WHOA That's Good Podcast - What to Do When You Struggle with Being Single | Sadie Robertson Huff & John + Korey Cooper

Episode Date: July 27, 2022

John and Korey Cooper of Skillet join Sadie to drop some serious encouragement on how to navigate anxiety about singleness, marriage, and raising kids. They offer their unapologetic response to today's watered-down, "safe" Gospel and talk about why sexual freedom isn't true freedom. They also get into what it looks like to be in the world but not of the world, why the Gospel is the opposite of shame, and why we, as believers, are called to go into the darkness. "Awake & Alive to Truth: Finding Truth in the Chaos of a Relativistic World" by John Cooper is available now. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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with infinite skills and a fulfillment guarantee. No hiring or tedious project coordination needed. We get your tasks done on time and on point, always. Get your 10-hour free child at bunnystudio.com slash start. Bunny Studio. Today we have two incredible guests who actually got the privilege of meeting years ago when I was on the winner-jantour to just absolutely authentic, incredible people who love the Lord, but are also insanely talented. We have John and Corey Cooper from Skillet on the podcast.

If you don't know about Skillet, you might be living under Rocka. I'll tell you a little bit about them. Skillet is one of the best-selling rock bands of the 21st century. Its breakout single Monster remains one of the most streamed rock songs of all time with over 4 billion streams. Y'all that is insane.

Today, nine original tunes earn R.I. double A recognition in tandem with high profile syncs by everyone from WWE, Marvel, ESPN, and NFL. Like, that's insane. And they've also sold out arenas in 26 countries in four continents. Like what? That's amazing, but beyond all that they've done, who they are is incredible.

They love the Lord, and they do it all as a family. They have two kids, their oldest is 15. And they have been traveling on the road with him since he was three months old. They're a family who loves the Lord and does it together, and I cannot wait to interview them and get to know more about their life and their heart behind all that they do. They have a new album out called Dominion. Go listen to it today. Without further ado, we'll welcome our

guest, John and Corey Cooper. Oh, that's so cool. Thanks, Sadie. Well, likewise, we're proud of you. I don't know if that sounds cheesy, but we're proud of you for everything you've done, you know. Thank you. Now that means a lot, truly. So cool. And I'm so excited. We're just kind of laughing because truly, when I sat on Y'all's bus years ago, I think

I'd just graduated high school maybe. And so it's crazy that now I'm married and have a baby and we're reconnecting and there's a lot of lost time in between there, but reading y'all's intro was just so exciting to see all that God's done through y'all and all the y'all are doing. So well done, my friends. It's awesome.

Well, thank you so much. Yes, you were just out of high school. It was thrilling to have somebody of that age group willing to stand up for Jesus. We need more people, we need more teenagers doing what you are doing now and standing up, willing to stand on the truth of the Word of God, be unapologetic about the faith that has saved them from the kingdom of darkness brought into his glorious light. We need people to brag about Jesus and you are doing that.

So we were always proud of you and we're, don't wanna be cheesy, but we are still very, very proud of you. So keep doing what you're doing. Don't stop. So sweet. Well truly y'all meant so much to me because when I went on that tour, I went to jam.

That was my first tour to ever do. And I remember I was so nervous, like so scared. And didn't know what I was doing. Didn't even really want to be there. And I remember y' so nervous, like so scared. And I didn't know what I was doing, didn't even really want to be there. And I remember y'all welcome me to come on to your bus. And y'all were so inviting and so kind. And to be honest, when I first got to Winter Jam, y'all are skillet, skillet goes out there,

and there's flaming fire and it's like, the drums are spinning and it's all this intensity and it's so amazing. And I'm like, y'all are the sweetest people ever. Like, it's just so cool because you think, you know, when you see it, it's this intense thing, but y'all are the most kind, welcoming people. It made me feel so welcome on that tour and so at home and so I was so grateful. Um, well, we can jump into this podcast and look, I got to ask you all the question.

I ask everybody who comes on the world. It's good podcast. And then we can dive into a fun conversation but first I have to know what is the best piece of advice that the two of you have ever been given. Ever been give you go you're the one with good advice. I've ever been given. Corey's the the the proverbs woman she knows every proverb by heart. What's the best advice?

