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Real Christian Maturity and How to Have Lasting Fruit with Christine Caine

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Real Christian Maturity and How to Have Lasting Fruit with Christine Caine

The conversation begins with a light-hearted discussion on music tastes, where one host prefers moodier songs over overtly happy ones but finds joy in gospel "shout" music. The dialogue then shifts to a guest, Christine, who reflects on enduring faith over nearly 40 years. She warns that the enemy is patient and often targets individuals when they can cause maximum damage. The key to perseverance is staying connected to God's Word and committing to ongoing sanctification, even when it is painful, likening it to the intense recovery from a knee injury. Christine emphasizes that avoiding this process leads to gifts carrying a person further than their character can sustain, resulting in building a "monument" to oneself rather than to God. Later, Christine discusses her book, using the olive tree as a central metaphor. Inspired by Psalm 52:8, she explains that flourishing like a "green olive tree" means remaining rooted in God's steadfast love despite surrounding barrenness or adversity. This symbolizes resilience and fruitfulness in a changing world. The exchange also includes personal anecdotes, cultural references like Vegemite, and a promotional ad for a marriage retreat, weaving together themes of faith, personal growth, and community.

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(upbeat music) - Hello, saints and ains, how are you? I hope you're blessed. I hope you're happy. - What's good with you? - If you're not happy. I'm sorry. 'Cause I'm happy. You know, I was talking to somebody. - That song was a best song was like a vibe. - It was a good song. I was talking to somebody the other day, and I was like, yeah, I don't really like happy songs. Like that. - I'm so shocked that you don't like happy songs. - I don't. - Like, I like songs in a minor key. I want there to be a tone of darkness there. Not demonic darkness. Not demonic. - Like what? - Just like moody. Like I like to feel. - I know you ain't lying 'cause when that Yabba song came out, that one Yabba song. ♪ Mama ♪ ♪ Mama ♪ - No, no, no, this song, this song about her mom. - October Scott. - October Scott. - October Scott. I'm like, why are we listening to this over and over? - Yeah, it is about her mom committing suicide. - But it was very creative. - Yeah, it was a beautiful, it was a hard, beautiful song, and I think life is hard. - You don't like some happy songs? Like the song? - Like, I like Ferrell's happy song. - I just can't, I just can't get into my guard. Be like, shoot, let me find his like, Ferrell song. Now I will say, what does bring me joy is shout music, okay? So if I'm gonna listen to anything happy is shout music, and I remember I had a conversation with LaCourie, and he was like, what's like one style of music you used to outside of people, it wouldn't expect. I think if you follow me, you know I'm churchy. But that music, it does impute joy into me. You know what I'm saying? Like when you're a person who has a melancholy bent, you kinda do need to find like, - I just wanna say, most of all, listen, there's no, I didn't grow up in the church. - Correct. - The first time I saw shouting, I was so confused. - I couldn't, you thought they were obsessed? - I thought I was like Lord. - Yeah, like even, I don't know what's happening. - Even clapping on the two and four is still a little hard for you. - You didn't have to say that. - It's not shade. - I can clap on beat. - Try. - Ain't no music. - So, it should be an internal, look at you. (laughs) It should bring you. You need a metronome. Welcome to the basement, not the basement, but the other bargas with the berries. Mrs. Christie came. How are you? - I am awesome how you doing. - Have you ever shouted in church, Christie? - You know, once or twice. (laughs) - But I'm sure. - I feel really good that my beat is right up there with Preston, so. - Okay, so she's trying to shame me, Mrs. Christie. - I'm not shading. - I got rid of them. - I didn't say you didn't have rid of them. - Okay. - I'm saying there's a, there's a. - No, it's secure now. - You are a secure in Christ. You are all of them. - I'm just going to. - I'm just going to. - Huh? History, okay? Mrs. Christie is here. I don't know if I ever told you. I don't know if y'all know. I used to be a part of a traveling conference. Mrs. Christie came to do a call for pill. COVID shut all that down. It just completely stopped. But one thing that Christine did to me, that completely helped me, it scared me, but it helped me. It's one time, I don't know what city we was in. She on stage exording the people. And she's like, Jackie, come up here and share with the Lord what you're discerning in the room. And I'm like, why is she doing that to me? Like, what are you doing? - She saw a gifting you. - But legitimately that day, I was discerning all types of stuff. So it felt like, I felt like Christine, I feel like my time with you at Propel, was at the beginning of me traveling more and teaching more and leading more. And I feel like she was using Propel as a way to like train me without my permission. - That's beautiful. - So thank you. - I'm so grateful. - You know, I think it landed pretty well. - Yeah, every time I go to Australia, I think about you. - Really? - Yeah. I can go to, you're the first person I think about, 'cause you're the first Australian that I met. And you always look so cool and so sweaty. I'm like, man, I gotta go to Australia. - That's a compliment from you. I need to say, I have never asked you this. Have you eaten vegetable? - Vegetable. That's Australian name? - Mate, okay. - Yeah, no, we go. - What is that? What is that? - It's a black yeast paste. - I need to eat that. - No, I'm gonna send you a jar. You put it on hot toast and here is the secret. You're really only supposed to put a tiny, tiny thin spread, like hot toast butter, thin spread of vegetable mate. But what we do to Americans when they come over is we put like an inch and they throw up. It's awesome. - I don't want to throw up. I want to eat it. - No, I'm gonna give it to you to eat, like just a tiny thin spread. - Yeah, we never did that when we went to Sydney. - They always take it to like nice, like Americanized restaurants that seem like. - Yeah. - But yeah, I want to-- - How are you, Ms. Christine? - How are you today? - I'm feeling awesome, okay. - You know, this is my 60th year of life, so I'm happy. - Praise the Lord. - Yeah, that's right. I'm celebrating all year. It's not so September, but my actual birthday. - Oh, yeah. - I figure if you live this long, every day this year, I'm celebrating. - How long have you been a Christian? - Really a fully divided follower of Jesus since I was 22. - Wow. - Quick question. - Yeah. - What has been the secret of enduring? - Staying very connected to Jesus, through His Word, so for me, it's the Word. - 'Cause I asked that because I think we talked about this on your podcast, just about how I think the longer I've been in Christ and even experiencing people fall away for lesser things. I've just seen how like, oh, like the longer you're with Him, it doesn't get easier. And so like, I appreciate people who keep going more than I used to, you know what I'm saying? - And the older you get the more you will, because the enemy's not nothing but patient. So he, you know, pretty much in my life in the last maybe five years, most of the people that I personally know, not all, but most that have not finished strong or fallen away are actually older than me. So my husband and Nick and I were talking even last night and we're like, man, we've got to be more committed to finishing strong 'cause the generation needs to see people that finish well. And you know, Paul said, I run my race and I have finished my course. And so I don't know how many really have finished their course. And so I'm committed to that. And my mentor said to me really early on, she said, Chris, be really careful what you pray for. Because as many people as the Lord allows you to help, that's how many you can hurt. And so the enemy will make sure until you can maximally hurt the most to try to take you out, which is for all of us. - Wow, that's amazing. I know we not talk about this, but you spark like seven questions in my mind. Being a Christian for so long, seeing, you know, I've had a great amount of friends who've fallen away too in my short time of being a Christian. You've been a Christian almost 40 years. What are some of the things you, he talked about the enemy being patient? What are some of the things over the years you saw the enemy kind of weird people down with that caused them to walk away from the