Reverend Ben Cooper  0:01  
Welcome to our podcast here at ame. Church in Swanley. Your joining myself, Reverend Ben Cooper and Leah. We are discussing the world of strain and pain and anxiousness and anxiety and worry and fear now, good afternoon and welcome. If you're joining us here, you know, we've had we are sitting on the what that Mr. Farley, what's the most?

Leya  0:24  
It's remember, remember the fifth of November,

Reverend Ben Cooper  0:26  
remember? Remember our four didn't I forgot it?

Leya  0:28  
Yeah. Well, we

might get some fireworks while we're doing this, if not, for our conversation for our

Reverend Ben Cooper  0:33  
conversation

Leya  0:35  
outside.

Reverend Ben Cooper  0:37  
Yeah, you know, I've done so well of introducing us there. And then he went out the window. Why? Because I've been sitting in front of this mic for hours today. And I've been speaking all day. But now at the end of the day, at five past five on Thursday night, the first day of lockdown is locked down. And that's what we're talking about

Leya  0:57  
them we're talking about.

Reverend Ben Cooper  0:59  
Locked blues.

Leya  1:00  
I had a really bad start to this week, then I did get a really heavy start. I woke up on Sunday morning and I was just in floods of tears. It was really bad. And I came into the thing that I knew was that I could hide in doors and cry and cry and cry all day. Or I could get to the church and I'm made a decision to come in and us not at all over your jumper crying beautiful.

And then our cried on Kris. And I've just noticed this week we were supposed to be doing a podcast on Pentecost. What's the meaning of Pentecost? Why are we a Pentecostal church. But for the last three days, the Lord has been pressing on me that now that's not the answer. The answer tonight is to talk about what has been happening in the world this week, which is every single person I've spoken to has had tears in their eyes. Yeah, they've had stress on their shoulders. They've had anxiety at their back.

Reverend Ben Cooper  2:01  
Yeah,

Leya  2:02  
everybody this week that I've spoken to has been feeling the stress and the strain of life and I don't know if it's locked down. I don't know if it's winter. I don't know if it's just exhaustion because this year has been so bad.

Reverend Ben Cooper  2:16  
Always seven was seven months in aren't we

Leya  2:19  
Yeah, we seven months in seven months

Reverend Ben Cooper  2:21  
in when it first can be a few weeks. Some some shine, there's a difference between a lockdown when the sun's out, and it's long summer evening and you can lock down on a dark, wet, cold winter day. And there's panic buying, there's fear, there's doubt there's worry. And I love the word of God because it mentions very easily and very clearly that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. It will hit the fan whether you're a believer or a non believer, putting it very politely there. And we are living in a world that is stressed beyond the human understanding. We are stretched financially. We are stretched mentally, we are drained, we are emotionally drained, think

Leya  3:06  
there's a metaphor that can be taken from this morning, that is mornings weather you're talking about weather I wake up and it's a really thick fog today in the first of the year. So it's the first day I look down. Yeah. And it's the first really thick fog. And you can't say you can't see which way to go. And that's where we are at the moment. You don't know where to go. You don't know what to do. We're missing our family for me. A massive strain is our my mum and my stepdad have been children since March. And I missed them and I missed their touch. I miss see resin. Yeah, I just miss being with them. And I think that is our life has changed so radically,

Reverend Ben Cooper  3:47  
radically is an understatement. I think

Leya  3:49  
Yeah. And like today, I was at work and somebody just burst into tears. And they can't explain why. Now they've got so many different reasons as to why it's happening. And then you look on social media sites and you see people talking about children going out stealing. Everyone's having things stolen from them.

Reverend Ben Cooper  4:10  
Yeah.

Leya  4:12  
And it's just the world has gone into a strange. I don't want to say twilight zone because I believe in that kind of thing. But it's gone into murky kind of place where you feel like you've been held down. This oppression is oppression, there is a blanket of heaviness Donald Trump all over the world his touch of segregation and division. I know that's that's just what something that's happening in the world at the moment. There's Boris Johnson. He's trying to cope with what's happening in the world. He doesn't know what's happening.

Reverend Ben Cooper  4:49  
No one does.

Leya  4:50  
One doctor says this one doctor says that one politician says this one politician goes out and does whatever he likes and another one gets fired for doing the same thing and it's so just crazy, crazy, crazy

Reverend Ben Cooper  5:01  
fusion

Leya  5:02  
people are arguing with each other. So nastily on Facebook, tiredness, other social platforms are available. They're being really nasty to each other. They're calling people horrible names in each other

Reverend Ben Cooper  5:18  
Christians, Joe church lockdown. Yeah, five is being shaken.

Leya  5:23  
People can't go to their place and fellowship with people than they need to.

Reverend Ben Cooper  5:28  
That's right. Can I explain something a little bit? Yeah. Now, in Daniel chapter six,

Leya  5:33  
yeah, because what I want to do is not make this down. This is gonna be enlightening. I just want to just just say this guy. So the the aim of this podcast is we had a discussion the other night in me and the PB. And he said, people don't know how to cope with these feelings, because they're not being taught how to. And another thing that rang true with me there was that when you were doing the communion on Monday night, we would talk in social media in the background, because it goes out on Facebook, and one of our sisters said that the word hope just keeps being pressed on a postcard. All the time, hope, hope, hope. And that's what I want this to be. That's what this is. This is what the Lord is telling me that this has got to be a podcast about understanding what people are going through and then offering them a way out through leaning on the Lord.

