And I see this long dinner table and I see Jesus
at the end and I see Paul and John sitting next
to him. Like I knew the names of all the apostles
and I saw how close they were. And I knew that
as close as you want to be to Jesus in eternity
is determined by how you live on earth. Wow.
And that those that had lived in a way that were
in close proximity to him, that life continued
in eternity. God promises in Joel 2 .28 to pour
out His Spirit on all humanity. Welcome to Global
Outpouring, where we contend for that promised
outpouring, we equip for that outpouring, so
that we may engage in that very outpouring. I'm
Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss. Welcome to
the podcast today. We have with us our friend
Jeff Simons once again, and he is going to be
sharing some of his experiences, some of his
testimony, and some of the things that are really
close to his heart. But when he was just getting
to know the Lord, he said this, if the stuff
in the Bible is real, we ought to be able to
see it. And that began his pursuit of God. Thank
you so much for joining us today. Before we get
started with our friend Jeff, we want to encourage
you, if you haven't already done so, that you
go out to our website globaloutpouring .net and
make sure that you're on our email lists. And
if you want to give us some feedback, we would
love to hear from you. And there's lots of other
things that are there available on our website,
things that you'll enjoy. And we want to encourage
you, when you're being blessed by these podcasts,
just share them. Share them with your friends.
Share them on your social media. Let other people
know about things that you are getting from the
Spirit, things that are building you up. Help
us to get into the algorithms out there so that
others will find us that they're hungry for God
and they don't know how to find the things of
Jesus that we want to bring and this equipping
for the outpouring that we want to bring into
their lives. And I also want to remind you that
if you haven't got it on your calendar yet, please.
Put it on your calendar for 2026 that we are
going to be in St. Louis for Memorial Day weekend,
May 21st through 24th. It's going to be an amazing
time in the presence of the Lord. We will be
having with us our dear friend and Papa, Bishop
Tony Kemp, and Dean Braxton will be with us again.
It was really awesome to have him this year.
2025. And we did a couple of Q &A sessions with
him and he was able to teach. It was really,
really, really good. And we'll also be having
Anna Werner and she's got such a tremendous.
prophetic gift, see your gift. And I know that
she's going to be a real blessing. And Claren
McQueen is going to be ministering for us for
our Israel night, and I'll be ministering as
well. So we just know that it's going to be a
time of glory in the presence of the Lord, where
we're going to just keep going deeper and deeper
into the things of God and building relationships
that are going to last for eternity. Well, Jeff
Simons, it's such a pleasure to have you with
us on our podcast again. We had you at our convention
a couple of months ago. Oh, well, I don't know
how far ago it's going to be by the time this
actually goes out. But we had you at our convention,
and it was such a blessing to fellowship with
you there and introduce you to our people. And
we just want to get to know you better. So we're
excited to have you on this episode today. Thank
you for having me. So Jeff, I just want to kind
of introduce this to our listeners that when
we first connected with you, I don't even remember
how long ago it was, a year ago or more than
a year ago. I think it was a few years ago. A
few years ago. Well, whenever it was. I just
know that God has eternal purposes in connecting
Philip and me with you and this ministry, Global
Outpouring, with you. And I remember when we
first... started talking when you were first
launching your podcast, you mentioned that when
you were looking for a name for your ministry,
one of the names that you were considering was
Global Outpouring. So there's obviously some
things that God has connecting with us. And as
we're getting to know you better, it's like,
man, you're just like us. Wow, this is amazing.
So your heart for the things of God and the depths
of God. It's such a blessing, such a blessing
to us. So we want to get to know you better.
