prayer strategy or mandate identifies
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seven key spheres or pillars or mountains. Of
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influence and culture that we must move or impact.
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Jesus spoke, if you say to this mountain, be
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moved, it shall be moved or impact in order to
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transform our nation and shape the culture. God
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has called us to be culture shapers. Yes. Difference
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makers, world changers. This is who we're called
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to be. We're not called to come here, sit for
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60, 70, 80 years, twiddle our thumbs, waiting
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for Jesus either to come back for a second coming
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or. We're just waiting for the end to come for
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us. So I can die and be with Jesus in heaven.
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He's given us orders. He's given us marching
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orders. And it's the B -I -B -L -E, right? The
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Bible, basic instructions before leaving earth.
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Yes. This is what we're supposed to do. I love
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that. Who came up with that? I don't know. I
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heard it in a song. Oh, you did? Yeah. I heard
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that when I was a child. Heard it in a song.
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So anyway, that's our call. It's our mission.
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So we have a mission and we call it a mandate
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or a commission. The commission means like if
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an officer commissions you. That's sending you
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out on a mission. That's what it is. We call
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it being missional in the church. But really,
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it's a mandate. It's an order that we're getting
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from God to go out. And so when people say things
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like that, man, pastor, and I remember back when
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I first started speaking up on this, somebody
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said, oh, you've got to be careful, but I'm worried
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about you getting political. And I'm like. Getting
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political. We live in this world. The Bible is
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all political. Well, think about what politics
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touches. All these areas that we just listed,
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plus your food, your medical care, everything.
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Everything. Everything is touched by that. So
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it's not getting political. We live in a political
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world. So if we're going to be salt and light
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to the culture, to society. to the world, then
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that means we have to engage politics, which
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means we should be pushing for, arbitrating for,
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debating for, voting for policies and platforms
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that support a biblical worldview, a Christian
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worldview. And if you look at the laws today
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that man has made that go against God's word
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and we were silent, we didn't vote. According
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to what the Bible says, we didn't vote at all.
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They just became policies. And we allowed the
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people outside of the church to make the laws
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and vote. And we just sat on our blessed assurance
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and let things happen. Yeah. And now look what
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happened. And now look. And it's because we let
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things happen. We have become. We didn't speak
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up. Yes, we have become a Sodom and Gomorrah.
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And you know what happened there. But here's
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what's tragic. Now that some of us, our eyes
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are open, we've had an awakening of sorts, and
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we're beginning to speak out. Now we're being
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told by other Christians, you shouldn't do that.
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And I remember somebody patting me on the shoulder
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real condescending. Oh, you're that patriot pastor.
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And I'm like, you bet I am. Call me a Christian
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nationalist. I don't care. The point is, is that
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I'm here to put the go in gospel, which means
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I'm here to impact church, family, education,
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government, media, arts, entertainment, business.
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I'm here to impact those with the gospel of Jesus
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Christ and take those mountains. Exactly. We
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need to move mountains. I know this sounds like
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real 30 ,000 foot level stuff. This is big picture
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stuff. But how does it now we got to boil it
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down to where people live. Right. First of all,
00:13:32.070 --> 00:13:35.110
we need to be educated. We need to know what's
00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:38.870
going on. I would encourage everyone to go watch,
00:13:38.889 --> 00:13:41.940
start watching Flashpoint. It's easy to find.
00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:45.039
You just Google Flashpoint USA. It'll take you
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.179
right to their website, and you'll see the platforms.
00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.840
Or fparmy .com now. fparmy .com is actually the
00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:53.919
website. Yes. And it's on now Monday, Tuesday,
00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:56.580
and Thursday nights. And it's Rick Green, who's
00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:58.720
a dear friend of ours, part of our church. One
00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.059
hour. And it will tell you what's going on this
00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:05.809
week in the news. And what God says about this.
00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:08.210
Exactly. From a biblical worldview and from a
00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:09.769
scriptural worldview. It's really informative.
00:14:09.769 --> 00:14:11.730
So that's a good way to get informed on kind
00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:14.210
of what's going on. And they all kind of chime
00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:17.669
in with their various expertise. Rick Green is
00:14:17.669 --> 00:14:20.629
considered America's constitutional coach. With
00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:23.549
David Barton and Tim. Yeah, those guys are amazing.
00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:26.509
And so anyway, they chime in and they let you
00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:28.710
know what's going on. Now, what that boils down
00:14:28.710 --> 00:14:32.289
to is. What is our role in this? And we have
00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:34.389
to ask the question, God, what would you have
00:14:34.389 --> 00:14:36.389
me do? And one of the things I've been saying
00:14:36.389 --> 00:14:39.450
lately is, first of all, say yes to Jesus before
00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:41.710
you even know what the question is. Just start
00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:44.549
saying yes to Jesus. He will begin to order your
00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:47.929
steps, arrange your situations, and actually
00:14:47.929 --> 00:14:50.250
put you in scenarios where you go, wait, I'm
00:14:50.250 --> 00:14:52.429
supposed to be here. Wait, I'm supposed to say
00:14:52.429 --> 00:14:56.309
something. Okay. But if you can't. do anything
00:14:56.309 --> 00:14:59.230
that, and physically. So let's start with number
00:14:59.230 --> 00:15:02.269
one. Okay. Number one is prayer. That was probably
00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:06.470
my takeaway going to this conference this week,
00:15:06.509 --> 00:15:10.940
last weekend was. That should be number one.
00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:13.879
We need to pray for this nation. We need to pray
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.259
for the leaders. You do this every Sunday. But
00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:20.259
in our private prayer life, that needs to be
00:15:20.259 --> 00:15:23.059
one of the first things we pray for because the
00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:26.580
laws that are being made and the steps that are
00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:30.379
being made that are taking us away from the Constitution,
00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:36.059
away from... The Bible are so important that
00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:39.460
we need to pray against those things and know
00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:42.480
our authority as believers in how to pray for
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:46.779
God's will to be done. And so to me, that should
00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.080
be a given because people always go, well, I
00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:52.899
don't. I can't run for city council. I don't
00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:56.259
live in my city. Like for us, we don't live in
00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:59.019
Fredericksburg proper. We live in comfort. We
00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:04.100
don't know much about what's going on in Kerrville
00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:07.700
and Bernie and those areas. We know Fred, but
00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:11.039
we can't vote here. So what do we do? We can
00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:15.149
pray. So let me give just a real helpful thing
00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:17.330
on that because I want to give everyone an action
00:16:17.330 --> 00:16:19.850
point because you're thinking, wow, that's real
00:16:19.850 --> 00:16:22.269
30 ,000 foot level stuff. That's really great.
00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:24.570
We've got to move mountains. How do we do that?
00:16:24.710 --> 00:16:26.950
Well, here's how you do it. I want to read this
00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:28.549
to you. This is something I shared on Sunday.
