Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Paul Coneff
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000472A
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00:01 So many people in this world have suffered
00:03 some type of pain or rejection, 00:06 and when they do 00:08 they look for way to numb their pain 00:11 and that usually leads to an addiction of some kind. 00:14 Please join us today on Issues and Answers, 00:17 as we discuss this very troublesome problem 00:22 but yet give the answer, 00:25 the victory that can be found in Christ Jesus. 01:00 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn and once again 01:02 we welcome you to Issues and Answers. 01:04 We're so glad that you're taking this time to, 01:07 to just sit down and join us today 01:09 and I know you're going to be glad as well. 01:11 We're welcoming back author and pastor Paul Coneff, 01:16 he is the director of 01:18 Straight 2 the Heart Ministries. 01:20 And he has written an incredible book called 01:23 The Hidden Half of the Gospel. 01:25 So, Paul, we want to welcome you. 01:28 I left out one of your credentials is that 01:30 you're also a licensed family practice counselor. 01:34 And let's just kind of give me once again, 01:39 this is your third program with us 01:41 but tell us what The Hidden Half of the Gospel is? 01:46 We say the book title is The Hidden Half of the Gospel, 01:49 how his suffering will heal yours in Jesus suffering. 01:52 So we want to bring to light 01:53 how Jesus said over and over again 01:55 that he came to suffer and die and rise again, 01:58 not just die and rise again. 01:59 The death and resurrection is critical to us, 02:01 we need forgiveness, we need to know we're saved, 02:04 we need to know we have a gift of eternal life 02:06 and he included suffering over and over again, 02:08 and said he was fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. 02:10 Yes. 02:12 So what we want to do is bring out 02:13 how he suffered in very intentional ways, 02:16 being alone, abandoned, betrayed, 02:19 abused everyway possible, 02:21 tempted to numb his pain on the cross, 02:23 when he's lost water and blood, his nerves are on fire, 02:26 his flesh had been ripped from his back, 02:28 and then he cries out in the darkness, 02:29 "Why have you forsaken me." 02:31 The temptation to numb his pain was 02:34 because they offered him a sour wine. 02:38 Yeah. 02:39 But when he recognized it was wine, 02:41 he actually overcame that temptation to numb his pain. 02:44 Yeah, 'cause he could have checked out 02:46 even for a few seconds. 02:47 But then a plan of salvation would have been lost, 02:49 so as soon as he realized it was a wine vinegar mix, 02:52 here it was made to numb his pain a little bit, 02:54 so one nice thing they did, he said no, 02:56 he trusted in his father and said no, 02:59 so now we have a Jesus 03:00 who has suffered all these negative experiences, 03:03 so he can be tempted with our same temptations, 03:06 our same negative thoughts, so now he can, 03:08 the Jesus that Hebrews 2 says suffered being tempted, 03:12 we can see they were real temptations. 03:14 And because he was tempted to numb his pain on the cross, 03:18 he knows what it's like to be tempted to numb his pain, 03:21 he knows what it's like to trust in his Father, 03:23 and now we can receive his victory, 03:26 it's not like we're saying, okay, 03:27 Jesus did it so you do it, 03:29 we're saying Jesus did it because you can. 03:31 He said, I do nothing on my own strength, 03:33 and he said you can do nothing apart for me. 03:35 So now we want to say 03:37 here is where he was tempted like you, 03:38 so you can bring your story, your negative thoughts, 03:41 feelings, behaviors to him 03:42 and then receive his victory. 03:45 Amen. Amen. 03:46 So whose story you're going to talk about today? 03:51 I want to talk about Keith, he is a good friend of mine, 03:54 he had grown up Japanese so he's still Japanese. 03:57 I was going to ask. Yeah. 03:59 He's Japanese 04:00 and he grew up after World War II 04:01 in Southern Cal, and he's looking around 04:03 and there is not a lot of Japanese people, 04:05 and after World War II 04:06 it wasn't real pop here, 04:07 so he grew up wishing he could be Anglo. 04:10 He sees himself 04:12 and he says I want to be somebody different. 