Jonathan McReynolds: Discovering Value in the Valley Experience | Takeaways with Kirk Cameron

June 2, 2025 | 53:25

Kirk Cameron is joined by Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter, Jonathan McReynolds, sharing his personal story of God’s work in his life and career.

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Takeaways with Kirk Cameron | Jonathan McReynolds: Discovering Value in the Valley Experience | Takeaways with Kirk Cameron | June 2, 2025

Kirk cameron: life is full of ups and downs.
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We work hard to climb the mountain of success.
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We're striving for excellence, and there's nothing wrong
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With that.
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Mountaintop accomplishments are to be enjoyed, but we don't want
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To miss the lessons of growth and strength offered in the
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Valley experiences, because god uses those times to draw us
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Closer to him and open our eyes to what is truly important.
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Our guest today, grammy award winning artist jonathan
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Mcreynolds, will share what he's learned from his mountaintop and
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Valley experiences that will encourage and inspire you.
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So let's get to it right now on "takeaways."
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Jonathan mcreynolds: we are so pressed as a culture to
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Constantly aim up.
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Remembering that god is your source.
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You can't eat on the mountain.
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There's not much up there.
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So you have to come back down to get your nourishment, to get
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Your identity back.
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[music]
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Kirk: my guest today is a grammy award winning artist,
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Songwriter, and producer.
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Jonathan mcreynolds has released five acclaimed albums and
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Authored two books while also serving as adjunct professor at
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Columbia college chicago.
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His latest book, "before you climb any higher," reminds us of
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How important it is to make room for god in the middle of all the
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Chaos and the busyness of life.
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Jonathan, thanks so much for meeting up with us
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On "takeaways."
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Jonathan: thanks for having me.
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Kirk: man, i'm so fascinated by your life, by your career, and
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Not only your ministry, but this book about mountaintop
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Experiences and how we all want them, but often they're
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Unsatisfying for a number of reasons, and we don't cope with
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Them well when we finally get there, and we fall.
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Jonathan: yeah, yeah.
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First of all, i'm an admirer of your life and all that you've
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Done, your work, all that you've produced and put out there
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For us.
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So, i appreciate you, and i thank you that you're interested
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In anything i have going on.
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Kirk: well, i am, absolutely.
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Thank you very much.
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That's very kind of you to say.
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Give us all a little bit of background on how you got
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Started in the gospel music industry.
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Jonathan: man, you know what?
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I talk about this in the book.
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It feels like god made me start this mountain he
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Started himself.
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I don't know that i was really looking for it.
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I guess i was doing the stuff that it would require, but i
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Never knew that my life would ever turn out like this.
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I was, you know, playing the organ, the drums in my church
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Ever since i was five years old, i was going to school for music,
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But i really didn't have a lot of commercial ambitions for the
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Music i was making.
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So i was in the dorm room in between classes, i was making
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Music, and somehow that music got out.
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One day i woke up to a whole bunch of missed calls, 'cause
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They had played my song on the radio.
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They invited me to a big church to sing, and that's kind of how
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It all began.
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Kirk: wow, that's always the best story, when people are
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Doing it just because they love it, not just as like a gimmick
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To try to make a career or something.
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I mean, everybody needs a career, but when you love it,
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And you're starting out in church, and you're doing that
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Kind of thing, i think everybody's already rooting
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For you.
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Jonathan: sometimes it's good to be a little, i don't wanna say
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Dumb, but innocent of all of it.
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You don't know the right things to do.
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You don't know the right formulas to plug in.
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You're just doing it your way, the way you feel it, the way you
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Thought of it, and that's really how my first album was.
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It was initially just a christmas gift.
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As a college student, i don't have enough money to buy actual
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Gifts for every aunt and uncle, so what i did was i burned a cd
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Of some of the music i was making in the dorm room, called
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It the very unofficial ep of jonathan mcreynolds.
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I made the first track like a thank you auntie betty for all
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Of the road trips to branson and disney world.
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I appreciate how you, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah, and
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Here are six songs, and that eventually became my first
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Release, my first unofficial release.
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Kirk: that's so cool.
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And it lends an authenticity to it that i think comes through in
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The music.
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Jonathan: thank you.
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Kirk: so what led you to write this book, "before you climb
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Any higher"?
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Jonathan: i don't know about you, but i have many times had a
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Personal discrepancy between great professional moments and
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Not so great personal moments.
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It seems like the seasons where i am doing so well and i have so
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Many things to post and so many likes and so many--so much
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Applause, and it's like--
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Kirk: everything's working professionally.
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Jonathan: everything's working, but for me, though, i feel
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Tired, i'm exhausted, i'm making stupid mistakes, i'm doing stuff
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That i'm not proud of, i'm sad, i'm grieving, i'm mourning, all
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This other stuff is happening, and so i think for me, not only
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Seeing that within myself, but seeing that honestly in culture.
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We see the greats all the time falling.
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We see the amazing people that we revere have so many struggles
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Once it comes out.
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And so i wanted to really try to rectify, reconcile rather, why
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Does it seem like the people who are high up on the mountain who
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Are having the success, why are they not actually having
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Soul success?
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Kirk: yeah.
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Jonathan: why doesn't peace exist up there?
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What's happening?
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Kirk: yeah, i know exactly what you're talking about, because
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Sometimes i think of people who work their whole lives to become
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A singer, or they work their whole lives to become an athlete
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And get into the nfl or the super bowl, or to become an
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Actor, and then you find later they like--i don't know what
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Led to it, but they fell, and they fell so hard.
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It's like they didn't just fall, it's like they dove, and they
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Either just lost it with substance abuse, or they
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Destroyed their marriage, or they committed suicide or some
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Tragic thing, and you think.
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Man, you had it.
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You had everything.
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Why weren't you happy and at peace?
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Jonathan: it's not even just singers and athletes.
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A lot of times it's pastors.
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A lot of times it's ministers, it's people you think that we
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Would be immune to all of that.
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You think that we would have just a vested protection from
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Ever being burned out or exhausted because everything we
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Do has jesus's name on it.
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But honestly, we are just as, you know, vulnerable to that
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Burnout as anybody else.
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Kirk: yeah, so, jonathan, give us just a little flavor of like,
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What was it like for you, your mountaintop experience?
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What was it about your musical career that would influence you
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To write this book?
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Jonathan: yeah, so i've never really had a mountain top
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Experience, because if you're a true climber, whenever you feel
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Like you're getting the top or something, you normally just
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Find something else to climb.
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And so it's a forever pursuit.
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I'm just always wanting to be better, more--get more awards,
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Get another movie, get another song, get another degree, get
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Another church, whatever it is, and so for me it was really i
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Was in a situation, i had done a huge tour, literally, christian
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Music's biggest tour up to that point.
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I was in a musical, i was thinking about maybe writing a
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Book, and i had another book in mind.
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I was thinking maybe i'll write something like this.
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All of this was happening at the same time i had some family
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Stuff going on that i was carrying, and i just realized
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That all of this trudging up the mountain that i was doing,
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I was--it was wreaking havoc on my body, my soul.
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I mean, every doctor i went to, it looks like stress.
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I mean, you'd be amazing--you'd be amazed how many
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Manifestations of stress that can happen in the body.
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It's just like your pinky toe hurts.
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Well, that's probably stress.
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Kirk: it's probably stress.
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Jonathan: and so it's just amazing how the work and the
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Upward progress that i had set myself on ever since i was a
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Little precocious kid when i was six years old, i was not giving
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Myself time to be anything else than a title earner, a degree
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Receiver, an accomplishment getter, and i had to realize
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That first and foremost, on my best day and on my worst day, i
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Was something else, a son of god, and i wasn't gonna find and
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Embrace that title while every day was on the mountain.
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Kirk: wow, this is so good for all of us, whether you're a
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Singer, whether you're an athlete, whether you're a pastor
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Or you're a parent, a student, a grandparent, anything, because
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We want our life to count for something.
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I wanna know who i am, i wanna know that my life is counting,
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And that i'm moving in the right direction.
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And we're always looking at the next big thing, the next big
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Accomplishment, you know?
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I'm 55 years old now, and i think, wow, you know, i've got
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Like--so much sand has gone through the hourglass in terms
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Of the time that i have left in life, and i think what is it
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That i wanna do next?
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But i love what you're saying is that we have--i mean, the truth
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Is i've got more than enough time, i've got eternity with the
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Lord in heaven, but while i'm here, i want to do as much good
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As possible, and i wanna be in the right mindset so that it's
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Not burnout, and i know your book is gonna help me and others
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With this.
