This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. and from the power of Satan unto God. that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. Welcome to Passion for Christ. This is Russ East, your host. I'm with my friend Pastor Rob George at Christian Life Center in Layton, Utah. And so, Rob, here we are.
We're so excited, aren't we, about this relationships conference that is coming to Utah. And we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk just in brief about. The role God has put in place for you at Christian Life Center and a little bit about this conference coming up May 20. Tell us the dates again.
That's May 29th and the 30th.
So Friday night and then Saturday morning.
Okay. And so let's just briefly talk about your testimony. I've shared on this program before how the Lord saved me. And so I would love to hear just briefly, you know, how did the Lord save you? Was it through a family member?
Was it, you know, did someone invite you to church like someone invited me back when I was 14 years old? Or was it later in life? How did the Lord get introduced to you?
Well, I was saved early on going to church with my grandmother, but fell away after a really harsh experience with a pastor who had a. A massive moral failure, and it caused me to become very disenfranchised when I was a young person.
So during my teenage years, I really fell away from God. It wasn't until I met a family that I worked with the siblings together at McDonald's when I was just a young kid. Um and um they invited me to church and I just had a great experience with God. I would then join the military, um and that's when it really all happened. Um after I joined the military, God grabbed a hold of my life and just connected me in a church.
And the story of how I got into ministry and the story of how I found Jesus was just, it was a. It was like a 3 a.m. in the morning. wake up like God waking you up and going, you know, Rob, it's it's time to stop like playing the games you've been playing and and you know, and you're just feeling the you know, um God's leading in your life that it's time to step into something more. And it was just incredible.
You know, that God saved me. God pulled me out of my unbelief and my disenfranchisement and showed me there was a far better way for my life. And isn't it great that God As he's done for me, as he's done for you, he spoke your language. Like he knew exactly where you were and what you needed. And so in a real sense, God directed all of his might, all of his power, all of his magnificence.
And he tailors it to us.
Well, yeah, you talk about this concept of the five love languages that we're talking about here. And, you know, I... I believe that, you know, for me, I'm obviously a words of affirmation person. My wife would tell you I'm a words affirmation person. And I think that that's what, you know, how God spoke to me is he just, he came to me in my brokenness and everything and was just like.
You know, Rob, you're loved. You are, you know, I love you so immensely. And just began to just, you know, whether it was spoken or not, it was really what I was really feeling in my spirit, that God was just telling me, like, hey, like, this is. Yeah, I'm with you, and I love you, and I care for you. And I think that's exactly what you're saying, Russ: he speaks those love languages, whether it's that or whether it's.
You know, acts of service where you see people doing acts of service. Yeah, Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, you know, something like that, or go get the Passover prepared, or just things like that. Oh, yeah, or quality time, just being in the presence of God. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, the time, like the road to Emmaus, you know, like that picture right to your left shoulder there, that picture of Jesus just walking for about three hours with these guys that are not like full of notoriety or anything like that.
They're just one guy named Cleopas, and you don't even know the other guy's name, but Jesus takes time with them. Oh, yeah. You know, in their unbelief, in their unbelief, and has patience with them. And yeah, we'll talk more about that. Let's talk about this conference that's coming up.
It's the relationships conference, and it's actually going to be hosted by Christian Life Center and Dr. Gary Chapman, the author of the Five Love Languages book that was written a number of years ago. I don't know how many years ago it goes back 25, 30 years ago or something. Much, much longer, yes. It's been printed so many times, and God has really.
Use this, these concepts, these biblical concepts for people that maybe they feel like. You know, they're in a marriage that they just can't seem to connect. Like, you really wanna communicate. But for whatever reason, you're trying so hard, but maybe you're just missing it because you're maybe missing their language. It's almost like you're like one person's speaking Spanish and the other speaks Chinese or something.
Yes, absolutely. Right. Tell us a little bit how did this. Conference come about in terms of did you guys kind of sit down and pray? And like, well, who can we bring in?
You know, Lord, who do you want us to bring into Utah? What maybe you've just seen in counseling and stuff that we need this? You're absolutely right. We did start to see in counseling, you know, my wife and I have been married for, I think this year will be 23 years. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful and beautiful relationship, rest like you do with your family.
And God has blessed us that. But, you know, I think really the foundation of that has been Jesus, has been our faith. It's what really built our marriage up. And we started in the very, very beginning when we were, I actually brought today to our talk, you had asked me to bring a copy of the five love languages. And I brought the copy that I have here with me is the copy I received from a mentor and pastor over 23 years ago when my wife and I were doing.
