Shabbat Shalom

Candace Long: Good morning and welcome to Shabbat Shalom. I'm Candace Long, your host and producer. Today we welcome two brand new teaching segments into the Shabbat Shalom lineup, and I'm very excited about them. As always, in the first half hour, Pastor Matt McKeown teaches the Torah portion, which today is Terumah, which covers Exodus 25 through 27.

If you are serious about wanting to build a better foundation to align with our Jewish forefathers, the ideal practice is to always begin the Sabbath studying the Torah portion that God assigned for that week. Please don't just flit around the programming here going to what looks interesting. That's not wise. Listen to the Torah portion first.

The way God set things up from the beginning of creation, everything is done on the proper day at the appointed time. He also established in the book of Genesis that he set apart the Sabbath and sanctifies it. It is called the Lord's Day for a reason. Saturday is his day to instruct his people with how to get to know him and learn from him.

Sabbath instruction is priority to him. So let's commit to build upon the foundation that he established, the Torah. After Pastor Matt teaches, we introduce Families Under Attack with mental health expert and co-founder of Healing for the Nations, Rajan Morrison. And today you're going to learn how the Lord called her and her husband Steve into this ministry.

They are discipling healing ministers literally all over the world, and our goal here is to disciple you to grow in this area as well. I want you to look at the handout that we've posted on our main page at shabbatshalomradio.com. Click on the Rajan Morrison handout. In it, you'll find a link that I hope you will consider using to send us your questions so we can address the needs that you may be having in your family.

At the top of the next hour, we welcome Rabbi Michael Washer for our next new programming segment, Ask the Rabbi, which I'll tell you more about later. You'll see a button at the top of our main page that says Email the Show. This brings you to a form whereby you can submit questions, either to Rabbi Michael or to Rajan or to me.

As we are in the final stretch to when I am anticipating the redemption, I am committed to creating an open dialogue with you, our listeners. Whether you listen live on Saturday mornings or through our archives available 24/7, or whether you listen on 1place.com, reach out to us. I always try to let listeners know when their particular question is going to be addressed, and I'll do my best to continue doing that.

Let's recite the Shema together. Shema Yisrael 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.

Matt McKeown: Good morning, dear friends, and welcome once again to Shabbat Shalom, where we journey through the Torah and uncover the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. I'm Pastor Matt McKeown, and today we arrive at one of the most astonishing and intimate moments in all of the Torah, Parashat Terumah.

Up to this point in the book of Exodus, we have seen God redeem his people with power, speak his law with thunder, seal his covenant with blood, and shape his people through justice and mercy. Now something extraordinary happens. God says, "Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." These words should stop us in our tracks.

The creator of heaven and earth, the God who splits seas, the God who shook mountains, now declares that he wants to live with his people. Not above them, not distant from them, but among them. This is breathtaking theology. God does not merely rule Israel; he chooses to dwell with Israel. Redemption doesn't end at rescue; it ends at a relationship.

Parashat Terumah begins with an invitation. "Speak to the children of Israel that they may take from me an offering. From every man whose heart moves him, you shall take my offering." This is critical. God does not demand a tax; he invites a gift. Terumah means a lifted offering. Not forced, not extracted, but lifted freely from willing hearts.

God doesn't build his dwelling with coercion; he builds it with love. Participation in God's dwelling is voluntary. Holiness is built through generosity. Rabbinic tradition teaches us that God does not truly dwell in buildings; he dwells in hearts. The sages say, "Make for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell within them," not within it. Within them.

The Tabernacle is not God's house. It's the sign of God's desire to live among his people. The structure reveals a relationship. God requests very specific items: gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, and precious stones.

Why these particular materials? Because God teaches Israel something essential here. He doesn't need heavenly substances; he sanctifies earthly ones. The God who created matter now redeems matter. Holiness is not escape from the physical world; it's a transformation of it. Everyday materials become sacred when they're offered to God.

For Christians, this prepares the way for the idea of incarnation. God will not remain abstract; he will take on flesh. He will inhabit human life. So the Tabernacle foreshadows Messiah. Wood, gold, fabric, blood, glory, all pointing toward the moment that God will not dwell in tents but in human form. The same God who fills the Tabernacle will one day walk among his people.