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You say in your book, the mountain is part of life, but
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There's very little life on it.
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Jonathan: yeah.
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Kirk: what do you mean by that?
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Jonathan: okay, so now i'm from chicago.
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We don't have mountains or hills much at all.
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Kirk: okay.
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Jonathan: but when i got to la, and i started living in la, and
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You know about la, there's some elevation there.
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There's literally, you know, mountains and valleys, and what
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I realized, even if you look at like the rockies, you have this
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Big noble mountain, but as you slide up this mountain, you
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Realize, wait, i don't see any trees, i don't see any green,
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It's snowcapped, it's, you know, cold, thin air.
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Meanwhile, the valley, and i mean civilizations, ancient
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Civilizations, they always start in the valley, why?
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Because there was lushness there.
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There was grass, there was a river, there were bunny rabbits
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Hopping around.
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There were birds flying.
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All of this is so much life in the valley, and i think that we
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Are so pressed as a culture to constantly aim up, up, up, up,
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And i think that we haven't really been honest, even the
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People who are working so hard to be up there, they haven't
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Been honest about what's on that mountain.
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It's not just a lot of people applauding for you, but it's
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Cold, thin air, it's isolation, it's a lot of loneliness, and we
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Just haven't been honest.
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And so my goal in this book was to de-romanticize the mountain a
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Little bit and let people know that there is something for you.
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There is sonship, daughterhood for you, and that is not
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Something that you have to earn.
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That's something that you just have to embrace being given.
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Kirk: jonathan, this is so important, because so many of us
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Do romanticize or fantasize, whatever word you used, about
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A mountaintop experience.
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And could it be that the most important lessons and the
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Deepest lessons of the heart are learned way down in the valley,
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Which we think of as bad?
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But you're saying that's where the lush life is happening.
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Jonathan: absolutely.
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My goal is to flip this idea of mountain being good, valley
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Being bad, because honestly, most of my problems, most of the
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Heartache, the hurt, the injury, it happened on the mountain.
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It happened while scaling the mountain, and it's just how we
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Be honest about it.
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And i'll go farther into this metaphor as we talk, but it's
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Not even about your actual success, it's about how much
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You're consumed with the pursuit of success.
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That's what pushes you up the mountain.
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And you've seen some incredibly successful people who have
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Learned to be low and near the valley.
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We've also seen some people who maybe don't have all the
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External success but are so consumed by the pursuit of it,
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That they're somewhere up there in rarefied air.
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And so just whether you find yourself at the beginning of
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Your career, at the end of your career, it feels like you're at
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A peak of it, or you feel like you're at a valley of it, i'm
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Trying to let you guys know, let the world know that god has
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Something for you.
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If you just humble yourself, you might find even more success,
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Because you're now empowered as a son, not as a boss, king,
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Ceo, superstar.
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Kirk: man, i wanna talk with you more about this.
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After the break, jonathan will share how he discovered the
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Valuable lessons he learned on the way back down the mountain.
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Don't go away.
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[music]
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[music]
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[music]
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♪ this is your world ♪
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♪ i'm just living in it ♪
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♪ i'm just walking through it ♪
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♪ knowing that you're in it ♪
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Kirk: welcome back.
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We're learning about valley wisdom for mountain dreams with
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My guest jonathan mcreynolds.
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Jonathan, your book is reminding me of a camping trip that i took
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With my son, james, and we wanted to go backpacking out
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Into the ansel adams wilderness near yosemite, california, and
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We had such a great time because, well, first we had to
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Decide, are we gonna go down to the valley floor where most
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People go, and that's where the millions of people are, because
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You could see the waterfalls, you're down there with the
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Squirrels and the bears and everything else, or we're gonna
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Go up to where it looks like the moon?
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It's like scorched earth, nothing left, and you're just
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There with granite and like wolves.
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Jonathan: yeah.
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Kirk: but, you know, my son wanted to go to the top of the
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Mountain, and my daughter wanted to go down into the valley, and
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They're both beautiful, and there's both--they're both
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Great, and you were talking a little bit earlier about the
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Valley not being a bad thing but being a lush place of life where
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Lessons are learned.
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Can you expand a little bit more?
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What types of lessons can be learned in the valleys?
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Jonathan: sure, first of all, it's funny that your son wanted
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To go to the mountaintop, 'cause us guys, we have it really bad.
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We have this thing where we really feel like we have to
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Conquer, rah!
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You know what i'm saying?
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We gotta get to the top, and trust me, i am not advising
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Against climbing your mountain.
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God has given us all assignments, he's given us all
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Missions, he's given us careers, ministries, families to take
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Care of, climb that mountain.
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It's very important that we handle what we're supposed to
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Handle, and maybe that means climbing to the top of that
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Mountain, scorched-earth mountain, then let's do it,
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And god will give us strength.
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The problem is sometimes we are so afraid of coming back down to
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Just the normal valley where all the people--all the normal
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People are.
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Kirk: and it makes me-- i'm not special anymore.
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Jonathan: i'm not special anymore, you know?
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All those--that feeling that i had in childhood where i had to
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Accomplish so people would like me and value me.
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My mother seemed to enjoy when i did something well.
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So, let me keep doing things well.
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Let me keep going up the mountain, and we continue to
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Forsake this opportunity that your daughter saw, that there's
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Beautiful--there's a reason why there's more people down there.
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There's life, there is less concern about falling.
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There's less paranoia.
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There is--there's a freedom down there.
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There's a community down there.
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And i think that when we are only on the mountain identifying
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Ourselves as ceo and boss and king and queen and everything
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Else, have you looked at instagram bios lately?
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This is the generation of the multi-hyphenate.
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None of us do one thing.
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Yeah, i'm a singer, i'm an actor, i'm an author, i'm a,
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I don't know, trapeze artist.
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I don't know, i do all these things, you know what
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I'm saying?
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I'm the boss of this, and i founded this, and i thought
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About this.
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Rarely do you see son or daughter of god, because we
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Identify ourselves mostly as people who take care of stuff,
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And we forget that we are also being taken care of.
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In the valley, you remember that you are not just somebody on
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Assignment, but you're also god's assignment.
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He's taking care of you as ardently and even more
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Tenaciously than you're taking care of all the stuff on
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Your mountain.
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He's taking care of you, you are his son, you are his daughter,
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You have an opportunity to embrace that and take a load
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Off a little bit.
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His will is his bill, not yours, and there's so much that we can
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Do when we are stripped and freed of the responsibility, not
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Even the responsibility, because we have our responsibilities,
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But the pressure of constantly living on the mountain.
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Go to the mountain, but any real mountain climber knows he can't
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Really celebrate until he gets off of that mountain.
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Like there's only so much you can do on the top of
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Mount everest.
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You get up there, you plant the flag, you take a picture, and
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You try to get down so you can really get back with family
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And hug.
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And so it's not so much about lessons being learned in
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The valley.
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There are lessons that you're gonna learn, but it's really
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Identity that you pick up again.
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Oh, wait, i am not--the world is not revolving around me.
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Even though i'm responsible to steward what god has given me as
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Best as i can, still, i don't make the world go round.
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I'm gonna do the best that i can do as a ceo, as an entrepreneur,
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But god gives the increase.
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So i have to make sure i'm reminded that he's taking care
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Of things even better than i'm taking care of.
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Kirk: yeah, i mean, i think about the scriptures that say
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The lord is my shepherd, and he leads me besides quiet waters,
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And he makes me lay down in green pastures.
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Well, where are those?
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They're in the valley.
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Jonathan: not up there.
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Kirk: they're not up there.
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Jonathan: there's not a lot of green up there at all, yeah.
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Kirk: and that would make us not resent and be disgusted by being
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Laid low by our circumstances, because you're saying that's
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Where we can find rest, and we can reconnect with god.
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Talk a little bit about those two qualities, the importance of
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Resting and reconnecting.
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Jonathan: when you actually realize, okay, maybe there's
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Something for me in the valley, and you come back down to the
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Valley, you realize that god had--he had identity for you.
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Normally, we are climbing up that mountain so high, because
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We're looking to establish identity for ourselves when god
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Is trying to tell us in the valley there's already
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An identity for you.
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You're looking to acquire grammy-type identity or applause
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Identity, and god has given you son-type identity, and we just
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Never really rest in that.
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I don't have to, ah!
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Steer this ship with such a strong--no, he actually has
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This under control.
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He's finished the work, i'm living this thing out, and i am
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Just one of his sons within his agenda.
