Ron + Hope: Unfiltered - Our Favorite Book Reviews

Foreign.

Hello, everybody. It's Ron and Hope. Unfiltered, real raw, relevant. So glad that you're here, Ron. What are you doing? What are you doing? You are always cutting up at the beginning. What are you doing?

Got me these magnifying glasses.

Cheese. Because we old. We have to have them to read.

That ain't what I was using them for.

What you using it for? Looking at me.

Looking at you? Yep.

You don't want to make bigness bigger.

I like curves.

Well, okay, here we are starting out.

That's a good way to do it. Say it. Curvy.

Curvy.

Is that a compliment? This day and time.

Curvy. Fluffy, not fluffy.

I don't know if that's a compliment. Curvy is a compliment. You bought me some new glasses. I just sat here while you counting down. I was trying them out. Okay, I'm gonna do a cough drop. Been talking a lot.

All right. Well, we are glad that you're here. And.

And you weren't here last week. And I had to do it by myself.

And it was so good.

You know what, baby? It was good. And we hadn't had as many people view that as I thought. I thought that would get out of our normal range of viewers. We're blessed for all of our viewers, but I really thought that having that staple that graphic across it would have drew more clicks.

It was God's answer for racism.

Well, a lot of people want to talk about racism. Or let's have a roundtable, let's have a forum, let's have a conference. You know, I remember back in the day, a foot washing. But I saw many grandmas say, the cure. The answer for racism. And it is God's cure. It is God's answer. If you haven't watched that, go back and watch it. Need to. You really need to. Because we came from natural and spiritual elements.

Yes. So good. We watched it at our Come Higher retreat. We were in Lake Tahoe. We were in Lake Tahoe last week. I have retreats where I take, you know, 10 to 15 women at the max and really just pour into them for about four days. Mentorship. And we break down scripture about how to lay aside every weight so that we can run, you know? And we all want to have a great life. Right. But there's issues in life that keep us tripped up, that keep us in sin cycles, that just keep us heavy and weighted down. And you can't run good if you're weighted down. So we were doing that last week, and we had a break that night, the last night.

And we cut the TV on, didn't we?

Turned the TV on and we watched the podcast. And really, it was so, so good.

And Pastor Dwayne, who is African American.

Yes.

And runs our ministerial fellowship, the entire thing, runs it all. And then myself, of course, and I'm lily white, you know, and we brought me and him in here and we went at it from honest discussion. I told him beforehand, we're unscripted. You have permission to agree with me in public before anybody. So I told him. He said, what are you going to talk about? What's the outline? I said, we're not going to have one. I said, you come in there and speak what's in your heart. I'll come in there and speak what's mine. Well, at the end of it, I hope. I thought it was powerful. There were a couple of times I stopped and I said, I feel the presence of God in this thing. I feel what we're saying. So this isn't about that, but go watch it.

Yeah, it was great if you happen.

To watch it, because it may help you next time these talks come up or these situations come up and confront your life. But I'm excited about today. We've never done this before.

No.

Tell them what we're doing.

We are going to do our book recommendations. My personal. Oh, it's going to be so good.

Because I'm gonna tell you, I don't know what she's gonna do. I hadn't looked at her books, but I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna talk about books nobody's reading anymore that changed my life forever. But they're not, you know, in everybody's repertoire in this 20, 23 age, everywhere.

We go and over the years, people always say, tell us something that's been very impactful in your life or what's a book that's helped you or changed your life? And so I have never met anybody who is successful who is not a reader.

A leader has to be a reader, right?

A leader has to be a reader. And, you know, wisdom and knowledge is powerful. It combats paradigms.

I am thankful for audiobooks, though.

Oh, I know you are, honey, because.

