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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. We like to get

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Speaker 1: into some great debates on this program about where the

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Speaker 1: world is heading, and generally that means politically, but what

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Speaker 1: about faith. We see the anti Semitism, the attacks on Jews.

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Speaker 1: A Jewish man was just killed at a Palestinian rally

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Speaker 1: in California and it barely made the news. Some media

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Speaker 1: outlets had headlines like Jewish man fell and died at

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Speaker 1: pro Palestine rally, fell and died. The man was struck

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Speaker 1: with a bullhorn, not to the ground, and succumbed to

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Speaker 1: his injuries. That's murder, folks, But it's not the narrative

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Speaker 1: the news likes doesn't help the Democrats, like the George

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Speaker 1: Floyd story. No headlines then that said man dies of

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Speaker 1: fentanyl poisoning after George Floyd died, No outrage over drugs,

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Speaker 1: no real investigation into why this is happening. George Floyd murdered.

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Speaker 1: But the Jewish man attacked at the rally, fell and died.

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Speaker 1: There's no one to pay groups to march for the

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Speaker 1: Jewish Jewish people, no one to riot and loot after

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Speaker 1: the death of a Jew or a Christian. But a

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Speaker 1: lot of people have been paid and transported to anti

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Speaker 1: Semitic rallies. In fact, these people can be busted into

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Speaker 1: the Capitol, they can go up to the White House

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Speaker 1: and they can try to push through the White House

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Speaker 1: gates and vandalize the pillars with red paint and the

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Speaker 1: media will remain silent. But not if you dare say

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Speaker 1: you're a Christian, if you read the Bible, if you

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Speaker 1: share the good word of the Lord, then you should

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Speaker 1: expect a spiritual battle to begin. And in America, folks,

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Speaker 1: it's here, that's right. There's a strong push to mock

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Speaker 1: and embarrass and destroy Christians. We know this because we

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Speaker 1: have a new Speaker of the House, Speaker Mike Johnson.

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Speaker 1: And guess what he dared to say. His worldview comes

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Speaker 1: from the Bible. Listen to him here it is.

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Speaker 2: Someone asked me today in the media. They said, it's curious.

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Speaker 2: People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any

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Speaker 2: issue under the sun. I said, well, go pick up

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Speaker 2: a Bible off your shelf and read it. That's my worldview.

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Speaker 2: That's what I believe.

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Speaker 1: It's funny because it didn't even phaze me. And there

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Speaker 1: are different responses to this, but people went completely nuts.

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Speaker 1: So if you're a person of faith, you just get this.

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Speaker 1: I mean, regardless of your faith, you just get it.

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Speaker 1: If you are a believer, you let you lead your

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Speaker 1: life by what you've learned through faith, and you understand

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Speaker 1: what the speaker is saying here, you get it. For Christians,

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Speaker 1: that's the Gospel, and that's where most Christians base their worldview.

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Speaker 1: It's normal. It's not radical, it's not crazy, not dangerous,

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Speaker 1: it's normal. And I say most Christians because there are

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Speaker 1: Christians who do not spend that much time in the Word.

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Speaker 1: They don't study the Word, they don't apply the Word

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Speaker 1: of God to their lives, but they believe in Jesus.

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Speaker 1: I've been there and that's why I wanted to start

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Speaker 1: this podcast by sharing my own faith journey with you.

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Speaker 1: So you know, I get it. But I also see

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Speaker 1: how the mainstream media desperately wants to erase God and

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Speaker 1: how vulnerable we are to those attacks. They're actually moving

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Speaker 1: forward with that. But don't be deceived, folks. God is

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Speaker 1: letting them. Yeah, He's got this, there's nothing out of

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Speaker 1: his control. But see, here's the thing. He sees that

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Speaker 1: we are actually allowing the hands and feet of hands

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Speaker 1: and feet of God to be bound here in the world,

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Speaker 1: and I'm going to explain what that means. But first

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Speaker 1: so you understand where I'm coming from with this, So

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Speaker 1: it's not just like you're hearing me say the media

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Speaker 1: is doing this and you don't really believe it. I

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Speaker 1: want you to listen to Jensaki, and let's remember when

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Speaker 1: you listen to this. This is the former White House

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Speaker 1: Press secretary to a president who is supposedly a Catholic.

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Speaker 1: And she was even out there talking talking about him

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Speaker 1: being a Catholic. Oh yes, cathol, Yes, yes, yes, he's

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Speaker 1: a Catholic. Watch her mock the speaker's faith and to

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Speaker 1: be honest, just Christians in general. Here it is you

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Speaker 1: heard that right.

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Speaker 3: The Bible doesn't just inform his worldview, it is his worldview.

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Speaker 3: In fact, during his first speech in his new job,

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Speaker 3: Johnson suggested that his election as Speaker was an act

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Speaker 3: of God. Talk about a bit of a humble brag there.

