SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of the Road at Chapel Hills.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Road Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_00: My heart is to empower you to change the world.
SPEAKER_00: I hope this message impacts you.
SPEAKER_00: So turn to Isaiah 60.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at Isaiah 60.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just going to do a quick review of these first two talks that I've done on a rise shine.
SPEAKER_00: And then we're going to go deeper into Isaiah 60.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just, I just can't tell you how excited I am.
SPEAKER_00: I was, and I'll talk about this in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: I'll get ahead of myself if I'm not careful.
SPEAKER_00: But just a conversation I have with Richard Harris today related to the Truth and Liberty broadcast that they do with Andrew Walmack and Eric stuff I've set up with Eric Mattax.
SPEAKER_00: It's really cool.
SPEAKER_00: So I'll cover that when we get to that point.
SPEAKER_00: But look at verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody just look at verse 1 again.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not going to elaborate on this.
SPEAKER_00: If you were here last night, you've heard it.
SPEAKER_00: If you were not here, you can actually just go online and it's there.
SPEAKER_00: And you can see the whole thing, the whole broadcast there.
SPEAKER_00: But arise, shine.
SPEAKER_00: That's our theme for 22.
SPEAKER_00: That you would arise and shine.
SPEAKER_00: And the main point that I brought out on Sunday morning, and then again last night was that's your responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: That's not God's responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: It's your responsibility to wake up spiritually, kind of get out of bed spiritually, and be ready to be the warrior that God's called you to be, the worshiper and the warrior.
SPEAKER_00: And for you ladies that are going to miss it, too bad you're going to miss it.
SPEAKER_00: But tomorrow morning is our wholehearted men.
SPEAKER_00: And you guys are, you women are not invited, so it's too bad.
SPEAKER_00: But that's why Liz is doing the book of Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: It's really awesome.
SPEAKER_00: She and I spent an hour, hour and a half this morning going over chapter one together, and I'm pumped about her material.
SPEAKER_00: It is just outrageously good.
SPEAKER_00: But guess what my title tomorrow morning is going to be?
SPEAKER_00: Navy SEAL Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So I thought about, I mean, I've had this been on my mind for like a month.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, and you've heard it leak out a little bit in my sermons, but I grew up with this wimpy Sunday school Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so I so Anna's at our house right now.
SPEAKER_00: She's when she's here, I can always just go to her and she can find images and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, I explained what I was looking for, and she said, you need, why don't we put in wimpy Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: So we put in wimpy Jesus images.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, seriously, you guys, it's scary what's out there that kids are seeing as an image of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But that's the way I grew up.
SPEAKER_00: It's this cream-faced, perfect hair, surfer boy, hippie guy.
SPEAKER_00: That I mean, he he wouldn't even swat at a fly.
SPEAKER_00: He's got to be a Hindu or something, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Um, so but the but then we put in, we put in some other images, and it's gonna be good in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: It's called Navy SEAL Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But you have to arise and shine.
SPEAKER_00: And it's your responsibility to be the worshiper and warrior God's called you to be.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, the glory of the Lord will rise upon you.
SPEAKER_00: So if you'll rise up, he'll rise up.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you're a strict Calvinist and, you know, you know, Sada Sada, whatever shall be, shall be, kind of hyper-Calvinist on certain things, then that kind of messes with you a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not true Calvinism, by the way, and that's also not what Spurgeon believed.
SPEAKER_00: But we arise and shine.
SPEAKER_00: It's your responsibility, you have that responsibility, to partner with the Holy Spirit, to partner with God, and then He'll, his glory will shine on you.
SPEAKER_00: And we talked about last night Kabbod, the idea of the glory of the Lord being upon you.
SPEAKER_00: And I want people, and I know this is true because I talk to people all the time, but I want people who meet members of the road to say they're they're a deep people.
SPEAKER_00: These are men and women who know the word.
SPEAKER_00: These are men and women who walk with maturity.
SPEAKER_00: They're not just running around, you know, and it with a knee-jerk reaction to even cultural things that happen, but they're solid, they're strong, they've got a good head on their shoulders and they're mature.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's kabbad.
SPEAKER_00: That's the glory of God upon you as you arise and shine.
SPEAKER_00: Well, verse 2 says, For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
SPEAKER_00: So the place, I think, where we in this city, in this county, and in our church and in your work and in your family, where you shine the brightest, is in the darkest places.
