Stop Running From God

0:00Yeah, media group. Hello everybody, it's Ronin Hope, I'm filter drill raw relevant. He we are back and we have been talking about the call of God on your life. The call of God. You said you had a prophecy. I didn't have a prophecy. You know there's something I didn't finish in that last week. Prophecy. You know the Lord spoke to you. Yes. Now when I came in there, I told him last week that I went home from my first holiday weekend in college and told my dad I said I think I'm called. And he didn't. I mean, he responded. And but now my grandma jumped up off the couch because she was there and started shouting all over the room and my grandma was old holding the shot like Indian war tribe shouting.

1:09Pauline started shouting grandma Pauline. That was my dad's mom and went running back and she was in the guest bedroom. She's there for Thanksgiving. She went running back in the back. Got her Bible. She came back in with a Bible. I was at this time, 18 years old. And she said I got something and she pulled a piece of paper out that she had wrote down that I forget the date but I was 12. And said you don't need to worry about Ron Jr. I've got my hand on him. He is called but his call will be much different from his fathers. That's all I said and it was about that big. She kept it in her Bible. And with any folks, people have about their grandparents. I'm going to tell you, both my grandma and I was praying women. If they didn't know anything else, they knew how to pray. And so, you know, that kind of got maybe dad in the day moving a little bit more because my grandma knew how to shout and make a scene.

2:12She shout cleared things out. You had to give her room. And so, that's, you know, confirmations along the way. Then I started having prophetic confirmations by people that would come and speak and point me out and speak a word over me. And all that helped me solidify the fact that this is the path that I need to put my life on. And I needed a Bible school. I know people don't think it's necessary. Let me tell you, Run Carpenter needed Bible school. But we started with this which is where I want to go to the type thing. Can we do that? Yeah. So, our last podcast for those of you that got here, didn't know to give you a 60 second rundown. I was asked in a conversation my daughter was having, how have you and mama, you know, dealt with disappointment in church and from church people and church related things? And not want to run away. And not just want to like, you know what? The heck with all this, y'all can have it.

3:12We'll go sell insurance. We'll go work at May's. We'll sell cars. Just whatever. And I said, Chalin, I said, number one, you endure it because of a sense of calling. Because with a call, Bible teaches comes a grace. So you are good. As your days are, so shall your strength be. So you will always have strength for the day you're in. But I told her something that it was very theological controversial. So don't go out and teach it. Don't go out and teach it and say, this is something I'm teaching now because I heard Run Carpenter teach it. You've not heard me teach it. We're talking about it. You've heard me talk about it when I try to explain my life experience and hope can show me and if it she feels the same way. But I have. And I shared this with my spiritual sons. I have 23 of them and they all 23 of them on the Zoom call wept.

4:17All of them sitting there wiping their eyes. So even though I don't know if I can prove it, theologically there are people that resonate with it. And it's this. I do not believe everybody has free will. I got Calvin is turning over in their grave and I got Methodist turning. I mean, you know, there are a group of people that I believe are a tithe. I don't believe that they're 10% of the population. I don't know. The tithe belongs to the Lord. The tithe is what I've always said. It's basically the principle of what I call it. Representation. No, no, no. Representation divine portion. I had the thing. I'm sorry. The tithe is the principle divine portion. Basically God always carves out a part for Himself and says it's mine.

5:21Don't touch it. It's mine. Don't eat it. It's mine. Whatever. It's mine. The trot. Right. It's mine. The Levites are mine. Leave them alone. The holy of Holy is don't go in there. You'll die. These two trees in the garden don't eat them. Right. The tithe. If you do, your curse, your curse, you're cursed with a curse. I believe that there are these people that are a tithe. They belong to God from birth. I don't believe those people have options. And you say, what is your biblical proof of that? Go ask Jonah if he had an option. Right. Go to Nineveh. No, I'm not going to Nineveh. Okay. I'm going to sink the ship and I'm going to kill everybody on it. I'm going to let you swallow it by well. I'll take you to the bottom of the ocean. How long you want to negotiate this? That's the runners. That's the runners in the run. So thank you have three. You have a choice. You think you have a choice. I do hope I talk to people of a younger generation who was like, yeah, I'm going to do this

