The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-E32 | 05-05-23

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

The Hope Hotline | S01-E32 | 05-05-23

Real Talk. Real Talk. Real Talk. Real Talk. Hello everybody. This is Friday. I'm all over the place. God bless it. Fighting with the insurance company before we get on. It's, oh, God. Listen, never, ever, ever deal with the insurance companies. You know where the insurance companies stem from? The of hell that's where they stem from they're the devil's workers i i truly believe this if anybody if yeah thank you if anybody has

had to deal with the insurance company not not your like like my representative for the insurance company they're amazing if you need a really great insurance company uh i would definitely did you get me one oh thank you baby all right girls thank you um my sweet little Brinley and Tootie, they ran from the other side of the building back to me to help me with something, so I love you. So here's the thing. Like, I'm talking to, oh, Innovative Insurance. The Hollands.

I'm going to give a shout out to them. Oh, I need to fix this. I am never good with how that, there we go. They're excellent. First of all, I mean, gosh, you want to talk about red carpet service. Do you have them as your insurance company? I don't yet, but I definitely. You're going with them?

Oh my gosh. I've never ever ever and and i know people will say that's because you know them uh bull crap i don't think that has anything to do with it first of all they're christians so they honor their customers plus theresa works for them dave works for them like their whole group are solid believers. So their favor is going to be, but they're top of the line. So Innovative Insurance, if you need the Hollands, if you need a good insurance company, I'd go with them. But after you get past them, devil's workers.

100%. Anybody that's dealing with anything insurance-wise, evil, evil people. So now that I've bared my soul about my goings-on, I feel a little bit better. Do you have anything to say, Tracy? I totally agree with you, And everybody that has dealt with the hurricane is feeling the same way as you. I know. You know, the thing is, is I will tell you this. Back in the day. See, if you don't.

I'd still move. I'd still move to Florida. I'd still. I don't like Texas. I just. It's got nothing for me. But Texas is a great state for the most part. Suffers from a lot of hurricanes. Louisiana as well.

Great state. There's other states that suffer from hurricanes and things like that, like Florida. I'd still move to those states, even though you have the chance of, you know, going through a hurricane and things. But, so I still move there. But the process is pretty, unless you've ever gone through it. And in the past, I literally was like, oh,

I feel bad for them. I had no idea what these people to get their life back in order went through. Yeah. And here's the thing. We have God. So ours isn't even like my situation in comparison to other people that I know, it's not gone swimmingly, but it's way smoother. I mean, it's unbelievable how much better ours has gone than most, but it stinks.

Yeah. And I feel bad for these people now like i you know it's until you most people uh like if they see somebody suffering they're like oh okay you know that's that stinks for them that was me until you go through it yourself and then you're like oh wow that's a rough deal that this is i will have compassion for people now like I never had. And it'll never happen to us again because we're going to have all night vigils to make sure that we never, ever, ever have a hurricane hit this area ever again. Amen. Yeah.

We're going to send it to the insurance company's building. Obliterate them and then them have to discover what it's like to freaking put everything back together but you see the problem is with it and we do too because we have god's money so i i was going to say well they're the ones that hold all the money so it'll be easy for them actually it's the same for us because i mean we've seen we've seen god just somehow he just is he just blows your mind with it which leads me into my first. But if we did not live in God's economy, we'd be in big trouble. And don't worry about that, Petutti. You can get your, I have the girls over here.

See, here's the thing. We have a child care here at the church because we're all mamas. So we have our kids running around. So I'm very relaxed in this podcast. I appreciate that. Yeah. Because first of all, I need Tracy. Because she's great.

But second of all, because if anybody's been a mother, they know. Like there's just some things. So make the noise, girls. Do what you got to do. Everybody's going to live. We're not doing brain surgery in this place right now. And if we i wouldn't be the one you'd want be working on your brain even though i am kind of working on your brain but i'm not that girl you might walk out like drooling on yourself when you're done it would not be pleasant i would have been the brain surgeon that failed

i'd be the lowest of in the class that's not the brain surgeon I would have been the brain surgeon that failed. I would be the lowest in the class. That's not the brain surgeon you want working on your brain. It's like my cousin is a dental hygienist, and she's always like, you don't want the dental hygienist that just barely, like that's not the one you want working on your mouth. And I'm like, oh, you were right, but I would not be the one. want working on your mouth and I'm like oh you were right but

I would not be the one what do you brain surgery oh brain surgery if I'm sending you to a moon the moon and a rocket you don't want to go on my rocket you're not gonna get two feet off the ground I believe it's not gonna happen it's okay I promise you that. We all have our giftings. I mean, it's probably not going to even go as high as I can jump, which ain't that high because I put on some holiday weight and I can't get the holiday weight off. And I'm talking about, this is the holiday. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Keep going. And Easter. the holly halloween thanksgiving christmas keep going and easter that i'm i keep saying i want to

lose it but dad gum it i can't and i did i keep saying i'm not gonna buy the higher size pants okay i just went shopping Guess what I had to do? Because I can't. Oh, gosh. I can't fit in the ones that I'm supposed to. Even if they're new. Oh, my gosh. Oh, it's so bad.

So I go home and I put on my size fours. That I still, one size four that I can fit in. And I'm busting it at the seams. But I can still put them on. It's got to be a miss mark because I literally bought tens. How can you be a ten and a four? It don't happen, people. Listen.

