DEFINING MOMENTS

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Defining moments on A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends, with special guest

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and friend Mike Jeffs of Good Life Center and Good TV Network, formerly the Australian

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Christian Channel TV Network.

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This episode was taped live from the Sunshine Coast of Australia.

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Be encouraged as you hear how what seems like seemingly insignificant moments in time have

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been divine appointments that have led to divine destiny in the Lord.

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After the episode, check out our show notes on your favorite streaming platform and visit

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wordinseasonpodcast.org to download a free 30-day devotional that will encourage you

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to draw closer to the Lord.

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If you've gleaned anything from this podcast, consider paying it forward with a gift at

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somebodycares.org.

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Now, let's join our host, Doug Stringer.

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Welcome to another Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends.

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And I've got a longtime friend that I'm actually sitting with in the Sunshine Coast of Australia.

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And I can't wait for you to hear from him, hear his story and how we first met and talk

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about some things that's been really speaking to his heart that I believe is a message for

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the body of Christ today and beyond.

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Mike Jeffs, great to be with you, my friend.

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Yeah, likewise, Doug.

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Thanks for making the trip over the Pacific to see you back in Australia.

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It's been many years and we had that COVID in Little Indalood.

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So we haven't seen each other for, wow, at least seven or eight years.

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So it's great to catch up again.

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Last time we got to see each other was at the National Religious Broadcasters in Nashville,

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I believe.

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Probably seven or eight years ago.

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Wow.

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I'm really excited to get with you again and brings back a lot of memories.

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Let's just start off a little bit.

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How did we first met?

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And I think it was 1988.

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It was.

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I can still remember.

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We just started, we just planted a church here on the Sunshine Coast.

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That year was significant.

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You arrived and it was a very small church family back then.

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And we did something a bit crazy.

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We wanted to walk up a mountain, so we went up to Mount Curlham and we did a thing that

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I'd never done before, which was the glory jump.

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So I guess you're famous for your glory jump.

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So we did went on top of Mount Curlham, overlooking the Pacific and praying for our nation up

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there at the same time.

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Yes.

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And I remember that day because I believe I was the first speaker a week after you started

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the church in Doug Drennan's living room, I believe.

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That's right.

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Yeah.

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It was very early days.

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And I've forgotten that aspect of it, but it would have been very early in the church

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plant.

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And we were meeting in a living room and I think we were there for about a year and then

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being to where we are, where our church is now.

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So the thriving community center, the thriving church.

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So a lot's happened since 1988.

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Well, I had somebody send me a picture of some of our glory jumps and even at the 200

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meter portion of walking up that mountain.

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And I remember us to go up there to hike up there with you and to pray over the region

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and pray for Australia.

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But I realized I was a lot younger back then.

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I don't think I'd do it as well this time for those who don't know.

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But a glory jump was back in the day when I was in my 20s and 30s.

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The glory jump was I would say, are you eagerly expecting the coming of the Lord?

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And on the count of three, if you really believe you won't come back down.

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So I'd have them jump up three times, you know, one, two, three, praise the Lord.

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And I still, a lot of people remind me of those days and don't you do those anymore?

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I go, I think my knees can't handle what I used to handle before.

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But I remember it was a very special defining moment for me.

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I know personally, I'd already been working in Australia for a few years prior to that.

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And then that moment coming up here really had some real defining moments for me.

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And I've always said that the kingdom of God is built on relationships, first with God,

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then with one another.

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And that relationships do give definition to our lives and your life and the relationships

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here I've met in Australia over the years really has made me who I am today in many

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ways.

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So tell me a little bit about what happened in that process as we prayed over the region

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and God began to speak to you all through the church.

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But then from that, God gave you an expanded vision, not just for the community, but for

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the nations.

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Yeah, that's right.

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So the vision was to reach Australia for Christ.

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And we felt in Australia, there's the Southern Cross constellation in the sky every evening.

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And so we built the vision to reach Australia for Christ in the five stars of the Southern

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Cross constellation, one media, one evangelism, one church, one training and the last one

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revival.

