What Happens When Christians Stop Going to Church with Lyle Phillips

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt

Episode: "What Happens When Christians Stop Going to Church" with Lyle Phillips

Release Date: January 26, 2026
Host: Madison Prewett Troutt
Guest: Lyle Phillips, Lead Pastor of Legacy Church (Nashville)

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Overview

In this powerful and transparent episode, Madison Prewett Troutt and her husband host Pastor Lyle Phillips for an unfiltered discussion about why the local church matters in 2026, the pitfalls of consumer Christianity, overcoming "church hurt," and how authentic community catalyzes spiritual growth and transformation. Lyle shares his gripping testimony of addiction, deliverance, and missionary work, offering both challenge and encouragement to listeners who may feel disillusioned or disconnected from church.

The conversation is marked by honesty, humor, and deep insight into the unique needs and obstacles facing Christians—and churches—in today’s culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Lyle's Redemption Story: From Addiction to Ministry

• Background and Addiction
  • Lyle grew up as a pastor’s kid in “a very small town in the middle of nowhere called Sacramento [KY], population 600.” (05:05)
  • His father pastored a vibrant, first-generation Pentecostal church where he witnessed radical miracles.

    "Leukemia healed, tumors dissolving, cancer healed... God is moving in this little church in Calhoun, Kentucky." (06:39)

  • Despite this, Lyle rebelled hard, becoming addicted to cocaine, heroin, and meth, cycling through jail, rehab, and homelessness.

    "Homeless heroin addict... OD'd three times... diagnosed schizophrenic at 19." (08:52)

• Radical Encounter with God
  • At age 21, in desperation and fear, Lyle sensed God’s presence in his apartment:

    "The same atmosphere I encountered as a kid in that little Pentecostal church... filled that drug-infested apartment." (09:05) "Jesus stepped in there and spoke to me very clearly: 'In six months you’re going to be dead or in prison unless you come home to me right now.'" (09:50)

  • Delivered instantly from addiction without withdrawals—“God delivered me, man.” (13:05)
• Return to Family and Discipleship
  • Called parents, repented, committed to becoming "a good son" and "a good big brother."
  • His father discipled him through nightly T.D. Jakes sermons and Bible study (11:36)

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Discovering His Calling & Early Ministry

• Letting Go of Basketball Dreams
  • Wrestling between returning to play college basketball and God's calling to ministry

    "I took my basketball, wrote Isaac on it. I'm giving up my dream." (14:05)

  • Began preaching where he used to sell drugs; many former associates attended and remained involved (15:27)
• Missionary Work in Mozambique & India
  • Inspired by Heidi Baker, Lyle trained in Mozambique, then spent years in India focusing on rescuing children from human trafficking—over 400 rescued.

    "Craziest place I’ve ever preached: an auction block where children were being sold." (20:03) "We didn’t come in with an ambition to arrest folks… we just did everything we could to build relationships—even with traffickers." (19:22)

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American vs. Global Christianity

• Contrast in Approach & Desperation
  • Overseas, believers are “hungry for Jesus because He’s all they have… if He doesn’t heal, they die.” (23:00)
  • In the West, “we put a lot of things in front of God… look to those as solutions before Him.” (23:00)
  • Observations: American Christianity often becomes about personal development and comfort, not costly obedience or real community.

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The Vital Role of the Local Church

• Why Church Matters
  • "Nobody can crucify themselves; community is required for you to stay crucified." (26:55)
  • Faith is not about self-improvement or “Project Me,” but dying to self in covenant community (27:34)
  • The church is where we learn to "offend and forgive, challenge and humble, confess our sins and be healed." (27:52)
• Dangers of Isolation & Consumerism
  • Church isn’t just a TED Talk or place for self-help; it's spiritual family and mission.
  • Lyle: "You are actively declaring war on loneliness, isolation, and selfishness when you go to church." (30:24)
• Why People Drift
  • Roots of dropping out: “We lack the humility of Christ… we have fastened ourselves to the pride of our enemy." (32:48)
  • The therapy-driven, "design-your-own-menu" (a la carte) approach to spirituality is unbiblical and unhealthy (32:48, 34:09)

    "Pastors are spiritual chefs… you might not feel like you need what they’re teaching, but they’re feeding the flock." (34:09)

• Church Hurt vs. Rebuke
  • Acknowledges reality of pain and disappointment in church, but cautions against confusing loving rebuke with actual harm.
  • Encouragement: “I was hurt by the church but I was healed by the church.” (47:54, Madison)

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Serving, Placing Roots, and Real Community

• Practical Discernment for Choosing a Church
  • Don’t "church hop" endlessly for comfort—ask where you are called, not just where you’re comfortable.

    "Don't go to the church you feel comfortable in. Go to the church you feel called to." (45:23, see also cold open 00:49)

  • “A tree is never going to be able to grow fruit if you constantly repot it.” (46:14)
• Committing to One Church Body
  • Serve with your: time, talent, and treasure (finances).
  • Allow yourself to be inconvenienced for others and for spiritual growth.
• Healing Comes Through Vulnerable Community
  • James 5:16: “Confess your sins one to another and pray for each other so you may be healed.” (47:54)
  • “Isolation Christianity” is dangerous; God heals and grows us through local, committed relationships.

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The State & Future of the Church (2026 and Beyond)

• A Shift from Curiosity to Hunger
  • Lyle: "People are no longer spiritually curious. They're spiritually hungry." (41:37)
• Gen Z's Passion for Authenticity & Truth
  • “Gen Z especially are fired up about having an authentic relationship with the actual Jesus of the Bible.” (41:55)
  • Millennials sought spiritual experience; Gen Z seeks spirit and truth in equal measure. (42:44)

    "What I see forming is what I call the 'ambidextrous church.' It's not just passionate about the spirit, or about the word, but balanced in both." (43:45) "If it’s in the scripture, I want it... but also, what does the Bible actually say?" (44:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Church is not about you improving yourself. This is about you dying to yourself."
  — Lyle Phillips (27:38)
• "Nobody can crucify themselves. Community is required for you to stay crucified."
  — Lyle Phillips (26:55)
• "You are actively declaring war on loneliness, isolation, and selfishness when you go to church."
  — Lyle Phillips (30:24)
• "Don't go to the church you feel comfortable in. Go to the church you feel called to."
  — Lyle Phillips (45:23, 00:49)
• "A plant, a tree is never going to be able to grow fruit if you constantly repot it."
  — Lyle Phillips (46:14, 01:21)
• "We all want to experience healing and freedom. You only get that in doing life with other godly people, living in the light, confessing, being held accountable."
  — Madison Prewett Troutt (47:54)
• "I was hurt by the church, but I was healed by the church."
  — Madison Prewett Troutt (47:54)
• "What I see forming is what I call the ambidextrous church … passionate about both spirit and truth."
  — Lyle Phillips (43:45)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Lyle's Testimony & Salvation: 05:05–13:08
• Call to Ministry / Early Preaching: 13:17–16:30
• Missions (Africa, India, Human Trafficking): 16:33–22:07
• American vs. Overseas Christianity: 23:00
• Why Church Matters / Dangers of "Project Me" Christianity: 26:55–30:24
• How to Choose and Commit to a Local Church: 45:08–47:53
• Vision for the Future: Ambidextrous Church: 41:37–44:22
• Closing Prayer & Charge: 49:41