But I'll take it. I'll take it too. Oh my gosh. You're still a size four I am a four in this brain which obviously needs some brain surgery and it won't be done by me I'll be drilling on myself as they roll me out of the hospital oh my goodness gracious alive so now everybody knows that I'm now in a size 10 for the most part. Not that bad, but it's bad guys. It's not good. So we're going to go to our first question because that's where everybody wants to, everybody's

probably tired of hearing me blabber on. Let's get into the questions so we can solve some problems or hopefully solve some problems. So it says, my husband came to me and does not want to tithe 10% of our income. He says he believes in giving to the church, but doesn't believe it has to be 10%. I, on the other hand, believe in tithing 10% of our first fruit plus giving extra. I believe that God's, God's, God. Okay. So, okay. I basically copy and paste these so

there's just a minor credit i believe so it's just i don't know if it's he or she i shouldn't i always say she but i don't know i it has to be a she because it's a wife though we're gonna go with wife because you believe in tithing exactly so you have to be a christian i have met i have makeup running down my face so it says i believe that god blesses our giving. What do I do to be a submissive wife to the head of my house? There you go. You said you're a wife. God bless. What do I do to be a submissive wife to the head of my house, but also believe in tithing?

Okay. So here's the thing. We've gone through Malachi 3 many times. It clearly says that you're to give 10%. Now, here's the thing. And I, you know, I just heard this really great teaching. No, no, no, no, no, no. I actually saw this in a church's giving statement as far as what they believe.

And it was really, really good because it talked about they believe in giving of tithe an offering of 10 percent and in Malachi it does talk about the giving of the 10 percent but it also talks about the offering so there's there's more than 10 percent most people you can barely like get the 10 percent out of their hands. And to give an offering is like pulling teeth. But God really looks at, he looks at the tithe, his promise is based on the tithe. But the offering is like when you're really like over the top saying, you know what?

You have just proven yourself over and over to me. But also I love you so much that I know that I can give you complete control over everything and some. And then you just see the blessings. Tom and I have always given the 10%. And I don't ever remember not giving an offering with it. I can't not do it every single time. I can't like give my tithe without an offering. Do you do the same thing?

Am I putting you on the spot by asking you that question? No, but I, yeah, I hear what you're saying. It's hard to just, just give 10% when you've given it so long. It's like, oh, yeah. I want to give a little bit more. Yeah. And a little bit more yeah a little bit more you know yeah yeah i said we try tom and i um now our income has fluctuated over years and stuff like

that but what we not always going up sometimes it's like i took a pay cut to come full-time with the church significant pay cut um to come and work for the church. So we always set goals of what we want to give. Now, it doesn't always look like we went over that goal because the income changed. But we're still, but if you looked at the number, you'd see that statistically, the percentages go up, you know right which is you guys too because uh you own your own business and so when you have employees you sometimes to have an employee you're the adjustment of the budget kind of changes even though you guys aren't real big budget people and i think budgets are good but when you put yourself within the confines of a budget

I don't think that that's good I agree I say that you're putting God in a box when you do that I'm not I you know a lot of people are big on um what's that guy's name I like him a lot Dave Ramsey a lot my son took a Dave Ramsey class in high school. And it was very, very good. He loved it. I have a tickle. So I'm sorry, I don't have a booger. But I have a tickle in my nose. And it's driving me crazy. So I think budgets are really, really good. And they teach people they should teach people because Dave Ramsey teaches you to tithe. Yeah. So, yeah, right?

So I think that there's good principles behind it. But I also am a strong believer in don't confine yourself to that budget because a lot of times people are so diligent in putting those envelopes together and making sure that you know everything lines up that you forget about god is your provider and it doesn't matter if you miss an envelope with a certain allowance for whatever okay it's irrelevant because god's the provider of the allowance does Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes total sense. And then if God asks you to give above and beyond, you can't because you have an envelope with 100 bucks in it. So how can you give 200? If God tells you to give it, you give it.

You give it all the time. All the time. What I was reading about this statement, what this church believes, is that if the Old Testament was giving your first fruits of 10%, then God sent his one and only son so that you would have a better, far superior covenant. Then 10% should be simple and easy. And an offering should just flow. So we quibble over 10%. But that's what the Old Testament was commanded to do. And we live under the Abrahamic covenant. So we actually are still under that 10 but when you realize what god did for us to have a far

superior relationship and covenant with him so we have a better understanding and trust then you sit there and go 10 just ain't enough like you deserve so much more so i thought that was so good but here's what i'm going to tell you is this and this is what I tell women all the time since I don't know what your situation is work-wise you're not to be submissive in things that your husband is biblically incorrect on. So if you have a job and you have income that you bring into the house, then you tithe 10% of that income. You are not submissive to him in that. Okay. If you don't work and all the income comes from your husband, then you have nothing to say about it.

You're going to just have to pray him through so that he has understanding of what the word really is saying about giving of tithe and offering, being a steward of the money that's being given to your home. So you're submissive when you have no rights to that money. I mean, you do have rights to the money. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. But you did not work for that money to come into the home. So he ultimately has the say because he's the one that worked for it. But if you're bringing in income into the home, then you absolutely have the right to do with that money.

As far as offering and tithe goes, yes, you do. I even asked Tom just to make sure that, know that he agreed it you know you you can be married to people but they don't always see eye to eye with you on things like that and oopsie sorry um hey do me a favor Tracy can can you take that for me just tell her I'm doing the podcast um so here's the thing here's the deal he even said the same thing he said absolutely 100 if you are bringing in income then you have the rights 100 to pay tithe off of that otherwise no you have to just pray your husband through. He agreed with me. Pray him through. Stand in faith. I've seen where men have changed. They went from saying,

absolutely not. You're not, you're not, we're not giving anything to gave a little, then gave a little bit more. And now they're fully in. They're 100% apologize because I needed that call to be answered too. Sorry about that. I'm telling you that that was insurance related. It's nuts, but God bless that person that called. I love them dearly. So they are not with the insurance company. They're working against the insurance company with me. So I feel for you. I really do do but here's the thing I want you to realize this I know that the reason why you want to pay that 10 percent and probably get an offering is because you know the value behind it and you understand that living in God's economy is far superior than Biden's economy. So I understand why you want to make sure that you're protected.

