JesusSmartX

Brian Del Turco
  • 5.0 (15)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

The show that goes beyond waiting for heaven. Beyond religion. Jesus is brilliant ... he knows how life works best.

  1. 3D AGO

    Sharpened, Not Softened: Meeting This Moment (EP 365)

    In extreme times, the Body of Christ can't afford to be passive and polite. Drawing from the latest Smart Edit newsletter, Brian Del Turco explores holy provocation—the biblical call to sharpen one another toward love and good deeds. Discover why speaking truth in love isn't optional, how Millennials and Gen Z are driving a Bible reading resurgence, the power of Micah 7:8's declaration over chaos ("When I fall, I will arise"), and the Japanese principle of Kaizen applied to spiritual growth. This isn't about being comfortable—it's about being sharpened, not softened, to meet this moment. Subscribe to the Smart Edit newsletter at jesussmart.com/smartedit for weekly kingdom insights. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Sharpened, Not Softened: Meeting This Moment Welcome to the podcast. This is Brian Del Turco, Jesus Smart X, episode 365, and we have something a little different today. I'm pulling from the latest Smart Edit newsletter—a few elements that I produce. And if you're not subscribed yet, I really hope you will be. The Smart Edit exists to spark our development in Christ. It's not just content and ideas to consider, but truth and reality to live in. It's free, it's weekly, five minutes to grow, and you can subscribe at jesussmart.com/smartedit. Before we get to that, I want to mention something remarkable. According to Edison Research's Share of Ear Study, we have hit a historic tipping point. Americans now spend more of their spoken-word listening time with podcasts than with traditional talk radio. Podcasts are at roughly 40% of spoken-word audio time, and it edges out AM/FM talk radio at 39%. That's an inflection point. To give you a point of reference, back in 2015, AM/FM talk radio held 75% of spoken-word listening versus podcasting at only 10%. But by quarter four 2025, it flipped for the first time—39% radio, 40% podcasts. We're living in a podcasting revolution. I'm grateful you're part of it here with Jesus Smart X. If you missed last week's episode, episode 364, "Grease the Groove: Spiritual Strength Training for Extreme Times," go back and catch that. We explored how micro spiritual workouts throughout your day can build resilient, responsive faith and a strong spirit. I'm seeking to employ this protocol in my own days. There's edges that need attention in my life, and I've got to stop thinking that I need huge blocks of time to address this in prayer. This concept of greasing the groove, which comes from athletics, can be applied to anything. Holy Provocation: Sharpened for This Time As I mentioned, this episode is a little different. We're pulling from the newsletter, featuring some elements there. Here's the first element: Holy Provocation—Sharpened for This Time. The body of Christ was never really meant to be passive nor polite. Now, kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. There's no doubt about that. But you can be kind, discerning, resolute, and impactful at the same time. There's a couple verses in the New Testament which specifically address this—Hebrews 10:24-25. The kingdom calls us to provoke one another toward love and good deeds that we're meant to walk in. And this New Testament word for "provoke" carries the sense of stirring up, urging somebody on, exciting somebody toward action. Now, here's the question for me, for you: Are we open to being a kingdom provocateur? Or are we just going to ride the pews, be passive, be kind and polite, and not in a godly way agitate for change and transformation which meets this hour? It's not intentional offense, though I'm going to be honest—some may be offended because when they're challenged, what it is is a holy push toward leveling up. Did you happen to see the intensity of the gold medal hockey game, men's hockey game in the Olympics? The United States defeated Canada in overtime. You can be assured that those teammates do not coddle one another to experience that level of winning. They sharpen each other. Excellence was demanded because the winning mission required it. And there are edges in your life, in my life, that we need to win on, that we need to reconcile and bring for the kingdom. Maybe it's getting out of debt so we can be freed up with space and time to help facilitate our kingdom contribution. It could be anything though. Proverbs 27:17 says, "Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another." There's a proverb which says that faithful are the wounds of a friend. → Read the enhanced show notes at jesussmart.com/365 In the Old Testament, Joel the prophet prophesied that there would be a time—and we're in that time now—when God would pour out His Spirit and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Prophecy does more than speak words. It reveals the heart of God. It can reveal the condition of the church, the pulse of society, certainly the condition of our hearts. In a real sense, prophecy, or having a prophetic point of view and having the trust between members in the body of Christ where giftings can be employed—it's getting closer to God's point of view on something. And that's what we want. That's what leads us to more fruitful, successful, impactful prayer and even prayer-born action steps. But too often our—I'm putting it in air quotes now—"Churchianity" tends to default to and drift toward comfort, institutional self-protection, hopefully not, but sometimes leadership ambition which begins to eclipse really what Jesus is building, or fear of disapproval. Paul said in Ephesians 4:15 that we can speak the truth in love, and as we do, we will grow to become in every respect—this is the actual verse in the NIV—we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is Christ. We love the church. Christ is building her. But love does not compromise. Love sacrifices. It calls upward. When did we begin to think that love is love but it's never based in reality or truth? Real love is based in ultimate reality, and it has the highest good in view. Here's what I can't seem to escape, and that's this: the thought that if we're going to meet this hour that we are in, if we're going to be faithful, we're going to have to harden ourselves a little bit and begin to more progressively walk worthy of the calling of Christ together as members of the body of Christ. There's no reason why in a godly way, spouses cannot challenge each other. Friends, members in the church, that tight band of believers that you run with, maybe that project team that you're leading—there's simply no reason. And we just need to become more secure, more about excellence, more about the ambition of Christ Himself, and just not feel that we have to get into some kind of safe space and that we can never be confronted or can never confront or challenge. Your voice matters. Your courage matters. And your willingness to receive challenge from others matters too. So here's the call to action: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where your voice can awaken, encourage, and strengthen others, and where your voice—and my voice, I'm looking in the mirror—where we need to receive right-sizing, correction, or sharpening. It's going to help us. It's going to elevate our kingdom game, if we can put it that way. There's another related Smart Edit newsletter called "The Proximity Effect"—the importance of drawing near to the right people and the effect that they have on you and that you have on them. Signals and Shifts We have a section in this most recent newsletter which we call Signals and Shifts. I'll just briefly touch on a few of the points here. An encouraging point is that Millennials and Gen Z are driving a Bible reading comeback. According to Barna, weekly Bible engagement among U.S. adults has rebounded to 42%, and that is—listen—a 12-point jump from its 15-year low back in 2024. So from 2024 it jumped 12 points. That's now up to 42%. This has been documented by numerous reporting and research. There is a Bible reading resurgence going on, and we think that this is indicative of people searching for meaning. Another point we have in this Signals and Shifts section is Jonathan Cahn issues a warning that the dragon of Revelation 12 is rising. He says the dragon is a mega figure, but we need to remember that victory is meant to be the natural state of authentic Christ followers. You can chase that link there. Another link: 25 tips that save money from a resource called the Penny Hoarder. This section, Signals and Shifts—quick hits where faith, culture, and global currents intersect—we try to curate some resourcing there that helps you see things in a new way, pray in a new way, act with kingdom clarity in a new way. → See the enhanced show notes at a

