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Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Ali Yost. And isn't it is an honor to be here with you guys today. As some of you probably notice here, this is not our normal day of upload, and this isn't going to be like our typical episodes. I don't even know if I want to consider this an episode. It just feels like I've looked at the Lord a few times being like, does what I have to say in all of this matter, God? Like, there's. There's so much being said on the Internet right now, and it just feels really messy. There's such a lack of peace in the world, and I don't really know what I'm supposed to say. I'm not here to say anything that's going to make things better, because I can't do that. But the one thing I do feel responsible for is to encourage you guys. I feel so responsible for the people that God has given me in this community to encourage you guys, because when things like this happen, the world can feel really scary and really unsafe. And if you don't know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm mainly referring to what has happened to Charlie Kirk. Oh, Jesus. And it's interesting because I've been seeing this theme online within the church of feeling this grief that doesn't make sense. Like, even me sitting here and being as emotional as I am, I will honestly say that Charlie Kirk was not somebody that I kept up with. I wasn't consuming his content all the time. I knew who he was, of course, but I. I just was never really all that invested. Politics in general, for me, I'm just kind of like, you know. And so to be affected as deeply as I've felt in the process of this hasn't really made a lot of sense to me. And I know a lot of you can relate to that where you're like, I didn't even know the guy. I didn't even, like, keep up with what he did. Why am I being affected so deeply by this? And I've seen a few people say something like this along the. Sorry, guys. I'm going to try my best to speak, okay? Our flesh did not know Charlie. We didn't know him personally. Right? But in the spirit, we did. Like, he really. He was our brother in Christ. Okay? And I. I think what I want to do today is acknowledge that we can all have our opinions when it comes to politics and our beliefs. And I think for us Christians, obviously, a Lot of our beliefs and the foundation of our lives also bleeds into politics. But we're not gonna touch on the political part of Charlie's life. It's the fact that he was so dedicated to Jesus and he was a part of the body and we lost a part of the body. And the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, it's the Holy Spirit that's grieving in you. And so that's why this is affecting you so deeply. You're not crazy. I've been kind of in that same boat where I'm like, what in the world? And there's tragedies that happen all the time, and it's heartbreaking. And there are Christians who are murdered for their faith all over the world. And so this isn't new. And unfortunately, there's just this game of this or that that happens on the Internet where if you acknowledge one tragedy, you have to acknowledge all of them. And if you didn't acknowledge all of them, then why are you acknowledging this one? Then don't acknowledge this one at all. Because you didn't acknowledge what happened over here, or for this school shooting, or these innocent children died, or these Christians were martyred, beheaded. Like, yes, the evil and the violence of this world is awful. And what happened to Charlie, unfortunately isn't new. And I do think that there could be a temptation for the church. I'm speaking to my brothers and sisters right now. There is such a temptation to cower in fear and believe that the world is so evil right now. And the truth of the matter is that the world has always had its evil. These things have always happened. I think the reason that it's hitting us so hard, like our generation, millennials, Gen Z, is because the evil is happening in our generation. And there are people in our generation that are also being affected by this. And Charlie Kirk was a 31, almost 32 year old man. He was only two years older than me. And so. And it happened in our country and it happened in our church. And I don't say those things to invalidate all the awful things that happen in the world. You guys, please hear me. But I think that's why it cuts so deep for us. But it's not new. There's this verse that came to my mind this morning. It's in Ecclesiastes. I really want to read it to y'. All. If you guys have your Bibles on you or nearby, I would also encourage you guys to read along with me. But this is Ecclesiastes 1:9. And this is the Lord's word. This is what he tells us about history. History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, here is something new, but actually it is old. Nothing is ever truly new. We don't remember what happened in the past and in the future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. I think God so clearly states in that and shows us that nothing good or evil that happens is new. And unfortunately, history does repeat itself. And people being killed for their beliefs, people being killed for freedom of speech in this country, people being killed for their religion, their political views, whatever that looks like it has happened before. And it's unfortunate that history has to repeat itself. It definitely is. It's sad to be a human, a human seeing us do the same things over and over again. But if we didn't, we wouldn't need God so much. You know, it's because of the way that we repeat ourselves. And if we didn't do the same things over and over again, we wouldn't need Him. And I think it's worth recognizing that Charlie