But I will tell you this. God also, you need to trust that God knows your heart. And he knows that if it was up to you, that you would be giving. So you just have to trust him in knowing that in this situation, until it changes, he sees your heart, he knows it, and he knows what you would be doing and how you would be doing it

if you were in control. And you have to leave it at that. And then on top of that, you cannot be bitter and angry towards your husband. You just have to lead by example. And you have to be a submissive wife, but one that is not a nag and nasty over it or harbors ill will towards him because of it. If you do that, then it is going to be a long time coming because he's going to dig his

heels into the sand and say, you're going to be like that? I'm definitely not giving. You show him the opposite and you love him like Jesus does, then wait and see. What are you going to show me on the screen? That's a good question. I can't see that. Okay.

Maybe you've discussed this before, but what if you weren't a member of the established church? Where do you tithe? Established churches? Charities? That is a great question. So what I would say to that person, if you're not in an established church, where are you being fed by? You're probably being fed somewhere. So if that's the case, for example, Andrew Romick, right? He has fed our family a lot. I would say Kenneth Hagen monumentally, but Kenneth Hagen is not around anymore. And Rhema, I'm not really impressed with Rhema right

now as far as the schooling goes but andrew wamek's school caris bible college we gave to the caris bible college so if there's not a church like if you watch foundation church and you don't live in the area we i would advise you to do what a lot of people do that are fed from this ministry they send in their tithes and offering into this church they have nowhere else to send it to to because they don't go anywhere else. But you feed or you give to the storehouse where you're being fed. So if you watch other people, there's lots of other ministries out there that people get fed by.

Give to them. I would not do charities like the American Heart Association. I wouldn't give to a lot of those, Red Cross, all that. You know, people really need to investigate charities because a lot of charities, the money really goes to the higher, the top level, the CEOs and things like that. They are not going to where you think it actually goes. You know know people probably think i'm a horrible person because you go to the grocery store and the cashier says do you want to give to the american heart association or do you want to give to this uh um charity or this and i

say no because i already know that there's a lot of them that the people who are in need they don't get it's like the insurance companies right now. The people that need the money aren't getting it. But I guarantee you, when the Christmas bonuses roll around at the end of the year, the higher level, they'll be getting their million dollar bonuses. They do.

People need to check that out. They don't think that they do. They do. They get severance packages that are off the charts when they get let go millions and millions of dollars to be let go that's our millions guys like my house we can cost a million dollars to repair if you could put a whole bunch of us in this church together to get our it still wouldn't be a million dollars for what we need to have done to our house houses and so but they make sure they

get theirs but the people down in the area that really need it don't so charities unless you check them out thoroughly i wouldn't give to a charity i know that sounds terrible but i really would not yeah i mean i totally 100 you probably checked them out, though. It's crazy. But a lot of people don't understand that the elite, the top level, they're making the money. They're getting theirs. Yeah. I mean, even Christian ones. I know.

It's bad. I know. The ones that you think, oh, not them, check them out. You'll be sorely disappointed. And they do good things, but they could do a lot better things if they weren't paying the people at the highest level, the amount of money. And listen, I'm a workman is worth its wage. I'm a big proponent on people being paid well. I mean, like, I'm a big proponent of being paid very well, okay? But it's ridiculous.

It's almost robbery to the level of some of these people and where they're getting paid because they're taking from the very people they say that they're standing for. It's not good. So let's go to the next question. It says, about a year ago, you shared with me the concept of being a plain pottery vase. I was recently reminded of this discussion when God led me to a job I had for a long time. This analogy helped me, and I believe it can help others. Would you share it?

So yes, I will absolutely share this. So when I got my life back with God, it was probably my second or third year of really saying, Lord, when I walked away from God, I was very much a surfacy Christian. As far as I didn't sin when I was saved before. I lived a holy lifestyle. I was a good girl. I was in leadership. I mean, I did know stuff about the Bible, but I'd be lying if I told you I knew a lot about the Bible. I didn't. I mean, I knew the Bible stories and things like that, but to go in depth on things, I would have, you know, it would have been a mess. So, um, to the level of my understanding, you know, when I walked away was, was very surfacy. So when I came back, I was like,

I realized what I had lost and what I missed so much. So I said, Lord, I don't want to be like I was before. I want to be way more, way more than that. I know that you can do something great through me if I allow you to do that. And but I'm like, I don't even like you feel like when you've walked away from God or maybe you're new in the faith you feel like well who am I like why would God use me and or your past holds you back so I just remember the Lord I was I think I don't even know where I was it was just a very quiet time I think I might have been down at the beach because I would go to the beach a lot to watch the sunsets by myself.

And I was, I think I was in a relationship with Tom at this time, or he could have been broken up with me because he broke up with me three times. So who knows where I was at, particularly at this moment. But I know it was a very, very quiet time with me and God. And, um, I remember the Lord saying to me, I know what you want. And here's the thing. Um, he is the potter and we are the clay. And I remember just so vividly seeing him at, in the chair, just molding me on that potter's wheel and the Lord clearly said to me

I can put you on this wheel and I can just you you can just be a vase a vase that will serve its purpose. It'll do its job. It'll be plain though. It'll be a plain vase. But you'll go to heaven. And you know. You'll fulfill your purpose. But if you'll let me. What I want to do with you. Is make you something to something beautiful. And, but,

but know this, when I tell you this, it will require very much from you. Because in order to be something ornate and beautiful, that requires you to allow me to put some tools to you. And those tools will take parts of you out. When he takes a tool and he carves into the piece of clay, he's removing parts of that clay. And sometimes ornate has, you know, deep crevices in it to make it a deeper, beautiful vase. And the Lord was very clear to me. If you will allow me to make you into what I want to make you into and allow me to use

the tools that I need to use on you, at the end of the day, you will be a beautiful, ornate vase that I can do much with. Or you can be simple and it'll still work. And I said to the Lord, if you'll use me, take the tools to me. Take them to me because I want to do much for you. And so when I was sharing that with this person, because I knew who it is, shortly after that, everything that she knew job wise and everything is she had built. She, she's somewhat of a new believer. So she was like me at the time when I got saved. So