Reverend Ben Cooper  6:31  
We gotta lean on Jesus.

Leya  6:33  
Yeah, baby. We gotta lean on Jesus. Sorry about your dad. Nothing.

Reverend Ben Cooper  6:36  
Come on Mama, come and Daniel, Daniel. Oh, Daddy,

Leya  6:38  
oh, yeah, Coco, Johnny.

Pi.

Reverend Ben Cooper  6:45  
We got some joy. We got some joy in the podcast. But you know, we're trying to be serious, but we're not really serious. But just talking about the issues that we're all going through. Whether you're a believer or non believer, humanity is being stretched, the rain falls on the just the unjust it happens to every one of us. You know, just because we might be believers doesn't mean to say that is any easier whatsoever. Sometimes when when things happen around the globe, you suddenly realize how true and how strong and how powerful God's word is, and how these prophecies that were spoken about thousands of years ago, is actually happening right now. Now in really interesting now we are in lockdown the first day of lockdown. And now what what relevance is is to Daniel right, Daniel, chapter six verses one through 23. Daniel was a great man, a strong man in God. Now I'm just going to quickly briefly tell us this. Now, I believe this is as such the same parallels as what Daniel was going through. Now we're talking about thousands of years ago, Daniel chapter six, verses one through 224 23 roughly says that the king was very pleased and he put he put people in charge he put prefects he put governors he put, say traps, he put all these these officials in place to look after his nation and his his globe and his domain. Daniel, following the God of Israel, the king was very pleased with Daniel to the king was lifting Daniel up to put him in a higher position to reign and to look after everybody because the scripture said that they can find fault with him. He was trustworthy. There was no corruption in me. He had integrity. And he was a good person. He got the job done. But the others around him very interesting. This talks about governance, it talks about safe traps, it talks about the prefix, it talks about all those that was gathering society for gathering this nation. They're ones that are just put in position to look after the kingdom government. Government. Yeah. Yeah, that sort of stuff. So the king had these guys put in place and Daniel was one of the three administrators, the administrators were over the state traps. Okay, so there's 120 of them to administrators. Now you're thinking where's he going with this? Yeah, we have just started 30 day lockdown. It's 30 days, 30 days. Right. So what happens is Daniel is going about his government business. In the king's palace. The King looks me thinks he's a good Chase. He's doing a good job getting done. He says, Okay, what I'll do is because he's doing such a good job, I'll elevate him more, and he will be in charge of the whole kingdom. Hang on. The minions, the ones underneath the ones dangling the bells and all that come up to the king and they go hang on a minute or so what this is about, they did not want Daniel as a believer to rise, but they could not find anything in his life, the way you work ethic, anything that could stop him and hold him down. So they come up, they made a new law. They made a new law or did they make the law about? You cannot pray? How many days? Did they enforce it for 30 days? 30 days? Oh my god. So we have the king, we have King dirus. Okay. Yeah, he sees Daniel in the government offices, the palace doing a cracking job. He wants to lift Daniel up. He knows he prays three times a day, then you would go and pray. That's what Daniel was about. He was a prayer. Man. He was a prophet. He was used powerfully. So he was doing a good job. The se traps the government officials, no one could find anything to trap him in. So what did they do? They go to the king, the one that was ruling the nation that put these ones in positions of power. And they said, Oh, king live forever. We love you, we worship you. But what we think is that we need to have you worship for 30 days. And the king game picked up the Kings getting picked up. Okay? He loves it. He loves it. But he like Daniel, but he didn't know what these guys are up to. He says they come at a crowd, and they had another agenda. And they couldn't find anything wrong with Daniel. But what they said is we can trap in it in his belief that anyone prays for the next 30 days to their God or to any other human being but you Oh King. They're in trouble. Yeah. And the king didn't know their agenda. Anyway, that sounds great. That sounds good. You know, he was feeling really, let's go they love me. They're looking after me. Because they was being there was saying that they was looking at the his kingdom. But they wanted to get Daniel Yeah. The believer in God. Yeah, the enemy wanted to get the believer in, understand and what they done, they wrote a new law to say that you cannot pray for 30 days unless you pray to the king of that nation

Leya  12:09  
praying to no one else way is Bobby saying

Reverend Ben Cooper  12:13  
that's right. Well, guess what Daniel done. But what's really important I said, didn't he in a roundabout way. So what happened was they got this law in writing. It says they got him right. It can be revoked. It couldn't be couldn't be changed in any way. They trapped Daniel, it went out into the nation. This is what we're going to do. 30 days is really relevant for where we sit. Yeah. Because our freedom of worship. Our prayer life is being squashed for 30 days. 30 days now in 30 days with Daniel. So the Bible says that it was written it was cast it was done. And this is where it leads up to Daniel being thrown in the lion's den.

Leya  12:51  
I feel like we are in the lions den.

Reverend Ben Cooper  12:53  
I was just about a say. Sorry, we are in the lock. No, that's right. We're on the same drive. Okay. On the same drum, you're not taking my thunder is Jesus is found that if Jesus found the story, yeah. So what's interesting here is the government officials. Europe. Oh, sorry. Europe. Laws, the Antichrist right laws too. Strict strangle the Christian. Yeah, that's what we're about. The laws are being written to come against a belief of a believer,

Leya  13:29  
but we're not just talking about Christians.

