Israel & Rachel Campbell "SOUP" Podcast
Join us for an exciting Season 2 of our podcast, which garnered over 7000 downloads last year! Your hosts, Rachel and Israel Campbell, are back to take you on an incredible journey. In this podcast, we invite you into the ongoing dialogues about life, love, parenting, relationships, spirituality, and whatever else sparks our interest!
Our motivation for creating this podcast remains unchanged: we believe that discipleship should encompass more than just a classroom experience; it should be a way of life. Drawing inspiration from Jesus' interactions with his disciples, we see that it was far from a traditional classroom setup. Instead, it was a continuous exchange of teachings and discussions encompassing all facets of life.
Imagine savoring a delicious bowl of soup – that's what our podcast is like. We're here to engage in honest and unfiltered conversations, covering a wide spectrum of topics. And now, we invite you to share this podcast with your friends, family members, or coworkers, just as you'd share a great meal. Just like Jesus and his disciples, we're here to explore the richness of life together!
So, come join us for another season of candid conversations as we dive into a little bit of everything – from the profound to the lighthearted!
Israel & Rachel Campbell "SOUP" Podcast
Season 2 | Episode 2 "Add to your faith" Crowding Out Negativity: A Journey Towards Empowering Faith
What if you could replace your negative habits with positive ones effortlessly, not by depriving yourself but by simply "crowding out" the bad with the good? It's a fascinating concept that we unpack in this enlightening conversation, using it as a metaphor for growing in faith. Drawing inspiration from 2 Peter 1:5-7, we challenge the traditional narrative of Christian life being a restrictive checklist and instead portray it as an empowering, fun-filled adventure.
Then, we navigate through the powerful lesson in Jeremiah 32 about maintaining faith in the face of adversity. The world around us can seem daunting with its negative news, and it's all too easy to surrender to it. But as followers of Christ, we are called to keep stepping forward in faith, sowing seeds in challenging times, and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives. We hope this conversation leaves you feeling uplifted and brave enough to build, to sow, and to journey on the path of faith, one step at a time.
Oh, Rachel, look at us. A new little intro.
Speaker 2:We changed places in our house, so now you're seeing lots of plants.
Speaker 1:We've got plants growing behind us. We're so much closer to each other.
Speaker 2:Are we?
Speaker 1:I feel further from you. No, I think we're closer.
Speaker 2:OK, ok, uh, nobody wants to see that.
Speaker 1:No, but we did it and it's live. So what else are you supposed to be? So this is great. We've got a little new season two so excited about all the downloads that we had last year, but we're really excited about season two. Are you excited?
Speaker 2:Last week was great, yeah and I think both of you and I are on the same page, where it's like we're not counting downloads because we need to be famous. We're counting downloads because we really want to make sure that what we're saying is making a difference, means something is purposeful in your life, and we really are passionate, especially this season last season too but just being able to disciple people on the run, and so that's what this is all about. We're going to talk about good stuff today.
Speaker 1:Good stuff today and you already know our title, which I don't know. If I like that, should we next week add the title later and then they don't know. It's like a mystery.
Speaker 2:No, I like it because it's easier for them to get too fast if they like to send it to their mama.
Speaker 1:Send it. Ok, so we want to talk to add to your faith. And I think again, like we say every week, most of these conversations have to do with Rachel and I. We'll talk about something or preach about something or just kind of be like, hey, that wasn't enough on Sunday, or maybe there's some things you don't say on Sunday and you just want to talk about it more. And one of the things that we've been talking about is just the culture, christian culture.
Speaker 1:If you've been in church for any period of time, especially like us, raised in church, the real focus has always been about what you need to get rid of and nothing wrong with that at all, and it's biblical. But you can sometimes focus so much on what you need to get rid of that you end up actually not adding anything. And we just talked about it like as if you look at it as a diet. A spiritual diet consists of two things it always consists of what you don't have, but then it also always consists of what you're going to add to it, because if you only subtract, then it's not a diet, spiritual diet, it's just starvation. And so we've just been talking about OK, yeah, that's so good to renew our mind of yes, don't watch this. Yes, don't listen to this. Yes, don't go do this. But it's also so important. What are we adding to our faith?
