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April 10, 2025 - Jim Bakker Show
58:12
The Jim Bakker Show with Dayne Kamela
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Revival Becomes Theater 00:03:27
Hello and welcome to the Jim Baker Family Show coming to you from the Village of Morningside, USA, nestled in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.
Today, our special guest is author and Christian content creator with over 1.4 million followers, Dane Camilla.
Our co-host today is Reverend Mondo de la Vega.
And now, live from Gray Street at Morningside USA, here's your host, Pastor Ricky Baker.
Hello, friends.
You're watching the PTL Television Network.
We're excited you've tuned in with us today.
We have an exciting broadcast for you.
Don't touch that dial.
Mondo, we want to just jump right into it.
The Word of God is our foundation.
It's what we live by.
It's what we breathe by.
It's how we move and have our being.
It really is.
You know, we've seen there is a culture that tries to shift us away from the word of God and into emotionalism, where it's, you know, we'll hear 60 minutes of exhortation and it's very motivating.
It's very powerful.
You know, they're good at what they do, yet we don't hear the scripture.
They don't start with it.
They don't throw it in the middle.
They might say something at the end that wraps up just to, you know, pursue or push a point that they had made.
But I'm telling you right now, when we get back to the word of God, we've prayed, what, for the Azusa revival to come again.
Every generation since then has prayed for it.
We saw the Ashbury revival.
We saw things we thought maybe this is the beginning of it.
And we saw these things die down.
I believe once the country, the United States of America, and I'm speaking to America because we are in America, because other countries are already doing it.
Once America comes back and firmly plants its feet back in the word of God, gets back to prayer, gets back to fasting, gets back to the key elements of what Christ said to do, I believe we'll see a major shift of true revival culture, not just let's call it a revival, let's do a one-night service with powerful music, and then everyone goes about their day-to-day life.
Because if you've been in a true revival, you'll never be the same.
No, and we've got to move away from this theatrics.
Is am I saying that right?
Theatrics.
Your accent gets in the way.
Because I want to tell you something.
In the late 90s, I was part of a group that was being raised to go all over the world.
And I went all over the world speaking to thousands of people every night.
But the one thing that changed my life, Ricky, was that a lot of my peers and their big name peers.
Yeah, we knew them.
Yeah.
They were going to acting classes on how to deliver a sermon.
They were going to theater to how to, you know, change their vowels and whatnot.
But I want to tell you something.
They lost the anointing in between because it became about theater.
It became about how can I be very explosive and dynamite on stage and grab your attention with the first sentence and then your opening statements.
And it became more of a theater than God's calling and anointing.
And I came from a world of gangs that you had to be authentic.
The real deal.
I didn't know how to pretend.
I didn't know how to be.
I just knew that the God that called me called me to preach, whether I had the theater behind me or not.
Back to Galatians 00:10:54
I just wanted the anointing.
Amen.
Today, we're going backwards again because every preacher, friends, and listen, the preachers we're talking about, they're our friends.
And I tell them privately, quit your theater.
Quit trying to do this.
Just preach the gospel.
That's right.
Just give us Jesus.
Amen.
Is that too much to ask?
No, and that's when you walk in the spirit and not in the flesh.
Friends, I want you to open up your Bible.
If you have it at home, a physical Bible, open it up to the book of Galatians.
If you have an iPhone, an Android device, you have the Bible app on your phone, go ahead and open that up as well.
The book of Galatians, I'm going to be reading out of the Christian Standard Bible.
In verse 13 of the chapter 5, so Galatians 5, chapter 13, it says, for you were called to be free, brothers and sisters.
Only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, Mondo.
The entire law fulfilled in one statement.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
We're seeing that in the church right now.
I say then, walk by the spirit, and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.
If you don't want to carry out the desire of the flesh, what do you have to do?
Walk in the spirit.
For the flesh desires what is against the spirit and the spirit desires what's against the flesh.
These are opposed to each other so that you don't do what you want, but if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.
Now, the works of the flesh are obvious.
Sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.
I am warning you about these things as I warned you before.
So this isn't the first time he's warned me.
He's talking to the church.
He's talking to the church.
That those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Now, this is the part we all love to talk about in church, but not the former of why he set this up.
Because, Mondo, this is the fruit of the Spirit.
A lot of the church we see have the gifts of the Spirit, but no fruit.
Believer, the gifts of the Spirit mean nothing if you don't have the fruit of the Spirit.
But what is the fruit of the Spirit?
It says right here in verse 22, Mondo.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Wow.
Now, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking one another or envying one another as well.
Now, those who belong in Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Mondo, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
If we live by the Spirit, let's stay in tune with the Spirit.
If we say we're believers in Christ Jesus, let's continue to talk to Christ Jesus.
You know, Mondo, you're married.
You've been married now for, what, 16 years?
17.
17 years?
I'm glad I don't know.
There you go.
Yeah, I get him the next year.
17 years, Mondo's been married.
Mondo, 17 years of marriage, if you decided, hey, today's the day that I'm only going to ever talk to my wife if I need something.
Oh, boy.
How would that go?
No, realistically.
I'll come and stay here.
That's what I'm saying.
Mondo would be a single man.
A single man.
That's the reality of it.
I mean, anyone in a relationship, even if it's a parental relationship, even if it's grandparents, if you ever only talk to somebody when you need something from them or you're in a desperate situation, it doesn't feel like an authentic relationship.
It feels like a user, a relationship.
Friends, the only time when you commune with God, if it's for something, friends, I want you to reevaluate that relationship.
Have the conversation with him when everything's going good.
Have communion with him when everything's going good.
Have relationship and intimacy with Christ Jesus when everything is going good.
Continue to hold on to him and cling to him when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
But the reason you can fear no evil, Mondo, is a lot of people quote that.
They say, you know, I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death and I'm fearing no evil.
Well, the reason you can fear no evil is because Christ is with you.
That's the reason, friend.
It's not because you're strong or because you've done something great and marvelous and wonderful.
It is simply because you are a new creation of Christ.
