Shining God's Light in Dark Times What Every Christian NEEDS to Know with Joakim Lundqvist

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The Bible says that Jesus is the light of the world.

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And my guest today has written a book about that,

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but he also brings not only the light of Jesus,

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but the healing of Jesus,

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most recently to Gateway Church in Dallas,

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which has been in the news.

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The church has actually brought him in

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to help the church move through that.

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And today on The Strang Report, we talk about that,

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but we also talk about his brand new book,

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Shine Your Light.

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I got a lot out of it when I read it this week,

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and I think that you will be too.

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You don't wanna miss my very interesting conversation,

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not just to find out what's in the book,

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but to get some insight that will help you.

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Don't miss my interview with Joakim Lundqvist,

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originally from Sweden, now from Dallas.

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Stay tuned to The Strang Report.

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I'm Stephen Strang.

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["The Strang Report Theme"]

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Welcome back and welcome to you, Joakim Lundqvist.

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Thank you for being on my podcast today.

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We are so glad to launch this book, Shine Your Light,

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Discover Your Unique Call

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to Illuminate the World with God's Love.

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I just finished reading it.

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I was very, very impressed.

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So let's start by you telling me why you wrote this book

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and what you hope people get out of it.

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Well, Mr. Lundqvist, I'm very, very impressed.

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What you hope people get out of it?

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Well, Mr. Strang, thanks first of all for having me on.

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But for so many years of ministering

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and preaching around the world,

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I've seen so many Christians who kind of hesitate

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and doubt their own ability to shine.

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Even though Jesus calls us the light of the world,

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so many times, we as believers think,

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oh, we're not good enough, we're not holy enough,

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we're not perfect enough.

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But I wrote this book simply to remind us all

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that the light that we can shine is not originating

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from our own level of perfection,

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but actually from the fact that Christ is living in us.

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And as we understand that, and as we gain confidence in that,

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we can shine through our personalities, through our gifts,

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through everything that God has created us to be.

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And of course, in your book,

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you talk about how Jesus is the light of the world,

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not like a light, and you go into the whole thing.

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And even though I, unlike you,

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you did not grow up in the church,

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I did grow up in the church.

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And so some of these concepts are familiar to me,

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but I was fascinated, like for example, in Isaiah,

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which I happen to be reading through right now,

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all the things that Isaiah said about light.

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I mean, the Bible is just full of it.

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And I found it very interesting

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how you would take these concepts

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and then you would tell stories.

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So what prompted you to write about light?

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I know that that was part of your salvation, wasn't it?

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It was, it was.

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I grew up in the Lutheran Church of Sweden,

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hence the accent, and my father was a priest.

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So I was raised in a Lutheran church,

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which is a state church.

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And sadly, that church is now degenerated

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into more like a cultural institution rather than a church.

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Many of the priests in Sweden are not even believers of God.

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So it's a completely different ball game

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that compared to what we will say a biblical church.

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But because of that, I was raised inside a church.

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But as I hit the teenage years,

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I just ran away from it all.

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I rebelled against it all.

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This was not relevant to me.

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I never heard the gospel.

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I didn't know why I was there in church in the first place.

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I didn't like the organ, you know, all these things.

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But then when I was 16, a friend actually lied to me

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in Jesus' name, basically,

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and he invited me to a Christian conference

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claiming it was a party.

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He said there would be drugs and booze and girls.

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And I went.

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All of a sudden, I was in this room

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with about 100 young people praising God.

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And I couldn't wrap my mind around all this going on.

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But I stayed long enough for this guy,

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a young speaker, to get up there

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and read from 1 John, chapter 1, saying, God is light,

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and there's no darkness in him.

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And that caught my attention.

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I never heard that.

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And then he went on to talk about how we could know

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that God is a good God,

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that only good gifts and perfect gifts come from above.

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And for the first time, really,

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I was introduced to a God that I can get to know personally,

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a God that had certain characteristics

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and therefore was trustworthy.

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And that was the very first time

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I ever heard that being told to me.

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And I gave my heart to Christ that night.

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I was filled with the Holy Spirit.

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And because that word about God being light

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was actually the first one I heard that made sense

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and that drew me to come to know Jesus,

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that's why the concept of light

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has always been very precious to me.

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Right.

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Well, you've had a very interesting life.

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I wanna get to know you.

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I want my viewers and listeners to get to know you as well.

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And Europe is well known.

