there's just this explosion of life, there's this explosion of life.
And we know, even in the new scientific studies, about when the sperm reaches the egg,
there's an explosion of light that creates that child.
Well, let there be light, right?
First thing God said was let there be light.
So that's what God does, is the Creator God creating us in the image of God
is an explosion of light, an explosion of potential that can change the world.
I am sitting here in his very own studio with Pastor Steve Holt of The Road Church,
a church that he founded, what, how long ago now, Steve?
Ten years ago.
Ten years ago here in Colorado Springs.
And the Lifecast, of course, we're focusing on life issues.
And I really wanted Steve to be one of our first guests,
because, Steve, I think you just are emblematic of a pastor
and a man who has a heart for life, a heart for God.
And you do it both with passion and compassion.
That's just something I've always so appreciated about you.
So thanks for being with us in one of our first few episodes of The Lifecast.
Thanks, Rich.
I love what you do.
I mean, you're in the hunt, man.
I mean, you're right there on the front lines.
Like nobody else in the city.
And so I just appreciate just the way in which you have
not only spearheaded a movement among a needy part of our community
that nobody's really thinking about, honestly,
except for life people and someone like you in the Life Network.
But then to watch the creation and development
of the ministry here in Colorado Springs is amazing.
I mean, I remember when it was just a single location and now it's four.
And I'm an inclusive builder.
That's kind of my identity is I love building with people, anything.
But I especially love it with church work.
And that's what you've done.
You're an inclusive builder, too.
And I love that about you.
We get to be a part of 75 plus churches, including the Road Church.
And for those of you who don't know,
it actually did get some sweet media coverage here in Colorado Springs.
We had two different stations, and there actually might be a third
that covered the fact that there were 75 beautiful diaper bags stuffed with items
that our moms need that you and your congregation put together
and raised during the Christmas season.
And those are immediately getting turned around
to moms who have just had or about to have their little one.
And what a blessing to start the year with these diaper bags.
And, you know, I know you and I have talked to the past about how we can get frustrated
with things the media does or doesn't cover.
But, man, we were like swarmed with media coverage.
We had KOA, we had Fox 21.
I think there's going to be another station to cover this positive story.
And I just want to say on behalf of our clients, thank you for being a part of that.
And what prompted you guys to get involved in that?
Oh, man, I just it was exactly what we wanted to do, because it was hands on.
It was something that the people had to go out and do.
They had to do something to help someone.
Probably the only thing better would be if we actually could hand it to them.
Right.
But we knew that that was a process that sometimes there's a real need for confidentiality.
And we want to honor that.
We don't want people to ever feel like that there's some tool of ours to like a do-gooder.
Everybody jumped on it.
And I think first service, which is our lowest service of the three that we have,
I think 60 were gone after the first service.
And we have two more.
And so we could have done a whole lot more.
We ran out really quick.
The third service was bummed out.
We didn't even announce the third service because there weren't.
I mean, there's only like 20.
I mean, out of six or six or 700 people in the second service, there's only like 25 left.
Wow.
To give.
So those went probably like in one minute.
I mean, it's just such a practical, tangible way to demonstrate that as pro-life believers,
yes, we care about the pre-born, but we care just as much about the lives of those moms and dads.
And you guys really get that.
And by the way, Rob was at church on Sunday.
I was just about to talk about that.
He gave a great, you guys had a great video you did.
That was super great.
I love the statistics on sonograms and what kind of a difference that makes and all that.
I was just amazing.
Well, here, be encouraged by this.
The road is one of about 25 churches that people like Rob, myself, and others from our team are
going to be in just sharing what churches and individuals in Colorado Springs are making
possible.
Yeah.
And so would this be in Sanctity of Human Life month and Sanctity of Human Life Sunday
actually was just a couple of days before this.
drops, tell me why you think it's important that churches acknowledge the month and the
day that acknowledges the value and the sanctity of life.
Well, we're in a blue state.
We got some pretty, you know, liberal laws as it relates to abortion and stuff.
And so we have to stay on the cutting edge as Christians with the importance of life
because it's not necessarily a part of the government of our state.
So why not build a groundswell of a movement?
I like to call it a kingdom of God revolution, having a kingdom of God revolution that's
bringing the kingdom of God to men and women, especially these beautiful, precious moms
that are feeling so desperate, feeling like they're in such a crisis because they're pregnant.
