35. The Turning Point: Choosing Truth Over Culture

Is This YOUR Turning Point?

Are you truly living out your purpose and showing love to others, as Jesus commanded in Luke 10:27? 

In this episode, we take a closer look at the Great Commission’s call to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) in a world filled with diverse and often conflicting beliefs.

Our culture’s “you do you” mentality can easily pull us away from God’s truth and the foundation of our Christian faith. Too often, we slip into going through the motions—tolerating false doctrines, compromising with immorality, and losing sight of God’s call.

By looking at Jesus’ example—loving deeply yet calling people to repentance—we can learn how to remain strong and prepared for life’s challenges. Through consistent prayer, grounding ourselves in Scripture, and relying on the Holy Spirit, we can live out the purpose God designed for us—even when it feels like we’ve headed off the path.

Chapters
00:00 The Great Paradox of Life
08:40 Challenges of Diverse Beliefs
09:19 Straying from Faith
10:07 Jesus’ Example of Love
10:32 Staying Connected to Jesus
10:43 Scripture as Our Roadmap

🙏 If this message encourages you, please like, share, and subscribe. And if you know someone who may be at their own turning point, send this episode their way. Together, let’s keep choosing God’s path and answering His call to MORE.

Quote:
 "If you haven't spent time in the Bible lately, I hope that this will be your turning point because to me, the Bible and prayer is truly the turning point that changes everything for us. It changed everything for me when I started committing to and spending time in the Word." Vona Johnson

Scripture referenced:

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. 
Luke 10:27

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 NLT (Note this verse was given the incorrect location in the recording; I said Matthew 28:11 in error. Please accept my apologies for any confusion.)

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Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!

To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!

Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at vonajohnson.com!

Schedule a free 15 minute Your Path to More call with Vona.

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Episode Transcript

Vona Johnson (00:00):
The events of these last few weeks have been

(00:02):
jarring.
They have really become aturning point, not just for our
country, but for each and everyone of us as Christians, as
Christians who are at or nearthe age of retirement.
We can sit back and say, oh,that was a movement for the
youth.
Charlie was working on the youngpeople in our country.
But I believe that it's for allof us.

(00:23):
It's for all of us to stop andtake a look at what can we be
doing to further the movement,the revival, the bringing people
to Jesus Christ.
Today I wanna talk about how wecan listen to the nudges that
God's giving us through all ofthis, and we can be inspired to
be those people who could stepin and provide wisdom through

(00:44):
this difficult time in ourworld.
Please join me as I talk aboutwhether this is your turning
point.

Speaker (00:50):
Do you fear?
What lies beyond retirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author, and coachVNA Johnson.
Let's get started.
You know, I wrote a differentview.

(01:12):
It was published five years agoand it was really a labor of
love.
I've gone back many times andread different.
Parts of the book and, and justbeen stunned like, wow, the Holy
Spirit was writing this part.
I don't even remember puttingthose words together.
And as time moved on, it wasn'ta bestseller.
It, did okay, but it didn't havethe impact that I thought maybe

(01:35):
it would, I was told at the timethat it was really in alignment
with what the conservativemovement embraced and that it
could really change people'slives.
And I know that it has, I'vespoken to people directly whose
lives have been impacted by ADifferent View.
What I didn't realize was thatGod was weaving me into today's

(01:57):
story, the world events, and Ididn't even realize it at the
time.
It's funny because, a while agoI, I have this new app and I was
recording my workout and Iaccidentally put that I was
running instead of my normallittle dance thing that I do.
And at the end it popped up andit gave me this little map of
everywhere that I went, youknow, usually you're on this big

(02:20):
route.
Well, no, mine was just in andout and everything.
And it occurred to me thatthat's kind of how my life has
been.
You know, it's a lot of startsand stops.
I'll go here and then I'll turnand then I'll do this.
And it's always comes back tofulfilling what, what the Holy
Spirit is guiding me to.
Even when it feels like it, itdidn't work.
God has used so many of mystarts and stops, and one of the

(02:45):
things that really struck me asI was viewing a lot of the
footage over Charlie Kirk'smurder is that his senior
director of Faith is a man whowrote an endorsement for my
book.
And it just really.
It had an impact.
You know, we all hear the, thetheory of there's six degrees of

(03:06):
separation from anybody in theworld.
I literally had two degrees ofseparation with Charlie Kirk,
and I didn't know him.
I wasn't a follower.
My husband talked about himoften.
And I was like, oh yeah, that'snice, I agree with that.
But I didn't ever just sit downand listen to his stuff and I
fully intend to now.
But what really struck me wasthe endorsement that I got from

(03:26):
Lucas Miles.
And I'm gonna read that for younow because I feel like I have
allowed A Different View tolanguish when I should have been
out there pushing.
So my turning point is that eventhough I was starting to do that
at the beginning of this seasonof Courageous Retirement, I am
more committed to that thanever.
But this is the endorsement thatLucas gave A Different View.