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Out of all those five stars, we've made progress in all of the four except for the last one

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being revival, but that's in God's hands.

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So we've had a training college, we started a Christian channel here in Australia, which

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is called Good.

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And we have a thriving church on the Sunshine Coast.

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And so it's been an exciting vision.

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It's 30 odd years now, but we've seen so much growth.

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You were there on day one and you've come back now.

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You see the fruit of that all those years ago.

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So God's been very faithful.

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What's amazing how God has given you and your team such great strategy because I remember

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originally kind of the theme of the Southern Cross ministry.

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But that went way beyond Australia and Australasia.

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It actually has expanded globally in the impact that you have.

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So I guess when you're involved in media and God's in the middle of all that, you don't

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know where those seeds are going to be sown.

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So media is such a powerful force in the world today.

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And God can use that for his glory and for expansion of his kingdom.

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And he's been doing that through our little efforts here on the Sunshine Coast.

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So again, we've been part of a thriving church committee, but we've also been part of a thriving

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media ministry.

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Absolutely.

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Back then, I can't remember what year it was after we met here in 1988 and prayed together

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and heard your vision.

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It was a part of that early days.

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You said you received a newsletter from me one time that really spoke to you about what

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you're doing even today with a media network that's really touching the globe.

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Yeah, well, God used that profoundly because I've been asking him for a confirmation.

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He birthed this idea of starting a Christian television presence in Australia, which there

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was no such thing back then.

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And I asked the Lord for a confirmation by Friday, that particular week, because it was

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just weighing down on my shoulders.

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I wasn't sleeping and I was having all sorts of angst over this vision he birthed in my

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heart and spirit.

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And then on that Friday, nothing happened.

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I remember the mail came in.

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I just put it on my briefcase.

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And then the afternoon, the Lord said, open that briefcase.

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And there was a newsletter from you in America.

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And it was all about redeeming media and having an impact.

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So it was like, wow, like neon lights.

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But the wording of it was a confirmation for me from God because of something he'd already

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laid on my heart previously to that.

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So God used you in a strategic way.

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Who knew that that mail would arrive that day or that week?

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And then after what?

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The very last day, Friday that week, when I was the deadline and there came in that

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day and God used it profoundly.

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And that was before the advent of social media and emails.

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That was snail mail.

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Everything was slow.

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So God's timing, as we know, is always perfect.

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But that on that particular occasion was very meaningful to me.

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I remember when my wife Lisa and I having our wedding planned.

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And I remember, I realized that you'd already invited me to come back to the Sunshine Coast

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to be a part of an anniversary of the television network and the businesses you had established

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to help fund that network.

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And so we had to hurry up and get her passport changed, her name changed and everything to

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get here.

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So we had a working time together honeymoon right here quite a few years ago.

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And so you wanted your commitment.

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Really God uniquely, and I've never seen it done this way before, uniquely gave you a

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strategy.

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You know, I've learned from the late Dr. Evan Lewis Cole, the founder of the Christian Miss

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Network worldwide, that the wisdom is in the strategy.

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And as God formulated the vision in you for the Australian Christian Channel then, and

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now it's called GOOD, that in that time you also established all these businesses and

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the proceeds.

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And the business didn't create just jobs, what it did, but also a biblical environment,

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the characteristics of the kingdom and certain core values that really went beyond the businesses

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you had.

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For those businesses though, the proceeds went into helping to fund the television network.

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Yeah, I was a unique model and that's how God birthed it.

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So we had this cell phone business in Australia and it was all about advancing his kingdom

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through business, specifically through using the profits of that business to fund the Australian

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Christian Channel, or GOOD as we now know it.

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It's been doing that for the last 30 odd years.

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We're at a transition point now because that business shut down last year.

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But it's an amazing kingdom model where God is using your business or kingdom business

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to advance his purposes and his kingdom and that's what we've done for 30 years now.

