The Biggest THREAT to Christianity is Happening RIGHT NOW (ft. Philip Anthony Mitchell) | Live Free with Josh Howerton

just sitting there. While we are running around acting like we have a false insecurity until the day comes when it lunges and then it wraps its grips around all of our systems, all of our policies. It wraps its grip around everything and then chokes the life out of Christianity, chokes the life of out of Western fundamentals, chokes the life out of everything until it's too late." Well, hey, Liffry Nation, before we jump into the episode, this podcast is recorded right here at Lake Point Church in Dallas, Texas. But the Liffry Nation is spread all over the country and all around the world. So if you've been watching and thinking, "Man, I wish I could be part of something like this," we want to invite you to take a simple next step and that is join us for church online. Every weekend we stream our services live on YouTube, Facebook, and our church online platform. And it's more than just watching a service. There are live hosts in the chat, prayer teams ready to stand with you, and people all around the world worshiping together in real time. And so whether you're exploring the faith, coming back to church, or just looking for a place to start, church online is a great way to jump in and experience what God is doing here at Lake Point. We would love to see you in the chat this weekend, and now enjoy the podcast. Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell, I've been waiting for this for a real long-time man. Man, thank you for having me on your podcast, man. I appreciate it. Well, we, you know, we basically had a whole podcast before the podcast. Yeah, we did. And we did. Dude, so, man, I'll just, I'm not this kind of guy, but my eyes are going to sweat when I tell you this. The number of times that I've been either discouraged, or I've been sitting in my garage doing a workout and listening to a Philip Anthony Mitchell sermon. And, and you preach like a freight train. That's why I like listening to you. I'm gonna talk about this in a second. I like people as a preacher. I like preachers who preach like everybody they're listening to is dangling over hell, and their only chances of whether here in the next few minutes. And that's how, that's how you preach, man of God. And so I thank you for spending time with me today. But more than that, I thank you for how God has used you in my life. Thank you for sharing that, man. That's very encouraging, man. I think sometimes we all need to hear that, right? I think sometimes we never know the impact that we may be having on the other side of a camera or microphone. And the fact that I've watched so many of your podcast clips and, you know, I've been impacted by some of the things that you have taught right here on your podcast, man. It's, it's very humbling to

hear you say that. So I appreciate that, man. Yes, sir. Yeah, sir. Well, dude, I got a lot of things that I've been waiting a long time to ask you. Yeah. But let me start right here, man. I got this weird thing where, and I'm going to shout out this guy, like when I travel, if I'm in an airport. Yeah. When people come grab me and they're like, hey, man, I listen to you. And then they always say the same two names. Hey, man, I listen to you. And Joe B. Martin and Philip Anthony Mitchell. Every single time. So what I'm saying is, dude, I feel like the internet like kind of discovered you like three years ago. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. But I know you didn't pop out of nowhere three years ago. So, man, will you just like take as long as you want? Will you just tell me your story, like what's the story of Philip Anthony Mitchell before the internet discovered Philip Anthony Mitchell? Yeah, man. I first, I don't think there's any such thing as an overnight success in the kingdom. I think what we see is sometimes God will elevate a man or woman who have been faithful in obscurity for a period of time. And that really is my story. My wife and I and 10 other believers, we planted a church from scratch in Atlanta back in October of 2012 and for all of 10 years, and I've been preaching in obscurity and being faithful and dealing with trials and tribulations and betrayals and hardships and just doing my best to survive very difficult seasons. I really had no real desire for where I am right now. I do feel like there was like some vanity in my heart during those 10 years and some jealousy in my heart during those 10 years. And I just spent a lot of time wringing that all out of my heart. And my wife and I survived some very difficult seasons. But I've been on the battlefield man for quite some time. And even now, I feel like what I'm experiencing right now, God is not done for me per se. I feel like he's done it for himself. And I'm just trying to do a good job of stewarding what God has entrusted to me in this season. What's the, because dude, I've heard you like mentioned this in snippets. I've always been, want to be like, tell me the story. of from where I came from all the way up to the time that you planted 28, 19? Man, I was, so I'm originally from Queens, New York. I was born and raised there, I was born to immigrant parents from Trinidad. My parents were believers, had a small ministry in their home, but the environment around me, was very tough, very urban, and it had a hole in my soul, and you know, my parents tried

to teach me scriptures and all the things, but it just never registered to me. I was longing for community, and I found that in the street, and I found out around men who was in the street, and at the age of 12, man, I went out in the street at age of 12, and I was selling crack cocaine at the age of 12. I've been arrested multiple times by the age of 17. I spent my 18th birthday in a prison cell at Rikers Island, you know, and because of legal trouble, my mother had to get me out of New York. I ended up in North Carolina, and another 10 years in darkness, was trafficking weight up and down the eastern seaboard, running around with women, shootouts in the streets, man, all the things, and I'll not forget during those times, I see God trying to peek through. I remember being on campus, and a young lady walking up to me, saying, you know, God is calling you to do something with your life, and I would blow that off, and I had a similar experience like that with another person in the student union at my college, but it got to the point where I was, I was empty, and I was suicidal. I was about 24 years of age, had a beautiful girlfriend at the time, who would become my wife, had a dope apartment, had a dope car, had a little bit of money in the bank, but I was empty. You see what I'm saying, Josh, I was so empty on the inside, I had all of the trappings of worldly success, but I had no peace, I had no joy, and no sense of direction, and I'll never forget during that time, I used to have like what they call dreadlocks, and I was sitting in my apartment alone, and I had a shotgun on my lap, and I had a fifth of Hennessy, and I was trying to get myself drunk enough to just pull that trigger. By God's providence, my door to my apartment was unlocked, and the female that used to do my hair, she came to visit me that night, I don't know why, she walked right through the door, and she looked over and she saw me sitting there on the floor, with that shotgun on my lap, and she sat down right next to me, and she grabbed my hand, and she didn't say one word, and she just sat on the floor next to me. There she is, and there I am, I got tears in my eyes, this shotgun on my lap, and this empty bottle of Hennessy, and it's like God used her to keep me alive in that moment. It's like her presence talked me off of that ledge. Sometimes people don't need our words, they just need a ministry of presence, and that kept me alive in that moment, but it didn't sustain. And six months later, I found myself in the same place, empty, suicidal, wanted to unalive myself. This time, God will use my girlfriend at the time, she got into a car crash, and we was living together, and she came home, and she put on gospel music, and it was the first time in my life I had ever

heard gospel music, and she walked the apartment, she lifted her hands, Josh, and she was praising God and thanking him that she didn't die in that car crash, and I'm staring at her, and this story comes to me, whatever that is, I want that for myself, right, and I crawl into the bathroom, I shut the door, and I started yelling at God, and I'm saying, like, if you exist, you will meet me right here, and I'm crying, and I'm weeping, and I'm yelling, and then I would just feel like this strong presence just engulfed that bathroom, and then all of a sudden tears of sorrow begin to like dry up, and God met me in that bathroom on the floor over a toilet seat, and I knew I had passed from death to life, because that night, I try to lay with my girlfriend, and for the first time I felt convicted about sin, for the first time I felt this was wrong, and I started sleeping on the couch, and it was just a couple days later, a stranger put a Bible in my hand, man, and that's how God brought me into the kingdom, and then six months after that, April 14, 2004, I was reading In Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 and 6, trust in the law with all of your heart. I felt God speak to me for myself. I felt God speak to me about pastoral ministry. I felt God spoke to me about a church and I started hearing God by not as fast as I can hear it. I wrote all of this down on a piece of paper I folded it in half and I put it in the back of a picture frame, and then I ran from God for the next four years I felt insecure. I felt unworthy. I didn't foresee that God can use a person like me to do anything in ministry and so I ran from God for four years before I finally surrendered to him and And after that surrender God will ultimately lead me down a pathway of serving other men for eight years Until I planted our very first church from scratch in October 2012, man so like There's like eight things there that I just you know make my sweat. Do you have any idea who that was that handed you that Bible? Yeah, man. It was a preacher man who I would learn he was He was married to a woman who I would later learn was friends with my wife And so it was just sovereign man that he or now would bump it to each other. He had put that Bible in my hand

and he said to me if you're gonna know God you got to know this word and And I just begin to read it started with proverbs and now I read the book of Revelation I don't know why I did that then I read the book of Daniel. I don't know why I did that but from the very beginning I was thinking about the end and from the very beginning. I thought about Eternity and I thought about all the things I read about in Revelation and so from the very beginning I felt like I was doing something in my heart and it was also around that time the movie The Passion of the Christ was released. I remember going to see the movie The Passion of the Christ and Seeing the dramatization of what Christ suffered for you and I and for all those who were belong to him and that rock knee man and I thought to myself the price he paid on the cross was so graphic and So significant and man. I just wanted to be faithful to him and I thought I would have this perfect grace, but I fumbled, you know, and But yeah, man, I almost I look back on that season and man, I could just think about my salvation. I just burst into tears anyways like For me, I don't need another home. I Don't need another vehicle. I don't need a bigger Instagram following Man, I don't need another dollar my pocket to be thankful for what God has done for me Right like as God is my witness. I tell you no live God did not do another thing for me Man, just the fact that he kept me alive when I was crazy in the street and then he brought me into the kingdom And that's enough for me to give him thanks and praise for for the rest of my life, bro Especially when I think about where I could have been, you know, I could have been internally separated from him and You know, sometimes I get flashbacks of some of the things I dealt with in the street and thing all that time God was his grace was keeping me alive knowing that he was gonna call me to the kingdom and the fact that he gave me Anything to do in the kingdom at all man. I'm thankful for that for the rest of my life, man. Amen. Yeah, man So then like I do you can talk about whatever you want to talk about and yeah, that's up to you But like if I understand like I'm a preacher and it's like I'm interested in preachers. Yeah, so like if I understand it right The church that you sort of came of age in Is pretty different than kind of who you are now. Yeah, if I understand it, correct slide How did you how did you get from where you started? Yeah to where you are? Man that first church I planted