00:16:28.610 --> 00:16:32.330
Remember to pray for wisdom, discernment, and
00:16:32.330 --> 00:16:35.149
godly strategies to bring our nation back to
00:16:35.149 --> 00:16:38.090
God's intended foundations of faith, family,
00:16:38.269 --> 00:16:40.389
and freedom. And here's how you can do that.
00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:43.899
You can take these points, these seven mountain
00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:46.940
points, and I'll put them on. I'll pop them into
00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:49.440
the newsletter. So you'll have those. So if you
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:51.139
don't have our newsletter, go to it and subscribe
00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:54.460
at living up in a down world dot com and subscribe
00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.139
to our newsletter. I'm going to put those in
00:16:56.139 --> 00:16:59.000
the newsletter. So you'll have that and and go
00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.440
there. And then you just read those, just literally
00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:04.660
put those before the Lord. You can pull them
00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:08.079
up like on your phone or however you keep yours.
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:10.200
You may have them written down. And you say,
00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:13.400
Lord, in the name of Jesus, I am praying into
00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.720
these mountains. And I pray into the mountain
00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:18.960
of religion or church. I pray into the mountain
00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.380
of family. I pray into the mountain of education.
00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:24.380
You can begin as simple as that. Pray through
00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:27.160
those seven mountains for what I just said, for
00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.039
wisdom and strategy on how to move those mountains.
00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:32.240
Now listen, you don't have to have all the details
00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.410
to pray. That's the thing that sometimes stops
00:17:34.410 --> 00:17:36.630
us from praying. We don't know what to say. You
00:17:36.630 --> 00:17:38.470
don't have to say a bunch of stuff. Bring it
00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:40.430
before the Lord. Just say, Lord, I'm bringing
00:17:40.430 --> 00:17:43.509
this before you. We want God's wisdom in it,
00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:46.029
not man's anyway. So I don't want to pray my
00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:48.589
wisdom. I want to pray his wisdom into these
00:17:48.589 --> 00:17:50.690
situations. So that's what we're inviting you
00:17:50.690 --> 00:17:53.109
to do. I hate to say homework assignment because
00:17:53.109 --> 00:17:55.349
that'll knock about half of you out already because
00:17:55.349 --> 00:17:57.849
you resisted in high school. But I'm going to
00:17:57.849 --> 00:18:01.019
say. This is your assignment. I want you to pray
00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:03.460
into these seven mountains and begin to ask the
00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:06.240
Lord and then ask him a simple question. Say,
00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.640
Lord, what does that mean for me? What is my
00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.559
responsibility? Okay, I will receive the mandate
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.619
to pray. I'm going to do that. I'll pray. And
00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:18.579
that's your starting point. And then the second
00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:20.660
thing I would ask for you to do is just say yes
00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:23.589
to Jesus. No matter what the, don't worry about
00:18:23.589 --> 00:18:25.150
the question. Oh, but there, people are afraid
00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:27.170
of that. He's going to make me go to Zimbabwe.
00:18:27.269 --> 00:18:29.869
I just know it. But if he does, you're supposed
00:18:29.869 --> 00:18:31.890
to go there and it would be blessed and you'll
00:18:31.890 --> 00:18:35.309
be the greatest. People are afraid that God's
00:18:35.309 --> 00:18:37.130
going to put them in a situation that they're
00:18:37.130 --> 00:18:40.769
not ready for. This is the misnomer is God won't
00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:43.509
put us into anything that he doesn't get us ready
00:18:43.509 --> 00:18:46.789
for. That's right. So don't be afraid to say
00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:48.990
yes, because he's going to lead you into things
00:18:48.990 --> 00:18:52.009
that he's already equipped you. to engage. It
00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:54.069
won't be like he's just, you know, you know,
00:18:54.750 --> 00:18:58.269
one of those nose rings that the bulls had. It's
00:18:58.269 --> 00:19:00.930
not that at all. He will lead you and you'll
00:19:00.930 --> 00:19:03.390
be in a situation. You won't even realize you're
00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:04.750
there until you're there and you're like, wait,
00:19:04.849 --> 00:19:07.650
I'm supposed to be here or wait, maybe I should
00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:10.210
say something in this conversation or maybe I
00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:12.819
have something to bring. All that happens. But
00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:15.259
we do that by trusting him, walking by faith
00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:17.960
and not by sight. So number one, pray into the
00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.339
seven mountains. Number two, say yes to Jesus.
00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.500
Just give him your yes. That's it. That's how
00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:25.900
simple it is. And when you do that, he'll show
00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:29.680
you what to do. And it could be that you, you
00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.859
know, go into city council or, you know, get
00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:36.700
on the school board or it may be just show up.
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.660
Maybe you're just supposed to be there or you're
00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:43.200
just supposed to pray. You know, that's the thing.
00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.599
We always think God's going to call us to some
00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:48.720
big thing, and it may be just to pray. When I
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.660
was in Abilene, Pastor Rich and I. would go to
00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:54.319
the city council meetings. Sometimes I would
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.000
open those meetings up in prayer. They would
00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.119
invite me to do that. But even when I didn't,
00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:01.359
if I had time, I went anyway. And I would just
00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:02.299
sit there and pray. Because you wanted to know
00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:04.220
what was going on. Well, it was informative.
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.059
It let me know what's going on in the city. And
00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:10.200
it informed my prayers because I was able to
00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.400
pray. But I would pray while I was there. In
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.319
the atmosphere, just say, Lord, I just pray for
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:17.099
the—I wouldn't say it out loud. Nobody even knew
00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:19.900
I was praying. Inside, I'd say, Lord, thank you
00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:22.420
for these city council people that are up there.
00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:25.140
Bless them. Give them wisdom. Give them strategic
00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:27.740
thinking. Father, we have issues our city needs
00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:30.579
to address. Would you lace this atmosphere with
00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:32.339
your presence so that the decisions that are
00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:35.630
made in this room are made in the context? And
00:20:35.630 --> 00:20:37.390
the milieu of the Holy Spirit. I mean, it's super
00:20:37.390 --> 00:20:40.130
simple. And then God put it on your heart to
00:20:40.130 --> 00:20:42.089
go meet with the mayor, which you had never done.
00:20:42.190 --> 00:20:44.769
Which I started doing. And you said yes. Yeah,
00:20:44.849 --> 00:20:47.390
I just said yes. And it ended up being beautiful.
00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:49.009
Oh, it was an amazing relationship. Beautiful
00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:51.190
relationship. Yeah, God thing. Total God thing.
00:20:51.269 --> 00:20:52.990
Because the mayor, when you said I wanted to
00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:55.410
set up an appointment, automatically the first
00:20:55.410 --> 00:20:59.009
response was, what are you going to complain
00:20:59.009 --> 00:21:01.250
about? Yeah, he thought he was in trouble. Grady,
00:21:01.309 --> 00:21:04.750
I am not complaining. I want to come pray with
00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:06.910
you. How can I bless you? He was blown away.