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This is long before a lot of the books came out and people talk about kings and priests

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and marketplace ministry and all these things.

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It was already in you to do, but it started with a strategy and a burning passion.

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Going across ministries, the television channel, media, music, all these things.

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Did you ever have even the inkling that it was going to become so effective and globally

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impacting?

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No, no.

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Back then it was almost like it was a bit overwhelming the size of the vision, but we

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serve a big God, don't we?

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And nothing's impossible for God as his word reminds.

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So I guess he has proved his faithfulness to us time and time and time again.

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But I guess when God bursts a vision in your heart, he then reveals a strategy and that

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revelation comes through various ways.

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Your newsletter back then was one of those ways as a confirmation, but we've so often

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just had to just pause, take a breath and say, okay, God, what's the next step?

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How do you want to do this?

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And so we learn along the way.

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It was a great kingdom apprenticeship too.

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So the fruit of all that began way back then as producing a harvest of souls now.

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You know, there's a term called synchronicity and I began to call it the synchronicity of

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God and I don't mean synchronism, but I'm talking about how seemingly unrelated pieces

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actually are interconnected and God had a way of putting pieces together.

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To step back a moment, I remember in the mid 1980s, 1984, I believe 83, there was a guy

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named Andrew Mary who was a single traveling on a one year holiday from Aussie.

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He came through Houston, had his passport and his money stolen.

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Ended up, it was a hitchhiking at the time I picked him up and had to stay with me for

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nearly seven weeks.

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But in that journey, I was able to introduce him to the Lord and changed his life.

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And they ended up marrying his wife, Lynette, you know, who's also on a one year holiday

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from New Zealand and end up back in Geelong area, Bellarine Peninsula.

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So people began to say, what happened to you?

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You're not the same person we knew before.

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He was a triathlete and a coach.

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And he said, well, this Japanese American picked me up hitchhiking in Houston, Texas.

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And so they began to say, well, who is this Japanese American?

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And so I began to get invited to come speak in various churches and denominations and

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Youth for Christ and in the Bellarine Peninsula area.

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And that's got a whole other story of how many people's lives were impacted by speaking

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at Geelong University and schools and middle schools and high schools.

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And through that process, God began to do some interesting things in that region.

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And that's how we got connected because another friend of ours, the Hardy brothers, had an

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automobile business in Geelong.

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They were talking to you and Doug Drennan and said, well, we want to have Doug come

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up here.

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And that's how I ended up up here in the Sunshine Coast in 1988.

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Yep.

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It's a small world.

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Andrew now lives on the Sunshine Coast.

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That's right.

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And we worked together both at church and in Compassion where we both worked and served

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in the ministry of Compassion.

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So it's a small world, but only God could do that, couldn't he?

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There's no such thing as coincidence in the name of God.

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That's right.

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That's another thing.

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You're on the board of Compassion International and also very connected with Compassion Australia,

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which is a part of Compassion International.

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And so you've had yourself so spread in so many ways, but yet it's all really focused

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really on the same passion in your heart that birthed the vision of the ministry that you

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have out of the television network, the businesses, everything had the common focus and purpose

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in what you're doing in all these other adventures.

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Yeah.

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Advancing the kingdom of God and seeing people come to know Jesus.

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I mean, that's what we should all be doing.

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And I guess that's what motivates us to get out of bed each morning.

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There's a higher purpose, a higher calling on your life.

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And so what are you doing each day to fulfill that purpose and that calling?

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Early on, we talked about defining moments and you and I were talking about that the

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other day.

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And God's really kind of given you a message in that too, because we've been talking really

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in just chatting here about defining moments, because a lot of them are defining moments

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for each of us.

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And still today, God never stops giving us those defining moments, relationships, times

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and moments that we have to step into if we're obedient to God.

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So tell us a bit about what God's been developing in you about this whole concept of defining

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moments.

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And I think if you look at your life, retroactively, you'll recognize that there were defining

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moments that changed the course of your life.

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You just shared one about Andrew when you're picking up hitchhiking.

