JesusSmartX

Tread by Faith: Claiming Ground God Has for You | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 385

There's ground out there with your name on it, but it only opens to a certain pace of faith. Inspired by C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader and the Hebrew word darach (to tread, to march), this episode calls you past strolling and walking into something more intense: treading by faith. Proverbs 4:18 promises the path brightens as you go. The question is whether you're willing to advance. See the full episode transcript below. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Treading in Faith: Be a Dawn Treader Jesus Smart 180. Three minutes. One turnaround. I hope you're doing well. There is ground out there with your name on it. Psalm 115 says the heavens are the Lord's, but the earth he has given, or assigned, to us. But that ground doesn't just open up to any pace of faith. Some ground only opens to those willing to tread, to tread in faith. A Path That Brightens Proverbs 4:18 says the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until the full day. We are moving into the future. We are moving toward it, not waiting for it to arrive. C.S. Lewis pictured this in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a ship sailing ever eastward toward the horizon, toward Aslan's Country, the country of the King, the Kingdom. That's the journey we're on too. We're treading toward the dawn of the Day of the Lord, when he comes again. And here's what's wild: the light and energy of that day is already spilling into our time. Did you know the future is among us right now? Tread by Faith Do you remember God's promise to Israel? Every place the sole of your foot treads, that will be yours. The Hebrew word is 'darach'. It means to walk, to tread, to march. Now, we can stroll by faith. We can up the pace a little and walk by faith. But some territory only opens itself to those willing to tread by faith. It's more militant. It's a boots-on-the-ground kind of faith. There's more intensity. And we don't tread into darkness. First John says the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. For those of us advancing in that light, darkness is already passé. It's old news. We are the Dawn Treaders. Jesus, make me a Dawn Treader. I tread by faith into whatever ground you have for me, that brings you glory and contributes to your story. Amen. Thanks for listening to Jesus Smart 180. Your move. Visit JesusSmart.com for show notes and more.

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Hitting the Wall: The Breaking Point Every Christ-Follower Faces with Ken Roberts | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 384

There's a point where the church, the answers you were given, and your own bootstrapped faith stop being enough. Ken Roberts calls it "the wall," the breaking point every Christ-follower eventually faces, whether it comes through personal tragedy, disappointment in leadership, or questions no one around you will really sit with. Ken walks through the six-stage framework behind that moment, why most churches handle the first three stages well and stumble hard at the fourth, and what it took for him personally to survive his own breaking point: losing his wife at forty-seven, and watching his church unravel soon after. We talk deconstruction versus real depth, micro-church, and what it actually means to finish well. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/384 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Hitting the Wall: The Breaking Point Every Christ-Follower Faces with Ken Roberts There's a point in every believer's life where the answers stop working. Ken Roberts calls it "the wall," and in this conversation with Brian, he lays out why it's the breaking point almost every Christ-follower eventually faces, and why the church is so often unprepared to walk with us through it. The De-churching Moment Ken opens by naming what's happening across the West right now: a wave of people quietly stepping back from organized church. "They're not finding the depth, the relevance, the abundance in going to another meeting," he says. It's not one cause, Ken says, but a soul hunger the church often doesn't have language for. Six Stages, One Critical Wall Drawing from the book The Critical Journey, Ken lays out six stages every believer moves through: being introduced to God, baseline discipleship, giving back to a spiritual community, hitting "the wall," a deep inner life with Jesus, and finally a life defined simply by love. Most churches, Ken says, do well with the first three. It's stage four, the wall, where things fall apart. "Our evangelical equations don't seem to work," he says. "Two plus two is supposed to be four, and suddenly it's not." A leadership failure, an unanswered doubt, a trauma nobody knows how to sit with: any of it can trigger the wall. Ken points to two places the church especially struggles here. The first is honest theological doubt, questions like whether Genesis 1 and 2 are meant to be read literally. "That should be the safe place to have that dangerous conversation," Ken says, "but it's not. You either get shut down, or you get the pat answer they already have ready." The second is trauma. For years, Ken says, the church's default response has been prayer, a Bible verse, and a referral to outside counseling. People carrying real pain come back into the same setting and find nobody quite knows what to do with them, because worship stays "rah-rah" every week and there's no room made for lament. Ken's Own Wall Ken shares his own version of this story candidly: losing his wife in a car accident at forty-seven, after forty-something years of following the Lord and pastoring a church. "It just doesn't make sense," he says. The church he'd been pastoring began unraveling shortly after, and within six years of her death, it no longer existed. "That was my wall. That was my critical season." He could have let it end there. What got him through wasn't a program or a fresh set of answers. It was a handful of mature believers willing to enter the pain and the dialogue with him instead of preaching at him, giving him room to work it out rather than handing him stock answers. Ken calls it a big "if": most people who hit the wall never quite make it through. "Anecdotally, it's not very many," he says, "especially not less than half who actually come through it and don't just get stuck doing the religious Christian thing." Where Is Jesus in All of This? Brian pushes Ken on the obvious question: if the organized church struggles this much with stage four, where does that leave Jesus's own promise to build his church? Ken's answer comes in two parts. Individually, he says, Jesus is always right beside us, and the longer you walk with him, the more you sense it's actually Jesus living in you. But Jesus also built the church to be a body, not just a collection of individuals. Ken's own resolution isn't to abandon organized church but to hold both: a home church he's planted in and gives to, alongside a smaller, more relational expression like the Gathering House for the depth that stage four and five require. From the Wilderness to Real Depth Those who make it through the wall, Ken says, move into stage five: a simpler, deeper walk with Jesus, stripped of a lot of the "scaffolding" that gets built up around faith over the years. He compares much of modern Christianity to the U.S. Capitol building under renovation, wrapped in scaffolding and black mesh so thick you'd never recognize it underneath. "We need to take some of that scaffolding down," he says, "so we can return to the purity of what it is." That's also how Ken thinks about deconstruction, a word that makes a lot of believers nervous. He draws a clear line: deconstruction that ends in walking away from the faith is one thing, but questioning the scaffolding built up around the faith is another. "I don't think all deconstruction is wrong," he says. Stage five isn't about needing the church less out of pride, Ken is careful to add, but about needing it differently: less as scaffolding to hold you up, more as an interdependent family you freely belong to. That doesn't mean walking away from church, Ken is careful to say. It means finding what he calls "micro-ecclesia," smaller, deeply relational expressions of church that can sit with people in stage four in a way a Sunday service often can't, alongside a home church rather than instead of one. He and his wife host something twice a month called the Gathering House: no pastor, no platform, just a small group gathered around Scripture, the creeds, and communion. "There's no talking head," Ken says. "It's the work of Christ." Ken also draws a sharp line between what a church builds people into and what it should. "If we're not building people up into Christ, we're doing them a false service," he says. Build people around a vision, a doctrine, a personality instead, and you get codependency. Walk through the wall, and that codependency gets replaced with something healthier: interdependence. Finishing Well The conversation closes on what Ken calls his life's real mission now: finishing well. He breaks it into three marks. First, an open, pliable, faithful heart toward God, the kind C.S. Lewis had in mind when he said God wants "a grown-up mind but a childlike heart." Second, being someone whose life genuinely draws the people closest to you, your kids, your grandkids, your spouse, toward Jesus rather than away from him. Third, staying faithful to whatever assignment you're in for as long as you're in it, rather than checking out once retirement hits. "We all want to hear the Lord say, well done, good and faithful servant," Ken says. "We're all contributing to the Lord's story." Ken Roberts coaches leaders and consults with churches through what he calls the three C's: caution, crisis, and convergence, the defining moments most believers have to navigate to keep moving forward instead of stalling out. His new course, FORM, is a guided, cohort-based journey toward spiritual formation. Find him at kenlroberts.com. Scripture referenced: Genesis 1–2 · Genesis 3:8 · Genesis 1:28 · Ephesians 4:15–16 · John 15 · 1 John 4 · Hebrews 10:25 · 1 Peter 4:17 · Matthew 25:21 · 2 Timothy 4:5

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It's Always Comeback Time: Shift, Pray, Proclaim | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 383