00:21:06.930 --> 00:21:08.410
That's all I said. When he ended up retiring
00:21:08.410 --> 00:21:13.109
later on, he called you to be there for his retirement
00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:15.289
and to pray. And that was beautiful. And he introduced
00:21:15.289 --> 00:21:17.869
me as his pastor. Yes, even though he didn't
00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:19.430
come to our church, although we had him once
00:21:19.430 --> 00:21:23.490
come in and speak. But it was a beautiful relationship,
00:21:23.690 --> 00:21:25.890
and it got you involved in politics there. But
00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:27.750
all that happened, the only thing I did was show
00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:31.000
up. There was nothing I didn't like. insert myself
00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.000
in anything. I didn't ask somebody to nominate
00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:35.819
me for a position. I just showed up. And when
00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:38.819
you show up, you're bringing Christ with you.
00:21:38.859 --> 00:21:40.980
You're bringing the Holy Spirit with you. You're
00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:43.079
bringing the one who created the earth with you
00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:46.079
into that presence and he can use that. And so
00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:48.640
just show up. Yeah. Yeah. It was beautiful. How's
00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:52.000
that? I saw you blossom. Yeah. It brought life
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.220
to me. It took you to new places spiritually
00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:57.660
because you stepped out of your comfort zone.
00:21:58.460 --> 00:22:01.079
And it became your comfort zone. It's happening
00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:03.319
again. And it's happening. And I think that's
00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:06.380
the precedent for today, for you stepping out
00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:08.579
now and being comfortable and going, you know
00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.859
what? I'm doing what God's called me to do, regardless
00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:15.619
of what could happen to our church, what happens
00:22:15.619 --> 00:22:18.960
with people and leaving or whatever. You're like,
00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.039
no, God's going to take care of us no matter
00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.579
what, because I'm stepping into the things that
00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:26.039
God wants me to. So let me talk to just normal
00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:28.819
people like us. Average Joes, right? You think
00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:30.539
we're normal? We're normal, whatever normal is,
00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:34.259
right? Just normal people who maybe are not feel
00:22:34.259 --> 00:22:36.039
like I'm called to politics or I'm called to
00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:37.740
preach from a pulpit or any of those kinds of
00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.579
things or lead a church. I work a job. I'm a
00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:43.480
housewife. I'm a mom, whatever. I'm a dad. So
00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.279
to you, I would say this. The thing that you
00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.140
can do and is the most important thing you could
00:22:48.140 --> 00:22:50.339
ever do, and that is to pray and to pray into
00:22:50.339 --> 00:22:53.059
these seven mountains. Pray over your city. Pray
00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:55.000
over it. It wouldn't even hurt to go on your
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.799
city website and look at your city council members.
00:22:57.880 --> 00:22:59.839
The pictures are there. And pray for them. Their
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.099
names and pray for them by name. Pray for salvation
00:23:01.099 --> 00:23:03.279
first. Yes, pray they come to Jesus. We don't
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.339
know that everyone that's... Oh, no, of course.
00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.799
So that's the most important thing you can do.
00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:11.880
And the other thing you can do is simply just
00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:14.859
ask the Lord, Lord, what is my role? What is
00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:17.769
my part in this? And just listen. And then obey
00:23:17.769 --> 00:23:20.869
when he tells you to do something. It's not complicated
00:23:20.869 --> 00:23:25.170
to follow Jesus. And you may not hear anything
00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:27.269
right away, but here's the thing we do know we're
00:23:27.269 --> 00:23:29.910
supposed to do is we're supposed to pray and
00:23:29.910 --> 00:23:32.230
we're supposed to be salt and light. So we want
00:23:32.230 --> 00:23:34.910
to invite you into this. This is a great adventure.
00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:36.869
I've been saying this over and over. I'm beating
00:23:36.869 --> 00:23:39.430
this drum. This is the greatest adventure ever.
00:23:39.990 --> 00:23:42.630
And I even said it kind of strongly one Sunday.
00:23:42.710 --> 00:23:46.519
I said, I was kind of nervous about what you
00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:48.119
said. If Jesus is boring to you and following
00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:50.140
Jesus is boring to you and the Bible is boring
00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:52.039
to you, I don't even know if you're a Christian.
00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:54.599
Because following Jesus is the most exciting
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:58.000
thing there is on the planet. It's not just religion.
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:01.119
It's not just something we do to get our card
00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:05.779
punched. It's literally Christ is our life. And
00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:07.539
I want to encourage you in that today. And I
00:24:07.539 --> 00:24:09.869
think we should pray. On the way out. Go ahead.
00:24:10.009 --> 00:24:11.470
And so we kind of made this one to the point.
00:24:11.549 --> 00:24:12.910
I do want to encourage you to watch our friends'
00:24:13.029 --> 00:24:15.730
podcast, Adam and Tina Curry, Curry and the Keeper,
00:24:15.750 --> 00:24:17.529
two of our dearest friends. And really the reason
00:24:17.529 --> 00:24:19.910
why we're even doing podcasts is because of Adam
00:24:19.910 --> 00:24:21.509
and Tina inviting us into this space. Definitely
00:24:21.509 --> 00:24:23.410
want to give them credit. So we hope you're encouraged
00:24:23.410 --> 00:24:26.930
today. Salt and light. Say yes to Jesus and pray.
00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:29.009
Want to pray on the way out? Yeah, go ahead.
00:24:29.109 --> 00:24:30.809
All right, let's pray right now. Father, in Jesus'
00:24:30.990 --> 00:24:34.069
name, what a privilege it is. We just say yes
00:24:34.069 --> 00:24:38.069
to you. We just say yes. And we invite you into
00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:40.670
our life to fill us so that our buckets are full
00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:43.130
and overflowing, that everywhere we go, we're
00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:46.390
leaking out this life that is in us. I pray for
00:24:46.390 --> 00:24:48.670
our friends that are watching or listening to
00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:51.130
this podcast and that you would inspire them,
00:24:51.170 --> 00:24:53.450
first of all, to pray, second of all, to say
00:24:53.450 --> 00:24:57.750
yes, and third, show up and just be ready. That's
00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:00.410
it. It's super simple. And I'm asking for your
00:25:00.410 --> 00:25:02.980
grace for them. Father, I know there'll be people
00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:05.380
who are watching this who feel like they're unworthy
00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:08.039
or unable to do these things. And yet, Lord,
00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:11.279
you make us worthy. You make us righteous according
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:13.920
to your word. We are the righteousness of God
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.119
in Christ Jesus. So thank you for making us right,
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:20.460
even when we don't feel like we're right. And
00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:22.259
Father, for any of our friends that listen and
00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:24.819
they've never taken the step to go all in with
00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:27.880
Jesus, I would ask for that by your grace and
00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:30.529
your mercy and your power. that you would draw
00:25:30.529 --> 00:25:32.569
them closer to yourself so that they can take
00:25:32.569 --> 00:25:36.529
that step to become a follower of Jesus and surrender
00:25:36.529 --> 00:25:40.230
to the greatest adventure and journey they'll
00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:43.009
ever be on in their life. We pray these things
00:25:43.009 --> 00:25:46.450
in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thanks for joining
00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:48.730
us today. Any last words on the way out? I just
00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:50.630
want to thank people that have been giving lately,
00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:55.819
James Barron, Steve and Wise. Just we really
00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:58.299
appreciate your gifts. So many. Adam Curry, others.
