"Igniting The Influencer within You: special Confab w/ Will Ford" S1 Ep13

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The word influencer has been used in the English language since the mid 1600s.

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This pivotal term has changed over the centuries, evolving from the movement of

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heavenly spheres to the movement of human speculation. And in the past few

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years, the term is virtually unavoidable. Yet before TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, or

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Twitter, Jesus influenced 12 men who turned the world upside down from a

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grassroots movement. In this episode, we hit the table to ignite the influencer in

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you and hear from the author of created for influence, Will Ford.

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Hey everybody, welcome to Keep It 100 podcast. This is Sean and Christa Smith.

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Hey. We are so amped about this episode. We're like a shook up can of monster energy drink.

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Yeah, you are. You're excited. I love it. I'm excited too. This is great. I'm super

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excited. Hey, something really unique just happened. Christa and I both were on

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separate ministry trips, which is kind of rare for us. We usually only try to be

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away from each other once a month, but she was in Chicago and I was in Baltimore

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and she did and spoke to some leaders and then she did an outdoor meeting and

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then she spoke in a church. I did a mince conference that was completely

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outdoors and then the church service itself was outside due to the social

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distancing laws and the things that are going on in Maryland right now. So it's

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very interesting that we both were in outdoor meetings. I know and what I loved

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is that I think it brings us back to our roots. I mean, remember the 10th revivals

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of the 40s and the 50s and it just kind of felt like we're back outside. We're

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connecting with God through His creation and I just think it's such a cool

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opportunity for people that would normally be more intimidated to maybe

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come inside a church or maybe more open to come to an outdoor gathering. I think

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it's actually really cool. I personally really have been enjoying it. And you know

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the history of great revivals, Krista, is obviously book of acts. All their things

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were outside for the most part, aside from meeting from house to house. The

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Cain Ridge revival that spilled into the second grade awakening, it was outside.

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Even up to the Jesus people movement that largely had all of these outdoor

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Jesus festivals culminating in Expo 72 where Billy Graham took tens upon tens

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of thousands of, at that point in time, Jesus Freaks is what they would call them.

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Right, right. That they packed out but it was an outdoor event. So we've got great

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history there. You know, funny story to say that because I really feel like during

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this time there's another unique thing that's happening is we're experiencing

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more outdoor meetings because of the current crisis. The other thing is I

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really sense an interseason. God is marking the body of Christ with an

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Isacar anointing and have given us an Isacar mandate. For those of you don't

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know the tribe of Isacar, they were one of the 12 tribes and particularly in the

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book of Chronicles, David was needing to build up his army and so each of the

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tribes brought something. But it's interesting about the tribe of Isacar.

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They were the only tribe that didn't bring something that was overtly

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militaristic to the army but it says of the sons of Isacar that they discerned

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the times and knew what it is we're all to do. So it was another way of saying

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they were deeply intuitive, highly intelligent and profoundly influential.

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When you think about influence and you think about what it is they brought, no

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wonder that this was such an important crucial aspect that they brought to

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David's army. I mean when you think about what they possessed and we're

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talking today about influence because it is such a needed conversation and such a

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pertinent topic. So many people want to be influencers but they're not

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understanding the significance nor the responsibility that comes with what it

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is to be an influencer. Alright I have a question for you Krista. Okay, alright.

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Outside of your parents, who are some of the major influencers in your life?

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That is a great question and my parents are amazing so they would

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definitely be in that but besides them, I would really say a man by the name of

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Herb Marks. He has been such a spiritual father and a mentor in my life. He's the

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one that really called out the prophetic in my life, helped develop that gift

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within me, taught me what it is to really keep my heart clean before the Lord,

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really what it is to walk in integrity, just a different level when you have a

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prophetic voice. I would say someone else is Cindy Jacobs actually. I have

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gotten to know her personally through you because she's a spiritual mom but for

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years I would go to her meetings and she was just such a strong female and

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moving in the prophetic unapologetically. She'd just be like this battering ram in

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the spirit that would just cut through and bring the presence of God and the

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word of the Lord and it really marked me and I feel like also gave me permission

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to really move in the prophetic in my life and then I think this might surprise

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some people but Benny Hinn actually super influenced me in my 20s. I would watch

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all of his meetings and I was just mesmerized by the power of God moving

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through him, people's lives being impacted. I read his books. I was very, of

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course, I have never met him personally but from afar I felt really like

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mentored by him but also inspired and challenged and lastly, Catherine Coleman.

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I studied her life again, watched all her stuff that anything I get my hands on,

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read her books and again just someone that was really surrendered to use

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mildly by Holy Spirit. Those are the people that really marked me and I

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believe helped shape in addition to many others that I haven't mentioned of who I

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am. That's so cool. I could see that and those influences in your life. Really? I love that.

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Thanks baby. Okay, back at you. Same question. Who has been some of the key

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influencers in your life? Well, I got saved at a university with a ministry

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called Kaiafa. Shout out to the Kaiafa Nation and my original campus pastor was

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Donnie Moore and he was so bold. He just was spiritually fierce. He had no fear

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of man and I really feel that boldness really impacted me. Right after that,

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Mario Marillo who is still a spiritual mentor of mine today, that he is a

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revivalist, moved in words of knowledge, consistent with healing and always had a

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cutting-edge relevant message. He really impacted me and still does. Another is a

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guy who's a dad to me today, Gaylord Inns, a pastor in the Chico area. Really a man

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of wisdom, a man of humility, a man that really walks in the fruits of the

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spirit and then someone else both by their writings and the fact that I spent a

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weekend with this man, Leonard Ray Mill, author of many books including

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Wide Revival Terries. I spent a weekend with he and Martha in Lindell, Texas.

