Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and this is the final episode of 2024, which has been, by the grace of God and your support, a record-breaking year on all fronts. And I don't say that lightly. I am fully aware that every single day it's nothing but mercy and kindness and the power of God working through the Word. And we are just thankful to have the privilege to be stewards of the gifts and resources God has given. And because of his kindness to us, for no reason at all, nothing that we've done, no merits of our own, he has seen fit to bless the ministry in record-setting and record-breaking ways, we'll call it. Basically, where we've been, God has exceeded. And I do want to say, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I hope you're looking forward to 2025. I just want to share personal news that uh this past Monday, my wife delivered Evangeline Chloe Hinn, our sixth little child, uh, and our fourth girl. We're running a 4-2 now. Four girls, two boys, and she is just the sweetest thing. We're so grateful. And mama's doing good, she's healthy, baby Evangeline is thriving and doing well, and so we're very thankful and just want to provide that update for a lot of you. Uh, the Hinn home right now is full of a lot of joy and activity. It's Christmas break. And uh dad doing his best to cook, which is not that great, but um, I'm on the black stone and doing my best. We're having a lot of breakfast for dinner, and uh my wife is doing well. I'm beyond grateful. I know a lot of you have sent your well wishes, and we are excited. Her name, Evangeline, reminiscent of the gospel, evangelism and the root word there. And uh all of our children are a reminder of the grace of God, and we wanted her, number six, what we plan to be our last, but we'll see what the Lord wills, uh, to be a mark of gospel gratitude. And so Evangeline Chloe is here, and we're thankful. I want to basically take you into a behind the scenes look at for the gospel this past year. It has been an incredible year. The greatest gift, besides the gospel we've been given, is seeing the gospel save people and looking around the landscape of our ministry and beyond, and finding that people are actually getting saved. This has been the best news for me this year: hearing testimonies where people aren't just saying, and by just, I don't mean something lesser, just to the degree that it's expected. If we are teaching sound doctrine, people are gonna say, Hey, this ministry's been helping. Hey, I've been strengthened in the word. So beyond just the expected normal work of the word, which is still supernatural, are the unexpected testimonies of people getting saved. There was one in particular that struck me, came in this year from a truck driver who was born again listening to for the gospel. And that still never gets old. It blows my mind that somebody would be listening to the gospel, get unpacked on a podcast or in an interview, and the Lord chooses to open their eyes right then and there. We don't do that, God does, but man, it is fun to just be a little paintbrush in God's hand. Nobody credits the paintbrush, he's the masterpiece and he creates something beautiful and a tool. Nobody makes a really big deal about the screwdriver or the hammer. It just gets used by the master craftsman, the carpenter himself, Jesus. And so I'm thankful. Uh, there was another testimony from a woman who told me personally about how she was a false prophetess when God used our resources to open her eyes and help her walk in the truth. Another testimony was from a mother. She was buried under the weight of legalism, and she had been through every parenting formula and was trying to do better in her walk with the Lord and do better as a mom. And I mean, fresh off my wife just delivering a baby, I'm always thinking about the pressure on moms, the pressure on homes. This particular mom had been through every kind of brow beating, you know, do better, you need to be this kind of homemaker, and your home should look like this. And man, those baseboards have dust on them. What are you even doing with your life all day? You know, it was all about looking perfect and doing it all right. And that meant you were meeting the mark or the standard of Christian motherhood. And she felt this daily anxiety that was attached also to her salvation. Was she being obedient enough? Was she good enough? And the Lord used for the gospel and the resources here to set her free from all of that. She was strengthened by the teaching in particular of Chris Hamilton, the parenting video series that we produced with him in California, and along with the gospel series here on the podcast and talking through what the gospel is, what the gospel is not, and one of the videos from Jeremy Vuolo on legalism. There's just so many wonderful testimonies of real life change, not hype over some viral soundbite or uh a short video where I go after this false teacher and those can be helpful, or make some political statement right before the election and everyone's getting all fired up. It's like, yeah, that now. Look, there's a time and a place for all of that, but I'm talking about real life change, not hype, not just getting all ramped up because it's tis the season, but that God would be changing people in what we would call just the everyday, mundane, methodical