We listened to the episode on your podcast that
you did recently with Dean Braxton. You met him
at our convention. That was really good. We'll
put a link to it in the show notes. So all of
our listeners who love... the episodes that we
do with Dean Braxton, you will love this episode
that Jeff did with Dean. He always reveals new
things. Yes. All the time. So one of the things
that happened on your episode with Dean was you
were comparing notes with him about what he saw
compared to what you saw when you had a heavenly
experience. Can you tell us a little about that
heavenly experience? Sure. So my background was
I was raised Methodist. And then I became agnostic
when I was a teenager and spent a number of years,
probably, you know, from 16 to 20 something as
an agnostic, which just meant I lived however
I wanted. And, you know, it was just an excuse
for. drugs and doing anything i could think of
but ultimately and i believe this about people
that are doing drugs are looking for something
else yeah and you know i hit a low point um after
i had been a drug addict was addicted to meth
for a series of months and had gotten clean but
was dealing with a lot of consequences from those
time periods and there was a particular low moment
Where I'd never felt suicide before or being
suicidal. And my wife was having all kinds of
health complications. My son was just born. And
I felt this darkness come down on me. And the
only thing I could think about was suicide. That
and I remembered the name of Jesus. Wow. And
it was like the only way I could kind of describe
it is. two options and you know when one of them
felt very distant but i remembered the name of
jesus just it felt so far from me and in that
moment i just said jesus help and and when i
said that all the darkness lifted but the situation
was the same and that led to we started attending
my parents baptist church I gave my life to the
Lord, but I did it in a way, and I wouldn't recommend
people do this, but I was being authentic with
the Lord. All I had known about Christianity
was stories, and none of them were my story,
and none of them were things that I had seen
personally. So I said, God, I give you my life,
but if the stuff in the Bible is real, we ought
to be able to see it. at the time i was you know
i was reading the bible probably for the first
time really i had read read it through before
but but this time was like it was alive in a
different way and my prayer life was coming alive
and i noticed the person of the holy spirit in
the old testament with the prophets and and coming
on the apostles and acts and i actually had this
thought of who's the holy spirit i just i had
never heard You know, I knew the Catholic thing,
the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, because I'd seen
the movies. Yeah. That's funny. But I started
to notice how the Holy Spirit would change lives
and change circumstances. And I said, God, if
these stories are real, I want to see it. I want
to be there when these things happen. It ought
to still be happening. There still ought to be
miracles and signs and wonders. Yes. And I prayed
that way for about six months. And during that
time, I was introduced to Sid Roth. I saw a couple
episodes of Sid Roth. And I had bought Steve
Thompson's book email, Prophesy. And I saw The
Finger of God, Darren Wilson's documentary. And
at the time it was on TBN, the clip that I saw
was the underground church worshiping. And they
were just in tears. And I just couldn't help
myself. I just called and I ordered the DVD.
And then after I ordered it, I kind of had this
moment of like, wait a minute, why did I just
buy a DVD of Chinese people crying? Like, what
did I just buy? And, you know, when it arrived
and I watched the whole thing, I watched it through
several times. And the interview of the man that
was resurrected from Heidi Baker's ministry.
And you see the treasure hunts from Bill Johnson
and the Bethel students and come to find out
that Bill Johnson and Heidi Baker were coming
to Dallas in a few months. So I went to that
conference. And while I was there, I started
having open visions, which was pretty surreal
as somebody that had done. hallucinogenic drugs
I'm like what is like what is happening right
now I couldn't you know I couldn't stop seeing
things and I remember Bill Johnson was praying
for healing from stage and it looked like a firework
just light was just flying off of him and people
are getting healed and wow it was uh at that
that conference I had a whole bunch of different
things happened in that that week One of them
was, you know, so I'm having these open visions
and, and I had told God I wanted the baptism
of the Holy Spirit, but I kind of set some stipulations.
I was like, well, you know, I don't, I don't
know about this whole speaking in tongues thing.
I didn't, I wasn't against it. I just didn't
understand it. And I was like, prophecy is way
cooler. Like that's the one I want. I did have
my first prophetic word before I spoke in tongues,
but I did speak in tongues. And they, you know,
they were doing a fire tunnel at the end of the
conference. And I went through the first time
and I was like, man, I feel drunk, like, but
not in like a bad way. And I went through, I'm
like, I was, and it was free. So I'm going through
again. So I went through the second time and
then. I believe it was Heidi Baker, but I'm not
sure because I kept my eyes closed the whole
time. I didn't want to be distracted by what
was happening around me. I was just trying to
focus on God. But I got to the end of the line,
and somebody laid hands on me, and I fell to
the ground, and I uncontrollably was speaking
in tongues. Wow. And I drove home from the conference,
and it's funny. I actually had a listener correct
me. telling my own testimony. Um, so cause I've
been saying it wrong for years. Uh, so I went
home and I was, I turned on a worship album and
I was sitting on the, I would always say it's
the mantle of the fireplace. It's not the mantle.
It's whatever the The thing is the hearth. There
we go. Yeah. I would sit on the hearth for years.
I've been saying I sat on the mantle. Yeah. You
probably wouldn't sit on the mantle. Your chauffeur
might sit on the mantle. Yeah. Right. Right.