SPEAKER_00: So where it's the darkest, that's where we shine the most.
SPEAKER_00: So turn in your Bibles, and I think number three would be in 2022, shine the light of Christ in the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: But turn to 1 Thessalonians 5.
SPEAKER_00: Because, and actually, this is, I believe, what Josh, where Josh was coming from in the movie, the video he did last night was 1 Thessalonians 5.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to keep your finger, obviously, in Isaiah 60, but look at 1 Thessalonians 5.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's so where we're at right now.
SPEAKER_00: But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
SPEAKER_00: For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
SPEAKER_00: For when they say peace and safety, which they're not saying right now, so we're not at the day of the Lord, they're not saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.
SPEAKER_00: So there's gonna be a bait and switch at some time in the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I think you have days of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We are in a, we are in, we are in the small T days of the Lord, but there's gonna be the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And that's gonna be those last days in the tribulation when the Antichrist is rising up.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think we're there yet.
SPEAKER_00: I'm positive we're not there yet.
SPEAKER_00: But we have days of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's preparatory.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's training ground.
SPEAKER_00: It's like training days for us to know what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: Are we gonna cower?
SPEAKER_00: Are we gonna be afraid?
SPEAKER_00: Are we gonna live in fear?
SPEAKER_00: Or are we gonna be courageous?
SPEAKER_00: And I want to challenge you, be courageous.
SPEAKER_00: Let's be courageous together, because we're gonna need it more and more in the days ahead.
SPEAKER_00: So then he says this.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4 But you, brethren, are not in the darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you're aware of what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: You're all sons of light and sons of the day.
SPEAKER_00: We're not of the night, nor of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
SPEAKER_00: For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
SPEAKER_00: But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I love that.
SPEAKER_00: So we're of the day.
SPEAKER_00: You're daughters of the day.
SPEAKER_00: You're sons of the day, you're daughters of the light.
SPEAKER_00: So when you're in the light in the day, you can see what's happening in the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: And I've said to men and women, you know, all through my ministry, through the years, who struggle with addictions, who struggle with sexual addictions, or they struggle with drug addictions, they always do it at night.
SPEAKER_00: You're always doing it at night.
SPEAKER_00: I said, you've got to start taking charge of your night.
SPEAKER_00: So you got to go home, or you got to go to a Bible study, or you got to come to church, but you can't be on the street, man, at night.
SPEAKER_00: You can't be messing around at night.
SPEAKER_00: Um, even when I was dating Liz and we were getting close to getting married, you know, we we had accountability with people about the night because of the temptations that come at night.
SPEAKER_00: Well, he's talking about all of the world, all of culture in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: We're children of the light, so we can see stuff.
SPEAKER_00: We have a sober-mindedness, we have an ability to put on the helmet of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: That means our mind.
SPEAKER_00: That means renewing our mind, taking our thoughts captive to obedience to Christ, so that then we can be sober.
SPEAKER_00: And you all know what sober is.
SPEAKER_00: What sober literally means in the Hebrew, and I think in the Greek too, but it literally means balance.
SPEAKER_00: Your balance.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can walk the line.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you're not you're not gonna fall off any of those.
SPEAKER_00: Sober means balance to your life, it's that ability to judge good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: That's what sober-minded is.
SPEAKER_00: You can judge, you're a good judge of good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: That's bad.
SPEAKER_00: That's good.
SPEAKER_00: You know, those are the bad guys, those are the good guys.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and and that's what the helmet of salvation does.
SPEAKER_00: And if there's a breastplate, it says of faith.
SPEAKER_00: So faith.
SPEAKER_00: That's who you guys are.
SPEAKER_00: You are people of faith.
SPEAKER_00: And in my opinion, you are born for this time in history.
SPEAKER_00: You are born to be here in 2022 at the road tonight, because you are a warrior.
SPEAKER_00: And you have been called to be a worshiper and a warrior at a time in history where much of the church is falling away.
SPEAKER_00: Much of the church is living in fear.
SPEAKER_00: The reason I like that verse is that safety.
SPEAKER_00: It's it, I again, I think the day of the Lord, capital D, day of the Lord, is different than this, but that peace and safety thing.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm talking to Richard Harris today, and we're talking about the um the broadcast that we're I'm gonna take Eric up to on Saturday a week.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, this Saturday.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, this Saturday, taking him up there.