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Actionable Takeaways

• Commit to a Local Church: Find one you’re called to and invest deeply—don’t just sample or consume.
• Engage in Vulnerable Community: Healing, growth, and true spiritual transformation happen in committed, accountable, grace-filled relationships.
• Serve with All You Are: Give your time, talent, and treasure for the good of the whole church, not just your individual benefit.
• Seek Both Spirit & Truth: Hunger for supernatural encounter and scriptural depth—don’t settle for just one or the other.
• Allow God, Not Preference, to Direct: Choose churches, leaders, and service by spiritual alignment, not convenience or trend.

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This summary was created to capture the heart, challenge, and practical wisdom of the episode. Whether you’re disillusioned, searching for deeper faith, or simply wondering if church still matters in 2026, this conversation is worth revisiting.

Transcript

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

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[Lyle Phillips]

696891 don't go to the church you feel comfortable in. Go to the church you feel called to.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Why is the local church important today?

[Lyle Phillips]

This is not about you improving, proving yourself. This is about you dying to yourself.

[Madison's Husband]

What would you say to a new believer? I think I want that. I'm just. I'm scared.

[Lyle Phillips]

You are actively declaring war on loneliness when you go to church. You go to church. You are actively declaring war on isolation. When you go to church, you are actively declaring war on selfishness.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

How do we break free from this, like, consumeristic culture and mindset?

[Lyle Phillips]

A plant, a tree is never going to be able to grow fruit if you constantly repot it. Nobody can crucify themselves. Community is required for you to stay crucified. Every night I watch this conference called awaken Deborah with 2,000 women in the room. I swear to you, I did this. I'm like, lord, awaken this. Dev.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Stay True podcast. I'm your host, Madison Pruitt Trout, here with my lovely, amazing husband.

[Madison's Husband]

Good to be here.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah. It's really good to have you, you.

[Madison's Husband]

Know, be in the building.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I think we should introduce our guest.

[Madison's Husband]

Special. Special man.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's a special day, which actually, this is our first time meeting him.

[Madison's Husband]

I. I met him briefly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Briefly.

[Madison's Husband]

You wouldn't remember this. I was with Daniel McLeod at the Green Hills YMCA.

[Lyle Phillips]

Wow.

[Madison's Husband]

And you had a sweatshirt on, about to hit a rack.

[Lyle Phillips]

Oh, my goodness. I do remember this. Of course, I. Daniel introduced me to.

[Madison's Husband]

You because we went to your. So when we toured Nashville last year, we went to Legacy and we were there with her mom and you preached the lights out. It was when you had given yourself a haircut and you wore a hat for the first time.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

I do remember that one and only time.

[Madison's Husband]

I never wore a hat. I never wear a hat.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You prefaced.

[Madison's Husband]

You prefaced, but your hair was wet. So you didn't know that when it dried, it would.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yes. So, yeah, that was a mistake.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Welcome, Lyle Phillips, to the podcast. Lyle and his wife Allison have a church here called Legacy Church, and it's an amazing church. You're preaching. Amazing. The spirit of God is in that place, the way you guys just live. So missional, like, mission minded, is so incredible and inspiring. And I want to talk a little bit about that, but also your worship. Like, I just got to start off by saying, too, like, Legacy worship is so heat.

[Lyle Phillips]

Thank you.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's so good. So my word for this. So this episode's coming out in 2026, and my word for 2025 was true worship. And I came across the song by you guys. It's called, like, at the Feet of Jesus. Oh, my. That was just, like, on repeat. She's all over all of 2025.

[Madison's Husband]

She's all over.

[Lyle Phillips]

That's a blessing because that's the first song I ever wrote.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Are you serious?

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah. But I didn't write it independently all by myself, so I do have to give that disclaimer. But it was the first song I ever wrote. Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Come on.

[Lyle Phillips]

Wow, bro.

[Madison's Husband]

That's amazing.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No, it literally, because the story that the Lord laid on my heart was the story of. Of Mary and Martha. And, like, that was my word for, like, my vision, my passage for. And I just was like, I just want to be at the feet of Jesus. Like, that was, like, my conviction of, like, I can get lost in the sauce of, like, doing for God that I miss just, like, abiding in his presence. And so I was like. When I came across that song, I was like, man, that is. Anyway, so that was like, my anthem for 2025. So I just. We're so grateful.

[Lyle Phillips]

Praise God for that.

[Madison's Husband]

That is awesome. So cool, man. The first time I saw you, you were on Pastor Rich Wilkerson's podcast. Listened to the whole thing, and I was like, matty, this guy is the best. I just was like, I don't know what it is about you so drawn in, man, but we talked about this before. Like, I want to jump in just on your. Your testimonies.

[Lyle Phillips]

Sure.

[Madison's Husband]

Unbelievable. I don't have the same story, but in a different realm. I was a Hooper back in the day in the Prodigal story of just like the, the world is what I wanted. And it led me to, to jail, actually, in a place of just like, man, I'm drinking, I'm popping pills, and I didn't know who I was, but I knew about God. And so as I hear bits and pieces of your story, I was just like, man, that really resonates home. So before we jump into what we want to talk about, just like, give us that story and as much depth as you want. Because I told Maddie it's unbelievable. So.

[Lyle Phillips]

Sure. Well, I'll do my best to unpack it. I'm a pk. So I actually grew up in church, y'. All. I, I, I'm from Kentucky, a very small town in the middle of nowhere called Sacramento. Literally, the population there is 600 people. So that's where I grew up. Born and raised in a small village of 600 people. And you know, in small towns in Kentucky like that, there's really only about three things to do. You either play sports, basketball or football, obviously, or you do drugs or you go to church. You know, it's really like there's a few options, very few, limited options. Like most of my friends that I grew up with, they're now coal min, they're farmers, you know, or they've moved out of town, but a lot of state. And so I grew up going to a church in a very small town called Calhoun, Kentucky. We're actually my youth pastor, Shout out Pastor Bruce Mason. He's still pastoring there today. And I visit that church usually once a year and preach there. And it's awesome Community church in Calhoun, Kentucky. And so that's where I grew up. It's right in the middle of a bean field or a tobacco field, depending on the season. Now this church was radically on fire for Jesus. Like most people who were a part of it, my dad was the pastor, first generation Christians. And like, if you've never had church with a bunch of first generation Pentecostals.