00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:01.900
Oh, yeah. Thank you. That's a big deal. Yeah.
00:26:01.940 --> 00:26:04.240
Thank you guys for supporting us and hope you're
00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:06.579
encouraged today. Let's go out and make a difference
00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:08.680
this week on purpose.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.899
This is Jimmy and Annette and we want to welcome
00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:04.040
you to Living Up and Down World. This is our
00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:06.360
podcast that we've been doing. We're on like
00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:09.359
episode 98 or 9. I think we're 99. Wait, are
00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.300
you sure we're not at over 100? No, we're at
00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:40.770
99 right now. So we want to welcome you. Glad
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that you're with us today. We're going to be
00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:44.450
short to the point, but we want to talk about
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something that's really important to us. And
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it started with a trip out to Colorado. Where
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do we go? Went to Colorado Springs, Colorado
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to a Flashpoint live event, which was our first
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one that we've attended. And we've watched it
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on TV on streaming. But this was. And boy, when
00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:06.950
you can go to a place and be in the atmosphere
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that we were in, it changes everything. It's
00:01:09.849 --> 00:01:12.329
like church. You can watch it online or you can
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go to church and you will feel the presence of
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God. Not that you can't at home, but there is
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a collective presence that you feel with others
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that is amazing. So it was a wonderful trip.
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Great trip. Flashpoint Live. That's Gene Bailey
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and his team, Lance Wallnau, Rick Green. Hank
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Kudeman. Yeah, several different. And then they
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have different guests that they bring in. Amazing
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commentary from a biblical worldview on what's
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going on in our world. And we call that cultural
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engagement. And one of the things we've come
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to learn really over the last few years is how
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much the entire Bible is cultural engagement.
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It's 100 percent. It's taking the gospel, the
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good news of Jesus Christ. into culture, every
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arena of culture and being salt and light. Can
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I read a scripture? Yes, absolutely. All right,
00:02:02.150 --> 00:02:04.230
check this out. This is out of Matthew chapter
00:02:04.230 --> 00:02:06.670
five, part of the Sermon on the Mount. And it's
00:02:06.670 --> 00:02:09.389
a teaching about salt and light. And this is
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what the scripture says. This is Jesus teaching.
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He says, you are the salt of the earth, but what
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good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you
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make it salty again? It will be thrown out and
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trampled underfoot or as worthless. You are the
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light of the world, like a city on a hilltop
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that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp,
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then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp
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is placed on a stand where it gives light to
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everyone in the house. In the same way, let your
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good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone
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will praise your heavenly Father. So this idea
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that Jesus was teaching that, you know, we know
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from the Great Commission in Matthew 28 that
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we're to go and as we're going, we're to make
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disciples of all the nations. It's called discipling
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the nations. This was pre. Great commission.
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This is when Jesus started his ministry. And
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he's addressing in this Sermon on the Mount out
00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:01.199
on the Lake of Galilee, beautiful place. And
00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.240
he's telling them that we have a responsibility
00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:06.099
to be salt and to be light. And here's what we
00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:08.840
know about salt and light. Whatever is touched
00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.159
or exposed to salt and light changes. Right.
00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:14.379
Nothing can stay the same when it's exposed.
00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:17.340
That's why we can't eat steak without salt. No
00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:19.719
doubt. We can't even drink water without salt
00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.780
these days. Lots of sodium. Right. Stay salty,
00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:25.680
right? And so being salt and light in this culture,
00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:29.300
again, we call it cultural engagement. And it
00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:32.219
is where we go out into the world as salt, as
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light. The light exposes. It illuminates. It
00:03:35.659 --> 00:03:39.139
shows the way. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth,
00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.840
and the light. And so it shows the way to Christ.
00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:45.439
And then the salty part, salt preserves, salt
00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:50.490
flavors, salt enhances. It brings out. So there's
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so many impact moments when you talk about salt
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and light. So we go out to the Flashpoint. It
00:03:57.030 --> 00:03:59.349
was out at Karis Bible College up in Woodland
00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:01.330
Park, Colorado. Beautiful, beautiful area. Stunning
00:04:01.330 --> 00:04:04.229
campus. Stunning campus, yes. Major. And Pastor
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Brian and Naomi, his wife, got to go with us.
00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:09.090
So we go out there. There's roughly, I would
00:04:09.090 --> 00:04:12.810
guess, around 2 ,500 people. Probably so. Around
00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:16.329
2 ,500, maybe 3 ,000. A lot of people. Huge.
00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:21.100
Amazing place. And Lance Wallnau was one of the
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speakers of the group, and he talks about this
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thing that he calls the Seven Mountain Mandate.
00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:31.000
Yes. So let's talk a little bit about that. Do
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:32.339
you have the Seven Mountains written down there?
00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:34.839
I do. Show what those are. The Seven Mountains
00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.620
are media, family, arts and entertainment, economy,
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religion, education, and government. So those
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are seven mountains that represent our culture.
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This is what society is made up of. And this
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has been talked about in sociological classes,
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sociology, social studies. I had a teacher come
00:04:55.889 --> 00:04:58.089
to me on Sunday morning after the service and
00:04:58.089 --> 00:05:00.050
say, this is something that I've taught to my
00:05:00.050 --> 00:05:02.449
students. So sometimes you'll hear it called
00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:05.889
the seven pillars or the seven spheres. Lance
00:05:05.889 --> 00:05:08.410
Wall now came out about 30 years ago and he.
00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.800
taking from a scripture out of the Old Testament,
00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:12.360
it's a prophetic scripture, I don't have it in
00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.079
front of me, talking about the mountains. And
00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.899
so he likens these to a seven mountain strategy
00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:21.959
or seven mountain mandate. And I'm doing a Bible
00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:27.540
study right now called Restore Seven, I believe
00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:30.959
it is what it's called. But they talk about the
00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:36.300
demonic strategy on the mountains. of these particular
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mountains. There's a demonic strategy to tear
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down all seven of these mountains, which is very
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interesting because God has his own strategy,
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but the enemy has his strategy as well. And somebody's
00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:55.879
going to win. It's all going to depend on who.
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And if we know our identity in Christ, we can
00:06:00.180 --> 00:06:03.120
win over these strategies. But if we don't, we
00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:08.120
will succumb to the enemy's strategy of taking
00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.019
us down. That's very well said. One of the things
00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:13.319
that I say a lot is, is that we have got to get
00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:15.639
our voice back in the public square. Absolutely.
00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.100
And I say our voice, I mean, as Christians. Yes.
