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Jesus People Podcast
Jonathan Pokluda’s journey of spiritual warfare, prayer, & hospital evangelism | The Jesus People Podcast Episode 39
00:47:32
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- [00:00]
Jonathan Paluda
Couple nurses have prayed to receive Christ right where you're sitting. Honestly, they were standing there, and so it's been amazing. Like, here's what I would say. The door right now to evangelism has swung wide open. I've never seen anything like it. Foreign.
- [00:31]
Podcast Host
Guys, welcome to the Jesus People podcast. This is a special one. Today we have Jonathan Paluda on the podcast who is the lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist. We're obviously in the hospital here. This has been something that you've been.
- [00:45]
Jonathan Paluda
Wrestling with for what, since Today's a day 11.
- [00:48]
Podcast Host
Day 11. Yeah. And you've been posting on social media, kind of talking about some of the spiritual warfare, some of the. Some of the. The ministry here in the hospital. It's been pretty cool to see.
- [00:59]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, man.
- [01:00]
Podcast Host
You and I have been trying to link up for a minute here to do.
- [01:02]
Jonathan Paluda
I said, let me know if you're ever in Dallas for the podcast. Well, here. Here I am. I'm in Dallas.
- [01:06]
Podcast Host
Not what we expected, though. But I think this is so cool because God is clearly doing some amazing things with you in the hospital. You've had a ministry here, and you were even showing me some videos earlier about a woman receiving faith.
- [01:21]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah. A couple nurses have prayed to receive Christ right where you're sitting. Honestly, they were standing there, and so it's been amazing. Like, here's what I would say. The door right now to evangelism has swung wide open. I've never seen anything like it. My first response to the Gospel, I was raised in church, and I went to a church school, parochial school. And when I really understood Ephesians 2, 8, 9, which says, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. It's not of yourself. It's the gift of God, not by work, so that no one can boast. When I understood grace, when I understand that guy on the cross was a payment for my sins, that I could be with God forever because of what he did. My first response was really frustration because I was like, how did I sit in church every Sunday and every Friday and not get this? And so since then, I've been sharing the gospel with Christians, with churchgoers, that I am completely convinced outside of a movement of the Holy Spirit, they would go to hell. Yeah. Because they did not understand the gospel. And so what that looks like for me is I use a method. And it's. Man, you know, I don't care what method somebody uses. I think it was. I think it was maybe R.C. sproul who said, I like my way of Sharing. You may not like my way of sharing the gospel. He goes, it's certainly not perfect, but I like my way of sharing the gospel better than your way of not sharing the gospel. And so I just go between 1 and 10, 10 being certain, 1 being not so sure, if you died today, how certain are you that you would go to heaven? This comes from evangelism, explosions in the 60s. James D. Kennedy, or D. James Kennedy came up with this, I assume between 1 and 10, 10 being certain, 1 being not so sure. If you died today, how certain are you that you would go to heaven? And from churchgoers, people that have been in church their whole life, the number one response I get from asking someone that question every single day, and right now, multiple times a day is 5, 6, 7, because I've tried hard. You were with me earlier.
- [03:29]
Podcast Host
The doctor came in.
- [03:30]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, the doctor came in and I said, doctor, who's been to church his whole life, and said, between 1 and 10, 10 being certain, 1 being not so sure, if you died today, how certain are you that you'll go to heaven? He goes, I'm a five. And I said, if you stood before God, and he said, why should I let you in? What do you say? And he said, I guess because I believe in Jesus. And I'm just like, what do you believe about Jesus? I said, do you believe Jesus died for your sins? He said, yeah, I believe Jesus died for my sins. I said, do you think he died for 50% of your sins? Because you said a five. I said that, you know, and then what I say, and this is how I share the gospel, is I just go, listen, we're like close to where the Mavs play right now. American Airlines center say, if I give you tickets to the Mavs game, courtside, great seats. I give you tickets. I give you. Give you tickets to the game. I gift you tickets, and you go to American Airlines center, and they stop you and they say, why should I let you in? What are you going to say? And he just, you heard him. He said, because I have. I'm going to say, because I have tickets. And I said, what if they say, did you pay for the tickets? He said, no, I would say they were a gift. I go, that's heaven. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. It's not of yourselves to gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. And somehow in 2025 in America in the church, we have lost sight of this, that God gifted our way to him through his son, Jesus Christ. And if you believe that, you got to tell everybody, because right now, the, I mean, I'm telling you, people are lingering. They want to know the person who brought me here in an ambulance, Jehovah's Witness. She. I'm just like, okay, shut down Jehovah's Witness. I'm not getting anywhere. And she goes, but, you know, my boyfriend and I, we've been searching and we wonder, you know, we've been looking at Buddhism, we've been looking at other places. Boom, Hindu nurse, you know, she goes, so you're, you're. I can tell you are a godly man, a God fearing man. And she just lingered for an hour. Just tell me more about just Jesus. A Muslim tech nurse technician yesterday in here, you know, goes to mosque, raised, like, born in an Islamic country, came here to America, devout Muslim. And I was like, you know, you call him Issa. I believe Jesus is the son of God. God in the flesh. He died for your sin, is raised from the dead, and he's just like, man, tell me more about that. So there's a curiosity. Right now. We are without excuse. The door is open. We've got to share Jesus, Jesus with people. Amen.
- [06:02]
Podcast Host
What was so cool earlier about watching you share with that doctor is I think a lot of people feel like when you share the gospel with someone, their response is going to be offense.