I let that church for a decade and sorry, I'm talking about like the church you like first started going to Oh, yeah, man. So man, the churches I went to in the beginning Are very different than the way I am right now That's what's interesting to me. Yeah, I Went to Nobody's ever asked me that before So I'll set it up and then maybe you can figure out what so like I'm like dude the reason I like listening to you Wow is I mean, it's like bro. You just open up the word like It's what I might saw you open up the word Yeah, and basically you read a little bit and then you talk a little bit Yeah, and then you read a little bit more Yeah, and then you talk a little bit more Yeah, read talk read talk and you just it's like we know me and you both know that - Yes. - And it's like, from what I understand, we don't need any names or anything like that. But from what I understand, that's maybe not quite the same theological way. So like, whatever you're comfortable with, I'm just curious, like, how did you get from there to here? - So the churches I went to was nothing like what 2019? And, you know, I'll honor those men. I will not disrespect them. - That's right. - I feel like each person played a part in my life along the way. But what happened for me was two things was happening at the same time. There is a,

I went to Israel in 2018. And I was at, my wife and I had told the whole country from the north to the south. When we got to Jerusalem, we went into the garden tomb, and I came out the garden tomb, and I heard, like, singing off to my right in another language I did not know. And, you know, none of them looked like me, but I didn't really care. I just kind of crept into their gathering. I was the only black dude in their gathering, Josh. You know what I mean? And I was in the back, and I could feel the spirit of God, although I did not know the language. And the person who was leading the gathering, you know, he motioned to me to come to the front. And I came to the front and by God's providence, there was a gentleman on our tour bus who spoke the language of the people who was having a gathering, I was Portuguese. And the man said to me in Portuguese, he said, "I've been to your nation." And I saw the church in your nation, and how large sex another church is dead and is dying. And God says to you, young man, do you want to go back to your country and do something about it? And I said to him, "Yes, I fell on my knees."

And that group of Portuguese believers laid their hands on me, and they begin to pray God's, they begin to pray God's fire all over me. And it was like in that moment, a couple of things happened. Number one, that was for me like an Isaiah 6 moment, right? Where, for the first time in my Christian walk, I really understood the supreme holiness of God's nature, right there at the garden tomb. I also felt like God gave me a clear charge that to go back in the United States and cry aloud and spare not, right? No matter what it cost me, even if it cost me my life. So I made a vow to God that I would obey. And coming back from that, God also exalted for me his word, like there's so many people we see the Bible as just fodder for devotions. But for me, I understand the scriptures at that point was God's word written. It was his voice written. And from that point, I wanted to have, even as I'm staring at this Bible, that's worn and has this leather thing, which means you use it. I start to see the God, the God's word as his voice written. And I wanted to have a fidelity to it until God called me home. And that's what God burned me there, right?

And at the same time, I was listening to a passage right here in Texas. His name was Matt Chandler. So, yeah, he was, I was listening to Matt Chandler on that time who now would become a friend and a brother to me. He was walking people through. I think at that time, he was walking through like first Peter and something about that intrigued me, you know. And I began for the first time to just walk people through New Testament letters and then Old Testament books. And I felt that that was germane for me, that fit me. And I just made a decision that I'm gonna, I'm gonna kinda go that path. And then something supernatural would happen four years after that encounter in Israel. My wife and I were getting ready to go to a vacation on Jekyll Island. And it was a Thursday morning. And I felt God speak to me that you're gonna have to leave this old church behind. You're about to start a brand new ministry. And I didn't tell my wife. And we get to the island. And we had breakfast and my wife said to me, she said, honey, I gotta tell you something. But I don't want you to be mad at me when I tell you. I said, okay, we'll give it to me straight then. She said, I want you to just like hear me out.

I said, okay, I may hear you out. Give it to me straight then. And she said, how would you feel if we abandoned what we used to do and changed the name of the ministry and start all over? And I said, when did God speak that to you? And she said on Thursday morning, exact same morning God spoke to me. And I knew that day that the ministry I led was gonna be put to the side and I was gonna start this brand new ministry. And then this is where the preaching comes in. We launched 2019 in January of '23. And in the months leading up to that, I was driving around Atlanta just listening And then God spoke to me. I want you to preach through this book. And, you know, I think about my context. I said to myself, "Lord, you see my demographic, they're not gonna, they're not gonna last. If I do that, it's gonna take so long." And Lord told me, "I want you to do that. I want you to preach through the book of Matthew." And so I did that out of obedience. And then one month into doing that, he told me, "Now I want you to get rid of your outlines in the pulpit. Do them at home. Don't bring them into the pulpit." And I disobeyed for three months, and I finally surrendered. And he told me, "I want you to stay in this lane

until I say otherwise." And so for me, bro, the way I preach right now, in terms of like ex-ajitical preaching, I do that out of obedience. The veracity of my preaching is because for me, I feel like every time I stand in a pulpit, it's life or death for me. I think about the fact that any time I stand to preach, it could be my last time, or it could be the last time somebody in the audience is listening. And so for me, my preaching is anchored in this one passage, you know, when the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, he said to them in Colossae's chapter one, verse 28, he said, "Him we proclaim." All right, he said, "Woning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature before Christ." And so I felt like God put that passage in my heart, and I felt like that has been the anchor for my preaching. I wanna warn, I wanna teach, and I want my preaching in the end to present as many people as possible mature before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so for me, proclamation is not a game. It's not a game for me, it's actually, for me, Josh, it's actually life or death for me. And any time I stand to minister, I wanna preach like it's the last time I preach. Not knowing if I get another chance

to proclaim the name of Jesus or to call us in or to repent, and so is that serious for me, man. - Right, you know that I love, I could talk preaching all day. You know that, if you ever heard that quote, it's Richard Baxter, 16th century Puritan. He says, "It's the greatest preaching quote of all time, my opinion." He said, "I preached as never sure to preach again as a dying man to dying man." - Richard Baxter. - Richard Baxter. - I know, that's cool. - As never sure to preach again, as a dying man to dying man. It's when I'm no Philip Anthony Mitchell. But the last thing I do when I get on stage for the lights come up is, I quote, a verse. Yeah, and I say that in myself. I preached as we don't know, man. God willing, this will never happen either of us. Somebody could take our life in the pulpit next week. - Yeah, it could happen. - That's happened to many men before us. - It has, and I wear bulletproof vest when I'm on tour. - Yeah. - Because I'm aware of that. And I think about even some of the threats that people have made against my own life.

You know, and before I preach, man, I'm about to cry, man. - Dang. - Come on. - Before I preach, wherever I'll go to speak, I'll kneel down at a chair, and I'll thank God for finding me usable. - That's right. - I'll thank God for finding me usable and for the glorious opportunity to proclaim his holy word. You know, I'll remind myself that I can't do that without that man, and I'll bring out my fear, my anxiety. That's crazy. I still get afraid sometimes when I go preaching. - Same. - I'll bring out my fear, and I'll bring out my anxiety, and I'll always thank God, like, I just thank him. That he even saw in me anything worth using. You know, to proclaim his word, you know, and I would just never imagine, you know what I mean? Like, considering all that I've done in the lives that I've ruined, you know what? God would use me to open his word and proclaim it, and so every time I preach, and I'm sorry, man. - You good, man? - You good? - I'm sorry, man. Every time I preach, man, I just feel this deep sense of humility, and I feel this deep burden to honor Christ, but too, honor the preaching of his word, and you know what, man?

I, it's a struggle for me sometimes because if I could be fully transparent, like, I don't have a seminary degree. I remember going to seminary for once a semester, and I had to drop out because of my family, you know? It was like, man, you always locked in a room. For me, can I just be fully transparent? And sometimes I feel so insecure in my preaching. I feel like my preaching is so unpolished, right? I listen to you talk, man, I listen to you talk. And when I hear you talk, like I listen to this podcast, it's crazy, I'm sitting there at this table. I've listened to you sit here at this table and speak with such depth. You're like how you just quoted our backster and I'm saying it, listen to some depth and I would listen to clips from you and clips of men that I see that have depth and I would push back in the table and I would just cry. Sometimes I'll get down on the knees, on my hands and knees and I was like, Lord, like I want that type of depth. You know, I want to, I want that type of depth. You know, it's gonna take seminary. Do I have to read more books like sometimes when I feel, I feel like my preaching is so unpolished, you know, and it's so unpolished. And man, I just kneel at my chin. I just ask God to just help me to the best of my ability, man, but I want more depth. I would love to go to seminary.