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure. And there's a new theory kind of out there Maybe it's not new, but new to me I'll say and it's called crowding out. And so if you're working with someone that has addiction, you're working with someone that struggles in depression or someone that's addicted to overeating emotionally any of that kind of stuff. They say that the best thing to do is not actually to begin with, taking away. It actually is easier for people to break a bad habit by crowding it out than just always looking at as this is bad, this is bad, get rid of it. And then we fixate on the negative. And actually God's created and wired us.
Speaker 2:When you look through the word of God, he's always talking about adding to your faith, love, adding to your love, all of these things. And I think we do really minimize that where if you're addicted to chocolate, they say, crowd it out by eating some savory foods that you're not craving, or crowd it out by drinking lots of water, before that moment you know you're going to crave it and it just causes you to not crave so much so you can make healthier choices. And I love that. At least for my personality, I'm better at the crowding it out than deprivation and living a life with Jesus should not be miserable. It should not be a bunch of I can't do this anymore, I can't do this, but I get to do this, and because I've been filled with the Holy Spirit, I no longer need to do that, and so that's what we want to talk about.
Speaker 1:I love that and that was one of the New Testament scripture is 2 Peter, chapter one, verse five through seven. And in the King James it says and besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue, knowledge and to knowledge, temperance and to temperance, patience and to patience, godliness and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, charity. And so it is. There's this concept of what do you call it crowding out? And it is by adding to our faith, and we'd never want to be like you said.
Speaker 1:The life of a Christian is such an adventure. The life of a Christian is so incredibly fun and incredibly empowering when it's not fun. And so if we just are always, always the negatives don't do this, don't do this I think we lost a generation, maybe of the what is it? The pastor's joke that we said we all went to the church called no, and that was the title of it, because it was no, you can't do this, no, you can't do that. And we lost a generation instead of yes, but you can do this, yes, you can have this, yes, and so I think that's so good. And so today, as we talk about that, hopefully while you're listening on the treadmill or you're driving in traffic, it'll begin to renew your mind, because I think that it's innate in church life to talk about what you gotta get rid of, and this is actually a paradigm shift. What can you begin to crowd out by adding? And so, hey, let's just talk about some of those things that you feel like you can add that might just change your life.
Speaker 2:Okay, so the first one that I want to talk about. Well, the first thing I want to add is, now that we're doing this new seating arrangement.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't feel like we're just chatting, like I'm not looking at you. Well, but I'm looking at you here, I know, but it makes it feel like not so night, like it's not as fun to be snuggly on the couch. Oh, honey, so pretend you're snuggling on the couch with me, okay, okay, anyways, it doesn't matter, okay, so the first thing that we want to talk about or I'm going to bring up I know you have your list, I have my list, and we haven't even talked about it.
Speaker 2:We like to surprise each other, and that's how I keep Israel going on rabbit trails for a whole half an hour, and that's how I had it but the first one that I wanted to just talk about is I feel like we have so many lists of things like do this, self-help books, all of these little you know tick, talk, how to make dinner faster, all these things, and I think that there's so many people with words and I was just thinking in this, like when we're adding to our journey with God.
Speaker 2:One thing that I really want to talk about are some practical ways that we can add things that will help us grow in our faith and aren't takeaways but real, like practical additions. So the first one is Proverbs 12.15. And it says the way of the fool seems right to him, but the wise listen to advice. And we talk about getting wisdom. We know how important getting wisdom is, but I just want to maybe suggest that we find people that are wise and begin to include them in our decision making. For having marriage struggles, or I know that there's been times in our life where we go to parents that are that kids are a little bit further down the road. We don't go to parents of toddlers to ask questions about our teenagers in college age.
Speaker 1:Don't go to people that haven't had kids yet, because they love to give you advice.