I have a 40 minute to an hour minute drive here and back home, and I do a lot of learning during that downtime. So I'm thankful for audiobooks. Just thank God that I didn't read mine. Nobody had to listen to my country voice, read my book for them. In an audio book, but I do. Whether you read them or whether it's an audiobook, I thank God for them. You cannot rise above hope. Your level of revelation, right. It cannot be done. You cannot live above where. You know, I was telling somebody the other day, I said, I have got to get a greater grasp of the ins and outs of the stock market because I'm in the investment stage of my life. And I said, I can't invest above what I know. I can't earn above what I know. I can't be blessed above what I know. That is true in every area of your life. We can go through any myriad of topics. And if you're going to grow in that area, you've got to know more in that area. So I'm excited about day when you told me what this topic was about. And that's what a good wife does. She tells you what to do. And when she told me what this topic was about, I said, we haven't done that. So I don't know if this will be as popular as the Oprah Book Club, but I'm gonna bring some stuff out of some old wells that I think need to be dug again.

Well, I'm just gonna jump into my first one. And Jamie Kern Lima, I don't know if you've ever heard of her, but she is just one of my favorite humans in Just the Natural. And she is the founder of IT Cosmetics. I don't know, the ladies out there probably know what I'm talking about, but she started as a waitress and went to a billion dollar corporation. And this whole book tells about the struggle, the pain, the rejection over and over and over. And her determination to make this company what she believed, even in the face of the cosmetic world where they were saying, well, you gotta. It's gotta look like this. And you gotta have models that look like this.

This is saturated market.

Yeah. And she was like, absolutely not. I want normal people. I want people with rosacea. I want people with acne, freckles, blemishes. Yes, all of that. And let me just read you what she says here. Says, do you have big goals, hopes and dreams, but let rejection get in the way? Do you struggle with feeling like you're not enough and like success is something that happens to other people, but have a hard time believing it's possible for you? Do you let past mistakes and failures hold you back? I mean, just this is what this book is about. Do you know deep down inside of you that you were created for more but somehow still Doubt yourself and believe it. You'll discover how to overcome self doubt, gain the courage to take risk and empower yourself and others. Tune into and trust your own intuition. God led intuition. Let go of your mistakes and insecurities. Turn down the volume on your inner critic. Handle rejection haters and mean girls. Boost your confidence. Start your dream and keep going. And much, much more. Jamie's also a born again Christian. She's very, very vocal about her beliefs. Listen, this book will have you in stitches. I cried, I giggled out loud, laughed out loud, literally on a plane reading this book cause it was so funny. But then I was just pouring tears because I could so identify and she's so encouraging to me. This is one of the best all around encouraging books to help you believe it, to believe the promises of God, that he's spoken over your life and to keep going in the face of adversity.

I love this book. Who needs to read that?

Every person. Men and women. Men and women. Her story is about cosmetics, but it's so much more than that. So much more. She talks a lot about her and her husband because they're in business together.

Number two, what's the major thing you took from it?

That in the face of adversity, because she has so many. I mean, just rejection, rejection, rejection after company after company after company. And she would not stop because she had got a word on it. She had gotten a word in her spirit and she knew what she was supposed to do and she did not stop. In the face of adversity, testing of.

Your faith produces perseverance.

Yes.

Yep.

And what's that produce?

Tell me.

It produces patience, perseverance and makes you stronger endurance.

And the Bible says that those things do not disappoint us. No, those things don't disappoint. I. I want you to hang around. I've only got two. Hope's got three. I don't know that I can do it this quick as you.

I'm sure you can't.

Okay.

Cause you're a talker.

I am a talker. That's what I do. It's what my world is.

Yep.

Let me talk to you out of my heart for a minute.

Hey, before we do that, let's tell them about our number one sponsor here.

Let's do it.

Let's tell them. Let's tell them. This episode, this podcast is brought to you by Better Help. I think everyone listening wants to live their best life, right? That's what we're talking about here. Even here. Give online therapy a try. @betterhelp.com ronandhope and get on your way to being your best self. Working with a counselor or therapist will help you get closer to the best version of you. It's one of the greatest decisions I ever made in my life was to get outside of me, outside of my circle, and get a different perspective. And it's so easy to get caught up in what everybody else needs from you. Never take a minute to think about what you need from yourself. Listen. But when we spend all of our time giving, it can leave us stretched, burned out. And therapy can give you the tools to find more balance in your life so you can keep supporting others without leaving yourself behind. If you're thinking about giving counseling a try, better help is a great, great option. It's helpful for learning positive coping skills, how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself. It isn't just for those who've experienced major trauma. It's for everyone. And it's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Complete a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist today. Five balanced with better help. Visit betterhelp.com Ronanhope today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com RonanhOPE you know what, guys?

