Podcast appearances and mentions of crystal cathedral

Send us a text(REPRISE) Ken welcomes professor, fellow podcaster, and author Dr. Brad Onishi back to the podcast to talk about his new book - Preparing for War - The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next (release date: January 3, 2023). A long-time friend of the podcast, Brad has been busy after a major event in Denver focussed on Christian Nationalism last month with a large audience both live and virtual. It featured major influencers and thinkers including Robert P. Jones,  Sam Perry, Katherine Steward, Larycia Hawkins, and his podcast partner, Dan Miller. In addition to his regular podcast, Straight White American Jesus,. Brad is releasing a series on The New Apostolic Reformation with Professor Matthew Taylor, Ph.D. It's an expose on a growing movement advancing an extreme dominion version of Christianity. Brad introduces his book which traces what we now know as Christian Trumpism from the 1960s to the present in the context of his own personal journey - beginning with his conversion in high school in Orange County (CA); the great mid-west and Southern migration to California, the John Birch Society, The Crystal Cathedral and Robert Schuller, his own Friends Church (predominantly white) and Friendship Baptist Church (predominantly black), to Dr. James Dobson and his secular eugenicist mentor, Dr. Paul Pompenoe. Onishi fills in the background on two Jericho Marches, featuring Eric Metaxas, Michael Flynn and Alex Jones,  which were a prelude to the January 6 Insurrection. Finally, the two discuss the ways in which American Evangelicalism finds its roots in The Lost Case Narrative of the South. SHOW NOTESSupport the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken's Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

The Daily Quiz - General Knowledge Today's Questions: Question 1: What is the term for a two words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings? Question 2: What is the name for the undersurface of a foot? Question 3: Green Room, Crystal Cathedral and Walking The Dog are all terms from what? Question 4: Which word is defined as 'to drink often; to eat and;or drink noisily'? Question 5: What is the most basic juggling pattern? Question 6: Which of these architectural features is an outdoor corridor or gallery with a fully covered roof and an outer wall that is open to the elements? Question 7: Which word is defined as 'a commotion or fuss'? Question 8: Which word is defined as 'the symbol ÷'? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Daily Quiz - General Knowledge Today's Questions: Question 1: Philippe Bourguignon left the chairmanship of Eurodisney to join which group of resorts? Question 2: What does the Latin abbreviation term 'e.g.' mean? Question 3: What toy was released in 1957, creating an instant craze among children? Question 4: What Is Ghee? Question 5: In which country was natural gas first used as a source of energy? Question 6: Green Room, Crystal Cathedral and Walking The Dog are all terms from what? Question 7: What does the military acronym DEFCON stand for? Question 8: Which word is defined as 'in Turkey and some other Oriental countries, a decree or mandate issued by the sovereign'? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Daily Quiz - General Knowledge Today's Questions: Question 1: Which word is defined as 'of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog'? Question 2: Green Room, Crystal Cathedral and Walking The Dog are all terms from what? Question 3: What word is for the harsh call of a crow or raven? Question 4: In the nursery rhyme, what animal belonged to a girl named Mary? Question 5: What toy was released in 1957, creating an instant craze among children? Question 6: Which term refers to words that are spelled the same but have different sounds and neanings? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. John Westerdahl's featured guest is Donna Schuller - Certified Nutritionist, Family Health & Wellness Coach, Television Co-Host and Author of Healthy Family, Healthy Life: What Healthy Families Learn From Healthy Moms. Donna Schuller gives practical and useful information on the importance of living a fulfilling and satisfying life. She gives useful advice as to how you can cultivate healthy habits and traditions within your family that will better insure health, happiness, emotional and spiritual well-being for each member of your family. Donna is the wife of Dr. Robert A. Schuller, a former Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and The Hour of Power television ministry. She is the mother of four children and has three grandchildren.

Dr. John Westerdahl's featured guest is Donna Schuller - Certified Nutritionist, Family Health & Wellness Coach, Television Co-Host and Author of Healthy Family, Healthy Life: What Healthy Families Learn From Healthy Moms. Donna Schuller gives practical and useful information on the importance of living a fulfilling and satisfying life. She gives useful advice as to how you can cultivate healthy habits and traditions within your family that will better insure health, happiness, emotional and spiritual well-being for each member of your family. Donna is the wife of Dr. Robert A. Schuller, a former Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and The Hour of Power television ministry. She is the mother of four children and has three grandchildren.

From the author of peak to peak, a book gives us his prayers and auto to achieve goals, his thoughts and achieving goals Robert Schuler, which scripture to back it up and evidence that God was on his side after he built the crystal cathedral he went onto to build other monuments it would be outstanding to take a look at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove California while you're there visiting Disneyland go see what a man of God can do with faith and belief. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fernando-m-de-oca/support

Possibility, thinkers, Bible introduction and prayers. By Robert Schuler creator of the Crystal Cathedral. One thing about Robert Schuler is that he has evidence that fate works as a young man. He went to a drive-in theater and asked him if he can stand on the roof and preach on Sunday morning to the people who couldn't get out of the cars with a handicap the people that normally wouldn't go to church, and he use the speaker system of the little speakers in the 50s the on the window of the car can you imagine Church driving Theater and went to build monument after monument. He's got proof in the pudding that fate works and having goals and asking God to help you achieve those goals inspired godly goals. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fernando-m-de-oca/support

Send us a textWhat if you could unlock the power of excessive favor and transform your life in unimaginable ways? Join us as we learn the extraordinary blessings that await those who embrace faith, leadership, and God-given dreams. This sermon begins with a heartfelt tribute to Pastor Walter Powers and First Lady Tiffany Bowers, celebrating their impactful leadership at Chosen City Church. Bishop Anthony Jinwright dives into the transformative concept of "excessive favor," drawing from Biblical narratives and historical struggles to emphasize the importance of resilience and gratitude. Discover how voting ties into this divine favor, as Dr. Jinwright highlights biblical passages that encourage hope and bold expectations for the future. Through the stories of Joshua and modern-day miracles, we're encouraged to to reject mediocrity, embrace gratitude, and step into a season of extraordinary blessings. Bishop Jinwright encourages you on a journey of dreaming big, sharing an inspiring visit to the Crystal Cathedral that brings Dr. Robert H. Schuller's powerful mantra to life: "If you can dream it, you can do it."The sermon concludes with a powerful call to action for leadership transformation and unity within the church community. We explore the necessity of submitting to God-given leadership, working collaboratively for the Kingdom of God, and embracing the spiritual growth that comes with humility and faith. Welcome To Chosen City Church! We are excited to you have worship with us today and we pray that this sermon blesses you!Partner With Chosen City Church:https://www.chosencitychurch.com/part...Support Chosen City Church:https://www.chosencitychurch.com/givePodcasts and More:https://linktr.ee/chosencitychurchConnect With Chosen City ChurchWebsite: https://chosencitychurch.com.comInstagram: @ChosenCityChurchYouTube: Chosen City ChurchFacebook: Chosen City ChurchIntro and outro created by Joe Anderson Jr. of Truflava Productions

Tim has been a practicing attorney and CPA for nearly 40 years and is the Founder of The Busch Firm. He is also the Founder and CEO of Pacific Hospitality Group, a premier hotel development and management company with a portfolio of hotels and resorts throughout the United States. Tim and his wife Steph co-founded St. Anne School in California, where Tim served as Chairman and CEO for 17 years; they went on to co-found JSerra Catholic High School. Tim's passion for wine led him to found Trinitas Cellars, LLC, in 2002, located in Napa, California. Tim and Steph are also active supporters of several prominent Catholic organizations and were instrumental in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange purchasing the Crystal Cathedral. This week, I have the privilege of talking with Tim Bush about his early entrepreneurial ventures as a young man to build a successful law and tax advisory firm serving high net worth clients. Tim shares his heart for Catholic education and philanthropy and why he has been a driving force behind the founding of several private Catholic schools and the Napa Institute, which encourages Catholic education and fraternity. We also discuss the importance of charitable giving, the favorable tax laws in the United States for donations, and the joy of being generous.  “We need to stop educating kids the same because they're not the same. They never have been the same, and they need different attention and different motivation.” - Tim Busch “If you do not focus on the spiritual component of your education, you will not be successful.” - Tim Busch  “When you focus on faith, everything else takes care of itself.” -  Tim Busch This Week on The Wow Factor: Tim discusses his early jobs, including paper deliveries, supermarket work, and painting houses, which taught him the value of hard work Why working at a local accounting firm in Michigan proved valuable for his future in the produce and hospitality businesses How Tim transitioned from law to hospitality, focusing on developing office buildings, apartment buildings, shopping centers, and hotels Why it's so important for schools to be in partnership with parents when it comes to education How we can prioritize the spiritual aspect of our children's education, and why it's so important Tim talks about his role in founding two private Roman Catholic schools, St Anne and JSerra, in California Tim explains the origins and purpose of the Napa Institute, which aims to immerse participants in their Catholic faith How you can get involved with the Napa Institute How to instill generosity and stewardship in the next generation The role of example in teaching good habits and the power of stories in conveying lessons Tim Busch's Words of Wisdom: Like all good habits, faith comes from example, not preaching; leaders should remember that.  Connect with Tim Busch:  The Busch Firm  The Napa Institut  Connect with The WOW Factor: The WOW Factor Website Connect with Brad Formsma via email Brad Formsma on LinkedIn Brad Formsma on Instagram Brad Formsma on Facebook Brad Formsma on Twitter

We are ending our historical tour with what may be the most famous episodes of White Horse Inn. Our 1992 conversation with the founding pastor of what was the Crystal Cathedral, Robert Schuller. This conversation is full of astounding and surprising moments. CHECK OUT THIS MONTH'S OFFERS: Bible Studies from Sola Media Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church. For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org.

The Daily Quiz - General Knowledge Today's Questions: Question 1: 'Christmas Crackers' is cockney rhyming slang for which body part? Question 2: Which word is defined as 'a rumbling or gurgling noise in the intestines'? Question 3: Which word is defined as 'to pawn or mortgage something'? Question 4: Which word, borrowed from Spanish, means "insane"? Question 5: Which word is defined as 'the mouthpiece of a recorder or similar wind instrument'? Question 6: What color is carmine? Question 7: What constellation is represented by scales? Question 8: Green Room, Crystal Cathedral and Walking The Dog are all terms from what? Question 9: What is a barrier that blocks flowing water? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1239, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Where'S That Church? 1: Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity. Israel. 2: Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família. Spain. 3: The Crystal Cathedral, now known as Christ Cathedral. the United States. 4: Hagia Sophia. Turkey. 5: St. Stephen's Cathedral, AKA Stephanskirche, consecrated in the capital in 1147. Austria. Round 2. Category: Thank You, The Internet 1: Blind and low-vision people connect with sighted volunteers for visual aid using a free app called Be My these. Eyes. 2: Why yes, we watched this "Knight Rider" sing "Hooked On A Feeling" while he flew with a flock of birds and 2 kids dressed as angels. David Hasselhoff. 3: Shout-out to the man who told a barista at this business his name was Marc with a "C" and posted a pic of his cup... for "Cark". Starbucks. 4: Videos of people taking this "Challenge" in 2014 raised $115 million for the association fighting A.L.S.. the Ice Bucket Challenge. 5: 60,000 free ebooks await your perusal at the project named for this 15th century German. Gutenberg. Round 3. Category: The Apollo Missions 1: Apollo 17's Harrison Schmitt collected moon rocks as the first scientist on the Moon; his Ph.D. is in this science. geology. 2: The rocket with this "planetary" name used 560,000 gallons of propellants in the first 3 minutes of flight. Saturn. 3: Apollo 11 landed in this sea on July 20, 1969. the Sea of Tranquility. 4: During Apollo 14's time on the lunar surface, this commander hit a golf ball over 200 yards. Alan Shepard. 5: Apollo 12's crew collected parts from a lunar probe with this "cartographic" name that had been there for 2 years. Surveyor. Round 4. Category: Films Of The '90s 1: Some referred to this 1994 movie as "Die Hard on a Bus". Speed. 2: In this 1990 film Robin Williams played a doctor who was able to rouse a group of catatonic patients. Awakenings. 3: Writing credits for this film went to Jane Austen and Emma Thompson. Sense and Sensibility. 4: In this blockbuster comedy, Robin Williams takes a job as a nanny to be close to his kids. Mrs. Doubtfire. 5: This quartet's second film is subtitled "The Secret of the Ooze". Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Round 5. Category: Venomous Animals 1: At 18 feet, the king type of this hooded snake is the longest venomous snake. a cobra. 2: All varieties of this 8-armed sea creature produce venom but few cause death in humans. an octopus. 3: This poisonous lizard was named for the Arizona river valley where it was discovered. the Gila monster. 4: Among honeybees, this one has a smooth stinger that can be used again and again. the queen. 5: This arachnid has lobsterlike claws in front and a stinger on the end its tail. a scorpion. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