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It's basically post-Christian.

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And even as you described it,

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the state churches aren't really biblical churches,

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yet you have raised up a great group of churches.

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I'm not sure if you call it a denomination,

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but you have churches all over the world.

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Now, we've written about you numerous times over the years

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in Charisma Magazine.

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I've known you slightly for a number of years.

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I remember having some very interesting conversations

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at a conference that we both went to.

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And now it's interesting to me

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that you've moved to the United States

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and you're ministering here,

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and now you've written this book.

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So bring us up to speed a little bit about the churches.

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It started from one church in Stockholm,

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if I remember correctly,

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and now is actually around the world.

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Yeah, it's been a beautiful wild ride.

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I mean, Sweden is the second most secularized nation

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in the world, second only to Japan.

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But we always claim what Paul says in Romans 5,

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where sin abounded, grace would abound even more.

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And that's really what we've seen by the grace of God.

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One year after I gave my heart to Christ at 16,

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I had led 45 friends to the Lord.

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But the problem was I had no church

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to take them to, there were no churches around

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in the town where I grew up.

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So I started a church at the age of 17.

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Not recommended, not recommended for any 17

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who might be listening to this.

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But I started a church and by the grace of God,

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it worked out.

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We partnered with that church that arranged that conference

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where I gave my heart to Jesus,

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which was a baby church called Word of Life.

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So we became sister churches.

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Eventually I moved down to Uppsala,

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I became the pastor of Word of Life.

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And yeah, by the grace of God,

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our church now in Sweden has been the launch pad

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of over 950 churches all over the world.

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And basically all of our churches are in nations

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such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, Central Asia,

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the Middle East, India, China, Vietnam.

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Basically wherever there's a problem in the world,

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there will be a Word of Life church.

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Hopefully we didn't cause the problem,

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we're there as part of trying to fix it.

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And again, I'm just trying,

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but wherever there's darkness,

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I do believe that light is most needed

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and also light will be seen the clearest.

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So that's kind of the way it has led us.

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And that ties into your book as well.

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And even the cover, there's all these different

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kind of light bulbs.

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And it was interesting to me how you tied your message

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into different kinds of light.

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Yes.

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And I don't remember all the different kinds,

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but there was one, was it the avocado light or something

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that was really faint?

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And then you have a flashlight

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and could you kind of just talk through that?

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Because I thought that you gave such insight,

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you have such a way.

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And then you told stories about Martin Luther King Jr.

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and just different ones.

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You're a great storyteller.

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Stories is actually a big part of how I wanna communicate.

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Not just because I like stories in general,

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but for me, the stories and the testimonies

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are like the Word becoming flesh.

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Jesus came down to the earth to make the gospel,

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to make God really graspable and touchable.

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And I do believe that stories and testimonies

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about what other Christians have done,

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people of flesh and blood with the same strength

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and weaknesses as you and I,

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those are like what makes the spiritual principles

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graspable and personal and touchable.

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In regards to the light bulbs,

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the whole book actually went back to a message

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that I crafted a few years ago,

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because I was kind of sick and tired

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of hearing all these Christians saying basically

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that my personality excuses me.

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I'm not a preachery kind of guy.

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I'm not a pastoral kind of person.

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I don't know if pastoral is even a word,

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but I'm a Swede, so hopefully I'm excused.

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The concept or the line of thought

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that I need to be of a certain personality,

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and only that personality is the only one

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that's gonna be used by God.

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So what I did was I crafted a message

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where I used 10 different light bulbs on stage.

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So there will be a lamp stands,

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and I'll put a light bulb into it,

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and I'll have these different light bulbs

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kind of representing different personalities.

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I'll say maybe you are an apricot soft light.

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Maybe you are the kind of person that always brings peace

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and a great atmosphere and make people feel at home.

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Maybe you are the kind of person

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that helps turning a church into a family,

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into a house where people can relax

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and open their hearts for the presence of God.

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Or maybe you're an oven light bulb.

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You know, the tiny little light bulb

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that is inside the oven that helps us know

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when the pizza is ready?

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Maybe you're that kind of person.

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You're more like an introvert.

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You hide inside the oven,

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and you don't have to be

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the center of attention all the time.

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You don't want to be the center of attention all the time.

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And maybe just because you're a little bit more isolated

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in your personality,

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a little smaller than the other light bulbs,

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you might think that,

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oh no, I'm the wrong personality.

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God can't use me.