Everybody probably around them is telling them much that's very helpful or practical.
And then there's a place they can go where they can see the child.
They can see the child and they can make it a more informed decision.
And then like the statistics were like 98 percent.
Was it six?
It was something like, was it 78 percent who see the child on?
Is it the sonogram?
This past year, it was like 86 percent of the time that a mom met her baby via ultrasound.
She chose to parent.
Okay.
So on the ultrasound, that number, and then it jumps to something like 98 percent if the
guy's there.
Yeah.
The man, the father in the room is, is huge.
And that's again, one of many reasons why, you know, that ministry to fathers is so critical.
And you know, we're really trying to help cast vision for other pregnancy centers to
catch a vision for her and him.
But you're exactly right.
It makes a huge, huge difference.
So that takes money.
That takes people.
It takes staffing.
It takes vision.
So we're just honored that we can be a part of the support that goes with your ministry
because it can't move forward without those things.
You know, as Solomon said, you know, everything rises and falls on money.
And and so raising support, being able to be a part of that or or doing a gift like
we did at Christmas is a small, just a small matter.
What we do.
Well, sweet, sweet gifts are already heading out the door.
And we just got a Facebook message from a mom who saw the post about the diaper bags
and she's in our motherhood program.
She's like, how do I get one of these?
And so we've gotten her connected with one, but she's going to be one of 75 moms that
are going to get blessed with what you and your congregation did.
So with this being Second of Human Life Month and talking about, you know, 25 different
churches, including the road that we know of that are spotlighting it because myself
or somebody is coming and sharing like Rob did at the road that the flip side of that
is there are churches, there are pastors that still feel like because it's a sensitive issue,
because it's seen as a political issue, I'm just not going to step into that.
And they can be evangelical pastors, but for whatever reason, what would you say to a pastor
who just has that reticence?
What is our Christian constitution?
And our Christian constitution is the Bible and the Bible so clear about life and so clear
about that he created the male and female.
And so for anybody who stands behind a pulpit and is attempting to equip the saints to avoid
any issue, let's just talk about that one in particular, is a disservice to the equipping
and the empowerment that we're trying to bring to people.
You're kind of teaching part of the Bible and you're not giving the fullness of the
scriptures, the inerrancy, the inerrant, infallible scriptures and the whole gospel as it relates
to all of the orb.
See, for me, my perspective on discipleship is that we're discipling people emotionally,
spiritually, mentally, physically, and relationally.
So that's who we are, if we could think in terms of five concentric circles with the
love being in the center.
And so this life issue is a big part of that discipleship process.
And at least at the road, we're here to empower people to change the world.
So it's just not even an issue.
But I understand some guys are just cowards.
And I hate to say it, but they are.
And the reality is, is that God wants us to be courageous.
He wants us to have breakthrough courage.
He wants us to have a brave heart.
And God's going to honor that.
God's going to bless that.
Amen.
Yeah.
Well, I appreciate that.
You know, I think I mentioned this at the start, but you've got a passion for life.
And yet I've also heard in how you talk about those that we serve, a compassion.
for those who are living far from God that really are captured by lies and don't understand what's at stake.
How do you navigate that balance between that passion for what you just shared,
but then compassion for individuals far from Him that are captured by lies?
I think it's always fair, both as a parent, having raised seven kids,
as a parent and as a pastor and a leader,
that we evaluate men and women based on what they have knowledge of.
So I have tons of compassion for people who just don't know the Lord yet,
because they don't even have a Holy Spirit. They don't have a conscience about stuff.
I mean, I would be pro-abortion if I didn't know Jesus.
I mean, what informs me about life is the Holy Spirit in me and the Scriptures before me.
So someone who doesn't have that, a young mom or young dad or whatever,
man, that's our job then is to give them new life first. And that's your goal.
I mean, I saw the statistics in the presentation of how many came to know the Lord.
So it starts there. Now we have a fighting chance.
Now we have a fighting chance for them to be transformed because the Holy Spirit empowers us to change.
But without that, I have tons of compassion because they don't know Jesus yet.
They don't have an understanding of right and wrong.
You know, you personally have been involved with Life Network and having a heart for life for a long time.