You are with Christ and Christ is with you.
That's the reason why we can walk through dire situations.
Because Mondo, even after becoming a believer, I know you've been through situations where it was life or death.
Yeah.
Where you thought, my goodness, this could be the end of it, but you didn't have a fearful mindset because you had Christ and Christ was with you.
I think it goes back to what we're talking about today with our special guests, because a lot of Christians, we choose despair.
Yes.
Our mindset always goes to the negative.
Instead, we have the tools, the ability to fast and pray and hear from God, get direction from the Lord.
The Bible says that the steps of the righteous man are ordered by the Lord.
That's right.
And I want to tell you something.
This is a daily walk.
This is a daily battle, picking up your cross daily.
It's not about pretending or trying to, you know, hide the idea that you are not facing trouble.
As a matter of fact, the moment you accepted Christ in your heart and you made the decision to follow him, things probably got worse.
That's right.
For a lot of people, your addictions got worse.
Your marriage got worse.
You went broke more.
I mean, everything that you can imagine, but it's all aligning because God wants us, like you said, communicate with him.
If I don't communicate with my wife on a daily basis, she has the opportunity to say, something is wrong.
Are you cheating on me?
Are you seeing somebody?
Do you not love me anymore?
She has the right to question me, but I can't get mad at her for questioning me on an action that I'm not doing.
That's right.
I think God is there with us, right?
Asking us, why aren't you talking to me?
Why aren't you communicating?
Why did you give your heart to the world?
That's right.
Why did you know I'm trying to bless you, yet you're not recognizing it because all you're doing is keep saying, I'm cursed and I'm despaired.
God, you know, you did this to me.
I was born this way and this is part of my family.
But yet we are renewed in Christ Jesus.
That's right.
When we are born again, everything changes.
But he gives us what I called years ago, someone called it basic instructions before living earth, which is the Bible.
Amen.
Right.
And he gives us the instructions to understand how do we pray?
How do we walk in his anointing?
How do we understand how much he loves us?
Amen.
I think you're a proof.
You are perfect proof of how he adopts us into his family.
I thought he was going to say the prodigal son.
I thought he was going to go there, guys.
No, I'm just kidding.
But you understand adoption.
Amen.
And he adopted us into his family.
That's right.
And I can imagine you being adopted, all the doubts that came with it as you started growing up.
Did you have any doubts?
Oh, absolutely.
All the time.
All the time.
Man, can you imagine the doubts we have on a daily basis?
Do I really belong at this table?
That's right.
Does God really want me at this place?
That's right.
Am I really wanted over here?
You really love me?
I mean, I started thinking about those things.
Did that happen to you?
All the time.
Yep.
How did you resolve that?
How did you get through the idea of, you know what?
I've been loved and I have to accept the fact that I've been loved.
Yeah, I share this story sometimes when I minister.
You know, when I was a young man, I was adopted.
We were actually living here at Morningside.
I went to a public school, you know, growing up.
I attended private school for a little bit and I got thrown back into public school, which not a bad deal.
I survived, so I made it through.
But, you know, public school is ruthless out there, you know?
So I remember I showed someone a picture of my family and they're like, dude, your parents are white.
And at this point, I didn't realize I was Hispanic.
I thought I was white.
I was adopted when I was four.
I thought, oh my goodness, you're right.
I don't even look anything like my mom or dad.
You know, I remember they made some harsh comments about how my father didn't look like me.
I remember somebody says, oh, your birth parents must not have wanted you.
I remember laughing it off.
And then I went home and I was probably like 12 or 13 at this time.
I remember sitting by my bed and I began to weep and I was crying.
And I thought, maybe they didn't.
Maybe they didn't want me.
And I remember as I was sitting there crying, my door was closed and dad, you know, he's very in tune.
The spirit, he comes up from his office.
He walks around the corner.
I can see his feet underneath the doorway.
He walks up to the door and he stands there for a second.
He then slowly opens the door and he sees me and he goes, how is, you know, is everything okay?
What's wrong?
I remember he looked me in my eyes and I told him, I said, Dad, you know, why didn't my birth parents want me?
Why was I not wanted?
You know, and he sat down next to me, sat because I wasn't on my bed.
I was sitting on the floor next to my bed.
He sat down with me.
If you know Jim Baker, he's a small man.
He says he's five foot nine.
He's not.
He's five foot seven.
He's a small man.
He sat down next to me.
We were probably about the same size at that point.
He put his arm around me and he put his head on my shoulder.
And I remember just being in that moment weeping, asking the question, why didn't they want me?
He goes, I can't answer that question, but just know this: I wanted you, and you're my son, and that's all that matters.
And in that moment, Wanda, that's when it shifted for me.
I go back to that moment in my Christian walk as well, where I had been hurt and betrayed by the world, where I had said I was a Christian, but I wasn't living a Christian lifestyle.
And I've sat there and weeped, thinking, Why don't they want me?
Why does the world continue to hurt me?
Why don't they want me?
And I had the same mental image of Jesus coming to sit by me.
He's saying, I can't answer that question of why they don't want you, but son, I want you.
And I died on a cross for you.
And you're my son, and I love you.
And that's where I came to the reality of realizing that's where my adoption truly took place.
I was once adopted physically, but I was adopted supernaturally by Christ Jesus.
And friends, every one of you can have that same experience as well, where Jesus will take you by the hand and say, I want you.
I love you.
You're my son.
You're my daughter.
You're heir to the throne with me.
We're in community and we have intimacy.
But that's where that moment shifted for me.
I remember like vividly, you know, when I was a young man and my physical father came and did that for me.
But I remember even more when I decided to truly give my life to Jesus and it spiritually happened for me as well.
Friends, you can do that as well.
You may have burdens.
You may have hard times.
You may be pressed for things right now in your life.
But friends, you have a God who will come sit by you in your dark moment.
He'll come sit by you in your low moment when you're feeling weary.
He'll put his head right there.
He'll put his arm around you and he'll say, You're my son, you're my daughter, and I want you.
