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there's just this explosion of life, there's this explosion of life.

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And we know, even in the new scientific studies, about when the sperm reaches the egg,

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there's an explosion of light that creates that child.

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Well, let there be light, right?

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First thing God said was let there be light.

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So that's what God does, is the Creator God creating us in the image of God

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is an explosion of light, an explosion of potential that can change the world.

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I am sitting here in his very own studio with Pastor Steve Holt of The Road Church,

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a church that he founded, what, how long ago now, Steve?

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Ten years ago.

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Ten years ago here in Colorado Springs.

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And the Lifecast, of course, we're focusing on life issues.

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And I really wanted Steve to be one of our first guests,

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because, Steve, I think you just are emblematic of a pastor

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and a man who has a heart for life, a heart for God.

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And you do it both with passion and compassion.

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That's just something I've always so appreciated about you.

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So thanks for being with us in one of our first few episodes of The Lifecast.

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Thanks, Rich.

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I love what you do.

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I mean, you're in the hunt, man.

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I mean, you're right there on the front lines.

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Like nobody else in the city.

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And so I just appreciate just the way in which you have

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not only spearheaded a movement among a needy part of our community

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that nobody's really thinking about, honestly,

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except for life people and someone like you in the Life Network.

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But then to watch the creation and development

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of the ministry here in Colorado Springs is amazing.

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I mean, I remember when it was just a single location and now it's four.

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And I'm an inclusive builder.

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That's kind of my identity is I love building with people, anything.

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But I especially love it with church work.

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And that's what you've done.

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You're an inclusive builder, too.

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And I love that about you.

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We get to be a part of 75 plus churches, including the Road Church.

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And for those of you who don't know,

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it actually did get some sweet media coverage here in Colorado Springs.

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We had two different stations, and there actually might be a third

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that covered the fact that there were 75 beautiful diaper bags stuffed with items

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that our moms need that you and your congregation put together

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and raised during the Christmas season.

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And those are immediately getting turned around

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to moms who have just had or about to have their little one.

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And what a blessing to start the year with these diaper bags.

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And, you know, I know you and I have talked to the past about how we can get frustrated

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with things the media does or doesn't cover.

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But, man, we were like swarmed with media coverage.

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We had KOA, we had Fox 21.

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I think there's going to be another station to cover this positive story.

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And I just want to say on behalf of our clients, thank you for being a part of that.

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And what prompted you guys to get involved in that?

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Oh, man, I just it was exactly what we wanted to do, because it was hands on.

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It was something that the people had to go out and do.

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They had to do something to help someone.

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Probably the only thing better would be if we actually could hand it to them.

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Right.

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But we knew that that was a process that sometimes there's a real need for confidentiality.

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And we want to honor that.

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We don't want people to ever feel like that there's some tool of ours to like a do-gooder.

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Everybody jumped on it.

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And I think first service, which is our lowest service of the three that we have,

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I think 60 were gone after the first service.

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And we have two more.

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And so we could have done a whole lot more.

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We ran out really quick.

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The third service was bummed out.

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We didn't even announce the third service because there weren't.

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I mean, there's only like 20.

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I mean, out of six or six or 700 people in the second service, there's only like 25 left.

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Wow.

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To give.

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So those went probably like in one minute.

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I mean, it's just such a practical, tangible way to demonstrate that as pro-life believers,

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yes, we care about the pre-born, but we care just as much about the lives of those moms and dads.

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And you guys really get that.

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And by the way, Rob was at church on Sunday.

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I was just about to talk about that.

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He gave a great, you guys had a great video you did.

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That was super great.

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I love the statistics on sonograms and what kind of a difference that makes and all that.

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I was just amazing.

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Well, here, be encouraged by this.

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The road is one of about 25 churches that people like Rob, myself, and others from our team are

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going to be in just sharing what churches and individuals in Colorado Springs are making

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possible.

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Yeah.

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And so would this be in Sanctity of Human Life month and Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

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actually was just a couple of days before this.