delivery of the word. And it should be noted, your pastor is doing that all the time. If I'm not your pastor, and I know a number of you attend Shepherd's House, and I am, but if I'm not your pastor, what is the amazing aspect of local church ministry through your pastor's pulpit is just his steady cadence and faithfulness expositing the scriptures, and you look back, and what was just normal every single Sunday has turned into a not so normal, extraordinary, supernatural sanctification of your life. And that is why we exist. We do not exist to replace the church, we don't exist to try to be better than the church or this thing like you really need. You know, church is fine, but man, get this podcast or this series. We just exist to be a helpful supplement, something that comes alongside to strengthen, to encourage. And the great testimonies of people finding local churches are right up there underneath, but still up there with the gospel transformation testimonies where people listen to our resources and are more invigorated to plug into their local church. Testimonies beyond, and that's what God does. The word does that work, changed lives are always the result. Whether that's two people or two thousand is up to the Lord. Whether we get to do four video productions or eight or run smaller or bigger budgets is all up to the Lord. We just have one job. I've got one job to be a faithful steward of the gospel and a steward of the resources that God has given us. And so in this episode, let me just take you into three behind-the-scenes looks. Number one, where we've been in 2024. Picture that as a brief overview of what we did with your support and with the money that's given to this ministry. Number two, where are we going in 2025? I'm gonna lay out some of our major goals and we call these the if the Lord wills efforts that would change even more lives for his glory. And then number three, I'll lay out how you can help. We want to keep partnering with so many of you because we're taking on our biggest initiative yet. And uh after the release of this particular episode, just keep an eye on social media on January 3rd. That's all I'm gonna say. Uh, and then on March 1st. But that's all I'm gonna say. January 3rd. This is gonna be fun. I'm smiling already. I need to get going here. Let's go. Uh, let's start with where we've been. Record setting year, full of new high watermarks and expansion. But what does that mean? First, reach. By God's grace, and I have to say, through an amazing team, we've seen our reach increase on all fronts. Our Instagram is up 53%, Facebook is up 92%, our YouTube views up 23%, and then TikTok of all places, it is a cesspool, but we're on there. People asked, why in the world are you even on TikTok? Why waste your time? It's so filthy and gross. Well, I don't have TikTok per se. I'm not on there with my little account, uh, but for the gospel is on TikTok, and that's because of something that John MacArthur said a number of years ago when people said, just move the church to Santa Clarita. It's nicer, everybody comes up there from down there to the church. They were calling it Grace Commuter Church because everybody was driving from Santa Clarita by the thousands. And uh he wouldn't do it. He wasn't on board with it. And one of the responses, and this is kind of my paraphrase of what MacArthur said, was where do you put a lighthouse? And he said, Where it's the darkest. And so they want to put it in the middle of the community they're in, where the church is. They want to be right where people are. It's not just going to where things are nice and going to where everyone is in suburbia or wherever. Uh, churches are strategically placed where they are by the grace of God and his providence. And for us as a ministry, TikTok is dark. I look at it as this mission field of mayhem. And so when our views are up 136% on that platform, that means that gospel truth and sound doctrine and biblical views on modesty or marriage or parenting or purity and pornography are invading one of Satan's favorite demonic little playgrounds. Number five, when we include podcast, email, all that articles, everything, uh, overall, one of the fifth areas we've seen is just overall increase, 20% increase in reach across the board. And when I say reach, I'm talking about individual users. I'm not talking about, you know, my grandmother watching a video 20,000 times on repeat because she left it up and kept hitting refresh to help our numbers. We're very strict about our tracking because each number represents a soul, a person who's being uniquely reached. And so that restarts every month. Our goal was to hit a million unique people per month as a ministry. That's how this all started out. It was a huge goal. Well, now it's turned into reaching nearly two million people per month because over the last six months, everything has just continued to surge, and online media has become the number one avenue for reaching people with sound doctrine. And by number one, I don't mean better than the church or bigger beyond the church. I just mean the availability of it. The local church gathering, rightfully so, on the first day of the week, on the Lord's Day for worship is imperative. You should be meeting with people and talking with people all week long. Discipleship, community, evangelism, all of