It's why we can trust, delight, and commit in the Lord.
And friends, we have a video from your friend, Pastor Jim Baker, about how we are to trust, delight, and truly commit into Jesus.
Watch this.
You know, David, I love the Psalms.
Do Not Worry, Pray Instead 00:15:43
David's in the Psalms.
Yes.
Here's what he said: Psalm 42:6.
Listen to this.
Here he says, I'm standing here depressed and gloomy.
Wow.
I'm really encouraging you now.
But that's David, the man after God's own heart is saying, I'm standing here depressed and gloomy, but I will meditate upon your kindness to this lovely land where the Jordan River flows, where the Mount Hermon and the Mount Mazar stand.
So he's saying, I'm going to think about some good things.
Philippians 4, verse 5: The Lord is coming soon.
Do not worry about anything, it says, but pray and ask God for everything you need.
Always giving thanks.
You know, the key to success is being thankful.
Yes.
Amen.
Thanking God.
I'm so thankful for you that support us.
I thank God for you almost every day.
I thank God for you all the time.
And I try to thank you back.
I try to tell you thank you, but I don't thank you enough.
So he says, Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for what?
Everything you need.
That's right.
So we can ask God.
And so when I got up, I wrote them down.
I wrote it down like this.
I have a pads like this, the Jim Baker notepads.
And I write all the scriptures down.
And so I wrote them all down.
And now I wanted to share them with everybody today.
So let's not be weary.
Say amen.
Let's not be weary and well-doing, for in due season you will reap if we faint not.
Psalms 3:7.
Yes.
And verse 1.
It says, Fret not.
Amen.
What does fret mean?
Worry.
Yeah, worry.
That's pulling your hair out.
This lady was set.
You know, because fretting is more of a biblical kind of term, but it means the gnaw, you know, to wear you down, you know, wear you out.
Fret not thyselves because of evildoers.
Right.
Fret not because of political warfare.
Right.
Can you say amen?
We're not to fret over them.
Fret not thyselves because of evildoers.
That's right.
Thank you.
Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
So don't worry about the evil ones.
Right.
Don't worry about the hateful ones.
Don't worry.
God's judgment is coming on America and on the world, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb.
That's what it says.
Trust in the Lord.
Amen.
And do good, so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight.
We've got to have enjoyed the Lord.
Yes.
Yes.
But it says, delight.
Are you hearing me today?
Yes.
I just want you to know we can have rejoicing.
We can rejoice in the Lord.
Delight.
You know, the world dances and does all their crazy things, but the joy of the Lord should be our strength.
That's right.
Amen.
Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
He does.
So we rejoice in the Lord.
Amen.
Amen.
All right.
Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.
Yes.
You want God to do something?
Here you pick it up.
Is there, Lord?
It's yours.
It goes on to say, and I don't have time to do any more, but rest in the Lord.
Amen.
Rest in the Lord.
It goes on to say, this wonderful Psalms is so great.
Psalms 37.
It's one of my favorite places to go.
Here's what it says: Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Don't worry about the wicked.
God says, I'm going to, they'll be mowed down like dead grass.
Don't even worry about them.
Cease from your anger.
Forsake wrath.
Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
Amen.
Friends, take today and ensure you are trusting, delighting, and committing all your ways to the Lord.
Friends, today we have Dane Camela.
He's a social media content creator who shares a daily message of prayer, hope, and encouragement with his more than 1.4 million followers.
Dane is passionate about helping individuals build a strong relationship with Jesus through prayer and other practical tools, empowering them to discover their God-given potential.
You know, Mondo, we have people and they'll tell you, you know, this is what the universe has for you.
This is what Yada Yada has for you.
We want to know what our God-given potential is, and He's going to help us walk through that.
He's also the author of a book called Choose Prayer, Not Despair.
How to Transform Your Mental Health, Mondo, God's Way.
This is incredible.
Dane, I want to say thank you for being on the broadcast with us today.
For those who don't know you, tell us a little bit about who you are and what it is that you do.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me on, Ricky.
It's an absolute honor to get to hang out with you guys today.
So for those of you guys who are listening in and don't know me, I'm a full-time Christian content creator.
So I share my faith every day, primarily just praying for people.
It's as simple as that.
Started with that over five years ago when God put it on my heart to start sharing my faith.
I tried to talk myself out of it because I didn't feel qualified to do that.
I thought I had to be a pastor and all these other things.
And just through some time sitting with the Lord and asking him, if you really want me to share my faith, what could I share that I would feel comfortable sharing?
And that was prayer because that's where my relationship with the Lord started when I was 18 years old.
And I made the decision to start following Jesus.
He put the gift of encouragement on my heart.
And I just wanted to encourage people.
And I started to just talk to him each day through prayer.
And it wasn't about having the right words.
It wasn't about having all the scripture.
It was just an open dialogue and a conversation to start building a friendship with the person who created the heavens and the earth.
And that developed itself over years.
And then I kind of went through some mental health stuff that we can get into today, but God was so good to be with me through that all.
And yeah, that's a little bit about my story.
Amen.
Amen.
Let's talk about that.
Why has mental health become a pressing issue in the Christian community?
I feel like, especially over the last decade, we've seen a spike, a real rise in mental health, especially amongst a Christian community.
If you don't mind, let's kind of go into things that maybe you would struggle with and you'd overcome with the Lord, but also let's talk about why it's an overall issue in the Christian community.
Yeah, that's a great question.
I'll start by just sharing a little bit about what happened to me with my mental health.
It was about four years into growing in my walk with the Lord.
He was doing some amazing things.
And out of nowhere, I started to just get these weird thoughts.
I didn't really know where they came from.
And because I was still pretty early in my understanding of God's word, I was growing a lot in prayer, but I still didn't understand where my identity lied, what that meant, and how to actually resist the devil and some of those just intrusive thoughts.
And it started as intrusive thoughts.
And because I didn't understand what was going on, I kind of opened that door and the enemy started to just mess with my mind more and more.