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Mildly marked my life. What a gift to get a weekend with Leonard Ravenhill. Life

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changing. That is life-changing. You know, talking about what it is to be an

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influencer, there's this incredible quote by a man by the name of Philip Brooks

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and he said, no man has come to true greatness who has not felt in some degree

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that his life belonged to his race and that what God gives him, he gives for

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mankind. Philip Brooks is very interesting because he was around in the 1800s. He was

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part of the North in the Civil War so he fought against slavery and was very

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vocal being against slavery. The man wrote, O little town of Bethlehem, that

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Christmas song and when he says that no one has come to true greatness and that

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his life to some degree belongs to his race, obviously speaking of the human

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race, but I love the latter part of that quote you just gave, Christa, it says that

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what God gives him, he gives for mankind. That is the definition of being a biblical

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influencer. I love that. It really is a profound statement. Another definition,

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and if we just look technically, what is the definition of influencer, which I

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think is important for the Keep It 100 tribe to really understand what we're

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basing this on. An influencer is used to refer to someone with the power to

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alter beliefs of individuals as a result, it impacts the course of events. I love

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that definition because it's about altering beliefs, not just getting

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people to like you. I think so many people today think an influencer just

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gets a lot of likes, a lot of hearts, a lot of follows, but I love that you're

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altering beliefs. You're changing culture. You know the history of early

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influencers from a marketing perspective because obviously if you're talking

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about early influencers you got to go to the Old Testament, the New Testament, the

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Bible, but the original early influencers from marketing perspective

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were kings. Very often the King of England would be asked to lend his

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endorsement to a certain play that was out. A playwright would approach him, so

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many people in England would go see that play or there were poets that asked

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the kings to lend endorsement. And so early on these guys were influencing and

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then the Queen of England jumped in the game and she was used to endorse medicine

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for the benefit of common people. And here's another really cool person we're

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talking about, historical people used for marketing. The Davis Milling Company

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was the first to introduce an influencer into the marketing arena, a woman by the

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name of Nancy Green. She was an African-American who became the face of

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the popular pancake mix, Aunt Jemima. Right? And so in 1890, in a time of

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segregation, slavery, they're using the face of an African-American woman until

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her death in 1923. Isn't that incredible? Oh, it's super incredible. And to this day, her

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face is still on the box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Unbelievable. What a bold move

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by that company. Right? We used to play this thing called the dozens in the hood.

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That's where you talk about each other's mama. We could only do that to each other.

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One of the lines we would say is, Aunt Jemima on a pancake box is if to say

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isn't your mother on a pancake box. But now I recognize when they said that, that

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was a compliment. She was an amazing woman. That's right. Now, a more modern face of

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marketing influencers is Kanye West. Obviously, and Yeezy, sneakers, Adidas is

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making a lot of money. But before there was Kanye and Yeezy's, back in the day,

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there was a point in time where Adidas profits and market share was at the

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bottom and they weren't doing very good. And all of a sudden, kind of the proverbial

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three brothers with three stripes, Run DMC, came through in 1986 with me and

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Maya Adidas. And when they did that, all of a sudden, it began this kind of

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modern, as we know now, entertainers that will lend their name to certain

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marketing brands. And so now, when we think of influencers, we have bloggers, we

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have fashionistas, we have gamers pushing certain headphones, we've got certain

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people on Instagram giving a shout out. And so now we see that there's this whole

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social media influencer game that has opened up to a lot of people. What's

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really crazy is that when we were researching this out, we discovered that

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by 2022, the influencer marketing world is estimated to be worth $10 billion. I

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mean, isn't that incredible? And if you actually Google the word influencer, over

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263 million results come up. That's how profound and how, in a sense, is the

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pulse of current culture today. And you know, it's funny because in 2014, it

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wouldn't have been that big. Right. I charted and saw that from 2014, the term

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influencer began to pick up as far as when you would Google it. Now, what is an

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influencer? The word literally comes from a Latin word, which means inflow and

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flow into. But Jesus was the head of the game in John 737 when he said,

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if anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink and out of their innermost

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being shall flow rivers of living water. And influencer is a person that drinks

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of Jesus and allows that drink to become a flow to the world around them.

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So good. Then Jesus, he referred to his followers as light of the world and salt

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of the earth. And when he did it, he was addressing your influence. And the obvious

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thing is that the decisions we make impact those around us. Here's what's

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really important. And these are just a few principles of influence that we wanted

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to pass along to the Keep It 100 tribe. First and foremost, we all have to

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understand you as a listener, myself included, every one of us has influence.

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Do you know that on an average, we discovered that each of us have an

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average of 10,000 people in our lifetime that we're going to influence? And that

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influence isn't necessarily because of our position or based on fame or wealth

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because there could be some of our listeners like, I don't have a lot of

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followers. I don't have a lot of money. I don't have a lot of connections. But

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guess what? You still have influence. You and I have influenced by the way we live.

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And if we actually believe that we are in fact the light of the world and the

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salt of the earth that Jesus declares over us, which again, like Sean just said,

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is addressing the influence in us, Jesus calls it out. That's what he created us

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with. We have to understand we're going to live different when we know we have

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influence. That is such an empowering belief to understand everybody has

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influence. Second principle of influence is influence is like a muscle. We all

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know if you don't use a muscle, it atrophies, it diminishes, it gets weaker.