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But the oven light bulb is the only one

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who can take the heat of 500 degrees.

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When the pressure rises, when the temperature climbs,

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the oven light bulb will keep shining and keep serving.

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And if that's you, we need you in the body of Christ.

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Or you might be a party light or a work lamp

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or a flashlight or a dark room lamp.

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So I use all these different light bulbs in the book

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to illustrate the fact that whoever you are,

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whatever personality you have,

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you can shine for Jesus and make a difference in your world.

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That's so important.

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Thank you for sharing that.

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Let me talk to you about what you've been doing lately.

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I've been told at least

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that you've relocated to the United States.

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You're in Dallas.

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You're doing work with Gateway Church,

264
00:11:34,140 --> 00:11:36,660
which is a great church.

265
00:11:36,660 --> 00:11:38,700
I've attended there, I know,

266
00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:40,220
and have known for a number of years,

267
00:11:40,220 --> 00:11:42,060
many of those in leadership.

268
00:11:42,060 --> 00:11:45,500
I've observed its growth from a distance.

269
00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:49,180
And lately it's been in the news in a not so positive way.

270
00:11:49,180 --> 00:11:51,900
So what can you tell us about what drew you there

271
00:11:51,900 --> 00:11:53,340
and what's happening now?

272
00:11:54,900 --> 00:11:56,980
Well, Mr. Strang, I was a guest speaker

273
00:11:56,980 --> 00:11:59,580
at Gateway for many years.

274
00:11:59,580 --> 00:12:02,820
I guess all in all about seven or eight times.

275
00:12:02,820 --> 00:12:07,820
I visited the church and I was actually scheduled to speak

276
00:12:07,940 --> 00:12:11,980
back in June on the Sunday after the tragic news broke

277
00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:15,980
about its founding pastor.

278
00:12:15,980 --> 00:12:17,300
And I thought to myself

279
00:12:17,300 --> 00:12:19,380
that maybe they wouldn't want a guest speaker

280
00:12:19,380 --> 00:12:20,340
on this weekend.

281
00:12:20,340 --> 00:12:22,980
It's gonna be a very, very special weekend.

282
00:12:22,980 --> 00:12:24,580
But then they reached out to me and said,

283
00:12:24,580 --> 00:12:27,020
no, because maybe you're one of the few pastors

284
00:12:27,020 --> 00:12:29,860
who might be able to relate to what is going on here.

285
00:12:29,860 --> 00:12:32,460
Because about 10 years earlier,

286
00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:35,500
my own church had a similar thing happen.

287
00:12:35,500 --> 00:12:37,100
Not the same kind of reasons,

288
00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:40,300
but similar in the sense that our founding pastor

289
00:12:40,300 --> 00:12:44,020
left in a very drastic, unexpected and dramatic way,

290
00:12:44,020 --> 00:12:46,540
which launched our church and our movement

291
00:12:46,540 --> 00:12:48,860
into a temporary crisis.

292
00:12:48,860 --> 00:12:51,780
A lot of confusion, a lot of grief, a lot of,

293
00:12:53,540 --> 00:12:55,260
yeah, a lot of hurt basically.

294
00:12:55,260 --> 00:12:58,020
So they actually asked me to come and speak that weekend.

295
00:12:58,020 --> 00:12:59,540
And by the grace of God,

296
00:12:59,540 --> 00:13:02,340
it really became a moment of healing

297
00:13:02,340 --> 00:13:06,460
and a start of a long process of mending.

298
00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:10,140
And afterward, I just felt that the Lord had me pray

299
00:13:10,140 --> 00:13:13,300
for Gateway every morning and every evening for some reason.

300
00:13:13,300 --> 00:13:15,380
And then about six weeks later,

301
00:13:15,380 --> 00:13:18,060
they reached out asking me if I could become

302
00:13:18,060 --> 00:13:22,540
the interim teaching pastor for this fall, the fall of 24.

303
00:13:22,540 --> 00:13:25,060
And if I would be there and follow them through

304
00:13:25,060 --> 00:13:29,220
this gentle walk of healing and restoration.

305
00:13:29,220 --> 00:13:33,340
And for me, it was a 10 minute decision.

306
00:13:33,340 --> 00:13:35,220
All I needed to do was check with God

307
00:13:35,220 --> 00:13:36,700
and check with my wife.

308
00:13:36,700 --> 00:13:37,980
And they both said yes.