Reverend Ben Cooper  13:30  
And we're not talking about Christians. Now. We're talking about everyone. We're talking about everyone. But on this little as I finish this off, and we move on. So there was a law written, there was a law written Yeah. And no one could pray. Yeah. Okay. And that's what Daniel what Daniel done. It says he prayed three times a day, but he went up to his Apple room. He opened his Windows Windows towards Jerusalem, and he prayed. And the Bible says after that, it says, and those that was looking to get him heard him praying. So then what do they do? They run back to the king. Okay, no king. Oh, King, we love you. We love you. We love you. You know, you wrote that law, when actually he didn't bring the law. Exactly. The ones we've had our agenda, but the king really loved them, like Daniel will, you know, they'll get on fine. So what I'm trying to say is, is that it's been around forever on a day.

Leya  14:24  
It's amazing. And the Bible reflects on our modern day life. Yeah.

Reverend Ben Cooper  14:27  
And because

Leya  14:27  
this law was written at the time. Yeah, it's an it's a it's a document that's free. 2000 years old. More than

Reverend Ben Cooper  14:36  
more than that, more than that. Yeah. Go back. 4500 4500

Leya  14:41  
No, Jesus. No, no.

Oh, yeah.

Come on. Well, sorry. Sorry, my learned brother.

Reverend Ben Cooper  14:50  
Over time.

Leya  14:51  
It's a document that sold there's that old but he actually grows with me. I grow with it. It grows with me. We grow together. Yeah. that amazes me. It is alive. It is

Reverend Ben Cooper  15:03  
alive because it's spiritual. Yeah, it's spiritual. Yeah. And what happened or then thousands of years ago, when Daniels freedom of prayer, he didn't stop praying. He went upstairs, he prayed. But what happened? Was this what you just said? Or the government officials went back, lick the boots of the king lifted in

Leya  15:25  
the political world. Yeah.

Reverend Ben Cooper  15:26  
And they said, the law that is in place. Once the law is cast, you can't do obviously what it says. But then you went and prayed, he continued to pray. And then that's where the the story of Daniel in the lion's den start. So they flew him in to the den of lions. And that's where we are today.

We are at

Leya  15:49  
work that is where I feel like I definitely I definitely was there on Sunday. You will, it was not it was not a pleasant place to be. Yeah. I sat at the back of that church and cried and cried and cried. And then you said something. You were talking about? Doubting Thomas. Yeah. And you were saying that there was a point where Jesus would have said to him, okay, you've got to nothing. Now you've got to know that you've lost everything. You've got to nothing. Good. Good, because now your faith can start now you can start living by faith. Now you can. That was not a lightning strike fresh. Yeah. I feel like that was that was not a lightning strike.

Reverend Ben Cooper  16:29  
Do you know what leya sometimes we have to go through some 20 free even though we'll develop the shadow. I've got a walk for a certain pathway. The Bible says the steps of a good person are ordered by the Lord. Now steps are already ordered. But the church will tell you that you're gonna walk in a rose garden is all beautiful. It's clouds, the sun now, the Bible tells you if you're going to be a Jesus follower. Yeah, get ready. Yeah, tighten your belt. Get ready, get ready, put your seatbelt on. Because if you're going to follow Jesus, you are you are going to get persecuted. You're going to be stretched beyond unbelief. You're going to go through all sorts of things. Why And What But why was that? Because Jesus said, Look what they've done to me. If they persecute me like this, I

Leya  17:14  
can do it to you. They're gonna do yeah.

Reverend Ben Cooper  17:17  
So and what and what's really important here is the way that we're all feeling is is it the Is it because of the government? Or we feel is because of the government? That's not are we failing? Why are we failing like this? And basically what I want to try and get to is because the church over the generations hasn't taught anyone how to live in a crisis. Exactly. It has been banging the prosperity gospel, it has been banging the false gospel. Yeah. And it hasn't equipped. It hasn't equipped humanity, how to live in trouble. Yeah.

Leya  17:56  
But the way that we have to live in trouble is to lean in and to lean in, you have to lean in, you have to lean in. Because the Bible is full of so many things about you will go through some really rough tiled stuff, but I will be with you. I will never leave it. I've got this bit from Corinthians, which I really like is two Corinthians. You know, I love Korean.

Reverend Ben Cooper  18:18  
Do you love it? You love it?

Leya  18:19  
I do just like you love Daniel.

Reverend Ben Cooper  18:21  
I love

your show. I love the boys, all the dudes. All the renegades.

Leya  18:28  
So two Corinthians 416 to 18. So do not lose heart. Though outer self is wasting away, in itself is being renewed day by day. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory. Beyond all comparison, Thank

Reverend Ben Cooper  18:48  
You, Lord,

Leya  18:49  
as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen a transition, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Reverend Ben Cooper  19:00  
When you think about the Scripture, the light speaks yet in, in every given moment, in crisis in joy and love in hope, hope is very real hope is so powerful. Yeah. But my hope was my hope is in my hope is in Christ Jesus.

Leya  19:18  
Yes. Every morning I drive to work and I drive past the hope school. Yeah, every morning hope. And on their door. There is a big sign that says hope is power. And every day, every single day I drive past it and every single day I say Amen. Hallelujah. God, thank you Jesus every single day. Now might be having the worst morning.

Really, really like oh, Lord.

God raining. This drive is so bad in front of me and this one's right behind me. And then I say hope is power on. everything falls away in a row. Everything, because it's that point when you're you're sort of lowest exactly worst. I knew on that Sunday. I needed needed to get to church. It wasn't a case of, I have an obligation.