I think you have plenty stored up. Let's see there's there's too much for me. Let me say proverb is one seven. Fear the Lord is beginning of wisdom. Yeah. You know so everything else follows from that perspective. It's good. You know so I don't know. I think that's my best advice. That's the drop the mic moment. Needs no more explanation. That's just what it is. The theory of law is beginning to wisdom.

I love it. Well, hey, so many people know of y'all. They know what y'all do. Y'all are an incredible band that's literally reached the world. I wasn't being silly when I said that. Y'all have toured in several countries and all that stuff. But take us back to how y'all met because y'all are both just so such incredible people and doing this Like super unique thing, but how did the two of y'all come together and start dating?

All right, I'll tell the story Let's see Corey would prefer me to tell the story all right So we've been married now for 25 years. We just celebrated about three months ago. 25 years and I don't feel like I'm near old enough. I do. 25 years of marriage is crazy.

Just so people know, we also have two kids. So we raise our kids on the road. My daughter, Alex is 19. Our son will be 20. Nope, I'm sorry. I can't do math. She'll be 20 this year. My son will be 17 any day now.

And we raise our kids on the road. So they got to tour with you when you were just Sadie Robertson, the high school, the high school grad. But we met, let's see, this is our 26-year skillet. And basically the short version is this. I'm from Memphis, she's from Wisconsin, and we both played in bands, you know, are, are, respectively, are each band. And my pastor's family, New Cory's dad, who is a pastor,

it's kind of a sister church, you might say. And so that's a wish. She was coming down to visit and my pastor kept saying, there's this girl quarry coming. You're going to, I want you to get, you know, meter. He was never thinking we would like each other. He just thought, it'd be cool because she plays in a band and you play a band. I bet you guys could encourage each other. And when I told him, I think I kind of I kind of like I have some feelings for Corey He was like dude. She would never ever go for you in a million years She's smart. She's an intellectual. She's deep and you're John. You're not any of those things Look at you now, you know

Take a look at me now Whoa, that's good I love it that's so cool I um I heard a quote that you said Corey and I thought it was so good It was about singing as you said well if that's something God has for me He'll bring along the right person where we can do this together and otherwise I'm fine being single and you know So many people these days struggle to say those words, you know They they so desperately want a relationship and to get married and I don't blame them when you look around culture

And that is what culture Fonts and celebrates his relationships It's really hard to be single these days. And so can you speak to the single ladies out there a little bit and just finding that contentment with who you are and your relationship with God as you wait for that person? Right.

Yeah, I mean, I can certainly sympathize with people who are alone. I mean, obviously, within God's design for most people, he made men female and male and female. And he said, it's not good to be alone. So I totally can understand why you would want to... Can I interrupt really quick?

Yeah. Sound like you just said, for most people, God made them male and female. So I'm just making sure you think for all people, God made them male and female. I'm sorry. But for most people, God has a plan for them to be married. Of course. Yes. Yes. That is what I meant. And so, but when you give your life to the Lord, right? When you actually say here, is my

life, I want you to take my life and do what you will with it. He brings the fulfillment to your life, right? And so then his ways become your ways. You don't have rights anymore His ways are what you are given to in your life. And so there are some people that will be single but God determines those things. So for myself, I was like, you know, we have seasons where we are single, and then perhaps seasons where you are married. But within all of the seasons, God is your fulfillment. He is your Lord. He is your everything. And he can bring those things to you. If you are looking for a person to bring fulfillment and wholeness to you, you will inevitably just be disappointed.

So, for myself, you know, in my young years, I'm like, I know these are years I'm called to be single, so I'm just going to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. I don't actually know if he has a husband for me in my future. But for now, I will live, everything I have is for the Lord. If you bring someone alongside of me, that's for the betterment of his kingdom. That means I'll be more effective with someone else than I will be single. Yeah. And so I, you know, it's not that you don't have moments where you're lonely. But if you press into God, he can

fulfill all of those things in you. He can meet you, right? He's our comfort, he's our sustainer. The Bible says he is all of these things, but when you live in your life sometimes you don't necessarily know the reality of that. But we are to press into that truth because he will fill those places for you and you will find greater fulfillment in that walk with him than anywhere else. It's good. Come on, preach that. It's a good word. I love that. So for y'all, I love that. You said that you've had your kids on the roads since they were young and we kind of already are like that with our daughter, honey. She's on the go with this. We just got back from Norway and Denmark and she was right there with this. And it's

just amazing to travel with her and to see that. But I think so many people, and even when I was in Norway, someone said to me, wow, it's so amazing that you got married and you have a baby and you're still doing stuff. And they said so many people in that culture and I think here too, think once you get married and once you have a baby then You kind of you either choose like to go with your career or you choose a family You know, it's not like you can do both and there's such a such a beautiful thing to get to do both and you know Obviously there are sacrifices you have to make and we have a nanny and we have we have help and different things like that But it is a beautiful thing to do both for y'all.

