"That Vertical Lifestyle Pt.2: The Sway Vs. The Draw" S4 Ep18

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,040
Welcome to Keep It 100 podcast with Sean and Christa Smith.

2
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:12,520
Join us in this space where we take on real issues with real insight and real inspiration.

3
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,840
This podcast is for those not looking for temporary relief to change circumstance, but

4
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,640
revelation to forever change lives.

5
00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:24,920
Hey Keep It 100 tribe, welcome to another episode of Keep It 100 with Sean and Christa

6
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:25,920
Smith.

7
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,920
We're excited you guys joined us and we have some stuff to talk about on this episode.

8
00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:31,920
Yes we do.

9
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:36,600
I tell you what, we've been busy since we were with you last in the Keep It 100 tribe.

10
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:38,400
We've had some really cool gatherings.

11
00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,240
We had our last momentum night in August and it was just awesome.

12
00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,200
We had Heath King come out and you guys heard him on the previous episode.

13
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,440
He's just awesome and he led us in worship.

14
00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:49,680
He did such a great job.

15
00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:54,160
We had to really push at the beginning, but we saw God move, right?

16
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:55,160
We did.

17
00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,520
And then after we just had extended worship, people just went in and there were several

18
00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,280
times where you just felt breakthroughs.

19
00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,320
I just gave a gospel presentation.

20
00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,680
We had some people respond and commit their life to Christ and then jumped up and we began

21
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,920
to prophesy, get words of knowledge that was healing.

22
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,720
And then you called everyone forward.

23
00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,160
You gave an invitation for people to come forward.

24
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,520
People came forward, you begin to lay hands and we begin to minister.

25
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,720
Man, the power of God started falling on people.

26
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:22,720
It was powerful.

27
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:23,720
You know, it's just that impartation.

28
00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,720
I feel like there's such an increase of impartation right now, what God's doing.

29
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,040
And people are really receiving a fresh portion, a fresh touch.

30
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,920
I think the weariness, the shackles, the hindrances of the past season, God is just sovereignly

31
00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:41,200
breaking off and people are really having a fresh ability to step into the new in this

32
00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:42,200
hour.

33
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:43,200
That's so true.

34
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,640
And then of course you recently had a phenomenal ministry night at Bethel Redding.

35
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:48,640
Yeah.

36
00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:49,640
You know what?

37
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,720
I was so honored that Bethel had me come back out.

38
00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,800
I was with them for the women's wonder conference in March and then they invited me to come.

39
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,720
And Sunday night, Sean is so kind himself and then the amazing LTV and Chris who work

40
00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,800
with us and they run with us, their family.

41
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:05,880
And we all drove up to Redding.

42
00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,680
She's about three hours north of where we live and God really moved.

43
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,600
It was a really beautiful service.

44
00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:17,200
I felt like I saw the power and the presence of God in a really tangible way, just being

45
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:18,200
ministered to people.

46
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:23,600
And again, just that impartation was so strong again, just people receiving a fresh touch

47
00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,280
of this really, I believe this new hour that we're in.

48
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,080
And I just shared a prophetic word about the wild ones.

49
00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,600
Some of you have heard that message and it's funny.

50
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,440
I only released it where I feel like God's like, this is a company of wild ones.

51
00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:39,760
And of course, Bethel is very much that.

52
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,160
And when I released it, I mean, it just hit the people and I felt the impartation over

53
00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:45,160
the word.

54
00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:46,160
So that was just so cool.

55
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:47,960
I'm always so honored to partner with Bethel.

56
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:49,000
I just love that house.

57
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:50,840
I love the anointing on the house.

58
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,360
And it, man, it was just cool to see God be God.

59
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:54,360
It really was.

60
00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:55,360
And there was such a hunger.

61
00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:56,800
I was packed out.

62
00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:58,240
People hit the altar.

63
00:02:58,240 --> 00:02:59,480
It was just incredible.

64
00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,080
They finished in a fire tunnel as well.

65
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:03,800
And so it was amazing.

66
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,680
I'm excited to jump into the subject of this episode.

67
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,840
And last episode, we are last podcast, we talked about this whole thought of that vertical

68
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,040
lifestyle part one.

69
00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,520
We're going to pick that conversation back up vertical lifestyle part two.

70
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,480
And Kristen, I, we're just going to address it.

71
00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,680
And so I think this whole aspect of the vertical lifestyle really could be summed up in so

72
00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,480
many places, but one of them is the Lord's prayer.

73
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:32,120
Jesus is in his prayer, setting the parameters as well as this as the schematics of what

74
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:33,560
our Christianity should be about.

75
00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,120
And he begins by saying, our father, who are in heaven.

76
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:42,120
So he didn't say, he didn't begin by saying, you know, our friends who are on earth.

77
00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,640
He didn't say, you know, our favorite worship leader who is on iTunes, right?

78
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,200
He said, our father, who are in heaven.

79
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,360
And so he's setting the fact that it's got to be vertical before it's anything.

