Shabbat Shalom

Candace Long: Good morning and welcome to Shabbat Shalom. I'm Candace Long, your host and producer. In just a few minutes, Pastor Matt McKeown will bring us today's teaching, Devarim, which begins the book of Deuteronomy.

Now, writing this opening monologue is a bittersweet moment because it ends my assignment of producing Shabbat Shalom. This program began August 9, 2025, with the second portion of Deuteronomy. So, one year later, we are ending the live program version on the first portion.

Interestingly, we are in the same period that Moses was in, Bein HaMetzarim, right before the worst day on the Hebrew calendar, the ninth of Av, when both temples were destroyed. I did not want to start Shabbat Shalom then, but a week later when the danger had lifted.

And some 3,500 years ago, Moses was standing in a similar place to where we find ourselves today. He gathered the people for an important retrospective. They were at the edge of the kingdom, about to go in, and needed time to reflect on where they had been and what had transpired these last difficult seven months since Aaron died.

And it's here that the chronicler in Moses began to come out. And as a chronicler of living through these prophecies at the very end of the sixth generation, I know that calling all too well. This morning, I was prompted to do my own reflection of this journey that I was asked to take and share some personal highlights with you.

Before I begin, though, I want to assure you that next week you will still be able to enjoy Shabbat Shalom, only it will not be a live program but will have moved into its archived phase. But in this opening scene in Deuteronomy, Moses gives us his personal account of living a Torah-observant life for 40 years.

Today on Shabbat Shalom, I put down my scribal pen, for I have done my best to share how choosing to study the Torah and become Torah-observant 20 years ago has been my second most important spiritual decision after giving my life in 1969 to follow Yeshua as the Messiah.

I was looking through my dream journal this morning to find where this all began. And I took note of a dream that fell on the eve of Yom Kippur, October 11, 2024, in which I was invited inside the dream to accept a one-year flying assignment, trained by an angelic co-pilot, that would take me higher and faster than I had ever been and would take me around the world.

The question posed to me in the dream gave me no lead time to think about this. It was, "This assignment will last for one year. Will you do it?" And of course, I said, "Yes, I'm in. Let's go for it."

Now, the dream ended up warning me about a fivefold atmospheric assault coming from the north, meaning up in the sky north. Number one were spirits of distraction. Number two, defiling unclean spirits. Number three, soundwave interference. Number four, germ warfare, and number five, Nephilim sightings and invasion.

Now, what I want you to see is that toward the end of 2024, the Lord was preparing me to shore myself up for something that would last for one year, that would train me so that I could train others how to survive this atmospheric assault.

I knew nothing at the time about Shabbat Shalom or the sacrifices that He would ask me to make to bring this programming to life. But as the Father did with Moses is the way that He communicates with us. He doesn't give us the whole picture all at once, just little by little, always with an invitation: "My daughter, here's where I want to take you. Will you go?"

And this is an important time of reflection for you today as well because chances are you are at a season of crossroads yourself and you have decisions to make. Will your ears be open to what He wants to teach you? Will you go with Him? Will you listen?

Let's recite the Shema together. Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Baruch shem kavod malchuto l'olam va'ed. Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity.

And the last section: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I set up for you this day shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your arm and as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and in your gates.

Pastor Matt McKeown: Good morning and welcome back to Shabbat Shalom. The radio program where we explore how the ancient truths of the Torah apply to our lives today. Today, we enter into a new sefer, a new book of the Torah, Devarim. This means "words." In English, we call it Deuteronomy.

As we enter the book of Devarim, everything about this moment is significant. Israel is no longer wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. They are no longer a newly freed people trying to figure out who they are. They are now standing at the edge of the Promised Land, looking forward to a future that has been spoken about for generations. And right at this moment, before they step in, Moses begins to speak.

But he doesn't say what we might expect. He doesn't immediately give a new instruction. He doesn't lay out battle plans. He doesn't focus on strategy. He begins with a memory. The book opens by telling us that Moses expounded the Torah. In other words, he began to explain it, to unpack it, to rehearse it. He starts walking the people back through their own story: what happened, where they've been, what they've experienced, and how they responded.