And for me, where the enemy attacked me was in my mental health.
And specifically, it was in a mental health illness that slowly got worse over time.
And I underwent a manic episode, which is the result of someone who is dealing with bipolar disorder one.
So I had a full-blown manic episode.
It got so bad to where I had to be hospitalized for two weeks, put on a whole slew of medication.
And I thought that God had abandoned me.
I was scared.
I was really opened up to that spiritual world and it frightened me.
But even in the midst of that, God was still there.
And after getting out of the hospital, going to a Christian psychologist where they actually did a brain map on my brain to show me with physical evidence how my brain was actually operating and if there was something that was out of balance.
And they showed me that I had an extreme case of bipolar disorder one, which affects about 1% of the population.
There is no cure for it.
And most people who are diagnosed with bipolar, like some other mental illnesses, have to be on medication for life.
And that was hard to hear at the time.
But I had a mom who had such great faith and was the reason I grew up in the church.
And the Christian mentor to me at that time, she, along with my grandpa and some other amazing believers in my family, greatly encouraged me in a time where my identity was being challenged to believe the report that this would be my life forever.
Now, I understood and we understood as a family that this was the situation.
This was something I was dealing with.
But through their encouragement, they helped me understand that my identity did not lie in the crisis of the mental health issue.
It lied in Christ and who I was as his son.
And I made a decision that day through the help of the believers around me to start walking in what it is that I carried as someone who followed Jesus.
And I started to find scriptures in the word to just pray and come in agreement with.
I never spoke that illness over my life because I think that's extremely important, especially in the world we live in with mental health being such a challenge.
I never gave it any more power than it needed.
I was taking the medication at the time, which was helpful, but also believing that I could be healed and that it wouldn't affect me for the rest of my life.
And we believed in that and we prayed for that and we started walking in that as a family.
And it was about two weeks later that I was at a church service that they asked if anyone needed prayer.
I grew up in a church where I never saw healing take place from my personal experience, but that didn't mean that I didn't believe that I could be healed.
And I got prayed for at the end of that service.
And I remember the pastors putting their hands in mine and beginning to pray for me.
And my hands out of nowhere started just shaking uncontrollably.
Even the pastors opened their eyes.
I opened my eyes too.
And they kept praying for me.
And they might have been a little, I don't know how you would say, but just like, is everything okay?
They didn't say anything, but they continued to pray.
But I knew what God was doing right there, that he was about to heal me.
And I even started to mutter some things out of my mouth.
And I think it was that just demonic oppression that was on me, getting ready to be released.
Because after we got done praying, I felt that spirit of oppression that was on me causing all of this mental health warfare lift when we got done praying.
And I knew right then and there that I was healed.
And about two weeks after that service, I got off all the medication.
That mental health illness, that oppression, that mania, all the things that arise from someone who has this illness never came back.
I've never had to take the medication ever again.
It's been over 10 years that I've been walking in that wholeness and healing.
And again, that's a testament to the God that we serve.
He is a great physician and a healer, and he wants you whole and well.
And he can take you from a place of despair to freedom.
And I think the reason we deal with this so much so today is because I believe the church hasn't done a great job of addressing this issue and creating opportunities to walk alongside people who are going through things as severe as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
It's treated as if, oh, there's something wrong with this person, but because we don't know what's going on and the behavior that simply is displayed from someone is erratic and is sometimes overwhelming to those around this individual.
So because of that, and I think the way in which our society looks at mental health outside of the Christian faith is this is something that happens.
It's okay.
We have mental health awareness month.
You're not different.
You're unique and there's nothing wrong with that.
But when it takes place of your identity as a son and daughter of the most high, that's when this thing can sit and be a burden with us for the rest of our life.
So I think we need to start having different conversations within the church, as well as within believers who are walking this out with family members and friends and to have bold faith to believe this is not the rest of your life.
Yes, this is the case right now, but we serve a God who heals and he can heal you through this.
And we've got to come in agreement with that in his word, what he says about these things and to start walking in that now and not giving this thing more power than it deserves.
Absolutely.
Listen, I wrote a post this morning because I woke up early in the morning to pray.
And this is what I wrote.
Functional depression is real.
You work, you joke around and take care of your family, yet mentally you're drowning in your own thoughts and no one knows.
That's right.
I don't know if it's ever happened to you.
Maybe you're perfect.
Maybe you got your life figured out.
But for the rest of us, I want to tell you something.
There's a mental struggle.
There's a mental battle that takes place that goes silently.
We fight a silent battle because we are ashamed to communicate.
And this generation, Ricky, had, when I say this generation, I don't mean the young generation.
I mean where we are culturally right now has opened up the idea that it's okay to talk about it and not be looked at as weak.
It doesn't make you less of a man.
It doesn't make you less of a father, less of a husband, less of an employer, employee.
I mean, you get the idea.
Understanding that the battle that we go through every day is a supernatural battle that is trying.
The Bible says in the book of Daniel that in the last days, the enemy is going to try to wear you out.
One translation says it's going to want to exhaust you mentally.
And I want to tell you, I've never seen more of a mental health illness battle than we are facing right now.
Young men, young women, older men, successful men, successful women, they are committing suicide in their lives because they cannot take the battle that is in this brain right here.
Journey Through Prayer 00:15:45
That transference to depression.
Why are you not smiling no more?
You read a powerful scripture that one of the signs of having the fruit of the spirit is joy.
I got to ask you this.
Can you share with us a story of how your prayer ministry on social media has influenced someone's mental health journey?
Because if someone is watching right now and they have a son, they have a daughter, they have a grandson, a granddaughter, maybe themselves need to share what you have been able to share on social media.
Yeah, thank you so much for asking that.
I was thinking about that.
And I do an event every year where it's just a meetup for people who are connected to me on social media to come out to Arizona to fellowship, to pray, to go to church.
And the first year I did it, there was this man I met and he sat across from me on a bench at the area we were hanging out at.
And he looked at me just dead in the face with such a serious look.
And this was a big man.
And he goes, you saved my son's life.
