Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Costi Hinn, and I want to welcome those of you listening via podcast or watching on our YouTube channel. And I suppose it's entirely appropriate for me to also say this to you: Bienvenidos al podcast por el Evangelio, donde ofrecemos doctrina solida, para la vida cotidiana en español. And I know I need to work on my Spanish, but that was the welcome to all of you who are listening and know that we launched para el evangelio for the gospel español this past week on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. And just so you know, I am working on my Spanish, even though technology can help with that a little bit. It's something that I would love to be able to deliver the truth in in the future. Uh, thank you so much for your encouragement, your response, your support to help us do that. If you have followed our ministry for any length of time, you know it's not really surprising. We love providing sound doctrine for everyday people. It's what we do, so it's not a shock that we would use technology and media with excellence now to reach new languages, but it is a landmark moment for all of us together. Because as a ministry, we have expanded our sites to reach the nations. That's something we have long desired to do. It's a deep, deep personal passion of mine, but it's not really mine. It's supposed to be all of ours because the Great Commission speaks to that. And so we're going to continue to provide biblical resources the way we have and the way you've come to expect, while leveraging technology to translate all of those resources into as many languages as possible. And in this episode, I want to share why we're doing this and the possibilities because of translating into any number of languages. We love, love, love using technology to reach people. And it's so fun to think that God would use a simple video that we did in English using technology to translate it. And now, somewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, a life could be changed because of that truth, or somebody could have a video they could share. We're really excited. Next week, I will kick off a five-week series to help you kick off the new year, right? It's going to focus on five priorities for a strong 2025. And so for now, let's jump into some gospel tech talk and theological truth. So, first, why translate the ministry? Let me just give you a few reasons. Number one, the Great Commission. It's costing us around $138,000 to translate every video when it's all said and done. And that is give or take several thousand, maybe five to $10K, if there's unforeseen expenses as we pioneer this new frontier. And with that, somebody asked me this what if you put all that money into English speaking resources or events or marketing dollars here in the US, you guys could be reaching millions more. It's a fair question. And it's a reasonable one. But when you consider what Jesus said in Matthew 28, 16 to 20, you think of the Great Commission, this conviction forms that we must reach the nations and we must reveal Christ to them. It's not like an option or, hey, I'll do a little this or the that or I choose my ministry to just be this. No, when you're a minister or you're a ministry, our goal is to spread the gospel. And that's not to say that nobody else is, and so now we're gonna do this. No, there's many friends already doing this. You have the Master's Academy International, that's TMAI. Our friends led by uh Dr. Mark Tatlock out of Grace Community Church, where John MacArthur pastors is doing this. Radius International, led by a good buddy of mine, Brooks Buzer. Shannon Hurley, one of the missionaries our church supports, is leading SOS ministries in Uganda. Planted Ministries is led by a number of our friends from Kingsburg, California, but they're doing stuff in Mexico and Peru. You have Heart Cry and Paul Washer, Miguel Nunez. I mean, I can go on and on and on and on, including a number of the friends that I've been DMing with and talking to. All I'm saying is this no one can say, well, as a ministry, you know, we're just gonna put out some resources to reach millions of people, and then we'll flex that because it looks cool and effective. Or yeah, I just trying to use media as a Christian for some soundbite viral videos and then kind of go look at us. And, you know, we're just trying to be influencers and on and on and on. It's got to tie into something bigger, greater, and further than being some influencer. Let other people be the one track horse on politics. I'm thankful for them, really grateful that there's people pushing and lobbying for political agendas. But that's not what a minister's job is. And let other people say, well, we just want to kind of focus on the topics of marriage and family. Praise God for that. We need that. That's a good thing. But for a ministry like ours, the Great Commission is what we do. It'll include all those things. We speak to politics, we speak to marriage and family. You don't put them all in silos, though, like some detached menu that you have to go here for that, here for that. There's some good people doing good work, great people doing great work. But for us, the great commission is what we do. So I can't stop our ministry at, hey, let's do some viral videos or hey, let's drop some clips and some reels and sound bites. It's about reaching people with the gospel and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded. And that doesn't have geographical limitations because Jesus said in Acts 