SPEAKER_00: And we I was saying to him, we've got this phrase we've been using called be courageous, because everybody in the culture is saying, be safe.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Be safe.
SPEAKER_00: You show me any place in scripture where be safe is a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy says, be safe.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord says, be courageous.
SPEAKER_00: Be actually says, be strong and courageous.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're to be courageous.
SPEAKER_00: We're people of the day.
SPEAKER_00: We when you're alert and you're watching, that's what it says.
SPEAKER_00: Watch.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what's going on, know what's happening.
SPEAKER_00: Be like the sons of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do.
SPEAKER_00: Be a people who understand the times and know what God's called us to do in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So go back now to Isaiah 60, verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: The Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.
SPEAKER_00: In 2022, I believe God will use the road to influence leaders across our county.
SPEAKER_00: I believe God's going to use us, he's already using us in a pretty big way in that regard, but I think he's gonna use us in an in a in an incredible way among leaders in our county.
SPEAKER_00: We are in close relationship with all the county commissioners.
SPEAKER_00: All five of the county commissioners are friends of mine, and they're great people.
SPEAKER_00: All of them are good people, and um, and I just love them and I appreciate them so much.
SPEAKER_00: And um, and Haim Goldman and I were in an exchange today on texting, and um we were talking about something related to city council.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna get into it, but um I was involved in influencing a decision that was being made in city council because of two guys that I know, and we were talking about it, and he made an interesting comment.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Why didn't we have a better person for this particular position?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Because we didn't have better people that were in relationship with them.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you guys, the more we we build relationships with leaders, the more leaders will want a relationship with us.
SPEAKER_00: And so when you show up to meetings, when you show up to school board meetings, when you show up to city council, and anybody can come.
SPEAKER_00: And on any given point, you can stand up and ask a question.
SPEAKER_00: You can do that.
SPEAKER_00: So our public policy ministry is there, but that's very limited in what we can do there.
SPEAKER_00: It's really up to you.
SPEAKER_00: And if you have a passion for our city and city council, then start reading, you know, the minutes, know what's going on, get to know them.
SPEAKER_00: These guys and gals, they're great people.
SPEAKER_00: They really are.
SPEAKER_00: And politically might be really all over the place, you know, liberal and conservative, but they're good people and they want to do the right thing.
SPEAKER_00: And when you have influence, I mean, this is what Pam Heiler did up in Denver with a very, very liberal senator up there.
SPEAKER_00: Then Liz got involved too, and they and they had a big influence on a sex education bill because they had a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: And so I believe that we've got to win people through loving relationships.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it doesn't work, but a lot of times it does.
SPEAKER_00: And so I had um, again, I'm not gonna use names because I don't want in any way to get back to that person, but someone contacting me about a situation related to um the health department, El Paso County Health Department, and an opening.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's telling me about it, and I went, I know the person you need for that.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Who?
SPEAKER_00: And so I told him.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes, Oh, isn't that the lady that I met at your house when we had that dinner?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes, Okay, let's talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that could happen.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that'll happen or not, but but we have relationship.
SPEAKER_00: So we influence leaders through relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Know the principal of your kids' school, know them.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be on a first name basis.
SPEAKER_00: Um, know the teachers that your kids are being taught by.
SPEAKER_00: Know them on a first name basis.
SPEAKER_00: Know the president of the company that your husband works for.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, nobody does that.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand that?
SPEAKER_00: Hardly anybody really gets to know people in leadership positions.
SPEAKER_00: And we should be influencing leaders just by being Jesus followers, just by being kind and being loving and being caring.
SPEAKER_00: Because you never know when that person is in a pickle and they're really hurting.
SPEAKER_00: Might be their marriage, it might be their family, and they'll call you because it because you because you prayed with them that day and you cared about them.
SPEAKER_00: And I see that is what's happening in verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying the Gentiles, and he's talking to the Jews here, the kings will come to the brightness of your light, the brightness of your rising.
SPEAKER_00: I think this is prophetic of the end times that the church is actually gonna rise up because of the stability that it has when instability is all around us.
SPEAKER_00: It's the unshakable kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: The unshakable kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's really cool.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not even hard because everybody wants dinner.
SPEAKER_00: And so you invite people over for dinner, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And you don't even have to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of times I don't even talk about politics with people, but they know that I care.