Reverend Ben Cooper  20:13  
Now, if

Leya  20:14  
I want, maybe I might, maybe I might, it was like, No, you need to get to church. And I was praying the whole time, Sam, please God, please, God help me. I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I can't understand why I'm crying so much. I can't stop. I can't stop. And this force was new need to get to church, you need to get to church. And then when you get to church, I don't know. God's words just fills you up. gives you the right word. Doesn't matter what you're feeling God's Word will always be apt.

Reverend Ben Cooper  20:42  
To that point. supernatural. Yeah. His Word is alive. sharper than a double edged sword. Yeah, we're all going through whether we're a believer or non believer. Yeah, there's tears. There's crying. There's pain as anxious ness. There's uncertainty. But there is hope. Yeah. hope in Jesus. Yeah. But how much does it feel? Not to have Christ in your life in a crisis point. When you see the system not working? Yeah.

Leya  21:15  
Well, that's the thing. You've got no choice what you're gonna do. You've got no choice when the system is working. You've got no choice. But we as Christians can fly above it. Yeah, Wings of eagles. That's correct. Yeah. Because as part of Corinthians, two Corinthians says that this world is transient. This world is transient. So all these things that you feel are on your back and on your shoulder and pushing you down and pushing you down and pushing you down. It's transient.

Reverend Ben Cooper  21:47  
Yeah, Jesus says come to me all of you that were in heavy light and I'll give you rest. Exactly. But it takes effort. Faith, it takes strength even though we've got our faith it still isn't rose petals and, and lovely, lovely the garden. I mean, isn't that it's still hard. It's still treacherous. Yeah, we have a faith, we trust him. And we're all on a journey. We're on a journey. And at the moment, we've got world leaders at each other. We've got Yeah, government at each of our departments. at each level, we've got systems failing. We've got all things happening. We got Brexit happening. We've got lockdown mode going on. We got the terrorist alert high, we've got everything. So the white and then and then you got Christmas is i upon the way of spending money you got spend, spend, spend, spend, I got

Leya  22:41  
to spend Christmas with his family? Am I gonna be able to spend Christmas with my elderly relative? Am I gonna Who am I gonna have to choose to not be in my six? You know,

Reverend Ben Cooper  22:51  
I mean, that's exactly what you say is

Leya  22:52  
what life has come to. And it's all about division. Yeah, it's all about division. I know I mentioned Trump earlier. Yeah, but this is the world that America is. America is the controlling thing in the world. I know. Yeah. Some people think it's Yeah, for me is is America. He is all about division.

Reverend Ben Cooper  23:11  
Yeah.

Leya  23:12  
You know, that man has got a pastor that is saying, sorry to get political. He got passed away from who says he has a divine right to lead. Wow, what

Reverend Ben Cooper  23:24  
is that all about? He got me right on the bottom when you're saying things like that. That was

Leya  23:29  
what God is that

Reverend Ben Cooper  23:33  
scripture. You know, there's a scripture that says God calls and he chooses the the lowly things. So God uses he used a donkey it God, whoever to get whatever you're gonna get things I can't work out. You can't work out the world can't work out. Politicians can't work out certain things in life that you never work out. There is always division. Yeah. Division started in the garden. garden division start in the garden. Yeah. Did God really say? Did God really say division division, dividing humanity from God? Exactly. So you've got this chasm, but Christ filled the chasm with the blood of Jesus and but how do we live in crisis? How do we live?

Leya  24:20  
We've got to love each other. So we've got to say,

okay, we finally respect the security

a little moment. Yeah. The security risk at the moment is severe. It's severe. Okay. And it's people have got hatred towards certain ethnicities because they believe that that's where terrorism comes from. Yeah, but that's not true. That's not true. We've got to learn to live love and understand each other. It's all about knowledge. And it's all about loving then understanding

Reverend Ben Cooper  24:49  
Yeah, Bob says come let us reason together. Come on. It's not like we are living without We're in the book of Revelation, whether we're the birth or birth pains wherever we may be, that's a theological divide.

Leya  25:06  
To meet the angel covered in ice. I'm

Reverend Ben Cooper  25:08  
telling you Specsavers one. Yeah, he's nice. Hey, sorry. This is this is my beef at the moment, Be Fit, Be Fit, Be Fit the church should have been preaching and teaching how to live every second of your life, living living and not how

it should be to it should be teaching creation. It should be teaching the birth, the death, the resurrection of Christ, it should be teaching about sin, it should be teaching about what is right and what is wrong. But it's been motivational. It has had different agendas. How, how can look, if you take the prosperity gospel that has just been flattened, it has been crushed. It has been crushed, because there are preachers and teachers beating that drum for years and years and years. And they've been saying in 2020, your business is going to flourish. You're gonna have this you're gonna have that you're gonna have a new house, God's telling me to tell you that if you sow into this, and if you give to this, you do that. You're you're going to see increase. What are we doing at the moment? We are fighting debt?

Leya  26:20  
Yeah, exactly.

Reverend Ben Cooper  26:21  
The globe is in so much debt. There is you know, it talks about give, give, give, and it manipulators manipulate the Scripture. Yeah, there have been there are great preachers and teachers out there that are really really

Leya  26:33  
that's my beef preacher. Beef is people talking on behalf of God.

Exactly. That's my badly.

Yes. My beef with that politician, preacher. Yeah, that's my beef with prosperity gospel. That's my beef with people that say, I will cure your cancer. Yeah, it is cruel. And is it is it's controlling. And that's the thing all those people were under these people's control. And now they've got no one to control them. Because they've all

Reverend Ben Cooper  27:00  
been proved wrong. So we've had a lockdown.