So it's an older, it's still got the somewhat yellow pages in it because it's an old copy. And what we had learned in that time was just about. You know, all of those different things from quality time and words affirmation and gifts and physical touch. And we learn to speak each other's language. And I have through the years twenty 25 years of ministry, have done hundreds of weddings, lots of marriage counseling, and everything.
And one thing I have learned. consistently and our staff members have learned and I know other pastors other churches have learned is that um we are counseling these people And we're meeting so many people that seem to be on completely different wavelengths. They're um The toughness of the world they live in has caused them to be selfish and they care about themselves. And because they care about themselves, they lack that sacrificial nature. And so even so, I would use five leg wings just to bring people back together and go, hey.
Um, you know, let's say Joe over here, um, and Karen over here, you're speaking. Your love language. Yeah, what might be more meaningful to you? Yes. That's what we do, right?
You're speaking Spanish. She's speaking French. And you're not speaking the same language. And, you know, as I've told people many times, the whole point of what Dr. Gary Chapman is saying in this one is that whenever you enter into a marriage, your new language is not yours.
It is their language. That's your language now. And you'll always know your language because you are you, but your job is to learn their language. And how many times have I found? Failed to speak.
the love language of my wife and and then but when then when I Speak it like just for instance, like just doing the dishes. That is such a routine thing. And the dishes are sitting there in the dish and in the sink. And I just thought, you know what? I'm going to just stop what I'm doing and I'm going to do these dishes.
And my wife just thought I was like, you know, the prince of all, you know. Because acts of service is valuable to her. And she, you know, and you come, you have a lot of kids. Five kids? Yeah, five grandkids.
Five grandkids. She's busy serving them all the time. You got five grandkids, so you got a busy family. And so anytime that you are, you know, working with your family.
So ultimately, everything we were seeing in marriages and what's happening in the world and everything else, we saw people that were. Maybe ill-equipped. Or maybe they were just They didn't even know where to turn. And they were so far off from each other. And we thought, you know what?
Marriage conferences are something that, you know, you don't see that often. happening out here. And Gary Chapman was such a Dr. Gary Chapman, was such a huge integral figure in our life that I took a big swing for the fence and said, you know what? What would it take to bring him to Utah?
And I don't think he's ever been. We'll be right back for the rest of today's testimony. Please know we at Utah Partnerships for Christ have been planting seeds of the gospel in Utah for over 24 years. We welcome any questions you may have and invite you to visit our website to obtain a list of words and definitions that would help you understand how Mormons think and how to be able to better witness to your friends who belong to the Mormon Church. That website is www.upfc.org.
That's upfc.org. We'll be right back. Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. and from the power of Satan unto God.
That they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. The toughness of the world they live in has caused them to be selfish. And they care about themselves, and because they care about themselves, they lack that sacrificial nature. And so even so, I would use five leg wings just to bring people back together and go, hey. Um, you know, let's say Joe over here, um, and Karen over here, you're speaking.
Your love language. Yeah, what might be more meaningful to you. Yes. That's what we do, right? You're speaking Spanish.
She's speaking French. And you're not speaking the same language. And, you know, as I've told people many times, the whole point of what Dr. Gary Chapman is saying in this one is that whenever you enter into a marriage, your new language is not yours. It is their language.
That's your language now. And you'll always know your language because you are you, but your job is to learn their language. And how many times have I felt? Failed to speak the love language of my wife. And, and then, but when I do speak it, like just for instance, like just doing the dishes, it's such a routine thing.
And the dishes are sitting there in the dish, in the sink. And I just thought, you know what? I'm going to just stop what I'm doing and I'm going to do these dishes. And my wife just thought I was like, you know, the prince of all, you know. Because that's a service is valuable to her.
And she, you know, and you come, you have a lot of kids. Five kids? Yeah, five grandkids. Five grandkids? She's busy serving them all the time.
You got five grandkids, so you got a busy family. And so anytime that you are, you know, working with your family.
So ultimately, everything we were seeing in marriages and what's happening in the world and everything else, we saw people that were maybe ill-equipped. Or maybe they were just. Unequipped, they didn't even know where to turn, and they were so far off from each other. And we thought, you know what? Marriage conferences are something that you know you don't see that often.
Right. And Gary Chapman was such a Dr. Gary Chapman, was such a huge integral figure in our life that I took a big swing for the fence and said, you know what? What would it take to bring him to Utah? And I don't think he's ever been.