- [06:09]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [06:09]
Podcast Host
And you just asked him, you said, hey, I. I want to ask him two questions.
- [06:13]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [06:14]
Podcast Host
You know, like, how sure would you be if you were in heaven? And as you're talking through with him, he was, he was so glued.
- [06:21]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [06:21]
Podcast Host
And then when you shared Roman or I'm sorry, Ephesians 2, 8, 10.
- [06:25]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [06:26]
Podcast Host
It was like the dude was 100 pounds lighter.
- [06:28]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [06:29]
Podcast Host
I don't know if he felt that he. He walked out of this room, like, relaxed because I think, you know, the gospel is good news. That's what it literally means. And I think he had. Okay. News before he had question mark. Is it good news? And then when he left, he's like, oh, so I, I really don't have to do anything but receive the tickets.
- [06:49]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, I'm. I'm a coin toss from hell. That's not good news. That's what he said. He said, I'm a, I'm a five. I'm like, dude, so you're telling me there's a 50% chance you die right now and you believe you may wake up separated from God forever. Well, no wonder, man. That's a heaviness. If we really believe that. And that's what I would just say, man. If we believe. If we truly believe. I think it was the, the magician Penn, who's, who's a, a well known atheist. He just said, how much do you have to hate someone to not share with them the truth? If you see somebody and a bus is barreling down the road about to hit them, like you're going to push them out of the way, you know, you're going to do everything you can. And I just. This is why the church has lost its effectiveness. One of many reasons. But, but high on the list is we've stopped sharing the gospel. We've stopped feeling the burden. Like, I get relational evangelism. That's awesome. Bake cookies and invite people over for dinner. But if you've got an elevator ride with a stranger, say, hey, do you have a faith? Are you into church? That's the thing that people struggle with, is that transition. Like, like they go, hey, how do we go from talking about the Cowboys to talking about Jesus? How do we go from talking about work to talking about Jesus? How do we go from talking about our kids to talking about Jesus? Here it is, you ready? Like, lay up. This is it. Like this. This is it. Done deal. Hey, can I ask you a question? You have a faith now we're talking about Jesus. Are you in the church? You in the church at all? And like, if you love church and you have a faith and you love Jesus, that's such a simple transition. And I've been asking someone that I don't want to overstate, but just about every single day of my life, and on average, more than every day. And that's not a flex, it's just the truth. And nobody has swung on me. Nobody's cussed me out. Nobody's even like walked off in frustration. You know, the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I was, I was working at AT&T, and I was a, I was a pretty new believer. And again, I was kind of dealing with this angst of, how did I not know this stuff? And I was, we were on our way. I was with a, with a new, you know, guy that was kind of my mentor, but he was new, I was new, new to this organization. We were going to meet with a customer and he was talking about argument he got with his wife. And I just go, hey man, how's your relationship with Jesus? And he got, he pivoted and turned bright red and got weird. And. And I was like, oh. Like, what did I do? And he goes, man, that is inappropriate for the work. And, like, that's. You don't ask questions like that at work. And I was like, oh, man, you know, I'm kind of new to faith. And I just. And he goes, if you ever ask me that again, there'll be consequences and repercussions. I'll have to turn you into hr he tells me that. And so, bro, you know what? I did nothing. I didn't. I, like, we went to the customer came back. I was like, hey, man, I could tell I offended you. Not my heart. I didn't. I said nothing for another year. For the next 12 months, I said nothing.
- [09:42]
Podcast Host
Oh, wow.
- [09:43]
Jonathan Paluda
And somebody invited that dude to this thing. Well, I invited. Actually, it was me. I invited the whole team to this, like, business luncheon at my church at the time. And he didn't read the invite. He didn't see the church part. And he just came, and the dude trusted Christ and got baptized, and his wife trusted Christ. He got baptized, and his daughter trusted Christ and got b. It was like New Testament. He was. He was raised Jewish. I didn't know. And. And he became a believer. So that's the worst thing that's ever happened to me right there. Like, that's it. Like, the. And. And I don't. There's not. There's not a lot of other stories like that, of even negative outcomes. And so I've just gotten to this place where the head game I play is. I'm like, if I. If I share the gospel, God's gonna save them. And I'm like, I don't. I don't know when and I don't know through whom and how that's gonna go down. But I'm just kind of believing in my head, man, if I. If I will go as far as to tell them about Jesus, and they're going to get saved one way or another. Wow. Yeah.
- [10:39]
Podcast Host
The scripture. One plants in other waters, and the Lord provides the increase. Right? And I think a lot of times people will share the gospel in this really weird way because they're. They're afraid of offending someone. So, like, hey, is it okay? Like, I don't mean. I don't want to be. I don't want to be offensive, but, like, I kind of feel like I just want to tell you about. It's like, well, no one does that. If you, like, went to a amazing party on Friday night, you don't Go on Monday morning and be like, is it okay if I tell you about this party that I went to?
- [11:06]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [11:07]
Podcast Host
But if we truly have the keys to the kingdom, the keys to eternal life.
- [11:11]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah. If.
- [11:12]
Podcast Host
If this is a life or death eternal thing that we're talking about, and if Jesus has truly saved our lives, then we should be sharing this with a swagger, with a confidence, and with. Without any weirdness.