04:14 Were his parents in the internment camps or...? 04:16 I'm not sure, no, I don't think so. 04:19 But he knew the feeling the sensor 04:21 of how that associated with World War II 04:24 and then he didn't have a good relationship 04:26 with his dad, his dad favors older brother, 04:28 he felt rejected by his dad. 04:30 So he has got this rejection issue both from his race 04:33 and from his family. 04:35 So he's really smart 04:37 so he started trading doing homework 04:39 in high school and college, 04:40 elementary school and high school, 04:42 and in return he would get drugs from them, 04:44 he do everybody's homework. 04:45 Oh, mercy. 04:47 And then he's in job, he's working in a career, 04:48 he's got a responsible job but he gets into cocaine 04:51 because cocaine numbed that pain of rejection. 04:56 It didn't solve it, but it numbed it. 04:59 Wasn't he smart enough that 05:00 he thought I think he was on a medical track 05:02 to become the doctor. 05:04 Yes, he wanted to be a doctor. Okay. 05:05 And he could have been a doctor 05:07 ended up managing big construction projects 05:10 but he was 05:12 and so he ended up being in cocaine 05:13 so much that he got paranoid, 05:14 this wasn't using drugs once in a while. 05:17 He got to, he run out of the house 05:19 thinking people are after him, 05:20 he finally got checked into rehab, 05:22 it was very hard 05:23 because he didn't want to admit his life was out of control. 05:25 He ends up in the same hospital 05:27 where he'd interned. 05:28 Yeah. 05:30 But now he's not there as a pre-med student 05:33 hoping to be a doctor, 05:34 now he's there as a patient, it was very hard. 05:37 And so then he ended up in recovery 05:39 and he got some healing and then somebody said, 05:41 hey, let's go to our friend's wedding 05:43 and so he thought well, 05:44 I'll bring some cocaine, I can handle it. 05:48 Well of course he couldn't and that spiraled him out again 05:51 and then he ended up getting married, 05:53 he ended becoming a Christian 05:54 and then we ended up connecting later on 05:57 and he realized that yes, the behavior was gone, 06:01 yes, he gotten some recovery 06:03 but those negative thoughts about rejection 06:06 there was still some residue, they were still there. 06:08 So he really resonated with the idea of Jesus 06:11 hanging on the cross 06:13 'cause our big thing, 06:15 our main theme is what happened in your life, 06:18 where can Jesus identify, 06:19 where can he connect his story to your story, 06:21 where did he go through a similar experience. 06:23 And now Keith has a Jesus hanging on the cross 06:25 crying out, my God, my God, 06:28 why have you forsaken me. 06:30 This is a Jesus that has walked in Keith's shoes. 06:35 And before he cries out 06:37 this is a Jesus who is tempted to numb his pain, 06:40 it wasn't with cocaine, it was with alcohol, 06:43 but it's not the particular alcohol, 06:45 food, drug, sex, 06:46 it's the fact that 06:48 he was tempted to numb his pain to checkout 06:50 and he said no, 06:51 I'm going to trust in my Father. 06:52 I want to just hit your pause button 06:54 for just a second 06:55 because there are people who are watching 06:58 who may not be familiar with the story, 07:00 we can't assume that they know the story on the cross, 07:03 so how was Christ 07:05 when he was hanging on the cross, 07:07 where did the temptation come 07:09 for him to be tempted by alcohol? 07:12 Well, to give it more complete story 07:14 he's in the garden, 07:15 he's alone and abandoned 07:17 and betrayed when he's praying. 07:18 Then he goes through all these multiple trials 07:20 where they beat him, 07:21 they tear the flesh off his back, 07:22 so by the time he's nailed to the cross, 07:24 his nerves are on fire, he's lost water, 07:27 he's lost blood 07:29 and then the Roman soldiers 07:30 did one nice thing for those they crucified. 07:32 Everything else was cruel, 07:33 but the one nice thing is 07:35 they would offer him wine vinegar mix, 07:36 a sour drink, an alcohol drink 07:38 to numb the pain. 07:39 So they put it on a sponge 07:41 and they actually put it up on his lips, 07:43 and when he realized what it was, he said no. 07:46 And just think how parched he was after all night long, 07:49 not having anything to drink, all that blood loss, 07:52 he would have been so dehydrated, 07:54 so just to have that cool liquid in his mouth 07:56 would have been wonderful. 07:58 To have any liquid... 07:59 Yeah. 08:00 And then it's an alcoholic liquid 08:02 that could lead him checkout, 08:03 but if he checked out 08:04 he wouldn't be present with his pain, 08:06 he wouldn't be trusting in his Father 08:08 and then he wouldn't be able to give us his victory. 