[Madison's Husband]

Let me just tell you, it's electric bananas.

[Lyle Phillips]

Like, if you came to church not wanting to worship, there was going to be a problem, right?

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

You know, we are too prim and proper in church today. And so when you get around people who are really acknowledging Jesus has scrape the bottom of the barrel to save my life. Come on, man. And you worship with them, dude. It will change your perspective on praise. So I grew up in that, so I'm a pk. All these drug addicts are getting saved, whole families are getting saved. Marriages are Getting restored. Come on and listen. I saw some of the craziest miracles in this church. I mean, it like leukemia healed tumors dissolving cancer healed people who have come back with X rays. Like, look, this is what God did for me. Like, kids that were supposed to die, not dying. Like, it was crazy. Like, people would drive from up to three hours away to come get prayer in our altars from other states because they were like, God is moving in this little church in Calhoun, Kentucky.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's crazy.

[Lyle Phillips]

So that's how I grew up. I grew up in that. Right? So everybody, of course, when they came in, would like, pray over me. You're called to preach. You're called to be a pastor. You're called to be an evangelist. And I would, I would just say, like, no, heck no, I want to be a basketball player. Yeah, man, heck no, I don't want to be a preacher. Preachers are poor.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Preachers are poor.

[Lyle Phillips]

That's what I always thought, bro. Seriously, that's what I always thought. My dad was bivocational. He had a 9 to 5. You know, he didn't earn a ton of money from pastoring. Yeah. He actually put most of his own money into the church so it could survive. Crazy. I don't want to be a pastor. Pastors, you know, preachers are poor. And. And that was about 12 years old when I really felt like God was speaking to me about that. And I was like, absolutely not. So I checked out mentally, of course, I was still forced to go to church. Well, by the time I could drive and, you know, had my license, of course I was out and about doing my own thing, smoking weed, popping pills, getting drunk, partying, sleeping with girls, like doing the whole thing.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

And that was about 16, 17. Just progressively got worse. 18. I'm now a senior in high school. I move out of my house before I graduate. I live in a crack house. I become addicted to cocaine, popping pills, smoking weed, drinking half a fifth of tequila every single night to fall asleep.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

By this time, I get my first several DUIs, go to jail on multiple occasions. It was all kinds of crazy stuff.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

So I've been arrested more times than I can count. People were doing drive by shootings on my house. I was shooting at people. My best friend when I was 19, was shot in the chest, point blank, died in the street. I would have been there, probably would have been shot as well. But just so happened on that night, I wasn't with him. You know, in and out of jail, in and out of drug rehab, in and out of AA n a diagnosed schizophrenic when I was 19 years old and eventually was a homeless, homeless heroin addict. So I lived in the back seat of a 1987 Caprice Classic. I was shooting up heroin in this arm, methamphetamine in this arm, and overdose three times. So close to dying. And at 21 years old, I ended up moving to a different city to do everything I could do to, like, work on my own life. Unfortunately, I mean, fortunately, I think we both know, like, there's absolutely no way that you have the authority to change your own life. We all need Jesus. And so I'm selling, I'm. I'm selling drugs. I'm growing weed in my closet, got cocaine in my cabinet. And one night I see someone walk past the window and I'm thinking, it's the cops. Like, I'm going to jail. The SWAT team just kicked down the door down the street at my friend's house. I'm definitely going to jail. SWAT team is here. Just need to get ready for it. So I go up to the window, I look out, no one is there. And I'm like, hold on, wait just a second. There's no way that no one could be right there. I just saw them walk up the steps. So then I go to the door, and then I look out the peephole. Nobody is there. So I take a step back from the door thinking, like, am I what, what is going on? But the same atmosphere that I encountered as a kid in that little Pentecostal church in the middle of a bean field was the same atmosphere that filled that drug infested apartment. And I didn't see Jesus like I'm seeing you right now. But Jesus stepped in there and spoke to me very clearly. He said it wasn't audible, but it was as close to audible as I've ever heard. He said, in six months, you're going to be dead or in prison unless you come home to me right now. I didn't really, like, know how to interact with Jesus very well. It had been a long time since I'd ever read the Bible or gone to church. But I did know he spoke to me, so I knew it was his voice. And I just hit my knees, I prayed, I repented of my sins, and I said, God, I have ran as hard as I know to run in the opposite direction of you. From here on out, I'm running in the direction of you. And that's how I got saved, y'. All.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow, that is crazy.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow. There's so much to.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So you were 21?

[Lyle Phillips]

21, yeah. I'm 41 now. So I've been in full time vocational ministry for 20 years.

[Madison's Husband]

That is so unbelievable. And you call your dad and say, dad, I'm coming.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah, I call my parents. At first, my mom was skeptical. She's like, no, you know, you, you've, you've robbed us. Like, I used to break in their house when they're on vacation, steal stuff.

[Madison's Husband]

And a lot of trust that, like, is still.

[Lyle Phillips]

Exactly. But my dad was like, okay, all right, what's going on? And I told him, like, hey, I'm giving my life to Jesus. You know, I've. I've. I've been saved. I've given my life to Christ. And I want to move home and I want to be a good son to you guys and I want to be a good big brother to my little brothers. And those were my commitments. And I didn't know how to be a Christian, but I just did what I thought was the fundamentals, which was pray fast and read the Bible. Years later, I realized most Christians don't actually do any of those three, bro. But that's what I did. For nine months. I changed my phone number twice. I sat with my dad every single night after dinner. We'd watch a different TD Jake sermon and I would ask him questions. He would pause and answer it. Wow. And that's how, that's how he discipled me.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow. That's so powerful.

[Lyle Phillips]

And I just read the Bible every single night as much as I possibly could. Read every book I could get my hands on. Spend hours in prayer.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

Like, I just, I was just doing what I thought was normal. I. I didn't think of it like, oh, this is radical.

[Madison's Husband]

And did the addiction, like, did, did the hair, like, did that just go away immediately?

[Lyle Phillips]

Done immediately. No.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No.

[Lyle Phillips]

No withdrawals.

[Madison's Husband]

No shakes, no withdrawals.

[Lyle Phillips]

What? Nothing. And I had been in. I had been in places where that's happening, right? So I'd been with people coming down off methadone and things like that. Like, I have a ton of friends or addicts died of overdoses. I had been in a rehab facility where people are. I've been in a state hospital, like, like a mental institution. So I stayed in a mental institution for over a month. And I've seen all of that. Nothing. Wow. Wow.

[Madison's Husband]

Praise the Lord.

