The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Bringing Your Children to Jesus!

Episode Date: September 27, 2019

Developing a strong relationship with Jesus is so important to the spiritual life, and bringing children to Jesus is the main goal of Catholic parents. Jeff connects Scripture passages from Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Proverbs that deal with parenting and setting a good example for our kids, and give practical advice on how to bring children to Jesus. _Snippet from the Show “Parents have such a significant role in bringing their kids to Jesus. Nobody else can take up that role.” _ SHOWNOTES Matthew 19:13-15 - “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; but Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’ And he laid his hands on them and went away.” Deuteronomy 32:1-3 - “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distil as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God!” read more of Deuteronomy 32 Genesis 18:19 - “ ... for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Deuteronomy 6:1-9 - “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it; that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Proverbs 25:11 - “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” 10 Ways to Bring Your Children to Jesus * Baptism * Confimiration * Study the Catechism * Family Prayer * Weekly Mass * Confession * Adoration * Reading Scripture * Praying the Rosary * Shape your own life to be centered on Jesus Resources * The Great Adventure Storybook * "2020 Vision" Young Adult Pilgrimage to the Holy Land * Holy Land January 2020 * The Great Adventure Bible in a Day — Presented by Jeff Cavins

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, episode 134, bringing your children to Jesus. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. Welcome, my friend, to another show this week. Good to be with you.

Always is. and in this case I am coming back fresh from Poland. That's right. We went with a great group of people to Poland for a pilgrimage. Father Josh Johnson joined us along with Father Todd Lloyd and man, they were super priests on the pilgrimage and we really had a great time. I've never been there before and I didn't really know what to expect. I simply knew that there were great saints that came out of Poland. And I think what makes this pilgrimage a little bit different, which I think we're going to do another one, if you're interested, is that so much of what we looked at, you know, and so many of the places that we went to were just in recent history, World War II.

And World War II, of course, broke out September 1st, 1939 when the Nazis invaded Poland. And that's where we were. And out of all of that difficulty and the horror of the Holocaust, came saints. And we had the privilege of visiting Maximilian Colby's ministry, where he put together his print material that really changed the world. It really did. He was kind of ahead of his time. And of course, he was martyred in cell 18 of Block 11 at Auschwitz when he gave his life for another man and we visited that cell and that was that's life transforming when you're when you're there and you see this what this man did and he's become i think a part of my posse now you know he wasn't before but now he is really really special uh sister faustina st faustino we we visited

the divine mercy shrine there in krakow and had a wonderful presentation from a just a beautiful sister her name was sister faustino she was given that name which I can only imagine was a tremendous, tremendous privilege. We also had the opportunity to look into St. Benedict of the Cross Edith Stein, who also died in the Holocaust. But I'd have to say that the highlight for me was St. John Paul the Great. Oh, wow. Everywhere you go in Poland, there he is. Everywhere. There's shrill. There's grinds. He changed that whole, the whole world. He really, really did. And one of the highlights for me was when we went to Vadovice, his hometown, and we were able to go into his home, and it's only

three rooms. And you have a living room, you have a bedroom, and then on the other end, you have a small kitchen. And I was able to sit in that kitchen and look at the church next door, which had such a profound impact on his life. And his home is now connected to a museum, which is one of the best I've ever seen in terms of going into someone's life. Even the gun that was used to shoot him back in 1981 was there buried in the floor with plexiglass, kind of eerie in a way. And then in Krakow, they had a, it's a whole shrine. It's like a center, the John Paltese Center. and there is the cassock that he was wearing when he was shot, blood on it, and I was able to kneel before that and just really review suffering

and the power of redemptive suffering. And I have so many things I could share with you, and I hope to. But the reason I'm doing the show this week I'm bringing your children to Jesus is that Carol Waitia, Pope John Paul II's father, he had a, an amazing impact on young Carol Voitea, and he grew up, as I said, right next to the church, but his father's influence was really, really powerful. And so I'm going to talk on a later podcast about John Paul II and these saints that we visited in Poland, but I just felt compelled to share this topic with you today, bringing your children to Jesus. You know, I remember

a couple years before Pope John Paul the second passed away. To go to Rome and to visit with John Paul the Great, and to have a private audience in his personal library, his private library there in Rome. And that

was a game changer for me. I remember when I got the message at the hotel from his secretary Jeevich that the Holy Father would see us, and it was going to be not in the morning, but in the evening, which is kind of unusual. I'll tell you what, Emily was nervous.