And for me, you know, God stirred within me in my first year of marriage
and used a guy a little bit older than me to just kind of open my eyes to everything that Scripture says
about the value of life uniquely made in God's image.
But looking back, when do you remember that God really stirred in you?
Like this is something that's close to my heart that you need to pay attention to.
Wow. You know, for me, Rich, it just never was an issue otherwise.
That's basic to me.
Just it's just basic that we protect the most vulnerable in our culture, in our society.
And in my opinion, the most vulnerable is the unborn child.
It's the most vulnerable.
Second is the born child because they're so needy.
Third is moms.
And then probably fourth is women in general.
So we say around the road church here that we protect our kids and we protect our women.
And so we've had times where there have been some creepers, you know, moving through our church.
And we've my security team is on it.
And we said, you know, you need to move on, buddy, because we're going to protect our women.
We're going to protect our children.
We're going to protect our babies.
So that's to me, maybe it's the chivalry side.
Maybe it's the masculine side of the way I was raised.
Yeah.
I grew up in kind of a southern Scotch English kind of background that and I had a steel magnolia mom.
She was she was tough.
She was a good leader.
And I saw her involved in the civil rights movement.
So my dad and my mom were heavily involved with Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in the Atlanta area.
And I was very unpopular in the South.
Being my dad was a pastor as whites.
So whites supporting this black guy.
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.
They they go against the grain to do the right thing.
And so I think that was embedded in me that we always do the right thing.
We always do the thing that has that that is has integrity and its kingdom.
And in this case, nobody can help and support better an unborn baby, a newborn baby, a mom like the church.
That's our job.
That's what we're supposed to be doing.
Who else is going to do it?
Nobody's going to do it.
Yeah.
I mean, it really is putting hands and feet to the gospel.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, you talked about Colorado being a blue state, a pro abortion state.
And I know that you encounter people in your congregation in our community.
And I do, too, who are discouraged by some of the things that our legislature has done.
The voters of Colorado have done.
For those you don't know, Colorado is one of nine states that allows abortion until birth.
What would you say to encourage those that are just disheartened?
They're just fearful.
Maybe they're angry about the state of our state.
We're to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
So we take our frustration, we take it to prayer.
And we say, God, you told us this was the main way to pray.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And so we are praying for the kingdom to come and we put action to that in ways that God
leads us in.
So, I may not be led into the political realm, I am led into more of the spiritual realm
as a church, as a pastor and all, and a leader, but some people are called into the political
realm, some are called to come to Life Network and volunteer, some are going to come on staff
with Life Network, some are going to be policemen, some are going to be nurses, whatever your
arena, bring the gospel there in a positive way.
I don't think you should overly fixate on the problem, I think you should overly fascinate
on the solution, and that's bringing the kingdom.
So let's keep working, whatever field you're called to, bring life into that in a joyful
way.
I mean, you can't bring the good news if you're the bad news, right?
So the reality is that we need to be positive, uplifting, and encouraging, and if you're
getting so negative that you're bitter or you're depressed or frustrated about it, turn
off the news.
Just take a Shabbat from the news for like a week.
I had to do that.
I mean, in the wake of the 2020 election, I just stopped watching and listening to so
much news commentary.
Me too, same here, same time.
It was just like, this is not healthy for me.
No.
I'm going to hit the pause button.
I'm going to seek out, I'll get news other ways, but it won't be commentary because it's
just too easy to get spun up in what's going on.
So you mentioned people in your congregation, and this is true, volunteering, being involved,
and that touches on something I'd love to hear from you about in terms of how does the
Rhodes involvement, your church's involvement with Life Network benefit the mission of your
church as you see it?
Well, Kingdom of God Revolution.
So Kingdom of God Revolution is bringing the kingdom.
And so we have a number of people that work at Life Network and volunteer at Life Network
because they felt led to do that.
And so our style, our ethos here at the church is just running with what God's put on your
heart to do.
So we're crazy.
We are a crazy church because we have so many things happening.
It starts at the top.
We have a lot of stuff happening, but it's not us.
It's not us.
You have to take the responsibility when they come to you.
We're just saying, go for it.
We're saying, you got to serve somewhere.
You got to be Christ's hands and feet.
Go for it.
And so some are going to do that, but we don't monitor that.
We don't measure that.