And I'm like, what do you mean?
I didn't save your son's life.
What do you mean?
And he goes, my son has bipolar disorder like what you've gone through.
And he also struggles with alcoholism.
And two weeks ago, he called me up on the phone and it was late at night and he told me he was going to take his life.
And when I heard that, I said, can you just watch something for two minutes on the phone?
And he sent him just a clip that he clipped from my live stream where I shared a portion of my testimony of being healed from bipolar disorder.
And they both broke down, cried.
They prayed right then and there.
And his son didn't make that decision.
He got into a Christian behavioral health facility to start working on some of these things.
And he said, my son is on fire for the Lord.
He is so joyful.
He is reading scripture and sharing his faith with other people within that organization.
I broke down and cried when he shared this to me.
And it was just so powerful to hear that you could just share your testimony on a live stream or pray for someone in a moment.
And it could be something that could give them hope because they're going through something that you've been through.
And there is hope from that.
So that's one story that came to mind for me.
That's powerful.
Hey, man, we want to talk about your book, Choose Prayer, Not Despair: How to Transform Your Mental Health God's Way.
We want to talk about this.
This is an incredible, honestly, Mondo, just title right off the bat.
But let's talk about that, Dane, because this is really incredible.
There is a way that the world is telling people to transform their mental health.
And we see it truly does just lead them down a darker path.
It may be get brighter for a little bit.
Mondo, it's that roller coaster effect of highs and lows and highs and lows.
There is a way to do it God's way, isn't there, Dane?
Yeah, definitely.
So, when it comes to the book and why I wrote the book, prayer is something that we can do every day.
It's a conversation with God.
I know when people think about prayer, it's more around, you know, a lot of people say it's, I can pray so I can get something from God, but prayer to me and what I truly believe the heart of prayer is, is to get back and return to the Lord and spend time in fellowship and communion with Him.
So, in the book, I just talk about different things that have helped me when it comes to mental health.
I mean, the book is titled Choose Prayer, Not Despair.
Every day you wake up, you have different things that happen to you, and that affects you in your mind and in your mental state, even if it's just everyday stress or worry.
You have the choice in the response as a believer to choose to lean into, let's say, that despair, that stress, that anxiety, or you have the opportunity to choose to pray.
Come to God, make your requests known to Him, thank Him for who He is, and also sit in His Word and pray that over your life, which can turn around the stress, the worry, the anxiety, because that's the God that we serve.
So, those are a couple of things that I talk about in the book as well, too.
You know, I'm going to ask this question: the prayer life, Mondo.
A lot of people say I'm going through things, they say I'm having issues, but they don't get into prayer.
And we've seen it many times.
They say, When was the last time you brought this petition before God?
When was the last time you prayed about it?
You say, Well, I haven't done that.
It's like, Brother, I promise you right now, if you're going through something good, bad, and different, bring it before the Lord.
So, I'm going to ask you this question: Why is having a prayer life the key to having spiritual fruit, which is something you talk about here in your book?
I think the key to having a prayer life that provides your life fruit, right?
Fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, is because when you pray, you have an opportunity to talk to God and develop a friendship.
When you read the word, it's great and you have the opportunity for God to talk to you.
But when you pray, it's your opportunity to talk to God, to hear from him, to sit in his presence.
And that's something I think that is missing from a lot of believers' life: the secret place, right?
We learn and we read about that in the book of Matthew chapter 6, when Jesus tells us to go into a quiet place, close the door behind us, and pray to our Father who's in the secret place and who hears us and rewards us openly.
So, as we sit in the secret place of prayer, we get to not only commune with God, we get to share with him, take all those thoughts, those anxieties, those worries, and be honest with him with what you're going through, and to lay that down at his feet.
And in exchange for that, he fills you with the fruit of the spirit so you can go into your day with that joy, with that love, with that peace.
If we don't have a constant, consistent rhythm of returning to the secret place, it's going to be so much more difficult to deal with the everyday stresses of life that affect us in our mental health, whether we're dealing with something more serious like an illness or just everyday anxiety and worry.
You know, when I look at the content, part one says, Why prayer?
Chapter one, you deal with how prayer saved me from an incurable mental illness.
I think it's one of those things where parents today are not understanding why their sons and daughters are depressed.
They went from laughing and smiling one day and the next day they changed.
Depression, anxiety.
Absolutely.
I've seen it happen right before my eyes with people that I love and they become a different person.
Yes.
It's like we have trained ourselves to be on stage, so to speak, where we're one way on stage, but behind the scenes, we're different.
And that's what happens to a lot of people.
And if we don't understand the process of what they're going through, you know, it's a silent journey that you don't want anybody to suffer through.
And I think Christianity has not done a very good job advising people to go to counseling.
God has anointed great counselors to be able to give you the roadmap on how to work through that process of depression and anxiety.
And it's real.
You ever had a panic attack?
You ever been anxious?
You ever fell into a reality of why am I feeling depressed?
I mean, this is a real, this is our demonic spirits.
We got to call it for what it is because they came to oppress and steal and destroy the joy of the Lord.
You know, I've talked about this, talked about this a few times within the church body.
It's why does the enemy want to steal your joy?
Why does he care so much about your joy?
Well, where is your strength, friend?
What does the word of God say?
We have to bring everything back to the word.
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
If he can steal your joy, he can steal your strength.
If he's stolen your strength, friends, you're a weak Christian.
You're more likely to be a lukewarm Christian.
You're more likely to fall.
That's why he's attacking the joy.
That's why we see a rise of anxiety, a rise of depression, a rise of mental health, suicidal thoughts.
And friends, if you're struggling with something like that, I encourage you, get with a believer who loves Jesus and loves you.
If you're struggling with something like that, call our number.
It's 1-888-988-1588.
I always tell you, hey, if you want to pray the salvation prayer, call in.
If you feel like you're walking a prodigal lifestyle, call in.
Friends, if you need someone to talk to, we want to stand in the gap with you on this journey.
You shouldn't go at it alone.