Leya  27:02  
I think that they should be teaching that the Bible was true. Yeah, I think that they should be teaching. This is not just a fable to

Reverend Ben Cooper  27:11  
feel like they are teaching me how to live. Yeah, daily. Yeah. Don't teach me how to give to you.

Leya  27:19  
or teach people stories as an example.

Reverend Ben Cooper  27:21  
Yeah. And then the healing thing he got was so careful of can't your heel gods, you know, you see across the televangelists and all that God's giving you new lungs out of the mother, your legs are growing your arms going

Leya  27:34  
only on Sunday at this time if you pay this money,

Reverend Ben Cooper  27:37  
exactly. Exactly what it is, I yo I need. I need Jesus every day. Every day, I need to be told how to live in a time of crisis. The Bible says The just shall live by faith and that is just living on a general plateau of life. Just getting through the day from from when I wake up till I go to bed at night. Lord, I need you to show me how to live that's what the church should have been teaching and pressing how to live in trouble. How How to be free and how to move in, in, in the spiritual gifts and not to not to manipulate that but to live correct. Just on a Monday.

Leya  28:18  
As an island. I feel a family member. When I was little, I lived on a street where everybody was friends with everybody else. And it was community and it was it was lovely. Now, people don't trust their neighbor and love their neighbor.

Reverend Ben Cooper  28:35  
That's right. Yeah.

Leya  28:35  
And there's such a sense of division which causes this hatred there's no sense of community so people can't rely on each other people are did it when I come in on Sunday, or share my emotions and apologize in Yeah, the girl at work did it today apologizing, we should be able to share all of our emotions, everything. Oh, yeah, yeah,

Reverend Ben Cooper  28:59  
you said about leading into Jesus.

Leya  29:02  
I've got a nice quote. Oh, yeah, yeah, so it is Psalm 42 Yeah, that one gone. Remind Psalm

4211 why my soul Are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him my Savior, my god.

Come on.

Reverend Ben Cooper  29:20  
Thank you, Jesus. We

love walk

Leya  29:22  
away every tear from your eyes. There should be no more death, no sorrow, no coin. Well, there should be no more pain for the former things have passed away.

Reverend Ben Cooper  29:30  
powerful word of God. There's a scripture for every eventuality, it is crisis, every pain every every hopelessness, there is a word that will that will fit and feed your spirit. But this is this is this is very clear you know, in time of crisis we need to be on the word in the word but yeah, but we have been caught we've been cold. Call out for weight teaching force teaching distraction, distraction from God's word. And now is a time where the individual is effing to grapple with life and fight, let alone ever in the wake of general life on their shoulders, then suddenly the the pandemic and locked down and Brexit and terrorism, and all that sort of stuff, just just, it's just increased, isn't it? It's just this weight is increased. But, you know, the Bible says, Come to me, all of you that were in heavy laden, and I will give you rest, counter Jesus, amen. I gotta go to Jesus, I gotta learn to lean in. Very interesting thing, because round around a table, it says that they reclined and they leaned in to Jesus's Buddha bosom. And what that what that basically means the way I see that is as I lean into Christ, I surrender. Yeah. When you surrender, and surrender is in a sense, a show of weakness is showing a sense of being humble. And trusting in your God.

Leya  30:56  
I've trusted. It's almost like, I'm leaning in for just a hug. just just just rely on on God's shoulder.

Reverend Ben Cooper  31:06  
Yeah, just take the weight. Take the weight Lord. Take the weight Yeah. But you said it's come to me, all of you that are weary and heavily laden, if you're weary, come to Jesus, if you're tired, come to Jesus. But even though when we're tired, we come to Jesus. We still in in Christianity still have elements of fear and doubt. Because we're human. And you can't get away from that factor. If anyone says that they are born again, believer, and they have no fear whatsoever, you need to check it because because the scripture mentions it in lots of places, how believers and Old Testament or New Testament writers, were going through these areas of fear and doubt or worry, and stress and pain is that division thing again? Yes, we

Leya  31:54  
have the division of my faith, my faith, I believe in God, My heart says, Jesus, my brain says Jesus says Jesus, and my body says, oh, I've got to deal with this. I've got a guy to work. I've got to do this. I've got to do you know, I mean, yeah, because that is eyes flesh versus

Reverend Ben Cooper  32:16  
a guy. Yeah, I get what you're seeing what you hear of what

Leya  32:19  
you say, and what you think.

In the world, Yeah,

Reverend Ben Cooper  32:23  
I'm fine. Hang on a minute. No, I'm not fine.

Leya  32:26  
Yeah, fine.

Reverend Ben Cooper  32:27  
I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I'm broken. But we've lived in it. And we've lived in a world and a workplace. Where if you if you cry, yeah, you can't cry. People show your emotions. To do it, it's pretty strong to cry in public. And I think what the workplace and the

Leya  32:47  
time that

Reverend Ben Cooper  32:49  
what the workplace and the corporate environment needs to do is to switch around from being hard and cold. And rigid and be more embracing. Just be Yeah. If your embrace pianist

Leya  33:04  
and I'm feeling this too, you know,

Reverend Ben Cooper  33:09  
you're fading.

Leya  33:10  
How are you? faded?