309
00:13:37,980 --> 00:13:41,700
So I'm actually very blessed to be there right now

310
00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:44,820
and see the beautiful work of healing

311
00:13:44,820 --> 00:13:49,700
that the presence of God is doing in Gateway Church.

312
00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:52,900
And I think that whenever something like this happened,

313
00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:56,340
whenever a leader has a moral failure

314
00:13:56,340 --> 00:13:58,820
or falls or is disgraced,

315
00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:03,820
so many times the victim,

316
00:14:03,860 --> 00:14:08,860
the silent victim, the unheard voice is the local church

317
00:14:08,860 --> 00:14:13,580
that wasn't aware of what was going on at all

318
00:14:13,580 --> 00:14:18,580
and cannot be guilty by association, but it's hurting.

319
00:14:19,580 --> 00:14:22,580
And I do believe that if you're gonna cancel

320
00:14:22,580 --> 00:14:26,140
a hurting church because you don't want your image

321
00:14:26,140 --> 00:14:30,620
to be tainted in any way,

322
00:14:30,620 --> 00:14:33,100
if you're more concerned about your own image

323
00:14:33,100 --> 00:14:36,580
than you are about sheep that are actually hurting

324
00:14:36,580 --> 00:14:39,460
because of something that happened to the shepherd,

325
00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:41,140
then maybe you shouldn't be a pastor.

326
00:14:41,140 --> 00:14:42,860
Maybe you should do something else with your life.

327
00:14:42,860 --> 00:14:43,700
I don't know.

328
00:14:43,700 --> 00:14:46,660
But for me, it's an honor and a privilege

329
00:14:46,660 --> 00:14:48,860
to work with this church and again,

330
00:14:48,860 --> 00:14:51,900
see a beautiful work of healing and restoration

331
00:14:51,900 --> 00:14:53,260
that is taking place right now.

332
00:14:53,260 --> 00:14:56,340
Well, I think that's so important as well.

333
00:14:56,340 --> 00:14:59,860
And sadly, scandals are not new.

334
00:14:59,860 --> 00:15:02,340
They go all the way back to the New Testament church.

335
00:15:02,340 --> 00:15:05,820
That's a lot of what Paul, the apostle,

336
00:15:05,820 --> 00:15:08,340
wrote about in his books.

337
00:15:08,340 --> 00:15:10,980
And throughout history, there have been scandals.

338
00:15:12,460 --> 00:15:15,500
Most of them were not publicized

339
00:15:16,460 --> 00:15:19,180
because the media wasn't around in the same way

340
00:15:19,180 --> 00:15:20,620
or they've been forgotten.

341
00:15:20,620 --> 00:15:23,980
You mentioned this thing you walked through.

342
00:15:23,980 --> 00:15:26,500
I lived through something in 1981.

343
00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:27,980
That was a long time ago

344
00:15:29,220 --> 00:15:32,380
that affected me and my family deeply.

345
00:15:32,380 --> 00:15:35,420
We were able to go on and that's what we have to do.

346
00:15:37,140 --> 00:15:40,020
We're not here to talk about Gateway or the scandal,

347
00:15:40,020 --> 00:15:43,300
but what happened happened a long, long time ago.

348
00:15:43,300 --> 00:15:47,700
But yet now with the media and the Me Too movement

349
00:15:47,700 --> 00:15:49,980
and certain laws and all this other kind of,

350
00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:52,260
all this kind of comes into play.

351
00:15:52,260 --> 00:15:55,340
But the fact is that the gospel is still true.

352
00:15:55,340 --> 00:15:57,020
God is still on the throne.

353
00:15:57,020 --> 00:15:58,820
People still need Jesus.

354
00:15:58,820 --> 00:16:01,180
And I think it's so good that there are pastors like you

355
00:16:01,180 --> 00:16:03,940
who can help people understand what's going on

356
00:16:03,940 --> 00:16:07,780
because the Bible, and I'll end with this one comment

357
00:16:07,780 --> 00:16:09,060
because I wanna hear what you have to say,

358
00:16:09,060 --> 00:16:11,460
but the Bible says that Satan comes

359
00:16:11,460 --> 00:16:13,140
to steal, kill, and destroy.

360
00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:15,060
Jesus, of course, comes to give life

361
00:16:15,060 --> 00:16:16,700
and to give it more abundantly.

