May 28, 2025

The Rock of Offense

Send us a text "The Jesus who doesn't fit into the American church's soft gospel or cultural friendly faith" - this episode of Renewed Mindsets delivers a powerful wake-up call to Christians who have embraced a comfortable, inoffensive version of Jesus that bears little resemblance to the biblical Christ. Rick cuts straight to the heart of modern Christianity's greatest deception: the substitution of Jesus the King with Jesus the mascot. This Americanized Jesus loves without confrontation, a...

Send us a text

"The Jesus who doesn't fit into the American church's soft gospel or cultural friendly faith" - this episode of Renewed Mindsets delivers a powerful wake-up call to Christians who have embraced a comfortable, inoffensive version of Jesus that bears little resemblance to the biblical Christ.

Rick cuts straight to the heart of modern Christianity's greatest deception: the substitution of Jesus the King with Jesus the mascot. This Americanized Jesus loves without confrontation, accepts without transformation, and offers blessing without repentance. The problem? He's not real. Drawing from Scripture, Rick reminds us that Jesus is described as "a rock of offense" - not because He's harsh, but because truth disrupts comfort and light exposes what hides in darkness.

The episode presents a challenging question: When was the last time Jesus offended you? If you can't remember, perhaps you've surrounded yourself with teachers who tell you what your itching ears want to hear rather than what your soul needs. The biblical Jesus doesn't validate our brokenness; He transforms it. He doesn't affirm what culture celebrates when it contradicts Scripture; He calls it rebellion. This Christ demands complete surrender, not casual acknowledgment.

Matthew 21:44 presents our stark choice: "Whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." There is no middle ground. We must either allow Christ to break our pride and tear down our self-built identities, or face His judgment. The offense Jesus brings is ultimately love - He wounds to heal, breaks to restore, and confronts to save.

Have you settled for a passive, people-pleasing Jesus who tolerates sin instead of destroying it? Text a friend about this episode, visit renewedmindsets.com for more content, and prepare your heart for the authentic Christ who loves you too much to leave you in deception. The time to wake up is now.

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The Intro/Outro music is Are You Ready? by Floodgate. From the Album, Are You Ready? copyright 2002 OffBeat Ministries, Inc.
Floodgate is available on Apple Music and iTunes.
Music used with permission.

Thank You. I Love You!

SEE YA!

Rick

Be An Encourager...Not A Discourager!

Chapters

01:56 - Jesus Was Offensive... by Design

03:15 - The Lie of the Americanized Jesus

05:00 - Why the Real Jesus Still Offends Us

06:09 - If You're Never Offended... Maybe You've Stopped Listening

07:25 - The Rock That Offends... Or Saves

08:14 - To The Offended Believer

09:15 - The Fire or The Fall

Transcript

WEBVTT

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The world is changing and time is running out.

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This is Renewed Mindsets, where we confront biblical truth head-on no sugarcoating, no compromise.

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We expose false doctrine, reveal fulfilled prophecy and shine light on the demonic deception of these last days, but we also stand firm on the hope of Christ's return, the call to holiness and the urgency of true salvation.

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It's time to renew your mind, for the time is now.

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Let's go, boys.

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Hey, welcome back to Renewed Mindsets.

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I'm Rick and I'm so glad you're here.

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This isn't the podcast for the comfortable Christian.

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This is where we confront deception, expose darkness and call the church back to the narrow road.

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Today's message isn't going to sit well with everyone, and that's exactly the point.

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Today's message isn't going to sit well with everyone, and that's exactly the point.

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We're talking about Jesus, the rock of offense, the one people want to follow until he speaks, the one they claim to love, until he calls out their sin.

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The Jesus who doesn't fit into the American church's soft gospel or cultural friendly faith.

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Let me say this very plainly If your version of Jesus never offends the flesh, it's not the real Jesus.

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Let's just jump in with some scripture.

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Romans 9.33 says as it is written behold, I lay in Zion, a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.

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And then the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

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That's from Psalm 118, 22.

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Jesus wasn't crucified for being nice.

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He was crucified because his message confronted religious pride, it exposed sin and it threatened the systems of power.

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He offended yeah, he offended the Pharisees with his holiness.

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He offended the Romans with his authority.

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He offended the sinners with his call to repentance.

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And he even offended his disciples with his suffering.

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He wasn't killed for healing.

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He was killed for truth.

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In Matthew 13, 57,.

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Even in his hometown they took offense at him.

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Why?

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Because he didn't fit their expectations.

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Because truth disrupts comfort, because light exposes what's hiding in the dark.

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And here's the part we need to say loudly, clearly and without apology.

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The American church has replaced Jesus the king with Jesus the mascot.

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This Americanized Jesus loves everybody, but never tells them to change.

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He accepts sin as identity.

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He tells you to follow your heart instead of crucify your flesh.

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He gives you blessing without repentance.

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He promises you favor while you're still living in rebellion.

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It's more about your platform than your purity.

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Jesus in the American church is more interested in your happiness than your holiness.

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This Jesus has been mass produced in churches that care more about audience size than altar calls, more about relatability than in righteousness, more about crowd retention than repentance.

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But this false Jesus is a trap, and those who believe in him are being led straight to a deception that feels good but it ends in destruction.

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That's a fancy way of saying.

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Those that believe in him are being led straight into hell for eternity.

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They'll gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

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That's 2 Timothy 4.3.

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That's the American church.

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You can believe in Jesus.

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You can attend church, you can post scriptures online and still be offended by the real Christ when he exposes your idols.

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Now here's why people still stumble over him.