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So you got to use what you got to get more stronger. And so whatever

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influence you have, even if it's just a little bit of influence, a little bit of

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followers, a little bit of likes, use that influence. And the more you use it,

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the more that muscle will grow. And you also have to understand if you're not

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influencing the world, then the world is influencing you. You've got to get on the

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right end of that equation. So it's time to step up your influence game, keeping

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100 tribe. You know, and we have to be reminded you and I are accountable to God

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on how we use our influence. And the truth is, I'm reminded of the parable of

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the talents. And there was three people that the master gave talents to. Two of

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them multiplied their talents and they steward them. And then one actually

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buried his talent because he was afraid of the harsh master. And I'm so reminded,

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if we don't believe who we are for insecure, for afraid, for intimidated, we

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will bury what God's given us, our talent, quote, unquote, our gift. And let's

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actually translate that to what we're talking about today. Our influence, if we

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don't understand who we are, what we carry, we bury it, we sabotage it, we don't

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utilize it, we don't maximize it. But if we actually believe that we have a

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valuable, not only message, but that we carry a light of Jesus that can pierce

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darkness all around us in a world that is aching for an encounter, if we really

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believe we can change things and bring an influence, we're going to live

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different. I love that because we must see ourselves as accountable. Right. Because

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if we use it, then we will wield that influence wisely. Well said. I'm so

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excited to keep it 100 tribe. We're introducing a new segment in our Keep

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it 100 podcast called the discipleship discussion. And for our discipleship

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discussion on this episode, we have a great friend of ours, Will Ford. Will

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Ford is an educator. Will Ford is a marketplace advisor. He is also an

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author. He travels the globe. He has been called to speak in terms of the racial

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inequities in our nation. And so right now, I want you to get super excited as we

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have this discipleship discussion with Will Ford. Will, Will, what's going on?

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I got to keep it 100. This is one of my closest friends on the planet.

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Author three books, his most recent book is called the dream King. Right. We're

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actually going to talk about second book you wrote. Yes. Second. I did another

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addition to it. So created for influence, transforming culture from where you

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are. Awesome, man. Well, I'm super excited about this because back in the day,

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when you talked about influencers, you talked about coaches, you talked about

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teachers, you talked about upright people in the community. Now it's a

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fashion blogger that name drops. Right. It's a gamer that tells you headphones

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he's wearing is his playing. All right, right. Amongst millennials and Gen Zs,

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they say that 86% want to be influencers and the majority of them want

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to be paid to give their little shot on Instagram. So get it 86% want to be

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influencers, but only 12% believe they are influencers. Wow. 74% of the

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emerging generation, they want to be, but they don't feel they are. And so

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this is maybe a great place to begin with you. Well, yeah, what does being an

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influencer mean to you? Yeah, well, I want to speak to that 74%. And I want to

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tell you, believe it or not, you are an influencer. What do you like it or not?

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You are an influencer, especially as a believer, you're an influencer. In

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other words, I believe God has created everybody for leadership. And that's

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what influence balls down to. And you're either a good leader or a bad

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leader, but you're a leader and people are going to follow you. Everybody has

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their own sphere of influence with your creative for influence matter of fact.

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So the way I stumbled into this whole understanding of it was it wasn't

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through looking what's happened with social media. And those things were

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just kind of coming on the scenes in 2004. But I began to realize though, even

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before all this stuff happened, that influence first and foremost is something

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that comes over your life. And it's the favor of God given to you for a specific

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mandate. In other words, favor is not about status. It's about purpose. That's

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what I've learned over the years. At the end of the day, when you get like

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uncanny, ridiculous favor in your life, when you get that kind of favor on your

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life, at the end of the day, it's not about you. Come on, man. Say that. It's

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about all the other people who are hanging on the other side of your

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obedience. In other words, favor opens doors, but it's influence that changes

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nations. Because at the end of the day, you'll have to trade favor with man for

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influence for God. And so there's this place where you have to make that

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shift. You'll see in everybody's life, you see it with Nehemiah. Nehemiah

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there in Nehemiah 2, he's working for a wicked king at the time and you could

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not come into presence of the king with a sad countenance. So Nehemiah's

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heart is broken over the condition of his nation, Israel. He's broken over the

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walls of the torn down. And so he comes before the king with a sad countenance

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and he's like, so what is this? And so he tells the king about what's happened

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in his nation. And then God gives him favor in that moment. He releases

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influence. He transitions from favor to influence. And he gets the influence to

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go back and rebuild the broken walls of the nation. And then Nehemiah says that

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the good hand of God was on me. It's the interesting word he uses there. The word

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hand. It's the Hebrew word Yod which sometimes translators translate as the

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word influence. And so he got turned the heart of the king and that king gave

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Nehemiah what he needed to go ahead and restore the nation of Israel. So anyway,

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the way I dove into it was a dream. I had a dream. Come on, please share that.

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Yeah. And then this dream, spiritual pops to me. Dutch, she says to me, you know,

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God's teaching me a lot of this story about a hit the fel. I can't remember a

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hit the fel in the Bible just right off hand right now. Well, it was a little while

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later, I go on a fast, my Bible falls open to second, semi chapter 15. And I see

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the name of hit the fel and I freak out. And I was like, oh, this is a real person.