I was nervous thinking, we're going to go see the vicar of Christ. We're going to see the one with the keys of Peter, keys to the kingdom. And I remember going in to bringing my family into his library, and I turned the corner and there he was sitting in his Dominican habit. And I'm like stunned, I'm numb. I don't even know really what to say at that point. And we went over and we knelt down in front of him. and I gave him a copy of the Bible timeline.

To be honest with you, it was an otherworldly experience. If you've ever visited with the Pope privately, it's unreal. It's really unreal. But I remember what he said. I told him about the Bible timeline, and he looked at me, and he said, I want to bless your children, your family. And I thought, death's great. Right. I mean, do it. And so he gave a rosary to each one of us, and he reached out, and he touched our children.

And I remember him grabbing Jackie's face. Jackie's our middle daughter. And we have an amazing picture from the side where Pope John Paul II is staring into Jackie's eyes, and he's only about a foot away. And he has her cheek, her face, cupped in his hand. And it is one of the most beautiful sights. And I remember after that meeting with Pope John, Paul II, thinking to myself, put a fork in me, I'm done. I brought my children to the vicar of Christ. I brought my children to the one who has the keys to the kingdom. And that was an amazing experience to know that a saint touched my children. And since then, I have several times reminded my children, you know what, you were touched by a saint. And when they were younger, that probably didn't mean quite as much as hopefully it will mean as they grow old. but I got to thinking, you know, that to be touched by the Pope is an amazing thing,

but to be touched by Jesus, that is truly, truly remarkable. And the Bible's filled with stories about people bringing others to Jesus. You know, you have in Copernum, the man let down through the roof. They brought this man. They broke a place in the roof. They lowered him down so that Jesus could. touch him. They. We don't know who they are, but they're called they. In fact, there's a, there's a lot of people in the Bible called they. They brought the sick. They brought the demon

possessed to Jesus. Also, Andrew, of course, bringing his brother Peter, who became the first, the vicar of Christ, you know, first pope, and he is credited with bringing his brother to Jesus so that Jesus could touch him. This reading in the gospel is really my springboard. It's from Matthew chapter 19 and verses 13 through 15. And before I read this, let me just say, if you are a parent, you have an incredible responsibility, an awesome responsibility to bring your kids to Jesus. The way it is right now in our culture, your kids are not, most likely not going to just stumble upon Jesus. The way this works is that people bring other people to Jesus. And that's the pattern, and as parents, we have that responsibility. But I'm, if I, if you're like me, there are times

where you get a little bit frustrated with yourself because you suddenly realize, I'm not doing this. I'm not really bringing my children to Jesus so that he can touch them, but I need to. And in this show, particularly in the last half of the show, I'm going to give you a number of ideas on how you can bring your children to Jesus. Now listen to the gospel here. It says in Matthew 19, then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven, and he laid his hands on them and went away.

Ah, can you imagine that? Bring in your children to Jesus, and he lays his hands on them. That must have been an incredible experience, not to, just an experience like meeting a rock star. I mean, that's cool enough in itself, you know, if you want to put Jesus at the rock star level. But the grace and the mercy, the love of God, the life-transforming touch that comes from him, the virtue that leaves him and goes into your children is incredible. If Jesus were here in the flesh today, would you want your kids to touch him? I bet you would. You're going to have to bring them. to him. And the good news is he is here, and he is real, and you can touch him, taste and see that the

Lord is good. Parents, the question is not whether your children will have a relationship with God. The question is, what type of relationship will they have with him? And you play such a significant role in bringing your kids to Jesus so that they are exposed. to who he is and what he taught and his love and his grace. Nobody else is going to take this as seriously as a parent in bringing their children to Jesus. That's your responsibility in mind. And if you don't have kids yet, this is something that we still need to hear. We still need to hear.