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That's a defining moment for him and changed his life completely.

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And for me.

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Yeah, totally.

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And so I was reflecting on that just after my father's death, actually.

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It was just after his funeral and I recognize that the season in his life and the decisions

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he made, the impact on me and my generation and my family.

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And as well as reflecting on that, about this time with the law where he just gave me what

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I call a defining moment equation, if there is such a thing, which was there are defining

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seasons in life.

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And within those defining seasons, there are defining moments, which invariably require

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a defining decision to be made.

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And that decision defines your destiny.

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So it's I'd call it a defining moment equation.

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But when you look back over your life and anybody listening right now, you can reflect

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on those seasons in your life.

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There was a moment where you had to make a decision and that determines where you are

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today and your destiny.

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So we just have to say yes to God to step into those moments because no one's born a

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champion or born a hero or great.

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We step into moments, don't we?

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And I remember for me, another defining moment was being in the Bellarmine Peninsula one

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time in the mid 1980s before I came up here to Sunshine Coast.

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And I remember the Lord had been really moving in a powerful way and just really exciting

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to see as a young man, seeing all that was God was doing, the uniting church, the youth

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for Christ, Church of Christ, Baptist Church, the assemblies of God, the apostolic church,

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so many churches that were working together.

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I got to be a small part of bringing some cohesion in that process.

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I was just learning as I went.

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But I remember in the middle of this great moves of God and God was doing some significant

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things.

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It was just before sunrise and I was on a cliff over by in the Bellarmine Peninsula

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standing and the wind was blowing, the waves were coming up.

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And I remember standing there just looking out and the sun hadn't fully risen yet and

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I kept hearing this voice in my head says, who cares?

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You know, is it even worth it?

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Why don't you just jump?

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I'm thinking, where did that come from?

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I found out later there were people actually praying for me at that moment because in the

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midst of the greatest things that God could be doing in our lives and we begin to have

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these doubts and say, who cares?

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You know, is it even worth it?

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Why don't you just jump?

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Now I remember it right at that moment when I was feeling this pressure and this tension,

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the sun began to come up.

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It was a new day dawning and I began to see the sun rise and began to think about how

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the Lord, the brightness of the Esso and the Son of God and that each day is a new day

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dawning for us.

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And it's walking in simple obedience with Him, which is the highest form of worship

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because the first time the word worship is ever mentioned in scripture, the point of

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first reference is not in the context of singing or music.

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That's the external expression of what's happening inwardly.

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The first time the word worship is ever used in scripture is in the context of obedience

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to God.

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So, we become the living worshipers who step into moments of saying yes to God.

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And you have to make a decision then and we keep on making those decisions, but they define

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our destiny and our future and determine our paths.

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I've also discovered that there are times where you make the wrong decision, but that's

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where God's, He's a God of love and grace and He's a redeeming God.

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So He will redeem those decisions in your life.

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So there might be some people to sing now who feel like they've made that wrong decision,

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but don't worry about it.

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God's a redemptive God and He can redeem your situation and circumstance and define your

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future in a way that you would never anticipate.

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So don't be concerned about your failures.

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That's a great point, Mike, because when I think about the successes of your life as

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a businessman, as well as in the passion of ministry and to get the gospel out around

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the globe and your faithfulness is just walking that out.

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Obviously, the Lord's gifted you with the wisdom and the strategy and the understanding

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of business, but also in making sure there had a purpose in those successes.

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There was a time a few years ago when we were meeting together and you said that the Lord

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just spoke to you to live off of 10% and give away 90%.

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I'm thinking, oh my gosh, so my wife literally took that seriously.

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I think it was 15 years ago.

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We're having dinner with you and Viv and she goes, Doug, I want to pray that too.

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I said, we have to start with what we have.

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So we've worked towards that.

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That's right.

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It didn't happen overnight.

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It's a process, but there's that hard commitment to making, recognizing that everything you

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have and own is not yours.