- [11:24]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [11:25]
Podcast Host
And I think the problem is so many people have just never done it before, so it's kind of like praying with your spouse or something. Like, this feels a little funky to me. This feels a little uncomfortable. And so they go about it in kind of a weird way. But the reality is, is when you do it the first time and you sense the Holy Spirit rush in.
- [11:43]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [11:43]
Podcast Host
And then you feel the good pleasure of the Lord after, you be like, well done.
- [11:46]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [11:47]
Podcast Host
Then you almost get addicted to it.
- [11:49]
Jonathan Paluda
Totally. It's like, man, when you go and you sit down on the bench with dumbbells and you got the 60s or the 65s or whatever it is, and your twitch muscles aren't there yet, you know, and you're shaking and it's. It just feels unnatural to go up and down. But, man, when you've done that, just. Just like. Just like even two months, in three times a week, all of a sudden you're throwing up those 65s. You're at. You're getting the 75s, and the muscle, the stabilizing muscles are there, and the movement's natural. And evangelism is like a muscle. And the more you exercise it, the more comfortable you get where it's like, man, have I ever been nervous to share my faith? Yes. Have I chickened out? Absolutely. Have I botched it? Am I confident that. That there's. I mean, I think about this conversation. I had this with this Buddhist server at a Thai restaurant, you know, and I. I just said the most boneheaded thing, and I'm confident, turned her off to Christianity. But you know what? I just went back a week later with a gift, and I just said, would you please forgive me? I was such a poor representative of Jesus Christ. And that's the beauty of being a Christian, is you can ask for forgiveness, you can walk in humility, but, like, you don't have to be afraid to share the gospel because the. The Holy Spirit, who resurrected Jesus from the dead, partners with you in your words. Listen, you can't save anybody. You can't save anybody. We just share. And I think the. The thing where the church misses it is. We need to celebrate the sharing more than the saving. I think it's all about like, hey, did they get saved? Did they get saved? Did they pray to receive Christ? Did they? We get a notch in our belts. No, no, no. Our job is to, to share. God's job is to save. I don't have to carry the burden of saving anybody. I just have to share the truth with them. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. To share the gospel, you just have to point them to Christ and his payment and their need for a savior, his death and resurrection. Romans 10, 9. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. And so like it comes down to Jesus, like you inviting someone to church, not sharing the gospel. It's great, like invite them to church. You know, I'll share the gospel, you know, the priest will share, the pastor, I say the priest, the pastor will share the gospel with them. But you know, but, but if you're there, just tell them what God did for them through Jesus. And I'm telling you right now, they want to hear it. They're curious, they're interested, they're leaning in.
- [14:21]
Podcast Host
Now's the time.
- [14:22]
Jonathan Paluda
Now's the time. I've never seen anything like it. I have, I have personally. This is not a flex, I mean it to encourage anybody listening. I have personally in 24 months prayed with over 20,000 college students to receive Jesus. Probably 25,000 college students receive Jesus. And going on campus, college campuses, the door is just wide open. And I, I was in California recently, people say is so such a dark state, you know, not my experience, Uber drivers, servers, security guards, people at the front desk of the hotel, every single person that my daughter And I, my 18 year old daughter and I had a conversation with about Jesus. Every person was leaning in like we want to hear more about that. Tell me more like not rushing it, not like, oh, okay, I got to be somewhere now they're like, hey, tell me more about that.
- [15:15]
Podcast Host
I want to take a quick break and I want to tell you about a ministry that my family personally supports. It's called Global Christian Relief. And you may not know this, but there more persecuted Christians around the world than ever before. And Global Christian Relief sends medical aid, they send Bibles to persecuted countries that don't have access to them. They're providing shelter, they're taking care of the least of these in the name of Jesus. And if you want to support them, you can click the link in the show notes. You can read stories of what God's doing in the persecuted church. And know this. Jesus says that what you've done for the least of these, you've done for him. But also that when we love each other as a body of Christ, the rest of the world will see him. So go check it out. Yeah. It feels like the culture is good soil because of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Because we have Gen Z, which is the most spiritually curious generation in the last century.
- [16:04]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [16:05]
Podcast Host
Now is the time to not only be inspired to share the gospel, but to have tools on how to go about doing it. Because I think a lot of people might be like, well, that, like, I, Yes, I want to do that. I just don't know how.
- [16:15]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [16:16]
Podcast Host
And I think the best thing for me that I've found is connecting it to story.
- [16:19]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [16:20]
Podcast Host
And the first step there is just get curious about someone's life. You're in the, hey, like, where are you from? Tell me about your life, like, really passionate about. Because then there's going to be something in that person's story. I don't care how different they are than you, that you can connect to.
- [16:32]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [16:33]
Podcast Host
And in the opening line is very simple. There was a time in my life when. And then the skill is, how do you connect your story to the cross?
- [16:44]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [16:44]
Podcast Host
Because a lot of people will go to their story and they'll stop at God. And then God saved me. Well, how did he save you? Yeah, because then when you can connect it to. He saved me because I realized that, man, like, there's this thing inside of me that the Bible calls sin that I kept screwing up. I kept looking at pornography. I couldn't get it together with my wife or whatever the alcohol, whatever it might be. And then I realized that there. There's a God who came to earth that died for my sin on the cross. His name's Jesus. Have you heard about that? Because he died for your sin, too. And he wants a relationship with you. Boom. That's where the magic is. Because I think a lot of people stop short of the cross. Again, there's this weird thing of this offense because God is this kind of like, you know, universal term.