We pretty passionately believe in our sponsors. These sponsors are not random, right? These sponsors we choose with are people that we desire to be linked with. And let me tell you something, the more that you respond to that, the more that they want to be a sponsor with us. That's the way it works. So when we give these to you, that's not the time to go fix a peanut butter sandwich or put a picture. That's the time where you need to go check these people out. Because we believe in these things. And it used to be if you wanted any type of place where you could vent to a third party, make sense of something or just down right there, you got to get up and go somewhere.

And it's somebody that's in your town that knows you, knows your business. That this right here being completely online, I think that is so amazing.

It's very innovative. And so, guys, check them out and don't forget the Ron and Hope.

Yes.

But let them know that you got it right here from this podcast. Now, I was with Pastor Parsley, Rod Parsley, for those of you who may not know him, he's a general in the faith. But I will tell you, there was just a real time span where God was using him. I thought to shake America right? I tell people at one time, really back in the 90s, I sensed he was calling America back to the cross. Well, I got the distinct privilege last year of his 30th anniversary of Dominion camp meeting, he allowed me to be the keynote speaker. And it was such.

That was fun.

That was fun because me and you would sit in that huge building and just, you know, want something from all those mighty men to fall on our life and to come full circle and be able to stand in that pulpit was a great honor. He brought me back in his ready room after it was over with and he gave me what I took as a compliment. Some people would not take this as a compliment, but I did. He said, ron, I would have to go back a hundred years to find stuff that I could read like you're preaching. In other words, what he's saying. We live in a generation. We want to know success, savvy, innovation, technology, social media. And nothing's wrong with any of that. You and I do it too. I don't know how much in 2023. We are a generation that presses into the secrets of God for some reason. Hope you know me, that's the way I am built. When I get a revelation when I'm in the word of God and God takes me behind the curtain and lets me see something. The meaning behind the meaning, the truth behind the truth, the story behind the story. I mean, I'm a kid, just got handed a thing of cotton candy at Disney World. I mean, I have to get up and sometimes if I'm in my office, I start walking around the hallway and he just showed me something. These are the kind of books that make your revelation go to the next level and increase your life. And I would say they're in short supply. I'm not trying to take you back and read old forgotten writers. That's not what I'm trying to do. But I don't know that revelation is highly valued today amongst writers. We're now self help. We want to teach you how to do something better. But just getting revelation from the word of God, that is revolutionary. I call it revolutionary. Revelation is not much there anymore. Let me talk about this one first. Spiritual authority. Watchman Knee. Great book, Classic. People don't even like the word authority anymore. When you say the word authority, there's a lot of things that come up in the minds of a lot of people. There's abuse of authority. There's a teacher that abused, there's a parent that abused. There's a system that Abused. Anything that has authority is almost looked at as a negative.

You can't tell me nothing.

Kids against parents, you know, against law enforcement. Again, nobody's going to tell me nothing. Nobody's going to talk to me that way. And you know what? I think we've reaped the sad consequences of it, because the fact is, everybody should answer to somebody.

Yeah.

And Watchman Nee probably has one of the most classic, most powerful revelations. His writing style is somewhat different. I would tell people it's probably not the easiest reading in the world, but most people who are revelators are not easy reading. But this right here helped me understand. Everybody's frustrated, hope everybody. And it feels like everybody's hitting a wall. So we're going to try to find success conferences. Well, I feel stuck. Something's not happening. But what this teaches is my destiny is locked up in somebody else. And if I don't recognize that person and I don't submit to that person, then there's things in me that can never be drawn out because it's up to something greater than me to draw out the thing that is on the inside of me. Elisha went to Elijah and did everything Elijah asked him to do. I have often said if I got to do it over again, I would not leave Bible school and go be a church planter. I would leave Bible school and for two or three years I would go carry a great man of God's briefcase, shut my mouth, do everything that I'm told to do, without question, submit my life to them, submit my character to them, allow myself to be called out by them. And when I do that, understand that that's when that anointing falls on my life. The Bible says that Elisha did one thing. This is crazy. He poured water on the hands of Elijah. And when Elijah was taken up, his mantle fell on Elisha. And he did double portion of everything that Elijah did. And the fact is, the Bible says that, you know, an heir, as long as he's a child, immature, is no different from a slave, though he is heir of all. So in other words, there are things that, that are mine positionally, but I can't possess it because of my immaturity. And he says therefore. Galatians 4, verse 2 says, Therefore he has put us under guardians and stewards.