Danny Fehsenfeld is a multifaceted talent in the entertainment industry, known for his versatile contributions as an actor, singer/songwriter, public speaker, and writer. With a rich career that spans across various mediums, Danny has left his mark on audiences worldwide. He is recognized for his role as "Gil" on "The Young & The Restless" and his compelling presence on YouTube with over 250 million views. As the face of national campaigns for brands like Jeep, Chrysler, and 5 Hour Energy, Danny's influence in advertising is undeniable, with award-winning Super Bowl commercials and notably setting trends with his viral campaign for Nordnet.His voice acting prowess is showcased in the Oscar-winning "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse," and he stars in several major animation features, including "Chickenhare & The Hamster Of Darkness" and "Latte & The Magic Waterstone," both acclaimed on Netflix. Danny is also the voice behind "Bogota" in the globally celebrated series "Money Heist" (La Casa De Papel).On-screen, Danny's notable roles include Nelson Stone in the TV series "Scarlett" and appearances in "The Upshaws" and "The Day You Found Me." His vocal talents extend to the music industry, backing icons like Celine Dion and John Legend, and leading the praise band at the Crystal Cathedral.Growing up on the road with a public speaker father, Danny's early life was filled with travel and homeschooling experiences that shaped his passion for art and communication. Today, he continues to inspire through his performances and as a speaker at various events, embodying the transformative power of creativity and imagination.Show Notes:4:00 – Danny shares his story, his “La La Land” journey, as he falls in love with singing and acting and begins to follow his dream. He talks about the tenacity and faith it takes to follow a dream to Hollywood.12:00 – The entertainment industry is built on selling perception. The entertainment industry is not so much interested in what is best but what is being bought. He shares how to become and remain relevant in the industry.“Art itself is always a reflection of the culture from which it is derived… anytime you try to regulate art, it ceases to exist; art in its purest form is freedom.” 20:00 – Danny shares his first “big break” and how that altered his perception of his finances. He then talks about experiencing an empty feeling after starring in a #1 film as he immediately started to think about what came next. “Who I am as a man always takes precedence over my accolades.” 26:00 –  “How soon can I buy my freedom?” Danny shares what things were most important to him– not being bound to a day job, freedom to travel, etc– and what he did to achieve those goals financially.32:00 – How to be an entrepreneur in the entertainment industry, the mindset and habits needed to have success!“All that fear and anxiety is excitement with a negative outlook.” 48:00 – Danny shares his background and how he began his journey of self-discovery. He talks about how he reprogrammed his mind to restructure his life. He talks about the power that the words you speak and the thoughts you possess have over your reality.1:05:00 – Major career “breakthroughs” followed a changed mindset and lifestyle. He discusses the differences in the genres he has worked within– musicals, animations, comedies, and more– and what he enjoys about each process.1:10:00– Danny discusses the industry logistics of how the studio works when recording animation films and the creative methods that he can implement when acting.“The four deepest fears of humanity are the fear of death, rejection, failure, and public speaking. I think the fear of public speaking is connected to some of those other fears.” 1:15:00 – Danny talks about the different segments of voiceovers and the commercial industry segments. He then talks about the process of casting within commercials.1:24:00 – Danny gives his insight on how the watching habits of America (switching over to streaming services) affect the industry. In the same way, technology and innovation impact everything, it impacts this industry. 1:27:00 – Danny talks about how the writer's strike impacted the entertainment industry. “Every time you have a strike, it's not just the artists that are out of work; you are affecting the economy and the entire state drastically.” 1:33:00 – Danny analyzes where he foresees zones of opportunity in the future of his career. He shares how he can look at his life in a way where he makes the decisions. He is moving towards being in the “driver's seat” with what he delivers.1:42:00 – Danny shares his perspective about what he has seen of other people in the industry who are not willing to go through the dream, struggle, victory process. He shares his experience with and around these “opportunity hoppers” who are just looking for instant home runs.1:48:00 – Danny discusses the process motivating him over the end success. Danny says that the best life is balance, balancing love for the process with achieving your goals.1:54:00 – Danny talks about how he learns best and where he has sought mentorship. Along with this, he talks about his time reflecting and introspecting. Danny says that applying your understanding garners more knowledge and wisdom beneath what you have been taught.“I would primarily like to be remembered as someone who loved well.” 2:00:00 – Danny shares his last bit of advice on how to overcome the limitations that only exist within your mind.Books - “Who Switched Off My Brain: Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions” by Dr. Caroline Leaf, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", "The CashFlow Quadrant"Follow Danny Fehsenfeld on Instagram and Facebook @DannyFehsenfeld and check out www.DannyFehsenfeld.com