That is that is? Yeah,

Reverend Ben Cooper  33:16  
how did that make you feel? But we got a word dressed in suits and, and scarves and hats and gloves and skirts. Not Not to me, not so much, Mary, you know,

Leya  33:24  
I don't go and sit

Reverend Ben Cooper  33:27  
down and not good. Yeah, so we go into work in these professional places. We're told to be professional, but actually, we're humans. Yeah. Humans have emotions. But the problem is humans have feelings.

Leya  33:42  
As a society. We've taken that on. You can't we are now living in a society that acts like a workplace. So people have got a put up this front of Yeah, I'm fine. Yeah, I'm fine. Yes. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna show anything because I've got keypad on my couch.

Reverend Ben Cooper  33:59  
Yeah, I got kicked my face. Yeah. And the face is as light as cold as ice. Yeah, see, and you look beyond people's eyes, and you see their real emotion. And what we've created this smile is Hearts of Stone with smiles are not smiles either.

Leya  34:14  
They're not they're not really Hearts of Stone, their hearts of hearts. Our hearts are

Reverend Ben Cooper  34:18  
broken. They're broken hearts, hearts, but broken hearts. But the thing is to create

Leya  34:24  
them says that God doesn't exist. The system says God's no corner place in our life. The system says that if you show love towards somebody, you're being taken for a false, right? The system says if you're kind to somebody, then you're an idea. The system says that you can't let anybody take from you. Be professional

Reverend Ben Cooper  34:45  
every moment.

Leya  34:47  
Unless there's some sort of big Let's be kind of charity thing. Yeah, everybody's in on it. But as general in life, people are not kind enough to each other. And the kindness that we show each other is an expression of love. And what is love Jesus?

Reverend Ben Cooper  35:02  
Yeah. And what is strength?

Leya  35:05  
Yeah.

Reverend Ben Cooper  35:05  
And what is marriage strength power? Yeah. So it's just caring for one another. It's just caring for one another. That's one big drum always being been about well being and mental health and this month for that month. But you know what the workplace is a brutal place. Yeah, it's a cutthroat place. It is a darwinistic control. Lots of narcissistic leaders in position that love lording power over people.

Leya  35:31  
And I say my works not really like that you're blessed, then I am glad you're blessed. They are quite caring, they come around and I asked you how you feeling? growing at me is once a month, where one where they said the first question is always are you doing? Are you doing?

Reverend Ben Cooper  35:46  
Oh, and so ask the question. Are they really asking? How are you are they ticking boxes,

Leya  35:53  
some must be doing the ticking of the boxes, but my manager is also my mate. So she means it. I'm pleased. But I know other people that work in other situations in my building, not in my office, but in other areas. Other areas where it has not been like that. And it is all about figures and statistics. I really want to keep ringing this bell that is that performance. That sense of that is happening in our general lives now. That is how we perform perform. Don't show anybody you've got a crack of weakness in you. But actually, I went to one of my friends who I hadn't seen this week and on Tuesday, and I was a bit like, last night I was tired. My arm was out and I was in pain

Reverend Ben Cooper  36:41  
for don't want to come out.

Leya  36:45  
And she stood there. And I thought Oh, here we go put on the smile. Actually, I went

Nah.

Oh, really? Now I've had really, really bad week and her face dropped and she said me too.

Reverend Ben Cooper  36:59  
I bet it really be nice to understand that you can come down understanding of each other. Exactly. And you both are rather that could have gone the other way. Yeah, I'm fine. Sure. Go yell fire. Yeah. And then the good communication so happy with life. Loving great.

Love it.

I just love I love being on my own. I love the isolation is great.

Leya  37:22  
And when on Monday when we were having the socials while you were there in the communion, somebody said to me, if you never feel this way, then you're not really in Jesus. Because everybody has that moment of doubt. Everybody has that truth of what's going on. I'll be knocked sideways. I'm being knocked sideways. But the important thing is you come back because in some 119 it says you are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in your word.

Reverend Ben Cooper  37:58  
Yeah, your place. You are hiding place

Leya  38:01  
so true. Is the

Reverend Ben Cooper  38:04  
leaning in, we hide in we rest in Psalm 91. Whoever tools in the show to the most highest show rest in the shadow of the Almighty resting in the shadow of God resting in him leaning just lean into Jesus. That's the that's the advice that we give anyone. Yeah. lean into Jesus. If you don't know Jesus, give your heart to Jesus. He is the way the true from the life and you know, this is not our This is not there's nothing to do with religion. This is a relationship. This is this is walking with the King of glory. And he takes the way he takes the strain. He takes the pain but there are times when we have to we have to enjoy insurance. The Bible says enjoy. Yeah, enjoy, keep going. Life is a journey. And it's so important that we need to support one another yet to encourage one another. But in the culture of church churches breeded this culture of people that we were not really we're not really these types of people of what we just said in the workplace. Fit young fine, everything's okay. Yeah, blessed if I

Leya  39:05  
were in my Sunday best god.

I'm really blessed in a What's it called? I'm putting the most money in the times I'm wearing my Sunday best. I've got the widest. I'm singing the loudest. Oh.

Reverend Ben Cooper  39:24  
The church has braided where you can't be honest.

Leya  39:27  
But I think that that is is brilliant. I don't believe. I don't believe that anybody in our church does that. But

I have seen people do it. But you know, churches where they wear their suit and tie and get ourselves all dressed up Sunday. Yeah.