08:10 So he was tempted to I mean, the humanity, 08:13 the human side of him 08:15 wanted or would have welcome that, 08:19 but he was able to surrender that to the Lord, 08:23 to his Father 08:24 and gain victory over that temptations 08:28 so that he remained without sin. 08:30 Yes. 08:31 And now he can forgive Keith for any anger 08:35 and hurting the way he's you know, 08:37 try to numb his pain 08:39 from his hurt from his Father, 08:40 so Keith can get forgiveness but even better, 08:44 he can get freedom. 08:47 You know, 1 John 1:9 says, 08:48 if we confess our sins, he's faithful to forgive us 08:51 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 08:53 Yes. 08:55 A lot of Christians are getting a lot of forgiveness, 08:57 but they're not getting a lot of freedom. 08:59 We want him to experience forgiveness 09:00 for the mistakes he's made, the way he's derailed his life, 09:03 hurt himself or others. 09:05 We also want him to get freedom 09:07 not only from the cocaine but from that core, 09:10 that root issue, 09:11 that belief system behind his behavior 09:13 of I'm rejected 09:15 because if he has an identity 09:16 that he's rejected by his own father, 09:19 is that going to bring positive feelings 09:21 and behaviors or negative? 09:22 Absolutely, it's going to bring negative. 09:24 And then he's going to try and go, 09:25 I don't want to be present with these feelings 09:28 and I wouldn't want to be 09:29 present with those feelings either. 09:30 I mean, one of the negative messages 09:32 I had was I'm rejected, 09:33 so then we're going to go find something 09:37 and both of us growing up in different areas found drugs. 09:40 There is lots of different addictions, 09:41 but now he's trying to medicate 09:43 so he goes from feeling bad about 09:45 being rejected to doing cocaine. 09:47 Now while he's doing cocaine he feels good 09:50 but then he feels bad later, 09:52 so what does he do to feel better? 09:53 He goes back to doing cocaine, 09:56 and then he feels bad, 09:57 so what is he going to do to feel better? 10:00 More cocaine and now he is addicted, 10:02 he's got this thought pattern, I feel bad, I go to drugs. 10:07 And so we've got the cycle of sin and forgiveness. 10:09 And so if we're going to help him, 10:11 we have to help him 10:12 identify that core issue 10:14 which happens to be in his case the rejection. 10:16 And, you know, it might not be cocaine, 10:18 lots of people have never done illegal drugs. 10:20 You know, actually when I was reading a book, 10:23 I realize that, I always said, 10:26 I don't know how I escaped my past 10:29 without having some kind of addiction, 10:33 without having something that I used to medicate myself, 10:37 because I consider myself a well balanced person, 10:41 I've been very independent in it, 10:43 that was difficult for me. 10:44 When you grow up in dysfunction, 10:46 you learn to be independent for self survival, 10:48 so it's difficult for me to learn 10:50 to really yield to the Lord, 10:52 but as I read your book I realized that how my... 10:58 How I self medicated if you will was through overwork, 11:03 I mean I became "a workaholic" 11:05 and that was, you know, 11:08 we don't often think of that's an escape, 11:11 a route of escape but it actually is. 11:14 And it's socially acceptable. 11:16 Yes. 11:17 I went from being alcohol to workaholic now 11:19 so I can identify so I switch fruits, 11:21 that's not freedom. 11:22 Yeah. 11:24 And so what we want to do is 11:25 deal with those belief systems behind the behavior, 11:28 the roots 'cause the fruit is often 11:31 negative thoughts and feelings, 11:33 negative feelings and behaviors. 11:35 And the fruit being the behavior, 11:37 the root being whatever the cause 11:39 the lie of Satan is the root 11:42 when he's trying to rob you of your identity, 11:45 when he's telling you in first person 11:47 where you're saying, 11:49 you know, I'm not worthy, 11:50 I'm rejected, I've been abandoned, 11:53 I'm going to be abandoned, 11:55 all these things these are the root 11:57 but then the fruit is whatever behavior 12:00 those negative lies create, right? 12:04 Yes. 12:05 And so you have the root system, 12:06 imagine a negative thought, negative belief, lie, 12:11 it's going to create negative feelings 12:12 and negative behaviors 12:13 'cause those behaviors are going to be 12:15 how do I get away from the feeling, 12:17 and I would define addiction and bad habits as very simple. 