(03:50):
"It's no secret any longer thatour pulpits have been invaded,
it's time we get back to thefoundation of our faith, the
Bible, as it was written, ADifferent View is a book that
can help with just that.
It points the reader back toscripture and helps you
experience God's faithfulnesseven as cultural chaos continues
to increase.

(04:12):
It will inspire you to redefineyour priorities and live your
faith every day.
I highly encourage you to readthis book and share it with all
of your friends so they too canknow their true purpose in
life." I was honored that Lucaswas willing to give me that
endorsement, and it feels weirdfor me to capitalize on that,

(04:34):
but I also feel that I am.
Holding back and hiding out inmy corner if I don't step out
and, and push that connection towhat's happening in our world
today.
Because I really believe, eventhough, there's a whole movement
now with Turning Point and it'sdirected to our young people, I

(04:55):
believe it's our turning pointtoo.
And I believe that those of uswho have years of wisdom behind
us need to step out of our darkcorners where we've been kind of
lurking and, and really makesomething of this in my
devotions.
I portals of prayer recently Iloved, it was actually on
September 13th that talked abouthow true wisdom displays

(05:19):
meekness reflecting our humble,gracious savior.
He left the splender of heavento live among the lowly.
Rather than call on his legionsof angels, he submitted to death
on the cross.
He trusted his father, whoraised him in glory instead of
condemning us.
He calls us his own.

(05:39):
He is the word made flush thewisdom incarnate, and we get our
wisdom from him through his holyword.
If you haven't spent time in theBible lately, I hope that this
will be your turning pointbecause to me, the Bible and
prayer is truly the turningpoint that changes everything
for us.
It changed everything for mewhen I started committing to and

(06:01):
spending time in the Word.
And I'm gonna challenge you if,if you've been feeling that
nudge.
Take it.
Go there and then find out howGod is going to embolden you to
take courageous action to keepthis movement going so that we
can turn our youth back toJesus, back to Christian

(06:23):
standards and morals and beliefsso that we can raise families
that live together and love andsupport one another and
encourage one another.
One of the things that reallystruck me, when I, when I was
working on my book, is, howfaith is so important.
It's not what saves us, but ourfaith is important and our trust

(06:43):
in Jesus is crucial to beingable to take the action that
he's calling us to do.
But I feel that there are many,many Christians in the world
today who are just coastingthrough.
I used the word pretending.
I was called out on whetherpeople are really pretending,
but if they're not going deeperwith Jesus, they may be.

(07:03):
And I took a Bible study yearsago on the Book of Revelation
and it was, it was really,eye-opening for me.
And I loved how the authortalked about us being sloppy in
our faith.
And I just wanna read a segmentto you from a different view
that talks about that, to me,when I talk about living your
more, what I'm really talkingabout is living in the fruit of

(07:25):
the spirit.
So if we want these fruits ofthe spirit to grow in us, we are
called to stop being complacentin our faith and connect more
deeply with Jesus.
He wants us to get to know himbetter, to love him more, to
remember him always with it, andimitate him by our words and
actions.
When we do that, we fulfill ourtrue purpose, loving God and

(07:48):
loving our neighbors.
By showing this love towardsother, we realize that we must
share our faith both in the waywe live and by the words we
speak.
Only then will people be drawnto the church and want to be a
part of that life.
It truly is the great paradox inlife.
We know we are commanded to getalong with each other and
demonstrate love.

(08:09):
That's from Luke 10 27.
We know the Great Commissioncalls us to go and make
disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28 11.
That can be hard to do with allthe diverse ideas than beliefs
in this world.
Many people whose map lookdifferent from one another have
become vocal about insistingthat their way is the right way.

(08:31):
Just like we know Jesus is theonly way.
They too know their way is theright way.
Have we not seen a lot of thatin the world today?
There are inherent clashes inour cultures and beliefs, and it
makes it hard to get along andto show love to everyone.
We can want people to see thingsour way so intently at times

(08:52):
that we don't show jesus' lovein the process of trying to show
them Jesus.
If we follow the way of theworld, we will interact with
others in a manner that reflects"the you do you and I'll do me"
culture.
We aren't stepping on any toesby living this way, and we
tiptoe around God's will for ourlives and drift away from the

(09:14):
foundations of our Christianfaith.
We invest a nominal amount oftime with Jesus and wonder why
our lives are falling apart andwhy we are stressed out and
overwhelmed.
Too many of us are going throughthe motions instead of having an
authentic relationship with God.
Indeed, we've gotten sloppy inour faith.