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Am i doing some great things and having some great feats and
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Getting to hang out with some of the greats in our industry?
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That's awesome.
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But ultimately, this is all a finished work.
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This is all something that i'm living out much more
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Than creating.
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Kirk: yeah, johnathan, let me ask you, you said a couple of
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Times that i'm a son of god or i'm a daughter.
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What's so great about that?
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I mean, someone who says like, well, okay, you're saying that's
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Better than than the grammy title or the king or the
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Boss title.
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I have a son title.
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What's so great about being a son?
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Jonathan: man, okay, so son comes with power, it comes with
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Position, it comes with--it comes with an idea that dad's
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Gonna take care of stuff.
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Like, do you remember just being a kid and just being like
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Are we there yet?
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I mean, there's so--i'm not the one that's driving this ship.
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It's like god, is this where you want me to get off?
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Okay, here we go.
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You know what i'm saying?
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There's just so--there's a different approach to life and
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The way you look at it when you realize you're the son and not
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Just the son of like some regular guy, but the son of god,
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Like the one who's actually orchestrating all this in the
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First place, like you have a direct line, you have his blood,
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You have his dna, and you are embracing it, and you're living
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It out, man, that is a different type of power.
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That's a different type of comfort.
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I know that everything is gonna be all right, because my father
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Runs everything.
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Are you kidding me?
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We're in his house.
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And so, i think that, you know, there's so much beauty that can
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Come when you just remind yourself that you're a son.
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Kirk: yeah, that's right.
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That's right.
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I love that, and you know, the scriptures tell us that just
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Like jesus, you know, he is the son of god, but we're sons and
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Daughters of god when we believe the gospel, and we get to
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Inherit all of that together with him for all of eternity.
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And i think, and all of his righteousness becomes ours and
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All of that glory and that kingdom, he invites us into it
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And to share all of it with him.
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So what does it really matter whether my--whether i have a
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Book or a movie or a trophy or a ribbon or a thing when i've got
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The goodness and the mercy and the glory of god
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To enjoy for eternity?
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Jonathan: this is icing on the cake.
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Kirk: yeah.
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Jonathan: that's all it is.
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It reminds me of this, and i just wanna say this, since you
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Brought up jesus, we're talking about a jesus that is the son of
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God, and he--god was so pleased with him that he said, "this is
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My son in whom i'm well pleased," and jesus hadn't
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Done anything.
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He hadn't done any of the miracles that we know him for.
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He hadn't died on the cross, he hadn't done anything yet but be.
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So, could you imagine that if god can bestow that type of
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Pleasure in his son before his son even gets to the
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Nitty-gritty of climbing his mountain, don't you think he'd
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Do that for us too?
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Jonathan: man, this is a fascinating talk.
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I can't wait to talk more, and when we come back, we'll talk
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With jonathan more about the value of valley experience and
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How god will use it to change our mindset, so stay with us.
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[music]
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Kirk: welcome to a new segment of "takeaways" where we're
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Putting a spotlight on breakthrough health discoveries
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And hosting a very special friend of the tbn family who has
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Come all the way from israel.
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Joining me now is ilan sobel, the ceo of bioharvest sciences,
00:23:47.383 --> 00:23:52.021
The makers of vinia, a red grape circulation superfood that is
00:23:52.021 --> 00:23:56.659
The talk of the town here at tbn.
00:23:56.659 --> 00:23:59.195
Ilan, thanks so much for joining us.
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Ilan sobel: kirk, it's an absolute pleasure to be on the
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Show today.
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Kirk: well, i am so excited.
00:24:04.433 --> 00:24:05.768
You know, if i wasn't an actor, i had always aspired to be a
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Doctor, and i'm thrilled at the idea of technology harnessing
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The magic and the treasures of creation and using it
00:24:14.777 --> 00:24:19.382
For health.
00:24:19.382 --> 00:24:20.716
So talk to us about vinia.
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What is it, and why is everyone so excited about it?
00:24:22.084 --> 00:24:25.054
Ilan: wow, vinia is probably the best manifestation of how
00:24:25.054 --> 00:24:29.091
Scripture and science come together.
00:24:29.091 --> 00:24:31.727
So let's go back to creation, if you don't mind for
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A moment, kirk.
00:24:34.597 --> 00:24:35.965
On day 3 of creation, god gave us 500,000 plants, and each of
00:24:35.965 --> 00:24:41.370
Those plants are like treasures.
00:24:41.370 --> 00:24:44.073
Every plant has critical phytonutrients that are so
00:24:44.073 --> 00:24:47.877
Important for our health and wellness.
00:24:47.877 --> 00:24:49.845
We at bioharvest sciences have spent more than $100 million on
00:24:49.845 --> 00:24:54.016
A technology that we call botanical synthesis, and we're
00:24:54.016 --> 00:24:57.687
Able to understand exactly where inside the plant are the
00:24:57.687 --> 00:25:00.423
Critical cells that produce those very important
00:25:00.423 --> 00:25:03.693
Phytonutrients for the human body.
00:25:03.693 --> 00:25:06.062
So in the case of the red grape, we took cells from the red
00:25:06.062 --> 00:25:09.832
Grape, the critical cells that produce the
00:25:09.832 --> 00:25:12.301
Important phytonutrients.
00:25:12.301 --> 00:25:13.803
Inside a red grape are very important phytonutrients,
00:25:13.803 --> 00:25:15.805
Polyphenols, and we took those cells, and we grew those cells
00:25:15.805 --> 00:25:21.577
In specific petri dishes, like a science project back at school,
00:25:21.577 --> 00:25:26.115
With changing the food we feed the cells, we changed the
00:25:26.115 --> 00:25:29.418
Lighting, we changed the temperature and a number of
00:25:29.418 --> 00:25:32.121
Other critical elements that are part of our ip black box,
00:25:32.121 --> 00:25:36.058
And we get the cells to do two things.
00:25:36.058 --> 00:25:37.860
One, we get the cells to produce the exact same phytonutrients as
00:25:37.860 --> 00:25:41.464
The plant, we call this mirroring, and two, we magnified
00:25:41.464 --> 00:25:44.734
The levels of the most important polyphenol, in this case it's
00:25:44.734 --> 00:25:48.404
The piceid resveratrol.
00:25:48.404 --> 00:25:49.805
So in the case of vinia, we magnified the piceid resveratrol
00:25:49.805 --> 00:25:54.477
100 times.
00:25:54.477 --> 00:25:56.078
Now, piceid resveratrol goes back to the french paradox, and
00:25:56.078 --> 00:25:59.715
If you go back to the french paradox, you understand people
00:25:59.715 --> 00:26:01.917
In france, they have amazing cardiovascular health, but they
00:26:01.917 --> 00:26:05.821
Have a really fatty diet.
00:26:05.821 --> 00:26:07.456
So when the scientists went to understand what was it that gave
00:26:07.456 --> 00:26:10.359
Them the amazing diet, they realized it was moderate
00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:12.695
Consumption of red wine, that's two to three glasses of red wine
00:26:12.695 --> 00:26:15.898
Every day.
00:26:15.898 --> 00:26:17.266
And when they went in to understand what was inside the
00:26:17.266 --> 00:26:18.801
Red wine, they realized it was the piceid resveratrol.
00:26:18.801 --> 00:26:22.438
So what we did is we took these cells, we grow them in large
00:26:22.438 --> 00:26:25.975
Scale bioreactors, in 18 to 20 days, the cells multiply, they
00:26:25.975 --> 00:26:30.279
Produce the piceid resveratrol, we harvest the cells, and we're
00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:34.116
Left with this amazing capsule which has the same amount of
00:26:34.116 --> 00:26:37.720
Piceid resveratrol as 1,000 red grapes, pretty much what we have
00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:41.624
Here in the glass container, and one bottle of red wine, of
00:26:41.624 --> 00:26:45.561
Course, no sugar, no calories, no alcohol.
00:26:45.561 --> 00:26:48.230
And as a science-based company, we conducted clinical trials,
00:26:48.230 --> 00:26:53.769
And we were able to demonstrate that after taking one capsule of
00:26:53.769 --> 00:26:57.039
Vinia every single day, we increased the dilation of your
00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:01.177
Arteries significantly.
00:27:01.177 --> 00:27:03.345
Now, as we understand, we have 60,000 miles of arteries,
00:27:03.345 --> 00:27:08.184
Capillaries, and veins in our body, and it's critical that
00:27:08.184 --> 00:27:11.721
Those 60,000 miles are operating like four-lane highways, because
00:27:11.721 --> 00:27:16.325
Blood flow is so critical, and this is what vinia does.