1.8, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even to the ends of the earth. So the question isn't, well, why would you guys do this? And that's a lot of money to be putting into things. And it's actually, why wouldn't we do this? That's what we're supposed to do. Now, one thing to note, what do you think the local church is for? We're a resource ministry. We're meant to parachurch, that's what we're called, para, meaning come alongside the church, supply resources, videos, take some extra time and teaching and put it out and use media. But in the end, that the local church should be focused on this too. And so I think there's some application there. Maybe the Lord would convict you and you're thinking through. Maybe our local church is very inward-focused. We do everything about us. We're we got our brand, our name. If it doesn't have to do with our church, like what is this guy even doing? Or what are these, no, we're all about us, all about our church, all about our little thing that we do. Maybe, just maybe you're missing the bigger picture. I know I've been there and I'm a pastor. Sometimes I can get really caught up in just what Shepherd's House is doing. You know, it's our church and our plans and our strategies and our community. You realize we're actually attached to the big C church, the larger body of Christ. And so we can't forget that. As a resource ministry, we're not a one-trick pony unless that one trick or one track horse is the gospel and sound doctrine. Yes and amen. That's what we're here to do. So why wouldn't we do this? Number two, the nations are a false teacher's playground. Why translate the ministry? Why go after the nations? Why does it have to be, let's reach the world? Well, it's not like some James Bond villain, you know, I'm going to take over the world. It's simple. False teachers are like schoolyard bullies, and the nations have long been a favorite target. The nations are their playground. Even if the U.S. is their home base, they're going out doing work in the nations to influence people. Growing up and working in the prosperity gospel, I saw this firsthand. We would target the third world, developing nations, along with influential nations abroad, in order to spread our false message. And like a politician or a dictator using propaganda to win a war, we waged theological warfare on the truth by saturating the nations with lies. Good teachers stood very little chance. Now, that's not to say that the gospel is not effective. Jesus will build his church, but false teachers, they get big followings by selling attractive lies to the nations. One of those being the American dream as part of the gospel. That was our MO. Believe in Jesus. Give what little you have, put your faith in him, and he'll heal your body, he'll make you wealthy, he'll give you the desires of your heart, he'll get you out of that slum, and you'll be just like us if you trust in us. Well, now, by the grace of God, I've been saved, you've been saved, and we get to leverage our resources, our gifts, talents, all of it, and the truth of God's word, and then unleash that truth far and wide. So what's the goal? Well, false teachers are not going to go unopposed. They're not going to have it easy in the days ahead. That's our goal. In that same vein, I've watched up close as many of the ministries that I was attached to or were associated with in those days, they would do things with technological and creative excellence. TBN, Daystar, Church Channel, God TV, Bethel, uh, Benny Hinn, my uncle, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, on and on and on. All the new school false teachers, all of them, no issue, like Steven Furtick, using technology and creative excellence, Michael Todd to spread their message. And so we're on a mission to use technology and creative excellence in the midst of spreading the unchanging message of the gospel. The content presentation should always be improving creatively, but the content information should never veer from the truth. And so now the nations can enjoy what we do for the gospel in their own languages. And the third reason is we love people. Jesus came to save sinners. We want to reach them too. The multitude multitudes came and he taught them. He was filled with compassion for people. He loved deeply and delivered them the truth. And so that's what we want to do. That's the heart that drives our ministry. It's the heart that should drive every minister. And that's one of our callings to love people. That needs to come from a sincere motive and to see them grow in Christ and be reached with the truth. Love should be one of the hallmarks of God's herald. But also it's one of the marks that you're even saved. I mean, I remember one hot shot pastor used to brag about how he didn't really like people, wasn't a people guy, cold, recluse, distant, quite abrasive, but that big kind of CEO vibe, the Carl Lentz celebrity style of ministry, lots of strategies, kind of knew what to do in every situation, but completely out of touch and not loving when it came to people. I mean, most false teachers and celebrity pastors are that way too. And eventually that catches up with you. You're either going to have a change of heart, we praise God and pray that many of these false teachers and celebrity hotshots will get saved, or you're going to be found out as a false teacher. Or God just won't use you to a high capacity. Let's say you are saved, but you're a minister or somebody who struggles with loving people and they bother you. Get out of