I would love to learn. I would, man, I'm just a hood dude from the street trying my best to be obedient, to what God has called me to do and I'm trying my best to steward, to the best of my ability where God has entrusted to me, man. And through all of the warfare and, you know, the backlash and the attacks and everything, man. It's like, man, people demonizing me for platforms, I didn't even ask for, bro. - That's right. - You know what I mean? - That's right. - I didn't even ask for any of this. You know, I'm just doing my best to be a faithful witness to Jesus and now living a life in a fishbowl, trying to protect my family. Man, then I just want to be faithful to proclamation 'til God call me home. You know what Josh, I like. There is a lot of things in ministry. Men may see us like reward, you know? You know, size of ministry. You know, you have a very large church and, you know, my church is growing all. Size of platform, you have a very big podcast audience and mine's is growing and all these things. But, you know, at the end of the day, bro, I had to redefine what success in ministry

is gonna be for me. And I see so many people start well, but they don't finish well. - That's right. - You know, you said something so profound, bro. You said something so profound, not that long ago, it could have been recent. I saw you say a clip using your car. Man, this blew my mind. And it was like, I want to expose something about pastors. And you said you've been around mega churches your whole life. And you talked about three mega church pastors you didn't call their name. And I think I know who one of them was. And you talked about what they're doing right now. And then you said something so profound that rock me. You said, you know why these things don't make the news? Because nobody talks about planes that land safely. - Planes that land safely don't make the news. - Rock me when you say planes that land safely don't make the news. And I sat back and I thought about that. That was one of the most profound statements I've ever heard from a pastor. And you know what you're right, right? All we like to do is talk about scandal. But we never talk about those who are doing this well. And there's so in line with my definition of ministry success for me is that if by the grace of God, I could come down to the end of my life

and stay with the apostle Paul. Bro, I fought the good fight, right? I finished the race and I kept the faith. If some way somehow, Josh, the Lord would keep me to be able to say that in the end, like land the plane. - That's it. - You know, without blowing it up along the way. For me, man, that would have been ministry success for me. And then the reward for me, Josh, I'm gonna speak for myself. And the ultimate reward for me. I look forward to the day. Where it will no longer be like I feel his presence in my prayer room. But I actually look forward to the day when I will first see the feet of Christ, right? And his knees. And before I even look up with this look of him in his eyes, I would take the crown of my head and I would cast through his feet. You know, and I will get a chance to thank him personally for rescuing me and giving me anything to do in his kingdom. And that, for me, is gonna be my highest reward. It's not gonna be the size of 2019 or... Man, I'm actually looking forward to that day, Josh, you know, as sure as God is my witness, that to me is going to be the ultimate reward for the sacrifice, the labor, the toils, the warfare, the hardship, the suffering that we're in doing right now, all of a temporary, but I look forward to that day, bro. I want to, I want to do what you said. I want to land the plane. Well, yeah, man. I'll say something that I, you know, I think you'll receive it in the right way. Yeah, I hope you never become a Polish preacher. Really? I hope you never do. Do there's, I'm reading, right now, I'm not even doing my podcast. I'm just talking to preach and talk right now. Yeah, I'm reading a biography of Charles Spurgeon right now. And, yeah, I mean, you know, that is, yeah, people who are listening, Charles Spurgeon. The Prince of Preachers. Prince of Preachers. He was like a British Philip, Anthony Mitchell on 1880 and pastor at church preached 10,000 people, no, no microphone, no nothing. Yeah. Life better in his whole life. Severe bouts of depression. Yeah. But as you know, he would travel. I didn't know this until he would travel to a home in France and stay in France for three months out of the year and pray and fast and just fill up and then come back and preach for the rest of the

nine months, three months. I never knew that, bro. Three months. And dude, what is so, bro, what is so weird to me as a preacher is I'm reading this biography and I groked it. Preachers hated him. They hated him. If you go look tonight, like this is fun, like do it on a plane or something, like ask Grog or whatever. I like give me direct source quotes of public attacks of Charles Spurgeon, you know, direct source, they hated him. And bro, here's what they hated about him. Is he, uh, he was called the vulgar preacher. I was done. Yeah. Well, in Britain back then, vulgar didn't mean like, oh, he uses inappropriate humor. It just meant like he talks like a normal dude. He talks like a dude that swings a hammer or goes to, you know, or breaks his back, throw and drywall or a farmer and all the preachers in his day. They would come out of these seminaries and they would use this super lapserianism and preachers hated him because they said he's, he's this guy's this guy's vulgaring the pulpit that hated him. And bro, he's got this fire quote. I'm going to butcher it. Where he said he was responding to all these critics about how he preached so vulgar. And I'm going to quote you right now and I hope you're okay with this. I saw you one time. I saw a clip of you where you you said, ain't nobody's pipe game worth going to hell over. And wait, listen, I'm about to honor you. And when I see you, man. Listen, listen, come back to me. And when you said that, I thought this person quote and he hears what he said. He was responding to all these guys talking about his vulgar. And he said, I think we've had enough polite preachers. He said, there's these polite preachers can reach these polite people. And they said, you know, I'm for I'm for the men from the highways and the byways. I'm for the men from the fields and the factories. And he said, if I am vulgar, let me be vulgar. These men belong to me. So, like, honestly, it may, you know, say things like sometimes, sometimes you end up complaining about the things you used to pray for. I hope the opposite happens to you. And I hope you receive this. I hope God never answers that prayer. I appreciate that, man. Because that, like, I just want to speak that over you. You're calling a generation of people who would never listen to me. And they listen, I'm going to name some names. They're honorable men who are better men than me and better preachers than me. You're reaching dudes that are not going to listen to Charles Stanley. I love, I listen to Charles Stanley every three weeks, but, you know, you're for Philip Anthony Mitchell. He's for that man from the highways and the byways. He's for that man from Rikers. He's from that man from Queens. I hope the Lord never answers that prayer. Because that's who God put you on this planet to draw to himself. But I appreciate that, man. I mean that, man. I appreciate us very encouraging. Let me go back to something real quick. Yeah, man. So, like, you know, you spent like a couple minutes in a seminary or whatever. But dude, when I'm listening to you, you're like, "I don't have seminary education." But like, I can tell game respects a game. I can tell when you're preaching, you have a settled theological system from which you are preaching. Yeah. So like, who are the influences? Where did that come from? Men. I love Charles Spurgeon, I never, I never knew that part of his testimony.

He was viciously, viciously attacked. I never knew that man. Vicious. Most people think that's why he died, he died early in his fifties. Yeah. Do you know the story about the fire thing? No. So he, we're getting out, this is, these are fun tangents. He, uh, he struggled with severe depression in his life. Yeah. It all started when he was preaching, I think it was called the Surrey Hall Gardens or something like that. It was the largest group he'd ever preached to and people who hated his ministry. By the way, what I'm about to say, people do it online to preachers now. What I'm about to say, they did in person back then, they do it online now is some people who hated his ministry, walked in and as soon as he started preaching to this packed room, they started yelling fire, fire, fire. And the whole room thought the place was on fire caused the human stampede killed seven people. So Charles Spurgeon is literally in the pulpit watching people who came to hear him preach, get trampled to death. Yeah. Uh, his, uh, biographer say he was never the same after that. There were moments that he didn't just have depression, had severe anxiety. There are stories of, if I'm going to get this right, of elders and men around him, he had so much anxiety before preaching that they would have to almost drag him out to the pulpit and that was the time when he started taking three months off a year so that he could be filled. But it's like, in some ways, I'll look at your ministry. I'm like, that's the Charles Spurgeon of 2026 in America.

The vulgar ones belong to me. Man, thank you for sharing that, man. I'm going to, I'm going to own that in my prayer time, man. Um, that's very encouraging. I never knew that. So wait, I dovetailed. So, you know, theological, I can tell you're preaching from a theological system. You got a settled conviction. I do. Um, I do. I am, um, uh, I have attended churches that were very, uh, let's just say, um, very spirit filled. Yeah. And I've attended churches that were very serious about, uh, biblical exegesis and both of them had an impact on my life and I feel like I am a product of both streams, uh, in one. Right. I want to, I want to preach and lead and try my best to be sensitive to God's spirit. But at the same time, I love theology and I love, uh, the scriptures and there was something in me that wants to do my absolute best to properly exegiate God's word without isegesis in text and butcher in text. That doesn't mean I get it right all the time, but, but I tried my best to before you continue. I may explain what he just said, what he says, really important exeg is I'm going to start with the text and draw the meaning out of the text. I said, I says a Greek, uh, prefix that means to essentially into any saying what I don't want to do is start with what I want to preach and then go find it in the text. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Sorry. No, no, no. That's perfect band. And so for me, I think, I think for me, I have such a, how can I say such a high view of scripture, um, that I want to do my best to be an echo of what God has said and not put things in there that's not there and not take things out of it. Um, and so I, I work very hard in my study, you know, I work very hard in my study, even though I don't have a seminary degree. I work very hard in my stomach, my study, I'm going to, I want to look at cultural context. I want to look at theological context. I want to look at the background. I want to understand the people involved in every text. I want to understand it to the best of my ability. And, um, and, uh, and I want to do my best to honor God's word to the best of my ability. And, uh, and I have leanings that, uh, I mean, somebody can call them conservative, um, but I have very strong, I guess we can say, I can't think of a better word, very strong conservative leanings. Um, I think if anybody listened to me, that's not a secret. And, um, but for me as well, so I have a high view of scripture and I just want to honor it when I proclaim it. So I'm going to work very hard in study, um, I'm going to work very hard in understanding the text, um, the individuals in the text, what it meant to the original audience from the original author in that time, understand that first and then try to build a bridge to ours, our current time without butchering what the original author meant. So those things mean something to me and I'm a nerd on the low. I'm an undercover nerd, but I say by that, okay, so you can understand where I'm going. So what I mean by that is, uh, bro, I love all things theology. I love all things archaeology, right. I love cultural things. I love anthropology, sociology.

Um, I love all that stuff. And so, um, these are things, man, that I'm digging through. at somewhere lecturing and just teaching, man, because I love those things. And sometimes I feel like I have to tone down my preaching a little bit from some of the heavy stuff that I'm digging out from a text, man. But I just love all things theology, archeology, and I want to study deep and I want to read deep. You've got to go to guys that you like to like do them. I like that comp. I like listening to that guy. I like that commentary. That's my. Yeah. Maybe. So commentaries. Man, I use a software called Logos model software. I love Logos, man. And I have some go-to's. I forget their names off the top of my head, right? But Logos definitely and I tear up Logos, man. And then in terms of speakers, I told you about Matt Chandler and I like listening to Billy Graham. Yeah. I like listening to Billy Graham. I like listening to people who are dead, you know. And I think about some others, like R.C. Sproul, yeah, like R.C., I like him a whole lot. It's crazy because, you know, R.C. and Billy, you know, they would have a grieve. One is almost like Arminian and the other one is hardcore Calvinist. You have the story. Have you heard the story?

