Early in his marriage and ministry, Brian Francis Hume was in bondage to sinful behaviors, and went through a personal refining process he called “the crucible.” After a 3 year restoration Brian returned to ministry and has never looked back. On this episode Brian shares his insight on the limitations and failings of leaders in the Body, and gives hope for those still entangled in sin. He also ministers prophetically to the viewers, so be sure to watch it all the way to the end! Did what we could to fix the audio but this episode was important to release!
Jeff
Welcome to the Kingdom Awakening podcast. Join us as we look for prophetic insight on current events, hear testimonies from around the world, review church reformation, share biblical teaching, and more. I’m your host, Jeff Simons. I hope this show helps you connect with God. Welcome to the Kingdom Awakening podcast. I’m your host, Jeff Simons. I have with me Brian Francis Hume, a prophetic minister who has no ministry, an intercession, an author. Brian, welcome.
Brian
Thank you, Jeff. An honor to be with you on your podcast.
Jeff
It’s interesting. We were talking a little bit beforehand about how you wanted me to introduce you, and you said, Well, actually, I don’t have a way for people to… I don’t have a ministry. I don’t have a way for people to give online, and the Lord actually wouldn’t let you do that. Can you actually speak to that for a second of why you felt like he wouldn’t allow you to do that?
Brian
Absolutely, Jeff. I had, back in ’97, stepped into full-time ministry as a campus minister where he absolutely loved it. And so as you will hear later, I had to step away for an extended season. And when the Lord called me back into full-time vocational ministry, 2014, he specifically had me lay down my leadership development consulting and then also give away, literally, a small Christian publishing company had started. And he specifically instructed me to step back into this role as a prophetic voice, an assessor, and writer. And of course, at that time, I’m thinking, okay, I got to start the 501(C)(3). And I had even tried a few years before then. I actually started the process of when the Lord said, no, lay it down. It’s not the right time. And so 2014, I’m thinking, Okay, yes, great. I can start the dream that God has given me. And the Lord said, no. Basically, I had to be obedient to him, recognize that he was not allowing me to start a 501(C)(3). He was not allowing me to have anything publicly that would allow donors to give financially into this ministry. I wouldn’t permit it to have something Sometimes you’ll see somebody’s doing a live there and they’re prophesying.
Brian
That’s great. But then they’ll slap on the app right there, right dead, smack in the middle. And the Lord is very clear that I would not to do any of those specific things. And In that season, he made it very clear he was bringing security back into the prophetic. And so I had to be obedient to God in that. It’s been now, November seventh will be 10 years to the day since that and on towards the Lord transpired.
Jeff
Well, one, it’s very encouraging because two of my heroes of the faith, and I know you’re familiar with both of these names, are Reese Howell and who I love reading The Intercessor and just the way that he conducted his life. But he also received a conviction when it came to finances from George Mueller. George Mueller, I have the the complete, he called it the Narrative of the Lord’s dealings with George Mueller. It’s his daily diary. I have one of those. I have a couple of biography books about Mueller because I’ve been so impressed by his life in that if just the conviction that if the Lord is in something, you don’t have to manipulate to make it happen, you don’t have to try to force it, you just ask the Lord and the Lord will provide. Being aware that everybody has a unique calling in the way that the Lord leads them and not belittling anybody that receives offerings in a traditional way or anything like that. But I just have such an appreciation when people are the way that they conduct their ministry aligns with a lifestyle of faith. I’ve actually had a couple of other ministers on the podcast who full-time in ministry Stephanie Lacy, who is a deliverance minister and a friend of mine, she will do deliverance all day, every day, doesn’t take up an offering, doesn’t have a website, doesn’t have a way to do it.
Jeff
People have to hear from the Lord in order to contribute. There’s something that’s so pure in that. I love that. It’s a way of preserving integrity for the relationship of minister and even just the title of minister. Hearing that that’s how the Lord is directing you, it runs contrary to the, Give me an offering, so I’ll give you an ABC prophetic word, which is unfortunately It’s out there and pervading through our expression of Christianity. I want to pivot gears a little bit. Recently, you shared about going through a crucible time in your past and that you felt like that was one of the things that was lacking in some of the leaders that we’re currently seeing getting exposed and having failures and things like that. I just appreciate how transparent you are with your own story. For those that haven’t heard of what that was like for you, can you share a little bit of that story of you going through a crucible, so to speak?