6:24for about eight years and I'm going to turn this over to him. I'm just going to pull out and do this and I sit there and I'm amazed. And I'm like, wow, I said, I've never had those options. Right. And I'll try to do this and not get emotional in that. But like, you know, people like, why in the world, why in the world, did you have such a good thing and you went to West Coast? I'm like, well, God didn't come say, Ron, you know, if you ever thought about California, I hear the weather's good. I want an apostolic move in a nunchurch region to blow out in the sky. And I will bless it with signs and wonders. Then he told us to go and we didn't have an option. I didn't get asked. It wasn't chosen. It was chosen for me. And I hear people now choose to be in ministry, choose to start a church. Like, oh, we don't have a chance to get up.

7:26Yeah, choose what's, go this look on the map. And you know, I've heard that things are great in this city. And this is a good city to start a church. And I'm like, it never worked like that for me. And you every once in a while, you cross paths with these people. That they didn't have choices either. Yeah. And if I heard Ron Hart Bonky, they buried his body in Africa. He's German. Yeah. Because he had no choice but to give his life to the continent of Africa. That man probably has half of Africa saved. And they buried his body in it. He had no choice. They would try to get him to come to the states and preach. He wouldn't even come. Because he knew his call. Yes. And he went to the parts of Africa. Not a lot of people would say it's a great place to live. And I have always just sensed I didn't have a...

8:28If you're something... I didn't want to be with God. I didn't want to be in ministry. Back in the day. You didn't get away from it. And I wanted to do another lifestyle. I respected God. I wanted to be saved. I didn't want to go to hell. But I didn't want to do serve God. I didn't want to be one of the shows. And I didn't want to be over here. Yeah. I wanted to go out and live another life and let my dad do that. My dad's a good man. Let him do that. But you got to stand up. I didn't do this because Wow, wouldn't it be nice to be in ministry? I never did that. In fact, I think I warned you. When I took you off and started talking to you, this is what I'm called to. This is from my experience what it's like. And can you be married to that guy? Well, you begin to respond to me since a child. I've always felt. Right. And I think that not knowing that you are chosen

9:31or a tithe under God. When you don't submit to that, your life is hell. If you are one of those and you don't try to submit, oh man, you don't submit. I think God will shake you down. He will because he is going the story that he's written for your life is going to happen. So he's got to make it worse, worse, worse, worse, worse. But what I so that you will submit. What I just said, people have trouble. God didn't do that. He might pull his hand and let them God will shake you down. Yes, he did. Yeah. Well, look at Jonah. I said, look at Jonah. God was willing to do whatever he had to do to get Jonah there, sparing nobody. Right. And I don't know. Other people suffer. We don't talk about that side of God. So that the call of God.

10:31Exactly. We don't talk about that side of God. We would the Apostle Paul. A slave unto Christ. Right. Slape me. You have options. You don't have options. Free will. You eat when they tell you that you sleep when you're told. I pull an apostle unto God and a slave. Yes. And nobody talks about that. That that side of God where every once in a while he has this one and he has this one and nope, you don't get to make choices and you're not your own. And unfortunately, just like Jonah, I've seen it. I see it today. I see people I know who continue to run from God. And it's hell. And it's hell not just on them. But other people are affected by your lack of surrender. And I don't know.

11:32I don't know what people are afraid of. Well, I just gonna say I'm going to begin to benefit out. I was afraid. I was afraid God was going to make me live a life I didn't want to live. Like a less fun or a less just flourishing or a whole. I had this small image of ministry. See, I didn't know. We didn't have this kaleidoscope of ministry opportunity back then. I saw what my dad had to do. So in my mind, God's calling me to do what he did. Yeah, you saw your dad have to cut the church grass. I did not want to do that. I had to go cut it. We didn't have to do the church. And we vacuumed it and we cleaned the college. And we visited everybody. He did everything. And we didn't get to take vacations. And you didn't get your daddy. No, you didn't have your daddy at home. And you didn't want that life. Right. And I'm, you know, I lived life, you know, with other people, with other kids, you know, your dad coming to the game tonight.