80
00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,600
And then he goes on to say, obviously I'll be thy name, thy kingdom come that will be

81
00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,320
done on earth as it is in heaven.

82
00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,400
So that earth is to model heaven.

83
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,680
Well, how can earth model heaven if our eyes are horizontal?

84
00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:07,680
And isn't it funny?

85
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,920
One of the hardest things to do, it's harder to look up than it is to look down.

86
00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:11,920
True.

87
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,960
People walking down the street, people looking down, right?

88
00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:14,960
The heads are down.

89
00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,720
How many people are have their heads up looking up?

90
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:23,120
And Jesus told the disciples, he told a lot of people, he says, when you see all of these

91
00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:28,240
things that will bring perplexity, he says, essentially, and I'm paraphrasing, he says,

92
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,840
don't get shook up, just look up for your redemption draws not.

93
00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:33,280
Obviously, it was a passage.

94
00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,720
It says, I will look to the hills from whence my help comes.

95
00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,800
So over and over and over in scripture, we are exhorted to focus on the vertical, the

96
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:49,280
vertical again, being God himself, his presence, his glory and making Jesus our holy obsession,

97
00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:54,360
because we get this thing wrong when we allow the horizontal to take place of the vertical.

98
00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:55,440
You know, it's really true.

99
00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,960
And I think there is such a lesson to be learned in what we're really talking about, because

100
00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:05,640
we live in a world that is constantly battling for your affection and your attention.

101
00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,760
And we live in this very horizontal focused world.

102
00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,840
And yet we're called to live with a vertical posture.

103
00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:16,640
And so, you know, I have a question for you, Sean, because I would love for the audience

104
00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,480
to really hear for you, what are some ways that you've really learned how to cultivate

105
00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,240
a vertical posture and horizontal world?

106
00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,320
You know, I think one of the things is always just keep, keep bringing it back to Jesus.

107
00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:33,400
I think have an ongoing conversation, but I think it really comes in prioritizing the

108
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:34,400
vertical.

109
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:35,400
Yeah.

110
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,720
And obviously that begins in the secret place that begins with your worship.

111
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:39,000
Your worship needs to be vertical.

112
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,080
We talked about that last episode, but I think we have to understand this.

113
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,760
And I love these two scriptures.

114
00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:52,040
You know, 1st John 519 says, we know we're of God, but the whole world lies in the sway

115
00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:53,040
of the evil one.

116
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,200
A sway is a horizontal lean.

117
00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:00,160
Like if a wind blows the tree leans in the direction of that wind.

118
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,840
So that's where the whole world lies in the sway.

119
00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:05,320
So if we get caught up in the sway, that is the horizontal.

120
00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:12,080
But John 12 32, Jesus says, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.

121
00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:13,080
That's up.

122
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,680
So we have this vertical pull any given moment.

123
00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,920
We have this horizontal pull at any given moment.

124
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:23,280
And I think what happens is, is that we were made for transcendence.

125
00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,080
And I just want to throw out one more scripture.

126
00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,760
And that scripture is Ecclesiastes and it talks about any Ecclesiastes.

127
00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:35,160
I love this Solomon wrote the book, probably the second wisest man to hit the planet.

128
00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:40,680
Obviously Jesus Ecclesiastes 311 says God put eternity in our hearts.

129
00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,200
And the word literally is everlasting.

130
00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:44,800
God put everlasting.

131
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:50,560
So the important thing is, is that God put the vertical gaze in our hearts.

132
00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:51,560
It's in it.

133
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,160
You know, different missionaries have gone to different unreached people groups throughout

134
00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,760
the centuries and they all worship something.

135
00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,600
So there was this thing to want to look up.

136
00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,400
But of course, until Jesus was brought to them, they didn't know who the one true God

137
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:11,200
is, you know, even in an axe, Paul goes to Athens and they have a shrine there to an

138
00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,240
unknown God and God and Paul came in and says, Hey, that would you worship ignorance?

139
00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:16,800
I now direct you in truth.

140
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,880
So I think one of the things is that because here's what happens.

141
00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,440
God puts transcendence in our hearts.

142
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:29,880
But what we have done, I think in modern Christianity is we put relevance before transcendence.

143
00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,120
We've tried to be relevant with the crowd, relevant with the audience.

144
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,600
And again, I'm not against relevance.

145
00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,160
I'm against putting relevance over transcendence.

146
00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,040
We first have to make sure that our focus is on the Lord.

147
00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,360
We first have to make sure before I minister to people, I need to minister to the Lord.

148
00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,640
And that is establishing many churches.

149
00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,640
What they do is they'll do worship before they'll begin to minister the needs of the

150
00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:54,640
people.

151
00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,160
And I think that's important because you're putting transcendence.

152
00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,800
God is transcendence before relevance.

153
00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:00,800
I love that.

154
00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,280
You know, because it's true.

155
00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:04,120
And I love that point you really made.

156
00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,360
We were created to worship.