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Speaker 3: So what exactly has God apparently called on Mike Johnson

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Speaker 3: to do well? His views on policy are essentially what

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Speaker 3: you'd expect from a religious fundamentalist. They're more divisive than

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Speaker 3: there divine.

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Speaker 1: Listen She's not saying this because she's afraid of Speaker Johnson.

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Speaker 1: She's afraid of the Christian voice, and she wants you

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Speaker 1: to be embarrassed. She believes that she can use her

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Speaker 1: bully pulpit to make Christians feel ashamed of who they are.

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Speaker 1: Every good leftist journalist wants to destroy something they view

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Speaker 1: as being on the right. She wants to take credit

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Speaker 1: for this one. She wants to take credit for making

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Speaker 1: Christians hide their faith, make them deny Jesus, make it

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Speaker 1: so that no one knows they worshiped the Lord, or worse,

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Speaker 1: make them stop believing themselves. And she thinks she has

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Speaker 1: that power. You may be asking what true Christian would

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Speaker 1: allow that, Well, every Christian's on a journey. So that's

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Speaker 1: why I want to share a little bit of mine.

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Speaker 1: I obviously, when I was running, openly told people that

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Speaker 1: I lead my life by my Christian faith. But when

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Speaker 1: I was a kid, I was what some might call

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Speaker 1: a Christor. I don't know if you guys have ever

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Speaker 1: heard this term. It's people who go to church on

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Speaker 1: Christmas and Easter. I was a christ I don't know why.

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Speaker 1: I don't know why. My parents just decided that we

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Speaker 1: would go to church on Christmas and Easter, and maybe

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Speaker 1: we went a couple of other times, but that was

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Speaker 1: the majority of my faith. In my uppers. My grandparents

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Speaker 1: on both sides were incredibly involved in the church, especially

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Speaker 1: on my dad's side, but we just weren't regular church goers.

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Speaker 1: When I went to my grandparents' house, I was always

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Speaker 1: taken to church, and I remember my grandmother being very

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Speaker 1: involved in the church, and there was just something inside

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Speaker 1: of me that felt this overwhelming piece there, like I

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Speaker 1: liked it. I wanted to be there. And even so,

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Speaker 1: even though I wasn't in the church at home, it

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Speaker 1: was like Christ was present in me. I just knew it.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have the backstory though, I didn't know why

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Speaker 1: he was there. I remember when I was like eleven

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Speaker 1: years old, my parents took me to church and I

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Speaker 1: was baptized in front of the whole church, and like, remember,

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Speaker 1: I'm only there on Christmas and Easter. So this is

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Speaker 1: not like what you're if you grew up in the church.

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Speaker 1: It's not like what you know. So imagine not knowing

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Speaker 1: anybody there, standing up in front of the whole church

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Speaker 1: and getting baptized and you're like eleven, right, so I

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Speaker 1: had no idea what the whole christ backstory was. I

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Speaker 1: didn't really know what I was doing. I didn't have

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Speaker 1: a full understand of the connection to God, being saved,

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Speaker 1: fully dedicating my life to Christ. And that's where they

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Speaker 1: get you. When you're right on the edge, you feel

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Speaker 1: God in your soul, but you don't have the backstory.

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Speaker 1: That's where the naysayers can tear someone's interest in faith down.

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Speaker 1: And if the media can make Christianity bad, if Christian

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Speaker 1: groups can be listed as hate groups, then those folks

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Speaker 1: that are just on that edge, those folks that are

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Speaker 1: interested in faith, well, they think they can get you

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Speaker 1: to walk away. And without faith, where are people. They're

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Speaker 1: left searching for a cause and an identity, and let's

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Speaker 1: face it, they're vulnerable. We weren't a praying family growing up.

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Speaker 1: I know some of you that's shocking and for others

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Speaker 1: that's where you are right now. I get it. Growing up,

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Speaker 1: we just didn't turn to prayer. It was just not

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Speaker 1: part of my family. And I remember when I started

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Speaker 1: going to church and people are like, oh, pray pray

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Speaker 1: for this, pray for that. I'm like, Wow, it doesn't

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Speaker 1: strike me because that's not how I was raised at

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Speaker 1: that time. That was shocking to me. Like, for example,

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Speaker 1: if someone was sick or something, or like I needed

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Speaker 1: help solving a problem, I didn't think I could go

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Speaker 1: to God. I just felt like I was alone. And

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Speaker 1: that's the worst place to be for so many people,

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Speaker 1: thinking that you're doing this all in your own by yourself,

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Speaker 1: in your own power, you have no one else to

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Speaker 1: go to. And I'm telling you this because if faith

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Speaker 1: is second nature to you and it's just always been

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Speaker 1: a part of your life, you may not realize how

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Speaker 1: precarious of a face situation we're in in this country.