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So how can you invest that in the kingdom of God and see it multiply and flourish?

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It didn't happen overnight, but it's something we've adhered to in our lives.

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So we look at life and so all of us, and I like to ask this of leaders who people see

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us as very successful, be it in vocational ministry or a professional athlete or a business

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person or ministry leader, like social media, only see the good things.

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But there are moments we go through unexpected detours.

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And as you know, back in 2015, I had stage four B cell lymphoma, 80% aggressive.

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It was an unexpected detour.

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And yet keeping my eyes focused on God's greater purposes helped me to walk through those moments.

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As a person in business, marketplace, as well as ministry successes, is there something

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that you remember where you could have quit, that you could have said, is it worth it?

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But you had to say, make that determination to get past that unexpected detour.

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Yeah.

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In leadership, it's what I call the loneliness of leadership, where at times when you go

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to bed at night, it's just you and God and your thoughts.

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And what do you do with those thoughts that really matter when you get up the next morning?

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But there's a, what I've learned over the years is this little saying that if anybody

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knows me, I've always known for this saying, it's called the test is not the test.

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How you respond to the test, that's the test.

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And how do you respond to the test?

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As Jesus would, which was always in the opposite spirit.

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When someone attacks you or does the wrong thing by you, you don't react accordingly.

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You pause and what I've learned is to pray a prayer, a blessing upon that person.

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That's the opposite spirit.

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And that's the test.

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So you can fail or succeed in that test by implying that principle, test is not the test.

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How you respond to the test, it's the test.

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And that's always invariably praying a blessing upon someone who may be offended you or false

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accusation or business situation, deal gone, could be anything.

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But to do that requires a lot of fortitude.

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You can't do it lightly.

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You have to do it seriously.

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So it's something between you and God to forgive someone and to pray a blessing upon them is

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quite a significant thing.

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But by doing that, that allows God to do his work behind the scenes that you won't even

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see.

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And I've had case of a case of a situation at the situation where I've gone through that

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process, prayed a prayer, a blessing over a situational circumstance.

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It's all worked out amazingly.

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Only God could have brought about those outcomes.

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But that's because of that opposite spirit approach.

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No, it's interesting here.

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We're across the pond.

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I live in Texas.

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You live on the Sunshine Coast of Australia.

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And yet those same principles, maybe it's like old school thinking, living by faith

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and old school thinking, but it was a kingdom vision to see something bigger than ourselves.

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And even in our own family, we talk about always taking the high road.

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Even with people who use us.

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And my wife used to say, Doug, you know that they're using you, right?

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I said, well, honey, if they're using me and I know they're using me, they're not really

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using me.

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I'm giving it away.

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That way it's not a vexation in my heart.

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I release it out of my spirit.

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I bless them and I bless out, move on.

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But the other is coming with an opposite spirit.

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That is such a good point, Mike, because I think we all come through those moments, not

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just once or twice, multiple times in life.

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We have to come with an opposite spirit.

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And so the world will react in a worldly way, in a carnal way.

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We have to react in a godly way.

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And that's through the opposite spirit.

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And when you pray that prayer blessing over a personal or a situational circumstance,

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it's amazing what God can do.

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He will do the miracle in those moments.

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We all go through change and transitions.

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Transitions are never easy.

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Change is never easy, but it's a necessity of life.

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And we come to moments where we have to really hear from God again.

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Here you are walking in the pinnacle of success in ministry, in the marketplace, and then

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you had to go, the pressures of life and COVID brings transition.

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The church is still flourishing now after COVID and now you're actually planning other

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churches and you're a part of seeing the television network expand to another level and creativity.

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But as we do that, because change isn't easy and transition is never easy, but it's a necessity

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of life, tell us a little bit about what in the pressures of the last few years, in seeing

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God's successes and testimonies that come from that, what is God doing with you now

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and what's happening with what's called the Australian Christian Channel and now what

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God's doing?

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Tell a little bit about what God's put in your heart to see happen.

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I guess the transition period talking about happened through COVID.