Guest Bios Show Transcript Everything rises or falls on leadership. Ever heard that line? Think about what it means when applied to a pastor's role in a church. What about the priesthood of all believers? And where is Jesus in that equation? In this edition of The Roys Report, veteran church planter and pastor, Lance Ford, challenges popular views of leadership, showing how they're the opposite of what Scripture teaches. In the Body of Christ, the pastor is not the head; Jesus is! In 2012, Lance Ford's landmark work UnLeader exposed how unbiblical models of leadership have become an obsession in the church. Now The Atlas Factor, which is about shifting leadership onto the shoulders of Jesus, serves as a sequel to that book. One of the most eye-opening truths of The Atlas Factor is that leadership, when presented as a key to organizational success, is a relatively new concept. The multi-billion-dollar industry built around teaching and training people in leadership—in both the corporate world and the church—has emerged only within the past 40 to 50 years. And this model of leadership didn't come from Scripture; it came from the world. Lance was featured in a recent podcast with his message from the Restore Conference titled, “It's the System, Stupid.” If you caught that message, then you heard a preview of what Lance and Julie delve into in-depth in this podcast. Lance's prophetic message is a clarion call to the church to return to Jesus' way of doing things—or continue to face disastrous consequences. Guests Lance Ford Lance Ford is an author, church planter, coach, and consultant who has designed unique training systems currently being used by networks, seminaries, and leaders throughout the world. He has written several books including The Atlas Factor, UnLeader, The Missional Quest, and The Starfish and the Spirit. Lance holds a master's degree in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. Learn more at LanceFordBooks.com. Show Transcript SPEAKERSLANCE FORD, Julie Roys Julie Roys  00:04Everything rises or falls on leadership. Ever heard that line? Certainly, great leaders can make a big difference in the success of an organization. But think about what that line applied to the church really means. Does everything rise or fall on the pastor? What about the priesthood of all believers? What about the body of Christ, where each member plays a vital role? And most importantly, what about Jesus? Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys, and joining me today is Lance Ford, who spent decades planting and pastoring churches. And recently we published his talk from the RESTORE conference where he argued that so many of the scandals and issues that we see in the church today stem from our toxic model of leadership. Well, today you’re in for a treat, because Lance is joining me to discuss his new book, The Atlas Factor. And this book eviscerates the conventional wisdom that leadership is everything. In fact, one of the most eye-opening things I learned in this book is that leadership is a relatively new concept. Sure, there have always been people who lead and manage organizations. But leadership as this thing that’s crucial to the success of organizations is relatively new. And certainly, the industry that’s been built around teaching and training people in leadership in both the corporate world and the church is super new, like within the past 40 to 50 years. But I think the pressing question, especially in the church concerns whether these notions of leadership we’re training pastors to follow are actually biblical. And if they’re not, what’s the alternative? We’ll dig into those questions in just a minute.   Julie Roys  01:46 But first, I’d like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University and Marquardt of Barrington. If you’re looking for a top ranked Christian University, providing a caring community and an excellent college experience, Judson University is for you. Judson is located on 90 acres, just 40 miles west of Chicago in Elgin, Illinois. The school offers more than 60 majors, great leadership opportunities, and strong financial aid. Plus, you can take classes online as well as in person. Judson University is shaping lives that shaped the world. For more information, just go to JUDSONU.EDU Also, if you’re looking for a quality new or used car, I highly recommend my friends at Marquardt of Barrington. Marquardt is a Buick GMC dealership where you can expect honesty, integrity, and transparency. That’s because the owners there Dan and Kurt Marquardt, are men of integrity, to check them out, just go to BUYACAR123.COM.   Julie Roys  02:49 Well, again, joining me is Lance Ford, a church planter, coach, and consultant who spent decades pastoring and planting churches. And out of that experience and biblical study, he’s designed unique training systems that are being used by seminaries, church networks, and leaders throughout the world. Lance is also the author of several books, including one of my favorites called Unleader. This book exposes the obsession in the church to unbiblical models of leadership. It’s fantastic and eye opening. And Lance’s latest book, The Atlas Factor, is essentially a sequel to Unleader, and it’s quickly become one of my favorites as well. So, Lance, thanks so much for joining me. I’m really, really looking forward to our discussion.   LANCE FORD  03:29 It’s always one of my favorite things to do is visit with you, Julie.   Julie Roys  03:32 I’m glad to hear that. And I should mention that you also are a recent addition to The Roys Report board. So, we’re pretty excited about that. But I know you spoke at RESTORE and I heard from so so many people, but our board as well, just saying, hey, we need to get this guy on our board. So just really, really glad for all the wisdom that you’re going to bring to the board. So, thanks for being willing to do that.   LANCE FORD  03:55 Well, it’s a huge honor to be invited to be a part of y’all. The boardroom didn’t get smarter because I showed up it probably got a little dumber When I joined.   Julie Roys  04:04 I do not believe that. But as I mentioned, you spoke at RESTORE and gave a great talk on toxic leadership and  our obsession with it and probably had the best line of the entire conference I have to say, which became the title of the podcast that we put out with your talk, which is, It’s the System, Stupid! Just briefly for those who didn’t hear your talk, which if you didn’t hear Lance’s talk, it’s the System, Stupid!, I think it was like back in mid-December, we published that. Go back and listen to his talk. It is so so good. But talk about what you meant by that, that it’s the system stupid.   LANCE FORD  04:41 I think probably Julie one day I was probably somewhere along the midst of listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill  podcast, and I was just thinking, they just keep talking about symptoms, symptoms. They never get to the solution, and I just said it out loud. It’s the system stupid. And it reminded me, James Carville’s deal with Clinton. It’s the economy stupid. So that’s kind of where that came from is that all these problems that we have are downstream from a messed-up system. And you can’t just deal with the symptoms and try to throw drugs at the symptoms. You have to bandage the wounds, pouring the oil on the wine, that’s necessary to say the least. Well, let’s do some preventative medicine. Let’s go back to the headwaters of this thing and try to nip some of this stuff in the bud. And it just seems that the answer almost every time, especially internally, from the groups that are in the midst of these falls and these breakdowns in leadership, usually their answer is, well, we just need better accountability. But it’s the same type of what they call accountability. So rare is it that when you hear a group say, well, we need new leadership, they don’t mean they need new leadership systems. They mean, we need a new hero leader.   Julie Roys  06:05 Yeah. Oh, exactly. I mean, I remember when Rick Warren was stepping down. And of course, there’s all sorts of issues with Andy Wood, who was picked as his successor. And we’ve published many articles on how he apparently is a horribly abusive leader. But he’s now in that position. And when I heard the language, though, it was like we need to find a successor for Rick. And I thought, really, who can be the successor to Rick Warren, and who is capable of being in a position over so many churches and having so many people following you? And I sit there and wonder, because there’s this idea that there’s going to be this really good, noble, full of integrity leader that can handle those kinds of pressures. And I sit there, and I look at that, and I’m like, I don’t know that I can handle that. That’s an awful lot to shoulder. And I think that really is at the root of what you’re talking about in this book, The Atlas Factor. The metaphor is great of you know, Atlas with the weight of the world on his shoulders. But essentially, that’s what we’ve set up leaders to be, to be Atlas, to do the impossible, and then we’re surprised when they fail. Here’s a quote that’s very early in your book from the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, they’re irrefutable.   LANCE FORD  07:15 Be careful, Julie.   Julie Roys  07:17 But the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is this quote from LeRoy Eims, “a leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees further than others see, and who sees before others do.” And then there’s the quote that I said at the beginning of the podcast, that “everything rises or falls on leadership.” It’s almost like we have made these men into gods; talk about that whole dynamic and what it’s doing to pastors.   LANCE FORD  07:47 The thing about the typical the prevailing leadership system in the overwhelming majority of churches today, it puts a weight up on the senior, and I might as well just say senior guy, cuz 99% of them are guys. But there are a few women in senior leadership positions, but just the job description, and then even the unwritten expectations that are placed upon them. I know I was a pastor for well over 20 years and was a church planter and a senior pastor for 10 years. So, if you just look at the job description, you’re basically the CEO. In fact, some of them call themselves CEOs, you’re the face of the church, the organization, you’re the top fundraiser, you are the top theologian, you’re supposed to be a marriage expert, a family expert, a child rearer. I mean, just go on and on and by the way, you need to give 45 to 50 fantastic talks a year too. No one’s built for that. And certainly when you go to the New Testament of any description of any type of leadership in the church, you don’t see that. In fact, Paul mentioned several times that he wasn’t even a good speaker. So, it’s a burden. And so that created the metaphor for The Atlas Factor for the book. It’s the weight of the world. It’s like Atlas, and a lot of people look at Atlas and they go, he was this hero. No, that was a punishment, Zeus gave him the punishment of having to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s out of order. It’s a misalignment. So, a lot of these pastors are victims too; Even the ones that don’t abuse, they’re being abused by this system of expectations, this fault system of leadership as it’s been cast upon them. And then of course, the ones as you said, that are narcissistic, have the tendencies, then they take that power, and then they become the abusers. And basically, then they take that weight, and they place it up on the shoulders of their staff or the volunteers and church members, and then they crush others with that weight.   Julie Roys  09:49 I have heard that so much from these churches where there is this big celebrity pastor, and they have to put on the big show and it’s really impossible to do. I mean, I have I always said, When my husband and I used to be youth pastors and we always said, The World entertains better than we do. So, if you want to be entertained, like go see a movie, go to all those things, but in the church, we’re gonna focus on worship and prayer and discipleship and Bible study. That’s what we do. But I think we’ve gotten away from that. And we’ve certainly gotten to this model where man we have to put on the show every week, and it’s crushing. And the staffs are getting crushed too. You quote this in your book that there’s a 2021 Barna study, 38% of pastors say they’ve considered quitting within the past year. And then if you look at pastors who are just 45 or younger, that jumps to 46%. So, I mean, if this plays out, we’re looking at a crisis in the church, we’re not going to have pastors willing to take these jobs.   LANCE FORD  10:45 Yeah well, there’s some stats that came out, I forget if it was Barna or who it was a couple of weeks ago. But it said that right now, currently, between four and 5000 pastors a month, are leaving the ministry. So you’re talking about a huge under the watermark in the boat of the church right now. So not only are people leaving the church, but you’ve got pastors leaving the church. So, it is a crisis, as you said.   Julie Roys  11:09 Although, I have to say at the same time, like I’m in this small house church, and he said recently, if we get a pastor, I’m gone. I’m gone. I mean, I think we’re a unique group, because there’s some pretty highly competent, mature Christians in there. So, you kind of have more leaders than you know what to do with. So, God help the pastor that would come in and try to pastor that. But yeah, I think there is sort of a suspicion about pastors. But really, because I think exactly what you’re talking about in this book is that we have merged this idea of leadership that really is worldly based with, we’ve kind of baptized it in Christian lingo. So that now so many people think that leadership, the way it’s being taught, you know, by people who claim they’re Christian, so that, you know, this must be biblical, is biblical. But leadership, it’s not really talked about very much in Scripture is it?   LANCE FORD  12:03 It’s not that there’s not leaders in Scripture, there’s leaders all throughout Scripture, but the leadership system as we know it today, in fact, leader or leadership is not even mentioned. It’s like, a half a dozen times in the entire New Testament. And it’s not spoken favorably, most of those times. But if you really get down to it, and I do try to make a delineation between attorney leader in leadership, because it’s become such a in our nomenclature today, but it’s a real new term. I’ve said that before some well-known authors that immediately react, and just like push back. Okay, first off, definitely, there’s been leadership forever. And it’s been studied. I mean, the Chinese going back to the 1300s. I mean, you can look at Plato and Machiavelli and others that studied leadership, but not leadership as we know it today. And what got me on this was just doing some research on it. And I just got curious one day and thought, Well, I’m gonna look up the word leadership. And I went to my old 1955 Oxford Dictionary, which is probably the best because it gives the evolution of words. And it wasn’t even defined there. I couldn’t even find the term and a definition, I finally found at one time in about a seven- or eight-word definition for the word leader, but then it didn’t even define leadership. That pushed me back further, you start reverse engineering, you know, how you are doing research, and I found the 1915 Webster dictionary. The word leadership was not even in there. And that really took me down a rabbit hole of finding out after just doing a couple of years of research, in searching even secular scholars that had done research on the word leadership and come to find out you couldn’t even find the word leadership until the mid-19th century. So, you’re not finding publications anywhere that mentioned it until the early 1900s. Even the term. Now the reason I say that, and it should stand out to us as a stark contrast, because leadership is an $87 billion dollar industry today. 87 billion, I mean, that’s more than entertainment, media and everything put together. So, it’s a huge thing that’s evolved over the last 100 years. And it didn’t even really start entering in the church, which is a gigantic thing in the church now, it didn’t even start entering into the church until I would say the 1970s. Because you can’t even find a dozen books with the term leadership in the title, even in the 1960s. So, it’s a really new thing. And now, and I say it as its defined, because you could interchange the word management and you’d be just fine because that’s really what it is. It’s management theory. It goes back to Peter Drucker 1966, his famous book, The Effective Executive. There were some significant church growth leaders took that book, they parlayed it into the Church Growth Movement because some leaders such as Robert Schuller, for instance, with Crystal Cathedral, Robert Schuller doesn’t get enough if you want to call it credit or blame for really being the biggest shaper of what we have today. And my research bears this out. You can track Bill Hybels in Willow Creek, they go right back to Schuler, although they scrubbed a lot of that from their history, because Schuler became so controversial that they just didn’t want to be associated with him. Rick Warren was a disciple of Schuler. Schuler was a disciple of Norman Vincent Peale. That’s where he got all of his positive thinking and everything. But then all of them went to Peter Drucker to get the management systems. And then Bob Buford, who created Leadership Network, which a lot of people, the listeners would say, I’ve never heard of a guy named Bob Buford. Well, he was way behind the scenes. But he was hugely shaping of what we have today with Leadership Network and funded and raised up and platformed and helped develop a lot of those leaders such as Hybels and Warren and others. And then a lot of the newer leaders that lead these prevailing, what I call Neo attractional churches today, their heritage, the family tree goes straight back to Peter Drucker and these management systems. And these management systems just conflict with what Jesus said Matthew 20, of the Gentiles, or the world systems; it’s a metaphor, he where if he was in the Old Testament would have said, The Babylonians or the Egyptians. But when he says the Gentiles practice dominating one another, or lorded over one another, it will not be this way among you. But the first will be last, the greatest will be the servant, which basically was pushing back against power, and against dominating one another in any system in his kingdom. But that’s the very thing that we have today. And it goes right back to management systems that we imported straight into the church.   Julie Roys  17:06 And you alluded to this, that we don’t see lead or leader much in Scripture. You write, and this was in Unleader as well, and this just blew me away, that we see the word disciple 260 times, as opposed to leader. Leader, I think is mentioned like seven times. So, it’s a 37:1 ratio. We used to think of the pastor as the shepherd. Even when I was a kid, that was really the prevailing metaphor was that our pastor was the shepherd, that changed. And I remember even when I was at Willow Creek because my husband and I spent several years there. And I just remember Hybels talking about how they had found shepherds to do the shepherding within the church, because he didn’t do it. It was kind of like, yeah, they have been put in as pastors, but they’re really more Shepherd. So, we’re putting them over here to let them Shepherd. Meanwhile, I’ll do the pastor thing, which is being the great orator and charismatic leader, and all that. And that became our model for pastor and then of course, Bill Hybels brought in so many worldly leadership. In fact, if you go and read about the Global Leadership Summit, like I’ve read some of the articles that were published in secular publications saying, Man, this is like the best business school that’s out there, like, I know, it’s at a church, but this is like, this is a great business school. Everybody in business, whether you’re a Christian or not, whatever you profess, just go to this really good. And we love that as Christians, because we constantly were seeking the world’s affirmation, which is really sad. Like we wanted that credibility in the church. So again, you’re putting language into things I felt for so long, and that the research in your book, you even go back farther, and I found some of this stuff that gave birth to our modern leadership movement was fascinating. And you start with 1840s, 1900, around there with this thing called Great Man theory. Describe what this is, and how it’s impacted our view of leadership today.   LANCE FORD  19:01 Great Man theory was the prevailing ideology of where great leaders came from. That was the term that they used. And so, when you go back and you look at even, I was able to even trace back and find some of the speaking topics for some conventions, conferences that were taking place back in the 1920s and 1930s. And so Great Man theory was basically the idea that leaders are born, they’re not made. And so, you’re gonna think about Teddy Roosevelt, you’re gonna think about Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, people like this, that just have this ability to lead, and you can’t make it. So that that would that would mean there’s a real limitation if you don’t happen to have a great man walk into the room, you know. So, then they started studying the traits of the great man and that about 20 years after Great Man theory was the prevailing theory. Then by the 1930s, 1940s was what was called Trait Theory, and they basically were studying the traits of the great man and saying, Well, maybe it’s possible that we can teach these traits, we can mimic these traits, and we can actually make great leaders. That’s how it started evolving. Then there became for a while it became what was called Group theory, which they said, well, leadership really is an effect upon a group of people. They actually started getting a little closer to what was right about what  I would call leadership, that leadership is a fruit product. It’s not a position, I would say a faithfully following Jesus as a servant. But then they moved away from the group theory, and that really went back into a person at the top. And then Management theory, by the 1950s, to corporate America, and the Industrial Revolution had matured and was getting old by that time. By that time, it really became Management theory. And then we replaced it with the word leadership. And like you said, earlier, Julie, I was just reflecting a while back and thinking, you know, when I was growing up, if you walked into a Denny’s, there were no Starbucks back then. So, if you walk through a breakfast place, and let’s say that there was and we used to have in small towns, they would call it the Ministerial Alliance. And pastors of local churches that actually liked each other, and they get together about once a month. So if you were to see a group of those guys sitting around, have a breakfast together, I say, 1980. I’ll guarantee you; the word leader and leadership would not even been uttered at that table while they’re having breakfast. It wouldn’t even come into their mind. They might have called themselves pastors or shepherds, they probably call themselves ministers. And certainly, the people from the local community sitting around would look over and said, Oh, yeah, that’s the ministers. They wouldn’t say that’s the leaders. That’s the leaders of the faith community. It just wasn’t in their thinking, right? Because the word Minister means servant, but it’s washed out today. And so, I mean, who wants to be a servant? You want to be a leader. This was the problem with the disciples of Jesus, and they watched him be a servant, and he still had to, you know, thump upside of the head, more than one occasion.   Julie Roys  22:20 I want to read a section of your book because I think it really crystallizes the moment that we’re living in right now. You write, “The industrial leadership approach to church leadership caused us to abandon the understanding of the church as a body and turn to a view of the church as a machine. Our language and titles changed as we veered away from the code of the New Testament in Jesus. It became normal to hear terms and titles such as strategic initiative, ROI, return on investment scale, engineering, management, leader, executive, superior, replace biblical language, such as steward, disciple, co-laborers, servant, minister, elder, brothers and sisters, et cetera. Noncompetes, and NDAs, and  HR became leverage points in place of loving your brother, blessing those you believed were your enemy and letting your Yes be Yes and your No be No.” Bingo. Right there. I mean, I talk a lot about the Evangelical industrial complex. And of course, that gets into the money and everything that’s involved. But it’s also once you become a corporation, you’ve got to manage that image. And that is the situation that we’re in. I’m guessing some people who have been really, really schooled in this, because I mean, leadership is everywhere, right? I mean, from the time kids are like teenagers, even maybe younger, in our church, we’re training them to be leaders. But it does beg the question, and I’m sure people are wondering right now is if everything doesn’t rise or fall on leadership, and what does it rise or fall on?   LANCE FORD  23:47 I believe it rises or falls on the headship of Jesus. And I believe that’s where we land on the problem of what’s happened in the church. That’s the other part of the metaphor for this book, The Atlas Factor was. I had written something one day, about three years ago on Facebook or X, it was Twitter then; we had the pretty little blue bird. But I just said something about leadership in the church being misaligned with the headship of Jesus, and the body. Had a buddy that reposted that and then his chiropractor made a comment. And he said, Yeah, that’s like subluxation with the C-1 and the C-2 vertebra in the body. Then he said something that really got my attention. He said, Yeah, when you have a problem with the Atlas vertebra, and the Axis vertebra, it misaligns the body with the head. And I was like, Whoa, that really got my attention because I’ve been playing around with this Atlas metaphor before. And little did I know, and you know, this is as a journalist and a researcher, then it sends me down into this wormhole. I ended up reading three or four books in chiropractic.   