Pastor Carl Joseph dives into the heart of Christianity in this episode, challenging the all-too-common passive mindset of believers. He emphasizes that we’ve got a role to play in our faith—if we sit back expecting everything to happen according to God's will, we might just miss the mark. Carl's book, "Lionheart: Unleash the Warrior Within," is a rallying cry for Christians to engage actively with their faith, pushing past complacency. He shares personal anecdotes that highlight the importance of stepping up and acting, even when it feels uncomfortable. So, if you’re tired of the whole “que sera sera” approach to faith, this conversation is packed with insights to help you unleash your inner warrior and take charge of your spiritual journey. In this compelling dialogue, Pastor Carl Joseph unpacks the essence of his book *Lionheart: Unleash the Warrior Within*, tackling the pressing issue of spiritual passivity plaguing the modern church. He argues that there’s a troubling trend among Christians today—one where a ‘whatever will be will be’ attitude reigns supreme, overshadowing the active faith that Jesus calls us to embody. Carl’s tone is direct and unapologetic as he challenges us to recognize that we are not mere spectators in the divine play; we are participants with a mission. He insists that our inaction can have eternal consequences, and it’s time for believers to step up and recognize our part in God’s grand design. As he shares personal stories and biblical references, Carl draws parallels between today’s Christians and the early church, particularly the fervor displayed in the Book of Acts. He highlights the relentless perseverance of Paul, who faced persecution yet continued to push forward, embodying the warrior mentality. Carl’s message is clear: we need to engage actively in our faith, not just for our own benefit but for the souls that could be lost without our intervention. His insights provide a much-needed wake-up call, urging listeners to evaluate their own spiritual commitments and take actionable steps to fulfill their God-given purpose. The episode also provides a glimpse into Carl’s transformative journey from a skeptical engineer to a passionate pastor. He recounts how his understanding of faith evolved dramatically after moving to the U.S., where he experienced a vibrant, dynamic relationship with God that he had never known before. His candid reflections serve as both an encouragement and a challenge for listeners to embrace their identities in Christ fully. By the end of the conversation, it’s evident that Carl’s mission extends beyond mere words; it’s a heartfelt desire to ignite a spiritual revolution that encourages believers to unleash their inner warriors and engage the world with the life-changing power of the Gospel.

Takeaways:

1. Pastor Carl emphasizes the importance of stepping up in faith, arguing that passivity in Christianity can lead to dire consequences for ourselves and others.
2. Engagement with the community is crucial; if we don't act, those around us may miss out on salvation, highlighting our responsibility as believers.
3. Carl Joseph shares his transformative journey from a passive mindset to embracing the warrior within, urging listeners to actively pursue their faith and purpose.
4. The book 'Lionheart' challenges the notion of a passive Christianity, advocating for a bold and active faith that mirrors the early church's engagement with the world.
5. Joseph discusses the impact of modern translations on biblical literacy, raising concerns about the omission of key verses in newer versions compared to traditional texts.
6. The episode underscores the necessity of knowing scripture deeply, as it equips believers to stand firm against temptations and misunderstandings about their faith.

Foreign.

To be here with Carl.

Joseph, welcome.

Thank you so much, Ashley.

I really appreciate the opportunity to speak today.

Yes, I am blessed and grateful because you are pastor author of Lionheart.

Unleash the Warrior Within.

That's a serious cover that you got there.

Yeah, I like it a lot and I wanted the lion theme and I contacted an artist and he came up with the goods.

I mean, I absolutely love that cover.

A lot of people have spoken about.

Really captures the spirit of what we're trying to.

To grasp here.

In Christianity, which is parlaying the.

The passive spirit.

There's a passivity in the body of Christ that the que sera sera mindset that everything that happens is all God's will and you know, every.

He's in control of everything and everybody.

And I'm like, wait a minute here, we've got a part to play.

If we don't step up, there's some things that are not going to happen.

And God reminded me that a lot even while writing the book, that if you don't engage the public, the sphere of influence around you, people can die and go to hell because you didn't act.

And a lot of people don't want to hear that.

They don't want the responsibility of that.

But it's the truth.

We cannot have passive Christians.

I mean, you look at the Book of Acts, it's just full of engagement and travail.

And, you know, poor old Paul was whipped and beaten.

I mean, and then he just got off, dusted himself off and carried on going, you know, and that's kind of the mindset of the warrior is just to keep pressing in Christ and don't back down right now.

Yeah, that's well said.

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

What even prompted you to even start to even write this book with this project?

Yeah, great question.

I knew.

So I came from the uk.

That's why I have a funny accent.

An L1A visa as an engineer.

So I was very sort of left brain function, mindset kind of person.

Didn't entertain the supernatural.

Didn't even understand or believe there was a God necessarily.

I grew up in an Anglican church, which was Presbyterian equivalent here.

There wasn't really a contrast between those in Christ and those who were not.

There was a lot of pomp and ritual and a lot of people were disillusioned with the church because they didn't really see any life in it, I guess you could say.

And There were certainly faithful followers.

And I'm not saying God cannot use that denomination, but I'd never heard of the term born again before I came to the United States, believe it or not.

Now, if I'd been surrounded by Baptists, I probably would have in the uk, But I was sort of clouded.

I did attend the Anglican Church and the vicar would smoke a cigar and drink a scotch.

You know, it wasn't like any sort of vibrant message of repentance or an urgency to let go of a previous life.

So I was drawn.

I landed in Houston within 90 days of landing in Houston.

I became born again, spirit filled.

And that occurred at Lakewood Church, at the old location, not the current location, which is on the south side of the city.

It was a northeast location where Pastor John was passing away, and then he was handing the bat on to Joel.

And it was just a wonderful time to attend that church because every Wednesday and Sunday night they'd have teachings and prophetic classes and Bible studies and men's groups, and you could really just dive in with your, you know, feet first.

And I did.

And I think my parents actually thought I was crazy when I. I became, quote, unquote, born again.

So there was a bit of a schism there initially, because that is certainly resolved now, thankfully.

But, yeah, it's just a re.

You're entering into a new domain, a new spiritual atmosphere.

You're entering into, you know, born again life, which the Holy Spirit is going to then, you know, slowly chip away at those things that he doesn't want you to keep going.