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It sort of turned the world upside down and it turned our world upside down because as

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a result of that, we had to exit our business last year, but that left a gap to fund the

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channel.

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And so during COVID, we did the rebrand from Australian Christian Channel, ACC TV to good.

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And that's been our standing success.

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It really has been amazing to see how God's used that rebrand and it's doing good things

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in people's lives and we're getting testimonies all the time of people discovering Jesus through

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our media ministry.

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But right now we're in that faith gap and so the test is not the test.

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How do you respond to that test?

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So you just, for me personally, just be grateful, be thankful for all that God has done.

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He's been faithful time and time and time again.

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So he's not a God that takes you up the creek and leaves you there without a paddle.

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He's a loving God, he's a gracious God, he'll always provide.

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And our prayer right from the very onset of this vision, way back in 1988 when we first

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met was, Father, this vision is too big for me to comprehend.

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So can I just say it's your vision, so can I just ask that you will bring the people

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and the resources together to fulfill that vision?

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He's done that faithfully for 30 odd years.

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And so my faith tells me he will continue to do that in the future as well.

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That's always been a good reminder for me because you've always been consistent in that

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way.

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And every time we've talked, every time we've met over the years, no matter what challenges

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have come, you've always been a great leader that way by leading by example, reminding

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people like me and others that keep your vision of destination, keep your vision of hope,

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not what you're going through.

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And that has been very consistent of you and your team and your family.

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And so I thank you for that.

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Yeah, thank you.

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Well, sometimes when you go to bed at night, you have other things.

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But I always go to bed at night being grateful and thankful.

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That's why I finish every day by just being thankful and grateful.

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Well, I think that's what's so key, isn't it, in times of difficulty is like Jehoshaphat,

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worship is warfare.

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And if we learn to appreciate, have gratitude and thankfulness in the midst of what we're

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going through, God goes to battle for us.

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And Jehoshaphat was Lord, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are fixed on you.

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And that's being thankful and with a thankful heart and a grateful heart.

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So how can people get more involved and find out more about what you're doing with Good

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and the network?

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Yeah, just go to our website, watchgood.com.

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Watchgood.com.

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It's all there on the website and you can see it.

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Unfortunately, with licensing, not all the content can be broadcast globally.

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So in the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, it's a full service.

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But I guess that our faith prayer at this moment and belief is that God will open the

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doors internationally to see good go globally.

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And that's what we're believing for.

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And we're working towards that in faith.

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Wow.

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Well, before we conclude our podcast, because there's so much we could talk about, tell

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00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:57,920
us a little bit about the concept of even Good Life Center, because it's not your typical

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church.

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It belongs to the community.

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And instead of the old saying is, we're always trying to get people to come to church rather

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than going to the community.

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And so what's happening is the community is actually coming to Good Life.

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At the same time, it is engaging them with the atmosphere of the presence of God through

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private intercession and prayer, creating an atmosphere for people to come to.

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Yeah.

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So that goes back to the original vision, the five stars.

466
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,840
One of those stars was church planning and establishing a church on a different model.

467
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,560
Again, a bit like the spirit.

468
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:36,120
So we determine way back then, God gave us a strategy to establish a community center,

469
00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:40,200
which is against a thriving community center today.

470
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,920
And there are literally hundreds of people coming through the doors every day.

471
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:49,840
And just so happens on Sunday, we convert the basketball stadium into church.

472
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:55,640
So the center is used every day of the week and it becomes a home.

473
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,320
It's a place where people call home and it's a place where people meet and congregate and

474
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,520
form friendships and relationships.

475
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,320
But it's also got a gym and it's all got a swimming pool and people get fit at the same

476
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:06,320
time.

477
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:11,820
But they also come and find Jesus on a Sunday through those relationships that are forged

478
00:27:11,820 --> 00:27:12,820
through the center.

479
00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:13,820
Yeah.

480
00:27:13,820 --> 00:27:18,040
We talked about that too, that a lot of churches build these beautiful edifices that they meet

481
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:19,840
two days a week.