faith? And what are some things that people can look out for as they grow in their faith? - We don't like small talk. - No, I'm a little in need of water, you know? That's one thing where you and I really get on is, we're just like strong. - That's the way it is. - That's it. But you know, when you are not longer committed to like ongoing sanctification, so you, you either think a position title or a gift or a talent can carry you more than God sanctifying work through and through. So the minute you start thinking, I don't have to deal with that. And it's not, I think initially, again, just my experience from the people that I know, you kind of go, that's okay. And I'm gonna shelve that or I'm gonna bury that rather than allow the Lord to shine his light on it. - That's good. - And here's the other thing. I think the longer you walk with the Lord, you really know how painful a sanctification can be. So, you know, covering something up rather than really allowing the Lord to go in deep and deal with it. You know, I fractured my knee, I was skiing, you know, years ago and I snapped my ACL, tore my MCL, tore my menace because did all the things. And I had a hamstring graft and the pity came in, straight after my surgery. And he said, Christine, the level of damage you've done, most people don't normally fully recover. Like get their fore movement back into their knee. He goes, but actually technically your right knee is now much stronger than your left knee because of the hamstring graft. But because of all the scar tissue and it's gonna take at least six months of intense and very painful therapy for you to get that thing healed and whole. And he said, so the injury happened in an instant and so it was deeply painful. But the pain of recovery is gonna be far greater than the pain of the injury. So you can either recover quickly or slowly, completely or partially, it's entirely up to you. But the degree to which you're willing to embrace the pain of recovery is the degree to which you'll recover. And I think to answer your question, eventually you stop wanting to embrace the pain of recovery. And so you allow your gift to carry you to a place that your character will destroy you. And that's happened time and time again. And the Lord doesn't care how big your name is or the brand is what you've got is a whole lot of people building monuments to themselves rather than to the Lord. And it says in 2 Samuel 18, that because Absalom had no sons to bear his name in remembrance, he built a monument to himself. So if you're no longer allowed to do that, and got to sanctify you, it's easy to build a monument to your name, rather than continue to let the lords work out. So I think that it will take you out. It does about if you're 60, 70, and the enemy will wait till you can have maximum impact to hurt the most amount of people in God's body. We literally can do the benign diction after that. You just pretend to be. That was the same. That's it. 15. - Mish. - Mish. OK. That was great. Great marriages really don't just happen. They take work and intentionality and prayer and fasting and conversations and travailing and endurance and love and picnics and dates and conversations and Gabriel and Michael and Daniel and Zachariah. And that's why I want to tell you that the weekend to remember marriage get away is coming to a city near you. Weekend to remember is a three day event put on by family life design to help couples strengthen their marriage. I think what Jackie said is to have a healthy marriage you have to be intentional. And when we went to weekend to remember it was very impressive how intentional they are with building up marriages. We saw marriages from all walks of life, all ages and it was just inspiring to see other people working on their marriages and also the community that people are able to form throughout the country. Whatever season your marriage is in, if it's hard, if it's good, if it's boring, if it's fun, if it's a bitbically illiterate or a seminary trained. A weekend full of intentionality and growth is something that every couple needs. With 80-week-interremember events across the country finding one in your area is easy. Over the last 40 plus years, these events have helped millions of people. So learn ways to improve communication, resolve conflict and how to restore romance in your marriage. Register now and save $100 using cold Perry at weekinterremember.com. That's weekinterremember.com. Cold Perry. Well, Chris Sting can't have the book called The Faith to Flourish God's Design for a Routed, hey, we don't brand actually. Routed, resilient and fruitful life, not season, life. This is what it looked like. So we're just gonna talk about your book. One of the interesting things I was sharing with you is that you're kinda like, I don't like the platform you use to kind of communicate these ideas on how to be faithful and how to flourish is the olipetry and olives and all the stuff. I personally, I don't like olives. I don't think they taste good. Do you like olives? Jackie. You like them? Well, you even vegimized things. You're a stinger of man, or she said. I'm Greek. How can you say I don't like them? Okay. I like olives. You've never found them only if you like? Nah. It just, well, I ain't gonna hold you. I've only had them like on Papa John's Pizza. Listen. I got people that eat, I could know, I could know all of our teens. I could go all the way. I have such a great palette. I do. You post the best pictures of the best food. Correct. I guarantee you've had olives in your stuff. It's like John Legend. I feel like I wanna like it and I don't. Okay. I like Alicia Keys. No, you shouldn't. Anyway. Would you come to Greece with me and try different olives? Yeah. That's part of the panel. She's American. That's Costco. That's the best thing. But Jackie, she has a great palette. She's made me a foodie. Yeah. But Jackie, she could be kind of like, like Jackie Holt's is. Oh, you're lame. Yeah. Wow. That's beside the point. Okay. You mean talking about how you went to the part of the night? Yes. Tell us the story of going to the part of the night, seeing the olive tree and just the rabbit trail that that took you down. Literally. So, I mean, I've gone so many times and there is, at the top of the pathonon, there is what they call the sacred olive tree. I mean, there's just so much mythology around it. But what is startling is it's the most arid, dry place and nothing else is growing. There's nothing else there except for the, you know, the pathonon that's been there for how many thousands of years. And you look around and go, why is this the only plant that has kind of survived? And it grabbed me and why it really grabbed my attention this particular day of all the times I'd gone. I had been reading some 52. And so, you know, which is just so full on and David was, you know, again, running away from Saul and he'd been betrayed and there was gossip and slander and he'd been lied about and he's hiding in a cave, trying not to die. And then in the midst of all of this, he says he'd verse eight, you know, but I am like a green flourishing olive tree. And it really, it stuck to me. So of course, sometimes, you know, that's what happens. You read a scripture in the morning and then you're out there in the day and you're going, okay. And now I'm looking at a green olive, you know, flourishing olive tree. And then it really caused me to go in. I thought, why, of all the trees, 'cause there are so many trees listed in them and you hear so many sermons about different trees and the seeders of Lebanon. And I'm like, who wants to be an olive tree? It's not like a big oak tree. It's not in some ways, it's not grand, it's not majestic. And yet, then I go down this rabbit trail of, you know, over 200 mentions of olive tree, olive branches, olive oil. In the scripture and the nerd side of me. And then of course, the, you know, I thought my mother was right. Because, you know, you guys grow up with like milk in your bottles to feed your kids. I like had olive oil. Like my olive oil, Windex and olive oil was the answer to life the universe and everything in a Greek household. And I remember all the times I'd go to school and I'd have like, oh, he's you, you don't like him. Olive sandwiches. And fetichese sandwiches. Olive sandwiches. And you know, like, I'm like, I just got to say, in 1972 in Australia, that was not cool. Like, I was so, I had to throw my lunch out on the way to school so the kids wouldn't ridicule me. I mean, nowadays the Mediterranean diet is everything. My mother was just-- You got like a probiotic lunch. You're rich. My mother was just way ahead of the time. I was like on the Mediterranean diet when it was not cool. And, but then, you know, I really went in and looked at the tabernacle, looked at the temple and just went, oh, my word. There