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So I read the stories. This amazing story about King David, the most anointed,

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got the greatest approval ratings of any king ever after that time period. But the

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whole nation, the sentiment of the whole nation shifts against the most anointed

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King ever. And they turn against him so radically that David has to leave because

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his son, Absalom, has turned against him. Right. So turn against him. And the Bible

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says that Absalom was a real handsome dude had the long hair and he shifted the

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influence of the whole nation by hanging out at the city gates, stealing the hearts

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of the people one by one. That's what second, semi 15 talks about. And so David

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has to flee for his life. But the person who helped engineer this whole thing was

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a guy named the hit the fel. So you study it out, you find out that David and the

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hit the fel were best friends. So how is it that this man who is this consultant

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for King David, how could this person turn against the Lord's anointed and

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really his counsel sound like that some come from the demonic realm, because he

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actually is the person who tells Absalom to go into all the Davis concubines on

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top of the palace roof. Now, the prophet, Nathan actually prophesied that was

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going to happen to him, but it happens to David through his son. But a hit the

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fel is a person who gives that counsel. He told him he needed to make himself

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totally odious to David because the nation had turned so horribly against

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King David, he had to separate himself from him to show people that, Hey, I'm

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not in a line with my dad at all. Matter of fact, I'm gonna sleep with all his

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wives on top of the palace rooms with this horrible that advice comes from a

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hit the fel. So like, why was like, God, why would he turn like that? And most

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scholars believe that hit the fel is the person who engineered that whole cool

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attempt. Wow. This whole scenario was all about the influence that this man was

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able to wield against the most anointed King ever in Israel. Now mind you, they

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did this without Twitter, Facebook, say that, you know, the whole time with their

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error spring thing, you know, you had Mubarak and all these other kings in

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Egypt, yeah, Gaddafi and others there in Libya, they were all taken down, you

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know, because of social media influence, the mob start showing up, taking them

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out, taking them down. Several nations were shifted in that summer. Listen, this

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happened with King David, no Twitter, no Facebook, no social media, just the

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influence of human beings and the influence of what's going on in the

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unseen realm demonically. Wow. And so I was reading that story. And the Lord said

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to me, William, we you will not understand this story without understanding

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the power of influence. So I thought I knew what influence is or was but first

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of all, I didn't know the influence and addiction, it's not a verb. It's a noun.

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I always thought of in some sense that you do, but first of all, an addiction is

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it's a substance and the original definition for influence rock my world.

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So here it is 1918, Mary Webster dictionary says it's about influence

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influence in ethereal fluid, which flows from the stars and affects the actions

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that behaviors a mankind ethereal could mean being said could be said from the

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heavens could be said a heavenly fluid which flows from the stars and affects

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the actions and behaviors of mankind. Now that's that's crazy. So think about it.

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Here you have theory of fluid flows from the stars with fixed actions and

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behaviors of mankind. So they believe back during that time that the stars

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had influence on people's destinies. So anything that was catastrophic, they

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felt like it came from the stars. So it turns out the word influence and

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influenza are cousin words. Wow. They use a word like pandemic or epidemic

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back during that day when they had something that was a viral outbreak.

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They use the word influenza. Interesting. So as the etymology of it and the words

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kind of grow over time, what happens is that the word influence gets birthed out

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of the word influenza. Any person that favor with the stars with epidemic

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popularity or epidemic fame was said to have influence. Right. And the part B

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definition that's in Mary Webster's dictionary today for influence says this

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influence an occult power held to derive from the stars. Wow. Now today the word

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influence means spiritual force or moral force which normally or unknowingly

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affects the actions and behaviors of others consciously or unconsciously. So

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it's not if you're being influenced this what is influencing you.

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Well being influenced one way or another. It's like the law of glory. I think you

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have the law of influence just like you have the law of gravity. We don't see

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gravity but we're affected by it. If I was walking and I tripped and I fell

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down and fall down because I hit a rock I fell down because the law of gravity

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took over and I fell. I believe there's a law of influence too. There are different

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tipping points that happen at different times and different windows to different

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seasons, different epics and history, hinges of history. But I believe that there

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are those that are there and it's incumbent upon people with the right

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influence to hit that vacuum, hit that open door before somebody else

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feels it or before somebody else tries to close or open it. So that's what I

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think is really key right now. So I think there are people being raised up to have

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epidemic popularity, epidemic fame on one sense but there's another understanding

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this thing where we need to understand the influence that we have to exercise

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first in the unseen realm. Wow. Because influence first is initiated from the

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unseen realm. Before it affects any human beings on earth it's about who has the

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ability to influence things in the heavenlies. So give an example of what I'm

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talking about. You think about it, if influence comes from the stars then we

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have these stars in Revelation 12. The third of the stars that fell was Satan. Wow.

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They occupy that second heaven level realm. Most scholars say we have three

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different realms in the heavenlies. We have the stars we see at night which is

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the third realm. The third heaven which Paul talked about he went to the third

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heaven. So if you went to the third heaven by the Dutch it has to be a second

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and a first. That's right. And so most scholars believe that the second heaven

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level realm that's what the Prince of Palin is in power, the spiritual host of

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witness. That's what they lodge and so you had these Revelation 12 third of the

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stars that fell was Satan there and they occupy that second heaven level realm

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and they try to chain, bind and grip the hearts and minds of people to sway their

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opinions away from the kingdom of light and into the kingdom of darkness by

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their influence. A great example of that is Job 3831. We got a speaking of Job and

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he says, can't style buying the sweet influences of the three of these?