[Lyle Phillips]

God delivered me, man.

[Madison's Husband]

Praise God.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Come on.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I mean, only the power of God. That is a amazing, crazy, beautiful redeeming story. How did you then go from there into Ministry. So you're hungry.

[Lyle Phillips]

You.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You're like, your dad's discipling you, you're watching TD Jakes, you're studying scripture. And then what was the, like, call into ministry?

[Lyle Phillips]

Like, man, honestly, I was going to go back and play basketball.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

So I was like, my dream as a kid was basketball, but the devil has stolen that from me. And so I'm going to go back and play college basketball. So I went back, I started training again, playing the best basketball of my life. I was going to walk on at a D2 college locally. And I was so excited, you know, and then when I told my dad one night, and I'll never forget it, you guys, because the. The power of God that was in that living room, I told my dad, I said, dad, I'm called to preach. Wow. And he knew I was training to play basketball. And he. He said, son, I've always known that. Wow. Wow. I've always known that. Wow. And so I think you should go to ministry school. You should hang it up, not play basketball.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

So I took my basketball, wrote Isaac on it. I'm like, I'm giving up my dream.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Isaac on.

[Madison's Husband]

He wrote Isaac on.

[Lyle Phillips]

I'm like, I'm just giving up my dream. I. I want to. Whatever your dream is for my life, God, that's what I want it to be.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

And so I asked my dad, when can I preach? And he was like, you just got saved.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

He's like, let's get sanctified first.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah. He's like, you have to chill.

[Madison's Husband]

You know, Were you. Were you always. What I'm seeing right now, which is the ability to just, like, communicate and talk and bring us in. And was that always there?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Storytell?

[Lyle Phillips]

Yes. Yes.

[Madison's Husband]

It just used for.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah. The wrong reasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a counterfeit anointing that the enemy tried to put on my life. Yes. Which a lot of people are operating out unknowingly. Totally. You know, it takes a lot of creativity to make money illegally. Yeah, Right, right.

[Madison's Husband]

Well, you think about a million things, bro.

[Lyle Phillips]

Exactly. So if you can leverage that for the kingdom, come on, redeem that man. And that's the. A gift of God resting on your life. A lot of people don't discern that they're operating for the enemy, thinking, well, if I give my life to God, I'm going to have to lay down everything I love.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Wow. And like, bro, no, he's put some things in you. He wants to express himself through you. And so for me, communication was always that. So I think I wanted to preach. I didn't know how to preach, so I just started getting invitations to go preach at youth groups in neighborhoods where I used to sell crack. Wow. Truly, that's how I got started preaching, so.

[Madison's Husband]

And what are your homies thinking?

[Lyle Phillips]

They came to church, man.

[Madison's Husband]

Like, your. Your people, you're selling to people I sell with.

[Lyle Phillips]

With.

[Madison's Husband]

They're coming to hear you preach.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah, yeah, cuz they're like, bro, like, this is crazy. This is wild. And then like, they would ask me to marry them or. Wow. Yeah, yeah. Some still listen to me, some are. We have a ministry in the prisons right now, like Legacy does. We partner with an app called Pando. It's really awesome, by the way. Shout out Pando. I'm gonna do a lot of shout outs. It won't get you nothing, but you can put it in, so we use that. And actually, I got a collect call recently from a prison in Kentucky, and they were like, hey, this is your friend.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

You know, and. And he was the guy that, the week I got saved, he and I counted out over a hundred thousand dollars cash. He got arrested coming to my house, and he's like, yo, I'm watching you on this app in prison called Pando. I had to call you and tell you I'm so proud of you. And like, as soon as I get out of here, I'm coming to church. So all that stuff is really great, man. To God, be the glory, bro.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's crazy. And then you went, like, overseas for a while, right?

[Lyle Phillips]

I did, yeah. So initially I moved to Mozambique, Africa. So I did. I was very inspired by this woman named Heidi Baker. I don't know if you've ever heard of her before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But definitely give her a Google search. You know, just prepare yourself, though. Like, grab a box of Kleenex. Because she's so radically on fire for Jesus. She loves God. She. She calls herself, and she's the one who invented the phrase, I think, a laid down lover for Jesus. I know sometimes kind of like that language triggers people, but, like, she really lives that. And when I started preaching, there was a church that asked me to come preach to their youth. And I saw this VHS tape by Heidi Baker, and I'd heard her name before. And so I asked the pastor, could I borrow that? And he said, well, the pastor before me at this building left all of those tapes so you can have them. So I go home and I start watching this lady named Heidi Baker. And she was preaching at a women's conference. So every night I watch this conference called awaken Deborah with 2,000 women in the room. I swear to you, I did this. I'm weeping on the floor. I'm like, lord, awaken this Deborah. You know, like, I'm crying out to God. And then I learned, like, this lady has a school in Mozambique to train you to be a missionary. So that's actually why I moved to Mozambique. So initially I went as a student, but I ended up living there for a year and a half. Wow. And then from there, because of what she taught us about missions, I ended up moving to India, and I worked there for five years. Wow.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow, bro.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Unreal. And then you moved, what, back to Kentucky and then felt just led, like, to start a church here in Nashville?

[Lyle Phillips]

Nashville? No, not at all. Actually, I only moved to Nashville because of the BNA airport. Like, it was the most unspiritual move.

[Madison's Husband]

Honestly, because it's so clean and.

[Lyle Phillips]

No, it. No, it's just so much closer. Close. So, like, I'm from a village in West Kentucky, right. Of 600 people. There are no airports. So I'm like, how do I get back and forth to India as much as possible? Wow. You know, so I want to get closer to my airport, but I don't want to be so far from my family. Yeah.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

So I think Nashville might be the place. And then I realized after working in India for three or four years, it would be good to have a hub where I could actually invite people to live there with me to train them to do missions. So initially, I had no intent on being a pastor. I thought what I would do is do mission trips and establish a school where I could train other missionaries to take with me to India. So that missions base became Legacy Nashville ago, bro.

[Madison's Husband]

What?

[Lyle Phillips]

So what I was doing in India primarily was focused on rescuing children from human trafficking. So during the time that I worked there, our team, we were able to rescue over 400 kids from human trafficking, child slavery, and forced prostitution.

[Madison's Husband]

Are you going in on these raids, or is this, like, law?

[Lyle Phillips]

No, we did it differently. We did it differently. God spoke to me really early on that our goal mustn't be to be a social justice organization, but more so a social mercy organization. And so we didn't come in with an ambition to arrest folks. Yeah, I mean, that happened. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the justice system operating fairly and appropriately, but what we would do is just go in and feed these kids and do everything that we could to build relationship with everybody, including those trafficking the Kids.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

Just testify to that, Just the love of God. And just be like, hey, do you know about what you are doing, man? Do you realize this?