Now, this is incredibly important because before Israel can step into the promise, they need to understand the journey. They need to remember. And that tells us something foundational about how God works. He doesn't rush His people into the future without grounding them in the past because memory shapes identity, and identity shapes direction. If you don't understand where you've been, you won't fully understand where you're going.

Now, think about this moment. A new generation is standing there. The generation that came out of Egypt has passed away. These people did not personally experience everything that happened. They heard about it. They grew up around it. But they didn't live it in the same way. And so Moses begins to retell it, not just as history, but as instruction because their future depends on how they understand their past.

Now, here's the key. Moses doesn't sanitize the story. He doesn't skip the failures. He doesn't gloss over the mistakes. He doesn't present a polished version of events. He tells the truth. He talks about the time when the people stood at the edge of the land and refused to go in. He reminds them of the fear, the hesitation, the lack of trust.

He brings them back to that defining moment when God said "Go," and they said, "We can't." Now, that's not easy to hear, but it's necessary because unacknowledged failure has a way of repeating itself. If you don't learn from where you've been, you will recreate it. And Moses understands that, so he brings it to the surface, not to shame them, but to prepare them.

Now, let's bring this into our lives today because we all have a story. We all have moments of faith and moments of failure. Times when we trusted God fully and times when we hesitated. Times when we stepped forward and times when we held back. It's very easy to do one of two things with that: either we ignore it or we get stuck in it.

But God calls us to something different. He wants us to remember it in a way that leads to growth, in a way that produces clarity, in a way that shapes how we move forward because memory isn't meant to trap you. It's meant to teach you.

Here's something powerful. Moses isn't just retelling events; he's interpreting them. He's helping the people understand what really happened because when you live through something, you don't always see it clearly in the moment. You interpret it based on emotion, based on fear, based on limited perspective. But when you look back with God's perspective, things begin to make sense.

And this is what Moses is doing here. He's helping them see the journey the way God sees it. Now, here's a question for us. How do you view your past? Do you see it through frustration, through regret, through confusion? Or do you allow God to reinterpret it for you? Because when God reframes your story, something shifts. What looked like failure becomes learning. What felt like delay becomes preparation. What seemed like a detour becomes direction. And that changes how you move forward.

Now, there's another important piece here. Moses is speaking just before the transition; they're about to step into something new. At that moment, God doesn't say, "Forget everything behind you." He says, "Remember it correctly." Because correct memory leads to correct movement. Now, this is especially important in seasons of change.

When you're stepping into something new, it's tempting to disconnect completely from the past, to just move forward, to just focus ahead. But if you do that without reflection, you carry old patterns into new places. And that is what God is trying to prevent. He's forming a people who don't just inherit the land but can live in it well. And that requires understanding.

As we move on to the next part, Moses is going to focus on a specific moment: the appointment of leaders and the structure that was put in place to carry responsibility. And we're going to see that part of moving forward isn't just remembering; it's learning how to carry what God has given you in the right way.

As we continue in Parshat Devarim, Moses begins to narrow in on specific moments from Israel's journey. And one of the first things that he highlights is something that might seem administrative on the surface, but it's actually deeply spiritual.

He reminds the people of a time when he said, "I cannot bear the burden of you myself." And in that moment, he recounts how leaders were appointed, men of wisdom, understanding, and experience, to help carry the weight of the people.

Now, this is significant because it reveals something about how God structures His people. From the outside, leadership can look like position, authority, or influence. But from God's perspective, leadership is about responsibility. It's about carrying something that affects others. It's about stewarding what has been entrusted to you in a way that reflects His heart.

Moses had been leading the people faithfully, but the weight had grown too heavy for one person to carry alone. And instead of continuing to push forward under pressure, something had to change. Structure had to be introduced. Responsibility had to be shared.

And this was not a sign of weakness; it's a sign of wisdom because God never intended for one person to carry everything. Now, this is an important truth for us because we often equate strength with independence. We think that if we're strong, we should be able to handle everything on our own, that asking for help is a sign of failure, that sharing responsibility somehow diminishes our role. But the opposite is actually true.

Trying to carry what God has not assigned you to carry will eventually break you. And refusing to share what God intends to distribute will limit what He wants to do. And I know none of us want to limit the plans of the Lord in our lives.