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So he's saying can you buy not just the influence job but the sweet influence.

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The word influence there it means to chain, bind or grip when he says sweet

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influence. So he's talking about on two different realms. He's talking about how

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we, the whole God's majesty, we look at the stars just how it's able to grip us

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and we just lay hold of who God is. That's one thing. But on another realm he's

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talking about those second heaven level stars, those Prince of Palin's and

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powers, the spiritual witness and how places their ability to chain, bind and

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grip our hearts and sway our opinions by influence. But, so that's the angelic

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falling stars but the beautiful thing is that there's only a third of those.

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Come on man. We have at least two thirds according to the math but then beyond

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that judges five and twenty talks about it. It's beautiful. There was Deborah and

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so Deborah singing her spontaneous prophetic song, this amazing woman

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judging Israel. But remember she prophesized to Barak and she says that a woman is

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going to, Cicero is going to be overthrown by a woman, right? So she

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prophesized that and so what happens? Here comes Cicero, 20 years of Midianite

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Depression, this captain of the Midianite Army, Cicero gets into the tent of

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J.O. They get in J.O's tent and she takes a tent peg while he's sleeping, knocks

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him upside the head, she takes him out and the spellbinding influence of fear

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and intimidation that was over the Israelite army is broken. Wow. 20 years of

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oppression gets turned into 40 years of peace because of my black

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creature. I have to say it like this, they get double for the trouble, right?

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Come on now. Come on. But here's the deal. Deborah did an attributive victory to what

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happened in the tent, to attribute the victory to what happened in the

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heavies. She says this in Judges 5 and 20, she says, from the heavens the stars

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fall. From their courses they warred against Cicero. It's like, hold up

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Deborah, what are you talking about? I thought Cicero was on the earth. What did

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the heavies have to do with his defeat? She's saying, because I had favor with the

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bright morning star. He released his influence on my behalf and his angelic

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stars warred against Cicero's demonic fallen stars. When I got breakthrough in

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the heavies, it was done on earth as it wasn't happened because I had influence

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in the right place. Well, that's deep. Because when you stake yourself to God's

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promises in your prayer tent, God will use your intercession like a peg to

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annihilate the enemy's influence. Oh my goodness. So we have angelic stars that

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war on our behalf. You see that in Daniel 10 and Daniel 9 and the

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angel Gabriel showing up after 21 days fast that Daniel has. And he says, hey,

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we were warned on your behalf. From the day that you started praying for 21

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days, we've been warned. In other words, he hit his knees and then

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inaugurated a war in the heavenlies. That's the kind of influence I'm

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talking about. Shifting things in the unseen realm first so that things start

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to manifest on earth. Come on, Will. We're called to be stars too. Not the

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Hollywood kind of stars. Not the Madison Avenue kind of stars. Here's

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what it is. And so I love the way Daniel says it. Daniel 12, 3 and 4, he says it

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like this. The wise men in those days will shine as brightly as all the

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expansive heaven and those who lead many to the righteous will shine like the

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stars forever and ever. We're supposed to be Philippians, 215 people that

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shine like stars in the midst of a dark and cricket perverse generation.

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That's light was made for darkness. So here's the deal. If people can become

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stars, biblically, we're called to be stars. Right. He says we're the light of

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the world. He's the light of the world. So hold up. We're supposed to be like

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these lights in the midst of darkness. These folks in Hollywood, not necessarily

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all of them are stars. They could be said they're just celebrities. Right. Who are

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favorite with falling stars. They are favorite with falling Prince of Powers

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and powers and they've been given influence. But that influence, like the

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flu, is making a whole lot of people sick. Preach. Preach, bro. Give an example

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what I'm talking about. And it needs to fuck. I'm praying for these folks. But I

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remember like back in the day, Calvin Brown, a Snoop Dogg. But years ago, 2004,

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he put out a song with a video on it. Said some really derading things about

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women, had drug paraphernalia, other stuff in it. And then he talked about how

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if anybody crossing the killin and how to in a place where nobody will find

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them all that. Well, why is it during that time period, he puts out this

401
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intense gangster rap. Why would Lea Akoka do a commercial with Snoop Dogg in order

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to sell Chrysler's during that time period? Wow. Why would during that same

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time period you had Cadillac come up with a car called the Snoop DeVille? Why

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would you have Orbit want to have the endorsement of a gangster rapper to sell

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chewing gum at the same time period from Snoop Dogg? Wow. That's because he had

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favorite with falling stars. He had favorite with falling Prince of Powers

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and Powers. Same thing, Stephanie Germanata, Lady Gaga. She is the first

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person ever in music history to have over one billion views over videos online.

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Bigam would it be? Now, she did that in three years, her first three years of

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being on the mainstream. Wow. Give it a little perspective. Michael Jackson had a

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00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,600
long career and he became the second person to have a billion views of his

412
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:15,200
videos online. Wow. And that didn't happen until after he died. My goodness.

413
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:20,320
And so she at that time, she had the song called Born This Way. And you know,

414
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:25,480
this is, yeah, in some way we're praying for. I think my people are reaching out to her during

415
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:29,400
that time period. She went on Good Morning America dressed like a condom.