that story was very good for her because she is seeking the kingdom of God and all its righteousness. And that's really what all of us should be doing. Some people will just be happy just getting into heaven, you know, scraping by. But then there's some of us that are, we're like, we want to hear, well done, good and faithful servant, enter ye in. For me, I don't want to get by. I want to do as much as I possibly humanly can to win as many people as I possibly can to change and affect as many people's lives as I possibly can. And it has been a painful process at times because when God puts a tool to you, what he does is he says, I want that gone out of you. And then you have a decision to die to your flesh or to say,

but Lord, it's not sin and I really enjoy it. Please let me keep it. And you hang on to it. And for me, I knew and I have known when he's told me, get rid of that. It was up to me in order to get to the next level or to be used in a more powerful way or to end up being a more glorious vessel for him. I had to just say, take the tool to me. I'm going to get rid of it.

I'm going to get it out of my life. As hard as this is, you are right. And I want to be used in a mighty way. And I have walked our street. We have like a, where we live, we live kind of out in the boonies. And it's, Tracy really doesn't like going down the road to my house.

She says that Freddy Krueger and Jason live out where I live because we have the state forest on one side. It's completely black. I mean, going to my house, house it's there's no street lights it's black yeah you have to have major faith going out there oh my gosh it's like the amazon just never know what's gonna creep out it could be anything she's let her imagination get the best of her so we we have these major roads, even though it's getting a little busier out where I live because people are moving out there. But I remember walking this one

particular road. And because every now and then I do decide to exercise, believe it or not. It's only short stints. But you've got some comments, by the way. People said you look great. I look great? Yeah. Oh, I love you. I don't know. It must be the new hair color. And Heather loves your hoops. Hello. My other hoops. I haven't bought sterling silver hoops for me. And my other hoops, I haven't been able to find them. These are not sterling silver, but my other ones tarnished. It was time. It was time.

And I finally found some. So I went, listen, if you're from the city, every girl needs a good set of hoops. It's true. Every girl. It's true. Well, I guess it depends on what part of the city you're from and who you hang out with. That's true. Like gang signs.

What? Gang signs. What? Gang signs. Yeah. I think that's I love you. Oh, really? There you go. Hang ten. Hang ten.

I don't know. I don't know. I mean, every now and then I hung with the right people that I could wear my hoops and wear them well. But so I don't know where I left off. You want to bring all these people to heaven with you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah. So you have to like take the tool.

But here's the thing. No, I was going to say something about most people like in the woke churches and stuff. Oh, no, no. I was talking about where I was walking. So every now and then when I decide to exercise, which is very short and brief, because it gets hot outside and I just don't like being hot. But I have an idea in my head. Heather and Tracy, I have an idea in my head for us to exercise before we have Vanessa do our Zumba classes. Okay, this is the thing.

I remember I have told the Lord this many times, and women and men. I mean, I have, I mean, Tom's a very solid man, right? Obviously, he's the pastor of this church, but even I have specifically said, Lord, no matter what he does, no matter where he goes, no matter whatever, do not have whatever he does hold me back. Everybody should really have that attitude. You should never let your spouse be your determining factor of how far you go spiritually with your walk with him and how much you do for the kingdom.

Because I could sit and ride on Tom's coattails and be a great little cheerleader for him, which I am. But I, in my own right, don't want to get into heaven based on how I supported him. I mean, I will be rewarded for that. And I know that. And wives, you will be rewarded for how you supported your husband and how you stood beside him. Because a man's ego, just so you know, a man's ego is very frail. And we as women, and I've said this before, but one of the best things I ever learned in a book, because Tom made me read marriage books before we got married. Usually it's the woman, right?

Getting the guy to read them. No, no, no, no. Tom was making me read marriage books. He bought a bunch. Kind of shocked. You're shocked by that? No. He's definitely the girl in our relationship.

But. So in one of these books that he made me read. Was so. It's something that I. Out of. Outside of that. The thermostat is also why people. Marriages get in fights. Outside of the thermostat is also why people, marriages get in fights.

Outside of the thermostat, two different, wanting two different temperatures in the house and it's an arguing point for marriages. I don't remember anything else in these books

but that and this. Okay. The other one's not really helped me at all. Was that like a real, like people really fight about the temperature? Yes.

It talked about like the list of things that marriages fight over. Like that's real, real? really fight about the temperatures? Yes, it talked about like the list of things that marriages fight over. Like that's real, real? Yes. In the chat right now. Yes. You fought with your spouse over a temperature in the house. Like people fight over one person's once 75, another person's once like 68.

Yeah, it's true. That's what they said in this book. Now how true it is is what their statistics are i couldn't tell you i don't remember but it was one of the big huge it's like in the top 30 or something like or 50 or they gave you like a list and it was all from one to whatever i'm asking right now we're gonna find out okay so the thing that this book said about men and it's so true and it's for women to understand so women listen you need to know men need us we need them for the parts that they help us with like I'm telling you right now I walked out of the house yesterday and Tom's like dang you look good

and I was like he tells me that all the time except for like that one outfit that I wore to the river I told Heather this listen I the last time I went to the river and they they put me on the end to be a bodyguard because Paula White was there that night so they're like hey listen if somebody comes you know I love Pastor Lois she's like I'm putting you on the end like Paula White's in the middle. So something goes down. I'm tackling. Don't worry about it. I got your back, girl. She's like, all right, you got the spot.

So I'm in the front row. Wish I was not because I look like a two-ton hog. Oh, God, yes. I wore this dress that when I walked out of my bedroom, I should have known better. And I knew. I knew. When Tom looked at me and he said nothing, I should have known better. And I knew. I knew. When Tom looked at me and he said nothing, I'm like, that's not a good sign.