Moses reminds them that these leaders weren't chosen randomly. They were selected based on character, wisdom, understanding, and reputation among the people. And that tells us something about how God defines leadership. It's not about charisma; it's not about visibility. It's about substance. It's about who you are, not just what you do.

And Moses gives them a charge. He tells them to judge righteously, to show no partiality, to hear both small and great alike, and not to be afraid of anyone's face because the judgment belongs to God.

Now, that's a powerful statement because it reframes leadership entirely. The responsibility is human, but the authority is divine. In other words, those who lead aren't creating their own standard; they're representing God's standard. They're not making decisions based on preference, pressure, or personal gain; they're aligning with something higher. And that brings a level of accountability because when you carry responsibility for others, how you lead matters, how you respond matters, how you decide matters.

Now, let's bring this into our world because whether you realize it or not, you carry influence. In your home, in your relationships, in your church, in your workplace. There are places where your decisions affect others, where your words carry weight, and where your actions create direction. So the question is not just "Am I leading?" The question is "How am I leading?" Am I carrying what God has given me with integrity? Am I trying to carry things that were never assigned to me? Am I allowing others to step into their role, or am I holding on to things out of control or fear? Because one of the dangers in leadership is either taking on too much or refusing to release what needs to be shared.

Now, here's another layer. When Moses set up this structure, it allowed the people to be cared for more effectively. Instead of one person being overwhelmed, there were multiple people engaged. Responsibility was distributed. And that created health. And that's the goal. Not just function, but health. God isn't just building a system that works; He's building a people who are aligned, supported, and able to carry what He's given them without being crushed by it.

Now, this speaks to something deeper because before Israel steps into the land, they need more than memory; they need maturity. They need to know how to handle what's coming because the Promised Land is not just a gift. It's a responsibility. It's something that must be stewarded, protected, and lived in rightly. And if they don't learn how to carry responsibility in the wilderness, they will not handle the promise well when they receive it. And the same is true for us. God prepares you for what He's about to give you. He shapes your capacity before He expands your influence. He teaches you how to carry weight before He increases what is placed in your hands.

As we continue in Parshat Devarim, Moses now brings the people back to one of the most defining moments in their entire history: the moment at the edge of the Promised Land when everything could have just changed, but it didn't.

He reminds them of how they came to him and said, "Let us send men ahead of us to explore the land." And on the surface, that request sounded reasonable, logical. It sounded wise. It sounded like preparation. But what follows reveals that it was rooted not in trust, but in hesitation.

The spies go into the land. They see it. They bring back evidence. They confirm that it was exactly what God said it would be: a good land, a land flowing with abundance. But something shifts. They begin to focus not on the promise, but on the obstacles. They talk about the fortified cities. They talk about the strong people that are giants. They talk about what they can't overcome. And the entire tone changes. What began as confirmation turns into fear.

Now, here is the key moment. Moses says, "You were unwilling to go up." Not "unable," "unwilling." That distinction matters because the issue was never capacity; it was trust. God had already promised the land. He had already demonstrated His power. He had already brought them through impossible situations. But when they stood at the edge of what He had spoken, they chose to believe what they saw over what He had said.

And that's where everything changed. Fear took over. Perspective shifted. And the people began to say something that reveals just how far their thinking had moved. They say, "Because the Lord hated us, He brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us."

God forbid, think about that. The God who delivered them, the God who provided for them, the God who led them is now being interpreted as against them, hating them. That's what fear does. It distorts reality. It takes what is true and reinterprets it through the lens of insecurity. And suddenly what was meant for good looks like something harmful.

Now, Moses reminds them of what he said in that moment: "Do not be afraid. The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you just as He did in Egypt before your eyes." He calls them back to memory. He calls them back to what they have already seen. He calls them back to the truth.

But they did not respond. And that's the turning point because when the truth is presented and rejected, the consequence isn't just delay; it's loss of opportunity. God responds and says that generation will never enter the land. Not because the promise changed, but because their posture made them unready.

Now, this is one of the most important lessons in the entire Torah. God's promises are not fragile, but our participation in them requires trust. The land was still there. The promise was still real. But these particular people were not in a place to step into it.