157
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,040
We were created to look up.

158
00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,480
We were created for vertical gaze.

159
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:11,640
And I think you're right.

160
00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,000
The reality is all of us are going to worship something, right?

161
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:20,200
And whatever happens to our heart and the adoration and the affection of our heart, but we recognize

162
00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,320
that's often the horizontal pole.

163
00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:23,800
That's the sway.

164
00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:29,120
And that's the biggest misconception is we often look at places of worship horizontally

165
00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:35,880
and we think those are suffice and we've replaced a vertical expression with a horizontal expression.

166
00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:37,760
And then we find ourselves dissatisfied.

167
00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,560
We find ourselves, oh my gosh, that was actually just religion.

168
00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:45,200
Oh my gosh, that was actually just the bright lights and the shiny new this, that or the

169
00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,400
other or, you know, whatever it is.

170
00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:52,200
It's like, but it's a, it's a false expression of actually the genuine encounter that we're

171
00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:53,600
called to walk in.

172
00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,000
And so, you know, as you're talking to your scriptures, I really love this one.

173
00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,040
Matthew 16, 25 talking about verticality.

174
00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:05,320
It says, for whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life

175
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:06,800
for me will find it.

176
00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:12,960
And I think that's really the epitome of a vertical posture that that's the person that

177
00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:20,040
has not allowed a horizontal sway, the sway of culture, the culture of this age to seduce

178
00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:21,640
them in any way.

179
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,320
And they've refused to have a price that they could be bought or sold out in any way or

180
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,160
sell out in any way other than to Jesus.

181
00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,560
The only person they're going to be sold out for is the Lord.

182
00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,560
But I, you know, I just remember years ago, someone saying to me, you know, if you have

183
00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,000
a price, you will be bought.

184
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,640
I'm sure many, many of our listeners have heard that statement.

185
00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:41,320
It was very common for a while.

186
00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:42,720
If you have a price, you will be bought.

187
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:48,000
And I just remember praying that prayer, you know, as a young girl, God, make me a priceless

188
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,560
lover, make me a disciple that can't be bought, can't be seduced.

189
00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,320
And there's an authentic cry and desire in that.

190
00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:00,040
And in fact, I still pray that I still pray, you know, Lord, you know, don't, don't allow

191
00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:06,160
me to be seduced or, or swayed or, you know, kind of the, the glitz or the glamour.

192
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:12,440
That's what catches my eye so much so that I feel like an actual conviction, even when

193
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,080
I'm ministering, if I even feel the gaze of the room as you and I are like ministering

194
00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:22,120
prophetically or maybe moving in gifts and God is moving in a really beautiful way.

195
00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,800
If you feel the gaze in the room, even shift you as a minister, the fear of God hits me

196
00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:31,000
where I just feel, and I know you're the same baby, that fear God hits you where you're

197
00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:32,440
like, Whoa, it's not me.

198
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:33,440
Hold on.

199
00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:39,320
I never want to be seduced by the awe of man and or awe of a room for a moment.

200
00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,560
God is doing because I genuinely have such an awareness.

201
00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,760
I'm so, I literally, and this is not false humility.

202
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,640
This is the reality that I know I've got nothing.

203
00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,440
If Jesus does not show up to minister to someone, I can give an encouraging word.

204
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:59,880
I can just be kind and show love through, through Jesus, but I can't change a life.

205
00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:01,240
I can't cast out a demon.

206
00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,080
I definitely can't do any healing.

207
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,480
I don't have any authority other than through Christ.

208
00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:13,880
And so there's a, there's a dependence and a reliance that causes a posture of verticality

209
00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:19,000
that is necessary as a follower, as those that are listening and saying, I want to be

210
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,040
a minister of the gospel.

211
00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:26,960
You must have a fierce dependence on your verticality posture, because if you think

212
00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:31,920
in any way, shape or form, you can do it or that you're going to be able to do this.

213
00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:38,400
It's like, I have this very keen awareness that God has to show up or the, or the services

214
00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:39,560
are going to be a bust.

215
00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:42,160
And then let me make it really personal because I just made a corporate there.

216
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,200
I made a bigger picture, but let me just make it really personal.

217
00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:51,440
I recognize that everything that comes out of my life is a byproduct of my daily vertical

218
00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:53,640
connection with Jesus.

219
00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:59,600
That the only way that I can stay, I feel it grounded at times, a soundness of my mind,

220
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,320
a peace in my heart.

221
00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,840
I can keep the door shut on anxiety.

222
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,480
All of that comes through a vertical reliance.

223
00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,920
And because there are times where, you know, stuff's knocking at the door of life.

224
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,200
And man, if you can open that door, it wants, if you open that door, that thing comes running

225
00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:22,000
in and it wants to take over your life, whether it be depression or anxiety or worry or stress

226
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:23,000
or whatever.

227
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,080
And you have to like really keep that door shut.

228
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:30,600
And the only way I'm able to keep that shut is that vertical reliance of Jesus.