Because he said nothing. And normally he's all about it. And men, if you're watching, your women need that affirmation for crying out loud. Women need to know. Like, you think they're hot. You think they're the best thing. There ain't nothing that compares to them. But men, like this book said something so valuable. It said, as women, we can make our husband believe that they can do anything. There's nothing that

they cannot accomplish. Or we can make them believe that there is absolutely they can accomplish nothing that there is nothing that they can do right like there's they'll never amount to anything and it is absolutely true i mean i look at some people and their marriages and the husband like walks with his tail between his legs because the wife has made him feel like he's the dumbest dumbest thing on the face of the earth we can make them believe that they are an unstoppable force or we can make them believe that they can do nothing and so i would strongly encourage women when you use your words use words of encouragement build them up even if sometimes you don't feel like don't lie but be careful um it's like when

you see an ugly baby you don't say oh that baby's the most beautiful thing because then you'd be lying but you go oh that baby's super special and so if i if you ever see me and i say if your baby's super special that means i think your baby's ugly. I thought my kids were ugly, though. So, and I'll do, you know, whatever. I like this thing, but I think I got to bring it up a little bit. Okay. So, this is, we're changing, guys. We're moving and shaking in this podcast all the time.

But I'm just saying to you that you don't lie, but there are great ways to encourage your husband to believe that that he's able to accomplish and meet every goal that he sets before himself and you might even have to help him get those goals to those goals because we're supposed to be a helpmate for our spouse like there are things that um that Tom's when he went to go and do it, he needed my help. But through both of us doing it together, we did a bang up job. We accomplished the goal. We killed it. And it was better than it would have been if he did it by himself.

You're a team, you know. So I don't know exactly where I was going with all that because now I'm off on a tangent, but I'm just saying to you people, like, I don't know what I'm saying. So I'm going to go to the next question because I'm lost. I mean, I legitimately lost. Sorry, that's Bia. So I will respond to her in a minute. So here's my next question. And I'm sorry that I went off on a tangent and I don't know where I was going.

But at the end of the day, be something different. That's where I was going. Be that ornate vase. Be bigger and better. And this is what I was saying. If you're married, don't feel like wherever your spouse goes, always go with them. But don't make that be the determining factor of how far you go spiritually and what you do. Because you can still be a good, strong unit, but accomplishing your goals separate too.

Because God wants you to do things together, but he still has things he wants to do through you. So don't limit yourself. And then you both like really iron sharpening iron. Like you're really like you guys are going at full tilt. I will tell you when I told Tom that I wanted to do this, he was 100% behind me doing this podcast. And every now and then when he remembers, he gives me some kudos out there as far as he tells people, watch this podcast and things like that on his podcast or on CTN and things like that. So you can definitely be there for one another,

but still be doing something for God all on your own and be accomplishing things that he wants you to do. But definitely be doing something. Don't be simple. Don't be a simple vase. Like be willing to let the Lord put you on that wheel and just make you into all that you can be. Because really, when it's all said and done, you're not even going to recognize yourself. You're going to sit there and go, wow, I am so grateful that I let him mold me and make me into what he wanted me to be

instead of what I thought I should be. It'll blow your mind. So next question. It says, when is it a good time to talk to kids about the book of Revelation? So I would tell you it really depends on the child. With our kids, we did it right around between 10 and 13. Um, some kids are very, very smart. And so you can do it much earlier with them.

I know I, excuse me, I, I just burped in everybody's ear, but, um, I, I'm going to give you a couple of examples. So, uh, like Brininley brinley and charlotte um some of you guys know who i'm talking about if you don't live in the area you have no idea what i'm talking about but heather's daughter brinley and then courtney who talia's sister who works on the team and you'll get to know talia a little bit better next week when we do our mother's day thing but um tell you sister charlotte they're very intelligent like they're like tootie's a smart girl okay in her own right like the girl is she's above i would say an intelligence level she's even above the average the student okay she's a smart kid but brinley and charlotte

are like way up high they're they're like way high yeah i agree ridiculously that's all god given too and parents who like get so like puffed up over how intelligent their kids are how talented their kids are remember how talented their kids are remember you had nothing to do with that all that is god and you better make sure that they realize they had nothing to do about it so they don't get haughty and puffed up and prideful they had nothing to do with that that was all god um so and i tell brinley that all the time because she's super smart i'm like you need to know when other kids have a little bit more difficult in the learning area and you don't that's got nothing to do with you you have done nothing to accomplish

that that is everything that god's given you so you be thankful you don't be prideful and and she's such a sweet little sweet little thing i don't ever see, but other kids do have, she doesn't have that propensity to be like that, but other people do. So you do have to make sure you remind, everybody's personalities are very different. She would never go that route.

It's highly unlikely, but know your kid. If they're a prideful child or you think that they might need to hear it, even though she doesn't need to hear it, I make sure she knows it because it's always good to keep things in balance. Like my daughter can sing.

I'm always like, okay, remember, that ain't you. God gave you that gift. So don't get more haughty than you should. But so depending on how intelligent and how smart some people comprehend very well some do not so base everything on that there's no real true this is when they're ready i can't say when there's, they're nine, you teach them. No, because everybody is different. We'll tell you, um, I made the girls go and get this for me. Our children's church, we give this, we give this Bible. We, so far in our nursery, um, we don't have any Bibles we give to the kids, but when you reach the toddler age, you get a Bible. Whether you visit our church

one time, you're getting getting your kid is walking out with a bible for free every single time this is the bible that we give to the elementary school age now i'll have a whole bunch of visitors just piling in here so they can get a free bubble we don't care we're getting yeah come on in we don't care because the thing is is the word does not return void so if you come once but your kid has this bible i have a better chance of them being fed through the word and you not attending church and then being saved this bible cost me 20 bucks best 20 beckham 20 investment there is so um but i will tell you in the back of this, it talks about Revelation.