Julie Roys  24:57 You sound like my husband. My husband would do that. Give me the Cliff Notes honey.   LANCE FORD  25:02 My wife’s like land it, land it. Yeah, but it was fascinating Julie because he said C-1, the first vertebra is called the Atlas. So, in fact, this particular doctor had written a little book, a real tiny little pamphlet size book called, It Just Makes Sense. Well come to find out there’s a certain amount of chiropractors, it’s a small percentage of chiropractors that just practice, they call it upper cervical care. And so, they only focus on the two top vertebra, because they’re convinced that if you line those up, everything below is going to come in order and align. In fact, they’ve got some pretty large claims of incredible maladies that get healed and come into order when the body, the neurological system starts functioning like it should. In fact, my buddy that had posted this, his chiropractor, so my buddy has a very rare form of cancer. And I forget what it’s called, but it should not kill him. But he’s had it for several years. And so, he’s always having to watch his T counts and everything. And under Dr. Weller’s care, his numbers have totally come in order. And that’s been going on for about four or five years now. So, it’s really amazing. So, one of the quotes that he said, and I did quote it in Atlas, so that Atlas vertebra, that’s where the brain stem sits into. So, he’s talking about the relationship between the head and the body. And he says, there’s that extra something inside each and every one of us that gives life; the inborn, innate intelligence knows what to do and how to do it. The intelligence that came from our Creator travels in and through your nervous system, which is commonly referred to as the neurological system. Neuro logic or intelligence within the nerve, the neurological communication between the brain and the body through the brainstem is imperative for allowing the body the best ability to function at its optimum. We believe that the body does not need any assistance, just no interference in its functioning. When you apply that to what Paul said about the body of Christ, and the relationship to the head, which he really goes in depth in Ephesians 4, he mentioned the other places, but in Ephesians 4, which Ephesians. The whole book of Ephesians is scholars say this is the book for the church. And it’s not a book about leadership. Ephesians 4 is not text about leaders, it’s about the body, it’s a text, read to the body, corporately, it’s talking about the body when he says the apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, and teacher – that’s within the body. These are not professional positions. And I would say, and I know you would agree, Julie, that your house church, you guys already have at least one, you have multiple pastors there already. So, you don’t need some pro that comes in leveraging authority and power. They’re gifted. So, the body of Christ is already gifted in these functions. But the problem is, is when humans try to occupy the place of headship and playing Atlas, then it creates a disjointedness, between the Atlas vertebra and the rest of the body. And so, what happens is, we get paralyzed, we can’t move. We get all these maladies in these atrophy that sets in below the neck because somebody else has stepped in and cause misalignment with our true head Jesus. And so, I really believe that the first job of a church leader, or a pastor that wants to try to change is it’s kind of what Dr. Eddie Weller said is that we need to eliminate interference between Jesus in the body. And usually, it’s our system of leadership that’s causing the interference, and is bringing that paralysis and those maladies that go along the neckline.   Julie Roys  28:54 That’s so interesting. As you’re saying this, I’m beginning to get an image in my head of a body trying to function with just the brain. Right? And the rest of the body being literally paralyzed or just limp and not able to move. And I think about that in the church because we have made these guys at the head who communicate truth to us. I mean, most of the people come into our churches right now, they don’t know how to read the scripture for themselves and listen to the Holy Spirit themselves. They need that pastor to interpret for them what’s going on, which is scary. I remember going to one of these, you know, video, Pastor churches, and I’m like, and it had a celebrity pastor who was in from, you know, states away, who was preaching to them, telling them what to do. And I thought to myself, that guy who was preaching, nothing he said was heretical; however, he was not explicating scripture right. He was making it say things it didn’t say, and it scared me because I thought, that guy anything he says will get swallowed by this mass of people, because they don’t know they are not equipped. They are not connected to the head. They’re connected to the pastor, right? Who really functions in a godlike way with so many of these people? And I think that’s why when you see one of these falls, you see, just huge disillusionment. You know, for a lot of us, it’s been hurtful. It’s been disillusioning. Yes. But not to that foundational level, because my pastor was never my God. He was always just a man. Right? That’s all he was. And so yeah, we’d have lost that idea that really, it’s a functioning body, and all the members have to be functioning for this thing to work. And the guy at the top is not the pastor. It’s Jesus Himself, which is a radical idea, the biblical idea.   LANCE FORD  30:43 You know, the word radical and radish have the same root. Radical literally means root. So, it’s funny how that when you talk about people that are radicals, man, they’re so radical. That’s usually the people that have gone back to the roots of things that we call the radicals. It  was like the hippies back in the 70s, they were reading Mother Earth News, you know, and they’re, you know, got their gardens out the backyard, and they’re doing all this stuff, you know, are they radical? No, they’re doing what people have done for thousands of years. So sometimes that’s the hint that the people that we call the radicals may just be the ones that have tapped back into something that’s at the root of our beginnings as the church. And so that’s one of the things that when you get to this misalignment of the body, the real job description of a pastor or if you believe in those FIFO gifts, the apostle, prophet, Pastor, shepherd, and evangelists and teacher, their job description, Paul says, is to equip or resource and train and supply the saints for the work of ministry. So, it’s not to do everything, it’s not to be the chief speaker to be the end all. Really your job there, when you wake up in the morning, I don’t care what your title is, if you’re on staff at a church, no matter what your rank is, first thing you wake up in the morning and think what I need to do is how can I best resource and equip and serve the people that are around me? So, during your day, you shouldn’t be telling people what to do, you should be asking people, how can I help you? How can I serve you? What do you need youth pastor? How can I help you today to fulfill your calling? But that’s not the way it is. I mean, it’s usually everybody’s here to serve my needs. That’s leadership. That’s the system.   Julie Roys  32:37 I mean, we have a professional pastorate. So, we pay for you to do things for us.   LANCE FORD  32:42 You’re a vendor of religious goods and services, and I’m a consumer. So, give it up.   Julie Roys  32:48 Exactly. And that’s where I don’t put all the blame on the guy at the top. It’s what we’ve allowed as consumers. It’s what we’ve allowed as the body that is not doing what the Bereans did, and going back and saying, is what they’re teaching us right now, is this biblical, or is it not?   LANCE FORD  33:03 One of the things I thought about is you look at iteration or a church says today, most people are biblically illiterate. We don’t expect them to read their Bibles. We don’t. I mean, that’s why we project every scripture on screen. We don’t expect people even to bring a Bible. When you and I were growing up. I mean, people were bringing a Bible to church. I grew up spent a lot of time in the Baptist Church. every other weekend, the whole family would load up and we go spend the weekend with my grandparents about an hour away. They were Nazarene. They were in a little Nazarene church. And so, I literally spent half my time in a Nazarene church. So, I got a lot of Nazarene in me. And that little church of about 60 people and 55 of them were my kinfolks. I mean, you talk about a pastor not having a chance. Stay in line buddy because the Browns and the Fords will kick you to the curb. Anyway, it was a sweet fellowship and all my great aunts and great uncles and everything, They had the little board on the side of the pulpit that told the attendance from the week before, it told the offering. And I’m not making this up, even had a place it said Bibles present, you know, which was always funny to me, because I’ve looked back, and I thought they were trying to make a point. And those folks knew their scriptures. I mean, they knew the Bible, and they may have been misapplying it, but they still knew the Scriptures. And we just don’t have that today. We really have dumbed people down. And that’s part of the entertainment and this all comes from the secret church evolvement but if you go into the prevailing church today, if you go anywhere on a Sunday morning, most of the churches especially of any size you walk in, you don’t even know what denomination you’re in because most of them are singing the same songs. And the style is the same you’re going to go into a dark room. The ceiling is going to be black. The stage is going to be well lit depending on how much money and resource they have. It may even have some smoke machines which I call that the Shekindof. Glory, by the way,   Julie Roys  35:03 When I see the smoke machine, I am so over the top that I just I cannot I just cannot. And by the way, though, when you talked about Nazarene, this is going to warm the heart of Christine Jones, who’s one of our board members because she’s Nazarene. But I did Bible Quizzing. So, when I heard she was a Nazarene I’m like, Oh, dang! Oh, man! You know, and I am was pretty good Bible quizzer.   LANCE FORD  35:27 I bet you were.   Julie Roys  35:29 We went to Nationals a couple times. Our Bible Quizzing, my mom was our coach, but I’m telling you, I learned 100 you know, 150 verses every single year I did Bible Quizzing. I mean, that’s how I learned the scripture. But those Nazarenes they memorized the whole book. They memorized the whole thing.   LANCE FORD  35:45 I had a niece that does the Bible Quizzing in the Nazarene church, and  I don’t ever want to go toe to toe with her.   Julie Roys  35:52 But here’s the thing. Like I know Christine to this day says when they say a passage, she’s going over the passage in her mind, because it’s still there, the memory is still there of that passage. And you can’t distort something that people know. But we’re in a situation where people don’t know it., and so it creates just this fertile ground for everything to be messed up, and it’s gotten really messed up. So, you’re talking about realignment, how do we realign? Like in this situation that we’re in, how can we realign because we’ve got some major, major vertebrae out of whack?   LANCE FORD  36:24 So, you have to start off not with just looking at and saying, Well, yeah, I gotta choose a different way lady. No, you have to repent. This is an issue of repentance. Because we disobey Jesus and the word disobedient in many places. In fact, Paul uses it when he talks about your disobedience coming into a line. It means to, to hearken to not just to hear, but to listen and obey. We’ve disobeyed Jesus disobeyed Jesus, not only with our systems, but just some of those things that you mentioned, when you read the quote from the book earlier, even our what we call ourselves as leaders is disobedient to Jesus. Jesus could not have been more plain, don’t call yourself Father, don’t call yourself Teacher, don’t call yourself leader, because he says it causes you to lift yourself up above your brothers and sisters. Because he’s trying to create a peer type of a culture, a sibling culture. And this is the nomenclature that you see throughout the New Testament, co-laborer, coworker, fellow worker, is mentioned dozens of times those terms. You never see employee and boss. Because what happens is, that’s a power difference, right? It differentiates between the power, every time those words are mentioned, every time those terms and those rank-based titles are mentioned. So, the first thing a leader has to do is say I have to change the culture, I have to repent. And I have to admit this, and then I have to be willing to start changing the culture. So, I think the first thing that a leader has to do is then move into saying, I’m going to ditch the management systems. And I’m going to try to learn what it would look like if people on our team are able self-manage. And as I’m doing that, not only am I changing my titles, which that’s probably the first thing you need to do, because it will just freak everybody out. But what you do is you change your role. And so, you wake up in the morning and saying, I’m no longer going to act like I am chief, and everybody’s here to serve me. But I’m going to do what Jesus said, I’m gonna become a chief servant. I’m gonna out serve everybody here. And I’m gonna go back to the very thing that Paul said in Ephesians 4. I am going to work myself silly in helping the people around me to fulfill their calling. I’m going to do everything I can to resource them, to equip them, and just watch this rising tide lift all the boats around. So that’s the  first moves. And I always say this is when you’re looking at moving from a centralized leadership to a decentralized leadership, you can’t just wipe everything out, because then it’s just chaos and anarchy. So, you have to replace the systems with other processes and agreements. And that’s one of the things I’ve tried to write a lot about, wrote about a lot book called The Starfish in the Spirit. And in this, try to give some processes in some systems and some agreements of how you can rebuild your system into working this way. Because it doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. It’s too enormous of a change to move into it. But it has to be biblical, because that’s where the safety and that’s where the joy is. And this doesn’t mean that everything’s going to be rainbows and unicorns. There’s still stress and hard things and difficulty. I mean, Paul talked about the anxiety he had in the churches, but a lot of that was him trying to straighten stuff like this out.   Julie Roys  39:58 The book that I interviewed Scott McKnight and Laura Behringer on, Pivot, you know, is talking a lot about sort of similar things making this pivot from realizing you have a toxic culture. You guys are talking about it from the same idea, but a little different vantage points. And given, you know, he’s more of a theologian, you’re more of a boots on the ground kind of guy. But I think saying a lot of the same things. And one thing I wonder is that we’re often thinking about it in terms of like you said, we’ve got this church that needs to change. I was very interested in church planting in my 20s. And a lot of people would say that a lot of time, it takes way more energy to change an existing church than it does to grow a new one. And it’s just something I’ve been wondering, you know, out of these ashes, because what’s happening in the evangelical church right now, I mean, it is, it’s imploding, which I know is painful for everybody involved in you know, to see these kinds of implosions. But I’ve really been asking myself, Should we be putting energy into changing the existing church, or should we be saying, we just need to close some churches, we need to scrap this model? Because I mean, even so often, when you get rid of like the toxic guy at the top, it’s a toxic system throughout,  it is so hard. You have so much inertia, that to change that church is so hard. So, I know you don’t get into this really in your book, but it’s something I’ve been wrestling with. And even wondering once you do start that new thing. How can we do it differently because this is what we’ve seen modeled?   Julie Roys  40:02 What you’re touching on there is the whole wineskin issue that Jesus taught. You can’t put new wine in an old wineskin. But can you create a new wineskin for the old wine? Heard a lot of people talk about that. Which yeah, well,  maybe you can, I think is very difficult for the reasons you said. Now, two out of the last three houses that my wife and I have lived in, we built ourselves. And when I say that, I mean, we built it ourselves. I didn’t contract it. Our hands, blood and sweat, and skin. And I just kind of grew up with that, my grandpa was a carpenter. So, I kind of grew up with that.   LANCE FORD  41:31 We built one house. We didn’t do everything ourselves. But yeah, I thought, general contracting, how hard can that be?   LANCE FORD  42:14 Oh yeah, you got that lesson, then, you found out. And you promise, I will never do this again, which I said I would never do it again after the first one.   Julie Roys  42:22 Well, no, actually, I said, I learned so much by making so many stupid mistakes in that first one that I want to do it again, so that I can capitalize on the lessons learned.   LANCE FORD  42:31 Now that’s good. And it is a fun process. And it was very cathartic. This one that we built was a smaller house. And it was very cathartic. But also, we’ve rehabbed houses. And I would say as hard as it is to build from the ground up, it’s easier than rehabbing a house.   Julie Roys  42:47 Cuz you never know what you’re gonna get into.   LANCE FORD  42:49 You don’t know what’s behind that wall, you know, and you think that you know, and you peel it back, and you just discover, oh, it’s deeper, and you’re taking it down to the studs, and you get down the studs and go, Oh, the termites were here before I was here, right? All kinds of stuff. So yeah, those issues come into place. I tell you, one of the things that we’ve seen a lot of success, and I say we because I do work with a few others. I’m a part of a team that we do help churches in consulting and coaching. we talk about terms of a parallel track, just trying smaller little projects, and seeing how they go. In fact, several of the largest churches, and we’ve worked with large churches that realize that they just cannot completely turn that thing around. So, what they do is they start investing in different types of church plants, or micro churches, or whatever. And I think their hearts are good and right in that. And so, I’ve got some friends that do lead large mega churches. And I think that they are, some of them have developed some leadership systems that are closest to what I would hope to see. And I think it’s probably about as close as they can get without just killing the thing.   LANCE FORD  44:06 Our time is getting short. But there’s one term that I thought was so good when you’re talking about developing a culture of equality, and you talked about this term, I’ve never heard this this term before, but equa-potency, thank you. But yeah, explain what you mean by that, because I thought that was actually a pretty key component to what you’re talking about.   LANCE FORD  44:30 What equa-potency basically, is kind of a culture of equals. When you talk about a quality in a leadership system, it freaks a lot of people out because immediately the pushback is somebody has to be in charge. The buck has to stop somewhere. You can’t have equality, everybody’s not equal. You can just look at him. Okay, so let’s start right there. And Paul talks about this in Romans 12. In fact, Romans 12:1-2 you know, we usually start out with be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind right? So that you can prove what is the good, perfect, pleasing will of God. And we usually stop there. And so, people usually read that verse and say, Oh, that’s the verse about not being worldly, you know, don’t drink, don’t chew, don’t run around with girls that do, right? And always blame a woman, right? That was the little saying growing up. But don’t stop there, keep reading the rest of the of the text, because then he’s really going into how gifts that the Lord pours out should be functioning. And so, one of the things that he says he talks about the different gifts, in fact, he talks about people that do have a gift of administration, or what we would call leadership. And he talks about, then he says, but do it with sobriety, be sober, and then he starts talking about don’t look on your own things and be selfish. And he starts going into this whole thing about different people have different measures for their giftings. So, in any room, if you have a sizable room, and you think about just outstanding, let’s say the great men or the great women that are great into gifting or whatever. And you and I, Julie may have a similar gifting. But we can just look like I’ve got a couple of friends that are mentors of mine. And I’m thinking about one in particular. He’s been an incredible mentor in my life. And he and I have similar gifts. Mine, I can’t even touch his abilities in some of this stuff. He is just far out. Well, Paul will call that he has a greater measure of faith. It’s not faith like we think about it all. Oh yeah, he’s confident and all that. No, it’s really the term there, really iterates it’s the ability to use that gift. And some people just have that, have a greater measure. And so, Paul warns them to treat the others as equals. And so, this particular mentor in my life, he’s always treated me that way. And in the first few years, we started working together, man, I mean, there was no way I could touch what he did. But he always encouraged me genuinely, not patronizing me. But really, he just thought you never know when what the Lord wants to say or do is going to come through Lance or Jill or Rob or Steve in the room, just because I’ve got the big platform, I’m speaking as him, I can use any of them. So that’s equa-potency. So, it’s potent. So, when you get a group of people together, and you have an equal atmosphere, not meaning that everybody has the same has equal gifts, but they have equal opportunity. And so that’s really what we’re saying. It’s a culture that everybody is treated as equals to have equal opportunity, even if they don’t have the equal faith in the giftings that they have. Does that make sense?   Julie Roys  47:55 Absolutely it does. And as you’re talking about this, we do think of the people that that are incredibly gifted. And we have examples of that in scripture. But we also have probably the greatest leader, or one of the ones that we look to in the Old Testament was Moses, who couldn’t speak, had all sorts of failings. And yet God used him in amazing ways. Because he had that spiritual connection to God. He knew God, and he had a heart after God. And we have majored on the minors, right? We’ve made the gifting so important instead of the heart for God. And there’s so much in your book, we could discuss, and I would love to discuss, you get into how spiritual warfare, how that plays out in this practical steps. And so, I really encourage people, this is going to be our book for this month, for anybody who gives a donation of $30 or more, we’ll get you a copy of The Atlas Factor, just a phenomenal phenomenal book. So, if you want to do that, support our work here at The Roys report, but also get this incredible resource, just go to JULIEROYS.COM/DONATE. And we can get this book in your hands. And I want to get this book as many hands as I can. Because I think it’s a paradigm shift is what you’re talking about. And you’ve been talking about it now for 11 years since you wrote your first one, Unleader. And I think there’s a lot of resistance. But the more and more we see the crash and burns, the more and more we’re going to have to say we’ve got to do it a different way. And so, I feel like you’re very much a prophetic voice when it comes to this issue. Just so grateful for it. So, Lance, thank you. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you for speaking at RESTORE. Thank you for being on our board. Thanks for writing this book, The Atlas Factor. Really awesome.   Julie Roys  48:13 Always a joy, Julie, thank you.   Julie Roys  49:41 Well, again, that was Lance Ford, an experienced church planter, pastor, consultant, and author of The Atlas Factor, Shifting Leadership Onto the Shoulders of Jesus. And as we mentioned, this book releases this month, and we’re actually giving away copies of The Atlas Factor to anyone who gives a gift of $30 or more  to The Roys Report this month. Again, we don’t have any big donors or advertisers almost all the funding for The Roys Report comes from you, the people who care about exposing abuse and corruption in the church and caring for abuse victims. So, if you can please go to JJULIEROYS.COM/DONATE  and give what you’re able to this ministry. And when you give, we’ll gladly send you a copy of The Atlas Factor. Also, just a quick reminder to subscribe to The Roys Report on Apple podcast, Google podcasts or Spotify. That way you won’t miss any of these episodes. And while you’re at it, I’d really appreciate it if you’d help us spread the word about the podcast by leaving a review. And then please share the podcast on social media so more people can hear about this great content. Again, thanks so much for joining me. Hope you are blessed and encouraged.   Read more