    25 min

  2. FEB 16

    Grease the Groove: Spiritual Strength Training for Extreme Times (Ep 364)

    Extreme times demand spiritual strength training. Discover how elite athletes "grease the groove"—training their central nervous system through frequent sub-maximal exercises—and how this same principle can be applied to training your spirit. Brian Del Turco reveals how micro spiritual workouts build resilient, responsive faith. Learn the power of prayer bursts throughout your day, why gratitude becomes magnetic when practiced consistently, and how small acts of obedience compound into kingdom impact. This isn't about exhausting yourself—it's about training your spirit through short, frequent practices that optimize spiritual efficiency and maximize power. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/364 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com/smartedit. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Grease the Groove: Training Your Spirit for Extreme Times I don't think anybody is going to disagree with me that we live in extreme times right now. Do you sense that? I think most people sense that. Extreme times that demand real strength and impact. The same principle that elite athletes use to build efficient power—we can really learn something about how we can train our spirit to meet this hour. Welcome to Jesus Smart X, the podcast. I'm Brian Del Turco. Thanks for connecting with me today. I think you're going to enjoy this and be inspired by it, and I think it's something that's timely for us. Before we dive in, don't miss the Smart Edit newsletter. I'd really love to have you on the list—elevate your faith, how to live smart, making an impact in our personal world. We're all questing on these edges. It's free, it's weekly, five minutes to grow. You can simply subscribe at jesussmart.com/smartedit. If you missed our last episode with Terry Hoggard on building a pathway to your preferred future, even as you relate in covenant relationship with God, go back and catch that powerful set of ideas and content. Jesus Dynamics: Psalm 110 and the Reigning King Before we get into this quick episode today, let's dive into today's Jesus Dynamic. I actually have a rather long article that's in the oven baking, and this Jesus Dynamic is taken from that article. It's unlike many things I've written. I think it's going to be unusual and unique. It's a lens through which we can view our experience with Christ in our times. Most Christians picture Jesus in heaven doing primarily one thing right now—interceding for us. We know the New Testament Scriptures tell us that, and we appreciate and value that. And we imagine Him patiently waiting for the day when the Father says, "Go get Your bride," and He takes up His role as a king on the earth during the millennium and then the new heavens and new earth to follow. What if this understanding is incomplete? I don't want to say it's fundamentally wrong, but incomplete. There is one Psalm that shatters comfortable categories—Psalm 110. It's the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament, and the early church treated it as the Master Key that unlocked what happened for Jesus after the resurrection, meaning His ascension, His session in terms of His enthronement as king, and His current role. I'll read just the first verse of the seven verses in Psalm 110: "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool." Now this isn't symbolic language. This is what we could call throne language, governmental language. Peter actually quotes this Psalm in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the newly born church. He quotes this Psalm to explain what just happened. He doesn't say that Jesus will sit there someday. He says that Jesus is sitting there now, and that's why everything has changed. He's ascended, He's been enthroned. He's waiting for all things to be put under His feet, and He has now poured out His Holy Spirit. Paul uses this language: "He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet"—alluding to Psalm 110 in 1 Corinthians 15. Now here's what's startling. Not only the most oft-quoted Psalm in the New Testament, but the most often quoted Old Testament passage, period. So this should speak to us. We should be paying attention to this. Psalm 110 describes a king who rules while His enemies still exist and are even actively resisting. You see, the Father says in Psalm 110, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." That sounds, does it not, exactly like the world that we're living in? Christ reigns, but opposition remains. The throne is established, but resistance continues. Here's the picture: Jesus isn't waiting to rule. He's been ruling all along from the moment that He sat down at the Father's right hand. Yes, it will reach its zenith during the millennium and the new heavens and new earth to follow. But make no mistake, it doesn't start at His second coming. It started at His ascension. What Is "Greasing the Groove"? So with that kingdom framework in mind—Jesus reigning right now—let's talk about what it means to grease the groove in the Holy Spirit. What on earth do I mean? Am I making this phrase up? No, I'm not. This comes from Eastern European athletic programs. Back in the day, sports scientists and trainers in the Eastern European nations and in Russia discovered that frequent sub-maximal exercises in terms of strength training—they called it greasing the groove. The Russian Pavel Tsatsouline came to the West and popularized this concept of greasing the groove in terms of training. Greasing the groove trains not just our muscles but our central nervous system—our CNS. And this is the key: What this does is it optimizes muscle efficiency and it maximizes strength. Now I'm on a personal experiment right now. I've been on a health quest since April of last year when I got hit with shingles. Here's how it works: You get your maximum number of push-ups that you can do. In my case currently it was like 31. Then you take 50% of that amount, which would be 15, and you do these really quick short sets throughout the day—15 push-ups spread throughout the day in multiple sets, maybe separated by an hour, an hour and a half in between. And it's easy to do, of course. But what we want to concentrate on is form and technique, and it trains our central nervous system. Now what I'm doing is I'm going through this process for two weeks, like six days a week for two weeks, and basically doing about a total of about 100 push-ups a day. But it's spread out throughout the day. It's not that difficult to do, although I am feeling a little sore and my body's not used to it. But hey, that's okay. It's good to be sore. It trains your central nervous system. And then I'm going to test my max again after a two-week period. I'm sure it's going to jump from 31. I'm guessing it's going to jump to 35, 36 after these two weeks, and I'll be thrilled if it jumps to 40. But we'll see. My ultimate goal, Lord willing, is really to get to 70, 80, 100 push-ups max over months like this year. Now today, this concept of greasing the groove—hey, it's not like I'm some kind of great physical specimen or great fitness person. It's not that. But I do value strength training and walking and exercise. This concept is used across different domains now, including learning a new language or learning new anything. So for example, if you're learning a new language, you know how challenging that is. And maybe you got 60 minutes a day that you can budget towards language acquisition. Instead of studying for 60 minutes straight, it's better to study for four 15-minute segments. That's called greasing the groove. And the constant recall spread out throughout a day actually accelerates your learning and solidifies it. So this can be applied to anything—learning a musical instrument or some techniques and processes in business efficiency or anything related to personal discipline and more. It started out in physical fitness, and now it's spread across different domains. Training Your Spirit Man Now likewise, small repeated spiritual practices can train your spirit to respond with precision and power. You know, the Apostle Paul tells us to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus in 2 Timothy 2:1. Strength in our spirit. And boy, do we need that today. It isn't a one-time surge. It grows through faithful repetition. Each short prayer, for instance—you know, Paul said to pray without ceasing. How do we do that? Well, I think we need to have a dedicated time of prayer daily, preferably in the morning, but whatever works best. But then when he says pray without ceasing, what does he mean? Well, we have things to do. Of course we have to work, we got chores, we got things, projects, whatever—we got things to do. In what sense do we pray without ceasing?...