really did encourage this young generation to turn from their selfish desires, to turn from the things of this world and to give their life to Jesus. And so that kind of boldness, I think, is worth remembering and acknowledging. We shouldn't let this scare us, to not speak the truth, the truth of the gospel, the truth of who Jesus is. And I think there is such an opportunity, even in this tragedy, to do that. There is such an opportunity to show people the gospel in the way that we react to this. I think the easy thing to do is to spew hate, spewing hate and retaliating in hate. Hate is instinct for us, unfortunately. But without Jesus, all our flesh wants to do is just spew hate back and to fight evil with evil, to fight fire with fire, eye for an eye. But love is the harder choice. And it's the choice that we actually have to pick in this. We have to choose to love our enemies. I say enemies. We have to love the people who do not agree with us. We have to love the people who wish death on us, wish ill on us. Because that is the only way that we will be set apart from this world is if we choose love. Another side of all of this. I was praying with the Lord yesterday about it, and I think right now it's really tempting for us as a church where we know that what happened was wrong and there's too many people out there that are Justifying the murder of a man because they believe that the things that came out of his mouth were hateful, evil. Right? The things that came out of his mouth. Granted, if that was the truth, that's still not a reason enough for somebody to be murdered while also traumatizing hundreds and hundreds of kids at a university, at a school. This man was not a criminal. This man was not a murderer. This man was not a rapist. This man didn't commit any crimes. He just spoke words that a group of people believed were evil. That's okay. That's the thing, is that we're all allowed to have our own opinions. And that's a huge thing that our country has been built on. A huge foundation of. What brings this country so much freedom is that we do have the freedom of speech, and we do have the freedom to have our own thoughts and say the things that we want to say, whether they're controversial or not, whether they're hurtful or not, but we still have the freedom to say it. And so the minute that people are being murdered for being able to say the things that they should have the freedom to say is where there's a serious problem. We're basically ripping out a major part of the foundation of what makes our country so great. We're stripping people of their freedom of speech. We're stripping them of their humanity also, because the minute that they say something that you don't agree with, it means that they are no longer human. They don't have children to raise. They're not a husband. It can be really tempting us as a church to see the things that are being said online about Charlie, about our community, about Christianity, about Jesus, and retaliate. And I'm sure some of us have, but I really encourage you guys listening right now to not do that. Don't retaliate. Do not fight fire with fire. Do not fight evil with evil. It says in scripture that. Where is it in the Bible? I'm going to find it. It's Matthew 5:39. But I say do not resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek. Also, if somebody wants to insult you, insult your beliefs, insult Jesus. I think a lot of times Jesus is actually telling us to just take that and give them our other cheek, as in just love them. Choose not to slap them back, choose not to clap back in the comments, but to love them. And not in a place of, like, sarcasm either, you know, or passivity like that. Well, I'm praying for you. We need to genuinely love our enemies right now, we need to genuinely love the people who do not understand. I saw a TikTok yesterday of this man quoting Jesus. It's in scripture as well, where Jesus is dying on the cross. And one of the last things that he says to the Father as he's dying is he says, father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing, for they know not what they do. And that is a truth that we need to remember in all of us. Not just the people that we don't agree with, the people who are spewing hate, but also ourselves. Like we, we don't actually know the magnitude of our sin. None of us do. We need to carry so much forgiveness and grace for these people. And I know that that can feel really impossible and really hard, but we have to, you guys, we have to love them. We have to love them. And this might be a hard ask, but I know that this is what Jesus would do, and I know that this is what would make Jesus proud, is we also need to be praying for the man who killed Charlie. And we need to be praying for his family as well. That might make a lot of you guys listening so sick. But if we are not willing to extend love even to the man who killed Charlie, we are just as guilty as the people who wished ill or death on Charlie. We're no different. And even dehumanized the man who took Charlie's life. We're doing the same thing. Because the truth of the matter is that that man, that 22 year old man, Jesus died for as well. And Jesus loves. And all of this, all of this burdens the Lord's heart so much for both sides. I believe that the Lord is burdened for both sides. I'm so sorry, Jesus. So sorry. And so church, we need to pray. We need to pray that the Lord uses this for his glory. That the Lord uses what was meant for evil for good. And he turns it into his glory. And he turns it into something that evil is beautiful, that he turns these ashes into beauty. These are all things that he promises us in His Word. And we have to believe that. We have to believe that the