00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:20.240
Here in America, as the Church of Jesus Christ.
00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:22.199
And not put our head in the sand. Right. And
00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:25.540
not capitulate and give over to what the culture
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is doing. And I talk to so many people, pastors,
00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:31.540
individuals who say things like, yeah, but we're
00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:36.019
here to teach the Bible. And yet the Bible is,
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.920
the Bible hits all seven of these mountains on
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an ongoing basis. You read the Old Testament
00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:45.000
cover to cover and the New Testament, and everything
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was about engaging the kings, engaging government,
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engaging civil government, local government,
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religious government. Yes. Everything has to
00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.560
do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you think
00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:59.620
of it in terms of a flood. When there's a flood
00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:02.259
that happens, a flash flood, anything that's
00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:05.420
in the path of water will be touched. Absolutely.
00:07:05.420 --> 00:07:08.079
It's the same way. The gospel is to flood the
00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:12.399
earth. And we don't live in a synagogue with
00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:15.500
Jesus and the Holy Spirit God right there. We
00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:18.579
live out in the world where we are to be salt
00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:21.019
and light. And so we have to know how to navigate
00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:26.939
the world, the culture that we live in. recognize
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that these seven mountains exist. And that, I
00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.139
don't know why pastors will not go there on this.
00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.139
So I heard this statistic while we're at the
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conference. I think it was Jean Bailey who said
00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:43.720
this, said that only 10 % of churches. in America
00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.279
are actually engaged in cultural engagement,
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in actually impacting these mountains, impacting
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the mountains of media, family, all these different
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government, all these different areas. Only 10
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% are doing it, which is unconscionable. It's
00:07:59.699 --> 00:08:04.069
criminal. Yes. And pastors and churches, people
00:08:04.069 --> 00:08:06.370
are going to have to stand before God one day
00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:09.170
and give an account when he says, why did you
00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:11.069
not do what I told you to do? That was to go
00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:14.370
into all the world, preach the gospel, baptize
00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:15.689
people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
00:08:15.689 --> 00:08:18.110
Spirit. But why did you not go out and be the
00:08:18.110 --> 00:08:20.509
salt and light that I called you to be? Why did
00:08:20.509 --> 00:08:24.129
you just hover in one area and not get outside
00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:27.930
of the church? Case in point, which is why we
00:08:27.930 --> 00:08:30.990
started the Life Enrichment Center. Back in 2000,
00:08:31.430 --> 00:08:36.730
I think it was 10 or 6, no, it was 6, 7. Because
00:08:36.730 --> 00:08:38.909
we wanted to get outside of the walls of the
00:08:38.909 --> 00:08:41.470
church. You were preaching, and I was preaching
00:08:41.470 --> 00:08:45.450
a little bit, teaching and preaching in the church.
00:08:45.490 --> 00:08:47.169
But we were like, how are we going to affect
00:08:47.169 --> 00:08:51.809
people and get the gospel out without them knowing
00:08:51.809 --> 00:08:55.019
we're getting the gospel out? outside of the
00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:57.179
walls of the church to people that will never
00:08:57.179 --> 00:09:00.379
step into a church. And thus we started the Life
00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:02.379
Enrichment Center and went into the schools,
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:06.340
taught abstinence education from a biblical standpoint,
00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:08.919
but they didn't even, we didn't use, okay, go
00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:11.559
to chapter three in Roman. You know, we didn't
00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:15.990
do that. We just gave them what is. biblical,
00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:19.429
what's the biblical worldview, and just couched
00:09:19.429 --> 00:09:21.549
it in a pill that they could handle. And we saw
00:09:21.549 --> 00:09:23.429
a massive fruit from that. Oh my goodness. It
00:09:23.429 --> 00:09:24.549
was unbelievable. We taught that to anywhere
00:09:24.549 --> 00:09:28.330
between 11 ,000 and 13 ,000 students in the Central
00:09:28.330 --> 00:09:30.850
Texas area. Pastor Brian Mandel was with us.
00:09:30.850 --> 00:09:32.629
He was a part of that. Our kids were with us.
00:09:32.690 --> 00:09:35.049
But that many students, we were able to go in
00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:37.330
and impact in the public school system, bringing
00:09:37.330 --> 00:09:39.789
the gospel. The way I like to say it is putting
00:09:39.789 --> 00:09:42.279
the go. In the gospel, the first two letters
00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:46.120
of gospel are go. Jesus said, go. And that's
00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:50.220
the education mountain right there. We were educating
00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:55.100
these kids into what God's word says about how
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they're to live their life and how they will
00:09:57.480 --> 00:09:59.379
have freedom in their life. So let me read to
00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:02.139
you the basic definition of seven mountain mandate.
00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:05.000
Seven mountain prayer strategy or mandate identifies
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.340
seven key spheres or pillars or mountains. Of
00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:13.059
influence and culture that we must move or impact.
00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:15.360
Jesus spoke, if you say to this mountain, be
00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:18.779
moved, it shall be moved or impact in order to
00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:21.919
transform our nation and shape the culture. God
00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:25.139
has called us to be culture shapers. Yes. Difference
00:10:25.139 --> 00:10:28.019
makers, world changers. This is who we're called
00:10:28.019 --> 00:10:30.759
to be. We're not called to come here, sit for
00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:33.620
60, 70, 80 years, twiddle our thumbs, waiting
00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.720
for Jesus either to come back for a second coming
00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:39.669
or. We're just waiting for the end to come for
00:10:39.669 --> 00:10:41.950
us. So I can die and be with Jesus in heaven.
00:10:42.129 --> 00:10:44.889
He's given us orders. He's given us marching
00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:47.929
orders. And it's the B -I -B -L -E, right? The
00:10:47.929 --> 00:10:50.110
Bible, basic instructions before leaving earth.
00:10:50.190 --> 00:10:51.990
Yes. This is what we're supposed to do. I love
00:10:51.990 --> 00:10:53.250
that. Who came up with that? I don't know. I
00:10:53.250 --> 00:10:55.830
heard it in a song. Oh, you did? Yeah. I heard
00:10:55.830 --> 00:10:57.110
that when I was a child. Heard it in a song.
00:10:57.429 --> 00:10:59.450
So anyway, that's our call. It's our mission.
00:10:59.629 --> 00:11:02.509
So we have a mission and we call it a mandate
00:11:02.509 --> 00:11:05.330
or a commission. The commission means like if
00:11:05.330 --> 00:11:08.080
an officer commissions you. That's sending you
00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:10.379
out on a mission. That's what it is. We call
00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:13.179
it being missional in the church. But really,
00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:15.580
it's a mandate. It's an order that we're getting
00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:19.059
from God to go out. And so when people say things
00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.200
like that, man, pastor, and I remember back when
00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.179
I first started speaking up on this, somebody
00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:25.240
said, oh, you've got to be careful, but I'm worried
00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:27.759
about you getting political. And I'm like. Getting
00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:31.080
political. We live in this world. The Bible is
00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.860
all political. Well, think about what politics
00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:36.200
touches. All these areas that we just listed,
00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:39.059
plus your food, your medical care, everything.