Yeah, until.

Until the time appointed by the Father. So there is a time where everything that God has for Ron is to be released. But because of my immaturity, God has placed me under somebody and my inheritance is locked up in them.

Yeah.

Who's preaching that?

Right, Right. No, most people. There is such a renegade spirit in the body of Christ.

A rogue spirit.

Yeah. To where, you know, don't tell me anything. I don't want to serve anybody. I don't want anybody to be harsh with me. I don't want anybody to jerk my chain. I just want to do what I want to do.

I'm going to go further. I'm dealing with a new generation of pastors who have even set. There are no spiritual fathers. They've abandoned that. And the Bible clearly says that in this last day, God's going to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the sons and sons back to the fathers. But what we have done is we have created a legal system within our churches where nobody can hold you accountable.

Right.

So in other words, there's nothing about my system where anybody can jerk my chain, therefore, I can do whatever I want to do and keep my position.

And you know what? I was just sitting here thinking, you know, it's just like spiritually, just like it is in the natural. The Bible says, first the natural, then the spirit. You know, if our kids, our natural kids would listen to us, would let us help them and coach them, how much quicker could they achieve things in life? You know, how much better would their life go? Learning the lessons we've learned, letting us help them overcome things, things we've overcome. And it's the same way in the spirit. You know, we've been doing this 33 years, and if people would listen, you know, younger than us, under us, be willing to wait and do it, because we can see it differently. We have a bigger view.

The more experiences you've had, you look at life from a different perspective.

You do. And so spiritual authority is there to protect you and help you, not to hurt you.

Yep. I remember. I put it this way. And we'll move on to your next book. One time, back when we bought our kids four wheelers, you know, and, you know, our oldest son, he pushes the boundaries. He just built that way.

He's just fast.

Yeah, he just built that way.

He's Ricky Bobby.

He says, if you ain't fast, if.

You ain't first, you.

I saw the way he was driving it, and his sister was only. We had two of them. And so his sister, who's much younger than him, was trying to mimic it. And I looked out the door and I had to go out there. And I remember that day, and I went up there and my son said, son, daddy, why are you like that? I Like jumping these ramps. And I like, why do you make me? And I said, the difference between me and you is I know what can happen and you don't. That's what time and age gives to somebody. And I always tell people, let my pain be your wisdom. Don't repeat my pain. That's dumb. Yeah, but let my pain be your wisdom. But I can't do that if nobody listens. So spiritual authority, I can tell you this is going to be like sandpaper rubbing against the culture of this generation as we read it. But it is powerful, powerful, powerful what it does in your life. I've said enough. Hope. Going to your second book.

This book right here, Transforming the Inner Man.

I was gonna pull that one, but something told me you was gonna pull it.

Yep. John Lauren and Paula Sanford. This book right here, literally, I'm not kidding. You literally saved my life. Saved and changed my life in 2013. It was so impactful to me that for Christmas that year, I bought 20 copies and gave them to family members and best friends and people in our inner circle and said, this is the greatest Christmas gift I could ever give you. I read this book when I was going through healing. When Ron and I separated in 2013, I had found myself in a terrible spot, and I was willing to do anything to dig my way out of it. And it's God's powerful principles for inner healing and lasting life change. The life you were created, is created for is within your grasp. If you feel like something is holding you back from being the person God has made you to be, if you feel stuck dealing with the same old sins over and over, John and Paula want you to know that transformation, total transformation is possible. Transforming the Inner man outlines the steps for true, lasting change in your life. By reaching to the deep depths of your heart with the power of the cross and resurrection, you will discover why transformation within each believer is crucial for reaching full maturity in Christ. Why forgiveness is so important, how to break negative habits and eliminate them from your life. How you can experience peace and spiritual growth despite the sin happening around you. This book literally changed my life. And, Ron, you can just.