And there's a transformation that occurs when we're.

We're Christians and it's walking in tandem with the Holy Spirit and letting go of some things you need to let go of that are hurting you.

For example, I mean, I was a casual drinker.

I would imbibe heavily on occasion, and it was not a good lifestyle.

And immediately I went to grab a drink one time after I got born again, and it was.

It tasted like vomit in my mouth.

I couldn't drink it anymore.

Now, that's not to say you can't drink and be a Christian.

I'm not going down that rabbit hole.

But for me, it was a stumbling block.

And so the Lord took that away from me and made it very clear that you're not to continue that.

And I didn't need to.

I didn't have a desire for it, to be honest.

Anyway, I went on a long time there.

But no, no.

Yeah.

So I'm just sharing my heart and you Know, saying to the viewers out there, hey, you know, God can change anything in your life.

You just got to be patient.

You've got to be committed and committed to what he asks you to do.

You know, many times if we hit a dry spot, I'll ask people, hey, what did he ask you to do, you know, several months ago or years ago that you haven't done?

And once that's been dealt with, usually the next goodie comes down the pike.

But, you know, many people just, you know, Christianity is a.

Once we're in Christ, it's an aspect of obedience that if we don't obey, you know, we're not going to eat the fat of the land, literally.

And you have to be willing and obedient to do so.

And some people are obedient but not willing because their attitude's off.

But I'm not going to start preaching now.

But it's.

It's okay if you do.

It's okay.

I'm ready for a sermon any day.

Okay.

We are to be fed every single day.

Amen.

Amen to that.

So your accent isn't funny.

It's fun, especially.

Okay, good, good.

Because.

Because we all sound the same, so there's nothing, you know, accents I feel like are just musical instruments, you know, it's nice to hear something different.

Amen.

Amen to that.

Now, you said a lot of nuggets and that I want to capture, especially when you were from the different here and over there.

Do you think the approach was different as far as why you didn't.

As far as being reborn again, all those terms that here in America is used often.

Do you think that the approach to Christ was different than here?

It's a great question.

And I would say that in John 3, Jesus makes an explicit statement that we must be born again.

That's not an Americanized term.

That's literal scripture.

And it's through that passage, once we are born again, the transformation takes place.

However, in other parts of scripture, it talks about believing on the Lord Jesus Christ repenting.

So these are all synonyms for the same experience, which is giving your heart to Christ and repenting.

So there's an interchange here with various words.

And in my case, I'd never heard the born again message.

That's not to say that people in the UK don't believe Christ or, you know, of course they do.

There's a multitude of churches and denominations.

I'm just talking about my experience, which is unique.

Now, had I grown up in a different part of the uk, I may have had an entirely different experience.

But for me personally, I was blind, as the gospel says.

You know, it talks about those who are blind to the truth, blind to the gospel, they need to see the light of Christ.

And I was thirsty for more.

Even though I had a wonderful job, I was.

Had a good paying job.

I reached many of my goals in academia.

I came to the United States on a six month visa.

I was supposed to go to Alaska and Dallas.

I ended up in Houston at the last minute.

I think that was providential because that then led me down a path that was very different and the Lord blessed me in my job.

I have anecdotes I can give on that even because I was out of my depth initially, because they thrust me and they being the oil firm kind of thrust me in the deep end.

And I thankfully did float and even thrived thanks to the spirit of God guiding me in the day to day.

But yeah, that, that's interesting.

Is, is it a matter of perspective in the uk?

Things have certainly changed since I've left.

I know there's far more of an evangelical flavor over there.

There's even street preachers that are on various corners really going for it with the gospel, the born again message, which was not happening when I left.

And so I think the darkness is increasing in the UK and also is the light at.

Because there's a balance there.

You know, when God, when the enemy lifts up a standard, the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

And so I am not trying to be negative about the UK because I come from there and I'm still praying for it.

We have a very large heritage of, you know, Smith Wigglesworth, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, George Whitefield, you know, the list goes on of people who've been used by God in England.

And it saddens me that a lot of people have no knowledge of that.

All the rich Christian heritage that we have.

But, you know, that's changing.

I'm believing that can change.

Yeah.

Thanks for sharing.

I find other areas, other countries, other cities, especially outside the borders, quite fascinating to me as far as the approach and what they're doing.

And some of it isn't wrong.

It's just, it's just a different flavor.

So I'm always interested to know what that flavor is, you know.

Right, right.

Certainly on the other side of the pond.

Yeah.

Have you been to the UK yourself?

Have you traveled to Europe?

No.

Okay.

Yeah, one day I would like to do that.

And then on my bucket list, I also like to go to a church in Africa, because seeing stuff on social media, they.

When it comes to praise and worship.

Yeah, they.

They.

Some of those churches can praise and worship in Africa.

Yeah.

Our church, the one I attend here in Denver, had a.

A recent outreach.

A group of about 12 people went to Uganda, and I've.

I've corresponded with a lot of Kenyans myself, a lot of pastors in Kenya.

And, you know, God's already doing a move there.

Kenya's on fire for the Lord.

Uganda, obviously, Nigeria's got its issues right now with the.

The Muslim or the Islamic militant aspect.

But, yeah, God is.

He moves in our.

He moves in every nation.

And I think, you know, sometimes we're blind to what he's actually doing because we.

It's not, you know, seen on cnn.

All CNN and MSNBC and the networks is bad news all day long every day.

You know, no one just heard a report on cnn.

Somebody got healed, you know, somebody got born again.

How exciting.

Never going to hear it because it talks about the principality, the power of the air.

Who's in charge of the airways?

That would be the enemy himself.

That's his domain.

But, you know, we can shed the light in that, too.

Amen.

Yeah.

So I'm gonna share a clip.

Switching gears, I'm gonna share a clip that I read in your book.

Yeah.

Lionheart, Unleash the Warrior Within.

So, first of all, the introduction and the first.

I think it was the first paragraph captured me in the introduction in which you wrote Marianne Evans, a novelist, under the synonym George Eliot, which I find just fascinating.

Itself.

Wrote.

She wrote, it's never too late to be what you might have been.

And that quote just really captured me.

I feel like it was beautiful and sad all at the same time.

It's just hope and just knowing missed opportunity all at the same time.