- [17:23]
Jonathan Paluda
Sure. Big guy in the sky.
- [17:25]
Podcast Host
Yeah. But if you kind of go in saying, hey, listen, like, no, nobody's going to respond to your story. No one's going to get offended at your story. So even if you are nervous about offending. Maybe you don't feel like you're Bryce Crawford and can walk up to someone on the street and just go right into gospel presentation. But you can tell your story.
- [17:42]
Jonathan Paluda
Sure, you can connect Jesus to it. Revelation 12 says, we trample over the devil by the blood of the lamb. And the word of our testimony says, the way that we have victory is what Jesus did for us. The blood of the lamb, his blood poured out for us. And then sharing our testimony. And so if you are a Christian, if you're going to be with God one day, you have a testimony, you have a story. Your story may be this amazing story of I was raised in the church by parents who loved me and stayed together and taught me the Bible. They read the Jesus storybook Bible when I was 4 years old and I can't remember a day where I wasn't, you know, intrigued by Jesus. And I prayed when I was, before I can even had a memory. You know, it's like, man, praise God. If that's your story or your story may have been like, man, I became a prostitute so I could put food on the table and I was addicted to meth and I was on the streets. Whatever your story is, share your story. So, you know, just yesterday, you know, the nurse in here was like, so what's your story? And I said, you know, I was raised in church, didn't go to church in college. They say drug, sex and rock and roll. In my case, drug, sex and hip hop. And I was just running from God. And I was at a club a mile away from here 22 years ago, and someone invited me to church and I sat in the back row, hungover, smelled like smoke from the night before. And I believed there was a creator. But I was pretty confident he wasn't the Christian God because I thought, what are the odds I'd be born to the right family? Like, if I was born in India, I'd be Hindu. If I was born in China, I'd be Buddhist. If I was born in Iran, be Muslim. So I bought a book on world religions and I started studying the Hindu faith, the Buddhist faith, the Jewish faith, Islamic faith, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, Church of Christian Science, Scientology. And in studying these religions, I kept coming back to this carpenter who was born in Bethlehem, a town that is tiny, you would have never heard of it, except he was born there and he reset the calendar 20, 25 years ago. That every athe, you know, every atheist that has ever lived acknowledges Jesus by the date on their iPhones. Or the date on their checks or the date on their test papers that 20, 25 years ago, this carpenter who lived in Nazareth somehow reset time. Who does that? And as I began to explore it, I went to Israel. I looked at the archaeological evidence. I, I, I looked at the, the support that this man died and showed back up three days later. Paul said over 500 people saw him. And I couldn't deny the overwhelming evidence that the Muslims call him Issa the prophet, that this guy, Jesus Christ, he, he's the Messiah, the son of the living God, that he died for my sins and raised from the dead. And when I trusted in that now personal testimony, when I trusted that Jesus Christ died for my sins and raised from the dead, all of the sudden porn was no longer, like, it was not appetizing, it wasn't fulfilling. All of a sudden, Coke, and I don't mean Coca Cola, all of a sudden, like, thc. It wasn't, it wasn't the escape I wanted anymore. It was, you know, anonymous sex with strange women, you know, that I had met at the club. Like, all of a sudden, that wasn't the thing anymore. And I realized life is short and I'm gonna die and I'm gonna be someone forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. And so I gotta figure out how I can live forever like this Jesus guy did. And when I placed faith in him, everything in my life changed. Do I still struggle? For sure. But now I have the freedom to bring it to the surface. I mean, I'm in a hospital. Eleven days in the hospital. I was so, you know, just, even, just last night was like, missed my wife. You know, I'm, I'm scrolling through, you know, Instagram on reels, and I'm tempted. Like, I'm like, man, I want to look at something. I text my guys. I'm like, man, guys, pray for me. Because, like, I, I feel the desire to lust right now. Would you guys pray for me? And, and they did. But I couldn't. I didn't have the strength to do that without the Holy Spirit, you know, and it's like, now I can walk in the light. I can, I don't have to hide things. I can be free. I can walk in the freedom and the forgiveness and the grace that we receive through Jesus Christ. Yeah.
- [21:47]
Podcast Host
A lot of people would look at you as a leading pastor in America, especially for the youth right now, confessing that you're tempted towards lust last night and be like, whoa, buddy, like, don't do that. But what I'm hearing you say is when you have understood the grace of God, it allows you to preach from your scars.
- [22:05]
Jonathan Paluda
Totally, man. Don't. Like. Like, why in the world would we pretend that we have it all together? Like, you gotta be honest. I think there has to be something authentic, accountable, transparency in the church. And, you know, if you put me on a pedestal, I'll fall off. I know that. I mean, I've got tubes coming out of my neck right now. You know, they've got to clean my blood right now. Every other day. You know, life is full of twists and turns, and. And now's the moment. And so just. Just to say practical, because I like what you said about sharing your story again, just to go real practice, Somebody's listening this far, and they're like, okay, what do I do? This is what I want you to do today. I want you just to go, hey. To a stranger. You know, like, you said, you could genuinely care for them. So you're not trying to win, like, if you're an introvert. Good introverts make amazing evangelists because it's like, you know, Enneagram twos and. And. And the fours and the. You know, everybody's like, oh, the Sevens. Or they know. It's like, whatever. We can do another podcast on how the Enneagram is demonic, but that's a different time. The.
- [23:18]
Podcast Host
I've already got that one under the belt.