    20 min

  3. JAN 28

    Your Covenant Pathway to a Preferred Future with Terry Hoggard (Ep 363)

    Stop drifting and discover your covenant pathway to a preferred future. Veteran missionary Terry Hoggard reveals a transformative three-movement practice: foundation, strategic insight, and covenant with God. This isn't goal-setting—it's positioning yourself in the center of what God is doing. This calibration time gives God opportunity to download fresh vision for your next season. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/363 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Your Covenant Pathway to a Preferred Future with Terry Hoggard Brian: Welcome to the podcast today, friends. I have a great family member and friend and a co-laborer. We work together on some projects, some kingdom projects. Terry Hoggard is with us, and we are discussing something today. We're at the outset of the new year. I think these dynamics could be applied anytime. I don't think we have to do a reboot just in January, right, Terry? Terry: It's a great moment to capture in my heart, so I love it. I'm cleaning up everything I know to do with the old year going out, and I want to be there hands wide open saying, "Here I am, Lord. I've got some things to talk to You about, and I'm sure You have some things to say to me." Brian: Amen. Yes, absolutely. And sometimes people will listen to an episode like six months later. I put out something recently encouraging people to think about 90-day years—the winter season, the spring season, summer, fall. You can continually start afresh, start anew. But definitely at the beginning of our year is a great time. People are of this mindset, aren't they, in January? It's just a natural tendency, it seems. Meet Terry Hoggard Terry Hoggard has served for 30 years as a missionary leader across Europe with the Assemblies of God. He's provided pastoral leadership in Rome, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Malmö, Sweden. He has also equipped international teams and built cross-cultural networks around the world, including Asia, throughout his ministry. And Terry and his wife Ruthanne, my cousin on my dad's side, continue to invest in leaders globally. Thank you for being here. And what else could you say about the Lord's workings in your life currently? Terry: Well, at this moment I'm still highly engaged with the network of churches, so I still have intimate connection to the four churches that you mentioned. But in early 2004, I think, we built out what we called FEIC—Fellowship of European International Churches. It's an incredible network still going strong. And then in 2011 we met for a summit. Every year we'd gather, and in 2011 we were praying on our way to say goodbye. A friend of mine, his name is Al Perna, was praying, and he just felt like the Lord was saying, "Now's the time to extend the tent. We've been here together for almost a decade, but there's all these other churches and the movement of the nations and the diaspora." Three times God spoke to us. We have to do something. Well, at this moment, our leader of the Assemblies of God World Missions was brand new. His name was Greg Mundus. I said, "Greg, you know we have FEIC. How would you feel about us bringing all the regions—Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, Northern Asia—and begin to create a network that would allow each one of these regions to be intimately connected internally, but by expansion they have the whole world?" And Greg said, "That's a good idea." Brian: So that came out of prayer both in your own life and in partnership with others. Pattern recognition—what the Lord is continuously saying and doing. How important is it for all of us to be people of prayer, to be connected with others in prayer, to live our best calling before God? Terry: Absolutely. In fact, all those things—it's all about the capacity of the community. These guys were lined up behind me or around me, and I didn't even know that this was something that anyone was percolating. I think God spoke sovereignly in that moment. And from that initiative, God birthed something that was just so amazing. Brian: Percolating. I like that. Percolating in the Holy Spirit. I had a friend who said, "Kingdom currency runs on kingdom connections." That's vital, isn't it, for all of us to have quality, authenticity, kingdom connectivity so that the Holy Spirit can run on that? Terry: Absolutely. Three Words: Clarity, Closure, Catalytic Brian: This is a time, Terry. I was actually thinking this morning about three words that begin with C: clarity, closure, and catalytic. What could you say about just the need to get clarity from the Lord, to maybe bring closure looking back to some things that need to close, and turn to the future and be catalytic with new things that need to open up? What do you think about that? Clarity, closure, catalytic. Terry: Well, I guess I would say this. I think in every situation, but specifically in these kinds of things that are strategic and they're emerging, I think it's the posture of your heart. If you have something you want to take to the Father and you want to talk about it, it's a wonderful thing. But if you just go saying, "Lord, I'm not sure what it is. Let clarity come. Let there be catalytic realities that would confirm that this is what You want me to do." I know there's a lot of things we can do—we can read books and we can hear other things—but I think the seed is born out of the heart. And the posture and the positioning of the heart would be absolutely critical. Brian: Yeah. And the partnership with the Creator in the prayer and the positioning ourselves to receive new initiatives and to really begin to pray them into being, right? Terry: Yeah. The Three Movements Toward Your Preferred Future Brian: Now, you recently shared something with me, at my request, something that you and your wife Ruthanne go through every holiday season approaching the new year. You pursue—you're really going after a pathway that leads to a preferred future. I appreciate you being willing to share this personal practice that you do with your wife, but I think it can apply to all of us. What is that approach? What are those three movements? I'd just love to hear about that again. Terry: Here's what it really is. My first expression is that I want to openly open my heart and openly confess. I'm here at the end of 2025, and I have some notes here that I carried out of this same moment a year ago. And, Lord, I know there are things here that I was so eager to engage, and somehow along the way, as much as God did glorious things, I think I left this one not unattended, but I didn't bring it into fulfillment. So I began something knowing that. And then I began to realize this time—there's always a way it works. The first thing that struck my heart was foundation. And what I knew was I needed a foundation that was solid and sure. Because to live out the mandate of God is something that really needs to be built around the most powerful platform that anyone could stand on. I don't want to have one foot up on a ledge. I don't want to be right to the center or right to the left. I want to be right in the center of what God is doing. So that was really important to me. The second thing that I found would be important to me is not just foundation, but that I wanted to have the opportunity to have strategic insight. Because I know there are things here that I need to see to get beyond where I am. And I want that to be a reality. And then the other thing was that I wanted to come to this place where I would sort of make it a covenant with God—that these things that I've written and spoken with my wife about, and one of my daughters came with us (she loves to do this thing as well), I want it to be not just a matter of words and not even commitment as much as—I do love commitment—but I said, "Lord, before I leave this time of prayer, we spent the whole hour, two hours actually, doing our work and writing and praying at the end. But I want this to be a locked-in covenant so that I am being provoked every single day when I just stop and pray." I've been doing it now. I'm doing a lot of Bible reading and looking into the whole foundation thing because I think that's important. I think if we don't get a foundation right, we can somehow be swept away unintentionally, but it can be very traumatic. Brian: So the basics, the basic foundational elements—the Word of God, prayer, consecration. And so you prioritize that and build off of that. And you're tapping the power of covenant. Correct me if I'm wrong, Terry—I'm learning, trying to learn all the time—but I'm not sure that many...