229
00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:31,600
You are my source.

230
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,160
Lord, one of your names is refuge.

231
00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,880
Your name is my safe tower, right?

232
00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:37,880
Strong tower.

233
00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:38,880
Excuse me.

234
00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:39,880
My safe refuge.

235
00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,120
My safe tower that one of your names, God is my source.

236
00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,120
You're my door.

237
00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:45,200
You're my provider.

238
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:46,200
You're my provision.

239
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:47,200
You're my healer.

240
00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,440
You're my restore.

241
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:49,440
You're redeemer.

242
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:50,440
You're my kinsman, right?

243
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:55,120
I can go through the names of God and I can literally stand in this place of God, you

244
00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,960
have me, even when it feels out of control.

245
00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:03,560
My posture of the verticality could not be more important in a time and an hour that

246
00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:07,200
we find ourselves in where the sways never been greater.

247
00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:08,200
It's so true.

248
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,880
I think of an example of this and I want to come back to you in a little bit and talk

249
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:16,720
to you because I feel that verse Ecclesiastes 3 11, God put eternity in our hearts.

250
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:18,640
There's a hunger and we were talking earlier.

251
00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:23,720
I want to hit this and so mark that about choosing to aim as the target of the hungry.

252
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,360
But for that first Samuel chapter two, I love it.

253
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:28,640
In the early part of Samuel, we have a contrast.

254
00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,600
It says that the prophet Samuel ministered unto the Lord.

255
00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,760
And so at the same time there was Eli and Eli was there.

256
00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:42,040
And it's funny because Eli says that his ears basically had grown dim.

257
00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:43,720
He wasn't hearing the voice of God.

258
00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:49,400
And so a prophet came to Eli in first Samuel chapter two and began to rebuke him.

259
00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:53,000
And the narrative of scripture says Eli's sons who were priests were scoundrels, as

260
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,240
it says in one translation, with no regard for the Lord.

261
00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:01,440
And so we realized that the seduction of the horizontal is hitting Eli's sons.

262
00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:02,880
I think it's Hapni and Phineas.

263
00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,120
And these dudes was eating the food that was supposed to be sacrificed.

264
00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:12,160
And these jokers were being immoral with the women there in the temple.

265
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,120
And so here was the rebuke.

266
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:18,960
It contrasted Samuel ministering before the Lord wearing a linen ephod.

267
00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,080
And then it says that this prophet came to Eli.

268
00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:23,680
And I just want you guys to hear this.

269
00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:24,680
It's interesting.

270
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,480
He rebuked Eli for not rebuking his sons.

271
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,680
And here's what it says in first Samuel chapter two, verse 29.

272
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:36,400
It says, why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribe for my dwelling?

273
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:40,560
Why do you honor your sons more than me?

274
00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:41,560
And so I think that's the thing.

275
00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:46,200
I think so much of Christianity, if we honor men, as you were saying, like, hey, we want

276
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:47,560
to make sure we're giving the God the glory.

277
00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:55,120
If we honor men, if we honor the taste buds of humanity, we focus more in.

278
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,240
And again, God wants to meet needs.

279
00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:01,600
But I think sometimes what we do is that we've honoring the people in front of us more than

280
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,240
we've honored the God above us.

281
00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,440
And so we've done more to appease this person.

282
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,280
Okay, we want this person to be upset and leave our church.

283
00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,480
Hey, if we say this, we may rock the boat.

284
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,120
And now what you have is you have churches that won't even preach truth that they'll

285
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,880
slide the scale of truth.

286
00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:21,040
You know, the Bible talks about that God's word is a plumb line.

287
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:22,040
That's verticality.

288
00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,040
Yeah.

289
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,760
Plumb line is God's truth, which you got people that will mix in inclusion.

290
00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:30,960
They'll mix in all kind of, you know, other different things to the point where now you

291
00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:33,080
have heretical stuff going on.

292
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:38,960
And it goes back to this verse of horizontal church, horizontal Christianity honors the

293
00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,480
sons more than the father.

294
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,760
And I don't mean the son Christ Jesus, obviously God the father, God the single, the Holy Spirit.

295
00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,560
But I mean honors men more than honors God.

296
00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:49,760
Well, let me throw this back at you.

297
00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,480
You know, that verse says God put eternity in our hearts.

298
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,280
That means that there's a hunger for God.

299
00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,000
There's a hunger to go vertical.

300
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,480
There's a hunger to go upstairs in your walk and not stay downstairs.

301
00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:00,480
Yeah.

302
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,120
And I'll give an example of that when you began in minutes.

303
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:03,440
Why don't you share that with our listeners?

304
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:04,440
Yeah.

305
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,040
You know, I was sharing with Sean as we were kind of talking through this episode and getting

306
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:08,760
ready to record.

307
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:13,720
And I was sharing that when I got hired in my first position after many years of being

308
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,600
in ministry, but I was running schools in ministry and I had different positions at

309
00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:18,600
the church.