I want somebody to ask him. What do you say, Billy Graham and heaven? You're so fine. So good, dude. Yeah. Man. Man, didn't somebody ask R.C., R.C., when you get to heaven, do you think you see Billy Graham there? And he got quiet for just a moment and then he shocks everybody when he says no, right? And you could just probably hear that the room was about to split into uproar and he said no, because he'll be so like something like he'll be so far. He'll be so near the throne of God and that she'll be so far. Yeah. And actually, yeah, something like that. I just, that was, man, he did that, man, like, like, I love that moment. It was like, like, let's, let's say, like unity around essentials and grace in a non-essential man. I thought that was so powerful, man. But yeah, did you, so I learned this deep dive that thing. Yeah. So he did that in Nashville. Yeah. He got it. Somebody once asked during the first great awakening, somebody asked George Whitfield the same question about John Wesley. That was George Whitfield's response. Wow. RC used the Whitfield. Are you serious? That's where that came from.

I did not know that. First great awakening. I never knew that. Wow. That's crazy, man. Let me go like something you said. Yeah. So you said, if you've heard this quote before, you know, what, I want them to hear it. Yeah. Bro, you said, Hey, man, I grew up in spirit field churches, you know, influenced heavily about word churches. Have you ever heard the RT, RT Kendall quote about this? No. You know, RT Kendall. You're going to love. You need to find some RT Kendall. RT Kendall. Okay. So RT Kendall, we're for listeners, we're doing preaching and art stuff. RT Kendall is the guy that followed Martin Lloyd Jones. Oh, Martin Lloyd Jones. He's exceeded Martin Lloyd Jones in London. So he came after Martin Lloyd Jones. So RT Kendall starts out, reformed Presbyterian has a radical encounter with the spirit, totally changed him. And he's 91 now. He pretty sure recently, bro, listen to this, you're going to love this. If somebody went Josh Howerton, you get one quote that you get to see in your lifetime. This is what I would say, RT Kendall. There are word churches and there are spirit churches.

There has been a great divorce in the church between word and spirit. And like any divorce, some kids go with a mom and some kids go with a dad. Listen, listen, listen, revival happens when you bring the two back together. That's dumb, it's dumb, I'm going to send that to you. There are, I'm going to read it one more time. It's that good. Give it to me one more time, bro. There are word churches and there are spirit churches. Yes. There has been a great divorce in the church between word and spirit. And like any divorce, some kids go with a mom and some kids go with a dad. Rebel happens when you bring the two back together. Wow. Legend. Oh. So wait, hey, why do you only preach in black? Man, you got a key text me that quote on the start, yeah, it takes me that quote. After I had that encountered Israel in December 2018, at that time, I had started wearing black as an exercise in limiting decision fatigue in my dressing. I only been doing it for like two weeks. But after I had that encounter, I felt like when I was in Israel, a man died there in Israel and God sent a new man. symbolically as a daily funeral a deaf to culture and a deaf to myself. And so that's why I wear black. And so I haven't worn another color man in over five years. And so it is symbolic. It is symbolic for me. And it's a reminder to me that I'm dead to two things. I got to be dead to the world around me in terms of being led astray by the culture. But I got to be dead to the things inside of me too. That will be a landmine to destroy my life. So that's why I wear black man. Yeah. Leave them even in the summertime. Amen. Even right. I noticed the jacket. I was impressed man. Yeah, I'm impressed. So

There's not many books. And by the way, I didn't have you on because you're writing a book. I just want to talk to you. But there's not many books that I pre-decide the second that thing comes out. I'm reading it. I'm reading books. And I appreciate that man. So dude, this is, by the way, that's fire. That's a great. It's called content. Yeah, you posted this on IG recently. And it's a quote from this book for listeners contend. He's quoting Jude, which is one of the most savage verses in the New Testament. I think about this every time I preach. Contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. But I didn't mean to ask. I don't plan to ask you this. What's the 60-second story of why you called it content? Obviously, it's born out of June, chapter one. And content for the faith would have just been too long to put as a title. So I just took the strongest part of that word. I just took content. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, it's like, for me, it's just the imperative for the text. You know, so I just went with the imperative. Here's what you said about this. So you quote the verse. You said, "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to content for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." And then you said this. Policies that could eventually muzzle the scriptures, satanic delusions running rampant on social media, a growing hostility toward Christians globally, and time is running out. Yeah. Now is the hour to contend. You know, like what, like tease this out for me to whatever level you're comfortable. Why did you say policies that could eventually muzzle the scriptures, satanic delusions running rampant on social media, growing hostility towards Christianity? About to stir up a little bit of trouble right here. There is a, there are ideologies and certain political streams that have left unchecked. They will pass legislation and laws. I think that would inadvertently muzzle the scriptures already happening. Right. Yeah. It will get to the point where those who are faithful in gospel proclamation will be considered preaching things that will be hailed as hate speech and illegal. Canada. Right. And they will threaten us to say, we'll remove your 501(c)(3). We'll shut down your church if you preach this way. And what will eventually happen is that men will have to make a tough decision, either be faithful to proclamation or capitulate to that kind of pressure. And we're not there yet, but we're headed there. And I think that is a very difficult situation and scenario for people who have fidelity to God's work to be in. And I'm watching that happen right now in real time in other countries and I feel like it's encroaching on the West. So that's that delusions on social media. Bro, right now as I'm talking to you, there are people on social media who claim the name of God.

But they are heralding doctrines of demons, seducing spirits that are leading people straight in the name of God. That's right. Right. I see that there is an increase in spiritual, spiritualism. There's really nothing more than syncretism. People merging crystals and mystics and psychic behavior and all these other things and mixing that in with the kingdom. And so there is the syncretism I see on social media amongst people who don't even know unknowingly. They're being used by the enemy to lead people astray. And then those who are direct pawns of the devil who are willingly leading people astray. And these delusions are running rampant so bad. And I'm watching a generation being carried astray by these delusions, Josh. And the thing about it is that if we don't know the scriptures, we won't be able to determine it. This is heresy packaged eloquently. And it's leading people astray and these delusions are running rampant all over social media. We got influencers and athletes. Right. Right. And so I'm watching this happen to a generation, right? So that's the delusions running rampant on social media. And then the ideologies that are hostile towards Christianity, Josh, Josh, Josh, there is another monotheism that is almost an anti Christ monotheism. It is one of the fastest growing ideologies in the world. And there are fringes that are ideology that is radical and hostile towards Christianity. We can. You talk about Islam? Yes. Right. I'm going to go there in a second. Okay. Me. You and me.

Yes. I am very, you and me say a lot of very similar things on this. Yes. You keep going. Right. And there are people who for the sake of inclusion, think that we are doing people good by allowing that ideology to, can I use the word infiltrate and invade our political sphere and our social fear for the sake of, for the sake of, let's just be inclusive and be loving. And the expense of, we will keep giving away seats in office and we will keep giving away seats in various legislages across the country until the day comes where that ideology has enough political power. How can we just be honest until that ideology has enough political power to introduce Sharia law in America, right? And then come out from the camouflage. I want to say, because there are some people who are going to listen to what you just said. Some of you are listening to what you just said and you're rolling your eyes and you're acting like that guy. He's overreacting. No. That's overstating the case. Yeah. I just gently want to say, I love you. You are wrong. We literally have 1400 years of history and if the same thing happens for 1400 years, you are very naive to think that it won't happen this time. You know, the people need to learn concerning the future from what has happened in the past. Mm. Right. And oftentimes the past is a good predictor of what's going to happen in the future.

Right. We're talking about an ideology that has conquered the East, has conquered most of North Africa, and has conquered, let's say, is conquering ING, all of Europe. And now it's encroaching on our shores, right? To talk like this, they will say we are closed-minded and we are hateful and we are bigoted. Yeah. At the expense of not contending and not taking a stand, not praying, our children and our grandchildren will suffer. That's it. Right. It will suffer the consequence of our complicit nature right now. If the church in America, in the West, does not wake up and realize the infiltration of what the enemy is doing through politics, through social media, right under our nose, to hijack from our country, what I think an ideology that is incompatible with Western fundamentals and incompatible with Christianity. And you know what, Josh? They will, they will hate me for talking like this and they will hate you from talk like this until 10 years from now, 15 years from now. They will, they will be underneath the, what's a good word I want to use? They will underneath the tyranny of that ideology and then they will go on YouTube and search for my messages and they will search for yours but by that time it will be too late. Now is the hour to listen, right? And now is the hour to be awakened and now is the hour to pray and now is the hour to vote, right? Pray, right? Stand right. Content, right? All the things to hold back that invasion as long as we could. And if we don't do that right now, I feel like we are going to just invite the devil

in. Let me tell you something, bro. When my friends and I were in Bible, when I was in, when I was in college, I went to our HBCU in North Carolina and my roommate and I, we had pet snakes. I don't know why we did this but we had a pythons as pets, right? As one does. Yo, yo. Now, now peep, peep this, Josh. We had pythons as pets and this one first python we had, she was sitting in the cage and the cage was big and she only ate rats and we would get rats and now remember we would toss the rat in the cage. That python, Josh, was sitting in the corner of the cage in the darkness and that rat was just running around the cage. I watched times in that rat would even run on type of the python and off the python thinking that the, that's, that the rat was safe. The rat would think to yourself, I'm safe in here. Just running around, not knowing that there's something sitting in the corner that would on top of the snake, running around. And what this rat has in this moment is a false sense of security. And then that python would then stare at that rat and then the opportune time, it would lunge at top speed, coil that rat up, and then squeeze the life out of that rat until it was dead and then swallow that rat hole, right? And this is what's happening with this ideology. It's like a, it's like a python sitting in the corner, right? It's just, it's just sitting there while we are running around acting like we have a false sense of security until the day comes when it lunges. And then it wraps its grips around all of our systems, all of our policies, or it wraps its grip around everything and then chokes the life out of Christianity, chokes the life of out of Western fundamentals, chokes the life out of everything until it's too late. And now we're in the grips of that python wishing we would have did something when we

had the opportunity and for as much as people are going to push back against this one moment right here, Josh, I just, I just invite them to come back to this podcast. Five years from now, 10 years from now, if the law of terrorists, 20 years from now and see, did God not raise up true voices to warn America that this is coming to your own detriment for the one who does not have ears to hear and eyes to see. But whenever you say stuff like that, I'm sure you get the same thing I get. I always get the amen, you know, that ventures into the political realm or that ventures into the societal realm, stay out of that stuff. And now what I always say is the same thing, amen, if Godly people won't contend, Godless people will. It will. Right. Your choice. Your choice. And dude, I just like, whenever I say stuff like you just said, I get a lot of people you think they think nominated, I think we're idiots. I had no names, I had the leaders of like one of the more significant theological entities in America literally text me, making fun of me for saying stuff like that on a podcast one time for, I'm going to do something real quick, this is going to take me like two minutes and I want to see what you think about it. Before you do that, can I say one thing about the, they taught the same about Jesus and about the apostles and even about Jude and unfortunately for many of the people that lived in the first century, those warnings fell on deaf ears, right? I just want to remind everybody who's watching your podcast right now, Josh, that Christianity is not a Western faith, it was not born in the United States, right? Christianity was born in the East and now the East almost looks like a tomb when it comes to Christian influence, right? What happened to the Eastern Orthodox Church, Josh, you know, I've been in Turkey, I've walked through the Eastern Orthodox Church, the building, let's just say the building they used to house the Eastern Orthodox Church.