And Dane, I want to talk to you about that because a lot of people feel like, man, I can't turn to a church father.
I can't turn to a church leader, a pastor, an elder.
I can't turn to even my own family because there's a shame aspect that comes on.
The enemy tries to make them feel shamed or guilt or like they've done something wrong.
How important is it that they find community during this process of healing?
Community is everything.
I think that's one huge attack that the enemy loves to use because an isolated believer is a believer who is vulnerable to not only the thoughts that they hear every day, the attacks from the enemy, but also they just don't, they don't have anyone to link arms with and do life with.
And that's something I see so much so online where people gather online or they're getting, you know, church online, which is fine and it's great and you can learn a lot of things, but you've got to be plugged in to a local church.
I encourage everyone that I get to meet and have conversations with.
That's one of the first questions I ask him is, are you plugged into a local church?
And I do my best to help them and ask the people that I know in their different areas where that can be.
Because if you don't have someone you can walk alongside with, you're going to trust, you're going to lean on your own understanding.
And there's only so much that you know.
So it's so important.
We can find communities online, which are great.
And I think that's why the Lord is doing so much amazing work on social media to help encourage other people who are going through difficulty.
But we really have to be plugged into a local church, joining small groups and even being part of a Bible study that you can meet with local people because that's when you can link arms.
You can share and confess the things that you're going on for.
People can pray for you and you can be healed and made well.
That's what happens when we do this.
And I know it can sometimes be a little scary to go out there and maybe someone has church hurt.
Don't let that stop you from continuing to go find that home.
So, yeah, that's super important.
You know, asking the right questions.
The Bible talks about confess your sins to one another, confess your struggles.
That's what it's talking about.
Confess your pain, your hurts to one another.
And I want to tell you something: the moment you do, you begin to get healed.
I don't think you need to go alone in this journey.
We all need friends, we all need somebody to lean on, just like that good old song, right?
Lean on me.
But one thing I love about your book is the amount of scriptures that you use.
How influential is the word of God in the process of healing for someone that is going through the process of depression, for example?
That's such a good question.
And I love talking about this every single day.
One of my favorite things to do in prayer is to pray God's word over my life because what that does is it renews your mind to who you truly are.
The word of God is alive and active.
It helps us live a life that's pleasing to God.
So, and I think, especially for believers who are maybe new in the faith or they're trying to work through some difficulties when it comes to their mental health, they're dealing with a lot of fear, they're dealing with a lot of anxiety.
There are so many scriptures that you can find in the word to not just read, but to also pray, to pray over your life, to come in agreement, right?
The Bible tells us to not be conformed by the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
You renew your mind when you sit in God's word, but then you can also renew your mind by praying God's word over your life.
So, yeah, throughout the book, we have a whole chapter just on identity.
What does the Bible say about who you are?
Scripture to back it up, and also prayer that incorporates that scripture.
This is something I do almost every day, just sharing prayers for people because I've learned how to hold on to God's word.
And that's been the thing that helps me stay in a place where I can live in the light of His glory, live in peace, live in joy.
It's for you, it's there.
You can access and receive it, but there's something that we have to do every day to continue to operate that, and that is renewing our mind, renewing our mind each day.
Amen.
You know, what are some of the roadblocks to effective prayer?
You talk about this in page 45 and 46 of your book.
So, friends, I want to encourage you to go get this book.
We have an affiliate set up with Charisma, or you can scan that QR code on the screen.
Call our number, it's 1-888-988-1-588.
Choose prayer.
We want you to choose prayer, friends, not despair.
We want you to get this book.
Go to our Charisma Media affiliate today.
I like this Mondo.
It says right there: Your road to a renewed mind starts with prayer.
Friends, we want you to go get this book.
It'll be a blessing, I know, to Dane's ministry as it goes and supports the cause that he's doing, which is incredible.
But also, you go to make sure the gospel of Jesus Christ is processed, prayed, and proceeds to go around the world.
But page 45, 46, as we went through this book, we noticed that you said there were some roadblocks to effective prayer.
Let's break those down and talk about them.
Yeah, I think the most important roadblock that everyone deals with more than almost any other.
You know, we have stuff like, I don't know what to say, and other things that come up, or I've just been dealing with sin.
But I think the number one roadblock is distraction.
Think about when you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you do?
Is it to get up and rejoice in the Lord and to pray and put on some worship music?
And if it's not, that's okay, but you can change that.
Most of our responses, or what a lot of people do, is they're checking their phone.
They're immediately getting plugged into this world that is completely after your time and attention through social media.
So we have to create disciplines are with disciplines for ourselves as believers to return to the place of prayer because there's distractions all around us.
So I think that's the number one roadblock that's preventing believers from going to the next level when it comes to growing in their prayer life.
Because if we don't have 30 minutes to sit down with God, to talk to him about what we're going through, to thank him for who he is, to speak his word over our life, it's going to be really hard for us to develop a friendship and a relationship that bears a lot of fruit.
So distractions, I say, I would say is the biggest one.
And if you're in a place right now where you see that all throughout your day, carve out that time.
If it's waking up a little bit earlier or deciding to go to bed a little bit earlier at night to sit in the secret place of prayer, to find a couple scriptures, to read them and recite them, figure out ways to pray those over your life.
That will help you kind of fight back against, I think, again, the biggest roadblock, which is distractions because of the interconnected technology social media world we live in.
You know, the term mental health is a buzzword in our society.
We hear it all the time now.
I feel like two decades ago, three decades ago, we weren't hearing it as much, but now we hear it all the time.
Can you share with us some ways that we can help people who are struggling with these issues?
Let's say there's a grandma or a grandpa out there, a mother or father, aunt, uncle, somebody who knows somebody who is struggling with this.
Don't Struggle Alone 00:12:51
What's the best way to approach this?
Because we've seen a lot of these things where, you know, people will try their best and I do give them that.
You know, they'll do their best and they'll go up.
Maybe they'll start rebuking demons out of this person, person.
They say, I don't even know what you're talking about.