00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:41.980
Everything. Everything is touched by that. So
00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:44.840
it's not getting political. We live in a political
00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.480
world. So if we're going to be salt and light
00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.980
to the culture, to society. to the world, then
00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:54.059
that means we have to engage politics, which
00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:57.899
means we should be pushing for, arbitrating for,
00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:04.179
debating for, voting for policies and platforms
00:12:04.179 --> 00:12:07.139
that support a biblical worldview, a Christian
00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:08.940
worldview. And if you look at the laws today
00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:14.120
that man has made that go against God's word
00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:19.659
and we were silent, we didn't vote. According
00:12:19.659 --> 00:12:22.580
to what the Bible says, we didn't vote at all.
00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:25.740
They just became policies. And we allowed the
00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:29.460
people outside of the church to make the laws
00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:32.100
and vote. And we just sat on our blessed assurance
00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:34.879
and let things happen. Yeah. And now look what
00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.179
happened. And now look. And it's because we let
00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:38.899
things happen. We have become. We didn't speak
00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:40.860
up. Yes, we have become a Sodom and Gomorrah.
00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:42.519
And you know what happened there. But here's
00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:47.090
what's tragic. Now that some of us, our eyes
00:12:47.090 --> 00:12:51.450
are open, we've had an awakening of sorts, and
00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:53.710
we're beginning to speak out. Now we're being
00:12:53.710 --> 00:12:56.070
told by other Christians, you shouldn't do that.
00:12:56.629 --> 00:12:59.190
And I remember somebody patting me on the shoulder
00:12:59.190 --> 00:13:01.710
real condescending. Oh, you're that patriot pastor.
00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:05.470
And I'm like, you bet I am. Call me a Christian
00:13:05.470 --> 00:13:08.029
nationalist. I don't care. The point is, is that
00:13:08.029 --> 00:13:11.309
I'm here to put the go in gospel, which means
00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:14.129
I'm here to impact church, family, education,
00:13:14.389 --> 00:13:16.070
government, media, arts, entertainment, business.
00:13:16.330 --> 00:13:19.389
I'm here to impact those with the gospel of Jesus
00:13:19.389 --> 00:13:21.809
Christ and take those mountains. Exactly. We
00:13:21.809 --> 00:13:24.669
need to move mountains. I know this sounds like
00:13:24.669 --> 00:13:27.210
real 30 ,000 foot level stuff. This is big picture
00:13:27.210 --> 00:13:29.789
stuff. But how does it now we got to boil it
00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:32.049
down to where people live. Right. First of all,
00:13:32.070 --> 00:13:35.110
we need to be educated. We need to know what's
00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:38.870
going on. I would encourage everyone to go watch,
00:13:38.889 --> 00:13:41.940
start watching Flashpoint. It's easy to find.
00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:45.039
You just Google Flashpoint USA. It'll take you
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.179
right to their website, and you'll see the platforms.
00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.840
Or fparmy .com now. fparmy .com is actually the
00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:53.919
website. Yes. And it's on now Monday, Tuesday,
00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:56.580
and Thursday nights. And it's Rick Green, who's
00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:58.720
a dear friend of ours, part of our church. One
00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.059
hour. And it will tell you what's going on this
00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:05.809
week in the news. And what God says about this.
00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:08.210
Exactly. From a biblical worldview and from a
00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:09.769
scriptural worldview. It's really informative.
00:14:09.769 --> 00:14:11.730
So that's a good way to get informed on kind
00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:14.210
of what's going on. And they all kind of chime
00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:17.669
in with their various expertise. Rick Green is
00:14:17.669 --> 00:14:20.629
considered America's constitutional coach. With
00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:23.549
David Barton and Tim. Yeah, those guys are amazing.
00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:26.509
And so anyway, they chime in and they let you
00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:28.710
know what's going on. Now, what that boils down
00:14:28.710 --> 00:14:32.289
to is. What is our role in this? And we have
00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:34.389
to ask the question, God, what would you have
00:14:34.389 --> 00:14:36.389
me do? And one of the things I've been saying
00:14:36.389 --> 00:14:39.450
lately is, first of all, say yes to Jesus before
00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:41.710
you even know what the question is. Just start
00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:44.549
saying yes to Jesus. He will begin to order your
00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:47.929
steps, arrange your situations, and actually
00:14:47.929 --> 00:14:50.250
put you in scenarios where you go, wait, I'm
00:14:50.250 --> 00:14:52.429
supposed to be here. Wait, I'm supposed to say
00:14:52.429 --> 00:14:56.309
something. Okay. But if you can't. do anything
00:14:56.309 --> 00:14:59.230
that, and physically. So let's start with number
00:14:59.230 --> 00:15:02.269
one. Okay. Number one is prayer. That was probably
00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:06.470
my takeaway going to this conference this week,
00:15:06.509 --> 00:15:10.940
last weekend was. That should be number one.
00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:13.879
We need to pray for this nation. We need to pray
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.259
for the leaders. You do this every Sunday. But
00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:20.259
in our private prayer life, that needs to be
00:15:20.259 --> 00:15:23.059
one of the first things we pray for because the
00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:26.580
laws that are being made and the steps that are
00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:30.379
being made that are taking us away from the Constitution,
00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:36.059
away from... The Bible are so important that
00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:39.460
we need to pray against those things and know
00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:42.480
our authority as believers in how to pray for
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:46.779
God's will to be done. And so to me, that should
00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.080
be a given because people always go, well, I
00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:52.899
don't. I can't run for city council. I don't
00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:56.259
live in my city. Like for us, we don't live in
00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:59.019
Fredericksburg proper. We live in comfort. We
00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:04.100
don't know much about what's going on in Kerrville
00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:07.700
and Bernie and those areas. We know Fred, but
00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:11.039
we can't vote here. So what do we do? We can
00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:15.149
pray. So let me give just a real helpful thing
00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:17.330
on that because I want to give everyone an action
00:16:17.330 --> 00:16:19.850
point because you're thinking, wow, that's real
00:16:19.850 --> 00:16:22.269
30 ,000 foot level stuff. That's really great.
00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:24.570
We've got to move mountains. How do we do that?
00:16:24.710 --> 00:16:26.950
Well, here's how you do it. I want to read this
00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:28.549
to you. This is something I shared on Sunday.
00:16:28.610 --> 00:16:32.330
Remember to pray for wisdom, discernment, and
00:16:32.330 --> 00:16:35.149
godly strategies to bring our nation back to
00:16:35.149 --> 00:16:38.090
God's intended foundations of faith, family,
00:16:38.269 --> 00:16:40.389
and freedom. And here's how you can do that.