And to the degree that it talks about it, it looks like they've changed it. So hold on one second because I did not come prepared. So this is Jude and this is Revelation. This is how it does for the Revelation. And listen, if you are a watcher of ours, I don't mind doing this. If you watch this podcast and you live in another state and you want one of these, I will make sure you get one. You don't even have to pay us for it.

Okay? It is the best Bible there is. Okay? And it is about four pages where it talks about Revelation so that a child can understand. Okay? The book is like a comic strip. Okay?

Inside of it, it's like if you were to uh marvel cap the the the superman spider-man they took that kind of comic book kind of thing and they made it into a bible and i will tell you i'm picky about bibles because i think that they need to be as close to the Word of God as they possibly can. And because you'll get all these different Bibles that take things out of context. And then they add their little things here. And I will tell you, that Bible right there for kids is phenomenal. And we have people who their kid would never even read the Bible. And they can't get their kids out of the Bible.

We do reading programs with those things. Even the toddlers have their own bible they do reading programs we do like the schools have their crappy library reading thingies where they pick up books and they win things are we do too we do it with the action bible we just got done where the kids went in every kid that finished was it the old testament or new testament old testament you had to finish the old testament between a certain time frame i think it was like three months four months something like that and um at the end of it as you progressively go through it uh you win prizes so if you get um to like let's say uh you start obviously in genesis

and then you end up in Exodus, Deuteronomy. So you go to Deuteronomy, now you win a prize. Deuteronomy to this, you win a prize. So by the end of it, your ultimate prize was bowling, pizza, and something else. So all the kids that won and finished the Old Testament, they went out bowling for the day. They had a great time. They did.

So, and your kid was one of those. Yeah. Yeah. So, it's like, it's such an easy book. And the great thing about the Action Bible is they even have it on audio. So, if your child has a very difficult time reading, you can get the audio and the Bible, and they can do it together they can listen and read it and you wouldn't believe how many kids that we have that have learning

like reading issues they've learned to read better because of that also children there's kids that we've had that were teenagers that had um reading comprehension, but the parents want their kids to read the Bible. So they may be like sixth grade, seventh grade, and they're still struggling. They take the Action Bible. Their kids are reading the Action Bible now. They actually know the Bible. Huge, huge. So again, if you guys, if somebody needs one that doesn't live in the state let us know we'll be happy to send you one best investment you can make for your kid is getting them a great bible that they'll actually read and enjoy you got to get it into them but revelation is one of those one of those things that because it can be very scary for some even though it's not if you

understand revelation you're not scared about it but uh it needs to be my kids when they were right around 10 and 13 we explained to them what revelation was about what the end times look like told them not to be afraid nothing to be afraid of um and then what god's expectation was for them if they were to be in those times. And so, and right now it doesn't look like we're not far from it, to be honest with you, based on the climate that we live in. Um, so might want to, if they're in that age group, you might want to talk to them about it.

Otherwise they, if you even talked about it beforehand, I don't know if they would be able to comprehend, you might want to talk to them about it. Otherwise, if you even talked to them about it beforehand, I don't know if they would be able to comprehend what you're trying to say. But get a good Bible, a kid-related Bible, and then that might help them too. All right, next question is, do you have to be baptized to get into heaven? I say no. And the reason I say no is this. I know that Jesus was was baptized i know that john the baptist baptized but we're going to look at um what jesus did when he died on the cross

okay this is the example i use all the time for people who battle whether here's the thing do i think you should get baptized yeah 100 it's in the bible people did it there it's very symbolic of the old man dying and the new man coming up it's very important to be baptized but will you not go to heaven for it no i don't believe that and the reason is is because jesus died between two thieves when he died one mocked and criticized and wanted nothing to do with him the other one said lord let me go to paradise with you and jesus told him he would now what jesus didn't do is say let's climb down off this cross right now you get down off for yours and i'll get down off of mine i gotta dip you into the the the lake over there baptize you then we gotta get

back up on these crosses it's not what happened the thief never got baptized so he went but he was told he would be going to heaven that guy wasn't special that's not how it works it wasn't just that's not a rule that was set just for him so if the thief was able to go to heaven by receiving Jesus while he was dying on the cross there are people that are in old retirement homes right that we have we do soul winning here at the church we go out into the streets and we go out into the retirement homes we're trying to pluck as many people from the fire as we possibly can by whatever means is necessary. So, and we have a great success rate on the street and we have a great success rate in the retirement homes. The retirement home, no one can, if you, we win the lost in there all the time. We are not telling them that we have to take them back to the church and dunk them in water.

Some of them may have died the next day. They have not been baptized. Does that mean they're not going to heaven? No, they're going to heaven. It says the only way to get to the Father is but through Jesus. And it does talk about being baptized, but doesn't say that if you receive him as your Lord and Savior and you're not baptized, you're not going to heaven. That is not what the word says. So I say you can absolutely get saved, not be baptized, and still go to heaven.

What Bible for preschoolers? Oh. Do you know it? You'll go get it. Tootie and Brinley will go get it. I know. Okay. And they are off.

And they're off. If you saw how fast they just ran. Dang, they're fast. If you saw how fast they just ran. Dang, they're fast. Did you have another question? That was the other question? That was one that just came in. Okay. I have one more.

I'm going to keep, I'm going to skip one so I can just do this one because it'll take shorter time. And then, because I only have four minutes left, and that'll stall us. Okay. It says, what keeps you going on hard days? In all truthfulness, I'm going to be honest with you, and I don't want to hear any, any flack at all.

Outside of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, a good Red Bull. Kid you not. And Tracy's holding up her Red Bull right now. Kid you not. What keeps me going on a hard day? Sucking down a Red Bull. I love them. I would say that I don't even care. I don't even think it gives me an ounce of energy, to be honest with you. Now, my Thrive Patch, my Thrive Patch, I can't even, if I'm fasting, which I'm fasting right now for a week. Now, when I fast, what I mean is I'm not eating.

