Jessie Cruickshank: Welcome to
the Ordinary Discipleship

Podcast. I am Jesse Cruickshank,
and I am here today with Angie

Richie, President Dr. Angie
Richie, who is my longtime

friend and fellow prayer
partner, prayer warrior. Angie

is the president of Life Pacific
University, which is a Christian

private school, private
university out in San Dimas,

California, and she has a PhD in
marriage and family therapy. So,

what I love about Angie is I
have had the privilege of

serving alongside her at Life
Pacific University and serving

on the board there, and just I
have had the opportunity up

close to see Angie do her
amazing work, bring her amazing

wisdom, spirit, presence to the
students at Life Pacific, to the

people that she encounters
through her different speaking

opportunities, and you know, I'm
sure you have amazing

testimonies as a therapist, but
I don't get to know those

because those are private, but
Angie, what I, what I love about

you is you come to discipleship
and mentorship, especially for

young adults, but you come to it
from the perspective that we are

whole people, body, soul, and
spirit, that we have mental

capacities, we have a soul, we
have a brain, and all of your

therapy background training, you
know, can can speak to that, but

that is not divorced from who we
are as spiritual people, and

sometimes, you know, sometimes
like who we are as spiritual

people is actually the bigger
question. So, where I wanted to

start today is, you know, tell
us just a little more about how

you came to an understanding of
our spiritual identities and in

the integration with therapy and
psychology, and just, yeah, how

has that become a passion for
you? Where did that come from?

Angie Richey: Oh, such a passion
for me, I feel like it's

integrated everything that I've
always wanted to know, wanted to

be from a child, from early
childhood, but as I think about

it now, like as a college
president, ministry leader,

licensed therapist, I've always
been captivated by people's

stories, and from an early age I
watched individuals wrestle

mentally, emotionally,
spiritually, relationally, and

that reality honestly became the
driving force behind my calling,

I think, to higher education and
ministry. It's I always wanted

the tea, like, why are what, why
are people going through

struggles? What, how are people,
why are people handling their

marriages this way? And I was in
the Christian community, and so

watching as a little girl, I'm
like, what's really going on

here? So I always found it so
fascinating, because I love

people so much, so, but also
wanting to step back and say,

okay, what's really going on
here? If we have Jesus, who is

like the Lord of our lives,
we're set free, we accept

Christ, why are Christians still
struggling emotionally,

spiritually, mentally? And so
then that just led me on the

journey, and as I've grown as a,
like, a disciple of Christ, but

also in my higher, in education,
oh my goodness, Jesse, all the

dots started connecting. I was
like, okay, this isn't separate,

this is all one conversation,
you know. Scripture and

psychology together suggest
something really, like, really

deep. Here we have a real enemy
exploiting very real experiences

and wounds seeking to distort
how we see God, you know,

ourselves and others. One of the
things that you and I have

talked about before is how the
church

Jessie Cruickshank: and
psychology tend to not integrate

with each other very well. It's,
it's like, you know, people who

are therapists and stuff are
like, well, you know, I don't

really understand that, like,
whole spiritual religion thing,

and so I'm gonna kind of, I
mean, I might have that

personally, but I'm not really
going to speak to somebody's,

that part of, you know,
somebody's personhood, or the

people who are pastors or
trained in pastoral counseling

can talk to that, but then they,
they are maybe unaware of, you

know, attachment dynamics in, in
what does trauma actually do,

and how do we address those in a
helpful way, and they, and they

can end up not collaborating in
the conversation. What would you

say to that? Like, like, how do
you answer that? Where do you

see that those two dovetail, or
or connect?

Angie Richey: You nailed it.
It's, it's basically the

attachment. It's the, it's how
we form when we understand human

development, how we form, which
is our biology, our DNA from our

family, right? What we get
through the bloodline, it's our

psychology, the things that
happen to us, right, that

affects the way we experience
life, the way we respond to

people, situations,
environments, and then it's the

this sociology, it's our
communities, our fam, our

families, it's the stories we're
told about who we are within the

context of our social
environment, so when we

understand how we form, it's
it's all spiritual, it's also

very, it's also physical. It's
relational, so we can't separate

out who we are. We're holistic,
we're integrated beings, and how

we form isn't just our spiritual
life, but in fact our spiritual

life is formed by our physical,
biological, human experiences.

So they all go together, and but
listen, once we know how we're

formed, those three components a
junior higher wouldn't be able

to explain this, but often we
don't get the education, we're

either all physical or we're all
spiritual, and we just are

missing it, we're missing the
bigger picture, and nothing's

making sense, but when we
understand this, everything

makes sense.