tragedies of this world God will use for his glory and he will use for his good. And he will use it to bring people to salvation. He will use it to reveal his love to the world. That he will use it to reveal His Son to the people in this world that still need to know the truth of who Jesus is and the truth of how much they are adored and loved by Him. That's what this is about, you guys. That's what we need to remember, is that before we take this personally and before we take this to a place of this or that or make it political or whatever, and we're fighting on Facebook and we're fighting on Instagram and we're combating people on the Internet, we need to be praying for the world. And the people who do not know Jesus and pray, pray that they learn to know his love, that they encounter his spirit, just as we have. If you are somebody who was once dead, like I was, if you were once dead in the world and you had the things that you were living by and you had the beliefs that you were living by, and you were basically your own God, I want you to go back to that time. It's a painful time to go back to, and a lot of us don't want to remember it, but go back to that time and remember how deceived you were, how deceived you were, and how naive you were and how you were living and you were blind and you were dead, you need to go back to that version of yourself and say, oh, my gosh, then I found freedom in Christ and you are now alive, right? You've been made a new creation. And so that should be our deepest desire as Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ. That should be our deepest desire, is for the rest of the world, for people who have not been born again and have not experienced becoming a new creation in Christ, have not received freedom from. From the bondage and the chains of this world. We need to be praying for that. And that goes for the man who took Charlie's life. It does. We need to be praying comfort over his family. We need to be praying for those who are blind to the truth of the gospel. And we have to do it with love. We have to do it with love because that is the only way we will look different from the world. Real love, true love, like love from Jesus. And so if that is something that is hard for you to access right now, I want you to know I understand there is such thing as a righteous anger. Okay, this has also made me angry. Anger in itself is not a sin, but it's the things that we do in our anger that we need to be mindful of that can lead to sin. Let's not let our anger lead to places of sinning. But it is okay to have a righteous anger and frustration about what has happened. But we need to love right now. And I believe that There is a huge shift that is happening in our generation. I know a lot of us have probably been feeling that for months now, potentially even years. But there is something that is happening in this country and in this generation. I believe that Gen Z and millennials, these, and even younger, but this younger generation that we walk in, I believe are getting sick of the temporary stuff. Like, they want the real thing, we want the real thing. And so, church, I'm speaking to you right now. We are not going to bow down to fear, because where does fear come from? It says in Scripture that the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. That is what the Lord has given us. We do not operate in fear because that is not from our Heavenly Father. That is not our portion. That is not something he ever encourages us to walk into. And so I encourage all of us right now, if this is making us afraid, we need to come out of agreement with the spirit of fear. And we are not going to let. We are not going to be a slave to fear. We are not going to let fear dictate us. And we are going to press in, in love. We're going to press in in the truth of the gospel. We are going to tell people the truth of who Jesus is, which is love. He is the light of the world. He is the way, truth and the life. There is such a tactic of the enemy right now to make us afraid and to make us quiet because something's working. When we see things like this happening in the world, when we see the way that the enemy and the evil in this world is trying to intimidate us, it's probably because they're pretty threatened. It probably means that there's something that's actually working. People are coming to know the truth. They're being led out of the grips of hell and being led into the arms of Jesus. And so evil is threatened right now. This is not the time for us to pull back. If anything, this is the time for us to press in. Press in. And if you have been a comfortable Christian and you've been living your life and you've been loving Jesus and he's been loving you, that's great. But if there is some conviction that is washing over you right now, I believe that that's for a reason. And it's not our dad shaming you, it's not shame, but it is correction from our Father where he's saying, now is the time, now is the time. I need you to tell more people about the Freedom there is in me because there are more people out there that I am grieving over who are lost and blind and need their father. And I need you to be willing to step up and be a voice for me right now. I need you to step up and be a voice for the kingdom of God and tell people about my goodness. And so I actually think that in all of the tragedy that's been happening, this is an invitation from the Lord to be more bold, to love people harder, to pick up our cross, deny our flesh even more, even more, because our flesh wants to fight back. But the best way to fight back evil is with love. That actually brings to mind Martin Luther King, Jr. For me and everything that he stood for, which