it. Our church is the same way. And yet, on your commute, when you're alone, a podcast will edify. When you're with your small group and you're going, man, I'd love to dig into something on parenting or the gospel or women's issues or men's issues or sexual sin or uh legalism or what it means to follow Jesus and be a real disciple or whatever other issue that you have or want to get after, and we have it in our menu. You can access sound doctrine all the time. And so we're seeing God expand our reach by his grace. Number two, restructured. The second R. We began contracting a Christian film team this year who's done incredible work for us. We hired two amazingly gifted creatives. We hired a team member dedicated solely to gospel patron relationships. All of these moves were providential. I didn't start the year off going, man, I'm gonna hire this guy and this gal and this guy, and we're gonna this and we're gonna that, like empire build. These things sort of just fell on our lap. And every one of the people on our team have just turned out to be a tremendous gift from the Lord. I've often made a big deal about team building. It's one of the things that I put a premium on in ministry, Jesus did too. And the key to effective ministry is building the right team, not just talented people, but people whose hearts are aligned philosophically, spiritually. Our team is not a bunch of hired mercenaries, experts at marketing to just get social media out there. These are people who are crazy about the gospel and the local church and they love Jesus, and that comes out in their work. Number three, resources. So not just reach, uh, not just the restructuring this year, but resources outgoing. This year we produced some of our top teaching content to date. We had a series on self-control, on the podcast, on sexual sin, both on the podcast and through interview form with Owen Strand on prayer as well and the gospel. We produced, in my opinion, what is the most biblically balanced resource on parenting that's out there with Chris Hamilton, one of the elders from Grace Community Church. And we saw the Lord open doors with Sovereign Grace music to produce what I would refer to as a long-term or legacy content, meaning it's just it's there, it's evergreen, it's it's there for people forever on worship that is already producing fruit. We've had communication from pastors and music leaders and church members around the world who have said the work with Sovereign Grace was a blessing to their team and their church. And then we sat down with Brianna Harris from the Masters University and did a series of interviews on women's issues, gossip, modesty, and more. And then there was the series with Jeremy Vuolo where we covered a gauntlet of things like decision making and dating, legalism. That one was absolutely fire. He was just, because he came out of that, him and Ginger, and he just went after it, made so much of Christ and grace and the gospel. And then we did get a trip to the Ark. I was there preaching, and we were able to bring our team, something we love to do, and got to sit down with Joel Beakey for a number of interviews and Conrad Mbewe and Josh Bice and Ken Ham. And we talked about family worship and the gospel and cultural issues, abortion, women pastors, and all of the things that I know are prevalent issues for people today. All of those resources were made possible by your support. We are a donor-based ministry, and so as people give, we budget, and then we do more, and that's been the amazing part. God has just seemed to kind of open the well on for the gospel, and we are able to do what we do because so much has been provided. Uh, number four, not resources outgoing, but resources incoming. I just talked about that a little bit. Uh, we produce outgoing resources, and that is the result of incoming resources. Giving this year has been off the charts. God has provided so much. People have been so generous. So we did a lot this year because God provided a lot this year. It was the highest giving total we've seen in three years. Our monthly gospel patrons, those are the people who, at any amount, are committed to reoccurring giving, which always blows my mind that there's people who will do that and are willing to do that and make us a part of their regular monthly budget. That resulted in a 30% increase this year in year-over-year giving. So I tell you that because we're going into 2025 full steam ahead. I'm not doing this episode to, you know, beg you for a bunch of money because we're in a deficit because we spent too much, or sometimes, and I loathe this coming out of like, you know, gimmicky fundraising with the prosperity gospel, but I see it in the reformed world. People will get on the horn like two weeks before and say, if we don't get this amount, we can't operate next year. I'm like, what were you doing all year long? Read the book of Proverbs that we teach from on prudence and planning. And I look at the ministry and I say this humbly. We have only spent what's come in, and the Lord has continued to provide more. And so as we go into 2025, our team is so excited. We've been able to plan for Q1, for Q2. We're looking out front, going, Lord, if you will, we're ready to rock and roll. And these are the things we want to accomplish. And so thank you first from the bottom of our hearts. We