I think about men like John Chrysosum and all those who stood in their time. Was the Holy Spirit, did the Holy Spirit fail? No. Did God fail? No. Is Jesus weak? No. What happened in the East? You know what happened in the East, Josh? Abandoned in their first love, embrace false doctrine. There was a live on the outside but dead on the inside. They were lukewarm. All the cyclical patterns that Jesus warned about to those seven churches in ancient Asia, mine are five of them to be specific. And then the warnings of the apostles and even men like Jude fell on deaf ears and you know what happened, the generations that came behind them, they paid the price. And now when you travel through the East, there's almost very little semblance of a strong Christian presence there where the faith was founded. That's it. And so I would say to my brothers and sisters, like you can throw arrows at Josh, Ourton, you could throw arrows at Philip Anthony Mitchell all you want, yeah, you can do that. You can. I just invite them to travel to the East, come out of the United States and go back to the homeland, go back to the places where Christianity once had an ironclad grip and ask yourself what happened here and don't think for one second what happened in the East can't happen in the West. Right? And one day, one day will come with the same people, though arrows now might just, their eyes just might open and they will say, God, you know what, we were persecuting that person, but that was a real man of God that raised up just like those soldiers realized when

that temple split, when that curtain split in the temple and that earthquake, I'm like, Oh my God, we crucified the Son of God. So I just want to encourage you, bro, for the heat that you've taken, for the heat that I'm going to take from my stance, if we suffer for Christ and for righteousness for not being afraid to warn men of what's coming, then that's a price that I'm willing to pay for this, right? I would, I would rather stand for Christ and warn men West and nobody said nothing. I just can't do that. People don't know. Like if you're listening, you don't know what he's talking about. I'm sure you've been there to this day. If you go to the seven churches that Jesus speaks to in Revelation two and three, that was the center center of Christianity. Yes. And now you're what you're going to go when you visit every single site is you're going to hear a Muslim prayer call. Yes, in Turkey, in Turkey, yeah, every single one of them. And, and you know what, Josh, when people go there, people go to Turkey and I've been there and they walk the ruins of those ancient seven churches. And one of the things I talk about my book is that when I was there, I realized these ruins, these buildings are not the only thing that lay in ruins. The influence of Christianity. Also laying ruins in Turkey, 98% Muslim nations that was once ancient Asia Minor and a home base for ministry operation to the apostle Paul. What happened there? Like, like, if you know, we could just pause right there, Josh, like, can we just pause for a quick second? Ancient Asia Minor, the former home base for operations, ministries of the apostle Paul, where Jesus sent seven letters to seven ancient churches, given them five of them warnings. And now that same place that was once a stronghold for Christianity, 98% Muslim. What happened there? What happened there? I'm a, I'm going to make that a rhetorical question. No contending. Yeah, a lack of contending exactly. Yeah. So let me do a little, I'm going to do a little theological thing real quick. I'm going to think about it. And then, because for people who are like, if you read Phil's book, you listen to him preach and you roll in your eyes at him. So like, there's a theological thing here. So you, I think you definitely know this. So you go Old Testament and God gives the covenant to Abraham. Abraham has two sons. He has obviously of Ishmael, you have Isaac. Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to trace a theological trail that

people do not typically. Okay, he has, he has, he has Ishmael and he has Isaac. Okay. Well, now you got a problem because you have one covenant, but you got two boys. One covenant, two boys. The Bible tells us ahead of time, 5,000 years ago, that's going to result in conflict. Well, guess who the lineage is of those two boys? Oh, Josh, come on. So what you have is you have Isaac and the entire Jewish race. There you go. And Ishmael. They all descend from Isaac. Yep. Well, Muslim, Muslims trace their lineage back to Ishmael. So you do this day, 5,000 years later. Yep. You have one covenant and the descendants of two brothers in perpetual conflict. Now fighting one another fast forward to Jesus in a verse that people typically do not, they don't apply it with their, their eyes on. Jesus makes a prophecy. He says that they will come when those who will kill you will think they are offering service to God. Now let me, let me do this for a second. So what most people in my generation have done is they've been like, Hey man, the big problem in America is secularism and atheism. Well, Jesus just said that the final bought like Bowser, Jesus said the final boss is not going to be atheism. It's going to be some form of religion that thinks when they kill Christians, they're offering service to God. Josh, I got to jump in here, bro. Go. I got, I'm going to keep going. I just got to stick something that you know, I was just meditating on that passage a few days ago, when Jesus said the day will come when people will kill believers and think they're offering service to God. Can I just add one more thing right there? You know, there's a scene in the end of the book, a revelation where there's an innumerable amount of believers who arrived before the throne of God. You're going where I was going? Okay, they arrived before the throne of God. And the scripture says about them, these are they who were beheaded for the witness of Christ. Now pause, right? If the scripture talks about in the end, a one world religion, one world currency, like if all of these arrived in glory beheaded for the witness of Christ. What religious belief takes the light into capitating the heads of people? Only one day ago, right? There you go. And we are either men who are hating on people, we are men who are well informed, trying to get other believers to be well informed. Well, you got you can go from there. You and me both know this. Yeah, the apostle Paul makes a prophecy Galatians one eight. Yeah. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you, uh, another gospel, let him be damned. Yes. Fast forward to eighty

six hundred dude named Muhammad walks in a cave and he walks out and he goes, man, it's real weird thing happened. It's terrified. He originally thought it was a demon. Yes, he was terrified. And he goes home, tells his wife, I think I saw a demon. And you know, as she says, you go, actually, I think that was probably an angel from heaven. Yeah. So eighty six hundred. Muhammad essentially goes, man, it's real weird thing happened. I saw an angel from heaven who proclaimed to me another way to God. Well, what is that? That's a fulfillment of Galatians one eight. I think you probably do based on your theological system if you read the end of Ezekiel as An eschatological prophecy like virtually all but one if I understand right of the nations that are mentioned that gather Every single one of them today is an Islamic nation with the exception of Russia. What's the fastest growing religion in Russia? Islam and China's also mentioned their belief is it I believe so And then bro, I got this from bro Yeah, I don't know if you heard this for I got this from John MacArthur So dude, you know all to J. Mac J man. He's hugging Jesus. Yeah, he's in glory right now So what you got is the the Islamic in their end times prophecy. They have the Madi Hold on Josh. Oh my gosh Yeah, I may do it. You may wait and do you know everything the Quran describes about the Madi? I'm getting ready to read everything the scripture describes about the Antichrist. I'm gonna read it. Did you know that? Yeah, I'm gonna get ready read. All right. Come on. So here's what they say. Come on Here's what now diff obviously in Islam different. It's just like Christianity different streams have different eschatological views But all of these are prominent beliefs. Check this they believe the Madi in Islamic end times prophecy will emerge as a charismatic Messianic world leader during global crisis. He will take control of the world and destroy all who resist him He will invade many nations. He will rule and reign for seven years He will broker a seven-year peace treaty with the Jews. Yeah, he will conquer Israel and massacre the Jews He will establish an Islamic one-world government headquartered in Jerusalem. He will establish Islam is the only religion He will come on a white horse. Hello sound familiar With supernatural power doing signs and wonders and he will be assisted by a powerful prophet now Listen, if that sounds familiar, that's because it is a precise description of the biblical Antichrist. Yeah Identical identical right and Man, Josh

They can hate us if we want in this moment, but I think it's hard you be hard-pressed not to see the Quran and read the scriptures and not understand That the biblical Antichrist Is the man mentioned in the Quran. Yeah, very well could be the one-world religion I believe mention in the scriptures. I think will be Islam the persecution of the saints I think we'll come at the end of Islam and And this is why it's the fastest-growing ideology right now in the world Not to mention I just think we need to we need an awakening right now in the church, Josh I think now is the hour to be serious about The spread of the gospel about winning souls making disciples Teaching people the scriptures. We don't know how much time we have left. I think we're very close to the end and But everything you just described It's truth, you know, and there are voices that are talking about this, but there are a lot of voices that are not and We are watching this unfold right now in real time, man But the weird thing man is you know when you talk about it you get laughed at and I rolled for now for now Now that's fact. Yeah for now. So the other thing you said in that thing is you said you were like You said hey time is running out. Like this is a theme in your preaching. It is Walk me through biblically. Why you that is a heavy theme for you Time is running out. Yeah, so There's this clock right here on the screen and I know just like you and I when we get up to preach on Sunday mornings You probably have a clock somewhere in the room It counts backwards. You know when that clock hits zero your time when that platform is up From the time Christ ascended back to the Father a clock was put on humanity Why because he promised that he will return right and so because he promised he will return Every day that passes we are just closer to that return the scripture says we do not know the day know the hour But what we do know for a fact is that Jesus did say he will return at some time in their future to establish his millennial kingdom here on earth And so Josh tomorrow when you and I get up tomorrow by God's grace We will be one day closer to the return of Christ And then if we get up next week, we'll be one day closer to the return of Christ If you and I live five years from now, we'll be five years closer to the return of Christ