You may have kids in the future, but even if you never have children, if you're a priest, are you religious, or a generous single person, we still have a responsibility to bring people to Jesus. and allow his power to saturate their life, to change them in a powerful way. The responsibility for introducing the children to the depths of God fell primarily upon the home, and the manner of instructions seems largely informal in bringing children to Jesus. A father taught as the opportunity presented itself in daily life, like in Deuteronomy chapter 32. You can look that up. It says, never, it says in Genesis 1819, this is a, this is a powerful, very, very powerful, never underestimate the power of godly living. This was a scripture that

dealt with Abraham and why Abraham was chosen, and it has to do with his relationship with his children. It says in Genesis 1819, for I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his hold after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. So the role of a father is very important in bringing people to the Lord and directing children. One of the greatest scriptures that I want to share with you comes from Deuteronomy 6 through 4, and it is, it's incredibly powerful. It's called the Schma, S-H-E-M-A. And I'll put this in the show notes. If you don't get show notes, send me an email, The Jeff Kavan Show at ascensionpress.com. I'll give you all the show notes

for all the shows coming up. They'll be sent to you automatically. So we'll take care of that. Don't want you pulling off on the side of the road. The shma is very key because the scripture I'm about to read to you about the impact that we want our children to experience with God. that is dependent upon the parents. And Deuteronomy 6, the context for it, is the children of Israel after coming out of Egypt and living 40 years in the desert, they're about to take the promised land by taking Jericho first. But before they cross over, Moses gives them the key to succeeding in a foreign land, in a land where they sacrifice children. They want your sons and daughters. Here's how you do it. He says, now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules,

that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son by keeping all his statutes and his commandments which I command you all the days of your life and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey. Now listen here to Deuteronomy 6.4.

Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might. in these words, this is important, this is the word of God, and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart, you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals between your rise, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. That's amazing, isn't it? Deuteronomy chapter 6, 1 through 9. I'll put it in the show notes, but it tells us some very

significant things. It talks to us about the importance of the word of God in your daily life, for your children to come into contact with God through the word. He says, these words I command you shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children. That is one of the primary ways that our children can touch Jesus, is if we will teach them his words. And again, I recommend to you the great adventure children's Bible story book, the kids' Bible story book, Ascension Press puts it out. It's an ingenious book that allows you to take your children chronologically through salvation history and scripture with a real Bible and then to come back and have an explanation in the work in the children's study book or the story book rather at a third grade

level. Check it out at ascensionpress.com. It's part of the great adventure series. And I just throw that in there because I think it's the best tool to teach your children the story of salvation history. And so Moses talks to parents and he says you should teach the word of God diligently, when you sit down in your house, when you go to Walmart, when you're taking trips, there's always opportunities to bring Christ into the conversation and to talk about the Lord. You know, the German philosophers have a phrase called frouchbara augemblich, which in German, you don't have to tell me how bad my German is, I know, but Fruchbara Augumblik means translated the fruitful moment, the fruitful moment. There's a moment in the day. There's an opportunity in their life.

Something happened at school. They had a dream, came into your room in the middle of the night, whatever it is. You got a fruitful moment where you can instruct your children and you can bring them to Jesus and allow the Lord to touch him. Now, Jesus was the master at recognizing the fruitful moment, wasn't he? When he said something, he did something, he took something. He took took advantage of the fruitful moment, and we as parents should do the same. I'm going to take a break when I come back. I want to talk to you about maybe, I don't know, eight, nine, ten different ways that you can bring your children to Jesus and allow him to touch them.

