In this episode of the Think About It podcast, hosts Michael Mishkin and David Doty discuss the recent shifts in the spiritual and political realms, emphasizing the importance of returning to early church practices and fostering a personal relationship with God. They explore the concept of lifestyle Christianity, the significance of hearing God's voice, and the role of church authority. The conversation also addresses the growing hunger for truth among believers, the challenges of navigating success and spirituality, and the disillusionment with organized religion. Ultimately, they advocate for unity in faith and a personal approach to engaging with scripture. In this conversation, Michael Mishkin and David Doty explore the themes of repentance, spiritual growth, and the true nature of the church. They discuss the importance of self-examination, the dangers of false doctrines, and the need for a genuine relationship with God. The conversation emphasizes the shift in spiritual awareness and the restoration of Israel, while also redefining the concept of church as a community rather than a building. They highlight the significance of determination in one's faith journey and address the misconceptions surrounding the pre-trib rapture doctrine. Transcript: David Doty (00:01.514) It's the Think About It podcast here with Mike and David, Michael and David. And we're going live on YouTube and on Facebook. We know that YouTube loves it when we do this, and that's why they always seem to suppress our numbers. Thank you, YouTube. Thank you for your support and for showing us that we're doing some good work by artificially deflating our numbers, but we're going to keep going anyway. because it seems like there's been a huge shift in the spirit realm over the last few weeks. Obviously, there's been a huge shift politically in the United States as well as many other countries. Things are happening. I notice it even in my conversations on Facebook how the people on the other side of the political aisle or on the other side of the religious mindset belief Christianity, et cetera, whatever. It just seems like there's more people in support of the truth these days. More people are willing to come out and boldly share and make a stand. And Mike, what do you attribute that to? Michael Mishkin (01:18.337) I attribute it to the times, the signs of the times. When we talk about the great awakening, it's not just on a political or a world perspective way, it's in all ways. It's a revelatory time where everything behind the curtain is being unveiled and that includes spiritually. It's not just realizing that... you know, our lifestyle in the world was the matrix and that we were operating under systems where we thought we were free and we actually had these people of small oligarchy having these institutions tell us the way we should do our lives and, and live and raise our kids and shaping us in that way. But we also, the church, the church, the fruit of the church has just been waning. There's really been going down. And it's really hasn't been productive for the longest time anyway, because the revelation in the church is that it's following man, not God. It's anti-Christ. It's man-made systems that are against what God has intended. And the simple way of knowing that is that if you match up what we do today with what they did in Acts right after the spirit came down and how they were operating, David Doty (02:12.014) you Michael Mishkin (02:39.192) two totally different ways of thinking and operating. And they had fruit, they had power, they had authority. We have three songs, a five point message, give you ties and go to the barbecue. And people are dying left and right. People are sick. People are having... David Doty (02:54.253) Yeah. Michael Mishkin (02:59.906) Grumbling against each other people are getting divorced. It's just it's a big mess and you know We want to keep bringing people into this come on Let's go out and tell people about Jesus so they can come into the big mess that we are in you know David Doty (03:11.906) So, yeah, so shifting away from that and moving toward lifestyle Christianity, which, mean, I don't, excuse me, I'm not one to throw out like phrases and vernacular and be like, hey, let's try this new fad, but getting back to what the early church did and anybody who talks with me on a regular basis is going to hear Acts 2 42 thrown out at least once in a conversation. They were, the early church, believers were devoted to the apostles teaching, breaking bread, fellowship and prayer. They were devoted to it. And that tells me that they were doing it every day and it consumed their free time, not taking kids to sports or I mean, sports aren't bad, but what if we were praying as a family in the car on the way to the soccer game? What if we were jumping on a zoom call to pray with other people or on a phone conference call to talk and pray with other believers? Michael Mishkin (03:47.767) Mm-hmm. David Doty (04:10.292) on our way to work or on our way home from work, on our lunch break, what if we were devoted to studying the Word of God? And it's not just a box that we checked, hey, I went to a meeting once or twice a week, but what if we lived the way the early church did, utilizing all of these tools that we have, social media, conference calls, Zoom calls, what if we made the most of what God has given us and instead of doing using all of this technology just to educate ourselves or just to entertain ourselves, what if we were devoted to studying the Word of God together, praying together, fellowshipping together, and making time to have meals together? How would that change the landscape? Michael Mishkin (04:57.634) especially in even the most simplest one of those things that you're talking about, what if we actually put aside at least an hour a day to just spend time with the creator of the universe as what Yeshua made for us to be able to do and actually talk to him and hear his voice and learn from him and let him build us into his image, which is not happening. People who even claim to know the Lord, I could tell you that out of all of those, David Doty (05:08.718) Hmm. Michael Mishkin (05:24.939) they are not getting that kind of quality time that's being transformative. The big test is to examine yourself and see a year ago, were you the same exact way and how you know God two years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago? That's the big test. know, Paul said to examine yourself to see if you're even in the faith. We operate on an autopilot. of the way we believe that God is and even when we talk to him, when we do try to spend time with him, it's chanting. Thank you Father, I thank you, Lord bless this, bless that, thank you. I could tell you where a person's at by how they pray. I listen. When people hear me pray, they'll see a difference and it's not trying to like, hey listen to how I pray. I talk to God like he's right there in front of me and like he's the person like you, if I talk to you. Hey David, if you could do this and David, would you do this and David, can you go get that for me? David, I went to get it. Hey David, okay, see you later, David. Does that feel like I have a real connection to you? David Doty (06:25.923) Yeah. David Doty (06:29.25) Yeah. Or at risk of stepping on toes. Hey, Michael, could you just give us enough money for Jimmy's soccer camp and Michael, could you just, you know, help us to get through this day? And could you just give us a good night's sleep tonight? And could you just keep us safe on the way to work? And could you just, just, just, you know, and it's, it's not like we're not trying to make fun of people. The goal is to say, okay, we have room to grow and It's not as if you and I have it all figured out, right? We're not yet where we're ultimately want to be or where God wants us to be, but we're growing and life, our lives are changing. We're seeing it in our kids, we're seeing it in our marriages, and we're seeing it in our personal relationship with God. I don't struggle with the same temptations that I used to struggle with. because God is changing me. His kingdom is advancing. Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed, it starts off small. It's this little, it's the smallest of all the seeds. But when this bush, it almost becomes a tree. takes up, it becomes the largest part of the garden, such as it is with the kingdom of God. It starts off small, but as we progress in the kingdom, It begins to affect every area of our life and pretty soon it crowds out all that other stuff that doesn't belong. If, if we pursue, if we let it. Michael Mishkin (07:59.928) Now you see from your growth in understanding by spending time with him, more and more scriptures you're able to understand in the proper perspective that he intended it. There's so many things that people read those parables and they still really don't have any clue what he's talking about. Yeah, okay, as small as I must say is big, okay. And they pass by, they don't even take a second thought. But you understand he's trying to explain a process of growth that he expects for a person. that you start off small and that you're gonna grow up to be and it's gonna become everything in your life and that all everything is gonna be about that. But when it starts off, it's not because you're totally contrary when you first accept the Lord. And what happens is it takes time of dedication, spending time with him, getting the milk of the word, being in his spirit. And that grows you from the smallest thing of your life to becoming everything in your life. And now the spirit man is what you live in, operate in, in that flesh man has been dying because you've been giving that over to become more of that guy. But people don't understand that process. They see I'm saved because I said a prayer and I go to church and I'm saved and that is a false gospel. And they've lied to you and you're not really truly get