Can you speak a little bit into that? Did you have a moment at the beginning where it was like, oh, if we have a family, we're going to have to stop? Or did you always know? This is kind of like our family is calling together. Well, that's a great question. I mean, I'll take that because again, I want to brag on Corey. On that last question, Corey was influenced by Elizabeth Elliott, people like that, who she wrote passion and purity.

And Corey has always lived her life under the belief that Christ is enough. Christ is enough, whatever your situation. If you don't get married, Christ is enough. If you get married and you don't have kids, Christ is enough. If you get married, and you don't have kids, or maybe you can't have kids, and you're praying for God, and God can intervene in that situation, and we know a lot of people that God has done miraculous things, and he's given them children. But if that's not how it goes, Christ is enough. And I've always really respected Cory for that. That is absolutely her life.

When we got married, what we knew we were called to do was play music and share Jesus Christ through that music. And we said, if God wants us to have kids, then we want to have kids, you know, and then at some point it kind of became evident that skillet wasn't going to stop, which we were surprised about. We never thought anybody would like skillet that much. Right? We were like five or six years at the most.

I don't know. And eventually, as we started praying about it and got started putting kids in our hearts, it was like, are we going to be able to do this on the road? Or, I mean, can we possibly do both of these things? And of course, you have to pray about it. Your family has to come first. My job as a man is I'm supposed to provide for my family. I'm supposed to protect my family.

There's all these things you have to do, but there's this great truth in Scripture, which is part of what grace is. Grace is God empowering you to do and to be who he's called you to be and what he's called you to do. So if God calls you to do something, he's going to give you the Holy Spirit power to accomplish that task. You don't accomplish it in your own strength or you're going to run into really bad problems. Because you ain't going to do a good job. Right. Right, right.

Whoa, that's bad. Yeah. But if you do it in the power of the Holy Spirit, then all of a sudden God will do the impossible. And that is what we prayed about. We believe God said to keep doing music. I thought it was impossible to have kids on the road and do music, but God provided away.

And so you know, you've met my kids, of course, both of our kids love Jesus. They got saved when they were younger. They are filled with the power and the presence of God. They evangelize to their friends. They say no to the culture. And that is not because me and Corey are awesome. It's because the power of the Holy Spirit is real. And he will empower everybody watching this podcast Just like he empowered us and Sadie and Elizabeth Elliott. How's that? We'll end right again. That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, I have a couple things to add to that too For us we said we will never have kids on the road

That's what we said because inner natural wisdom wisdom we were like, it's not fair to them. You know, so when that time comes, we'll be done with skillet, or I'll get off the road. Right. And then God started to speak to us. John actually started having dreams that we had a baby. Wow. And I was like, I'm not super excited about this. Because, you know, as the mom, you know what it's going to mean for you on the road. And so I'm like, I don't really think I can do that. But then, as I prayed about it, I began to have faith for it, and I knew that I was a Lord, even though I still wasn't super excited about it, because I did know what it would mean.

But the great truth of Scripture is that when you are obedient to what God says, His blessing, He commands a blessing over you. The blessing of God is on you for your obedience. So for us, it was very simple. This is what God's saying to you, regardless of how you feel or what you think it might mean for your kids or what you think it might mean for you, you've got to ask God for faith to obey what he's asking you to do. And then his blessing just comes. That's a great word because a lot of people watching are really struggling, I'm sure, like everybody. They really want the blessing of God. And that's the truth. If you want the blessing of God,

all you're gonna do is obey his word. If you obey his word, nothing on earth can stand against the blessing of God. Cancel culture, you kidding me? Cancel culture cannot stand against the blessing of God. Cancel culture, you kidding me? Cancel culture cannot stand against the blessing of the living God. You losing your job can't stand against it. The people making fun of you online

or de-platforming you on your social media. These people can't stand against the commanded blessing of God. Obey the word of God, that's it. That's right. And I think so many people, you know, get frustrated at God when the blessing doesn't come,

but they're not walking in obedience with the Lord. It's like they wanna live their lifestyle and be immersed in culture and be all up in the world and do whatever they want and their dreams and their desires and then they want the blessing of God to follow. But the blessing of God comes from walking in obedience with the Lord. It comes in from relationship with God.