416
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:34,000
That's right. I remember that. Yeah. And locked herself up for three days inside

417
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,400
of an egg to have the effect that it did here. Therefore, the gay marriage, she

418
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,520
actually became a priest due to that time period so she performed weddings. But my

419
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:46,200
thing is this, the influence that was released from that came from a different

420
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:51,520
source. It came from the other side, not from the kingdom of heaven. So there's a

421
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,200
difference between being a celebrity and a star. But unfortunately, Sean, we have

422
00:30:55,200 --> 00:31:00,000
celebrities in the church too. Come on, speak to that, bro. We have celebrities in

423
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,720
the church too. See, the difference, the thing about a celebrity is that all

424
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:09,120
celebrities have to be good actors. Right? A certain way from the camera for just

425
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,160
long enough. You have to act a certain way. You know, people just long enough. So

426
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,400
and the word for actor back in Jesus day was the word hypocrite. It sounds kind of

427
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:22,240
funny. That's right. The hypocrite was an actor before they had the word actor,

428
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,840
they had the word hypocrite. And so the hypocrite, they didn't have a lot of

429
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,680
actors. They just have one or two people who would act, but they would hold up

430
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,760
several masks and play all these different characters. Well, that's the deal

431
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,520
with the church celebrity. They act one way at church and they hold up a mask.

432
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,840
They act another way at work and hold up another mask. They act another way with

433
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:42,480
their friends and hold up another mask. And here's the deal. If how things look is

434
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,120
what matters most in your life, how things all would never get dealt with.

435
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:51,120
Wow. That's why you have people right now. You have millions of social media

436
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,120
followers, hundreds of thousands of social media followers, but you're

437
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:58,640
influenced that run deep because it's coming from a different place. In

438
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,400
other words, it's all about the shallow thing. And we see that sometimes on

439
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,440
some of our leaders right now. I remember Jack, Dave, Jack Haver says something

440
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,800
years ago that was so profound. He says when the church tries to become

441
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:14,440
contemporary sooner or later, it'll become temporary. Because cultural fads and

442
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,640
trends, they change, but the word of God doesn't. And so we have people now who

443
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,400
want to use the broadest amount of favor, greatest amount of favor for the

444
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:26,400
broadest amount of people that understand that. But then there's something else

445
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:30,960
about going deep with God, going deep in your relationships and focusing more

446
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,560
about what you're doing in the unseen, in prayer, fasting, and intimacy with the

447
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,960
Lord, instead of how much time you're spending connecting with people online,

448
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:42,720
algorithms. I mean, I have to watch it myself. The Lord has dealt with me

449
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,400
about that. So we have to be in it and not of it because everybody's on the

450
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:50,440
phone. This is where we're going to reach a generation, but the way we're going to

451
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,560
have the kind of influence to bring change, we have to get it from another realm.

452
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:58,160
Bro, I love what you're saying, Will, because we're talking to influences. This

453
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:03,240
generation, we read the stat. They have made that the brass ring to be grass. They

454
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:09,480
want to be that influencer. And I heard it said, if the light is upon you, greater

455
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:15,000
than the light that is within you, your platform will become your trapdoor.

456
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,320
And I think there's so many people, they have the spotlight that they want on

457
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:24,160
them. Again, if the light that is upon you is greater than the light that is

458
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,680
within you, your platform becomes your trapdoor. And I think I love what

459
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:32,360
you're saying, Will, because what you're saying, man, and keep your 100 listeners

460
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,920
got to get this, is that influence comes in the prayer clause. Influence first

461
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:41,400
comes in terms of the influence we want to wield as kingdom people, as people of

462
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:46,600
God, is that we want to get along with God. We want to get God on us. And as we do

463
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:51,720
that, we recognize we're stewarding this influence because the world's way is

464
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:56,120
that, hey, and it started with the devil who was Lucifer. You know, he had all

465
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:59,960
these covering stones inside of him. He was beautiful, cherub. But all of a

466
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:04,520
sudden, it became about him. I'm not just going to lead worship under the Lord.

467
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:10,360
I want you to worship me. People today in the kingdom, if we want to be influencers,

468
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,200
we first have got to get to the point where God marks us.

469
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:17,720
That's exactly what I'm saying, because there's a difference between being a

470
00:34:17,720 --> 00:34:21,560
celebrity and a star. Say it, you know, I'm talking about a star from a

471
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:25,320
biblical understanding, a celebrity from a worldly understanding of being an

472
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:30,120
influencer. So the deal is this, celebrities use people to support their

473
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,120
authority. But stars use their authority to support

474
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,440
people. Celebrities are initiated and humiliated in

475
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:42,040
order to receive their influence. You think about some of the degrading,

476
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,880
humiliating things that people have done in order to become famous.

477
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,960
But true stars, they're not initiated. They humble themselves

478
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:54,120
and they're discipled. And at the right time, God raises them up.

479
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:58,120
Celebrities seek crowds and crowns. Stars seek God and lay down their crowns.

480
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:02,840
Oh my goodness, bro. Yeah, celebrities build their own kingdom. Stars

481
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,120
build God's kingdom. So the deal is this, you can either be a celebrity

482
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,720
that's bound under the influence of the kingdom of darkness, or you could be a

483
00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:12,840
star that rules and reigns with Christ in heavenly places.

484
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,360
Wow. And that's what I'm talking about, y'all.