Something sick or dying in your world? Peter's raising of Tabitha in Acts 9 reveals a three-part kingdom pattern for breakthrough: shift your environment, pray through, and proclaim in faith. It's always comeback time in Christ. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via the Smart Edit letter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/letter. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: It's Always Comeback Time: Shift, Pray, Proclaim Christ is reigning. This is Jesus Smart X with Brian Del Turco. Live the difference. Hello there, friend. I'm recording this outside today, so if you hear a little birdsong in the background — well, that's a good thing. Did you know research now shows that five minutes of birdsong a day is good for you psychologically? Maybe we'll talk about that sometime — about creating soundscapes in our lives that are positive and healthy for our spirit, soul, and body. Today I want to talk with you about shifting your environment for a breakthrough, then praying through, and then proclaiming in faith to activate the extraordinary. Shifting your environment. Praying through. Proclaiming in faith. Let me ask you this: is something sick or dying in your world? Well, it's comeback time. A Kingdom Pattern from Peter — and from Jesus Peter modeled something for us in the book of Acts, and he learned it from Jesus. There's no reason we can't do the same. Maybe it's a relationship, something in the financial space, a career, a business, a ministry project, or some cause you care about. Peter modeled three kingdom dynamics for seeing someone — or something — experience new life. We find them in Acts chapter 9. Tabitha fell sick and died. Luke writes that she was a woman who abounded in deeds of kindness and charity. Something good and beneficial had stopped. And the question was: how would Peter move forward in the face of this? Acts 9 tells us that when Peter arrived, they brought him into the upper room, and all the widows stood beside him weeping, showing him the tunics and garments Dorcas had made while she was still with them. But Peter sent them all out. Now, grieving is real — it's understandable. But this woman had been taken before her time, and Peter knew that if they were going to see the extraordinary, he had to shift the environment away from depression, wailing, and sorrow, and condition it for kingdom possibilities. Peter wasn't this wise on his own. Where did he get the idea? He'd seen Jesus do the very same thing with a little girl in Matthew chapter 9. Jesus arrived after this girl had died. The mourners started to mock him when he said, "She's asleep." He took Peter, James, and John with him into the room and told the crowd to leave. He conditioned the environment. And when they had gone, he entered, took her by the hand, and the girl got up. We, too, can follow this pattern that Jesus modeled and Peter followed: condition the environment. Point One: Condition Your Environment We probably need to stop listening to some things, stop watching some things, stop letting certain people or circumstances shape us. We're meant to live from the inside out. When our internal state is powered up, our internals shape our externals for the positive — instead of our environment crushing in on us and shaping us from the outside in. The Lord may lead us to graciously transform, or if necessary release, some relationships — and to stay open to new ones. We may need to let go of some negative memories and past experiences. There are many ways we condition both our outer environment and our inner one. (Maybe sometime we can talk about how our internals shape our externals.) But that's point one: condition — or recondition — your environment. Position yourself and set the stage for the extraordinary. Point Two: Pray Through to Win the Day We can learn something from the old-school believers and that old-school phrase, "praying through." There are some things cool and casual won't win. Acts 9 tells us that after conditioning the environment, Peter knelt down and prayed. This is where we go to access grace and power. Hebrews chapter 4 tells us we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace — empowerment to help in our time of need. When we pray like that, we pick up the voice signature of God. We tune our inner man and dial into the heart and mind of God. His mind, his ability, is imparted to us. Don't you love the promise in Ephesians 3:20? "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work within us — to him be the glory." So first we condition our environment, whatever that means in our context and situation. Then we pray through. Not a Formula — A Kingdom Pattern Before we get to the third point, let me be clear: this isn't a formula. I'm not saying follow these steps and it will just happen. What this is, is a kingdom pattern — a template clearly seen in how Jesus and Peter operated. It's a best practice, a working knowledge of the kingdom. Underneath it all, authentic faith is relational. It flows from our vital connection with the living Christ. It's organic, not technical — not a formula. The living voice of Christ to us in the moment creates faith. Paul said in Romans 10 that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Even if we have no faith, that's okay — faith can be created. And if our faith is too small, faith can grow larger by hearing the living voice of Christ. Point Three: Turn and Proclaim in Faith So: condition the environment, pray through, and then, third, turn and speak to the situation. This is where you win the day. Acts 9 tells us that Peter turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, arise." She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her up, and calling the saints and widows back in, he presented her alive. This is amazing. Jesus defined faith as belief-filled speaking — a stunning principle. In Mark chapter 11, Jesus says, "Have faith in God," and then, "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." It's an eye-opener that Jesus defines the function of faith first as saying. And yet faith-filled speaking is sourced in the womb of prayer, because in the very next verse Jesus says, "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." I challenge you to go to Matthew chapter 8, where Jesus identifies the greatest faith he had ever seen. He says, "I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel." If Jesus says that, we should pay attention. Who is this person? It was a Gentile Roman centurion who understood authority and commanding words — the chain of authority. He said, "I too am a man in authority, just as you are, Jesus. I recognize that you're under the Father's authority." He understood the power of commanding words: "Just say the word, and my servant will be healed." So Peter stood up from that place of praying through, turned to face the situation, and spoke. He released his faith — a commanding word of belief — and kingdom possibility followed. It was prayer-sourced, belief-filled proclamation. And it was an environment — internal and external — that he had conditioned for the extraordinary. It's Always Comeback Time So, friend: is something sick or dead in your world? We all have that — something great or small, in varying measures. It's comeback time. It's always comeback time when you're a Christ follower, because you have what one teacher calls "redemptive lift" in you. You have the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It's constantly accessible. There's redemptive lift. You cannot sink. You cannot be defeated — if you stay faithful, if you stay connected. It's always comeback time. So why not use this kingdom template that Jesus used, and Peter used? Now you and I can use it today, because that's what Jesus is looking for. He modeled the kingdom, and he's inviting — even commanding — his followers to operate the same way, to live at the same level. There it is again: condition your environment for the extraordinary. Pray through until you receive. And now rise up, turn to that situation in faith, and proclaim. I appreciate you, friend. Christ is reigning. Go live like it. This has been Jesus Smart X with Brian Del Turco. Until next time. Scripture referenced: Acts 9:36–42 · Matthew 9:23–25 · Hebrews 4:16 · Ephesians 3:20 · Romans 10:17 · Mark 11:22–24 · Matthew 8:5–10

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Building a Gold, Silver, Precious Stones Kind of Day | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 382

Today isn't just another day — every day's a building day. From 1 Corinthians 3, Brian Del Turco asks the question every believer needs to hear: are you building with gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw? What survives the fire? In under three minutes, discover how the Word, the Spirit, and prayer turn an ordinary days into material that lasts. Because days build weeks, and weeks build seasons. Christ is the Master Craftsman. You're the apprentice. Time to build something that counts. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Building a Gold, Silver, Precious Stones Kind of Day Jesus Smart 180. Three minutes. One turnaround. Hey, how are you doing? I hope your summer is going well — and if you're listening in the fall, winter, or spring, I hope that season is treating you well too. We think today is just another day. It's not. It's a building day. And one day, fire is going to test everything we build with. What Are You Building With? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that whatever we build on the foundation — Christ himself — will get tested. We can build with gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. The fire will reveal which one survives. Every day we're building. The question is, what are we building with? Are we building with the Word, with the Spirit's leading, with prayer-borne action? That's gold, silver, and precious stones, and it holds up under fire. Or are we building on impulse, autopilot, whatever's easiest, carnality? That's wood, hay, and straw. It might look fine going up, but fire will show what it's made of. I want to encourage us to journal, to map out, to stay aware and conscious of how we're doing, so we can architect our lives in a way that pleases the Lord. Days Build Weeks, Weeks Build Seasons Here's what I want us to catch today: days build weeks, weeks build seasons. You're not just deciding how today goes. You're laying material into a season of your life. One day your life will be over, and beyond that, we'll give a stewardship accounting of our lives. Now, God is kind. He's restorative, he's redemptive. But we do need to engage with him on this. Here's the good news: we're not building alone. Christ is the Master Craftsman. We are the apprentice. Partner with him. Ask him to help you lay gold, silver, and precious stones today, not just to get through the day. Let's Pray and Declare Father, in the name of your Son, Jesus, I want to build with gold, silver, and precious stones today. Holy Spirit, lead my steps. May your Word shape my choices. Christ, you are the Master Craftsman. I'm building with you, not apart from you, not around you. Let this day hold up under the fire. Let my days build weeks and seasons that count, that bring you glory, and contribute to your story. Amen. That's your 180. Find more at JesusSmart.com.

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Becoming Unoffendable: "I Can Afford That" | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 381

Offenses hit us like fiery darts. But what if you could become unoffendable? In this episode, Brian shares a simple approach that’s changing how he’s learning to handle offenses, unpacks what it really means to forgive a debt, and explores why Scripture calls this “the glory” of what it means to be created in the image of God. Learn to say, “I can afford that.” ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Becoming Unoffendable: "I Can Afford That" Jesus Smart 180. Three minutes. One turnaround. Hello there, friends. Welcome to the podcast. I have something here that I've been thinking about, something that surfaced this morning with me in prayer, and that is becoming unoffendable — the process of becoming unoffendable, the freedom that brings, and the attitude that "I can afford that." Let me tell you what I mean. Giving the Offense to God Offenses will come at us as fiery darts. They can be small to medium scale, and they typically come through people, sometimes circumstances, but usually people. Behind them is a dark power trying to create friction in our life: discouragement, wearing us out, distracting us, getting us to veer off mission. We're called to stay on point, on message, on time, on assignment, our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So what do we do with these offenses? Jesus said it's impossible that offenses not come, so we're going to deal with it. But it's an opportunity, and that's the way we need to approach it. It's advantageous. We give it to the Lord. Romans 12:19 says vengeance belongs to him. That's his lane, not ours. I've started praying it from time to time: "Lord, if you want to deal with this, go ahead. If you don't, that's fine with me too, but I'm not carrying it. It's in your hands." What I find is that when he moves on something, he does a far better job than I can, and I stay free, and I stay in my lane. "I Can Afford That" "Forgive me as I forgive those indebted to me" is how Jesus taught us to pray. To forgive means to give — it's in the word. Don't insist that they pay for the offense. Luke 6:38 is a popular verse, but I encourage you to read the verses around it too. We're to forgive, we're to give to others, and we give, and it will be given to us, good measure, pressed down, shaken together. What a gift this is in Christ. We can love because he first loved us. We can be secure in that. And he takes care of the revenge issue as necessary — nobody sets things right like Jesus. I don't have to collect on the indebtedness of others. Say this with me: "I can afford that." Say it again: "I can afford that." What do I mean? We can live in the abundance and grace-empowerment of Christ. When somebody becomes indebted to us through an offense or a sin, we don't have to collect on it, we don't have to worry about it. Instead, we posture ourselves to be blessed by the Lord. He takes us to higher levels. We need to become so taken with Christ and his Kingdom that it eclipses these small, nagging things trying to nip at our heels. It's so much bigger than that. Do you want the glory of God in your life? Proverbs 19:11 says it is the glory of God to overlook a transgression. What does that mean? I encourage you to dig deeper. The New Testament word for glory is doxa... a correct recognition, a correct understanding. The glory of God is a correct perception of his attributes, his nature. The Old Testament word kavod, one of the Hebrew words for glory, means his weightiness, his authority. We want God to show up and throw his weight around as necessary. That's his authority. So taken together, it's the glory of God to overlook a transgression. We maintain and cultivate a clearer perception of God, his nature, his attributes. We don't take his name in vain, we don't misrepresent him, and we learn how to move in his royal authority — carrying his weight in this world. You're going to need his weight to live the life he wants you to live in Christ. Thanks for listening to Jesus Smart 180. Your move. Visit jesussmart.com for show notes and more.

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Praise, Discern, Fight — In That Order | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 380

In the wilderness, God gave Israel a precise order for breaking camp and moving: Judah first, then Issachar, then Zebulun. Praise, then discernment, then warfare. There are protocols and precedents in the Old Testament that find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ. It's a kingdom sequence for how we move in faith today in Christ. Skip a step, and something breaks down. Get the order right, and you take ground. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/380 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Praise, Discern, Fight — In That Order Welcome back. Quick heads up before we dive in: this one's shorter than usual, not a Jesus Smart 180, just a tighter full-length episode. Today we're looking at a sequence buried in the wilderness camp of Israel. The Old Testament is full of precedents and protocols that find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the New Covenant, meaning in our lives on this side of the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension. One of those protocols is a kingdom dynamic we could call praise, then discernment, then warfare, in that order. It's a pattern that shows up again and again in Scripture, and it's just as available to us now, in a heightened sense, through Christ and the New Covenant, as it was to the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. This content comes straight from my Smart Edit newsletter. If you want these kinds of insights landing in your inbox before they ever hit the podcast, sign up free at jesussmart.com/smartedit. It's free, and I think you'll like it. Stick around to the end, I'll close us out with a quick prayer. A Kingdom Protocol for Good Success God prescribed, in detail, how the nation of Israel was to encamp around the tabernacle in the wilderness, and in what order the tribes were to journey whenever they broke camp. Three tribes camped north, three east, three south, three west. The three camped to the east were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, and whenever the camp moved, whether journeying or heading into battle, Judah went first, then Issachar, then Zebulun. Judah was uniquely anointed for worship. The name itself means praise, and Judah was marked as the tribe through which kingship and worship would flow. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. Issachar excelled in prophetic discernment; 1 Chronicles 12 says they had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. Zebulun excelled in battle: skilled, disciplined, primed for war, expert with every weapon, stouthearted men who could keep ranks. Praise first. Discernment second. Warfare third. Reordering Your Next Move That's not just a wilderness protocol. It's a kingdom sequence for how we initiate and move in faith today. Always lead with praise, always lead with focus on King Jesus and seeking his kingdom first. Then follow with prophetic discernment, call it God-tel or intel, the sons of Issachar understanding the times and what you ought to do. Only then are you ready for Zebulun: warfare, practical action, moving out. A good question to ask: what's on the other side of this order for you? What needs resetting right now? Maybe it's a new season from God you desperately need, or showing forth his excellencies in one of three domains: work and finance, relational life, or wellness. What's pending from heaven's point of view for you? You can read more on this at jesussmart.com/380, including some additional thoughts I didn't get to here. Let's pray together for a moment. Father, we thank you for this kingdom protocol, and for the Old Testament precedents that find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the New Covenant, this side of the ascension. Whatever horizons we're looking at, whatever opportunities are before us, whatever challenges we're facing, inspire us to lead with worship and focus on King Jesus and his royal authority. Help us, like the sons of Issachar, to carry prophetic discernment, God-tel from your points of view rising within us. And then, under a spirit of might, help us do warfare and move out in applied, faith-filled action. I pray this over my brothers and sisters in Christ, and over my own life. We want to show up in full-spectrum faith and full agency in your kingdom. We thank you for it, Lord. In your name, amen. So that's the sequence: praise first, discernment second, warfare and action third. Skip a step and something breaks down. Get the order right and you take ground. If this landed for you, get more of it delivered weekly at jesussmart.com/smartedit, that's the Smart Edit newsletter. It's free, and I think it'll be a value add to your walk with Christ. Christ is reigning. Go live like it. This has been Jesus Smart X. Until next time.