    35 min

  4. JAN 19

    Over-the-Horizon Questing: Faith for What's Next (EP 362)

    You can't see what's coming over the horizon, but your faith can reach it now. Brian Del Turco explores four steps to cultivate over-the-horizon belief: worship and pray over the horizon (prayer as predicting the future), visualize and prophesy what's coming, fix your belief set points with sanctified desire, and act as if—filling your water pots before the wine arrives. Discover why desire means "of the heavens". Like Abraham crossing into unseen territory, you're called to exploit horizons. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Over-the-Horizon Questing: Faith for What's Next Listener: The Jesus Smart podcast, to me, intelligently offers its listeners interesting discussions on important topics. Brian: In this episode, it's all about cultivating our over-the-horizon belief, faith, and action. There's a real sense in which our horizons are placed on a curve, and we look at a horizon just like Christopher Columbus sailing to new territory across the terra firma. So we too—we walk by faith, we sail by faith and not by sight. I want to share with you for just a few moments how we can worship and pray over the horizon. Number two, how we can visualize in faith and prophesy over the horizon. Number three, we can fix our belief set points over that curvature in our life. We can't see it yet, it's not manifested yet, but our mind is already there. We're already touching it with prayer. We're already touching it with proclamation. And number four, let's make it complete. Let's be more complete in our faith and begin to act as if—begin to take action with what's coming over the horizon. This is Brian Del Turco. Thanks for connecting with me today on Jesus Smart, the podcast. What Is a Horizon? A horizon is simply a place where the sky and the earth meet, right? Whether we're looking at land or water. Lord Byron is regarded as one of the greatest English poets. He was also a politician. Here's his statement: "Between two worlds, life hovers like a star, twixt (or between) night and morn, upon the horizon's verge." When we come to Jesus, when we are transformed by Jesus and begin to walk with Jesus, we truly become people of the horizon. I believe Abraham was first called a Hebrew in Genesis 14. The word Hebrew, scholars believe, could be derived from a Hebrew word meaning to traverse or to pass over, to cross over, referring to Abraham, who was sent by God and crossed over into the promised land. Abraham is set forth in the Scriptures as a prototype of the faith person for us. And Paul says in Galatians that we are the seed of Abraham in Christ. There's a Hebrew in the truest sense—a person who leaves one territory and crosses over into a new place. Just like Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans, he traveled along the Euphrates River northwest to Haran in northern Mesopotamia, that Fertile Crescent region in the Middle East, and later in Genesis 12 was called down to Canaan into the promised land—a total, I believe, of about a 1,500-mile journey. In Hebrews 11 it says that by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place—listen to this—which he was to receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going, for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Now, my friend, what do you feel God may be asking you to cross over into as you quest after the horizons that He is setting before you? You will need over-the-horizon belief and applied faith. → Discover the four complete steps for over-the-horizon living at jesussmart.com Living for the Ultimate Horizon Let me read a Scripture to you from 2 Peter, chapter 3: "We are looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. According to His promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." My goodness. We are people of the horizon. That is the ultimate horizon—the coming of the day of God, the Lord's return, which will initiate the restoration of all things that Jesus spoke of. And there's some sense in which we hasten that day of God. Now we're going to have to explore that sometime. And we're looking for the new heavens and the new earth. But all along the way there are many horizons in light of this macro horizon which is coming. And the Bible says that we now taste the powers of the age to come. And we begin to live now, my friend, a lifestyle of restoration in the now, foreshadowing the time of restoration of all things. Now, what are those things that we can do to apply our faith practically, to begin to take action, to begin to orientate ourselves towards over-the-horizon living? Maybe it's a new geographical location God is calling you to. Maybe it's a change, a pivot in your career, your business, your work. Maybe it's some phase of education, maybe it's a new relationship, maybe it's starting a family, some interest, some cause, some justice issue that you're to pursue and quest after. These are all many horizons that God may very well be calling you to and setting before you, which are just reflections of that macro horizon which is to come. Yes, and we begin to live now with over-the-horizon belief and faith and faith-born action in our lives right now. It's an adventure, it's exciting. You, as a human created in God's image, are wired to be facing horizons. Step One: Worship and Pray Over the Horizon So what can we do? Number one, worship and pray over the horizon. Remember the curvature of the earth. You can't see in the natural what's coming. You have not experienced it yet, but it's there. And you want to begin to pick it up with that radar of faith. And you want to begin to worship and pray over the horizon. There's a real sense in which prayer is predicting the future. Think about the word prediction: "pre," meaning before or in advance, and "diction," meaning to speak or a saying. A prediction is a saying in advance of what's coming. And what worship does is it transforms us further, it conditions us, and even more, it positions us in faith. And we can now predict in worship and in prayer—to say beforehand, to declare. Even our English word "predict" comes from the Latin, which means beforehand and to say. That is a prediction. Think about Psalm 139. It says that even before we were conceived, all the days that were ordained for us were written down in Your book, O God. David says we want to say those pages. We want to predict and pray those pages and soak it all in a sentiment, an attitude of worship. Yes, declaring who God is. Becoming Christocentric in our worship and adoration, allowing the person of Jesus Christ to eclipse all the drama, all the distraction, all the resistance—to get so big in our purview that we pray with a faith which will not falter, with a faith which is not double-minded, but is sincere and single-minded. And we believe we've picked up something of the mind of the Lord, of the counsel of the Lord, and we're praying over the horizon to that effect, to effectualize what wants to happen on the earth. Things want to happen in the heart of the Father that happen through us. It's a partnership. Step Two: Visualize in Faith and Prophesy Over the Horizon So worshiping and praying over the horizon, number one. Number two, visualize in faith and prophesy over the horizon. So we get before the Lord in His Word, in worship, in prayer. And now we begin to speak forth and to prophesy what we believe the Lord is saying, what His promises are to you, what He's leading you into. We begin to visualize in faith. The Bible word "prophecy" in the New Testament means to forth-tell the counsel of the Lord, to speak forth the counsel of the Lord. See, the Bible says the mind of man plans his way, but the counsel of the Lord will stand—not only in yourself, but all around you. The minds of men and women are trying to plan certain ways and may even have thoughts about you. Your circumstances may be trying to say something about you and what your future looks like. But it's the counsel of the Lord that will stand. And to prophesy in faith means to foretell that counsel, to speak it out. Speak it out over the curvature of your timeline. Let it address and begin to get on what's coming and begin to energize it in faith. Here's what I want to say: Get the word of the Lord on it, and then get the word of the Lord on it. What do I mean? Get the counsel of the Lord, get the word of the Lord on that matter, and then through applied verbal faith, get that word on that matter, uphold it in faith. Release the creativity of God in faith. Speak forth in faith. Visualize and prophesy over the horizon. Do I have a mirror here? Let me hold it up. Brian, what could it look like if on the most desired or even important or urgent edges in your life right now, if you were to consistently, on a daily basis, visualize in faith and prophesy on those horizons what you believe the counsel of the Lord...