So just the simple the simple psychology of the fact that Jesus said I will return from the time He made that promise about himself a clock was set on humanity And so for me, I'm saying that biblically that time is running out and when I say time is running out I'm talking about the time we have between the church age that we live in right now and the return of Christ to establish that Millennial Kingdom. This is important to me I pray like a man running out of time. I lead our staff like a man running out of time. I engage the unbeliever like a man running out of time because we literally do not know when that day will come. And so for me, I wanna do everything I can to increase the number of virgins with oil. You see where I'm going with this, Josh? I wanna do everything I can to increase the number of virgins with oil. So that I can say I did my part to make sure a lot of people were not caught with their skirt up whenever that day comes. And so for me, this is not just like a Philip Anthony Mitchell thing, this is a biblical thing. Because Christ is going to return at an undisclosed time in the future, every day that passed, we're closer to that time. Therefore, clock is running backwards. It will hit zero. About that time for a lot of people who'd be too late. The person that they reject now will become their ultimate judge. And you know, in the end, Josh, death is the ultimate equalizer because there's a lot of people that may disagree with you

and may disagree with me about some of the things we talked about on this podcast, but you know what? In death, we all will have perfect agreement around theology. When we all died, there will be no more disagreements about theology. Everybody would know that Christ was the Son of God, right? They would know that He is the ultimate authority. But by that time, for too many people, it would be too late. There will be no purgatory. There will be no prey people out of hell. There will be no pain, penance to get out. No, no, no, all that will be over. And at that point in time, everybody's fate will be sealed. And so I'm going to keep wanting America and everywhere I travel around the world, that time is running out, that it would... Here's my hope, Josh. It would... My words and my cries will shake as many people as possible out of apathy, out of lethargy, out of indifference, out of compromise, to get off the sideline and get into this war that we're in right now, to be faithful witnesses for Christ in every sphere of influence, while it is still daylight, and it's time for us to work. What are the things, like, biblically, that you look at the world and you're like, "That right there, that's a sign that we're near." Okay.

I'm from New York, right? And in New York, we get all four seasons. Like, I don't know if it really gets cold in Texas. I mean, does it get cold in Texas? It's Texas, 40, it's okay. I'm from New York, and in the fall, the leaves start falling off the tree. And when the leaves start falling off the tree, New York, we know a brutal winter is coming. Two people in New York, they start preparing. They go buying boots, and they start buying big jackets. We start gearing up for the fact that the winter's coming. We know snow is coming. We make sure we got our shovels. We prepare because we know snow is coming, right? In the same way, although Jesus said, "No man, no the day, no the hour." I think there are certain things that are happening in the earth. To me, they're like leaves falling off the tree, and I'll name just a few. The rapid rise of Islam. Okay, that's number one. The talks of nations wanted to come together around currency. That's another one. The fact that I don't remember was the last time I've been in a store and seen anybody pay cash for anything. Right now, you either pull out plastic or you tap, right? The more we tap and the more we swipe, the more it makes it easier for one world currency. It's hard to have one world currency when you have paper.

So the fact that you see society drifting away from paper, that to me is a sign that we're close to the end. There are talks right now about a ten nation confederacy, right? So I think about things like that. There are talks right now and other nations trying to do what's called like an identity chip. There are nations right now talking about enforcing on their people a chip for identity that would allow you to watch, buy, sell, and have commerce. And that without that identity chip, you will live like a nomadic society. There are talks about that right now as you are sitting, you are not sitting at this table, right? So when I think about things like that, things that are clearly written in Scripture, things that are gonna unfold in the end times as kind of logical scriptures that are in there. Josh, when I look at the news in the United States and when I look at the global headlines, to me these are like leaves falling off the tree, the winter is coming. The question I have for the body of crisis, are we prepared for the winter? And are we preparing people for what is coming? And that's what I'm trying to do with my book and that's what I'm trying to do with my voice. The winter is coming, Josh. Are we preparing people for what is coming? And we could prepare more people if we were preach the Bible.

We would exalt the person of Jesus Christ. that don't understand what we're saying, all of this right here is preparing people for the winter. Talking about the rise of Islam and radical ideologies, all of this Josh is preparing people for the winter and people will scorn and they will mock until the snow start falling and they're not prepared. This is the same thing that, this is the same new bro, this is the same thing that happened when a man spent a hundred years to build a ship on dry ground, who the scripture call a preacher of righteousness. I want to put myself in the text and believe every time they walk by him, like what are you building? We've never seen no torrential rain. Why are you preaching to us about righteousness, scorn, mock, ridicule, until the day he closed that ark door and the first drop of rain hit them on their forehead and then it rose to their kneecaps and then it rose to their waist and then it rose to their throat. And now they're probably banging on the door of the ark, let us in, let us in, but by that time, Josh, it was too late, right? And that's what's going to happen again, as it was in the days of Noah, Jesus said, so shall it be in the end, men are going to be married and given in marriage, let's interpret the text. In essence, people will be going about their daily life, not paying attention to the fact that you're so close to the end until the door shuts and then people are banging, looking for Jesus, but it'll be too late. And the most dreadful thing people are going to hear, men are going to come to them in that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not do podcasts in your name and did conferences in your name and we did all these things in your name and wrote books in your name, we did all this stuff in your name and he's going to say the most dreadful words that any human being is ever going to hear. Depart from me. You work as an equity, I never knew you.

People worried about the atheist, bro, man, when I was in the world, I wasn't looking for God. Man, I am deeply concerned, not only for the atheist, but I'm concerned for the people that's going to sit in your services on Sunday at mine with a false and security, right? Who thinking that they have a right relationship with God and they don't, they have no idea what's coming. They have no idea the tsunami of eschatological events that is coming. They're going to die and stand before the Lord and think they're going to get in and they're going to hear those dreadful words, bro, and I'm concerned about them and so somebody got to take a stand, somebody got to contend, somebody got to stand up and lift up their voice even if it comes at the expense of persecution. Man, I just want to be one of those somebody's, bro. I just, I don't want to die, John, and you've read this because you're a man of the word like Ezekiel and said, I got all this blood on my hands because I was afraid to preach the truth of God's word or I was afraid to have conversations like this and then stand before God with all that blood on my hands. I don't want that blood on my hands, bro. You know, the only blood I want on my hands is the one that came from the cross, but not the one that comes from being a coward. I don't want that blood on my hands. Yeah. Yeah. So dude, you know, I think you've seen the same thing where it's like the more clear you get, the greater the opposition becomes, you know, something that's that we probably have in common is, you know, I did an episode of Lee Free defending you from people falsely accusing you of ridiculous things. One thing it's like, man, nothing's new, ain't nothing new under the sun, but how, how the nothing new manifest does, does get new and it's like one weird thing that you and me both got to figure out how to navigate is the level of opposition. Like, bro, I just, I don't know, talk to me like, how do, how do, like, like on it, how

do we navigate? To be honest with you, bro, being a target for public ridicule is new to me. Right? Same. Three years of my life and, you know, I think I said early in our talk that I'm just, I'm just a dude from the street that God saved, that's just doing my best to stew what he's given me. But let me, let me tell you what the breaking point came for me. In 2025, we had just moved into a new facility and I was kind of upset about the sound. I didn't sleep the night before. And I got up to preach the first time on that platform and I was telling the story about something that happened to me when I was a teenager in New York and I did not frame the story right. And my words hurt a lot of people. And it seemed like half the country was trying to crucify me. And this unfolded during Holy Week and the persecution against me and the warfare was so great. I left my family that week and, and I went and spent some time by myself. I had a bottle of a few jugs of water, a legal yellow pad in the Bible. And I was sitting on the floor, Josh. And it was like Thursday. And I just kept getting text messages all week, bro, we praying for you. We're praying for you. And I knew it was getting bad. I hate this, man. I hate those, man. We pray for you. Like bro, people are trying to help whenever my phone starts blowing up. Stand strong, bro. Yeah, I know.

I love you. Thank you for praying for you. Just ruin my day. You've ruined my day. I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything. And my phone was blowing up, Josh. My phone was blowing up. And I got a call from my, like people was telling me like you probably have to put out a statement. You're going to have to, it's bad. And I remember that Thursday I got a text from my daughters. And they texted me in a group text, and they said to me, they said, "Father, that's what they call me. Father, we know your heart, and we know your character, and we love you." And we can't wait to see you on Sunday. And that then gave me the strength I need to get off the floor. And in that moment, I had this revelation that I've been holding on to as I deal with warfare. It's unfolded during Holy Week. So this would be the same week in history, where Jesus was rolling into Jerusalem on a donkey to the shouts of Hosanna. And by the end of that week, he was listening to people say, "Crucify him." So within the span of seven days, he knew what it felt like to be loved by some and to be hated by others. And I remember the beginning of that week, man, people loved P.A.M. By the end of that week, man, people was calling for my death, and I remember when I got that text from my daughters, I'm missing on the floor, Josh, and I was crying. And I had this thought to myself, I said, "Lord, this is what it must have felt like

for you during this Holy Week." And I said, "These words," I said, "I don't know where this came from." I said, "Lord, thank you." Thank you, that uh, in this painful moment, you, you counted me worthy to suffer the way that you suffered, and now I know what you felt like riding in on that donkey with branches sitting in the floor, and what it must have felt like for you to have people you loved, say, "Crucify him," and I will always remember during this Holy Week, you allow me to identify personally what you're suffering. And then, Josh, all these scriptures started coming back to me, "Blessed are you," when men persecute you and revile you, and say, "All men of evil against you," from my name, like for instance, he said, "For Joyce, and be exceedingly glad for greatest your reward and heaven." And these kind of words of Jesus started flooding back to my soul, and I had to tattoo to my heart from this day forward. This is the beginning, and it won't be the end. Men will continue to persecute me at this level, and if I'm persecuted because I made a mistake, I will publicly apologize. But if I'm persecuted for righteousness' sake, I gotta say, "Lord, thank you that you allow me to suffer for the name," and that in the persecution of the ignorant, and those who don't understand me, what they're actually doing is increasing my reward in heaven. And so I gotta say that to myself every time I'm persecuted from my own podcast, to my own platform, to everything that I do, man, and so heavily critiqued. Now, I just gotta pray for my enemies, and I gotta just hold fast to the fact that what they're actually doing for me is increasing my reward in heaven, and, bro, if it was not for the words of Jesus, if it was not for that encounter with my daughters, man, I don't know how I would navigate what I'm dealing with right now, bro, because it does hurt sometimes. We're away humans. It does hurt, but man, the words of Christ give me solace, and listening to the voice of those who love me the most.