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Required Listening: Talk Like the Most Effective Communicator Who Ever Lived with Charles Stone | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 379

Jesus was the most effective communicator who ever lived. Dr. Charles Stone, a pastor with a background in the neuroscience of leadership, breaks down the brain science behind how he taught, connected, and moved people to change. Connection. Emotion. Memory. Action. This conversation will change how you talk to everyone in your life. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/379 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Talk Like the Most Effective Communicator Who Ever Lived Brian Del Turco: Hey there, friend. Welcome to the podcast. This is Brian Del Turco, and this is Jesus Smart X. I'm glad you're here. This is episode 379, and you can find the show notes for this episode at jesussmart.com/379. This is a special required-listening episode: a recording from the past that we're surfacing again, because it's about communication, and communication makes everything work. Jesus was a master communicator, and we have a lot to learn from him. Here's Dr. Charles Stone, an expert on neuroscience and communication. Dr. Charles Stone helps us explore what it might look like if Jesus gave a TED Talk: eight neuroscience principles the master teacher used to persuade, whether in one-on-one conversation, small clusters, or massive crowds. We'll survey all eight briefly, then dig into a few in more depth, including creating affinity, leveraging emotion, and stimulating real life application. Dr. Stone is a pastor in Canada with an executive master's in the neuroscience of leadership, and he's currently working on his PhD. Here's my conversation with Dr. Charles Stone. Meet Dr. Charles Stone Brian Del Turco: I'm really excited about our guest today. He's an expert on neuroscience and leadership as it relates specifically to ministry, though I think there's application here across every life domain. Scripture tells us to love God with all our mind, to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Is it too much to say that the mind of Christ in us involves a kind of neuroplasticity, that we can actually grow in the mind of Christ? Dr. Charles Stone: Not at all. The way God designed us to learn is through actual changes in our brain, and those changes reflect our values, our beliefs, and our convictions. Brian Del Turco: Communication makes the world go round. Does this apply beyond the pulpit, to relational communication in family life, friendships, teaching? Dr. Charles Stone: Absolutely. God wired us to communicate in a way that isn't just for someone standing up front on Sunday morning. Our brains are wired to pay attention, to respond, to feel safe or unsafe around others, regardless of the setting. Biblical communication principles apply across the board. Dr. Stone holds degrees from Georgia Tech, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical, plus an executive master's in the Neuroscience of Leadership. He's the author of *If Jesus Gave a TED Talk*, a title he borrows not because Jesus gave neat eighteen-minute talks, but because he masterfully lived out the best ways to communicate and make truth stick. He was God, so we don't have what he has, but we can still learn from how he taught. The Forgetting Curve That Sparked a Book Brian Del Turco: What prompted you to write this book? Dr. Charles Stone: As a pastor spending fifteen to twenty hours a week preparing a message, I had this nagging feeling: what difference is this actually making? None of my seminary professors ever taught the theory behind what makes a message stick. Then I came across research from a German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, who invented nonsense words, memorized them, and measured how quickly he forgot them. That gave us the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, and it's since been repeatedly confirmed: people forget more than 95 percent of what they hear in a teaching session within a week's time. That was a wake-up call. Are there tools, principles, that communicators can apply to increase retention? Absolutely. That's why I wrote the book, and why others are studying the neuroscience of learning and communication. Eight Questions, Eight Principles Dr. Stone built his framework around eight questions, one for each principle: where you want to take your audience, how to get them to listen, why they should listen, how to beat out distractions, how to help them feel the message, how to make it stick, how to help them believe they can change, and what you want them to do afterward. Those became eight principles: clarity, attention, affinity, capacity, durability, emotion, mindset, and transfer. For a full breakdown, visit the show notes at jesussmart.com/379. Affinity: Creating Real Connection Dr. Charles Stone: Connection happens on two levels. First, with your material. You've all sat through a class or a sermon where the speaker clearly doesn't know their own content; that requires homework on our part. Second, and bigger, is human connection. Psychologists call it in-group and out-group. When people feel you're in their in-group, they pay attention and follow you. When they feel you're in the out-group, they can subconsciously register you as a threat, and they simply won't listen as well. Sometimes when I'm speaking to a new audience, I'll show a picture of my family, my kids, my dog. It signals, this is a normal guy. It builds trust. And the more you actually know your audience's needs, the more you can tailor what you say to them. I once heard a speaker from the southern U.S. reference a Chick-fil-A item to a room of Canadian pastors, and half the room had no idea what he meant. Small thing, but it's a missed connection. People sense, subconsciously, whether you know them. Brian Del Turco: That's a powerful baseline human instinct: to be seen, heard, known. Emotion: Engaging the Heart Dr. Charles Stone: If we'd been a fly on the wall for Jesus's preaching, we'd have heard passion, present enough that crowds asked, "Who is this who teaches with authority?" Emotion isn't just about the communicator's delivery; it's also how powerfully emotional learning sticks. I remember exactly where I was when the Challenger exploded, and when the towers fell on 9/11. That's the kind of stickiness emotion creates. There's a flip side, though: cognitive dissonance. Push people too far ahead of where they are and you lose them. Stay a step or two ahead, not miles ahead. If most people aren't keeping a daily devotional habit, don't challenge them to an hour a day; challenge them to ten minutes, three days a week, then raise the bar the next week. Well-placed stories matter too. Jesus told parables. A good story pulls a listener inside it; they become an actor in the narrative, engaging mind and heart together. Transfer: Stimulating Life Application Dr. Charles Stone: The goal of teaching isn't to disseminate information; it's for something to change outside the room. That requires prospective memory: remembering to do something in the future. Simple cues help. Some churches hand out small cards with a question from the message; people tape them to a dashboard or refrigerator as a reminder to apply what they heard that week. A Word on Contagious Confidence Dr. Charles Stone: There's something called emotional contagion: people catch your emotions, good or bad. I once watched a fast-food manager berate his cook in front of a line of customers; he'd set a tone, and it spread. Walk into a room defeated or irritated, and people won't lean in. Bring an encouraging spirit and they believe, "I can actually do this." That said, authenticity still matters; naming a real struggle briefly, without becoming a weekly downer, builds empathy rather than distance. This ties to mentalizing, our built-in ability to intuit the feelings and intentions of others: part spiritual sensitivity, part the way God wired our brains to read facial cues. We can't compartmentalize the spiritual from the physical; it's one integrated human experience. Closing Prayer Dr. Charles Stone: Father, thank you for technology that lets us share these conversations. Thank you for designing our brains and giving us the ability to form words and meaning. Thank you for the beauty of language, even though we so often misuse it. Lord, I pray listeners would take even one nugget from this conversation, and that your Holy Spirit would embed it deep. You've shown us your way of communicating through the Gospels, through how Jesus taught and told stories. May we learn from him as the teacher of all teachers, and may we steward this gift well. In your name, amen. For more on this conversation and the full eight principles from If Jesus Gave a TED Talk, visit jesussmart.com/379.

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Spirit-Filled Execution: Aligning Action with Christ's Energy | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 378

Whatever's in front of you right now — a new venture, a difficult conversation, a career decision, a family challenge — lay this Kingdom template over it. It starts with creative prayer: partnering with Christ's creative intent. It moves to diligent planning: honoring what is revealed by stewarding it with intentionality. And it executes in the energy of the Holy Spirit, not your own strength or willpower. When you follow this pattern, you tap into something far greater than your own effort. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Spirit-Filled Execution: Aligning Action with Christ's Energy Hey, welcome back. I'm Brian Del Turco. This is Jesus Smart 180, our short-form version of the Jesus Smart X podcast. There's a way that things work in any kingdom — and this is supremely true in the Kingdom of God. Today I have a three-part template you can lay over anything and everything to meet any challenge or exploit any opportunity. Creative prayer. Strategic planning. Spirit-filled execution. Start Here: Creative Prayer It starts here. Always. Prayer isn't just asking God for things. It's partnering with the Father's creative intent for your life. When you pray creatively, you're tuning into what God is already doing — listening for his thoughts, his designs, his dreams for you, and how it all fits into his larger story. James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. Creative prayer positions you to receive what's already flowing from his heart. It's not about convincing God of your agenda. It's about discerning his. Move to Strategic Planning Once you've prayed and received direction, get intentional. Map it out. What are the steps he's leading you to take? What resources do you need? What's the timeline? Solomon said it plainly: "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage." (Proverbs 21:5, NASB) This isn't about trusting your planning more than God. It's about honoring what he's entrusted to you. Psalm 127 reminds us that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. But notice. The builders are still working. They're just making sure the Lord is the architect. Planning sanctified by prayer becomes a form of worship. Execute in the Spirit's Power Now comes the doing. And here's where most of us stumble ... we try to execute in our own strength what God initiated by his Spirit. Paul's question in Galatians 3:3 cuts right to it. "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" The same Spirit who gave you the vision wants to fuel the execution. Stay connected. Pray through each phase. Depend on the Spirit's energy, not just your human willpower. Spirit-filled execution isn't frantic or anxious. There's a grace to it. Yes, you're working hard. But you're resting in the reality that God is working with you and through you. The Zeal of the Lord When you follow this pattern — creative prayer, strategic planning, Spirit-filled execution — you tap into something far greater than your own effort. Isaiah calls it the zeal of the Lord. His fierce, burning commitment to see good accomplished on the earth, flowing through your yielded life. Lay this template over anything. A new venture. A difficult conversation. Your career. Your family. Become skilled in it. Show notes for this episode are at JesusSmart.com/378. If this sharpened something in you — pass it on. I'm Brian Del Turco. Pray creatively. Plan strategically. Execute in the Spirit.