And I feel that is the way, because you write about identity, knowing your identity, trying to figure out your identity within Christ.

And I feel that really captures what you were trying to teach in Lionheart.

It certainly is.

And you raise a great point that there is a sadness to it, because every one of us has made.

Given a specific purpose on the earth.

And how many people actually live that out?

I mean, many people Christian and still not live it out.

And that that manifestation of our purpose can only be found in the mind of the Creator, as I said in the book.

But if we don't commune with him and then purposely seek it out, we may never fulfill it.

And, of course, we have the pull of the world that is always upon us.

You know, the World system is pulling on us with its, its jewels and its little trinkets and its enticements.

And you know, some people just go full on into the world.

They want as much money as they can get.

They don't care about spiritual things.

And that's also a warning that I talk about in the book that we're called not to love the world in the book of First John, love not the world, neither the things in it.

And so we have to get our allegiance right from the get go.

We cannot be allegiant to the world.

And a lot of people, you know, don't want to hear that.

You know, they want the good, the money, the fame, the fortune, the fun.

And again, I'm not anti fun, but this is an eternal perspective that we're looking at.

We are eternal beings headed into the kingdom of heaven, which is juxtaposed against the kingdom of God.

They're not synonymous terms.

The kingdom of God is within you.

It's seed, time and harvest.

It's righteousness, peace and God, sorry, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Rather, the kingdom of heaven is something we're aiming at, which is the manifestation of Christ's theocracy on the earth once he returns for the Church.

And so once Christ returns from the for the Church, we have that tribulation period for the world of travail.

And then we enter into the millennial reign.

A thousand years of reign on the earth, not in heaven.

But it's this time of ruling and reigning with him, which we're promised as Christians.

He's preparing for that now through us.

So in other words, the more we fulfill our potential, the more we do what he asks on what we're called to do.

And if we're faithful with little, we will be faithful with much.

And that much actually is ruling and reigning.

And most people are like, what?

That's too crazy.

It's too far out.

But that literally is what the Scripture says, that the church will rule and reign.

And most people have gravitated that scripture into this life and say rule and reign in this life.

And you know, there's a measure of that certainly moving in what Christ won for us.

But we're heading towards a destination of stewardship, ownership, and a place of prominence in the next phase of God's kingdom, which is the kingdom of heaven.

But I was just looking at Meyer Perlman's quote here on page 89.

The World in the sense in which it is denounced in the Scriptures is the vast assemblage of human activities whose God is honor, pleasure, and profit.

To these three, it subordinates everything in pursuit of these, it endeavors by clever arguments to exalt and ennoble.

It has at its back for the purpose the vast machinery of literature, business, commerce, government, which are constantly insinuating reverence for honor, pleasure, and profit.

Right.

And they would warn us, you know, when you get born again, you want to stay away from the glory, the gold, and the girls.

Amen.

You know, and that's like, I get the point.

I'm not staying away from the girls.

You know, I'm married.

But, you know, there's enticements that are always trying to get us off track.

And I.

And you're going to say, well, you sound like a puritan, and I get it.

But I really believe there's a measure of holiness and righteousness that God has called us to that we're not seeing in this day and age.

Like, because he's prepping us for the next phase of eternity, ruling and reigning on the earth with him in the millennial reign that, you know, we're prepping for now.

So we want to start today.

We don't want to be just getting there and like, oh, I should have done this and I should have done that.

And, yeah, we're only going to be judged against the potential God gave us.

And comparison is another trap I talk about in the book.

Or inferiority, which comes from comparison, which is the.

One of the.

Is one of the enemy strategies.

Yeah, you said a lot of nuggets.

I'm trying to capture everything all at the same time, and I'm having it digested.

Okay.

I'm still trying to capture it myself.

I mean, this is really.

Oh, my goodness.

Where should I even start?

Like.

Like the girls and the golden.

It's.

It's really interesting because what's so fascinating about God is his approach.

And because.

Because his approach is the complete opposite.

Because we.

We know there's a paradise, we know there's a heaven, but we can't quantify it.

And so when we're here and we're seeing all these comforts here, you know, we can quantify that.

And so it's so easy because God isn't.

God isn't really, like, he's like, it's beautiful.

It's wonderful.

But we cannot, as humans, quantify what is before us.

True.

It is true.

And if you read the book of Revelation, there's some very interesting verses there.

Talks about the river of life, fruit along the river of life that we will consume just to get to the presence of God.

Now some theologians think that that is talking to those who are saved in the tribulation because they don't have the immortal body.

Whereas the church will become immortal once we're raptured, we will be given that body and this wretched flesh can fall away and we'll get the six pack and whatever else we were bleeding.

But that, that immortal flesh is going to free us from the bondage of the flesh.

Because of course with this ever present flesh is the opportunity to sin.

If that was taken away from us, we'd have our spirit, soul and body all in Christ and there would be no more temptation.

And of course, course it says that is going to happen, although at the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released one more time.

Don't fully understand why that's going to occur.

But yeah, it's very hard for us to even grasp what is ahead for us.

But you said the word comforts.

I think we can be lulled into a false sense of security because of the comforts.

If you go to certain parts of the world, you know, people are living on the poverty line.

There's a lot of strife, a lot of political uprising.

They're, they're in threat of being martyred daily.

And you know, in the, in the west, quote, unquote, yeah, we could be pansy Christians.

The one people who just, you know, they're afraid to even talk to anybody about Jesus whereas some guys around the world are dying for it.

And so I think this, the real call of my book is to inject courage back into the body of Christ and know that you are a walker warrior.

Now the term warrior is a little controversial because everybody wants to see Jesus as meek and mild and nice and approving of everybody's behavior and non confrontational.

But of course if we read the scriptures, Jesus was confrontational, but he wasn't doing it deliberately for the sake of it.

He confronted evil whenever he saw hypocrisy or evil.

He would confront the Sadducees and Pharisees, of course, who were this religious bastion of, you know, we've got it all together and you know, we're lawful and we're wonderful.

It's just that just reeked in the nostrils of Christ because there is none righteous.

No, not one.

We already know that.

And no amount of righteousness in our own strength is going to cut God's standard.

And so that the law itself is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ and show us our inadequacies so that we can then believe upon him by grace, through faith.