And when he touches them, he can do things in their heart that'll go way beyond anything you could ask or think. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. imagine this you're walking down the street and a Christian at a table with a bunch of pamphlets ask you, have you been saved? What would you do? Would you know how to respond? Hi, I'm Dr. Andrew Swofford and I'm co-presenter along with Jeff Kavens and Ascension's new Great Adventure Bible Study, Romans, the Gospel of Salvation. In this study, we teach you the biblical foundations for the Catholic teaching on salvation, how to explain salvation quickly and easily to non-Christians.

What St. Paul really meant by works not leading to salvation and how we can enter more deeply into Christ. Paul's letter to the Romans has been at the center of reflection, conversion, and controversy from the very beginning, and it's widely considered his greatest work. I invite you to start a small group in your home or parish and embark on this great adventure. Romans, the Gospel of Salvation, is available for pre-order right now and for purchase on September 1st, 2019. To order, visit ascensionpress.com. Welcome back. Talking about bringing your children to Jesus, do you ever get frustrated with the growth of your children? I talk to people all the time, and they say, well, I just, I sure hope what we're doing in the

school we're putting our children into is going to reap fruit in the future, and it can be a little bit frustrating, wondering if your kids are getting it. I have come to learn as I get older, and my children are grown, that oftentimes if I just bring my children to Jesus, he can do things in their heart and mind that I never knew he would do. I would not have gone down that road, but he had a way of speaking to them if I could just get them to him, right? And that's what we're talking about today. It's our responsibility to get them to him. And then he does what God does in their hearts. I was talking before the break about the fruitful moment, fruit barra augenblik, the fruitful moment in your children's lives. And it reminded me during the

break of this scripture that I love out of Proverbs 2511. It'll be in the show notes. A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. The picture here is apples of gold, and then you've got this setting, this bowl or some kind of display of silver, and the apples sit in it, and it's beautiful. And what the writer of Proverbs is saying is, is that a word spoken at the right moment with your children or anybody else, for that matter, is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Look for the setting of silver. So you can put the apples of gold in there. That's the fruitful moment. So what are some of the ways that our children are brought to Jesus and he can touch them? Well, it starts off very early, doesn't it?

It starts off with just days after they are born. We bring them to the church. and they are baptized. And when they are baptized, they are brought into the church. They are united with Christ at baptism, and their sins are forgiven. Original sin is forgiven. They are given faith, hope, and charity, theological virtues. Those are brought into their life, and they are united with the body of Christ. Now, that's something the parents take the initiative to do for their children. And some would argue, non-Catholics would say, well, no, you've got to make a personal relationship decision about this. It's not up to your parents. Well, that's not the way it was in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, it was a responsibility of the parents to induct their children

into the family of God, the people of God. How? Through circumcision. And they were brought in. And then when they were 13, they became sons and daughters of the commandments. They were bar mitzvahed. So the responsibility to bring our kids into Christ, that's our responsibility. I hear this lately. People say, well, I'm not going to teach my children anything. I'm just going to let them grow up and make their own decision. That is ridiculous. That is so ridiculous. It's like saying, I'm not going to feed my kids the best food that I can. I'm just going to get something for them to eat. And when they get older, they can make a decision as to whether they want to eat healthy or not.

It's just bogus. It's so silly. And it's our responsibility as parents. And so make sure that your children are baptized and do a little study on that so that you can, as they grow up, reconfirm in their life what that baptism meant. So that's one way that our children can come and come. touch Jesus, is through baptism. Confirmation is the next one, right? That's one of the sacraments of initiation. You've got baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist. The confirmation, that is,

simply put their own Pentecost. That's where the power to live the life of Christ comes from. And unfortunately, today, confirmation is sort of a rite of passage, not so much a serious impartation of the power of God for daily living. It is, but so often people don't know that. But confirmation is a moment where the Holy Spirit can touch your children in such a powerful way. And it becomes even more powerful if you'll do a little catechesis and you'll teach them a little bit. Go to the catechism, and you can look in the subject index in the back under confirmation and read all about it. And you can share that with them.

