The Restored Podcast
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The Restored Podcast
Unashamed: Living Boldly for Christ
What does it mean to be truly unashamed of the gospel in today's culture? Drawing inspiration from the bold legacy of Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, Frank and Darcie Montgomery dive deep into the crisis of Christian courage facing believers today.
We're living in a peculiar moment for American Christians – technically free to practice our faith, yet increasingly self-censoring out of fear. While believers in places like Australia, China, and the Middle East face genuine persecution including imprisonment and death for their faith, many of us remain silent about our beliefs at work, school, or in casual conversations. Why? Because we're afraid of being labeled, rejected, or misunderstood.
The episode explores a powerful truth shared by Australian pastor Andrew Sedra: "Our job is to speak truth. God's job is to protect." Through an extraordinary testimony of divine protection from would-be kidnappers in Egypt, we witness how God supernaturally shields those who boldly proclaim His word – even turning potential murderers into devoted followers of Christ.
Frank and Darcie challenge listeners to examine whether their tolerance of cultural shifts is rooted in love or fear. Has the church become too comfortable with sin in the name of acceptance? Have we allowed the enemy to reshape our understanding of family, gender, and human dignity without speaking biblical truth in response?
Being salt and light isn't just for Sunday mornings. It means carrying our faith to coffee shops, workplaces, grocery stores – wherever we go. You might be the only person who will ever show someone Jesus. Will you remain silent or speak truth in love?
Join the Restored Nation in recommitting to boldness without fear. Connect with us on Facebook at The Restored Podcast or email therestoredcast@gmail.com. Share your stories of stepping out in faith – we'd love to hear how God is using you as salt and light in your world.
you are listening to the restored podcast with frank and darcy montgomery. Hey, everybody, we're back with another episode of the restored podcast. My name listening to the Restored Podcast with Frank and Darcy Montgomery. Hey, everybody, we're back with another episode of the Restored Podcast. My name is Frank and I'm here with my beautiful wife, darcy.
Speaker 1:Hey, before we get started today, I just wanted to remind everybody that's listening. If you have any subjects or topic matters you would like us to discuss or praise reports, prayer requests, whatever that might be, we are on Facebook. You can find our Facebook page at the Restored Podcast and our email address is therestoredcast at gmailcom. We would also appreciate if you go onto Apple iTunes and leave a review, and that would help us get our message out to more people. So today, darcy, I wanted to just talk about for the past few weeks, god's really been putting something on my heart pretty heavy and I want to say it almost started a couple years ago. But for the past few weeks I've been following along a lot on the Robertson family and for those that don't know, the Robertson family are the guys on Duck Dynasty and their dad, phil Robertson, passed away a couple weeks ago. He was the founder of the company Duck Commander. That led to Duck Dynasty and everything else and they made a movie called the Blind and we saw the Blind.
Speaker 2:We did and it kind of hit home because it was similar to some of the stuff we've been through.
Speaker 1:Kind of hit home. I mean they didn't put a lot of detail into what happened, in just a few scenes but it reminded me quite a bit of our tumultuous relationship. But the thing that got me since Phil's passing they all have podcasts and I would listen to them regularly. But after his passing I made sure I wanted just hearing the stories and I really admired Phil because he wasn't ashamed of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean he told everybody everywhere he went.
Speaker 1:On national TV. It didn't matter Wherever he went, he took the gospel. Wherever he went, he took the gospel. And just hearing those stories of his family talk about you know him in the duck blind or wherever it might be that he took the gospel with him and he wasn't ashamed of Jesus, he wasn't ashamed of being a Christian and he wasn't ashamed of the truth. But today and I find myself struggling with this as well but today I think we struggle a lot with being ashamed, and in this country, in the United States, we're not even really persecuted.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I mean some people say, oh, I'm so persecuted for this or that, but you're, you're not when you look at what the disciples in the bible faced people in other countries today when you look at what I mean china, australia, all the middle eastern countries where you can be killed for being a Christian or the laws are so strict to where you can't preach the truth. And it really along with Phil's passing and hearing all those stories and God just showing me how Phil used every opportunity he had, no matter where he was, who he was, with what was going on around him. He used every opportunity he had to tell others about Jesus's love and Jesus's forgiveness and how they can get to heaven. And last week we went to a Flashpoint episode and Andrew Sedra was there and for those that may not know who Andrew Sed cedra is, him and his wife, along with his brother and sister-in-law, they pastor a church in australia called echo church, but they are very outspoken outspoken on the truth right.