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Learning to Love America the Beautiful | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 377

The most important rights you have do not come from a government — it came from your Creator. As America marks 250 years, this episode asks what it means to love your country through a Kingdom lens. Revisiting a conversation on faith and the ideals that built a nation, we explore why your new nature in Christ is big enough to hold both a Kingdom-first faith and a real love for the nation He's placed you in. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Learning to Love America the Beautiful Rights That Come From Somewhere Higher Every right you have didn't come from a government. It came from your Creator. That's the founding idea behind America, and it's the lens we're using today as the nation marks 250 years of independence. This isn't just about celebrating a date on the calendar. It's about asking a deeper question: what does it look like to love your country through a Kingdom lens? This year, July 4th carries extra weight. Two hundred fifty years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, a document signed by over fifty men who paid real prices for putting their names on it. That document sparked a war. It also sparked something else: a nation built not on ethnicity or monarchy, but on ideals. A Nation Built on Ideas America is unique in world history because it isn't founded on the legacy of a bloodline or a crown. It's founded on ideas, chief among them, ordered liberty. Katharine Lee Bates captured that idea in her hymn "America the Beautiful" when she wrote "confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law." Liberty and self-control, held together. That's ordered liberty. It's not an accident that a poet writing from the top of Pikes Peak in 1893 landed on the same idea the founders had built into the Constitution over a century earlier. The framers drew from the best of the Greco-Roman world, the Enlightenment, and a strong dose of Judeo-Christian conviction. That blend mattered. Thomas Jefferson believed the French Revolution was simply an extension of the American one. John Adams disagreed, and Adams was right. The French Revolution had liberty, fraternity, and equality as its slogan, but it lacked the spiritual roots the American Revolution had. It descended into tyranny under Napoleon. America's revolution, by contrast, was preceded by the First Great Awakening, a wave of Christian revival up and down the Eastern seaboard in the 1730s and 1740s that shaped the spiritual and moral imagination of the generation that would go on to found a nation. Rights From the Creator, Not the State The Declaration of Independence makes a claim that's easy to read past: these rights are endowed by the Creator, not granted by government. That distinction matters enormously. If government grants rights, government can revoke them. But if rights come from God, no human institution has the authority to take them away. That's why the founders built a government of enumerated, limited powers. Three branches. Checks and balances. A Constitution crafted with the understanding that power corrupts, and that men need moral chains on their own appetites, in the words of Irish statesman Edmund Burke. This is also why the Declaration ends the way it does, appealing to "the Supreme Judge of the world" and pledging "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor." These weren't hollow words. Many signers lost property, homes, and safety for putting their names on that document. Freedom, once secured, has rarely been won back once lost. That's exactly why every generation has to understand its cost. Two Loves, Not One Here's the tension many Christians feel and rarely resolve: how do you hold a Kingdom-first faith and still love your country? The answer isn't to choose one. Your spirit, your new nature in Christ, is big enough to hold both: the priority of God's Kingdom first, and a real, God-given love to steward and preserve the nation He's placed you in. That's not compromise. That's stewardship. America's story includes real failures: slavery, Jim Crow, the long road to full civil rights and voting rights for women. The nation has moved, imperfectly but really, toward its own stated ideals. That's part of what makes it an experiment rather than a finished product, living up to ideals that were declared before they were fully realized. What America Still Needs There's a growing sense today that America is due for, and desperately needs, a third great spiritual awakening. The first shaped the moral and spiritual foundation for the Revolution itself. The second, in the 1830s and 40s, sparked reform movements that pushed toward abolition and human dignity, with figures like Charles Finney at the center of it. A third awakening wouldn't just be personal conversion. Historically, these movements have also reshaped culture and society for the better. As we celebrate 250 years, it's a moment to keep expressing our full American DNA and destiny. Not simply looking backward at what the founders built, but continuing to live out the ideals they set in motion, under the ultimate authority of Christ as King. A Closing Prayer Freedom from addiction. Freedom from sin. Freedom from every tyranny sin generates in our lives and communities. Ordered liberty is not just a political concept. It has a spiritual parallel in the Christian life. As you mark this Independence Day, whatever nation you call home, there's an invitation to pray for renewal: spiritual awakening, a return to a Christ-centered worldview, and a fresh recognition that every nation has a story to fulfill under God's sovereign hand. We look forward to the ultimate fulfillment of every nation's story in the new heavens and new earth. Until then, we're called to live as a city on a hill, in the light of what's coming.

The Eden Lie: Progressivism as Demonic Counterfeit | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 376

Brian traces progressivism from its Enlightenment roots to its expression in modern politics and the church, exposes it as a demonic counterfeit to the Kingdom of God, and points to the real future — the City of God coming to earth and the New Heavens and New Earth. Real freedom is downstream from truth. The kingdom is here. And the real Eden is not the one progressivism is building. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Eden Lie: Progressivism as Demonic Counterfeit Real Freedom Is Downstream from Truth Truth is upstream from freedom. Freedom is a wonderful value — one we all want. The human being is created to be free. Here's what Jesus said in John 8. He said to the people who believed in him: "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." The Amplified has it as continually obeying his teachings and living in accordance with them. Then in verse 36, Jesus says, "So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free." And in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." According to the Jesus worldview, the Christian worldview, truth is ultimately a person. So if you can go upstream and say there is no ultimate truth — if you can say there are many truths — then downstream from that you can affect human freedom. This is a core question. When Jesus stood before Pilate at his trial, just overnight before his crucifixion, at that critical moment when the Son of God was being offered as a sacrifice, Pilate asked: "What is truth?" That question echoes throughout human history. A Quote That Rocked Me I was sitting on the couch recently doing old school newspaper reading — the kind that makes your fingers gray from the ink. I've been reading the Epoch Times. All I needed was a pipe, a fireplace, and a dog sleeping nearby. I'm reading this article, "Looking Through an Adversary's Eyes: A KGB Agent's Prophecy," and I come across a quote that stopped me cold. It's from a French liberal politician and journalist who lived from 1830 to 1888 — very influential, very progressive. The article used his quote to illustrate what they called the arrogance of intellectuals taken in by radical ideologies. Here it is: "Beside the divine garden from which I have been expelled, I will erect a new Eden. At its entrance, I will set up Progress, the personification of progress, and I will give a flaming sword into his hand and he will say to God, thou shalt not enter here." Can you imagine that? The human quest has set up a counterfeit Eden. Instead of being removed from God's Eden because we were grasping at what is right and wrong, God is now removed from our Eden. And the guardian is not an angel of God. It's the personification of Progress — that is progressivism. What Progressivism Actually Is This is a primer, and I want to be clear — I'm on a continuum of learning here. Progressivism is rooted in the European Enlightenment. In America, it has been at least a 100-year struggle between progressivism and traditionalism. It began as an intellectual rebellion against the founding political philosophy of America — constitutionalism — rooted in the thought of John Locke and the founders of the republic. The founders saw the authority of government depending on observed limitations on its powers. Progressivism rejects that. Its vision is a linear path in history toward absolute equality, a utopia. Social justice as equality of outcomes — in everything. And progressives want to liberate individuals from history. They want to release them from religion. They want to redefine gender and marriage. They want to dismantle the family. Progressivism believes that social conditions can change human nature. If there is anything in you of the Christian worldview, that will run against the grain. You understand that human nature cannot be changed by social conditions alone. It requires spiritual regeneration and development as a Christ follower. And what begins as soft totalitarianism will eventually evolve into total totalitarianism — a form of government that asserts total control over the lives of its citizens through coercion, suppression, and repression. Progressive Christianity vs. Historic Christianity Today's modern church is not exempt from this. Jude 3 says to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Progressive Christianity affects Bible interpretation, theology, teaching, and practical living. I'm grateful that emerging voices and young apologists are addressing this. One of those is Alicia Childers. I'm dropping a link on the show notes page to an interview she did with Rod Dreher, who wrote Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents. Highly recommended. Progressivism is a distortion of Christian ideals. The ideal society will not be realized this side of the new heavens and new earth. Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:13: "According to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." The Real Future Jesus spoke of the Ekklesia. I've been using the Greek word more because the word "church" has become misconstrued and loaded for many people. Dallas Willard calls the church the Society of Jesus. And the Society of Jesus is set within the society at large. Jesus said, "You are a city on a hill." A hill is elevated topography — everyone can see what's on top. Jesus means for his society to be a model of what it looks like to follow him, what his kingdom looks like. And I want to say this: the city on a hill is meant to be a precursor to the City of God coming to the earth in the future. It's meant to be a sampling — partial, and yet carrying the dynamic of the City of God in contrast to the City of Man. To use Augustine's framework: the City of God is meant to be an illustrative precursor to what is coming. Can you see how this immediately contrasts with the vision of progressivism? Progressivism is a demonic counterfeit to the real future. Following the new birth, how should we be developing and living now in this age in light of the age to come? That is our experience in the Society of Jesus. We get on the continuum of developing as apprentices of his kingdom. We begin to live now in the light of the age which is to come. We in and of ourselves become a sign, a wonder, a precursor to the real future. God is restoring the Edenic dynamic. Beware of the demonic counterfeit. Go back to that quote: "I will erect a new Eden... and he will say to God, thou shalt not enter." That is counter-programming to the true kingdom of God, which God spoke of at the very outset — at the fall of man in Genesis 3. The Messiah would come and crush the head of the serpent. The proto-evangelium. The first mention of the gospel. And the gospel is the good news of the kingdom. Pray It In Here is the prayer priority Jesus gave us in Matthew 6 and Luke 11: "Hallowed be your name. May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It's about things coming here. The kingdom of God will be completely realized at the coming of Jesus Christ — but it's already here now. Already penetrating and expanding like leaven (Matthew 13). William Gibson coined the term cyberspace in 1984. He said: "The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet." I want to say that the real future is here right now. It's just not widely known and not widely distributed yet. Hebrews 6:4–5 says that we can taste the heavenly gift now, partake of the Holy Spirit, taste the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. There is a difference between normal Christ following and average Christ following. Don't take your reference point from the average of Christian life around you. Let your reference point be the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, your vital connection with the ascended head Jesus Christ, and your connection with other believers who want to run with the normal Christian life. This is part of the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10: "I have come to give life and life more abundantly."