SPEAKER_00: We've done stuff at church.
SPEAKER_00: I've invited, you know, all the county commissioners and I don't know, seven or eight other legislative people to come meet Eric.
SPEAKER_00: I say, why don't you come early?
SPEAKER_00: I want you to meet Eric Metaxis.
SPEAKER_00: And they know who he is.
SPEAKER_00: How hard was that?
SPEAKER_00: Just a text.
SPEAKER_00: You don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: But it was hard at first because you didn't have a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, even at Microsoft, you're trying, Jay, to have a relationship with kind of the movers and shakers at Microsoft.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't know what that's gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: And then you've had the dialogue with the HR department on some interesting situations.
SPEAKER_00: And I but but I applaud you for trying, you know, and and doing that.
SPEAKER_00: And so, like Liz and I had a unity dinner, and so I think we had, what do we have, about 12, 10 or 12 pastors and their wives, and then we had maybe 15 or 20 um legislative people, county commissioners, stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00: And and we didn't talk about politics as much as we talked about how can we pray for you?
SPEAKER_00: How can we pray for you?
SPEAKER_00: So God's gonna do that, you know, and it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: And that's how literally you change a culture and you change a county, is working through leaders, through relationships with them.
SPEAKER_00: And when I read this, you guys, back in November, verses 1 through 5 of Isaiah, I went, wow, that's what God wants to do in 22.
SPEAKER_00: And so I knew that each one of these verses were significant for us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me just say on January 31st, if you're interested, we're taking a team up to the Capitol, up in Denver, to pray for the day.
SPEAKER_00: You'd have to take a day out, or you could take a half a day, but we're gonna take a team up there to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this new initiative.
SPEAKER_00: Is it, I think it's like 84 days, is the legislative session.
SPEAKER_00: And this guy named Stephen Ferrante out of Estes Park and another pastor who has One Hope, Colorado, they've teamed up together, and we're teaming up with them to pray every day, 84 days, up there at the Capitol, the whole day for those that can come.
SPEAKER_00: And we at the road have chosen January 31st to be our day.
SPEAKER_00: So if you would like to go, let me see if I can pull up the details here.
SPEAKER_00: Um, January 31st, meet at the KPOF, I don't know what that is.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like a radio station.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the KPOF building on 1340 Sherman Street.
SPEAKER_00: 1340 Sherman Street at 8:30 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: And what you're gonna do is you're gonna worship, you're gonna pray, you're gonna go through all the capital worshiping and praying, and then we have lunch together.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be super cool.
SPEAKER_00: And would you stand up, Pam?
SPEAKER_00: Pam's Pam's our leader of that.
SPEAKER_00: Stand up, Pam.
SPEAKER_00: There's Pam.
SPEAKER_00: So see Pam about that.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, now there's a guy named Greg Lopez who's running for governor, and he is having a town hall at the road on Thursday night, January 20th at 7 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: You can go to his website and you can you have to get their tickets.
SPEAKER_00: You have to get tickets because it's kind of like RSVPing.
SPEAKER_00: You're not going to pay anything, but you can go.
SPEAKER_00: If you're interested in Greg Lopez, who is it's kind of cool.
SPEAKER_00: His uh Pat McGuire is one of his campaign managers here at the road.
SPEAKER_00: But I just thought I'd let you know that that's influencing leaders, you guys.
SPEAKER_00: That's having an impact on key leaders in our state.
SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to let you know about that.
SPEAKER_00: Um and then Haim and me a little bit, really more Haim.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing a training after, see at 7:30 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: next Tuesday after wholehearted men on the caucuses and assembly.
SPEAKER_00: If you're interested in that, that's at 7.30 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: next Tuesday.
SPEAKER_00: Is that enough for you?
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your eyes all around and see.
SPEAKER_00: They all gather together, they come to you.
SPEAKER_00: Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
SPEAKER_00: I believe in 2022, God's gonna reconcile families.
SPEAKER_00: I believe God's gonna reconcile wayward sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: God's gonna reconcile some husbands and wives.
SPEAKER_00: He is.
SPEAKER_00: If you will arise, but it's up to you.
SPEAKER_00: If you will arise and shine, God's gonna bring some reconciliation in your families.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's his heartbeat for the folks of the ch of this church.