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drops, tell me why you think it's important that churches acknowledge the month and the

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day that acknowledges the value and the sanctity of life.

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Well, we're in a blue state.

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We got some pretty, you know, liberal laws as it relates to abortion and stuff.

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And so we have to stay on the cutting edge as Christians with the importance of life

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because it's not necessarily a part of the government of our state.

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So why not build a groundswell of a movement?

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I like to call it a kingdom of God revolution, having a kingdom of God revolution that's

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bringing the kingdom of God to men and women, especially these beautiful, precious moms

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that are feeling so desperate, feeling like they're in such a crisis because they're pregnant.

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Everybody probably around them is telling them much that's very helpful or practical.

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And then there's a place they can go where they can see the child.

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They can see the child and they can make it a more informed decision.

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And then like the statistics were like 98 percent.

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Was it six?

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It was something like, was it 78 percent who see the child on?

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Is it the sonogram?

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This past year, it was like 86 percent of the time that a mom met her baby via ultrasound.

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She chose to parent.

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Okay.

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So on the ultrasound, that number, and then it jumps to something like 98 percent if the

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guy's there.

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Yeah.

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The man, the father in the room is, is huge.

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And that's again, one of many reasons why, you know, that ministry to fathers is so critical.

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And you know, we're really trying to help cast vision for other pregnancy centers to

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catch a vision for her and him.

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But you're exactly right.

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It makes a huge, huge difference.

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So that takes money.

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That takes people.

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It takes staffing.

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It takes vision.

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So we're just honored that we can be a part of the support that goes with your ministry

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because it can't move forward without those things.

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You know, as Solomon said, you know, everything rises and falls on money.

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And and so raising support, being able to be a part of that or or doing a gift like

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we did at Christmas is a small, just a small matter.

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What we do.

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Well, sweet, sweet gifts are already heading out the door.

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And we just got a Facebook message from a mom who saw the post about the diaper bags

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and she's in our motherhood program.

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She's like, how do I get one of these?

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And so we've gotten her connected with one, but she's going to be one of 75 moms that

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are going to get blessed with what you and your congregation did.

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So with this being Second of Human Life Month and talking about, you know, 25 different

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churches, including the road that we know of that are spotlighting it because myself

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or somebody is coming and sharing like Rob did at the road that the flip side of that

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is there are churches, there are pastors that still feel like because it's a sensitive issue,

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because it's seen as a political issue, I'm just not going to step into that.

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And they can be evangelical pastors, but for whatever reason, what would you say to a pastor

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who just has that reticence?

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What is our Christian constitution?

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And our Christian constitution is the Bible and the Bible so clear about life and so clear

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about that he created the male and female.

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And so for anybody who stands behind a pulpit and is attempting to equip the saints to avoid

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any issue, let's just talk about that one in particular, is a disservice to the equipping

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and the empowerment that we're trying to bring to people.

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You're kind of teaching part of the Bible and you're not giving the fullness of the

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scriptures, the inerrancy, the inerrant, infallible scriptures and the whole gospel as it relates

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to all of the orb.

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See, for me, my perspective on discipleship is that we're discipling people emotionally,

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spiritually, mentally, physically, and relationally.

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So that's who we are, if we could think in terms of five concentric circles with the

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love being in the center.

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And so this life issue is a big part of that discipleship process.

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And at least at the road, we're here to empower people to change the world.

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So it's just not even an issue.

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But I understand some guys are just cowards.

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And I hate to say it, but they are.

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And the reality is, is that God wants us to be courageous.

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He wants us to have breakthrough courage.

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He wants us to have a brave heart.

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And God's going to honor that.

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God's going to bless that.

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Amen.

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Yeah.

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Well, I appreciate that.

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You know, I think I mentioned this at the start, but you've got a passion for life.

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And yet I've also heard in how you talk about those that we serve, a compassion.

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for those who are living far from God that really are captured by lies and don't understand what's at stake.

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How do you navigate that balance between that passion for what you just shared,

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but then compassion for individuals far from Him that are captured by lies?