00:27:16.325 --> 00:27:19.028
Vinia increases blood flow significantly as a result of
00:27:19.028 --> 00:27:22.765
That increase in arterial dilation.
00:27:22.765 --> 00:27:25.434
Kirk: that's fantastic.
00:27:25.434 --> 00:27:27.036
I love the metaphor there of a four-lane highway.
00:27:27.036 --> 00:27:29.672
We don't want bumper-to-bumper traffic on a two-lane skinny,
00:27:29.672 --> 00:27:32.908
Little country road.
00:27:32.908 --> 00:27:34.243
Ilan: or a side road, you want that blood flow flowing, 'cause
00:27:34.243 --> 00:27:36.979
More blood flow means more oxygen and nutrients being
00:27:36.979 --> 00:27:40.683
Delivered to all your body tissue, cells, and organs, and
00:27:40.683 --> 00:27:43.319
That's more physical energy and more mental alertness.
00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:46.422
In today's world, who doesn't need more physical energy and
00:27:46.422 --> 00:27:49.925
Mental alertness?
00:27:49.925 --> 00:27:51.293
Kirk: that's right. that's right.
00:27:51.293 --> 00:27:53.996
And i know that blood flow also affects the brain.
00:27:53.996 --> 00:27:55.731
Talk to us about why so many people are struggling with brain
00:27:55.731 --> 00:28:00.136
Fog, trouble focusing, and with mental alertness.
00:28:00.136 --> 00:28:05.274
Ilan: so there was a recent nhi piece of research which
00:28:05.274 --> 00:28:08.778
Demonstrated that roughly one in three americans are dealing with
00:28:08.778 --> 00:28:11.447
The challenges of brain fog.
00:28:11.447 --> 00:28:13.616
It's just not operating the way it should be.
00:28:13.616 --> 00:28:16.452
And many people don't realize that one of the critical, you
00:28:16.452 --> 00:28:19.421
Know, catalysts to solve that brain fog is related to blood
00:28:19.421 --> 00:28:23.459
Flow, why?
00:28:23.459 --> 00:28:25.261
Because if you think about it, our brain, it's 2% of the body
00:28:25.261 --> 00:28:29.732
Mass of our body, but it utilizes 15% of our blood flow
00:28:29.732 --> 00:28:36.005
And 20% of the body's oxygen.
00:28:36.005 --> 00:28:39.508
And that's critical, because you need to have significant blood
00:28:39.508 --> 00:28:43.245
Flow to the peripheral part of your brain in order to bring
00:28:43.245 --> 00:28:46.882
Oxygen to the brain and remove cellular toxins.
00:28:46.882 --> 00:28:51.086
And it's because of the lack of oxygen and the inability to
00:28:51.086 --> 00:28:54.623
Remove enough of those cellular toxins that you have brain fog.
00:28:54.623 --> 00:28:57.993
So you have to have that good blood flow inside the peripheral
00:28:57.993 --> 00:29:02.031
Part of the brain with more oxygen and helping to remove
00:29:02.031 --> 00:29:05.301
That cellular toxins and wastes.
00:29:05.301 --> 00:29:08.237
Kirk: i'm continually amazed at god's design and how it works
00:29:08.237 --> 00:29:11.774
And how important blood flow is for all of our different parts
00:29:11.774 --> 00:29:15.177
To be working properly.
00:29:15.177 --> 00:29:16.912
You mentioned not only the importance of blood flow taking
00:29:16.912 --> 00:29:20.282
Nutrients to our brain and other parts of the body, but there's
00:29:20.282 --> 00:29:24.153
The other half of the equation, which is exporting that
00:29:24.153 --> 00:29:26.989
Cellular waste.
00:29:26.989 --> 00:29:28.324
All of the garbage has got to be gotten rid of.
00:29:28.324 --> 00:29:31.060
Ilan: correct, so think about it, our body has billions of
00:29:31.060 --> 00:29:33.762
Cells, and those cells, their role is to produce energy.
00:29:33.762 --> 00:29:38.634
And it's like a factory.
00:29:38.634 --> 00:29:40.002
You produce something, you have waste.
00:29:40.002 --> 00:29:42.104
So that waste has to be removed from the body.
00:29:42.104 --> 00:29:45.608
So that's a critical role of the blood flow.
00:29:45.608 --> 00:29:47.543
The blood flow is helping bring nutrients to the cells, the
00:29:47.543 --> 00:29:50.145
Cells are producing oxygen, and then there's the removal
00:29:50.145 --> 00:29:53.716
Required of the cellular waste.
00:29:53.716 --> 00:29:55.451
And that's why the blood flow is so important to keep the cells
00:29:55.451 --> 00:29:58.754
Healthy by removing the cellular waste and taking it to the liver
00:29:58.754 --> 00:30:01.924
And kidneys to be excreted from our body.
00:30:01.924 --> 00:30:04.994
The important thing, kirk, is that the average person on the
00:30:04.994 --> 00:30:08.964
Street does not understand how important blood flow is to our
00:30:08.964 --> 00:30:14.336
Bodies, and that it's the most critical part of our body's
00:30:14.336 --> 00:30:18.741
Operating system.
00:30:18.741 --> 00:30:20.376
And this is what really the power of what we've tried to do
00:30:20.376 --> 00:30:23.078
At bioharvest sciences with vinia to really help educate
00:30:23.078 --> 00:30:26.715
The consumer.
00:30:26.715 --> 00:30:28.050
Kirk: wow, it's easy to see why so many people are excited about
00:30:28.050 --> 00:30:31.720
Bioharvest sciences and vinia.
00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:34.323
Taking care of the temple of our bodies isn't just good
00:30:34.323 --> 00:30:36.992
Stewardship, it's also how we ensure we're ready to fulfill
00:30:36.992 --> 00:30:41.397
His calling in our lives with our fullest potential.
00:30:41.397 --> 00:30:44.833
If you want to learn more about how you can try vinia risk free
00:30:44.833 --> 00:30:48.537
For 90 days, please call the number on your screen or just
00:30:48.537 --> 00:30:51.807
Visit viniatbn.com.
00:30:51.807 --> 00:30:54.677
Also, i want you to know that a significant portion of your
00:30:54.677 --> 00:30:57.546
Purchase of vinia goes directly to tbn to support the mission of
00:30:57.546 --> 00:31:02.318
Spreading the gospel around the world.
00:31:02.318 --> 00:31:04.119
We'll have more right here on "takeaways" after this.
00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:10.002
We'll have more right here on "takeaways" after this.
00:31:10.002 --> 00:31:11.255
[music]
00:31:11.588 --> 00:31:15.793
Kirk: we're back with jonathan mcreynolds.
00:31:19.730 --> 00:31:21.098
Jonathan, we're talking about your book, "before you climb any
00:31:21.098 --> 00:31:23.467
Higher," and what do you mean when you say that the valley is
00:31:23.467 --> 00:31:27.938
Not about finishing but about being?
00:31:27.938 --> 00:31:31.141
Jonathan: we have a lot of energy that is pushed towards
00:31:31.141 --> 00:31:34.545
Accomplishing and doing, expanding, either horizontally
00:31:34.545 --> 00:31:38.582
Or vertically.
00:31:38.582 --> 00:31:39.917
We're always trying to accomplish.
00:31:39.917 --> 00:31:42.152
But when it comes to the valley and this idea of being just a
00:31:42.152 --> 00:31:45.422
Son or daughter of god, that is when you just get to be.
00:31:45.422 --> 00:31:49.193
That is when you just get to present yourself as who you are
00:31:49.193 --> 00:31:54.131
To your father that already knows who you are.
00:31:54.131 --> 00:31:56.934
I think for me, and you tell me if you've ever had to deal with
00:31:56.934 --> 00:32:01.138
This, the industries that we're in, they all require a little
00:32:01.138 --> 00:32:05.909
Bit of a mask.
00:32:05.909 --> 00:32:07.277
They require some enhancement.
00:32:07.277 --> 00:32:10.347
They really couldn't deal with us just as us.
00:32:10.347 --> 00:32:13.550
Kirk: there's a lady back there trying to put some makeup on my
00:32:13.550 --> 00:32:15.552
Face today, it's like--
00:32:15.552 --> 00:32:17.755
Jonathan: every two minutes, dabbing me up with a little
00:32:17.755 --> 00:32:19.123
Extra, you know what i'm saying?