are so many-- all the wood in there is from the olive tree. And it sent me two years down this trail. I went to eight different countries. Olive farms in eight different countries around the world, Morocco and Slovenia and Italy and Greece. You know, South Africa? No, I didn't go to Olive Farm in South Africa. I wish I did. It would have a-- I thought it was the moment I was there. You would have, because there's the vineyards down there, which are awesome. We visited a vineyard our last day, and I think we saw a couple of olives from my bed. And so that was-- Yeah, so there they are. You're thinking they're not there. But it was amazing to me then to go. There's a reason why this imagery-- I mean, you're talking everything, like from Romans. When we're grafted in, it's an olive branch when we've been grafted in-- I mean, in the Bible study that I wrote with the book, that's where-- I mean, I really went to all those texts that people sort of leave alone. What does it mean to be grafted in? And the Lord uses an olive branch. It's an olive leaf when Noah and the flood comes in. And so I really unpacked Genesis and go, what does it mean in this crazy world to extend an olive branch? And why after the flood was it that? Why did-- of all of the trees we could have been grafted in when we got grafted in? And what does this mean that we're connected to the promises that we're given to Abraham? And how can we unpack all of this for a world that's burning down, as we speak? What I love about that is symbolism in the Bible is an arbitrary. Right. It really is communicating something helpful. I want to read Psalm 52 again. I would love if you could unpack it for us a little bit. Well, if we can. Psalm 52 verse 8 says, "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God." Like, are they all green? Or are some of them brown? Olive trees. Is green important? Green is important because it's the flourishing side of it. It means everything around it is brown. But it is green. Wow. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. So yeah, tell us about what is he trying to say and how does that serve our ability to flourish? Well, I think the key to me there, even more than the olive trees, the steadfast love of God. So it's the faithful. He is so rooted and grounded in the faithfulness and the love of God that that is what is going to sustain him. I mean, you've got to remember where we are. And I think if you go back, pretty sure it's 1 Samuel 21 and 22. You know, he goes and he goes to the priest and he's given Goliaths sort and the shoebread and Doeeg goes and tells Saul and the priest, 85 priests are killed. I mean, it's pretty rough what has happened. So all of this is happening around him. He's in a cave. And I think the big message is whatever is happening around you, you can still continue to flourish if you are rooted and grounded in the faithful love of God. And I think we need this message. You know, we're recording this in 2026. I mean, the last 10 years, I'm 60 this year. I've seen the world change a lot. You know, I lived in a world where there was no computer and there was no internet. My children didn't even know the world existed in those days. So the world's changed. The church has changed. But the faithful love of God hasn't changed. And the promises of God haven't changed. And if all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus, yes, and amen. And Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Just because everything else has changed. And just because everyone else is losing their minds doesn't mean we have to. So if we can again go, what does it mean to be rooted in the faithful love of God? And what does it mean to be a flourishing green olive tree when everything in the world is dark? And I'm only going to get darker. If you're reading your Bible, you know it's not going to get better. And we have a world and I'm hearing people everywhere at travel, you know, amazing things are here, like either. When this changes, then this promise of God's going to come to pass. Or people still are referencing their life while Christine, before COVID, my life was dut-dut-dut-dut. And I'm like, there was a time that BC stood for Before Christ. But it's almost like nowadays we are-- I'm going, OK, if Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. And all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus, yes, I name it. And we have been grafted in. And the promises that God gave to Abraham are still for us today. Why shouldn't we flourish just because economically, politically, socially, morally, environmentally, the world is spiraling out of control? For a believer, we should still be flourishing. Now that doesn't mean there's no grief or pain or loss so I'm not in any way minimizing. And the book is very clear. In this world, you will. Not you might have trouble. Yet we're still supposed to flourish in the midst of it. That's very-- That's very fascinating. I love how it's so much symbolism as it relates to olive trees to our sanctification. I think that's dope. In the book, you don't just talk about roots, but you talk about the importance of strong roots. Yes. Our olive branch has strong roots. Like, what does it take for the Christians to have strong roots in Christ? Like, what does that string come from? And how do we gain it? Yeah, I love that. And it's not only strong roots, they're very interconnected. That's what keeps them going. So the value of community. So we're saying-- so he says, I'm flourishing, planted in the house of the Lord. So strong Christian community, the house of the Lord, I think that is what keeps us rooted and grounded. The enemy has run rampant in the last decade, causing so much division and chaos and distraction and getting people uprooted. And there are some times. And I mean, of course, I talk about Jeremiah, because again, he uses the olive tree and the uprooting and the burning to the ground. And a lot of that we've watched in real time. It's like, look at what has happened. But out of that, our root system should be so strongly grounded in the Word of God and in the promises of God. Again, I keep coming back to the promises of God. What I hate is that the prosperity gospel has hijacked the reality of biblical flourishing and frivolous. And I love that. Because-- and I feel like part of why I wrote this book is to say, I want to bring back biblical flourishing. So Christians are on a polygetic about what it is to flourish, but that it's not hijacked by the prosperity gospel. And a lot of us are scared to talk about flourishing, because we don't want to be misinterpreted about the hypoprosperity gospel. And so I thought, but in the midst of that, so many Christians are languishing, because their roots are not going deep, because they're not realizing our very spiritual disciplines, which are the means of grace to keep us connected to God. We're throwing them away. And then we're wondering why we're languishing and why we're not flourishing. And then we don't want to be misinterpreted and go, well, we don't want the great American dream and the hypoprosperity gospel. I totally agree. That's not what biblical flourishing is. But we need to talk about what it is to flourish and what it is to be rooted in Christ, because that is such a strong part of our witness in this dark hour on the earth. And if Christians are languishing, like the world is languishing, why would anyone think that there's any hope in Christ? Wow. That's beautiful. That's, I'm sorry. I just want to say that there was a dealt visual for me when you talked about how they just don't grow, but they grow together. Because it's like, when you first plant an allotry, I'm assuming the roots are not connected, but I think as Christians, as we continue to grow in Christ, if we don't come together. Totally. Yeah, you know, and hold each other accountable and grow together. We won't last. 