Now, here's what makes this even more sobering. After hearing the consequences, the people change their response, but not in the right way. They say, "We will go up and fight." They try to move forward after the moment has passed. They attempt to take the promise on their own terms. At this point, it's too late. And Moses tells them clearly, "Do not go up because the Lord is not with you." But they go anyway, and they're defeated.

Now, this reveals something critical. Delayed obedience is not the same as alignment. You cannot step into God's promise outside of His timing. You can't recreate the moment once it's passed. And this is why trust matters so much in the moment. Because there are moments when God says, "Go." And if you hesitate, if you allow fear to take over, if you step back instead of stepping forward, you don't just delay the journey; you miss the timing.

Now, let's bring this into our lives because we all have edge-of-promise moments. Moments where God is calling you forward. Moments where something is right in front of you that requires trust. Moments where the next step is clear, but it feels risky. And in those moments, you have a choice. Do you focus on the obstacle, or do you trust the One who made the promise? Because the difference between those two responses is everything.

Now, here's the grace in the story. Even though that generation missed the moment, the story didn't end. God continued. He raised up a new generation. He remained faithful. And the promise stood. And that reminds us of something powerful. Even when we miss a moment, God's plan doesn't fall apart. But it doesn't remove the importance of responding correctly when the moment comes.

As we continue in Parshat Devarim, Moses keeps walking the people through their story. But now the focus begins to shift. He moves from the failure at the edge of the Promised Land into the years that followed: the wandering, the movement, the encounters, and even the resistance they faced along the way. And what becomes clear is this: even after failure, God is still leading.

That is such an important truth because it would be easy to assume that once that generation missed the moment, everything that followed was just wasted time. It would be easy to look at those wilderness years and say, "That was all just delay, all just consequence, all just wandering."

But Moses tells the story differently. He shows that even in those years, God was directing their steps. He reminds them how God told them to turn back into the wilderness. He recounts how they traveled around Mount Seir for many days. And then God said, "You've circled this mountain long enough. Now, turn north."

Now, think about that moment: "You've circled this mountain long enough." That speaks to something we all experience. There are seasons when it feels like you're going in circles, where you're not making progress, where the same patterns, the same challenges, the same struggles seem to repeat. And it can feel like you're stuck. But then comes a moment when God says, "Now it's time to move." And that moment changes everything.

Because what felt like repetition was actually preparation. What felt like circling was really formation. And what felt like delay was actually development. And when the time comes, God gives you direction again.

Now, as they move forward, Moses recounts how God gave them very specific instructions about how to interact with certain nations. He tells them not to provoke Edom because that land had been given to Esau. He tells them not to contend with Moab because that land had been given to the descendants of Lot. In other words, not every battle was theirs to fight.

And this is important because one of the marks of maturity is knowing what not to engage. It's easy to think that every obstacle is meant to be overcome, every challenge meant to be confronted, every resistance meant to be pushed through. But God makes it clear that some things are not your assignment. Some territory is not yours. Some battles are not yours. And trying to fight what God has not assigned to you will only drain you.

As we continue to the final part of Parshat Devarim, everything comes into focus. Moses has walked the people through their story. He's reminded them of their journey, the structure, the failure at the edge of the land, the years of wandering, and the faithfulness of God through every stage. And now they're standing in a familiar place, but they're not the same people. They're once again at the edge of the Promised Land. But this time, it's different.

The previous generation stood here and chose fear. They looked at the obstacles, measured the challenge, and concluded that they could not move forward. This generation has heard that story. They've grown up in its shadow. They know what happened when fear took the lead instead of trust. And now they're being given the opportunity to respond differently.

And this is one of the most powerful moments in all the Torah. Just because something was mishandled in the past doesn't mean that it must be repeated in the future. Just because a previous generation failed does not mean that the next one is destined to do the same. God brings His people back, not to relive the failure, but to redeem the moment.

And that is deeply encouraging because every one of us has places like that in our lives. Moments where something didn't go the way it should have, opportunities that were missed, decisions that were shaped by fear instead of trust. And it's easy to assume that those moments are final. But our God is a God of return.

Now, let's bring this into our lives. Where is God bringing you back to something? Where is He giving you another opportunity to respond differently? Where is He saying, "Trust me"? Because those moments aren't random. They're invitations. Invitations to grow, invitations to step forward, invitations to move beyond the patterns of the past into something new.