482
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:25,440
But walking through Good Life Center, there's every room is converted from on Sundays for

483
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:30,640
Sunday school for the church, but every room is utilized every single day for the community

484
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:31,680
to come.

485
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:36,320
You have a cafe with lunch and breakfast and coffee shop and you have a full gym.

486
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,200
I'm a fitness buff.

487
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:39,440
This isn't like a hotel gym.

488
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,440
This is a full fitness center.

489
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:42,440
Yeah.

490
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:47,080
So people get fit physically, but we want them to fit spiritually as well.

491
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:53,040
But the whole center is designed about building community, bridging the gap in that community

492
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,280
because in the world today, particularly in the Western world, there's a huge gap between

493
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:58,280
the church and the unchurched.

494
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,840
How do you bridge that gap?

495
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,160
The Good Life model is our attempt to do just that.

496
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:09,040
Well, I was telling you earlier that it's not just an attempt because the reality is

497
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:16,080
you and your team have a track record of God doing these things that start out with a vision.

498
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:20,600
And many people have visions, which is a wishful vision, but they don't step into those moments

499
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:21,600
to make it happen.

500
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:22,960
They don't go into those defining moments.

501
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:28,640
And yet you walked it through being intentional and you have now seen God move, not just in

502
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,720
the community here throughout the Sunshine Coast, but literally a spread.

503
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,800
You guys introduced the Alpha program nationwide, had prayer lines.

504
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,360
You've had so many different initiatives that have impacted hundreds of thousands, if not

505
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,680
millions of people now in these last decades.

506
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,680
Well, I have millions.

507
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:52,960
Yeah, so we're talking about how many people have been impacted because of simple obedience

508
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,520
to God that has become the highest form of worship.

509
00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,360
Which invariably always when you have those defining moments requires a step of faith

510
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:01,480
and decision.

511
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,360
So when you make that decision, you've got to step out in faith.

512
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:10,380
So as the word reminds us, faith without works is dead.

513
00:29:10,380 --> 00:29:12,400
So you've got to put your faith into action.

514
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:18,640
So by God's grace, we've done that even though when I look back over the course of those

515
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:23,480
30 odd years, our little mustard seed of faith was all we had.

516
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,040
God's multiplied that abundantly over the years.

517
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:30,480
I was on the board and we've talked about this many years ago for the organization put

518
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,200
out all the transformation documentaries.

519
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,020
I'm along in Guatemala, Cali, Colombia, Fiji, Uganda.

520
00:29:37,020 --> 00:29:41,520
But the reality is, and we use the term journey to community transformation, but the route

521
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,200
is you were doing it before it became cool.

522
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,000
So it's community transformation impacting community.

523
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,080
I use a term called pastoring the region or pastoring a city.

524
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,680
And I asked many pastors, I said, how many are you pastoring?

525
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,200
And they'll tell me 500, 5,000, 20,000.

526
00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:01,240
I said, well, that's how many you're stewarding in your congregation, but how many live in

527
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:02,760
the region?

528
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,360
You can't reach them all by yourself.

529
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,500
So let's co-pastor the region together.

530
00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:12,240
And you have been exemplifying that all these years through Good Life, through Southern

531
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,840
Cross Ministries, through Australian Christian Channel, now Good TV.

532
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:20,560
Now you've been able to really have a concept of how can we work together?

533
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,560
I always say that with one fishing pole, you catch a fish, but a mended net together,

534
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,200
cast by the Lord together, we can do a whole lot more together.

535
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:31,560
And your whole vision is really about that net that works, that mending of the net and

536
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,960
using marketplace, what some call the seven spheres or seven mountains of the culture.

537
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:39,240
You've integrated all those over the years before it became a terminology.

538
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:44,160
Yeah, I know where you're coming from and I've read some of those books too.

539
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,240
But that was just how God revealed the strategy to us back then.

540
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:48,960
It was God's revelation.