Host Rick Howick interviews guests on a variety of topics. On today's show, Rick welcomes Daniella Aquino to the studio. Daniella serves as Assistant Archivist for the Diocese of Orange, alongside Fr. Chris Heath. Among the many fascinating parts of her job, Rick and Daniella talk about a museum quality exhibit that was recently featured on the Christ Cathedral campus to honor the legacy of the late Dr. Fred Swann. Fred was a fixture for many years on the “Hour of Power” television program which was filmed inside the sanctuary of the building formerly known as the Crystal Cathedral. We cover a lot of ground on today's podcast, so listen and share!

Our very popular "Glory of Christmas" broadcast features talent from all over Southern California.The Glory of Christmas by the Crystal Cathedral in Anaheim, CA.Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber.@khedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries#KeepClassicalMusicAlive#LaMusicaFestival#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice#CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#UberPlease consider supporting our show, thank you!http://www.classicalsavings.com/donate.htmlstaff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.comCOMMENTS

Join Pastor Robert Schuller in this classic recorded in the Crystal Cathedral.  The Scripture is Matthew 9

In Part 1 of this episode with Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman, Author, Pastor and daughter of the late Robert H. Schuller - the founder of Crystal Cathedral Ministries' The Hour of Power, Dr. Coleman discusses the history of the iconic Crystal Cathedral and how stepping into her father's footsteps led her to write her book, "Heart of A Warrior: Delivering the Children of the World for Christ."Interview LinksR.E.S.T.™ EventsHow We Love Online Quiz Soul Hunger Quiz The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk How We Love by Milan & Kay YerkovichWhere to Find VirginiaWebsite Instagram Facebook LinkedIn DonateWhere to Find Dr. ColemanChurchWebsiteBook

The Daily Quiz - Sports and Leisure Today's Questions: Question 1: In Which Year Did Daley Thompson Win BBC Sports Personality Of The Year? Question 2: What is Tiger Woods real first name? Question 3: In Which Scandanavian Country Is Gambling Illegal Question 4: Which female tearful athlete was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1987? Question 5: Name 1 Country Where Badminton Is The National Sport Question 6: Peter Simple, Jack Horner & Ben Nevis have all won which famous sporting event? Question 7: Green Room, Crystal Cathedral & Walking The Dog are all terms from which sport? Question 8: Which Country Is Set To Host The 2010 World Cup Finals This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Fiedor became a Christian in 1977, on a forty-four year-journey from near death to such a miraculous life. He wrote this book, Angels from Heaven, to encourage anyone that may be disabled or someone that just might want to give up on life to give their life over to God and just have faith and let him lead you to your own dreams and destination. In 1982 Jesse was the guest speaker at the Crystal Cathedral at the Sunday service where he gave his testimony of the miraculous growth and change that had taken place in his life when he turned his life over to God and became a Christian. https://angelsfromheaven.site/Dr. Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and author of Nature's Best Hope: How You Can Save the World in Your Own Yard. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. Dr. Doug Tallamy is also co-founder with Michelle Alfandari of Homegrown National Park. https://www.homegrownnationalpark.org/Maia Toll is a bestselling and award-winning author. In her new memoir, Letting Magic In, Maia shares the story of her journey to becoming what Forbes called “a real-life Professor Sprout from Harry Potter” and founder of the Herbiary stores. Toll apprenticed with a traditional healer in Ireland, spending extensive time studying the growing cycles of plants, the alchemy of medicine making, and the psycho-spiritual aspects of healing. https://maiatoll.com/This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3240061/advertisement

Ken welcomes professor, fellow podcaster, and author Dr. Brad Onishi back to the podcast to talk about his new book - Preparing for War - The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next (release date: January 3, 2023). A long-time friend of the podcast, Brad has been busy after a major event in Denver focussed on Christian Nationalism last month with a large audience both live and virtual. It featured major influencers and thinkers including Robert P. Jones,  Sam Perry, Katherine Steward, Larycia Hawkins, and his podcast partner, Dan Miller. In addition to his regular podcast, Straight White American Jesus,. Brad is releasing a series on The New Apostolic Reformation with Professor Matthew Taylor, Ph.D. It's an expose on a growing movement advancing an extreme dominion version of Christianity. Brad introduces his book which traces what we now know as Christian Trumpism from the 1960s to the present in the context of his own personal journey - beginning with his conversion in high school in Orange County (CA); the great mid-west and Southern migration to California, the John Birch Society, The Crystal Cathedral and Robert Schuller, his own Friends Church (predominantly white) and Friendship Baptist Church (predominantly black), to Dr. James Dobson and his secular eugenicist mentor, Dr. Paul Pompenoe. Onishi fills in the background on two Jericho Marches, featuring Eric Metaxas, Michael Flynn and Alex Jones,  which were a prelude to the January 6 Insurrection. Finally, the two discuss the ways in which American Evangelicalism finds its roots in The Lost Case Narrative of the South. SHOW NOTESOriginally aired December 2022Purchase Brad's new Book: Preparing for War - The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism--and What Comes Next   Become a patron: www.patreon.com/beachedwhitemaleSupport the show

Welcome back to Radical Radio with Robby Dawkins. Hear the testimony of Lonnie's life that impacted so many of us. Part two of our conversation with Stan, Lonnie Frisbee's older brother. We cover Calvary Chapel and the origins of the Vineyard Movement and the division that caused it all. Stan will also set the record straight about Lonnie's sexuality, his last days and funeral. May we all become more desperate to be used by God all for His Glory. Stay Radical! ❤️‍

Ken welcomes professor, fellow podcaster, and author Dr. Brad Onishi back to the podcast to talk about his new book - Preparing for War - The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next (release date: January 3, 2023). A long-time friend of the podcast, Brad has been busy after a major event in Denver focussed on Christian Nationalism last month with a large audience both live and virtual. It featured major influencers and thinkers including Robert P. Jones,  Sam Perry, Katherine Steward, Larycia Hawkins, and his podcast partner, Dan Miller. In addition to his regular podcast, Straight White American Jesus,. Brad is releasing a series on The New Apostolic Reformation with Professor Matthew Taylor, Ph.D. It's an expose on a growing movement advancing an extreme dominion version of Christianity. Brad introduces his book which traces what we now know as Christian Trumpism from the 1960s to the present in the context of his own personal journey - beginning with his conversion in high school in Orange County (CA); the great mid-west and Southern migration to California, the John Birch Society, The Crystal Cathedral and Robert Schuller, his own Friends Church (predominantly white) and Friendship Baptist Church (predominantly black), to Dr. James Dobson and his secular eugenicist mentor, Dr. Paul Pompenoe. Onishi fills in the background on two Jericho Marches, featuring Eric Metaxas, Michael Flynn and Alex Jones,  which were a prelude to the January 6 Insurrection. Finally, the two discuss the ways in which American Evangelicalism finds its roots in The Lost Case Narrative of the South. SHOW NOTESPre-Order Brad's new Book: Preparing for War - The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism--and What Comes    Become a patron: www.patreon.com/beachedwhitemaleSupport the show

Betsy Wurzel's guest is Jesse Fiedor a Writer and Author of”ANGELS FROM HEAVEN ‘, My Miraculous Cure from Epilepsy. Jesse Fiedor is a motivational speaker, public speaker, and guest speaker on podcasts and at the World Famous Crystal Cathedral where Jesse found peace and his faith in God.Jesse likes to share his story to help others know that they can overcome obstacles even with a disability just like Jesse did!Jesse discusses why he wrote this inspiring book, how he started to have grand mal seizures at age 10 as a result of a head injury, his challenges of being institutionalized due to his epilepsy, stigmatized, and didn't attend school due to epilepsy.Jesse discusses his loneliness, suicide attempts, and how he went from being on disability to finding faith which changed his life! Jesse's mom took him to Crystal Cathedral where he met people who loved and accepted him and helped with working with the Crystal Cathedral.There is so much more in this powerful inspiring interview! Jesse has met angels along the way who have helped him and Jesse has been seizure free for 44 years!

Toạ lạc ngay trung tâm quận Cam, khu Little Saigon, nơi có nhiều cư dân gốc Việt sinh sống, là một nhà thờ thuỷ tinh nguy nga tráng lệ, rất quen thuộc với cư dân địa phương và nổi tiếng khắp thế giới.

Aloe and Haley talk with comedian Carson Tuttle about how he started comedy, and how his growing up in the church as a preacher's son affects his standup. Plus comedy shop talk, beverages, and Carson's Red Room showcase. Its a fun and insightful conversation. Enjoy It!

"May the Lord bless you and keep you - " Mom and I felt better, listening to this. Robert H. Schuller brought trinkets of crystal, to our home, in trade for mom's meager money, and faith. Deep dive into Schuller, positive thinking, his industry and later bankruptcy, selling the Crystal Cathedral to the Catholics.... His homophobia, hope, and how televangelism, and faith in God ~ roosted long, in our post Valencia ~ house. ______________________ NOTES: rec 5/28/22, Ep. 69 - Robert H. Schuller - A&E, Biography, 1998. [could not find original publication source, this link shows the content, from a fan youtube channel] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4nYEf8F-9g _________ Robert H. Schuller - Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schuller _________ "End of an era for Crystal Cathedral" - CBS - 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ4mDo2w0Xk _________ Bible, book of Numbers 6:24-26 - "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." __________ National Sexual Assault Hotline Hours: Available 24 hours 1-800-656-4673 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Hours: Available 24 hours. 800-273-82551 _____________ POD DESCRIPTION: This is The House on Valencia Street. This is a place where ghosts & psychics, with PTSD, exist, & I'm talking about it. Share time with a rare survivor, walking back to haunted rooms and space being claimed from long ago. This is from the survivor's perspective, communicated as I see fit, in a way that feels right, for me. I do not offer advice here, I share what worked for me. I am not a professional therapist, this is just one case study, one perspective. Please seek professional help, if mental health issues need attention. This podcast is intended for entertainment purposes only, and I am a commentator. Use your discernment. Language is explicit. Names may or may not be changed, to protect some. Content Warning: ghosts, psychic ability, rape, incest, foster care, murder, emancipation, BDSM, therapy, lightning strikes, personal responsibility, Buddhism, LGBTQIA+, recovery, codependency, comedy, domestic violence - and inappropriate humor, most likely. Picture inset: This is me, so many years ago, standing in front of my mother's Impala, and the House on Valencia Street. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mohmah/support

On today’s best of episode, our Featured Guest is Dr. Robert A. Schuller,_ Former Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and Host of the Hour of Power television ministry, author of Possibility Living: Add Years To Your Life And Life To Your Years With God’s Health Plan and When You Are Down To Nothing, God […]

This week on the Faith on the Journey Show, we welcome a dear friend, Michelle McKinney Hammond. Michelle is the best-selling author of over 40 books, selling over 2 million copies worldwide. Michelle is a popular international speaker, relationship expert, and lifestyle coach. She has spoken on major platforms ranging from the Potters House to the Crystal Cathedral and Walmart Corporation. U.S. and global media outlets seek Michelle for her down-to-earth advice and perspective on women, relationships and spiritual growth. She has appeared as a guest on countless talk shows, and is a featured spokes-person on the Roma Downey/Mark Burnett LightWorkers.com and Light TV network. She is the visionary and pastor of Relevance, a unique music ministry based in West Africa, her home since 2011. She continues to travel, speak, and perform internationally, living out her commitment to impact and transform the lives of every person she encounters. The content shared during the Faith on the Journey broadcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any mental health condition. Due to the content of this broadcast, some of the content can be triggering. If triggered, please seek professional support. Viewer discretion is advised. Subscribe/Rate Never miss an episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find our community by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect with Faith on the Journey Subscribe to our email list at faithonthejourney.org Instagram: @faithonthejourneycounseling Facebook: @faithonthejourney Youtube: Faith on the Journey. Click https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLbmB8oL-hfU6bVW9kEIcFQ to subscribe. Connect with Michelle McKinney Hammond Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichelleMcKinneyHammond Twitter: https://twitter.com/mckinneyhammond Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckinneyhammond/ Website: https://www.michellehammond.com Faith on the Journey is a Christian company that specializes in bible-based trauma healing resources. We offer Christian counseling and healing groups. Learn more by visiting faithonthejourney.org. The music for this show is provided by Bensound.com. Host: Jocelyn J. Jones Produced by: Hannah Lynn Miller Guest: Michelle McKinney Hammond Editor: Taylor Schroll (TaylorSchroll.com/editing) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jocelyn-jones8/support

In de beginperiode van Hour of Power Nederland vertelt Christine Vos haar bijzondere verhaal in één van de Nederlandse uitzendingen en zelfs in de Crystal Cathedral. Ze vertelt hoe de stem van dr. Robert Schuller haar leven redde en de liefde van God haar leven compleet heeft veranderd.