are going to keep doing what we're doing. We're going into 2025 full steam ahead. And that is because God's grace attached to your generosity. And so thank you. Another area we've seen tremendous expansion and advancement is in our relationships. That was started in part by the For the Gospel Golf Classic, which was an idea of one of our donors who just innocently said one day, Hey, can we do a golf tournament? I'd like to invite my friends. I'd love to invite some unbelievers. I'd like to get my company involved. I mean, isn't there a way where we can support the ministry, but also just hang out and have some fun and leverage one opportunity, an event that an unbeliever will absolutely come to, and we could connect them with the content with the ministry and spend the day with them. And I thought that's a great idea. And so we did. Well, last year, the golf classic was such a hit. So we're going to do that again every year. And it's not some fundraising gimmick. It's really simple. There's a lot of value there, and we get to be together. And so March 28th in 2025 at Seville Country Club here in Gilbert, Arizona, we're going to do it again. And if you want info, just go to events on forthegospel.org. And there's all sorts of opportunities, sponsorships, individuals, all of it. And the money from that does pay for the golf and the food, but it provides gifts and it is a fundraiser for the ministry. And so we're so thankful to get to connect there. A lot of other in-person relational opportunities have been added this year. The regional in Florida that we did was wonderful. We're in Panama City, got to meet a bunch of you. The upcoming events with Vodi Baccom on February 1st, and then Alibeth Stuckey on February 22nd. Those are for men, women, and teens, the Vodi Bacum event, and then for women, Alibeth Stuckey. And to get to bring people together is something that we have wanted to do for a while. And having the resources and the team and the ability to do that is something we're tremendously excited about. It's really fun making videos, and I appreciate the opportunity to invade your commute or your workout or your home cleaning session, whatever that looks like. But to get to meet you, to get to talk with you, shake your hand, and to get to sit under preaching or preach the word to you is such a joy. And so getting to see you and meet some of you at Shepherd's House, I know a lot of people will come to visit when they're out in Arizona for business or vacation. It's very nice here right now, about 70 degrees, and it's it's an ice storm in some places. So come on over and hang out and fellowship with us out here. We've seen some local doors open with Christian schools to impact high school students. And so for the gospel is now following that trail as God opens doors. Uh, got to go to Masters University for their women's conference and feature our booth there. And then a really neat door opened to minister to West Virginia University football. I wasn't able to do it, so we sent one of our team members and he blessed those men tremendously, as well as a new event that we're going to be doing. It's a private event in the new year, and we've been asked to minister to professional athletes behind the scenes. And so that's starting as well. And then international partnerships to advance missions is another thing on the docket. A lot of relationships have led to more gospel ministry, and we are so thankful. I'm blown away by what God's doing. I mean that. And when I tell you that the team he has provided this year is built for this, I mean it. I could not think of a better crew to go into 2025 with. So, on behalf of our team, thank you. And just know we're ready to work and we're excited. Uh, where we're heading now in 2025, that was just some of what's been going on and already been planned. And now, what are some of the things that we've set as our goals? We talk about pioneering and homesteading on our team a lot. I do this at the church, we do this at for the gospel. And homesteading goals are sustaining what's already been happening. You want to be a good homesteader. You want to have stabilization where you are. But there needs to be pioneering. We need to get uncomfortable, we need to try new things, we need to advance, we need to hit that field or that field or that territory and try to push the boundaries as the Lord would provide opportunities. Maybe we'll make some mistakes along the way. Maybe we'll say, hey, that was fun. Maybe we won't do that again. Maybe we'll do this. But either way, like Paul the Apostle in the New Testament, he was always pushing, trying to get into new regions and new avenues. He'd even say, like if you read Romans 1, I long to come to you. But, you know, the Lord closed the door, the spirit closed the door, or he was prohibited. But the longing in the heart is to advance. And so we're in that same mindset. We don't want to abandon the present, and we also don't want to get so myopic about the present that we get uncomfortable with pushing forward into new territory. So homesteading and pioneering, here they are. Number one, we want to homestead, which is to keep the home stable, so to speak, by continuing to produce relevant, excellent, timely teaching content. We have our schedule laid out, our podcast is planned, Q1 filming, Q2, Q3, Q4. I mean, a number