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He confronts your sin, not in general, but yours.

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He doesn't affirm what the culture celebrates.

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He calls it rebellion.

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He demands obedience.

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Why do you call me Lord, lord, and not do what I say?

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That's Luke 6.46.

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The real Jesus doesn't want just your Sunday, he wants your life.

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The real Jesus exposes fake faith.

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A lot of people are offended because Jesus tears down everything we've built without him.

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Shallow Christianity compromised leadership.

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Hallow Christianity compromised leadership.

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Celebrity pastors who preach self over surrender.

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The real Jesus draws lines.

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He who is not with me is against me.

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Matthew 12, 30.

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Jesus didn't come to unify all opinions.

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He came to divide truth from lies, light from darkness, sheep from goats.

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So let me ask you something directly when was the last time Jesus offended you?

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If you can't remember, then maybe you've silenced his voice, or you've chosen the feel-good version of Jesus, or you've surrounded yourself with a preacher or preachers from online who are afraid to offend you.

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Yeah, I say that preachers online, because a lot of people that are in church that have a pastor are listening to false preachers on YouTube.

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Those messages are good with a little g.

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Those messages make you feel good.

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Those messages make you shout.

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Those messages aren't truth.

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A lot of times.

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The truth is Jesus doesn't change.

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If he offended religious hypocrites and half-hearted followers 2,000 years ago, he's still going to offend hearts today, but the offense is love.

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He wounds us to heal us.

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He breaks the pride to restore the soul.

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He tears down so he can build something holy.

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Matthew 21.

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44 says Whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.

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That's it.

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That's the message You're either going to fall on the rock and be broken or it's going to fall on you in judgment.

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There's no neutral ground with Jesus.

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You can't casually like the gospel.

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You can't gently consider Christ.

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You must surrender or stumble.

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You must repent or stumble.

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You must repent or rebel.

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You're either going to have to crucify your flesh or be ruled by it.

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If what you've heard today offended you, good, you're not supposed to stay comfortable.

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Maybe God has shaken the foundation you've built your faith on.

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Maybe you've settled for a passive, people-pleasing Jesus who tolerates sin instead of destroys it.

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Maybe it's time to repent of who you thought he was and return to who he truly is.

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Matthew 11.6 says Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

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Turn to who he truly is.

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Matthew 11, 6 says Jesus offends the proud, he disturbs the compromised, he exposes the counterfeit, but he saves the humble.

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Let him offend you, let him confront your idols, let him burn away everything that doesn't belong in his kingdom, because the same rock that crushes is the rock that can carry you.

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You can feel it, can't you?

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That lump in your throat, that ache in your gut, that tightening in your chest, because deep down you know you've been playing it safe.

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You've been pretending You've been going to church, quoting scripture, singing the songs, but still clinging to the sin Jesus died to set you free from.

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You've been playing it safe.

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You've made a version of Jesus that suits your lifestyle, instead of surrendering your lifestyle to suit your Savior, and now he's calling you out of that.

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Right now.

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No more excuses, no more middle ground, no more flirting with the fire while you're pretending you're walking in the light, because here's the truth.

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You will either fall on the rock and be broken in mercy, or the rock will fall on you and you will be crushed under judgment.

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There's no third option.

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There's no loophole.

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There's no cozy Jesus who lets you live in rebellion because your heart is good.

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Your heart isn't good.

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It's broken, and Jesus didn't come to validate it.

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He came to transform it.

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So here's your real altar call, not the one that you made when you were 16 and cried.

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This is the real one.

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Fall on the rock, let him break you, let him crush the pride, let him tear down the identity that you built without him.

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Let him wreck the lies you've been living under, because he loves you too much to leave you deceived, too much to leave you in sin Too much to let you waste your calling on compromise.

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You need to cry out right now, right where you are, father, god, break what needs breaking, expose what we've hidden, uproot the comfort that we've clung to Lord.

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We don't want a version of Jesus that makes us feel good.

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We want the real Jesus, the one who sets captives free, the one who offends us into holiness.

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Sets captives free.

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The one who offends us into holiness.

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The one who wounds so he can heal.

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Tear down the idols, shatter the pride, burn away every excuse that you've made for your sin and let what's left be holy.

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You're still breathing.

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That means there's time, but don't mistake mercy for permission, don't confuse delay for approval.

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This might be your last call, and if you're ready to stand on the rock, not stumble over him, then let the offense do its work.

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Repent, rise up, walk in truth and never bow to the world again.

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Fall on the rock, let it hurt, let it heal you, let it save you, because if Jesus doesn't offend you now, you're not going to recognize him when he returns.

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The executive producer of Renewed Mindsets is Christy McCurry.

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That's all for today, but I'll be back with more unfiltered biblical truth and undeniable prophecy.

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The time to wake up is now.

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If today's episode challenged you, don't keep it to yourself.

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Tell someone.

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Please Text them a link.

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Share the truth while there's still time.

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Visit renewedmindsetscom to stay connected and to listen to past episodes and check out our merch at renewedmindsetsstore.

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Jesus is coming soon.

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Stay watchful, stay holy, stay renewed Until next week.

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I'm Rick.

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Be an encourager, not a discourager.

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I love you, see ya.

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The intro and outro music for the Renewed Mindsets podcast is Are you Ready?

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By Floodgate from the album Are you Ready?

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Copyright 2002,.

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From the album Are you Ready?

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Copyright 2002, offbeat Ministries Incorporated.

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Floodgate can be found on Apple Music and iTunes.

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Music used with permission.

The Rock of Offense

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