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

And preach to them and share the gospel with them and talk to them about Jesus. So we did that. Like, whether they were buying kids, selling kids. We did that. Actually, the craziest place that I've ever preached the gospel, y', all, was in the middle of nowhere in India on this auction block. It was literally a platform where parents were bringing their children and they were auctioning off kids on this, on this block. And they let me preach on that auction block. What?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And are these, like, are these people who are selling kids, like, as you're literally sharing the gospel to them, like, how are they responding? Like, are they. Are, is it dangerous? Are they mad? Are they like, receptive?

[Lyle Phillips]

I think mostly they were just curious, why in the world is this white guy here? You know, it was like, what is he doing here? Why is he here? And so the passage that I shared was the one where Jesus tells like, hey, you're not supposed to harm, you know, these little kids. Yeah, Right. It'd be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and tossed into the sea. Wow. So, like, I'm telling them, saying that. Yeah.

[Madison's Husband]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

Like, this is what's important, you know, this is what Jesus has to. Has to say. So this one we might need.

[Madison's Husband]

I'm just. We should just say it. We should just.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Okay, we can address it.

[Madison's Husband]

We got. We. Landscape is going crazy out right now. And it's okay.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

If you're hearing some noise.

[Madison's Husband]

Hey, they're getting it right out there too, man.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Some noise. You know, the enemy just doesn't like this conversation. Cuz this is a really, like, this is a powerful.

[Lyle Phillips]

Wow.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Okay, so that's crazy.

[Lyle Phillips]

Okay, so I ask, like, who wants to meet Jesus? Hands go up, right? People are willing to repent of their sins, give their life to Jesus. Wow. You know, afterwards, we're following up with a team of local pastors, sharing with them, like, hey guys, this is not just adding another God to your 33 million. This looks like repenting and forsaking your other gods and following Christ Jesus. We're, we're talking to them about, why are you selling your children? Why are you trading human lives for, you know, a year's worth of income?

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

And usually they're addicted, super poor and in debt and enslaved themselves. Yeah. So they're trading their children to be, you know, a little bit less in debt, I guess. Wow. Wow, man.

[Madison's Husband]

Man, that's. We have, we recently partnered with IJM International Justice Mission. Love them about what they're doing. And, and what's so interesting is like, that isn't real to a lot of people. It's out there. It's not, it's not here.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's not impacting their day to day.

[Lyle Phillips]

So it's not. Yeah.

[Madison's Husband]

And yeah, we just sense from the Lord, man. It's like as believers, you, you gotta care and be moved by things that aren't just in your personal fires of your day to day life.

[Lyle Phillips]

That's right.

[Madison's Husband]

And that's what's so beautiful about what.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You guys are doing at Legacy.

[Madison's Husband]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So what's, what's it been like? Okay, you've, you've been overseas, you've seen, seen like you've preached the gospel overseas, you've seen Christianity in different places. What would you say, say is the biggest difference between like the American version of Christianity and gospel versus, like overseas? Where do you see, is there a difference in like our approach to Jesus here in America versus overseas?

[Lyle Phillips]

Usually yes, there is. And I think that just has to do with the fact that we can put a lot of things in front of God and look to those things as solutions. Whereas in the third world, I don't know that that's an appropriate term any longer. But in the third world where people are desperately impoverished, is that they don't have the options that we have. So they're looking at the one option being Jesus. Unless he shows up and heals me, I am going to die of this illness. Right. Whereas we would, man, we got WebMD and I can call my friend and I can go to the doctor and I can get some treatments and they can experiment. But over there it's like if Jesus is not real and he does not touch me and heal me, then I am going to die. It's over. And so I would say measure of desperation that you experience in those parts of the world is completely different than what we experience here in the West. So that's a huge paradigm shift.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah. That's amazing.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Stay True Podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Lyle Phillips]

Today we'll attempt a feat once thought impossible. Overcoming high interest credit card debt. It requires merely one thing, a SOFI personal loan. With it, you could save big on interest charges by consolidating into one Low fixed rate monthly payment. Defy high interest debt with a SOFI personal loan. Visit sofi.com stunt to learn more. Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA member FDIC terms and conditions apply.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

NMLS 696891 hey friends, it's Maddie. If you've read my new book, Dare to Be True, I would love to hear what you think. Your reviews mean so much to me. They help more people discover the message and the heart behind this book. So if this book has encouraged you, challenged you, or reminded you to live with bold faith and honesty, would you just take a minute to leave a review? It truly makes such a difference. And if you haven't gotten my new book yet, Dare to Be True, you can go and find it anywhere books are sold. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey and for daring to be true right alongside me. Stay True Merch Drop we got a new Stay True Merch collection, you guys. And this is my favorite collection yet. I am wearing the jersey from the Stay True Merch collection. And you guys, it is so amazing. It says Stay True on the front, stay free on the back. It's got John 832. It is the coolest jersey you've ever seen. But we have sweatshirts, we got T shirts. This is seriously my favorite collection yet. This is the perfect Christmas gift, birthday gift, New Year gift to yourself. You guys, you need to check out this new collection. I'm so excited about it. And you can go to Stay True podcast dot com. We'll also include the link to the exact merch landing page in the show notes. You guys gotta go and check it out. Let me know what you think. If you rep it, tag us. We want to see it. Go and check it out you guys.

[Madison's Husband]

That's amazing. Let's talk about legacy Nashville.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah, let's talk about local church. I think we, we live in a time in today's generation and culture and really not even like the younger generation. We were talking about this earlier, but even like some of the older generation, I feel like we've lost this sense of like needing the church or being committed to a church or serving at a church. It's kind of become more of a like I'll go when it's convenient. I'll go on the holidays and fallen into, I think for a lot of people this like comfortability of watching online or letting you know kind of sermons or podcasts, you know, even replace like the Local church and the body of Christ. And so what would you say, I guess, first and foremost of why is the local church important today? Like, why in 2026 do we need to be a part of a local church?

[Lyle Phillips]

Absolutely. Well, I think, firstly, nobody can crucify themselves. You know, like, you could give me a hammer and some nails, and I could get a nail through my feet. I could get a nail through one of my hands. But unless I gave you the hammer, there's no way I could get up on the cross. Right. Community is required for you to stay crucified. Like, you cannot do this in isolation and expect to stay dead to your old man. Like, whenever you're working on Project Me, it's gonna go wrong, and it's gonna go wrong bad eventually. And I think that's where a lot of people kind of see or view faith today is it's an act of personal development.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right.

[Lyle Phillips]

So 100, you know, which is not at all biblical Christianity.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

This is not about you improving yourself. This is about you dying to yourself. Amen. So it's very important that within the context of covenant community, we are learning how to offend one another and forgive.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Come on.