541
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,240
And you're obedient to the call of God in your life and taking those steps of faith

542
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,600
to step into the destiny that we talked about.

543
00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:00,640
At the time, sometimes it was pretty scary because there were big steps of faith we had

544
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:01,640
to take.

545
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:06,440
But that's where again, God has been so faithful and given us the model, which is both in a

546
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:09,480
media and a church in the church world is very unique.

547
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:15,840
But we're just seeing the fruit of that and seeing how impacting it can be when you, I

548
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,240
guess, follow the spirit and do what he's leading you to do.

549
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,320
I mean, we all have a unique calling in our life.

550
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:27,560
Not everybody needs to have a church like we've got or not everybody has a media platform

551
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:28,560
like we've got.

552
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:33,240
So you've just got to operate, I guess, in the spirit and be sensitive to his leading

553
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,080
and calling upon your life and do what he's called you to do, not what he's called someone

554
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:38,080
else to do.

555
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,560
I could go on and on with you, but I'm going to have to, you know, this is a word in season

556
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:46,280
with Doug Stringer Friends podcast, but I'm going to have to schedule the time when I'm

557
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,960
back in Texas and work out our time frame.

558
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:55,260
And I'd like you to actually be on one of our transforming leadership Zoom calls so

559
00:31:55,260 --> 00:32:01,000
I can actually introduce you live as you share some of these principles and what God is doing

560
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:05,680
to many other leaders, not just in the States, but in the UK and other places that watch

561
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:11,220
or come in live and some watch afterwards and do that as a video kind of live Zoom call

562
00:32:11,220 --> 00:32:12,400
and podcast.

563
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:18,480
You have a lot of key principles that, again, not by just theory, but actually through crucibles

564
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,520
of experience, through a track record that I think a lot of people would love to hear

565
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:27,600
and I think need to hear and to find out more about what you are doing in this next season

566
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:29,360
when most people are thinking about retirement.

567
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:30,360
Refirement.

568
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:31,360
Refirement, that's right.

569
00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,360
Instead of retirement, it's refirement.

570
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,500
You gave me that term earlier.

571
00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:38,520
So from not retirement, but refirement.

572
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,560
And I really sense that this is where a lot of us are.

573
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,200
I think a lot of other leaders need to hear that encouragement from a person who's not

574
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:50,280
just talking about it, but actually has lived through it, has succeeded, has gone through

575
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,880
difficulties and challenges and many defining moments.

576
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,000
But because of that, you have a landmark and a history of God's faithfulness to bring it

577
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,200
to the context of today to help us move into our future.

578
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,320
So would you take a moment to just pray for all those that are listening to the podcast

579
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:06,800
and those will be listening later?

580
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:11,240
Father, we thank you for everyone who's listening out there on this podcast right now.

581
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:17,640
And I thank you that you have a plan and a vision and a destiny for each and every one.

582
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,560
And I pray that those defining moments that they find themselves in, that you'll lead

583
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,320
them and guide them in the decision they should make.

584
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,040
And that will define their destiny.

585
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:30,520
And I also pray, Father, that you will bless the work of their hands so that they can,

586
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,080
in a sense, achieve the things that you want them to achieve.

587
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:37,280
But more importantly, see people come to know Jesus and advancing your purposes and kingdom

588
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:38,520
across the globe.

589
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,160
So I thank you for everyone that's listening.

590
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,760
I thank you for Doug and his ministry over the years and the impact that's had.

591
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:49,240
And I thank you for the fact that you're using technology just like this to see people come

592
00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:51,160
to know you as their Lord and Savior.

593
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,920
And for that, we give you all the glory in Jesus name.

594
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:54,920
Amen.

595
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:55,920
Amen.

596
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:56,920
Thank you, my friend.

597
00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:01,880
We hope you enjoyed this episode of A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends and

598
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:07,040
ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the ministry at somebodycares.org or by texting

599
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:13,080
your donation amount to 805-422-7348.

600
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:16,280
Please join us again for A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends.