Todd and Katie share a core conviction from eight years of ministry in Johnson City: overcoming in everyday life isn't optional, it's the whole assignment.
Eight years ago, when God sent us to Johnson City, Tennessee, the mandate was specific: teach people how to overcome in their everyday life. Not how to survive it. Not how to endure it until heaven. Overcome it. Reign in it. And in the years since, that single directive has shaped everything we do, from Sunday services to this podcast, from revivals to the over 450 episodes sitting in our feed right now.
It sounds simple. But you'd be surprised how many people have never actually been taught this.
For this life is the only hell I'm ever going to experience.
When we first got here and started preaching these things, we'd watch people sit in the seats wide-eyed. Not just moved, but shocked. And a question we heard over and over again was, "Why have I never been taught this before?" Honestly, it surprised me too. Because what we were sharing wasn't some deep theological mystery. It was foundational. The ABCs of what it means to be born again. But so many people in our area, and really across the country, were never given it. Years of seeker-sensitive church culture did real damage there. When the goal becomes making everyone comfortable and never challenging anyone, you produce weak believers. No doctrine. No expectation of overcoming. Just show up, feel okay about yourself, and go home.
That's not the plan of heaven.
There's an old mindset, one we grew up singing in the hymnal, that frames the promised land as heaven. Canaan's fair land. Crossing the Jordan. The land of milk and honey. And with the best of intentions, an entire generation was taught to set their sights on getting out of here.
But Canaan is not heaven. Heaven doesn't have giants. You don't fight wars there. You don't need to take territory there. The struggles we face are here, only here, in this life. This life is preparation for the next. And for the believer, Romans 5:17 lays it out plainly:
"Much more surely will those who receive God's overflowing grace and the free gift of righteousness reign as kings in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." — Romans 5:17, Amplified Classic
Reign. As kings. In life. Not after life. That's the assignment.
The problem is that most people don't actually have a revelation of this, and there's a difference between mental knowledge and revelation. You can know you've been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, you can say the words, and still live like Satan owns the world and you're just a passenger in it. Until you have a genuine revelation of who you are in Christ, the fruit of your life won't reflect it.
Some mornings, the day just comes at you. The sun rises and it already feels like the enemy got up early and circled your name. I've driven down the road in my truck and just screamed out loud, "This day will not kick my butt, in Jesus' name." That's not performance. Your ears need to hear your own words of tenacity.
The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
That kind of fight, though, is directed at the right target. Our war is not with flesh and blood. It's against powers, principalities, things in the realm of the spirit. And that means we have to stop assuming that every difficult person in our lives has a demon driving them. Murder is listed in the Word as a work of the flesh. Not everything is a devil, and not everyone who challenges you, corrects you, or says something you didn't want to hear is operating under some dark influence. Sometimes they're just telling you a hard truth.
I hadn't thought about this story in a long time, but it came back to me recently and I think it's worth sharing.
After Bible college, the Lord led me up to Alaska. I didn't fully know why. I took a job at a daycare run by a Christian woman my family knew, and I started attending a local church. Not long after I arrived, at a fellowship meal after service, an older gentleman I'd never met sat down at our table and, within minutes, called me out. He found out I was a Bible school graduate and essentially said, "Why aren't you involved in children's ministry here? You work with children. Step up."
My first reaction, honestly, was irritation. I didn't know this man. I thought, there are plenty of other people in this church who could have stepped up long before I got here. My feelings were a little hurt. I went home and started praying about it, and I could feel my mind wanting to build a case. That's what happens when you don't deal with an offense quickly: the enemy helps you build it, brick by brick, and next thing you know, you're furious at a brother in Christ over something God actually sent.
But as I prayed, the Holy Spirit just quietly asked: is there any truth in what he said?
Is there any truth in what he said?
There was. I stepped up. I ended up leading the whole children's ministry, building curriculum from scratch, getting everything structured. I had no idea what I was doing at first, but I was faithful with it. And not long after, a full-time position opened up with evangelist Debbie Rich, traveling the world. When I look back, I genuinely don't think that door would have opened if I hadn't been faithful with the small thing right in front of me.
The man's delivery? Could have been softer. But that's almost beside the point. So many believers get stuck right there. "I know what they said was right, but I don't like how they said it." That can become an excuse to stay exactly where you are. We have to decide: are we going to be precious about the packaging, or are we going to ask the Lord what he wants us to do with the message?
This is how you actually reign in life. Not by waiting for your own platform, your own ministry, your own moment. By being faithful right now, in the place where God has you.
The local church is the plan of heaven. It's where gifting gets birthed, where the corporate anointing flows, where you encounter resistance that actually makes you strong. You cannot get strong in a gym by watching other fit people walk around. You need resistance. And God, because he's given us free will, will absolutely let us do everything in our own strength if we insist on it. Most of church has done exactly that, which is why so much of it looks anemic. Real strength only shows up when you're in a situation where, if God doesn't come through, you're done.
The years I spent working for Dr. Debbie, being pushed to give offering teachings when I didn't want to, being pressed into things before I felt ready, were the most formative years of my life. She saw something Paul-to-Timothy in that relationship, and she pushed me because of it. I'm grateful she didn't let me off the hook.
That's the thread running through all of it: you don't reign in life by getting comfortable. You reign by pressing into the grace and righteousness you've been given, stepping up when God puts something in front of you, and refusing to let offenses, fear, or the desire for a perfect title slow you down. The blessing of the Lord isn't on hold until you have your own ministry. It's available right now, in whatever your hand finds to do.