We just trust that through the equipping from the word that people will take that out there.
So what you guys are doing is part of what we're doing by virtue of the people that are
involved with you.
We talked about those diaper bags being just a practical, tangible way that you can support
men and women who are facing unexpected pregnancies.
What are other things churches like yours can do to step in and be the church to those
men and women?
Well, I think staying in touch with you guys and asking you those questions like, what
are your needs and how can we help?
And people need to be in the presence of those who are hurting and those that are maybe
less fortunate than we are.
There's something that happens when we even altruistically give of our heart and our life
to people who can't give anything in return.
And we don't do it for accolades.
We don't do it for being noticed.
We just do it because it's the right thing to do and it's kingdom.
And God notices.
When I teach on the life of David, I talk about a secret history with God.
You see, what made David unique to Saul was that David had a secret history with God in
the hills of Bethlehem where he worshiped and he became a worshiper before he was a
warrior.
So what prepared David for the Valley of Elah with Goliath was all the worship, prayer,
and ministry that he had before the Lord in the lonely hills of Bethlehem.
So it's the lonely work.
It's the secret work of helping others that Jesus notices.
And he's going to elevate your life.
There's a certain amount of peace and joy that comes from that.
So I think it's staying in touch with Life Network, with You Rich, and finding out how
to help.
So here on the Life Cast, just week after week, talking and elevating about the value
of life.
What's something that you wish every believer understood about what it means to be truly
pro-life?
The Creator God of the universe made this unique, this unique creation in His image.
They were imagers.
And that no...
animal no other species is an imager we're the only imager and we're created
by God to be his to be created in his image to have dominion on the earth so
the first Great Commission is not Matthew 28 18 through 20 that's the
second Great Commission the first Great Commission is that he created man in his
image that we might have dominion on the earth so we're to bring the kingdom of
God to the earth I I can't tell you how many people are fixated on the second
coming of Christ as if we're gonna somehow you know just be elevated up
into heaven from the earth when Jesus told us that's really not our that's
really not our passion our passion is to bring the kingdom to the earth not get
from earth to heaven I mean that's going to happen someday but that's not the
goal there's very little about heaven that way in the New Testament but
there's a lot about the kingdom of God coming so the so the first the first way
in which the kingdom of God comes to this earth is through a little baby
being born who has kingdom potential because they're imagers there's the
image of God within them so when the connection of that little baby spirit
and God's spirit someday when they receive him there's just this explosion
of life there's this explosion line and we know even in the new scientific
studies about when the sperm reaches the egg there's an explosion of light that
creates that child well let there be light right first thing God said was let
there be light so so that's what God does is is the Creator God create
creating us in the image of God is an explosion of light an explosion of
potential that can change the world amen you know there's a story I shared at the
onset about a couple we got to see just a few days before Christmas and they
were set on abortion and it was totally out of fear they were committed to each
other that they weren't married yet but they were heading that way found
themselves pregnant and they came in just completely like we have to have an
abortion because we know the financial means we're not ready for this what it
came down to was fear and you've just written a book about overcoming fear and
I think you unpacked nine different ways that believers can do that tell us a
little bit about that and I just think about how that kind of courage can
equip people like moms and dads who are just completely overwhelmed in a set of
circumstances they don't feel ready for I think COVID for me was huge wake-up
call when I saw how much fear Christians had about dying I was shocked I was
blown away I've got issues I'm as much a sinner as is the next guy but but fear
of death has never been one of them and so I was shocked at how many people were
wrapped up in fear so when I was doing research for the book the thing that
motivated me the most was to see that we have a nation full of panic depression
phobias separation anxieties that are unprecedented suicide being number one
most unprecedented since World War II and it's not getting better it's getting
worse and so I began to ask the question how does how does a man or woman live a
courageous life is it is it just a life of prayer is it just a life of worship
and knowing Jesus I don't think so because these were Christians that I'm
talking about that were so wrapped up in their fear so the book was a process of
about three years of a lot of research a lot of practical experience from my life
to you as a pastor leader counselor athlete and all of that to come up with
these nine I felt like these were the nine habits or the nine practices that
incorporate the mental the emotional the spiritual the physical and the
relational in your life you gotta have all that I mean Jesus said love me with
all mark 12 love the Lord your God with all of your heart spirit that's your
spirit soul that's emotional mind that's mental and your strength that's physical
and your neighbors yourself that's relational so courage comes by growing
in all those areas in our life and so that's what that's what the nine habits
are about so as you think through those nine habits and you think about the
circumstances that young people like those that we face every day are facing
and just overwhelmed with I can't do this because I'm not ready I can't do
this because of finances you know what's one principle
that you cover that would just be a practical takeaway
where you could say, you can overcome this,
you can do this.