was biblical. Martin Luther King, Jr. Believed in using nonviolent resistance and unconditional love as the primary means to fight evil rather than resorting to violence or hatred. He viewed love, particularly Christian agape love, as a creative and powerful force that could transform oppressors, bring about justice, and ultimately overcome societal ills. Romans 12:21 says, don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. That's what we're going to do, church. We're going to conquer evil by doing good, and we're going to start speaking up more. We're going to be less silent and less content with keeping the gospel as just like a personal life choice. And it's just something that I live by. And I know that I'm saved and I know where I'm going, and I know I have a relationship with Jesus. I pray that that puts such a distaste in our spirits that we are no longer content with that anymore. We are not content with knowing that we have received our salvation, that we are good with Jesus. And there's people that are walking around us every single day who do not have that. They do not have that. I believe that the Lord is inviting this generation to seriously change the world through his love. I believe that with every fiber in my being that God is inviting us. Like, I see us as like soldiers, where he's like, it's time to go, but this is it, y'. All. This is it. And I'm not saying I know that people are theorizing that we're in the end times and whatever, and I don't know, maybe we are. But either way, it's time to wake up. It's time to wake up. It's time to wake up. The world needs Jesus. The world needs hope. His hope. His hope. The world needs his love. Yesterday I was with the Lord and I felt him highlight. Which is funny because, like, obviously I've read the Gospels multiple times, but I. I hadn't really remembered. Like, I. I was sitting with God and I was like, all right, Lord, I need you to point out a scripture for me. And this was just me and my secret. Like, this was just for me. This wasn't me, like, trying to prepare for anything or, like, you know, God, give me a verse for the podcast or whatever. Like, I was just like, lord, what do you want me to read right now? What do you want to encourage me in right now? And he pointed out, I. I heard him say John 16. And I was like, okay, I don't remember what's in John 16. Okay, chapter 16. Yeah, let's read this. Please open your Bibles and turn to John 16. 1. I have told you these things so that you won't abandon your faith, for you will be expelled from the synagogues. And the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. This is because they have never known the Father or me. Yes, I'm telling you these things now so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn't tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer, but now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I'm going. Instead, you grieve because of what I've told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go, that I go away, because if I don't, the advocate won't come. He's talking about his Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin and of God's righteousness and of the coming judgment. The world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father and you will see me. More judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. He's talking about Satan, who is the ruler of the world. He has already been judged. He knows where he's going. There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it. Now, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all truths. He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me, all that belongs to the Father. Is mine. That is why I said, the Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me. In a little while, you won't see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again. Some of the disciples asked each other, what does he mean when he says, in a little while you won't see me, but then you will see me, and I am going to the Father. And what does he mean by a little while? We don't understand. Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it. So he said, are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said, in a little while you won't see me. But a little while after that, you will see me again. I tell you the truth. You will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me. But the world will rejoice. You will grieve. But your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. At that time, you won't need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth. You will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request. Because you use my name. You haven't done this before. Ask using My name and you will receive and you will have abundant joy. I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech. But soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. Then you will ask in my name. I'm not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God. Yes, I came from the Father into the world. And now I will leave this world and return to the Father. Then his disciples said, at last you're speaking plainly and not figuratively. Now we understand that you know everything and that there's no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God. Jesus asked, do you finally believe? But the time is coming. Indeed. It's here now, when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. Jesus has already overcome this. Jesus has already overcome every evil act of this world that's happened and will happen. I also just pray that we meditate on that church, that we meditate on that alone, and we really let that sink into our spirits. That, like, yes, these things can seem so scary and it