Brian
Absolutely, Jeff. I believe that God has a, what I’m referring to as a God-ordained crucible for each and every single person. When you put your trust in Christ through the working of the Holy spirit, I guess Paul would refer to it as the spirit of adoption in Roman 8, through that working, we become sons and daughters of God. And I believe that there’s a divine orchestration where there is It’s a God-ordained crucible. Now, if you’re thinking as you’re listening to me hear that, you’re thinking, Man, that sounds a little rough. That sounds hard. That sounds painful. Well, it is. Because when you look in Melitai, 3:1-5, there’s a beautiful rendering, a beautiful picture of the Lord himself who fits like a refiner. And it’s talking about the context of refining silver and gold. And so you and I, we’ve been around the block. We’ve heard this teaching before, but I want to just reiterate it once again in case anyone’s audience has not. But the refiner, God himself, sits there in the process while we’re in that crucible, he sits there and he’s removing the draw. Now, that heat that intensifies And then the crucible is what permits the impurety that is dormant down deep below to rise to the surface.
Brian
And when that rises, it’s called draft. They remove that draft so that the silver, the gold, will be pure without the impurities within. And so, likewise, the God himself puts us in a crucible. And I’ll share some details from my own little journey, but I just wanted to just elaborate on this passage to give contact to what I’m going to share. But God allows that the heat to cause that the infertility to rise up, he removes it, and the question then is, when is the refining process finished? And so the reason that the refiner is sitting is that they are looking at this process intently as it’s happening, because once they’re able to see their reflection in what’s being purified, refined, then once their reflection is clear, then they know that the refining process is complete. And I think that’s just so beautiful because Jesus himself is looking for this image to be reflected in us and And as we are purified as our soul, and I adhere to the traditional thought or belief regarding our soul, our mind, our emotions, our will, that when that is transformed to the image of Christ and we are purified and refined in the fire, then he can see his character within our soul.
Brian
So we talk about character. And then I want to always emphasize When we talk about the needful character, I’m not using some business concept. When I refer to character, I’m talking about the character of Christ likeness. I’m talking about Christ in you being evidence within our character, day in, day out. And so that’s what we’re after. And so to go back now, I’m going to hope I’m not sharing too much here, but I wanted to share that little biblical insight and give us a context for what God is doing when we’re talking about a God-ordained crucible. And so going back to my own journey, I had been in ministry in the late ’90s after graduating from college. I had spent a number of wonderful years doing campus ministry. Now, in the midst of that, there was always an undercurrent of a hidden I didn’t struggle with them, whether it be pornography, whether it be emotionally trying to connect with… And I didn’t do this necessarily like I was in the military context, but it was outside, if you were at the mall or the grocery store. But I was just trying to make those emotional connections with attractive emails.
Brian
And just to someone, it’s I was in a flairfully need to satisfy something within that was not wholesome. And so in that process, every time I was in a courtship type relationship, I just failed miserably. It was just like, even though there was a time in a season from the point when I got stayed in college as I was a believer, and I did not grow up in a Christian family, so I had a lot of baggage, Jeff, in terms of sexual morality and things of that nature. And so whenever I would get into a relationship, it was just like it went from zero to 60 miles per hour, bam, like that. And so it was just a very, very humbling, painful moment when I was in the particular relationship and having to deal with the ramifications of it. So Long story short, trying to dig a lot of the details, but I went through a season where it seemed like I had gained some measure of victory. And by that, there was a genuine in my heart trying to get free. When I was in those kinds of struggling, it wasn’t that I was trying to be the faithful or a cyclocrat.
Brian
It’s just The soul was so embedded within. So God turns up his feet. I get Christ for the Nations. I meet my beautiful bride there. We get married. And keep in mind, I thought I was free. I thought I had dealt with these things. I thought I had done some delivery. I thought I was a man ready to get married who had covered her. But what I’ve learned is the absence of sin does not equate freedom in Christ, does not equate deliverance from sin. And there may be a prolonged absence of a struggle, but that’s not an indication necessarily. If you’re bearing the fruit of impurities in your life in a previous area of struggle of impurities. And the scripture says very clearly, see this place in Matthew 3:8 and Luke 3:8. And this same verse is capturing John the Baptist when he’s preaching to the pharisees, and he said, Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And the definition is In my book, regarding that verse is, Repentance must continue its work yet until we’re bearing the very fruit of that which we’re repenting from. If we have been struggling with lying, we are in a posture of repentance before the Lord until we are walking in truthfulness day in, day out.