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Rich in All the Wrong Ways | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 375

Some are rich — just in all the wrong ways. Jesus had something different in mind. Let's unpack what it means to step off the expressway of self and into the off-road adventure of Kingdom generosity. From investing in relationships to leveraging resource for others, living rich toward God is not just a posture. It's a path toward the greatest treasures on earth and beyond and in the New Heavens and New Earth on the horizon. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Rich in All the Wrong Ways. Are You Rich Toward God? Friend, welcome to Jesus Smart X. I'm Brian Del Turco, your host. What does it mean to be rich toward God? Jesus coined that phrase. We're going to touch on it today in this short episode. Being rich toward God points to a lifestyle that yields the highest harvest, both now and forever. This episode is based on a guest post by Matt Peterson, a pastor in North Carolina, published on JesusSmart.com. It might just change how you invest your days and weeks. A quick encouragement: check out the last episode, Willing and Obedient: The Blessing Is in Motion, a Jesus Smart 180. We looked at obedience as the on-ramp to God's blessing. Today we're staying in that neighborhood, unpacking what it means to live rich toward God. The question on the table: are you rich toward God? Am I? What does it mean? Before we get into it, subscribe to the Smart Edit newsletter for weekly Kingdom insight at jesussmart.com/smartedit. The Parable of the Rich Fool Jesus was teaching in Luke 12 when someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or arbiter over you?" And then he said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." He told them a parable. The land of a certain rich man was very productive, and he began reasoning to himself. Notice what he said to himself. He never once thought, I have a superabundance. Maybe I should give some of it away and help the poor. Instead he said, "This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul: you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But God said to him, "You fool. This very night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared?" Then Jesus concludes: "So is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." There's the phrase. The Expressway of Me Jesus knows that a lifestyle of generosity and sowing reaps the highest harvest, in this life and in the age to come. The question worth sitting with: will our future self thank our current self for how we lived? Jesus is not saying don't prepare for the future. He's not saying never spend anything on yourself or enjoy life. Paul told Timothy that it is God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. What Jesus is sharing is a secret more important than self-preservation or self-increase. It's the secret of stepping off the wide expressway everyone's racing on. Call it the expressway of me. Onto an off-road adventure of living as a giver of riches. What does it mean to live rich toward God? It means living on a path where you discover the greatest treasures on earth. And what are the greatest treasures on earth? People. Jesus came and gave it all for people. It's a journey with constant opportunity: encourage the wilted, give water to the thirsty, celebrate the successes of others, ask how you can add value, multiply value, enhance someone's progress. Weep with the suffering and find ways to free the oppressed. You can find the full show notes for this episode at jesussmart.com/375. Serving the King What we're really doing when we live this way is serving the Kingdom of Heaven. In effect, we are serving the King himself. Being rich toward God means joyfully volunteering in the mission of serving the purposes of the Kingdom, and that is fundamentally an investment in people. When I invest in relationships, serving my now-adult children, my wife, brothers and sisters in Christ, even those outside the Kingdom, I am being rich toward God. The world defines success as being rich toward yourself. And those who go all the way down that road will tell you, if they're honest, that it's empty. Depressing. There's no real fulfillment in it. No peace. But when we leverage our resources, our energy, our prayers toward others in need, we are richly lavishing on God. Remember what Jesus said: when you've done it to the least of these, you did it to me. When I spend the best part of my day conversing with God, walking with him, listening to my Father, I am being rich toward him. And out of that intimacy, that conversational relationship, I will be rich toward God by investing in others. Give What You Have Living rich toward God means giving what we do have instead of waiting for more to give. You have time. You have energy. You have some money, some talents and giftings, some material things. We don't wait until we have more before we start giving. We start with what we have. It means finding ways to make another life richer with intentional words of encouragement. What if we took up the habit: every day, do something intentional. Text somebody. Email someone. Call someone. Go analog and tell someone face to face. Give a word of blessing. Give a word of encouragement and support, rather than being fixated on our own needs and our own quest for pleasure. Here's the thing: we will enjoy life better when we are rich toward God, which means being rich toward others for whom Jesus died. Investing in Eternity Living rich toward God means making the most of our time now, with eternity in view. Ten thousand years from now, in the new heavens and the new earth, what the Bible calls the age to come, we will gather with the thousands of lives we touched on earth. Our future selves will be grateful for how we chose to live in this age: serving others, blessing others, living rich toward God instead of building bigger barns, hoarding it all up, and eating, drinking, and being merry. The Rich Young Ruler was invited by Jesus onto that off-road journey. He couldn't release what he had. He declined. We can say yes. We can live rich toward God. About Matt Peterson I'm grateful for this content from Matt Peterson. He is the Lead Pastor at Awake Church in North Carolina and the founder of Hydrating Humanity, an organization working in the poorest areas of the world with water, economic, social, spiritual, and physical development. Look them up. Links are on the show notes page at jesussmart.com/375. This is a wrap on Episode 375. Show notes and links at jesussmart.com/375. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to the Smart Edit newsletter. It's free, comes out weekly on Thursdays, and is packed with Kingdom-focused content. Subscribe at jesussmart.com/smartedit.

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Willing and Obedient The Blessing Is in Motion | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 374

Obedience to the Lord releases a blessing — but the timing and shape of it will likely surprise you. The most significant acts of obedience are often the ones nobody sees: the resolute yes in a quiet moment, the faithfulness in a small thing, the integrity in an unseen situation. God catalogs every one. Isaiah 1:19 makes the promise plain... willing and obedient hearts eat the good of the land. The blessing comes later than you think, looks different than you think, and lands better than you think. In this Jesus Smart 180, Brian Del Turco unpacks the Kingdom posture of willing obedience and why the blessing is already in motion for those who stay based. See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/374 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Blessing Is in Motion Jesus Smart 180. Three minutes. One turnaround. Hey, welcome back. I'm Brian Del Turco. This is Jesus Smart 180. One word today. And that word is obedience. And a blessing that many times we don't wait long enough to receive. Obedience to the Lord releases a blessing. But the timing and the shape of that blessing may likely surprise you. Most of us think of obedience as a transaction. Do the right thing, get the result, fairly quickly, in a form we recognize. But many times that's not how it works. Often the most significant acts of obedience are the ones nobody sees. It's that resolute yes we give to the Lord in a quiet moment. That faithfulness in a small thing. That act of integrity in an unseen situation. No audience. Just you and God, and a choice you make. And then the Holy Spirit meets you to empower you to obey. Here's what's worth knowing. God catalogs every one of those moments. Even when we don't see an immediate reward or blessing for the obedience. Isaiah 1:19 puts it plainly... "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." (NKJV) Two words deserve attention in that verse. Willing and obedient. Not just obedient — but the posture of our heart. Are we willing? God isn't looking for grudging compliance. He's looking for a heart that says yes, a heart aligned with him. A heart that wants to obey without even much thought given to the blessing. That just comes as a byproduct. The promise is substantial. The good of the land. Not consolation prizes. Now here's the part that requires faith. The blessing often comes later than you think. And it likely looks different than you think. It doesn't always arrive on our timeline or in the form we anticipated. But when it lands — and it does land — it's better than we think. James 1:25 — "He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." (NKJV) Stay based. Keep saying yes. The blessing is in motion for you. Show notes for this episode are at JesusSmart.com/374. If this landed for you, pass it on. I'm Brian Del Turco. There's a way that things work in the Kingdom. Stay willing. Stay obedient. Thanks for listening to Jesus Smart 180. Your move. Visit JesusSmart.com for show notes and more.

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Psalm 110: Christ Is Already Reigning — Are You Living Like It? with Paul Hubbard | Jesus Smart X, Ep. 373

Most believers have barely scratched the surface of the powerful revelation in Psalm 110. In this conversation with Paul Hubbard, Brian Del Turco unpacks why Christ is reigning right now, not waiting. From the Melchizedek priesthood to the stunning story of Abigail and Nabal, this episode is a full-spectrum call to maturity — to become the kings and priests that Psalm 110 and Revelation 1:6 describe. If you've been waiting for Jesus to act, this episode will reframe everything. It's your move. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/373 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Psalm 110: Christ Is Already Reigning — Are You Living Like It? A New Heart: Paul's Encounter with Jesus Brian: Welcome to Jesus Smart X. I'm Brian Del Turco, and today I have a remarkable guest — Paul Hubbard, joining us from England. Paul has walked with Jesus for over 44 years, ministering apostolically and prophetically across the UK, Europe, Africa, and beyond. Paul, how did you first encounter Jesus? Paul: I encountered him after a very difficult operation in which I actually died on the operating table. Seven days after being released from hospital, Jesus came to meet me in my bedroom. I experienced having been given a totally new heart — not physical, but real. In the morning I was completely changed. I looked out the door, I looked at the trees and went, the trees are green, the sky's blue. It was that radical. I went around telling everybody I loved them, that God loved them. I was a new creation immediately. Brian: Born again. Radically regenerated. Paul has since served globally — UK, Norway, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Paraguay, the USA, Canada — and is presently, along with his wife Corinne, seeking to see the true ecclesia emerge. He describes ministering amongst the dying embers of the church at large, believing we have entered a new era since 2020 — one that looks dark and dangerous on one side, but on the other, the glory of God is arising within his people. A company of burning hearts is being prepared for this moment. You can find Paul on Rumble — search Get a Life! — and check the show notes at jesussmart.com/374 for links as more of his resources come online. Psalm 110 — The King Is on the Throne Now Brian: Psalm 110 is the most quoted psalm in the entire New Testament. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies. This is not a seeker-sensitive psalm. It is potent, urgent, and demands a response. Paul, what is your assessment? Paul: Jesus has finished and accomplished everything the Father wanted him to do. It's all wrapped up, everything is done, everything's finished, and it's all under his feet. He's the King — not just in heaven, but over the whole cosmos. Everyone's waiting for Jesus to do something more, whilst Jesus is waiting for us to administer his kingdom on the earth. Brian: Jesus raises Psalm 110 in Matthew 22, just before his crucifixion. Peter quotes it in Acts 2 immediately after the Holy Spirit is poured out. This psalm is not relegated to the future. It is already in play. Christ is reigning now — and we are his body, his hands, his feet, his beating heart. We are the ones called to carry the kingdom of God into the earth. Paul: We're not doing it the way people think he ought to. He's already here. He's just waiting for us to administer what he's already done. Brian: This is the weight of Psalm 110 pressing down on you and me right now. Not someday. Now. Hebrews 6 and the Cornelius People Brian: If Christ is already reigning and waiting for us to administer his kingdom, the uncomfortable question becomes: are we actually equipped for that? Hebrews 6 is direct — though you should be teachers, you need someone to teach you again. You need milk, not solid food. You are underdeveloped, arrested in your walk with God. Paul: If the elementary principles of Christ — the living letters of Jesus himself — are not alive on the inside of us, then we're not carrying the kingdom of God at all. We haven't even started. Each one of those foundational things means something inside of us. And then he says, this we will do if God permits. I need his permission to go on. Brian: What does it mean if God permits? Paul puts it plainly — God looks at what is living out of you. What is the establishment of truth within you? These last five years have tested everyone. Millions have failed to discern between good and evil because they remain immature. The church is not where it thinks it is. And yet — surprisingly — there are people outside the visible church who are carrying something of God. Paul calls them the Cornelius people, after the Roman centurion of Acts 10. Paul: There are people who would not call themselves Christians who are discerning things in ways that Christians are not even seeing. God saw this monument that Cornelius had built. He wasn't going to the synagogue. But inside him was life, pouring out. He's a builder, an encourager. God sees it and sends Peter — and opens the door to the Gentile world. Brian: Cornelius people are among us. Discerning. Giving. Building. While parts of the church remain on milk. That tension ought to humble us. Check the show notes at jesussmart.com/374 for related episodes on ecclesia and Kingdom theology. Abigail and Nabal: A Picture of Kings and Priests Brian: Revelation 1:6 says Christ has made us kings and priests. That is Psalm 110 language. And there is a picture of it in 1 Samuel 25 that is stunning in its clarity. The characters: David, the anointed but not yet enthroned king. Abigail, whose name means the Father's joy — a woman of good understanding and beautiful in every way. And Nabal, whose name literally means fool. David sends his mighty men to Nabal asking for provision. Nabal dishonors them and turns them away. David prepares to respond with the sword. Paul: Abigail discerns that David is the coming king. She understands it somewhere in the spirit. And she knows this fool of a husband has dishonored him. So she loads the donkeys with every provision — when you're loaded with grace, it looks like donkeys full of provision — and she goes to meet David. Brian: She says plainly: as his name is, so he is. Nabal is his name and folly is with him. She sees reality and names it. She does not hide behind false respect. And she intercedes — causing heaven to come to earth. A priest operating from a heavenly dimension, meeting a king carrying government from another place. Kings and priests coming together. Nabal, told the next morning what had occurred, has his heart turn to stone. God gives him ten days — the number of testing. He does not repent. He dies on the tenth day. Paul: God didn't really have to do anything. The guy had killed himself. He'd sent a boomerang out, and while it cut people down, he didn't realize it was going to return and cut his own head off. Brian: We are surrounded by Nabals — in government, media, education, and yes, in the church. But Abigail shows us the way. Carry the Father's heart. Discern the king. Intercede. Let heaven and earth come together. That is the Melchizedek order — and it is available to us now. The Kindling Wrath and the Jesus We Don't Know Brian: Psalm 2 addresses the kings of the earth directly — be wise, be instructed, kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish. Are we seeing a kindling of that wrath now? Paul: People have sent boomerangs out and those boomerangs are returning upon their own heads. God isn't directly executing — he's just not keeping them from being exposed anymore. You are exposing yourself. You are in your shame. And there is an end to it. Brian: The earth is the Lord's — Psalm 24:1. It has never belonged to Satan. But God has coded creation in such a way that you will reap what you sow. The harvest catches up. The wicked have no staying power on this planet. And yet — there is a Jesus we do not fully know. We know the loving shepherd. We may not know the one who overturned tables, made a whip overnight, and acted with full intentionality. We may not fully reckon with his infinite sense of justice and holiness. Paul: The Jesus coming back is coming back in us first. All creation is awaiting the sons of God. He is coming back right now — leveling us up by a plumb line. I am not waiting for Jesus to rescue me. He's already rescued me. I want to be the son of God I truly am, bringing something of heaven to the earth right now. Brian: Psalm 110 is not relegated to the millennium. It is already at play. The wrath is already here — in lower intensity, redemptive form — giving us time to repent, to mature, to rise to this moment. Kings and priests together, carrying the Father's heart, ruling and reigning not from vengeance but from love. Paul: There's a lamb's heart in the lion. But when he roars — you're going to feel it. Brian: Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Christ is reigning. Know him. Live the difference. Show notes, Scripture references, and related resources at jesussmart.com/374.