Oh, thank you, baby girls. I am eating only after six, right? Right around there. So it's from like six to six, but I actually stop way earlier than that. But if I put my Thrive Patch on, if I drink that shake, it's got the supplements and everything in it, the Thrive Patch has caffeine in it, I think,

or something like that. It gives you energy. My Red Bull does nothing like Thrive. Doesn't for you either. Oh my gosh. But I will be nauseous if I because that really like

like I can feel the difference I don't know if you can but I can feel the difference when I'm on Thrive and when I'm not on Thrive yeah so and that's I know that I'm endorsing it to a certain extent and I'm sorry that I'm endorsing somebody's supplements so I think we have

like Sarah sells it and then Olivia sells it. So if anybody wants Thrive, those two girls take great care of you. But I'm just telling you I'm a big proponent. It works. I don't need like they

have ones to help you lose weight. They have like skin care now. Like, it's not even, it's not unaffordable. Like, what people pay for good supplements is, I know, like, I'm doing a commercial here, and I'm really sorry. I apologize. But supplements, we make fun of them, but they are truly good because we all eat like crap. But you've got to get ones that actually do something.

If you're going to Walmart and you're buying buying nature valley or whatever it is it's not happening it's not happening it's you're getting nothing but good supplements and these are good and they're they're not going to kill you on the in the pocketbook not that i really care because i would have probably bought them i don't i'm not i i know that like my god shall supply all my needs i don't really i hate to be sound snotty and snooty or whatever but i don't look at all that all the time i just know god's word i'm not i'm a good steward of my money you are but i'm not like like counting every penny and every dime and whittling over it no No. No. No. Not at all. So this is the Bible for.

Can you see that really good if I do that? I'm going to put it in the comments. So it's my first study Bible. Super cute. It has pictures. And the kids love it. I'm looking at the thing so I can see that I'm actually doing it. But the kids love this Bible.

It's really great. Really good. That's the New Testament. Thomas Nelson, is that the author? Do you see it anywhere? Yep, Thomas Nelson. He goes by Tommy. Tommy Nelson.

Tommy Nelson. Another great book. But we give that one away too so if if somebody's come now listen if your kid's a hot mess and loses them we don't replace them I can tell you there's been kids that we've given come crying I lost my bible all right we'll give you another one then they come back I lost my bible I'm like okay that bible don't mean that much to you. We ain't going to keep replacing it. I'm sorry. You need to get it together. So here's the thing.

Back to my question. And then I think I'll bring little cutie pies in. They're standing there waiting patiently because I think they want to come in here. I'm pretty sure they do. They love being on the podcast, people. They love being on the podcast. Now. They love being on the podcast. Now, listen, they've been running around the church. So when you look at them, no judgment.

Their hair's a little, everything's a little wild right now. But they've been having a great time. Now they're running their fingers through their hair. So here's the thing. On a hard day, I will tell you, I wrote my stuff down. I rest in the Holy Spirit. I talk to the Holy Spirit a lot. The great thing is Jesus says, if I do not go away, I do not send you the comforter.

He sent someone here with us so that wherever we're at in life, he's got our back. We don't have to do it alone. So I talk to the Holy Spirit a lot. I listen on hard days. I listen a lot to teachings. I saturate myself. Listen, I have a really good Bible app that my friend Jeej told me about. It's called the NIV Live. N NIV live I think it costs like 50 bucks

it's basically the bible in play form and when I say the bible in play form I mean it's the bible like it's being acted out while you're listening to it it's different it's not like listening to the you version where you can listen to different people. But they're all the same people saying it's the same person throughout the whole thing. And after a while, I'm like this. Okay, the NIV Live is like you literally can hear Paul in prison hearing prisoners talk to each other while he's writing his letters. It puts you there. It's amazing.

I learned by listening. I have learned. I mean, things came alive for me by listening to this NIV Live Bible. It's phenomenal. So I would say to you, I listen to the Bible. I do this, I mean, if I don't spend time in the Word, then you're going to get me listening to it. But it's far superior to study it. I listen to teachings on whatever I'm walking through. So let's say I'm believing for increase for whatever reason, why? I'll listen to good teachings on finances so that I understand the word and I build myself up on my most holy faith, right?

I'll get it so that like I know that I know that I know that what I'm standing on, the word clearly says that that shall come to pass. If it's healing, whatever. If it's peace, whatever. I listen to a teaching that speaks specifically to that, that just is throwing out the scriptures. And I don't listen to teachers that don't preach with the Bible. There's a lot of people out there that you can listen to their teachings, but they have no word whatsoever in their teachings. You got to listen to people who live, who speak the word and just like are constantly

using it as the tool to prove to you what you're standing on. Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I don't really need somebody's stories. I need the word. Um, so, uh, just listen to, I listened to a lot of praise and worship. Um, but I do that throughout the day, but I'm just telling you when you're having a hard day, do not, do not turn on that TV. Do not get on Instagram.

Do not look at Facebook. They may lull you to where you're not thinking about it anymore for a short period of time. But when all that shuts off, you're back to the same place and you're full of angst and worry or whatever. But if you would have spent that time building yourself up on what the word says, then you're just, the evidence is there. There's no anxiousness. There's no anxiety. You know, there's nothing. There's complete peace. There's comfort. You're

steady stream. You know, it says to be stable in all our ways. You can be only stable in all your ways when you're walking in the word. Okay. When you're full of fear and anxiety, you don't behave the best because your fear and anxiety is going to be how you respond to people and respond to situations when we're angst up and full of worry we treat others usually poorly in fact it says worry will lead to sin that's what the bible says worry leads to sin so yet in order to get rid of the worry and this uh in order to get rid of the worry you gotta you gotta add the word get rid of get rid of everything else now god bless tracy because she just pulled up the radiance radiance into the wild look at you split Split screen. I know what I'm doing. You go, girl.