[Lyle Phillips]

You know, we're learning how to challenge one another and then humble ourselves. We're learning how to confess our sins one to another so that we can be healed.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Man.

[Lyle Phillips]

Like, these things can't happen in isolation.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

They must happen within the context of covenant community.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

But I think we live in such a secularized world where, you know, it's all about me making me. Right. That's not what Christ said. He said, follow me and I will make you.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Not follow me and you go make you.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

And that's the way a lot of people live today.

[Madison's Husband]

What would you say to a new believer or someone that's on the fence about, I want this, but I'm. I'm scared to jump into church. I feel like I'm not. I don't know how to raise my hands yet. I mean, like, I'm not the church type.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah.

[Madison's Husband]

Am I even welcome. Walk someone through? Like, what would you encourage someone right now that's like, I think I want that. I'm just. I'm scared.

[Lyle Phillips]

Yeah. I mean, that's a very. That's a very real experience for a whole lot of people. You know, our social paradigms, as people come in, they're wondering, am I going to feel welcome? Like, am I going to feel included? Is anybody going to let me sit next to them or ask them to go to Lunch, you know, which I think is very sad and antithetical to the scripture. Like if there was a guy who was like out on an island somewhere all by himself, he'd never heard about Jesus. But a Bible washed up on the shore, right? Like he just happened to find it and he starts reading through the epistles and he starts learning about what church is. And then he showed up to one of our churches in America. Would he experience the church that he learned about through the scripture? Chances are probably not, right? Because we're all kind of showing up like it's a TED talk, like it's a seminar. Like we're not even talking to each other half the time, you know, And I think we need to learn more about how the church is supposed to be a family and do some of the things that Acts chapter 2, verse 42 through 48 talks about. Just some of those basic principles and paradigms. Like we are supposed to gather around the apostles doctrine. That's not our pastors. That's the word of God. Right? A cult gathers around the man of God. A church gathers around the word of God. Come on. So we gather around the apostles doctrine. We're devoted to the fellowship. You know, Paul's rebuking some people in the New Testament. He's like, you guys are forsaking the assembly and some of you have gotten into the habit of that, right? So it's like, I'm going to miss a day here and there. No, now you've missed 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks. Get your booty back to the house of God, right?

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Don't forsake the fellowship. Meet together in house to house. The breaking of bread and the prayers. Get together. Pray together.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Don't just make it about going and getting something out of the worship and then patronizing your pastor by sitting through a 38 minute message, right? Like actually go with an intention to grow and to leave transformed. And I think we have too low a view of church for sure. Some people see it as like, that's just church. That ain't just church. You are actively declaring war on loneliness when you go to church. When you go to church, you are actively declaring war on isolation when you go to church, you are actively declaring war on selfishness. You are saying, I'm going to step out of the secular culture I'm a part of and I'm going to step into biblical Christianity that God has saved me for and the church is a part of that.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah, man, that's such offensive mindset. Instead of I want to go be entertained by this pastor.

[Lyle Phillips]

Right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Because I just think everybody's so hungry for these, like, big, like, radical, like, movements moments. Like, I want to, like, feel something, and it's all selfish. It's all for self. And, like, I want to be a part. But we're. It's like, what does local living look like? Are you a part of a local church? Do you have local community that you're confessing to regularly?

[Lyle Phillips]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And I think you see these. These people, and I think just culture. We've all fallen. I've fallen. Like, I've had moments of being hurt by the church and having moments of, like, not, like, going and preaching at churches, but then not even being plugged one myself. And you see that even in, like, this Christian influencer space, it's like, oh, I can do a lot of things for God. Like, I can post on social media. I can, like, you know, have this own, like, my own relationship with God. But we're not walking in constant confession with other believers. We're not being rebuked and corrected by other people because if we're easily offended, like, okay, then I'm not going back to that church because they called me out of my sin. And then we, you know, and we don't have a local church where we're actually serving. Like, we're using our gifts to pour out and edify and serve other people. And what do you think that is? Like, how do we break free from this, like, consumeristic culture and mindset that we've been taught by our culture in today?

[Lyle Phillips]

It's very difficult because it is ingrained in the secular culture that we've come up in. Right. It just is what it is. There was a book I read a few months ago by this guy named Lash. It's not a Christian book. It's a secular book. It's a psychology book. I think he wrote it in 1979, and it's called the Culture of Narcissism.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Lyle Phillips]

And so what he's doing is he's identifying the secular culture that we're a part of today. And he said, you know, our culture used to be religious, but it's no longer religious. Our culture is now therapeutic. And so people go to church to, like, feel better about themselves. They don't want to be challenged. Don't give me the word of God and challenge my way of life. I want to come and be encouraged and feel a little bit better about the challenges that I face week to week. And so I think that the reason why A lot of people don't stay, to be honest with you, is because we lack the humility of Christ. We truly lack it. And yet we fastened ourselves to the pride of our enemy. To say, ain't nobody going to teach me nothing. If I want to learn something, I'll learn something on my own. You know, I don't need to listen to you, Pastor. I'll get on my podcast. You know, I don't need to. I don't need to listen. I read this book that I want to read, you know, and so what we're doing is we're designing our own menu. We're. That's what we're doing. We're designing our own spiritual menu. We're treating it like an a la carte. And that's not biblical, because pastors are spiritual chefs. Our job is to actually design a menu for our congregation, to feed them sequentially in such a way that the whole grows. So, like, we know a shepherd's take on Psalm 23, right? As a pastor, my calling is to be a shepherd. Therefore, I don't just lead, I also feed. So my job as a feeder is to diagnose the condition of the flock constantly. A shepherd would do this by looking in the mouth of the sheep. And so they could diagnose the sheep and say, okay, this sheep is deficient in these nutrients. Let me take them over to this pasture and we can graze here for a while for the sake of the holistic health of the flock. So there's going to be moments where, as you are a part of a church, your pastor is going to teach on something that you don't feel like you need. Right. You're not deficient in that nutrient. But his job is not just to feed you in isolation. His job is to design a menu that feeds the whole of the flock. And so we want to come in not with a patronizing spirit, like, oh, well, I guess I'll listen to my pastor today. You know, it's like, no, dude, this is a guy who is spiritually accountable and will stand before God one day as to how he shepherded your soul.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

And so it's very important that we, you know, we find pastors who are after God's heart, and we honor them.