ministry. Serve your church, but don't be in leadership and don't be at the helm with other elders and leaders of resources, money, people, souls, and not have a heart of love. It should be oozing out of your pores. Without love, you can build a little empire, but you're going to be all alone in it. Without love, you're going to burn out. Without love, you'll have strategies and influencer formulas and no power behind it. You'll be a flash in the pan who can just stir up some controversy to get attention like a politician or celebrity does. But with genuine love like Peter and Paul and John and Jesus teach, a sincere heart, a desire to reach hearts with the truth, God will do extraordinary things. And for us, we're not after mere reach numbers or to achieve some status as a ministry. What drives me, what drives our team is all the same. We love people. So we want to do whatever we can to see them reached and saved. It's as simple as that. So what's our goal? I want to translate into every language we can, including Hindi, Russian, Indonesian, Brazilian, Portuguese, French, Italian, Swahili, Telugu. It's a secondary language deep in India, and more than that. And don't be offended if I didn't mention your language. Believe me, we have a list longer than your leg, taller than me and you put together. We have over 500 videos and hundreds of podcast episodes to translate and counting, because we're going to keep producing over 200 resources a year, plus the weekly podcast. And I haven't even accounted for sermons from Shepherd's House or translating books or children's books. This is no small undertaking. And so it has to be girded in one thing: the Lord Jesus Christ, making him known, the Great Commission, being driven to make our life count and loving people with all our heart. Just like we love the Lord. What happens if you love the Lord? You're going to love his people. That's what we got to do. And so we're going to keep our feet moving by faith and stay focused. There are a million distractions in life. People have wondered, well, how are you guys going to do all this? And it seems like it's a lot to take on. It's actually not that much. If you just stay focused on doing a few really effective things instead of getting distracted by everything, you can really do a lot in life. There are so many distractions. You have ministry, education, business sectors, and all of us experience uh derailing distractions. But the most effective people, the most effective ministries, including businesses, what you do perhaps. Why are you effective? How can you be effective? You got to know who you are, what you're here to do, and then stay focused on doing it. You got to be willing to say no to what would not be on mission for your purpose. For us, for the gospel exists, and really every Christian does, to spread the gospel and to share sound doctrine. People need the truth. And guess what? That's again why the local church exists. So I want to challenge you. Go harder than ever this year in your local church. Serve and give and share the gospel. Be bold at work. Be a soul winner. That's what Charles Spurgeon used to call it. Being a soul winner. Be a truth speaker. Be a Jesus follower. Be more concerned with how much you're reflecting Christ than any other quote, win. Have a better body. Okay, eat better food. Be better with your time management. Spend less time scrolling and more time praying. Yes and amen. Have great resolutions and things that you want to do to look better and feel better. But if you've got all that, you've accomplished all that, but you haven't been a more driven, bold, focused follower of Christ, lover of Jesus, if your relationship with him has not grown, oh you you've wasted your time doing all these things that make you better on the outside, but not more fulfilled on the inside. So go hard this year. We will. I want to continue to do that. And let's leave the results up to the Lord. If you will put your hands to the plow. It I think is like Paul the Apostle would have experienced what he said, it was only by God's grace, but I worked harder than them all. Let that be us. Let's be resolved to use our life for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the glory of his name. As for our part here, we're going to keep our feet moving. I'm providing sound doctrine every single week. We're going to translate resources, and we're so grateful for your partnership in that. Thank you for your support, your encouragement, and thanks for sharing these resources. If you have Spanish-speaking family members or friends, maybe you're a part of a church, maybe you are a Spanish speaker, and you go to a church that is first language Spanish and secondarily uh English speaking, leverage the resources that we're putting out, share them. We'll continue to do that every week. We'll grow the library. YouTube is coming as well with longer form. We're just getting started. And Lord willing, this will be the beginning of something special that God will use for our generation. If you're new to our ministry, uh want to sign up for a conference, come out to Phoenix for one of the events we have coming up. Bodie Bakum, February 1st, Ali Bastucki, February 22nd. There's more to come. We have a golf classic if you want to get involved and come support the ministry through a fun day of fellowship on the links. All of that is available. The information at forthegospel.org along with our team and ways to give. I will be back next Monday with another episode of Keep on Living for the Gospel.