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I think it's always fair, both as a parent, having raised seven kids,

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as a parent and as a pastor and a leader,

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that we evaluate men and women based on what they have knowledge of.

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So I have tons of compassion for people who just don't know the Lord yet,

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because they don't even have a Holy Spirit. They don't have a conscience about stuff.

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I mean, I would be pro-abortion if I didn't know Jesus.

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I mean, what informs me about life is the Holy Spirit in me and the Scriptures before me.

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So someone who doesn't have that, a young mom or young dad or whatever,

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man, that's our job then is to give them new life first. And that's your goal.

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I mean, I saw the statistics in the presentation of how many came to know the Lord.

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So it starts there. Now we have a fighting chance.

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Now we have a fighting chance for them to be transformed because the Holy Spirit empowers us to change.

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But without that, I have tons of compassion because they don't know Jesus yet.

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They don't have an understanding of right and wrong.

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You know, you personally have been involved with Life Network and having a heart for life for a long time.

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And for me, you know, God stirred within me in my first year of marriage

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and used a guy a little bit older than me to just kind of open my eyes to everything that Scripture says

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about the value of life uniquely made in God's image.

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But looking back, when do you remember that God really stirred in you?

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Like this is something that's close to my heart that you need to pay attention to.

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Wow. You know, for me, Rich, it just never was an issue otherwise.

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That's basic to me.

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Just it's just basic that we protect the most vulnerable in our culture, in our society.

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And in my opinion, the most vulnerable is the unborn child.

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It's the most vulnerable.

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Second is the born child because they're so needy.

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Third is moms.

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And then probably fourth is women in general.

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So we say around the road church here that we protect our kids and we protect our women.

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And so we've had times where there have been some creepers, you know, moving through our church.

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And we've my security team is on it.

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And we said, you know, you need to move on, buddy, because we're going to protect our women.

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We're going to protect our children.

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We're going to protect our babies.

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So that's to me, maybe it's the chivalry side.

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Maybe it's the masculine side of the way I was raised.

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Yeah.

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I grew up in kind of a southern Scotch English kind of background that and I had a steel magnolia mom.

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She was she was tough.

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She was a good leader.

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And I saw her involved in the civil rights movement.

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So my dad and my mom were heavily involved with Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in the Atlanta area.

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And I was very unpopular in the South.

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Being my dad was a pastor as whites.

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So whites supporting this black guy.

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But but what resonated in that not knowing exactly how to maybe articulate it yet as a young boy was my mom and dad are courageous.

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They they go against the grain to do the right thing.

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And so I think that was embedded in me that we always do the right thing.

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We always do the thing that has that that is has integrity and its kingdom.

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And in this case, nobody can help and support better an unborn baby, a newborn baby, a mom like the church.

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That's our job.

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That's what we're supposed to be doing.

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Who else is going to do it?

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Nobody's going to do it.

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Yeah.

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I mean, it really is putting hands and feet to the gospel.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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You know, you talked about Colorado being a blue state, a pro abortion state.

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And I know that you encounter people in your congregation in our community.

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And I do, too, who are discouraged by some of the things that our legislature has done.

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The voters of Colorado have done.

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For those you don't know, Colorado is one of nine states that allows abortion until birth.

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What would you say to encourage those that are just disheartened?

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They're just fearful.

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Maybe they're angry about the state of our state.

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We're to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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So we take our frustration, we take it to prayer.

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And we say, God, you told us this was the main way to pray.

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Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

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be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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And so we are praying for the kingdom to come and we put action to that in ways that God

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leads us in.

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So, I may not be led into the political realm, I am led into more of the spiritual realm

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as a church, as a pastor and all, and a leader, but some people are called into the political

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realm, some are called to come to Life Network and volunteer, some are going to come on staff

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with Life Network, some are going to be policemen, some are going to be nurses, whatever your

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arena, bring the gospel there in a positive way.