Then God says something profound. "According to all that I show you, the pattern of the Tabernacle, so you shall make it." This isn't human architecture; this is what we could call divine design. The Tabernacle reflects heavenly realities. Earth is about to mirror heaven.

The dwelling place is not merely symbolic; it's a bridge between worlds. And this teaches us something critical about worship. We do not invent access to God; God reveals it. True worship follows God's design, not human preference. One of the most remarkable truths in Parashat Terumah is this: God wants to be approachable.

He gives Israel precise instructions not to create distance but to create safe intimacy. Boundaries protect. Structure invites. Order makes holiness accessible. God is not building walls to keep people out; he's building pathways to draw people near. And remember, biblically speaking, the idea of worship is drawing near.

And as it says in the New Testament, if we draw near to God, he draws near to us. Parashat Terumah speaks powerfully into modern faith. Many imagine God as distant, unreachable, abstract, busy. But the Torah reveals the opposite. God desires nearness. He chooses presence. He moves toward humanity.

And he still says to us today, "I want to dwell among you through Messiah, through the spirit, through transformed hearts." God's greatest desire is not control; it's communion. Parashat Terumah begins not with construction but with longing. God longs to be near his people. He invites generosity. He sanctifies matter. He reveals patterns.

And then he declares something astonishing. The infinite God desires to dwell with finite people. As Parashat Terumah continues, God now begins to describe the very heart of the Tabernacle. The place where his presence will dwell most intensely. The space that will define Israel's worship, identity, and relationship with heaven.

The first object God commands to be built is not the altar, not the lampstand, not the table. It is the Ark of the Covenant. This is no accident. Before sacrifice, before light, before bread, God establishes his throne. God instructs Moses to build a box of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, inside and out.

It is not large, roughly the size of a chest. But its significance is immeasurable. This Ark will hold the tablets of the Covenant, the words of God, the testimony of Sinai. The box becomes the physical container of divine revelation. God places his law not in the sky, not in the stars, but in the middle of his people.

Revelation does not remain distant; it dwells among them. Rabbinic tradition teaches that the Ark represents the spiritual heart of Israel. Just as the heart sustains life, the Ark sustains covenant. Without the Torah at the center, the nation collapses. Notice something beautiful. The Ark is hidden. It is not visible. It is not decorative.

It sits in the innermost chamber. This teaches that what sustains spiritual life is not always what impresses the eye. Depth matters more than display. Then God commands Moses to build something even more extraordinary: the Kapporet, the mercy seat. This is the golden lid that covers the Ark. And God says something breathtaking.

"There I will meet with you. And from above the mercy seat, I will speak with you." This is astonishing. The creator of the universe chooses a specific physical location where heaven and earth will intersect. God does not say that he will meet Moses in the stars or on mountains or in dreams. He says, "I will meet you above the mercy seat."

This becomes the most sacred spot on planet Earth. The place of atonement. The place of revelation. The place of presence. Two golden cherubim are formed from the same piece of gold as the mercy seat itself. Their wings stretch upward and inward, overshadowing the space between them. This is not just decorative art; this is theology in metal.

The cherubim appear at the entrance to Eden after the Fall. They guard sacred space. They mark the boundary between God and humanity. Now once again, the cherubim appear. Not guarding paradise but surrounding mercy. This is profound. Where sin once barred access, now mercy invites approach.

The space between the cherubim becomes God's throne. But not a throne of judgment, a throne of grace. The sages teach that God deliberately places his throne above the place of atonement to reveal his deepest nature. Justice is real, but mercy is central. Law exists, but forgiveness sustains relationship. God reigns not from terror but from compassion.

For Christians, this passage is foundational. The New Testament uses the exact language of the mercy seat when speaking about the Messiah. Paul says that Yeshua is the atoning cover, the mercy seat. The author of Hebrews says, "Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence." This is not just poetic language; it is Tabernacle theology.