And that's one way to bring them to Jesus. Here's another way. And we experienced this with all the kids growing up, family prayer. If you have a time of family prayer, you're bringing your children to Jesus. And what we did when all the kids were at home is in the evening, we all went into the kids' bedroom, and we knelt down next to the bed, and we prayed every single night. We prayed every single night. And then before they went to school in the morning, the next day, I laid my hands on each one of them, and I gave them the ironic. blessing. May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance and give you shalom, right? And so family prayer was a real powerful time where we could bring the kids to Jesus and allow him to touch them. And I will never forget as long as I live after we dropped Carly, our oldest off at Steubenville, and drove two days

home that next night when we all knelt down on that same bed to pray, I looked down. I looked down, and one was missing. It was Carly, and I got pretty emotional that night, and some tears came, and my middle daughter looked at my wife and said, What's wrong with Dad? And Emily said, well, you know, and we pray together as a family every day,

and then suddenly one is gone. It takes some time to get over that. And I remember Jackie looking with this gleam in her eyes, she said, I'm over it. And we all kind of laughed at that point. But family time, family prayer became a time to bring the kids to Jesus. Another big one, weekly mass, right? Weekly mass, make sure you get to mass every single week

because there you're going to bring your children to God's Word and you're going to bring children to his body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. If they've made their first communion from that point on, that is your responsibility as parents to bring your children to Jesus because that is the greatest source of grace. And grace, I remember one person saying grace was God's riches at Christ's expense, you know, an acronym, God's riches at Christ's expense. But I like the definition of the way the church typically talks about grace as the life

of the Trinity, the life of the Trinity, and that's what our kids need, right? That's what our kids need. make sure you bring your children to Mass. And if you're going to go to Mass more than once a week, you might just say to them, and when they're young enough, you can just bring them, say, we're going to go to Mass. They might give you a little pushback. You know, they might. But that's okay. That's all right. You've got a responsibility. Confession is another one to go to confession. Anytime I go to confession and the kids around, I'll say, you want to go with me to confession. and that's another great opportunity to bring your children to Jesus.

In fact, that's what the sacraments are all about, right? Is the sacraments are an opportunity to face Jesus and confront Jesus in a beautiful way. And confession is a good way to do it. So if you're going to go, give them a call and say, hey, we're going to go to confession tonight or we're going to go to confession Saturday morning. Just make sure your schedule is clear. we're going to go together as a family. Another great opportunity is adoration.

And I've had several times over the years where I would say to the girls, I'm going to go to adoration. I'd like you to come with me. And sometimes they did, and other times they had other things going on. But that's another great opportunity. And you might even ask yourself, well, Jeff, if I bring my kids to adoration, what are they going to do? Well, at the least, they're going to just sit. but just sitting with Jesus is pretty cool. And he can do amazing things.

I talk about sitting in the sun. We talk about sitting in the sun, S-U-N. Well, sitting in the sun, S-O-N. He can do it. He can speak to them in a powerful way. You might have maybe a devotional for teens or something that you can bring with you and let them look it over during adoration. And a lot of good adoration chapels, frankly, have some reading materials in the back, and maybe they might want to look at that.

Or you might want to give them a chapter of the gospel to contemplate during adoration, but bring them to Jesus, bring them to adoration. Another great one is, and I kind of mentioned this earlier, Bible reading, knowing salvation history, and the Great Adventure Children's study book or stories, book is the one that I did recommend to you earlier. And I do. I think that's, that's, that's an amazing, an amazing thing. Praying the rosary is powerful. That's another way to bring your children to Jesus because the mysteries of the rosary are really the life of Christ. And our lady takes us on kind of a tour of the life of Christ. And so in the rosary, they're going to be brought to Jesus and the significant acts of his life, the significant events of his life. So then the last thing I would say is to bring your children to Jesus is related to the shape of your life, the way you live.

What they hear you say and do is a way to bring Jesus to them because Christ, is in you. The way you respond to adversity and suffering and difficult times is one way to bring Christ to them. So that's another important, important way to do it. But you might not be popular, but that's okay, right? We got a responsibility to bring our children to Jesus. Let me end by telling you an interesting story that that took place when Carly was in high school. there would be times where, you know, there'd be a teaching moment, we'll say. There's a teaching moment. And I'd say to her, sit down to the kitchen table.

I want to, I want to say something to you. I want to teach you something here. And I would get this look from her, the rolling of the eyes, kind of the, what? And it was quite evident that this was not enjoyable. To listen to dad, talk about God or a principle for living or something like that. And later on, I came to find out. that she thought these were lectures. I didn't see it as a lecture. I just saw dad taking advantage of the fruitful moment and teaching his daughters. Sit down, sweetie. I want to talk to you

about something. Well, when she was in high school, I think it was her junior year. She had an assignment, and the assignment was to write about your favorite memories of you're growing up with your dad. And she wrote a paper, which surprised me. She wrote a paper about one of her favorite moments was when her dad would sit her down and lecture her. Again, I didn't see it as a lecture. I'm just talking to her. Maybe the kid would, you know, perceive it as a lecture. But what really spoke to me was that it was the times where I felt she doesn't like this. This might seem corny. I'm talking about God. Those were the times that she remembered that she liked. Why? Because a loving father's instruction. her and talking to her about Jesus and bringing Jesus to her. So don't be afraid. You're not put on earth

to be popular with your kids. You're put on earth to be mom. You're put on earth to be dad. You're put on earth to be an example of Jesus and an on ramp and one who will bring them to the Lord. This is what I got out of the trip, you know, going to Poland, John Paul the Great, living right next to the church. And I'm telling you what, my friend, his father took advantage of every opportunity and so did his mother. And his life became extraordinary. I believe that can happen with you and your children as well. So bring your children to Jesus. Let me read that scripture again in Matthew 19. Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.

I'm going to close in prayer and pray that God will give you the creative ideas and the opportunities to bring your kids to him so that Jesus can touch them. Before I pray, just a quick opportunity, few openings on the January pilgrimage to Israel, go to to jeffcavens.com under pilgrimages. And in the summer, in June, Father Mike Schmitz and I are leading an epic trip with young adults to the Holy Land. And those seats are open now. You can get them. Go to my website, jeffcavens.com under pilgrimages. In June, it's going to be the 2020 vision trip. It's going to be incredible. If you have teens or young adults that you know would benefit from something like this, make the sacrifice. send them to the Holy Land with us. It's going to be a life-changing event. We're going to be talking

about 2020 vision for the rest of your life. What's God calling you to? We have great musicians accompanying us. Allie Aaliyah, Taylor Tripodi, brother Isaiah, Andrew and Sarah Swofford from Benedict Teen are going to be joining us. It's epic. Get him there. It's going to be life-transforming. Father Mike Schmitz and I are both very excited. about this pilgrimage. Let's pray, shall we? In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friend to you and I ask you to bless them. And Lord, if they have children, that you would give them the creativity and the opportunities to bring their children to you, that you would touch them. For those that do not, Lord, have children, may we see opportunities

to bring others to you and allow you to do what you do. For Lord, we are so limited in our understanding and power and insight, but you're unlimited. And if we can just get them to you, you can do an amazing work in their life. I pray this, Lord, in your mighty name, in the name of Jesus, amen, name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I hope you have a tremendous week. I do pray for me, by the way. I'm this weekend, a day after tomorrow, I am, well, I think when you get this, it'll be the day after. I am going to be. be in Orange County at Christchurch at the big former Crystal Cathedral doing the Bible timeline and in October 19th and 20th I'll be at the Museum of the Bible in Washington doing the

entire Bible in one day. The first one sold out. The second day is open. There's a few places left. You can go to ascensionpress.com for that. God bless you. I love you. And you have a great week. Thank you.