Get notes on this podcast here:  https://churchleaders.com/podcast/411523-gerardo-marti-robert-schuller-crystal-cathedral.html Dr. Gerardo Martí joins the Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast to discuss Robert H. Schuller's remarkable success with the Crystal Cathedral—and why Schuller's influential ministry collapsed so suddenly.   ► Listen on Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-churchleaders-podcast/id988990685   ChurchLeaders brings you the latest headlines and expert tips on faith, ministry and leading the church. Subscribe to our channel for exclusive content. Visit ChurchLeaders Website: https://churchleaders.com Find ChurchLeaders on Facebook: https://facebook.com/churchleaders Follow ChurchLeaders on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChurchLead Follow ChurchLeaders on Instagram: https://instagram.com/churchlead/ Follow ChurchLeaders on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/churchleaders/

On today’s best of episode, our Featured Guest is Dr. Robert A. Schuller, Former Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and Host of the Hour of Power television ministry, author of Possibility Living: Add Years To Your Life And Life To Your Years With God’s Health Plan and When You Are Down To Nothing, God […]

Today we discover another 20 or so places from the iconic list about America's favorite architecture conducted by the Harris interactive back in the early 2000s. In today's episode discover places from New Hampshire to California. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/TravelingTwogether/support

This episode is beginning of a series where Nate and Daniel are reflecting on the recent popular podcast called "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" by Christianity Today. The podcast follows the story of a pastor named Mark Driscoll and is a cautionary tale about church growth and how celebrity effects people and especially people in power. In order for this episode to be more meaningful, we recommend first listening to "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" episode 2. Nate and Daniel reflect on questions like:-What is the history that fed into and led to Mars Hill and what other pastors influenced the culture at that time?  Robert Schuler had a  walk up/drive in church and later the Crystal Cathedral. He started the hour of power tv show  and preached “The power of positive thinking”. He was a friend of celebrities and powerful people. Mark Driscoll spoke at Schuler's church and joked about yelling and screaming for an hour and a half when he preached. The Vineyard movement took a page from the McDonald's playbook and ran with franchising the church model. All nondenominational and no systematic accountability. Willow Creek and Bill Hybels started in a movie theater preached the message of “we are better here and God is doing a special thing here that isn't going on in other churches”.-Mark Driscoll thought pastors were too feminine and too friendly. In the beginning he didn't like seeker friendly or seeker sensitive churches and said he wanted to be seeker insensitive. He didn't want to be a “have it your way” church. “We are hitting 1,000 members now and I'm wondering where my sin has come? It's my goal not to grow. Church growth is the turning of God into a product to be marketed to a customer.” -Mark Driscoll-Why do mega churches exist where they exist and when they exist? One commonality you find across theology and time is the SUBURBS. Moving into neighborhoods of people that make the same amount of money as you and it looks a lot like you and I have a lot in common with you. TV and radio and air-conditioning, all these technological advances allowed mega churches to become what they are today. Mega church pastors are good at playing to the predictable preferences of people in the demographic field of their suburban neighborhood and they leveraged those demographics please people. Rick Warren started before he planted his church studying demographics around California and narrowed down his plant site to four cities, then down to one city, and finally down to the fastest growing county in the city because he knew that's where the most growth of the suburbs would be and that's where the most people would need community and connection and he played off of that....And much, much more.Credit to "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" by Christianity Today for the content of this episode's discussion. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jubileefreedomshalom)

I'm Warren Smith and I'd like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Here at MinistryWatch we bring you news about Christian ministries, as well as the latest in charity and philanthropy, news that we examine from a Christian worldview perspective.  Our goal is to help us become better stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. These mid-week “Extra” episodes are a chance for us to go deep with a particular topic, and today we have on the program Dr. Gerardo Marti, and we're going to discuss his book “The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry.” This book caught my attention because it fills in an important chapter in the story of the evangelical movement.  Many people, including me, have traced the rise of the evangelical megachurch to the Jesus movement of the 1970s, the rise of cable television, or the Willow Creek seeker model of the 1980s.  And those influences were indeed powerful. But Gerardo Marti and his co-author Mark Mulder says that what Robert Schuller was doing as early as the late 1950s and early 60s, with drive-in churches and a sophisticated use of media and events, pre-date and provide a road map for many who followed, and that the rise and fall of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral provides lessons we should learn today. Gerardo Marti, my guest today, is the L. Richardson King Professor of Sociology at Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina.  He has written a number of books about religion and culture, and he served for many years as editor in chief of the peer-reviewed journal “Sociology of Religion:  A Quarterly Review.” The producers for today's program are Rich Roszel and Steve Gandy. We get database and other technical support from Cathy Goddard, Stephen DuBarry, and Casey Sudduth. I'm Warren Smith, and – until next time – May God bless you.

I'm Warren Smith and I'd like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Here at MinistryWatch we bring you news about Christian ministries, as well as the latest in charity and philanthropy, news that we examine from a Christian worldview perspective.  Our goal is to help us become better stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. These mid-week “Extra” episodes are a chance for us to go deep with a particular topic, and today we have on the program Dr. Gerardo Marti, and we're going to discuss his book “The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry.” This book caught my attention because it fills in an important chapter in the story of the evangelical movement.  Many people, including me, have traced the rise of the evangelical megachurch to the Jesus movement of the 1970s, the rise of cable television, or the Willow Creek seeker model of the 1980s.  And those influences were indeed powerful. But Gerardo Marti and his co-author Mark Mulder says that what Robert Schuller was doing as early as the late 1950s and early 60s, with drive-in churches and a sophisticated use of media and events, pre-date and provide a road map for many who followed, and that the rise and fall of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral provides lessons we should learn today. Gerardo Marti, my guest today, is the L. Richardson King Professor of Sociology at Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina.  He has written a number of books about religion and culture, and he served for many years as editor in chief of the peer-reviewed journal “Sociology of Religion:  A Quarterly Review.” The producers for today's program are Rich Roszel and Steve Gandy. We get database and other technical support from Cathy Goddard, Stephen DuBarry, and Casey Sudduth. I'm Warren Smith, and – until next time – May God bless you.

A look at Rob Artigo's new book that tells the story of Christ Cathedral. From its literal foundation to its art and architecture, this structure is an engineering marvel, alive with examples of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Most 8-year-olds don't dream of working in The White House, but that's exactly what Linda Van Kessler was determined to do. At age 19 she achieved that dream by becoming a Staff Assistant to President Ford at The White House and following his term in office, Linda moved to Palm Springs, CA with him and became the Director of Scheduling and Press for President and Mrs. Ford. She went on to become Director of Scheduling and Press for Dr. Robert Schuller at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA followed by 28 years with Dr. Billy Graham working in crusades around the world. Linda then opened her own public relations, booking and management company in Beverly Hills, CA representing some of the world's greatest talent and authors. Today Linda is the CEO of Passion 4 Life Liquid Vitamins and Minerals (passion4lifevitamins.com) as well as the Executive Director of Passion 4 K.I.D.S. (Kids In Desperate Situations) non-profit charity (passion4kids.org), both of which she has started with her husband. Linda Van Kessler spends many hours working with children. This is the cause closest to her heart. Having a profound love for children, she opens her heart and arms to countless children who need love, attention, a listening ear and someone just to talk to. Always quick to give a hug or encouraging word, Linda's own son calls her “the Pied Piper” as wherever she goes, even on vacations in other countries, it isn't long before she has a group of children following her around. She can often be seen holding 2 or more children per hand as they clamor to be included in the “love”.  Linda and Charles are very hands on with the children they support. In an effort to bring fun and joy to their young, troubled lives, Linda and Charles take them on weekend outings bowling, to the park, to sporting events, restaurants, etc. They personally try to teach the children manners, ethics, morals and help them navigate the difficulties of life. Because many of the children come from devastating, unstable home situations, the Van Kesslers develop long-term relationships with the children and reinforce to them that they will be a constant presence in their lives for many years to come which allows them to build a level of trust that the children can depend on. With a background in media and public relations, Linda organizes all Passion 4 K.I.D.S.' events and works tirelessly with the media to gain attention for these children in need. Linda is a Foster Youth Mentor for the County of San Diego as well as a tutor/mentor for foreign students at San Diego State University. She also served on the San Diego State University Parent Advisory Board. She also serves as a mentor for the Leap Foundation. Linda's desire is to share with you how to set and reach a goal even when others say you can't. She will also inspire you on how to make every day count for others by incorporating a cause you are passionate about into your daily life, business and school life while learning how to make the media an ally in your efforts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Questions Covered: 18:20 – When the Crystal Cathedral was converted into a Catholic Cathedral, what sacramental changes were made to it?  22:08 – I think that good architecture directs our attention to the fullness of the faith.  29:21 – What's the significance of artists or architects intentionally including flaws in their work?  32:40 – We have an opportunity to build a new chapel here. What are some tips for making sure we create a good and beautiful building?  37:33 – Are the dimensions of the golden mean still used today in church architecture? And can those dimensions be used in the construction of a guest room?  45:08 – How can I learn more about Duncan's work?  47:35 – What are your thoughts on the renovations going on at Notre Dame cathedral?  52:50 – How important it is that all the artisans and craftsmen of a Church be believers?  …

Today on the Almanac, we tell the curious story of Bob Schuller and his Crystal Cathedral. #OTD #1517 #churchhistory — SHOW NOTES are available: https://www.1517.org/podcasts/the-christian-history-almanac GIVE BACK: Support the work of 1517 today CONTACT: CHA@1517.org SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Overcast Google Play FOLLOW US: Facebook Twitter Audio production by Christopher Gillespie (gillespie.media).

‘De kern van mijn geloof bestaat uit de overtuiging dat u en ik, dat wij allemaal geliefde zonen en dochters van God zijn.' Krachtige woorden waarmee Henri Nouwen zijn preek begon jaren geleden in de Crystal Cathedral. Hij vertelt dat de meesten van ons er niet in slagen om die waarheid te bevatten terwijl het wel een belangrijke taak van ons is. Henri: ‘Wat voor Jezus geldt, geldt ook voor u!'. Jij bent Zijn geliefde kind.

Hour 1 of The Drew Mariani Show from 8-5-21 Mary FioRito tells the story of how all three of her daughters suffer from Celiacs, and how they navigate Communion in the Church. Robert Artigo, author of “Neither Crystal Nor Gold” shares how the Crystal Cathedral became Christ Cathedral in California. All show notes at Celiac Disease and Communion - This podcast produced by Relevant Radio

July 30, 2021 is the 90th birthday of American organ icon Dr. Frederick Swann who joined the American Guild of Organists at age 15 and was its president from 2002-2008.This year marks not only Fred's 90th birthday but his 80th year of being a church organist and his 20th year as Artist-in-Residence at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, California.Not one to seek the limelight or draw attention to himself, Fred spent most of his career in several very high profile positions that he says he never even applied for. He was simply in the right place at the right time.Fred graciously took the time to speak with host Thompson Howell about a range of topics including why his plans to retire at age 70 didn't exactly work out; his enthusiasm for the younger generation of organists and his optimism about the future of the organ; the positive impact that newer concert hall organs have had on building the increasing popularity of the organ among the general public; the great influence of the radio program Pipedreams and its host, Michael Barone, in further showcasing and promoting the organ; the necessity of any successful organist to be a good "faker"; an update on when the final work on the restoration of the Hazel Wright Organ at Christ Cathedral (formerly Crystal Cathedral) in Garden Grove, California will be able to be completed; the physical challenges he deals with as he gets older that place limitations on his playing abilities; the gratitude he feels for having been blessed with a wonderful career and supportive friends and colleagues; and much more.Listen at LAAGO.org...or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.LINKS:Fred's Wikipedia page is here.Pipedreams episode "Swann Song" (2003) is here.July 25, 2021 Weekend Service from St. Margaret's is here.The AGO Masters Series, Volume 3 featuring Fred Swann:Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Fred's June 23, 2021 interview for the Oral History Program of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is here.Articles:August 5, 1998, The Los Angeles Times.October 22, 2000, The New York Times.November 3, 2014, "A Conversation with Frederick Swann" in The Diapason.March 21, 2017, "Frederick Swann on the Value of the Pipe Organ to the Worshipping Church," Ponder Anew blog.June 26, 2018, The Diapason.May, 2020 feature on the Hazel Wright Organ at Christ Cathedral, The American Organist.Reviews:August 4, 2006, The New York Times.

Sociologist of Religion, Dr. Gerardo Marti, drops a powerful lecture that explores secularization in three parts - the statistics, the theory, and the history. This lecture and the ensuing conversation is the kickoff of an open online reading group.  Dr. Gerardo Marti is a professor of Sociology at Davidson in North Carolina. His research centers around race, ethnicity, religion, identity, inequality, and social change. Through his research, he works to uncover the dynamics of contemporary issues like diversity, religious innovation, and political power. Gerardo's previous visit to the podcast: a Sociologist on American Religion Here's a few of his books to check out: American Blindspot: Race, Class, Religion, and the Trump Presidency The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry Latino Protestants in America: Growing and Diverse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are speaking with guest Dr. Robert Schuller, a New York Times Best Selling author, televangelist to the world, and pastor. Robert was the Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and the legendary Hour of Power, a revolutionary television program with an international reach broadcast from Orange County California. He continues his calling with Robert Schuller Ministries, traveling the world promoting unity with the Global Peace Foundation. We are so pleased to have him on the show!

Dr. Gerardo Marti is a professor of Sociology at Davidson in North Carolina. His research centers around race-ethnicity, religion, identity, inequality, and social change. Through his research, he works to uncover the dynamics of contemporary issues like diversity, religious innovation, and political power. In this conversation, we not only get a vision of sociology of religion as a field but look at a number of Gerardo's research projects. It is also an amazingly fun conversation! Here's a few of his books to check out: American Blindspot: Race, Class, Religion, and the Trump Presidency The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry Latino Protestants in America: Growing and Diverse Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us today for Women Lead Radio as Michelle Bergquist, your host of Women Who Lead, interviews Marty Kurner, CEO and Owner at The Hawden Group. Marty shares her success in business story! Marty believes that going forward with a positive attitude is what keeps your customers coming back and builds those referrals. Marty's company has American made built into its fabric! The Hawden group only sells American made products, which creates sustainable success stories. Marty wants to keep America working! Marty decided to work in the Office Furniture business. She now runs her own successful dealership as a 100% Woman Owned Business. The Hawden Group only sells American Made products and promotes using small business.  The company takes great strides to use sustainable and Green Guard certified products. Marty's company philosophy provides our economy with income and the creation of jobs. All products provided to Hawden's customers are sustainable and Green Guard certified. Notable Fun Fact: Marty has been trained as a mezzo-soprano, sang for the Seattle Opera Company for 4 years. She is now in the professional choir at the Crystal Cathedral and has sung at Carnegie Hall in New York City. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Connected Women of Influence, Michelle Bergquist is a passionate advocate for women in business. At Connected Women of Influence, we believe that more women need to lead in business and everything we do is center-focused on designing platforms, programs, connections and collaborative opportunities for b2b women to prosper, succeed and lead the way in business today!