[Madison's Husband]

This changed our life. So we. We got married, and we were going to stay in Dallas, Texas, and everyone was like, hey, start the podcast. Do the thing. And the Lord spoke to us very clearly and was like, if you start now, your marriage won't last. You'll burn out. And you'll have nothing to say in five years. And we tucked away, went to Waco, Texas, to work for a local church two hours from the closest airport. And we said, we're going to sit and listen to a local body, and we got a part of a life group. Talk about our life group. Because I think that that is what changed us.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah, like ISO Christianity, ISO Christian leadership, ISO Christianity. You know, like, you're just. You're chasing the things of God and, like, you and like, with a heart of, like, lord, I love you, but just not being called out and rebuked and doing life on life with people locally and serving, I guess, like globally or nationally, but not serving like your neighbors. Like, not actually loving your neighbors. And so I think that's what was really lacking in our life up until that point, especially mine. Like, I had come off of reality TV and kind of got thrown into this world when I was a church girl before then, like, all I knew was local church.

[Lyle Phillips]

Sure.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And then I came off reality TV and I got really hurt by the local church. So then I had, like, you know, walls up. I was just. I was scared. And I tried a couple different churches and continually got hurt by the local church. And so then. And I think. And I share that because I think that that is a reality for some people, and I'd love for you to speak into that. Of there's, I think, two different camps that happen sometimes. Okay. You got those who really are hurt by other believers and by the local church. And we're imperfect, so that's going to happen. I've hurt people. I've let people down, and people have let me down. And then I think there's also the other camp of people just want churches and pastors and Christians to affirm them in their sinful living. And then they get hurt and offended when that doesn't happen, and they get called out and rebuked. And so they walk away from church or they walk away from, like, godly community, and they just do life with people that let them live in their sin. And so can we speak to both of those camps, maybe for a second of just, like, encouraging the heart that is, you know, broken over church hurt, but then also, like, challenge those who.

[Lyle Phillips]

You know, that's crucial. I mean, what is it? Is it okay if I ask you a question real quick?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Absolutely.

[Lyle Phillips]

In leading into this one, I have a lot of friends who are influencers, I guess, you know, at this point, because we live in Nashville. And so from time to time, some will make their way into our church. But what is it about? What is it about that, like, subsetting culture that is. They're like, I don't need to belong to a church. Like, I don't have to be a part of a local. I'm bigger than that. Is that what it is?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I don't. I think for me personally, it was that I was hurt by the local church. So I don't know for other people what that is. I think some of it is, like, this individualistic mindset I know of other people in my life that I'm like, hey, you need to get plugged into a local church. And there's this, like, mindset of, like, I'm gonna go and do for God, and I don't really need that. Like, I can get that from, like, other Christian community, just, like, when we gather together at these big events.

[Lyle Phillips]

Right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

But I know there's, like, people in our life that we're, like, praying for and hoping for. Like, you need to be a part of a local church. And.

[Madison's Husband]

And I would say just, like, schedule.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Madison's Husband]

Just legit. Like, we in 2026 have said basically no to everything because the Lord was like, be local. Be here. And that's, like, half the battle.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right.

[Madison's Husband]

Is you tired because you get back Saturday night or whatever, and you're like, I'm just going to watch loud.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right. Like, I would say some of it's comfortability, some of it's selfishness, some of it's busyness. Like, you're gone every weekend.

[Lyle Phillips]

Of course.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I mean, I think it's. It is a combination of a lot of different things.

[Lyle Phillips]

That does make sense. I get that. And I think that my experience with friends of mine who are in that world, it's kind of been both and. Right. It's just like, they're really busy. And sometimes the right move as a pastor is just to bless them in the season that they're in and say, go and do what God has called you to do. Like, I'm not trying to govern you. Like, I'm going to encourage you to be obedient. And so if this season for you looks like preaching out, you know, 24 times out of the 52 of the year, man, go and do it. And I'm here with you. I mean, we have professional athletes who are part of our church. They can't be at church every Sunday, especially if they play football.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Totally.

[Lyle Phillips]

But I can build a connection with them where we have FaceTime opportunities if needed. And I can pray for them whenever they're on the road. Or if they're musicians or whatever it is. But I think the effort. There's something to be said about the effort, the connection, and the commitment. This is my local church, and when I'm in town, I'm looking to be there, and I want to serve, and I want to be plugged in, and I want to give. And so I absolutely get what you're saying about the hurt, because I think even people like that or others, like, they'll come into church and somebody will hurt their feelings, usually because we don't let them do what they want to do. Right. And so because we did not give them the control that they desired, they determined that exiting was the right move. And I feel very sad for those people, because a local church is not about you being in charge of it. Jesus is the builder of the local church.

[Madison's Husband]

Amen.

[Lyle Phillips]

He is the senior pastor of Legacy Nashville. He is the one that is building and growing this church. Yeah. And so I think sometimes people, they're like, no, I want to. I want to lead worship.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

I want to be. I want to preach. And so my job as a pastor is just to discern the timing.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

As to when people can do what.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's powerful, man. That's so good.

[Madison's Husband]

That's really powerful. Lao, we heard you preach, and it's clear, bro. I just. I love the way you. You do it. It's so humble, but it's so powerful. And I would just love to know, man, what is. What is the Lord leading? Like, if you had to look at the church as a whole right now for. For people in January 2026, where's the Lord leading the church right now? What do you see?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And I would add on to that, too. Like, as we're wrapping up, like, I'd love to know, too, as you've seen in being a local church pastor for a bit now, like, what are you encouraged by in the local church? And then also, what are you a little concerned about?

[Lyle Phillips]

Oh, yeah, that's great. I love that.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

And I hope I answered your last question.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No. Yeah. This is.

[Lyle Phillips]

Praise God.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

So what do I see? What am I encouraged by? What am I concerned about? I think that people are no longer spiritually curious. I think people are spiritually hungry. I think that Gen Z especially, are fired up about having an authentic relationship with the actual Jesus of the Bible.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Stay True. Podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies, try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Progressive Insurance / SoFi Ad Voice]

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[Lyle Phillips]

NMLS 696891 I think for me, millennials, like, when I watched my generation get hungry for revival, they were really hungry for encounter. They were really hungry for experience, they were really hungry for spirit. But what I see happening in this generation is that there is a value for spirit, but now there is an equivalent value for truth.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Truth. Yep.

[Lyle Phillips]

And that is so dynamically powerful and encouraging to me because remember whenever Jesus was about to be crucified and Pilate says, what is truth?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Right. Like, like our generation is asking that question, what is true?

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah. So her, she just dropped a book in September called Dare to be True. Let's go off the scene of pilot study.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

What is truth?

[Madison's Husband]

That was her whole book.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Literally, what you're saying, this generation is so hungry for truth, they want to.

[Lyle Phillips]

Know, what does the Bible say? I mean, they're saying, I want to experience the Jesus of the Bible, but I also want to know what the Jesus of what Jesus of the Bible actually teaches.

[Madison's Husband]

So good.