We took a big swing last year. You have to book him a year in advance. Um and then we think okay, we're just hoping and believing that our auditorium that houses can house a thousand plus people in it. That we're going to get 500. Couples in here.
We would love to just fill the building with couples that are there to. You know, hear worship music and be able to be ministered to and love one another and just glean incredible teachings from Dr. Chapman. Um and as well as have a date night and have time together and provide childcare and Q and A. And don't don't consider it as like a sign of weakness that you go to this.
Please, please, l listening out there uh on this day, you know, please just Take this as a great invitation. In fact, they've been kind enough. Christian Life Center has been kind enough to work with the Truth Network. We want to give away, even on this program, like to the first two couples, I have four tickets that I'd like to give away. Yes.
So if you're in a financial crunch right now, you really want to go, but maybe you just want to send me a text.
Okay, here's my cell number: 801-645-7433. 801-645-7433.
So the first two. couples. That's two tickets, you know, for a couple there. And we'll do that with two couples. And you'll be hearing about some more opportunities for some sort of some free passes.
But for right now, let's just do the two couples. But, Rob, tell us about the website people can go to if they wanted to invite their church family to go. Get the word out, tell their friends. Absolutely. Tell us a little bit about that.
Well, and I will, before I say that, I want to re-echo that you are so absolutely right, Russ, as you're talking about. I would say half of the couples, if not more than half of the couples, three-quarters of the couples that have signed up currently. I know them. They have good marriages. They have great marriages.
But as Christians, we can always be molded. We are constantly being molded in the Father's hands. He is doing a regular work. We can always learn more. We can always be taught.
We can be discipled. And for many of them, they look at this as an opportunity to. Learn and be discipled in their marriage. Right. And because life is always kind of changing, and it's possible that after you've been married for 10, 20 years, yeah, your spouse might have most likely the same love language, but sometimes things kind of adapt a little bit.
And maybe your spouse or your kids, you know, they change a little bit.
So these tools that you're going to learn at this conference are going to be really invaluable.
So the website to go to is clclayton.org.
So CLC Leighton.org. Yes. It looks like it says CL Clayton. Right.org. And when they go to the website, they'll find on the front page of the website, they'll find a little bit about who we are as a church.
But this is for anyone from any background, no matter where you come from, no matter what church background, whatever. If you're searching for truth and you're searching for something to help you and just learn and grow in your love for your spouse, this is a great conference to be at.
So if they go to CLC Leighton.com. They go to the front page and they just scroll down just one little step. They'll find a massive advertisement there for the relationship conference. They'll find a link they can click on. There's a tentative schedule right now.
If they buy tickets, Jack, I mean, not Jack, I told you your son's name. I've worked with Jack for years. If they buy tickets, Russ, they'll find that they can buy a regular ticket or later in the process, they can buy an add-on of a VIP lunch that actually is very limited in seating a VIP lunch to have with Dr. Chapman, where they get to do QA with him over lunch, which will be really amazing. That we have the ability for them to add on childcare if they have kids, because we want nothing to stop them from coming to this conference.
We believe that this is going to. Change lives. We believe that this is going to help churches all over the valley. In Utah and other states that are maybe even listening to this, that churches will be built up, that Jesus will be lifted up. It's just going to be an incredible thing, and we love to just be a part of it.
Well, you know, and I'm sure many of our listeners have heard of the five love language book, but just to run through them really quickly, let's do that really quick. Because there might be people that are saying, well, what are these five love languages? Oh, yeah. So one of them is quality time, quality time, words of affirmation, words of affirmation, acts of service, acts of service, physical touch, physical touch, and gifts. And gifts.
Yes. So they're all, you know, distinctly different. And you might think to yourself, well, I like all of those, you know, or whatever. Yes. But then there's probably like one or two that you, if you really had to boil it down, and there's probably ways I bet you that Dr.
Chapman will help us. There's probably like a little inventory test or something. There is. And I often explain it to people that, you know, rather than looking at it as like a vertical list of I like this the most, like I may like. A movie, or I may like a type of food, that I look at it almost horizontally.
That all five of these are equally important, but one has far more value in its ability to fill, like what he talks about, is your love tank. Your love tank, yeah, one has what is a one is a greater, more effective fuel. For filling that tank than something else.
So, for me, if you were to use words of affirmation, that would fill the tank. A lot. And just in the opposite way, when somebody gives you or gives me, because I'm with you on that, they give you words that are not affirming. Yes. Boy, that can just put a big hole in your tank.