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I don't think you should overly fixate on the problem, I think you should overly fascinate

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on the solution, and that's bringing the kingdom.

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So let's keep working, whatever field you're called to, bring life into that in a joyful

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way.

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I mean, you can't bring the good news if you're the bad news, right?

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So the reality is that we need to be positive, uplifting, and encouraging, and if you're

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getting so negative that you're bitter or you're depressed or frustrated about it, turn

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off the news.

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Just take a Shabbat from the news for like a week.

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I had to do that.

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I mean, in the wake of the 2020 election, I just stopped watching and listening to so

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much news commentary.

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Me too, same here, same time.

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It was just like, this is not healthy for me.

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No.

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I'm going to hit the pause button.

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I'm going to seek out, I'll get news other ways, but it won't be commentary because it's

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just too easy to get spun up in what's going on.

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So you mentioned people in your congregation, and this is true, volunteering, being involved,

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and that touches on something I'd love to hear from you about in terms of how does the

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Rhodes involvement, your church's involvement with Life Network benefit the mission of your

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church as you see it?

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Well, Kingdom of God Revolution.

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So Kingdom of God Revolution is bringing the kingdom.

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And so we have a number of people that work at Life Network and volunteer at Life Network

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because they felt led to do that.

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And so our style, our ethos here at the church is just running with what God's put on your

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heart to do.

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So we're crazy.

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We are a crazy church because we have so many things happening.

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It starts at the top.

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We have a lot of stuff happening, but it's not us.

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It's not us.

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You have to take the responsibility when they come to you.

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We're just saying, go for it.

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We're saying, you got to serve somewhere.

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You got to be Christ's hands and feet.

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Go for it.

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And so some are going to do that, but we don't monitor that.

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We don't measure that.

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We just trust that through the equipping from the word that people will take that out there.

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So what you guys are doing is part of what we're doing by virtue of the people that are

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involved with you.

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We talked about those diaper bags being just a practical, tangible way that you can support

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men and women who are facing unexpected pregnancies.

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What are other things churches like yours can do to step in and be the church to those

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men and women?

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Well, I think staying in touch with you guys and asking you those questions like, what

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are your needs and how can we help?

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And people need to be in the presence of those who are hurting and those that are maybe

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less fortunate than we are.

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There's something that happens when we even altruistically give of our heart and our life

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to people who can't give anything in return.

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And we don't do it for accolades.

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We don't do it for being noticed.

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We just do it because it's the right thing to do and it's kingdom.

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And God notices.

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When I teach on the life of David, I talk about a secret history with God.

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You see, what made David unique to Saul was that David had a secret history with God in

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the hills of Bethlehem where he worshiped and he became a worshiper before he was a

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warrior.

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So what prepared David for the Valley of Elah with Goliath was all the worship, prayer,

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and ministry that he had before the Lord in the lonely hills of Bethlehem.

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So it's the lonely work.

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It's the secret work of helping others that Jesus notices.

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And he's going to elevate your life.

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There's a certain amount of peace and joy that comes from that.

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So I think it's staying in touch with Life Network, with You Rich, and finding out how

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to help.

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So here on the Life Cast, just week after week, talking and elevating about the value

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of life.

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What's something that you wish every believer understood about what it means to be truly

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pro-life?

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The Creator God of the universe made this unique, this unique creation in His image.

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They were imagers.

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And that no...

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animal no other species is an imager we're the only imager and we're created

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by God to be his to be created in his image to have dominion on the earth so

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the first Great Commission is not Matthew 28 18 through 20 that's the

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second Great Commission the first Great Commission is that he created man in his

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image that we might have dominion on the earth so we're to bring the kingdom of

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God to the earth I I can't tell you how many people are fixated on the second

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coming of Christ as if we're gonna somehow you know just be elevated up

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into heaven from the earth when Jesus told us that's really not our that's

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really not our passion our passion is to bring the kingdom to the earth not get

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from earth to heaven I mean that's going to happen someday but that's not the

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goal there's very little about heaven that way in the New Testament but