362
00:16:16,700 --> 00:16:21,540
And the enemy will try to stop the work of Christ

363
00:16:21,540 --> 00:16:24,820
in any way he can, including scandals,

364
00:16:24,820 --> 00:16:28,500
playing up scandals, making people feel discouraged

365
00:16:28,500 --> 00:16:31,100
and giving up on God.

366
00:16:31,100 --> 00:16:35,300
So I guess my point is that a lot of people

367
00:16:35,300 --> 00:16:37,740
have been through something similar,

368
00:16:37,740 --> 00:16:40,940
probably on a much, much smaller scale.

369
00:16:40,940 --> 00:16:44,140
Maybe like me, it was a long time ago

370
00:16:44,140 --> 00:16:45,940
before social media was around.

371
00:16:45,940 --> 00:16:48,860
How do you tell people to cope with this

372
00:16:48,860 --> 00:16:51,380
other than to just forgive and go on?

373
00:16:52,580 --> 00:16:54,940
Actually, I don't think just forgive and go on

374
00:16:54,940 --> 00:16:56,740
is a good advice.

375
00:16:57,620 --> 00:17:02,620
I think that healing of trust takes time

376
00:17:02,620 --> 00:17:04,620
and needs to be allowed to take time.

377
00:17:04,620 --> 00:17:07,500
What we need to keep in mind, just as you were sharing,

378
00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:11,140
is that the name the devil in Greek, Diabolos,

379
00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:13,660
is really a divider.

380
00:17:13,660 --> 00:17:17,900
And whereas the Holy Spirit is a unifier,

381
00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:21,660
he unites us with Christ, he unites us with one another.

382
00:17:21,660 --> 00:17:23,420
So basically, we just need to make sure

383
00:17:23,420 --> 00:17:24,980
that we're on the right team,

384
00:17:24,980 --> 00:17:27,340
that we're on the team of the unifier

385
00:17:27,340 --> 00:17:29,180
and not the team of the divider.

386
00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:35,060
When it comes to healing, my experience is that

387
00:17:35,060 --> 00:17:37,340
so much of it happens in the presence of God

388
00:17:37,340 --> 00:17:40,220
and so much of it happens like step by step.

389
00:17:40,220 --> 00:17:42,580
But constantly, we have to remind ourselves

390
00:17:42,580 --> 00:17:47,580
that men will fail us and we will fail men

391
00:17:48,180 --> 00:17:52,060
because we're still imperfect on this side of eternity.

392
00:17:52,060 --> 00:17:57,060
And however, eventually, God has not fallen off his throne.

393
00:17:58,020 --> 00:18:00,620
Jesus still stands in the center of the church.

394
00:18:00,620 --> 00:18:04,060
The church is still his body, however imperfect.

395
00:18:04,060 --> 00:18:07,660
So my one concern basically is for,

396
00:18:07,660 --> 00:18:10,580
when I meet people who might say something like,

397
00:18:10,580 --> 00:18:12,140
oh, this person let me down.

398
00:18:12,140 --> 00:18:14,420
I have this negative experience in church.

399
00:18:14,420 --> 00:18:16,420
Now I'm never gonna go back to a church.

400
00:18:16,420 --> 00:18:20,340
I'm just gonna read my Bible and pray all by myself.

401
00:18:20,340 --> 00:18:23,740
And I always say, I fully respect the hurt

402
00:18:23,740 --> 00:18:26,020
that brought you to that conclusion,

403
00:18:26,020 --> 00:18:28,100
but it is the wrong conclusion.

404
00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:30,500
We're not called to do life on our own.

405
00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:32,420
We're called to do life together.

406
00:18:32,420 --> 00:18:33,740
And even when people let us down,

407
00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:36,100
we're called to heal together,

408
00:18:36,100 --> 00:18:38,980
to pray for each other together.

409
00:18:38,980 --> 00:18:42,580
We don't heal well on our own, but we heal well together.

410
00:18:42,580 --> 00:18:45,940
And basically that's what I'm seeing at Gateway.

411
00:18:45,940 --> 00:18:49,500
Now we just came out of two beautiful full days

412
00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:53,140
of staff gathering and just seeing the spirit

413
00:18:53,140 --> 00:18:55,900
of the Lord descend and seeing the worship

414
00:18:55,900 --> 00:19:00,100
and seeing also the beauty of the brokenness.

415
00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:01,420
Because sometimes actually God

416
00:19:01,420 --> 00:19:04,020
can take a situation like this.