Brian
If we are repenting, in this case, in my case, from impurity, then we know that retentions has finished its work when there’s the fruit of purety and righteousness in my life. And so when I married. The first year was wonderful. I was thinking of the Christ for the Nations right there in your backyard, Dallas, Texas. And we were assigned to go back to Virginia to head up a staff of college ministers, and they were going to send us first to Southern California to go to the graduate school campus Ministry, and we were going to do this at Fuller Thetological seminary and working at Cal State, Long Beach. Well, during that six-month time frame, it was like all hell broke loose. Every struggle I had previously I played earlier prior to my marriage, came back with a bend in and I was struggling. It’s one thing as a single man, I think you can relate to this, Jeff. It’s one thing to struggle as a single man with issues of maturity, with issues of love, with looking at pornography or trying to connect emotionally important with an attracted female. It’s one thing, not that it’s right when you’re a single man, but when you’re bringing that into the context of the covenant, the covenant with your wife, it’s like the shame factor multiplied.
Brian
And it’s like, why am I doing that? And so for me, it just viral out of control. And at that point, fast forward to we left After two semesters, we left the program. We were supposed to go back to Virginia, but we did a detour to do an internship in Hobbes, New Mexico at a church. And this internship was simply me working six months as a janitor. And I was scrubbing toilets for six months, which was a prophetic picture of what God was trying to do in my own heart. And then we did go back to Virginia, but for a different church. At that church, and I’ll end it here, but at that church is where we met a pastor, Ernest Tuckla, who had the wisdom and the understanding that I needed to step away from ministry. I needed to lay it down at the altar, and I needed to allow God to do a work in me. And so I remember December 14, 2003, in this office, and I said, Brian, no more ministry for you until you get your life in order. He said, Right now we’re going to come in and exert some control over you until you can bear the fruit of self-control, according to Galatians 5:22.
Brian
And that was absolutely the open prothence of God. That was one of the best decision my wife and I have ever made. Obviously, it was God using him, but God used him as one to literally save our marriage. I’ll be forever grateful. But he laid out a process for us, which is absolutely the Lord working through him on our behalf.
Jeff
Well, it’s interesting. You mentioned going through a crucible. My wife and I went through a similar time early in our marriage. Well, probably more than one crucible in marriage, just by finding all kinds of areas of selfishness within each of us that need to die. But that’s one of the benefits of marriage is all those little selfish things come to the surface and you have to deal with it. Back to the crucible for a second. Say somebody’s listening to this and they’re thinking, Okay, I want that. I want to go through whatever the Lord wants me to go through. To produce more Christ like this. Are there practical things that they can do? Is it something that they ask for? I’m aware that in the prophetic community, we use a lot of allegories. We use a lot of and symbolism. But sometimes connecting the dots between the symbolic of, Okay, I want to be in a crucible. That doesn’t mean I need to go buy one-off of eBay and try to fit it. It’s not a literal to do. But there’s something that they can do. Is it just simply asking the Lord, Lord, refine me, purify me?
Jeff
I want to walk in the character of Christ?
Brian
Absolutely. I think that is the beginning point. I think there needs to be some measure of desperation within the heart of the believer as you posture your heart before the Lord and you say, Father, I want to be a pure, fully, vessel, concentrated for you or to you and you alone. And I believe, as you indicated, it can just be a simple prayer, but from the heart in day. And each one of us are different in terms of to what degree of infrequence might reside within us and what needs to be addressed and to be conformed to the image of the sun. And I use the word God ordained crucible because I think it gives this picture, at least for me, that Each crucible is just unique, and God in his magnificence, his foreknowledge and wisdom, knows exactly how to create that process for us.
Jeff
I just wanted to give you a quick update that this channel is now monetized on YouTube and Spotify. This means that your views, your comments, and your sharing of this channel has helped the ministry to advance the Kingdom of God. We’re currently helping a widow to become self-sufficient. We’re supporting a few orphanages as we’re able to, and we’re planning future evangelistic events. Thank you so much for your participation in this effort. I pray that this program would continue to bless you in a way your heart to the reality of God’s Kingdom. I just want to say a quick prayer for you. Father, I thank you for every viewer and listener of this channel. God, I pray that you would bless each one of their lives, pour out your grace and favor over each one of them, Lord, to know you more and become closer and closer to the person of Jesus Christ. I bless them all in Jesus’ name. Amen. God bless you.