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Policies issued by Western Southern Life Assurance Company, not available in certain states, prices are subject to underwriting and health questions. - I think what comes to my mind when you talk about strong roots and connected it to community and then talked about spiritual disciplines, what I see particularly on social media and I'm sure is present within our churches is a misunderstanding of how maturity happens. - Right. - Wow, yeah. - You know what I'm saying, it's true. - And so I guess I see two things. One is this thinking that the more knowledge I gain, communicates the more maturity I have or the more profit, profit against I have, communicates the maturity and the intimacy that I have. All of it is kind of rooted in just a misunder, like God is actually using very normal boring natural means of grace to mature us, community, fasting, prayer, fellowship. I guess I want you to talk to the people who feel like, nah, like I went and saw the profit and I'm strong in the Lord or I'm in seminary and I'm strong in the Lord, like talk to the people. - Yeah, I love that you're saying that, you know it takes about 10 years for an olive tree to bear the first fruit. And so it actually takes a whole lot of time. And I think this misunderstanding of fruit and root is because you can't see the roots, nobody wants to allow that to be formed. And so what is happening? Either we think my high intellect, I'm in seminary or I can just get away with sort of gifts as if we gave ourselves our gifts anyway. This is what always amuses me. I'm like, your gift actually doesn't tell me anything about your relationship with Christ. It just shows me that God has distributed his gifts to his body as he sees fit. That's, it tells me about God, not about you. And so I'm like, God has got gifts. - I'm there, you see that, that's it. - That to me is like, but the gift that is on you will destroy you if the character in you has not been formed. And so you could be in seminary and getting head knowledge but not building any character and not allowing Christ to build character in you. I mean, even, you know, I mean, when it's written that you nullify the power of the word through your just religious traditions. So you could, you could just go through the form and there's no power in the word of God. You could know it inside our back to the front in the Greek Hebrew and our remake. But there's no power because the power, the spirit of God, you're not allowing him to have his way in you. It's not, you know, that you get more of the spirit. Hopefully the spirit's getting more of you. And that's the sanctification process. So I think even so, you get maybe into some of the charismatic circles and it's like, I want more of you, more of you is like, well, you've got all of him that you're going to get when you save what he needs is more of you. And that's really the sanctification process. But if you're running around chasing the latest word, so you've got two sides. You're either chasing the latest word from man that says it's from God when you could really read what God's got to say. And then a word can sort of confirm what the Lord's are already saying. But it's just either laziness. And if you're lazy in going to the word, you're probably lazy for allowing the spirit of God to really do the work in you as well. The other side is, and I think most of this has got to do more with personality than anything. Some people are wired up. They like to study. They like to. So you can hide behind that. Other people are lazy and they don't want to. So they want to hide behind the gifts. And I'm like, both it's God's word number one. And it's God's gifts. So at the end of the day, they are both more to do with God than you being sanctified. At the end of the day, both can be an escape from the hard work of allowing the Lord to do what he wants to do in you. And both those things are God. It's his word. And it's his gifts. So don't use God. To put yourself forward. You've got to allow God. Again, the whole bottom line is surrender. You've got to allow God to produce that fruit in you. And if you confuse a gift with fruit, you're in really dangerous territory. Excellent. Talk about using your fruit, like using your gifts before it's time. Because I think about it all of-- Yes. I don't really-- I haven't studied all of branches, but I know one thing about like grape vines or whatever. Like when it first started to form, It doesn't mean it's ready to be picked. Right. It has to mature, right? It has to taste terrible. It will spit it out. And it has to spit it out, right? And so, like, I think sometimes we treat our spiritual walks like that. As soon as we see a little fruit, we try to be useful to the world. It doesn't necessarily mean we're ready, just because we're bearing some type of fruit. And so talk about the maturity of knowing when you're ready to actually go out to be used. And it's a greater challenge in this generation, because even if you have an ounce of fruit, you can actually take a screenshot of that, edit it, crop it, upload it, and ride that for 10 years. And there's no oil on it. There's no anointing on it. It's one little thing. And the Lord-- number one, you've got to remember, the fruit is the Lord. It's anyway. It's like it's his. He's the one that produces the fruit in us. Now, I'm a big advocate. Why I want people to flourish is because it is to our Father's Great Glory that we bear much fruit. So, glory is at stake. This is what I think is at stake at the earth. So what we're seeing at the moment is not necessarily a whole lot of fruit. Maybe something God once did. We've sort of like-- I don't know. We've branded that one thing. That's not like ongoing fruit. That's not fruit that keeps producing all the time. It's this one moment in time. This one thing that happened that the Lord did. And somehow we're trying to build a brand out of that, or we're trying to build a platform out of that. And you're like, hang on a minute. This is all back to front. The Lord is the one-- number one, promotion doesn't come from the North-South East or West. It comes from God. If you put yourself there, you have to keep yourself there. So you're no longer relying on the oil of God. You're relying on a marketing plan. And it's better to be marked by God than marketed by man. But to be marked by God, you've got to be submitted to the process of ongoing sanctification, which means there's ongoing crushing. That's how oil is produced. And the fact is that it's the oil, Isaiah says, that it's the oil that breaks the yolks and chains. Not the gift. So a gift will fill a room. And a gift can entertain a room. But a gift will not break yolks and chains and bondages. The only oil does. To get oil, you've got to have guess many moments constantly. I'm 60. It doesn't change. You've got to constantly be on your knees, nevertheless. Not my will. But thine be done. That is ongoing. And that is what people don't want to do. Because then-- but that's the only way the oil stays fresh. So my value isn't-- if you don't have a discerning audience, based on my gift, 40 years of longevity, pretty much stability, not perfection, mistakes, but stability, ongoing repentance, moving forward, I probably-- this had a little disermin. As long as I don't do anything major, I don't-- Nick and I stay married to Nick and don't do anything stupid. And I could probably ride on my gift into eternity, but probably not be producing any more fruit. I have to be on my knees in guess semini, submitting to the process of crushing so that this fresh oil every day, and that is what gives my ministry longevity and life and changing people's lives. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Sheesh. This feels oily. I-- First look. I'm a Rita Tex. And in light of what you just said, this is John 15. I am the true vine. And my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Being crushed and being pruned is very painful. Very. And I've seen that there can be within me and in others the temptation to escape the pruning by finding other ways of comfort, other avenues of escape. But there also is the temptation to withdraw from the thing. So for example, I think last year was one of the most tempting years for me to not want to do ministry anymore. Because I was like, this is costing me too much, right? Which would be disobedience for me to be like, yeah, it's too painful. I don't like dealing with what it comes with being useful. And da da da da da. Like, what is your encouragement? I guess into-- like, how do you lean into the crushing? How do you lean into the pruning instead of running away from it? Yeah. Now, the good news is as you get older, it doesn't get easier. But you do know that what's on the other side is worth it. And what I mean by that is the intimacy you have with Jesus is worth it. And he's worthy. So here's what pruning does. Because it says every branch that does bear fruit, that doesn't bear fruit will be cut off. And the branch is that does. So you prune if you do, you prune if you don't. That's the bottom line. And you don't really know whether you're in it for yourself or for God until the next round of pruning. And at every stage, that's what's revealed. Because I mean, I got to a similar place a few years ago where I said to Nick, I know I can do it. I just don't know if I want to, because I'm so cognizant now of the price. And then the Lord is like, so you thought when you just said just to me and I'm laying everything down 40 years ago, that I was dead to self, and then I would deny myself, take out my cross and follow him. And it's like that's supposed to be a daily process. It's not like when you get to 60 and have a certain amount of whatever. You're at a certain place of