037: Turning Point: A Call to Bold Faith and Spreading Hope
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Show Notes
This week’s episode of The Anchored Decisions Show is a little different. After stepping back this summer due to health challenges, I felt prompted to share a raw and unscripted message straight from my heart in light of recent events.
As we remembered 9/11 and mourned the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, I couldn’t help but reflect on unity, conviction, and what it means to boldly live out our faith in today’s polarized culture. In this episode, I talk about:
The unity America once experienced and how we’ve drifted from it
Why knowing what you stand for matters now more than ever
How to ground your convictions in scripture and truth
What it means to live out the hope of Christ in a world full of division and fear
A prayer for courage, revival, and boldness in this turning point moment
This isn’t a polished or planned teaching—it’s a Spirit-led conversation about standing firm in faith, seeking truth, and letting Christ’s hope shine brighter than the world’s darkness.
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✨ Full show notes at anchoreddecisions.com/37
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Transcript
A Heartfelt Message in a Heavy Week
Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Anchored Decisions Show. Today's episode is not your typical episode. If you haven't noticed, I've been gone for quite a while, taking off most of the summer due to some health issues. I will be back with regular programming very soon, but until then, I wanted to just come on and share something that came from my heart in lieu of recent events.
So that's what today's episode is. Stay tuned for this kind of unique, but hopefully inspiring, episode.
Intro: Welcome to the Anchored Decisions Show
I'm your host, Lauren Black, the world's biggest overthinker turned decision coach, all by the grace of God. Now I'm on a mission to help you make easier decisions, discover God's will, and live with purpose. Tune in weekly to hear real-life decision stories, expert insights, and faith-based strategies to help you navigate your decisions with confidence.
So ditch your pros and cons list and learn to make better decisions without asking your mom or losing another night's sleep. Let's go.
Remembering 9/11 and a Lost Unity
If you're following this in real time, this week was 9/11, which is always a very heavy time. You don't go around saying “Happy 9/11.” You say “Happy 4th of July” and “Happy Memorial Day,” but not “Happy 9/11” because it's just not a happy day at all. The only good things that came out of 9/11 were tighter security, and it did unite the people for a time being.
I remember soon after 9/11 happened, when I was in middle school, there just seemed to be a unity. It didn't matter what party you were in—people rallied together, we cried together, people volunteered together side by side with people of opposite political views or opposite religious views.
No one cared what the other person's religious or political stance was, or their beliefs, because they were all united as Americans. And since then, I feel like we’ve lost that sense of patriotism.
The Assassination of Charlie Kirk
This week was also—the day before 9/11—when Charlie Kirk was assassinated. If you didn't know him before, you have heard of him now.
He was a conservative speaker who would go around to college campuses and ask people to challenge him on his standpoint. He knew who he was, he knew his beliefs and his convictions. He was self-educated, did not go to college, and yet he was so wise, smart, and firm in who he was. He just wanted to make conversations around tough political topics.
With his death, it seems like the Christian community is definitely in outrage, and people who never met him before are now standing up and speaking out. I love that his business name was “Turning Point,” because everyone is now mentioning this as a turning point.
A Call to Boldness
So I want to take this time to say: if he was willing to stand up for his beliefs and his faith, go out and rally against people that had other points of view, and stand up for what America was built on and our foundation—and the laws we have in place that say killing is wrong, and therefore we should ban abortions because that is killing—then I want to challenge and encourage you (and myself) to stand boldly in what we stand for.
Know what you stand for. Do the research. Do the self-education.
Living Out Christ’s Example
As Christians, I think we need to live out the principles of Christ to the best of our ability. That means we need to know His Word as much as we can. We need to dive into scripture, know exactly how Jesus behaved, what He did, and know it in context.
People today often say: “Well, Jesus ate with sinners—if He were here today, He’d be sitting down with murderers and the LGBTQ community, washing their feet.” Do I believe He would? Yes, absolutely. But you know what else He said? “Go and sin no more. Your sins are forgiven.”
He didn’t encourage people to continue in their ways. He said, “I love you as you are, but now that you’ve experienced the cleansing and redemption and freedom in Christ, go and change your ways. Take up your cross and follow me.”
The Fruit of the Spirit
When we follow Christ wholeheartedly, when we seek Him and His ways instead of our own, that’s when we experience the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Those are things people spend a lifetime searching for. But as Christians, they’re already in us because we have His Spirit. We just need to let the Spirit lead, instead of stuffing it down with self, self, self.
A Turning Point for Our Nation
Charlie Kirk wasn’t just killed because of his beliefs. He was killed because he stood for something greater—his faith, the Constitution, the foundation of our country. His death wasn’t just the loss of a person; it was an attack on Christianity itself.
But we can’t let this silence us. We can’t live in fear. It’s going to take all of us, in our daily lives with neighbors, friends, coworkers, and parents at our kids’ schools, to step out in boldness and faith. To let people see the hope that’s in Jesus.
A Closing Prayer
Father God, I thank You that You bring peace, that You are filled with hope. We know as Christians that we have life beyond what’s here on this earth. We know Charlie Kirk is in heaven with You, free and rejoicing. We pray for his kids and his wife in their mourning, that You would bring comfort and peace. May his death not go down without touching lives and inspiring hope and action. Rise up in each one of us. Give us faith. Give us courage. Help us dive into Your Word, stand firm in our faith, spread the message of love and hope, and see revival in our nation. We love You, Lord, and we thank You for Your comfort during this tough week. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Final Thoughts
All right, so this was a little bit heavier of an episode—completely not expected—and I hope it made an impact. Go out there, take action, and stay tuned as I get back into my normal content starting next week.
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