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The Ears Have It | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 372

The Kingdom of God runs on a sonic frequency. Creation was spoken into existence. The Gospel is proclaimed with sound. Miracles are released through the hearing of faith. Jesus repeated "he who has ears, let him hear" throughout the Gospels and seven times in Revelation. The Ear Gate is not incidental to Kingdom life. It is central to it. The writer of Hebrews warns we can drift. We can become dull of hearing. We're not born again that way, but shaped that way gradually. What are you hearing, and how are you hearing it? Tune to the Voice Signature of God. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/372 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Ears Have It The Kingdom Is Sonic Hey, welcome back. I'm Brian Del Turco. This is Jesus Smart 180, our short-form episodes sprinkled in alongside our longer-form episodes each week. Here's something that might reorient how you think about your faith. The Kingdom of God is sonic. It runs on hearing. We are so taken with the visual. Having a vision has become a catchphrase, and we tend to think of faith as primarily visual: seeing, believing, imagining. But Paul cuts directly against that instinct. We walk by faith and not by sight. And where does faith come from? Romans 10: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith isn't generated by what we see. It's generated by what we hear. Tuning to the Right Frequency Think about it. Everything was created by sonic. God spoke, and it was. All things are upheld by the word of his power. Sonic. The proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Sonic. Prophecy. Sonic. In Ephesians 4, Paul says we have heard Jesus and have been taught by him. In Galatians 3, he says we receive the Spirit by the hearing of faith. He also says God works miracles among us the same way. The whole Kingdom apparatus is activated through the ear, not the eye. Jesus was deliberate about this. He didn't say "he who has ears, let him hear" just once. He said it repeatedly throughout the Gospels, and seven times in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. What you let into your ear gate shapes what you believe. What you believe shapes how you live. The writer of Hebrews adds a sharp edge to all of this, warning that we can become dull of hearing. We can drift. We're not born that way. We drift gradually, away from the sonic frequency of the voice of the Lord. That's worth taking seriously. So the question is: what are you hearing? And how are you hearing it, with fear or with faith? The Kingdom is sonic. Tune accordingly. Condition your inner man to the voice signature of God, however he chooses to speak. If this sharpened something for you, pass it on. I'm Brian Del Turco. He who has ears, let him hear. Thanks for listening to Jesus Smart 180. Your move. Visit jesussmart.com for show notes and more.

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You've Already Died. Now Live Like It. | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 371

Every religion in history says do this, become that. Paul says you've got it backwards. Most people read Colossians 3:5, "Put to death what is earthly in you," as a call to try harder. But back up two verses and everything changes. "You have died." That's not a command. That's a declaration. Paul completely reverses the logic of every moral and religious framework you've ever encountered. The indicative/imperative structure in his letters is one of the most liberating distinctions in the New Testament. You are not putting sin to death in order to become dead to it. You are enacting what is already true of you in Christ. The imperative always flows from the indicative. That changes everything. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/371 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: You've Already Died. Now Live Like It. Hello, welcome back. I'm Brian Del Turco, and this is Jesus Smart 180, our short-form episodes on the Jesus Smart X podcast. I have something for you today from the Apostle Paul that I think can be genuinely liberating. It's a distinction that can rewire how we think about what it means to follow Christ and obey him. Two verses. Colossians 3:3: "You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Then verse 5: "Put to death what is earthly in you." If we've already died, how is it that we still need to put something to death? That's not a contradiction. It's actually the key to everything. Indicative and Imperative Makes the Difference In New Testament Greek, verbs carry what's called a mood. In verse 3, the verb is indicative, a declaration of what is already true. You have died in Christ. It's not a goal or an aspiration. It's a declared fact about every believer living in union with him. In verse 5, the mood shifts to imperative, a command that addresses the will. Put to death the evil cravings in your earthly members. Action is required. Here's what makes Paul's framework so different from every other moral system in human history. Most religion runs like this: obey the commands, then you will attain the desired state. Do this, become that. Paul inverts it entirely. You are already this in Christ. Therefore live it out. The indicative, the fact and the reality, always comes first. The imperative, the obedient action, flows from it. The logic in Colossians 3 runs like this: you have died, therefore put to death what is earthly in you. You're not doing this to become dead to sin. You're enacting what is already true of you in Christ. The imperative is the lived expression of the indicative — not the path to achieving it. That's no small distinction. It's the difference between the religious systems of man and the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We may need to go a little nerdy to live a little deeper. Worth it. If this opened something up for you, there's more to explore. A possible mini-series on this theme may be coming in the short-form format. I'm Brian Del Turco. You've died in Christ. Now let's go live like it. Thanks for listening to Jesus Smart 180. Your move. Visit jesussmart.com for show notes and more.

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The Vantage Point Shift: Out of Your Head, Into His Heart | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 370

When a situation hits, most of us go straight to our heads — cycling, analyzing, worrying. But the Kingdom move is a vantage point shift: get out of your head and lock into God's heart. In this Jesus Smart 180, Brian Del Turco unpacks two connected disciplines... seeking God's perspective on your situations and refusing to be impressed by anything sourced in the inferior world of the Adversary. Discernment is a deliberate choice about what framing shapes your inner world. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/370 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast. Each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Vantage Point Shift: Out of Your Head, Into His Heart Hey, welcome back. I'm Brian Del Turco. This is Jesus Smart 180 — our short-form format, 180 seconds, one turnaround. We have one of these each week alongside the full-length episode. Look for both in the feed. Out of Your Head, Into His Heart Two words for you today: situations and impressions. They're more connected than you might think. Here's where most of us live when something hits. I know I do. Turning it over, analyzing it. A situation arises and we go internal, cycling through worst cases, best cases, our own read on what's happening and why. But that's not the move for those who are developing in Christ. The move is to get out of your head and seek God's heart on it. Not your assessment of the situation. His. Not what it looks like from where you're standing, but what it looks like from where he's standing. Those are two very different vantage points. And here's the key: don't just seek his heart on it. Lock into it. There's a difference between a passing glance at what God might be saying and actually positioning yourself in his perspective. Staying there. Abiding. Praying from there, acting from there, making your moves from there. That's what it means to lock in. Refuse the Inferior, Receive What's Really Real Now here's where impressions come in. And this is where it gets sharp. We live in a world constantly competing for what impresses us, what grabs our attention, what shapes our perception of what's real, what's powerful, what's threatening. And a lot of what's vying for that territory is sourced in what I'd call, from a scriptural worldview, the inferior world of the adversary. Inferior not because it isn't loud. But because it has no ultimate authority. It is not ultimate reality. It's a counterfeit kingdom pressing for your impressions. So we have to refuse it. Refuse to be impressed by it. You're not pretending the situation isn't real. You're refusing to let the enemy's framing of it be the one that sticks. Instead, let God impress upon you who he is ... his magnitude, his sovereignty, his active engagement in your situation right now. Let his designs, his purposes, his advanced plans be what shapes your inner world. Get on the front of the wave. Get over the horizon. Seek his heart. Lock in. Refuse the inferior. Receive what's really real. Show notes for this episode are at jesussmart.com/370. If this sharpens something for you, pass it on. I'm Brian Del Turco. Let's keep seeking his heart on the matter. Thanks for listening to Jesus Smart 180. Your move. Visit jesussmart.com for show notes and more.