comfort and ease. Are you still denying yourself? Are you still taking up your cross? Are you still following him? And you don't really know you are. We hide it behind, I've got a pack of suitcase and I've got to go to six cities this week and are not doing all this for the Lord. And then it's like, you go through years like you went through last year. And then it's like, what am I really in this form? Because it's no longer for either more followers or more impact or more, where else do I want to speak? What else? I mean, at this point in my life, it is now purely, hopefully, to run my race and finish my course so that when I get to the other side, I do hear the world done good and faithful. This is actually what it's about. And I really wouldn't have known, is it really about that till you get to hear where I can hide now behind? You can hide behind success or you can tap out because it's just too hard. But the fact is that the things where I want to stop going, these are the things that I had prayed for, that I prayed that God would allow me to be used for His glory, that He would move through me. Well, the fact is, now I'm living in the result of those prayers. When I had 1A21 office, it was really different to delivering programs in 22 countries and having hundreds of staff and all the stuff that comes with all of that. When nobody knew me, that was awesome, compared to now millions of people who got their different opinions and depending what, you know, said, so you're viewed now through the lens of everyone else. Does it still really only matter to me? Do I care more about what God knows about me than what people think about me? Now, I don't really know that until I find out what some people think about me. And then I'm like, oh, okay, God, but you know this. And I guess, is that enough for me? And I didn't really know that until the other fled up, that I'm in it for His kingdom and not for me because until you get to a certain point, you probably iron it for you until then, you can live in the comfort of being there and you have enough, just enough Christian verbiage that you can get away to you go home with, like, I'm very spiritual, but you stopped dying daily a long time ago. And God knows that. And that's why I said, I remember with Nick and I was, if such an emotional night and I said, nobody would really know. I could just, you know, I said, but Jesus would. And at least as painful as it was, that's my most recent bout of pruning. I still knew I was in it for him. That's beautiful. I was, I was going to bring a real quick, how just put some flesh on it too, is like, I think it was a couple of days ago, Preston came in the room. It was like, how do you feel about ministry? And I was a little offensive, offended, 'cause I felt like, I was like, what you trying to say, I don't know ministry no more. And he was like, that's not what I'm trying to say. I'm just curious about. And his reasoning was, you used to be doing a lot more. You used to be, have these ideas in this vision and execute that. And like, and I was like, yeah, I think for a long time, there was a level of ambition I had. But now it's become so costly that I've died to the ambition, where I only want to do the things that I know I'm graced and called in commission to do. And I think there's something good about that. - Very, I think that's part of the sanctification process. I would agree. I have a lot less ideas, because I don't want to come up with ideas. I want to be faithful to what the Lord's call me to do. And Paul says, I mean, you know, ambition is mentioned in the Bible. And most times is he says, do nothing out of selfish ambition, do you know? And it's actually very sobering to go, oh, how much of what, my early years was selfish ambition. But he also, three times, is very strong about godly ambition. And you know, I make it my ambition to make the gospel known where, you know, where it's not known. I don't want to build on another man's. He goes on and you go to the Bible a lot. - Oh yeah. - You just spout in the mouth. (laughing) - But when you look at what is selfish ambition, what is godly ambition, the Lord's call me. line and you're talking, you know, he's someone talking that I want to, you know, I speak to people's purpose and destiny. I mean, that's what I'm known for. That's what I want to see people flourish. But I'm watching a generation in many ways destroy themselves because selfish ambition would take you out 100% of the time. Godly ambition is where you're flourishing. The truth is, this is not a downer. I'm hoping that I'm positive to people to go, oh, you don't even tap into life to you get into the Godly ambition zone. And I would hope that people get into it younger rather than older. Some of that will just come with age, but social media is not helping because what we're doing is scrolling through everyone else's life and then comparing and pauses, you know, do not compare yourself amongst yourselves. That is not wise. So there's such a lack of wisdom in comparison and competition because fruitfulness and flourishing and joy is found when you step into doing what the Lord actually has called you to do whatever your field is. And whether you have one talent or you have five talents, the joy of the Lord and flourishing in Christ is no different. But those of us that maybe if the Lord's given us five talents, then we have a responsibility to make sure that we yield or the fruit. And that comes at great cost because people question your motives and people will, you know, a whole different thing. So then you have to get into a place and that's where silence and solitude is crucial because there's a fewer of your people that will really understand that at many levels. And to stay faithful and go no matter what anyone thinks. So even as I get older, you know, well, haven't you done enough and haven't you? I go, well, I don't know, are you measuring that or is the Lord? And it's him that I'm going to stand before on judgment day. I have to give an account for every idle word, for everything that I've done and not done, which makes me a lot more circumspect on social media because I will give an account for every idle word that I've done and said. And I will give an account, did I run my race and finish my course? Not anybody else's, but did I finish my course? What have women done before me or what are women doing around me? And that's really sobering, I think, for all of us. Yes. But before we move on, I kind of want to stand this topic of pruning a little bit, because I think pruning is so vital to our flourishing. When I was doing a pandemic, I got into a whole bunch of hobbies like everybody else. Things that I don't do now, we stopped doing those hobbies. We picked up a pandemic. But one of the things I picked up was gardening. I stopped playing stuff in the yard. I was doing all kinds of things. Yeah, I was out there every day. And the Lord began to speak to me a lot. I fell in love with planning these like elephant ear plants or whatever. And when they started to grow, I felt really proud. It was like, wow, that was my work, that my hard work or whatever. And I remember the first time one of my elephant ears got really stronger, came out side one day and like three leaves were dead. And I felt sad. And what I kept trying to do is water it, water it, water it, water water it, and it got worse and worse. And one of the things I googled, it said, man, if that thing is dead, cut it off. Because one thing it, one thing it said is the longer, as long as that dead thing is attached to the, to the plant, that plant will continually try to give that dead thing life and take life away from the other leaves. And not only that, it prevents other leaves from growing. And so I think a lot of times when it comes to pruning, I think we're afraid to cut things off because we're holding onto dead things. Totally. And so talk about that fear, get underneath that fear that makes people afraid to be pruned in to begin with. And how can we overcome that so that we can flourish? For sure. And I think, well, it's our attachment. It's because faith is predicated on trust and not understanding. And so at least if something's even dead and we want to deny that it's dead or at least you're hanging out with people that you shouldn't be hanging out with, but you think at least I'm hanging out with somebody, you know. And until you can trust that God is going to bring into your life, who he is going to bring in for your good and for his glory, the constant test for pruning is do we trust God more than the thing that we see even when we know that the thing that we see is not good. So whether it's a relational thing or you know, other stuff in our lives. And I think it all keeps coming back to, and I'm coming back to Psalm 52, because David said, I trust in God's unfailing