Extreme times demand spiritual strength training. Discover how elite athletes "grease the groove"—training their central nervous system through frequent sub-maximal exercises—and how this same principle can be applied to training your spirit. Brian Del Turco reveals how micro spiritual workouts build resilient, responsive faith.

Learn the power of prayer bursts throughout your day, why gratitude becomes magnetic when practiced consistently, and how small acts of obedience compound into kingdom impact. This isn't about exhausting yourself—it's about training your spirit through short, frequent practices that optimize spiritual efficiency and maximize power.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/364

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Grease the Groove: Training Your Spirit for Extreme Times

I don't think anybody is going to disagree with me that we live in extreme times right now. Do you sense that? I think most people sense that. Extreme times that demand real strength and impact.

The same principle that elite athletes use to build efficient power—we can really learn something about how we can train our spirit to meet this hour. Welcome to Jesus Smart X, the podcast. I'm Brian Del Turco. Thanks for connecting with me today.

I think you're going to enjoy this and be inspired by it, and I think it's something that's timely for us. Before we dive in, don't miss the Smart Edit newsletter. I'd really love to have you on the list—elevate your faith, how to live smart, making an impact in our personal world. We're all questing on these edges. It's free, it's weekly, five minutes to grow. You can simply subscribe at jesussmart.com/smartedit.

If you missed our last episode with Terry Hoggard on building a pathway to your preferred future, even as you relate in covenant relationship with God, go back and catch that powerful set of ideas and content.

Jesus Dynamics: Psalm 110 and the Reigning King

Before we get into this quick episode today, let's dive into today's Jesus Dynamic. I actually have a rather long article that's in the oven baking, and this Jesus Dynamic is taken from that article. It's unlike many things I've written. I think it's going to be unusual and unique. It's a lens through which we can view our experience with Christ in our times.

Most Christians picture Jesus in heaven doing primarily one thing right now—interceding for us. We know the New Testament Scriptures tell us that, and we appreciate and value that. And we imagine Him patiently waiting for the day when the Father says, "Go get Your bride," and He takes up His role as a king on the earth during the millennium and then the new heavens and new earth to follow.

What if this understanding is incomplete? I don't want to say it's fundamentally wrong, but incomplete.

There is one Psalm that shatters comfortable categories—Psalm 110. It's the most quoted...

Stop drifting and discover your covenant pathway to a preferred future. Veteran missionary Terry Hoggard reveals a transformative three-movement practice: foundation, strategic insight, and covenant with God. This isn't goal-setting—it's positioning yourself in the center of what God is doing. This calibration time gives God opportunity to download fresh vision for your next season.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/363

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Your Covenant Pathway to a Preferred Future with Terry Hoggard

Brian: Welcome to the podcast today, friends. I have a great family member and friend and a co-laborer. We work together on some projects, some kingdom projects. Terry Hoggard is with us, and we are discussing something today. We're at the outset of the new year. I think these dynamics could be applied anytime. I don't think we have to do a reboot just in January, right, Terry?

Terry: It's a great moment to capture in my heart, so I love it. I'm cleaning up everything I know to do with the old year going out, and I want to be there hands wide open saying, "Here I am, Lord. I've got some things to talk to You about, and I'm sure You have some things to say to me."

Brian: Amen. Yes, absolutely. And sometimes people will listen to an episode like six months later. I put out something recently encouraging people to think about 90-day years—the winter season, the spring season, summer, fall. You can continually start afresh, start anew. But definitely at the beginning of our year is a great time. People are of this mindset, aren't they, in January? It's just a natural tendency, it seems.

Meet Terry Hoggard

Terry Hoggard has served for 30 years as a missionary leader across Europe with the Assemblies of God. He's provided pastoral leadership in Rome, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Malmö, Sweden. He has also equipped international teams and built cross-cultural networks around the world, including Asia, throughout his ministry. And Terry and his wife Ruthanne, my cousin on my dad's side, continue to invest in leaders globally. Thank you for being here. And what else could you say about the Lord's workings in your life currently?

Terry: Well, at this moment I'm still highly engaged with the network of churches, so I still have intimate connection to the four churches that you mentioned. But in early 2004, I think, we built out what we called FEIC—Fellowship of European International Churches. It's an incredible network still going strong.

And then in 2011 we met for a summit. Every year we'd gather, and in 2011 we were praying on our way to say goodbye. A friend of mine, his name is Al Perna, was praying, and he just felt like the Lord was saying, "Now's the time to extend the tent. We've been here together for almost a decade, but there's all these other churches and the movement of the nations and the diaspora." Three times God spoke to us. We have to...