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Not an Accident: God Has Designs on You! | Jesus Smart 180, Ep. 369

You are not an accident. God didn't improvise your life — he designed it. In this inaugural episode of Jesus Smart 180, a new short-form format in the Jesus Smart X feed, Brian Del Turco unpacks the Greek word 'prothesis' from Romans 8:28. What does it reveal about the deliberate, forward-leaning purpose God has for your lifetime right now? This isn't a comfort verse for passive Christianity. It's a declaration for people on assignment, on point, and on time. 180 seconds. One turnaround. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/369 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Not an Accident: God Has Designs on You! Welcome, friend, to the Jesus Smart X podcast. I'm Brian Del Turco. Starting with this episode, we're adding something new to the podcast feed — a short-form format. We're calling it Jesus Smart 180. Three minutes or Less. Tight, focused, designed to land with something worth carrying with you through the day, through the week. 180 seconds. But also a 180 is a turnaround. Because that's what Jesus brings through Kingdom reality in our lives. Each week you'll still get the full-length episode. Jesus Smart 183 runs alongside it. Same Kingdom DNA, just a different bandwidth. A Word Worth Sitting With Here's what I'd love for you to sit with for the next couple of minutes: God is filled with purpose. God has designs on you. Yes, the eternal Creator of the universe has designs on you, for your lifetime. Unpacking 'Prothesis' The Greek word for purpose in Romans 8:28 is prothesis. Let's break it down. Pro — before. Thesis — a place. Together it means a setting forth. Your place in this world. It's a deliberate, advanced design. Not improvised, not reactive. Intentional, forward-leaning, already in motion purpose from eternity past. Your salvation didn't happen because God was scrambling. It flowed from his eternal purpose. And that same purpose is already leaning into what comes next. The new heavens and new earth are coming — the full reconciling work of Christ. But in the meantime, he has a wonderful purpose for your lifetime. Right now. Right here. Right where you are in this season. You're Already Positioned You're not waiting to become useful to God's story. You're already positioned in it. It's simply a matter of awareness and yieldedness. And hearing from Jesus. Romans 8:28 says all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. That's not a comfort verse for passive Christianity. That's a declaration for people who are on assignment, on time, on mission with Jesus. Let's Receive It So let's receive it. Let's pray it in. Father God, we thank you for your wonderful purpose. We resolve to live and move and have our being in your Son Jesus Christ. And in your higher design for our lives. We praise you that our lifetime contributes to your great purpose. Amen. Find the show notes at jesussmart.com. And if this landed for you, share it with someone who needs the reminder. They're not an accident. God has designs on them too!

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Full-Spectrum Faith: The Holy Spirit, Global Governance, and the Alert Church with Travis Weber | Ep. 368

Most Western Christians have a faith that lives almost entirely in the head. Travis Weber — Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at the Family Research Council — argues that's not enough for the hour we're in. In this conversation, Travis shares what the Lord has been showing him about walking in an increasing measure of the Holy Spirit: displacing the enemy, receiving healing, and moving beyond intellectual Christianity into genuine spiritual power. Then the conversation shifts to the geopolitical: Travis attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May 2024, and what he observed should concern every believer. The WHO pandemic agreement, the UN Pact for the Future, and the steady march toward global governance are not distant abstractions — they are a coordinated shift away from national sovereignty and toward centralized, unelected power. This episode equips you to do what the sons of Issachar did: understand the times, pray with authority, and act. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/368 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Full-Spectrum Faith: The Holy Spirit, Global Governance, and the Alert Church INTRO Welcome to the podcast. This is Jesus Smart X the Podcast. I'm Brian Del Turco, and today I'm joined by Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. There are two vital themes: what it means to walk in the full power of the Holy Spirit as individual Christ followers, and why Christians need to be awake to the global push for governance and the minimizing of national sovereignty. This is Episode 368 — a recast episode. I think you'll enjoy it. Show notes at jesussmart.com/368. Let's go. Brian: We have a great guest on the podcast today — Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., holding a Juris Doctorate and a Master's in Law. Two great themes today. The first is Travis's own recent walk with the Lord and what I've been calling full-spectrum Christianity — full-spectrum Christ following. It is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not just the Father, Son, and Holy Bible. We hold a very high view of Scripture — you can't get any higher — but we have to move beyond doctrinal assent alone. We have to engage the Holy Spirit. We have to track with the first-century Christ followers and their experience of the Spirit as seen in the Book of Acts and Paul's writings. If the American church and the Western church are going to meet this hour, we have to meet it with the power of God. And the second theme: my wife and I attended a conference in early October in D.C. and heard Travis on a panel discussing the push toward global governance through organizations like the World Health Organization and the United Nations. We discuss our call to be aware, engaged in prayer, and willing to act where the Lord leads. For the show notes and to go deeper on today's themes, visit jesussmart.com/368. Brian: Travis, welcome. You're a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, served as a Navy pilot, earned your J.D. from Regent University, and a Master's in Law from Georgetown. What was that LLM focus? Travis: Thank you for having me. It's a Master's in Law from Georgetown — mine was in international law with a focus on international human rights law. Brian: And you're increasingly involved in international outreach through FRC as well. Travis: Yes. The family is really under attack globally. The things God established in Genesis 1 and 2 — his prescription for how we are to live — are under assault from the enemy worldwide. Many people are suffering. But it's important to understand that God is good. Suffering is not his doing — it's the result of the fall and the sinful brokenness man has introduced into the world. God is against suffering. He desires healing and hope. That's why he sent Jesus as the redeemer we can turn to and find life. Brian: That reminds me of the chiropractic concept of subluxation — a misaligned vertebra pinching nerve energy from the brain down through the spine. So much of what's wrong in our world is that we are misaligned with God's created order. It crimps his energy and life flowing to us. You're seeing that globally — the assaults on gender, sexuality, marriage. Travis: That's right. Being out of alignment with God's Word has caused enormous suffering. At the very same time we've seen profound technological advancement, the CDC is reporting elevated rates of teen suicide risk. We are technologically advanced yet suffering deeply in our overall well-being. That correlation is telling a story. Brian: Jesus said in John 3 to Nicodemus, "You must be born again" — which implies we're fundamentally born wrong the first time because of the fall in Genesis 3. All of early Genesis seems to be under a coordinated, multifaceted assault — male and female, image of God, family, the creation mandate. Travis, on a personal level — what is the Lord showing you in this season? How is the Holy Spirit leading you? Travis: One area the Lord has been showing me is walking closely with him to welcome his presence. When we welcome his presence — an increased measure of the Holy Spirit — it displaces the enemy and anything opposed to God. We need that presence to deal with physical and mental illness, to deal with demonic forces, to receive the Spirit's fruits of clarity, peace, and joy, and to receive his guidance in our decisions. I did not always walk this way, but the Lord has awakened me to this reality. And when you read Scripture, it's all right there. There is nothing in Scripture that says the power of healing and driving out demons is not for today. You have to read that into the text or construct a theological framework to reach that conclusion. For those of us who claim Scripture as the rule of faith and life, the plain text says the Lord came, healed, cast out demons, and desires us to have that same power through the Holy Spirit. Brian: Would you say there's a difference between the initial indwelling of the Spirit at salvation and an increasing measure of his presence as we grow? Travis: Absolutely — and Scripture addresses this directly. The disciples couldn't cast out a demon, and Jesus said, "This kind only comes out through prayer and fasting." A certain level of power was needed that wasn't being brought to bear. That's clear in the text. Many of us in the West are swimming in the sea of the intellect. We've absorbed information our entire lives — through education, culture, institutions — all of it conducted within that intellectual framework. God created the mind and we absolutely need right information. But intellectual knowledge alone is not enough. We need the Lord's presence and spiritual discernment. Psalm 91:1 — dwelling under his shelter and shadow — is a place of refuge. We will run into serious problems if we try to navigate spiritual forces with the intellect alone. For more on full-spectrum Christianity and Kingdom living, visit jesussmart.com/368. Brian: Paul told the Corinthians: "I did not come with words only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." That's a challenge. The American praying church does operate in power, but it needs to grow. We need those Kingdom jet streams synchronized with heaven, releasing the power of God even into the geopolitical arena. My wife Penny and I attended the Pray and Vote Summit sponsored by FRC in early October in D.C., and one panel you were on — with Michele Bachmann and Gabe Lyons, led by Tony Perkins — was focused on the push for global governance. You attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May of 2024. Travis: Yes. The discussion there was entirely focused on how to increase governmental power to address future health emergencies. Individual rights, religious freedom, the question of whether pandemic measures even accomplished what governments claimed — none of that was on the table. When the entire focus is on control and coordination, you get an outcome skewed entirely in that direction. The fruit of that was borne out in discussions on a pandemic agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations. The IHR amendments were finalized with incremental steps toward increased global coordination. The pandemic agreement wasn't finalized due to disagreements between countries, but work continues. The trajectory is toward global governance, not away from it. Brian: And the United Nations Pact for the Future moves in the same direction — well beyond pandemics into digital governance, sustainable development, a crackdown on so-called misinformation. Travis: The Pact for the Future is a 60-plus page priority agenda document produced by the UN bureaucracy — not by its member states. The UN was created after World War II to coordinate action to protect human rights and prevent another Holocaust. It was meant to serve its members. Instead, unelected bureaucrats are driving their own agenda, increasing the Secretary General's power, and expanding into digital governance and misinformation crackdowns. What's being done in the name of protecting democracy and stopping misinformation is in many cases suppressing legitimate perspectives and free speech. Believers need to observe these trends and discern what's actually being attached to those noble-sounding slogans. Brian: Acts 17:26–27 says God "made from one man every nation of mankind, having determined their allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place" — so that people might seek him and find him. National sovereignty is woven into God's design. Nations serve as a check and balance against the concentration of global evil. Jesus said, "My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations" — he is a global God, and we need to be what Leonard Sweet calls "glocal" — locally rooted but globally aware. Like the sons of Issachar, we need a prophetic awareness of the times and what we ought to do. Travis: That's right. The shift is away from national authority toward global power centers — New York, Geneva, Brussels. That shift is at odds with the biblical framework of nations and peoples. The Tower of Babel account shows God's concern about humanity concentrating power apart from him. We have to ask: is God being honored in what these governmental power centers are doing? That matters at any level, but it becomes critical when we're talking about consolidated global authority. Find the full show notes and additional resources at jesussmart.com/368. Brian: So practically — what does the Christ follower do? Travis: Strengthen your immediate network of believers. Family, church community, close friends who are focused on the Lord — people who help you gaze on him and whom you help in return. Build those relationships of mutual spiritual support. And pray together — not just personal prayer but agreement prayer. Heart-level connection with the Lord, receiving from him, allowing him to heal and minister and strengthen. Then pray, vote, stand — FRC's tagline captures it well. Represent the Lord in whatever place and context he has called you. He has a place for all of us, and if we seek him, he will use us there. OUTRO Thanks for listening to the Jesus Smart X podcast today. A huge thank you to Travis Weber and the Family Research Council — visit FRC.org to see more about their important work and resources. Show notes for today's episode are at jesussmart.com/368. And if you're not yet on the Smart Edit newsletter list, I'd love to have you — it's free, weekly, and it comes from a Kingdom worldview. Sign up at jesussmart.com/smartedit. We will rendezvous next time.