And here's the key. You don't step into that by trying harder. You step into it by trusting deeper, by anchoring yourself in what God has already shown you, by remembering His faithfulness, by aligning your response with His Word.

Now, as we close this Torah portion, we recognize that this is just the beginning of something new. The book of Devarim, or Deuteronomy, is not just a review. It's a preparation. It's setting the stage for a people who are about to cross over, about to step into something that has been promised for generations.

And the same is true for us. God is always leading us forward, always preparing us, always inviting us into something greater, to something deeper. But the invitation requires a response. And that response is trust.

It doesn't matter how you responded the last time that God brought you to this moment. Change it. Redeem it. Make a better decision this time. Be like the second generation and walk into the promise. My friends, my prayer for you is that you walk this week with a renewed confidence in God's faithfulness, a deeper understanding of your journey, and a willingness to respond differently in the moments that matter most. And may you step into everything that God has prepared for you, not with fear, but with faith. A faith that trusts. Shabbat Shalom.

Candace Long: I am so grateful that Pastor Matt chose to partner with me in this program. His Torah teaching always begins our hour one. Coming up next is the last segment of Families Under Attack with Rejean Morrison, and I've asked her to continue helping those of you whom God is asking to take your ministry to the next level. This week's topic is called Ministry Nuts and Bolts.

I'm Candace Long. I want to welcome you to Families Under Attack with mental health expert Rejean Morrison. You know, Rejean, it's hard to believe that we have recorded 18 episodes, and this has been such a joy to work with you. For benefit of our listeners, the reason that you've heard such synergy between the two of us is that by sharing our separate stories of self-discovery and ministry-building with you, we discovered how much the two of us have in common. I think in one episode you called me your sister from another mother. But we have each separately gone through a lot of trauma and at age 75, you, and 80 for me, we have by God's grace survived.

So this is our final episode, and what we want to do is to pass on to you our collective wisdom as to what building a ministry entails. So this episode is called Ministry Nuts and Bolts, and you'll find great wisdom here if God is calling you to begin building your ministry.

It's wisdom not to worry about timetable. I mean, the resurrection could happen next month or a year from now. The Lord wants to see His children busy doing what He put in their heart to do, as Rejean talked about last time. So if you have been quote "doing ministry on the side," how do you take it to another level and what's involved with all that? Rejean, I want to return to something that we did not get to last time, but a concept that is very important, I think, for people to understand. And it is a concept called individuation.

You know, you talked a lot about your relationship with your mentor, Robert McGee. I have had many mentors in my life, but there is an important concept called individuation. And to think of it this way: For many years, Paul and Barnabas ministered together. But there came a time when Paul's gifts became too strong, and God had to separate them in order for Paul to begin to search out the scriptures for himself and clearly differentiate his gospel from both Barnabas as well as the other apostles.

And I have certainly experienced this many times over my years of ministry where I had to pull away from my mentor, or God did that in a dynamic way, or sometimes a hurtful way as was with Paul and Barnabas. Did you go through a time of individuation with Robert McGee while you were creating your own curriculum?

Rejean Morrison: Absolutely. In the previous session, I mentioned that we were missionaries in England and that Robert and his wife came and attended. We started our retreat ministry with men's and women's weekend retreats. We used The Four Traps and God's Truth and presenting the cross and the truth to people as kind of a foundation. But the creativity that came in developing those weekend retreats was very different from what we would do in Rapha Hospitals.

So one of the gifts that I have is the ability to take deep, complex spiritual truths and create—this is the creative part of me—a picture. So it's almost like acting out a concept in skits that brings that truth from what we know in our head into revelation of seeing it. So many of us are visual learners.

And because of my journey and all the training I did—I mean, I wanted to be a pediatric heart surgeon, decided that I would never have a life if I went into medicine. So I did pre-med but then I have a baby, so I want to be with my child. I'm going to teach and I was very interested in neuroscience, which wasn't even a big thing back then. Started doing a lot of different work and ended up the field that I went into was special education of all things where I was able to understand the important of how we learn can be so different and we need to stimulate all senses to get revelation, the new ahas.