SPEAKER_00: If you'll arise and shine, and the glory of God comes upon you, God's gonna do something very, very supernatural this year, and he's gonna bring families together.
SPEAKER_00: And I just love this prophetic verse in Malachi in Malachi 4.
SPEAKER_00: Malachi 4, 5 and 6.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children of the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
SPEAKER_00: Now, who's Elijah the prophet?
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to go too deep into end times, eschatology, and everything, but I do believe that Elijah will come back to the earth in the last days.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah, you know, never died.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah was, he did not die a natural death.
SPEAKER_00: He was swept up into heaven on a chariot.
SPEAKER_00: And he will come back.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe he'll come back with Moses.
SPEAKER_00: I believe Moses and Elijah, because Moses we don't know that he died either.
SPEAKER_00: He was just taken up.
SPEAKER_00: So Elijah and Moses will come in the latter days before the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe that's what he's speaking of here.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we come closer to the latter days, we're going to see families get reconciled.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to see fathers who are distant with their kids coming back to love on their kids.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to see daughters and sons that are distant with their dads coming back.
SPEAKER_00: I notice it doesn't say anything about moms.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think moms already have the heart of their kids most of the time.
SPEAKER_00: Dads, we're kind of messed up.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we we just are.
SPEAKER_00: We just are.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, you may have heard this story.
SPEAKER_00: It's actually literally true that there's this nun working in a prison.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know exactly where it was, but the story goes that she came up with this idea, she felt like it was from the Lord, to bring Mother's Day cards to the prison where she was working.
SPEAKER_00: And it was so popular that she was able to get Hallmark to give a donation of thousands of Mother's Day cards.
SPEAKER_00: And they and these guys just flocked to writing Mother's Day cards to their moms.
SPEAKER_00: So she assumed when Father's Day came, she would do the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: And so Hallmark donated thousands of Father's Day cards and nobody came.
SPEAKER_00: These prisoners had no relationship with their fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Probably most of them didn't even know who their fathers were.
SPEAKER_00: Well, in the latter days, God's gonna bring the hearts of fathers back to their children, the hearts of children back to their fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's gonna be supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe he's gonna do that in some of your lives this year in 22.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna bring husbands and wives together anyway.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna bring fathers and their children.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you just raise your hand if you'd say, you know, that means a lot to me because of some situations in my family.
SPEAKER_00: See?
SPEAKER_00: I know.
SPEAKER_00: Breaks your heart.
SPEAKER_00: God's gonna do something.
SPEAKER_00: Will you arise and shine?
SPEAKER_00: If you'll arise and shine, I think God's saying, I'm gonna move.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm hanging out on a like a limb to say that.
SPEAKER_00: But I do believe this.
SPEAKER_00: If you'll believe, if you'll have faith for that, you never know what God might do.
SPEAKER_00: Now it might not be this year, it might be next year.
SPEAKER_00: But I think God's saying that to us at the road.
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't say that over any other group, but I think he's saying that for 22.
SPEAKER_00: For the fathers of the road, the mothers of the road.
SPEAKER_00: I know enough to know that there's some pretty tough situations out there.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't we, you know, why don't we go into prayer about that tonight?
SPEAKER_00: As we, you know, as we finish out on the worship, let's, for ministry time, one of the things we should do is when you come up here and grab someone's hand and two or more.
SPEAKER_00: Let's agree that God's going to do that in your family.
SPEAKER_00: God's going to do that in your marriage.
SPEAKER_00: God's going to do that with your prodigal sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: We know it's his heart, but we know that that's just who God is.
SPEAKER_00: He loves to bring the prodigals home.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy because of the abundance of the sea, it shall be turned to you, and the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, I'm really hanging up sound like I'm a I'm a name it and claim it guy, but I'm gonna give it to you anyway.
SPEAKER_00: In 2022, God's gonna surprise you with financial blessings.
SPEAKER_00: I really believe that.
SPEAKER_00: I believe again there's a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta rise and shine.
SPEAKER_00: But God, I think, wants to bless unbelievable the giving last year at the road.
SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00: We were up 60% in the giving of the church.
SPEAKER_00: And we gave away to ministries around the city and some around the world, mainly in our county here,$221,000.
SPEAKER_00: We just gave it away, man, and we just we blessed all these ministries.
SPEAKER_00: And and why can't we do that again and again and again every year?