And so that's a great point to make that God's blessing follows your obedience. And in his presence even, you know, when you're walking in step with the Lord, he's walking with you, not to say that when you're totally astray so far. I mean, he's there, but you feel that tangible presence when you're walking in step with him, I mean he's there but you feel that tangible presence when you're walking in set with him.

So that's so good y'all. One thing I want to talk to you all about is just that idea of being in the world but not of the world. And y'all are like, if you're listening to y'all talk, you would think, oh these guys are like super Christians, like they know the word backwards and forwards, they, you know, seeing, yes, Christian rock music, but y'all are not just going to Christian events. In fact, y'all are in the world, y'all are all in different

spaces that might seem really dark, that are definitely living completely opposite what the Christian lifestyle would look like, and y'all are going to those places and performing. And so what does it look like? And what's that balance of being in the world and not of the world? And how do you keep your heart pure in such a dark space at times? Oh, that's fantastic.

I love it. I mean, the Bible says, as you know, it's such a scripture. We say all the time that we are, well, Christ is the light of the world. We are a reflection of Jesus. So we are also the light of the world, because we reflect the light of Jesus. So I believe that we are called to go into the darkness and be unshamed for Jesus. We always hear people say be salt and light. You hear it all the time. Be salt and light. But I think that what you what a lot of

times goes along with that a lot of the people saying when you need to be salt and light do not live their lives like salt or light. They're just hanging out in the darkness. And they're like I'm being salt and light because I'm hanging out with sinners. That's not exactly, that's not accurate. What salt means when Jesus says this is that salt is supposed to purify. You know, you put salt on meat and things like that, especially in the past, to help it, help it last so that salt doesn't putrify, right? We go into the world and we speak and live in a holy way according to the scriptures.

And because of our holiness, the world will see that we are not, I guess you say, putrifying to use that word for the meat. We are not putrifying, we are not decaying in the same, we are not doing thingsifying. We are not decaying in the same way. We are not doing things that lead to harm and death and X, Y and Z. As we talk about obedience, the blessing of God. Obeying God is its own blessing because you are not bringing harm upon your own head. So even if God doesn't give you that blessing you're hoping for with money and jobs and husbands and wives and whatever. Obeying God is its own blessing. Yeah.

Because when you obey God, you're not bringing harm on yourself. So we love to go play mainstream shows. We're friends with people. They're a lot of them are atheists. Some of them are anti Christ consciously. If that makes it in other words, they know that they are anti Christ and they will that makes it in other words, they know that they are anti Christ and they will say so. They hate what we believe, but we have meals together. We hang out together. We're friends. And I think that part of the respect on therein is that we don't apologize for what we believe. We're just say, Hey, this is, this is what

our feet are standing upon. We're standing upon something firm. And it's not me. God is behind us. That is our backing. He's behind us. He's underneath this holding us up. He is surrounding us, keeping us safe. And that's what that is. And we don't make apologies for that. You want to say anything? Yeah. I think for us, maybe more on a personal level, because a lot of people wonder, how can you go into those kind of places and not affect you? For us, it's kind of like ecclesiasties, perspective. If I can live my life imagining myself standing before the Lord at the end, then a lot of the things that might matter don't really matter anymore. Your friend that hurt you, you're kind of like, oh, it doesn't really matter.

I'm standing before a holy God, and my life is right before me. He's looking at it. So we always try to live our lives that way. And so the temptations of the world, I think the closer you get to the Lord, the more you walk in his ways, the more you forge habits that make you begin to crave more of the fruits of the spirit in your life, right?