485
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:21,320
Influences, listen up. Yep. And you get to that level of influence

486
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,920
after you go through a couple of things. I don't understand it all. I don't know the

487
00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,520
why's of how the kingdom operates. But the people that I know that have been

488
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,200
crushed the most are the people that have the greatest influence and unseeing

489
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,080
realm. And a lot of times that manifests on

490
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,760
earth through their ministries in terms of, you know, when they pray for the sick

491
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,440
or whatever, or even the followings that they have. Sometimes those things do

492
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:47,160
translate in that way. But I'm talking about lasting influence.

493
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:51,160
Those who won't quit on God. Those who won't use God like he's just

494
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,440
some backseat date or whatever. He's thumbed with people who want to date them.

495
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,920
He's looking for people on the throne of the ring and going to covenant with them.

496
00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,120
He wants people who want to birth his desires in the earth.

497
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,720
He's looking for people who are good or for bad, for bad or worse.

498
00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:07,560
And if you get to that place and lay down love with him, you will go to a whole

499
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,600
new place of influence. I love that well.

500
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,200
Because the thing is, in all the definitions I saw for the word influence,

501
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:19,400
I kept seeing the word affect, AFFECT, affect, which makes up the word affection.

502
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:24,360
So influence at its core is all about arresting the affections of someone else

503
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,240
so powerfully they cannot make a decision without you in mind.

504
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:32,040
That's so good. Will, man, I'm telling you what, you are dropping such nuggets.

505
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,640
What does kingdom influence look like in the marketplace?

506
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:39,720
It means everything. Believers don't change the marketplace. We cannot change the world.

507
00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:42,920
Wow. And so you guys who are in the marketplace,

508
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,640
you are the key people for shifting the nations of the earth.

509
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:51,720
You are the, we need people like you with influence from heaven,

510
00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:57,480
sitting down at the marketplace of ideas and reorienting people to the ways of God's kingdom.

511
00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:01,320
So you are key. I would say for the marketplace folks,

512
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,640
this is the greatest time for you to be alive. This is your moment.

513
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:10,200
I love that. But just to understand that there are places for us to influence

514
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,800
and is that there are believers and people that are in universities,

515
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,640
people that are training right now, people that are starting out in different fields,

516
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:21,080
that we need you in that education, we need you in that government,

517
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:27,000
we need you in that entertainment industry, we need you in the marketplace for you to be

518
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,880
who God's called, you be the impact of the world. Will, man, last question. Oh my God,

519
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:38,200
this is amazing. What is the connection between the discipling of the nations and influence?

520
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,880
The deal is this, we need to make sure that we can disciple the nations and the nations aren't

521
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:47,640
discipling us. Wow. In other words, we cannot defeat what we embrace and the world is not

522
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,400
looking for people who are compromising. The world is looking for people who are different.

523
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:55,240
We can't copy the world and call it Christian and say, hey, y'all, y'all, you want to be like us?

524
00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:59,960
And like, I'm already like that. I watch the same stuff on Netflix. You do what? I mean,

525
00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,960
I go to the same movies that you do. What does your Christianity have to offer me that's any

526
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:09,240
different with the peculiar people? Come on. It's biblical. Yeah.

527
00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:16,520
Peculiar people that were peculiar was actually attributed to a precious jewel in a jewelry box.

528
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:22,360
Wow. But curious jewels were the ones that were taken out. They had their own box. That's who you

529
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:29,000
are, believer. Listen, you're a peculiar, you're a star. You're not a celebrity. You may, you're cut

530
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:34,440
from different stuff and you're called to be different, to be an influencer. You're God's

531
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:38,920
tuning fork to a generation. There are some people that won't respond to anything to Sean

532
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:44,520
and I would say, but God has set up his own sphere of influence for you because they're part of your

533
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:49,000
sphere of authority. They're part of your sphere of influence and it will begin to grow as you begin

534
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,520
to cultivate your relationship with the Lord. It'll grow as you begin to care more about people

535
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:59,000
than your own agenda. But we cannot allow ourselves to get to this place of compromise

536
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:05,080
where we were chasing likes and hearts and retweets and reposts and we wound up saying what

537
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:09,560
people want to hear instead of saying what they need to hear, saying what God's telling us to

538
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:15,160
tell them instead of giving what engineers want to be entertained by. Will, man, I'm telling you

539
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:21,800
what, bro, you have taken us on a journey. You dropped knowledge. Keep it 100 tribe. Hey, how can

540
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:26,840
we follow you? How can we support you? Yeah, we can follow us. I post most of my stuff through 818

541
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:34,120
The Sign on my Facebook page. So go there also to the Careers with Podcast Network. Be The Sign.

542
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:39,800
But yeah, follow me and follow us. Keep following Sean and Christian. Keep it 100. They may keep

543
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:46,840
it at 100 for a minute. This man has opened more doors for me than anybody can even realize. So

544
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:52,200
anyway, thank God for the friendship and the connection and it's been amazing. Wow, Will.