And it's not anything to do with Jesus. It's about where am I in society? Where am I in society? Where's my Why? What am I doing

Reverend Ben Cooper  39:50  
but religion and certain ministries have made a culture where you can't express yourself in church like the workplace because if I turn people on And then I can't ask Jesus as much as you got Jesus because you're, you're really walking well and blessed and God's blessing. And I've had a great week and the kids haven't cried, and there's been food in the cupboards. But you know what different story is really?

Leya  40:14  
Yeah, exactly. When you get into the humanity when you get into that, and let's not forget Jesus was a human.

Reverend Ben Cooper  40:19  
He certainly was a carpenter.

Leya  40:20  
Yeah. Jesus, the man. When he was in the garden,

Reverend Ben Cooper  40:25  
oh, yeah, the garden.

Leya  40:28  
Jesus did everything that human beings did. And he's an example to us. Yeah. When he needed to cry, cried. He had his moment of despair.

They asked, take this away from me if you can take this away from me. Yeah. And who

has just in this one week, who has not said that? Oh, my, take this away. You know, what I don't want to go through talking about I'm like, I'm just missing my mom. feeling trapped. What about those people that are in abusive relationships at the moment?

Reverend Ben Cooper  40:59  
They locked down with, with, with an abuser?

Leya  41:01  
What about people that are suffering with addictions? At the moment? What about the people that are in much worse situations? The children are actually starving. And they don't know how they're going to figure out how they're going to feed them. And then you have to then find hope. Gosh, there's

Reverend Ben Cooper  41:17  
questions that just like,

you know, I mean, oh, god, oh, god,

Leya  41:20  
this is turning into quite a depressing, but no,

Reverend Ben Cooper  41:23  
it's not depressing. It's

Leya  41:27  
coming across as real.

Reverend Ben Cooper  41:28  
This is real. This is real life. You know, people are losing jobs, you know, mortgages, rent, landlords are being an absolute brew, or somebody

Leya  41:40  
might hear it and say, I'm not alone.

That's why that's why we want to hear what it means to be

Reverend Ben Cooper  41:48  
someone who's been honest. Yeah. I'm not talking about beating the drum of happiness all day long. And there's and it's not to say that we are depressive, and we are. I'm not depressed. We're not depressed. It's just, it just

Leya  42:00  
struck me.

Reverend Ben Cooper  42:02  
You need to talk about life because when you talk about life, it strengthens you when you realize that everyone else is failing. Exactly is the reason for the season. And actually, I'm not on my own. I'm not a crackpot. I'm not just off me that humanity's feeling the strain. The strain is feeling the strain. Right. What

Leya  42:23  
is that? I keep forgetting what chapter is about the children should rise up on the streets. What's that one?

Reverend Ben Cooper  42:31  
What are you talking about? Excuse me. In felonious? Where were you talking about in the last days, there was rumors of wars? Yeah, famines, pestilence, all that sort of stuff. And it says children rise up against parents. Yeah, that one? Yeah. Well,

Leya  42:45  
that just seems so prophetic at the moment. That is,

Reverend Ben Cooper  42:48  
is because that's what's happening. Children are rising against their parents. Yeah. The gang culture. Exactly. All out there. Exactly. What I noticed when you drive around at night, wherever you are, you know, fireworks

Leya  43:00  
are going off. No, we're not in a gang land. And now we're talking about gangs, but it's not gang lines. It's not a shoo in.

Reverend Ben Cooper  43:09  
Is it bonfire.

Leya  43:10  
Bonfire night? It's remember, remember the fifth

Reverend Ben Cooper  43:13  
Guy Fawkes Day?

Leya  43:24  
Oh, he did?

Reverend Ben Cooper  43:26  
Is that a good thing?

Oh,

Leya  43:30  
some people think it's a good

guy. There you go.

Reverend Ben Cooper  43:33  
Yeah, it's really important that we do lift up our leaders, we pray for Boris and all his champions, that God will give him wisdom and strength. mentioned being in his position. Seriously.

Leya  43:43  
I have to admit something here. I don't know. I don't like him. I haven't liked any politician in a long time. I'll go with that. So I feel like when we pray for Boris, because we do pray for Boris and I do say amen at the I'm not praying to rise him up as a no amazing person. I'm praying that he finds the strength to make the right decision.

Reverend Ben Cooper  44:07  
That's That's it.

Leya  44:08  
I'm praying that

Reverend Ben Cooper  44:11  
he finds wisdom, he finds

Leya  44:12  
wisdom. And I pray that Lord shows him that his decisions can be made in kindness and in love. That's where I'm going. Because I've always got to have Yeah, God, King in the back of my mind when I'm thinking about it, who would want to be in that position?

Reverend Ben Cooper  44:30  
And you think about making the decisions that are going to affect

Leya  44:34  
I do think he's made some major decisions, but that's why we gotta pray for him to make the right decision.

Reverend Ben Cooper  44:38  
Yeah, you know, I don't I'm really careful what fence are set political are just, you know, a

Leya  44:46  
lot of abuse.

Reverend Ben Cooper  44:48  
I just say, God, God's strength for them. Just show him the way to go. Yeah, show him the Whitelaw. give him strength because how do you roadmap out of a thing like this? I know if he goes left, it's wrong if he goes right Wrong, you know, I mean, whatever way they go, you know, I mean, and we just we need Jesus we got we got a trusting God. And yeah as we started off his little chinwag, it's humanity's crying, humanity's tired, humanity's worn, you know, working from home cabin fever,

Leya  45:22  
people alone, paper alone, people are alone. That division of being completely alone. Maybe they might not see somebody for a week at the moment. But I gotta tell you another little quote, I've got some 118 is best take refuge in the Lord. And to trust in man is a sign about the praying for, you know, you pray for you pray for God to touch people's lives.