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Take Up Your Cross: Apostolic Living in a Sand-Built World | Ep. 367

A good dose of American Christianity has settled for blessing without the cross, comfort without death, resurrection without crucifixion. But apostolic Christ-following operates on a radically different principle: life comes through death. In this episode, we're exploring what it means to build on the firm foundation of Christ in a world where everyone around you is building on sand. We're talking about pulling down the blueprint God designed for your life over your work, your family, the places your feet touch, and why the cross must precede the life of the resurrection in every area where you want Kingdom breakthrough. This is the daily dynamic of dying to ego, perceived rights, and the small kingdoms we build for ourselves so the life of Jesus can be released through us. It's about living an ascended life where you operate from above rather than scramble from below. If you're tired of half-life Christianity and ready to live out your full potential in Christ, this episode may challenge what you thought following Jesus meant. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/367 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Take Up Your Cross: Apostolic Living in a Sand-Built World Introduction: The Question Before Us Hey there, my friend. Welcome to the podcast. This is Brian Del Turco. Here's a question for us: What does it actually mean to follow Jesus in a way that brings heaven's culture into the now, into our everyday life? Not just spiritual theory, but actual Kingdom breakthrough — practically in our work, our family, the places that our feet touch, the things that our hands reach out to and touch. The world is waiting to see a witness of Jesus' Kingdom in a practical way. I'm suggesting that most American Christianity has drifted toward personal life enhancement, comfort, blessing without the cross. But apostolic Christ-following — let's use that word as an adjective, apostolic — apostolic Christ-following, the kind Jesus modeled in His very life and that He calls us into, operates on a radically different principle: Life comes through death. Today we're exploring what it means to build on the firm foundation of Christ Himself, to live out the blueprint that God designed for our life, and why the cross must precede the resurrection in every area where we want to see Kingdom breakthrough. This is actually a recording of an episode, a short episode — it's very tight — that I did a number of years ago actually, and I'm just introing it right now. I did this episode out in the woods. I had a portable digital recorder. I was out with the trees and the sunshine coming through the leaves. So the sound is good — slightly different than a normal recording sound, but it's good, high-quality audio. It was done outside. I think I probably had a piece of paper with some bullet-point notes on it. I must have. This is episode 367. I think we're calling this "The Cross Dynamic: Apostolic Living in a Sand-Built World." Again, I'm Brian Del Turco, and this is the Jesus Smart X podcast. Before we dive in, if you want these Kingdom realities sharpened and applied to the noise of our cultural moment every week, please subscribe to the Smart Edit newsletter at jesussmart.com/smartedit. It's free, it's direct, cuts through the noise, cuts through the fog. I'd love to have you on the list. All right, let's talk about what it means to actually follow an apostolic Jesus. Apostolic Living: Building on the Firm Foundation Yeah, in the middle of the trees, the sun breaking through the leaves. And I love the versatility of this kind of recorder to be able to do that. I really believe that the Holy Spirit is restoring and breathing upon apostolic — apostolic as an adjective — breathing upon believers and wanting to restore apostolic Christ-following. Now, what do I mean? Apostolic living under Christ is concerned with building as a master craftsman and pulling down the design from above over your life, over the lives of those you run with, your families, over what you're connected to in your work, what you put your hands to, over companies of believers — the church, the ecclesia. The design is foundational. If you read the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, he would say things like, "I've laid a foundation, and that foundation is Christ." You see, apostolic Christ-following is not me-centered. It's not anthropocentric. It's not man-centered. It's Christocentric. It's Christ as the foundation. And what He says — Jesus talked about the house that is built upon the foundation. If we listen to His words and activate what He says, it is like we build our house upon a firm foundation that can withstand anything. But if we don't, it's as if we're building upon sand. And I've got to tell you, all around you is sand. Most people around you — the overwhelming majority — are building on sand. But you and me, as consecrated Christ-followers, as we quest for that, we build upon the firm foundation of Christ Himself. It's the wisdom of God coming down. It's the strategies from above. It is a blueprint. And I have to mention a friend and, frankly, a mentor — Paul Graham Hubbard. My thoughts today are provoked by his book, The Blueprint of Life. And I think I'll be able to leave a link to this book on the show notes page under Resources. You're going to want to check this out. This is some of the freshest teaching that I know of in this area. It's very inspiring, very challenging, and it is probably unlike anything you have ever heard. Becoming Like Jesus: The Apostolic Continuum Just by way of introduction: Jesus is an apostle, and He calls us to follow Him. So it makes sense that as we continue on that continuum of following Him, we will become apostolic. We will become like Him. You see, what apostolic does is it brings the culture of heaven into the earth. It brings the culture of the kingdom of God into spaces and places. Wherever your feet go, whatever you put your hand to, whatever you apply your mind to, whatever words you release into settings, and the very lifestyle of your life — it brings more and more of the culture of heaven. You know, we pray that prayer: "On earth as it is in heaven. Father, let Your kingdom come. Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Well, it takes an apostolic edge in our lives to do that. This is very challenging to the American expression of Christianity and to Christianity in the West in general. You see, following Christ is not about just personal life enhancement. It's not just the inheritance. It's not just prosperity — although prosperity is included in God's kingdom. The Principle: Life Comes Through Death Following Christ is a quest for death. I mean, Jesus actually said, "Look, if you want to follow Me, you have to take up your cross." If we don't take up our cross as we follow Him, we're really not following Him. If we are born again, if we are saved, and if we do make it into the new heavens and the new earth, we will live half-lives. We won't live our full potential. We won't live out the full destiny, the full story without the cross working in our lives. Here's the principle: Life comes through death. If we want to live in resurrection life, we have to live a cross life. The cross precedes the empty tomb, not vice versa. It doesn't just start out with the empty tomb with no cross. We must take up our cross daily, Jesus said, and follow Him. And every day will present us with numerous opportunities — little daily things that we can die to. Die to our ego. Die to what we perceive as our rights. Die to what we think is our standing. You know how this works — we just die to it. Just lay it down so that the life of Jesus more and more may be released through us. The Ascended Life: Operating From Above We certainly won't live an ascended life. You know, the ascension of Christ was even beyond the tomb. So we must go through the cross experience consistently. We must experience the resurrection life, the empty tomb experience consistently, to live an ascension life. You know, Ephesians 2 says that we've been seated with Christ in heavenly places. But that has to become more than just a doctrinal truth that we mentally assent to. That has to become a living, practical dynamic that is outworking in this life. Now it's being demonstrated, and it's a witness to the ascended Christ, you see. So resurrection life manifests in all kinds of ways: healing, release from poverty, release from the bondage of dark powers. Living an ascended life where you're actually the head and not the tail, if you will. You actually transcend situations, and you're no longer under them. An Invitation to the Person of Jesus Christ Here's the deal for this first little mini-episode: Apostolic Christianity is an invitation to the person of Jesus Christ. He is perfect theology. It's a person. It's not mental knowledge or mental assent to doctrine or a belief statement. It is a living, dynamic, experiential relationship with the person of God's Son. Frankly, my friend, we're actually invited into the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the experience of being born again. Jesus said, "I want you to come into the glory that I have with My Father. I want you to come into that intimacy, the beautiful relationship that the Godhead enjoys." We are invited into that through Christ. It comes through the cross experience. And if we want the full design of our lives, if we want the full blueprint to come down over the affairs of our life, if we want to help others and multiply value in their lives by helping them to bring the design of God into their settings, if we want to reach towns and communities and cities and regions and nations, it must be the release of the life of Jesus, the dynamic of the ascension of Jesus. And this can only come through an approach to Christ-following which is apostolic — where you penetrate uncharted territories with the culture of heaven. Well, we'll talk more about this. If you have thoughts about this, contact me. Go to jesussmart.com and hit the contact page. I'll receive an email from you. I would like to know your thoughts. Perhaps we can talk more about this moving forward, with guests as well, where we can do a deeper dive. The Challenge: Where Are You Building? Thanks for being with me. So central, so core to what it means to follow Christ and what it means in the gospel of the Kingdom. It's obviously applicable year-round, 365 days. So here's the challenge though that we face again: Where are we building on sand instead of the firm foundation of Christ? Where have we been reaching out for resurrection life, hoping for that without going through the cross dynamic, the cross principle in our life? Again, Jesus said if we're going to follow Him, we must pick up our cross, we must carry it. And it's not fun to our natural man to die. I just went through something the past couple of days. I'm not even sure all of why it happened or why my emotions and even my mindset were being affected so much. I think it was a complex of issues, a complex of things that were happening, not just one one thing. I'm learning — well, again, I'm learning. I've learned this all the time. Maybe I need to actually learn it so I don't have so many opportunities to learn it again, if you know what I mean. But I think these things cycle through our lives. We do go through trials, we go through tests. And we have to keep applying this dynamic, the cross dynamic in our life. I have to die to myself, die to my ego, die to my way of thinking, die to how I've been approaching life. Where have we been reaching out for resurrection life without going through this cross experience? Where is God inviting us into this apostolic edge, bringing heaven's culture into uncharted territory in our actual life? This is the blueprint coming down over your work, your family, your calling. But it only works through the daily cross — dying to our perceived rights, dying to our ego, dying to these small kingdoms we've been trying to build for ourselves. Life comes through death. Resurrection follows the cross. And oh, is it worth it — the ascension life, even going further, where we practically live out of that place of being seated with Christ in the heavenly places, operating from above rather than scrambling desperately from below. That only comes through consistently walking out this pattern of cross, resurrection, ascended life. Closing: Building a Company of Kingdom People Now, if this stirred something in you, I want to hear about it. Go to jesussmart.com, hit that contact page, and send me your thoughts. You can also just email me directly at brian.delturco@proton.me — Brian with an I — and maybe we'll explore this further with some guests even who are living this out in the trenches. I think we have to explore it further because it's so central to what it means to follow Christ and to live victoriously in Christ. Find additional resources and connect with the conversation at https://jesussmart.com/367 If this episode sharpened your thinking and challenged your understanding of what it means to follow Jesus in a world built on sand, share it with someone who needs to hear it. We're not building a podcast audience here. We're questing to build a company of people who actually live under the reign of Christ in the now, in the light of His complete reign which is coming. I'm Brian Del Turco. This is Jesus Smart X, the podcast. Walk in the Kingdom.

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Jesus Isn't Waiting to Be King: Understanding Psalm 110 | Ep. 366

Most Christians believe Jesus is waiting in heaven to become King. But what if He's been reigning all along? Brian Del Turco unveils Psalm 110—the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament—and reveals why the early church treated it as the master key to understanding Christ's present authority. Discover why Jesus reigning now isn't future hope but current reality, how the apostles saw Christ as King even under Roman persecution, and why "rule in the midst of your enemies" describes our world today. This is a tectonic shift in how you pray, view your calling, and participate in Christ's reign through prayer-born activity. The King isn't waiting. He's already on the throne. Read the full article at jesussmart.com/psalm110. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/366 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit.

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