- [23:20]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, exactly. It's good. It's necessary. Yeah. But just, like, whatever you're trying to claim identity in, like, as the enemy will use for you not to share your faith, I'm saying that's actually your strength. And so when you sit with someone and you just care for them, like, hey, where are you from? Like, man, who are you? How did you. How long you worked here waiting tables? How long have you been a server? How long have you done this? Like, how did you get into this? Just. You're genuinely curious, and then you go, hey, can I ask you a question? Do you have a faith now? You're not trying to win an argument. You just. What's your. What did that look like growing up? You know, what is your Buddhist? So did you go to temple? Like, what did. What is it? What do you believe? Man, I'm so curious. You know, I studied Buddhism once. What do you guys believe happens when you die? Just genuinely curious. And you say, man, can I share my story with you? And then if you're in the south, you know, the Kennedy questions, if you're in, like, a Bible bell area, super effective. He can ask you two questions between 1 and 10, 10 being certain, one being not so sure. If you died today, how certain are you that you would go to heaven? And then the second question, if you stood before God and he said, why should I let you in? What would you say? Every single day someone says to that second question, man, that's a good question. You know, they're like, man, that's a good question. And then I say, listen, here's how you can get in. Because God paid your way in through his son, Jesus Christ. He died on a cross for your sins. The only thing you can do in hell is pay for your sins forever. That's it. The only agenda item in hell, pay for your sins forever. The only person who doesn't have to go to hell is the person whose sins have been paid for. So every sin is going to be paid for. Either you get to pay for it in hell, or you can trust Jesus paid for it on the cross. Choice is yours. Do you want to pay for your sins forever in hell, or do you want to believe that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross? You set that in front of people and you bring them to a decision and say, up to you. And then, you know, even I think we're like, oh, but I. You know, I like, last night someone was in here and I just said, hey, can we pray? Thinking she might be, oh, I can't. I'm at work. You know, she was like, yes, please. Crying. I mean, just tears of gratitude. Amen. And what a joy.
- [25:34]
Podcast Host
Like how fun. Like how fun life becomes when. When you get to play a part in someone's salvation.
- [25:41]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [25:42]
Podcast Host
Like, we're not talking about. You turn someone on to the good coffee in Dallas, which there's very little good coffee, Dallas.
- [25:48]
Jonathan Paluda
But we're not talking today.
- [25:49]
Podcast Host
I brought something.
- [25:50]
Jonathan Paluda
Thank you.
- [25:50]
Podcast Host
Well, that was San Diego coffee.
- [25:51]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [25:53]
Podcast Host
But we're talking about someone's eternal destiny.
- [25:56]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [25:57]
Podcast Host
And. And so, I mean, we're going to stand before the Lord one day and give an account.
- [26:03]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [26:03]
Podcast Host
You know, and the Lord has given us people in our lives to steward.
- [26:07]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [26:08]
Podcast Host
And I think maybe for some people listening here, why don't you just get curious and ask the Lord, like, lord, who do you want me to share with?
- [26:15]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [26:16]
Podcast Host
And if you just stop and listen to the Lord for a few minutes, I guarantee he's going to highlight people in your life that he wants you to share with, and then you can say, okay, Lord, would you provide the opportunity for me to share? Now, that doesn't mean if there's not the perfect opportunity that you don't share. That means that the disciples prayed for boldness when they went out. So you pray for boldness and you wait for an opportunity in a conversation, and then you preach from your scars and you share the gospel in its entirety. Not just God is good. God changed my life, but Jesus died for my sins on the cross, so I don't have to spell spend eternity apart from him. Have you experienced that freedom? I think that's really big too, is asking them the question like, have you experienced that?
- [26:54]
Jonathan Paluda
Totally.
- [26:55]
Podcast Host
Does that resonate with you? Because then it forces them into answering and giving you an authentic response to your question.
- [27:02]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [27:03]
Podcast Host
Now you're obviously, you know, we went right into evangelism here. You obviously have tubes coming out of your neck. And I think a lot of, a lot of the Christian world is praying for you right now.
- [27:13]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, a lot of people have been.
- [27:15]
Podcast Host
Thinking about you and lifting you up to the Lord. Can you give us kind of an update on where things are at?