Jessie Cruickshank: How does
that show up, maybe for you as a

college president, like, you
know, you, you read this, you

read the data, and we have a
loneliness epidemic, we have an

anxiety epidemic, like, like
people are really struggling,

and you, the students are on
campus now, are COVID students,

they, they were in middle
school, they were in super

formative years when Covid
happened, right? They were in

middle school and early high
school. They were changed by

that event, that global, that
global event. And they come to

college, they come, they move
away from home, or they show up

to school, and that's still part
of the way their biology formed,

as well as the way their
sociology happened. What does

that look like? And then, how do
you approach that as a psycho,

spiritual,

Angie Richey: and psychological
person? I love that. I think,

well, first of all, you nail
that we are dealing with mental

health crisis. I think it's the
World Health Organization, like

last week, released data showing
that over 1 billion people

globally are living with a
mental health disorder, and

we're far from being able to
tackle this scale of needs. So,

you have psychologists like Dr.
Gene Taheni and Dr. Jonathan

Haidt; he just wrote The Anxious
Generation. They are leading

voices in the international
mental health crisis space among

our youth. Listen, they are
saying that not only the rise of

the iPhone in 2007 to 10 did it
shoot mental health disorders,

but then you have the pandemic,
so we have a technology and

masks and isolation creating a
crisis that's both mental and

spiritual. So, what we're seeing
here is we're seeing kids that

have were home a lot, they
didn't have a lot of, like, they

had masks, they were masked, so
you know, this generation Zoom,

they do have, you heard about
the Gen Z stare, it's like flat,

and it's like lack of
expression, lack of engagement,

but also you have a lot of
anxiety, you have a lot of

depression, you have a lot of,
like, even like learning how to

do, like, connect socially. So
these are all environmental, but

then say, say they don't have
the practice and the development

to know how to do these things,
or they're dealing with anxiety.

What else? What's off the root
of anxiety? It's future

orientation, it's fear. So
you're dealing with a real thing

that's happened that's now put
people in anxiety, and now

they're in fear, and they're
rejecting fear into every area

of their life. And what happens
is, when you begin to develop,

when you have two years of
lockdown, you don't just have a

habit, you have a personality. I
mean, this has now shaped you

developmentally, so you now act
in these ways that is that are

an autopilot, and so that's
where you know they can come to

chapel every day, but if they're
still anxious, it's like,

where's Jesus? And so they can
really question, like, where is

God in this, and so we have to
get to the mental health, the

habit formation, and the really
the root of compassion of like

how you formed and how this is
not, this is does not have to be

your future that we can change
with skill building, so that we

can really, we can learn new
skills to be better, but the

enemy does exploit, and this is
where I see it the most, is

exploiting depression, anxiety,
isolation. What does he do? He's

comes to kill, still, and
destroy, and so he's looking to

tack onto a depressed

Jessie Cruickshank: person, he's
looking to attack the

anxiousness to separate and
isolate and create suicidal

ideation. So we have to tackle
this holistically, that this is

a spiritual endeavor to really
heal our communities, and you

know more, you know the Thrive
model about like joyful

belonging and attachment. We
need to reattach, so that we can

begin to heal. So, how do you
look at that? Then, being

responsible for hundreds of
students, accountable to

parents, to stakeholders,
accountable before the Lord, you

know, really for hundreds of
students, and who have a very

diverse range of needs. I mean,
how much of it is it, you know,

specific skill building to kind
of break out of and learn new

habits of connection? How much
of it is processing in different

types of, you know,
psychotherapy, and how much of

it is spiritual, spiritual
warfare, like, like, how much do

you come at it in prayer and
helping the. Students hear from

God to help answer the questions
that are in their hearts and

their heads.