Through Messiah, believers now approach the same throne where God met Moses. The place entered only once a year now becomes an open door through the blood of the Covenant. Later in the Torah, we learn that once a year on Yom Kippur, the high priest will sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. Why? Because presence requires atonement.

Holiness requires covering. Relationship requires reconciliation. God doesn't ignore sin; he provides healing for it. The mercy seat becomes the meeting place between divine holiness and human brokenness. Without atonement, there is no intimacy. Without mercy, there is no dwelling. This detail is subtle but astonishing.

Where does God place his throne? Above the law, above the tablets, above the broken Covenant. God reigns not over perfection but over redeemed imperfection. His throne stands not above obedience alone but above mercy. This reveals the heart of God more clearly than almost anything in the Torah.

Parashat Terumah now asks us something deeply personal. Where does God meet us? Not in perfection, not in strength, not in flawless obedience. He meets us at the mercy seat. At repentance, at humility, at surrender. Through the Messiah, God's throne is no longer hidden by veils. It is open, accessible, inviting.

God still desires to meet with his people, and he still chooses mercy as the meeting place. Parashat Terumah now reveals the very center of divine presence. A chest holding covenant, a throne resting on mercy, cherubim guarding grace, and a God who declares, "There I will meet with you." Heaven has chosen a home, and mercy has become its foundation.

As we continue, God now turns from his throne to his table. This movement is deeply intentional. First, God establishes his throne above mercy. Now he prepares a table in his dwelling place. This is extraordinary because kings don't normally invite their subjects to eat with them. But the God of Israel does.

God instructs Moses to build a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with a golden molding around it. On this table, twelve loaves of bread are to be placed continually before the Lord. One loaf for each tribe of Israel. This is called Lechem HaPanim, the bread of the presence. This bread is not symbolic decoration; it is covenant fellowship.

The table stands in the holy place, directly across from the menorah, before the veil that leads into the Holy of Holies. Between light and glory, God sets a table. This alone tells us something profound about God. Before sacrifice, before incense, before priesthood duties, God establishes fellowship.

Rabbinic tradition teaches us that the bread of the presence represents God's continual provision for Israel. The bread is replaced every Shabbat, but tradition says it remained warm and fresh throughout the week, a sign of divine blessing. But more than just provision, the bread represents relationship.

In the ancient world, sharing a meal meant covenant, friendship, peace, belonging. God is not merely dwelling among Israel; he's inviting Israel to dine with him. This idea is stunning. The creator of heaven and earth creates a table and places his people symbolically around it. The number matters: twelve loaves, twelve tribes.

Every tribe represented. No tribe forgotten. No tribe excluded. God remembers every family, every lineage, every story. This table testifies that no one in Israel is invisible before God. Even when tribes wander, even when people struggle, God keeps them continually before his face. The bread is not for God's hunger; it is for God's remembrance.

God declares, "My people are always before me." One of the most important theological truths in this portion is subtle. God does not eat this bread. The priests eat it. God provides the table, but he does not require the food. This teaches us something essential. God is not dependent on our offerings. Offerings are for the people.

Sacrifice doesn't feed God; it forms relationship. God allows Israel to participate in his dwelling not because he needs them but because he loves them. For Christians, this table points unmistakably toward Messiah. Yeshua repeatedly reveals himself as the one who feeds God's people. He multiplies loaves. He declares himself the bread of life.

He invites his disciples to eat and drink in remembrance of him. The Last Supper echoes the table of the showbread, the bread of the presence. Covenant at a table. Belonging through fellowship. Yeshua doesn't merely teach about God; he becomes God's provision, and he invites his followers to the table.

The bread of the presence also connects deeply with manna in the wilderness. God fed Israel daily. Now he places bread permanently in his dwelling. This teaches that provision flows from presence. Sustenance flows from relationship. Blessing flows from nearness to God. The table stands as a constant reminder.

Life is not sustained merely by human effort but by divine faithfulness. Notice something remarkable in the order of the Tabernacle. God first establishes the Ark, his throne, the mercy seat, atonement, the table, fellowship. Only later will he establish the altar, the incense, the priestly garments, the rituals.