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Speaker 1: When I was in middle school, my parents would occasionally

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Speaker 1: have to go out of town for a conference or something,

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Speaker 1: and we had this babysitter that would come and she

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Speaker 1: was this older lady and you know, now she's probably

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Speaker 1: my age, but in my mind she was like in

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Speaker 1: her seventies. You know, who knows, But when you're little,

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Speaker 1: everybody seems really old. So she was really old and

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Speaker 1: very faithful. And I didn't remember. I didn't grow up

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Speaker 1: in this type of household where he just prayed over everything.

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Speaker 1: And her name was Levn, and I remember I came

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Speaker 1: home from school one day and I had this terrible headache.

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Speaker 1: And this is going to seem so normal to so

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Speaker 1: many of you, but just so you can understand what

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Speaker 1: it's like when it's not normal to you, she put

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Speaker 1: her hand on my head and she was like, I,

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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, I pray over this child that the pain

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Speaker 1: would go away. And I was like, what is happening?

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Speaker 1: So I'm in this vulnerable spot where pretty much I

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Speaker 1: know in my heart at that time, somebody could have

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Speaker 1: gone to me and said, this is nuts. Get away

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Speaker 1: from these Christians. They're crazy, and it would have implanted

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Speaker 1: a seed in me that could have taken. They could

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Speaker 1: have sprouted, but I already had a seed inside of me.

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Speaker 1: It was a tiny seed. It was a tiny seed

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Speaker 1: of faith. It was a mustard seed, and it just

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Speaker 1: had to grow. Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll

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Speaker 1: continue next on the Tutor Dixon Podcast. So my first

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Speaker 1: experience kind of thinking about that and exploring faith really

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Speaker 1: was at my grandmother's funeral. My grandmother's funeral. This was

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Speaker 1: my dad's mom. Like I said, they were very involved

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Speaker 1: in their church, and at that point they were out

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Speaker 1: in Arizona and they were at one of those really

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Speaker 1: big churches where they had It was funny because my

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Speaker 1: parents grew up in a church where you only sang

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Speaker 1: like traditional hymns from the hymnal. And then my grandmother

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Speaker 1: went to this church where, you know, now they have

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Speaker 1: like modern Christian music, and it was horrifying to my

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Speaker 1: mother and she's like, oh, my goodness, how are we

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Speaker 1: going to go to this funeral where this church is

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Speaker 1: going to play this rock music. And we went and

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Speaker 1: it was a huge church. And my dad, who was

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Speaker 1: this phenomenal public speaker, he was just like, I really

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Speaker 1: looked up to my dad and my aunt. So my

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Speaker 1: dad and his sister were both these incredible influencers in

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Speaker 1: their own space. She was in sales, he was in steel.

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Speaker 1: They had risen up and given speeches everywhere. And they

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Speaker 1: both turned to me, and I was in college. They

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Speaker 1: both turned to me and they said, yeah, there's no

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Speaker 1: way we're not speaking at this funeral. We can't do it.

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Speaker 1: You're going to give the eulogy. And I was like, what,

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Speaker 1: I'm twenty, you know, and so but I knew, I

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Speaker 1: knew that I saw the pain in both of their eyes.

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Speaker 1: They just couldn't do it. And so it was like

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Speaker 1: a calling for me. Right at that moment, I said, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to do this, and I sat down and

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Speaker 1: I went through with my sister all of our memories

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Speaker 1: and I gave the speech about my grandmother. And as

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Speaker 1: we were walking out, the pastor stopped me and he said,

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Speaker 1: can I convince you to go to seminary? And it

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Speaker 1: was like this moment where I thought, please do not

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Speaker 1: let my mom have heard that, because she will just

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Speaker 1: laugh about the thought of me going to seminary. And I,

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Speaker 1: you know, I said, no, I've never thought about that.

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Speaker 1: I was in college as it was. And I walked away,

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Speaker 1: but it started something in me like I just want

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Speaker 1: to know more about this. I couldn't. I couldn't even

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Speaker 1: comprehend going to seminary because I hadn't even opened a

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Speaker 1: Bible and really read through it. And when I did

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Speaker 1: open a Bible, it was so intimidating, like how do

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Speaker 1: you know what this Bible actually means? How can I

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Speaker 1: put these words into a context that I understand? So

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Speaker 1: I kind of put that off, put off faith again.

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Speaker 1: That was another opportunity, but I put it off again.