I'm just sad.
I'm just, you know, anxious.
What's the best way to walk up to someone who is dealing with these issues and have the conversation where their heart will be softened and open to the message of Jesus?
Such a great question.
I will share from even my personal experience of how it was dealt with me when I was going through a mental health crisis.
And this is the same way I walk out this with others too, is the people who are around me during a time when they had no idea what I was going through because they'd never experienced someone who was dealing with mania and bipolar disorder is I just had family members who sat with me and wanted to make sure that I was safe and okay.
They were willing to listen with me.
They were willing to pray alongside me.
They were willing to encourage me with God's word, but they didn't try to force a behavior change on me.
I think this is really important.
It was, I'm here to love on you because I love you and I care about you.
I also want to encourage you to remember who you are, what the word says about you.
And I'm here to pray alongside you as well.
It's not about, hey, this is going on.
This is what you have to do.
You need to turn your life around.
You shouldn't feel this way.
We're to love on people.
And if you're dealing with someone in a situation like that, a family member, a close friend of yours, one of the best things that you can do for them is to be there for them, to listen to them, to encourage them where you can, and also let them know, hey, I'm praying for you and I'd love to pray for you right now.
Just ask them, would you mind if I pray over this situation for you?
I have never met anyone who has declined prayer when I've asked them.
And you'll be surprised when you openly just ask someone, hey, is it okay if I pray over this situation?
You told me.
You've got to be there to actually be there to listen and want to sit with the person because them sharing what's going, what they're going through with you is helping them process that as well too.
You can pray for them behind the scenes as well each day.
I love doing that as well too.
But just being for them, sitting with them, encouraging them and walking alongside them.
You don't have to have all the answers, especially if someone is going through something serious when it comes to their mental health.
We have a great physician that is involved in this process and helping that person know that by encouraging them and being there for them, I think is the most important thing because that's what helped me so much when I was going through it too.
You know, when I was in the army, they had a phrase and you take this with a grain of salt.
You know, so we'd, you need going through just horrible things, training exercise, and men being deployed.
You've seen things and people say, don't struggle alone, struggle with me.
You know, a lot of people realize, you know, you're not meant to struggle alone.
You know, and they realize, hey, I'm not going to tell you, you know, don't struggle alone where everything's going to be peaches because they realize the in the army in the armed forces capacity, it never was going to be.
So, you know, you'd have brothers who are depressed.
You know, they said, hey, man, I'm having suicidal thoughts.
And it would be a common phrase to say, hey, don't struggle alone.
Struggle with me.
Wow.
You know, but you realize it's bonding.
It's the unity of locking arms to arms, saying, brother, we're all going through it.
Let's at least go through it together.
You know, I was at a station at a base in Anchorage, Alaska.
And I believe during the first two years I was there, it was the number one recorded base for suicide because it was Anchorage, Alaska.
You had 22 hours of darkness at some points of the year for many months at a time.
Men were not used to that.
So they were, you know, becoming depressed.
They were alone in their bearish room.
They'd take their lives.
It was horribly, horribly sad because, you know, we'd see men that you'd see the day before and all of a sudden they're gone.
You realize, what can we do to change this?
And I realized there was nothing that could be done other than having joy in their heart.
Jesus Christ, that was the only thing.
We found that believers had a better chance.
We found that people needed community.
It's whenever soldiers would isolate themselves whenever they'd start, you know, they say, look for the signs, one of them being isolation.
Friends, don't allow your friends to isolate.
I understand needing space.
I understand needing time.
Sometimes I get overwhelmed.
Hey, I need a few minutes.
Mondo, you know, if you always need the time, make sure that you could check up on your friends.
Make sure you love on them.
Make sure you care about them.
And like I said, take it with a grain of salt, but don't struggle alone.
Struggle together.
Sometimes you're going to go through it, but go through it together.
Walk through the fire with somebody.
Walk through the storm with somebody.
You know, Mondo, the Christian culture today, and I say Christian, I would throw some air quotes up, but I know I get in trouble for that.
We have, you know, people who don't like that, whatever.
But I'll say the Christian culture today is let a man or woman struggle alone.
I don't want to be seen with them while they're struggling because then it looks like I'm maybe struggling with them.
I don't want to be seen with them when they fall because maybe it looks like I condoned what they did.
Friends, the Bible says those who are spiritual, restore one another in the spirit of meekness, lest the same thing come upon you.
Friends, be there for each other.
If a brother or a sister falls down, instead of being the first person to take a picture and run away, be the first person to reach your hand out, extend a hand and say, get back up and keep running this good race.
The word of God is very clear.
Those who endure to the end will gain their lives.
This is a marathon race we are running, whether the Lord blesses you with six years or 66 or 106 years on this earth.
You're running a race the entire time.
The finish line is the end of your life.
And friends, we want you to cross that finish line, but make sure that you are there to support others on the race as well.
I know there's been many times and relationships around you where you feel like, you know, it's a close relationship, but they're not there for you.
Make sure that you have close relationships and make sure you know I'm here to support you.
I'm here to love on you.
I'm here to care about you.
I'm not going to judge you if you're going through things.
Because Mondo, we've seen that the shame, the guilt.
The devil tries to throw that in people's faces.
But don't struggle alone.
It's not worth it.
We want you to have partnership, get in a good Bible-believing church in your area.
We would love to do what we could over the phone for you, but we want to ensure you know you're never ever alone.
The Holy Spirit's always with you.
Jesus is always with you.
You know, Mondo, we hear about all these near-death experiences.
We get lots of testimonials on the show.
People want to come on the show and do this.
You know, people say, well, I've had interactions with demonic forces.
I was being, you know, choked in my sleep.
I was doing this or that.
And almost every time during the testimonial, we see all I needed to do was call out to the name of Jesus.
Once I said the name of Jesus, whatever it was left me.
And I've had experiences like that where I felt like I'm being oppressed and I'm feeling depressed and I feel like something's trying to take my life.
And I just, in my dream, I feel like I have to call out the name Jesus.