Introduction Amen. Amen. Well, the world, as I look around, the world is filled with spectacular buildings, and I have an appreciation for the art and science of architecture. I was a mechanical engineer, but I think I esteem architecture more than any of the sciences that were taught at MIT. I’m just kind of an architect, want to be. I know we have some architects in our church and you can come afterwards and say, “Thank you for plugging my profession,” but there's such a combination of science and art in a beautiful building. And I have been in some really beautiful buildings in my time. Recently, I had the opportunity to be in the most spectacular cathedral I'd ever seen in Prague, in the Czech Republic. And my good friend, Preston, is here today. I didn't know you were going to be here, brother, but it was Saint Vitus Cathedral. Have you been in there? Unbelievable, a spectacular cathedral there in Prague, in the Czech Republic. The construction in that building began in the year 1344, went on for centuries. It's over 400 feet long, 200 feet wide, almost 270 feet high. It's a 27-story high building, has amazing flying buttresses, stunning stained glass windows. Some of the stained glass was just spectacular the afternoon that we were there. It was a very hot day. Calvin and I were there, and the light was just streaming in through the stained glass. And there are all these different scenes that you could see as you looked at the stained glass. Biblical scenes, scenes of creation, of the death and resurrection of Christ, the final judgment. I've also seen some church history as well, especially from that region of the world, Bohemia and different scenes from church history. It's really quite amazing. Many of the people that worship throughout the centuries there were illiterate, and so they just got a lot of education by looking at these stained glass windows, and I can't even imagine all the work and artistry and skill that went into that structure. Now, from the beginning of time, people, human beings, have thrown themselves into architecture, and they built spectacular buildings, and the work of the architect has been on display throughout the pages of scripture, for good or ill. And we see, for example, the Tower of Babel, which was built with the state-of-the-art technology, and they found ways to build stronger bricks and then higher buildings and they were trying to make a stairway to Heaven, really, and make a name for themselves so they wouldn't be scattered throughout the world, but God interfered with that building project and began the start of nations and language at that point. But it didn't end there. You have, for example, the Great Pyramid of Cheops, which I've never seen with my own eyes, but which is just a marvel of achievement and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. And I think, as far as I know, the only one that's still standing. Ancient building projects have been the fruit of human ingenuity and engineering. They're still on display like the Colosseum in Rome, which I've never seen, the Great Wall of China, which I have seen. The Taj Mahal, which I would love to visit at some point, been to India several times but I've never seen it. Buildings of the Bible The Jews were especially proud of the temple of Solomon. They were amazed at its beauty and at its skill, and they really put their faith in it and they trusted in it, that it would protect them from all harm. As a matter of fact, as judgment was looming in the days of Jeremiah, Jeremiah had to warn them not to trust in the temple of the Lord. So do not say "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." In other words, just keep saying that like a mantra, over and over, that God's never going to destroy us, because we have this beautiful temple, but even was going on in the days of Jesus and his disciples. You remember when they went to the temple of Herod, which had been rebuilt and built up over 46 years, and was really pretty spectacular. And as the disciples were leaving, in Mark 13:1, as they were leaving the temple, one of Jesus's disciples said to Him, "Look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings," just in awe of the building and the structure. The Ephesians were that way too, about their own temple, the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the great wonders and also one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. And they were fanatically committed to that temple as a holy place and as a place of lucrative business as well. And we know the story about the riot in Ephesus, in Acts 19 in verse 34, where they all shouted in unison for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians." I think the funniest part about that is most of the people who were there, didn't know why they were there. And so they just joined in. Talk about a mob mentality. "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians." Why are we here? What's going on? And that these things are going on and they're just rioting. And then the city clerk quiets the crowd and says, "Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of her image, which fell from Heaven?" They were very proud of that temple, of that holy building, that holy structure. Antipater of Sidon, who compiled the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. That's how we even know what they are, described the temple with these words. "I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots along the top. And I have seen the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids. I've seen all of that and the vast Tomb of Mausolus, but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy. And I said, apart from Olympus, the sun has never looked on anything so great." That was the Temple of Artemis of the Ephesians. It was easy for the Ephesians to boast about their impressive temple. But Paul, here in the text you just heard read, sets before the eyes of their heart something far more glorious, a structure far more expansive and dramatic, and radiant with the glory of God, and that is the Church of Jesus Christ. Something that will supplant every building project that ever has been, is now, or ever will be. The greatest building project in the history of the world is the Church of Jesus Christ. And I do not mean the cathedrals. I don't mean this building that we assemble in every week. I don't mean any of the church buildings, the Crystal Cathedral, any of these places that have been built for worship. But I'm talking about the spiritual temple of God, I'm talking about the Church of the living God, the church of Jesus Christ. It's a spiritual temple, that we are told, and we're going to look at it today, made up of “living stones.” “Living stones,” individual believers from every generation in human history. Now, God had the blueprint for that, the plan of it “before the foundation of the world,” before God even said, "Let there be light," He had the whole structure worked out. God is the architect who made the plans and God is also the builder who was executing the plans. And God is the owner who will get all the glory, and God is the dweller who will live there for all eternity in the center of his people. God the Father gave the command, God the Son paid for it in blood, and God the Spirit is now constructing it. It's going on before our spiritual eyes, even as we speak. Look again at verses 18-22, "For through Him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit." Those are the verses we're going to look at today. Formerly Excluded, Now Having Free Access “Remember What You Were” Now, we begin by reminding ourselves that we Gentile believers, the Ephesian Gentile believers, were formerly excluded, but now having free access. This whole section in Ephesians 2 has been a lesson of the journey of salvation for the Ephesians. Where they were when the Gospel first came to them and where they are now and will be for all eternity. They began in verses 1-3 of chapter 2 as living dead. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live. When you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were, by nature, objects of wrath.”That's where the Gentile believers began, spiritually dead, “enslaved to the world, the flesh, and the devil, could not escape, by nature, objects of wrath.” The wrath of God could have fallen at any moment and God would have been just in condemning them and sending them to Hell. That's how they began. “But God,” verses 4-6, “but God, because of the great love with which He loved us, God who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in transgressions and sins, made us alive with Christ. It is by grace you have been saved.” How rich is that? And then verses 8-10, celebrate the richness of God's salvation by grace, “For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast, for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.” Now, when I look at Ephesians 2:10 and then I go to the end of the chapter, and I'm finding about a structure, a spiritual temple that's rising, I bring the two together. We are being crafted by God to be a temple, a spiritual temple, and we are actually workers in that temple to enlist, He has enlisted our aid so that that we can help construct it. We are also workers in this temple. We'll talk more about that at the end of the message. That's Ephesians 2:10. Gentiles Now Brought Near Now, Paul wanted to be certain that the Ephesian Christians, these Gentile believers, understood how they had formerly been excluded. Look at verses 11 and 12, “Therefore remember, that formally, you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves in circumcision, that done in the body by the hands of men. Remember that at that time, you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” That's what you were. All of us were that way. We were excluded. We were outsiders, but now, in verse 13, we have been, “brought near through the blood of Christ.” “We who were once far away, we have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” And how is that possible? Well, Christ destroyed the barrier, the “dividing wall” that the Law of Moses had set up. God had set up barriers forbidding the Gentiles from inclusion among the people of God. The laws of circumcision, the dietary regulations, the concern for genealogy, all of those things were barriers and dividing walls, the animal sacrificial system, but Jesus came and destroyed it all. Look at verses 14-16. “He himself is our peace, who has made the two, one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the Law, with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and in this one body, to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which He put to death or hostility.” The Gospel of Peace Proclaimed by Christ That's the language of reconciliation, the language of blood atonement. Jesus Christ has taken our sins on Himself, and He suffered and died on the cross. He shed his blood, and He received in himself the due penalty for our wickedness and our sin. He was our substitute. And if we simply believe in Him, repenting of our sins, and casting all of our hope and our trust on Christ, we are forgiven. We who were once outsiders, we have now been “brought near through the blood of Christ.” And so, verse 17, he says, “He came and preached peace to you who are far away and peace to those who were near.” That's Jesus Christ. So, that's all by way of introduction to bring us up to this point, in verse 18. Jesus Christ has come and preached peace to you through the Gospel. Isn't that marvelous? Can't you picture in your mind's eye what it says in John 20, on the night of that first day of the week, what we celebrate every year at Easter Sunday, how Jesus came. And though the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be with you." Isn't that magnificent? He came and preached peace to those who are near at that moment, Jews, and said, God's not at war with you anymore. God is at peace with you now. “Having been justified through faith, we have peace with God,” but also, he came by means of the apostles, by means of the missionaries, by means of evangelists. He came out to the town of the Ephesians to Ephesus, and he preached peace to them, too, those who were once far away. And he said, God is saying, in Christ, peace be with you. Free Access by Christ in the Spirit If you repent and believe, there's peace with God. And therefore, we have, according to the text, free access to God. Look at verse 18, "For through Him, we both,” Jewish believer, and Gentile believer in Christ, “we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." So he's expanding now, including Jewish believers. They were all one, Jewish believers and Gentile believers. We are all free in our access to God. We can get into the presence of Almighty God, any time. Actually, in the past, everyone was excluded, not just Gentiles, but Jews as well, excluded. Apart from the redeeming work of Christ, we'd have all been outsiders. The real barrier, the real “dividing wall of hostility” was between us and God and it was our sins. The holiness of God, and he could not be in fellowship with sinners like us without it being atoned for. The message again and again in the Old Covenant, as we've seen was, "This far, you may come in no further." We saw how God spoke to Moses out of the flames of the burning bush, and there was this bush burning and it was not consumed and Moses went over to see this great sight. And as he drew near, he was immediately told, "Do not come any closer." That's the mediator of the Old Covenant. What is he told? “Do you not come any closer. Take off your shoes, for the ground on which you're standing is holy ground, because of my holiness, because of your sinfulness, you cannot come into my presence.” Even the high priest was excluded. Leviticus 16, "You must tell Aaron and his sons that He may not come into my presence anytime he chooses." Just ponder that from Leviticus 16. He may not come in any time he chooses. No one else may ever come in. But even the sons of Aaron may only come in once a year, and never without blood. We're told in the Book of Hebrews. So tell him he may not come. He does not have free access. Yes, but we do. We have free access. Look at Verse 18 again. “In him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” How sweet is that? We know that Jesus, when He died on the cross, and when He said, "It is finished." The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, and He opened for us, it says, in the Book of Hebrews, “a new and living way into the very presence of God. And he has cleansed our conscience by the blood of Christ,” God has. “And He has washed us with pure water, and we are cleansed, and we are invited, even commanded to come into the very presence of God.” “We have access to the Father by one Spirit.” So it's the same in the verse I just quoted a moment ago, in Romans 5:1-2. If you'll look at the second verse. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have the peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." All of us, I say, all of us underestimate the privilege of that access. Every single one of us underestimates, and under-uses the access. We don't pray enough. We don't come into the presence of God enough. We are characterized, tragically, by prayerlessness. And this text is in a very sweet way, Ephesians 2:18, beckoning to you to come into the presence of God more than you do, to come in again and again, to “pray without ceasing,” to live your lives in fellowship with God. Having free access into the presence of God. As it says in Hebrews 4:16, “let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” So we can approach the throne of Almighty God any time, bringing any burden, great or small, right into the presence of our heavenly Father. By the power of the Spirit, we have access. We all do. Spiritual Access, Not Physical Access This access is spiritual, it's not physical. This is the very thing that the Lord was preparing the human race for. In His amazing conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, you remember that? Remember that conversation He had with her, and He's talking about springs of living water flowing out from within us, from which we can drink any time? We're going to talk about that more at the end of Ephesians 3, I can't wait. It's such a sweet meditation on how the Lord yearns to have intimate fellowship with us all the time by the power of the Spirit. Jesus brings up, as you remember, her sin. "Go call your husband and come back." You remember? "I have no husband." And Jesus said, "You're right in saying you have no husband, the fact is, you've had five husbands and the man you're now living with is not your husband. What you've said is quite true." A very interesting way of dealing with her statement. She said, "I perceive sir, that you are a prophet. Now our Father said that we ought to worship on this mountain and you Jews claim we should worship on that mountain." So That was very deft of her I think clever. “Alright, let's change the subject and quickly.” She brings up the issue of a place of worship and this is very relevant to the text we're looking at today, And Jesus began to reveal the fullness of the Father's plan to this woman, this Samaritan woman, and He spoke these words, “believe me, woman, a time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit in truth.” What is He saying? He's saying there's going to come a time very soon when the Old Covenant will be abolished, destroyed, made obsolete and you will not need to go to one particular geographical location anymore to worship God, you'll be able to worship God by the spirit anywhere in the world. Very thing that the Jews were forbidden to do. “You may not worship God under every spreading tree and on every high mountain, you can't do that, you have to go to the one place I chose.” And they had these pilgrimages to the one place that God chose, Jerusalem. But we are free to worship anywhere. Now, I'm not against buildings, I'm not against the structure, I'm very grateful for them during a downpour, aren't you? I praise God for the air conditioning, which works so well to keep us generally Cool. I find that I preach better to colder people. So the hotter it is the sleepier you all get and me too. So the structure is needed because we have bodies and I think this is a beautiful building and I'm not against the buildings that people erect to worship God, I'm not against it, I'm just saying He's not confined to that space. And believe me, I'm not saying you don't need to come to church on Sunday, you wouldn't believe how many people kind of quote Jesus, in John 4 and say, “I can worship anywhere, I don't have to be in church on Sunday. “We'll get to that toward the end. That's not what I'm saying, but what I am saying is, there isn't just one locus, one place of worship anymore, it's gone. Now, we can worship God anywhere. Just as Stephen saw or foresaw, so plainly, in Acts 7:48, “the Most High does not live in houses made by men,” and so we are able to worship God anywhere in this spiritual temple. God’s Nation, Family, and Temple Now, in Verse 19, he broadens out, to give us a sense of the greatness of the church. The greatness of what has happened to these Ephesian Christians, these Gentiles, what they are now, a part of, they underestimate the church and he wants to help them to see the greatness of the church. Look at verse 19, “Consequently, you Gentiles are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.” Now, in the New Testament, there are lots of images for the Church but here we have three right in this passage that we're looking at. The Church is a nation of which we are citizens, the church is a family of which we are adopted members, and the church is a building of which we are “living stones.” Now later in Ephesians 4, we'll add a fourth beautiful image, the Church is the body