But the warrior is mentioned in Exodus, chapter 15, verse 3.

The Lord is a man of war.

The Lord is his name.

That word Lord is saboath, not Sabbath.

It really means Lord of war.

And so Christ is returning as a warrior king.

Yes, we saw him in a manger.

Yes, we saw him as a prophet.

It.

But he's going to return as a king, a conquering one, to set up a kingdom with arguably King David as vice chancellor.

There's some scriptures in Ezekiel that allude that David could be sitting on the throne in Jerusalem, and then Christ is still in the heavenly realms ruling over that.

That outlay.

But again, these are nuances in scripture.

He says, your Father, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

And so I'm really calling in this book, men and women, lions and lionesses, to be valiant in our day and hour, because we got to stand up, you know, for the Word in our sphere of influence.

There are people you can reach that I cannot reach and vice versa.

And so there are people who may go by the wayside if we don't act or we don't pray and we don't share the faith.

Amen.

Well said.

Amen.

You know, I was thinking as well that, you know, with.

Because you're mentioning Jesus being a warrior, his approach was very.

His approach is a technique that we have a hard time mastering.

You know, today on how, how he controlled his feelings, the words, tone.

I mean, these are things that we are all trying to.

Trying to emulate and grasp as, as a warrior, you know, because he wasn't yelling, he was never loud.

He.

This, this is my interpretation.

I could be incorrect about it.

But he was stern right in, in.

In what he was saying.

If an assertive.

If that.

If I'm using the correct.

Yeah, I see your point.

Yes.

And I mean, there's two instances where he beat the man, money changes out of the temple.

I don't know if he's yelling him at the time.

He might have raised his voice, but he certainly took action.

But you're right in what you're saying and even the way I've written on my website an article about the way that Christ questioned people.

It was part of my masters and I did a review of open and closed ended questions that Christ gave.

And the majority of the questions Christ asked were open ended in the region of about 74% and commonly, and it's a bit strange, but Jesus didn't actually answer the question specifically.

Many times.

He would often turn it on the person and say, what do you think?

Or you define or what do you say about it?

To get them to think about.

He never just gave straight answers usually occasionally did, but it's this open ended vernacular that causes the listener to really think about, you know, eternity, the kingdom, how does the kingdom work?

He used parables to conceal things from some and reveal things to others.

And that is the approach of communication, like you're saying, which was very unique.

I don't.

And also the time aspect.

I don't think Jesus wore a watch.

He wasn't in a rush, you know, when he was prompted, he was riding in the sand where at the famous adultery accusations scene where people are trying to figure out what he's writing in the sand.

I think he was just buying time.

He was listening on the inside to what the father was saying, buying time.

And he didn't want to speak until he knew the right answer and that's why he just didn't respond quickly.

And I think there's an urgency.

Sometimes we respond too quickly, but if you have that uncomfortable pause, you know, people can reveal their heart, but if you jump in too quickly, many times they won't.

And that happens in counseling.

When I counsel people, I like to ask open ended questions because open ended questions are like a force funnel that, you know, you don't get to a fine point in an open ended question.

It just leads this way.

And there's many, many, you know, ways that the conversation could go.

Tell me about yourself.

You know, just a basic.

Well, tell me.

Well, there's so many things I could say and, and I think that that open ended aspect intrigued me because I was an engineer with a left brain mindset who like yes, no answers.

And so it was exactly the opposite of what I was used to anyway.

But yeah, I think you're right.

The way that he talked even is unique.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When we get up there, I think we're just going to be amazed.

Agreed.

And he'll have a recorder of everything we've ever Said or done, which is kind of scary.

But.

All I, you know, the one thing, I mean, who knows what we will be doing?

We will not know what we will be doing.

We will be praising, worshiping.

But the one question I would probably ask, the one question I wonder is, will we even have a.

Like, would he be doing a sermon on a mound and just, like, just lay it all out?

You know, this is what first John met.

Oh.

Like, we're all just gonna be like, whoa.

Yeah, there's going to be some aha moments for sure.

Yeah.

You know, this may be a little controversial, but on page 61 of my book, you know, a lot of people think God can quote, unquote, do anything.

But if we look at the Scripture, there's some things he cannot do which people like, wait a minute.

So, for example, he cannot break his own laws.

He cannot lie.

Yeah.

He's not a respecter of persons.

He doesn't save people without grace and faith.

He doesn't bless people apart from faith.

He doesn't.

He doesn't tempt with evil.

You know, he cannot tolerate hypocrisy, which we touched on.

And so there's.

There's some things, you know, that God's not going to allow to bless us.

And a lot of people are sort of trying to get through a road map of, I want God to bless me.

And of course, everybody wants that, but we have to come on his terms.

We have to know who we are in Christ.

Page 27 of my.

My book talks about that.

40 things that we need to know already.

The spoil and treasure that Christ already won for us on the cross.

We're delivered, we're justified, sanctified, translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son, so on and so forth.

And so if we don't have any knowledge of the things Christ already won, we're not going to be able to defend ourselves when the enemy comes knocking on our door with temptation and accusations that are contrarian to the Word.

We need to know the Word to defend ourselves, just as Christ did in the wilderness.

In Matthew, chapter 4, Christ quoted the book of Deuteronomy three times.

He never got into a conversation with the devil.

He always quoted the Word, and we need to do the same.

But if we don't know the Word, it's going to be very difficult for us in that time of temptation.

Well said.

And you know what?

You.

That's a great way, because you're leading me into this next phase of a question that I have in which you talk about illiteracy, Bible illiteracy.

And I think Bible illiteracy.

We're seeing it eroding right before our eyes, going faster.

And it reminds me, it left me, left me, left me that real quick with me there.

Yeah, the Bible, I'm like, yeah.

I mean, where the disciples say, you know what.

What should we be looking out for Jesus?

And Jesus, like, you know, y' all gonna be deceived, you know, watch out for that.

And so.

And then kind of like, we're really confused, because when you think about it, they were at the height of knowledge, just having Jesus there, having him teach them every step of the way.

And then here we are centuries later.

And I mean, me not quoting a Bible verse right there, prime example.

People are not being able to quote Bible verses.

It's okay.

People not knowing the Bibles of the book or the order, like by.