And once I do, whatever this is that's harassing me, tormenting me, telling me to take my life, telling me to be depressed, telling me to be anxious, it goes away because there's power in the name of Jesus and there's power at the cross.
And you got to learn to start learning how to change your perspective, your mindset.
My wife, the other day, she woke up and she said, I had a dream that you went through this.
And she said, what were you dreaming?
I said, I was dreaming that I was at peace.
I was dreaming that I was in the arms of the Lord, just resting on him.
Why do we get always we want to lean to despair with our dreams, with everything?
Oh, no, I'm in the point in my life right now where I'm dreaming about being at peace with the Lord.
I'm dreaming that I'm walking the streets of Jerusalem just worshiping him.
I'm dreaming while other people are dreaming.
I had a dream about you that you were being attacked by devils.
Is everything okay?
I said, I don't know about you, but I'm dreaming about the Lord.
I'm dreaming of the restoration in my life and how good God has been in my life.
Sometimes you have to learn to start letting go of all this crazy talk and begin to profess the word.
I want to tell you something.
When the Bible says, as a man thinketh, so is he.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
When you fill your heart with scripture, that scripture comes alive and it lives in your subconscious and you dream about how good the Lord has been.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
I dream about greater is he that is in me, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm talking about we will prosper, that no weapon formed against me will prosper.
I'm telling you, there's a moment when this ministry, Ricky, we came to a moment where everything could have stopped.
But when we confess to you what was happening, you stood in agreement with this ministry and you began to pray for us.
You began to sow a seed.
You said, We're standing with you guys.
We're not going to allow you guys to go anywhere.
And the reason we continue to go is because of the partnership that you have given to this ministry, where when we were down, God used you to raise us back up.
Amen.
We needed you the most and you showed up.
I want to tell you something.
If that is God, I want you to be there for us every single day because you would not believe the attacks.
I don't know about you, Ricky, but there's days that the enemy wants to overwhelm me.
But there's also most days where I get encouraged because I read your messages, I read your letters, and you're being encouraged by this program every single day.
You know, we see a moment in the Daniel chapter three where Shadrach, Meshach had been to go into the fire.
And I was praying over this again because I preached a sermon about this a few weeks ago and I was thinking about it and the Lord just kept reminding me of it.
And I realized, you know, I was talking about the fourth man in the fire and how people go into situations and the only thing that burns is what binds you because it says they were thrown in, bound.
But the king stood up and said, Didn't we throw three men bound into the fire?
And he says, why do I see four walking around freely?
In that moment, the prayer, you know, maybe not for them, but for me, would have been, Lord, take me out of this fiery furnace.
Get me out of this situation.
And I heard the Lord prompt my heart during this time.
I was rereading it again.
The Lord said, You already preached on it.
Read it again.
I kept reading it.
And he really prompted my heart.
The Holy Spirit is speaking to me during a time of prayer and reading the word of God where he says, I am not here to fix your problems.
I'm here to heal your perspective.
And I said, okay, tell me about that.
You know, I'm talking to the Lord.
I'm dialoguing.
He says, fixing the problem would have been turning the fire off, extinguishing it.
That would have been fixing the problem in that moment.
Because I was imagining myself in that moment.
He goes, I healed their perspective by giving them Jesus because they realized with Jesus, nothing around me, no circumstance, no trial, no tribulation can touch me, can harm me, can hurt me whenever the presence of the king is with me.
And friends, you have the opportunity to have that presence with you all the time.
You have the opportunity to have the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
Jesus was ascending and leaving his disciples and he told them, I'm going to give you something even better.
They just walked with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who had died and rose again, resurrected, which we're about to celebrate Easter Sunday here soon.
And he said, I'm going to give you something even better.
The Holy Spirit that lives inside of us.
He could have picked anything in the world, friends.
He could have picked a building to reside in.
He could have had another temple.
He could have picked relics to reside in, but he didn't.
He picked the heart of man.
He chose your heart.
He chose my heart.
And he said, I'm going to dwell inside of people.
Friends, you have the opportunity to have the king of kings and the Lord of Lords in your heart.
Take them up on that today.
Take them up on that today.
And I promise you, it is going to be the best decision you have ever made in your entire life.
Doesn't mean the road's always going to be easy.
It doesn't mean the road's always going to be straight and without bumps.
And there's, you know, going to be some potholes, Mondo.
Maybe the stripes are faded here and there, but it's going to be worth it.
This marathon called Life is going to be well worth it to hear the words, well done, my good and faithful servant.
This ministry stands so that everybody can hear, everyone that hears this program would hear those words.
We don't want to see one person perish.
We don't want to see one individual.
I don't care where you're at right now.
You could be in a place where you don't believe in Jesus Christ.
You could be Muslim right now.
You could be whatever you want to be.
You could be diametrically opposed to what we believe right now.
But if you're under the sound of this voice, if you're in the sound of this broadcast, we would pray that you'd give your life to Jesus Christ.
Turn away from whatever lifestyle you're living and say, I want Jesus and Jesus alone.
Because, friends, we want to call you brother and sister and we want to spend eternity with you with Jesus Christ.
Dane, I want to thank you for being on the broadcast with us today.
It's an incredible, incredible book you have.
Friends, go to that affiliate page we have with Charisma Media or call that number.
God Bless You Guys 00:00:43
It's 1-888-9881.
I was about to get my personal phone number out again.
1-888-988-1588.
And get this book, Choose Prayer, Not Despair, by Dane Camela.
We want you to go to that website or scan that QR code on the screen.
It's a Charisma Media Affiliate.
And again, we want to say thank you for being on the broadcast with us, Dane.
And we hope that God continues to bless you and your ministry that you have via social media.
Thank you so much for having me.
It was a pleasure.
God bless you guys.
Hey, we want to thank you guys, friends, no matter what you're doing today.
There is nothing in the world that can convince me otherwise.
And I want to make sure for you as well that God loves you.
He really does.
Bye-bye for today.
Thank you so much.
God bless you.
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