or faithful or steadfast love. If you can trust that God loves you and if he's going to cut this area off, that's not, that's dead because he's going to bring something that's alive or something that's going to breed life into you. But the big, that when you say get to the root of it, the root is do we trust God enough for that? Preston, I would say the big, an equally big challenge. So, you know, when I was first, when I first came to faith in Christ, it was hard to let go of things, because you know, I mean, I came from the background of abuse and abandonment and adoption, all the things. So even though there were a lot of unhealthy attachments in my life, from someone that was like left in a hospital, unnamed and unwanted when I was born, you know, attachment was a big thing. Even if it was a bad attachment, it was an attachment. So for me to detach and allow God to cut things out of my life, so I could attach to him more and more, none of that was easy. Over time, as I trusted, I mean, it was so scary, terrifying in so many ways, for me to learn to attach to him. The challenges as you get older and more sanctified, there are less sort of like the big sin detachments that need to be made. So then it becomes hard issues, motives, and then it becomes fruitful things, because it says every branch that bears fruit will be cut off as well. Then you start going, say at this point in my life, well, this is bearing fruit for God's glory, this is bearing fruit, this is good, there's no obvious sin or evil attachment or thing. Man, then you go to deeper levels of trusting God going, I'm going to let you cut that thing off and that's, and I'm trusting so that it will bear more fruit in other areas. And you'll find that as you get older and go more, it becomes increasingly good things that are no longer the God thing for your life that needs to be cut off. So you never get exempt from it and you have to walk closely with the Lord and you have to continue to trust him, because most of the stuff that I'm letting go of at this stage and allowing to be pruned is really good. And I really love it. That's beautiful. When I was a young, I read about this in my, I think Bob's study about Judas, I'm maybe, I don't know. I talk about my aunt Merle, who anytime we left her house, she would grab this little pile of oil and then like, I just remember the whole process, she like turned it over like that and then put a cross on my forehead. I'm five, six, seven, eight, and I'm just not understanding why my forehead is shining now. I don't really understand why. And she did it every time we left her house. You have this chapter where you talk about the production of olive oil and needing the Holy Spirit and anointing. And I think there's a lot of conceptions and misconceptions about what anointing is. Can you speak to that? Yeah, I'm so glad you asked because I think it, you know, and particularly in some of the stream of the church that I've come from, there's been such a misappropriation of that term. I mean, of course, it's the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit, of God. And we're all once we're, before we're saved and we're in Christ, we've been filled with the Spirit and we're sealed until the day redemption. But I'm saying that, that anointing, I think somewhere along the line, many believers forget that we have, we say, a try on God, the Godhead, like the Holy Spirit of God, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. And we need that because we weren't designed to do this thing alone. So the fact is many believers sort of either have their try on God or their Trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Scriptures and not the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so I think that that's on one side, you could have that. On the other side is some people forget that we have a try on God and then they're using the Holy Spirit more of the way that Simon the sorcerer did in Acts 8. So the first time the gospel leaves Jerusalem and goes out into Samaria where it's supposed to go into, to go towards the outermost parts of the earth, you need, it signs wonders miracles. That's normally what God uses for the expansion of the gospel into, into new territory. But with every time there's the legitimate, there's always a counterfeit and it's right there from Acts 8. It's not going to go away, it's going to be the same in the 21st century. But what happens then is you can get charlatans that are out there, you know, send me, you know, 500 bucks and I'm going to send you some anointing oil and I'm going to sneeze on a hanker chief and like all this thing's going to raise your dead cat from the dead. I mean, I'm being very facetious for, very, with great intentionality because all that is just Simon the sorcerer nonsense. It's, you know, and so that's given in some circles. People like what is going on, you know, you snake handlers and there's this anointing and I'm like your aunt though because I've got my anointing oil in my bag. I'm going into my hotel. My kids will laugh. I send my daughter back to Paris to college. I'm like you anoint everything. They're like, I think they're scared of me. I'm not sure that they're really into the Lord. They're like, okay, mum, here's the video. But I think there's power in the oil in and of itself, that thing doesn't have power. But I think what if you can get you to with great intentionality be praying in the name of Jesus. There's great power. I believe there's great power in the name of Jesus. And so to me, that's what that oil does. I mean, that oil is all through the Old Testament. So I'm going, we have gone so far the other way that when I'm, when I longer talk about anointing oil, because of those excesses in that way. But I don't know how we could do any. I don't know how you could raise your kids without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I don't know how you can stay married without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Let alone doing our ministry and I'm talking then as much as going to work every day. I don't know how you would survive in this world. Well, I wouldn't want to do this alone. So I guess with two chapters of great intentionality, I talk about the Holy Spirit being our guide. And I'm saying, can we remember if Jesus God in kinder to himself said, it is better that I go. I just wrap your head around that. It is better that I go. And then, and so that another will come. So, you know, and then we will receive power. And I think this is where we forget in Acts 1, 8 to what? Not to do witnessing, but to be witnesses. And so this is what we need in 2026 on the earth. We need Christians with the power to be witnesses in this world that is falling apart. What we've done is changed. And I'm an evangelist. I mean, that's why I love Preston so much. I'm into my bone. But giving someone a, you know, four spiritual laws tracked and going, this is what I want to teach you how to do witnessing. I mean, that's even in the Bible, as in like, you know, it's, but if I can teach you, if I can direct you to again call upon the power of the Holy Spirit so that you can be a witness, which is what Jesus said. Could you imagine how all the workplaces would change, what believers are, how colleges would change? How we act online. And like, you know, we, we either want to do witnessing and we don't even do that well, or we want to, you know, get out there and we, we just, you know, I'm going to take on every government structure and I'm going to take on this and I'm going to take on that. And I just think, man, if you just inquireness, in confidence, and in strength relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to be a witness, it is amazing how that would change. I think so much of the landscape of the church and the world. And so I think I'm more passionate about saying, could we rediscover the triumphant God? Could we then say, what might it be to have the power to be a witness? And again, that's, that's not separate from it's, there's a direct correlation between sanctification and crushing. All of these things, the gift of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit. We have nine of each for a reason. So we've either gone where a fruit church or where a gift church. I'm like, I don't know if I either of you are a church then because we're actually supposed to have both. I'm a spirit person. I'm a word person. I'm like, what Bible are you reading with both? And so if we could bring, and I think I've attempted to do this, can we bring them both together? Because that's how we're going to have the power to be witnesses in the world. I think people said it to me over the years. It's like, you and Jackie got a teaching ministry. These people, they got profiting. They're just like, no, teaching is profiting. And like, I think you're