So I was, I was sitting on it and you know, my
eyes were closed, but you know, there was a light
just above my head and just worshiping the Lord.
And next thing I know, I'm not sitting in my
home. I'm not at the fireplace. I'm under this.
light that's raining down if you could imagine
liquid light drops of light and it was kind of
like a shower of joy was the substance but it
looked it looked like liquid light beautiful
you know so it's it's as these droplets are are
hitting me i'm just laughing and laughing and
laughing and then then it kind of it occurs to
me i am not in my house And I had this like,
not a scary moment, but just this pause of, wait,
this is heaven. But if this is heaven, where's
Jesus? And as soon as I thought, where's Jesus?
I was in a different place. Wow. And, you know,
something that you, Dean and others, I'm sure
have shared, that in heaven, you don't travel
at the speed of light or sound. It's the speed
of thought. Yep. I can't prove that biblically,
but I can just say that was my experience. Yeah.
So as soon as I think, where's Jesus? I'm now
in a different location and I see this long dinner
table and I see Jesus at the end and I see Paul
and John sitting next to him. Like I knew the
names of all the apostles and I saw how close
they were. And I knew that as close as you want
to be to Jesus in eternity is determined by how
you live on earth. Wow. And that those that had
lived in a way that were in close proximity to
him, that life continued in eternity. Beautiful.
And more than any desire that I've ever had,
if you could just imagine everything you've ever
wanted balled up and amplified. The thing that
I wanted was I just want to be close to Jesus.
That's the thing I want. I just want to be close.
I want to sit close to him. But I also knew it
wasn't right to just ask for the seat, that you
had to qualify to sit close. And I thought, oh,
that's the thing I need to ask for. I need to
ask for a life that's worth being close to Jesus
in that way. And as soon as I thought, oh, that's
something I should ask for, I'm now in the throne
room. I think I'm in the throne room. I was kneeling.
I was face down kneeling and not looking around
because it was this holy fear of the Lord in
the atmosphere. And I think I was on the sea
of glass, but again, I'm not sure. And then I
asked God for that. And then once I did, you
know that feeling when you're in an elevator
and you're on the top floor, you press the lower
floor, you can kind of feel yourself slowly descending.
Like I had that sensation of descending. When
I opened my eyes, I wasn't, I was still, I was
in my house now, but I was in a different room
in my house. And I'm in the kitchen and under
the ceiling fan, and I'm just saying the name
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, over and over and over.
And every time I said his name, I feel this tingling
sensation just washing over me head to toe. And
for about... Six days. It wasn't exact, but it
was up until I prayed a certain prayer. But it
was around six days where I could hear the Lord
as clearly as I could hear a person. I remember
praying for, this happened several times, where
I was in Walmart going to pray for somebody.
Because now I have this conviction of, oh, we
can go pray for people. And I wrote my sister
into it. So we went to Walmart just to go find
some people to pray for. And as soon as I start
talking to them, it's like this light that's
just outside of my field of vision just turns
on. And you can see this light raining down.
And people are just crying at me asking, hey,
can I pray for you? So I'm thinking like, hey,
this prayer thing is easy. All you need to do
is just ask them. And the light turns on and
the light rains down. And, you know, God will
heal them. And, you know, I'm here having very
specific direction and words of knowledge from
the Lord at the time. And there was times where
I was praying all kinds of selfish stuff and
he's telling me no. So we saw some miracles.
That was where I saw the first miracle was. It
was actually in Walmart where. We prayed for
a man that was in a wheelchair and he had an
oxygen tank and he had the mask on and prayed
for him once and nothing happened. I prayed for
him again and nothing happened. I'm like, no,
you don't understand. Like I can see the light
raining down, like the atmosphere. It's God is
here. And we prayed the third time. And on the
third time, I don't know why it took three times,
but the third time he just takes this huge breath
and goes. Takes off his mask and he's like, I
can breathe. I can breathe. Glory to God. Got
out of his little, you know, the little motorized
wheelchair and he's walking around and we prayed
for his knee and he's like giving glory to God
the whole time. I lit up, you know, I thought
this whole, like, this is all easy. And that
really kickstarted a lot of things for me when
it comes to evangelism too. And what a good thing
it does in your heart to kind of get your attention
off of you and just go show love to somebody
else. And we can make an idol out of a lot of
things. We can do it out of prayer. We can do
it out of evangelism. And I definitely did with
evangelism for a period where you start putting
ministry above family and other relationships
and other things. So there was a lot of zeal
when I was 25 and I'm now 42. I've had a little
time to temper some of the zeal without wisdom.