Can I say something?

Yes.

That's not easy reading either.

This is not easy.

It's not easy reading.

I remember when I gave it to you, you said, ooh, I gotta take time with this.

You have to slow reading. In other words, you don't sit down and read that like a novel, right? That thing right there is sometime where you read a page, you set it down and go, whoa. Yeah, it's that kind of book.

It is.

And so I did go through that. And I'm gonna be honest with you. It took me forever to read that book.

I read it, I think, three times because it was so. It frustrated me so bad at first because I was mad at what I was reading, because I'm like, why has nobody ever talked about this? Why has nobody ever preached this? Why does nobody care that people are struggling and in cycles? And they. They want to serve Jesus. They want to be everything that God created them to be, but they don't know how to stop all this crap that's in their life. And this book literally will break it down. If you take the time and dissect it, your life will no longer be.

One of the things you read. And you said, breaking bad habits, sin.

Cycles and bad habits.

Do you know people are standing in line that want to break negative habits and sin cycles? I read that because, you know, those of you that knew us back then, we went through a horrible time. We were separated for quite some time. And that was. Was that an assignment or something?

You just. I got it out of the library there.

I know that you were under mentorship, that there was things that they wanted you to read. I wasn't sure if that was one of them. You told me I needed to read it. I did. It was not easy reading. It kind of has to be studied. Would you say that's better? Yes, it has to be studied rather than read. But I don't think there's any way you can read that book and study it from COVID to cover and not come out of it different. It's impossible. It's impossible to do because those people are as thorough in that book as anybody I've ever read. I will tell you this. I didn't bring it out here. But while you were reading that book and you were alone, you know, it was a terrible time. We were both alone. We're both trying to figure out what happened. And some of this wasn't. When we were trying to put it back together, some of it was trying to figure out what in the world happened.

Right. How did I end up here?

Yeah. How did we get here?

And how do I never end up here again?

The book for me, that was. That book for you. That book for me was Boundaries. I didn't bring it out here.

Henry cloud.

Henry Cloud. Dr. Henry Cloud. Right. Dr. Henry Cloud. I think then he's had a revision, a revised version, I think.

Well, he's got boundaries for marriage, boundaries for teenagers, boundaries for children.

Help me. And I know I'm murdering this thing right here, but I think the first one was just boundaries. Yes, that's the one I'm talking about. It was just boundaries and how people live with no margins in their life and hope. I felt like I was reading an autobiography. I started reading that book on boundaries. I felt like somebody has been following me around for 35 years and chronicling my life.

Yes, great book.

And so that was the thing that was helping me get where I needed to be while she was reading that. And so, like anybody, we reached out for help when we were going through bad times. Now I wondered whether or not I should bring this out here.

Oh, goodness. That's Kelly Varner, right?

Yep.

Talk about a hard read.

We might better go ahead and do our next. Don't we have another sponsor?

We do.

We probably need to do that now because this is going to take me a second because that author right there is really special.

Okay, you ready? We do. We are so grateful for our sponsors Chime. We love them so much. Listen, who likes their money? I don't want to say love. We don't want to love our money, but we all need money. We all have to eat.

And we all want to manage it. Well, we want to manage it.

We want it to go far. We want to have enough so that we can be givers.

Right.

And listen, good money habits start with your very first paycheck. And if you've just scored your first job, you've got an opportunity to jumpstart a healthy financial journey. When you sign up for Chime and link a qualifying direct deposit, you get access to benefits like getting paid up to two days early and fee free overdraft up to $200. With Chime, there are no monthly fees, no minimum balance, and no deposit required to become a member. So sign up for a Chime checking account today to link your paycheck. It only takes two minutes and it doesn't affect your credit score. That's very important. So get started@chime.com RonAndHope that's chime.com RonAndHope Hope Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA members FDIC early access to direct deposit funds depends on payer. Spot Me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. See chime.com spotme baby dog.