Wow, that's so hard
because all nine of them are so important.
Thinking about guys within our church who fit the category,
what would I say to them?
I would probably say, which is the first one,
which is make the first thing the first thing.
So in other words, have the most noble priority
that life has to offer.
What's the most noble priority?
What's the number one priority every person should have
to have breakthrough courage?
Jesus said it.
Matthew 6, 25, he talks about all these things
you're worried about.
Oh, you're worried about your clothing.
Oh, you're worried about your food.
You're worried about this.
You're worried about that.
And for the next eight verses,
he talks about how we're all worried about everything.
That's anxiety.
That's panic.
That's depression, right?
And then he says, seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness.
And all these things, and we could draw an arrow
up to all the things we're worried about
and put a little pointer on that,
shall be added unto you.
So when we quit thinking horizontal
and we start thinking vertical,
I'm going after the kingdom of God in my life.
I'm going to put Christ on the throne of my heart.
It was Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist
who said, seek first the kingdom of God
is the most noble statement ever given to mankind.
And it's true.
And so I'd say, you got to start with P, B, and J.
And that's not peanut butter and jelly in the morning.
That's prayer, Bible, and journal.
So get up in the morning, if I'm talking to Joe
or I'm talking to Susie, Joe and Susie,
get up in the morning, first thing you do,
not a cup of coffee, sit down somewhere in your house
and open God's word, start reading God's word.
Ask God to speak to you.
Ask God to move in your heart.
You'll hear his voice, get that journal.
And when you hear his voice, anything you hear,
it's okay at first, just go with it.
Write it down in the journal and then pray about it.
Do that for the next 45 days.
Do that for the next, and courage will begin to grow in you
because faith will begin to grow in you.
So practical, meaningful guidance.
I love that.
And guess what the second one is?
Embrace hard.
Embrace hard, embrace difficulty.
That's right, the wheelhouse too.
If you want to go to hell and back, do P, B, and J.
So when you start prayer, Bible, and journal,
spirit's going to come, spirit's going to meet you.
You're going to start having all kinds
of incredible experiences with Jesus
and Satan's going to be right there.
Demons are going to be right there.
So you got to embrace hard.
And so when we put those two together,
man, you're headed toward a victorious life.
Amen, the book is called Breakthrough Courage,
Nine Habits to Conquer Fear and Build a Brave Heart.
So we just heard the first two,
you want to hear the other seven,
you got to go check the book out.
That's exactly right.
And my summation of the first two is very bad.
So the book is really good.
And it's exciting because it's very anecdotal.
So for me, Rich, having been an athlete
in college and everything,
and coaching at the NCAA level too,
I think that people need a challenge.
And you don't just need it when you're in college
or in high school.
You need it all through your life.
And God's word is a challenge to holy living.
And it's a challenge to the great adventure
of the kingdom of God revolution that's potential for us.
But you can't have it if you don't open it
and begin to experience Christ in your life
and seek his kingdom first.
But it's going to be hard.
So welcome to life.
Is life hard for any of you out there?
Anybody having a hard life?
Good, good.
That's the way it's supposed to be.
It's always going to be that way.
That's right.
But you can be an overcomer.
And I think that's why book of Revelation has seven times,
you know, he who overcomes, he who overcomes,
he who overcomes.
So let's build overcomers.
Let's through life network, build overcomers.
Let's birth overcomers.
Those little, if you ever, you know this better than me,
but the situations with babies who have been left
on a table somewhere to die and they won't die.
They keep fighting for that breath.
They keep fighting for life.
God made us, God made us to be courageous.
That's your natural DNA is to be courageous.
Steve, I want to thank you for being a man of courage,
a man after God's own heart
and somebody who just champions life in this city.
It means a lot that you guys stand with us
and just so appreciate your passion and compassion
for those who are far from God.