Brian
In order to refine us and to bring us into a greater unveiling of the character of Christ’s likeness within our soul. So yes, first and foremost, prayer. Now, if there are, it might be some individual people who you just might not be aware. We have blind spots, and sometimes we’re just not aware of what might be there. So you might have to pray and just allow the Lord to begin that heating process and then let that hate come and the impurity begins to rise, then you can see it. But for others, there might be like me, you know what the impurities are. And then you’re crying. You’ve been battling for years through this thing, and it just won’t relent. And so for those situations, I think it’s imperative to find wisdom and counsel in the local church in terms of where God says that person has you plugged in and to be able to submit yourself to a process to allow God to do his work within you in that context in terms of purification, refining and being made or conformed the image of Christ.
Jeff
That’s a really good note because one of the things that… If you’d have asked me prior to all these exposures and things like, about certain leaders that have not publicly either fallen or confessed to things, I probably would have assumed, for an example is Lou Angle. Lou Angle, at one thing, who got up and confessed that he had looked at pornography. I would have thought, no way that guy fasts and pray so much. There’s no way he’s struggling with those things. I realized that in the charismatic community, we’ve treated fasting and prayer as a catch-all for any issue. You can’t fast and pray away bad character. You can’t fast and pray away issues of the heart. It’s almost like where we’ve neglected the importance of counseling or we’ve neglected the importance of going through process. I think that we’ve made it too much about do this to get that result. Fast X amount of days and pray X amount of hours to get a certain result. Again, I’m not saying that I love fasting in prayer. People that are close to me know I actually like how I feel when I’m fasted more than when I’m not.
Jeff
But we can be so spiritual in our pursuits that we can neglect the importance of some of these other things of counseling and having people around to guide that process. I like how that was an integral part of your story of coming out was somebody actually said, Hey, you lack self control, so you’re going to have pastoral control exercised over you until you can walk in self control. Is that something that… Do you think that each… Just your opinion. That be a function of every local church of being able to help walk people through a process?
Brian
Well, in my opinion, yes. In terms of the pastoral grace that should reside within the separate of that flock and within the eldership of that church. And so I think within that context, it should be. Now, I’m not saying that they should necessarily have, let’s say, somebody who’s called an anointed narrative deliverant, but they should have a connection, a relationship, and a means to introduce their flock to that particular ministry that can provide that lap within the local church. But I would absolutely… I think the I think every local church, and again, I want to be careful how I say this, but I believe that a mature pastor of a flock who’s walking in a five-fold textual calling, should have the understanding of how to take the seed from point A to point B in terms of the sanctification process. The terms of becoming more like Christ in every facet of their being. Now, let me go back to December 14, 2003, Jeff, because I think this will help provide some practical component to what I’m trying to say. So before that moment, I met with a handful of different ministers that had oversight over me.
Brian
And you know what? Their solution solution was for me? Deliverant. That was like a one-trick pony. They said, you’re struggling with lust, you need deliverant. And they would take me through Deliverant, and I would feel good for a day, three days, maybe a week. But I would find myself going back to what I did before, and I would just find myself in that same cycle. And at one point, one of those ministers even told my wife that he could leave me because he told me to deliver it and I wasn’t walking in furiously. I was making simple choices. But the reality was I need more than deliver it. I need some guardrails to help me stay the course. And so I didn’t have what I referred to as the the coverage of Christ likeness to be able to sustain the deliverant. And so to earn it, so that’s December 14, 2003, that day saved my life. Yeah. But earned it, Brian, you’re stepping out of ministry. No more Ministry for you. I said, right now, this is the process I want you to walk through. He said, number one, you’re going to meet weekly for accountability with another man on staff.