00:32:19.123 --> 00:32:20.457
Because these cameras could not handle all of my actual flaws.
00:32:20.457 --> 00:32:24.161
Kirk: that's right.
00:32:24.161 --> 00:32:25.496
Jonathan: you know?
00:32:25.496 --> 00:32:26.864
And so, but god can.
00:32:26.864 --> 00:32:28.198
That's the point is that in each arena that we live in or
00:32:28.198 --> 00:32:32.936
Actually work in, rather, there's a mask, there's an
00:32:32.936 --> 00:32:35.939
Enhancement, there's a call for us to reach and be something
00:32:35.939 --> 00:32:40.878
Maybe a little different or whatever just to acquiesce with
00:32:40.878 --> 00:32:44.882
That environment and be presentable.
00:32:44.882 --> 00:32:47.051
You know, we have a--or i have a career where people are
00:32:47.051 --> 00:32:51.121
Involved, and i have to present to them, and they have their
00:32:51.121 --> 00:32:53.791
Different preferences and their different understandings of
00:32:53.791 --> 00:32:55.993
Things, and i prided myself on walking into a room, being able
00:32:55.993 --> 00:33:00.431
To read it, and be able to do and kind of change my
00:33:00.431 --> 00:33:03.967
Presentation to adapt to the room.
00:33:03.967 --> 00:33:06.670
But when you are just in the valley, it's just like, god,
00:33:06.670 --> 00:33:10.774
Here i am.
00:33:10.774 --> 00:33:12.109
This is all i got.
00:33:12.109 --> 00:33:13.477
Kirk: now, jonathan, what are some practical things you can do
00:33:13.477 --> 00:33:15.379
To put yourself in the valley?
00:33:15.379 --> 00:33:17.047
Jonathan: cool, i'm gonna start with this.
00:33:17.047 --> 00:33:18.749
One, we all know about sacrifice.
00:33:18.749 --> 00:33:22.686
We sometimes sacrifice with our money.
00:33:22.686 --> 00:33:25.122
I've even, you know, there's even a term of sacrificing,
00:33:25.122 --> 00:33:28.525
Giving god a sacrifice of praise.
00:33:28.525 --> 00:33:31.562
But how hard is it for us hustlers and workers and
00:33:31.562 --> 00:33:35.966
Overachievers to give god a sacrifice of pause, just for
00:33:35.966 --> 00:33:40.404
One second?
00:33:40.404 --> 00:33:41.738
First of all, just stop.
00:33:41.738 --> 00:33:43.107
Just--now, it doesn't mean, you know, forsake your job, it
00:33:43.107 --> 00:33:46.276
Doesn't mean stop paying the bills, but just for a second,
00:33:46.276 --> 00:33:49.580
Maybe for an evening, for a weekend, could you just get that
00:33:49.580 --> 00:33:53.217
Off your mind for one second and pause and just identify how this
00:33:53.217 --> 00:33:59.223
Work and this ministry and this undertaking that you've had is
00:33:59.223 --> 00:34:03.560
Now affecting you and the scars and the injuries that you have?
00:34:03.560 --> 00:34:06.597
The first thing we have to do is pause.
00:34:06.597 --> 00:34:08.632
Then we start to aim down.
00:34:08.632 --> 00:34:10.267
And i, in the book, i talk about it's kind of a, you know, right
00:34:10.267 --> 00:34:15.005
Foot, left foot type method.
00:34:15.005 --> 00:34:16.740
Just imagine coming down, right foot, less of me, left foot,
00:34:16.740 --> 00:34:22.579
More of god.
00:34:22.579 --> 00:34:23.914
Right foot, less of me, left foot, more of god.
00:34:23.914 --> 00:34:27.584
Right foot, less of me.
00:34:27.584 --> 00:34:30.053
I need to tell my ego, first of all, to shut up.
00:34:30.053 --> 00:34:33.690
That is a very loud voice in our lives.
00:34:33.690 --> 00:34:36.426
It's the voice that says if you stop now, you're gonna
00:34:36.426 --> 00:34:39.496
Lose progress.
00:34:39.496 --> 00:34:40.898
That guy who's behind you, he's gonna get ahead of you
00:34:40.898 --> 00:34:43.400
If you stop.
00:34:43.400 --> 00:34:44.768
You're gonna be late if you don't pray.
00:34:44.768 --> 00:34:46.103
I remember my mother, she would stop me at the door every time
00:34:46.103 --> 00:34:49.840
I'm running out, i'd be late trying to catch the school bus,
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:53.010
And she'd say, "hold on, pray."
00:34:53.010 --> 00:34:55.112
I'm like, "ma, i'm about to-- i'm gonna be late."
00:34:55.112 --> 00:34:58.448
She's like, "well, if praying makes you late, you're gonna be
00:34:58.448 --> 00:35:02.186
Too early."
00:35:02.186 --> 00:35:04.021
Kirk: that's a good mom.
00:35:04.021 --> 00:35:05.389
Jonathan: and yeah, so, and so at the end of the day, you know,
00:35:05.389 --> 00:35:08.058
We have to, first of all, tell the ego--and this is the less
00:35:08.058 --> 00:35:11.695
Of me part--hey, shut up.
00:35:11.695 --> 00:35:14.464
And you have to sometimes hit it with some actual truth.
00:35:14.464 --> 00:35:17.467
It's not to make you look at yourself as less, but it's to
00:35:17.467 --> 00:35:22.172
Take a little pressure off of yourself and shut that ego up.
00:35:22.172 --> 00:35:26.677
Then you move to more of god.
00:35:26.677 --> 00:35:28.979
What i've enjoyed doing and, you know, this might be my little
00:35:28.979 --> 00:35:32.549
Artsy way of doing things, i like scrapbooking, because i do
00:35:32.549 --> 00:35:36.954
So many cool things, things that, you know, others would
00:35:36.954 --> 00:35:40.657
Deem cool.
00:35:40.657 --> 00:35:41.992
I get to hang out with you, i get to travel here, and i get to
00:35:41.992 --> 00:35:44.561
Do that, and you just move so fast that you don't realize what
00:35:44.561 --> 00:35:49.299
God has been doing.
00:35:49.299 --> 00:35:50.634
Like you just--so what i say in the book is the first thing is
00:35:50.634 --> 00:35:54.171
Let's review god's history.
00:35:54.171 --> 00:35:56.106
Let's just for a second just realize--
00:35:56.106 --> 00:35:58.342
Kirk: there's so many highlight reels, and we need to
00:35:58.342 --> 00:36:00.244
Watch them.
00:36:00.244 --> 00:36:01.612
Jonathan: watch them.
00:36:01.612 --> 00:36:02.946
Don't just post them, watch them.
00:36:02.946 --> 00:36:04.481
You know, really go through your photo album and see like there's
00:36:04.481 --> 00:36:09.052
A moment when you didn't think you were gonna get past that.
00:36:09.052 --> 00:36:12.789
You don't know--you thought that they were gonna hate that
00:36:12.789 --> 00:36:15.325
Presentation, they were gonna hate that song.
00:36:15.325 --> 00:36:17.060
You didn't know how you're gonna walk into this environment
00:36:17.060 --> 00:36:20.330
And escape.
00:36:20.330 --> 00:36:21.698
And not only did you escape, you thrived.
00:36:21.698 --> 00:36:24.201
God was with you in all these moments.
00:36:24.201 --> 00:36:26.570
When you didn't think that you were gonna even be able to have
00:36:26.570 --> 00:36:29.206
A child and now you have four of them.
00:36:29.206 --> 00:36:31.908
Look at where god has brought you from.
00:36:31.908 --> 00:36:34.544
So, and i, you know, i have a few more steps in there that
00:36:34.544 --> 00:36:38.515
Adds to the less of me and more of god step down.
00:36:38.515 --> 00:36:41.718
But as you continue to take those steps down, you'll find
00:36:41.718 --> 00:36:44.888
Yourself in a place where you don't need or even want to
00:36:44.888 --> 00:36:48.158
Identify as just the boss and the worker and the graduate.
00:36:48.158 --> 00:36:53.697
You wanna just lay in god's arms and be like, god, thank you.
00:36:53.697 --> 00:36:58.635
Pops, i love you.
00:36:58.635 --> 00:37:00.170
Kirk: man, gratitude is the key.
00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:03.106
Gratitude, someone once said, they said that--see if you like
00:37:03.106 --> 00:37:05.742
This--they said gratitude is the attitude that determines
00:37:05.742 --> 00:37:08.779
The altitude for your living.