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Speaker 1: And then when I was gosh thirty two, I just

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Speaker 1: had my oldest daughter. She was six months old at

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Speaker 1: the time, and a girlfriend came to me and she said, hey,

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Speaker 1: have you ever heard of this thing. It's called Bible

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Speaker 1: Study Fellowship And I said no, and she said, well,

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Speaker 1: they just started a kid's program and they're taking kids

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Speaker 1: six months old, and since Lark's six months old, I

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Speaker 1: think you should start going. And I'm kind of one

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Speaker 1: of those obedient friends, and so, without really putting a

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Speaker 1: lot of thought into this, I was like, yeah, why not,

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Speaker 1: I'll go, of course. So I go to the first

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Speaker 1: Bible Study fellowship and it's like intense. This woman takes

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Speaker 1: me aside and you like, get the introduction. Okay, you've

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Speaker 1: entered this I will study fellowship. And it was like

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Speaker 1: you're going to have an hour of homework every night

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Speaker 1: of the week. And I have this baby, and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: really out of school and I'm thirty two. I haven't

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Speaker 1: been in school in a long time. I haven't had

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Speaker 1: homework in a long time. And I'm intimidated. And I

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Speaker 1: come home and I said to my husband, she said, well,

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Speaker 1: what was the Bible study like? And I'm like it

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Speaker 1: sounds horrible. I mean, we have to do all this homework,

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Speaker 1: we have to learn about the Bible, and then we

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Speaker 1: have to go in every week and talk about the

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Speaker 1: homework that we did, like have an open discussion on it.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know the Bible, so the thought of

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Speaker 1: going in there and reading this and then trying to

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Speaker 1: talk about it makes me feel like an idiot. And

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Speaker 1: he was like, so are you just not going to

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Speaker 1: do it? And every part of me wanted to say, yeah, no,

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Speaker 1: I'm out, but that mustard seed said no, you're not.

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Speaker 1: You're going. You're going to do this. And so as

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Speaker 1: I went into this and I started to explore the

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Speaker 1: Bible and I started listen to what the other people said.

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Speaker 1: They said, you know, as you get deeper into faith,

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Speaker 1: your life will change. You're going to your friends will change,

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Speaker 1: the things that you do will change. Tragedy will strike

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Speaker 1: you and you'll look at it differently. And at the time,

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Speaker 1: I remember thinking like, I don't want tragedy to strike me.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to bow out of this. But what I

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Speaker 1: realized in that is that tragedy is going to strike

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Speaker 1: all of us. We're all going to have something hard

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Speaker 1: and without faith, I just don't know how you get

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Speaker 1: through that. So I started hearing about these miracles, not

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Speaker 1: in the Bible. You're hearing about miracles in the Bible

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Speaker 1: at the same time. The Bible is like this book

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Speaker 1: that says, these things happened while Jesus was here, when

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Speaker 1: God was talking to Moses, when God was speaking into

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Speaker 1: the prophets, these things were happening. But they are happening still.

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Speaker 1: And I want to remind you when I said, my

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Speaker 1: first inclination didn't used to be to pray when something happened.

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Speaker 1: And I will never forget one of the stories that

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Speaker 1: one of the women told. She said, we were at

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Speaker 1: the beach, and so we live on the west side

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Speaker 1: of Michigan, right at Lake Michigan, and everybody goes to

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Speaker 1: the beach in the summer, and the lake is a

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Speaker 1: very scary place because it pulls people under, and we

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Speaker 1: have a lot of drownings every year. And she said

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Speaker 1: her son was just a child like four, playing in

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Speaker 1: the water, and all of a sudden he was gone.

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Speaker 1: And she said, no matter where we looked, we couldn't

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Speaker 1: see him. And they were there with her sister and

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Speaker 1: so cousins and dads, they all were looking out in

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Speaker 1: the water, and she said, we all immediately fell to

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Speaker 1: our knees on the beach and we prayed. And I

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Speaker 1: remember thinking that would not be my first reaction, that

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Speaker 1: would not be where I would go with that, because

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Speaker 1: I would be so desperate to find my child. And

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Speaker 1: the rescuers were out in the lake, and within fifteen

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Speaker 1: minutes they found the boy on the top of the water,

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Speaker 1: face down, and they pulled him out and they dragged

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Speaker 1: him to the beach and they started to do CPR.

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Speaker 1: And it had been fifteen minutes. They didn't think that

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Speaker 1: there was a chance. This family never faltered. They never

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Speaker 1: sat there and said, what's happening, what's happening. They prayed,

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Speaker 1: they held hands together, they sat on their knees, they

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Speaker 1: knelt down, They prayed to God save this boy. The

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Speaker 1: boy came to he never had any long term problems

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Speaker 1: from this. As they were walking from the hospital that day,

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Speaker 1: one of the rescuers stopped her and he said, we've

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Speaker 1: never seen that happen before. Drowning victims don't float, they

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Speaker 1: don't sit on the top of the water. Usually we

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Speaker 1: don't find a child, we find a body. And that

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Speaker 1: was a moment where I was like, these miracles happen

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Speaker 1: every day, and we see them and we feel them,

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Speaker 1: and we don't talk about them in a biblical way,

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Speaker 1: but they are happening and they are amazing. And that

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Speaker 1: mustard seed that began to grow into so a faith

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Speaker 1: that I needed so badly and didn't know. And within

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Speaker 1: a few years of this so I ended up staying

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Speaker 1: in Bible study fellowship for seven years. And through that

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Speaker 1: time I did have tragedy. We lost a baby. I

