Episode 57

Listen to podcast HERE

– Open Transcript –

Is it enough to attend church on Sunday morning? Are you settling for a weekly dose of Jesus? Does that get you through the week? Or perhaps you also go to a midweek prayer service, maybe even an occasional small group meeting. All of these things are beneficial to your walk with Christ, but is your relationship with Jesus flourishing? We’ll discuss this at length on this episode of The Kingdom Hero Show, so stick around.

Please send me your thoughts, comments, questions, or suggestions. Go to KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact – that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact. Use the contact form on that page. Or send me a voice message at Anchor.fm/kingdomhero/messages – that’s Anchor.fm/kingdomhero/messages. Follow the prompts there. You can support us securely at KingdomHeroBlog.com/support – that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com/support. And I also encourage you to subscribe to or follow this program on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

What’s the status of your relationship with Jesus? Are you close, or just casual acquaintances? Let’s examine that. Ready? Let the Kingdom Heroics begin!

– Show Intro –

Alrighty folks, let’s start with our mission statement: To advance the Kingdom of God through study of the Word and making real-world application of Godly character and Kingdom-mindedness.

Our central theme passage of scripture is from Micah 6:8… “Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” With all this in mind, let’s jump into today’s episode. Okay…?

So this isn’t a new topic here, but it’s good to periodically remind ourselves just how vital it is to cultivate a strong relationship with our Lord and Savior. This is something that many people who call themselves Christians seem to struggle with continually. Today, I want to break down why that is, and what we can do about it.

First, I think we should ask ourselves honestly how we view being a Christian. What does that mean to you? Do you hold yourself to a higher standard, or do you live pretty much like anyone else in the world you’d consider a decent person?

Second, are you pursuing a closer relationship with Christ, or do you view that as just something that other people should do – like preachers or other church leaders? How often do you talk to God? Is your prayer life active? Is that even important to you?

Now, be honest. As I progressed through the questions I just asked, did you begin to feel uncomfortable? Did you start to feel bothered by thoughts that there’s more you should be doing as a Christian? Did you perhaps begin to provide yourself with excuses as to why you aren’t doing more?

Let’s consider for a moment what God’s own desire was (and is) for mankind. He created us in His own image, to be like Him. He walked and talked with Adam in the Garden of Eden, communing with His most prized creation. It’s apparent that He wanted to be close to us, to love and care for us, and fellowship with us on a daily basis. Then sin wrecked all of that when Adam and Eve disobeyed.

But even though there was punishment, God still loved us. Even when mankind became so wicked that God sent a great flood to wipe them out, He found one good man and spared him and his family. God treasures us so much, the Bible tells us that at the He sent us His own Son as the final means to redeem the human race from its sin.

These are the acts of a loving Creator who desires a close relationship with us. He has done more to demonstrate His great love than anyone else ever has. The sacrifice made through Jesus was the final solution to assure a way for us to spend eternity with Him. So, ya think maybe a strong relationship with the Lord is kinda important?

Now, I can picture a lot of your heads nodding and I can hear a few amens. It’s likely that most every Christian would say, “Yep, that’s right, I agree 100%!” We even have this saying a lot of us use from time to time – I’ve said it myself: “Christianity isn’t about religion but about a relationship.” And I’m not knocking that – it’s a true statement. But saying you believe it and actually living like it are two very different things.

– Break Transcript –

I’m talking to Christians, here. This is a clarion call for self-examination. If you are listening to this and feel the urge to give the old “but-but-but” defense, then your relationship with Jesus probably needs deepening.

Here are some classic examples… But I go to church every Sunday. But I pay my tithes. But I listen to the preacher. I sing along with the worship team. I read my Bible sometimes. I do this, and I do that, and I even avoid doing these other things that God doesn’t like. What more does He want? He wants a relationship with you.

Sure, it’s great to do all these things because you love Him. But there’s more to a relationship than the things you do. Husbands and wives, you hopefully enjoy doing things for each other that demonstrate your love and affection for one another. But is that all there is to your relationship? No, of course not. You also place great value in other things, like just spending quality time together. It should be the same with God.

The deeper we examine this, it becomes less about what you do and more about how you live. I’m referring to how you prioritize your life, who and what comes first, and so on. How do you prioritize your time? Who or what would the evidence suggest is most important to you?

I’ve often mentioned how the marriage relationship is a picture of the kind of closeness God wants to share with us. Would your relationship with your spouse grow if you only spent a couple of hours together one day a week? How long do you think that marriage would even last? Crazy, huh? And this is precisely why a lot of Christians still fail to establish a meaningful relationship with Christ.

For this type of deep relationship to be established, grow, and be a success, it must be a daily pursuit. When Jesus taught the Disciples how to pray, Luke 11:3 quotes Him as saying, “Give us our daily bread.” This isn’t simply talking about physical sustenance, but that which also sustains us spiritually, emotionally, and otherwise. A truth echoed in the scripture Jesus used to rebuke satan during the temptation, “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

So, in order to truly live, we need our daily bread, the Word of God. Who is the embodiment of God’s Word? Who is the embodiment of God in the flesh? Who is said to be the bread of life, the manna that came from heaven? Hello! Jesus is! He is our daily bread. We celebrate His birth in that little town of Bethlehem, and did you this Hebrew word – which is pronounced beth-LEK-hem – actually means “house of bread”? Do you think that’s just coincidence?

Just as Jesus was made physically alive within the virgin Mary, His mother, the Word of God should also be made alive within us. But whereas the Christ-child required a pure vessel to deliver Him and bring Him forth into this world, this Bread from Heaven – having fulfilled all He came to accomplish – has the power to deliver us from the bonds of this world and purify us from within! This is certainly cause for joyous celebration!

And we read in chapter 4 of Paul’s letter to the Galatians of his great concern and distress regarding them. What was it that troubled him so much? He was addressing people who had come to know God but were falling back into old habits and bad practices because they weren’t seeking a proper relationship with God.

He said in verse 9, “now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” And further down in verse 19, because he has tried to teach them and feels like he has failed, Paul refers to them as, “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”

See, Paul chose strong words with powerful meaning to illustrate just how important their spiritual well-being was to him. Likewise, we ought to place the greatest of emphasis on cultivating our relationship with Jesus. Can you honestly say that you have made this a priority in your life? Have you made the time, the room, and the effort for Christ to be formed in you?

– Break Transcript –

So the question is, how. How can we see to it that we are cultivating the kind of closeness to God that we need, the kind of meaningful relationship that will enrich and enhance our lives? Well, He certainly didn’t make it difficult for us – we tend to make things difficult for ourselves. No, God made it pretty simple. He’s already at the door, you only need to open it and truly invite Him in.

In Revelation 3:20, He plainly states, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Now that doesn’t sound hard at all, does it? But let me put in more relatable terms for ya.

It’s easy to just say, hey you should pray more. But we often aren’t quite sure how to talk to this all-powerful being that we can’t see. In one of my old GC videos – season 1, episode 6 – I addressed the question, “How Do I Talk to God?” I said that, while reverence is important, we really should speak to God like He’s the best and closest friend we ever had – because He is. Be yourself, be real, and don’t think you have to use a bunch of Christianese words that you don’t normally use.

God loves you for you. So don’t try to be something you’re not. And don’t over-complicate things. Just talk to Him. And do it often. Every day. Several times a day. When things are going great, thank Him. If things aren’t going well, tell Him how you feel. Take everything to Him: your needs, your cares, your concerns, your heartache, your joys, and perhaps even that silly sense of humor He gave you.

See, God just wants to be with you. He wants to be part of your daily life. And we need that, too. We need His presence and companionship. We need to know He is always there for us. And we need Him to give us the daily bread that nourishes our entire being – body, mind, and spirit. Having a strong relationship with the Lord means never ever having to be alone.

Jesus is not an imaginary friend. He’s the friend that sticks closer than a brother, and He will never betray or forsake you. And frankly, I can’t imagine my life without Him. I talk to Him every day, when I wake up, when I’m on the road, when I’m about to eat, when I need to make a tough decision, and when I go to bed. He has been the one constant when everything else in life goes berserk. He’s why I’m still sain after all the craziness that’s happened. He’s what brings me joy in every circumstance. And yes, He’s my daily bread. Dude, He’s as real as it gets. I’m just sayin’.

– End Transcript –

Episode 56

Listen to the podcast HERE

– Begin Transcript –

Hey everyone! On this episode, I’ll be reading some comments I’ve received and also answer a few questions you’ve submitted via the contact form. I encourage all of you to do that, go to KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact – that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact. Also on today’s show, I want to talk about an epidemic that is being widely ignored. It is indeed a national crisis. We’ll get into that later on. But your questions and comments are first on the agenda. So, let the Kingdom Heroics begin!

– SHOW INTRO –

Alrighty then. I am stoked to finally get into some of the comments and questions we’ve received here at the Kingdom Hero Show. First, let’s start with our mission statement: To advance the Kingdom of God through study of the Word and making real-world application of Godly character and Kingdom-mindedness.

Our central theme passage of scripture is from Micah 6:8… “Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” With all this in mind, let’s jump into today’s episode and get to some comments and questions. Okay…?

Ask Away – Q & A segment jingle (in)

Jack in Doraville, GA – My wife got me started listening to your program a few months ago. I’m glad you’re back now doing more. You really got me thinking recently about some things. I especially enjoyed your interview with your pastor, and the recent show about the unseen enemy. God bless you, and keep telling it like it is.

Thank you, Jack. And thank your wife for me. Great to have you both as listeners. And I’m always gratified when I can make people think. We need to do more of that. Thinking for ourselves, rather than having the mainstream media tell us what to think.

Paula in Sandy Springs – Enjoy the show. I used to read your blog, but I’m a bigger fan of the podcast. I was saddened to hear of your father’s passing last year. Hope your family is adjusting and doing well. Thank you for being a voice in the wilderness that is the internet.

Ooh, I like that. A voice in the wilderness that is the internet. That’s awesome. I’m gonna have to use that in a future promo for the show or something. Love it. Thanks so much for the condolences as well, Paula!

Emil in Lakeland, FL – Greetings to you, Stacy or is it Stace? Not sure how you say it. I am from Turkey, but have lived in the US for 24 years. First heard your internet program last week so I am new. Can you please explain to me the reason why you feel Christian people should be involved greatly in the process of the government and politics? I happen to agree but want your perspective on this matter. Thank you!

First of all, thank you, Emil, for the thoughtful question. I’ll address it in a moment. But regarding my name, it is in fact Stacey, S-T-A-C-E-Y, however I have gone by the shortened version “Stace,” S-T-A-C-E, for most of my life. I just drop the Y off the end. So, yeah. It’s just Stace.

As to your question about the need for Christians to be involved in the American governmental process, politics, and so forth… I strongly believe that it’s vital to the security and sovereignty of our nation, and I’m happy to explain why. But for the sake of argument, let me put the Christian aspect aside for a moment. I hope it will become clear why as I go through this.

We have a unique situation here in the United States – not just unique, but also marvelous and inspired. I really believe that. See, our founding fathers knew first-hand what tyranny was like. They understood oppression. They had endured their fair share of it under the rule of King George in England. So when they struck out to start a new country of their own, they were quite adamant about establishing a system in which they could govern themselves. These were some very intelligent people.

The result was a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The people had the responsibility of electing, or choosing, their governing officials who would then represent them and their interests. If these representatives ever stepped out of line or ceased to perform their duties adequately, they could be replaced by the people in the next election. Those elected officials were motivated to stay true to their constituents, knowing others would be elected in their place otherwise. But somewhere along the way, this system was circumvented by the special interests of the corrupt.

I contend that we, as Americans, owe it to our founders as well as to our posterity to right these wrongs and put our nation back on track. I’ll bring our duty as Christians into the mix in a bit, but make no mistake, it is our responsibility as Americans to make sure this country is kept on its original footing. Freedom doesn’t happen automatically. No, it has to be protected and nurtured.

We have to hold our elected officials accountable. As the people from whom their power is derived, we have a responsibility to be engaged and make sure that they are truly being representative of us. When they aren’t serving our best interests, we better call them on the carpet for that. This idea that we should just sit back, stay in our lane, let them just go on unchecked, that is exceedingly dangerous and it’s not how our Constitutional Republic was designed to function.

Now, as to Emil’s question about our involvement as Christians… Even the founders knew that, if the new nation was going to last, it would need to be guided by some basic moral principles. They took that moral guidance directly from the scriptures. In fact, they cited 27 specific Biblical violations when writing the Declaration of Independence. Biblical truth is found throughout the founding documents. Obviously, it was important to them.

52 of the 55 men who formed the Constitution were active members of their churches. These were people who even believed that the moral precepts of the Bible itself should be taught in schools. Thomas Jefferson called the Bible “the cornerstone of American liberty,” and it was placed in the schools as a guiding standard. Patrick Henry, who is famous for saying, “Give me liberty or give me death,” was also quoted as proclaiming that our country was founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

During that time, James Madison said, “We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments.” In his farewell address, George Washington said, “You can’t have national morality apart from religious principle.” Decades later, Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that these people knew the importance of Godly influence within our government.

And if we, as Americans, have a duty to keep our elected officials in line, then don’t we, as Christians, have a similar and even more profound duty to effect a positive impact on the soul of America? I believe we do. And I believe there is even precedent for it in scripture. Among other examples, Daniel was a Godly man who gave wise counsel to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. And though he didn’t always stick to it, king Nebo also gained spiritual insight from the 3 Hebrew youths who refused to bow down to his idol.

My point is that, if WE don’t offer the righteous standard for others to see and stand up against tyranny and injustice, then WHO will? We are called to be salt and light to this world. If we aren’t doing these things, speaking out for the unborn, against false-accusers, and more, then we have forsaken our call as Christians. If we’re not doing God’s work and advancing His Kingdom, then we’re doing the other thing. And I don’t want to be one of those people on judgment day who God looks upon and says, “Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you.”

– BREAK TRANSCRIPT –

Cassandra in McMinnville, TN – Saw a link to your podcast on Facebook in a friend’s post and decided to check it out. To my surprise, you’re not the religious republican blow-hard I expected you to be. Some of your views are pretty mellow compared to others in your circle. I would be interested to hear what you think about drinking alcohol. Is it a sin or no?

Okay. First off, thank you for the question, uh, Cassandra. Folks, I gotta tell ya, I’ve got all kinds of bells and stuff going off in my head right now. Something about this question, and I may be wrong, but I believe I need to address this subject with complete clarity and a degree of caution. If I’m mistaken about the nature of this, then I sincerely apologize, but it feels a lot like a set up. Regardless, let me offer my response.

I would initially like to point out, as I have stated a number of times before, that you should for no reason ever base your own choices or dogma or whatever on what I say are my views. I am not under any circumstances supposed to be your ultimate standard or source. Always, always, measure anything I or anyone else says against what the Word of God says. Though I do want to lift up the standard here, I am not the standard – the Bible is the standard. Seek truth there.

Now, I have been asked this question in the past, and I have dealt with the topic of drinking at some length. I would direct you to the old web series I did a few years back called the GC. There was an episode in season one titled, “Is Drinking a Sin?” Season one, episode nine, in fact. You can find it on my YouTube channel.

In that video, I break down the question and examine several scriptures that support my own opinion on the matter. I encourage you to watch that video for all the reference material and Bible passages. But the gist of it is this: While the Bible does strongly warn us about the dangers of drunkenness, or over-indulgence of alcohol, I can find no scripture that commands us to not drink.

Hold on, if that bothers you, just hang around, I’m not done. No, I don’t see anything in the Bible that explicitly says don’t drink. To the contrary, it is in fact well documented in scripture that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine, He and His Disciples are said to have drank wine, and it was also known in Biblical times that wine even had medicinal qualities. In one of Paul’s letters to Timothy, he advised him to take a little wine for his stomach problems.

Some of you may take issue with the things I’ve just stated, but I want to make it clear that this should not become a source of contention for believers. Study the Word, make sure that your beliefs are based in scripture and not tradition, and leave it at that. If this is a stumbling block for you, then you’re probably better off staying away from alcohol.

Having said all this, I’d like to point out one other thing that concerns me about this question of drinking being a sin. And please hear me when I say this. Even if you believe it’s not sinful, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t cause problems in your life. I would sincerely ask that you take an honest assessment of yourself before taking a drink. And I will admit to you that what I’m about to say comes from my own observations and experiences.

Often times, when someone asks a question like this one, they’re looking for an excuse to do something. If I’d flatly said, yes drinking is a sin, I would have been met with all the Bible quotes and reasons why I’m wrong. And worse yet, by answering, drinking itself isn’t a sin per sè, now there are those who would use this as an excuse to drink – knowing full well that their intent is to get drunk. As I said before, the Bible clearly warns us to avoid drunkenness.

Bottom line, if you can’t drink without the motivation of getting sloshed, you’re better off not drinking. There are some great reasons why we’re told not to become drunk. It can and often does lead to other very bad things. Over-indulgence of alcohol will impair your judgment, lower your inhibitions, and make it more likely that you’ll do inadvisable things you wouldn’t do otherwise. It often leads to dangerous situations, illegal activity, horrible accidents, alcohol poisoning, liver disease, or even death.

Understand, that the phrase well Jesus drank DOES NOT MEAN He got snooker-faced. It’s not a license for you to go out and get drunk. Jesus did NOT abuse alcohol. And we’re often warned in scripture about the adverse effects of over-indulgence of many things, whether it’s over drinking or over eating or whatever. And if you take nothing else away from this, I want you to remember this – in fact, write it down because it’s absolutely scriptural. Ready? If your drinking causes your brother to stumble, don’t do it.

You might say, “But I’m not getting drunk, I’m just having one cold beer because it goes great with hot wings!” Right? Hey, I’ve been there, I know. But if your friend who knows you’re a Christian – perhaps you’ve even been witnessing to this person – and he or she sees you drinking alcohol, it can easily send the wrong message. That one little beer you think is harmless may instead have a very detrimental impact on that dear friend. Trust me, you do NOT want to be responsible for that.

We have to be wise in our actions. How? How can we be wise? Study the Word of God, and follow not only those things that are clearly commanded, but also the wise warnings of things to avoid. Remember that, just because you can do something, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you should do that thing.

Much like a similar discussion we’ve had about rights and freedoms – having the right to do something doesn’t always mean you should. It may even be lawfully okay, but still be a very bad idea. We need wisdom to know the difference, and that wisdom is found in God’s Word.

Ask Away – Q & A segment jingle (out)

– BREAK TRANSCRIPT –

Thanks again to those who sent in comments and questions. I hope to get to more of them in the future. I encourage you to message me through the contact form on the website, KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact – that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact. Or leave a voice message at Anchor.fm/kingdomhero/messages – again, that’s Anchor.fm/kingdomhero/messages. Either way, I’d love for you to be part of the show.

OPM Addiction

Now, I have one last thing I want to hit on before wrapping up this episode. There’s a long-standing addiction problem in Washington DC, been going on for a very long time. Could it be referred to as a major crisis? Yes, absolutely it IS a huge crisis and with far-reaching effects. It’s not a secret either. This addiction has been known about for many years as well.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about an OPM addiction. Now listen carefully, don’t misunderstand me here. I’m not saying the majority of people in DC have an opium addiction. No, I’m saying they have an OPM addiction – an addiction to Other People’s Money. They want it, they have to have it, they’re dependent upon it, they rant and rave if they don’t get enough of it, and they will do everything they can to get as much of it as possible, plus their craving for it is constantly increasing! As is our national debt.

Now if you or I were to continually spend money we don’t have, we would eventually max out our credit and owe mountains of debt. This is generally recognized as an extremely unwise practice. But our government has been doing it for years – decades, even! The total US deficit is currently in the trillions of dollars. Yes, I said TRILLIONS. Talk about out of control spending! And it cannot possibly continue forever. At some point, if not rectified, there will be an enormous economic collapse – the likes of which will make The Great Depression seem like little more than a financial hiccup.

This is a serious problem that has been largely ignored. And it’s not just the government’s problem, it’s ours. After all, the government gets its revenue from taxing you and me. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re already being taxed nearly half of our earnings. There’s income tax, sales tax, property tax, a tax on interest, a tax on capital gains, gasoline tax, and even a death tax on whatever you leave behind. The government taxes us for so many things, it’s near impossible to track.

But all those taxes would never generate enough revenue to pay down our national debt. Especially when they keep spending more than they can take in. And then, the federal reserve compounds the problem by printing more money. This is the solution for those who keep running up our gargantuan deficit? To just print more cash? That’s what causes inflation and devalues the dollars we do have.

Simple economics. Introducing more cash into an already struggling economy creates a situation where there are suddenly more dollars chasing after less products. Why? Because, while the fed can print up new money like it’s free, the government doesn’t actually produce anything. There’s no increase in goods and services, but now there’s more money in circulation, meaning it takes more money to purchase those goods and services. Prices increase on everything – boom, inflation!

And while there have been several pushes in the past for government to balance the budget, and plans were presented to do so, there hasn’t been a willingness in DC to really try to stick to it. Every time one side introduces a measure to cut spending, the other side turns it into a political tool and claims the spending cuts are too drastic and will cause irreparable harm to the people. Eventually, all efforts to work toward reducing the deficit end up being abandoned due to political nonsense.

How long are we the people going to just sit back and let these crooks sell our country’s future down the river? There’s virtually zero accountability when the corruption runs as deep as it does now. Members of Congress continue to vote themselves raises, and spend taxpayer money on frivolous garbage and failed government programs, print more cash which makes what little money they let us keep worth less and less, while the deficit continues to skyrocket to mind-boggling levels.

Here’s what Elon Musk recently had to say about President Biden’s Build Back Broke plan. Now, I’m not a huge fan of Musk. I think he’s said some things that were pretty out there, but I admit this – he IS a very smart man, and his current net worth is almost 300 billion dollars. I mention that because it means he’s too rich to be cancelled by the left, and he has said several things that really sets off the leftist media, things I do agree with – he has spoken out against the vaccine, and then he also made strong statements against Biden’s huge spending bill during a recent interview. Listen…

[Elon Musk clip: “the spending is so far above revenue, it’s insane…”]

Yes, it’s what I’ve been driving at here. If we do not cut government spending, something really bad will undoubtedly happen. Elon also, in this same interview, made one of the most poignant comments about the government I’ve ever heard. Specifically, he was asked about the government’s handling of the vaccine, but he began talking about how the government takeover of everything from healthcare to whatever – taking these things out of the private sector – is dangerous. This one will blow your mind, check it out…

[clip: “government is biggest corporation with a monopoly on violence…”]

Brutal, honest, truth right there. Our government has become the largest corporation with a monopoly on violence, for which we have practically no recourse. It has become a monster. Another word we might use would be beast. Am I saying our government is the beast mentioned in the Bible? No, I’m not. But its corruption runs deep, and it is certainly a beast in one sense of the word.

If there is ever going to be a spirit of sanity restored to this thing, it will likely take some fervent prayers and spiritual warfare waged by the people of God. That’s you, and that’s me. And folks, the time is now. I’m just sayin’.

– End Transcript –

Episode 55 of “The Kingdom Hero Show”

Listen to the podcast

– Begin Transcript –

We’ve been seeing some interesting things unfold within our court systems lately. Not just interesting, but also encouraging.

Kyle Rittenhouse was correctly found not guilty in a case where our basic right of self defense was on trial, and so many lies were told about him by the media – but the verdict went the right way in the end and justice was served.

The courts are currently halting President Biden’s attempt at a vaccine mandate – it remains to be seen how that will all hash out, but for now these unconstitutional mandates cannot legally be enforced.

And even the abortion issue is back in the hands of the US Supreme Court, where it appears to be going better for the rights of the unborn at the moment.

But is the tide really turning in our favor? Or are we being set up for yet another disappointment? We’ll talk about this coming up on today’s episode.

Meanwhile, I encourage you to check out our previous shows and blogs. Simply go to KingdomHeroBlog.com – that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com – and you’ll find all the transcripts from the shows, as well as links to podcasts and more. There’s an about page that gives you a brief history of Great Commission Ministries, links to videos, and lots of other content for you to check out. The website again is KingdomHeroBlog.com – that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com.

The tide may be turning, folks. It just might be. And now more than ever, the truth matters. So, let the Kingdom Heroics begin!

– Show Intro –

Alright, everyone. Let me start again by stating our newly adopted mission statement here at the Kingdom Hero Show – to advance the Kingdom through study of the Word and making real-world application of Godly character and Kingdom-mindedness.

And our central theme passage of scripture… “Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” That’s from Micah 6:8. So, with all this in mind, let’s jump into the topic of this episode. Is the Tide Turning? Maybe.

I mentioned at the top of the program the Rittenhouse verdict was correct. Not guilty on all counts. The media said he crossed state lines with a gun. That was a lie. Not that crossing state lines is even a huge deal like they want you to think, but Kyle in fact kept his firearm in Kenosha. He has family there, he works there, it was in no way unusual – let alone illegal – for him to go there.

The media also claimed that he was too young to legally own the AR-15 and carry it on his person. This is also a lie. The firearms charge was even thrown out because he did legally own it. They said he was a vigilante who was in Kenosha that night to hunt down and kill blacks and BLM supporters. Also not true. He actually was asked to come help defend a business from the rioters. He also rendered first aid to many injured people, regardless of their affiliation – whether it was BLM or whomever.

Some foolishly tried to say that Kyle opened fire and shot about 60 rounds that night. Ludicrous. This shows once again the ineptitude of the media and gross lack of knowledge about firearms. His magazine couldn’t have even held more than 30 rounds, and it was determined that only about 8 rounds were actually expended.

The media went on to portray Kyle as a white supremacist. He is most certainly not. Even the president made a comment calling him that, and they should all apologize to him for it. The media claimed early on that Rittenhouse had chased down one of the people who, in reality, was chasing him and threatening his life. The video evidence clearly showed that Kyle was chased by multiple attackers – all with criminal records, by the way – and it was they who assaulted him. He showed great restraint and was well within his rights to ultimately fire upon his assailants in self defense.

Even worse, one of the most stupid and careless acts I’ve ever seen took place in the Rittenhouse trial, and it was done by the prosecuting attorney! This guy, my word, this guy should be disbarred at the very least. Not only did he try to use Kyle’s post-arrest silence as an indication of guilt – a basic right given to him when Miranda-ized, which the judge admonished the prosecutor for. No, it got way worse than that!

This guy, Binger, the prosecutor, actually picked up the AR-15 during the trial in a grandstanding effort to make the jurors feel the supposed fearfulness of Rittenhouse’s poor innocent victims – yeah, the sex-offender and the other petty thugs – Binger picks up the weapon and points it AT THE JURY! WITH HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER! Are you kidding me?! Basic gun safety 101, I learned this when I was a kid – treat EVERY firearm as if it’s loaded, and NEVER EVER point it at someone unless you have to in order to protect yourself.

Now in the pictures ironically the media was circulating trying to make Kyle look like a teenage gun nut, you can see that he obviously knows more about firearms and firearm safety than this lunatic lawyer, Binger. In those photos, you see Kyle using proper posture as he holds the weapon. He points it in a safe direction, and his finger is clearly visible outside the trigger guard. Whereas Binger, on the other hand, shows his ignorance and lack of common sense by pointing the rifle at the jury members and people in the gallery, with his finger INSIDE the trigger guard and on the trigger!

What?! For crying out loud. This. I can’t. This is a beyond dumb. I’m sorry, but that takes a special kind of stupid. It really does. [Dumb & Dumber clip: “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber”] Seriously, folks, pointing a gun at people in a courtroom is a good way to get yourself shot. Just, word to the wise, don’t do it. Okay?

I gotta move on here. After all that, thank God, the jury reached the right decision. It’s not only fortunate for Kyle Rittenhouse, but also for the posterity and sanctity of a person’s right to defend one’s self with a firearm.

– Break Transcript –

Shortly after the Rittenhouse verdict, there was an incident in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where a known thug named Darrell Brooks drove his SUV through the back of a Christmas parade, purposely killing some people and injuring many more. The media portrait of the horrible act was quite different from how they’d handled the one involving Kyle Rittenhouse. Whereas they had tried to paint Kyle as a white supremacist gun nut, they rarely ever mentioned the name of Brooks.

Instead, they reported that an SUV had driven through the parade – let’s don’t talk about the person who drove the SUV, no. Why? Because to the mainstream media, this was a non-story. Darrell Brooks is a young black man who had issued several threats and inflammatory statements on his Facebook page. He clearly wanted to harm people in the parade, but this incident didn’t fit the media’s biased narrative.

Regardless of their lack of journalistic integrity, and while it subsequently didn’t get much notice, Brooks was arrested for his terrible crime. He will undoubtedly face justice for what he did. So, good news there.

Now, another case that’s taking place – and the corrupt media is ignoring it almost entirely – is the Jussie Smolet case. Remember, he was the one who hired some guys to attack him on camera in an attempt to create a fake hate crime. This was done to create news, create havoc, and follow the popular media narrative that racism is worse than ever. It was all fake, all lies, and Jussie is now finally facing his day in court.

Okay, the justice system seems to be working – at least, in certain areas today. This is encouraging. So then, let’s talk about the new court case that is bringing the issue of abortion back to the forefront of the news cycle. And let’s look at what one liberal judge recently had to say.

Sonia Sotomayor is an associate justice of the US Supreme Court. She was nominated by President Obama in 2009. In the recent Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the SCOTUS case that could possibly signal the end of Roe v. Wade, Justice Sotomayor made some truly asinine comments – I’ll play the clip for you in a moment.

Now I want to point out, yes, the opinions expressed by most of the current justices did indicate that they would likely overturn Roe v. Wade. After all, while there is a stated “right to life” mentioned, there is no constitutional right to abort your baby. But understand something, even if they DO end up saying the Roe v. Wade decision was wrong and they then overturn it, that would NOT then automatically ban abortion across the country. Would it be a step in the right direction? Yes, absolutely. It’s important though to know how this court case affects law.

See, the original Roe v. Wade case, along with the later Planned Parenthood v. Casey trial, was used to supercede state laws against abortion. It made abortion legal in one sense, but the reversal of it would not then make it illegal. It would instead reinstate a federal neutrality on the matter, meaning it would then fall back to the individual states to decide whether or not to allow abortions to take place, and whether to base decisions on the old 24-week viability claim – which is outdated now anyway. Advancements in technology have revealed a fetal heartbeat in as little as 3 weeks. So, like I said, an overturn of Roe and Casey would not result in a federal ban, but it would definitely be a step in the right direction.

Anyway, back to the remarks of Justice Sotomayor. Arguing for abortion, attempting to dismiss the fact that the fetus will recoil in pain when its life is being taken – she said that 40% of dead people, referring to brain-dead people still on life support, 40% of them are documented to have recoiled when physical stimulus is applied. Check this out…

[Soto clip]

So, you poke the foot or something, and they supposedly have an involuntary response. Really? Is this out of left field or what!? 40% of dead people do this, huh? Which I guess means 60% of them don’t. Right? I mean, come on! [Biden clip: “come on, man”]

She’s comparing the occasional autonomic response of a recently brain dead person with the regular response of a clearly LIVING person. The unborn child is living, growing, and this argument is utter insanity. Besides, she’s missing a major point about the clinically dead who have a reflex response – you can’t just go around unplugging people just because they’re clinically dead! There are certain criteria that have to be met first.

Now, hold on though. I’m gonna have to agree with one tiny part of what she said. Just one. In her statement, she said quote “There are spontaneous acts by dead brained people.” Listen again for yourself…

[Soto clip]

You know what? She’s right. There ARE spontaneous acts by brain-dead people, and a lot of them work for CNN, MSNBC, and other mainstream media outlets. [Simpsons laughter clip] This really does explain so many things if you think about it. For example, why on earth would prosecutor Binger point a rifle at a jury in open court? [Soto clip: “spontaneous acts of dead-brained people”] Right? And how do you explain all those Biden votes in 2020 that came from dead folks in the cemetery? [Soto clip: “spontaneous acts of dead-brained people”] I love it. So then, why, Justice Sotomayer, would you make a comparison of the clinically dead with the obviously alive preborn? [Soto clip: “spontaneous acts of dead-brained people”] I could do this all day, but I won’t.

Seriously though, this is a very dangerous line of thinking. Because she went on to mention the notion of viability. Basically, if it can’t survive on its own, it can be terminated – that’s what is being pushed here. According to the flawed logic of justice Sotomayor, the next step then would likely be euthanasia for anyone who is elderly and can’t fend for themselves.

Let’s just empty out the nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and kill all of these people who can’t survive on their own. Where does it go from there? When you devalue life in this way, you end up discarding and destroying the foundational truths of humanity. You end up discarding PEOPLE for the sake of your own convenience. And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is precisely what abortion does. This is evil, and we HAVE TO speak out against it today, tomorrow, and every single day after.

– Break Transcript –

Is the tide beginning to turn on some of these crucial issues? I certainly hope so, but that doesn’t mean we should let up. The fight against evil is one that must be taken up every day. We have to do everything we can to stand firm, hold the line, and give up no more ground to the enemy.

[Picard clip from First Contact: “this far, no further!”]

Ephesians 6 tells us, after it talks about our fight being not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness, it goes on in verse 13 to say…

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

Boy, these are some evil days, for sure. And see how it emphasizes the importance of standing? We need to stand in the gap, stand between the evil at work and those it seeks to destroy, STAND for justice. When we’ve said and done everything else we can, we have to continue to stand firm.

As this passage continues, it speaks of the different parts of the Armor of God. And notice what the very first thing it mentions is, in verse 14…

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth”

Truth! Like I keep saying, truth matters. And here’s an interesting little side note to ponder – The truth doesn’t mind being questioned. It’s lies that don’t like to be challenged. Think about that.

When Dr. Fauci was challenged with questions about covid treatments – we mentioned this on the last show – what did he say? “When people question me, what they’re really questioning is science, because I represent science.” Not only does he not like to be challenged, but he tries to elevate himself to some level where he is above being questioned. He’s beyond that. He. Is. Science. Well, sorry – not sorry – but if it can’t be questioned, it isn’t really science.

And the truth about covid – well, that matters, too. There are so many alternative opinions by highly qualified medical professionals who recommend proven treatments rather than an untested vaccine. The vaccine loses its efficacy after a few weeks, there are like three different shots, and then they say you need booster shots, keep wearing masks and socially distance. It’s crazy. But many doctors who weren’t afraid to do right by their patients prescribed treatments that worked almost immediately. Within a few days, those patients recovered.

But the media doesn’t tell you about that. They won’t talk about the success of azithromycin, zinc, even aspirin! They downplay all of that. Did you know there are now 142 new studies that show a direct correlation of covid hospitalizations and death with those patients’ vitamin D deficiency? Probably not, you likely haven’t heard anything about this.

It’s because they don’t want people to know there are successful ways of treating covid and avoiding death or even hospitalization. They want to keep you scared, frightened of this menace to public health, afraid to disobey and choose an alternative to the vaccine. They want to keep us divided and angry with those who have reservations about getting vaxxed. It’s part of the control through fear campaign.

Listen, I have friends who have been hit hard by the pandemic. One very close friend of mine spent 62 days in the hospital with covid. They tried to convince him to go on a ventilator, but he rightly refused. A ventilator doesn’t treat the problem, and most people that are put on one end up dying. I heard a doctor say that people aren’t dying from covid, but rather it’s the current procedures that are killing them. My friend chose wisely, and praise God, he’s doing immensely better now.

Now they’re hyping up the fear machine again talking about this new Omicron variant. Of course, they completely ignore what the health officials in South Africa, where it first showed up, are saying about Omicron. The cases are few, but more importantly they are said to be very mild. Oh, but that isn’t stopping the fear-centric media from whipping the story up into another reason everyone should panic! Regardless of the fact that, at this point, we know way too little about this new variant to make any huge steps yet, no let’s go ahead and freak everyone out over it. And by the way, both of the US Omicron patients recently discovered had been fully vaxxed.

We have to pry ourselves away from what I call the click bait mentality. You know, click bait is something that catches your eye – an attention-grabbing headline, for example, that seems to indicate one thing, while a deeper look reveals something completely different. A lot of people will read a headline and form an opinion of what’s true based on just a few cleverly worded phrases. But we need to go deeper than that.

It’s kinda like when someone quotes a Bible passage – one or two quick verses – either out of context or totally misquoted. They try to draw some bizarre conclusion based on it when the truth is very different. That’s a very unwise way to live, especially if you’re trying to walk with Jesus.

What am I saying? I’m saying, don’t be too quick to blindly believe something or someone based on a clever comment. And our spiritual red flags should go up, with all kinds of alarms sounding off, whenever someone tries to use fear to manipulate our actions. If they’re attempting to scare you into doing something, they’re motives are very likely less than pure.

But don’t take my word for it. Go to God. If you feel fearful about something, seek out wisdom from the greatest source there is – the Creator Himself. I recently saw a meme that said, “The delta and the omicron variants are no match for the Alpha and the Omega.” That is more than just a clever turn of words, right there. That is truth you can believe in.

John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” So if we trust God’s Word and keep shining His light, we will win out over the darkness that’s around us.

Folks, if the tide is gonna turn and stay turned, we have to redouble our efforts. We have to speak truth into the sea of lies, light up the darkness, and shout life from the mountain tops while all these others are pushing death. And remember what destroys fear… Love. I’m just sayin’.

– End Transcript –

Episode 54

Click HERE to listen to the podcast

– Start Transcript –

Welcome to the show, everyone. Today, I’ll be talking about how so many things we see taking us in the wrong direction – everything from transgenderism to wokism to abortion – is all just a continuation of what I call “The Great Rebellion” that started when Lucifer decided he wanted to be greater than God. Plus, we’ll refocus our mission somewhat for the show and tell you how that will impact things moving forward.

Remember that you can message me with your own comments or questions by using the contact form at KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact, that’s KingdomHeroBlog.com/contact. Or you can leave a voice message for me at Anchor.fm/kingdomhero/messages, that’s Anchor.fm/kingdomhero/messages. Either way, I’d love to hear from you and let you contribute to the podcast with your input.

Satan’s Great Rebellion continues, folks. It’s all around us. And the truth matters. Get ready. Let the Kingdom Heroics begin…

– Show Intro –

Alright, indeed. Let’s get started today by bringing everyone up to speed with our mission here at the Kingdom Hero Show, which is to advance the Kingdom through study of the Word and making real-world application of Godly character and Kingdom-mindedness. Now, I know what you’re thinking – that sounds great, but what exactly does it mean? Let me break it down a bit.

We deal a lot on this show with scripture and applying lessons from the Bible to our daily lives, but we also sometimes talk about current events and delve into political and social commentary. Whatever I discuss on this program, I want the focus to ultimately be on advancing the Kingdom of God. In doing so, we often have to touch on topics that may not – on the surface – seem like they would be relevant to our Christian walk. However, we live IN this world and we can’t just IGNORE it. Discussing the things going on in the world today can help us realize their significance, even when it’s socio-political in nature. There is a moral connection that should be explored and explained rather than ignored by us as Christians. The goal is to shine a light on the truth of everything, expose lies and deception, and keep our perspective in its proper place.

This is why the mission statement I mentioned speaks of Godly character and Kingdom-mindedness. What do I mean by that? Here’s an example…

Kindness isn’t random in the Kingdom of God. You’ve heard people say that we should practice random acts of kindness. But that’s still a worldly approach to being nice. Random acts of kindness can be great, but for a Christian who is Kingdom-minded, there’s nothing random about it. Kindness and compassion for others should be our default position. Yes, it initially takes initiative and intentionality, but if we acclimate ourselves to practicing kindness and compassion on a regular basis, it becomes our nature. It becomes an integral part of who we are, making us more like Christ. And we need to train ourselves to be Kingdom-minded if we want to be Kingdom Heroes.

With that in mind, I’m also introducing a central theme passage of scripture which I believe sums up what our Kingdom-minded approach to life should be:

Micah 6:8

“… seek and do justice, love mercy and kindness, and walk humbly with your God.“

If we keep this as our focus, then every subject we tackle should have an underlying Kingdom-minded theme running through it. Now, it may sometimes take a little time to hash all the way through each topic to find the truth and the lesson in it, but we don’t want to leave any stone unturned. And no topic will be ignored simply because it is controversial or uncomfortable to talk about. We have a duty to the truth, so let’s dive in!

I told you at the outset that today’s show has to do with rebelling against God. So many things we see happening in our modern culture, things that we are being told is okay and normal, are actually quite the contrary. This has been going on for a VERY long time. Every sinful behavior that we are introduced to and told to accept as perfectly fine can be attributed directly to a rejection of God’s established truth. And there are so many examples, I’ll just mention a few of them today and illustrate how they are connected to the Great Rebellion.

The Fall of Lucifer

That original fall, long before the fall of man in the garden, involved heavenly beings. Lucifer was a top-ranking angel, and it’s been said that he was second only to God Himself. At some point, he decided that wasn’t enough for him, and he sought to exalt himself above God – in fact, Lucifer wanted to BE God. His lust for more power and authority corrupted him, and he managed to convince a third of the angels in heaven to join him in waging war against the Creator.

Of course, this coup was quickly squashed by God Almighty. I mean, overthrow God Himself? Not likely. As a result of their rebellion, these angels were banished from heaven and cast down into the lower realms. The once great Lucifer became known as the satan, consumed with evil, and stripped of his high position and status. Those angels who followed him in rebellion became known as demons, and would be destined along with satan to eventually be thrown into the lake of fire and destroyed.

Their ultimate destruction, however, is not set to happen until after the second coming of Jesus. In the meantime, these evil forces are at work in spiritual realms and attempting to deceive as many people as they can. Their fate sealed, satan and his army of demons hold a bitter hatred for all of mankind. Unlike angels and demons, we have the hope of salvation. We can be redeemed, but they cannot. So they want to keep us from God’s love through sinful desires and hollow pursuits that serve to lead us away from holiness.

This is why the Word tells us that we aren’t in a fight with “flesh and blood,” but with “powers” and “spiritual forces of wickedness.” And this struggle continues today in many forms. The enemy’s tool chest is only so big, though. And we can learn to spot their tricks when we stay rooted in God’s Word and follow the teachings of Jesus. But what evidence do we see of this evil rebellion today? We look at that next . . .

– Break Transcript –

When we think about so much of the garbage going on nowadays – the stuff that clearly goes against scriptural truth and righteousness – it’s easy to get bogged down in the arguments and rationalizations of those who want to make excuses for bad behavior. We’re told to accept sinfulness as normal, good is evil and evil is good, right is wrong and so on. But upon closer inspection, we should note that these things are all part of a continued rebellion against God.

Socially Acceptable

Sin has evolved somewhat over time, but it’s still sin. In today’s “woke” culture, lots of things are deemed as acceptable that shouldn’t be. It’s insane just how far the envelope has been pushed. Homosexuality is almost mild in comparison to some of the socially acceptable things of today. But how are all these things evidence of a continued rebellion? Let’s look at a few examples…

Whether it’s homosexuality, bisexuality, metro-sexuality, pansexuality, or whatever, all of these are clear examples of what the Bible calls sexual immorality. God’s design was for sexual activity to be enjoyed by a committed married couple, defined as one man and one woman. Any sexual behavior outside of that design is a rejection of His will.

Today we also have those who are biologically male calling themselves female, biological females calling themselves male, and others who claim to be some non-binary alternative gender or gender-neutral, or even undergo surgery or become transexual, etc. The truth found in Genesis is that God created male and female – period. To disregard the truth of who and what you are as a creation of God is to deny Him as your Creator. Or it’s like saying He made a mistake, and you’re not really meant to be what He made you. Any way you look at it, this is another rejection of God’s design.

And how about abortion? This barbaric butchering of the unborn is a direct afront to God. How? We are made in the image of God Himself, so this murderous assault on a developing human being is actually an attack against the image of God. It is a death sentence given to the most innocent, who were formed in the womb by the Giver of life. It is a blatant disregard for His authority, and a clear rejection of His very likeness.

How do they attempt to justify this awful act of killing the unborn? The only way they can – with lies that are pushed off as truth. A fetus isn’t really a human life yet. LIE. That is contrary to scientific fact. Embryology clearly tells us that at the moment of conception – YES, at the moment of conception – that is the instant when sperm from the male fertilizes the egg of the female. At that very moment, the resulting zygote is formed.

What is the inescapable truth of the zygote? Its genome is the combination of both parents’ DNA – meaning it is a new and separate life with its own unique DNA structure, containing all the genetic information necessary to form a new individual organism. In multicellular organisms like humans, a zygote is the earliest form of development. If it’s developing and growing, it’s alive.

So a fetus IS IN FACT a developing human life. That’s not religion saying that, it’s science! And the very people who want to say science trumps religion choose to ignore the realities of actual science when it deflates and contradicts their chosen narrative. They claim to be pro-choice, but that unborn baby is being denied its choice to live.

Remember it was Ronald Reagan who – by the way, earlier on in his life, he considered himself to be pro-choice, but he later changed his mind and became staunchly pro-life. But yeah, it was Reagan who once humorously said, “You know, I have noticed that everyone who is pro-abortion has already been born.”

And by the way, let me just interject this here… There is no middle ground where good and evil are concerned. And on this topic of abortion, it is undeniably evil. Okay? If you’re not pro-life, then you are pro-death. That’s the truth. You might say, “Come on, that’s just simplistic absolutism.” Uh, yeah. You’re right. It is, but that’s okay. You know why? Because the truth is simple and absolute. Wanna know what’s complicated and convoluted? Lies. But not truth. I’ve said this before. Truth is truth for all, or it isn’t truth at all.

Oh, and on the subject of lies, who is known as “the father of lies?” Satan. So if you are promoting deception and lies, that would make you an agent of evil. See, it’s important to make these connections so we realize what we’re truly up against. Anyway, let’s move on. We’re talking about rebelling against God and His ways, right?

Such open rebellions against God always bring about terrible outcomes. The acceptance of transgenderism in our society has created situations that would otherwise have never existed, for example. A male in a skirt, accepted as a female, was allowed into the girls’ bathroom in a school where he raped a young girl. Of course, those of us who see this for what it is saw this horror coming. But those who caused this situation tried to cover it up, and the school simply sent this rapist to another school, where – guess what – he did the same thing again. Yeah, this actually happened. And it could have been avoided.

To many of us, the decision to allow males in the restroom with females seems – at the very least – short sighted. But the evil forces behind this and other unwise acceptance of deviant behavior always knew where such behavior would lead. Accepting sin as normal is never a good idea. The point of all sin is to separate us from God. And more and more, even the most heinous of sinful acts is becoming acceptable by society.

Calling Evil Good, and Good Evil

Related to this is the redefining of what’s good and what’s bad. Speak out against things like abortion, and you’re called a radical who wants to force your morals on people. Though you are only trying to protect the unborn, you are labeled every bad thing they can think of and said to be waging a war against a woman’s “right” to choose. They say, “my body, my choice,” while ignoring the fact that the child growing inside them is NOT their body at all but a separate living being. Even though the act of killing that child is brutality at its worst, it is accepted as merely a medical procedure.

The name Planned Parenthood is itself a misnomer. Nothing they do there has anything to do with planning for parenthood. It’s all about abortion. Murdering babies is what they do, and pretty much nothing else. It was started by a known racist, Margaret Sanger, with the goal of exterminating the black population by encouraging the aborting of their unborn fetuses. This is documented fact, but it’s largely ignored now. Because, you know, historical facts don’t really matter.

Today’s far left is leading this war against history – part of a large-scale multi-pronged assault on truth. They seek to eliminate the truth of our history and rewrite it to suit their narrative. But again, the evil forces behind these ideas know exactly where that will lead. When you ignore the mistakes of history – or, in this case, get rid of all record of them – you are doomed to repeat those mistakes. And this rewrite of our history is being done in the name of wokeness. It’s being lauded as a good thing.

Everything that is good is being called evil today, and everything that’s evil is being called good. We were clearly warned in scripture against doing this very thing by the prophet Isaiah…

Isaiah 5:20

“Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!”

Yet this is precisely what’s happening in our world today. And it runs contrary to intelligent thought, as well as going against the Word of God. The more woke or enlightened they claim to be, the more they are in rebellion against the truth and the knowledge of God. Scripture also speaks of this…

Romans 1:21-22

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…”

It is an unfortunate fact today that so many of these kinds of people seem to be the ones leading our society down the tubes. They have rejected the truth and the will of God, rejected His ways and His righteousness, and instead they have embraced an opposite way of thinking. They have convinced themselves that they are right and anyone who opposes them is to be ridiculed and cancelled. Indeed, claiming to be wise, they have become fools, and the result of their ways will be nothing short of destructive.