And then basic Bible facts like illiteracy is just really eroding right in front of us.

We have to ask ourselves, what is our final authority?

Well, the Word of God is our final authority.

My government is not my final authority.

God is.

And so we can get into conflict of how is government infringing on my personal rights, freedoms, etc.

But if you look at page 48 and 49 in my book, I talk about some of the key statistics, like you said, pointing towards biblical illiteracy.

For example, almost 1/3 agree with the statement that Jesus was a great teacher, but he wasn't God.

46% say the Holy Spirit is a force, but not a personal being.

You know, similar to Star wars.

About 1/5 of believers say, the Holy Spirit can tell me to do anything, something which is forbidden in the Bible.

So again, we have this separation of the Spirit versus the Word.

The Word and the Spirit are always going to work in unison.

They're going to work in tandem.

You're not going to get a guidance from the Holy Spirit that's going against the Word of God.

And of course, we have to know the Word of God to know that.

If we.

If we're not reading the Word daily, I recommend a chapter a day, just a basic chapter.

Get into the devotional time with the Father, start worshiping him, and say, lord, what are you showing me from.

From this parable?

What are you showing me from this chapter?

And most of my content creation for my podcast comes from just devotional time in that one chapter.

And I get insight that I wouldn't have had had I just gone into study mode.

But yes, the illiteracy side is coincidental with Ecumen, the ecumenical movement, which says that there are many paths to the summit of Salvation Mountain.

It's not just one way.

And Christ made it very clear in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth and the life.

No man comes to the Father except through him.

And of course that is an offensive message.

I understand that the gospel actually is offensive.

Christ is a rock of offense.

He's saying, if you do not repent and you do not believe on me, then unfortunately you're going somewhere else, which is very hot.

And a lot of people don't talk about that either.

And this really is Lionheart.

A clarion callback to old timey Christianity.

The orthodox doctrines that everybody believed for thousands of years that are being eroded in our time and if we're not careful, a generation or two down the road and things are going to look pretty weird.

And dare I say, they're already looking pretty weird.

They are.

And a lot of it, some of it is contacts, you know, what we know now versus what we know then.

And, and not too long ago, Bible study.

We were in Second Samuel towards the end of Second Samuel, and this is when David does the census.

And I was.

We were in the NIV version and David heard a voice, voice to tell him to do a senses.

And then Joab was like, I'm not sure you should be doing that.

Dave was like, yeah, you know, I was told we need to do that.

Right?

And he was upset.

And I remember reading the Bible verse that God was upset.

And then it was he and the he was lowercase.

So.

So if you're not reading, you're like, well, God is he.

So why is that?

You know, it'd be like God told him that, but it was the fact that it wasn't capitalized.

And so when you think about reading something, like every day you be like, God is he okay?

It's referring to God and you keep it moving.

You know, sometimes with the.

If you're not reading the word, you, you.

You can miss those baby things in which scripture is trying to tell you.

Certainly.

And context is everything.

If you don't have.

What is the famous saying, if you don't have a context without a pretext, you're left with a con.

And you end up being.

The context of scripture is absolutely paramount when we interpret it.

And I don't want to touch on any toes here, but many Christians are not aware of the removal of key passages in modern Bibles.

For example, in the NIV, there's 16 verses missing.

All Together in the New Testament.

Key verses.

Oh, yes, it's on my website.

I can send you a link.

I've done a complete study on it.

Sixteen verses like Jesus is the bread of life, essentially, or this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting are missing from the niv.

And so it's like, wait a minute.

And there's also alteration of some things, some key verses as well, to change the meaning.

I'm not, I'm not attacking the nib here, but I'm just saying I think we have to go back even to what the original King James.

We benefit from having a parallel Bible where we see the King James versus the modern versions.

And we can see, you know, is there any changes here?

Are there any, any omissions that we need to be aware of?

Because even in the King James, the new King James, I think they removed the word Lord like 50 times.

And most people are thinking, you know, every time we have a new iteration of the word, it's better for us and it's helping us understand the word.

But actually there's been a detriment in time with these modern versions that many people are simply not aware of.

I wasn't aware of it until I studied it.

Yeah, I go into detail on that on my website as well.

Wow.

I wasn't aware of that at all.

And it's really interesting because I love Bibles.

Do I need more?

Not really.

Do I want more?

Yes.

Do I want more?

Yes.

And it's interesting because right now, I recently bought an niv, right?

I've been.

I've been in the Christian standard for a hot minute because it's very poetic, the Christian standard.

And I remember that was hot for a minute.

And so the NIV was hot.

And I remember even before, like amplified was like the.

The it translation for a hot minute.

And so it's interesting because when new translations come out, I don't know, it's just translations is interesting and fascinating all at the same time.

I don't.

It is a trial at trying to make or allow for the Bible to be more digestible in the time that we're in.

But at the same time, I feel like translations, correct me if I'm wrong, is continuing to play with language.

It is very much so.

And there.

And like I said before, there is a.

What most Christians don't realize is that in these new translations, they've made removal of key verses.

Like, for example, hell is not mentioned 22 times in the new King James.

They've removed blood 23 times.

Repent is omitted 44 times, heaven is omitted 50 times, and so on and so forth.

And then I said before I could actually name the verses now for you that have been removed, I can send them in a chat link or something.

But they're key verses that I actually have a, an article on my website, several.

This one's called which Bible should I read and in it I talk about Westcott and Hort and the whole revised version and how the modern day translations come from the modern minority text versus the majority text that, that they should be coming from.

And, and sadly this Westcot and Horde actually were, were immoral men and had some very strange habits.

They worshiped and venerated Mary above all things and they started intentionally corrupting the word of God.

And you know, and many people don't want to hear this of course because they have a slew of modern Bibles on their desk and they, they, they love them and fair enough.

But when you've done the research and you've seen, for example a key verse is 2nd Corinthians 2:15.

It says, for we are unto God a sweet Savior of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish.

But in the new versions they switch that subtly to saying being saved, not are saved, meaning that salvation is a process.

It's a work orientated thing, a goal we're aiming towards in time.

I am saved.

I'm not being saved.

I'm not going through some transformation.

And so there's subtleties in the language itself that can mislead people.

Yeah.