You can't see what's coming over the horizon, but your faith can reach it now. Brian Del Turco explores four steps to cultivate over-the-horizon belief: worship and pray over the horizon (prayer as predicting the future), visualize and prophesy what's coming, fix your belief set points with sanctified desire, and act as if—filling your water pots before the wine arrives. Discover why desire means "of the heavens". Like Abraham crossing into unseen territory, you're called to exploit horizons.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Over-the-Horizon Questing: Faith for What's Next

Listener: The Jesus Smart podcast, to me, intelligently offers its listeners interesting discussions on important topics.

Brian: In this episode, it's all about cultivating our over-the-horizon belief, faith, and action.

There's a real sense in which our horizons are placed on a curve, and we look at a horizon just like Christopher Columbus sailing to new territory across the terra firma. So we too—we walk by faith, we sail by faith and not by sight.

I want to share with you for just a few moments how we can worship and pray over the horizon. Number two, how we can visualize in faith and prophesy over the horizon. Number three, we can fix our belief set points over that curvature in our life. We can't see it yet, it's not manifested yet, but our mind is already there. We're already touching it with prayer. We're already touching it with proclamation. And number four, let's make it complete. Let's be more complete in our faith and begin to act as if—begin to take action with what's coming over the horizon.

This is Brian Del Turco. Thanks for connecting with me today on Jesus Smart, the podcast.

What Is a Horizon?

A horizon is simply a place where the sky and the earth meet, right? Whether we're looking at land or water. Lord Byron is regarded as one of the greatest English poets. He was also a politician. Here's his statement: "Between two worlds, life hovers like a star, twixt (or between) night and morn, upon the horizon's verge."

When we come to Jesus, when we are transformed by Jesus and begin to walk with Jesus, we truly become people of the horizon.

I believe Abraham was first called a Hebrew in Genesis 14. The word Hebrew, scholars believe, could be derived from a Hebrew word meaning to traverse or to pass over, to cross over, referring to Abraham, who was sent by God and crossed over into the promised land. Abraham is set forth in the Scriptures as a prototype of the faith person for us. And Paul says in Galatians that we are the seed of Abraham in Christ. There's a Hebrew in the truest sense—a person who leaves one territory and crosses over into a new place.

Just like Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans, he traveled along the Euphrates River northwest to Haran in northern Mesopotamia, that Fertile Crescent region in the Middle East, and later in Genesis 12 was called down to Canaan into the promised land—a total, I believe, of about a 1,500-mile journey.

In Hebrews 11 it says that by faith Abraham, when he...

What if you could see that struggling relationship, that stalled project, that personal challenge in an entirely different light—God's light? The same creative pattern God used in Genesis—speaking light over chaos—is available to recreate your situation right now. Discover six practical steps to release God's light over the areas where you need transformation. This is about supernatural vision that opens doors to new seasons. When God's light hits your chaos, creation begins.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/361

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: What Happens When God's Light Hits Your Situation

Coming up, how you see things—really how we see everything—can actually transform things, opening the door to new seasons. Welcome, friend. I'm Brian Del Turco.

I believe that Jesus Christ knows how our lives work best and that He is passionate about developing us as His followers, as intimate friends and co-agents in His kingdom. If you want to go further with King Jesus and His enterprise, this is the podcast for you. I'm glad you're here.

Jesus Dynamics: Ask, Seek, and Knock

We have a newish feature in the episode called Jesus Dynamics. Let's get right to it. I was driving somewhere recently, just about a week ago, and I felt like the Lord dropped this in my heart—Jesus' statement about asking, seeking, and knocking in the Sermon on the Mount. You can read about this in Matthew, I think it's chapter seven, probably in the Gospel of Luke as well.

In the Greek language, the tense is a little bit different. Greek has, I believe, six tenses, whereas English has only three. In this tense, as it was written, it means to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.

Here's what I felt. It all starts with conversation with the Father. Ask, talk with Him, get His input. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own insight, but in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make your pathways smooth. Ask, even request in prayer.

Then begin to seek, begin to probe, begin to explore, begin to step out, begin to lean forward, lean into scenarios and horizons and opportunities, and even lean into challenges to overcome them, my friend. And then knock. Do you know that knocking is an expression of faith? Just as asking is, knocking on doors, checking out opportunities, seeing what opens up—and then it creates a narrow pathway on the other side of that door that leads you into a new space, a new level, some new territory that the Lord has for you.

Remember, it's about perseverance. Ask and keep on asking. Same with seeking and knocking. And don't just stop with prayer. Begin to seek, begin to quest. Actually begin to put some feet to your prayers and go out. Start knocking, start building things, start creating, start innovating, start pressing into opportunities and challenges.

The Power of Seeing in a New Light

Well, I'm excited...