Truth be told, this goes far beyond the political parties. We can’t simply point at the democrats and say it’s all on them. [Homer clip: “lousy democrats”] And we can’t just point at the RINOs – republicans in name only – and blame them, either. Though there may be a few good people on each side, the entirety of our political system has become infiltrated with establishment elitist ideals that have corrupted our government at the highest levels. And that corruption is rampant in Washington, DC. [Obi Wan clip: “scum and villainy”] [Young Guns 2 clip: “what’s scum?”]

– Break Transcript –

Assumed Power and Control

When you have people in our own government pushing for totalitarian restrictions like we’ve seen lately, corruption is evident. Worse yet, when you have a completely unelected official like Anthony Fauci dictating policy for how we can live our lives, that’s even more unacceptable. We are supposed to have safeguards in place to protect us from that kind of thing, but they’re being neglected along with any other parts of the Constitution that don’t suit the needs of those in power.

Now, I have no problem with anyone who wants to get the so-called vaccine. But I do have an issue with the mandates. You want to force me to put something in my body that I don’t want to? Wait, what happened to “my body, my choice?” I guess that only applies to killing babies. Seriously though, this isn’t about science when you’re ignoring the realities of antibodies and natural immunity. I mean, the CDC admits that it’s not keeping any data regarding people who have developed their own immunity and therefor don’t need any vaccine. Why? Because that data would serve to counter their preferred narrative. It’s all about control. It’s about an elite group of people who want to control everyone else.

They’ve even changed the definition of vaccine. Going completely against established science, the current vaccine isn’t even a true vaccine by the standard definition. If it was, it would protect you. But it doesn’t. People who got the jabs can still get covid. They still are told to wear masks. None of this makes any sense until you realize that it’s all about control. Understand, this drive to control us comes from a very evil place. It’s all connected to the desire to lead us as far away from God as possible, and when we won’t go willingly, to force us. When they use such obvious lies to control us, and they are therefore anti-truth, then rest assured that they are anti-God.

I mentioned Fauci, and his role is one that has a position of assumed power. He wasn’t elected by the people, yet he holds huge sway over the policies that are being used to control our lives. And did you hear his recent remarks regarding people who have the audacity to question him? He said, “When people question me, what they’re really questioning is science, because I represent science.” Wow. You see what he’s doing there? He’s absolving himself of the burden of ever being challenged, or having his views or opinions called into question, by equating himself with this grandiose idea of science being the final say, a penultimate statement which cannot be challenged – ever. What arrogant nonsense!

“How dare you question me! I am beyond what your feeble brain can possibly comprehend. Do not go against my righteous decrees. You will bow down before me and do as I say. Because I, Tony Fauci, am the embodiment of science!” This guy does NOT represent science, but he is instead the embodiment of unchecked corrupt power. And it’s power he didn’t earn, nor was he bestowed it by we the people. He assumed it. And that’s extremely dangerous to a free society.

But Fauci’s not the only example of someone wielding assumed power. A large portion of our elected officials in government are acting as though they are our rulers rather than our representatives. In truth, THEY are supposed to be working for US. That’s how our Constitutional Republic was wisely designed to function – a way of self-governing by making use of representatives of the people…a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Instead, they want to rule over WE THE PEOPLE.

[TNG clip: “your lives as they have been are now over”]

Our founding fathers and the framers of our Constitution were very careful to craft this document in a way that would protect the citizens from the rise of tyranny. They knew that power would corrupt, and eventually even the elected leaders of our nation would begin to seek more power over those they were supposed to serve and represent. But the safeguards placed within the Constitution are being bypassed and outright ignored. Simultaneously, we are being conditioned to just accept it like everything else. You need to give up that outdated right you’re clinging to – it’s for the greater good.

[Hot Fuzz clip: “the greater good”]

Now, I know, someone out there might point to the Bible passage about submitting to governing authorities. So let’s look at that…

Romans 13:1-2

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

You may read that and say, AHA! As a Christian, you shouldn’t be resisting the authority over you. Right? Well, before you jump to conclusions too quickly, let’s look a bit further in this passage to gain some context…

Romans 13:3-4

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

Now hold on here. This particular scripture would seem to be assuming a very crucial attribute of the governing authority of which it speaks – that it is one who is just and Godly. This passage is apparently NOT speaking of an oppressive ruler who is wrongfully attempting to control every aspect of your life. It is NOT talking about the kind of corrupt and overstepping governance we’re currently dealing with. Further, we have discussed how being forced to accept evil as good and just live with it will ultimately lead to destruction. We cannot responsibly allow that kind of thing to stand. A whole lot of evil can win out if good people sit idly by and do nothing to stop it. I don’t think it’s our calling as Christians to just let injustice go unchecked. Do you?

It’s currently LEGAL to abort an unborn baby, but does that make it morally okay? It’s LEGAL in many states for homosexual couples to marry, but does that make homosexuality morally okay? In a lot of places, it’s LEGAL for a man claiming to identify as a woman to go into the ladies’ restroom, but does that mean it’s a good idea? Just because something is socially acceptable doesn’t make it morally right. And a controlling and corrupt government trying to force its will on citizens is not something that ought to be tolerated either.

We have a duty to truth, a duty to morality, a duty to justice, and a duty to God to resist every attempt to push the advancement of evil. We are supposed to be advancing the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of hell. The differences are clear, even though the enemy keeps trying to blur the lines between good and evil. We have to stay rooted in the truth of God’s Word, seeking His wisdom in every area of life, if we are to be able to stand firmly against the tricks and schemes of satan. Be bold in the Lord, courageous in Him, and keep training yourself to recognize the tools of the enemy.

If something goes against His Word, or exalts itself against the knowledge of God, we have to see it for what it really is. These rejections of His ways and denials of His holy authority are simply parts of the continuing rebellion. And the attempts to make us dependent on government rather than on God are actually attempts to subvert His rule over our lives. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Remember that the next time a government overreach tries to lock you down, strap on a mask, or jab you with a needle. Hey, I’m just sayin’.

– Close Transcript –

Episode 53

– Begin Transcript –

There’s a lot of speculation going around about where America is headed as a nation. Those who see the eroding of our freedoms tend to believe we’re on our way towards a totalitarian government, the likes of which are depicted in books and movies that predict a dystopian future. And while we may arguably appear to be off the rails lately, with wars and religious persecution on the increase and personal liberties seeming to vanish as each year passes, it’s important to maintain the right perspective.

First, let’s look at what the Bible says about the end times. I’m going to be focusing on Luke 21 during this episode, so follow along with me if you like.

Luke 21:10-19 > Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution

10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Here, we clearly see that Luke is encouraging us to keep our focus on the opportunities that present themselves during these troubling times. Instead of going into a panic or participating in a frenzy of buying up all the milk and bread and toilet paper from the stores, we should be demonstrating our faith by living without fear and by witnessing to those around us with the joy and confidence that comes from knowing God is in control. Not everyone will be able to appreciate that kind of faithful living, and many people will despise us for our confidence in Christ. But as we endure these times in faith, our lives are safely within the hands of God.

Luke 21:20-24 > Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

We are already seeing a lot of this happening today. Israel is surrounded on every side by militant enemies. There’s fighting and bombing going on there, and many of us see it unfolding on TV without really thinking too much about its significance. After all, we have enough insanity going on here at home.

Here in America, we have been spoiled by the amazing liberty that we enjoy. We take for granted how blessed we are, and when things appear to be turning towards tyranny, we automatically assume it’s the beginning of the end. Maybe so, but maybe not. There is real oppression and authoritarian rule in other parts of the world – so, what if it’s merely our turn?

Or consider that what we’re seeing happen in our country now is a natural progression of the prideful, sinful, corrupt nature of man. In the midst of great blessing, we forgot Who had blessed us. We removed God from so many aspects of our lives, and in so doing we gave up His blessing and protection. We’ve allowed heinous and egregious acts to fill the vacuum created by the elimination of God from classrooms. Drag-queen story time in our elementary schools, sexually explicit school projects in some places, and dare I mention the millions and millions of unborn children who’ve been murdered because self control and responsibility are just too hard! Does it not then stand to reason that the next logical step is for us to reap what we’ve sown?

Whichever is the case, fear of what the future will bring should NOT be the reigning thought in our lives as Christians. All the appearances of rising tyranny should not frighten us, but rather embolden us. Our freedom has never been derived from our government. Even the US Constitution recognizes that our freedom comes from our Creator. That document doesn’t grant us rights, it acknowledges our God-given rights and says that the government should never infringe upon them. But even if government fails us, God never will.

Luke 21:25-28 > The Coming of the Son of Man

25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

So, seeing signs of the end coming is reason for us to be GLAD! Our liberty as Christians is afforded to us through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through some legislation or government program. And despite all the fear-mongering going on today, despite all the signs pointing to some looming threat of communism, and despite any appearance of a collapse or implosion of our way of life being on the horizon – no, our future is NOT dystopian at all.  We are not without hope. Indeed, as followers of Christ, ours is a glorious future! We have a hope that cannot be taken away – the hope that is found in Jesus alone.

Still, we seem so shocked to see things happening in our country that we thought we were protected from. Things we thought could never happen in America start to happen, and we freak out. Hey fellow believers, Jesus warned us about this…

Luke 21:34-36

34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation (wasting time with self-indulgence) and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Yes, we’ve been very blessed here in this country – so much so that truly troubling times seem to catch us by surprise. But these things should NOT come as such a shock to us if we’ve been paying attention at all to what God’s Word has been telling us all along. Jesus even told us that, in this world, we will have trouble – trials – tribulation. But He overcame the world, and through Him, we are overcomers as well. Let’s not forget that! Even the hard times, the struggles, and all the things that satan would use to destroy us – God can turn all those things around and use for our benefit, our good, and our victory. And we don’t have to face any of this stuff alone. Jesus assured us that He will be with us, even to the end of this world.

After that, what comes next is the real icing on the cake! See, this world will come to an end. It will pass away. But we who are in Christ will live on through eternity with God in new, glorified, incorruptible, and perfect bodies. There will be no more sickness, no more sorrow, no pain, no doubt about tomorrow, no worries, no threat of tyranny, no fears of any kind. That’s what our future holds when God holds our future. That’s what we have to look forward to.

Romans 8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

So stop looking so intently at your present struggles. Lift your vision higher. If you get caught up focusing too much on your circumstances and start fearing what is about to happen next, remember the promises of God. Let your faith conquer your fear, and let Jesus be King in your life. Allow Him alone to rule your thoughts, your attitude, and your outlook. Begin to embrace your future with confidence, and welcome the glory that is to come.

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

I’m Stace Massengill, and I’m just sayin’.

Episode 52

– Begin Transcript –

We don’t see them with our physical eyes, but they’re there. Plotting and scheming and wreaking havoc on behalf of satan himself, these dark spirits roam the earth just as sure as the Holy Spirit dwells among us. But whereas God sent the Holy Spirit to lead us in His ways, satan sends out his minions to try and wreck mankind. This is what I want to talk about on this episode, and also let you know that we in Christ have nothing to fear. I’m Stace Massengill, and this is the Kingdom Hero Show.

As we look all around us today, we see all manner of strife and turmoil going on. We see terrorists taking over Afghanistan and killing Christians. We see political upheaval all over Europe and even here in the states. We see fighting between black and white, between left and right, democrat and republican, masked and unmasked, vaccinated and unvaccinated, and it just goes on and on. But what we don’t see, the thing that no one wants to recognize, is the pure evil that drives all of this conflict.

To make things even worse, even the most petty arguments are becoming full-scale wars — NOT JUST among the ungodly, no — even within the church. We proclaim ourselves Christians, and yet we’re just as likely to bicker with one another about everything from covid to the second coming of Christ. The prideful quarreling of the world has infiltrated and infected the church, and its sole purpose is to divide and conquer. Our true enemy wants to destroy us, we who are supposed to be the body of Christ. And lately, it would appear that he’s gaining ground.