And another example is the famous second Timothy 2:15 study to show yourself approved unto God.

A workman needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If you look at the nit, nlt rather it says work hard, Work hard to show yourself approved.

In the NASB it says be diligent.

In the niv it says do your best.

Do your best.

I mean the language change is so sharp it means entirely the opposite of what it changes.

I just said, it said study to show yourself approved.

It didn't say be diligent and work hard.

These are works based mentality that this is again buying into the whole, you know, salvation is not by grace through faith, it's through works.

Anyway, you touched a nerve there and I just went for it.

No, no, no, no.

Listen, you are a pastor.

I am.

Yeah.

No, it's, it's a hot outfit, man.

I get emails From a lot of people, like through the website, they, oh, no, you know, we love the nkjv and it's good and this and that.

I'm getting these emails every day from people who really, they want to hang on to this.

And I'm just saying, look, look at the facts.

This is what's been removed.

This is.

This word has been removed.

X times.

Do your own research.

Do you think, you know, we should be adding and taking away from the word?

No, we should not.

It actually says that in Revelation.

It says it in Leviticus.

So, you know, if I wrote a love letter to my wife and I was in a war, I wouldn't want somebody coming to me and just, oh, he didn't say that and he didn't say this and oh, this is what he meant to say.

I'm like, what?

You know, this is the word of God we're dealing with.

It's not some random letter.

Yeah, yeah, thank you, thank you for that.

I learned some new things.

And because, because as a layperson, you know, I'm studying my word, you know, I, I do the Bible studies, you know, the devotionals that come in the email.

And so this, this is another important aspect in being connected to a church and be connected to someone like yourself who is ordained in the Word.

Because that easily, someone can easily be drifted in the wrong direction, believing that what they're reading is right because they're like, well, it's right here.

Totally, totally.

And of course, you know, we dare we say that there's a monetary aspect of trying to make new translations, and by copyright law, you've got to be greater than more than 10% of, of the original King James to be a new translation.

So it's almost like they have to change it in order to sell it.

Yeah.

And then you go back to the love of money is the root of all evil.

You know, that says that in the King James.

In modern translations, it says that the love of money is a root of evil, not the root.

And there's a vast difference between the.

And a. Yeah.

If money is the root of all evil, that means that Lucifer, when he fell, was involved in monetary exchange.

And it says that in Isaiah 14 that he was exchanging with the nations.

And so again, we're getting deep here, but, you know, there's a gentleman called Dr. Frank Logsdon, and he was involved in the NASB translation, and he said at the end of his life, I'm in trouble.

I can't refute these arguments.

It's wrong.

It's terribly Wrong.

It's frightfully wrong.

And what am I going to do about it?

Because I've written the nasb.

I must under God renounce every attachment to the new American standard.

You know, he had like a massive conviction towards the end of his life that, you know, we shouldn't have done this.

But this, of course, is not shared often, you know, when we're buying our new modern Bibles.

And you know, again, when I first got saved, I, I got an.

Somebody told me to buy a parallel King James nlt so I could see both.

And I like the NLT because it's in my modern language, but I could tell that when you just switched across to the verse is like, this isn't quite matching up what this is trying to say.

And so we need to be careful.

Yeah.

And again, I'm treading on toes.

I'll probably get some hate mail.

But it is what it is.

Well, I mean, there were times when Jesus was like, listen, you, you think that's right, but that's not right.

Let me tell you why.

Because at the end of the day, I mean, everybody's goal is to go to heaven.

That's everybody.

That is right.

That's the only goal.

Right.

That's everybody's goal.

So.

And you don't necessarily need the King James to get saved.

I'm not saying that you can't get saved through the NIV or the King or the new King James.

I'm not saying that you can.

But when it comes to doctrine, we have to really be careful that we're being.

Are we being saved or are we saved?

I mean, which one is it?

Are we studying or are we working hard?

You know that.

Yeah, we need to be clear on what, what it actually says.

And God can use anything.

There's an incredible story I heard, I was reading.

It was in China and it was in a, a Gulag equivalent in China.

China.

And the guards were using the Bible torn up pages of Bible as toilet paper.

Wow.

And, and they were, you know, wiping away.

And while they were.

This guy kept reading the Word while he was in the toilet and he got saved in the toilet.

So he started a revival inside the, the Gulag.

Because the word of God is so powerful and I don't know if that was King James or not.

It was probably the modern Chinese version.

That's a good one.

That's a good one.

To be saved anywhere.

Anywhere to be saved anywhere.

We don't have much time left.

So with this book, Lionheart, unleash the warrior within.

What Is your hope for people to be able to get out of this book?

Great question.

There's many different flavors to it.

I even talk about Charles Darwin and his, you know, Darwin is worshipped in England.

He is just like, you know, the dude because he came up with evolutionary theory and we all came from apes.

And I'm like, well, have you ever dug into Charles Darwin?

Have we ever researched this man?

And I talk about it in my book.

As he went on an expedition to South America he was exposed on page 184, I talk about it, to some occult practices in the jungle on his way to the Galapago Islands, believe it or not.

And so, and of course Darwin doubted even what he wrote.

Towards the end of his life he made a comment about, about the eye and the fact that there's no way the eye could have evolved.

And it's true because it's designed.

But he, he had a lot of self doubt.

But Darwin had, like I said, this strange.

He would often shudder and go into, I don't want to say trance, but he was affected differently by this trip into the South American jungle on the way to the islands and it seemed to have affected his writings.

Again, this is all documented.

You know, it's one, one man's word against another.

But I'm actually quoting from Van Vance Feral, his name is from the Evolution Handbook where he goes into detail about how Darwin was born into wealth and his father wanted him to do something like a trust fund baby, but he wasn't particularly academic and he sent him on this ship.

And so, you know, the whole of humanity has believed this lie that we came from an amoeba that then grew an arm and a leg and became, you know, half monkey, half ape and then all of a sudden we're human.

I mean the sheer notion that you could even believe that is absurd because we would have many transformational species walking around us now.

We'd have many half ape and half men walking around in the transition.

How come all the transitions have disappeared?

Right.

Shouldn't we see a complete set of species that is transitioning?

I'm talking about animal to human transitioning, not, not the other transitioning.

Amen.

Although a lot of that nonsense is going on as well.