    21 min

  5. JAN 6

    When God's Light Hits Your Situation (EP 361)

    What if you could see that struggling relationship, that stalled project, that personal challenge in an entirely different light—God's light? The same creative pattern God used in Genesis—speaking light over chaos—is available to recreate your situation right now. Discover six practical steps to release God's light over the areas where you need transformation. This is about supernatural vision that opens doors to new seasons. When God's light hits your chaos, creation begins. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/361 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: What Happens When God's Light Hits Your Situation Coming up, how you see things—really how we see everything—can actually transform things, opening the door to new seasons. Welcome, friend. I'm Brian Del Turco. I believe that Jesus Christ knows how our lives work best and that He is passionate about developing us as His followers, as intimate friends and co-agents in His kingdom. If you want to go further with King Jesus and His enterprise, this is the podcast for you. I'm glad you're here. Jesus Dynamics: Ask, Seek, and Knock We have a newish feature in the episode called Jesus Dynamics. Let's get right to it. I was driving somewhere recently, just about a week ago, and I felt like the Lord dropped this in my heart—Jesus' statement about asking, seeking, and knocking in the Sermon on the Mount. You can read about this in Matthew, I think it's chapter seven, probably in the Gospel of Luke as well. In the Greek language, the tense is a little bit different. Greek has, I believe, six tenses, whereas English has only three. In this tense, as it was written, it means to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. Here's what I felt. It all starts with conversation with the Father. Ask, talk with Him, get His input. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own insight, but in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make your pathways smooth. Ask, even request in prayer. Then begin to seek, begin to probe, begin to explore, begin to step out, begin to lean forward, lean into scenarios and horizons and opportunities, and even lean into challenges to overcome them, my friend. And then knock. Do you know that knocking is an expression of faith? Just as asking is, knocking on doors, checking out opportunities, seeing what opens up—and then it creates a narrow pathway on the other side of that door that leads you into a new space, a new level, some new territory that the Lord has for you. Remember, it's about perseverance. Ask and keep on asking. Same with seeking and knocking. And don't just stop with prayer. Begin to seek, begin to quest. Actually begin to put some feet to your prayers and go out. Start knocking, start building things, start creating, start innovating, start pressing into opportunities and challenges. The Power of Seeing in a New Light Well, I'm excited about this topic today. Father, we ask for new light, fresh, extraordinary light from You to break out of our heart. May we see with the eyes of our understanding, the eyes of our heart. We believe, Father, that You can bring transformation and change to things by how we see them supernaturally and not just naturally. Thank You, Father. We commit our time to You, in Jesus' name. Someone may say something like this: "I was having problems in a relationship, but things turned for the better when I saw her in a new light. When I saw him in a new light. Now I'm filled with hope." We can apply that to anything. "I was disparaging the situation I was in. I was looking down upon it. I was really thinking negatively about it. But when I began to see it in better light, a new light, it began to turn. It began to be transformed." You see, seeing things in a new light can create new possibilities. Stephen Covey, in his wildly popular book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, said that the way we see the problem is the problem. Does this resonate with you? It does with me. If we can just get the light of God on that issue, whatever it is, we will see it in an extraordinary light. Then you can call out the gold and even trigger, be catalytic to bring transformation. Seeing Is Interpreting Seeing things in a new light—I'm talking about an extraordinary light, not just natural light. I'm talking about insight. Seeing things in a new light is transformational. In a real sense, seeing is interpreting. Think about this with me. In the natural, light reflects off an object. Maybe you're in a room somewhere—just look at an object. Or maybe you're outside. Look at a tree or look at an automobile. Light reflects off the object. It reflects off a person. It reflects off some landscape or some vista, and it enters your retina. And that visual information is transmitted to your brain, which then interprets what is seen. Here's what this means: seeing actually happens in your mind, not in your eye. The eye is just a medium. It's just a portal. Seeing and interpreting actually happens in the mind. This is true in the natural. Your eyes and the optical nerves from your eyes to your brain are just simply the pathway, the gateway. Light reflects off of something, then we interpret what we see as we begin to grow in maturity. We give it meaning, we interpret it. But can we take this a step further? Let's go above and beyond the natural. Because there is an insightful, extraordinary way to see things. → Discover how seeing with spiritual eyes transforms everything at jesussmart.com/361-seeing-new-light Seeing things in a new light will give us the opportunity to understand and interpret things in a new, fresh way. I'm talking about the mental, emotional, and spiritual way that we see. Here are some examples. We begin to see that relationship in a new light. Maybe that seasoned, mature friendship has gone sour. We begin to see it in a new light. We begin to see it now as a diamond in the rough. We're both growing, and we're going to come into a new place as persons, and this relationship is going to come to a new level. Maybe we see a challenge or an opportunity in a fresh light. Our question should be, "What's possible?" It shouldn't be a statement of "This is impossible." See the challenge, approach the opportunity, and see it in a fresh, extraordinary light. What about that project? Can we see that project that we've been working on in a new light? Let me tell you, every project starts out with a high level of excitement. Then it enters a trough, it goes low. And many times projects don't make it through that trough and then begin to ascend again into a place of completion and maturity and fruitfulness. But can we see that project in a new light from God? It will achieve better results. What about yourself? Instead of continuing to see yourself in that old light, can you see yourself in the light of God, in a new light? Higher design is possible and it's powerful. God Is Light Now, what could happen if we see things in a new light, an extraordinary light? We need more than natural light to truly live a successful life. We need extra-natural light. It's possible to be blind in the natural and to live an extraordinary life because you're seeing on the inside. God's very nature is light. Can I tell you that John wrote in his letter in 1 John 1:5 that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. We get caught up in darkness. But God is not in darkness. And as we draw close to Him and receive more of His presence, more of His light, more of His reality into our life, things will get better. If the ultimate Designer is light, here's the question: How can we access it? Remember, He holds the higher design for everything—about your design, about your life, about your calling, about those good works you're destined to do, about your very life. The question is, how can we see things? Indeed, how can we see everything in this new, extraordinary light? Do you know what Jesus said? Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life." Do you see that? The light of Jesus leads us to life—abundant life, the God kind of life. God-designed life. It's another level of consciousness. It's a higher level of conviction from which we can live—resolute, directional, intentional, a heightened state of consciousness. The New Testament says in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus Christ is "the radiance of His [the Father's] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and He upholds all things by the word of His power." I love the way the Amplified translation renders this verse. "He, Christ, is the sole expression of the glory of God, the Light-being." We are called to come to Christ and to yoke with Him as...