12:20 I feel bad, 12:22 I go to cocaine, food, drugs, sex, 12:24 or whatever to feel good, 12:26 I end up feeling worse or numb. 12:28 And some people say, I would never do cocaine, no, 12:31 but what they do five bowls of ice cream. 12:34 And which tastes better, the first bowl or the fifth? 12:37 The first because ice cream is cold 12:40 and it numbs your tongue, 12:41 so if I remember what the first bowl 12:43 tasted like guess what? 12:45 I'm chasing the original feel good, 12:48 but it's harder to get it because now 12:50 the taste buds are numb. 12:52 Well, it's no different than cocaine. 12:54 Ice creams are a lot cheaper 12:56 but really the first line of cocaine 12:59 is going to be the best because it starts numbing you, 13:02 it gets you high but it numbs you. 13:04 So whatever we do, it doesn't matter 13:05 whether it's ice cream or cocaine, 13:07 socially acceptable or not, I feel bad, 13:11 I go to something to feel good, 13:13 I end up feeling worse or numb, 13:15 that tends to be the addictive cycle. 13:17 And some people say, I don't have addictions, 13:18 I just have habits. 13:20 Okay, either way when Keith was in addiction 13:23 and he was destroying his life stealing his life, 13:26 but here he has a Jesus tempted 13:28 to believe he's rejected by his father 13:30 so he can identify with Keith, 13:32 tempted to numb his pain like Keith, 13:35 and then as Keith gets healing and freedom, 13:36 he start sharing his story with other people. 13:39 And they start telling him things about their life 13:41 that he didn't know, 13:42 these are friends he'd known for years. 13:44 He used to help race cars and work on cars 13:46 and he's talking with some of his friends 13:47 and he's sharing how now Jesus can identify with him. 13:50 He has seen the power of self from the side, 13:52 he's not, nobody told him about witness. 13:54 He's just sharing what Jesus had done for him. 13:56 He's excited. 13:57 And some of them were Christians, 13:59 some of them were not. 14:00 He's just sharing his story which is what a testimony is. 14:03 And one girl starts talking about, you know, 14:05 being gang raped, okay. 14:07 Well, Jesus was strip naked, 14:08 physically violated by group of men in power over him. 14:11 There is a bull's eye. 14:13 Somebody else is drinking because of pain in their past. 14:16 He start sharing what Jesus did for him 14:19 and she stops drinking. 14:21 Praise the Lord. 14:22 Somebody else starts talking, 14:24 another guy starts talking about stuff in his past 14:25 that he never told anybody about, 14:27 so Keith starts talking about his story being rejected, 14:31 being Japanese and feeling uncomfortable with that, 14:34 and all of a sudden 14:36 because he's sharing his story in a positive way, 14:38 not a negative way, 14:39 he's not glorifying sin but he's sharing his story. 14:42 And you know what people do? 14:44 They start sharing their story back. 14:45 Yes. 14:47 And he's not just sharing his story, 14:48 he's sharing his story 14:50 and how it connects with Jesus story, 14:52 so they begin Christian or non-Christian to see, 14:54 wait a minute, the savior isn't up 14:58 in a cloud playing a harp. 15:00 This is a rubber meets the road Jesus 15:03 that's walked in my shoes, 15:05 so he can meet me in my pain 15:08 and brokenness and heal me. 15:09 I had, that's my aha-huh moment. 15:11 It is, it's you know, we can say yes, 15:14 Jesus identifies with us 15:17 and that brings some kind of healing 15:19 but what it is, 15:21 is that we recognize that 15:24 he isn't just up there looking down being judgmental, 15:28 he's been here, 15:29 he understands completely and he's rooting for us, 15:33 he's trying to give us the victory. 15:36 Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Christ Jesus. 15:39 And that's 15:42 it's making me think of Romans 5:17 just a second, 15:46 I think that's it, 15:48 Romans 5:17 says, 15:54 "If by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, 15:57 much more those who receive abundance of grace 16:00 and the gift of righteousness will reign in life 16:04 through the One, Christ Jesus." 16:06 So it's as we recognize 16:09 that he fully understands us, 16:13 he's walked in that, he can give us the victory. 