00:37:08.779 --> 00:37:11.615
And man, gratitude is so important, but you learn
00:37:11.615 --> 00:37:15.218
To be grateful often down in the valley.
00:37:15.218 --> 00:37:16.853
Jonathan: i love that.
00:37:16.853 --> 00:37:18.188
I really love that, because, yeah, it's on the mountain.
00:37:18.188 --> 00:37:22.459
This is how i think of it.
00:37:22.459 --> 00:37:24.161
On the mountain, all of my prayers were so mountainy,
00:37:24.161 --> 00:37:28.832
You know?
00:37:28.832 --> 00:37:30.200
Because all i was concerned about was career and, you know,
00:37:30.200 --> 00:37:33.303
Presenting myself in a good fashion.
00:37:33.303 --> 00:37:35.405
Now, it was all noble, i guess.
00:37:35.405 --> 00:37:37.007
You know, i wasn't going out for just greed and fame or anything,
00:37:37.007 --> 00:37:41.878
I was just trying to represent myself well, even in the most
00:37:41.878 --> 00:37:44.715
Noble way.
00:37:44.715 --> 00:37:46.083
I just wanna graduate.
00:37:46.083 --> 00:37:47.417
I just wanna do something good on the earth.
00:37:47.417 --> 00:37:49.419
Still, all of my prayers were based towards that.
00:37:49.419 --> 00:37:53.423
So now i'm only looking at god through this little tunnel
00:37:53.423 --> 00:37:56.426
Vision, and i only see your blessings when it's in
00:37:56.426 --> 00:37:58.929
This realm.
00:37:58.929 --> 00:38:00.263
I'm not even seeing what you're doing over here.
00:38:00.263 --> 00:38:02.232
I'm not seeing how you're protecting me over here.
00:38:02.232 --> 00:38:04.434
I'm not seeing how you're providing for me over here.
00:38:04.434 --> 00:38:07.170
Everything has to be in this little lens that i'm praying
00:38:07.170 --> 00:38:09.940
For, and i just believe that when you come down to the valley
00:38:09.940 --> 00:38:14.277
And you start opening--instead of being so tunnel visioned on
00:38:14.277 --> 00:38:18.215
The next step up, you get to open yourself to this wide
00:38:18.215 --> 00:38:21.818
Valley and be like, oh my goodness, god, i did stub my
00:38:21.818 --> 00:38:27.357
Toe, but the rest of my body is fine.
00:38:27.357 --> 00:38:30.460
Thank you.
00:38:30.460 --> 00:38:31.795
Like, i didn't get this car that maybe i wanted, i didn't get
00:38:31.795 --> 00:38:34.564
This promotion that maybe i was hoping for, oh my goodness, like
00:38:34.564 --> 00:38:38.702
You've kept me this whole time.
00:38:38.702 --> 00:38:41.138
And once you start to widen that view, oh wait, god has been
00:38:41.138 --> 00:38:45.108
Doing a lot of stuff around you and for you, and that valley
00:38:45.108 --> 00:38:49.379
Gives you an opportunity to widen that scope and see what
00:38:49.379 --> 00:38:52.549
He's been doing.
00:38:52.549 --> 00:38:53.884
Kirk: man, that's so important, because it's when we pause and
00:38:53.884 --> 00:38:56.853
We think about those kinds of things, i know for me that's
00:38:56.853 --> 00:38:59.656
Where i've learned the most important lessons of my life.
00:38:59.656 --> 00:39:02.092
All the lessons that have kept my marriage on track and have
00:39:02.092 --> 00:39:06.196
Helped me to be a good father have not been when i'm way up
00:39:06.196 --> 00:39:10.033
Flying high, it's when i'm laid down low and i'm in prayer and
00:39:10.033 --> 00:39:14.738
I'm just crying out to god.
00:39:14.738 --> 00:39:16.373
Yeah, it's the best.
00:39:16.373 --> 00:39:18.074
We have so much more to talk to, and i want to talk more about
00:39:18.074 --> 00:39:20.177
Those, the right foot, left foot, stepping down the
00:39:20.177 --> 00:39:22.446
Mountain, how we get into the valley in a healthy way.
00:39:22.446 --> 00:39:25.449
How do you apply what god shows you during times of rest and
00:39:25.449 --> 00:39:29.886
Reflection and not repeat the same cycles of burnout moving
00:39:29.886 --> 00:39:33.723
Forward to the next goal?
00:39:33.723 --> 00:39:35.325
We're gonna talk more about this right after the break.
00:39:35.325 --> 00:39:38.128
[music]
00:39:38.128 --> 00:39:44.000
[music]
00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:44.904
[music]
00:39:45.238 --> 00:39:49.442
Kirk: jonathan mcreynolds has stayed with us to discuss the
00:39:51.444 --> 00:39:54.547
Life-changing mindsets that he has learned in his latest book,
00:39:54.547 --> 00:39:58.351
"before you climb any higher."
00:39:58.351 --> 00:40:00.186
Now, jonathan, share with us some strategies for how we can
00:40:00.186 --> 00:40:05.692
Stay anchored in the valley.
00:40:05.692 --> 00:40:07.627
Jonathan: what i love about what you just said about gratitude
00:40:07.627 --> 00:40:10.930
Being the attitude that determines your altitude, to me,
00:40:10.930 --> 00:40:15.602
In my valley/mountain, you know, mindset right now, it reminds me
00:40:15.602 --> 00:40:21.641
That what we garner and what we gather down in the valley, how
00:40:21.641 --> 00:40:25.478
We eat in the valley, like how the fat buildups, the everything
00:40:25.478 --> 00:40:29.749
That we--the proteins that we consume that build us as people,
00:40:29.749 --> 00:40:35.989
I think that when it comes to the idea of just being anchored
00:40:35.989 --> 00:40:42.896
To the valley, it's knowing how to get up and down quickly.
00:40:42.896 --> 00:40:49.402
You know, it's knowing how to leave set and get back
00:40:49.402 --> 00:40:53.540
Home quickly.
00:40:53.540 --> 00:40:55.241
It's knowing how to in the concert, be like, thank you guys
00:40:55.241 --> 00:40:58.978
So much for coming out, i love you, and you know that you're
00:40:58.978 --> 00:41:01.681
Vulnerable, your adrenaline is up, and all this other stuff.
00:41:01.681 --> 00:41:05.585
How quickly can you get back to lord, i thank you?
00:41:05.585 --> 00:41:10.623
Kirk: yeah.
00:41:10.623 --> 00:41:11.991
Jonathan: wow, wow, god, you know?
00:41:11.991 --> 00:41:13.426
Maybe i've done that before, maybe i've never done that
00:41:13.426 --> 00:41:15.562
Before, maybe i've done bigger things before, but god,
00:41:15.562 --> 00:41:18.264
Thank you.
00:41:18.264 --> 00:41:19.632
That was really cool.
00:41:19.632 --> 00:41:20.967
I thank you that you keep trusting me with this stuff.
00:41:20.967 --> 00:41:23.202
I thank you that you have confidence in me.
00:41:23.202 --> 00:41:25.772
As we become more mature in our sonship, we get all of these
00:41:25.772 --> 00:41:30.443
New, exciting assignments and places where god is trusting us,
00:41:30.443 --> 00:41:37.150
Platforms where he trusts us.
00:41:37.150 --> 00:41:38.918
Thank you for that.
00:41:38.918 --> 00:41:40.253
And let me just come back down to just being your son who is in
00:41:40.253 --> 00:41:44.791
Awe of what you keep doing and that you keep somehow including
00:41:44.791 --> 00:41:48.361
In your plan.
00:41:48.361 --> 00:41:49.729
It's a mindset.
00:41:49.729 --> 00:41:51.064
It's not always a physical place.
00:41:51.064 --> 00:41:52.899
Now, i do have a power rangers toy on my tour bus to remind me
00:41:52.899 --> 00:41:58.605
To be a kid.
00:41:58.605 --> 00:42:00.006
I don't play with it necessarily, but just seeing the
00:42:00.006 --> 00:42:02.342
Red ranger up there, it makes me just, okay, all right.
00:42:02.342 --> 00:42:06.879
I know that you're great out there, but in here, all i need
00:42:06.879 --> 00:42:10.516
You to do is be good.
00:42:10.516 --> 00:42:12.118
And i think that, you know, being anchored and coming down
00:42:12.118 --> 00:42:16.889
As often as you can, remembering that god is your source, you
00:42:16.889 --> 00:42:21.928
Can't eat on the mountain, there's not much up there, so
00:42:21.928 --> 00:42:24.764
You have to come back down to get your nourishing, to get your
00:42:24.764 --> 00:42:28.534
Identity back before it sails away in the air.