As the enemy attacks our gender, our soil through spraying of crops.

You know, it's like the enemy has done a number on us because it's his world.

Sadly, the scripture says Satan is the, the ruler, God and prince of this world and that the whole world lies in wickedness in first John.

And so you Know when we read the Scriptures, very sobering, that we are on enemy territory.

We must stay in the light.

We must read the Word.

My desire is that people are infused with a fresh desire to have intimacy with God, to read their Bible every day and memorize Scripture.

And there I said it, that horrible word, memorize Scripture, which nobody wants to do.

But that is how that transformation takes place.

Because when you memorize the Word and you can relay it back at the time of testing and temptation, you have something to stand on.

And I really believe that the Lord is going to help us remember the Word.

It's not just a, you know, a memory exercise.

I believe the Holy Spirit, who's our helper, advocate and comforter, is going to help us remember the very thing that we.

We need in that time of testing.

And I talk about memorization in my book.

The fact that the Puritans practiced it, Oliver Cromwell practiced it.

Thomas Watson was a famous teacher at the time, and he talked about the importance of putting the Word in our heart.

And, you know, even in the old days, if you wanted to be a priest or a Sadducee, even, you had to memorize that.

They say the first five books of the Bible, which is just insane.

I mean, how could anybody memorize the third?

But that, that was the standard.

And so we're just trying to learn 40 verses here.

We're not trying to learn, you know, first five books of the Bible.

I mean, you know, so, you know, again, I'm just trying to raise people higher.

Not to say I'm on a pedestal either.

I'm just a normal dude, you know, pressing into Jesus.

And that's all we are.

You know, no one's.

If we look down on somebody else, we're not acting in humility.

And there's a quote here by Watson.

It says, the devil is an enemy of meditation.

He knows that meditation is a means to compose the heart and to bring it into gracious frame.

Satan is content that you should be a hearing and praying Christian so that you would not be a meditating Christian.

He can stand your small shot provided that you do not put in this bullet of meditation.

Meditation is a bullet in the eye of the devil.

When I first got born again, I got a yellow pad and I.

Over weeks and months, I memorized about 200 to 300 verses.

And I'm not saying I can recall them all now, of course, but I felt really just impressed to get in the Word and just know it.

Yeah, wow, thank you for that.

I learned a lot that, that when when that reminded me, Denzel Washington, Book of Eli.

That reminded me of that.

Oh, yes.

Remember when in the end he.

What happened to that Bible?

Because his mission was to carry.

To take the Bible from 1.1 to point B, right.

Tap into the book.

But in the end he ended up memorizing the entire book.

Because he was.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I.

Incredible.

It was a moment.

He was blind too, right?

That's something that was revealed.

No, that wasn't revealed through the movie.

Yeah, it went.

And of course they had to have a Brit playing the Lucifer type, right?

Gary Oldman, you know, he's like, God is good.

And then he's like, oh, is he?

And he's like, shoots him or whatever.

I was like, wait a minute, my theology is blown.

Know.

But with that movie, that example of the movie and then what you said, I think as humans beings, I think we really demote ourselves more than we should.

Well, we're created in God's image and likeness.

I heard a story of.

There was some, some interaction one time, and again, these are all stories, but some angel was interacting with somebody and they said.

And the angel was like bowing to this man.

He said, what are you bowing to me for?

He said, because I see the Maker in you.

I see our Creator in you.

Because the angels are not created in the image and likeness of God.

They are spirit entities.

They are Elohim, but they're not in the likeness of God.

And so the humans, you know, we are.

And no wonder the devil calls us apes and monkeys.

I mean, who came up with that when we're created in the image of God, right?

Yeah, yeah.

What surprised you the most, writing this book?

Well, I will say I wrote it and then I went back over it and I was like, wow, who wrote this?

And I started editing and then I had to look at all the spelling mistakes, the grammar.

I mean, it took so long to refine this thing.

But writing a book takes a long time, much longer than you think.

But what's cool is when you go back over it, like you get these little snippets and how you can, you know, enrich what you've written.

And so I learned from the process and it's my first book, that it's not a one time affair.

You just keep chipping away at it like the Michelangelo.

I just keep it chipping away, you know, just keep.

You just keep going there.

And then eventually it's that finished article.

And yeah, so yeah, I'm excited about it and it seems to be well received.

And it seems timely.

Obviously, what happens with.

With brother Charles Kirk there, you know, we need to stand up.

We can't be shrinking back right now.

Yes.

And that's what the Enemy would want.

He wants you to cower in fear.

And don't talk about your breakthrough with your buddy at the coffee shop.

And.

And don't talk about your healing.

And don't, you know, the enemy's always trying to keep it hush, keep it nice on the low down.

You know, don't share any encouraging words with anybody because, you know, you might start a mini revival in your area.

And the Lord has really prompted me through the years to speak boldly in the workplace, which is controversial.

But there's times.

I know there was a buddy, one time, I was working with him, and he had kids and he was a married guy, but I could tell he was so stressed out.

And.

And the Lord's like, hey, just encourage this guy right now.

Start speaking to him.

And I did.

And he started crying at the desk, actually, which is not comfortable for men to be crying in front of each other, but he just started weeping.

I was like, whoa, okay, if I said something wrong here?

He's like, no, What I was gonna do right after this was go to the bar and just drink myself literally to death.

And you've just spoken some stuff in me that's encouraged me.

And so we don't know how timely the word is that we're giving to that person.

That word of knowledge, word of wisdom that the spirit drops in us.

We've got to be bold with it because that.

Not doing it, you know, like, it's a wonderful life.

Look at the impact that he had right.

Over time by not doing those things.

People can suffer and be hurt and wounded.

Yes, yes, yes.

That is a very good point, because.

I'm a huge Denzel fan, by the way.

Oh, that's a very good point.

Because I'm thinking, too, as you are, for those, you know, preaching, even saying God's word.

And sometimes you don't even need to, like, acknowledge.

Acknowledge that you're saying God's word.

You know, I have.

Right.

Quoting a Bible verse without quoting.

Yes, that's good.

Yes, people.

Because it's inside of you.

It's just coming out.

Yeah, yeah, people.

You don't have to give scripture and verse.

Just speak it.

Yep, yep.