Angie Richey: Jesse, that's such
a great question, especially

from the lens of a higher
education institution, because

it's not like we're a counseling
center. So, so from the macro,

we have to, what we do, and I
think that we do well, is we

help with spiritual formation
practices here at the

university. We are working with
them on doing media fast, and

we're doing some macro skill
building of how to have rhythms,

how to disconnect and unplug,
which that creates anxiety, how

to form relationships and lean
in to community through clubs

and sports and spiritual
formation groups. So we do it on

that level, from the education
through the co-curricular

spiritual formation, and the
opportunities we have, but what

I think, what really helps is
the one on one. Not every

student is the same, so it's not
like I teach all these skills

and everyone's going to be
great. No, it's the skill

building, along with the one on
one mentorship, that shows me

that the anxiety that maybe a
student has it was really formed

in a childhood experience,
whether it be COVID or a

situation with mom and dad that
allowed a lie to center and to

your life, or it created an
upset in the nervous system at a

very early age, and your nervous
system has never been able to

recover. So, what I love to do
is I love to pinpoint points of

entry. When is the first time
you had that thought? When is

the first time you had that
habit? When is the first time

you felt this way? And then that
lays the foundation for getting

to the root of the issue, where
typically a root, a trauma, a

word spoken, a accident is the
open door to where then the

enemy came in and exploited with
a lie, like I'm unlovable, I'm

never going to be smart enough,
I will never have friends, I

will always be anxious. Those
lies, that entry point is where

the lie comes in, and with that
lie comes the spiritual warfare

part, where the demonic sets up
a stronghold, and then then

there's a self-fulfilling
prophecy. So, so much of the

work I do is helping students
get out of their own agreements,

their own agreements with
depression, their own agreements

with I'm not worthy, or I'm, you
know, not ever going to be able

to do more than, you know, my
family, or, you know, whatever

that lie may be, that fear will
always be a part of my story. We

get to the root and we begin to
reverse it by speaking to it and

meeting the students where
they're at, and then, then

there, there is prayer, and you
can actually do some repentance.

Sometimes we're in agreement
with our own fears, right? We

believe a lie, right?

Jessie Cruickshank: Sometimes,
like all the time, all the time.

Yeah, yeah. Right, I mean, I
love, I love what you're saying,

because we talk about in, I talk
about in my book with Julia,

becoming good news is how it's
all autobiographical memory,

right? Autobiographical memory
system is the one that projects

into the future that creates
that, like the future scenario

planning, and, and, and the
hijacked imagination that, that

is the anxiety that we live in,
and that autobiographical

memory, our story, our
experiences. If a lie gets put

in there, then it, we become a
puppet to it, right? We, right,

we become controlled by the
story that the enemy has handed

us, and, and look, when you're a
kid, you don't know, right?

That's right, that's right, you
don't know the difference, you

don't know the complexity, and
the enemy says, "Hey, it's

obviously your fault, your
parents are getting divorced, so

let me hand you self protection,
and so never get close to

anybody, because you know it
just causes pain, and then that

gets embedded in there, and and
it becomes the story that we

live in, because it's literally
our long-term memory system that

we live out of, and it's our
whole body. So, what I, what I

love about what you're talking
about is it allows you as a

higher ed again, not a, not a
counseling center or a

rehabilitation center, but like
just life, going to school,

getting a college degree or grad
degree, to partner with these

students to identify the
different stories and narratives

that they're living in, and and
repent of and cast out and break

agreement with that root lie.
What, what happens? What do you

see? What, because we can talk
about that, and it can seem like

a good idea, but like without
serious intervention, because

that's not what we're talking
about, that you guys do at Life

Pacific. What do you, what kind
of miracles, what do you see?

What happened?

Angie Richey: Well, so many
miracles, because again we have

to be in community, so that we
can help each other identify the

lies. So this doesn't have to be
in a therapy context, it can be

in community, right, where we
get to like rhyme with God. What

is God saying about this for
someone? Because we just live in

these narratives that feel. So
real, they're like truth to us.