Reverend Ben Cooper  45:51  
We have to Yeah, it's really, really important, important that God will touch lies, guide help, strengthen, bless and all that sort of stuff. It's so so so important that we we lift that brothers and sisters and leaders and whatever our understanding about the little things we don't know. 96 says,

Leya  46:15  
Therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink nor about your body. What you will put on rosca is not life more than food and the body more than the clothing. Look at the birds in the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valued than I? Am? Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your span of life? Amen. Poker Gosh, makes me emotional. And why you anxious about clothing? Please consider the lilies in the field how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yeah, I tell you. Oh, man, it's just so what the Bible

Reverend Ben Cooper  47:02  
says about your clothing. Yeah. Why you aren't about the labels, why you are in about the trends going on? Why do you want that certain handbag, we want that certain label? Why is why do you want that label on that car? Why, why you aren't about that?

Leya  47:16  
Yeah. Why worrying about buying this by not doing this doing that? What do you need it for?

Reverend Ben Cooper  47:23  
I mean, some of you come to a point where we are where we are in the world, and suddenly you realize that materialism is empty. Yeah, it's meaningless. It's pointless. Yeah. All the years. Think about this all the years of grafting craft and really working hard and then suddenly coming to realize that meaning it has no eternal value. Yeah, it's just moth and rust destroy it. As the scripture says, He comes in and eats away that car that you spent a ridiculous amount of money on. Sit on the drive. Can't use it locked down.

Leya  47:57  
It's 20 guitars that you've got in your lounge,

Reverend Ben Cooper  47:59  
you've only got two pairs of hands.

Leya  48:01  
One of them's numb, because I've got trapped nerves

Reverend Ben Cooper  48:05  
and gadgets, you know, you know, we put so much weight on materialism. It has become the God of the westernized world, materialism, the God of money. The God of wanting

Leya  48:19  
to supply every night isn't it? That's the thing.

Reverend Ben Cooper  48:24  
That thing just kept going with me for the last lockdown is all supply and fit according to his needs. It his needs are money, my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory is well his plan. You know, it's it's, it's Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added unto thee seek Him. When we seek Him, I get peace when I seek Him. I get hope when I seek Him. Everything else will be fulfilled in my life. Yeah, I just gotta say, Kim, in the seeking comes trouble. In the seeking comes blessing in the seeking comes feeling in the seeking because everything is in the seeking. Yeah, but I gotta keep seeking Him. That's the thing. Yeah, keep going. Trust never before

Leya  49:11  
your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways. acknowledge him. Bhavana verbs. Proverbs, yeah, chapter three. Yeah. Good. Good.

Reverend Ben Cooper  49:26  
First is four. Five. Word is good. The Lord is good. His mercy endures forever.

Leya  49:36  
Hey, bro says you should be content with what you have.

Reverend Ben Cooper  49:39  
there's a there's a message. So

Leya  49:41  
he had said I will never leave you or forsake you. And that's what we're trying to say content. Yeah. Be content with what you have. You know,

Reverend Ben Cooper  49:52  
we've reached that time we have we've had fireworks going off in the background. You know, we've had sighs we've had 10 We read laughter and we just thank you for everyone listening. You've been we've had a good chat. Yeah, but we are joyous. We are joyous a smile on my face the smile on your face, you know,

Leya  50:12  
I've released something and I hope that somebody at home listening to this, even if it's just one person, as says, I feel that way too. Yeah, I feel that way too. And then I've gained some sense of hope that there is a way forward. Yeah, there is a way forward. We're in it together. We're all in it together. Yeah. fellowship, even if it's over the airwaves Yeah. Kindness we can trust in each other, trusting each other to show our emotions, trusting each other to love Jesus. And let Jesus know us

Reverend Ben Cooper  50:47  
at firework went off at the perfect time in,

Leya  50:50  
but he wants to go now we got to go.

Reverend Ben Cooper  50:53  
Thank you so much for joining us. You've been listening to Leah and myself, Reverend Ben Cooper here in Eden church, May God keep you safe. by the word of God. Always be upon your amaze word. Be like honey on your lips, my god strengthen you and bless you. And stay safe. And this has been one of our podcasts where we have really laid it on the table. We do that normally on Saturdays, don't we? We just be open and honest. It's the best way away.

Leya  51:19  
That's the truth. That's the truth. That's the truth. It's the truth. That's what we say. That's what we're saying. Be open, be honest. Be honest. Be courageous, and be Joshua. And I love

Reverend Ben Cooper  51:31  
this book of the law depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and night that you may be prosperous and successful. What's more

Leya  51:37  
courageous in this world, this society this today than to show your emotions

Reverend Ben Cooper  51:42  
that that is going in the battle the enemy Yeah.

Leya  51:46  
I'm going to show my emotions. I'm going to be kind to the person. I am being oppressed from all sides. I've got the devil up my heels. Yeah, I've gotten whispering doubts in my ears the whole time.

What is more powerful than saying I'm going to be kind to somebody today?

Reverend Ben Cooper  52:01  
I'm gonna I'm gonna live as Jesus would expect me to live forever.

Leya  52:06  
You got it going on. Let's frigerator that shut this thing down. Well, guys,

Reverend Ben Cooper  52:10  
take care. Stay safe. We love your lots. God bless

Transcribed by https://otter.ai