[Lyle Phillips]

Good. I want to know what that is. So I'm encouraged by that. What I see forming is what I call the ambidextrous church. It's not just a church who is passionate about the spirit. It's not just a church who is passionate about the word, but it's a church that's passionate about both balanced spirit and truth. And we know that's the kind of worship that the Father is wanting. Right? John, chapter four. And so that's what I see happening in the church today, is I see this ambidextrous blessing emerging where we're going to go after supernatural encounters. Like, come on, man, like, I want it. If it's in the scripture, I want it. Yeah, but we're also going to open up the Bible, go line up online and say, what does the Bible actually say?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right?

[Lyle Phillips]

And. And that for me, guys, is so encouraging. It's amazing. Wow, man. It's so encouraging.

[Madison's Husband]

Come on.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's awesome. Okay, well, as we wrap up, I'd love to just end. Really practically of. For those who, like, just an encouragement of getting plugged into a local church, like, what does that look like? What should they be looking for? Like, what kind of. Kind of teaching should they be looking for? What kind of pastor should they be looking for? What kind of, like, church setting? Like, what. Just what should that look like as they're on a hunt? And is it important to have, like, one local church? Because I know of a lot of people, especially here in Nashville, it's, like, really important to, like, hop here, hop there, hop here, hop there. Like, I like this on this day. This on this day. Like, is it important to have, like, your local church body? And, like, what does it look like to serve the local church? Like, how. How do you do that?

[Lyle Phillips]

Yes, absolutely. I think it's very important to have one local church. I think you need to have a primary place of spiritual nourishment.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Because you can't create, like I said, your own spiritual menu of. Of spiritual growth.

[Madison's Husband]

Right.

[Lyle Phillips]

God has designed churches for the purpose of us coming under and growing within the context of a community. So I think church hopping, like, you might be in a season right now of exploration where you're like, I don't know where I should go to church. And so you're kind of checking out a different. A few different places. Fine, that's great. That's awesome. But don't go to the church you feel comfortable in. Go to the church you feel called to. This is a spiritual seeking, not just one of, well, I'm gonna taste this and taste that. Like a little buffet. And I kind of like the way that pastor dress is, but, you know, he doesn't have as many followers on Instagram. You know, it's like, that's how people do things in our city.

[Madison's Husband]

Crazy.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's wild.

[Madison's Husband]

It's insane, bro.

[Lyle Phillips]

Wild for sure. But it's just the way our city is, the way our culture is.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

You know, like, in India, they don't have that luxury. Right, Right. You just go to the church that's in your neighborhood.

[Madison's Husband]

Yeah.

[Lyle Phillips]

Because it's the only one there. Your pastor is the pastor of that church because he's the only pastor available. You know, like, we live in an environment where everybody's like, pick and choose, sampling, pick and choose. So I would say commit to one local church. A plant, a tree. You know, a tree is never going to be able to grow fruit, if you constantly repot it, wow. Like, it's impossible. And God's plan for your life is that you are both faithful and that you are fruitful. So you've got to stay patient by staying planted long enough to bear fruit. You got to go through some seasons. There's going to be winter seasons, there's going to be fall seasons, there's going to be times, ups and downs. But fruit doesn't grow on the mountaintop. Fruit grows in the valley. So just remember that and land on a church, land on a pastor, land on a community, and just go all in, serve, sign up for a team tithe. Give 10 of your income to the storehouse, as Malachi talks about, because there's a blessing in it. And when you do that, you will root for its victory. Yeah, I've never sewn into anybody and then rooted on their downfall. Yeah, it's great, you know, like, give, get on a team, be inconvenienced. Give your time. Talent and treasure your time is something all of us have. We can give give of your talent, something you're good at. You know, sometimes photographers are like, I'm a photographer throughout the week, so I'm not going to take pictures on Sunday. But that's your talent. We literally need people who are good at that. We know it's costly, but so that. And then your treasure, your finances. And so I think that if you will do that, you will grow spiritually in 2026 unlike you've ever grown before outside of the context of a local church.

[Madison's Husband]

So beautiful.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's so good. Because, yes, we were literally made to know God, but also to make a difference and do life in community and to be discipled and to disciple others and to go and make disciples and to live on mission. I mean, and that's where it's just so important to be plugged in and to be a part where you're not just showing up consuming, but, like, you are a member of a local church. You are using your gifts, your talents, like you're talking about to serve the body of Christ. Like, we all have different gifts. Like, we're all trying to be like the mouthpiece in the hand. Like, don't try to be like everybody else. Just like, what? How has God wired you? And use that to serve your local church and the people around you. Man, this fires me up. And this gets me excited because I like, that's truly my prayer for everybody listening is like this. I mean, podcasts, books, sermons online, all that stuff is great. But like, that cannot be like a substitution for the body of Christ, for the local church, for the word of God. Like, you got to have that yourself, your own relationship with Jesus, but also, like, doing life on life with other godly community. That is truly what changed my life. And so just to even go back to my story, like, I was hurt by the church, but I was healed by the church. And it talks about, you said it in James 5:16, like, confess your sins to one another, pray for each other so that you may be healed. Like, we all want to experience healing and freedom. You only get that and doing life with other godly people, living in the light, confessing, being held accountable, like walking with each other, correcting each other, encouraging one another. Like, that's what we're called to do. So I'm just. I'm so thankful for what you guys are doing here in Nashville, for the way that you're. You're using your time, talent, treasure, your platform, your voice, all of it. Your story, it's beautiful, and I just know it's gonna encourage so many people. I'd love for you to just close us in prayer and. And pray happily. Those listening for a year of being plugged in and being known by. By people.

[Lyle Phillips]

2026 will be your best year if you make 2026 the most spiritual year of your life and you go all in for Jesus and his bride. So, Lord, we say thank you for everything that you are doing in the lives of each and every person that is connected to this podcast today. God, I pray that you would bless them richly from the top of their head to the soles of their feet. If there's anybody watching today that's sick in their body, tormented in their mind, upsetting their soul, God, I pray for healing to come to you right now in Jesus name. No matter where you're listening to this at, it could be on YouTube. You might be in your car. I just pray that the Holy Spirit would rest upon you now, heal you, and bring you into a place of fullness in his presence. Jesus, we thank you for this podcast and for everything that you're doing through my new friends, God, I bless them in Jesus name. We love you so much, Lord. Amen.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Amen. Thank you so much.

[Madison's Husband]

It's amazing, man.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Gosh, this was so good. Yeah. We're going to catch a flight.

[Lyle Phillips]

Let's go. I know.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

He's got to catch a flight.

[Madison's Husband]

Let's go to Lexing the castle.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

As always, guys, be sure to stay you and stay true. We love you. Stay true. Podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

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