310
00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:23,280
But this is when I got hired to be my associate pastor at a church.

311
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,960
And I remember taking a month off right before I started and I went to a house of prayer at

312
00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,720
Kansas City, I hop and the Lord said, give me the month of September because I was starting

313
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:33,220
October 1st.

314
00:16:33,220 --> 00:16:37,360
And I, I for one month just was on my face before the Lord preparing.

315
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,880
And I remember asking the Lord because I knew I was also assigned to start a young adults

316
00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,080
ministry and I was also associate pastor for the entire church.

317
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:45,520
And I said, Lord, I need your strategy.

318
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,360
I can't just build something to build something.

319
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,400
I have to build something with intentionality.

320
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:50,680
Jesus, what's your strategy?

321
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:52,280
I heard it so clear.

322
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:57,940
And the Lord told me, Christa, cater toward the hungry, build everything to feed the hungry.

323
00:16:57,940 --> 00:17:03,040
We live in a world that has a lot of structures based on feeding the lukewarm.

324
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:07,680
And I'm not saying ignore the lukewarm, but I am saying if you feed lukewarm continued

325
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,000
lukewarm meals, all they're going to do is stay lukewarm.

326
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,720
But if you put lukewarm around a bunch of hungry people and you cater toward the hungry,

327
00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,360
the hungry are going to eat and the lukewarm are going to have a choice whether they're

328
00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:18,360
going to eat or not.

329
00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:24,160
I tell you what, when the Lord gave me that model, I did not apologize on letting a full

330
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:29,960
gospel on full display that include the gifts of the spirit, speaking in tongues, whatnot.

331
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,800
And we released that and the ministry blew up.

332
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,120
It really grew.

333
00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:38,800
And I think it's because, not even I think, it is absolutely because I really believe

334
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,360
God's strategy is to cater to the hungry.

335
00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:44,200
And I've taken that beyond that position.

336
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,480
I'm obviously no longer in that position, but that's really been my posture in my life

337
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,120
is I'm going to do everything to cater to the hungry.

338
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:55,160
And let me address this because I think we live in a world and it sounds like maybe I'm

339
00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:56,640
against seeker sensitive.

340
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:01,560
No, I believe that I want the seeker to seek and I do want to be sensitive to people.

341
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:07,500
I want people to feel cared for, but I'm also a perfect example being raised Catholic and

342
00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:12,000
never being exposed to the gifts of the spirit and never in a spirit filled world at all

343
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,880
until, you know, I was a young girl and then I got exposed to it and I was only exposed

344
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,200
to it, you know, one week a year, my whole life until I was 19.

345
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:25,480
And I would have been on paper the perfect example of what a seeker sensitive model would

346
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,440
have said, Oh, she'd be uncomfortable.

347
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,880
That'd be too much for her.

348
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,000
Like the gifts, the prophetic, all the things that's too much for her.

349
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:37,040
But all I needed was an encounter with heaven and I was, it was done game over.

350
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,920
I was like, this is all I want.

351
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,400
I was so ravenous for the things of God.

352
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,040
It pulled the heart, you know, eternity in my heart.

353
00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:52,320
It pulled it out of me and I just got marked for Jesus and it's all because I was exposed

354
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:59,280
to hungry people and hungry people are really to me a standard for the church that if we

355
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,360
catered toward the people that have eternity in their hearts, which is all of us, but people

356
00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:07,640
that have an insatiable appetite for the things of God and that's who we're feeding.

357
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,400
I really believe the other people will follow suit.

358
00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:12,360
I mean, I've seen it so many times.

359
00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:14,960
I mean, does everyone unfortunately know?

360
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:20,680
But I think there's a much higher ratio of people that actually get on fire for God and

361
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:21,680
get a hunger.

362
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:27,000
So I'm really passionate and I have a strong conviction for us to really present an entire

363
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,000
the gospel in its entirety to people.

364
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:34,160
You know, in football, they talk about this, but they talk about they're going to the vertical

365
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:35,160
game.

366
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,040
So that means a quarterback is going to throw the long ball down, Phil, you score, you get

367
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:43,240
the touchdown, you reach the goal by going vertical, meaning you're throwing that ball

368
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:44,240
in the air.

369
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,560
I think a great example of going vertical and I just want to say, hey, it's time for

370
00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:48,840
the church to go vertical.

371
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,520
I think we've gone horizontal for so long.

372
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:56,840
And I think personally, I think a lot of the fact that the enrollment and the people that

373
00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:02,560
are attending churches in many instances has wane people that acknowledge, you know,

374
00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:07,920
a belief, the Bible, Jesus to be exclusively Lord on and on and on, identify with Christianity.

375
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:13,000
And I think part of it is that we've lost them because we've gone horizontal when we

376
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,520
need to be going vertical.

377
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,760
And I think going vertical, what does that mean?

378
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,800
It means tracking the manifest presence of God.