- [27:20]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, man. Light Momentary afflictions. I'm in, I'm in a hospital. I was walking the halls praying yesterday, and there's children up here and there's the people in much worse situations. And I feel so blessed to even just have health care and doctors who think they know what's going on. I've got, I've got a myelitis, a post infection myelitis in my spine, probably from when I had Covid back in June, they think. And just kind of the infection settled in my spine and it's messed up the nerve ending so that this leg doesn't really work right. And this leg has no, it's, it's just totally numb and, and my head's a little, little foggy, a little messed up. And so I'm getting the care I need. They're. They're every day, they're every other day right now, they're, they're taking my blood, they're separating the plasma, the, the bad proteins, the antibodies, and then they're, they're putting good plasma with it and then putting it back in my body. So that's every other day right now. And what I would say is, you know, God is good 100%. Like if I, if I don't wake up tonight or tomorrow or right now, I mean, I've got this tube that's going down to my heart. So it feels like I'm a, a big sneeze away from meeting Jesus right now. And, and he's good, man. Like, I'm not. I'm ready to meet Jesus, and I don't think this is it for me. And if it was, so be it. And, like, this is my ministry. I said to Ryan earlier, I said, man, I'm just ready to get back in the game because you're still in the game. And I was like, that's such a good reminder. And that's what I would say. In the heartbeat of evangelism. Pay attention to the ministry that God has entrusted to you. Because where you work, your apartment, your neighborhood, your neighbors, like, that's the ministry God has entrusted to your family, anyone, your grocery store, your coffee shop. Like, that's your ministry. People are like, all the time. Well, you know, am I called the ministry? Of course. Like, we're part of the royal priesthood, a holy nation of people belonging to God. Like, you are called to ministry. It may not be the paycheck you receive from a 501C3 or a church or a ministry organization, but think about it like, there's no way. Like, I wouldn't be able to meet all of these people. This is an evangelist dream. Like, strangers just keep coming in this room. And I have their attention. And I used to work at. I can see the building from here, you know, And. And I had a security badge, and I went through two security checkpoints to get to the eighth floor of AT&T. Today, I could go to Saudi Arabia easier than I could go to the eighth floor of AT&T. You know why? Because I don't have credentials. Like, that was my mission field. And I have been to Haiti six times. I've been to the Amazon jungle three times. I've been to Africa multiple times. Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda. And I've never seen a darker mission field in corporate America ever. So whatever you're called to, like, that's the people that God has entrusted to you to share the gospel with. So leverage it all. If it's a public school, leverage it all. People are like, I can't share the gospel. You know, I'm a teacher. I meet with teachers who are very creative and great what they do. There's a story of a guy. I love this story. He was. He was in a. He was. He worked at a place that was closed to the gospel. And so every year, they threatened to fire him because he was so bold in his faith. And every year, they double promoted him because he was so dang good at what he did. And that's the picture. You'd be so amazing be if I May say freaking amazing at what you do that. That people are like, man, I mean, be the best. If you're a barista, make the best cup of coffee. If you're a teacher, you got to be the teacher that all the kids want in that classroom. You know, if. If you're a doctor, you're the doctor that has the gift of healing. You're helping people. If you sit behind a bank, if you're a teller, like, you're the one that the customer can't wait to see. Be the best at what you do and tell everyone about Jesus, and you will have job security. Because last I checked, the king's hearts are like water courses in the Lord's hands. He directs them wherever he pleases. He's in charge of your promotion. You're not going to get fired apart from his will. And as you live out your faith like, God's got you, man. Amen. Amen. Amen. I just said, you said fun, too, earlier, and I, I. So I would just. I think evangelism is like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit saying that you want to have some fun, like, let's play. Like, let's get after. Like, I'm gonna save some people. I'll use you if you want me to. Like, if not, I can use somebody else. But if you want to play, like, let's play. Yeah. So. Yeah.
- [32:06]
Podcast Host
And I think the other thing that a lot of Christians forget is when Jesus sent out the 72, he said, go and find persons of peace.
- [32:12]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [32:13]
Podcast Host
And if their peace rests, stay. If not, shake the dust. That's good.
- [32:16]
Jonathan Paluda
So I think a lot of times.
- [32:17]
Podcast Host
People are trying to knock down doors that are just locked doors.
- [32:19]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah. That's good.
- [32:20]
Podcast Host
And so find the people whose hearts are good soil.
- [32:24]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [32:24]
Podcast Host
Because Jesus tells us there's four types of human hearts. There's the rock.
- [32:27]
Jonathan Paluda
There's.
- [32:27]
Podcast Host
There's a hardened path. That's a hardened heart. There's the rocky soil. That's a shallow heart. There's the thorny soil. That's the cares of the world. But then there's good soil. And that's where the seed of the word of God can really dig its roots down deep. And someone else is going to water. The Lord's going to provide the increase. And then that fruit tree is going to bear fruit, and then those fruit are going to die and produce more seeds that go into that good soil. And so you never know the generations you're going to impact in our present time. You're like, it's just that one Co worker. It's just that one dude. But Jesus has generations for you. And I think maybe we'll get to heaven and realize that the Lord used us to completely turn around family lines. And that is really what the kingdom of God is. It's advancing forcefully by forceful men. And I think the Lord has given us a mandate to take territory, totally dominion.
- [33:20]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [33:20]
Podcast Host
On the earth. And right now we're seeing the separation of the wheat and the weeds. We're seeing the light be really light and we're seeing the dark be really dark. I want to speak to that a little bit because there, there's been some spiritual warfare as well. And there's been kind of this. You and I were talking about this earlier, like, what do we make of the people that are coming to you and saying, hey, you have Leviathan. You just posted about that yesterday.
- [33:39]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah.
- [33:39]
Podcast Host
Could you give us kind of like a snapshot into what that's been like for you?