The closer you walk with him, the more you become like him, the more you reflect him, the more you desire more of him, the more you desire to reflect him. And for us, we want to bring his kingdom to the world, right? So his kingdom lives in us. We want to bring that presence to other people that don't know him, that's what we're called to do. So for us, it's not some of the sins that might be tempting for people like,

you know, how can you be around X, Y, Z and not want that? We really just don't want that anymore, you know? And we've put friends and people in our lives that were accountable to. So as you walk in the light, as he is in the light, you know, so I always want to be everything that I have in the light. Even my junk, I'm like, Lord, can you take care of this terrible attitude that I have? Can you help me? John, I've got a terrible attitude. Can you help me? You'll be like, just stop having it. It's terrible. You know. Yeah.

But being teachable to listen to people, and also for us, we've been committed to church life because we need church life. And we're aware that when you're going into really dark places, you need that to help sustain you. That's good. So we have accountability with our leaders as well. So we go into those places and we're like

Every place your footsteps. I've given to you. Yeah Be courageous come on God that's what the Bible says I'll tell you that This is like church for real. I love this so so good And I love how you said like you truly just don't want it anymore. And I was actually thinking about that today because I used to be like such a huge coffee drinker. Like, man, I was like the four cups a day type of person. I'm not just like coffee. I'm like latte.

Like, someone go find me a coffee shop. Like I love, love coffee. Well, then I had like really bad anxiety for a while. And I went to this doctor about it and was really just talking to him about ways that I can help get rid of this anxiety. And it was a kind of like a more holistic type doctor. He's actually a brain doctor, so he taught to me more about like why I'm having it, some triggers and traumas and stuff like that.

Anyways, after talking, he goes, do you drink caffeine? I said, yeah, and he said, you need to stop drinking caffeine. That's gonna make you have more anxiety. And I'm thinking, no way, there ain't no way I'm giving up coffee. But I wanted so badly to not have anxiety. And so I was like, well, I can see how that could be causing some because he said,

if you're physically feeling anxious in the sense of like you're shaky, your heart's racing, because that's what caffeine does to you, it'll tell your brain, your anxious, even though you're physically feeling anxious in the sense of like you're shaky, your heart's racing because that's what caffeine does to you. It'll tell your brain you're anxious even though you're not because you're having a physical reaction that looks like anxiety. So anyways, I actually quit drinking caffeine and it was really hard for a little bit because I love the coffee, I love the way it tastes, I love waking up to a warm cup and all that kind of stuff.

And I was thinking about this yesterday because all my friends obviously still drink coffee and I don't even want it anymore. And now it's been two years and I don't even crave it. I don't want it. It doesn't even sound good to me because I know it's bad for my body. And I think it's the same way with sin. You know, at a time it might sound really good and it feels really good and you're how would I ever live without this. But when you come into the reality that

that is not good for me. That's not good for my spirit. That's not good for my relationship with the Lord. That's not good for my life. And you get rid of it. There's going to be a season and a time that it takes to fully get that out to fully get that out of you. But then you're going to look back and be like that doesn't even look good anymore. That doesn't even smell good anymore. That even sound good anymore. And so I totally, I, but then you're gonna look back and be like, that doesn't even look good anymore. That doesn't even smell good anymore. That doesn't even sound good anymore. And so, I totally know what you're like. I think that's really cool.

I love how you said when you sit at the table with your friends, there's a respect, even though you'll have a difference of opinion, because y'all are so unashamed of the word, and you stand so solid on it. John and I are going to talk about this a lot in today's culture. There's this water down gospel message being portrayed out there. And I think people, and pastors think that's like a safe way to go, because you don't want

to offend anyone. But you talk about the dangers of watering even a little bit of scripture. So speak into that a little bit about why it's so important to stand on the word and not be a half-in-half-out believer. Absolutely, I'd love to. You know, I want to say something. I hope there's some guys listening because I got something to say to these dudes. Are you men out there? And I hope that girls here at women here, especially women who aren't married, and I want them to say, I deserve a Christian man

that agrees with this because a lot of people men and women will not say what I'm them to say, I deserve a Christian man that agrees with this. Because a lot of people, men and women, will not say what I'm about to say. We need men who understand that they are things that God loves and they are things that God hates. Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that God hates anything. And I really don't understand because the Bible's full of scriptures where God says, I hate this. I hate it's evil. I hate it.

It's an abomination. It makes me sick. It makes me want to vomit you out. There's all sorts of scriptures about these kind of things. What we're really seeing right now in society in one of the things we're seeing is a confusion about what freedom is. Yeah. And here's what I wanna say.

The secular world thinks that freedom, namely sexual freedom, is basically the freedom to do anything that I wanna do. It's liberation. Liberation is whatever I feel I should be able to do it. I'm free to do it. Christian freedom, which is true freedom, does not agree with that. We don't want sexual freedom. We want freedom from sexual slavery. Freedom in the Bible says that if you obey

what God says, you're going to experience liberty. And if you don't obey what the Bible says, you are going to live in slavery to sin. So when we're hanging out with friends at table at the table that don't agree with us, part of the respect is that there is something beautiful to people who are in slavery saying, how come you're not in slavery? How come you can live without watching pornography? How is that even possible? You can live without cheating on your spouse. You can live without this and this and this. How do you possibly do that?

That's where the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in. Because the gospel of Jesus Christ, the death of Jesus made it possible for me and you to be freed from the power of sin and death. So if we have a gospel that is watered down, that is nothing more than that there is a transcendent God out there that loves everybody. Well, there's no power in that gospel. That's just some sort of faith belief that there's a God that made stuff. It's the power of the gospel that sets you free from sin and death. So if we believe in a God who just exists, but we're still slaves to sin and we're slaves

to death, well, that's not actually good news. The good news of the gospel begins with this. You are separated from God and sin But Jesus made away tip for that to change. Yeah, the danger for the church today is that we are Not only apologetic for the Bible We are apologetic about who Jesus is we think he's mean We think that he does it like some kinds of people We don't think you would ever hate any

But hate anything that somebody does right and the Bible doesn't say that the Bible is a very different picture And if you look at the church You see there's no power in the church right now. Well, there's a reason It's because we have given in on everything you can hardly even find any preachers these days that will even speak against sexual immorality. When in reality the Bible ties the fall of civilizations into sexual immorality. It's the fall of Sodom and Mingamora. It's what we learn in Romans 1-1.

I mean, look at the first chapter of Romans and you will see they fall of a civilization. The judgment of God is tied normally, namely to pure, unadultrated sexual freedom. So I'm just throwing that out there. Men, we've got to do something about the pornography in our generation, the pornography that we allow into the church, we need to call it what it is. It's something God hates.

And now, if you are a Christian and you are addicted to pornography, God has graced for you, but you are living as if you're powerless and you are not powerless. Christ has set you free from that. So live consistently with who God says that you are. That's my encouragement to you. That's very encouraging and something I think we all need to hear and be reminded of. And thank you for just reminding us

of what the word says. And that it's not because it's not out of hate and it's not out of shame, it's out of love and it's out of true freedom, setting you truly free of the bondage of sin and death. And so what a great reminder. I was listening to a sermon yesterday which I'm not how like shame is never, ever, the way to get someone to stop living a certain way. And the gospel is actually the opposite of shame but sometimes the church speaks in shame

and that's why people get turned off to the message of Jesus but Jesus although yes God clearly hates things. He also it's because he fiercely loves you and wants freedom for your life and so I love that you just laid that out. I want to ask you, Corey, just raising a family. Like you said, you're a little bit nervous to have kids at first and then you prayed through it. And here you are with two beautiful kids who are like you said or just preaching the gospel and filled with the spirit. So many people nowadays are scared to have kids, especially Christians because they're like,

oh, it's just so dark in the world, so dark. And I don't want to have kids because how are you going to raise kids in this age? And people ask me, I'm like, are you scared that honey is born into such a dark time? Are you scared that honey? And I'm my perspective on life. I'm so glad she's born for such a time as this because she is a lot of uses within her. She's a spirit of God within her. We're going to pray over her life that she would be an ambassador for Christ and do something good for the world. And that's a perspective I have and I'm

sure yours is something similar, but how do you have, how do you have the faith in your kids' faith? You know, because I think so many moms, we want to shield them from seeing some of the, like you said, you go into those mainstream places, you have these atheists friends. So many moms might be like, oh, I don't want them to hear a different perspective, blah, blah. But it's like y'all trust your, oh, I don't want them to hear a different perspective, oh, but it's like y'all trust your kids' faith. How do you get to the point where one, you're like willing to have kids

or in this time and two, willing to let your kids see things and experience things that are dark. Right. Well, what comes to mind firstly is the story of Gideon and how God called him and told him who he was and then He had a bunch of people thousands and thousands of people with him to go attack, you know the enemy and God's like no You have too many and then he weans him down to like 300, right?

So it's never really about numbers It's about if God is with you you can You know Send 10,000 a flight, you know. Like, it's not really about the darkness and the power of darkness. It's about the power of God, right? So, really just needs one that believes him. So there's that. But it is an on nerving time

And I do think like you're entrusted with the little life, right? Which is a blessing scripture calls children a blessing from God and when you're really blessed you have lots of kids So even though that's not necessarily our cultural perspective It is something that I find fascinating because it isn't necessarily my natural perspective So I realize I'm kind of influenced somewhat by culture. And you can look at the women who were barren in how they just sought the Lord, crying and crying and crying, to have a kid because for them that was, excuse me, a sign of the blessing of the Lord to them, right? So it's his fruit, it's his blessing.

So I do want to see kids as that, the blessing of God. It's a miracle. And the fact that he entrusts a life to you is amazing. If he entrusts a life to you, you as a parent are responsible for that life. And that also can be scary. Yeah. But when you have God on your side, you are instructed to raise your children in God's ways. Right? So you have the blessing and the power of God with you,

the protection of God with you, who is the omnipotent, omniscient, always creator. He is with you in this life, helping you shape and form their minds. And one thing that has always helped me, because as a parent, you can be anxious about, okay, can I get them to know God? Will they choose Him?

Because they have a free will. And that would be, to me, just the hardest thing to deal with, a child who doesn't love the Lord. So in all the phases of life, baby phase, I'm like, I want my kids to stick it out with God. I'm not going to wait. Like God doesn't wait for you to be smart enough or old enough to understand his ways

because you'll never really fully understand him, which is kind of awesome. Because you're not gonna get bored, right? Yeah, that's true. We know what the love of God is, but there are depths and depths and depths of the love of God that we will never grasp. And we will continue to swim in that ocean of how deep that is.

That's right. So it's not because you're smart enough or developed enough that God can begin to touch you and you to understand who he is. So my kids, even as babies, I'm going to get them as much in the presence of God as I can, reading Scripture to them. And so when they would, let's say, experience a time in the presence of God that felt maybe a little bit more knowing to them, the other tangible presence, there was always a response, even from them as little babies. I'm like, I'm going to keep them in here as much as I can, and I will instruct them in the way. So as they get a little bit older, like John and I would have worship times with our kids at two, three, four, five years old. And you know, their attention span isn't long enough, but there are certain things we put in play so that they would understand to fear

the Lord, to understand his ways, give examples about how to my daughter, Alex, you love your caribers so much. This is how much God loves you. Little silly examples are simple, but so that they can begin to understand him enough to relate to him. That's great. So, and if your kids taste the Lord enough and you follow the leading of the Spirit and the Word of the Lord in the raising of them, you do not need to be afraid. It's good.

Because he is powerful enough and he loves them more than you do. So no matter what your capacity is to teach or whatever you can do, he cares for them more than you do. So one of my biggest battles was always having faith in my heart when I realized I was anxious and then you kind of move into like a controlling zone or your own strength zone. I'm like, okay, this isn't actually a good zone. I need to hold my kids openly before the Lord.

Get them in as much as I can, teach them his ways as much as I can. Get them to be memorizing scripture as much as I can, but pray that he meets them in a way that they can understand. And both of my kids fairly early on really tasted the presence of the Lord in different ways because kids are different. Right, that's awesome. But I can tell you they won't walk away from him

because they've tasted enough of him, they've foundation enough in him. It's awesome. That's who they live for. That's awesome. Come on, that's great parenting advice. So for every mom out there who I know is listening because I have a lot of young mom audience,

if you've been afraid for your kids and what they're growing into, you can take tangible steps today to help them understand the great love of God. No matter if they're like she said, they're two, they're five, six, seven, whatever it is. Start helping explain to them how much God loves them. What a great advice. I got to ask you about this new album, Dominion, already doing incredible. And so many great songs. I read that this was the fastest album that y'all have ever written. Is this true? And why so?

It is true. Yeah, usually we write like 60 songs in its three years, you know. I think it was probably to do with the times, you know. I mean, the times when they're so insane, every day is a brand new drama. Yeah, right. So it kind of makes it feel like, you used to be, you'd have a few dramas in the year. Now, it's every week, there's a brand new thing to deal with. And I think it was that these songs just started coming out of us, you know, and in fact,

the message of the record, which is the title track Dominion, ties into what Corey was kind of just saying, which is the question, what about for people, how am I going to have a kid right now? This world is just absolutely crazy. I mean, I feel you, but we need a reminder to the church that the devil does not own the world. Send doesn't own the world. You know, big media and big tech. They don't own the world.

Jesus Christ owns the world. He is ruling the earth. The Bible says he's ruling in the midst of his enemies. They're still enemies. But Christ is ruling over them right now. So the earth doesn't belong to the devil. The earth is the Lord and everything in it. The Bible says so this is a message of victory. And I think that that's something we should we should keep telling Christians is the gospel is a gospel of victory. Yeah. You know, there's a theologian called Joseph boot. He wrote a book called Mission of God. Everybody should get it. One of my favorite books I've ever read. It only

came out about four years ago. Well, but he always says, Hey, the world is not post-Christian. He says, the whole world is pre-Christian. And I always like that. He said, no, no, no, the world belongs to God. And I always kind of quite like that, to be honest. But dominion is a reminder to people that this belongs to God. And it's based on this verse. It says, his dominion isn't ever lasting dominion.

And is kingdom one that shall not pass away. This belongs to Christ. Let's celebrate that. So we don't need to be afraid. There's a lot to be frightened about, but not in a way that takes over your life. There's a lot to do. And we may suffer. I think we're probably going to suffer. Some of people watching may have already suffered a little bit. I know people that have lost their jobs. Some of people watching may have already suffered a little bit. I know people that have lost their jobs for an avarice from church. Just lost this job due to transgender ideology coming into the business. They just said, hey, I can't do that.

Then you got to leave. You've got four kids. You've been there for 20 years. People are losing their jobs. I'm not saying there's nothing to be frightened about, but there's nothing to, there's nothing that can overpower Christ. So you're going to make it.

So mom's out there with your kids. You're going to make it. I'll give you one last verse that I love that we all know. The gates of hell show not prevailed against the kingdom of God, right? I just want to say one thing. I was reading a book by the Theologian James White and he was talking about that scripture in the original languages, which I cannot speak because I'm not near smart enough. But the point is this, most of us when we heard that scripture, we always think of the Kingdom of God being static and the powers of hell coming against the kingdom of God

and saying, don't worry, they can't break through. But in the original language, what we actually see is that it's the gates of hell that are standing still and it is the kingdom of God that is advancing against the kingdom of darkness, overpowering the kingdom of darkness, and those gates will not prevail against the ever-expanding kingdom of God as the word of God is preached, as people are set free from the power of sin and death. And as you know, the kingdom of God starts like a little seed, and then it grows, and it grows, and it grows, and and is king and the Bible says is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So when the people of God and moms out there with your kids and dads trying to work Hope they don't lose their jobs when we live this life of righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

It splashes out on the people around you those people are not in the pool yet But they're standing by the pool and they're getting this splashed 100 degrees outside and they're getting splashed with something to say. I really like that. What's that all about? That's the Kingdom of God and you know you want to jump in, baby. It's awesome. You know you want to jump in. It's so good. Y'all, I love it. I'm so grateful for y'all that you are in a shame of the gospel that you are unwilling to water down the word of God, which is the truth that we stand on. And I am so thankful for y'all's voice and your impact on the world and the impact that you've had on your family. I honestly am learning so much

just from this conversation as I learned so much years ago on a bus after high school. I'm just so grateful for all that y'all do. And thank you for being on the piecast for all of you listening. Go listen to their latest album Dominion. Go see them on the road. Go get the books. Listen to their podcasts. Obviously these people have a lot of work that's good advice to give. And just so thankful to know you guys. Thanks for being on. Thank you, Sadie. It's so good seeing you and keep doing what you're doing. Do not stop. I do want to show people two things really quickly if I may. Please do. This is my book. Look how beautiful this book is. It's called Awakened Alive to Truth.

You can get it on Amazon, Audible, if you want to hear my beautiful, raspy voice, read the book to you. So here it is there now. Look, it's not quite as beautiful as this book, but it's close, you see. Hey, oh, it's awesome. I mean, I can't compete with Sayy in terms of beauty, but still, it's pretty good. It's awesome, y'all are awesome. I love you guys.

Well, yes, definitely go get the book and I appreciate it so much. Y'all have a fantastic day. you