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Speaker 1: lost a baby at eighteen weeks and I remember coming

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Speaker 1: home from the hospital. You know, we went through we

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Speaker 1: went through labor, we said goodbye? How did the baby

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Speaker 1: said goodbye? Coming home? And I'm just gonna be really

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Speaker 1: honest with you, guys. I know that for men this

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Speaker 1: is hard, but I think that for a woman, there's

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Speaker 1: so many feelings. There's this feeling that you failed somehow,

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Speaker 1: this baby you were growing inside of you, You messed

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Speaker 1: it up. That baby didn't make it. What did I

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Speaker 1: do wrong? Why did this happen? And as I was

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Speaker 1: sitting there and I'm on my knees and I'm saying,

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Speaker 1: why did this happen? What did I do wrong? God?

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Speaker 1: I felt this just presence around my shoulders, like you

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Speaker 1: know what You're gonna be fine. I've got you. I

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Speaker 1: can't explain it anyway other than that, And this amazing

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Speaker 1: piece came over me and I thought, how do people

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Speaker 1: do it without faith? And then a few years later,

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Speaker 1: so then we had another baby, and actually three more babies.

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Speaker 1: So I have my oldest, my middle and twins. And

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Speaker 1: at the time the twins are too and I'm thirty eight,

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Speaker 1: and I go in for my regular checkup and the

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Speaker 1: doctor says, we're all worried about this lump here, and

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Speaker 1: the next thing I know is cancer, And again tragedy struck.

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Speaker 1: And I remember leaving the doctor's office and sitting in

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Speaker 1: the car and crying on the way home, and this

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Speaker 1: sense of do not cry. We've got this. I'm with you.

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Speaker 1: We are on a journey, and we are on that

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Speaker 1: journey together. And never again did I have fear through

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Speaker 1: that entire journey, and never again did I cry through

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Speaker 1: that entire journey, through surgery, through everything. He was there

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Speaker 1: with me. Prayer works for those who believe God is able,

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Speaker 1: and that was something I learned in Bible study too.

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Speaker 1: One of these women, she said to me, you got

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Speaker 1: to understand that prayer is powerful, but prayer is only

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Speaker 1: powerful if you believe God can do what you're asking.

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Speaker 1: And it makes me think of Luke eight forty three

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Speaker 1: through forty eight. You remember the woman who was bleeding.

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Speaker 1: Let me read this to you. Now, there was a

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Speaker 1: woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years,

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Speaker 1: and though she has spent all she had on physicians,

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Speaker 1: no one could cure her. She came up behind Jesus

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Speaker 1: and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her

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Speaker 1: hemorrhage stopped. And then Jesus asked, who touched me? When

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Speaker 1: all didn't Peter said, Master, the crowd surrounds you and

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Speaker 1: press in on you. The crowd surrounds you and press

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Speaker 1: in on you. But Jesus said, someone touched me. For

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Speaker 1: I noticed the power gone out from me. Then the

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Speaker 1: woman saw that she could not remain hidden. She came

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Speaker 1: trembling and falling down before him, and she declared in

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Speaker 1: the presence of the people why she had touched him

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Speaker 1: and how she had been immediately healed. And he said

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Speaker 1: to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go

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Speaker 1: in peace. Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue

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Speaker 1: next on the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Prayer is not magic,

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Speaker 1: It's not a wishless it is a personal relationship with

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Speaker 1: our creator, who is greater than all and loves us

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Speaker 1: more than we can ever understand. It wasn't the fact

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Speaker 1: that he had to turn and heal her. She didn't

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Speaker 1: have to ask God. His power went out to her

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Speaker 1: because she believed that if she just touched him, that

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Speaker 1: power was there. And I started to engage in this

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Speaker 1: and understand this and realize this, and my girls were

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Speaker 1: realizing this, And I can tell you from my own

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Speaker 1: experience some of the things that we went through and

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Speaker 1: why faith is so important to me and why faith

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Speaker 1: is something that I hold onto and that I can

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Speaker 1: tell you is bigger than me little things. My oldest

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Speaker 1: was a thumbsucker. Really struggled with it. And if you're

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Speaker 1: a parent, and I mean, I know that can sound silly,

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Speaker 1: but if you're a parent and you have a child

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Speaker 1: that is sucking their thumb, you're at your wits end.

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Speaker 1: How do you get them to stop? And so we

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Speaker 1: talked about it. We talked about it. She said, I

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Speaker 1: want to stop, but I just can't. And I said, well,

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Speaker 1: why don't we pray about it? And you know what

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Speaker 1: this is a really big moment for me because I

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Speaker 1: really hadn't done this. I had never openly talked about prayer.

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Speaker 1: I had never talked about prayer for something specific to

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Speaker 1: see God working in that way. I had asked for comfort,

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Speaker 1: I had asked for healing in a way. But I

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Speaker 1: had never had a bold like this has to change,

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Speaker 1: help us do this prayer. And it wasn't me. It

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Speaker 1: was Larkin, my oldest, at like four years old. She

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Speaker 1: sat down and she prayed, and she took her blanket

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Speaker 1: that night because her blanket was the kind of the reason.