can feel like the world is falling apart. And a lot of people are, like, afraid that Jesus is coming back and that it's all happening and everything is going to blow up in flames. The truth of the matter is that we don't have anything to be afraid of, he says, but take heart, which to me, I think means be glad to know that in that sorrow and those trials that you face in your life and that we face in humanity and what happens in the world, take heart, but be glad, because I have already overcome the world. A lot of it doesn't make sense when we try to figure out why. Why does God allow these things to happen, even to his own people? Why? But we have to trust what God tells us, which is that we are to take heart and know that he has already overcome it all. He already has a plan for all of it, that there's not a single thing that's happened in history and will happen in history that God didn't know or could have predicted would ever happen. Nothing catches the Lord off guard. And so we need to find hope in tragedy, knowing that God will redeem this, even the things that feel unjust and unfair. He has a plan of redemption. He is a God of justice, and it is literally who God is to turn things that were once meant for evil and use it for his glory. He's overcome every tactic of the enemy. He's stronger than the enemy. We can't look at this and believe that the enemy is any stronger than our God, is any stronger than the spirit that lives inside of us. I want to end this episode encouraging boldness, truth and faith into you guys, into all of us. Me too, God. I'm in that too, actually. And I'd also really love to take some communion with you guys, because it's been a while since we've taken communion as a family. And I. I love you guys. And I am so proud of the people that you are. I am so proud for the ways that you choose to walk through life loving people. Even when love isn't reciprocated or given back, we're gonna take this communion together. If you have bread nearby, if you have little communion cups that rocks, we're gonna take some bread and some blood. Oh, Lord Jesus, we just adore you. God, we love you. Jesus and God, we are asking you desperately right now that we need your strength, Father. We need your strength through a time that just feels so hopeless. The violence that's happening throughout the world, the violence that's happening within our country, the violence that's happening against the church and the body of Christ. God, we need your strength right now to not be afraid, to not be filled with anxiety. And so, Lord, we are pleading the blood of Jesus over us right now for strength, to keep pushing, to not be afraid, knowing that you are our God and that you are going to fight for us, Lord, you are going to fight for us, God. You are going to fight for justice, you are going to fight for what is good. And Lord, we just ask that your kingdom comes. Lord, please fill us with a boldness for the gospel, a boldness for your love. Let us radiate your holy spirit, God, that before we even open our mouths, people can feel that there is something different about us, Lord. Use us in that way, God. Lord, help us with any fears and replace it with the truth of what you tell us, that we are not to have a spirit of fear, that you've not given us that, but fill us with power, love and a sound mind. God, I pray for a heightening of discipline as well within us, God, within the body. I pray for more discipline to read your word, to be in your presence, to resist our flesh, to resist sin, God, grow discipline in us through your spirit. Lord. Let us memorize more scripture. Let us know the most scripture we've ever known in our lives. Let this be an opportunity for the church to become stronger. God. And Lord, I just bless my friend on the other side of this podcast right now, God. I bless them, Lord, and I ask that you use them to the fullest for your kingdom. God. Use all of us to the fullest for your kingdom, Lord. Let our lives bring you glory. Every piece, every aspect, every avenue of our lives. Let it bring you glory and let it point back to who you are. And God, we come to you with repentive hearts. God, we repent for any way that we have retaliated. Lord, we are so sorry for ways that maybe we've acted. That does not bring you joy. We will choose to love our enemies. We will not retaliate. We will not fall to the tactics and the manipulation of the enemy to get us to fight fire with fire and eye for an eye because that is directly against your word, Lord. Your word tells us that the most effective way to fight evil is by doing good. Lord, we love you. We honor you, Abba. And we need you, God. We need you, Lord. We need you, God. Jesus, we need you. Lord, we just speak on behalf of all humanity. Abba, we need you. We were all made for you and we need you. God, have mercy on us. God, please have mercy on us. And so we take this bread in remembrance of what you did for us. Jesus, what you did on the cross covers every sin of this world. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice and your grace. And we'll take the bread. Thank you, Jesus, for the blood that covers us. I plead this blood from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. God, make us strong. Strong soldiers for the kingdom of God. Mature us in the spirit, God. Prune us, Refine us. Make us more like you. Let this blood wash over us, Wash over our minds. Renew our minds today. Jesus, we love you. God. In Jesus name we pray all these things. Amen. I love you guys. Thank you for letting me pray for you. And yeah, it's gonna be okay. But I love y'. All. Let's walk more like Jesus. Talk more like Jesus. Be more like Jesus today. I'm proud of y' all and I will see you next time. Bye.