I recently saw a video online of a preacher who, I think, hit this particular nail on the head. Here’s part of what he said…

Boom. That’s it right there in a nutshell. It is absolutely crucial that we stop all the arguing and recognize what’s really happening. If not, then we’re just letting ourselves get played. It’s the invisible enemy that’s whispering lies into our ears, telling us up is down and wrong is right, telling us that if so-and-so doesn’t believe what you do about politics or abortion or homosexuality or covid or whatever then they’re your enemy. No! Those people aren’t your enemy. The devil and his demons are your enemy. Now those people might very well be deceived, but if you think that means you should hate them or call them names, then you are deceived as well.

Divisive terminology is now permeating our culture, but it’s also present among some Christians. There are so many explosive topics nowadays. And while we should be ready to defend what we believe, that shouldn’t become reason to argue in a condescending way with one another. If someone disagrees with you about something, that’s one thing. But if a person denigrates you for what you believe, that’s a whole different thing. And we have to be careful that we don’t get caught up in that kind of talk because it is fueled by the wrong spirit.

What do I mean by this? I’ll give you an example. Just a few days ago, I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I actually “unfriended” someone on social media. Now, this isn’t something I tend to do because I feel that even friends who disagree can remain friends. But this was one of those moments when I realized it was best to go ahead and cut the cord. It is preferable to let go of a rope than to be dragged down by the cinder block tied to the other end.

What exactly happened? I posted something and this guy felt the need to berate me about how stupid it was. Over the years, he and I have often butted heads on various issues. But these arguments have never yielded any fruit — nothing good, anyway. No matter what I say, he would have a snarky comeback. I would often try to defuse things by consenting that we should agree to disagree, but he just couldn’t seem to stop himself. He showed no respect at all for my beliefs or opinions, but rather proceeded to demean them as moronic. Seeing no reason at all to engage him further, I ended the keyboard war by deleting him from my friend list. And it wasn’t something I did lightly, either.

See, while I still pray for the man and hope he finds salvation through Jesus, I could no longer allow myself to get bogged down in pointless battles with someone who refused to listen to any perspective but his own. No good was coming from it. Instead, the entrenched war of words only served to divide us further. All my efforts to respectfully end the fighting were only met with disdain and further insults. There comes a time when you have to acknowledge that there are some fights where nobody wins. If you get dragged down into a battle like this, all of your struggling only sinks you deeper. You end up fighting on the enemy’s terms rather than the high ground of righteousness.

Matthew 7:6

Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

What does this mean? Am I saying my friend who kept arguing with me is a dog or a pig? No, but the spirit behind the argument was the thing pulling all the strings. That divisive spirit had one goal, to provoke hatred and animosity. If I’d continued to participate, that darkness would have only pulled my soul deeper into despair. The troubled feeling I had in my spirit as he and I argued was God’s way of telling me to get out and leave it behind. I believe the scripture I just read is a warning, that not everyone will listen to what is right, and it’s best to leave such people in the hands of God.

While I do hope this friend is ultimately saved and makes it to heaven, he has made it painfully clear that (at least for the moment) I am not a person he is going to listen to or take seriously. He views me as some brainwashed idiot. Of course, from MY perspective, HE is the one who is deceived. But the difference is that the Spirit within me has no desire to mock him for his beliefs. The spirit which apparently now prevails in his life, on the other hand, seeks to rant and rave and divide. That divisive spirit ought to have no place in our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.

Whether it’s one political party demonizing the other in an attempt to divide, or one group painting another as racist in an attempt to divide, or someone saying you’re stupid and uncaring for not wearing a mask or getting vaccinated, or another saying you’re a sheep or you’re lacking in faith because you chose to mask up and get the shots — it’s all a big trick of the invisible enemy, carefully orchestrated to divide us in one way or another. This spirit of hatred and division is rampant in our world today, and we’d better recognize it for what it is right now so that we can start rebuking it, praying against it, and righteously standing shoulder to shoulder in opposition to it with the love and the power of the Almighty God who is on our side!

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I’m telling you folks, this is some meat right here that we need to sink our teeth into. If we’re allowing ourselves to get dragged into worldly and petty arguments with those who see us as nothing but crazy Bible-thumpers, we’d better listen to that still small voice within us. If the effort bears no good fruit, then the effort is in vain. If we let the enemy dictate where the battleground is, making us fight on his terms, let me tell ya THAT’s NOT how the battle is won. We can’t allow ourselves to be overcome by evil, falling prey to the enemy’s traps of deception and division. But we must overcome evil with good, through prayer and spiritual warfare, as well as showing love and respect instead of the same hate and disdain of the unrighteous. Don’t lower yourself to that level, but remain on the high ground of righteousness and love.

How do we do this? How do we avoid the trappings of our invisible enemy and take that higher ground? Recognize that, often times, the exchange of words may not get the job done. When you’re dealing with a derisive and argumentative person, what you’re really dealing with is the dark spirit behind them pulling their strings. If you aren’t careful, you’ll get tangled up and get your strings pulled along with them. Don’t get suckered into a battle within the physical realm. The Bible says our real fight is in the spiritual realm.

I’ve quoted this passage ad nauseum, but let’s remind ourselves AGAIN. And do not let these just be words. Listen, hear, and absorb this truth…

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

My friends, those spiritual forces of evil are the invisible enemy I’ve been talking about. They are the dark spirits of satan’s army, and we have to recognize and expose them. In the mighty name of Jesus, call them out and rebuke them and their deceptive and divisive hold on our neighbors, our friends and our family members. Seriously. DO THIS.

Now I can hear some of my Christian brothers and sisters, when they hear these words, they may say, “Yes! Amen!” Because it sounds good, and it makes you excited…momentarily. Then you later find yourself stuck in one of satan’s many traps. Oh, the preacher gets us all fired up on Sunday, but by the time Monday rolls around, we forget what was said. Are we not taking the Word of God seriously? Are we not letting it sink into our spirits? Are we not allowing that Word to be engraved on our hearts? That Godly message your pastor preached on Sunday isn’t going to do you any good if you’re not living it out after you leave the building.

And you wonder why we get so upset when it seems the enemy is having his way. Do you ever ask yourself what maybe you could be doing that you’re not? No, it’s hopeless. Nothing we do matters. We may not say those things out loud, but that’s how we often tend to live our lives. If we have Christ, we have hope. And if it seems that nothing you do matters, one of two things must be the case: either 1) you’re not doing the right things, or 2) you ARE doing the right things but you just can’t see the results yet. God sees the big picture, and we have to put our trust in Him and Him alone, not in our own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.

Believe what the Bible says, what the very Word of God says, not what that invisible enemy is whispering in your ear. And if you claim to believe what the Word says, then shouldn’t you be living like it? So let me repeat what I said a moment ago. And don’t just treat these as merely words that get you a little excited temporarily and then you forget it and don’t act like you really believe it later when faced with situation. Here it is, folks…

There are indeed dark spiritual forces at work. They are our unseen, invisible enemy. We have to recognize and expose them. In the mighty name of Jesus, call them out and rebuke them and their deceptive and divisive hold on our neighbors, our friends and our family members. Don’t just say “Amen, that’s right.” Actually DO THIS. Believe in the authority of Jesus’ name. Believe in the power that we possess as His blood-bought saints. Take hold of that power and authority in your life, and wage spiritual war against satan’s army knowing that God is FOR you — therefore no one and no power of hell can stand against you.

Ingrain that into your spirit. Say it. Believe it. KNOW IT. And stay rooted in the Word of God. Until next time, God bless you!

– End Transcript –

Episode 51

– Begin Transcript –

Hey, welcome to the show. I had this online discussion with some fellow believers this past week, and I felt the need to dive into it on this podcast. Are there some things that don’t belong in a church service? I’m sure the answer is yes, but when it comes to rattling off a list of things that shouldn’t take place in church it’s pretty easy for us to get way off on a tangent. I want to address this because it comes up quite often, and I think that TOO OFTEN we tend to make mountains out of mole hills – as my daddy would say.

A lot of what I’m going to talk about here, it depends greatly on our background, the culture, and generally what we’re used to. We tend to see things that are out of the ordinary to us as being strange. If we don’t understand it, we often look on it with disdain or with a judgmental attitude. And this, I believe, is where we get ourselves into trouble – thinking we are the arbiters of what is right and just, as well as what just has no place being.

So the question came up a few days ago on a friend’s social media post. This is a dear friend and brother in Christ, and a man I love and respect. His question was this: “Why does anyone need a smoke machine in church?” Okay, fair enough. I think it’s a valid question for someone who truly wants to know the answer. Personally, I probably would not be one to use a smoke machine during the service. But I found myself on the side of trying to give the benefit of the doubt to whoever it was that chose to employ smoke during church. Why? Keep listening…

The argument of most who commented on his post was that the smoke machine has absolutely no place in a church service. Some people made jokes about “smoke and mirrors,” others remarked cynically that it was somehow meant to put on a show and invoke higher offerings when the plate is passed, and it just went downhill from there. I’ll admit that, as much as I would NOT use smoke that way myself, I DO often like to play “devil’s advocate” – so-to-speak. And trust me, plenty of those commenting thought the smoke thing was probably “of the devil.”

My immediate thought on this was that the same argument has been made time and time again against various things that have become more or less commonplace in church today. Musical instruments, sound systems, lighting, even the building itself – why do we need any of that? And the truth is, we don’t. None of those things are necessary to having church, worshiping, and preaching God’s Word. But the fact is that times change, customs change, methods of praise and preaching change, and we either change with it or we sit back, point fingers, and complain about things we don’t understand.

Now, I’ll come back to the whole smoke machine thing in a bit, and I’ll even offer up a possible reason or two why some might choose to use it. But for the moment, let’s follow this logic out to its fullest extent. Should we simply continue doing just those things we’re use to and never change? Ever? There was a time when hymnals were the new thing, and plenty of people didn’t like them. Over time, they became the norm, and things changed again. “Choruses” or “praise & worship music” was the newest thing, and lots of people resisted. Humans tend to not like change, but change is constant. Those who don’t adapt will always have plenty to gripe about.

I’ve heard people question why church’s have darker lighting in the audience and bright lights on the stage. They said things like, “They’re just putting on a show,” “That stuff doesn’t belong in church,” and, “God doesn’t need any help!” But what’s really happening is, they were attacking something they didn’t understand and saying it didn’t belong there because they weren’t used to it or didn’t like it.

I have explained before the reasons for that kind of lighting. As an audio visual person, I know that darker lighting in the audience and more light on stage helps to eliminate distractions and draw attention to a central point. If someone is speaking or preaching, that type of lighting helps focus people’s attention on the person they’re listening to. Also, during worship, there are other reasons why more light on stage is needed. Musicians have to be able to see what they’re doing to play or read their music, for example. And if the church is streaming their services online, like our church does – we learned that we have to pour a lot of light onto the stage in order for the video camera to properly pick up and show a visual for the online live feed.

That’s the thing, though. There are tons of legitimate reasons – often technical – for things that most people never know about because they aren’t involved with the technical aspects of a church service. As technology changes, all sorts of new things become desirable if not outright necessary. Like heat and air conditioning – it might not be completely necessary, and NO, God doesn’t require it in order for Him to show up, but it sure is nice to be in a comfortable temperature at church, isn’t it? The same applies to lots of other things – like the padded seating, the sound system, lights, etc.

I said earlier that the question my friend asked was indeed a valid one IF he was truly wanting to know the answer. And this is a crucial thing to take note of. Indulge me for a moment as I give a prime example of what I’m talking about…

Some years ago, my brother Stan worked at a learning center. While teaching a particular student, the young boy asked, “Why do I need to learn algebra? I’m never going to use it in real life, am I?” It’s a common question a teenager might ask, and Stan knew exactly how to handle it. He looked at this young man and said the following:

“Before I answer your question, are you sure you really want to know the answer? Think about it. Are you asking the question because you want to know, or are you asking because you just don’t want to do it? Here’s the thing. If I give you the answer to your question, then you’ll never be able to use that question like an excuse. Once you have the answer, the question can never be asked again. So, knowing this, do you truly want to know the answer?”

Wow, right? The kid looked at him, thought for a second, and finally decided he was too curious now to NOT listen to the answer, so he said, “Okay, sure, why do I need to learn algebra?” Stan’s answer was brief and to-the-point, and it was also 100% correct. And now that some of you are wondering about it yourself, I’ll tell you his reply:

“Algebra teaches you critical thinking and valuable problem-solving skills that you will use throughout your life no matter what type of work you go into.”