of things are already set. Sound doctrine for everyday people means we will always keep using your generosity to provide more life-changing resources. Number two, we want to execute four high-value events. And this is pioneering. These are all new things for us. The Vodibacum event, new for us. That's gonna be over a thousand people. That's ambitious to pull off, and we're doing it. But uh Ali Bestucki, another pioneering opportunity, something that came up that we were able to do. And so both of those events are expecting a thousand plus. And our initiatives in the school system, along with the private ministry event where we ask to minister to professional athletes in the new year, particularly in the spring. And then another event we're planning for the fall that we haven't announced yet. We want to execute four high value events. What do I mean by high value? I mean high spiritual value. Like when you come to these and you leave, you're going, that was worth it. It was worth the ticket. I got a lot back. It was worth the trip, the flight, the drive, the time, whatever that looks like. It was worth the relational equity. Events bring us together in a whole new way. And so that's another aspect of. Pioneering is getting into this new phase of events. Second or third, rather, uh, another homestead goal, cultivate meaningful partnerships. This is going to be, yes, related to the golf classic. We want to do that well again, establishing new missions partners, but continuing to nurture the existing ones, schools, universities, all of those things. But a big one is you, our gospel patrons, making sure that we're cultivating meaningful relationships and putting a high emphasis on in-person connection, even though we're an online ministry. It's all about reaching people. And so we are going to look for opportunities to partner. And that's part of homesteading because it continues to strengthen the base of the ministry. And one of those is attached to the advancement of the gospel and sound doctrine around the world. And so the final goal is pioneering, and it is to begin reaching the entire world. Now you think, Costi, what are you talking about? Uh sounds crazy, or you're already kind of doing that. We're in 180 countries. But when I say that, I mean what we're launching in January. I can't say a lot about it. I think it's better just to show, not really tell, but it will involve translation into a particular language. It will involve more languages, and it will enable us to serve the body of Christ in exponential ways. I have been dreaming about this for years. I've been talking about it behind the scenes for years. Uh, some people have even said, like, why waste time and money on that? Think about all you could do here, think about all you could do doing this or doing that. And, you know, why put all this energy into the and I always say the Great Commission. We are to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth. And maybe it's because of sovereign foundations. I happen to be exposed to the prosperity gospel. I traveled the world, I worked with my uncle, worked with my dad, worked with all these guys. I've seen it all. And I've been everywhere. I mean, continent by continent, just seeing people fleeced and abused spiritually. And some of them have raised up those teachers in accordance with their own desires. It's actually their fault. They got what they want. But many others are ignorant. They don't have the truth. And false teachers work overtime. They take donor dollars and donor relationships, and I mean big money, and they throw it at the third world and different nations, giving them free material as a way to solicit their support. And you say, like, they get that much money? Well, when you're swindling millions of people internationally, yeah, the pennies add up. And one of the things they'll do is they'll fleece those areas so much, and then they'll go and do a crusade or some event, and 300,000, 400,000 of them will pack a huge stadium or fields, and they'll raid a region. And that is something that we're not going to sleep on. No one will go unopposed. There's going to be pushback internationally by gospel-centered ministries who are focused on sound doctrine. And I'm not doing this. I'm not doing online ministry. I'm not doing these videos. I'm not doing resources just for all of us, and that's fine. But to sit around and grow strong and get saved and go, hey, that's awesome. Check out this video. Sweet. Another American life, important, reached, and that will never stop. That's homesteading. But pioneering involves languages. It involves translation work. It involves using every avenue available to us to go after the nations. And so while a generation of false teachers is about to die off, my prayer is that there can be a new generation of faithful warriors, brothers and sisters in Christ, who will partner together to go advance the truth in these regions that have been so exploited by false teachers. And so we are going to, Lord willing, change the landscape of some areas simply by bringing the word of God and sound doctrine to places that are underserved and underreached. Now, that is not to say that we're new on the scene, you know, we are doing it and no one else is. There are so many faithful missionaries and missions organizations doing this. And we just