- [33:43]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, I mean, I, I believe, I believe this is spiritual warfare as in, you know, if in Genesis chapter three, we would not have eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, there wouldn't be transverse myelitis in my spine. You know, there wouldn't be cancer, sickness, disease, death, heartbreak, sadness. And I believe that I have an enemy who hates me and hates the ministry. And, and I believe right now on our land there's a, there's even an attack on those that are trying to reach the next generation for Jesus. Now, I'm not so self important to, to think that the enemy's got to have me specifically in the crosshairs, but I think it's the, the ministry in general. Well, you are a leader too. And I think that. I think there's a natural explanation for what I have and a supernatural explanation for what I have and that those two things are working side by side. And people have said, why do you think God has allowed this? And I think in part it's for me to wrestle that down because I did write a book on spiritual warfare. And then in a lot of ways I feel like I became more of an expert after the book was turned in. 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says that Satan is the lowercase G God of this world. But first John 4, verse 4, ironically, it's the same address. Chapter 4, verse 4 says that greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. And so what is Satan trying to do? He doesn't want us to share the gospel. You know, we trample over the, the devil by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, like that, like he wants you to stay silent. So you talk about spiritual warfare when, when you chicken out or when you don't open your mouth, when you don't have the conversation, like that. Spiritual warfare. And if you want to go on offense and you start telling people about Jesus, you have now entered into the battleground. If you think about Ephesians 6, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel, you know, the helmet of salvation, the sword of spirit, which is the word of God. Like, as we walk through this, this is what it looks like to be an armed battle ready evangelist. And I love what you were talking about. Just like disciples who make disciples. I, I was visiting a friend in Hawaii and he was showing me around his, like, land is Jeff Bethke, if y' all know him. And he just, like, he's just, he's got this amazing setup and, and he, he goes, he goes, oh, this is a lime tree. It makes limes. And I was like, that's redundant. And I was thinking about that. I was like, like, you know, it's a lime tree because it makes limes. To say that it's a lime tree assumes that it makes limes. To say that it makes limes is to say that it's a lime tree. I was thinking about how redundant that is. And we do, you know, we say we want to make disciples who make disciples. But here's what I would put before you. There is no other kind of disciple. There is no disciple who does not make disciples. The essence of being a disciple is that you make disciples. You know, if, if a grain of wheat falls to the ground, it remains only a grain, only a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces a harvest. And so, like, the only kind of disciple that has ever existed in the history of the world is the kind of disciple that makes disciples. And to say a disciple that makes disciples is, is as redundant as to say a lime tree that makes limes. Because the only kind of lime trees that exist are trees that make limes, you know, and so I, I think that is, it is a central calling of our life above and beyond gifting, above and beyond personality types and traits and characters. It's we, we have to make disciples. Amen. Amen.
- [37:46]
Podcast Host
Now, for whatever reason, the Jesus People podcast, we keep having like, former witches and former sat. I swear I'm not trying to. It's like, it's just kind of what the Lord's been doing, I think in this season is talking a lot about spiritual warfare. You were telling me earlier about what some of your charismatic friends were saying. Would you mind going into that and kind of sharing a little bit about your experience?
- [38:07]
Jonathan Paluda
Yeah, man. Like you said, everything from, you know, this is Leviathan, which, you know, I was always trained that that was, I was taught that that was a. In job. That's a dinosaur, but he swims. And this marine animal swims in the fluid of your spine, they attack. Leviathan attacks authors and speakers. So that was, that was one thing I was getting repeatedly. And then, you know, just that there's been a curse made against you. And I've had, I've had friends who see in the spiritual realm who, who have said that and you know, just trying to make sense of that. Like, what does that, what does that look like? And my wife cautioned me appropriately, she was just like, don't give the enemy too much power. We don't operate in fear. Perfect love casts out fear. And so while there may be a curse against me and there may be a demon attacking my spine, I know that God is good and that he, as you said, has given us authority over said demons and he's given us authority over the darkness. And so what does it look like for me to operate in that authority? And when you see like witches and you know, Satanists, you know, they're getting free and they're coming to the light and they're coming to Christ and it's like that's the most. Got to be the most difficult conversion there is because I mean, the enemy has to. I mean some of them have made sacrifices and done terrible things and they've been a part of really powerful covens of darkness and Jesus saved them. And I. You saw the guy, you know the. With the like head to face tattoo. Yeah. He was on your show. What's his name?
- [39:56]
Podcast Host
Rion.
- [39:57]
Jonathan Paluda
Rion, yeah. And like what a beautiful testimony. And it's like, it's like that, like Jesus didn't struggle with that dude. Like Jesus was like, oh, this one's going to be hard for me. It's like the G demoniac, which there were probably two according to the gospels. And he's there and he's cutting himself and he's in the chains and, and, and you know, and, and that interestingly enough, Jesus is going across the Sea of Galilee and that's when the storm comes. I think that was a demonic storm. And when Jesus says hush and they say, whoa, who is this? Even the winds Awaits the bay. And then he gets to the Garrison demoniac. And it's just like. I mean, this guy, like, everyone has struggled with this guy. He's got superhuman strength. He's. He breaks chains, he lives amongst the dead. People avoid him like the plague. And Jesus is like, I mean, all of a sudden he's in hash's negotiation with 2,000 demons. They're like, wait, like, please, like, let us go into the pigs, you know, and he's like, all right, come out, get out. Yeah, you know, and I, I'm so curious what that looked like, you know, I don't know if Jesus, like, flexed or if he's like, like, you know, like Mortal Kombat Raiden. Like, he's like that or like, come out. I mean, I think he was probably just like, get out of there. Got you. Pigs. Pigs. You know, and it just. Just this effortless. And all of a sudden this guy's delivered, you know, and. And so I, I really have been convicted lately. Like, be a God fearing man, be a God fearing woman, you know, like, like walk in the righteousness of God. Like eradicate your life of sin, materialism, you know, lust, of course, but greed and like the things that sneak in. Like just, just walk in the righteousness of God. Like be a good human being that proclaims the truth, the gospel. Allow your life to make it attractive. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The scripture says, you know, what, what is it when you, when you do they cut you? What should pour out is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, stillness, faithfulness, and self control. Jesus says you will know their mind by the way they love. Like, let. Like. That has to return to the individual practice of the person, that we would just be a good, righteous human being, you know, walking in the righteousness of Christ. Amen. And we're protected, I think. I think. Did you do that, man? We're protected.