Quite honestly, I want to leave you the last few minutes to talk about your last book. I want to talk more about this author than about this Book. This is not easy reading.

Yeah, I've tried to read it.

So much of my learning has come from this man, but very few people know him. Let me tell you who this man is. This man, little house in a little town out really in the middle of nowhere. And some of the greatest men in the world would fly their jets into this place and go sit down at his feet for hours and take notes because they had platforms to the world. But this man had the Revelation. I call him a literary apostle. His books blow me away. I have preached a lot and taught a lot of what I've learned from him, but I have to take hours and hours and hours poring over it to get it into language that makes sense to the average churchgoer because it's real and it's powerful. But the way he writes it is not for milk oriented Christians. I mean, it's like I said, I think earlier today I used the expression shoving a ribeye down your throat.

Yeah, I remember when he came to our east campus years ago and taught our staff and we were just like, stop. He's just talking. And we're like, give me a minute, give me a minute.

Your mind hurts. He probably is a genius. He's going to be with the Lord now. But chosen for greatness by Dr. Kelly Barner. I just had a motivational speaker, life coach that is very popular. Ask me who's one of the most influential writers in my life. And he went back and ordered every.

Book he'd ever written, I remember that.

And had them laying on a desk and sent me a picture. And he said they were changing his life. And this is a guy who would not be known for being in this vein. These books are not on shelves at Barnes and Noble. I don't even know if you can order them. Can you on Amazon, can you get them? I'm not sure if you can or not, but they can be found online.

He's got a lot of books.

Yeah, this is just one of them. And it's really him more than it is this particular book. Because I've read about everything he's ever written. But he lives in what we call. He believes strongly in a third day. Reality, hope. When I was coming up through Bible school, there was a guy, there was a group that used to just get murdered by churches and they were called Kingdom Now.

Yeah, I remember.

I mean, to tell you, if they thought you were Kingdom now, they put you in cult status.

I know.

And they would start taking target practice with you. But really what they are, are People who teach that we are to live in a third day reality. The Bible reveals things in threes. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, body, soul, Spirit. I could go on and on through this whole list of threes. And about Peter, James and John, you have death, burial and resurrection. These men believe we don't live in death, we don't live in burial, but we live in resurrection life. And resurrection life is a place that they think is an ascended life. And it's the place where the Bible says there is a pathway where no lion can roar. The devil is a roaring lion. But Isaiah said there is a path where no lion can roar. These gentlemen believed there was a life that transcended normal life and you could leave it. And it was literally a place in.

One of his books called the Transcended Life.

The Ascended Life.

The Ascended Life.

The Ascended Life. I think it was the last one. And if I remember right, his son told me when he passed, he finished that book. He died at his desk. Yeah, he hit, sinned and died and leaned over his head and went to be with the Lord. Hit, sinned and the book was finished. But you want to look behind the curtain because that's what the kingdom is. The Bible calls the kingdom a mystery. And the Bible says that it has to be sought. You got to seek first the kingdom. The kingdom does not come to the casual. I've always said it comes to the seeker. He was a seeker. He inspired me to be a seeker. But here again, these are these mind blowing, mind transforming teachers that let you know your job is not to get up every day and beat the devil.

Right. And just survive.

Yeah, I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it today. And I fought the devil all day today. They called that a gospel of dualism where, you know, and preachers preaching about God and preaching about the devil and God and the devil. And the devil is defeated.

Yes, he is.

Either he is or either he's not.

Yeah, he's defeated.

And these gentlemen taught how he was and how that warfare looks and how that victory looks in our life. And every one of his books has that thread running through it.

It's Kelly Varner, K E R Kelly.

Varner, chosen for greatness.

Varner V A R N E R.

Kelly Varner, chosen for greatness. And they're still out there. And there's a remnant who are reading these books and their lives are being changed forever. Now there's a real important book coming up.

Oh, and you know, this probably has to be my favorite. You knew I'D have to bring it the most beautiful disaster. By who? Hope Carpenter. How God makes miracles out of our mistakes. Why is this my favorite? Because we've walked it. We've lived it.

That's your life.