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there's a lot about the kingdom of God coming so the so the first the first way

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in which the kingdom of God comes to this earth is through a little baby

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being born who has kingdom potential because they're imagers there's the

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image of God within them so when the connection of that little baby spirit

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and God's spirit someday when they receive him there's just this explosion

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of life there's this explosion line and we know even in the new scientific

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studies about when the sperm reaches the egg there's an explosion of light that

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creates that child well let there be light right first thing God said was let

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there be light so so that's what God does is is the Creator God create

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creating us in the image of God is an explosion of light an explosion of

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potential that can change the world amen you know there's a story I shared at the

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onset about a couple we got to see just a few days before Christmas and they

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were set on abortion and it was totally out of fear they were committed to each

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other that they weren't married yet but they were heading that way found

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themselves pregnant and they came in just completely like we have to have an

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abortion because we know the financial means we're not ready for this what it

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came down to was fear and you've just written a book about overcoming fear and

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I think you unpacked nine different ways that believers can do that tell us a

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little bit about that and I just think about how that kind of courage can

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equip people like moms and dads who are just completely overwhelmed in a set of

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circumstances they don't feel ready for I think COVID for me was huge wake-up

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call when I saw how much fear Christians had about dying I was shocked I was

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blown away I've got issues I'm as much a sinner as is the next guy but but fear

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of death has never been one of them and so I was shocked at how many people were

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wrapped up in fear so when I was doing research for the book the thing that

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motivated me the most was to see that we have a nation full of panic depression

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phobias separation anxieties that are unprecedented suicide being number one

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most unprecedented since World War II and it's not getting better it's getting

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worse and so I began to ask the question how does how does a man or woman live a

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courageous life is it is it just a life of prayer is it just a life of worship

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and knowing Jesus I don't think so because these were Christians that I'm

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talking about that were so wrapped up in their fear so the book was a process of

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about three years of a lot of research a lot of practical experience from my life

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to you as a pastor leader counselor athlete and all of that to come up with

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these nine I felt like these were the nine habits or the nine practices that

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incorporate the mental the emotional the spiritual the physical and the

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relational in your life you gotta have all that I mean Jesus said love me with

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all mark 12 love the Lord your God with all of your heart spirit that's your

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spirit soul that's emotional mind that's mental and your strength that's physical

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and your neighbors yourself that's relational so courage comes by growing

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in all those areas in our life and so that's what that's what the nine habits

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are about so as you think through those nine habits and you think about the

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circumstances that young people like those that we face every day are facing

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and just overwhelmed with I can't do this because I'm not ready I can't do

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this because of finances you know what's one principle

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that you cover that would just be a practical takeaway

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where you could say, you can overcome this,

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you can do this.

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Wow, that's so hard

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because all nine of them are so important.

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Thinking about guys within our church who fit the category,

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what would I say to them?

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I would probably say, which is the first one,

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which is make the first thing the first thing.

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So in other words, have the most noble priority

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that life has to offer.

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What's the most noble priority?

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What's the number one priority every person should have

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to have breakthrough courage?

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Jesus said it.

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Matthew 6, 25, he talks about all these things

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you're worried about.

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Oh, you're worried about your clothing.

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Oh, you're worried about your food.

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You're worried about this.

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You're worried about that.

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And for the next eight verses,

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he talks about how we're all worried about everything.

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That's anxiety.

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That's panic.

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That's depression, right?

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And then he says, seek first the kingdom of God

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and his righteousness.

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And all these things, and we could draw an arrow

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up to all the things we're worried about

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and put a little pointer on that,

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shall be added unto you.

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So when we quit thinking horizontal

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and we start thinking vertical,

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I'm going after the kingdom of God in my life.

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I'm going to put Christ on the throne of my heart.

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It was Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist

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who said, seek first the kingdom of God

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is the most noble statement ever given to mankind.

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And it's true.

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And so I'd say, you got to start with P, B, and J.

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And that's not peanut butter and jelly in the morning.