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Speaker 1: If she could have that blank in her hand, she

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Speaker 1: was going to suck her thumb. She on her own

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Speaker 1: after this prayer, took that blanket. It was like she

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Speaker 1: knew God told her put the blanket away. That was

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Speaker 1: the last night she ever sucked her thumb. That was it.

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Speaker 1: It was over two days later the blanket came back out.

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Speaker 1: She never sucked her thumb again. My middle daughter, she

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Speaker 1: used to have not night terror. She used to have

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Speaker 1: fever hallucinations, which I had no idea that was a thing.

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Speaker 1: So parents, if you have a baby and you don't

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Speaker 1: know that night or fever hallucinations are a thing. She

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Speaker 1: would be eighteen months old and you could see her

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Speaker 1: looking around the room, screaming in terror. And until she

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Speaker 1: could actually verbalize, I didn't know what was happening. So

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Speaker 1: she would say, I see the scary faces everywhere, which

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Speaker 1: a side that was terrifying. But she would go through

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Speaker 1: this and like screaming, and it would be a nightmare.

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Speaker 1: And so we said, okay, we're going to pray to

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Speaker 1: Jesus that he release you from this, that he is there,

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Speaker 1: and she would say, Jesus is here, you leave me alone.

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Speaker 1: And that was the last time she ever that one

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Speaker 1: time when we held hands and we said, in the

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Speaker 1: name of Jesus, let these these fever hallucinations leave. They

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Speaker 1: never returned. So what's harder? Is it harder if you're

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Speaker 1: in the situation where you've always known, if you have

429
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,160
Speaker 1: always known that Jesus was there? Is it harder right

430
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,879
Speaker 1: now in America if you're someone who was saved as

431
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:56,679
Speaker 1: an older person? I mean, I know what it is

432
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 1: to live on two different sides of the faith spectrum,

433
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,399
Speaker 1: So I want all the time, is it harder to

434
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,919
Speaker 1: be my girls who've grown up reading scripture and talking

435
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,679
Speaker 1: to Jesus every day and seeing his miracles and his

436
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,760
Speaker 1: love and being told that their faith makes them bad?

437
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 1: Is that hard to suddenly see someone say your faith

438
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,160
Speaker 1: makes you bad. Wait, I've seen these miracles, I've seen

439
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 1: this love. How can you tell me that my faith

440
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:21,679
Speaker 1: makes me bad? They hear these comments, they hear these comments.

441
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,480
Speaker 1: It's about speaker Johnson and them calling him a Christian nationalist.

442
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,199
Speaker 1: They know people say he hates rather than he loves.

443
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,399
Speaker 1: The Christianity they know is filled with love. But what

444
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: will have been when they are told that their beliefs

445
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:41,320
Speaker 1: are not socially acceptable? Will they be strong or will

446
00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:46,320
Speaker 1: they be Peter and deny their faith? Remember that moment

447
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:51,600
Speaker 1: when Judas had just betrayed Jesus. Jesus had actually just

448
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 1: told Peter he would deny him, and Peter was like,

449
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:58,239
Speaker 1: ooh what No, there's no way, it's impossible. So then

450
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,720
Speaker 1: they go out and they about this. The disciples have

451
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,359
Speaker 1: no idea what's about to happen. They're with their leader.

452
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 1: They believe he's going to be king. They're with the

453
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,800
Speaker 1: guy who's going to lead the world. Okay, so they're safe.

454
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 1: They are on the Mount of Olives. They don't know

455
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:14,800
Speaker 1: Judas is a jerk. You know that he's gone to

456
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 1: the other guys and said, hey, let's take him. I've

457
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,919
Speaker 1: got I need some silver, let's do this thing. So

458
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,439
Speaker 1: they feel good about this. Peter's on the top of

459
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 1: the world. He's with the king of kings. He's not

460
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,200
Speaker 1: going to deny him. All of a sudden, the priests come,

461
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: Judas comes, he betrays him, They take Jesus. They're questioning him.

462
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,479
Speaker 1: And what happens. What happens in this moment where society's like,

463
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 1: this guy is bad, Jesus is bad, You're bad for

464
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,959
Speaker 1: being around him. Does Peter hold strong? No, Peter falters.

465
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 1: And that's an interesting part of the Bible because it's

466
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,920
Speaker 1: a moment where we can all go, oh my gosh,

467
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 1: I've been a Peter. I know exactly what it's So, Matthew,

468
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,360
Speaker 1: this is Matthew twenty six sixty nine through seventy five.

469
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 1: Now Peter sat outside the courtyard and a servant girl

470
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:11,480
Speaker 1: came to him, saying, you also were with Jesus of Galilee.