I don't even look right doing that. You go, girl. You go, girl. You got it. Next week. Next week is it, girl. You ready? About as ready as I'll ever be.

I can't wait to see them. I love them. They're such good people. Me too. Listen, that Revival Today team, they are good people. And they are true blue. But yeah, I'm excited. It's going to be fun

taking a crew up there with me. Lots of my pals, my friends. I'm actually not taking them with me, truth be told. They all decided to go, worked it out through Heather. That's true. And then Heather. Heather's a great organizer she's the best she's the best but i'm actually not these people the girls that are going actually decided that they wanted to go i had really nothing to do with it so that says a lot about this radiance conference there's a lot

of women they're wanting to be all that god's called them to be. They're willing to put out some cashola to make it happen. And through the process we'll all get a little closer and bind ourselves together. But if you can make it to that conference you will not be disappointed. I can guarantee you

there'll be lots of laughs. Yes. Lots and lots of laughs. Yes. Lots and lots of laughs. Because they are funny. I think that's it. Do the girls, like, they're in the bathroom, people. The girls are in the bathroom.

They're trying to make themselves. Yeah, thank you. Camera ready. I'm waiting on you, girls. I'm waiting on you. Put the brushes down. They literally went and got brushes. We're making our hair crazy. You're making your hair crazy?

Yeah, so we can. Okay, Tootie, get over here, baby. I've got to have one on the other. Hey, so you want to say hi to your mama? She's probably watching. Come here. No, no, no. Say hey.

Hello. Tootie, you know who's watching you who's watching you my mom no not just your mama and hey who else is going to be watching you come over here that's right you want to say hey to her hi okay we're gonna um do you guys want to do you guys want to lead people to Jesus this time? You want to tell them why they need Jesus? Why do they need Jesus? Because it will help them, because it will save them in a lot of other ways. It will save them from what?

From going down there. You got that right. Why do you think people need to be saved? a lot other ways. It'll save them from what? From it. Going down there. You got that right. Why do you think people need to be saved? Because it just feels nice, and if you get saved, lots of miracles can happen to you. That is exactly, exactly right.

Salvation is the biggest miracle of all because of what Jesus died died i mean a man coming to this earth to give his life up for us so that we could spend life with him that's the that's a big huge miracle right and then there's miracles when people need money and finances how god comes through for them with that that That's a huge miracle, right? But then there's the miracle of when somebody doesn't feel good, which is you. This week, you did not feel good at all, and you never feel good. And you said God was going to heal you.

You didn't take any medications, nothing, right? You stood strong, girl. Yeah, and then I had to because my mom made me she made me yeah but here's the thing you stood strong right okay but the next day so you took medication on one day and then the next day you were 100 well but that had nothing to do with the medication actually from what i if i remember what your mom said because you you hadn't taken enough for it to even help you because you you were not good but you woke up the next day really good so hey listen even if sometimes we have to um yes you can get down sometimes it was hot was hot. It was hot. It is hot in here, sister.

You got that right. Sometimes, and when we're standing in faith for something, there is incremental faith where you'll see your faith and your healing incrementally. It is in the Bible. I mean, Jesus took the man,

the blind man out of the city, right? Also the healing of the centurion where or i think it was a centurion where um oh the healing of the lepers as they walked they were healed um as to the priest so the thing is is there is healing that comes incrementally um but sometimes you grow weak and well-doing right? So you like, if you're holding out and you're pressing through, and you just need and you're like, Oh, I just don't know if I can make it. Well, then you know what, maybe you take one little thing or whatever to get yourself back up, get you strong again, get your faith moving again, and then you can keep going on, right?

But what you said is, I'm doing nothing. I'm standing on the, how old are you? You're seven. You're seven years old, and you said, when you had a high, high fever, over 100, you said, I'm taking nothing. God's going to heal me. See, if we could teach our kids at seven years old To stand in faith like that They will be moving mountains When they're in their teens

Amen So Super proud of you And I know you do the same thing Because your mother's told me You don't play You stand for healing too So it's big

At your guys' age My kids did the same exact thing It's huge And now they see huge miracles So And you guys will too It's big at your guys' age. My kids did the same exact thing. It's huge. And now they see huge miracles. And you guys will too. So my thing is, is if you don't know him and you need to be safe, because now we're how many minutes over?

Ten. God bless. Super sorry. Ten minutes over, we are going to pray with you, right? And we're going to stand with you that you're saved. So everybody, let's close our eyes and let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you right now and we ask you to be Lord and Savior. We ask you to come into our hearts.

We ask you to forgive us of our sins. And Lord, we thank you for what you did on that cross. And we know when we grow old, and we go to be in heaven, we will live with you forever. And we thank you for that. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.

Amen. So here's the thing. Next week, our podcast on Wednesday and the Friday are recorded. The one on Wednesday, you will not want to miss it will it's it's going to be super super special the one and you may say well that's not what I thought it was going to be like I'm telling you right now it'll be something special it you'll be surprised it will be special because of how you will use it in life after you listen. On Friday, Friday's going to be really great because it's two different podcasts. One, we had to shorten because we all went really long.

So there's the podcast that's recorded that you're going to be able to watch with the team. And then there's the long version. We made a short version and a long version. You're going to to see the short version first but then you can finish up watching the long version because we'll have it on youtube but we'll be npa yeah having a great time these two crazy kids are coming with us yes they are and uh yeah first time on a plane many times on a plane so it's gonna to be fun. I will see you. Well, I won't see you personally on Wednesday.

It'll be recording, but I will see you at Revival today if you tune in to the Radiance Conference. And please do that. If you can't be there, still tune in and watch because it's going to be great. Yeah, so we will see you later. And thank you so much for tuning in. Have an amazing weekend. Bye-bye.