379
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,600
One of the things that we do in our services, we're traveling when we do our momentum nights

380
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,240
is we're always tracking Holy Spirit.

381
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,680
And I think that's part of living with verticality.

382
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:35,120
And an example of this, because I just love this passage in Scripture in Exodus 32, we

383
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,480
know that Moses went up on the mountain to get the 10 commandments.

384
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,960
So as he's up there getting the 10 commandments, it says in Exodus 32.

385
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,800
It says, when the people saw that Moses was so long and coming down from the mountain,

386
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:52,000
they gathered around Aaron, they said, come make us small G gods who will go before us.

387
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,720
As for this Moses who brought us about to Egypt, we don't know what happened to him.

388
00:20:55,720 --> 00:21:00,000
And then so Aaron took their gold earrings from everybody and he began to melt them down

389
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:01,320
and made it made an idol.

390
00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,080
And I think Moses represented for that group.

391
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,800
He represented the manifest presence of God.

392
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:11,320
He was reflecting the glory to the point one time the man had to put curtains on his face

393
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,280
for heaven's sake, because the glory was so strong.

394
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:19,960
And I think if we can use Moses as a type, when we don't have that glory in our services,

395
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,320
what happens is Moses obviously represented the transcendent of God or the manifest presence

396
00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:25,320
of God to Israel.

397
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,520
But when he was missing, they gravitated towards a vertical replacement.

398
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,920
And so I wonder sometimes if we're adding stuff to our modern Christianity, but really

399
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,040
it's a default.

400
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:40,080
And I like to look at it that there was two scenes in that in that chapter in Exodus 32.

401
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:41,680
There was an upstairs scene.

402
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,000
Moses was meeting with God.

403
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,920
There was a downstairs scene.

404
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:50,280
The people were giving themselves over to idolatry and God's word of them.

405
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:55,560
He says the people have corrupted themselves that the more they went horizontal, the more

406
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,760
corruption fell on them.

407
00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,880
And so I think right now it's time to go vertical.

408
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:03,720
People aren't coming to our church because of the Starbucks imitation coffee we got in

409
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:04,720
the lobby.

410
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,720
They're not coming here because of the crisp cream donuts that aren't as hot as if they

411
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,720
would have went through the drive-thru.

412
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,480
And I just love Moses Boo.

413
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,960
He said at one point, he says, God, if your presence doesn't go with me, I'm not going.

414
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,920
I wonder if us as ministers and modern believers, if we're that way, like God, if your presence

415
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,080
doesn't show up at church, we can't have church today.

416
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,040
If your presence doesn't go with me to work, I'm not going to have the day that I need

417
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,120
or school or wherever.

418
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:34,560
And Moses went on to say, how else will we be distinguished from anyone else on that

419
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:35,560
place of the earth?

420
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:36,560
Right?

421
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,640
If you're the presence of God, it might as well be an NFL or NRA meeting.

422
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:40,640
You know what I'm saying?

423
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:41,640
I mean, it could be anything.

424
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:46,880
It could be the Rotary Club without songs because the presence of God and it's got to

425
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,400
be that thing that we're tracking the manifest presence of God.

426
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:51,560
So I love what you said.

427
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:56,960
The hungry, God promises that he would visit those who are hungry, that he would pour spirit

428
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,720
out, or pour water on them that are thirsty, that if we hunger and thirst, we'll make the

429
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:07,320
connection because the commodity of the kingdom ought to be the manifest presence of God because

430
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:08,480
we're going vertical.

431
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:09,480
I love that.

432
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:10,480
That's so good.

433
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,600
You know, and I think for our listeners today that are listening, you're like, okay, Christa,

434
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:18,120
you know, and Sean, I'm not maybe a preacher or I'm not on the platform.

435
00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:19,120
I'm not a minister.

436
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:20,120
I'm not leading a church.

437
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:21,440
I'm just someone that loves God.

438
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,240
Hey, you know, this applies to you too.

439
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,080
This applies to every one of us and our walk with Jesus.

440
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,080
And you know, I shared something at Bethel when I was ministering on Sunday night and

441
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,120
it's something the Lord spoke to me in my twenties.

442
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,040
I really love Catherine Coleman.

443
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:36,040
I love her life.

444
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:40,200
I love her ministry and I was studying it because she had such a vertical posture.

445
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,760
I mean, she had one of the most beautiful relationships with the Holy Spirit.

446
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:50,200
I mean, she moved in such a tangible way with the Lord that it's almost like when I would

447
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:57,040
watch the VHS and the services, you know, obviously I wasn't there alive.

448
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,320
You know, she's passed away when I was born.

449
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:04,480
But you know, I remember just being in awe because I'm like, I feel like she walks with

450
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:05,480
Jesus.

451
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,240
Like there's such a verticality in her ministry.

452
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:14,680
I mean, she was so focused on honoring and worshiping the Lord and the atmosphere for

453
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,280
the everything about to give glory.