I'm hoping for a little bit more wisdom now.
There you go. You've had enough experience that
it has purchased some wisdom in your life. So
that was my, uh, my intro to the charismatic
world of having gone from no miracles to speaking
in tongues, heavenly encounter, seeing people
healed. And, and then I had a very, uh, tangible
demonic encounter also i don't know if you want
to talk about that or not well um the spirit
realm is real yeah you know both light and dark
if you think it's going to be edifying for our
listeners i'll just say that when you have a
significant experience like that the enemy is
not going to just sit idly by and I don't know
what I expected, you know, cause I, I, you know,
you come go have this whole heavenly encounter
and come back and, and I'm thinking like, oh,
ministry, my ministry is taking off and I'm going
to go be a minister and you know, all the different,
different things that are, are connected to some
of those expectations. And then to have a significant
demonic attack, which I would just say, if you
have an experience with the Lord, oftentimes
The enemy tries to rob you of either the experience
or the fruit of the experience. Yeah. Or to make
you fearful so that you won't go there again.
Right. Right. So anything to either discourage
you from the pursuits that you're currently on
to cause you to forget what God just did or to
make you fearful of the enemy's attack against
you or against your family or any of those sorts
of things. But God is always bigger. Yeah. Yes.
Amen. Well, Jesus talked about that in the parable
of the sower. how the birds would come and eat
the seed immediately or the weeds would come
and choke it or, you know, would land on stony
ground or hard ground that wouldn't produce fruit.
So, you know, the enemy knows what weaknesses
we have and what has come down from our family.
And he's just always trying to exploit things.
But like you said, God is greater. Yes. And our
Father is strategizing for... Everything to get
us where we need to be in him. Right. Which is
so wonderful. He's so faithful. He's so kind.
Wow. So you mentioned a few minutes ago about
the DVD that you got. And you watched it over
and over and over. That gave you a burden for
the persecuted church. Right? Is that how you
got that burden? Or was there something else
as well? I don't really know where it started,
to be honest. So I've got Fox's Book of Martyrs
behind me. And I remember reading that the first
time through. I remember just the impression.
And I think that in the world, when it comes
to a kingdom, some of the best representatives
of that kingdom are soldiers. Because those are
individuals that are... willing to lay down their
lives for the sake of their nation. So they are
often of the deepest conviction. Now, it's not
exclusive, and I wouldn't say they're better
than a normal civilian or anything else. I'm
just the willingness to lay everything down for
the sake of their kingdom. There's an honor that's
in that. And while we would recognize that when
it comes to soldiers and a natural nation, how
much more should it be true for for us as Christians.
When the example of our faith, Jesus, the one
that we model our lives after that we're supposed
to be Christ -like, he laid down his life. And
I had a friend who was, do you remember the name
Cassie Bernard? Yes. So I lived in Colorado for
a few years and had a friend who was close to
Cassie Bernard. For the sake of our listeners,
tell who Cassie Bernard is. So I guess this was
back in 99. Back before we had regular or as
many school shootings, we had Columbine. And
the Columbine school shooting, in that school
shooting, there was one particular individual,
Cassie Bernard. And she had recently become a
Christian and had professed that she would be
willing to die for her faith in her diary. when
I forget the names of the gunmen, but when they
held her at gunpoint and they said, do you believe
in God? And she said, yes. And they shot her.
Yeah. And so she, she very literally died for
her faith. Yes. And, and then, you know, working
with somebody that knew her, it made it that
much more real because it seems kind of disconnected
from the nine to five, I guess, American way
of life. Like it seems very foreign to us. At
least it did back then. Or maybe this was just
my own naivety. But now I'm very impressed by
some of the lives of the 21 martyrs from the
Eastern Orthodox Coptic Church that were beheaded
by ISIS for their faith. Which Jonathan Rumi
did an animated documentary. I'm not sure what
you would call it. An animated film on it. I
recommend people watch it. It's called 21 Martyrs.