16:16 He gives us this abundant grace 16:18 that's more than just forgiveness, 16:19 it's healing and now he's going to help us 16:22 reign in life 16:24 because the thief comes to steal, 16:26 kill and destroy that's the devil, 16:28 but he came to give us life and life abundant like. 16:32 That's right. 16:33 And the power of this is that 16:36 it's both theologically and biblically sound 16:39 and yet it's lived out in his life, 16:41 if this is Christ in you the hope of glory. 16:43 Amen. 16:44 He is receiving the acceptance of Christ, 16:46 he's not just identifying with Christ on the cross 16:48 and that's powerful that we've been talking about. 16:50 Christ is tempted to numb his pain, 16:52 Christ is tempted to believe that 16:54 his Father has rejected him 16:55 in his deepest, darkest moment. 16:57 But now God didn't stop there. 17:00 The rest of the story that he raised Jesus from the dead 17:02 and that resurrection life, 17:04 that abundant life now can be poured into Keith. 17:06 Keith sees himself in a new way and starts sharing his story. 17:09 You know, we think of the apostle Paul 17:11 as this type A energizer bunny, 17:13 he now come down he gets backup, 17:14 no, nothing stops him, and there was that part of him. 17:17 But he says in 1 Thessalonians 2:8, 17:19 we loved you so much 17:22 that we share with you not only the gospel, 17:25 this good new story 17:27 but our lies as well 17:28 because you've been so dear with, 17:29 so Paul couldn't share the gospel story 17:32 without sharing his story 17:33 and having other people share theirs, 17:35 and that's what Keith found as he's going on vacation 17:37 and connecting with old friends that he shares his story 17:41 and how Jesus story came into his 17:43 and they start sharing parts of their story 17:45 they haven't told other people. 17:48 It's not something somebody told him to do, 17:51 it's part of his life. 17:52 That's the response. 17:54 And it's the overflow, 17:55 you know, Colossians 2, Paul says, 17:56 as you've received Christ continue in him 17:58 being rooted and grounded in Christ 18:01 overflowing with thanks, 18:03 so we want people to work off the overflow principle 18:05 where it's natural and joyous to say 18:08 I want to tell you something that's happened to me 18:10 that's made a difference. 18:11 Here is who I was, 18:13 here is where Christ just brought me 18:14 because of his suffering, his death and his resurrection, 18:17 where I'm getting forgiveness and I'm getting freedom 18:21 and growing in grace. 18:23 Amen. Amen. 18:25 And, you know, I imagine that 18:27 when it comes down to, 18:29 we often think, you know, 18:31 there is someone in my office who's always talking about, 18:34 she does the personalities 18:36 the choleric, sanguine, 18:37 melancholy and phlegmatic, 18:39 you know, she always say 18:41 oh, you're a sanguine choleric, you know, 18:44 you take charge but you're just so sanguine. 18:47 And you think of sanguine people 18:50 as being more talkative, 18:51 more... 18:53 Somebody said they're great at going out sharing, 18:56 I wouldn't see you as a sanguine personality, 18:59 I don't put a whole lot of stock in the personalities 19:02 but what I'm trying to point out is 19:04 that it doesn't sound, 19:06 when I read Keith's story, 19:08 it didn't sound like he would be 19:09 what you would consider the sanguine personality, 19:13 but when you're working from the overflow 19:16 it doesn't matter if you're phlegmatic, choleric 19:19 whatever you are, 19:20 and I believe that when Christ enters, 19:22 he kind of balances out those things you know, 19:26 but when you're working from the overflow principle, 19:29 you just naturally going to share. 19:31 One thing I appreciate about your ministry 19:33 Straight 2 the Heart is that 19:37 you put a lot of emphasis on discipleship. 19:41 I'd like for you to please address 19:43 that we have about I think eight minutes left. 19:46 Could you kind of talk about the importance, 19:50 why it's importance to us individually to share, 19:53 'cause Keith could have kept all of this to himself 19:56 and just bask in the glow of his healing 20:00 but he would have really lost something 20:02 if he hadn't shared. 20:04 Why is it important to teach discipleship, 20:07 to have community, small group, 20:10 so we're getting together people 20:12 who are sharing or going out two by two 20:15 as the biblical principle? 20:16 Well, Jesus sent the 12 out two by two, 20:18 he sent the 70 out two by two. 20:21 Moses had Joshua, 20:25 Elijah had Elisha, Paul had Timothy, 20:27 Barnabas, Silas. 