(09:35):
Whole congregations toleratefalse doctrine and accept
immoral actions as simply a signof the times.
Satan is celebrating that we'vemade his job so easy.
Yet, if we watch Jesus's actionsclosely.
He loved every sinner heencountered.
He did not encourage the peoplewhose lives he touched to

(09:55):
continue to live in sin.
On the contrary, he repeatedlytold the people he healed to go
and sin no more.
If we continue this apathytowards sin, we will not be
prepared to withstand the trialsthat will undoubtedly come our
way.
Jesus is our lifeline.
When we stay in tune with him,read the word, and pray

(10:17):
consistently, we will be readyfor any challenges we encounter.
The best part is scripture tellsus how to do everything we need
to do.
Think of it as our roadmap thatgives us directions.
Think of the Holy Spirit as ourguide that makes sure that we
are following the map correctly.
There's a lot more in here, butthat gives you a taste.

(10:39):
I feel that we've drifted fromthe solid word of the Bible and
people have interpreted it in somany different ways, and they
pick out the parts that say whatthey want it to say, and we need
to get more diligent in ourfaith and we need to bring our
children back to faith.

(10:59):
There are so many things thathave happened in the world, not
just the recent shooting, butother shootings and other,
kidnappings and things like thatthat happen all the time in our
world.
And our children need to have asolid foundation in the Bible
and in the scriptural truth.
So when, when bad things happen,they know that they can trust
God, that they are safe.

(11:20):
No matter what.
So what are you doing?
What is your turning point?
What is your call to action inthis situation?
I personally, I'm starting aBible study called Raising Kids
to Follow Christ.
And I I'm gonna do an onlinecomponent of that, and if you
wanna be a part of that, reachout and let me know.
At the very least, I will sendyou the link to the book and you

(11:42):
can get it yourself.
But what are you gonna do?
Are you going to start a Biblestudy?
Maybe that's not your style.
You're just not ready to gothere yet.
Go join one at the very leastand engage in the conversation.
You do not have to start apodcast.
You don't have to write a book,but just have the courage to
have those difficultconversations as you're sitting

(12:03):
around the coffee table,enjoying your friends or at the
holiday table or at a soccergame, wherever God leads you to,
there are opportunities to shareyour faith, to share your
testimony and explain why youbelieve that Jesus Christ died
for our sins, for everybody'ssins.
He forgives all, and we need tobe full of forgiveness and love

(12:26):
as well.
Let's not let Charlie's death befor nothing.
Let's not make him into somesort of saint that he isn't.
Let's not replace Jesus withCharlie.
But let's do what Charlie did.
He pointed everything back toJesus, and let's be more like
that.
Let's do that too.
Let's let his death be a turningpoint, not just for our nation,

(12:50):
but for each one of usindividually.
I love how my pastor, the, theSunday after the shooting, um,
he didn't give a long sermon onCharlie.
Like so many of us wereencouraged to do.
But instead he reminded us thatJesus went out in search of the
one.
Remember how he left the 99 togo find the one sheep that had

(13:11):
wandered away?
But I love what he did therebecause instead of us being able
to sit back and talk about thatone, you know that guy that
shot, that guy that did this orthat, or that gal that did
whatever, he pointed out that weare the one.
Jesus left all the rest of theflock to come and get us to

(13:32):
redeem us from our sin.
So look inside your heart.
Look at what sin you might needto give up, and then where can
you find the courage and thediscernment to make changes to
help bring others to JesusChrist.
I believe that this is our callto action.

(13:55):
I believe that this is a timewhere we need to set aside our,
our fears of what might happenif we speak up.
Don't let this be the thing thatmakes you retract even farther
into the darkness, but have thecourage to step forward and
know, like Charlie knew thateven if, even if we give up our

(14:17):
lives to speak for Jesus, weknow that we have eternity with
him and we have eternity withour loved ones.
When I created CourageousRetirement.
It was for a time such as this,people told me, oh, your video,
you know, you need, you've gotcourageous and you've got a
picture of a Bible.
Why would you do that?
You need somebody, jumping outof an airplane.

(14:38):
And it's like, no, it's not thatkind of courage.
It's the courage to speak up andspeak truth.
So I encourage you to take thecourage that it takes to share
your faith.
To invite others to talk to theyoung people who are struggling
in this world and help them seethat they do have a purpose,

(14:59):
that each and every one of ushas a purpose.
So thank you for stopping bytoday.
I look forward to continuingthis discussion of courageous
retirement in two weeks when wecome back with the next episode.
Until then, engage your faithand always, always live your
more.
Take care.