471
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 1: But that's not what Peter says. Peter denies it before

472
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 1: them all, saying I do not know what you were saying.

473
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 1: And when he had gone out to the gateway. Another

474
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,160
Speaker 1: girl saw him and said to those who were with

475
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 1: who were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

476
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,399
Speaker 1: But he denied with an oath, saying I do not

477
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,439
Speaker 1: know the man. And there's an exclamation point there, so

478
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: we know he was adamant he did not know Jesus.

479
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,800
Speaker 1: And a little bit later those who stood up and

480
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 1: came by and said to Peter, surely you are one

481
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,760
Speaker 1: of them, for your speech betrays you. Then he gets

482
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 1: like ticked right. He begins to curse and swear, and

483
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 1: he's like, I do not know this guy. I do

484
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 1: not know the man again with an exclamation point. Then

485
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,359
Speaker 1: what do we hear? A rooster crow? Peter remembers the

486
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: words of Jesus, who said, before the rooster crows, you

487
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 1: will deny me three times. And Peter goes out and

488
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: he weeps. He's just so upset about it. How could

489
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:15,440
Speaker 1: this happen? But that is such a perfect example of

490
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,600
Speaker 1: how this happens. And if you have a strong foundation,

491
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,800
Speaker 1: you come back to faith. Maybe this will happen to

492
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 1: my girls, and I hope they have a strong foundation

493
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 1: that will bring them back like it did Peter Jesus

494
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 1: called Peter the Rock. Peter's considered the founder of the

495
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 1: Roman Catholic Church, which means his foundation in faith won out,

496
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,440
Speaker 1: which means as humans, we can falter and we can

497
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,639
Speaker 1: still return. And I want my girls to return to

498
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 1: their foundation rather than be drawn to a passing cause

499
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,800
Speaker 1: by a media who wants to tell them that Christians

500
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: are bad. I was asked to deny my faith on

501
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: the campaign trail. This was a common thing. This is

502
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:05,439
Speaker 1: a common thing with politicians. What's the balance? How do

503
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:13,240
Speaker 1: you thread the needle? You might say denying. You know,

504
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:18,119
Speaker 1: we can be strong, we can deny a maybe deny

505
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: is a too strong overword. Should we deny? I don't know. No,

506
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,200
Speaker 1: this is denying. If you cannot stand firmly in your faith,

507
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 1: it's denying. And you can deny and you can come

508
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 1: back to faith with your strong foundation, but you have

509
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: to understand that you're being asked to deny. I was asked.

510
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 1: I was sometimes told by Christians and not Christians. When

511
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 1: I first started campaigning. This is like really early on. Okay,

512
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: so I don't even know what I'm doing it. I'm

513
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 1: just sitting down and talking to people and telling them

514
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 1: why I think that we can make great changes in Michigan.

515
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 1: And the woman says, tell me your story. And I

516
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 1: tell this long story about what led me here, and

517
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 1: I said, and my husband and I sat down and

518
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 1: pray to the decision. And then I go on to

519
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 1: talk and she stops me at the end of it,

520
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 1: and she said, don't ever do that. And I couldn't

521
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 1: even remember what she was talking about. I said, what,

522
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 1: don't ever say? You prayed? And I was kind of

523
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,840
Speaker 1: taken aback and said, what do you mean, don't ever

524
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,080
Speaker 1: do that? People will be so turned off, you won't

525
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 1: get the young people. You cannot tell people you're a Christian.

526
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 1: I'm a Christian. This is her, I'm a Christian. But

527
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,640
Speaker 1: I would never tell anyone. Wow. I just immediately had

528
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,680
Speaker 1: the sense like, no, I'm not okay with that. I'm

529
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 1: not going to do that. But I wonder how often

530
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,160
Speaker 1: I didn't say what I wanted to say because that

531
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,880
Speaker 1: woman was in my head. How often did I have

532
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,200
Speaker 1: a Peter moment, even though my foundation was strong. How

533
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,160
Speaker 1: often did I let it make me question whether I

534
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 1: could say in this country that I'm a Christian, a

535
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 1: country that was founded on Christian values. I was afraid.

536
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:01,800
Speaker 1: I was told when I went to the east side

537
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,760
Speaker 1: of the state there was a high population of Muslims

538
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: and Jews, take your cross off. I didn't. I'm not

539
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: going to I had one donor one supporter. We met often.