God prioritizes relationship before ritual. Fellowship before performance. Belonging before service. This reveals the deepest truth of covenant. God doesn't desire servants first; he desires sons and daughters. Parashat Terumah now speaks directly into our spiritual lives because many believers imagine God primarily as judge, ruler, lawgiver.

But here, God reveals himself as host. He prepares a table. He remembers his people. He invites fellowship. He sustains life. He welcomes relationship. This changes everything. God doesn't just tolerate his people; he delights in communion with them. In the ancient world, enemies did not eat together.

To eat at someone's table meant peace, security, and protection. It meant friendship. The bread of the presence declares that Israel is no longer God's enemy. No longer a slave. No longer a stranger. They are guests in God's house. This is covenant reconciliation. Every time Christians celebrate what we call Holy Communion, they unknowingly echo Tabernacle theology.

Bread, presence, covenant, remembrance, fellowship. The table in the church is rooted in the table of the Tabernacle. And both point to the ultimate table, the marriage supper of the Lamb, where the redeemed of humanity will eat in God's presence forever. Parashat Terumah now reveals a breathtaking truth: the God who reigns from mercy now invites his people to his table.

The throne becomes a table. Judgment becomes fellowship. Holiness becomes hospitality. And God declares, "I don't only want to rule among you; I want to dine with you." As Parashat Terumah continues, God now turns from his throne and table to something equally essential: light.

If God is going to dwell among his people, if fellowship is going to take place in his presence, if holiness is going to be experienced safely, then light must fill the dwelling. Darkness cannot remain. And so God commands the making of one of the most beautiful and enduring symbols in all of scripture: the Menorah.

God instructs how to make the Menorah out of pure gold, hammered from a single piece. Shaft, branches, cups, knobs, and flowers all formed together. This detail matters. The Menorah is not a symbol; it is shaped. One piece, one source, many branches. This is powerful theology. God's light flows from unity. Diversity emerges from oneness.

Many flames, one foundation. This already hints at something profound about the nature of divine life. Rabbinic traditional often associates the Menorah with the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Its branches resembling a living tree. Its cups resembling blossoms. Its light brings life into sacred space.

After humanity was expelled from Eden, the cherubim guarded the way to the tree of life. Now in the Tabernacle, God places a symbolic tree of life back in human reach. The dwelling of God becomes a partial restoration of Eden. Light returns. Life returns. Presence returns. God is slowly undoing exile.

God then commands that the Menorah be kept burning continually. The priests are responsible to tend to it daily. The oil must never run out. The flame must never die. This teaches something essential. God's dwelling is not meant to be dark. God is not a hidden deity; he is a revealing God.

The Menorah proclaims that God desires to illuminate his people, not to confuse them. For Christians, the Menorah unmistakably points toward Messiah. Yeshua declares, "I am the light of the world." This is Tabernacle language. Messiah doesn't claim to bring light; he claims to be light.

Just as the Menorah illuminated God's dwelling, Messiah illuminates God's people. John tells us that in him was life, and that life was the light of humanity. The darkness cannot overcome it. Parashat Terumah now speaks deeply into our spiritual lives. God doesn't want his people walking in darkness. In confusion, in fear, in ignorance.

He places light in his dwelling and gives his truth to his people. He sends revelation through his word and ultimately through his son. Faith is not blind; it is illuminated. God doesn't hide his will; he reveals it. In the New Covenant, something even more astonishing occurs. God no longer places light in a tent; he places it in hearts.

Paul says believers are temples of the Holy Spirit. Yeshua says his followers are the light of the world. The Menorah moves from sanctuary to soul. God now illuminates his dwelling from within. Parashat Terumah now reveals the beauty of divine light. A golden tree burning with a holy fire. Seven flames revealing wisdom.

Light shining upon fellowship. Presence illuminating life. And God declares, "I will not dwell among you in darkness. I will dwell among you in light." My prayer for you this Shabbat is that you would experience the mercy of the mercy seat, the throne of grace. That you would experience God's presence in fellowship, like the table of the bread of the presence.