Speaker 2:I don't know what that is, you need to talk to somebody that's already been humbled I almost said humiliated, it was both and humbled by parenting. We don't need to be taught by someone who's never been there, and so I just you know, that's just with parenting. But in any area, don't go to novices for wisdom. If you're really needing wisdom in business, or you want to begin to be more generous because you want, you believe that God blesses the prosperity of his servants and all those things, there's wisdom and wise people all around us, and sometimes we don't take them for advantage of their wisdom in our life, and so my little thing that I would encourage is finding the people that are running where you're limping and including them, and I just want to read this quote that I read the world is filled with imitations and fads that come in the guise of wisdom but are actually snippets of evil disguised to give us comfort. Wow, just think about that.
Speaker 2:Everyone seems wise, but not everyone is wise. And if they are wise, sometimes they have the wisdom of this world, but not wisdom of the ages. And listen to this Be wise to the captivating assumptions of innocent wonder, because you think there is no victim. You know when we begin to just ask questions to anyone and we're just listening and we were filled with wonder and we want to know, and we talk About these things to people that don't have a Eternal perspective yeah, or a revelation of God. If they're not filled with the Holy Spirit or they're not winning in life, sometimes we can actually put ourselves backwards and it causes confusion. But people who live by the word of God, of course setting our life right with the word of God.
Speaker 2:But I think one of the missing pieces is just running with the wise and including wise counsel in our life. That means maybe can I take you out for a coffee. It's a phone call, it could even just be a text hey, I'm going through this. What do you think? And I know that there have been so many times for me and you where we have been stressed out about a situation and we'll talk to somebody further down the road and it helps us take a breath and go Okay, if they went through it and now they're where they are, we're gonna be okay too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's like what you said. It's adding. It's not necessarily trying to get rid of subtracting. Where did I get that negative attitude? What? What about this situation? It's like, okay, what can I add to it? And so I love what you're saying is. One of the easy ways to add to our faith is to add the right Relationships, add people in our life to where we're going, not necessarily where we've been or where we're at and the best kind of friends are the ones who disagree with you.
Speaker 2:Wow, right, those are the best kind of friends the ones who love you enough to go. No, not really. You're thinking about this wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is so true, and so that's an easy one to add. Mine is similar, but mine is just um, you know, I think that when it comes to Discipleship and it comes to like this, you know pressure of like you've got to have these moments with God, these Encounters and and all of that stuff which we want. I mean, we're not arguing that, but what you can do is the pressure of that can then make it start becoming your manufacturing. It's not real, it's Unattainable at some levels. You know, when a pastor says that and their full-time job is in the ministry, and then he says it to people that are working three jobs and have three kids and soccer practices and stuff, sometimes we're putting condemnation on people instead of freeing them.
Speaker 1:And so I think, on part for adding to me or crowding out, is is doing Things while you're doing it, and so another thing that they'll call as habit stacking, so you add to. So when they call it habit stacking, is you you're already doing one thing. Add to that habit that you already have. So if it's brushing your teeth that you do, it's a habit. Hope that's a habit of yours, that when you do that, then you add to that habit so that they'll say that's when you wash your face or something you know. If you're not been washing your face, you add it to the habit that you already have.
Speaker 1:And so there are some habits that we do. We shower. Is that a good time to add some praise and worship music? We drive every day? Is that a good time to do a devotion we are going so is this the time that we add so, instead of looking at our life and just being overwhelmed with how am I gonna be a disciple of God? How am I gonna hear from the Holy Spirit? How am I gonna have the burning bush experience? That only happened once to Moses, but we're expected to have it every day, because that's what the pastor said. Maybe it's easier to go. Okay, what can I add it faith-wise into my life that I'm already doing something, versus just trying to create this brand new habit of I'm gonna wake up at four in the morning and you know that if foreign the morning, you are useless. That would be one of the things that I would say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you're kind of saying like from extremism to Crowding out the not ever spending time with God, like including him throughout your day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that so much and that's so practical. And I think what I love about Israel is that he is very practical in his spirituality and he's constantly hearing from God, and I love that about you and, and both of us are wired differently. Israel's a schedule guy, and so maybe you're more like me and you're not a scheduled person where I can end up at 1130 in the morning and I'm doing really important things because my list is super long. As more of a woman, a mom, all of the things that are going on, my schedule is a little less rigid, and so for me, in that, you know, one thing that I think would be great is training your spirit to acknowledge him.