12:32No, he's not going to be here. He'll be at the hospital visiting somebody else. But here's, he was my, he was my defense. My daddy belongs to God. Your daddy don't. So I'm willing to be at this ballgame without my daddy because my daddy belongs to God. And he's special. Okay. I didn't mind that. And somehow I think I came out of that. All right. I had some deficiencies. I didn't want to do that. But my dad lived to me was the most unattractive life I've ever seen. And my dad had, there was no boundaries. My dad, you understand? I know that wasn't healthy. But it was all I knew. Right. And my dad was access 24 hours a day. If somebody, if somebody was anxious and couldn't sleep, our phone would ring at two o'clock in the morning. My dad had told them to come out. Every vacation you all went on, you have to leave. We get called back earlier because somebody died. And they, they were no elders. They wouldn't know it's the so shit pastors. Nobody else got to do it. We packed up, packed your stuff back up.

13:33We're driving back on. So you probably had some silent resentment as a child that you probably didn't even know you had? I may have. I don't feel like I've ever resented. I had such honor for him and the way he lived. And I honored that level of commitment. It earned my respect. I'm like, but you didn't want to do it. But I didn't want to. I wanted no part of it. So when, and Ron Carpenter's teenage mind to say, you're, Ron, you're called. Is me? I'm like, go do that. It looked like that. Yeah. And I didn't want to do that, man. So yeah, I was afraid. I remember that, I hope it's funny what you remember. I remember doing this. You know, my dad made me do all the plays. If I was in play, if there was a, if there's a children's choir, I'd had to do it. You know, I bet you were so cute. But I remember that. With that blonde hair. But I remember it was, this, we did a play one time about the kid who was, I think, having a struggle saying, yes to God, and there was a funny song in it

14:35where the guy sang, hey, God, please don't send me to Africa. You know, do you something to him? Wait, can you sing that again? God, don't send me to Africa. You remember it. The fact that you remember this song. You know, I'm talking about there was this sense of God's going to make you do stuff you don't want to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. And everybody else gets to do what they want to do. Yeah. But if you're called, God's going to make you do all this stuff you hate. And nothing's further from the truth. I wouldn't trade lives with anybody. No, no, no, it is the most rewarding life. It's hard life, but it's hard life. The fruit is greater. But just like we told Chairman, you told Chairman last night, the call is what keeps you in, even when it's hard. Because you don't have options. You don't have, I don't have the choice to say the heck with this. Yeah. I don't have that option. I don't have that option. I, you know, hope, if we be honest with, if we want to be real, real, real, relevant,

15:36I didn't feel like me or you need the one really had that choice when our marriage was on the road. No. In some ways, what it may have been easy at some time for us to say, you know what, this thing's a mess. We just need to go on and try to live our life. I never felt like that was an option for me. And you said that as soon as you went to living orders, one, you said, I didn't know about anything, but one thing I knew is I was supposed to be married to you. Yeah. I think that when you know your chosen, there is a level of a standard bearer, bearer, that you know you have to keep. There's a standard bearer. And not everybody in ministry may be feels like they are that chosen. Maybe they feel like ministry was just a choice and they have other options.

16:37I don't criticize because some of them are having great success and some of them have wanted a lot more people to Jesus than I am. But there's just this view today in this generation that being in ministry is not a sense of being validated. It's not a sense of a call, not a sense of oversight, not a sense of being qualified. And it's full of opportunities and options. And they don't want to commit because they want to keep all their options on the table. I never felt like I had options. Neither. I felt like I had assignments. And if I felt like, if I did, if I chose something different that I would be disobedient. I never felt like I'm going to try this. I'm going to try this. I felt like there needed to be a fellowship. I started a fellowship. There needed to be an apostolic network of people

17:40and I started a fellowship. But we needed a church in the Bay Area where they say nobody can do it. So what I do, I start trying to put things in place to get where I feel like God wanted me to go. Hope my dad had a church ready for us to meet with a Deacon board and go into with a three-bedroom parsnidge, a salary, health benefits, and 401k. And we went out on nothing and went and started churches. Would none of that in place because I didn't feel like the other was an option. There's, I don't know. I feel like we probably sound like weirdos. You're a tie. I think there's- We don't have options.