want to throw our hat in using technology and media and join the fight. And that is a privilege. It is a great commission privilege. We all have it. We just need to all take advantage of it while we're here. That's why we're alive. That's why we're still here. We're plan A. The church is the hope of the world because we carry the gospel and we are a light and a city set on a hill. So let's go get them this year. In light of all this, how can you help? Uh, one, I'm asking you to continue partnering with us. Your investment into the ministry has made all of what we've done possible, and we're going to be able to continue to set high goals and deliver. I know it's a political statement. I'm not using it as one, but we always say promises made, promises kept. When we say we're going to do something, we are going to work hard to execute it so that donors see that we deliver with the dollars that they donate. That has always been our heart, and it still will be. And so every gift, big and small, is wind in our sails. I don't want you thinking, well, I can't really give that much, or somebody else is thinking, well, I don't really, I guess I don't move the needle. Everyone moves the needle because every gift matters. And God uses our generosity together. And so asking you to continue to partner. Number two, asking you to increase your giving if the Lord has given you the capacity. Hear me on this. Your local church is your number one priority. That's where you should be giving. If you're already giving or if you have the ability, the capacity, like Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9, that you want to sow more bountifully and give and you want to be generous, great. Love to invite you to do that if you're being faithful in your local church. If you're not, start giving in your local church. Be a blessing there. And then whether that's monthly or a one-time gift to support new initiatives, to support for the gospel, great. We'd love to partner with you. Number three, get in touch with us if you have questions. We take your trust of our ministry seriously. And we know your giving is a sacred act of worship. And so report episodes like this, open channels of communication. They strengthen trust. We also do these kind of episodes privately with a lot more information for our gospel patrons. We report on updates, we do a monthly impact report. There's not a lot of secrets as far as what for the gospel is doing. And so I'd love to invite you to be a part of that. And then finally, pray for us. We believe that prayer is the power source of the ministry. And so beyond your giving, or if you can't give, that's okay. Please pray. In fact, if you ever stop giving, if you're somebody already who's partnered with us and because of financial hardship, you have to pull back. Here's all I would ask: would you please never stop praying? We want to be faithful. And if the Lord wills and he allows us to continue to do what we're doing, our prayers that many lives would be changed and we would just get to meet the Lord and hear, well done, good and faithful servant. That's what we are. We're just servants, we're just stewards. And we have this little window on planet Earth to leave as big an impact for the gospel and the glory of God as we can. And so I'm thankful and really excited for what's coming up. That's all for now. Uh next week, I'm going to kick off 2025 with an episode on this new global initiative. I'll unveil everything to you, talk about it, give you the ins and outs, the nuts and bolts as much as I can. You'll also see it. You'll see it on Instagram, you'll see it on Facebook, you'll hear it. Uh, there'll be a number of things there. I just cannot wait. But as my wife always tells me, I need to learn to wait. I like to go when it's time to go and it's not time yet. So next week, I'm excited to tell you everything. And then after that, I'll do a five-week series on setting the right priorities for your time, your relationships, your work life, and more. And I want you to consider that a great place for us to walk together into 2025. Going to help you kick off the new year with the right trajectory. And so get ready for an action-packed January. And finally, thank you. Thank you for everything you've done to share, to pray, to give, and to encourage us here at For the Gospel in 2024. I pray the Lord would continue to strengthen you through our gospel efforts and that he would use us together for his glory. If you'd like to join us in person for one of our events this year, I would love to meet you, whether that's the Vodi Bakum event open to men, women, and teens on February 1st. And then he's preaching the next morning at Shepherd's House. Two services February 2nd. Join us for that and make a weekend of it. Or Alibeth Stuckey, the women's event. I'll be opening up the first session there. We'd love to meet you. Or the golf classic on March 28th, or just come out to Phoenix for a Sunday at Shepherd's House. I look forward to meeting you, worshiping with you, and seeing you. For more information on all those events, just go to forthegospel.org and click events. Everything's there. Or to give an end of your gift or become a monthly gospel gospel patron, you can click on give at for thegospel.org and the information will be there. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.