Speaker 2:The Bible says in all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. And so, instead of looking for the burning bush, just asking the Holy Spirit to consistently lead you and and give you discernment, and those things are really important things to include in the day. And so, if you don't already do that, here's another practical thing. For more ADD girls, some guys like me, it's just a set your alarm four times a day and all you put on it is just remember to acknowledge, acknowledge the Holy Spirit, and I literally train my spirit to acknowledge God by going, just stopping when I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed, being like Acknowledge you, holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:Just I welcome you into the chaos. I know you're not afraid of it and you give me wisdom. Yeah, I need eyes.
Speaker 1:I love that. So good. Is that your next point? Or are you just adding Good, yes, okay, is it yours?
Speaker 2:This is a this is a one that I've really been talking to the Lord about in our life, in my life, and I really felt like sharing it with you. But in Jeremiah 32, jeremiah is in prison because he gave forth of the word of the Lord and his people did not want to hear it because it wasn't good news. And he's in prison. And then this, the city of the Babylonians were Seaging the city and God's people were losing everything. They were losing land, they were losing livestock, all of it. And here's Jeremiah and God begins to speak to him.
Speaker 2:A prophetic word that was very personal and told him to purchase property. And he had just prophesied to the people of God all of your property is going to be taken away, we're gonna be under siege. It's not good because we've denied the Lord. And God speaks to him. In this wartime, in famine, in loss, I'm telling you you need to buy property. And I've just been thinking about that because the news of this world right now it can be very negative and I believe that God is speaking more than ever if we're acknowledging him and including him.
Speaker 2:Yeah and I just think about this scripture verse. I think we're living in days a lot like Jeremiah was living, where God is really looking for people with faith, not by their mouth, but with their actions of this doesn't seem like the right time, but I know God is telling me to do it and I think that if we open ourselves up to exercising faith and impractical, but God, let Godly lead, holy Spirit lead moments this is where God is going to cause the righteous come on prosper in famine, and I think it's going to be one of those things for us where we do not need to be afraid.
Speaker 2:We need to hear from the Holy Spirit and we need to obey, even when it doesn't look or feel right.
Speaker 2:I think it's a moment of divine trusting the Lord and him honoring that, and I just feel very strongly that I wanted to Encourage all of us, and even Israel and I.
Speaker 2:We've been talking about it is it's time to sow seed in famine, it's time to sow seed in wartime, and we are going to see the return of that, and Not only is God going to bless his people this way, I really believe that it's going to be a testimony that brings others into eternity, making decisions to serve the Lord, because they're going to see his glory and his favor on our lives when the world is shrinking back in fear.
Speaker 2:And so I just if I even could be a little prophetic I feel so strongly that God is saying don't be afraid, keep building and keep sowing, purchase the land, take a next step forward, build your future and Make steps towards what you know your destiny, created by God to do, and don't be afraid of the news of what the world is doing, because we all know we're in this world, but we are of a different system and God's blessing is on his people right now, I believe in an unprecedented way would you, because I have one thousand percent agree, would you kind of label that if you were trying to, you know, make an outline, would you call that like it is adding to your faith?
Speaker 1:Is it like adding to your faith? Faith?
Speaker 2:adding to your faith. Yeah, I believe that God was asking the prophet to prophesy by an action. It's the prophetic Moving forward and dreaming while the world is buckling down.
Speaker 1:So it's adding to your faith, like I. Like I said, it's adding to your faith. Faith it's like come on, let's do what God is asking changing our faith from a noun To a verb I love it action, it's taking the steps.
Speaker 2:Hey, god is for us and God has called us to be the lender, not the borrower. But right now I think the enemy is trying to get God's people to get into borrow mode.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, absolutely. So I agree with that and I think that it really, you know, I we're talking about add to your faith, and Jesus said, or the disciples, rather said, things to Jesus like help us increase our faith. And so that is. That is a a something that we're always constantly as Christians. We never want to maintain it. So when we're talking about add to your faith, come on, he goes from glory to glory. Or in the disciples like, hey, our faith is small, help us increase our faith. And so, having that mentality of God, I'm going to be obedient during this season, god, I'm going forward during this season is so good.