Speaker 1:Which is kind of dangerous for them to be that outspoken, because Australia is a godless country is how they put it, the stories that he was telling, the line that they have to walk being a pastor and leading a congregation. From what I understood from the pulpit, they can preach certain things but they can't counsel, they can't.
Speaker 2:You know any of that, because that's five years in prison, if you know yeah, they can preach it from the pulpit.
Speaker 1:but yet if somebody from their congregation comes to them and I mean, look at me and you and say Hayden was struggling with sexual identity and we lived in Australia and we went to Echo Church and we sought our pastor's advice, they can't do it.
Speaker 2:They can't.
Speaker 1:They can face up to five years in prison. The church can be fined tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker 2:Right. That being said, that doesn't stop them.
Speaker 1:No, it doesn't.
Speaker 2:It does not stop them at all and you know the problems we were having during COVID with churches closing here. That was the same problem that they had there and they kept their doors open. They refused to close their doors they refused to close their doors.
Speaker 1:Well, even our church. Whenever we first started going to true grace, it was right after covid, during the height of it, lockdowns, everything, and pastor troy started parking lot church parking lot church, I think he called it.
Speaker 1:I think he called it a drive-in church and he set the stage up outside the church but the ability to use a radio frequency. So everybody stayed in their car, the worship team was on the stage and pastor preached from the stage, but everybody else stayed in their car and either rode down their windows if it was cool enough or if it was too hot which a lot of the time it was too hot leave the windows up with the AC on and turn the radio on to whatever radio frequency. But looking back, that took some boldness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, our pastor is bold and I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean our pastor is bold and I appreciate that, but I've been struggling and I think so much of the church struggles with being bold.
Speaker 2:Right, and you know, another thing that we do is not—we tolerate and we just use that as we love. We're Christian, we love, so we tolerate sin that as we love.
Speaker 1:We're Christian, we love, so we tolerate sin, and we, and I think that toleration Comes from a fear and a lack of boldness.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:We tolerate because we fear somebody not liking us.
Speaker 2:Are we fear? You know we're going to be labeled something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to be labeled something. Yeah, we're going to be labeled bigots. We're going to be labeled christian nationalists if we step into the political arena and start voicing what the truth is.
Speaker 2:Um bigots if we speak out against homosexuality, the trans community, anything like that and not just them, any kind of sexual immoral, you know, know, impurity or whatever. It's not just that particular group, you know.
Speaker 1:But that's what's leading culture is that group?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that is what is leading the push.
Speaker 2:And the attack on children. You can't say anything about that either. You know we're scared to.
Speaker 1:But it's time for the church to be bold. It's time for the church to stand up and speak the truth, just as the Sedras and I know there are many preachers out there that do speak the truth. But we, as Christians, if you don't hold an office in your church, ie, and we believe in the fivefold ministry, if you're not a pastor, evangelist any of that, you still have a calling on your life and you still have a call to stand up.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And the Great Commission before Jesus. After he walked on the earth, he was crucified. He walked on the earth for a little over a month before he ascended into heaven. And right before he ascended into heaven, his disciples were there with him and he gave the great commission saying go into all the world preaching the good news.
Speaker 1:And that's where I think we look at that scripture and we think that that means oh, we're supposed to send missionaries, we're supposed to send people to these foreign countries, to Africa, to China, to Vietnam, to Australia, to wherever. And absolutely that's what that scripture is. It's a missional statement, but it's not just foreign missions that it's talking about. If you're not a pastor, if you're not an evangelist, if you're not somebody who holds a position in a church, you still can answer the great commission that Jesus gave, just like Phil Robertson did that great commission for me and you. We take the gospel into the local coffee shop, we take the gospel into our workplace, we take the gospel into the grocery store, to the gas station. Wherever we are, we take that gospel. And I just keep turning and looking at Phil Robertson, because that's what he did.
Speaker 2:And I mean, I think part of his boldness came he always remembered where God took him from. That's why testimonies are so important. That's why I feel we were called to do this podcast to begin with. It's because we look back and we are so grateful to God and we want others to experience that.
Speaker 1:But I even struggle with the boldness you know on my personal social medias. Yeah, I do this podcast but I don't promote this podcast the way I should, and part of that is a lack of boldness. What are people going to think of me when they hear it? What if they don't like what they hear? That sort of thing, that fear. But I think it's rooted in a lack of boldness. I think deep down, I kind of worry about what people will think oh, he's one of those Jesus freaks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I'm the opposite. I post about it, I talk about. I post stuff all the time and I've gotten pushback and I used to get offended and hurt and you know when I got that pushback. But this was a calling and an opportunity and an act of obedience for us. So I just trust that God is going to reach the people that need to be reached.