20:30 What I find is that 20:32 like Keith and I actually became prayer partners. 20:35 When we're praying and he knows my story 20:36 what I'm going through 20:38 and I know what he's going through 20:39 when we're praying there is a community there 20:40 and the Father sent a Holy Ghost, 20:43 the Holy Spirit or Trinity. 20:44 Right. 20:46 And so I believe that we all need support, 20:48 men should be praying with men, women with women, 20:50 husband and wife praying together. 20:51 I'm so glad you said that 20:52 because you have to be careful 20:55 and I learned this the hard way. 20:56 I was doing a prayer ministry long distance with a man, 21:00 who was calling repeatedly 21:03 who then transferred his feelings of affection toward me 21:08 which it was shocking, 21:10 'cause he was very young and I'm very old, 21:12 but I mean, it was shocking 21:13 so this is something that you know, 21:16 we wouldn't counsel one on one 21:18 man with a women 21:19 or at least we were taught that, 21:21 we'd always... 21:22 If I'm going to counsel to somebody 21:23 my husband's going to be there if it's the opposite sex. 21:25 Yeah. 21:26 But even in a prayer ministry it becomes very intimate, 21:30 you have an intimate connection in prayer ministry. 21:31 What happens as you start sharing 21:33 and sharing is intimacy. 21:34 Yes. 21:36 So bonds can develop 21:37 and so we have to make sure that 21:38 everything is open up and you know, 21:40 Paul said in Ephesians, 21:41 avoid even the appearance of evil. 21:42 That's good. 21:44 So we want to avoid even the appearance of evil, 21:46 but if men are praying with men and it's tough for men, 21:49 we like to be lone rangers, it's natural, 21:52 it's not spiritual, 21:54 so we need to pray and say God 21:55 what's keeping me from that community, 21:57 we need support. 21:58 We need to have other men to know our story. 22:00 I need to know 22:02 what's going on in Keith's life, 22:03 he needs to know what's going on in my life 22:04 so when we're praying, 22:06 even if I'm thousands of miles away, 22:07 if he knows what's going on and I know he is praying, 22:10 Jesus knew it was so important 22:12 that he sent the 12 out and the 70 out 22:14 and Paul followed the same model. 22:15 So having that sense of community 22:17 and women praying with women, 22:19 women intuitively understand women, 22:21 men intuitively understand men, 22:23 so we can build that community there is more power. 22:27 It's when disciples came together 22:29 for 10 days and prayed, 22:30 when they came together as a group 22:32 that's when the Holy Spirit fell. 22:34 So I believe the community that two by two, 22:37 two and three and four men or women praying together, 22:40 supporting each other is critical to our growth 22:43 if we're going to reveal the fullness of God's love, 22:46 and grace, and character to people. 22:49 So now what about small groups 22:52 you've mentioned couple of times 22:54 in your book about people getting together 22:57 in these groups to have this kind of prayer ministry 23:00 and then I mean, 23:02 are getting together for study 23:03 or are they studying 23:04 and then breaking off into prayer. 23:06 Yeah, what we do is we have 23:08 13 week discipleship process... 23:10 Where we go deep in 23:11 one person's area of their life, 23:12 we talk about their losses, 23:14 how they learned to protect themselves, 23:15 their patterns of self protection 23:17 which end up being patterns of self sabotage. 23:20 We look at how to receive forgiveness 23:22 for what they didn't or did not about it. 23:24 We talk about generational pattern, 23:26 'cause we've all inherited stuff. 23:28 Sure. 23:29 Then we look at how do we receive Jesus' 23:30 spirit of forgiveness for those who hurt us, 23:32 and then we look at 23:34 how do we take all this stuff in our life, 23:37 how it's got weaving it together, 23:38 working it to good for the calling he has for us. 23:41 Let say somebody has been addicted like Keith 23:44 and he gets free, he can start a recovery group. 23:46 Yeah. So we could take that. 23:48 You know, addiction of cocaine 23:50 isn't on any spiritual gifts list. 23:51 Abortion isn't any on spiritual gifts list, right? 