Brian
You’re going to meet with a Christian counselor for anger management. And you and your wife are going to meet with a couple monthly for elders at our church for marriage counseling. And they’re going to get closed into their small group every week and just going to serve in their small group. And you’re going to be a part of the church every Sunday. You’re going to come and just participate every Sunday morning and just be there. And maybe you can serve as, pick up the offering or things of that nature. And so we did that for three… I mean, we were there for six years. It was a fabulous local church. But we were in that process for three years until the fruit of righteousness and security and fullness came forth. But he understood more than deliverance. And so he was a rubber meets the road actor who understood the practical needs, how to help create some guardrails to help provide a process for me to engage in order to walk out that process of repentance.
Jeff
Okay, so let’s connect this to what we’re seeing happening with with some of the leaders in the body. We’ve seen it out at Morning Star, we’ve seen it at IHOP and Gateway Church. We’ve seen it at several churches here in Dallas. What are the things from an outside view looking in that leaders today have missed? How did they get to the point where they have large ministries, large followings, all these things, and spiritual giftedness, and yet there are these significant failings and failures?
Brian
Yeah, great question. So I would say one thing, and again, this may not be applicable to every person, but I would imagine at some level there can be some truth to every scenario. But in my situation, when I got born again on that college campus, because I I’ve had that calling from the Lord, even though I was immature and I was a newborn believer, I was dressed into leadership roles. I was passionate for the Lord. People were drawn to me, and I just immediately began to share Christ with others. And so immediately, I’m like, in the fellowship, Christian athletes have put me in leadership roles. And within a year or two, I’m starting my own Bible studies. That Bible study grew into a full-fledged campus ministry with 40, 50, my fear is coming out. So when I graduated from college, I just stepped right in the full-time campus ministry. And so I never dealt with those roots of immorality, with the roots of lust, with those roots of selfishness that I had permitted I wanted to be embedded within my soul because of… What do unbelievers do? What do lost people do? They fornicate. They do worldly things.
Brian
They sin. That’s the norm. But those things had become embedded within my soul. Even though I was born again, praise be to God, and he had changed my heart. I was utterly grateful for the eternal life that I had through Christ. I knew I was born again. But the sin within my heart ravaged me. And I was just broken, crying to get free, and I couldn’t. And when you’re a young person, there’s this measure of idealism. And you’re getting prophetic words. You’re going to change the world. And you’re going to be this amazing prophetic voice and all that stuff. And you’re meeting all these leaders and they’re praying over you. And so you just feel like you got to keep pushing on. You got to keep pressing on. And I think what my point is, Jeff, is sometimes those of us in the world of ministry never learn to step away from the spotlight. We never learned to step away and to live what I would refer to as the ordinary mundane nine to five, clock in, clock out, just utilize without the spotlight of ministry. And I think there’s something, especially those that are that maybe feel a five-fold call and have And there’s some that may have in the marketplace.
Brian
So I’m not necessarily referring to them in this context of our conversation, but I believe that it’s hard. I’ve noticed even with the situation with certain Some of these leaders have fallen over the years. They don’t have any experience other than ministry. And that’s what they’ve known their entire lives. They’ve lained on that for their financial means and their affirmation. And that’s their skill set. And so they’re never They haven’t learned the grind of just getting up. And there is a military grind, don’t get me wrong on that. But I’m talking about that just being out of the spotlight, not being the man or the woman of the hour and just being out of that celebrity status sometimes that comes with that territory. And so I think there’s value in the younger generation maybe have an extended season where they’re plowing the ground in a boring situation for a season, just allows God to do a deep work in. I’m like, Elisa plowing the field. I mean, that’s a great example. I mean, Elijah comes and he didn’t find the guy out of the school of the prophet. He comes and he finds a guy plowing in the field.
Brian
I mean, he got a quentin, guy that’s working his tail off, and they come and they throw this mantle on him. And so I think there’s a picture, there’s something about that picture that would be extremely It’s really beneficial for many of those who are called to the Fivefold Mini-Cred.
Jeff
Yeah, that’s interesting. I know which of the Fivefold I’m called to. I had an encounter with the Lord back when I first got saved. And yet every time I wanted to go into full-time vocational ministry, I’m like, Okay, I’m ready to quit my job. I’m gung-ho, and I’m not in my 20s now, but At the time, I was 20s. I’m ready to go. I’m like, Okay, Lord, I’m ready. And he said, No, I don’t want you to. I want you to stay and work at this job. I’ve been at the same company for 20 years, working the same job. It’s interesting because you go through times where it’s a struggle, times where you’re emotional and whatever, and you want to leave. Every time, the Lord said, No, I want you to stay. It’s interesting the way that that he gives us the unique path that we need to be in the right place at the right time. That’s also encouraging. One of the things that I found is, and my encouragement to young leaders out there, is the workplace can be one of the best places to gain an understanding of leadership and to learn how to relate to people of all different backgrounds.