    32 min

  6. 12/18/2025

    The Outlaw Christ-Child: Why Christmas is Still a Revolution (EP 360)

    Forget the sanitized nativity—Christmas is a beachhead, an invasion, a sentence of doom upon the dragon. Brian Del Turco unveils Christmas through Revelation 12 and G.K. Chesterton's vision of the cave as an "outlaw's den"—a fortress in enemy territory where the King returned to shake kingdoms from below. This isn't about warm feelings and Michael Bublé—it's about understanding that the incarnation set in motion an advancing process that continues through us today. Discover four practical ways to live in "365 Advent". Pull out the eggnog if you fancy, but remember this: the dragon rages, but you reign in Christ. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Outlaw Christ-Child: Why Christmas is Still a Revolution Hey, dragon, you've been resisting, you've been fighting, you've been raging, but we have a message for you. Ho, ho, ho, from King Jesus. Well, I have my little Christmas tree with twinkling lights that my daughter so kindly set me up with right here by my podcasting equipment. I'm ready to go. This is the first in a miniseries on Christmas. Welcome to Jesus Smart, the podcast. Brian Del Turco here. Thanks for connecting with me today. The Central Miracle of Christianity C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, writes that the central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. That's sort of a theological word which simply means God became flesh. Jesus came into the earth in the form of a human being. Lewis writes that they say that God became man. Of course, this is true. Every other miracle prepares for the incarnation or exhibits the reality of the incarnation or results from this, the incarnation. In the Christian story, Lewis writes, God descends to re-ascend. Now listen to this, because you and I are swept up in this. In Christ, He comes down, down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him. Isn't that powerful? Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians: "I press toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Beyond the Hallmark Christmas Now, I live with a lot of ladies—one wife and many daughters. We have four daughters, two still at home. So I know a lot about Hallmark. I have memorized the script-writing templates of Hallmark movies. I can predict the outcome of a Hallmark movie. I don't mind. I enjoy sitting with my wife on a couch during the holiday season while they have a Hallmark movie on, and maybe we're eating a little something. And quite often, I might have, if I can just be honest with you, earbuds in. And I'm listening to maybe a podcast or something like that, kind of multitasking, glancing up at the Hallmark movie once in a while, but then getting some good solid content as well. This is how I—these are my coping mechanisms. This is how I make it with four daughters. So I don't mind doing that. But I'm always after a deeper, more militant message concerning Christmas. And I know that this may challenge some people. Maybe not. Maybe you're listening, and this doesn't challenge you. I hope not. The Christmas Story from Heaven's Perspective Let's consider the Christmas story as told from heaven's perspective in the book of Revelation. You know, we sing "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night, Holy Night," and we think about the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. We put the Charlie Brown special on. We put the music on. If I hear another song by Michael Bublé, I don't know what I'm going to do. But all of these things are around. But deep down, I'm understanding that Christmas is invasion. And this is how I like to try to keep Christmas well. Consider from the book of Revelation, chapter 12: "The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child who will rule the nations with an iron scepter." Yes, take that, Michael Bublé. "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and his angels fought back, but he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus." What is this account of the woman and the dragon and the birthing of the Christ child? I was having coffee with a fellow compatriot yesterday, and we concluded—I've done some study on it. Not a deep dive on Revelation 12, not super deep, but I see the woman there as a composite picture of first Israel, then Mary giving birth to the Christ child, and then the church as well, and the dragon making war. But we're overcoming. The Outlaw's Den: G.K. Chesterton's Vision Now, G.K. Chesterton—see, we have to read people from a hundred years ago. G.K. Chesterton, just hang with this here. He wrote in his book The Everlasting Man, in the chapter "The God in the Cave," that we need to take the fragrance of what happened in the birth of the Christ child. He calls it an explosion in the Judean hills 2,000 years ago. He sees the cave as an outlaw's den, as an outpost, a fortress in enemy territory. Yes, take that, Hallmark. Herod's days are marked and the dragon's doom is sealed. Now listen to what he says: "There is something defiant in this, something that makes the abrupt bells at midnight sound like the great guns of a battle that has just been won. All this indescribable thing that we call Christmas atmosphere." Just like the bells would ring maybe at midnight on Christmas Eve, he hears it as the great guns of a battle that has just been won. He continues: "This Christmas atmosphere hangs in the air, something like a lingering fragrance or a fading vapor from the exultant explosion of that one hour in the Judean hills nearly 2,000 years ago. But the savor is still unmistakable, and it's something too subtle or too solitary to be covered by our use of the word peace. By the very nature of the story, the rejoicings in the cavern were rejoicings in a fortress or an outlaw's den." Now this is how to keep Christmas well, right? Especially in our time and what we may face, friends, as we look at this next decade or two. As an overcoming Christ follower, he continues, there in that image is a true idea of an outpost, of a piercing through the rock and an entrance into enemy territory. Yes. If I could just say, this is like D-Day. This is a beachhead. The King is back. He continues: "There in this buried divinity, an idea of undermining the world, the world system, of shaking the towers and palaces from below." He sees the Christ child as underground in the cave, in the outlaw's den, shaking even as Herod—Herod the great king felt that earthquake under him and swayed with his swaying palace. See, everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that what remains is the eternal kingdom of Christ. This is so beautiful. Actually, give me my eggnog. Go ahead and put Hallmark on, but I'm going to be thinking and praying on these lines, and I'm going to be positively agitating people around me to consider these edges. The Lord of Hosts Now, my friends and angels, did you know that the compound name that represents Christ's nature most frequently in the Scriptures—do you know what it is? The compound name in the Bible that represents Christ's nature most frequently? It's "Lord of Hosts." Get this: it appears nearly 10 times the sum of all the other compound names revealed in the Scriptures. Can you believe that? Do you think that God is trying to say something to us about the primacy of what His nature is, about the priority of what His agenda is? Now listen, in Luke chapter 2: "In the same region, these shepherds"—and I hope they had their adult diapers on, because they probably had an adult accident—"shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened." I mean, no kidding. The sky unzips, there's like a veil that opens up, and the glory of the Lord manifests in white-hot light. And the angel says to them, "Don't be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Now, if they didn't use their adult diapers yet, they may have right here in verse 13: "Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying"—a multitude of the heavenly host, there it is. These were militant angels that manifested in the sky that were escorting, in a sense, the seed of the second member of the Godhead coming into the hostile environment of the...