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That's prayer, Bible, and journal.

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So get up in the morning, if I'm talking to Joe

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or I'm talking to Susie, Joe and Susie,

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get up in the morning, first thing you do,

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not a cup of coffee, sit down somewhere in your house

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and open God's word, start reading God's word.

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Ask God to speak to you.

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Ask God to move in your heart.

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You'll hear his voice, get that journal.

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And when you hear his voice, anything you hear,

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it's okay at first, just go with it.

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Write it down in the journal and then pray about it.

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Do that for the next 45 days.

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Do that for the next, and courage will begin to grow in you

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because faith will begin to grow in you.

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So practical, meaningful guidance.

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I love that.

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And guess what the second one is?

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Embrace hard.

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Embrace hard, embrace difficulty.

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That's right, the wheelhouse too.

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If you want to go to hell and back, do P, B, and J.

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So when you start prayer, Bible, and journal,

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spirit's going to come, spirit's going to meet you.

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You're going to start having all kinds

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of incredible experiences with Jesus

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and Satan's going to be right there.

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Demons are going to be right there.

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So you got to embrace hard.

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And so when we put those two together,

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man, you're headed toward a victorious life.

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Amen, the book is called Breakthrough Courage,

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Nine Habits to Conquer Fear and Build a Brave Heart.

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So we just heard the first two,

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you want to hear the other seven,

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you got to go check the book out.

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That's exactly right.

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And my summation of the first two is very bad.

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So the book is really good.

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And it's exciting because it's very anecdotal.

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So for me, Rich, having been an athlete

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in college and everything,

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and coaching at the NCAA level too,

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I think that people need a challenge.

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And you don't just need it when you're in college

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or in high school.

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You need it all through your life.

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And God's word is a challenge to holy living.

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And it's a challenge to the great adventure

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of the kingdom of God revolution that's potential for us.

476
00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:44.220
But you can't have it if you don't open it

477
00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:46.340
and begin to experience Christ in your life

478
00:28:46.340 --> 00:28:47.540
and seek his kingdom first.

479
00:28:47.540 --> 00:28:48.980
But it's going to be hard.

480
00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:50.860
So welcome to life.

481
00:28:50.860 --> 00:28:52.940
Is life hard for any of you out there?

482
00:28:52.940 --> 00:28:54.820
Anybody having a hard life?

483
00:28:54.820 --> 00:28:56.000
Good, good.

484
00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:56.940
That's the way it's supposed to be.

485
00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:58.140
It's always going to be that way.

486
00:28:58.140 --> 00:28:58.980
That's right.

487
00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:00.100
But you can be an overcomer.

488
00:29:00.100 --> 00:29:02.360
And I think that's why book of Revelation has seven times,

489
00:29:02.360 --> 00:29:05.420
you know, he who overcomes, he who overcomes,

490
00:29:05.420 --> 00:29:06.260
he who overcomes.

491
00:29:06.260 --> 00:29:08.780
So let's build overcomers.

492
00:29:08.780 --> 00:29:11.140
Let's through life network, build overcomers.

493
00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:13.160
Let's birth overcomers.

494
00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:16.600
Those little, if you ever, you know this better than me,

495
00:29:16.600 --> 00:29:21.360
but the situations with babies who have been left

496
00:29:21.360 --> 00:29:24.880
on a table somewhere to die and they won't die.

497
00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:26.740
They keep fighting for that breath.

498
00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:28.240
They keep fighting for life.

499
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:31.240
God made us, God made us to be courageous.

500
00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:34.880
That's your natural DNA is to be courageous.

501
00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:37.920
Steve, I want to thank you for being a man of courage,

502
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.080
a man after God's own heart

503
00:29:40.080 --> 00:29:43.160
and somebody who just champions life in this city.

504
00:29:43.160 --> 00:29:45.720
It means a lot that you guys stand with us

505
00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:49.360
and just so appreciate your passion and compassion

506
00:29:49.360 --> 00:29:51.320
for those who are far from God.