Speaker 1:You know, when I look at boldness, I think of Peter, and I preached a message on this a few years ago at church. It's shortly after Pentecost and peter's up preaching and he gets taken before the sanhedrin, before the court, because he's preaching and healing in jesus name. And in the court they they tell him do do not heal, do not preach in Jesus' name. And Peter left the Sanhedrin and he went out and preached in Jesus' name. He wasn't afraid of what was going to happen, of what was going to happen. The other night Andrew said something that rang true with me, or it hit me down deep and it made me really think. He said Our job is to speak the truth.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:God's job is to protect, and I'm going to share a little testimony that he gave, because I think it will build people's Faith and being able to, no matter where they're at, being able to proclaim the gospel and preach the truth.
Speaker 2:Right and remember you left something out. They were in Egypt.
Speaker 1:They were in Egypt at the time and Egypt is very Muslim, very Islamic, and what happened was is a lady had come to their church or maybe not even in the church, maybe outside of the church, but Andrew's dad led her to Christ and she became a Christian. She converted from Islam to Christianity and her husband was pretty high up in the Islamic faith in that organization. He was pretty high up. When Andrew's dad converted that man's wife to Christianity from Islam, he made a vow that he was going to hurt Andrew's dad and the way that he was going to hurt Andrew's dad was.
Speaker 1:He was going to take Andrew and his younger brother John, take Andrew and his younger brother John and he was going to kidnap them, murder them, behead them and send the body parts back to Andrew's dad to let him know what he had done by basically taking his wife from him. Long story short, the Islamic guy sends a couple henchmen, so to speak, because Andrew and his younger brother. Every day 7 am, they left the house, walked to the bus stop, got on the bus and rode to school. Well, the first day that the henchmen came out, andrew and his brother came out of the house and then the henchmen were like frozen, they couldn't move and, of course, andrew had no idea at the time of anything. His dad had no idea at that time of anything. But the henchmen couldn't move and Andrew and John went and got on the bus and the bus driver closed the door, the bus left, and whenever the bus and bus driver closed the door, the bus left, and whenever the bus was out of sight of that area, then the people can move again.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Well, it happened again. The guy got mad. He's like you guys couldn't do it. I'm going to send somebody else.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So he sent somebody else. A few days later, same thing happens again, but this time, if I'm remembering correctly, the main guy was there too.
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 1:Because the other people couldn't get it taken care of, so he was going to make sure he got the job done. Andrew and his little brother come out the house.
Speaker 2:Get on the bus.
Speaker 1:Same thing happens. The henchman, that main Islamic guy, they get frozen. They can't move, they can't do anything. They sit there and they watch Andrew and his little brother walk from the house to the bus stop, get on the bus, the doors close on the bus, the bus leaves, and then, once the bus is out of sight, the guys can move again.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:That is God's protection on that family.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And the Bible tells us we battle against evil spirits. We don't battle against flesh and blood, and so many people don't remember that and they see that and they're like you're battling flesh and blood right now, right there. No, they weren't battling flesh and blood. They were battling evil, demonic spirits that were using that flesh and blood to cause harm.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Well, that main Islamic guy. After that happened, he got saved as well. Right, he went up to Andrew's dad and told him said hey, I was going to do this. I was going to kill your two sons, I was going to behead them and I was going to mail their body parts back to you to show you the pain that you caused me can you imagine having to pray and lead that guy to christ after he just told you all that about your kids?
Speaker 2:that's, that's some faith. That's some faith, that's some strength, that's some love.
Speaker 1:I think the overwhelming joy by that point is look what God can do. Yeah, and the Islamic guy told Andrew's dad said I was going to do all this, but he said your God saved them.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 1:And he became a Christian from that. But Andrew, that night at Flashpoint he said this several times and he kept saying our job is to speak the truth, and let God protect us.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:We believe all the miracles in the Bible, we believe that God did all that, but for some, some reason, we think that he can't do it now. Just like the healing, just like everything. We don't think that God can do it now. Look at Daniel in the lion's den. A lot of the pictures you see show Daniel sitting in the lion's den and the lions just laying and lounging around them. But that's not the way it happened. No, those lions were hungry. Those lions were ready to attack. If you had a true representation of what Daniel looked like in the lion's den, you would probably see Daniel hunched down, probably in the center of it, and the lion circling him Right. But they weren't able to attack him because God was protecting him and God can do that. Then he doesn't know.
Speaker 1:And he can do that now. We have to have a boldness and a lack of fear to speak the truth against the lies of the enemy. We, as a church, we have to stand up in the political world.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's what a lot of people will tell you. Leave politics out of the church. They're one in the same. I mean like they have to be together.