Speaker 1:My second one, and again I maybe you're the super spiritual one and I'm the I'm the super practical one, though, but it is mine's a little bit more practical, and it's just the, that scripture verse that we read, and I you know. Again one more time I'll read it. It says Second Peter, chapter one, versus five through seven. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue, knowledge and to knowledge temperance. And it goes on, but notice how it always says one thing it didn't say add to your faith. And then virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly, kindness, charity, because that would be so overwhelming. Like, add all of these things. But it was.
Speaker 1:I love the scripture where Peter is saying first add this, get good at one thing, because the being average at five things doesn't pay well If you want to get paid well. This is not a self Tony Robbins, tik Tok or whatever, but any person that is a specialist in an area. That is where they make good money is. When you're a specialist in a thing Well, I only work on German automobiles, or I'm a specialist in this medical field, or I am a specialist in this currency or this stock thing they're the ones that do it. But if you're just kind of average at like five things, you're just kind of average. Nobody really pays big money for average, but they always pay big money for specialists.
Speaker 1:Peter is saying first, add to your faith this. Just concentrate for a season on maybe one thing that you want to get better at. I want to add I just going to add to my faith in my marriage. I am going to add to it. Maybe a practical thing is I'm going to help around the house and I'm going to help do the dishes and I'm going to squeegee the shower Wow, that squeegee. But like okay, but as a husband there's probably a billion things that I can do better.
Speaker 1:And, rachel, you don't need to amen loud right here, but there's probably 10 or 15 things that I can get better at, and it's not that I don't want to get better at those 10 or 15 things, but I want to ace. I want to add to my faith, first virtue, and then to virtue I'm going to add to the next thing. So I'm going to get really good at like trying to take some of this weight off of Rachel because she's doing so much church wise, she's doing so much domestic wise. I want to do it. So I'm going to work on this area and I'm going to get really good at it so that then my capacity is increased, that I can add another one instead of I did the dishes once this year and then I'm going to keep reminding my wife.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh, I will remind you that one time, but I don't know if that makes sense. But practical, just add the one thing.
Speaker 2:So good. I read a quote that said genius is the ability to focus on one thing. Wow, because I think that you know, we're not. None of us are genius because we're spread out so thin and geniuses can focus really well on one thing. That's why some geniuses are almost obsessed about one thing and they say a lot of geniuses are even a little bit on the spectrum because they obsess about one area and then they they're not good at all the other stuff or they're not even trying at the other stuff.
Speaker 2:And can I just say to Israel I think something that we've both learned in our marriage is sometimes when I'm like, oh, our marriage needs a little bit of, you know, attention. Right now I just feel a little disconnected or something. But I will try to invest in our marriage how I want it invested in, instead of studying and being a genius at it and focusing on Israel and going Israel, what? What can I do to make your life easier? What can I do to increase the fact that you know that I'm thinking about you, I love you, I'm making an investment toward you? I think it's a really important part of it too. Yeah, it is really not just taking any step, but focusing on what does my child who's struggling? Need? They probably don't need me to do devotions with them right after school because they're exhausted and they've been talked to all day. So what does my child actually need, do they?
Speaker 1:need.
Speaker 2:Connection to my heart relationship. Do they need to laugh? I remember when I was younger and I was going through some stuff and I remember my mom making me laugh and it's exactly what I needed in the moment, but she had to kind of focus on me and not what she thought would be good for me, and I think we need to do that in every area of our life. I love what you're saying, because it's so true is we can't be good at everything all at once, but let's start being people who don't have our own thoughts. But maybe, again, I feel like every one of these, these Things we're talking about really do kind of go together, is if we ask the Holy Spirit to help us and if we take us one step, if of faith and we don't get overwhelmed with all the steps. That's so good.