And in it, they got testimony from some of the
ISIS individuals that were involved in the execution
of the 21 martyrs. And in it, you hear they were
having visions of giant angels walking with the
21 martyrs. It was originally 20. There was one
man who was being held by ISIS for a different
reason, and they were going to let him go. And
he said. My faith is the same as theirs. Why
would I leave? Wow. You know, so stories like
that where it just, it does something in my heart
where those are the people that I look up to
where, you know, we may never know the names
of, you know, some martyrs that have died on
mission fields and, and, you know, in horrific
conditions. And yet. In heaven, they're champions,
they're heroes, they're honored for the way that
they have lived and guarded their faith. And
even recently, in the past two years, I would
say the Lord has really started impressing it
on my heart more and more to be praying for the
persecuted church. Yes. You know, I'll find myself
out jogging and I'm not very lean. I use the
word jogging loosely. I make a jogging motion
at a walking pace. But while I'm doing that,
often it's prayer time because it's a way where
I can kind of disconnect from, and I'm just processing
with the Lord while I'm desperately trying to
breathe. But I find myself regularly during those
times just praying for the persecuted church.
And it's so easy for us to forget that we have
brothers and sisters that are in prison. They're
in horrific conditions in different nations.
And it feels so foreign to us because we're American,
because it's not part of our news cycle, because
of a lot of different reasons. And yet we're
instructed to pray for them. Yes. So those are
the lives that I'm most impressed by. I think
as missionaries, it's something that we should
have that almost as a goal. I feel like it's
a goal. I feel like that was a goal that Paul
was aiming towards. He was aiming his life towards,
this is how it's going to end for me. For me
to live as Christ, to die as gain. He was aware
of what he was going towards in his end. God
showed him the things that he would suffer. Yeah.
And it wasn't like God was trying to talk him
out of a job description. There was something
in that that was part of what he was created
for. There's something in it where it's part
of what we're meant to fulfill, where the message
that we carry has to be tested. And if it's never
tested, then how much do we really believe the
message? Right. Right. Yeah. You know, I was
first attracted to this ministry when our founders,
Sister Gwen Shaw and at the time, Siggy Oblander
and others, Sister Gwen's husband, they were
Bible smugglers behind the Iron Curtain. And
the first time, I think it was the first time
I actually heard Sister Gwen, she was talking
about, you know, behind the Iron Curtain was
the thing. back there in the 70s, where we didn't
even know what was going on in China in those
days. There was no news coming out of China.
But she was bringing stories of, for instance,
there was a family that every time the mother
would go into labor and go to the hospital, the
communist doctors would, I don't know, pierce
the eardrums of the children so that they would
never hear the gospel. I mean, that's... That's
awful. And the story of Vanya, there's a book
out there named Vanya, V -A -N -Y -A, where this
young man was serving in the Russian army or
Soviet army somehow. And the persecution that
he was going through as a Christian, they sent
him out to stand on guard in the winter in his
summer uniform. I mean, they were trying to kill
him. All kinds of stories like that. And so,
you know, that was part of my upbringing really
in the things of God. I was probably 17 when
I heard those stories. And it was like, oh, you
know, if he's worth living for, he's worth dying
for. He's worth everything. And then after I
had already. you know, gotten that mindset myself.
Years later, I would have these conversations
with my dad and my dad was a missionary. My parents
were missionaries in India. That's why I was
born there. So dad would talk about his heroes.
Were those missionaries in, where the missionaries
were killed by the Ecuador. Thank you. It was
like all these other nations were. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Nate Saint and Elliot. Yeah. Jim Elliot.
Those men were my dad's heroes. And he talked
about this doctor in the Congo, missionary doctor.
He sent his family home, but he stayed to be
there to take care of the people who were suffering,
and he was martyred. And so these people were
my dad's heroes. So, you know, I've got kind
of that similar mindset about... If Jesus is
worth living for, he's worth dying for. And I
love what Dean said, and he said it on your podcast,
I think, but he said it with us where, you know,
Jesus died our death for us. Yeah. So in that
moment when they think they're taking your life,
God takes your spirit out of you before they
can do that. They're just, all they're doing
is harming the body, but your spirit's already
gone. Right. It's amazing. It's amazing. But
God is doing things, you know, we can't live
our lives in some kind of a fantasy world of,
you know, I think sometimes our American way
is really more of a fantasy than the reality
of living for Jesus and being willing to lay
everything down for Jesus. Right. Yeah. I think
in a lot of ways. what we have called Christianity
is really only part of the story. And there's
certain messages that if we're really honest
with ourselves, there's messages that we don't
preach because it means that people aren't going
to say amen. There's message that we won't preach.
We won't preach certain messages because it means
that tithing will go down and giving will go
down. generally we've lost the message on suffering.
We've stopped the way of the cross even, which
the way of the cross is suffering. Exactly. And
I think it's because of the messages that we
have been unwilling to preach for various reasons
that it skews the perception. And it doesn't
mean that what we've emphasized is wrong, like
prosperity, for example. People will rail against
the word prosper or prosperity. Words in the
Bible, you know, prospering, being good health,
health is your soul prospers. Like that's a lot
of prospering right there. But the problem is
when you emphasize one truth at the expense of
other truth, you know, where, you know, where
we say prosperity and everything has to be prosperity.
So if you're not prospering, then you're not
really living a Christian life. You know, we've
overemphasized one truth at the expense of another.
Paul says he knew what it was to be content,
whether he had a lot or whether he had little.
Very true. And contentment flies in the face
of overemphasizing prosperity. Yeah, and I remember
one of our former pastors at the little church
in Jasper says, well, Jesus didn't, he borrowed
everything. I mean, he borrowed a boat, he borrowed
a grave, you know. He did. Well, you know, I
thought, okay, you know. That doesn't sound like
the prosperity message, you know. Well, Paul
said godliness with contentment is great gain.
Well, what about that scripture? I think it's
in Peter. Yeah, it's in Peter. Be content with
what you have. Yeah. You never hear that very
much. No. Because nobody's, unless where you're
really living in Jesus, where you're really content.
But if you're not, you want. more of this, more
of that, you know, it's just like, if it doesn't,
it doesn't tend. Yeah. And I think we don't hear
enough sermons on covetousness, you know, that
it's the 10th of the big 10, you know, the 10
commandments, it's the 10th. So it's kind of
like, it's very important. It's, it's the last
word, don't covet. So if you don't covet, you're
not going to have problems with the root of all
evil, which is the love of money. Loving money,
loving stuff, wanting stuff that doesn't belong
to you. A lot of these things that are other
commandments, like not committing adultery, if
you would start with, don't covet your neighbor's
wife, you'd never commit adultery. You wouldn't
steal all those things. I think you hit the nail
on the head. I think that in a lot of ways, in
society, it's not uncommon to hear people say
things like, well, I just want it, or the heart
wants what it wants, or these kind of analogous
terms that lose their meaning when they're used
in that way. But if you break it down, really
what people are saying is, I have this desire,
therefore you can't tell me I'm wrong. And that's
not biblical. No. And there are Christians that
will do that too. They'll say, well, God gave
me all these desires. And there are desires that
God gives you, and there's desires that you cultivate
yourself. Yeah, right. It sure sounds like the
flesh. We will pray God guard our hearts, but
really he said for you to guard it. And that
means it's my responsibility. And even in the
verse that you mentioned of don't commit adultery,
in Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, if you
look at a woman with lust, you've committed adultery
in your heart, which means that you're responsible
for stewarding your desires. What you allow yourself
to desire is a reality that's worthy of judgment.
And I'm not saying it's on the same plane as...
living out that desire. But at the same time,
it doesn't mean that you, the way that you stop
the issues that we're having in the church today
is get to the root of the thing. And the root
of the thing isn't the action. It's why aren't
we stewarding our hearts and allowing desires
to just run amok? And we haven't done a very
good job of fully yielding those parts of our
heart to the Lord. Yeah, it's like that. I tried
to find the exact scripture. Couldn't. The eye
is the window of the soul. There's maybe it's
another trend. You know, there's something, something
somewhere kind of relates to that. Sermon on
the Mount, isn't it? Yeah, it sounds like that.
If your eye be single, I think. If your eye be
single, your whole body will be filled with light.
And if that light that is in you is darkness,
then how great is that darkness? Yeah, that's
where that probably comes from. And Steve Green
did a song a long time ago. You know, it starts
out with the little, Rhyme, you know, be careful
little eyes what you see, you know, the father
up above is looking down at love. And the song
was Guard Your Heart. And one of the lines in
that that I've always remembered was feelings
that should never have been awakened within tearing
the heart in two. I thought that is so powerful
because that's. With things that haven't been
dealt with, especially adultery and things like
that, you know, things you see or, you know,
it's just. You just have to, you have to realize
that these things are traps. Yeah. It's your
eye gate. That's another term that's not worded
that way in scripture anywhere. But it is a gate.