Jeff
Because in a church setting, there’s There’s certain amounts of commonality. Brian, like you even mentioned, there’s a little bit of the… Especially if you have any prophetic gifting or any gifting that people would view as impressive. There can be a sense of propping somebody up, and that’s where you get that celebrity culture or idolizing of the individual, which is really unhealthy for both. It’s unhealthy for the community and for that person. Now, I’ve heard you talk about fighting for covenant. You went through this time, this crucible time, and then everything, I’m sure, was roses, and you never had another conflict again in May. Anybody that’s been married for any period of time, my wife and I have been married for coming up on 18 years. Thank God. You grow so much in the context of marriage. But something that I wish people had told us prior and going into marriage is, Hey, there’s times this is a struggle. You actually have to fight and contend for one another and for the covenant. Can you speak to that a little bit of the importance of contending for covenant?
Brian
Absolutely. I want to just frame that my response first with the conversation I had. There’s a precess for me. You already mentioned Lou Angle. His wife is Therèse. We were with them one in a small dinner setting, and Therese was talking about their marriage. And she made the contract, and I believe that she… And I’ve heard it publicly, and she was sharing it was not a private matter per se. But she said how their marriage was extremely difficult for the first 20 years. And she said, I believe that it takes roughly two decades. So you get on the same page because they’re There’s so much selfishness and just trying to learn how to navigate this scenario. And when we heard that, we were probably at about, I think that would have been 2015. So we were at about 12, 15 years in. I’m hearing her share it, and I’m just resonating with every word she’s saying. I’m like, Wow, that’s us. My beautiful bride, she She is a beautiful Polish woman, and she grew up in a different culture. She grew up under communism. And so when you come into the context of the covenant, there’s personalities, there’s life experiences, their expectations, there’s all these differences that has to be merged as God creates a bond for us to walk in together in agreement.
Brian
So the covenant So fighting for covenant, Jeff, is the idea that in the midst of the struggle of becoming a couple who are not just theologically one, but becoming one as we walk together in a place of agreement before the Father, we have to learn to fight for covenant because there are just going And there’s just lots of battles along the way. There’s lots of disagreements, there’s lots of tensions. There’s lots of just things that come up in a given moment, whether maybe one spouse is a week, a given day, it’s having a bad day and there’s just a lot of foot used in that given context or the other spouse another day. So in those moments, and that’s when I had to learn was, okay, I’m looking higher, I’m looking at Jesus, my eyes are fixed on Jesus, the author respect their birthdays. Right now we’re fighting for covenant. I’m going to overlook the reaction that he’s having right now. I’m going to look up towards Christ, and I’m going to fight for covenant because right Right now, I might be feeling a little bit on myself. I’m a little bit frustrated. She responded that way right now, but I’m not going to respond according to how I feel in this moment.
Brian
But I’m looking up and I’m fighting We’re fighting for covenant. And so we had to learn. And that really came out of even going back 20 years ago when we literally were fighting for our marriage. I was to make sure that I became the man, the husband that God had called me to become. And so we coined this term along the way. And in our given moments of weakness, we would say, we’re going to fight covenant and just overlook whatever the other house be going through in that very given moment.
Jeff
That’s really interesting hearing that from Lou’s wife, too, because that’s when married couples that have been together for a long time start to be vulnerable about their process, to me, that’s a pearl of great price. That’s something that you don’t get that testimony easily. People can overlook how For example, I was involved in leadership at a church where in multiple levels and in the highest levels of the church, there were multiple… Everybody had been divorced and remarried. They were all on their second or third marriage and things. It was a common theme throughout the church and not drawing any conclusions from it. But there were times when my wife and I are fighting through things, and there are certain people that it’s like, Okay, I can’t talk to that person because I know their solution is time to go find a different one. Like you mentioned, the Deliverance Minister that advised your wife against covenant, which is so clearly against the Lord’s will for your marriage. Sometimes it can be hard. On one hand, I’m glad that the Lord, we have so many testimonies of the Lord redeeming people after failed first marriages, whether a cheating spouse or they cheated or whatever it may be.