00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:43.899
You can take these points, these seven mountain
00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:46.940
points, and I'll put them on. I'll pop them into
00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:49.440
the newsletter. So you'll have those. So if you
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:51.139
don't have our newsletter, go to it and subscribe
00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:54.460
at living up in a down world dot com and subscribe
00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.139
to our newsletter. I'm going to put those in
00:16:56.139 --> 00:16:59.000
the newsletter. So you'll have that and and go
00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.440
there. And then you just read those, just literally
00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:04.660
put those before the Lord. You can pull them
00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:08.079
up like on your phone or however you keep yours.
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:10.200
You may have them written down. And you say,
00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:13.400
Lord, in the name of Jesus, I am praying into
00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.720
these mountains. And I pray into the mountain
00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:18.960
of religion or church. I pray into the mountain
00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.380
of family. I pray into the mountain of education.
00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:24.380
You can begin as simple as that. Pray through
00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:27.160
those seven mountains for what I just said, for
00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.039
wisdom and strategy on how to move those mountains.
00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:32.240
Now listen, you don't have to have all the details
00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.410
to pray. That's the thing that sometimes stops
00:17:34.410 --> 00:17:36.630
us from praying. We don't know what to say. You
00:17:36.630 --> 00:17:38.470
don't have to say a bunch of stuff. Bring it
00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:40.430
before the Lord. Just say, Lord, I'm bringing
00:17:40.430 --> 00:17:43.509
this before you. We want God's wisdom in it,
00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:46.029
not man's anyway. So I don't want to pray my
00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:48.589
wisdom. I want to pray his wisdom into these
00:17:48.589 --> 00:17:50.690
situations. So that's what we're inviting you
00:17:50.690 --> 00:17:53.109
to do. I hate to say homework assignment because
00:17:53.109 --> 00:17:55.349
that'll knock about half of you out already because
00:17:55.349 --> 00:17:57.849
you resisted in high school. But I'm going to
00:17:57.849 --> 00:18:01.019
say. This is your assignment. I want you to pray
00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:03.460
into these seven mountains and begin to ask the
00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:06.240
Lord and then ask him a simple question. Say,
00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.640
Lord, what does that mean for me? What is my
00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.559
responsibility? Okay, I will receive the mandate
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.619
to pray. I'm going to do that. I'll pray. And
00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:18.579
that's your starting point. And then the second
00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:20.660
thing I would ask for you to do is just say yes
00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:23.589
to Jesus. No matter what the, don't worry about
00:18:23.589 --> 00:18:25.150
the question. Oh, but there, people are afraid
00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:27.170
of that. He's going to make me go to Zimbabwe.
00:18:27.269 --> 00:18:29.869
I just know it. But if he does, you're supposed
00:18:29.869 --> 00:18:31.890
to go there and it would be blessed and you'll
00:18:31.890 --> 00:18:35.309
be the greatest. People are afraid that God's
00:18:35.309 --> 00:18:37.130
going to put them in a situation that they're
00:18:37.130 --> 00:18:40.769
not ready for. This is the misnomer is God won't
00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:43.509
put us into anything that he doesn't get us ready
00:18:43.509 --> 00:18:46.789
for. That's right. So don't be afraid to say
00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:48.990
yes, because he's going to lead you into things
00:18:48.990 --> 00:18:52.009
that he's already equipped you. to engage. It
00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:54.069
won't be like he's just, you know, you know,
00:18:54.750 --> 00:18:58.269
one of those nose rings that the bulls had. It's
00:18:58.269 --> 00:19:00.930
not that at all. He will lead you and you'll
00:19:00.930 --> 00:19:03.390
be in a situation. You won't even realize you're
00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:04.750
there until you're there and you're like, wait,
00:19:04.849 --> 00:19:07.650
I'm supposed to be here or wait, maybe I should
00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:10.210
say something in this conversation or maybe I
00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:12.819
have something to bring. All that happens. But
00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:15.259
we do that by trusting him, walking by faith
00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:17.960
and not by sight. So number one, pray into the
00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.339
seven mountains. Number two, say yes to Jesus.
00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.500
Just give him your yes. That's it. That's how
00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:25.900
simple it is. And when you do that, he'll show
00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:29.680
you what to do. And it could be that you, you
00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.859
know, go into city council or, you know, get
00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:36.700
on the school board or it may be just show up.
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.660
Maybe you're just supposed to be there or you're
00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:43.200
just supposed to pray. You know, that's the thing.
00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.599
We always think God's going to call us to some
00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:48.720
big thing, and it may be just to pray. When I
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.660
was in Abilene, Pastor Rich and I. would go to
00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:54.319
the city council meetings. Sometimes I would
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.000
open those meetings up in prayer. They would
00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.119
invite me to do that. But even when I didn't,
00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:01.359
if I had time, I went anyway. And I would just
00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:02.299
sit there and pray. Because you wanted to know
00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:04.220
what was going on. Well, it was informative.
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.059
It let me know what's going on in the city. And
00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:10.200
it informed my prayers because I was able to
00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.400
pray. But I would pray while I was there. In
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.319
the atmosphere, just say, Lord, I just pray for
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:17.099
the—I wouldn't say it out loud. Nobody even knew
00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:19.900
I was praying. Inside, I'd say, Lord, thank you
00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:22.420
for these city council people that are up there.
00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:25.140
Bless them. Give them wisdom. Give them strategic
00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:27.740
thinking. Father, we have issues our city needs
00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:30.579
to address. Would you lace this atmosphere with
00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:32.339
your presence so that the decisions that are
00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:35.630
made in this room are made in the context? And
00:20:35.630 --> 00:20:37.390
the milieu of the Holy Spirit. I mean, it's super
00:20:37.390 --> 00:20:40.130
simple. And then God put it on your heart to
00:20:40.130 --> 00:20:42.089
go meet with the mayor, which you had never done.
00:20:42.190 --> 00:20:44.769
Which I started doing. And you said yes. Yeah,
00:20:44.849 --> 00:20:47.390
I just said yes. And it ended up being beautiful.
00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:49.009
Oh, it was an amazing relationship. Beautiful
00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:51.190
relationship. Yeah, God thing. Total God thing.
00:20:51.269 --> 00:20:52.990
Because the mayor, when you said I wanted to
00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:55.410
set up an appointment, automatically the first
00:20:55.410 --> 00:20:59.009
response was, what are you going to complain
00:20:59.009 --> 00:21:01.250
about? Yeah, he thought he was in trouble. Grady,
00:21:01.309 --> 00:21:04.750
I am not complaining. I want to come pray with
00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:06.910
you. How can I bless you? He was blown away.
00:21:06.930 --> 00:21:08.410
That's all I said. When he ended up retiring
00:21:08.410 --> 00:21:13.109
later on, he called you to be there for his retirement
00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:15.289
and to pray. And that was beautiful. And he introduced
00:21:15.289 --> 00:21:17.869
me as his pastor. Yes, even though he didn't
00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:19.430
come to our church, although we had him once
00:21:19.430 --> 00:21:23.490
come in and speak. But it was a beautiful relationship,
00:21:23.690 --> 00:21:25.890
and it got you involved in politics there. But
00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:27.750
all that happened, the only thing I did was show
00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:31.000
up. There was nothing I didn't like. insert myself
00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.000
in anything. I didn't ask somebody to nominate
00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:35.819
me for a position. I just showed up. And when
00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:38.819
you show up, you're bringing Christ with you.