It is a gate. Yeah. Your eye gate. It's a gate
to your soul. And you have to learn. that these
are traps that if you step on that triggers,
not the word, what do you call that part of the
trap that makes it snap? The snare, the trap
door. The snare, whatever. Yeah. It's a trigger,
maybe the word, but when you trip it, when you
trip that trigger, you're in trouble and you're
trapped, you're trapped. But if we can just get
the picture that. We can also set traps of the
blood of Jesus over our minds and over our eyes
and over our ears and over the things that have
to do with our soul so that when one of those
stray thoughts comes in, bam, set that trap on
it. Just snare it and get it out. Sometimes I've
found myself saying, instead of running away
from God when you find a wrong thought in your
head. Grab a hold of that thing and drag it to
his feet and say, look at this thing that came
to attack me. I bring it to your feet, Jesus.
And, you know, you become or I become the one
that is like the hunter to get rid of these things
that don't belong in my life. I remember our
pastor years ago, Pastor Hunt. He was living
in a... place kind of really out in the woods.
It was real, real out in the woods. And one day
he found a snake in his living room and it slithered
behind the couch. And he was absolutely determined
that he was going to deal with that thing and
get it out of his house. And he was telling the
story to a friend of his. And this friend said,
yeah, that's how we need to be about dealing
with sin. That you're not going to let that thing
hide behind your couch. You're not going to let
it live anywhere in you. You're going to follow
it through until it is dealt with. And, you know,
the more we get in the habit of dealing with
those things, you know, that the thing pops into
your head, uh -uh, no, you can't live in me like
that. I refuse to give place to that. You know,
cause if, if you just hide it, if you hide it
under a bushel, if you sweep it under the rug,
now I can't see it. Right. But if it's under
the rug, it's still there. Yeah. Well, and I
think it's become more important and I'm not
saying it wasn't important, you know, a couple
of generations ago. I just, if you look at the
way that the internet has affected our daily
living and how much access the world has to your
thought life. It has increased our necessity
for discipline and maintaining our own healthy
inner spiritual life. Because if you just let
it go, it's not like prior to the invention of
television, if you had an undisciplined thought
life, you weren't inundated with worldly things.
And now we have, if you have an undisciplined
thought life and you're on social media, you're
going to be bombarded with things. I've done
a couple of different episodes on this particularly,
but last year a Barna Group study came out and
it was on the prevalence of adult content viewing.
I'm trying to be sensitive to wherever this podcast
goes out so you don't get censored. The percentage
of pastors. that were viewing adult content.
I'm going to botch the number, but it was over
50%. I want to say it was over 60 % that were
actively dealing with it. And if that's the percentage
number for pastors, how much more for everyone
else? It's exceedingly uncommon to find teenage
boys that have not seen that type of thing by
the time they're 18, 19 years old. So the need
for internal censorship to protect our own souls
has gone up. And yet we have been inundated by
the world in such a way where we constantly feel
subject to the environment around us. And the
only solution is to discipline your own soul.
And I love the verse in Psalms where, I think
it's Psalms 131. David says, I weaned my soul
like a baby within me. That he actually disciplined
his own soul in such a way. Weaning is that process
of disciplining a child from breastfeeding into
a form of independence. And it's a maturing process.
And one of the things that I've personally found
to be beneficial that is unpopular from a worldview
and is kind of uncommon even in Christian practice
is Just taking time every day to sit in the Lord's
presence in silence without your phone. I get
it if you got to have music and stuff like that,
but trying to do it without gimmicks, and I'm
not saying that worship is a gimmick, but I feel
like we often have excuses for bringing the world
into the prayer closet. Well, I need it for my
notes. I need it for my music. I need it for
my this. And if you do, that's fine. I'm not
pronouncing a judgment. I'm just saying for me.
It helps to have time where I'm just, it's the
simplicity of quiet with the Lord. I'm not trying
to say something and I'm not trying to get an
answer for something. And I've found for myself,
if it's been a while since I've practiced that,
my mind goes all over the place. And it's not
because I'm particularly undisciplined in my
thought life. You know, I'm on the phone for
work and internet and podcasts and all these
things. So you train your mind to be constantly
requiring stimulus. And that starts to have an
effect, you know, your souls, your mind, will
and emotions. It starts to have an effect on
your internal life. But if we can get our souls
to be quiet and still, then we recognize any
other voice a lot faster. I can't say that it's
the solution for everything, but it shuts down
a lot of the different points of access that
the busyness of having a connected life seems
to cause. Yeah. What is the normal attention
span for those that are watching TV? It's like
you have so much, then you have a commercial.