23:55 Being beaten or actually beat 23:57 isn't on any spiritual gifts list. 23:59 Losing a child isn't on any spiritual gifts list 24:01 but could these stories connect with Jesus' story 24:05 and bring healing 24:06 and then they turn out ministering 24:08 to other men and women 24:09 who've gone through same experiences, 24:10 so they're not on a spiritual gifts list 24:12 but can God heal them, 24:14 set them free and move them into ministry 24:16 and so this where we're wanting 24:18 to start them with their losses, 24:20 their patterns of self protection, 24:21 forgiveness, but we want to end up 24:23 where they're accepting their calling in Christ, 24:25 learning how to share their story and their gifting 24:28 and ending up committing to two by two 24:30 and looking for their harvest daily. 24:32 I think that is so wonderful. 24:34 You know, I can't believe it, Paul, 24:36 but we're down to just the last few minutes of this program, 24:38 and there is one thing that I wanted to point out. 24:41 In your book you mentioned that 24:43 there is a prayer actually 24:45 that people are praying to God and saying, 24:48 Lord, reveal to me the barrier that I have up, 24:53 put up that is blocking your blessings. 24:56 And I think this is something that 24:59 what your ministry is doing 25:01 is getting to the root, that's all, 25:04 what's it's all about is getting to the root 25:06 of our negative thoughts 25:08 and I just wanted to read the scripture to you, 25:10 it is from 2 Corinthians 10:4 and 5, 25:15 and here is what Paul says, 25:16 "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal 25:19 but they are mighty in God 25:21 for pulling down the strongholds in his mind, 25:24 casting down arguments 25:26 and every high thing that it exalts itself 25:29 against the knowledge of God." 25:31 And I would say that 25:33 when the devil is whispering in your ear, 25:35 when you're a child of God 25:37 and he's whispering in your ear 25:38 that you're rejected 25:40 or that you should be fearful of abandonment, 25:43 that is something that is exalting itself 25:47 against the knowledge of God 25:48 'cause God says he'll never leave you, 25:50 he'll never forsake you, he'll ever abandon you. 25:53 And then he say that 25:55 these weapons are casting down the arguments 25:58 every high thing that exalt itself 26:00 against the knowledge of God 26:01 bringing every thought into captivity 26:05 to the obedience of Christ. 26:08 This is what it's all about, is it not? 26:12 It is. 26:13 And when we deal with addictions here we have, 26:17 we're not going to use worldly weapons. 26:18 We're not going to try harder in our own strength. 26:21 We're not going to take every thought captive 26:23 and how do we do it? 26:24 By breaking, by using divine power 26:26 which points me to the cross in Jesus' suffering, 26:28 death and resurrection. 26:30 And then it says we're going to break those strongholds 26:32 by taking every thought captive, 26:34 so what is the stronghold? 26:35 It's the strong thought patterns, 26:37 creating the strong negative feelings 26:39 that lead to the strong negative behaviors. 26:43 Amen. 26:45 That, when you said that 26:46 you're going to kept those cords, 26:49 Psalm 129:4 is one of my favorite scriptures 26:53 to share with people as a promise of the Lord 26:56 and it says, "The Lord is righteous, 26:59 He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked." 27:04 So God that is his point, it is his job to do, 27:09 we can't really do it our self. 27:11 I can't fix Shelley Quinn, you couldn't fix Paul Coneff. 27:14 You can get all the education you want, 27:16 study all you want 27:18 and it all comes down to turning it over to God 27:21 and God fixes it, right? 27:22 But he will cut us free 27:25 from all of those negative roots 27:28 that the devil, all the lies of Satan. 27:30 God will give you your true identity in Christ. 27:34 Time is up, I can't believe it. 27:36 Paul, thank you so much for joining us, 27:39 and if anyone would like to invite you 27:41 to come to their church and do a training. 27:44 I know you're going to be at Andrews soon 27:47 giving another training, 27:48 but if you would like to invite Paul, 27:50 you can go to Straight 2 the Heart... 27:53 Well straight2theheart.com, 27:56 straight2theheart.com. 28:00 And we also highly recommend your book 28:02 which you can see it here all about on his website. 28:06 Thank you so much for joining us. 28:08 Our prayer is that 28:10 the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 28:12 the love of the Father 28:13 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 28:16 will be with you today and always, 28:19 and we look forward to seeing you once again. 28:22 Bye-bye. |
Revised 2016-12-01