00:42:28.534 --> 00:42:33.272
Kirk: you're making me think of jesus.
00:42:33.272 --> 00:42:34.641
He was--he preached the sermon on the mount.
00:42:34.641 --> 00:42:37.043
He often would go up on a mountain, and he would--yeah,
00:42:37.043 --> 00:42:39.979
And then he would come back down and he would, again, he said, "i
00:42:39.979 --> 00:42:44.050
Didn't--the son of man did not come to be served but to serve."
00:42:44.050 --> 00:42:47.120
He came down the mountain, and he'd serve people.
00:42:47.120 --> 00:42:48.921
He would literally feed people, he would heal the sick, he would
00:42:48.921 --> 00:42:52.458
Raise the dead, or he'd go out into the wilderness all by
00:42:52.458 --> 00:42:55.094
Himself as the son and just pray to his father.
00:42:55.094 --> 00:42:58.231
And, you know, he--or he was on his knees, and he wept, or he
00:42:58.231 --> 00:43:03.069
Sweat great drops of blood, because he knew that, man, think
00:43:03.069 --> 00:43:08.107
About this, the greatest mountain he had to climb was to
00:43:08.107 --> 00:43:13.079
Actually go do the father's will and go up to mount golgotha and
00:43:13.079 --> 00:43:17.183
Go hang on that cross.
00:43:17.183 --> 00:43:19.285
And it was like everything that led up to that, i think, seemed
00:43:19.285 --> 00:43:24.557
Like they were in those valleys where he was with the father
00:43:24.557 --> 00:43:27.794
Serving other people, laying down his life so that he could
00:43:27.794 --> 00:43:32.699
Actually do the most important thing that he came to do.
00:43:32.699 --> 00:43:36.235
Jonathan: it makes me think of this, the big prayer in the
00:43:36.235 --> 00:43:39.272
Garden, you know, it's kind of like, i don't know if that,
00:43:39.272 --> 00:43:44.010
Lord, let this cup pass for me version of jesus, i don't know
00:43:44.010 --> 00:43:48.548
How the apostles would have dealt with that, how
00:43:48.548 --> 00:43:51.284
The disciples would have dealt with that.
00:43:51.284 --> 00:43:53.119
I think even going, you know, retreating and kind of going a
00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:58.491
Stone's throw away from him to actually have this prayer with
00:43:58.491 --> 00:44:01.861
His father, that wasn't necessarily the most, i guess
00:44:01.861 --> 00:44:08.668
From a human's eyes, the most marketable version.
00:44:08.668 --> 00:44:12.371
That's not--that wasn't the strongest version, that wasn't
00:44:12.371 --> 00:44:14.874
The most heroic version.
00:44:14.874 --> 00:44:19.479
Kirk: most braveheart, gladiator prayer.
00:44:19.479 --> 00:44:20.813
Jonathan: yeah, that wasn't the chuck norris version.
00:44:20.813 --> 00:44:24.250
Kirk: i hear what you're saying, yeah.
00:44:24.250 --> 00:44:25.585
Jonathan: you know, that was the vulnerable.
00:44:25.585 --> 00:44:29.255
That was the like, god, do i have to do this?
00:44:29.255 --> 00:44:31.657
Could you do something else?
00:44:31.657 --> 00:44:32.992
Is there another way?
00:44:32.992 --> 00:44:34.360
Is there a plan b? is there something?
00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:35.695
And then, yeah, when it's all over, okay, but let your will
00:44:35.695 --> 00:44:38.931
Be done.
00:44:38.931 --> 00:44:40.266
Sure, not my will but yours be done, but i think that an
00:44:40.266 --> 00:44:43.436
Opportunity to go a stone's throw away to retreat, even as
00:44:43.436 --> 00:44:48.541
The father, even as the head of the household, the head of the
00:44:48.541 --> 00:44:51.611
Company, sometimes you have to get away from the people that
00:44:51.611 --> 00:44:55.014
Even you--you're over, your own staff, your own kids, and you
00:44:55.014 --> 00:44:59.485
Have to retreat and go to a place where now you are not the
00:44:59.485 --> 00:45:03.389
Authority figure, and you can now embrace that there is a big
00:45:03.389 --> 00:45:08.194
Authority that loves you.
00:45:08.194 --> 00:45:09.729
Kirk: you know, jonathan, that's actually how i came to the lord
00:45:09.729 --> 00:45:12.031
As an atheist when i was on a tv show called "growing pains,"
00:45:12.031 --> 00:45:15.301
Probably before you were even born.
00:45:15.301 --> 00:45:16.669
But ask your mom, she'll tell you all about it.
00:45:16.669 --> 00:45:18.371
Jonathan: i was there. i saw it.
00:45:18.371 --> 00:45:21.207
Kirk: and it was like a mountaintop kind of experience,
00:45:21.207 --> 00:45:23.176
But i didn't believe in god, and when someone told me that i
00:45:23.176 --> 00:45:27.180
Ought to pray to god and reminded me that i needed
00:45:27.180 --> 00:45:30.783
Humility and faith, he was reminding me that i was not
00:45:30.783 --> 00:45:38.024
Gonna be the celebrity in that relationship between me and god.
00:45:38.024 --> 00:45:43.362
I needed to humble myself and come way down low, because
00:45:43.362 --> 00:45:47.066
Somebody else made the mountain, and that was the one that i was
00:45:47.066 --> 00:45:50.136
Talking to, and that shifted my whole perspective.
00:45:50.136 --> 00:45:52.238
All of a sudden i felt like i was a big man on campus at
00:45:52.238 --> 00:45:54.740
Warner brothers, in, you know, in my career at 17 years old,
00:45:54.740 --> 00:45:58.978
But really, i was--i felt like about as big as a grain of sand
00:45:58.978 --> 00:46:03.382
Compared to the god who created the universe, right?
00:46:03.382 --> 00:46:05.551
Jonathan: yeah, i love that.
00:46:05.551 --> 00:46:06.919
Kirk: but that was what i needed to actually like sync up
00:46:06.919 --> 00:46:11.557
With reality.
00:46:11.557 --> 00:46:12.892
Jonathan: yeah, you know, i was--you know, i tell people
00:46:12.892 --> 00:46:15.695
This often that, you know, there was a time, particularly when,
00:46:15.695 --> 00:46:19.532
You know, my beginning years of career that i started going
00:46:19.532 --> 00:46:22.702
Through the bible, and i was looking for a special book.
00:46:22.702 --> 00:46:25.805
I feel like we deserved a book on just--a book just for vips,
00:46:25.805 --> 00:46:31.244
A book just for public figures, a book just for people that have
00:46:31.244 --> 00:46:34.747
A million followers on instagram.
00:46:34.747 --> 00:46:37.583
There should be a scripture or ten chapters just for
00:46:37.583 --> 00:46:43.890
The celebrities.
00:46:43.890 --> 00:46:45.424
And why isn't there?
00:46:45.424 --> 00:46:46.759
There isn't even one just for the ceos.
00:46:46.759 --> 00:46:49.495
There isn't just a nice, wonderful book.
00:46:49.495 --> 00:46:52.832
Okay, paul wrote to galatia, he wrote to thessalonica, he wrote
00:46:52.832 --> 00:46:57.970
To everybody.
00:46:57.970 --> 00:46:59.338
Why didn't he write one to the c-suite?
00:46:59.338 --> 00:47:02.008
Why didn't he write one just to the directors and the producers?
00:47:02.008 --> 00:47:06.245
It's amazing why--how there isn't a special scripture just
00:47:06.245 --> 00:47:09.916
For those.
00:47:09.916 --> 00:47:11.250
Every promise, every blessing, everything he has to say is to
00:47:11.250 --> 00:47:15.388
The kid.
00:47:15.388 --> 00:47:16.756
And so if you don't embrace the idea that you are a child of
00:47:16.756 --> 00:47:20.359
God, then you miss all of what he's had to say.
00:47:20.359 --> 00:47:24.096
If you come to the bible as just the boss and the dad, then you
00:47:24.096 --> 00:47:29.101
Might miss out on so many promises, so many blessings, so
00:47:29.101 --> 00:47:32.705
Much teaching, so much guidance, and that is what, again, i'm
00:47:32.705 --> 00:47:38.177
Trying to encourage myself first, but also my generation,
00:47:38.177 --> 00:47:42.415
My friends, hey, i understand that you're great, you're
00:47:42.415 --> 00:47:45.718
Multi-hyphenate, you're amazing, you are probably the king of
00:47:45.718 --> 00:47:49.455
Warner, you are, you know, you're doing your thing.