545
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:57,960
Thank you for that. That was truly incredible. What a profound conversation. I love how you

546
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:03,160
just broke it down. He challenges each of us to live out the influencer. You and I, our listeners,

547
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:08,600
we were called to be for God. Wasn't that so good? Awesome. It was amazing. As always to our Keep

548
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:13,720
it 100 tribe, we want you to take away five qualities of what it is to be an influencer,

549
00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:20,360
because we're calling out the influencer in you. Number one, respectability. We have to understand

550
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:26,360
that the life we live is so connected to our credibility. And when we live a life of consistency

551
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:32,600
in our integrity, it not only leads to a positive reputation, it leads to influence. When people

552
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:37,240
know that they can respect you, when they know you're credible, when they know that you are consistent

553
00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:42,680
with your value and your belief system and you're living for God, not only are you trustworthy,

554
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:48,120
you're now one that carries the influence that God's given you and you're stewarding what God's

555
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:53,160
given you through respectability. That is so incredible. The second quality of an influence

556
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:59,960
is passion. It's proven that people that are passionate influence others and their excitement

557
00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:04,680
is actually infectious. And when I think of passion, I think of a person that truly cares

558
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:09,960
about the vertical component. That means that first, we are passionate about Jesus and as we're

559
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:16,040
passionate about Jesus, then when we begin to speak, that passion really carries heaven's touch

560
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:22,360
upon it. And I really believe for the new emerging influencers that are coming out, values are going

561
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:27,000
to be central to this group. And the third thing I've actually understood about passion, it's easier

562
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:33,160
to become an influencer and harder to stay one. So true. They've seen that believers in their first

563
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:38,920
year of being saved, lead the majority of people that they ever will lead to Christ, they lead in

564
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:44,040
their first year. And I believe part of it is that that's when we're most passionate. And after a while,

565
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:49,720
our passion drops off and as our passion drops off, so does our ability to influence others. So

566
00:41:49,720 --> 00:41:55,960
it's important to maintain your passion. That's so good. You know, the third quality of what it is

567
00:41:55,960 --> 00:42:01,240
to be an influencer is authenticity. You and I can all agree and all our listeners will agree with

568
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:07,400
us. Few things turn us off like people that are inauthentic. You know, the reality is if someone

569
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:12,920
is inauthentic and they're wearing masks or they're being fake or a poser or if there's someone that

570
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:17,480
is not true to who they are and you know that they're kind of putting up a front and they're

571
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:22,440
presenting themselves not accurate to who they really are, that is so inauthentic. And it's so

572
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:27,000
hard to feel like you can trust them and that they're someone that you go, okay, I'm going to

573
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:30,680
actually allow you to speak into my life because they're not even being authentic to themselves.

574
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:34,840
And I think what's so important is when we remove the mask and we're just honest about who we are,

575
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:40,200
there really is a safety that comes with that where people go, okay, I can trust you. And again,

576
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:45,720
we're coming back to that place of authenticity of knowing who you say you are, you really are,

577
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:51,800
as you do that, that opens up and keeps doors of influence open. Fourth quality of an influencer

578
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:57,320
is visibility. Jesus said in Matthew 515, to do not hide your light underneath a bushel. In other

579
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:02,360
words, your light must be visible. You have to have visibility. The difference between a

580
00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:07,720
reformer and a refugee is a refugee hides, but a reformer is out in the open. We're not called to

581
00:43:07,720 --> 00:43:12,840
be a subculture, we're called to be a counterculture. So in order to influence people, you cannot just

582
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:19,000
hide in Christian buildings that are a-frame and stained glass. You've got to get out in the marketplace

583
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:25,720
and be at the university, be at your workplace, be online, and just be that light. That's so good.

584
00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:32,280
The fifth and last quality of being an influencer is the area of authority. When you walk in authority,

585
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:37,320
you know who you are in Christ Jesus, that is what is going to be your greatest place of influence.

586
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:43,480
Marks 1237, it really talks about how Jesus, he was so loved by the common people, by the tax

587
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:47,400
collector, the prostitute, they would sit and have conversations with them. They would sit and

588
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:52,840
share meals. Why? Because there was an approachability and a connectability about Jesus. When people

589
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:58,360
know you're just like them and they know that you're the person next door, you get their struggles,

590
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:02,680
you get where they've at because you've lived the same things. They're able to not only draw

591
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:07,640
wisdom from you and encouragement from you, but there is a commonality of, hey, we're going to

592
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,880
walk this together and we're going to get through it together and there is an authority that you

593
00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:18,120
walk in because you walk in the light and the wisdom of God. That is so good. I love that.

594
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:24,120
Awesome. You know what? Keep it 100 to try. We love doing this with you every week. As always,

595
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:28,600
we want to thank you for tuning in, for giving us your time because we want you to know we build

596
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:34,840
this content for you. As always, thanks so much for coming and joining us as always every Tuesday.

597
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:39,080
We want to thank you for those that have been rating us, giving us five-star reviews. We're

598
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,480
so grateful for your feedback. I tell you what, Sean and I read every single one and we're so

599
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:48,760
encouraged and it really motivates us to keep doing what we're doing. As always, continue to get the

600
00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:53,720
word out. Continue to, if you haven't already, review us, rate us and share us. We want to get

601
00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:58,360
this podcast out to as many people as possible and that happens because of you guys. Thanks so

602
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:03,240
much for doing that. Check us out at www.Seanandchristasmith.com during the week anytime and as always,

603
00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:07,960
find us on Facebook at Sean and Chris Smith Ministries. We'd love to continue to hear how this

604
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:14,280
podcast has impacted you. Hey, Keep It 100 Tribe, you want to join us next week as we're going to hit

605
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:20,440
the crucial topic of fears, phobias and anxieties. We recognize in the season that we're in that many

606
00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:25,240
people find themselves with fears that they're facing that they've never faced before. We want

607
00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:31,160
to talk to you how to fight down those fears. So until next week, remember, relief may change your

608
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:50,440
circumstance, but a revelation to change you.