417
00:19:04,020 --> 00:19:08,100
I'm not justifying whatever event that launched the crisis,

418
00:19:08,100 --> 00:19:09,860
but I'm speaking about the aftermath.

419
00:19:09,860 --> 00:19:13,260
Sometimes God can use that brokenness

420
00:19:13,260 --> 00:19:18,260
and our understanding of how dependent we are on Jesus alone

421
00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:23,500
and have us actually come out of the process more healthy,

422
00:19:24,940 --> 00:19:27,420
more broken, more humble.

423
00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:31,780
And that's actually what we experienced back in our church.

424
00:19:31,780 --> 00:19:34,740
What the devil meant for evil,

425
00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:37,460
God turned around to something good.

426
00:19:37,460 --> 00:19:40,940
And every time people ask us about our crisis 10 years ago,

427
00:19:40,940 --> 00:19:45,060
I would say that I'll never wanna do that again,

428
00:19:45,060 --> 00:19:47,660
but I never wanna be without the beauty

429
00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:51,300
that was born in the middle of the heartbreak.

430
00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:52,940
So well said.

431
00:19:52,940 --> 00:19:55,060
And as we wrap this up,

432
00:19:55,060 --> 00:19:57,620
and I'm gonna want you to pray for my viewers

433
00:19:57,620 --> 00:19:58,940
before we're finished.

434
00:20:00,340 --> 00:20:02,580
And there's so many things we could pray about,

435
00:20:02,580 --> 00:20:04,660
but I think it's important to pray.

436
00:20:04,660 --> 00:20:06,940
This book is coming out.

437
00:20:06,940 --> 00:20:09,740
People can actually order it ahead of time.

438
00:20:09,740 --> 00:20:11,500
I realize most people probably watch this

439
00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:12,580
after the books come out.

440
00:20:12,580 --> 00:20:14,980
It's available wherever Christian's books are sold.

441
00:20:14,980 --> 00:20:18,300
And nowadays you can get everything online.

442
00:20:18,300 --> 00:20:21,340
I really think that this is a very encouraging book.

443
00:20:21,340 --> 00:20:23,420
Like I said, I've read it myself.

444
00:20:24,260 --> 00:20:25,500
I felt I learned a lot.

445
00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:26,780
In fact, I even said to myself,

446
00:20:26,780 --> 00:20:29,340
I need to reread some of these parts

447
00:20:29,340 --> 00:20:31,020
and go a little bit deeper.

448
00:20:31,020 --> 00:20:35,740
So I wanna go ahead and give you the last word

449
00:20:35,740 --> 00:20:37,300
and then ask you to pray.

450
00:20:37,300 --> 00:20:38,140
Sure.

451
00:20:38,140 --> 00:20:40,260
Well, first of all, thank you, Mr. Strang,

452
00:20:40,260 --> 00:20:42,220
for publishing the book.

453
00:20:42,220 --> 00:20:45,300
I pray and I do hope from the bottom of my heart,

454
00:20:45,300 --> 00:20:48,980
and I believe that it will be a blessing to you.

455
00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:49,980
Looking at the world now,

456
00:20:49,980 --> 00:20:51,860
there's so much darkness.

457
00:20:51,860 --> 00:20:55,300
There's so many problems.

458
00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:57,540
There's so many challenges

459
00:20:57,540 --> 00:20:59,380
that might scream out to the church

460
00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:02,660
that you will never ever be able to solve this.

461
00:21:02,660 --> 00:21:05,980
You will never ever see the light break through.

462
00:21:05,980 --> 00:21:08,340
And I do believe that as long as we only count

463
00:21:08,340 --> 00:21:11,620
on a certain little group of pastors

464
00:21:11,620 --> 00:21:14,300
or professional preachers or evangelists,

465
00:21:14,300 --> 00:21:17,420
we will never be able to fulfill the great commission.

466
00:21:17,420 --> 00:21:19,900
But the answer to that problem,

467
00:21:19,900 --> 00:21:21,620
the answer to the question

468
00:21:21,620 --> 00:21:23,980
is to rise up an army of believers,

469
00:21:23,980 --> 00:21:26,180
thousands and millions all over the world

470
00:21:26,180 --> 00:21:29,460
who will realize themselves, I am the light of the world.