People are still.

They.

They gravitate.

They gravitate towards that.

Yes.

And then there's going to be a moment in which they are going to need you.

Like.

Like, you may not know that but you may not be like, oh, nobody's a saying anything.

I. I should.

Right, right, exactly.

But.

But they're still listening because a moment's going to come, and then you will be there for what they need.

Amen.

I mean, there's many stories like that down the years.

And I've had the privilege of praying with sick people.

I pray to the lady called Patsy from South Africa.

One time, she took like that from South Africa, you know, and he's like.

She would come in and say, what's that?

Is that a Bible on your desk?

What is that?

And I'd be like, yes, it is.

You know, it was just this really weird vibe.

Like, she was very, like, aggressive, and she just storm into your office.

And I was like, yeah, I'm just reading it here.

It's my devotional time.

Come on in.

You know, just so.

But one day she's like, look, I can't get pregnant, you know, and I don't know how.

And I've been through all this IV treatment, and it's like, what?

Whoa.

I was like a download of, like, she was saying, I need help.

And I was.

I was a bit taken aback.

Like, you know, we got a meeting in 10 minutes.

I'm not sure we should be talking about this, you know, so.

But.

But she's.

She basically shared her heart, and I went home.

And this is very controversial.

I've got it documented in my podcast on my website.

And for some believers, they struggle with this as well.

But the Lord.

I was praying one morning, I said, why can't this woman conceive?

He said, because she's got a curse.

Her mother spoke a curse over her.

And I was like, wait a minute.

This woman's a believer?

That shouldn't.

Shouldn't be the case.

I'm not sure at what level of a believer she was.

She sort of inferred.

She was.

I can't confirm if she was born again or not, but.

But he said, you pray over her.

And again, this is in a corporate America setting.

You at a time of choosing.

I will show you.

You speak over her.

Her womb, and you speak life over it.

And you rebuke this curse.

This is like when I first got saved.

And I was really nervous about that because that's not something, you know, you.

You get into a conversation with, typically in corporate about anything like that.

And I was like, God, you're gonna have to open that door.

I'm not gonna say a word.

And lo and behold, There was a time there where she came in and we started talking about the word again.

She opened up again.

I said, I'm just gonna pray for you.

You okay with that?

I didn't, you know, there was no laying on of hands or anything like that, but I just spoke over her and.

And then we actually went our separate ways because I had to go into West Texas on a.

A course.

And then about two weeks transpired and I came back probably maybe three weeks.

But when I returned to see her again, I kind of forgot what we did, you know, I was so in the zone and work.

And she said, carl, can you believe it?

I'm actually pregnant.

And I said, that is just okay.

This lady called her baby Christie after Christ because she knew it came from him.

And again, that's me just being stupid enough to follow what I heard and speak it.

And something miraculous came out of it.

And this is over 20 years ago now, but, you know, that lady's grown and that lady Christie's in existence because we prayed.

That was the warrior within.

Yeah.

The warrior within.

Yeah.

It's not me, it's him.

Amen.

I'm not doing it, but he's working through me.

He's, you know, and that's it.

Just get out of the way.

That's what I say.

Just get out the way.

He'll work through you, you know, just let him do his thing.

Yeah.

So that was a.

That was a wonderful time for me.

I got born again, spirit filled.

God did a series of amazing things that I. I was like, wow, that's awesome.

And then I went into a bit of a fallow time because I started doing my own thing and, you know, we went in a wilderness experience and then, you know, God then restored me and, yeah, I have a lovely wife and kids and, you know, it's awesome.

You know, his way is the right way and certainly it could take longer than you think.

But again, that's in his hands.

Your times are in his hands.

Yeah.

Wow.

Amen.

Carl, I am grateful and blessed to have this conversation with you today.

I pray that God will be able.

I pray that God will be able to reveal more of himself to you.

You have just.

Just given us so much, and I'm.

Praise God and well, thank you very much.

I appreciate being on the show with you and all the audience and your humility and your transparency.

You know, I see that, you know, you've got like a light of just.

I want what Jesus wants through me and that you.

That speaks volumes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I think on your website, because.

Is it on your website?

I read somewhere that you may be writing some more.

Yeah, well, it was on my website.

Yeah, that's something the Lord spoke to me about.

Oh, thanks.

Now it's on record.

I gotta do it.

Oh, praise the Lord.

Thanks.

Thanks, Ashley.

I appreciate it.

Trying to keep it quiet.

I hate when you can't get out of God assignments.

Dang it.

I know.

I was gonna say my new book's gonna be I am humble.

You can too.

Five easy steps.

Oh, Is that really what it's going to be?

No.

No.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I could have swore.

I, I could have swear.

Am I wrong?

Am I wrong about it?

No, it's not written anywhere.

It's.

It's written nowhere.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Unless it's on the.

Maybe it's on the package that Mariana sent.

I don't, it may be.

I don't know.

I, I, I could be just imagining things.

Okay, well, I could have been worried right there.

I could be imagining things, but I could have swore I saw something, read something that you.

That there may be more coming out.

I mean, it's logical to write more than one book.

I mean, I, I think that's a smart deal.

I mean, you know, but it's got to be spirit driven.

Right?

Right.

Right.

So I pray.

I'm going back to my prayer for you.

Yeah, we gotta get off this because I gotta start writing.

See you.

See you in a couple more years.

Oh, goodness.

Oh.

So anyways, your website, where can they find you?

Yeah, the hub is carl joseph ministries.com.

there's about 218 podcasts there and climbing.

We've got 40 articles, some video.

I plan to make more videos in the future.

That's something we're lacking, but yeah, it's just a hub for questions.

Anything from you, UFOs to giant, to deception, to cults, to moving in the spirit, the gifts of the spirit.

I do a full teaching series on that.

And so you can go into the search bar and search anything you want and it'll come up and.

Yeah, it's exciting time and Jesus is imminently returning and we need to be ready and ready for that millennial kingdom, you know, where we're going to rule and reign with him.

Yeah.

Oh, man.

Carl, thank you so much.

So thank you, the viewer.

Thank you for you, the viewer.

I just want to thank you for watching.

And remember, God is love.

And God wants you to show his love to the world.

Until next time.

Later.

Thank you.

Oh, my.