18:40I think there's a lot of people listening to us who it resonates with. Who say I have felt like that but nobody has said it like that or described it like that. The tithe belongs to God. And if it is not brought and submitted to God, God feels robbed. So those of you that belong to God and run, God feels like something has been taken from Him. And I have one book, the book of Jonah that will prove God will shake it down to get back what's His. Do I have a lot of other proof texts? I probably have some with the Apostle Paul. But the fact is I do believe there is this realm of people that are called that have somewhat challenging assignments. They seem to weather it and nobody understands how they weather it. But the fact is they were not given options.

19:40And what am I- what mighty calls are on people's lives I do believe are the people who run the hardest? I think it's dangerous to be in ministry with the option of getting out. Because as soon as you get hit, let me tell you something. People will hurt you. I mean people will hurt you. And as soon as you're like, oh, don't want to fill that again, you'll get out if you have the option. I think we need to pray for people who- who- it may be people in your life, who you know are running from God and you see the collateral damage that it's causing. It could be your children, it could be your husband, it could be your family member. It could be you. It could be you. You're running from God and you just happen to stumble on this podcast and you say,

20:40my life's a mess and I have caused havoc everywhere I've been and I have got to submit to God. I'm going to tell you something. God don't lose. No, we don't. God is undefeated. He don't lose and he'll shake the tree and he'll shake the tree and shake it till it all falls out. I mean, he just will. I heard Jensen say that I've never heard anybody say it like this. And here again, this has got theological problems. But Jensen, I don't mind him, I'm guessing he'll mind me because he was on TBN when he said it. He was being interviewed by Matt Crouch. And he said, you know, I preach to people all these years and he said, then I had to take my child and drop him off at rehab. He started crying. Yeah. And he said, I'm going to tell you something, Matt. He said before God uses you, he'll hurt you. Now, I've heard people say I've been hurt. Jensen said, he'll hurt you.

21:41That limp, that limp, that thorn in the flesh, the thorn in the flesh, he came away from that experience, limping, but it marked him for God. The limp marked him. And I think a lot of people are afraid of that. That's not the limp. The the cross you got a bear, the thorn in the flesh. But I want you to pray, Ron, our times almost up. I want you to pray for people who are who are running from God or have family members who are running from God. That the Holy Spirit would arrest them, that that run would stop and that they would submit to the call of God on their life. So Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for that the struggle would come to an end. Yes, God. Those listening that this directly impacted them, I mean, it directly impacted them because they know the rest or because they're doing it.

22:42I pray for this rest to come upon them and the embrace of what it's like to be chosen and the privilege of being chosen, the privilege of being marked by God for service, that it is the highest honor we could walk with. And I pray for those that are suffering because they have a loved one. Yes. And their running has caused damage to everybody that cares about them. I pray for the grace to recover, but I pray that the runner would quit running with cease from describing and I pray God in the name of Jesus that here again, they would be this embrace, this as Hope said, this arresting, this apprehending of this person bring it to a steal and God that they will be embraced. And I pray that the pain would not have to continue and the discomfort, not have to continue and the sinking of the ships and the belly of the fish. All that would cease. They'll be on Holy Spirit, where they would embrace the call of God on their life.

23:44And Lord, when we embrace that call, may we live it knowing it's not optional and that no matter what we go through, the grace will be there to not just endure but overcome. So Lord, I pray and I thank You and we believe together in Jesus' name. Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We love you guys. It's been Ron and Hope unfiltered. Go like, subscribe, share this, but this on your all your streaming platforms. Hope somebody knows somebody. Yes. You need to say you need to hear this. Yes. Send them the links, say you need to hear this. Absolutely. If you got a runner, you need to hear this. Tell them. We love you guys. Thank you for being with us. We'll see you next time. Ron and Hope unfiltered.