Man gives me solace, but you know how this goes sometimes, and be the voices of those who hate you sometimes sound so loud, and his brothers like you, who you and I, that was talking out there, and the pastor who I met in here just remind me that Jew, what's his name? Ed Newton and Matt. And yeah, they remind me that they are more for me that are against me, and I gotta thank God for voices like that, that just remind me there's fruit out there, man, and I'm thankful for that. There was, you know, it's like, this is one of those things where it's like, unless, unless Yeah, man. So I think I can't remember what happened to me the first time that I got, I caught it in the teeth. I was in, I woke up when I was an international negative trending topic for like a couple hours. And I'll do my best to get through this story. And I take a long walk and I'm praying and I'm like, man, did I just, you know, because what goes through your head is, did I just ruin my ministry? Yeah. Exactly. It's never going to be the same as that's what's getting your head. And some in a bad spot and I come home and I opened the door from our garage to our house and my three kids are there. And as soon as I opened the door, they yell, "Welcome home, Dad." And I walk in and Jan is there and all the candles on our dinner table are lit. And she did everything real nice. And she made this meal that is my favorite meal, this real hard to make. And I'm looking around and I'm like, "Pable, what's going on?" And she looks me right in the eyes and she quotes that verse. You just said, Jesus said, "Blessed are you." When people persecute you, revile you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you, falsely on my account. And then she said, and he said, "Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward.

They can't even have it." And then she said, "So tonight we feast." Wow, man, God, Godly wife, man. Bro, how did you feel in that moment? It was like my whole world flipped back right side up. Oh, man. And you know this, I can tell from talking to you and seeing some things online. Every man either marries a launch pad or a lid and we marry a launch pad. Definitely man. Definitely man. We married a launch pad. We married a launch pad. Definitely man. We're not poisoning our bones. What? Can I ask you a question about that moment? Was you present in that moment emotionally when you sat down for that meal? I started, I broke down into yours, because it's really hard to describe the emotional reality when, you know, it's weird, we're having to, when your phone just starts, and it's like, dude, and they're trying to bless you. And they're trying. They're trying to bless you. Stand strong, bro. Yeah. Hey, man, praying for you. Yeah. Hey, man, more for you than against you. Yeah. And, you know, it just feels like a dark cloud over your head, but when I walked in the house like that, it was like that dark cloud broke open as a deluge of mercy.

And dude, I'll say this, man, I've watched this in your ministry. At the end of, when I get in a moment like that, I go to Psalm 86, and so do I, bro. So, you know, that passage, a band of ruthless men seek my life, men without regard for you. And then he says something like this, I'll butcher, he says vindicate your servant. Indicate your servant, and show me a sign of your favor so great that my enemies will be put to shame. Oh, dude, you know what I honestly think? I don't know how it happens in the spiritual realm. I honestly think when men like you get falsely accused, I honestly think it's one reason why your ministry blows up like it does, because the Lord looks at the promise of Psalm 86, and he's like, you know what, ruthless men seek Philip Anthony Mitchell's life. Men without regard for me. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to vindicate him to put his enemies to shame. And I honestly don't think you would have the anointing you had without those people. It's a crown of thorns on your head is what I feel like it is. And Jesus. And so there's a spiritual reality there that I don't get, but every time my ministry has done this thing, what happened right here before it did this was ruthless men sought my life. I love it so much. Look at God, man, thank you for that affirmation brother. That means a lot. You the first person I've ever heard say you run to Psalm 86, man, Psalm 86, bro. I memorize it in college and man, I think has kept me as kept me too many nights, man. That's a one. That's a one. Gosh, let me ask you just a couple of things. So, you know, what people will say about guys like you or sometimes guys, I'm I'm nowhere near to the platform you.

But there's a celebrity pass. You guys just want to be a celebrity pastor. What I'll just say this will I'll say something that Philip Anthony Mitchell can't say. What people don't know about a guy like that is when I walk back before this podcast to go say, hey, to him, shake his hand, hug him for the first time. I walk back there and what he's doing is he's the room is filled with the sound of Phillip Anthony Mitchell in intercession asking for God's the kiss of heaven on the podcast. That's about having nobody sees that stuff. Nobody sees the story of I saw I'm at Bryce Crawford. And Bryce looks across the room beforehand and who's over there praying over the room, Philip Anthony man, no way sees that stuff. And I just want to say it publicly is like the reason that you see things in the public spot for a guy like this man is because he's doing things in private that nobody will ever, he's paying a private price that results in a public anointing. And what's really interesting to me, man is you are the opposite of like the celebrity pastor, caricature, like you're the opposite. It's like, you know, guys back, he's not like in a green room asking for the red skittles only, you know, he's back there, just assaulting heaven for a blessing on what's about to happen. So like you're basically breaking every rule that is the whole celebrity pastor, caricature, like this guy just gets up. I mean, how long do you take you preach to Matthew? Yeah. Why is that like, what's your, what's the emotion you're feeling right? Like why, why aren't, what's pulling the tears? I feel like you understand me. And I feel like there are a lot of people who don't. And it's a source of a lot of the persecution I go through. And it's not for me to boast about what people don't see. It's for others to talk about that on my behalf. And so I'm just thankful that you talk about that on my behalf.

Yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now, man. That's what I'm feeling, you know, sometimes I think, Josh, if I could invite my enemies into my prayer room, they might think differently about me. But I'm not even sure if they would, you know, and they wouldn't. Yeah, I'm not even sure they would. And for all the talk about like celebrity pass and all that stuff, man, like to be honest with you, bro, I don't see that stuff. And I mean, it's like I say this as God is my witness. I tell you no lie, he could take my life if I lie. There is nothing about what I'm doing that's glory for me. It's just not there for me, bro. I feel like my ministry is more of a cross that I carry because I didn't want it, right? And traveling and preaching is a cross that I carry because I didn't want it. You know, and what I'm experiencing right now, I did not ask for, right? And so my platform and the warfare that has come with it for me is a cross that I carry. It's not, it's not glory. You know, it's not personal, self-anggrandizement. It's not me trying to build a monument for myself. It's just not there. I'm not that kind of person. To be honest, I've said this on platforms before and I would, I actually would rather be alone with Christ in my prayer closet than on a platform. The people who know you best that I know, that's what they say about you. I enjoy being alone with the Lord and I'd rather be there than on a platform. And so me being on platforms or stages or conferences or wherever I am, it is, it is a cross that I carry. That's why I wear two chains, you know what I'm saying? Like I wear two crosses around my neck, a reminder that Christ carried one and a reminder that I carry one. You know, and so my whole ministry is a cross that I carry. This is coming from a man that ran for ministry for four years, right? And this is coming from a man who has not asked for what he's stewing in right now, right?

And so for me, it's a cross. It's not, it's not for glory. It's not for fame. It's not for a bag. No, that does not mean that God has not blessed me in the process. And it's not taking care of my family. And it's not put me in rooms with people I admire or rooms with brothers like you who I've watched them online. And I was sitting here together. So God has definitely blessed me in the process, but I'm not in there for that, right? It's not that for me. It is a cross for me, but it's not one of glory, right? And so that's not what ministry is for me, bro. It is for me across that I carry, especially when, you know, I don't, I don't know if we know we could talk about this, but I still struggle with a lot of insecurities, bro. So, yeah, same. You know, people do the same. Do you, or whatever, every grads me in the lobby and they'll, hey, man, rank for you to stay humble. You know, you know, honestly, I don't want to say the same thing. Yeah, hey, man, thank you. Would you please pray for me to stay confident? That maybe that's my biggest struggle. Yeah, me too, bro. Me too, like that humble piece, my insecurities, do that to me. My sometimes, you know, I don't want to, you know, go into a dark place too bad, but sometimes still feeling unworthy. Does that to me? I still struggle with fully understanding God as a father. Sometimes, you know, you know, and understanding his love as a son, you know, in my wiring. Sometimes for many years, I saw God as like a boss and it's like a taskmaster. So I'm like, I want to be a good soldier. And sometimes I've got to remind myself that he is my father, you know, and that I'm a son before.