00:21:38.859 --> 00:21:40.980
You're bringing the Holy Spirit with you. You're
00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:43.079
bringing the one who created the earth with you
00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:46.079
into that presence and he can use that. And so
00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:48.640
just show up. Yeah. Yeah. It was beautiful. How's
00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:52.000
that? I saw you blossom. Yeah. It brought life
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.220
to me. It took you to new places spiritually
00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:57.660
because you stepped out of your comfort zone.
00:21:58.460 --> 00:22:01.079
And it became your comfort zone. It's happening
00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:03.319
again. And it's happening. And I think that's
00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:06.380
the precedent for today, for you stepping out
00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:08.579
now and being comfortable and going, you know
00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.859
what? I'm doing what God's called me to do, regardless
00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:15.619
of what could happen to our church, what happens
00:22:15.619 --> 00:22:18.960
with people and leaving or whatever. You're like,
00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.039
no, God's going to take care of us no matter
00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.579
what, because I'm stepping into the things that
00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:26.039
God wants me to. So let me talk to just normal
00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:28.819
people like us. Average Joes, right? You think
00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:30.539
we're normal? We're normal, whatever normal is,
00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:34.259
right? Just normal people who maybe are not feel
00:22:34.259 --> 00:22:36.039
like I'm called to politics or I'm called to
00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:37.740
preach from a pulpit or any of those kinds of
00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.579
things or lead a church. I work a job. I'm a
00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:43.480
housewife. I'm a mom, whatever. I'm a dad. So
00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.279
to you, I would say this. The thing that you
00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.140
can do and is the most important thing you could
00:22:48.140 --> 00:22:50.339
ever do, and that is to pray and to pray into
00:22:50.339 --> 00:22:53.059
these seven mountains. Pray over your city. Pray
00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:55.000
over it. It wouldn't even hurt to go on your
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.799
city website and look at your city council members.
00:22:57.880 --> 00:22:59.839
The pictures are there. And pray for them. Their
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.099
names and pray for them by name. Pray for salvation
00:23:01.099 --> 00:23:03.279
first. Yes, pray they come to Jesus. We don't
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.339
know that everyone that's... Oh, no, of course.
00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.799
So that's the most important thing you can do.
00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:11.880
And the other thing you can do is simply just
00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:14.859
ask the Lord, Lord, what is my role? What is
00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:17.769
my part in this? And just listen. And then obey
00:23:17.769 --> 00:23:20.869
when he tells you to do something. It's not complicated
00:23:20.869 --> 00:23:25.170
to follow Jesus. And you may not hear anything
00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:27.269
right away, but here's the thing we do know we're
00:23:27.269 --> 00:23:29.910
supposed to do is we're supposed to pray and
00:23:29.910 --> 00:23:32.230
we're supposed to be salt and light. So we want
00:23:32.230 --> 00:23:34.910
to invite you into this. This is a great adventure.
00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:36.869
I've been saying this over and over. I'm beating
00:23:36.869 --> 00:23:39.430
this drum. This is the greatest adventure ever.
00:23:39.990 --> 00:23:42.630
And I even said it kind of strongly one Sunday.
00:23:42.710 --> 00:23:46.519
I said, I was kind of nervous about what you
00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:48.119
said. If Jesus is boring to you and following
00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:50.140
Jesus is boring to you and the Bible is boring
00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:52.039
to you, I don't even know if you're a Christian.
00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:54.599
Because following Jesus is the most exciting
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:58.000
thing there is on the planet. It's not just religion.
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:01.119
It's not just something we do to get our card
00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:05.779
punched. It's literally Christ is our life. And
00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:07.539
I want to encourage you in that today. And I
00:24:07.539 --> 00:24:09.869
think we should pray. On the way out. Go ahead.
00:24:10.009 --> 00:24:11.470
And so we kind of made this one to the point.
00:24:11.549 --> 00:24:12.910
I do want to encourage you to watch our friends'
00:24:13.029 --> 00:24:15.730
podcast, Adam and Tina Curry, Curry and the Keeper,
00:24:15.750 --> 00:24:17.529
two of our dearest friends. And really the reason
00:24:17.529 --> 00:24:19.910
why we're even doing podcasts is because of Adam
00:24:19.910 --> 00:24:21.509
and Tina inviting us into this space. Definitely
00:24:21.509 --> 00:24:23.410
want to give them credit. So we hope you're encouraged
00:24:23.410 --> 00:24:26.930
today. Salt and light. Say yes to Jesus and pray.
00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:29.009
Want to pray on the way out? Yeah, go ahead.
00:24:29.109 --> 00:24:30.809
All right, let's pray right now. Father, in Jesus'
00:24:30.990 --> 00:24:34.069
name, what a privilege it is. We just say yes
00:24:34.069 --> 00:24:38.069
to you. We just say yes. And we invite you into
00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:40.670
our life to fill us so that our buckets are full
00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:43.130
and overflowing, that everywhere we go, we're
00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:46.390
leaking out this life that is in us. I pray for
00:24:46.390 --> 00:24:48.670
our friends that are watching or listening to
00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:51.130
this podcast and that you would inspire them,
00:24:51.170 --> 00:24:53.450
first of all, to pray, second of all, to say
00:24:53.450 --> 00:24:57.750
yes, and third, show up and just be ready. That's
00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:00.410
it. It's super simple. And I'm asking for your
00:25:00.410 --> 00:25:02.980
grace for them. Father, I know there'll be people
00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:05.380
who are watching this who feel like they're unworthy
00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:08.039
or unable to do these things. And yet, Lord,
00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:11.279
you make us worthy. You make us righteous according
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:13.920
to your word. We are the righteousness of God
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in Christ Jesus. So thank you for making us right,
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even when we don't feel like we're right. And
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Father, for any of our friends that listen and
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they've never taken the step to go all in with
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Jesus, I would ask for that by your grace and
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your mercy and your power. that you would draw
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them closer to yourself so that they can take
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that step to become a follower of Jesus and surrender
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to the greatest adventure and journey they'll
00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:43.009
ever be on in their life. We pray these things
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in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thanks for joining
00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:48.730
us today. Any last words on the way out? I just
00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:50.630
want to thank people that have been giving lately,
00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:55.819
James Barron, Steve and Wise. Just we really
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appreciate your gifts. So many. Adam Curry, others.
00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:01.900
Oh, yeah. Thank you. That's a big deal. Yeah.
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Thank you guys for supporting us and hope you're
00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:06.579
encouraged today. Let's go out and make a difference
00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:08.680
this week on purpose.
