WEBVTT 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 00:00:40.770 --> 00:00:42.469 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 00:00:44.450 --> 00:00:46.469 something that's really important to us. And 00:00:46.469 --> 00:00:49.429 it started with a trip out to Colorado. Where 00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:51.329 do we go? Went to Colorado Springs, Colorado 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:55.229 to a Flashpoint live event, which was our first 00:00:55.229 --> 00:00:59.090 one that we've attended. And we've watched it 00:00:59.090 --> 00:01:03.469 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 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:09.849 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 00:01:12.329 --> 00:01:14.989 go to church and you will feel the presence of 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:17.390 God. Not that you can't at home, but there is 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:22.310 a collective presence that you feel with others 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:24.609 that is amazing. So it was a wonderful trip. 00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:27.510 Great trip. Flashpoint Live. That's Gene Bailey 00:01:27.510 --> 00:01:32.120 and his team, Lance Wallnau, Rick Green. Hank 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:34.400 Kudeman. Yeah, several different. And then they 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:36.799 have different guests that they bring in. Amazing 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:40.200 commentary from a biblical worldview on what's 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.379 going on in our world. And we call that cultural 00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:44.540 engagement. And one of the things we've come 00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:47.040 to learn really over the last few years is how 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:50.299 much the entire Bible is cultural engagement. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:54.040 It's 100 percent. It's taking the gospel, the 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.030 good news of Jesus Christ. into culture, every 00:01:57.030 --> 00:02:00.390 arena of culture and being salt and light. Can 00:02:00.390 --> 00:02:02.150 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 00:02:09.389 --> 00:02:11.449 what the scripture says. This is Jesus teaching. 00:02:11.770 --> 00:02:14.310 He says, you are the salt of the earth, but what 00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:17.310 good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:19.289 make it salty again? It will be thrown out and 00:02:19.289 --> 00:02:22.719 trampled underfoot or as worthless. You are the 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.800 light of the world, like a city on a hilltop 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.150 that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp, 00:02:27.189 --> 00:02:29.449 then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:32.270 is placed on a stand where it gives light to 00:02:32.270 --> 00:02:34.449 everyone in the house. In the same way, let your 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:37.310 good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone 00:02:37.310 --> 00:02:39.990 will praise your heavenly Father. So this idea 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:42.169 that Jesus was teaching that, you know, we know 00:02:42.169 --> 00:02:45.169 from the Great Commission in Matthew 28 that 00:02:45.169 --> 00:02:47.689 we're to go and as we're going, we're to make 00:02:47.689 --> 00:02:50.009 disciples of all the nations. It's called discipling 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:53.780 the nations. This was pre. Great commission. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.400 This is when Jesus started his ministry. And 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:58.599 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 00:03:32.219 --> 00:03:35.659 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 00:03:50.490 --> 00:03:53.469 so many impact moments when you talk about salt 00:03:53.469 --> 00:03:57.030 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 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:06.669 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 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:24.899 speakers of the group, and he talks about this 00:04:24.899 --> 00:04:29.060 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, 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:43.350 religion, education, and government. So those 00:04:43.350 --> 00:04:46.209 are seven mountains that represent our culture. 00:04:46.430 --> 00:04:49.329 This is what society is made up of. And this 00:04:49.329 --> 00:04:52.009 has been talked about in sociological classes, 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:55.889 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 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.220 mountains. There's a demonic strategy to tear 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:43.879 down all seven of these mountains, which is very 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:46.779 interesting because God has his own strategy, 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:52.540 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. 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:00.180 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 00:06:25.540 --> 00:06:28.519 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 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.540 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 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.779 was about engaging the kings, engaging government, 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.699 engaging civil government, local government, 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:53.800 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 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:30.639 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 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:38.860 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, 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.779 in actually impacting these mountains, impacting 00:07:49.779 --> 00:07:52.699 the mountains of media, family, all these different 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:55.220 government, all these different areas. Only 10 00:07:55.220 --> 00:07:59.699 % 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 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:57.480 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 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.