You know like man my own brokenness will keep me on my knees, you know if anything like I love what you said pray for my confidence But pray for me to stay humble. I appreciate that But my fallen nature is doing a good job and keeping me humble right now, bro You know I'm saying like it's doing a bang up job and keeping me low Don't talk about it Bro, you I can't even tell me in times I walk off a platform on Sunday and feel like dang it. I blew it Bro, I blew it bro. Like I miss this point. I could have said this different like the amount of times I get to the bottom of the stairs And I talk about this in my book. I can't tell you the amount of times, bro I get to the bottom of the stairs and I shake my hand like dang it Philip man You messed that proclamation up. You could have did better. You missed that point. You were supposed to say this You didn't package that right men. Yeah, that's for me. Probably bro. I've never met somebody else That's me for real bro. I finished there has never been a time where I don't finish my first sermon Saturday I get off the stage and think I blew it man or I ruined it. That's all I feel every time there dude I heard I can't remember it may have been TDJ. I can't remember who said this I heard somebody say one time that in every great preacher what they feel is the agony Between the message God put in their heart and the one that came out of their mouth I've never heard that agony and the agony between the message God did here during the week Yeah, and what took to quote the Psalm this poor lisping stammering tongue. Yes, man There's an agony, but yes, I deal with that every week every I I have never finished this literally I've never finished the sermon and thought that was a good sermon man I go with this every single week. I get to the bottom of the stairs. I'm like dang it Phillip. You botched that Yeah, you know, and then I got a I got a in between also our gatherings and our services I would go into a room and I'll kneel down in there And I'll put my face to the chair and I just start crying out to God Lord Well messed up forgive me. Yeah, well, I didn't say this right forgive me Help me to do it better than the next gathering like there is this there is this like I liked what you just said What was that word you use agony agony and between what I felt like I got in my prayer time and what actually came out My mouth is like sometimes they don't match that never, you know, and man is so and now man, so now it's not it's not glory for me It's not

Celebrity no, it's not it's none of that for me. You're the anxiety around preaching. I do I have extreme I do so do I do have a lot of anxiety about preaching and a lot of it is rooted in my insecurities But a lot of this rooted in the pressure of you know, I'm not gonna be able to proclaim this right what I feel like I got in my prayer time, you know, you can study you can pray you can get the outline right, but it's like then can I get this Outright, so I still deal with a lot of anxiety around preaching That's like I told you before I preach I kneel down in a chair And I got to work that anxiety out of my heart at my chair. How you do it? Man for me. I just got I can't it's hard for me, bro. It's you know what when you get an answer you got to tell me Dude I Added the salad but I In 2009 this is public in 2019. I had eight months of very extreme anxiety attacks before and during preaching and Every six or seven years it comes back. It's kind of if I go a little too hard a little too long Wow, and I'm it's nowhere near like it was in 2019 2019 was like a level 10 and this is like a level three, but I'm having a little bit of that you know right now and Dude, it is It's a thing, bro. You know, I deal with the same thing I deal with the exact same thing and for me. It'll come back like maybe every two years Was this 2026? Last year 2025 I dealt with a full year of preaching anxiety for 12 straight months I was dealing anxiety and preaching and it was so bad Josh I'm not even gonna talk to bus on our podcast, bro So I mean I don't know I feel so ashamed even talking about this But we could leave it and edit it out whatever y'all want to do, but it was so bad for me I was watching I was watching messages of me from 2024 and 2023 saying where is that guy? That was the guy before he was well known that was the guy before he had so much warfare and persecution that was the guy I'm saying where is that guy, you know, since so for a whole year 2025 man I had anxiety in my preaching like I just don't feel the same, you know and trying to get back You know some rhythm that I lost and say Lord

What is the rhythm for where I am right now and I realize in retrospect? It's like a cycle like every every couple years it would just come back to me I don't know if it's demonic I don't know what it is, but it would just come over me like a like a like a wave It would just bellow over me and man I will be on the floor in my prayer room at home just wailing and crying out to God like Lord Yeah, you know that prayer like when David but restore to me, you know, just just that word restore and I would just be It's me. Man, I'm not with that. What I think some of it is is what is the rhythm that I think some of it's spiritual. I think I don't think people understand when we're preaching to people. They don't just bring themselves. They bring their demons. That's where the weariness comes from. We are like, bro, it's like the image that I always get when I'm preaching is I want to pick up that thing. I want to pick up that sword and choose violence. Yeah. Yeah. The kingdom of God suffered violence. That's it. Yeah. So, but the other thing, man, that I don't know, I'd be interested to see if this is true in your life. Yeah. The two seasons I've had, there was eight months in 2019, and this is level three right now, but both of them were attended by seasons where God just did this. And there's some of me that's like, my soul is trying to metabolize everything to happen, because like, dude, what's happened in your life is you've had three lifetimes worth of, for lack of a better term, promotion in three years. A man's soul was not necessarily designed to do that. And then, man, I don't care who you are. I don't care who you are. I got pretty thick skin. Yeah. It does something. It does. It does. It does. It does. And it does something to your family, especially when they old enough to build social media. Yeah. I got kids, man, they can't go on YouTube without seeing something negative about their father. They can't open a social media app without seeing something negative about their father. You know, and all that is happening in my life within three years, you know, and I was, I was content where I was, you know, and so man, what you said is so profound because I think some of the anxiety I've experienced in my preaching, it was like in waves. And then 2025 is when, like, when God was really like pouring out his favor and he continues to this day, man, I was struggling the most in my preaching. Yes. It almost like it was easier for me when I was in obscurity, you know, but what you said, I deal with that in bellows and waves. And I don't have an answer for that, but I know what it feels like, bro. You know, and when you get an answer, you tell me. But I still deal with that, man. My fear is that it might be a horn in the flesh. He gives a man to keep from becoming too elated at the surpassing things. That's my, I don't want that to be the answer. I think that might be the answer. Let me finish. I just want to ask you to last thing. Let's do it, man. So, like a lot of people that, like, listen to this pod, it's one of the things I love. It's like to quote Charles Spurgeon earlier. It's vulgar. It's for the, it's a bunch of, it's a bunch of blue collar dudes swinging hammers driving trucks. It's, you know, it's like people who they never done Team Jesus before ever. You know, we have a ton of listeners in the military and in correctional facilities in prisons, tall and Jesus. And they look at guys like us and they think, man, I'm never going to have a story like that guy. Uh, guys never going to be able to use me like that. Uh, Phillip, Anthony Mitchell, that's great. You say all that stuff. But hey, dude, you, I ain't going to be me because you, you don't know what I did, man. What do you say to that guy? I say to that guy, first I said to my brother, um, I think how you feel is very normal. And I understand how you feel. And the way you feel does not say anything bad about you. I would say to that brother, a man that you don't need a microphone and a platform to be useful to God. I would say to that brother that long before there was a Phillip Anthony Mitchell that the world knew long before there was a church long before there's a 20, 19.

I was trying to be faithful to Jesus when I was a school teacher. I was trying to be faithful to Jesus when I was a janitor. I was trying to be faithful to Jesus when I was unemployed. I was trying to be faithful to Jesus when I was just walking around in parks. And so I will say to that brother that your ministry is where you are. If it's behind bars, your ministry is there. If it's at the office, your ministry is there. If your blue collar worker, your ministry there, your ministry is wherever you are. And your mistakes does not define you, right? And you can choose when it comes to your story. You can either let the things that you've done be a coffin that buries you or be a classroom that teaches you. So my brother, if you're behind bars because of things that you've done, you can either bury yourself in a coffin or you can say it's a classroom that has taught me. And right where you are, I want to remind you that Apostle Paul has seen the back of bars and Jesus' disciples have seen the back of bars and I've seen the back of bars and right where you are. You can be faithful to Jesus right where you can pray where you are. You can lead people to Christ where you are. You can start a Bible study where you could be useful to the kingdom. I want to remind you that God needs His servants everywhere, not just on platforms. but the majority of God's servants are in the marketplace, and they're in the street, and they're on college campuses, and they're in high school. They're everywhere outside the platform, and this is why he's called us to be a witness wherever he has planted us, so you are useful. You are anointed, you are called, you are chosen, and your ministry is wherever God has your feet. That is your mission feel. I'm even talking to the stay-at-home mom, whose husband walks out of the door and goes to the office. I'm talking to you. Right as you're cleaning the dishes and mopping the floor,

you could be praying for gospel ministry to spread. You could be praying for churches to be planted. You could be praying for your children to know Jesus. You are useful right where you are, so to the stay-at-home mom, to the businessman, to the entrepreneur, to the multimillionaire, to the billionaire, wherever God has planted you, be a witness for Christ and be an agent, wherever you are, be fruitful wherever you are. God needs you to contend, and God needs you to be fruitful wherever he has planted you in every circumstance, and in doing that, we will bring God glory. - I don't wanna finish right there, man. I don't usually do this, but man, there's like guys used to you in my life, and you get your fears ahead of me. Would you pray for me? - Yes, bro. Yeah, let's do that, bro. - Yeah, man. Eternal God, a never-wise father. I thank you, Lord, for the great honor and privilege you've given Josh and I have been called sons of the kingdom. Help us to never take that for granted. I thank you for your divine providence that allowed my brother and I to cross paths first on social media, and now right here in the studio, where we have felt your presence, God, over this time. Father, I pray for my brother that you continue to deepen his intimacy with you.

I pray for my brother that you would make a more sensitive to your spirit than ever before. I pray you a strength in him and his inner man with might by the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray you a comfort in Lord where he is hurting and bring healing where there is brokenness. I pray you a cause, Josh, to love the things that you love and to hate the things that you hate. I pray his preaching will be more ferocious and more bold than ever before. I pray he will count us of worthy to suffer for the name and that he will see his ultimate reward as the crown. As the crown, he's gonna lay down at your feet for his faithful sacrifice in this life. I pray when he feels alone, he will feel your presence and when no one understands, he will feel your presence. I pray you will give him the strength, the wisdom and the grace to lead this massive church that you have entrusted to him, all these souls. And I just pray, God, that you will take people out of his life who the devil has slipped in. And you bring into his life everyone who is needed, every mentor, every coach, every person that will help make a test finish line. I pray blessing and favor over my brother and over his marriage and over his children and over his church and over this podcast and over everything you've placed his hands to help us both to be faithful in the face of persecution in valleys and on mountain tops until you call us home.

I ask this Lord and the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen and amen and amen. Thank you, my brother, and thank you, brother. Yeah, amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]