right, they're all supposed to be kind of together. And I don't know how we over time started to separate. So maybe because certain church nominations they value other things, but I think that all of it should be valued. Yeah. All of it is. Totally. And I think the more holistic we can present it, I think the greater that it is because we've got people that are just like signing up for the dialer prophecy thing. And I'm like, what? That is just causing so much destruction in the body. But equally word without spirit is just causing a dryness. So you've got you're drying up or you're basically blowing up, you know, and that's not endurance. And what you'd learn from the olive tree is it in juus. Like the thing is, I think the oldest olive tree they say that's on earth is in creed. It's 3,000 years old. They endure fires, storms. And so both extremes, either drying up or blowing up are not enduring Christianity. And because we want quick fixes, we're either going to go to whichever one is going to work best for us. If you're wired up a particular way, you're going to go more the academic route. If you're not wired up that way, you want instant answers or you want something that's going to confirm what you want to do anyway. And you're going to go for the easy path. And what I'm saying is there is no easy path. There is no easy path. So we need to be deeply rooted in the word of God and deeply empowered by the Spirit of God simultaneously. And that is how I think we're going to be flourishing in the world. So you've got this one stream that thinks, if we can just be exempt from pain and struggle, and I'm going to give you a great word that's going to get you out of this, but you can't be exempt from it. Jesus didn't take us out of this world. We're in it, but not of it. So what does it mean to be in it, but not of it? And to have an enduring resilient faith, I think, is one of the greatest testimonies in our generation. That's great. Before we started, we were talking about just kind of what's happening in the world with ice, with politics, with Nigeria, with Gaza. There's a lot going on all over the place. And you were saying how if this book doesn't work or not the book, but if these truths don't work all over the world, then it's not true. And so I wanted to just hear you talk about how flourishing, fruitfulness, rootedness, how that can help us be on mission or be rooted. And about like, how does that help us when we think of global stuff? Does that make sense? Yeah, it really does, because I think sometimes we could become very myopic. I mean, we've all got our context, and we've got to work this thing out. But for God's I loved the whole world. And for me, this is so real every day. You guys know I run a 21. So it's global anti-trafficking organisation. I just think even now as we're recording this, I have an office in Cambodia and in Thailand. Well, those two countries are just at war with each other. So you go, okay, this is real, because I have stuff. There's trafficking that happens in between all of that. How does this work? We've got offices in Cape Town. I've got offices throughout Europe, every continent in the world, South America. So I'm going, if flourishing only means, so he's where it goes wrong with the hyper prosperity gospel, if it means you've just got really good stuff, what does that mean for the people that are like in my Cape Town office, the, you know, a serving communities in townships like that, I never, not this side of eternity while I'm alive anyway, are going to have the kind of material stuff that we have, you know, every day thing. If flourishing is just attached or the love of God, it is attached to what you have externally, then we can all pack up and go home because this thing, this thing does not work and it's not real. But no, we're just scripture, say that's flourishing. Now though, if I can't reach into those communities ago, you can flourish. So what does that mean? Yes. How can you thrive? And also your material world can change as well. Like, you know, you go to those communities, they're asking me for help. Like how can, and so we have work programs and we have, we have great things because I believe God cares holistically about all of you, body, solid spirit. So I'm not just going to pull you out of slavery. I want to stop the systemic injustice that leads to that and then give you opportunities to, to build businesses outside of that so that you don't get back into that, either poverty or trafficking cycles. So I'm thinking of it holistically because I think God does. So flourishing has to do with all of it. But we can get so caught up in thinking, my issue in my corner of the world right now is the only thing that matters now. It's really healthy to pause and think the world's been around for a really long time. Most things have come around in cycles. And this one thing is not the be all and end all. And I think sometimes we, we have to, I think always remember there is a bigger God picture at play and we have to set our minds on things above. And so to me, I view everything temporally through an eternal lens. So I'm constantly thinking of our tell us whatever major thing is on at the moment. And so, you know, in an accident, my friend is a first responder. They know when their ambulance turns up to an accident, the last person they go to help is the one that's screaming the loudest because that person's going to be okay. They've got the energy. They're going to the ones that are out that are quiet, that are done. I think sometimes, and because of social media, we've got to be really careful. Some things are elevated. And in an eternal perspective, and what God in his sovereignty is doing on the earth right now, just because it's the squeaky will and it's very noisy and it's loud, it's got you have different tags like you put yellow tags red tags green tags on depending on how serious something is. And sometimes I think we're running to the ones that we're going to be okay. It's actually going to be okay. It'll run its course and there are so many things happening and you need the mind of Christ to go, Lord, where are you? Where is the thing that really needs CPR? - That's like T.R. - Very much. And so you look at that in the natural. That's how it's done just with ambulance is going to the scene of a accident. But if we're ministers, that's what we are. So we go, okay, there are very real things. The systemic injustice in the world. And because I have offices on every continent, we could sit here and talk 10 podcasts on so much injustice in so many different places. And racism in so many different countries, and misogyny in so many different countries, and systemic abuse. And so in so many places, horrific genocides, my family ended up in Australia because of the genocides in Turkey with my grandparents, the genocide in Egypt with my parents. I mean, we can go on and on and on. So what I'm saying is it's very real. It's a very formal world. It's a very evil world. And so we need the mind of Christ. And we need to know where do we say what and do what? And where are we running to give care? So to me, I want everyone to flourish. And I go, I've got to be able to look at the kids in Cambodia that are five years old, that we're helping to move out of a war situation and go, in Christ, you can flourish. Well, bombs are dropping and missiles are coming. And that's not easy. I'm saying to really be able to believe, to do that, to the challenges, you know, we've got four offices here in America. And there's just crisis happening everywhere. Really devastating stuff. I need to be able to hold their hands and go, in Christ you can flourish while some of you are experiencing the most horrific conditions in this moment. So there is not an easy answer. Is what I'm saying to all of this. And yet, I'm, why am I smiling? Because all the promises have got to be in Christ Jesus. Yes, and amen. Therefore, I believe there's a promise. And that doesn't mean you're going to have everything all the time in every circumstance, but you can have him at all times. So that means in this moment, the part of him that is going to be most resilient in your life is, I've got hope when nobody else has hope. I have peace when nobody else has peace. I have joy when nobody else has joy. So whatever it might be in that moment, that's going to get you through as his overarching plan is going to play out in your life. Amen. That first response, I'm just responding to. Manality was so great. Because I think a lot of times we, and when I say we just people on social media, we can become so passionate about the loudest thing. When you just talked about the whole world, and I think that, man, I always have people attack me. Every single time something happens, they feel like I should be talking about something. Yes. It's like, I actually want