Yeah. And it's getting shorter. With TikTok,
I think it's under 15 seconds. Oh, is it that
low? Come on. Whoa. I think so. And that depends
on what you're viewing. You know, for example,
podcast listeners typically listen longer because
they're doing it while they're, it's a passive
activity. They're listening while they're doing
something else. TikTok in particular, you know,
it's very short clips. They have reels and, you
know, all the different shorts and things like
that, which are under 30 seconds. And they're
under 30 seconds because. Attention spans are
generally under 30 seconds. Wow. That's scary.
That's scary. You know what you were saying about
just being quiet? One of the key scriptures for
me, and I even used it in the title of my little
devotional book, Isaiah 30, 15 says, For thus
says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, In
returning and rest shall you be saved. In quietness
and in confidence shall be your strength. And
we usually stop quoting there. But the rest of
the verse is, and you would not. That's one of
the saddest verses in the Bible to me. That,
you know, here's how you can do it. Just be quiet.
But you wouldn't. And I find I have to reel myself
in. Yeah. So that I can stop and take that time.
Especially if you wake up later in the morning.
Yeah, yeah. You know, that makes it more, like
if you're able to get to bed early enough, you
get up before the sun gets up. But as soon as
time gets later, you know, you're responsible.
There's somebody who's looking for this or that
or, you know, and it's just, you know, try to
go to bed early to get up early. Yes, it's true.
Yeah, that's my. That's in our house. That seems
to be the, you know, when you're a full -time
ministry, there's all these, you know, things
when there's a limited amount of time to do things.
And it's just, you have to really fight sometimes
to make time. It's true. It's true. And beyond
that, it's cultivating the presence of God, regardless
of what you're doing, practicing his presence.
That even when you're doing other stuff. That
you actively work on remaining aware of him.
Yeah, I try to do that while weed eating. Yep.
Well, Jeff, this has been really good. Would
you pray for our listeners? Nope. I guess you
would. Just kidding. Just kidding. Of course.
Well, Heavenly Father, first I just thank you
for Sharon and Phillip, Lord, for their heart
for you and how they've been faithful. Lord,
how they've been faithful even when no one is
looking. And God, I pray that you would bless
them and bless their podcast, bless their ministry.
Lord, we thank you for divine connection and
relationship. And I pray that you would continue
to strengthen those. I pray that you would strengthen
them in their calling. God, I pray for every
listener. Lord, those that have been faithful
in hidden places, God, I pray that you would
continue to strengthen them. Lord, I thank you
for every encounter that you've given me. God,
I pray that you would release those types of
encounters to your listeners. Lord, to those
that are listening right now that are just hungry
for you, Father. Lord, you know what they need.
You know what the encounters they need, the experiences
they need. God, I pray that you would move powerfully,
stir the hearts of your people. And Father, we
lift up the persecuted church. Yes. For those
that are suffering in hiddenness and hidden places
that are choosing not to surrender because of
your name. Yes, Lord. Lord, those that are held
in high esteem in heaven, I pray that you would
strengthen them. in their inner man. Strengthen
them, Lord, even in their bodies, Lord, in the
places of difficulty. I pray that your presence
would be powerfully overshadowing them. Yes,
Father. Father, I pray that you send supernatural
help. Send angels to minister to them. God, in
the same way as you send angels to Peter to deliver
him out of bondage, I pray that similar stories
would start happening right now. Yes, Lord. Thank
you, Father. Lord, we thank you for our brothers
and sisters that are paying a high price for
your name. God, I pray that your name would continue
to resonate, even in dark places, that the gospel
would be proclaimed. Father, I pray that for
the church that feels distant and disconnected
from those realities, God, I pray that you would
refine us in such a way. that our faith would
shine like gold. Yes, Lord. We thank you for
how loving you are, for how kind you are. Yes.
For we bless you and worship you. In Jesus' name,
amen. Amen. If you enjoyed today's podcast, Please
subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on Apple
Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Your review helps the podcasting platform suggest
this podcast to other listeners who are also
looking for a great move of the Holy Spirit.
Check out our website at globaloutpouring .org
to find out more information, read our blogs,
connect with us, and donate. You can also browse
our web store for life -changing anointed books.
Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm
Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming,
loving presence.