Speaker 1:Well, hey, god founded politics of the church, they're one in the same. I mean like they have to be together. Well, a god founded politics exactly god founded civic duties and responsibilities.
Speaker 1:And it all starts there and our moral compass, not only in the united states but everywhere, is based on biblical truth and the Old Testament law. But yet the church today is afraid to speak the truth in the political sphere, against everything that's happening. And what's running the political sphere right now is the enemy the LGBTQ community. I'm sorry, I love each and every person that's in that community, but it is being led by demonic spirits to tear the family apart, to tear God's design Spirits to tear the family apart, to tear God's design of what a family, of what the human race is, to look like. Abortion, you name it.
Speaker 2:The attack on children I mean all of it stems back to the attack on families and children, because the enemy hates those things.
Speaker 1:Well, the enemy hates those things because those things are a representation of our relationship with Christ. We are the bride of Christ, we are the children of God, we are all of those things, and if he can attack those things, then he can destroy Christianity. That's his goal is to destroy Christianity and we as a church. It's time to stand up.
Speaker 2:And speak truth and love.
Speaker 1:It's time to be bold.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And speak the truth without fear of what people would think of me If I lose a few friends because I say marriage is between a man and a woman, not a man and a man or a woman and a woman, if I say that there are only two genders, male and female and, trust me, I've read Genesis. Two genders, male and female and, trust me, I've read Genesis. Yeah, I've read Genesis multiple times and I've only found where he created man and woman. I haven't found where he created anything else.
Speaker 2:Right, so we need to have that boldness and speak it and you know, know that if we're speaking in truth and love, that God will, you know, honor that.
Speaker 1:God will protect us. It doesn't mean, you won't face trials.
Speaker 2:Oh, you will.
Speaker 1:Satan's going to come after you if you speak the truth.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:You look at different ones that are doing that now and I guarantee you they're being attacked.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean all the guys on Flashpoint the other night talked about how they've all been attacked. It hasn't made them back down, you know.
Speaker 1:it's just giving them more fuel for their fire, but you know so that's really what god's been dealing with my heart, especially the past few days.
Speaker 1:But he planted the seed two years ago a couple years ago and and it just reignited over the past couple weeks of being bold and carrying our faith with us wherever we go. We are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and if we're not carrying the gospel, if we're not carrying the good news everywhere we go the gas station, the golf course, school, wherever it may be If we're not carrying that gospel with us, how are we being the light of the world, how are we being the salt of the earth? We're not.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So I just want to encourage everybody. I am going to try to be more disciplined and try harder little things. When god opens up the door with a waitress or a waiter at a restaurant, somebody at a walmart, and you bring that up and it reminds me of mammy, this woman.
Speaker 2:I used to make fun of her, honestly, because it's not my personality, but she could make friends and would make friends with whoever. She would share Jesus with them. They would tell their whole life story to her. She'd go home and write in her prayer journal and I have those prayer journals full of prayers for strangers and you know, it's beautiful now that I understand it, but I used to get really embarrassed honestly and, um, that's kind of started happening with me and in her own way.
Speaker 1:I would like to think that she shared the gospel and I'm pretty sure maybe not to the full extent of sharing the gospel, but I'm pretty sure she let them know that Jesus loved them.
Speaker 2:No, you know, she did.
Speaker 1:And again, that's what it's about. It's about taking that wherever you go, and so I just want to encourage all of the listeners along with you and encouraging me to encourage all of the listeners along with you and encouraging me be more intentional about speaking truth and not being afraid to share with whoever, because you don't know you might be the only person that comes across that other's path, that is going to speak the truth, that is going to show them the way right, that is going to show them jesus Right.
Speaker 1:That is going to show them Jesus. And if you do it right, even if you call out their sin, even if you do that and it looks harsh if you do it in love, you'd be amazed at what God can do.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And don't fear rejection, don't fear persecution.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:If we're persecuted, so be it.
Speaker 2:I think blessings come from persecution, though sometimes I think God blesses those who speak in truth and take that persecution 100%.
Speaker 1:So everybody that's part of the restored nation.
Speaker 1:I guess, Be more intentional. Share the love of Christ, share what he's done in your life and share what he can do in their lives. And be bold without fear. Be the church, not just on Sunday mornings in the church building, but be the church wherever you go. Be the salt of the earth. Give the earth some flavor. Be the salt of the earth. Give the earth some flavor. Be the light of the world. Shine in darkness. And until next time. You've been listening to the Restored Podcast with Frank and Darcy Montgomery. You