of which we are living members. That just shows the amazing complexity of the Church. We need all of these metaphors. Can I just say to you as an aside the Church is the grandest, glorious work that God has done in history. This is the work of God. This is the greatest display of the glory of God is the Church of Jesus Christ. That's what he's doing. So look at each of these images. Nation: No Longer Outsiders, Now Citizens First, nation. We are no longer outsiders now we are citizens, all Christians everywhere are welcome, right into the presence of God. Our status has changed forever, we're no longer aliens, we're no longer outsiders, we are now citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Our citizenship is in Heaven, it says in Philippians 3, we are citizens. Christ is the King and we are His subjects, and Gentile Christians are every bit as much citizens as Jewish Christians. Equal Access, equal privileges. Family: Adopted Members of God’s Household Secondly, family. We are all, every one of us, adopted members of God's household. Now, the Greek word household here is a rich and full word, the Ephesians would have understood it well, would have to do with a wealthy man and his family, and his estate. And so that's the issue of this household, a grand estate, a large and wealthy family, and Paul asserts that we are beloved, adopted members of this family of God. Back in Ephesians 1:4-6, we have these words “in love,” speaking of God the Father, “in love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of His glorious grace.” It says in John 1:12-13, “As many as received Him, as many as believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” And then in Romans 8:15-17, “For you did not receive the Spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of son-ship or of adoption by which we cry ‘Abba Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs with Christ, co-heirs with Christ” and that's what we are. Building: A Temple Rising And the third image here is of a building that's rising and becoming more and more built up more and more glorious, a more and more elaborate structure all the time. This building, it says in verse 20 is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.” Now, this building has a long history, if you look back at the history of the Temple, and before that to the history of the tabernacle, the tabernacle was the start of this idea, of a place where God would dwell in the midst of His people and how God showed to Moses a vision of how it was to be built, and how he built this tent, this holy tent, this tabernacle, by the instructions and the vision that God had given Moses on the mountain. And so, he built it and when he built it, God came and filled it with His presence, with the glory cloud. And no one could enter the tabernacle because of the glory of God which filled the place. And then how, centuries later, David once he was established as king in Jerusalem and all of his enemies had been defeated, and he's there, he says, "Here I am living in a palace of cedar, while God is still in a tent. I want to build a permanent dwelling place where God can dwell in the midst of His people." It was a good idea. David was showing initiative toward God, "Hey, God maybe you hadn't thought about this before. I'd like to think of this thing. This is something I want to do for you." I love it. And isn't it how sweet how God speaks to David, through Nathan the Prophet, kind of putting him in his place, but at the same time, greatly exalting him too. He says, "Are you the one to build a house for me? I'm going to build a house for you. And after you're gone, after you die, I'm going to raise up one of your sons and he will build a house for my name and his kingdom will endure forever and ever." Now, you know, he's not talking about Solomon, but he kind of is. It's like yes and no. He is talking about Solomon because when he sins, I will beat him, but I'll never take my love from him and you read about it, but he says that then there's this greater son whose kingdom will never end, and that's Jesus, and “He will build a dwelling where I will live in the midst of my people, forever.” And that's fulfilled in the Church of Jesus Christ that's the very thing that Paul is talking about. Now, when Solomon built the temple, the same thing happened again in the 2 Chronicle 7 the glory of the Lord entered the place. And it filled the place and God's glory radiated there, and there was a symbol of God's desire to dwell in the midst of his people and fellowship with His people, but you know that the Jews, in subsequent generations and centuries, sinned and sinned and sinned some more and God sent them warnings but they wouldn't listen. And so at the right time, under the judgment of God, and the justice of God, it was time for the glory cloud to leave the temple of Solomon and to leave the people and then judgment to come. And it came and the Babylonians came and they acted it says in Psalm 74, “like men wielding axes and they chopped up all the carved wood and they burned it and they destroyed the temple, the place where God had met with His people.” So, still this yearning for a place where God could dwell in the midst of his people unfulfilled, but there is the son of David who's coming and he would build it, and Jesus is that one, and he has come to build this true, true dwelling place, and so Jesus came and died on the cross and He was buried on the third day, He was raised from the dead and He showed Himself to His disciples and appeared to them over a period of 40 days, and then He went up and ascended and He went through the heavenly realms and He went through, it says in the Book of Hebrews, “the greater and more perfect tabernacle that's not man-made, not built by human hands” and that's the true heavenly dwelling place where God will dwell with His people forever. And that's the work of Christ. Church: God’s Dwelling Place Now, the Church is the dwelling place of God. Look at Verses 21 and 22, “in Him,” Christ, “the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord and in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” That is what is going on around the world, does not matter what the lead story is, CNN, or BBC News, or any of the news outlets you follow. The number one story, every day, is the building of His Church. That is the story of human history. That's what's going on in the world, nothing else matters. This is the only eternal building that's getting built. This is it. Peter gives us some other images here that help us to understand this a little bit better. In 1 Peter chapter 2:4-5, Peter says this, “as you come to Him, the living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him. You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices as acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” So as each individual person in “every tribe and language and people and nation,” all around the world, comes to genuine faith in Christ, they become alive. They were dead now, they're alive. They are “living stones.” Kind of a paradoxical image, but we are then settled into a place in the wall of this spiritual temple that God had been reserving for us in particular, from “before the foundation of the world.” It's like a jigsaw, puzzle and only you can go there, you're the only one who can fit in there, and let me tell you something when it's all done, there'll be no gaps in the walls, amen. Every elect person will be saved, every jigsaw puzzle piece will be put in, and they'll all be there, how glorious is that? And we are living stones and we're set into the walls to be this holy temple rising, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the presence of God. That's what we are. Peter has to go ahead and complexify the image because we're also a “holy priesthood offering sacrifices inside the structure.” That's true, another sermon, another day, but we are “living stones” and we have been quarried from Satan's dark kingdom by some special ops people, who have gone up over the walls of Satan's dark kingdom, they've scaled the walls. I picture like ninjas, or some kind of SEALS, Navy SEALS or something like that, and they're going up over the walls, and they're in enemy territory, and they're finding these dead stones, and by the Gospel they're bringing them to life and they're getting them out of there and they're “transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son,” and we’re settled into a wall and will be there forever. That's evangelism and missions. That's what's going on, and it's thrilling. It's thrilling. And I have no idea where I am in my notes. Alright, I'm sorry. The Apostles and Prophets the Foundation: Christ the Cornerstone An Amazing Image Ah, yes. The “apostles and prophets are the foundation of this building.” What does that mean? Members of God's household verse 20, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.” This is an amazing image. Every grand and glorious and lofty structure has to have a solid foundation, an immovable foundation. “It can't be on sand,” Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount, where it shifting and the structure is going to fall. We need something that will never move. And Paul says, "It's the apostle and prophets with Christ He as Himself as a chief cornerstone.” It's a challenging statement here especially since Paul himself says in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Christ Jesus.” It's like, what a minute, so is it Christ Jesus, or is it “the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Friends, it's not either/or. It's both/and. Christ Jesus is the foundation of this structure, it's true. But how do we have access to Christ Jesus, except by the words of scripture? By the words of the holy apostles and prophets, by this book, we come to know Christ. By the words of the apostles and prophets, the apostles and prophets mediate God's word to a dying world in the form of this book. That's how we know you. You don't know anything about Jesus, apart from this book. And so, as the apostles were “eyewitnesses of His glory” as Peter says. as 1 John 1:1 says, “that which we have seen with our eyes, what we have handled, what we have interacted with concerning the Word of Truth, this we proclaim to you.” They were eyewitnesses, the apostles, and prophets. Peter was the rock on which Jesus would build his Church, not just his confession, but him as eyewitness and the other apostles having been with Jesus for three years and being able to testify to the world, “We have seen, and we testify that He is the Son of God!” And so, the apostles and prophets represent to me in this verse, scripture as it testifies to Jesus, the chief cornerstone. Christ as Cornerstone Now, what does it mean that Jesus is the chief cornerstone? Well, architects tell us that's the first stone you set and everything else gets its reference from that everything else goes in reference to Jesus, the chief cornerstone. It has to be perfectly proportional, it has to be 90 degrees if you want the walls 90 degrees, it has to be solid and everything else is based on Christ. So it's the same thing he teaches, in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “no one can lay a foundation other than one almighty God already laid a chosen and tested cornerstone.” Isaiah 28, that's Jesus. Fitly Framed Together And so, the “apostles and prophets” is the scripture's testimony to Jesus. When Jesus rose from the dead, comes to the upper room, appears to the disciples and He says, in Luke 24, "This is what I told you when I was with you. Everything must be fulfilled. That is written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms, then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. So, as evangelists and missionaries, go out, they testify based on the words of the apostles in the history of Jesus and the prophets of the Old Testament as they got ready for Jesus, and even the prophets of the New Testament. We'll talk about that when we get to chapter 3, as Paul says, "Now revealed to the apostles and prophets", and we'll get to that, but this is all the immediate Word of God revealed to the human race and we all, verse 21, are built together. “In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” I love the KJV in verse 21, "In whom", listen to this, "all the building fitly framed together", isn't that awesome? “Fitly framed together, groweth unto an Holy Temple in the Lord.” “Fitly framed together,” we are perfectly fit together in this holy structure Jews, Gentiles, believers in Christ alike all of us joined together. Now, in Ephesians 4:16, we'll get the same image with the body side. Ephesians 4:16, “from Him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up as each part does its work.” So, we're fit well together. God’s Final Dwelling Place I was reading some time ago about the Taj Mahal, and in one of the walls, this is a magnificent structure, and in one of the walls, there is a flower, an inlaid flower, one inch square, made of precious stones, polished, set in the wall, think about it. One inch square with 60 different stones, 60 different hues and colors, etcetera, but yet set in there so perfectly that you can't feel anything. It feels like glass. I'm thinking, how long did they work on that flower? But that's the image I have. We are perfectly fit together in the wall, in perfect unity with each other, at least we will be in the end when God's done saving us. That's the picture we have here. This is God's final dwelling place. “In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord and in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” The Spirit Indwells Us While We Wait Now, there is an already and a not yet sense of this. We are already this, it's already happening, we are already one in Christ, we are already united through the Spirit, we can already assemble together with brothers and sisters all over the world, and we can worship God by the Spirit. It's already going on at the present tense. You are a building, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, but you must know there's better and more yet to come. There's a not-yet aspect to this. And so, the Book of Revelation completes our study for the day before I get to applications and that is the picture of the New Jerusalem. "Then I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and there was no longer any seen. Then I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." That is this structure, that's Zion, this is the heavenly Zion, that's the very thing that he's talking about here. It's not different, it's the same, the New Jerusalem is the church of Jesus Christ. "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying," Now, here's the key, " ‘Now, the dwelling of God is with men and He will live with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.’" That's what God has wanted all along. “I want a place where I can dwell together with my people.” That's it, that's the not-yet part. God will dwell in our midst, and we will see His face and the whole city will it be irradiated with the glory of God in Christ, and there'll be no temple in that city we're told, because “God and the Lamb and the church are the temple. All one together.” Alright, so that's the complex image we have here by way of application. Application Are You on the Outside Looking In? First, let me just plead with you if you know yourself to be an outsider of all of this. I plead with you, don't stay an outsider, you've heard the Gospel today of Christ crucified, resurrected, how all you need to do is repent and believe and you will immediately become a living stone having been rescued from Satan's dark kingdom, you will be set in a place that has been reserved for you “from before the foundation of the world,” for you. Just come to Christ. Don't leave here an unbeliever I plead with you, be reconciled to God. Christians: Recognize the Majestic Picture of the Church Christians, do you recognize the majesty of this work? Do you see the glory of it? Do you see how this makes life worth living? It really does. This work is worth doing, and this is glorious. Think about the Church. Think about these images. You're citizens of a holy nation, you are adopted sons and daughters of the family of God, and you are living stones in this amazing structure that's rising and becoming bigger and more glorious all the time. That's amazing, praise God for that. And so, if I could just say esteem the Church, think highly of the Church. This isn't like a club we come to on Sundays. Well, you know, I go occasionally, I come. “I'm in this and I'm in that and I go to church from time to time on Sunday morning.” This is the work God is doing in the world. So esteem the Church, be in the Church. “Do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, ”as it says in Hebrews 10:24, “some are in the habit of doing. But Let's gather together and encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.” Be a covenant member of this Church. If you're just a visitor, be a covenant member of a church where you live, be committed to the Church Access to God Also concerning access. I spoke of it in the middle of the sermon, I want to say it again. You have access to God now that you're part of this holy temple. Take advantage of it, and what's burdening you. What did you carry in here today? What are you struggling with? What are you worried about? Is it money? Is it a relational problem? Is a marital issue? Are you're struggling with sin, is there some sin issue, your guilty conscience, is that bothering you? You have access to the “Father by the Spirit.” Take advantage of it now. Cast your burdens on him in prayer. And don't just go in there and reference to your burdens pray for your brother and sisters. Find someone after, we're about done, we really are. Find someone and say, "How can I pray for you today?", and pray for him. “You have access to the Father by one Spirit.” An Exhortation for Church Involvement And let's get involved in this building project, what do you say? I'm not saying be involved in what used to be known as the Building and Grounds Committee, or find out what deacons are doing yard work in the church. I think the church looks great. I'm not saying there's not work to be done. Please don't, whoever's in charge of that be angry. That was a great recruiting time and you didn't take advantage. I'm trying to give you recruiting to a higher level. Get involved in the building of the Church of Jesus Christ use your spiritual gifts, Have a ministry, throw yourself into this building project be involved in evangelism and discipleship. Get your five lost people's names and pray for them and open the door to evangelism and witness. And finally, can I just say, look forward to Heaven. Look forward to what it's going to be like to be in the New Jerusalem surrounded by the people of God, indwelt by God through His Spirit. Close with me in prayer. Prayer Father, what a glorious passage is this. Ephesians is glorious, thank you so much for the things we're learning in this book, and I pray that we would not only just be members of this grand and glorious eternal building project, but that we would be laborers as well. We living stones in the wall, but also those special ops forces that scale the walls of the kingdom of darkness and rescue lost people. Help us to do all of that. We pray that in Jesus name, Amen.

On this episode - Robert Schuller, the founder of the Crystal Cathedral, died this week at the age of 88. Jim discusses Schuller's life and legacy.  Also, did Jesus of Nazareth exist? It has only ben in the last 100 years that people have begun to doubt that Jesus really lived. Is there historical proof that Jesus really existed? Can you pray for your finances? Can you even pray for a financial miracle? Jim shares insights from his bestselling book, "How To Pray For A Financial Miracle."