Jeff
We need to have the stories of redemption for those. But I hear a lot of those testimonies. The ones that I want to hear more of are stories like yours where people had to fight for their marriage. In the midst of when it doesn’t look good, it doesn’t feel… It’s not what you want, but hey, you’ve committed to this person, this person is committed to you, and you did it in the sight of the Lord, that you’re continuing to work together for the Lord’s will for your marriage. I find that really encouraging. And that she would be willing to share that, too, because I’ve also shared… I personally have done things where I’ve shared those types of stories with people that then went and used it against us. Because somebody can take your story and twist it and use it against you. That’s when I realized, Oh, don’t cast your pearls before swine. So there’s some you learn through experience, and I wish I had more discernment in that moment of when to share and when not to share. For them to trust you with that is a valuable thing, but also you can look at how it produced fruit in your own life.
Jeff
Brian, you’re also a prophetic voice. I would be remiss if I did not ask what the Lord has been saying to you lately. What has he been impressing upon your heart?
Brian
A great question. I actually had recently a minister from Ghana ask me the same very question. Now, it specifically was like, what is the Lord saying right now? And it was just a little over a week ago. And I just paused for a moment. I was just gathering my thoughts in in that moment. And I looked at him and said, To be honest with you, I don’t have a word burning in my heart right now. Like, thus did the Lord in terms of what I’m hearing at this very moment. But I said, But I can just tell you up front as a prophetic voice what I would say regardless. And I looked at him and I just said, We hence. And so I believe we are in a season where the Lord is simply emphasizing repentance for the body of Christ and not just the leaders, but the body of Christ at large in terms of what I said in the beginning, Matthew 3:8, Luke 3:8, bear fruit and keeping with repentance. And your area of trouble, your blind spot may not be the issue of purity, but it might be some other areas that God is wanting to highlight to bring you into a place where your character will unveil the beauty, the Majesty, and the splendor of Christ himself.
Brian
And that’s what I’m after. And I have been preaching, and perhaps some might say, well, this is the word then. But I’ve been preaching in this last season this message baked out of first John 2:6. And it talks about this particular verse that says that we are… If you say you’re in him, he says, above Abide in Christ. And if you abide in Christ, then you will walk as he walked. And I’ve been guilty of this, but we look at that verse sometimes and we see the last part where it said, We will walk as Jesus walked. And we get excited. We’re thinking, Man, the power. Yes, come on. We’re thinking walking that authority and that power and that demonstration. And we’re going to walk like Jesus. We call miracle just coming out of him, the virtue of healing coming out of him. But what we get in that context in that verse that John, the beloved, write is we can’t get to the second part until the first part is fulfilled. That is if we abide in him. And that’s an invitation of intimacy. That’s an invitation in the context of intimacy, of vulnerability, of transparency.
Brian
And so it’s out of that abiding in Christ, where we have this ongoing sustaining after of surrender, joyful surrender onto Christ, day in, day out, where our hearts are reliable before the Lord and we are bowing slow before him in the place of prayer, this ongoing communion with the one that we were created for. And so in that place of abiding, then we’re able to walk as he walked. And obviously, I’m giving you two minutes summary of a message that I have been preaching on, but I then close with the thought, you know what? And I’m not necessarily talking about walking in power, though, yes, we need that. But what about if we were to walk a Jesus walk? As Jesus walked, according to Matthew 11:20-30, Jesus said, Come to me and learn of me. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am what? Gentle in heart, I am humble in heart, I am meek. So what if we were to walk as we have walked with the same meekness, the same blessing the same viability of heart before the Father. And I just think that’s what my heart longs for.
Brian
And so that’s what I believe the Lord is after with these fallen leaders and those of us who are observing this as born again believers. We need to walk the Jesus walk. We need to have and possess his heart in such a way that it changes us from the inside out, so we walk as those who are humble. We walk with those who are me. We walk with those who are a temple of heart like Jesus.
Jeff
Amen. Well, Brian, would you just pray whatever is on your heart for the audience, for the listeners?