    25 min

  7. 12/05/2025

    Have Yourself a Very 'Chaordic' Christmas: When Chaos Meets Order with Terry Hoggard (EP 359)

    We're coining a new Christmas greeting: "Have yourself a very 'chaordic' Christmas!" Chaordic—where chaos meets order. With decades planting churches in Rome and Brussels and serving with Convoy of Hope, Terry Hoggard helps us see Christmas as the ultimate disruptive innovation—an ongoing dance between heaven and earth. Discover why crisis is often the catalyst for much-desired transformation. This isn't your typical feel-good Christmas message. It's a call to intentional disruption and wholehearted seeking. Because when you're all in, God rolls out a pathway you never imagined possible. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/359 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Have Yourself a Very Chaordic Christmas: When Chaos Meets Order with Terry Hoggard Brian: Hey there, friend. Merry Christmas. I'm glad you're with us. Thanks for connecting today. I'm Brian Del Turco, and you are connected with Jesus Smart, the podcast. Jesus knows how this life works best. This is such an inspiring conversation, number 211—now being recast as episode 359. Here's the title—I'm confident you have not heard a Christmas greeting like this before: "Have Yourself a Very Chaordic Christmas" with Terry Hoggard. This, my friend, is a new wrinkle on keeping Christmas well. Meet Terry Hoggard Terry Hoggard is our special guest. He's a veteran missionary who has led international churches in Rome and Brussels. He's a leader of international leaders, a life coach, and he's an executive leader in Convoy of Hope, an international relief organization. Here's an idea: why not gift this episode with a friend or two, and then they can gift it to others? I think you'll see that this is a gift worth re-gifting. But you get to keep the value when you gift a podcast episode. Terry really encourages us that it is going to take a wholehearted mindset and heart set—the strength of our desire, the fortitude of our will. We have to have an all-in approach to engage this Christmas dance between heaven and earth. The True Joy of Christmas Here's the true joy of Christmas: when we understand that heaven and earth merge in us through the indwelling Christ, all bets are off. Unlimited potential can be released. You see, it's more than remembering Jesus as a baby in a manger. Christmas is a breakthrough merging of heaven and earth, and this changes everything. The incarnation means that heaven and earth are reconnected again in a new way. A seamlessness between heaven and earth has been re-established. Think of it—it is the grounds on which we can now pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What can this mean for you? What can it mean for me? God wants to be reconnected with us. Reconciliation is a huge meta theme in the kingdom of God—putting things back together again. And a huge part of what Jesus is after is the reunification of heaven and earth. From Barely Enough to Abundantly More Brian: Welcome, friend, to the podcast today. I'm really excited to bring to you Terry Hoggard. Terry, welcome to the podcast today. I appreciate you carving out some time. Terry: My joy to be with you, Brian. Thanks for the invite. Brian: Give us maybe just a sentence about a springboard theme for today's episode. Terry: A sentence of theme would be this: it's Advent, and I always have some sort of Advent Christmas theme. This year I'm thinking in this way—celebrating the Christ who changes our "barely enough" into "abundantly more." Brian: I personally need this. Tell us about your work over the years. You started out as a missionary with the Assemblies of God in Rome. Why don't you just bring us briefly up through the present? Terry: Well, you're completely correct. 1984, Ruthanne and I, my wife, we answered the call to be missionaries, specifically felt called to Rome at that time. So we planted an international church in Rome, which was for our organization the second international church to be established in Europe. I stayed there 10 years. I then went to Brussels to pastor what was the first international church established for the Assemblies of God globally. I spent 25 years living in Brussels—10 pastoring that church. Then I spent another 10 working in Sweden and Copenhagen, working with churches who wanted to reach their communities by encouraging diversity and inclusion with immigrants. After that, I stayed based in Europe for five years working with Convoy of Hope, overseeing the international program and the teams who drive the global work of Convoy of Hope. → Read Terry's complete missionary journey and life coaching story at jesussmart.com/359-chaordic-christmas Christmas as Divine Disruption Brian: This theme of abundance and getting past this scarcity mindset and scarcity experience that you're sensing this year in the Christmas theme—tell us about that. Terry: Yeah. I think without a lot of heavy thought, all of us have stories of moments in our lives when things were just very hard and times were tough. And very likely we know someone right now by first name who's in the same kind of state. I have family members who are literally living on "barely enough." And it's to them that I give my thoughts, knowing that Christ invaded—I like your word about interruption. He interrupted the world and all the life patterns that were normalized. People who were labeled were labeled, and people who were poor were poor, and that was just not going to change. But Christ came to turn all of that upside down. Brian: I'm really enjoying the notion of Christmas as an invasion. The King is back. What are the implications for life, for work, for ministry? Do you see Christmas as an invasion of sorts—the Christ child coming into this earth, the incarnation? Terry: My desire always is that these days—and I actually dial into the Advent as well because I want to redeem all of these days—our fervent resolve should be to make the most of every opportunity. A great Christmas is a wonderful gift to give to someone who's in a very difficult situation. But a great Christmas doesn't compare to the abundantly more that Christ could provide. If we, in the act of kindness or in wanting to make someone's Christmas better, don't forget to give highlight to the most important thing—which is Christ coming not just to your home or your heart at Christmas, but becoming a part of your everyday—that's going to change everything. Brian: I love working through the Christmas narratives in the Gospels and trying to tease out kingdom dynamics. This Advent dynamic—you know who Leonard Sweet is, right? I don't know if he invented this word, but "chaordic." It's a word that blends chaos and order. When something is chaordic, it's an opportunity wrapped in chaos. It seems like the birth of Christ was quite chaordic, doesn't it? Terry: Oh, absolutely. Everything about Him was to disrupt normal so thoroughly that people could embrace change. People don't break change, they don't go to change until they're thoroughly done with the circumstances they're in. That's the tragedy. So you need someone to disrupt that. Brian: Disruptive innovation is a business term. I'm just seeing the Christ child as sort of like the ultimate disruptive innovation. Terry: Yeah, that's so true. There's nothing about Christ in reality that cuddles the best world image that can be presented. The nativity sets—Christ is this baby wrapped in these beautiful cloths and He's surrounded by hay. The most we can give is not even a glimmer of who the Christ of Christmas really is. The Power of Crisis and Necessity Brian: So practically speaking, in terms of everyday life, what suggestions do you have about pursuing an abundant life in Christ? Terry: I'm thinking about what Philippians says to us. It's very clear that we've been promised that God will supply all of our needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. That's why I want to promote this Christ who can change "barely enough" into "abundantly more." Here's the thing. The reality of His capacity is only fully revealed to us in times of great necessity, necessity and scarcity. That's the only time we get it. Brian: Someone has said that adult learning readiness equals pain. When we feel the need, when we're tired of it, we're better positioned for transformation. Terry: And it's so true. I remember when this hit my life strong and hard. I was told I had thyroid cancer, and it had been in my neck for a long time. Up until that time, I was a pastor, raised in a Pentecostal family, believing in healing. I believed He was a healer, preached He was a healer, prayed for people to be healed. But in my life, I had never been in a spot where I needed a healer. Never in my...