And so the creativity of speaking, I had shared in a previous session about a prophetic word about my voice. And listen, I grew up, I didn't have a voice. I could have a voice and fight for you, but I could never verbalize what I felt like was going on. So the Lord really dramatically healed me. And then as that artist, I could create pictures.

Robert loved that. I did a lot of videos and things with him where on the spot we would work with people and there would be dramatic results because they're going to be in the picture in the work that we do as the Holy Spirit leads. And I know that sounds weird, but it's super powerful. So that was a gift set that the Lord was developing in me. Robert was a great writer and a great head person. But I had more of the heart, and I think that's what made us such a powerful dynamic team.

And then with his material, he presented—and this sounds funny, but I'm being very specific here—The Four Traps, but his way to the Lord and Meet the Lord was called Trip In and Out. Sounds like a drug. But when we were working through that in the beginning days of the retreat ministry, so he's funded us to come back, I'm struggling with some of that material. Now, the Lord will help you struggle with things to individuate and find your own voice. So what the model that we came up with is very different than what I started with when we began our ministry. It's much deeper, it's much richer.

And this individuation process that we're talking about, Robert and I would get into big arguments. And you know, when you really love somebody, you can spar very well, okay? So this is my mentor, he's like a brother to me, I have a lot of respect. But you know, the Lord blinded him in what we were doing. He said, "Well, I don't get that. I don't think you need to go to that deeper level."

So he was keeping things up at if I just identify I am struggling with the performance trap, I can take that to the Lord. Where we went was: what kind of belief systems, what am I really believing in my heart that doesn't line up with God's truth that creates those behaviors and attitudes? And as I dug into scripture, I found, hey, there's a whole theological backing in what I'm talking about. So it's a process of dissatisfaction that creates that exploration in the Word, in your own thinking, and the theological framework that you want to make sure is rooted and grounded in the cross, fits with the overall calling.

So I talked before about kind of am I doing deliverance? Am I doing, you know, healing? How important is discipleship and equipping? Do you hear those keywords? Does this unique thing that I'm doing now fit that? Lord, what do you want to say to me? And how do we continue to do that? So those are some steps. And you cannot have fear of man. Robert and I had a very close relationship and financially he had helped us, he believed in us. It would have been easy to just stay under that where the Lord made it clear, "No, you have to be strong. You have to fight for what you have. And whether he gets it or not, am I telling you to do that?"

Candace Long: You're mentioning some very key points I want to underscore for the listener. When God is calling you to individuate from your mentor, you will sense it. There will be a disagreement, there will be a different line of track that He's been leading you on that you're not comfortable there.

One of my biggest challenges with that was I went on a ministry trip with a leader who had oversight of an international situation. And so I was under her clearly. It was her ministry, her deal. Well, she gave me an opportunity to speak. And I spoke on the Levitical calling because I had just written that book and that was consuming my life. That was one of my gospels that I was given to develop. And it took 17 years to develop that gospel and to learn to walk it out and to write it. And I taught it.

Well, the people, oh my word, they came up to me and they said, "We need more of this. We want you to teach more." Well, here I'm under her ministry. Now we've got a Paul and Barnabas situation that could have been extremely threatening because some people may be in this situation where they're beginning to explore their gifts within a church or a ministry situation and all of a sudden they for a moment outshine the leader.

And so then what do you do? And so I told the international group, I said, "You need to ask for her permission," because they said, "We want you to come back and teach us." Well, now, you know, that's not good. So I said, "You need her permission to do that. This is her ministry." So it took three years for that situation to be resolved. The temptation was: they want you, you could go contact them and say, "I'm available to come back." But see, that would have been dishonorable. And the Lord was testing me in that.

It was three years and when I talked with my mentor and I was telling her about some things and she said, "You really need to go back there. I'm going to set that up for you." So she opened the door for me to go back.

The time of recognizing when you need to individuate because God has pulled us away to work on our own curriculum. Let's talk a minute about legalities because from what I understand, you knew that you did not want to get a traditional license. So talk to us a minute about that and how you decided to choose the legal framework that you did.

Rejean Morrison: Well, we had if there were an issue that we felt we were covered with our nonprofit setup legally and that we had the important thing, I love the word "honor." I love that word. That we had honored Robert in every way. And he was a very gracious man. And even though we could get into it, our relationship was we were able—and I'm including my husband in this because we both partner in our ministry—there was never a break in the relationship. Sadly, he's died now, but you know, sometimes there is because the people, the things that can be done, you don't want to continue to work with those people because of the dishonoring.

So for us, I think that covering and honoring was really key. Okay, I'll share this: we are just now completing an eight-week video course that we're real excited about. And that we are going to, you know, go through the derivative copyright procedure because we want to continue to honor him. We're not in the business of making money; we are in the business of reaching people. But when you are going from, you know, controlled retreats, which we have done for 33-plus years and people come from all over the world, we've got international ministries that operate under a trust relationship with us, our leaders. And they have always honored the material.

We've got one renegade group in France that are doing a little bit too much of their own stuff that we probably need to take a look at.

Candace Long: Cease and desist.

Rejean Morrison: Yeah, well, you know, and that'll be interesting because the international ministries have to set up their own trusts to do that. So—

Candace Long: Well, you bring up a very good point is one of honor. God is absolutely anal about vetting His servants. Will we be honorable? Will we pay what needs to be paid? Will we pay a license fee, whatever's contracted, whatever is—will we tithe back to the ministry?

You know, even when I went back to the country on my own, I tithed what I made back to my mentor because that was the honorable thing to do. And so that those are things that I think our listeners very much need to do.

You chose the 501c3 route; I chose the LLC route and highly recommend that because it provides protection against liabilities. I'm also very strong about keeping your finances within the ministry itself and not mixing them at all with any personal accounts. So this is very important. But I think that people in ministry that want to go out on their own, they're not looking at the sacrifices that it is going to require.

When you take your ministry to another level, the Lord is looking at what are you willing to sacrifice? What do you need to sell? What do because all of the priests and Levites, especially the priests, they had to bring their own offerings. The high priest had to bring their own offering. So they had to grow and manage their flocks and herds and all of those expenses in order to bring all of those thousands of bulls and rams and goats and sheep. They had to do all of that. Most people think, "Well, I'll just put up a sign and it's a 501c3 and it'll take donations and m-m."

Rejean Morrison: It's work. It took us—for instance, we had to—I wrote that in our teaching. We had to be very careful about the wording. You have to have some attorney input to do that. LLC is something that's pretty quickly done. You can get your license. I have an LLC for my coaching that I do, the pastoral counseling, to separate out—this is another really important thing—we do our retreats, we do work with people under Healing for the Nations, but I have my own private coaching practice, and those have to be separate.

Candace Long: Very good. Very good. What about having a ministerial covering for listeners who may want to develop a ministry? Do they—if they are not licensed, do they need a covering? What do they do?

Rejean Morrison: I think they need a covering, absolutely. And let's start with if you are married, I shared in a very early episode that after I had this dramatic vision encounter with the Lord that was the "I want to heal my people, put me to the test," I thought I was going to have a deliverance ministry. And Steve said, "Oh, no, you're not." And I listened and waited. I was mad as a hornet because I thought I was missing God, right? But I wanted to honor my husband, and I knew that we needed to be on the same page because I needed that covering.

So if you're married, pay attention to your spouse because you're open to a lot if you're not in agreement. You know, I needed his—and he's a funny guy, he's like very, very precise. He was a systems analyst before we were called into ministry. And he wants to get it right. And that's what I love about him because I could trust that he was open to praying and seeing what God would do, okay? And that that's really important.

If that's not there, you might be in a different kind of a struggle, right? But if it's not and even if it is, those mentors, those key people, you don't have a 501c3, you need voices. We talked about that in an earlier session that you give permission to know you and ask hard questions. And you're willing—this is the honoring—if you ask them to be a voice in your life, and you're not going to listen.

And I could name some very famous ministers right now, preachers, that haven't listened to the people that they put in place. And some of those board members have left. That's going to happen. But you know, always come back to: what are they saying and, Lord, what do you want to say about this to me? Help me be open. So, yes, yes, yes.