Brian
Absolutely. Father, we thank you for this time together. Father, thank you for this podcast. Thank you for Jeff. God, thank ‘I thank you for the audience who are listening to the sound of my voice. ‘ ‘And Father, I’m asking you, by your spirit, that you would bring this person into this God-ordained crucible, that Lord, that they may be conformed according to Romans 8:29, conformed to the image of the Son. God will conform each person to the image of your beloved Son and all facets of their lives. Thank you, Father. May they possess in the grace of God the character of Christ’s likeness. Father, I’m asking you in your mercy towards each of one of us. Your mercy, Father, I’m asking that your mercy would touch every single person, that you would initiate that God-ordained crucible. You would initiate in your mercy towards us through the for us. That refining process. Thank you, Father. And Lord, may we emerge from that as those who are pliable hearts, as those who reflect the gentleness, the humility and the meekness of Christ. And Father, thank you that you’re raising up, Father, you’re raising up men and women who will walk with that humility, who will walk with a link that reflects a heart that is fully surrendered to Christ and Christ alone.
Brian
Thank you, Father. And Lord, I pray. God, I pray for the each person listening. God, I pray that you would initiate this work, sustain them in your grace as they walk through their own crucible. Drenthen them right now by your spirit. Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ name. Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Jeff
Amen.
Brian
Well, Brian, thank you for- Can I just say one?
Jeff
Sure.
Brian
Can I just say one more thing? I don’t know your audience, but do you mind to just minister real quick just prophetically? Go ahead.
Jeff
Yeah, go for it.
Brian
I just want to pray right now. I’m just going to I’ve been on a TV show one time and was getting me a name and I just shared the name. The host was like, oh, I know that person. So I just want to be obedient to God here. But there’s somebody with the last name Sawyer, like S-A-Y-R-T-T-T-T- W-Y-Y-E-R, that will listen to this specific message. God has called them the wholesome. There’s something about even that word wholesome that will just resonate deep within Sawyer’s heart. But this is a call to confirm that they are one call to encounter the Holiness of God. It’s in the revelation of his Holiness that they will begin to understand what it means to be wholesome. I just believe the Lord has a unique creative gifting on this Sawyer that will be listening to this podcast and that will be able to even walk in a greater demonstration of that creativeness as they encounter the Holiness of God. I would even encourage this person to look for Isaiah 6, where Isaiah himself encounters the Lord high and lift it up. And I believe that will be a pivotal passage for them to enter their soul in as they cry out, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
Brian
‘ And so I just believe that Sawyer is the first one. Thank you, Father.
Jeff
Thank you, Lord.
Brian
Thank you, Father. I think there’s somebody that’s going to be listening to your podcast here. I believe they’re based out of Colorado Spring, Colorado. And I just think there’s something about coins. And I wonder if it’s the idea that change is coming. We talk about the coins as change. And I believe that there’s something in this person’s life that has been teetering on the ads. And it’s almost like they’ve been playing the game where They’re just like this… You take out pieces of wood and you got to stack it up and you’re… I think that’s what it’s called. But you got to keep pulling out different pieces and they’re trying not to allow the thing to fall. And It’s almost like this person in that game and the thing’s catering on the eggs about to collapse. And I just want this individual to know it’s okay. It’s time for whatever they’ve been trying to build to collapse. And it may sound dramatic, but I think it’s the necessary thing for them in order to begin to rebuild their house on the rock who is Christ. The Father, we just pray for that person as well out of spring, God, that you’re going to take them deep as they dig down deep on the rock of Christ and that Lord, what they’ve been trying to build with their own hands, their own strength, that Lord, we just say, let it fall, and that Lord, we just thank you that you’re able to bring a deep work of restoration in their lives.
Brian
And so, Father, thank you for this precious beloved one out of Colorado’s brains. Thank you, Father. Bless them and strengthen them and encourage them for the days of the pet as they build their lives on the rock, Christ himself. In Jesus name. Amen.
Jeff
Amen.
Brian
Well, thank you, Jeff. I just wanted to be obedient to the Lord there. Just felt that prophetic spirit on that.
Jeff
No, thank you for praying for the audience, and thank you for joining us.
Brian
You’re welcome. Thank you for the invitation, and I have enjoyed. I would encourage the audience to listen to your last few most recent podcast that you did. I can’t remember the name, the lady that came out of the Robert Morris situation and the other lady who has the blog out of North Carolina. But both those were exceptionally well done and very helpful and insightful.
Jeff
Thank you very much. God bless you, Brian. Bye. Brian.
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