Forget the sanitized nativity—Christmas is a beachhead, an invasion, a sentence of doom upon the dragon. Brian Del Turco unveils Christmas through Revelation 12 and G.K. Chesterton's vision of the cave as an "outlaw's den"—a fortress in enemy territory where the King returned to shake kingdoms from below. This isn't about warm feelings and Michael Bublé—it's about understanding that the incarnation set in motion an advancing process that continues through us today. Discover four practical ways to live in "365 Advent". Pull out the eggnog if you fancy, but remember this: the dragon rages, but you reign in Christ.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: The Outlaw Christ-Child: Why Christmas is Still a Revolution

Hey, dragon, you've been resisting, you've been fighting, you've been raging, but we have a message for you. Ho, ho, ho, from King Jesus.

Well, I have my little Christmas tree with twinkling lights that my daughter so kindly set me up with right here by my podcasting equipment. I'm ready to go. This is the first in a miniseries on Christmas. Welcome to Jesus Smart, the podcast. Brian Del Turco here. Thanks for connecting with me today.

The Central Miracle of Christianity

C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, writes that the central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. That's sort of a theological word which simply means God became flesh. Jesus came into the earth in the form of a human being. Lewis writes that they say that God became man. Of course, this is true. Every other miracle prepares for the incarnation or exhibits the reality of the incarnation or results from this, the incarnation.

In the Christian story, Lewis writes, God descends to re-ascend. Now listen to this, because you and I are swept up in this. In Christ, He comes down, down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him. Isn't that powerful?

Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians: "I press toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Beyond the Hallmark Christmas

Now, I live with a lot of ladies—one wife and many daughters. We have four daughters, two still at home. So I know a lot about Hallmark. I have memorized the script-writing templates of Hallmark movies. I can predict the outcome of a Hallmark movie.

I don't mind. I enjoy sitting with my wife on a couch during the holiday season while they have a Hallmark movie on, and maybe we're eating a little something. And quite often, I might have, if I can just be honest with you, earbuds in. And I'm listening to maybe a podcast or something like that, kind of multitasking, glancing up at the Hallmark movie once in a while, but then getting some good solid content as well. This is how I—these are my coping mechanisms. This is how I make it with four daughters.

So I don't mind doing that. But I'm always after a deeper, more militant message concerning Christmas. And I know that this may challenge some people. Maybe not. Maybe...

We're coining a new Christmas greeting: "Have yourself a very 'chaordic' Christmas!" Chaordic—where chaos meets order. With decades planting churches in Rome and Brussels and serving with Convoy of Hope, Terry Hoggard helps us see Christmas as the ultimate disruptive innovation—an ongoing dance between heaven and earth. Discover why crisis is often the catalyst for much-desired transformation. This isn't your typical feel-good Christmas message. It's a call to intentional disruption and wholehearted seeking. Because when you're all in, God rolls out a pathway you never imagined possible.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/359

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Have Yourself a Very Chaordic Christmas: When Chaos Meets Order with Terry Hoggard

Brian: Hey there, friend. Merry Christmas. I'm glad you're with us. Thanks for connecting today. I'm Brian Del Turco, and you are connected with Jesus Smart, the podcast. Jesus knows how this life works best.

This is such an inspiring conversation, number 211—now being recast as episode 359. Here's the title—I'm confident you have not heard a Christmas greeting like this before: "Have Yourself a Very Chaordic Christmas" with Terry Hoggard. This, my friend, is a new wrinkle on keeping Christmas well.

Meet Terry Hoggard

Terry Hoggard is our special guest. He's a veteran missionary who has led international churches in Rome and Brussels. He's a leader of international leaders, a life coach, and he's an executive leader in Convoy of Hope, an international relief organization.

Here's an idea: why not gift this episode with a friend or two, and then they can gift it to others? I think you'll see that this is a gift worth re-gifting. But you get to keep the value when you gift a podcast episode.

Terry really encourages us that it is going to take a wholehearted mindset and heart set—the strength of our desire, the fortitude of our will. We have to have an all-in approach to engage this Christmas dance between heaven and earth.

The True Joy of Christmas

Here's the true joy of Christmas: when we understand that heaven and earth merge in us through the indwelling Christ, all bets are off. Unlimited potential can be released. You see, it's more than remembering Jesus as a baby in a manger. Christmas is a breakthrough merging of heaven and earth, and this changes everything.

The incarnation means that heaven and earth are reconnected again in a new way. A seamlessness between heaven and earth has been re-established. Think of it—it is the grounds on which we can now pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

What can this mean for you? What can it mean for me? God wants to be reconnected with us. Reconciliation is a huge meta theme in the kingdom of God—putting things back together again. And a huge part of what Jesus is after is the reunification of heaven and earth.

