WEBVTT 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.440 Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.759 I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.839 Today, embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.120 Welcome to the Born for War podcast. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:52.159 So nine years ago, I was uh pastor of a church here in Colorado Springs, and I just finished a seminar on spiritual warfare, which is ironic, and uh came down this mezzanine at the church, and this uh man met me there and he he looked distressed, he looked somber, he looked sad, and I thought maybe something happened to it to my family, like a car accident or or some uh emergency, but he wouldn't tell me. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:52.719 He said, What? 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:52.880 What? 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:54.560 And he wouldn't say, come to your office. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:16.959 So I came into my office, and there were three other elders, these were all elders of the church, and uh they then began to explain to me about how poor my leadership was and mistakes that I'd made, and my pride, my arrogance, and on and on, and basically to say that I was being put on a forced six-month sabbatical. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:25.680 And I then uh went home and I shared as best as I could remember, because I I couldn't remember everything they said. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.280 I was just shocked. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:30.799 I was totally blindsided. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:33.439 And uh so I came and tried to explain it to Liz. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:40.079 Let me just tell you, if you don't have a good explanation for some big change that you want to bring in my wife's life, you're in big trouble. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:48.159 And uh Liz was not buying it, and I I felt this deep, I felt two things. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:02:01.200 I felt, on the one hand, deeply betrayed by the men that I trusted, and number two, I felt deeply ashamed and humiliated by what they were saying to me. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:05.519 And so I was broken. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:17.520 And over the next four months, I went through a deep sense of depression, deep sense of loneliness in my life. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:30.560 And if you saw the movie Forrest Gump, you remember where Jenny had come back to him, they had rekindled their love for each other and had an idyllic night. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:37.439 And then the next day, uh early in the morning, a taxi drove up and Jenny drove away again. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:51.599 And the next scene, Forrest is on the porch in a rocker, in that southern house there in Alabama, and he's got on his Nike shoes, and he puts on his shrimp hat. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.080 Bubba Gump, was it Bubba Gump shrimp or something like that? 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:57.759 And then he just starts running. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.360 Remember, he just runs down the road. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:06.719 And then the the voiceover says, I don't really have any particular reason, but I just started running. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:13.520 And then he runs, you know, five times across the United States, if you remember that, and and it chronicles that. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:23.680 Well, one morning I woke up during this time and I just put on some boots, put on a hat, and started walking and walking. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.120 And and for no particular reason, I just started walking. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.560 I've never been a big walker, I've definitely never been a runner. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:35.840 And so I just walked and I walked, and for over a thousand days, I never missed a day. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.680 I walked two to ten miles a day, and I cried out to God. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:48.240 And the humiliation and the shame was so heavy on me. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:57.360 And some days I'd be convicted of something, and I would call that person and I'd go to them and I'd repent of something that I had said or done. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:07.439 Sometimes I on one particular day, the only time it's ever happened to me before or since, I actually thought things would be better if I wasn't here. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:10.000 That's pretty low. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:12.879 Some of you have gone that low before. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:14.879 And I rebuked that demon. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:20.240 If it was a demon, I don't know, but that darkness came over me and it lifted. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:28.399 But it was in that time that I began to read books, study, pray. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:37.120 And God began to do a transformation in my heart that I'll share in just a moment. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:39.120 And Liz has been through it too. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:46.160 Well, don't tell them anything about what you said when I came back from that meeting. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:47.519 I'm only kidding. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:49.920 Okay. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:55.600 Um, our setbacks can become a setup. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:04.079 And I had an interesting week, um, the week last Valentine's, and I call it my holy week of love. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.759 But first, let me just give you a little background. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:15.519 So I've been a stay-at-home mom and loved helping my kids do stuff, enjoyed that. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:25.519 Um, I be I've become here at the road the women the children's director, so all my buds at the church were like four feet and under for a while. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:31.839 And when the women's director position came open, Steve said, Would you do that? 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:36.000 And I said, Okay, I'll pray about it, and I felt led to do that. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:40.879 So it was a new experience, though, for me, even though I'm 62. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:42.160 It was brand new. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:47.040 And so I'm bumping along, trying to figure it out, learning, I'm thinking it's going okay. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:58.240 So about February 13th, someone tells me that some people or someone never knew who it was, and if it was you, I totally forgive you. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:02.959 Said, When are we gonna get the real woman's director? 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.720 And can we get some applications out? 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:08.639 Ooh, that one works. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:18.240 I was like, whoa, and I was about to teach a series, and I felt so unconfident then. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:20.240 I'm like, am I not legitimate? 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:27.839 So I I decided I need to share with Steve what happened, and I said, you know, you can fire me anytime. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.959 And I'll still cook your dinner and all that. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:34.000 So he he was like, okay. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:40.639 And then I shared it with our team at the road because I trust them and they're my bloodstained allies. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.959 And I just said, This is what's happening to me. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:44.160 Can you pray for me? 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:54.800 And you know, that was vulnerability isn't easy for someone who already feels insecure, but it was so healing to just say, here it is, it's just out there. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:07:02.720 Um and so I was thinking about this, and I was thinking, well, I'm about to teach a series. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.360 So what do I need to do? 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.680 I I saw two options. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:12.319 One, hustle and prove that they're wrong, or quit. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:21.920 And by Friday of that of that week, February 17th, the Lord showed up and said, I have a different option for you. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.279 And it's called partnership with a great God. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:32.560 So what happened was I was having a dream sleep, whatever, I don't even know what it was. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:39.279 And I woke up and I saw this glowing entity in my in my mind. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:56.720 And I'd been focusing on a passage, and it says, When I consider your heavens, this is Psalm 8, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him and that you would visit him? 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:02.319 Well, I felt like God's visiting me as I was laying there in my bed. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:18.639 And the glow came out as hands, and I heard the Lord say, on my mind, in my heart, do you understand that my fingers are larger than the universe? 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:20.319 Can you picture that? 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:24.560 When we go out, we see this vast sky, and we're like, wow. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:29.920 But he said, My fingers are bigger than the whole universe. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:36.639 And I was thinking, I I I actually was trembling, and I was so joyful. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:41.039 I'm like, I'm so glad you're that big, but I'm scared you're that big. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:46.879 And he kind of said, you know, you kind of think of me as the Lincoln statue on the Lincoln Memorial. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.000 That's how big you think I am, but it's so much more. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:51.840 And I was stunned. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.000 And I said, you know what? 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:56.159 I can partner with you. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.000 And he said, I want you to. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.000 And you know, that's for all of us. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:06.399 He is so great and so big, and he will partner with us in this life. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:14.399 And so people pleasing fell into partnership with this great, amazing God. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:15.200 Man. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:20.399 And so in my, you know, what I think we all go through setbacks. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:22.559 We all go through hardships. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:38.639 And I think the biggest lesson that I learned through that four-month period that then led to 40 nights of prayer, that led to the road being planted, was to live wholeheartedly. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:41.039 That God's called us to live a wholeheartedly. 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:42.080 Let me give you a definition. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:44.240 Let me give you a definition of a wholehearted life. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:46.320 And that's really the theme of the road. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:54.879 If we could boil it down and we talk about a kingdom of God revolution, we talk about empowering people to change the world. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.360 That's our vision and mission statement. 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.879 But the rubric over it all is the wholehearted life. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:02.240 Living the wholehearted life. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.200 Let me give you a quick definition of what I think that is. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:15.440 Living with your total heart engaged in relationships, failures, breakdowns, but not quitting. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:24.559 Rather, daring to try again and again, even with the shame and the pain of your past. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.960 So the only picture I can think is two pictures. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:33.679 I think of someone summiting, getting to the top of the hill, and, you know, and standing there, they summited the mountain. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:48.720 Or the other is a guy in a boxing ring who gets knocked down, gets back up again, gets knocked down, gets up again, sometimes even has to go to the corner and get damage control from his trainers, but he goes back out again. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:50.080 It's the second. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:53.120 The wholehearted life is not summiting. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:11:01.120 The wholehearted life is getting knocked down again and again, but getting back up and not being willing to quit. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:13.919 And so on those walks and those times of the Lord, God began to remind me of the calling on Liz and I, way back when we were in Okinawa, that he had called us to Colorado Springs. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.399 And that calling had not changed. 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:24.320 And I mean, I needed to work on a ton of stuff, and many of you that have been a part, some of you in this room were with me in the very, very beginning. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:27.759 You know the kind of stuff I've had to deal with. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.039 But in so doing, I became wholehearted. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:37.919 I began to realize it's okay to carry the shame and the pain. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:49.519 It's not okay to hide in it, but it's okay to recognize it as part of the journey, the road less traveled that God has us on. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.039 And that's where we got the term the road. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.159 It came from the road less traveled. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:00.000 So let me say this: breakdowns can lead to breakthroughs. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:06.240 Breakdowns can lead to breakthroughs, and that's what happened in Liz's case. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:12.000 That's what happened in my case nine years ago, and you're gonna go through a lot of breakdowns. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.519 Not just one. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:16.000 There's gonna be many breakdowns in our life. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:28.639 It's how we process the breakdown that either leads to further breakdown or break through into the new life of wholeheartedness that God has for you. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:43.840 So when Liz and I were talking about this today, wanting to present to you who we are at the road, we came up with what would I think in a sort of an autopsy of these kind of situations that we go through? 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.519 There's three questions. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:47.679 There's three questions that you have to ask. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:48.960 So here's the first question. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.559 If you want the wholehearted life, here's the first question. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:55.279 Who is going to lead your life? 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:58.080 Who is going to lead your life? 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:59.039 Is it you? 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:00.720 Are you the boss? 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.840 Or is God the leader and God the boss? 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:13.759 So turn in your Bibles to one of the most noble challenges ever given in Matthew 6. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:15.519 Look at Matthew 6. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:34.960 And Jordan Peterson, a noted clinical psychologist, who would would, at least he hasn't publicly said he's a Christian, says this verse in the Bible is the most noble, most challenging, most powerful phrase ever given to humankind. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.960 And that's coming from someone who's not a churchgoer or a Christian. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:39.440 H. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:39.840 G. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:50.159 Wells, the great writer, said when he read this verse, this is the most radical proposal ever made to humankind. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:52.080 So Matthew 6, 33. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:58.000 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.039 Let me read it again. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:08.320 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:10.960 In other words, who's going to be in charge of you? 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:12.639 You're going to aim at something. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.840 Everybody in this room aims. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.480 For some it's wealth. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.120 For some it's reputation. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:24.480 For some, it's having a great family. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:26.960 For some, it's being happy. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:29.919 But who's going to lead your life? 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:32.159 What are you aiming for? 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.000 And I propose to you that I had to grapple with that at that time. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:37.679 Who's my boss? 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:41.120 Is my boss the elders of this church? 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:54.480 Or is the boss Jesus Christ and I'm still under him and I'm going to serve him wherever he takes me under whatever circumstances there are, I'm going to seek first the kingdom of God, his righteousness. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:56.559 And then God will line up the other stuff. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:02.320 If I'll make the primary my primary, he'll take care of the secondary. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.360 So at this church, I'm not the senior pastor. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:09.039 Jesus is the senior pastor, capital S, Capital P. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:15.679 I'm the senior pastor, small S, small P, but He's the boss, and He's the one who leads this church. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:21.840 And I think whenever we go through a breakdown, you have to ask, who's in charge? 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.519 And then surrender fully to him. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:32.159 One thing I like to do every day is to think about Psalm 23. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.320 The Lord is my shepherd. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:35.759 I shall not want. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:37.120 And then onward. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.919 And when we admit that God's our shepherd, that means we're a sheep. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.039 And we need care. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:44.399 We need guidance. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:47.120 And I love to start my day right there. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:56.960 And what's so interesting about Psalm 23 is that shepherd, the word shepherd has the nuance of companion. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:00.320 God is our companion and wants to walk with us. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.519 And it says, you know, I shall not want. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:09.200 That means I'm not going to fear that I'm going to experience lack. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.000 Or I'm not going to experience decrease. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.240 Or I'm not going to experience emptiness. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.080 Because aren't we all afraid of those things? 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:21.039 But God said, I'm going to take care of that if you let me be your shepherd, and you'll follow. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:26.720 And then there's another cool verse in that psalm that we all maybe heard so many times. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.879 Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:36.399 What I love about that word follow, it doesn't mean it trails you. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:42.480 It means those things, goodness and kindness, they're going to chase you down. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:43.840 That's what it means. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:45.679 Isn't that cool? 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.320 That all we have to do is say, You're my shepherd. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:49.679 I'm going where you lead me. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.600 And you're going to enjoy that day better. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.159 And I know I have, so I've loved that. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.480 So daring to live the wholehearted life is who's in charge. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:06.000 But then secondly, the question to ask is who is the person you want to become? 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:12.079 Things don't happen to us, things happen for us. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:15.119 Been through any hardship lately? 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.799 Been through any difficulties lately? 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:20.559 It's a test. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:22.799 It's a test from the Lord. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:36.400 And James, who I think probably really understood this because he was, he was a brother, Jesus, the half-brother Jesus, said, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.160 Don't you hate that verse? 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:56.559 I think the only way you can count it all joy when you go through various trials is not because you're excited about the trial, but you're excited about what God's doing in you through the trial. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:05.039 Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, comma, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:07.759 Or some translations say endurance. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:16.960 But let patience or endurance have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete and lacking and nothing. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:21.440 So see, God allowed what happened in my life. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:27.039 God allowed what happened in Liz's life recently because he was perfecting us. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:30.559 He was chipping away at Steve and Liz. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:36.079 Our pride, our arrogance, our self-sufficiency. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:50.880 And so those walks, those times with the Lord during that period, having to be reminded by God of how I'd hurt someone, and then getting in my truck and driving to their house and apologizing. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:59.119 Or realizing that I made this decision without consulting the Lord and having to ask for forgiveness from the Lord. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:07.839 And so God's in this process of changing us and transforming us and chipping away at us through hardship and difficulties. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:13.279 So I've had a trial or two that have lasted some years. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.680 Anybody relate to that? 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:25.839 And occasionally I will go have a little conference with the Lord and I'll just say, I can't believe you're still allowing these things. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:30.319 And he said, You don't want to be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing? 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:36.480 I was like, and he said, Are you better because you have these trials in your life? 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.920 Are you becoming better? 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.079 And I had to say yes. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.000 And I was like, You are working something in this. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.920 I don't believe God wants us to experience hurt and evil. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.680 I personally don't believe that. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.400 And I believe it comes from a different source. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.839 And it's a source that starts with a capital S. 00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:59.599 But I think that He uses that. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:00.559 He allows it. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:06.720 And then He the crushing of our lives produces something beautiful. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:12.960 And we gotta embrace our hard times and say, I'm becoming better and I will become better. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.839 And I think we're stewards of hard times. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:18.240 How are you gonna steward your trial? 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:19.839 Are you gonna trust God? 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.039 Are you gonna see the character that He wants to build in you? 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:31.519 And for me, I've always dealt with wanting to be important, feeling like I'm not important. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:36.799 Well, I love that God is chipping that away and He's healing the wound. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:42.160 And I want to be just fully available to what He says. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.000 And then I don't have to worry how important I am to all of you. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.160 It's freeing, isn't it? 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.480 And you know, that's where we want to go. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.079 We don't want to live for other people. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.880 We want to live for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.839 And I just want to end this little part with a story. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:03.920 So I got to lead a friend of mine who's in their 90s to the Lord recently. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:11.759 And this person has blocked out God from that person's life. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:12.960 They blocked out God. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.680 And they've done pretty much everything they want to do. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:25.039 And so at the end of their days, because there's illness and there's physical problems, I said, Are you ready to meet your creator? 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:27.759 And that person had to say no. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.359 And I said, Well, let's get you ready. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:33.519 And so we did. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:40.799 But that person will never get to know the creator because they didn't let him into their lives. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:44.319 And now they need this person needs the creator. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.960 And you know, naked we come into this world, and naked we're going out. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.559 So what are we becoming in the middle of all that? 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:54.000 That is huge. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:22:05.759 So I would take these long walks nine years ago and One day I came back to the house and there was a guy sitting at my fire pit. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:08.720 And I said, What's up, man? 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:10.000 And I barely knew this guy. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:13.119 I didn't know him very well from the church, just a little bit. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:22.240 But he said, Well, I just wanted you to know that our small group is really praying every day for you and Liz and the whole family. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:23.599 And we really care about you. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:29.680 And we don't know exactly what's going on with the elders, but we stand with you. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:31.839 And I lost it. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:40.400 And then as the days went by, I would come back, and probably three days a week, there'd be a group of guys at the fire pit. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:44.960 Ready to be my friend, ready to listen, ready to care. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:51.839 And we coined this term that many of you know at the road, blood-stained allies. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:58.559 These became Liz and I's blood-stained allies. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:01.839 Who will you hang out with? 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:03.519 That's the third question. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.039 Who will be your blood-stained ally? 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.720 Who are you going to hang out with in the dark times? 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:17.680 It's really important because you become like those people whom you hang out with. 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:19.759 And I'd give you three thoughts on that. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:38.240 One is they have to be people who you can be vulnerable with, where you can share your shame, the shame caves of your life where the light hasn't shone before, but you're carrying the pain and the shame of those issues of your past that maybe nobody knows about. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:47.119 But to be set free into wholeheartedness, to break the power of half-heartedness, men and women, you've got to go there. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:49.039 Or you don't have to go there. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:54.559 But if you want to be wholehearted and all that God wants you to be, I would challenge you to say you have to go there. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:57.599 Vulnerable, but then powerful. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:05.279 They've got to be men and women who have a conviction in the miraculous working power of Christ to transform you. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:11.759 They're not just good listeners, but they're also people who can speak into your life the power of the gospel. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:20.799 And then thirdly, they have, and I'll give you a term that I learned way back when I was a kid, and I don't even know if it's a real word, but it's stick-tuitiveness. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:26.799 We need men and women in our life, same gender, who have stick toitiveness. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:28.480 They'll stick with you. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:32.880 They won't cut and run, they're gonna be there for you. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:36.720 And so, who's gonna guide your life? 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.279 What kind of person do you want to become? 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:41.519 And who are you gonna hang out with? 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:48.480 Well, this God of the universe has made all of you so special. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:25:07.279 If we were to connect the coding, the DNA coding, that's just in one person, linearly, the coding would go to the earth and sun and back 61 times. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.559 That's how much God has thought about you. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.279 That's how much God cares about you. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:16.720 It says that he has a multitude of thoughts about you. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:23.920 And now that I've seen this thing in the sky with his hands, I'm like, I can see how he could do it. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:31.359 He's so big that he would think a multitude of thoughts about all of you and about me. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:33.759 And we have our calling right here. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:35.039 We have our purpose right here. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.039 It's not about tomorrow, it's about today. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.559 How are we gonna live today? 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.119 How are we gonna live out what he's put in us? 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.839 Think about all that investment that he's made in our lives. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:54.799 And we need to link arms and help each other connect to this designer who can lead us into our purposes. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:56.960 We need to help each other do that. 00:25:57.119 --> 00:25:59.200 We need to not compare anymore. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:10.160 We need to not say, I want to be like this person, or I want to be like that person, I want to be like me, I want to find the true me so I can do the purposes God has for me. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:11.359 Because you know what? 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:13.599 If I don't do them, no one else can. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:15.039 And same with you. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:30.640 And so at the women's ministry and at the men's ministry, we want to help you connect to the best of our ability with the designer who can lead us into the future with so much victory and power. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:39.119 And so when David says, I look on God's people as the excellent ones, you're all excellent. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:50.960 And we want to help you, and we want to be helped by you to get to that point where we say, I have an excellent creator, I am excellent, and I have an excellent purpose. 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:55.039 So on September 12th, the wholehearted women start meeting. 00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:59.519 Liz will be teaching at that, and then why don't you share also about Sunday morning? 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:04.640 So September 12th, we start a series called The Holy Spirit Homeward Journey. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:06.799 We're all here, that's in this room. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:11.599 And we have a special speaker in this room. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:14.240 Otto Bixler is gonna join us for one of those. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:15.920 Otto, will you stand up? 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:22.559 Otto is an amazing speaker on kind of the blocks we have to intimacy. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:29.680 And he led a class that I took that was amazing, and it was on Freemasonry, and it was amazing. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:30.799 So thank you, Otto. 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:33.279 And I'm glad you get to join us in that. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.359 That was so freeing for me. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:38.160 So we're doing that series. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:42.880 We're also teaching in the morning, and it's on becoming a woman of authority. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:44.400 So we'd love to get more information. 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:47.200 Are you gonna define what is a woman? 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:48.559 Because we're really wondering. 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:52.720 Well, I have nine seconds, so probably not. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:55.519 No, no, no, not here in your class. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:57.359 Are you gonna define a woman? 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:59.279 I'll tell you later. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:02.079 Our time's up. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:07.039 Um okay, and so wholehearted men, most of you guys all know that. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:08.880 It's Tuesday mornings at 6 a.m. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.240 I've come for that. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:11.359 That's a powerful time. 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:13.599 We do a lot of great stuff there. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:17.680 I'm gonna, we just finished uh my book, so we're gonna start a new series. 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:20.000 And um, so that's coming up. 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:27.920 So you're gonna leave in just a second to go look at all the different ministries, but I just I had to read this. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:31.920 A young child asked her mother where people came from. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:40.000 She answered that God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a garden, and then everyone else was their descendants. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:43.759 The girl then asked the same question to her dad. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:49.920 He told her that people came from monkeys through various evolutionary stages. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:55.759 Confused, she went back to her mom and told her what dad had said. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:02.480 And then she said, Oh, I was telling you about my side of the family, and your dad was talking about him. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:12.559 Thank you for listening to the Forn for War podcast. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:16.240 We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:22.240 To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steveholtonline.org. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:23.279 God bless.