00:47:49.455 --> 00:47:53.359
Kirk: of whatever kingdom.
00:47:53.359 --> 00:47:54.994
Jonathan: yeah, but you're gonna miss out on a lot of
00:47:54.994 --> 00:47:57.530
Relationship, a lot of love, a lot of peace, clarity, guidance,
00:47:57.530 --> 00:48:01.634
A lot of patience and virtue, because you're not coming to
00:48:01.634 --> 00:48:08.407
Life as a son.
00:48:08.407 --> 00:48:10.209
You're not entering your day and approaching it as a son or
00:48:10.209 --> 00:48:13.746
Daughter of god.
00:48:13.746 --> 00:48:16.449
Kirk: what's the main thing you hope people get from reading
00:48:16.449 --> 00:48:19.385
Your book, "before you climb any higher?"
00:48:19.385 --> 00:48:21.520
Jonathan: i think i said it earlier, because a lot of us
00:48:21.520 --> 00:48:26.058
Don't have--we have noble reasons for being up on
00:48:26.058 --> 00:48:29.662
This mountain.
00:48:29.662 --> 00:48:31.030
We feel like they're noble.
00:48:31.030 --> 00:48:32.365
They're good, heroic reasons.
00:48:32.365 --> 00:48:33.833
They're not bad reasons.
00:48:33.833 --> 00:48:35.234
Most of us aren't ultra-greedy.
00:48:35.234 --> 00:48:37.703
Most of us aren't trying to be somebody's dictator.
00:48:37.703 --> 00:48:43.576
Most of us are being pushed up this mountain, because we're
00:48:43.576 --> 00:48:47.680
Just trying to stay above reproach.
00:48:47.680 --> 00:48:49.615
We're just trying to escape the mediocrity.
00:48:49.615 --> 00:48:52.551
We're just trying to make sure that we always stay valuable to
00:48:52.551 --> 00:48:55.821
The people that we love.
00:48:55.821 --> 00:48:57.857
I just wanna remind you that you are not primarily somebody that
00:48:57.857 --> 00:49:02.762
Takes care of stuff.
00:49:02.762 --> 00:49:04.630
You are primarily somebody that is being taken care of.
00:49:04.630 --> 00:49:10.336
There is a god, there's a father that is taking care of you, and
00:49:10.336 --> 00:49:15.574
I know that you feel sometimes that you are flying high, but
00:49:15.574 --> 00:49:19.578
It's probably because he just tossed you up there.
00:49:19.578 --> 00:49:22.581
Please know that it is not just you responsible for you.
00:49:22.581 --> 00:49:28.387
There's somebody else that has your back, has your front, and
00:49:28.387 --> 00:49:31.624
Has your sides, that's your dad in heaven.
00:49:31.624 --> 00:49:35.961
Kirk: that's so good. thank you, man.
00:49:35.961 --> 00:49:37.463
Thank you for all the time that you spent with us tonight.
00:49:37.463 --> 00:49:39.465
Jonathan: oh, no, i'm honored. this is awesome.
00:49:39.465 --> 00:49:40.800
Kirk: yeah, this is awesome. thank you.
00:49:40.800 --> 00:49:42.768
After the break, we'll review today's takeaways.
00:49:42.768 --> 00:49:45.805
[music]
00:49:45.805 --> 00:49:52.000
[music]
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:52.715
[music]
00:49:53.049 --> 00:49:57.020
Kirk: i really enjoyed our time with jonathan mcreynolds talking
00:49:59.622 --> 00:50:02.892
About what god has for us in the mountains and valleys of life.
00:50:02.892 --> 00:50:07.297
There were so many takeaways.
00:50:07.297 --> 00:50:08.698
Here's just a few.
00:50:08.698 --> 00:50:10.700
Don't romanticize the mountain.
00:50:10.700 --> 00:50:13.002
Didn't you love how jonathan positioned this?
00:50:13.002 --> 00:50:14.971
So many of us fall in love with our achievements, successes,
00:50:14.971 --> 00:50:19.275
And significance.
00:50:19.275 --> 00:50:20.710
And god did make us to work, he's given us mountains to
00:50:20.710 --> 00:50:23.746
Climb, but the mountain isn't the prize, people are, god is.
00:50:23.746 --> 00:50:29.786
Which occupies more of your thoughts and your time?
00:50:29.786 --> 00:50:33.256
Dreams about becoming the boss, king, queen, ceo, champ,
00:50:33.256 --> 00:50:37.060
Number one?
00:50:37.060 --> 00:50:38.428
Or gratitude for being chosen as a son or daughter of god with an
00:50:38.428 --> 00:50:44.701
Opportunity to serve others?
00:50:44.701 --> 00:50:46.970
Like jonathan reminded us, the air is thin at the top of the
00:50:46.970 --> 00:50:50.039
Mountain, and we're not supposed to stay there.
00:50:50.039 --> 00:50:53.576
Ground yourself in the valley.
00:50:53.576 --> 00:50:56.513
At first, this can seem counterintuitive, because we
00:50:56.513 --> 00:51:00.283
Want the mountain top, we want the thrill and adventure that
00:51:00.283 --> 00:51:03.620
Movies are made of, but once jonathan described what the lord
00:51:03.620 --> 00:51:07.023
Offers us in the valleys, it flipped the script, didn't it?
00:51:07.023 --> 00:51:11.261
The valley humbles us.
00:51:11.261 --> 00:51:13.263
It reminds us that the world doesn't revolve around us and
00:51:13.263 --> 00:51:16.666
That god doesn't require another ceo, boss, king from you or me.
00:51:16.666 --> 00:51:21.604
What matters most is being a child of the king of kings and
00:51:21.604 --> 00:51:26.409
Everyday opportunities to represent him well to others.
00:51:26.409 --> 00:51:31.648
The valley is also a place where we find authentic community and
00:51:31.648 --> 00:51:34.817
We celebrate what god has done on and off the mountain.
00:51:34.817 --> 00:51:38.354
It's a place of nourishment, refreshment, and rest, and it's
00:51:38.354 --> 00:51:42.992
Where we receive our next assignment for the new god-sized
00:51:42.992 --> 00:51:46.629
Mountain he wants us to climb.
00:51:46.629 --> 00:51:49.432
Less of me, more of god.
00:51:49.432 --> 00:51:52.835
When we better see the significance of the mountains
00:51:52.835 --> 00:51:55.672
And the valleys, it's also important to know how to get
00:51:55.672 --> 00:51:58.908
From one to the other.
00:51:58.908 --> 00:52:00.610
Jonathan used a climbing metaphor, left hand, right hand,
00:52:00.610 --> 00:52:03.713
Left foot, right foot, more of god, less of me.
00:52:03.713 --> 00:52:07.450
He must increase, i must decrease.
00:52:07.450 --> 00:52:10.920
That's our strategy as the family of faith, and it brings
00:52:10.920 --> 00:52:14.557
Our mountain-sized egos back down to earth, reminding us of
00:52:14.557 --> 00:52:19.862
Who we are and why we're here.
00:52:19.862 --> 00:52:23.299
This should lead us to say, lord, i thank you.
00:52:23.299 --> 00:52:27.837
This is the mindset that jonathan said will anchor us in
00:52:27.837 --> 00:52:31.507
The life-giving valley, so get back home to the valley of
00:52:31.507 --> 00:52:35.678
Gratitude as often as possible.
00:52:35.678 --> 00:52:38.648
That's all for this episode of "takeaways."
00:52:38.648 --> 00:52:40.750
Thanks for watching, and if you've enjoyed the show, don't
00:52:40.750 --> 00:52:43.419
Forget to set your dvr to never miss an episode.
00:52:43.419 --> 00:52:46.522
And of course, you can always catch up on past episodes by
00:52:46.522 --> 00:52:49.292
Searching for "takeaways" on tbn+ or by visiting the kirk
00:52:49.292 --> 00:52:53.863
Cameron on tbn youtube channel.
00:52:53.863 --> 00:52:56.432
We'll see you here next time for more great conversations.
00:52:56.432 --> 00:53:01.437
[music]
00:53:01.437 --> 00:53:01.437

Jonathan McReynolds: Discovering Value in the Valley Experience | Takeaways with Kirk Cameron

June 2, 2025 | 53:25

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