This is my life. This is the beautiful thing that God has done in my life, the beautiful transformation that God has done. And I wrote this to try to help people understand that no matter where you find yourself, no matter what screw up, no matter how many times you fall, the beautiful thing is Romans 8:28. He's going to take it all and he's going to use it, and he's going to work it. He's going to work it to make you stronger, to make you better, so that he gets the glory. And this is our life. This was our story of how I found myself in 2013 at the Rock bottom, the very. The very bottom of life, where, you know, even the Christian, even the church at large counted me out.

And count us out. They mocked us, ridiculed us, really, you.

Know, thought there was no way out. But look at God. Here we sit today, thriving, living our best life.

Let me see now. Let me tell you something. Let me say something to you in front of everybody. There is this cynicism of people don't change. Yeah, they do.

Yeah, they do.

Yeah, they do.

It's hard.

When you went to Living Waters, which was the place where God brought you, where God put you through a death, burial and resurrection, when you went there, I got this call. This is where we're letting people into very, very personal part of our life. I got a call from Ms. Denise Boggs, who. Her and her husband run it. And she said, the woman that I'm going to send you, and they're up on the mountain. So she said, I think she said, down the hill. The woman I'm going to send back down the hill, she said, you have never met. Don't you let that sink in. At that time, I had been married to you 20 some years and dated you three and a half.

Right.

I kind of liked you. I mean, I fell in love with the woman that I met. She called it.

You didn't know what to expect.

She called it an imposter.

Yeah, in many ways it was.

She called it an imposter that led to this dual life, this dual person that you did not want to be. And she said, you've never met. And I remember I just prayed. I said, I want a woman of God. And I'm going to say right here in front of everybody, people do change. You are not the same person. You're not anywhere near the same person. And it ain't that you went and learned a few things. It was a death, a burial, and resurrected to new life. And this is your path. You took your pathway and shared it with the world. And the book is done really well. But if you hadn't read it yet, trauma comes in many different forms. It may not be exactly what she experienced it, but it has the same results and you have to have the same pathway out. She has described not a pathway, but her pathway out. And it's written beautifully. When I read it, I was amazed at her gift to write. I really felt like I struggled to write my book. But I mean, you sit down and it just flowed like playing a piano. So I want to get behind it and say, you know, I think people know that I'm hopelessly, helplessly, forever in love with you. So I'm your biggest fan. But the fact is this book is chock full of good stuff and it's well written. But the thing that holds you there is not how you have compiled scripture, but it's that you've really let them behind the curtain and let them see the mess.

Yeah, it's true. And then given them the same path that I used to get out. So just so grateful for all these books. Here they are. If you missed them, go back and listen again. It's Jamie Kern Lima. Believe It. John Lauren and Paula Sanford. Transforming the Inner Man. Watchman nee Spiritual Authority. Kelly Varner, chosen for Greatness. Hope Carpenter, the Most Beautiful Disaster. So grateful for how these books have.

Transformed our lives and a little bit of self promotion. Subscribe. Like subscribe. Like subscribe. Like subscribe because there's a thing called an algorithm which is a computer monster. It's the great and powerful OZ in the computers that when it's subscribed to and when it's liked, it causes it to come across more people's pages, not just YouTube.

If you're on YouTube, absolutely. Subscribe to our channel and like the videos. But go back to Apple and to Spotify and download, download the podcast, these podcasts so you can have them on your hip. They watch these numbers. We need you to download the podcast and share them with people. Because listen, this stuff is good. I think it's good. Maybe I'm just kind of partial.

It's off stage stuff.

Yeah.

Everybody has seen us for years with our, with what we bring to the stage and it's truth.

Yeah.

But then there's this private life where you're not Pastor Ron and Pastor Hope. You really just kind of Ron and Hope. And this is kind of things that we talk about behind the stage and we share all kind of stuff. So download these podcasts on whatever platform that you go to and if it's on YouTube, like, and subscribe whatever it is, but help us out because the fact is we think it's good. We want everybody to know.

That's right.

Well, until next time, we love you. It's Ron and Hope.

Unfiltered, real, raw, relevant.

God bless you. We'll see you later.