BAM! There ya go. And now you can never ever ask the question again.

Fine. Let’s get back to this “smoke” thing. What possible purpose could that serve? Before I give a couple of possible answers, I have to ask: Are we asking the question because we want to hear an actual answer, or are we asking because we’ve already decided that there IS NO GOOD reason for it and we just want to point our fingers at it and ridicule it? Seriously. Just because we don’t understand something doesn’t automatically give us license to say, “Hey, that’s stupid. That doesn’t belong in church!”

It’s a lot like when people say in judgment that Christians ought not do this or that. When we do that, we’re super-imposing our own sense of morality on top of God’s and claiming our own interpretation as how everyone should behave. That seems very Pharisaical to me. The Pharisees knew the scriptures. And boy, they KNEW that they knew the scriptures. They let that knowledge elevate them in their minds as being more reverent than they actually were. And Jesus called them on it more than once. Knowing the Word is awesome, but you also have to be able to properly apply it to your life.

Anyway, back to the smoke machine. I said I would offer you a couple of plausible reasons for why someone might use it in a worship service. But remember, once you hear these reasons, you can’t ask the question ever again. You ready? Here goes… Have you ever read up about the golden altar of incense? It was used by the chief priests in the temple. As the incense was burned, smoke would rise from the altar, carrying a fragrance upward to God. This was symbolic. The offering of incense symbolizes our praise and worship. As it burns and the smoke rises, that symbolizes those praises rising up to God. Our worship is said to be like a sweet fragrance to Him, and that is derived from the priest’s offering on the golden altar of incense.

With that in mind, isn’t it just possible that utilizing a smoke machine during a worship service is also offering a visual symbol of our praises rising to God? Maybe? I think that’s very plausible, and frankly, not so out of place after all. Now, I don’t know if that’s the reason or not, but I sure do think it would qualify as a pretty good one. Another reason, perhaps a bit less likely but still possible, is that the smoke machine – which actually creates vapor – helps create a more cloud-like heavenly atmosphere. You might think that’s silly. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. But my point here is just THAT – I do not know what their reason is, but I’m sure they have one, and who am I to judge?

I think far too much time is spent, by Christians, looking down our noses at things we just don’t understand. We take it upon ourselves to deem it uncalled for, unworthy, irreverent, unnecessary, and out of place. But just because we don’t understand it or it doesn’t make sense to us DOES NOT MEAN that it’s wrong or that it has no place in church. What truly has no place in church is our own self-righteous, sanctimonious, and judgmental attitudes. Are we guilty of passing judgment on things simply due to a lack of comprehension?

Again, the arguments we make against things are often self-defeating. Why do we need padded chairs instead of pews? Why do we need dark sanctuaries and brightly lit stages? Why doesn’t the pastor wear a suit and tie? Why does the worship leader have tattoos? How about this: Why do we need to keep asking why we need this or that? Why can’t we just worship while we’re at church instead of looking for things to complain about? I mean this honestly, and with all due respect. But why is it that we are so focused on the carpet or the curtains or the lights or the smoke – things we don’t like – INSTEAD OF being focused on God?

If I go to a worship service or even a praise and worship concert somewhere, I gotta tell ya, I’m not gonna be noticing all the lights and smoke (if there is any). Because my focus should be on worshipping Jesus. If I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, then I’m not gonna be looking around and noticing a bunch of stuff that I don’t like, or that I think is unnecessary, or that I think has no place there. What doesn’t belong in that environment is my self-righteous attitude. What DOES belong is my focus on God and my praises uplifted to Him. If there truly IS something there that doesn’t belong, I’m sure God is big enough to deal with it. What He want’s from me is my participation, my worship, and my adoration. And that’s what matters.

We need to stop picking apart our fellow man, and especially our fellow believers. We ought to do more building up, and less tearing down. As God’s children, we are called to be better than this. Not to be petty and point our fingers at things we don’t understand or don’t like, but to bear all things and endure all things in love. When we cut down fellow believers who are worshipping in a way that is strange or unfamiliar to us, we are alienating part of our Christian family – the body of Christ.

If you were to visit Christian churches in other parts of the world, you would undoubtedly see some customs and forms of worship that might surprise or even shock you. Cultural differences may seem odd to us, but it doesn’t diminish those people’s faith and inheritance in God. Why on earth would a believer want to chastise another believer for worshipping in a way that seems odd or different? Don’t we realize that we are given an awesome responsibility to love on another, to build up, and to serve?

Speaking of the human tongue, James 3:9-10 says…

“With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

So I implore you, please, don’t be too quick to wag your finger at someone or something and pass judgment regarding things you don’t understand. We are to speak blessings and not cursings, to build up rather than to tear down. Let’s keep our attitudes in check. Worship God in Spirit and in Truth, and whether or not you use lights or smoke or whatever really isn’t the point. Don’t focus on the trivial things that aren’t worth our time. But focus instead on Jesus.

– End Transcript –

Episode 50

– Begin Transcript –

Why do I have to endure pain, sickness, tragedy, emotional scars, etc? Have you ever asked that question? Maybe you’ve been told seemingly empty platitudes like, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” or something like that. Perhaps hearing things like that even makes you angry because you feel it’s a load of garbage. On this episode, I want to deal with the trials we face from a slightly different perspective. And I think we’ll see that, too often, we get in our own way when it comes to conquering the trying times we all endure.

Let me start with an analogy. We are often rigid like dried up pasta. Stubbornness, pride, whatever causes an immovability in us. When the pressure comes and we hang on to our rigidity, we break. We shatter into millions of pieces. We had no room within us for withstanding or surviving – the slightest trial just seems to be overwhelming and completely wrecks us. And where does that leave us? Just a bunch of scattered and shattered bits of dried up pasta. Nobody likes dry pasta. There’s no use for it – it’s no good at all.

So how do we avoid this? Well, what do you normally do with dry pasta? You prepare it in boiling water. Now, think about that. If you are this rigid dry pasta, and you have to go into a pot of boiling hot water for a period of time, that doesn’t sound like a very pleasant process, does it? No! But the process, as trying as it may be, doesn’t destroy you. What does boiling water do to pasta? It softens it up and makes it usable.

If we are willing to endure the preparation process, God will season us and make us into something amazing and beneficial to others. This brings us to the life-changing concept of helping others, and the ways doing so benefits us as well. But before I dive into that, let me mention something else to help set this up…

A friend of mine recently shared his frustration with life in general. He spoke about how pretty much everything in his life stinks, he feels like it will never get any better, and he’s just tired – so very tired. Frankly, I think there are a lot of people who feel that way. And I could totally relate to his frustrations to a large extent. So I felt compelled to respond to him. Not to belittle or quash any of what he said or what he may be going through, but I did tell him this:

“I could write a book about all the different types of pain I literally have to live with every single day. There have been multitudes of times that I have asked God why physical pain is such a constant in my life. I don’t doubt God, and my faith is not at all shaken by all the stuff I’ve dealt with physically, mentally, and emotionally. I’ve accepted that it’s all part of this life, but I choose to not allow it to define me.”

I went on to say:

“Trust me, I am immensely tired, too. Tired of the pain, and tired of being tired. The person people usually see when they see me isn’t indicative of my struggles. But it’s not that I put on a facade, it’s that I don’t want to be defined by my pain. I would be a miserable person if I allowed that. And yes, sometimes I AM miserable, but only when I’m focused on the plentiful bounty of negative in my life.”

I finished up by telling him:

“It took me a long time to realize that I actually DO have a choice in what my outlook is. I’m not merely pretending that things are better than they are, but I’m learning everyday that things are actually better than I thought, and how to appreciate the multitude of good that exists in my life. And that’s tough when the pain is so constant. But I’m quite certain that I’m not alone in these feelings.”

So if you, like my friend or myself, are going through struggles – and hey, who isn’t? But if you are having a hard time keeping your troubles from defining your life, know first of all that you are by no means alone. While that in itself may not make you feel any better, it’s important to realize that we aren’t the only ones struggling with seemingly overwhelming issues because otherwise we tend to keep our focus on ourselves and our troubles. The more we keep this narrow perspective, the more miserable we become.

Something, at some point, HAS TO shake us out of our funk and make us look outside our own little miserable bubble. And what I believe is probably the best way to break ourselves out of that self-focusing misery is – yeah, you got it – shifting our focus onto helping others. See? We came full circle. What better way to get away from what we might think of as the miserable existence of our own troubles than to see how we might be able to improve someone else’s life? And in the process, we end up improving our own lives as well.

Now someone out there may say, “But you just don’t understand! You don’t know how awful I have it. You can’t just tell me to get past it and try to help someone else when you don’t know how bad my life is!” And I’ll grant you part of that. I don’t claim to know or understand what all you might be going through. But I CAN tell you without hesitation that your outlook is your choice. It doesn’t matter how bad you have it, your attitude does not have to be ruled by your circumstances. You CHOOSE whether or not to let that happen.

I have even known people who seemed to be almost addicted to their own misery. Seriously. There are those who have become so consumed by their bad circumstances that they actually purposely choose to wallow in them. Having something to constantly complain about can truly become like a drug. I’ve seen first hand how someone like that would turn every little thing into another tragic part of their own pitiful existence.

And I have to tell ya, it is exhausting to simply be near a person like that. So they end up feeling lonely on top of everything else, thinking no one cares about them, and it just continues to feed their self-absorbed life. The misery is their drug, and they don’t seem to want it to ever be taken away.

Allow me to qualify what I’m calling self-absorbed. I don’t mean selfish. Being selfish is something that you pretty much choose to be. But being self-absorbed in the sense that I’m referring to is more of a default position that occurs when we’re dealing with a lot of stuff in our lives. Let’s face it. It’s easy for anyone to become self-absorbed because you can never get away from your own issues, and they may indeed seem overwhelming. You are the one person you live with every day. You can’t escape yourself. Like the saying goes, “No matter where you go, there you are.” You don’t really choose that, rather you have to choose NOT to be controlled by it.

My friends, you DO NOT HAVE TO live a miserable life. However, you DO HAVE TO make the choice to live better. You CAN, and I know this from experience. No, everyone’s situation isn’t the same, but anyone CAN make that decision and start living a more positive, fulfilling, and abundant life.

If you’re willing to put in some effort and really want your life to improve, then the next thought you should have is, “Okay, tell me how.” If that’s you, keep listening… You’re going to need to refocus your outlook on life, adjust your attitude, and change your daily goals.

First of all, get rid of the idea that this life is all about you and your circumstances. When your focus is constantly on yourself, you will quickly become fixated on the negatives – the things you don’t have, the aches and pains, the crappy job, and so on. And yes, I learned this the hard way.

I’ve been married and divorced twice, and I went through the blame game. I’ve been in car accidents, and other injuries, and endured a lot of pain because of it. I’ve lost friends and family who died seemingly before their time. I’ve had to file bankruptcy twice. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. If at some point I didn’t get my focus off of me and how unfair life was treating me, I would be miserable all day long and absolutely loathe my life.

What did I do? I had to recognize the positive stuff. This required me to stop wallowing in self pity and realize that I was still very blessed. I dare say that I could never have done that without my relationship with God, a praying family, and a few good friends. But that support from God and the Holy Spirit was at the forefront of my recovery from every single trial or tragic circumstance that I faced. Leading us to the next thing…

Secondly, you need to allow yourself to be surrounded by a strong supportive group of people. I’m not saying that you have to necessarily start going to therapy or an actual support group. I’m talking about leaning on those who you know that truly care about you and your well being. It might be family. It might be one or two good friends. Or yes, it might be a pastor or spiritual leader.

For me, my church family was greatly instrumental in helping me get through the toughest of times. But that doesn’t just happen. You actually have to intentionally cultivate those kinds of relationships with people who can count on you as much as you can count on them. This takes a little time, but only a little, and the benefits are immeasurable. That brings us to the crux of the matter…

Thirdly, while investing time in REAL relationships with people, you need to begin thinking more about how you can help THEM than how they can help you. I have spoken repeatedly on my show about the vital importance of serving others. We were created to love one another, to care for and serve our fellow man. And doing so comes with its own reward. The more you do things for other people, the more fulfilling your life becomes, and the happier a person you will be. Don’t believe me? I challenge you to TRY IT and see for yourself.

Misery, of some sort, is something that we all are likely to experience during our lives. But we don’t have to live there. You can choose to live a better and more rewarding life. But you do have to make that choice. And know that you are not on your own. You can find help when you look in the right places.

Ask, seek, and knock. Change your perspective. Change your outlook. Change your attitude. And change your life, for the better. No one else can do it for you. You have to willingly and purposefully do it for yourself, and there are those who are ready and waiting to help – greatest of all being God Himself. And He cares more for you than anyone else ever will. What do you have to lose by giving Him a try?

Choose today to live a better life. I’m Stace Massengill, and I’m just saying.

– End Transcript –

Episode 49

– Begin Transcript –

God’s Word teaches us that we should literally go out of our way to intentionally show love for one another. This isn’t some cheesy or sappy idea of love, either. This is true Agape. It’s the kind of unconditional and endless love that the Father showed us by sending His Son. Jesus taught all about love. He said it is the greatest commandment given to us. And Romans 12:10 even says…

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

This tells me, we ought to continually try to “one-up” one another in showing honor and affection. So, how can we achieve this caliber of love for each other? It’s time to step up our commitment to loving our fellowman. It’s time to LEVEL UP! I am Stace Massengill, and welcome to the Kingdom Hero Show.

On this episode, I wanna talk about some ways that we can love above and beyond – going all out for one another. But before we dive straight into that, let’s see why this is something we should be doing anyway. And soon, we’ll see how it is totally worth our time and effort. Of course, love is something that is done without regard for what we can get in return, but it certainly comes with its own rewards.

As mentioned before, love is at the heart of the Gospel of Christ. From the onset, God created mankind in His own image and He walked and talked with Adam in the Garden. That very first bond between man and his Creator was love. Then, when sin entered the scene and wrecked that relationship, God still sought to make a way for mankind to be redeemed. His ultimate plan involved a sacrifice on His part. Jesus, the Son of God, was that sacrifice. We all know John 3:16…

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus Himself said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends.” Yes, He called us His FRIENDS! And Romans 5:8 says…

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This Gospel message is ALL ABOUT LOVE! So, if God viewed love as being so important, and Jesus deemed His love for us as more valuable than even His life, then shouldn’t we be practicing this same kind of love for each other? The truth is that, whether we think so or not, we certainly SHOULD be – and that’s why God made it a command.

Remember, when they asked Jesus what’s the greatest commandment, He told them how that all the commandments hinge upon LOVE. Jesus said the greatest command was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The first few of the ten commandments are ways to show that love for God:

• Have no other gods before Me
• Don’t take Lord’s name in vain
• Keep the Sabbath Holy

Jesus then told them that the second greatest command was like the first, to love others as yourself. Looking at the ten commandments again, the remaining ones are things that should be automatic if you love others in this way:

• Honor your parents
• Don’t murder
• Don’t commit adultery
• Don’t steal
• Don’t lie about others
• Don’t lust after someone else’s spouse
• Don’t long for other people’s property

Indeed then, we are COMMANDED to love. But that love is not subject to our own interpretations. The bar is set pretty high. There are a lot of things we tend to associate with love that just don’t come close to the real thing. Love is not that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you’re attracted to someone. Love is not synonymous with sex. Love isn’t any of the garbage that years of TV and movies have tried to tell us it is. No, real love is selfless and unconditional. All the stuff that 1 Corinthians 13 says about love, THAT’S the real deal right there…

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Most of us, if we’re honest, get tripped up with that very first characteristic of love – patience. Ouch, talk about high bars. I rarely have enough patience to deal with that slow motorist in front of me, let alone the one who cut me off – and I’m supposed to LOVE them?! Yikes. In this fallen world where we’re constantly being told to look out for number one and if it feels good do it, the easiest thing to do in my traffic scenario is get angry and lay on the horn. It may not help the situation, but man, it feels good, doesn’t it? Yeah, that’s not really the best way to handle things. Getting upset at people isn’t healthy for us – physically OR spiritually. And learning to have love in our hearts at ALL times can radically change our attitudes as well as our outlook on life in general.

Again, Jesus was our example. Read the scriptures in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Study up on how He interacted with people. And seek God’s help in prayer. Ask Him to plant that Agape kind of love in your heart, to see others as He sees them, and to grow your affection toward them. Ask Him specifically for those character traits of love in the passage we just read: to be patient and kind, not to envy or boast or be arrogant or rude or selfish or irritable or resentful, etc.

The more you truly seek after it, the more you will find that kind of love manifesting itself in your daily life. Then, you’re ready for the advanced course. This is where you take things to the next level. And this is also where you will begin to see the most benefit to your own life – loving above and beyond.

Now, being nice or polite is one thing. But going out of our way to be kind and loving is a whole ‘nother thing. But it’s worth it. So, how do we get ourselves in the right frame of mind to accomplish this next-level love? It basically boils down to three things…

• Desire
• Prayer
• Intentionality

First, you have to have a real desire to show people this kind of love. If you aren’t willing to go all out to achieve the goal, you likely won’t. If you’re like most Christians, you probably feel only so comfortable showing affection toward other people – especially if you don’t know them that well. But this is a great reason to better get to know others. You can start small. Find someone you see at church but don’t really spend time with, and make it a point to get better acquainted. I suggest joining a small life group from your church if possible. It’s a great way to really get to know fellow believers beyond the church doors. In doing so, you’ll find your life enriched by these relationships, and your desire to show them affection will greatly increase.

Second, as with anything important to your Christian walk, you should seek God’s assistance. Praying is a great way to lay all your doubts and fears out there and allow God to help you see past them. Ask Him for courage, insight, or anything you feel you are lacking. Let Him instill His love for others within you. Hear me on this, what ever else you do, never short-change yourself by failing to take things to God in prayer.

Third, all of that preparation is for nothing if you aren’t intentional about reaching your goal. You must purpose yourself to see it through. Set reminders on your smart phone, daily reminders, to seek out opportunities to show God’s love to others. One thing my brother (Stan) has done – and I love this – he has a note app on his smart phone where he keeps a grocery list, and in the middle of that list, it says, “Look for opportunities to witness.” Likewise, we should look for any chance to be a blessing. Set aside some time to make a list of ways you could totally WOW someone with a gift or whatever. Look for needs, but also the little things that would just make someone smile. Then follow through. Figure out how to make someone’s day or week, and just DO IT.

Another good idea is to involve other people in the effort. Think about it: if you were planning a surprise birthday party for someone, getting friends to help out would make it easier to do more – it could be bigger and better with more help. If someone you know needs a porch painted (for example), get a group together to get it done. Know someone who really needs a vacation but can’t afford it? Start a collection with others to help gift that person with a nice little getaway. Or maybe you know a shut-in who could simply use a bit of companionship once in a while. The possibilities are only limited by your own dedication and imagination. But you can be the light that brightens up someone else’s day.

Finally, shut off the negative voice in your head that keeps tossing out reasons why you just don’t have the time for any of that. As Pastor Aaron said on our last podcast, you will never have time to do something until you make the time for it. And frankly, you won’t make the time if you don’t think it’s worth the time. Let me assure you, it is SO WORTH IT. In fact, once you start exercising this next-level love, you may become to addicted to it. You should already know that it feels good to do good, and there’s good reason for that. God, in His infinite wisdom, designed us in such a way that our acts of kindness toward others cause a release of endorphins in our own bodies – making us feel happy. The more we do this, the happier we are.

Let’s look one more time at that scripture from Romans 12:10…

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

So remember, whether it’s inviting a widow over for a Thanksgiving meal, or planning an appreciation party for your pastor, showing Godly love for others is both a duty and a pleasure. But hey, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing BIG! Go all out, out of your way even, and love above and beyond! I’m Stace Massengill, and I’m just saying.

– End Transcript –

Episode 48

This episode is only partially transcribed below due to the dialog interaction with our guest. Please click one of the following links to hear the show in its entirety…

– Begin Transcript –

Hello and welcome to the show! As has been stated numerous times, our great calling as believers in Christ is to replicate ourselves – to witness to others and make more disciples. This is what the Great Commission is, the clear instructions that Jesus laid out to His disciples (and to us who would follow). However, we often tend to place undue limits upon ourselves. We make excuses and convince ourselves that we can’t really do that much. We let the enemy whisper discouraging lies in our ears like, “You’re just one person, you can’t make any real difference in the world, reaching people is too hard, and you don’t have what it takes.”

But while we often think of witnessing as this monumental task that’s too big for us, the TRUTH is that 1) The devil is a liar; 2) Witnessing is our duty; 3) It’s more than worth the effort; and 4) You are neither alone nor underequipped for the task. And on this episode, I’m pleased to have my good friend and pastor here to help us better understand this. So first of all, I want to welcome Pastor Aaron Zielinske from my home church, Grace Pointe in Dacula, GA – thank you, sir, for being on the Kingdom Hero Show.

PLACE HOLDER FOR PASTOR AARON

Now I find it interesting when God seems to be speaking about similar topics or even the same exact ones to different people at the same time, almost like it’s a kind of season of learning, like He’s saying, “Okay THIS is what I want you to learn about right now,” so He then drops a particular biblical concept in my head and compels me to study about it, and then in the same week, He has you preaching on almost the exact same thing with a somewhat different viewpoint. I’ve noticed this happens fairly often, actually, and it’s always great when God orchestrates things in such a way that I end up learning more than I perhaps would have on my own.

So, you’ve been preaching a series on “Leadership” during this month at church. And this past Sunday you dealt specifically with this topic of discipling others. It’s a favorite topic of mine, and I want to start off by reading the familiar passage known as The Great Commission, found in Matthew 28. I’ve often said that these words that Jesus spoke to His disciples are a directive to us today as His followers. Verses 18 through 20 tell us…

Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This, of course, is our calling as Christians today – to be witnesses of Jesus to those around us and lead them into their own relationships with Him. And unfortunately, we can let a lot of things get in the way of that. So my first question to you, Pastor Aaron, is this: What are the typical things that we allow to become roadblocks to being effective witnesses?

PLACE HOLDER FOR PASTOR AARON

Earlier, I mentioned some of the lies that satan will tell us. He’ll try to convince us that we are somehow inadequate or ill-equipped, but I think we have to recognize who we truly are in Christ. And having a real sense of who and what God has created us to be, I believe, is essential to recognizing the enemy’s lies and overcoming them and reaching our potential. Would you agree?

PLACE HOLDER FOR PASTOR AARON

So then, if witnessing is our duty as believers, and the devil is just lying to us because he’s a low down dirty rotten deceiver [chuckle] – and we’re literally talking about altering people’s eternal destiny here, right? Making disciples would seem to be perhaps the most important job we have. Shouldn’t that be a defining part of who we are as Christians?

PLACE HOLDER FOR PASTOR AARON

Okay, we’ve pretty well established the importance of witnessing. But for those who still might think that they need to be, like, a Bible scholar or theologian of some type in order to lead people to Jesus, what would you say to them? Or someone who is afraid to witness because people may ask questions that they don’t have the answers to, how would you encourage them?

PLACE HOLDER FOR PASTOR AARON

I want to read that last part of The Great Commission again, with regard to anyone who might feel like the task of evangelizing is just too big to handle alone – the key here is that you’re NOT alone. Listen to what Jesus told the disciples after giving them this charge to go and make disciples of others…

He states plainly, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I think we too often forget that He didn’t just tell us to do something without equipping us, and He certainly didn’t give us this great commission and follow it up with, “Okay, and now you’re on your own.” No! He’s with us all the time, and so His help is always available to us. Even though we know that, we many times act like we are expected to tackle everything alone. Sometimes, maybe, it’s even a prideful thing. Like the hubris of man is this notion that we should be able to handle stuff by ourselves. “I don’t need to read the instructions. I don’t need to stop and ask for directions. I’m perfectly capable of doing this on my own.” Uh, NO. It really is okay to ask for help.

It has certainly been a blessing for me to cultivate relationships over the years with godly people who can help me better understand the scriptures and the concepts of walking with the Lord. Just like it’s been great having you on the show, Pastor Aaron. I really do appreciate it. So before we go, I want to give you the opportunity to offer any final thoughts on making disciples and to encourage those who have perhaps been timid or hesitant in the past to share the love of God with others. What would you like to say to them?

PLACE HOLDER FOR PASTOR AARON

– End Transcript –