    48 min

  8. 11/20/2025

    WalkCast: A Kingdom Framework - Prayer + Planning + Spirit-Fueled Execution (EP 358)

    What if the secret to breakthrough isn't just prayer or hard work—but a powerful combination of both with God's zeal backing your obedience? In this walk cast episode, Brian Del Turco unveils a kingdom framework: creative prayer plus strategic planning plus spirit-filled execution equals fruitfulness and fulfillment. Discover how to discern God's agenda (not just convince Him of yours), why prayer without planning is presumption, and how to tap into the zeal of the Lord that fuels ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. This three-step framework will help you align with how God designed things to work. ---------- See the full episode transcript below. 👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit 👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/framework 👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible. Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com. ---------- EPISODE TRANSCRIPT - A Kingdom Framework - Prayer + Planning + Spirit-Fueled Execution Hey there, friends. Welcome to Jesus Smart X, the podcast. This is Brian Del Turco. Thanks for being with us today. You make all the difference. Thank you for listening and thank you for sharing content with others if you find it valuable and think it would inspire and help someone you know. Introducing the Walk Cast We're doing something different today, calling it a "walk cast." I'm outside, as you can probably hear. You'll probably hear vehicles and people, perhaps, but this is what I'm calling a walk cast. I've been getting into walking in recent months—about the past half year, a lot. Many days I'm doing, thankfully by the grace of God, something like 10 to 12,000 steps a day. This recent wellness quest over the past half year was triggered by a bout with shingles, from which I'm still dealing with nerve pain in my lower back. But God is faithful. I hear sometimes it can last as long as a year. I hope that's not the case with me, but I have enjoyed walking, doing some resistance training, and changing my diet and losing a lot of weight. So I'm excited about that. Why Walking Enhances Creative Thinking Walking is something that really enhances our creative thinking. Research proves this—movement, just moving your body like with walking, can really break mental patterns and open new perspectives. Did you know that Jesus did a lot of his conversation and teaching with his disciples as they walked? This was a rabbinic tradition. The rabbi would walk with his disciples, and they would converse and talk—questions and answers and illustrations—really something of a teaching method. There is something of an ancient practice called "walk and talk," part of a wisdom tradition. We've kind of missed that today. We think we have to be sitting on our derrieres in a classroom or remaining sedentary. But walking and learning has a long history, and it clears the head, engages the body, and helps to free your voice up. So yes, a walk cast. We may do this from time to time, weather permitting. We'll see how things go. A Kingdom Formula for Success A secret formula, a kingdom template that I think can help us in a lot of areas. Here it is, sort of like kingdom calculus or algebra. You ready for this? Prayer plus planning plus spirit-filled execution equals accomplishment and success. I heard John Eldredge say that there's a way that things work, and this applies to the kingdom as well. I recently fixed my stove, and there is a virtue in being able to not have to outsource everything but fix a stove yourself. We had buttons on a Samsung stove that were not working, and now with YouTube and ChatGPT, I found out that there was a ribbon cable in there that becomes oxidized. You can simply unplug it, use an eraser on a pencil, clean it up, plug it back in—boom, all the buttons work. But there's a way that things work. Stoves are designed to work in a certain way. They need to be maintained. There's a way to fix things. And in the kingdom, there is a way that things work. I think that this formula—prayer plus planning plus spirit-filled execution equals success—shows us that God wants to help us. We can lay this template, if you will, this pattern over most anything, I think: ventures, tough conversations we need to have with people, parenting, career dynamics, ministry initiatives. James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift comes down from above from the Father of Lights. There's no variation or shadow of turning with Him. He's consistent with all of His sons and daughters. Every good and perfect gift comes down from above. But it doesn't mean that we can't pray and plan and use spirit-filled execution with these good gifts. Step One: Creative Prayer Let's start with creative prayer. I use the phrase "creative prayer" intentionally. Creative prayer isn't just asking—it's partnering with the Father's creative intent. We're actually tuning into what God is already doing. Prayer is not just concocting our own list all the time and coming before God with what our ideas are, but it's also listening, picking up His heart, picking up His mind, what wants to happen from His heart. We're tuning into what God is already doing. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has plans already designed for us. "I know the thoughts I have for you." He was speaking to the Jews who were in Babylonian exile. "But I have plans for you, to restore you, to bring you back." And it's the same with our own lives. Creative prayer is discerning His agenda, not just convincing Him of ours. Prayer is picking up His heart, what wants to happen from His mind, His heart, and not just solely sharing our own. We're receiving what's already flowing from the Father's heart, listening to His thoughts, what are His dreams, what are His designs. → Read the full transcript with expanded insights on creative prayer at jesussmart.com/framework Step Two: Diligent Planning Number two, then move into diligent planning. See, prayer without action, prayer without planning is presumption. It's too passive. Proverbs 21:5 says that diligent plans lead to abundance. Diligent plans lead to abundance; haste leads to poverty. Just doing things haphazardly, not planning, not praying—we need to preface our action with prayer. Then we need to plan, and we need to move on those plans. Once we receive direction, we have to get very strategic intentionally. How much desire do you have for it? What's the intentional level? Map out the steps. We can have vision and then strategy, and then we have to break it down to tactical steps. What are our resources? What people need to be involved? What's the timeline? This isn't just trusting in your own planning more than God. It's not. Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house," but builders are still working under the Lord. He's the master craftsman. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." So planning sanctified by prayer equals a high form of worship before God through our work. Step Three: Execute with the Spirit's Energy Number three: execute with the Spirit's energy. We have creative prayer plus moving into diligent planning plus now executing with the Spirit's energy. This is where a lot of things can stumble and stall, if I can be honest with you. We try to finish in our own strength what God prompted, what God started. Galatians 3:3 says, "Have you begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Are you beginning something in the Spirit and now trying to execute on it or finish it in your own natural flesh? The same Spirit who gave the vision wants to fuel the execution of it. So we want to stay connected. We want to pray through each phase of it, be sensitive to course corrections. Spirit-filled execution isn't anxiousness or frenetic activity. There's a grace to it. There's a rest to it. We're working hard while we're resting in God, and God is working through us by His grace. I think a lot of times we think of grace as remedial—"Oh God, give me your grace, I've blown it." It is that, but grace is also empowerment to live according to higher design. So grace is a key part of executing with the Spirit's energy. → Discover more about spirit-filled execution and avoiding common pitfalls at jesussmart.com/framework The Outcome: The Zeal of the Lord What's the outcome? What does it equal? The zeal of the Lord comes. It equals success and fulfillment and fruitfulness. Jesus said, "It's my Father's will that you bear much fruit and so prove to be His disciples." The zeal of the Lord—in Isaiah 9:7, "The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this." It's talking about the kingdom of Jesus. "The government will rest on His shoulders, and His kingdom will never end." Zeal. What is zeal? We actually can receive the zeal of God. Did you know that God is zealous, that He carries an intense passion and energy of burning commitment, fierce determination? One of our prayers that we should really key in...

    17 min
See All (367)

5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

The show that goes beyond waiting for heaven. Beyond religion. Jesus is brilliant ... he knows how life works best.

Information

  • Creator
    Brian Del Turco
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    367
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    JesusSmartX