454
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,640
And I remember just crying out to God, going, Lord, I want to know you like that.

455
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,680
It wasn't like I was saying, oh, let me have a large stadium ministry.

456
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,880
I mean, if God wants to do that, so be it whatever he wants to do in our life.

457
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:27,880
But that wasn't my heart.

458
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:28,880
I'm not crying.

459
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,680
My heart cry wasn't like, Lord, I want this ministry that fills stadiums.

460
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,600
I was, I want her the miracles.

461
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,160
I want to see God move like that.

462
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,360
But for the, for the purpose of people encountering Jesus.

463
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:41,840
But my heart cry was like, God, how does she move like that?

464
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,160
Like how does she minister like that?

465
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,600
Like how did she walk in a, in a ministry that's so deep?

466
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:52,760
And I remember the Lord saying, Christa, she has access to everything you have access to.

467
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,000
She just chose her depth and she chose deep.

468
00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:56,880
And I remember being in my twenties.

469
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:57,880
She chose deep.

470
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,520
She chose deep that you and I have all the same access.

471
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:06,520
There's no one that has more access to the Lord, to the Holy Spirit, to God, the Father,

472
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:07,520
to Jesus, the Son.

473
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,800
Like there's, we all have the same access to this amazing trinity, right?

474
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,000
This holy deity.

475
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:18,080
We all have the same access, but the difference is we choose our depth and some of us choose

476
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,080
really deep.

477
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,520
And when we choose really deep, it simply means we've gone vertical.

478
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,360
We've gone totally vertical.

479
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:30,120
And we recognize that we don't want to be so heavily minded that we're no earthly good.

480
00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:35,680
There is this beautiful posture where you are so vertically connected that you're impacting

481
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:36,680
the horizontal.

482
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,200
Um, and I think that's what God calls us to be because we're called to be carriers of

483
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:42,200
the good news.

484
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:43,320
We have the great commission.

485
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:48,320
We're called to release it, but we do that with the posture of verticality.

486
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,720
But I think there's such an invitation in this hour because, you know, friends, we're

487
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,080
going into some crazy times.

488
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,240
I mean, we can just call it out for what it is, but God is in control.

489
00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,160
We're going into an election year and I'm praying America has learned and we're not

490
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:05,000
going to repeat, you know, some things we did as a nation before, but it is so important

491
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:11,000
that now in this time, we are really positioning ourselves that we are not allowing ourselves

492
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,760
to be swayed by the culture because there will be a sway.

493
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,840
There's always a sway in the years that are coming up, right?

494
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:21,840
And yet when we posture ourselves and we choose deep, it keeps everything in perspective

495
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,240
and it removes the clutter.

496
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:24,320
I love what you're saying.

497
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,120
Choose deep because, you know, we can fake a lot of stuff, but you can't fake glory.

498
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:30,120
Right.

499
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:32,920
Like glory is you can't fake intimacy.

500
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,800
No, you can't manipulate it.

501
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:36,320
You can't manufacture it.

502
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:37,320
Yeah.

503
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,160
You can only manifest it when it's there.

504
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,920
And I think we've had so many types of church, you know, we've had ritual church, we've had

505
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,960
relevant church, we've had traditional church, we've had felt need church, we have emotional

506
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:53,640
high church, rules church, but the, all these, all these iterations can easily, easily in

507
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:59,680
many different cases, a row down to horror, horizontal substitutes for simply God coming

508
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:00,680
down.

509
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:06,320
And the answer to the idolatry down at the foot of the mountain in Exodus 32 is God said

510
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,480
to Moses, get down there.

511
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,200
It's almost like Moses, you've been up on the mountain.

512
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:12,200
You have my glory.

513
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:18,400
The only way I'm going to rescue that experimentation with spirituality down there is Moses.

514
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,680
You have to go down there.

515
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,120
And again, Moses, the type of glory, the only way we're going to get, you know, you got

516
00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:24,120
people with the substitutes.

517
00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:25,120
Yeah.

518
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,800
And the church, but you got people, man that are, are, are literally thinking, okay, if

519
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:33,520
I do the chakra, okay, if I burn the sage, okay, if I do this or other people are just

520
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:39,080
doing Christian ritualistic things and they become substitutes in some instances.

521
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,280
And I think this, my point is this.

522
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,560
What do people really want when they come to church?

523
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:44,560
Right.

524
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:49,680
And I think more than anything, they want this transcendent encounter with God that will

525
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:51,640
leave them dumbfounded.

526
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:56,280
They want that, which they can't wrap the rationalistic minds around.

527
00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,320
My thing is that if you can get it from the world, what you're getting from church, then

528
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:01,560
why would you come to church?

529
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:02,560
Right.

530
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,160
You could get what you're getting from church online, sitting back on your couch.

531
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:07,560
Why would you come in proxy?

532
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:12,080
And so I think we got to get back to saying we want the glory of the Lord, we want the

533
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:13,080
presence of God.

534
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:14,080
And you know what?