to talk about what the Lord wants me to talk about, because to your point, it's a huge world. And I think God is going to give, like we're a body of Christ. And he's going to give some of us more of a passion to talk about this, sort of fight for this. But this injustice is everywhere. And I think the things that's the loudest, I get the most attention. And-- Can I sing a song? Like that. It's got the whole world. It is hands. Y'all almost like me. I don't have no rhythm. We got to tell him something. I was just thinking you're pressing it. He does. It's hands. Do you have any closing, encouragement, challenges, prayers, scriptures that you just want to put before the peak? Yeah. I hope this is a wake-up call, because I feel we've been languishing too long. And I've got a chapter in there about languishing, because if I was sort of to look at the body as I travel, I find that the West is where we're languishing the most, where we should be languishing the least. So so many other places that I go to there, I think, y'all, I think I would be like tapping out right now with this, if this was-- And yet, the joy of the Lord, the peace of God that I see in believers, whether it's they're in abject material poverty, or it's part of the persecuted church. And I'm like, why have you not given up? Why are you still believing in Jesus? Like, am I even a Christian? Literally, there was a country that Nick and I went to just very recently. And I'm like, Nick, am I even saying-- do I even know Jesus like they need? Because they're like, let me end with this. I was once speaking to 500 leaders of the underground church in China. And they had been brought out to a certain part of Southeast Asia. There's four major streams of the underground church. So it was 125 leaders from each stream. It was the first time they were brought together in this one room. Of course, it's so dangerous to do that. Anyway, as what they had invited me and asked me to come was because they're hemorrhaging the younger generation because of urbanization, industrialization, globalization, internet, all the things. What had happened was when the revival hit mostly-- I mean, the greatest revival in the church, in our generation, is in the Chinese church, where it's been illegal to be a Christian. And so that revival spread amongst agrarian, uneducated workers because they had killed obviously a lot of the educated class. So they so depended on the Holy Spirit. And it would seem almost simplistic too. And so the kids are growing up. The faith of their parents, what the kids would have thought, was the naive, blind faith. But they're like-- they didn't have access to reading and writing. They just needed God, or even Nick back in the day. My husband smuggled Bibles into China. They would have maybe one verse or one chapter. That's all you had. And that was what you built it on. So then the kids grow up. They have access to the world and education because their parents' faith has believed God, and they put them through school. And then-- but then they're feeling like, man, this Christianity is a bit unsophisticated. And the faith of my parents is so unsophisticated. And now I'm more evolved. And we don't need God. We have science. We have technology. We have all the things. And so they said, Christine, could you help us maybe reach a younger generation and learn some leadership? Because we never learned leadership. The only thing we ever learned was how to witness to our prison guard on the way to our execution. So when they said that, I didn't think I heard it correctly. I got my translator to go. And they go, most sincere humble people, you know? No, no. The only thing we learned was how to witness the grace of Jesus to our prison guard on the way to our execution. Like, I start bawling. And I got on my knees right there. I said, I don't know what you think I'm here to give you. I can't think of one thing in this moment that I could personally impart to you that would in any way enhance your relationship with Jesus. Paul says, I pray that I might impart to you some spiritual. I don't feel like I've got anything. And I go, but would you lay hands on me? Because whatever that thing is that you've got, that faith, and that I would go so far as say that flourishing faith, that would cause you to want to do nothing else, but talk to someone about Jesus as they're going to kill you. That to me is flourishing faith. I said, I want that. That's what I want in my life. So I guess I want to say to someone, no matter what your circumstance is, because there is no way I can promise anyone that anything's going to get better externally, economically, politically, morally, I mean, you know, insert whatever. But one thing I can promise you, Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. All the promises of God are in Christ Jesus, yes and amen. Therefore, we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. Amen. That's beautiful. Thank you, miss Christine. You want to show the book? Yeah, man. So this is the faith of flourish. God's designed for a rooted, resilient, and faithful, fruitful life. It will be in the show notes. If it's anything that you want to follow us to know, like we're to follow you, and it's just a thoughtful thing. I mean, you know, I mean, she Christine can. I know my God. It's a big world. It's a big world. Oh, God. It's a big world. She dope. Follow her. It's all the stuff that's in the show notes. Thank you. Bye, yo. With the parries is produced by the parries with support from Amanda Reed and Channing McBride, video recording and audio production by Matthew Baxter and Xavier Fairly edited by the team at Trent Lively. Art work by Hop. Thank you for listening. Now go with God.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The hosts discuss personal music preferences, contrasting "happy" songs with more melancholic or "shout" gospel music that brings joy.
  2. A guest, Christine, shares insights on enduring faith, emphasizing the need for ongoing sanctification, embracing the "pain of recovery," and avoiding building monuments to oneself instead of God.
  3. Christine uses the metaphor of an olive tree from Psalm 52 to illustrate flourishing through being rooted in God's steadfast love, especially during difficult times.
  4. The conversation touches on cultural exchanges, like the Australian food Vegemite, and includes a promotional segment for a marriage retreat.

Summary:

The conversation begins with a light-hearted discussion on music tastes, where one host prefers moodier songs over overtly happy ones but finds joy in gospel "shout" music. The dialogue then shifts to a guest, Christine, who reflects on enduring faith over nearly 40 years. She warns that the enemy is patient and often targets individuals when they can cause maximum damage. The key to perseverance is staying connected to God's Word and committing to ongoing sanctification, even when it is painful, likening it to the intense recovery from a knee injury. Christine emphasizes that avoiding this process leads to gifts carrying a person further than their character can sustain, resulting in building a "monument" to oneself rather than to God.

Later, Christine discusses her book, using the olive tree as a central metaphor. Inspired by Psalm 52:8, she explains that flourishing like a "green olive tree" means remaining rooted in God's steadfast love despite surrounding barrenness or adversity. This symbolizes resilience and fruitfulness in a changing world. The exchange also includes personal anecdotes, cultural references like Vegemite, and a promotional ad for a marriage retreat, weaving together themes of faith, personal growth, and community.

FAQs

The key is staying deeply connected to Jesus through His Word and embracing ongoing sanctification, even when it's painful, rather than relying on gifts or titles.

They often stop embracing the pain of spiritual growth, allowing their gifts to carry them further than their character can sustain, which can lead to building monuments to themselves instead of to God.

It symbolizes flourishing and resilience by remaining rooted in God's steadfast love, even when everything around you is dry or challenging, showing that faithfulness leads to ongoing life and fruitfulness.

By being intentional through events like the Weekend to Remember getaway, which focuses on improving communication, resolving conflict, and restoring romance, requiring work, prayer, and dedication.

For those with a melancholy bent, shout music can impart joy and serve as an uplifting, happy style of worship that contrasts with darker or minor-key preferences.

Vegemite is a black yeast paste from Australia; it should be spread thinly on hot toast, as a thick layer can be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with it.

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