That you would experience the light of the world, our Messiah, and that you would follow his instruction to us to also be the light of the world. This Shabbat, may the Sabbath peace of our God reveal his presence to you, his fellowship with you, and his light shining in you. Thank you for joining us. Shabbat Shalom.

Candace Long: You can hear Pastor Matt teach the Torah every Saturday morning at 6:00. Coming up next is part one of Families Under Attack with Rajan Morrison. Today's episode is primarily to introduce her to you. You'll find her delightful and very approachable. I've known Rajan for many years and consider her a trusted ministry colleague.

She has degrees in education, science, and psychology, plus a master's degree in leadership, renewal, and mission studies. But in the mid-1980s, she experienced an encounter with God that would change the course of her life, and you'll hear her talk about that. She originally thought she would become a doctor like her father, but she was told very clearly by the Lord in prayer one day that she was his doctor of souls, not the body.

After hearing that, she made the decision not to pursue a counseling license so she would be free to let the Lord be the healer. She is also a gifted coach and has a private practice working with individuals, marriages, and families. And the core foundational model for their ministry is letting the Holy Spirit lead and guide the work individually with each person.

And she has been writing and developing the curriculum for their counseling model for over 30 years. Join me in welcoming Rajan Morrison. I want to welcome you to a new addition to the Shabbat Shalom program lineup called Families Under Attack. The first person I thought of to help us make sense of the chaos going on in today's families was Rajan Morrison, who has worked in the mental health field for over 50 years.

She has ministered to families literally all over the world through the organization that she and her husband Steve co-founded in 1993. Rajan, welcome to Shabbat Shalom.

Rajan Morrison: It is exciting to be here.

Candace Long: Well, she is a very trusted colleague. I wanted our listeners to know that. If you don't mind, I'm going to refer our listeners to your handout that's on our main page. Let them read about your professional background on their own. But in our first interview today, I want them to get to know you on a more personal level. So tell us how God led you to do what you do. You're not the ordinary counselor.

Rajan Morrison: No, I'm not. It really started with my family because my father went into psychiatry as a GP. And as part of that, I lived in a mental health institution for three years. Let me qualify that. He was doing his residency at the state mental hospital in Mississippi, and we lived on campus. And as an eight, nine, ten-year-old girl, I would roam around. I've always been quite the adventurous, and would see things that looking back, I know the Lord was allowing me to see and I was troubled by that.

I saw a lot of the patients. I played baseball with them and interacted. And he began to put something in my heart that I didn't even know was there. But the older we get, when we look back, we can see the hand of God moving and directing us. And so just because of different experiences that I had, I found myself first of all wanting to be a doctor and then realizing, if somebody dies on me, that won't be good.

My father was very dedicated to his work, and I would make house calls with him in the backseat of the car when those things still existed years ago. And I also worked with him in his office working with people. So in the later years, he died very early. I was 19. And I think sometimes we want to honor our parents by, "Yes, I'll be that doctor, third-generation doctor."

And the Lord started speaking to me and calling me to special education of all things because I was very interested in the brain. And I worked in a new field back then called learning disabilities, gifted, behavioral disorders. And left that through some situations that happened. Came to Atlanta. Found myself working at a psychiatric hospital.

Candace Long: You are institutionalized.

Rajan Morrison: Yes. Secular hospital because this was 1981. There were no Christian programs. In fact, we didn't have small groups in church. We maybe had Christians who were counselors, but they didn't know how to integrate their faith and what they were doing. Nor did they have permission to do it.

Now, that doesn't seem like that long ago, but that's what was happening. So the world I was in was an inpatient hospital setting where you're locked in there. The highest level of care. And I worked with adolescents. And as a believer going in, I was told, "Don't talk about God." Well, don't tell me not to talk about God.

So I did a lot of what I call Jehovah-sneaky with people and did it in a very honoring, balanced way, but would talk to them. Spiritual issues are important. And I got in trouble. But because I was doing things that brought a lot of patients into the hospital, they tolerated me. But what the Lord was doing was stirring up this dissatisfaction within me.

And one day—this is the big God story, okay?—one day I was at a treatment planning session, and the team was discussing a 12-year-old whose family went to the church that we attended. So clearly a believer. And some of the people that I thought were Christians began to make fun of this family and their beliefs. And I was sitting in the corner where I know God had saved that seat for me, kind of hidden away.

And I am becoming angrier and angrier. And suddenly something happened that was very weird. I usually don't tell this story, but it's important. It's like God knocked me out. Now, I knew about thorazine. That is a drug that will knock you out. I felt like he knocked me out and he took me to a different realm where he allowed me to see spiritually into that other world.

And behind each person's head, there were demonic beings that were not very happy with me. And the Lord started to speak and said, "I want to heal my people. Put me to the test three times." I thought everybody in the room could have heard that. But it was just for me. And as he was saying that, these demonic beings looked angrier and angrier. And I knew they wanted to destroy me. But I was protected by the Lord.

And then everything disappeared and I am back in the room, and I'm like, "What was that?"

Candace Long: You'd never had a vision before.

Rajan Morrison: I've had plenty of visions, but not like that. Not like that. So I got out of that room as quick as I could because I was so overwhelmed and undone by what had happened. That I just had to go back down the hill to my office where it was and just started praying. "Lord, what are you doing? What are you saying?"

And he directed me to call the pastoral assistant of our church. Now, we went to a megachurch. You don't get to the pastor. But this woman happened to know me and didn't think I was crazy. So I just felt the Lord say, "Call her." And when I got her, she said, "What do you think this means?"

And I began to share, and this was not from me; it was the Lord just speaking out a desire to see Christ-centered healing happen. And from that, there was quite a journey with lots of visions and directing from the Lord that ended up in the expression of what we do today, which is Healing for the Nations. But I can honestly say that I was on the forefront of bringing mental health help to Christians.

Wrote probably the first 12-step Christ-centered programs when I was working with a fellow named Robert McGee, who wrote a book called Search for Significance and had started and pioneered inpatient programs. And then I've helped pioneer all levels of care during my career.

Candace Long: Your story sounds so much like Moses. You really are a pioneer in this field. Paul said I am called as a steward of the mysteries of God in developing his gospel. See, this was your gospel, that Jesus could get inside of a situation that is full of demons and be healed.

Rajan Morrison: Amen. Amen.

Candace Long: Did you have resistance from the church people because they didn't want to go there in the dark place?

Rajan Morrison: Initially, yes and no. I think that resistance is just part and parcel of what we face all the time. For instance, we've been doing our ministry for 33 years now. And in that, we continuously have people say this is basic Christianity and healing. Why don't we do this in the church? But when we try to go into most churches, they're so protective and it's just really interesting that those doors have not opened up.

Candace Long: Which is why he sent you to the nations.

Rajan Morrison: Right. Right. And we have teams internationally that are part of Healing for the Nations as well in several countries.

Candace Long: So you disciple these teams that then go out into their nation and teach these principles.

Rajan Morrison: That's right. That's right.

Candace Long: Tell me how—I know you and Steve work very closely together. You co-founded Healing for the Nations. What are his gifts like compared to yours and how do they flow?

Rajan Morrison: Well, let me go back to something I think is important. Because when this encounter happened with the Lord, I just thought, because there were other things happening—I shared I'd had other visions—that, "Oh, I'll have a deliverance ministry." So now we're both spirit-filled. We laughingly say we're quietly charismatic, but that's definitely there. We serve a lot of people so we want to embrace them and bring them in.

Well, when I told him I felt like the Lord was calling me to a deliverance ministry, he said, "Oh no, you're not." And I really believe that God gave me a great partner. I respect his spiritual maturity. And I was real mad about it, but I said, "Okay, well, I'm going to pray because the Lord is going to bring us together in what we do." And it took a year praying.

And in that year, it was very clear that we wouldn't have a deliverance ministry as most people would think about, but that it is a discipleship. It's about growth and healing and lasting change. Really building up and equipping the body of Christ. Because we know you can go through deliverance and if you don't have a foundation, seven more will come in. And deliverance ministries are wonderful, but sometimes they hurt people. And we wanted to be very careful about that.