- [42:22]
Podcast Host
Amen. Well, one thing we do on this podcast is we pray for the guest. And I think now is the perfect time to have thousands of people lifting.
- [42:30]
Jonathan Paluda
You up in prayer. Is my, my, my lunch.
- [42:34]
Podcast Host
Oh, yeah, get that lunch.
- [42:35]
Jonathan Paluda
That's all good.
- [42:38]
Podcast Host
I, I don't, I don't want to ask this because I don't want to give the devil too much credit, but I think because it's important context for the prayer. Would you mind sharing about the leg stuff?
- [42:49]
Jonathan Paluda
Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. So it was just like, like in that somebody said that, you know, the, the different things like Leviathan and the curse and whatnot and so I would pray. I was in the hospital and I'd pray, and at night, like, my legs would just go crazy. And I would pray one thing just against a demonic attack. And this leg would just go. I mean, involuntarily, Like, I couldn't. It would just move on its own. It would twitch, it would flex, it would seize. It was weird. Like I'm doing now, but I'm doing that. But it would do it on its own. In fact, I would sit there and I would try, like, don't move, don't move, don't move, don't move. And it would do it. And then I would just pray against curses. And this leg would just go crazy. It was the same thing. It was just like, seas. And. And I was like, don't move, don't move, don't move. And it would just. And it's like, man, I don't. Like, what do I do of that? You know, I'm trying to. I'm trying to make sense of it. My wife and I are trying to make sense of it. And I'm just like. And in a lot of ways, I think it was just like the kindness of God to say yes, for sure. Like, this is demonic. Like, it's like, this is demonic. Like, there's a. There's. There's an assignment on you right now. And so what do you do, man, you pray. Like, when Jesus and the disciples encountered someone that they couldn't cast about, he just goes, this kind of only comes out with prayer and fasting. And so it's just like, those are the weapons we have. It's like, man, I'm going to go with. I'm going to forfeit my preferences and pursue Christ and ask God. And it's like, that's some of the strongest ones. He's like, those. That's the. That's the Varsity league. Deliverance and pray and fast. That's. That's the next level. And so. So, man, that's what we've been doing.
- [44:34]
Podcast Host
Amen. Well, let's do that now. So I want to encourage you, if you're listening to this and you feel the spirit of God moving, would you spend a day fasting? Would you fast for JP for his healing? But would you also fast for the move of God? On his life? He's seeing hundreds of thousands get saved through college campuses. There is a powerful movement happening through this. This man's ministry. This is a titan of the kingdom of God right now, and he needs our covering. He needs. He needs some Air support. And so I'm going to pray now. I'd ask that you would pray with me, but I. I would also ask if you're in a spot where you're healthy, where you're not breastfeeding, or you're not pregnant and you have the ability to fast, would you spend a day abstaining from food and just commit your thoughts, commit your prayers to. To. To this man of God right now. And so I just want to lift you up right now, Jonathan. Lord, first of all, we cancel and nullify any assignment of the enemy over JP's life in the name of Jesus. And we all, we all, in agreement, believe that in faith. And we pray for full healing over the transverse myelitis, over your spine, over your body. Yeah, we claim full healing in the name of Jesus. Lord, we understand your authority. Just like the centurion says, we understand authority. You tell one servant to go, and he goes. I get that. We all get that right now. Lord, we're in agreement with you that we can say the word and it'll be done. And so we believe. In the name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, complete healing over your body, jp.
- [45:58]
Jonathan Paluda
Yes. Thank you.
- [45:58]
Podcast Host
Lord, we ask for peace for your family, for your wife, for your children. We ask for a blessing on Harris Creek Baptist. We ask for a blessing on the Becoming Something podcast. And, Lord, we all just agree that you are bigger than the enemy, that he is not your equal and opposite. Michael the Archangel angel is the equal and opposite of. Of the enemy. And, Lord, I believe we're going to get to heaven one day and realize how much authority we carried. And so, Lord, would you make us more aware of the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead, that lives in us and that we have the power. We have the authority. We are your ambassadors. We come bearing your name to command the evil spirits to go.
- [46:39]
Jonathan Paluda
And they go.
- [46:39]
Podcast Host
And so go right now. In the name of Jesus, leave this body. We love you, Lord, in Jesus name, Amen.
- [46:47]
Jonathan Paluda
Amen. Amen. Thanks for having me on, bro.
- [46:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah, what an honor. Yeah. Really appreciate you.
- [46:53]
Jonathan Paluda
My honor, for sure. Yeah.
- [46:55]
Podcast Host
Well, we'll keep praying. And guys, thank you for tuning in to the Jesus People podcast. Please be praying for jp. Rally your prayer warriors as well to be praying, because revival's at hand. God is moving in a powerful way and the enemy's mad about it, but we have the authority over him. So walk in authority. Walk with the holy swagger. The king of the universe is in your corner, as he is me and JP and we've already won. We're not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory.
- [47:23]
Jonathan Paluda
That's right.
- [47:23]
Podcast Host
And so God bless you guys. We'll see you next week on the Jesus People Podcast.
- [47:27]
Jonathan Paluda
See you next week.