From Barely Enough to Abundantly More

Brian: Welcome, friend, to

What if the secret to breakthrough isn't just prayer or hard work—but a powerful combination of both with God's zeal backing your obedience? In this walk cast episode, Brian Del Turco unveils a kingdom framework: creative prayer plus strategic planning plus spirit-filled execution equals fruitfulness and fulfillment. Discover how to discern God's agenda (not just convince Him of yours), why prayer without planning is presumption, and how to tap into the zeal of the Lord that fuels ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. This three-step framework will help you align with how God designed things to work.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/framework

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Sign up at JesusSmart.com.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT - A Kingdom Framework - Prayer + Planning + Spirit-Fueled Execution

Hey there, friends. Welcome to Jesus Smart X, the podcast. This is Brian Del Turco. Thanks for being with us today. You make all the difference. Thank you for listening and thank you for sharing content with others if you find it valuable and think it would inspire and help someone you know.

Introducing the Walk Cast

We're doing something different today, calling it a "walk cast." I'm outside, as you can probably hear. You'll probably hear vehicles and people, perhaps, but this is what I'm calling a walk cast. I've been getting into walking in recent months—about the past half year, a lot. Many days I'm doing, thankfully by the grace of God, something like 10 to 12,000 steps a day.

This recent wellness quest over the past half year was triggered by a bout with shingles, from which I'm still dealing with nerve pain in my lower back. But God is faithful. I hear sometimes it can last as long as a year. I hope that's not the case with me, but I have enjoyed walking, doing some resistance training, and changing my diet and losing a lot of weight. So I'm excited about that.

Why Walking Enhances Creative Thinking

Walking is something that really enhances our creative thinking. Research proves this—movement, just moving your body like with walking, can really break mental patterns and open new perspectives. Did you know that Jesus did a lot of his conversation and teaching with his disciples as they walked? This was a rabbinic tradition. The rabbi would walk with his disciples, and they would converse and talk—questions and answers and illustrations—really something of a teaching method. There is something of an ancient practice called "walk and talk," part of a wisdom tradition.

We've kind of missed that today. We think we have to be sitting on our derrieres in a classroom or remaining sedentary. But walking and learning has a long history, and it clears the head, engages the body, and helps to free your voice up. So yes, a walk cast. We may do this from time to time, weather permitting. We'll see how things go.

A Kingdom Formula for Success

A secret formula, a kingdom template that I think can help us in a lot of areas....

Brian Del Turco converses with Keith Payne to explore how lessons from his earthly father shaped his understanding of God’s Father heart. From a tough, charismatic union leader to a redeemed man of faith, Keith reflects on the wisdom, protection, and love he received and how it points to the perfect love of our heavenly Father. Together, they discuss fatherhood, redemption, and the multi-generational impact of God’s favor and guidance. This conversation is full of practical lessons, inspiring stories, and a reminder that God can redeem any situation.

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See the full episode transcript below.

👉 Support the podcast (use the Smart Edit BMAC page): buymeacoffee.com/SmartEdit

👉 Enhanced show notes: JesusSmart.com/357

👉 Explore more episodes: JesusSmart.com/podcast

If this episode gave you a fresh perspective on Kingdom Living, share it with someone who needs encouragement.

Be sure to follow the podcast—each episode is designed to help you think more clearly and pursue the kind of life only Jesus makes possible.

Stay current via The Smart Edit newsletter—Elevate your faith. Live smart. Make an impact. Free. Weekly. 5 minutes to grow. Unsubscribe anytime. Sign up at JesusSmart.com.

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KEITH PAYNE

Get your copy of 'Stuff I Got from Dad' on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Facebook -- Keith Payne

Carmia’s Window Charitable Fund website

Carmia's Window Facebook page

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT - Stuff I Got from Dad with Keith Payne

See complete and enhanced show notes at jesussmart.com/357

Welcome to Jesus Smart X, episode 357. This is Brian Del Turco, and today we're stepping into a conversation that hits home for every single one of us because all of us have a father story. The gospel music bed you're hearing is from the Payne Family Group, a gospel group that Keith was part of along with his brothers.

I saw Keith Payne on Facebook talking about his new upcoming release, Stuff I Got From Dad, exploring how he relates his experiences with his earthly father to things about our heavenly Father—things he learned that transformed his understanding of God's fatherhood. He's on the podcast today talking about his new book by that title. It's a great conversation with an inspiring person, and I think you're going to enjoy it and benefit from it.

Understanding Fatherhood: Perfect and Imperfect

Maybe you had an amazing dad, or maybe your father was present but imperfect. Perhaps your experience with your earthly father was painful or even absent. No matter what your story looks like, your Father in heaven is not a reflection of your earthly dad. He is the perfection your earthly dad was only meant to...