So he had been a systems analyst, and God through a series of visions called us to England where really the work we did there formed what we do now. But during that time, Steve shared with me for years, even before we met, he always had a desire for healing and wholeness in God's people, partly because of how he grew up and longed for that. So he's an anointed worship leader who really leads people into the presence of the Lord, and is an ordained minister and pastoral in everything he does. So he can be the good guy and I can be the bad guy on retreats. He's quiet, trustworthy, and I'm a challenger.

Candace Long: What I find so refreshing in both of you—because I deal a lot with coaching, as you and I have talked about over the years—the stories that break my heart are the women who have these strong gifts like you do. You do most of the teaching and you are very prophetic; you sense the Lord saying something and you go with the flow, and he respects that.

See, a lot of the women who are silenced, who are squelched, they have not been allowed in their marriage to develop their voice. How do you coach people like that?

Rajan Morrison: I'll just tell you a story of something that happened. One of the things that we're most known for is our intensive retreat. And people experiencing that that have come from around the world are the pioneers that then have taken it into their culture. And we know many cultures have very different views about women and their role in ministry, including denominations and what's being taught.

And what we do on the retreat and the journey that we take people through, which is the expression of what does "I want to heal my people, put me to the test" mean as we work that out. We were doing a retreat in Hawaii, and we had a number of Koreans coming because this was when the renewal movement was happening with Korea back in the mid-90s.

One of the things that we do—and this is the beauty of Steve releasing me—is he always covers me in prayer and kind of says my wife is going to be teaching. I'm okay with that. There's a covering. We have to do more of that depending on what culture we're in. But we knew we had a lot of Asians, and there was a couple who were there and he was very prominent in his country and in his ministry. And I noticed that she would constantly walk behind him.

At the end of the retreat—this was a total God surprise to us—we knew the Lord was moving in them. And he came up to Steve and I and he said, "To watch the two of you working together has convicted me." He took his wife who was behind him and he put her beside him and then he put her in front of him. And he said, "I have seen what you do and I want to free my wife to serve the Lord in the giftings that she has." And that was one of the most beautiful moments that we've had.

Candace Long: That brings tears to my eyes because so many women are so broken. They have no voice, they don't have permission to have a voice. And I get so angry, I just want to scream.

Rajan Morrison: Well, that's how I was during that year of praying and just saying, "Lord, you've done something so significant that all I can do is pray for you to move in Steve's heart." So the power of prayer, just think about that. "I want to heal my people, put me to the test," that's what I was doing with the Lord. I can't do this. I can't change his mind. But I'm going to trust you in your way and in your time to do this.

Candace Long: In your years of ministry, how would you contrast what families are dealing with now as opposed to what we dealt with them in years past?

Rajan Morrison: There's no comparison. We've always had core things from the beginning of time. Think about Adam and Eve in their struggles with their family and their parenting. We have this thing called flesh that our spirits are at war with, and those expressions of that have always been there. But what I would say is different is the unleashing of a new attack that has grounds everywhere in the air we breathe, literally because of what we're now experiencing as the internet.

And we're literally in a situation where we have this thing—I was going back about generational names that we have like I'm a boomer. But now we have generation alpha. And I was like, "Whoa, that's interesting." Alpha is always about beginning. This is the beginning of children, our generation, my grandchildren. Some of my grandchildren are in this, who have never experienced life outside of social media and all the voices and influencers that we have now affecting and attacking us. Our world is completely different.

Candace Long: Well, you know a lot of what I teach and that I believe that we have become the days of Noah. And if that is true, then we are dealing with beings that we've never dealt with before. We've never walked this way before. And I wondered if you had seen that in the healing room, so to speak, where the techniques have to change because of what we're dealing with.

Rajan Morrison: Well, I would say they do and they don't. What has to change and that is paramount is that we need to see people wake up. There's an old story about the frog in the pot and the water gets a little bit hotter and at first he thinks, "Oh, this is wonderful." And then you're dead. That's really what's happening to us.

The things that have been created, we need. I mean, we are able to share this show because of technology. But the dangers of it literally on our brains and hearts are like nothing we've ever seen as an influence before that actually attack our soul in a way that things like empathy, which is foundational to developing spiritual maturity, can happen.