535
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,320
We got to have the miracles of God.

536
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:20,160
I think the verticality going back to your point on Catherine Coleman is that we need,

537
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,080
you know, the Bible says that the disciples preached the word and it talks about the end

538
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:29,000
of one of the Gospels and the Lord worked with them confirming their word with signs

539
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,000
that follow.

540
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,840
And so I think what happens is that we've seen the works of man, but we need to see

541
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:36,600
the works of God.

542
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,840
And when you begin to see the works of God, that becomes a whole different Christianity.

543
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,360
That becomes a whole different service.

544
00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:44,360
Everything changes.

545
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:49,600
And that's that whole aspect of saying we prioritize the vertical over the horizontal.

546
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,880
You know, as you're sharing that, I'm reminded of Abraham Maslow and, you know, taking some

547
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,000
psychology courses.

548
00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:00,040
I was a communication major in my university and he designed the hierarchy of needs.

549
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,640
The top need on the hierarchy of needs is self actualization.

550
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,400
You know, and that's really what is popular today.

551
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,760
We've got to understand that that term is really referencing kind of how, what does

552
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:12,760
it do for me?

553
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:14,040
How does it benefit me?

554
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,360
How does it serve me?

555
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:16,600
What does it tell me about myself?

556
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,320
And it's very self focused and it's a very self help gospel.

557
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:25,680
And here we are taking, I think a lot of church models are looking to a philosopher that didn't

558
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,560
even believe in God.

559
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:33,440
And we're taking our cues from this model on what people are really looking for that's

560
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,920
very self focused, but we're actually called to be God focused.

561
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,920
And we're actually following the wrong hierarchy.

562
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,840
The hierarchy is the Holy Trinity, the Holy deity.

563
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,960
And that's the hierarchy that we're actually called to be in vertical connection to.

564
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,200
And I think we live in a world that so wants you to focus on you, but we are actually created

565
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:52,200
to focus on Jesus.

566
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:53,200
That's true.

567
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:59,080
The early church fathers said that the ultimate, they would use the term the chief aim of man

568
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,600
is to glorify God.

569
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:05,920
So the early church fathers who literally they're there within the generations of Jesus, they

570
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:06,920
got it right.

571
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,200
They set the standard that they're saying our chief aim is to remain vertical, to remain

572
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,800
vertical in our walk, to remain with a vertical focus.

573
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,800
Because if I maintain that verticality, what happens is that I walk in the awe of God.

574
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,560
Now, if I walk in the awe of God, I walk in his presence.

575
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:28,600
When I walk into a place, Jesus walks in with his awe, his presence upon me.

576
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:32,880
And so listeners, even as you're listening to this particular podcast, we just want to

577
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:38,280
put this out to you that you make a determined decision to be intentional, to have a vertical

578
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:44,480
Christianity and to not give into the seduction of what's popular or what's trending or what

579
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,160
other people may think.

580
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,560
You know, the cool thing about the early disciples in the book of Acts is after they

581
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,600
were rebuked and they were told not to preach in Jesus name.

582
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,840
In other words, have something more palatable.

583
00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,920
They went back to their companions, the other disciples, they had a prayer meeting and they

584
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:05,880
said, Lord, stretch forth your hand to heal while your servants speak your word with all

585
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:06,880
boldness.

586
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,840
So what they were saying is, Lord, we're going to go vertical.

587
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:14,760
First of all, second of all, God, we want to be more bold about truth, about the plumb

588
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,320
line of what it is.

589
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:21,640
And then in addition to that, we want the verticality of the manifestation, the confirming

590
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:22,920
signs and wonders.

591
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:25,840
And folks, we need the Holy Spirit in our lives.

592
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:27,200
We need them in our meetings.

593
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,600
We need them in our workplaces, our schools.

594
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:30,960
We need them in our neighborhoods.

595
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:32,560
We need a move of God.

596
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,800
And I believe that the tipping point for a new level of manifestation and encounter with

597
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,600
you will be you deciding I'm going to stay vertical.

598
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,800
Thanks so much for tuning in to the Keep It 100 podcast.

599
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,040
Make sure to rate, review and refer to your friends and be sure to click that subscribe

600
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,920
button so that you're alerted as soon as new episodes drop.

601
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:52,920
Help us get the word out.

602
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,760
Share this link on your social media platforms and check us out at Sean and Christa Smith Ministries.

603
00:31:57,760 --> 00:31:58,760
dot com.

604
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,760
You can also find us on Facebook at Sean and Christa Smith Ministries.

605
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,000
We would love to hear from you on how this podcast has impacted you.

606
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,800
So be sure to show us some love.

607
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:09,160
Hey, Keep It 100 tribe.

608
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:13,480
You do not want to miss our next episode as we're going to be talking about some things

609
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:18,000
that we believe will help build you up in your walk with God and make you armed in dangers

610
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,000
against the enemy.

611
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,960
And remember, relief may change your circumstance, but a revelation will change you.