540
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,479
Speaker 1: He was a Muslim and he was very open about

541
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,760
Speaker 1: his Muslim faith. He would have prayer beads in his

542
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: hand every time we talked. He was very much open

543
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 1: about the importance of his faith. But he didn't hesitate

544
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 1: to sit me down. After I was at an event

545
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 1: where some of the people with me said, we're talking

546
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 1: about their Christian values, and he said, don't ever talk

547
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 1: about your Christian values. It is such a turn off

548
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 1: to us. And I've thought about that so many times

549
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,479
Speaker 1: since then, because what if I were to go to

550
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,000
Speaker 1: someone in the Muslim community that was running for office

551
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,040
Speaker 1: and I said, in this country, we don't want to

552
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:04,360
Speaker 1: know your Muslim outrageous? That would be outrageous. I would

553
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 1: be I would just be toasted. Everybody in the media,

554
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: everybody in the political world would say, how could you

555
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,600
Speaker 1: do that? But for some reason, it's okay to do

556
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 1: that to Christians. So let me ask you something, What

557
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,840
Speaker 1: does that mean for Christians? In this country. If Christians

558
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:28,480
Speaker 1: can be so persecuted, if they can be told not

559
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 1: to speak about their faith, what does that mean for Christians? Well,

560
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you it means nothing. And you

561
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 1: might go, what are you talking about. You just did

562
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: this whole podcast. Now you're telling me it means nothing.

563
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: It means nothing because God is bigger than the people

564
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: who want you to hide, to feel shame, to apologize

565
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 1: for your faith or your reliance on God's word to

566
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: guide you. It means nothing. God is bigger than that.

567
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,840
Speaker 1: But the spiritual battle is strong on us soil today.

568
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 1: It's stronger than it has been in the past. And

569
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:03,320
Speaker 1: those people who are young in faith, those people that

570
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 1: I talk to you about the mes, the people who

571
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 1: are exploring faith, they could be driven away without the

572
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:15,240
Speaker 1: hands and feet of God speaking boldly the truth. If

573
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:20,120
Speaker 1: that's you, then do it. Share the good word, stand

574
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,920
Speaker 1: up to the bullies. That's why I tell you the

575
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 1: hands and feet, the hands and feet of God are bound.

576
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,720
Speaker 1: We are allowing them to be bound because we are

577
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 1: allowing Yahoo's like Jensaki to go out there and mock

578
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: Christianity and not say, hey, you can say whatever you

579
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,760
Speaker 1: want in the United States. But we're gonna stop listening

580
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 1: to you because you don't get to bully us.

581
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:42,200
Speaker 4: Do that.

582
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 1: Stop listening to those people talk about your faith and

583
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: make it look Make those people who are young in

584
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: faith look at Jensaki and go, man, you're gross, You're disgusting.

585
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 1: I don't want anything to do with you, because she

586
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 1: doesn't deserve to have that platform. If she's going to

587
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,960
Speaker 1: mock our Lord, she doesn't. And it's not just her.

588
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:08,120
Speaker 1: Listen to Bill Maher and this. Once you listen to him,

589
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,240
Speaker 1: you will know what you are facing in faith. But

590
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:13,360
Speaker 1: listen to this mockery from Bill Maher.

591
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,440
Speaker 4: So the Republicans have really found their sweet spot. Loves Jesus,

592
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:26,680
Speaker 4: hates democracy, and I gotta say, this guy owns it.

593
00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,400
Speaker 4: I guess we're we're just getting to know him. So

594
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 4: he's on the shows and they're asking him about him.

595
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 4: He said today or maybe yesterday, said pick up a

596
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,520
Speaker 4: Bible off the shelf. I didn't have one, but I

597
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:43,760
Speaker 4: get that and read it. That's my worldview. That's what

598
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 4: he's saying. Talk to the hand, the one with the

599
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 4: nail in it.

600
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 1: I'm proud of my Christian worldview. He just mocked the crucifixion.

601
00:33:54,920 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 1: He's mocking the resurrection. Look, folks, mockery and jokes, that's

602
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: how it begins. It's the speck of rust that bubbles

603
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 1: under the paint. So don't let it get out of hand.

604
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 1: Do what I said. Talk about your faith. Make people

605
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 1: look at that and go wow. Off limits. Kind of

606
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:16,719
Speaker 1: gross doesn't belong on TV. God isn't calling you to passivity.

607
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,560
Speaker 1: Faith is a team effort. If you falter, think of

608
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:26,120
Speaker 1: Peter and return stronger. Be the rock. I'm telling you,

609
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 1: our faith is what will bring us together. It will

610
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,800
Speaker 1: heal this country. Good things will happen. God knows he's watching.

611
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 1: He's not going to let us fall away. He's going

612
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 1: to look for the one. He'll leave the ninety nine

613
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,080
Speaker 1: and he'll find the one. Make sure you are not

614
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:50,600
Speaker 1: blocking God. Let the mustard seed grow. I know it,

615
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 1: I've lived it, and it's a beautiful experience and I

616
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: appreciate you letting me share it with you today. So

617
00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 1: thank you for sticking with me through this podcast. Remember

618
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,520
Speaker 1: we're at the Tutor diixonpodcast dot com. Make sure you

619
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 1: tell your friends Tutordison podcast dot com. Check us out

620
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:10,239
Speaker 1: there or on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get

621
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,319
Speaker 1: your podcasts, and join us the next time on the

622
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,440
Speaker 1: Tutor Dixon Podcast. Have a blessing,