It will just empty you out. But at the same time, Russ, for me, Acts of service is not as big of a deal. I do love it when people do things up. That's why I look at it horizontally. But if the concept goes, if my wife were to do acts of service for me, um.
You know, it's great. I appreciate that. I love that. But I need to hear from my wife that I'm loved by her. Yes, yes.
If push comes to shove, there are those one or two that. You just get to realize, like, this is the sweet spot. This is, you know, and I was just thinking about how, you know, the Apostle John, you know, when he was getting the revelation, what happened there? He, he was kind of struck by what was going on around him. And I believe Jesus just, he puts his hand on his, on his shoulder.
Yeah. He just says, don't be afraid. Like, everything's going to be okay. And so he didn't have to do that. I was talking to my wife about this.
It's like, this is the king. Yes. You know, kings don't do that. You know, when you look back in history, I mean, the king sits, you know, apart from everybody and he's guarded, but he doesn't go and put his hand on your shoulder in a healthy, loving kind of a way to show, like, hey, I'm right there with you. You're mine and you're my servant, yes, but you're my friend.
Well, and it's, and we've recently been doing an Exodus study, a verse-by-verse Exodus study, and we were just talking about the golden calf and just the Moses and his moment where he shines with the presence of God and show me your glory and the relationship and the conversations they're having there, even that far back in the old. Testament, you know, different covenant, different testament, still, how God speaks to Moses. Shows that he is unchanging. He is from the very beginning, he can see these types of things and go, here's how I speak. To Moses.
And then Moses shines with such a great light because of the presence of God. But I mean, it's just the nature of God. God is good. And the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. There's the word gift right there.
Yes. And so, Paul, like in Romans, you know, so much is spoken of as salvation, as a gift. You know, anything about the gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus. And so we understand gifts a lot. And that might be more meaningful to somebody than other things.
And that's fine. And we have to not resent what somebody's love language is and think like, well, that doesn't mean a whole lot to me. But that's where you got to get your eyes off of yourself and think about the other person. Yeah, I once met with a couple where I was talking to them, and it's been a very, very long time. And as I was talking to them, you know, one was, gifts is not very common, a top.
A love language, but I met someone that it was. It was like number one. And you find out when you talk about their background that this person rarely received gifts, they rarely received anything.
So now, receiving flowers or even something as simple as a drink from Maverick or something would make them go, Oh my gosh, he thinks of me, he sees me, and now. It just changed the whole way their relationship works. And I'm telling you, that couple today is... They're in a great church. They're They're rocking it.
They're doing great. And so if you're listening right now and you are, you know, whatever your background is, you're a construction worker, you've got a big old truck, and you're strong, you're tough, you're like a cowboy guy, or whatever you are. You're a businessman, you're sitting in a cubicle, you're newly married, you've been married for 50 years. God can really encourage you. If you have any relationships, even with your own kids, there's ways that we can better understand our kids, our employer, our bosses, and things.
It might be a little tricky in a sense, but we can start to really glean some of these things.
So, as we come to kind of a close of the program, would you want to give that website information and the dates again for the relationships? Absolutely. So, the conference is the information is found at CLC.com. Layton, L-A-Y-T-O-N, dot O-R G.
So that's CLC Leighton.org. You can find information about Relationship Conference, which is happening on Friday, May 29th. And on Saturday, May 30th, it's happening Friday night, where we have a date night afterwards as well planned for everybody to be able to enjoy fire pits, a movie outside. It's going to be really, really great. As well as that morning, they'll be able to come, hear the conference, have an option to add a VIP lunch if they would like to, but they don't have to, if they need childcare, all those things.
It's going to be a spectacular couple of days, and we are really, really blessed to be able to put it on. Thank you so much, Rob, for putting this on and all of our friends at Christian Life Center. Please, everyone listening. Keep this Outreach this amazing event in your prayers because the enemy wants to keep people from it.
So, we want to fight with the power of God against all those voices of doom and gloom. And so, we have such great power in God's Word and His Spirit.
So, thank you, Rob. We're going to close with that now. And thank you just for taking time off out of your day to be on Passion for Christ. And we'll please the Relationships Conference in Layton, May 29th and 30th. Before we sign off for today, please know that all of us here at Utah Partnerships for Christ appreciate your prayers and support.
We are also available to do Zoom call workshops or personal coaching on reaching Mormons for Christ. Contact us today at upfc.org. That's upfc.org. Thanks so much for joining us on another edition of Passion for Christ.