471
00:21:29,460 --> 00:21:31,860
God has sent me to my world, to my neighborhood,

472
00:21:31,860 --> 00:21:34,900
to my workplace, to my school, to my university,

473
00:21:34,900 --> 00:21:36,340
to my set of friends,

474
00:21:36,340 --> 00:21:38,460
to actually make a difference for God.

475
00:21:38,460 --> 00:21:41,340
And in this book, I try to explain how you can do that,

476
00:21:41,340 --> 00:21:45,140
how you can not only be a partaker of your own world,

477
00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:47,420
but actually a definer, a changer,

478
00:21:47,420 --> 00:21:49,460
a light in your own world.

479
00:21:49,460 --> 00:21:51,660
So it will be my privilege and my honor

480
00:21:51,660 --> 00:21:53,420
to pray a prayer for you.

481
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:56,260
Lord, I thank you for everyone

482
00:21:56,260 --> 00:22:00,380
and anyone who's watching this broadcast.

483
00:22:00,380 --> 00:22:03,900
Lord, whoever they are, they are here for a purpose.

484
00:22:03,900 --> 00:22:06,660
You did not make any mistake in having them born

485
00:22:06,660 --> 00:22:10,260
in such a time as this, such a dark time as this,

486
00:22:10,260 --> 00:22:12,300
because you already call them the light.

487
00:22:12,300 --> 00:22:15,380
You don't wait for a certain level of perfection

488
00:22:16,340 --> 00:22:19,540
or holiness already now where they are,

489
00:22:19,540 --> 00:22:21,060
they can be a light in the world.

490
00:22:21,060 --> 00:22:22,940
And I pray that they will be.

491
00:22:22,940 --> 00:22:25,540
And just like in the dawn of creation,

492
00:22:25,540 --> 00:22:28,420
in the cold, in all the confusion and darkness,

493
00:22:28,420 --> 00:22:30,860
you said, let there be light.

494
00:22:30,860 --> 00:22:33,460
I pray that will be the life motto

495
00:22:33,460 --> 00:22:35,140
of everyone who is listening,

496
00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:37,500
that they will go into the darkness of this world.

497
00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:40,260
And instead of just complain about it on Facebook,

498
00:22:40,260 --> 00:22:43,100
that they will actually be able to turn on the light.

499
00:22:43,100 --> 00:22:46,620
And as they do, may your glory be seen

500
00:22:46,620 --> 00:22:49,700
and may the name of Jesus be glorified

501
00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:51,660
and may salvation be released.

502
00:22:51,660 --> 00:22:56,180
I pray your blessing upon everyone who have listened to us

503
00:22:56,180 --> 00:22:58,460
and for their entire future, Lord,

504
00:22:58,460 --> 00:23:00,900
let them be the light of the world truly

505
00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:04,340
like you've already called them by your son, Jesus Christ.

506
00:23:04,340 --> 00:23:07,420
I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

507
00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:09,300
Thank you for praying that prayer.

508
00:23:09,300 --> 00:23:12,860
I hope that it really touched your heart in a very deep way.

509
00:23:12,860 --> 00:23:16,060
I also hope that you will order this book.

510
00:23:16,060 --> 00:23:17,700
I think that you will really enjoy it.

511
00:23:17,700 --> 00:23:19,140
It's a good read.

512
00:23:19,140 --> 00:23:21,140
It's good to just read a chapter

513
00:23:21,140 --> 00:23:22,500
with your devotions in the morning.

514
00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:23,860
It's not written as a devotional,

515
00:23:23,860 --> 00:23:25,620
but you can read it that way.

516
00:23:25,620 --> 00:23:29,140
So many good stories, so many insights, so many scriptures,

517
00:23:29,140 --> 00:23:31,300
and he helps us see how each of us

518
00:23:31,300 --> 00:23:33,220
can be a light of the world.

519
00:23:33,220 --> 00:23:35,180
If you enjoy these podcasts,

520
00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:37,260
be sure to subscribe to The Strang Report.

521
00:23:37,260 --> 00:23:39,940
Hit the little bell so you'll be notified

522
00:23:39,940 --> 00:23:43,140
when we're on live every Tuesday and Thursday,

523
00:23:43,140 --> 00:23:45,500
4 p.m. Eastern time.

524
00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:46,860
Thank you for watching.

525
00:23:46,860 --> 00:23:50,260
Thank you for sharing this very important podcast.

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Thank you for helping us get the word out

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about this very important book, Shine Your Light.

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Until next time, I'm Stephen Strang.

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God bless you.