Speaker 1:Mmm, then it's either your turn, or I think it's your turn or my turn, or we're wrapping up here. What do you do? You have one more?
Speaker 2:Those are my only two things today. I have little words and I heard this really good preacher last Sunday say Don't add to it, just say what God is speaking and so. I only had two hot points. What about you? Do you have?
Speaker 1:any good points. The only thing and I kind of I actually didn't write it down, it was more of what you were saying that I was just like, ooh, I'm gonna say this and then she'll think I'm so wise that I had it all written down. But if you're gonna add anything, add More of the Holy Spirit in your life, be Intentional about adding it. There's an old, famous book that an evangelist wrote and it was Good Morning, holy Spirit, and there was a revival that started in South Africa or South America rather, because they just added that into their Christian walk is taking a moment to add the Holy Spirit into our life, and I've heard it taught before that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and so the Holy Spirit will not force Something on you.
Speaker 1:The Holy Spirit is always Somebody that you welcome into and that you in a sense release and say, hey, less of me, more of you fill me, holy Spirit. All these things add. I need, I need more. That's adding to your faith. I need more of you, holy Spirit, not less, not trying to get rid of something, and if I am getting rid of something, I think of that verse, rachel, that Jesus talks about in the New Testament about Demonology and I don't really, you know, not gonna concentrate on the demons, but it just says something to the effect of if you cast out a demon and then it comes back and finds the house Swept, it will actually then go grab seven more and then you'll be worse off.
Speaker 1:And Most theologians are saying, like, that is it's not just getting rid of, but it's then what are you feeling? No, that if the demon comes back but there's peace filled in it and there's the word of God filled in and there's worship and there's all this stuff, well then it never can come back. But if it's just void that's the difference between secular, like meditation, trying to get rid of everything that that, no, we're trying to get more of, we're trying to get filled.
Speaker 2:And so I think one of mine would just be add to your faith more Of the Holy Spirit, as much as you can yeah, and I just want to encourage you guys to that For me, I'll just say for me, and if there's pastors on here that feel like being judgy, you can take this moment to judge me on this. But whenever I start tapping into the Holy Spirit, whenever I just begin to pray and say Holy Spirit, will you come and just saturate me, will you come and help me, will you fill me? Let the atmosphere just be changing with your presence, all those things. It is so dry for about the first minute and I think one practical way is to not stop.
Speaker 2:There is something about waiting on the Lord I Cannot stress enough. I think a lot of people carry this secret guilt that God doesn't show up when they pray because they give up too soon. And there is something really powerful about waiting on the Lord. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and knock, or, weary, they will walk and not faint. If they wait, and waiting on the Lord Feels uncomfortable.
Speaker 2:I up whenever I talk with the Lord. I cry, you guys, I don't know why, but when I talk about the Lord, he always begins to move to yeah, but it's never instantaneous, and I think that that's because the enemy doesn't want you to continually get to be filled by the Holy Spirit, and so he'll lie to you and tell you that you're not good at Inviting the presence of God. You must be doing something wrong and I just really feel strongly you need to combat that by spending more time waiting, spending more time. Give it three minutes, play some worship music and just Holy Spirit. I welcome you. Pray in your prayer language, wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. It's not by striving, it's by receiving. And see that shift in the atmosphere. I'm telling you, not once has God not shown up, but usually it's not right away for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean it's what the old Saints would say, right, I mean you, you know you'd have those prayer meetings and you don't stop until you get your breakthrough. And it's just true. And there is a. You know that and and this is biblical no pastor should get mad at you because the Bible says that Daniel, for 21 days, kept praying until there was a breakthrough, and so sometimes there's just these things and we find out later it was the enemy that was trying to keep him from getting the angel, from actually Giving Daniel the message, and so there is a spiritual battle to that. So that's so good. Well, we love you guys. Again, every single week, we say come on, send us some questions. So far, it's only been Christine sending us questions or comments.
Speaker 2:But I love that, christine. Also, you guys put some of this into action this week. Call somebody that has wisdom. Wait on the Lord a little bit longer. We want to hear from you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely until next week, and we'll see you soon.