SPEAKER_00: Well, God's gonna, I think it's because God's already blessing.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I was listening to an Amish, I was listening to an Amish guy today.
SPEAKER_00: So my brother sends me this thing, and he says, Did you know about this?
SPEAKER_00: And I already knew about this, but I hadn't seen this particular one.
SPEAKER_00: Unless you got to see it.
SPEAKER_00: It's really good.
SPEAKER_00: I sent it out to the family.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's five minutes long.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it's entitled, or I you could look it up, but you could put it Amish and COVID or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: But it's about COVID, all right?
SPEAKER_00: So it's not like NBC, CBS, ABC, I don't think.
SPEAKER_00: It was just like maybe it was local or something.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, I can't remember, some reason I'm thinking it's like six million views.
SPEAKER_00: So I mean it's you know, it really went out.
SPEAKER_00: This is not like, you know, 200 views.
SPEAKER_00: You ever yeah, you like you look up, I'll put up like when when Georgia won the national championship, I'll put in a YouTube and I'll say interviews with Stephen Bennett or Interviews with Kirby Smart or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: And when I see like 200 views, it's like I'm not gonna watch that.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, this is like millions watch this thing.
SPEAKER_00: But but it but this guy is standing there and he he's a Mennonite, he's Amish Mennonite, whatever that means, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And but he's not, he doesn't look like you know, Hickory Farms guy or anything, and and everything, but he's kind of like dressed normal.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he's got jeans on and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, I I want to listen to this guy.
SPEAKER_00: Seems like he's not weird, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But in but he did have the beard, you know, and everything.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh gosh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: But whatever, doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: So she's interviewing, and then this guy goes, you know, in the Amish community, there's three things we don't really like.
SPEAKER_00: One, government.
SPEAKER_00: We don't really like big gov, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Number two, we don't really like the educational system.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, we hate health care that you guys have.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking, he could go to the road.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, wow, this is cool.
SPEAKER_00: I'm becoming an Amish, you know, or they're becoming, or we could plant a church there, you know.
SPEAKER_00: So he says all that, and he says, yeah, we all got COVID.
SPEAKER_00: You know, probably 95% of us gotten COVID.
SPEAKER_00: We got most of it in the like the first few months.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we didn't go to any of your hospitals, and we didn't do any of your vaccines, and you know, we're all over it now.
SPEAKER_00: And we never wore masks or anything.
SPEAKER_00: And he's looking around and he goes, Man, I'm so glad you guys just shut everything down.
SPEAKER_00: And she goes, You do?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: He says, We've made a killing financially off you there.
SPEAKER_00: We just raked in the dough, man.
SPEAKER_00: We've never had a better year.
SPEAKER_00: If you guys would just keep shutting things down, we Amish, we dig that.
SPEAKER_00: We like that, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, that's cool.
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of like us.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's been amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you in this room, um, you were doing one job and then they kicked you out, and now you're doing another job, and you're doing way better financially.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's been crazy.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to open up your heart and open up your eyes that with Satan means for destruction, God may be opening up your vistas to something really, really great that you needed to be kind of forced into because you were comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: You just always did that.
SPEAKER_00: And I think God's gonna raise up entrepreneurial thinkers in a whole new way in the new year.
SPEAKER_00: So think big.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, expand your vision.
SPEAKER_00: Don't limit yourself to what you've done in the past.
SPEAKER_00: God has wired you guys, some of you, in creative ways that you've never been willing to take a risk on because you want to just stay comfortable and secure.
SPEAKER_00: And I get that, man.
SPEAKER_00: I understand that.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll tell you, when I left Mountain Springs and I had no other options and just went into 40 days of prayer, listen, I were we were kind of thinking, okay, we might have to sell our home.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: But we were pumped.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, this is sort of, we're back in that place of creative thinking and openness to God that we had kind of lost after a while.
SPEAKER_00: So don't let this culture limit what you can do because of your own lack of maybe, maybe creativity, start thinking bigger.
SPEAKER_00: Start thinking with the vision of God.
SPEAKER_00: You never know what he might do that's gonna just shock you.
SPEAKER_00: He's a big God, and he can do new things.
SPEAKER_00: And so sometimes we think, you know, these things are really bad.
SPEAKER_00: They're actually really good.
SPEAKER_00: And God's setting you up for something really cool in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.
SPEAKER_00: My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.
SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to theroad.org.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.