Candace Long: When we went through COVID and children were prevented from going to school and socializing, there came about an emotional lack of development to where they cannot relate to other people. And so we're dealing with a whole different other thing now. One of the things that we talked about that this show—because I consider this first episode introductory of some principles because everything that you have shared is critically important. And we'll get into some more personal questions and stories because we have had questions from listeners and we'll get into those in the second episode.

But let's define some terminology. We said in the handout that you were going to focus on ten of the top disruptors facing families today. Explain what you mean by the word disruptor.

Rajan Morrison: They're influencers that are so powerful. They are powerful because they're spiritually charged by the enemy as well. They create fear and a dependency and the fruit of that becomes very toxic to what family, God's best for families. And it creates an attack. The disruptions create such unraveling of what we've known as family and the safety.

And I'm not saying all families have always been safe, but we've had things that we've been able to hold on to that are being stolen away obviously or quietly like that frog. In a way that we find ourselves how do I battle this? How do I even fight this? Because I'm in the world, I have to live in it. But I'm not of the world. This is not my home. How do I deal with that tension with so many things happening?

Candace Long: Are you dealing with mostly believers?

Candace Long: I know you do coaching on your own. So when we're talking about disrupting families, you're talking about traditional Christian families or faith-based families who have a strong faith.

Rajan Morrison: Faith-based families who are struggling and are really under attack in this time.

Candace Long: What are some of the warning signs for families to know what's normal and oh, he'll grow through it, or what are the red flags that they should watch out for that say we need to seek help with this?

Rajan Morrison: I'm going to bug you with how I respond to this because the very nature of that question speaks into some of the problems that parents have today. And that is we're operating with an old understanding or paradigm of where kids should be. And one of the biggest dilemmas right now is the things that we've been talking about are creating damage to what I'll call sense of self.

There's a difference between sense of self and self-esteem. Sense of self is I know my body, I know what's happening, I know when I'm upset, I have some ability to regulate that so that kind of who I am relationally I have some empathy. So I can look at you and know you're not happy with me and that matters to me. So we're in an age where many of us have still experienced a different world than the world we're having to deal with now, and we make assumptions. "Well, they should be here."

And we get into one of our sessions about denial. We're asleep. We're not waking up and we don't want to hear, even though we know and it's all around us, to really work with and hear what's happening in this attack and to know what we can do. There's even a disconnect at that level. So unfortunately, the signs and symptoms are coming too late.

Candace Long: So are you talking about emotional intelligence? One of the things you know my deal with sound, I'm very sound-conscious. And one of the things that I notice about this new generation, they all talk fast and they all talk with staccato and they have no empathy in the warmth of their voice. So there is a disconnect. So you're talking generationally that we, our generation, you have emotional intelligence out the wazoo and I think I'm fairly gifted in that area myself. So we read people well. We have a generation that don't read people because they're looking at their phone.

Rajan Morrison: Right. And through that, just the brain changes that are happening. It is interesting. One of the things that's under attack that we don't realize is our joy center. You actually have a joy center in your brain that has unlimited capacity. That's where we regulate, right? And that's also where empathy and spiritual maturity develop, and that's really being attacked.

Candace Long: Well, this is fascinating and I can't wait for our next episode. If you have a question, I'm speaking to listeners now. If you have a question or a situation in your family that you'd like Rajan to discuss, we would love to hear from you. So go to our main page at shabbatshalomradio.com and look for the button at the top that says Email the Show. I'm Candace Long and you've been listening to Families Under Attack with Rajan Morrison. Join us next Saturday morning from 6:30 to 7:00. Shabbat Shalom.

If you have a question concerning needs in you or your family, chances are others have the same question. So please click the link on our main page that says Email the Show and tell me about your situation. Coming up in the next hour is another new program, Ask the Rabbi, with Rabbi Michael Washer. He gave such honest, unfiltered answers to my questions that surprised me. But I realized the Father is taking us to a whole new level of preparation for what's to come. Stay tuned for the second hour on WEZE 590, our media partner for shabbatshalomradio.com.