Candace Long: Let's say that a listener is a part of a congregation or a church. And they—there is a big need that is not being filled. My thought—I want to get your thought first—of making a proposal to that church and outlining what you would like to do for them and with them. And say, "There's a need here that I'm seeing that is not being filled. And I would like to do that. I feel that God has gifted me with the ability to do that. But I want to be clearly under the ministry that's here and you would share in whatever revenues that would come in." So it would be a partnership of sorts where you're filling a need in a church according to your gifts. What do you think about that idea?

Rejean Morrison: I have two thoughts about that. And I'll share personally with our ministry. Right now, we are training because of this video series we're about to launch in the fall, we're training what we call HFN level one coaches. And so they've gone through the material, they have done some practice coaching sessions with our reflective prayer because a lot can come up when people use that. We did a pilot beta group with 18 people.

Right now, there is one lady who absolutely thinks she's gifted and has the answer, and she is missing it. So there are two things. She, let's say she writes a proposal and she could do for her church, "I've gone through this, I want to bring it to the church." Okay, now as her covering, I'm going to say you're not ready, we've got to do a lot more work, okay?

So some people may be ready, but it takes both sides of that. Leadership would be so honored to receive a proposal like that because that's the right way to bring it. They need to know that person well enough to know they're equipped. And if they don't feel like that, I think the next step for leadership is, "Hey, we want to encourage you, but we also want you to do more training" or "We want to see this growth in you to be able to do what you want to do." And that person needs to be able to say, "Okay, you know, we need to listen to those voices."

Candace Long: We've got two possibilities here. Let's say hotshot woman—I don't mean to be derogatory, but somebody who is seeing God use them and they're encouraged and they say, "I can do this!" So one option would be: I'll just take their material and we'll do our own thing with it, which is totally illegal and God won't bless them. The other option is that let's say hotshot is so hotshot that now overshadows the church that they're now under and everybody's clamoring all over them like they were with Paul and Barnabas. Now we've got a whole other situation. How would you counsel that?

Rejean Morrison: Well, you know, that's when you probably need to part ways. Individuate. Very simply. You know, I mean, but it's always "Can we meet? Can we work through this?" You know, leadership needs to show grace and continue to reach out. Can you do that? And the person might say, "No, I want to do my own thing."

Candace Long: And that's when you would say, "But not with my material."

Rejean Morrison: That's right. That's right. This particular person doesn't ask questions. God is the gentleman; He honors our yes and no. So we're not about telling you what you should think and telling you what you have to do, okay? We're about helping you engage with the Holy Spirit in the way that you're growing and listening. And we can offer suggestions.

But this woman is in a church that's very prophetic; they're always telling you "this is what the Lord says, so you better do it." And she has picked up that value that goes against what we're about. You know, we've got part of our training program is that you've got to coach somebody who's been in your group that you've gone through the course in, and they have to give each other feedback. And this is coming out, so it's going to be interesting how she's going to receive it.

But yeah, we've got even her church culture would promote her telling everybody what they should do in a very bossy—I like the "hotshot" kind of way. And you know what? We better—we all are in danger of that. I can look back in my ministry when I'm sitting on the platform of the Southern Baptist Association as the only woman for the conference—

Candace Long: They let you in there?

Rejean Morrison: They sure did. I've got stories. But you know what? I didn't realize that that pride was coming in. We all have to watch that so carefully.

Candace Long: Well, you've done such a beautiful job of describing the grace that comes with the Lord working through a minister, because you exude that grace, and I'm so thankful for all that you have meant to Shabbat Shalom and to Families Under Attack. You helped me create this. So this is a bittersweet moment bringing Families Under Attack to a close. But if you have a question for me, please go to our main page at shabbatshalomradio.com and click the button that says "Email the show." And if you want to reach out to Rejean directly, she has her own LLC that she can happily help you. You'll find her contact information in her handout that is also on our main page.

I want to thank you, Rejean. Any last words of farewell to our listeners?

Rejean Morrison: Well, it's just been fun and of course both of us are praying that this has been very meaningful for the listener.

Candace Long: Absolutely. You've been listening to Families Under Attack with Rejean Morrison. God bless and Shabbat Shalom.

Coming up in the next hour is Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Michael Washer, followed by an episode that I wrote five years ago as I was beginning Lessons in the Latter Days: Could the Vaccine Be the Mark of the Beast? Stay tuned for the second hour on WEZE AM 590, our media partner for ShabbatShalomRadio.com.