So I love the verse of Second
Corinthians, where Paul says,

"For we walk, though we walk in
the flesh, we are not waging war

according to the flesh, for the
weapons of warfare are not of

the flesh, but have divine power
to destroy strongholds, we

destroy arguments, and every
lofty opinion raised against the

knowledge of God, and take every
thought captive to obey Christ,

so we have to question our, we
have to question everything we

think. Does this, what we're
saying, or what, what this

thought that we have, does it
align with the word of God? So

the thing is, most of us, our
parents were God to us, they

were our first God figures, so
whatever our parents have said,

it carries weight, so we get to
unpack this with our students,

say whatever, however you were
raised, whatever they said, does

that is that what God says about
you, and when they start to

understand that they have
believed a lie, that they've

walked it out, and then they can
actually repent of it and

embrace what God says. I'm going
to tell you, Jesse, not only are

they like, are they awakened to
a new, a new possible narrative,

but then when they repent, there
is something that can be broken

in the spirit, and we're talking
deliverance, and it's not all

the craziness, it is a
deliverance, and a being set

free. It's happened to you,
Jess, it's happened to me still

to this day, because I will
still have moments where I'm

like I am still believing a lie
or a new lie will emerge that I

never realized I was living by,
and so every day is a new day of

freedom. Have am I am I
destroying this argument and

putting it under the authority
of Christ? Because this is not

of God, but until students are
aware and they're in a community

where they get to know what the
word of God is, they're never

going to be able to fight this
battle, so the miracles are

total freedom, deliverance,
anxiety, reducing relationships

restored, people being able to
actually like, like, begin to be

open to the things of the
spirit, we, you know, when we're

dealing with lies and mental
health issues and anxieties, and

and the demonic is attached to
those things and fueling these

false narratives there. How can
we be open to the things of the

spirit? So, what we're seeing is
just an openness to like God, a

closeness, and it's really,
really beautiful. I had a

counselor, the head of a
counseling center that's working

with us. She said something to
me the other day, she goes,

Angie, we're just not seeing the
same issues at the school that

we used to see in students in
the counseling center, they're

more, they're more like free,
they're, they're doing, they're

actually like doing better, and
I, I don't want to take credit

for that, but I hope this school
would have been a part of that

reason why the things which
encountering

Jessie Cruickshank: it not just
in the room with the counselor

or the therapist, but they're
encountering it with their

friends, with their teachers, in
the classroom, in the dorms,

like, like it's

Angie Richey: yes

Jessie Cruickshank: atmosphere,
it's a culture,

Angie Richey: yes. And when
students are praying for each

other in the middle of the
night, or someone has a night

terror, or someone's like, "Have
we anointed the room lately?

Have we been praying? Have we
prayed over this room, and they

take authority, and then they
sleep like a baby. That is what

we want. We want to empower them
to use their spiritual authority

in Christ, which is they have
it. They have, they have their

real authority, and it's just
beautiful to see.

Jessie Cruickshank: I mean, I
don't, I don't like, know a lot

of universities. I know a few
Christian universities. I don't

know anyone else who's teaching
their students spiritual

authority. I think they teach
them expertise as they should,

because you know you're paying
for that degree. They're

teaching them, you know, skills,
but spiritual authority just by

their identity. I don't, I don't
know other institutions that do

that, and maybe there's, there's
some out there. I hope so,

because I think they all should
do that, but I think it's just..

it's an amazing culture, and it
makes me.. this.. I don't know

if this question sounds.. might
sound rude to people out there,

but do you think we've made it
too complicated on.. oh my..

we've over complicated what it
means to live a connected,

holistic, healthy life.

Angie Richey: Yes, yes. Oh my
goodness, yes. I think one of my

power alleys, as it's emerged,
is to make what's complicated

simple, and I think it's
because, and I, that's what I

love about ordinary
discipleship, and what you're

about, Jesse, is why your
brilliant Harvard grad, the way

you present the truth of the
word just makes it like it's for

everybody, and isn't that what
the gospel is about? When you

think about the disciples, they
were teenagers, except for maybe

Peter, but they, they were
young, like this isn't like

supposed to be a complicated
gospel. And then you know what,

within months, literate,

Jessie Cruickshank: only a
couple of them could even read

and write

Angie Richey: exactly. And then
what does Jesus say? Go do what

I did, go cast out demons, go
heal the sick, so go set the

captives free, and so, and
they're like coming back, like,

oh my gosh, Jesus, like, even at
your name, the demons fleet, I

mean, they were just so shocked,
and I, and I feel like that's

what we see students, they're
like, you know, like Dr. Richie,

you won't believe what happened
last night, and I, I'm like,

yes, because you have the Holy
Spirit, and the thing. Is this

Jesse? We have students from all
over denominationally, like, and

they're coming in from churches.
Some are pastors' kids,

missionary kids, and some are
more equipped than others. But I

would say they're they're less
equipped than you would expect,

kids being raised in church. And
I'm like, a university has to

teach some basic principles of
spiritual authority of prayer of

the power of our words of the
authority we have to kick things

out of our lives. If they're
learning, they should be

learning at church, right? They
should be learning at church,

but or in the homes, but we're
happy. We're happy to partner

with, we partner with the local
church, but I want to see more

students equipped at an early
age to know, my goodness, the

same spirit who raised Christ
from the dead lives in them, and

the authority they have when
their identity is Christ, not in

the world, not in their
Instagram followers, not in

their image or their weight or
their beauty, their athletics,

it's in Christ. Oh my goodness.
Then they can do, then they can

take, they can, they can do some
damage for the kingdom. So it's

so, but yes, we've over
complicated it, girl.

Jessie Cruickshank: So you and I
are both part of the Four Square

denomination, which is a
charismatic Pentecostal

denomination, and I've seen a
range of Pentecostalisms too.

Are you sure you're Pentecostal?
To oh my gosh, I don't.. I mean,

whatever, whatever. Listen, I
again, I may not.. I may hurt

somebody's heart out there, but
like, I don't get flags, I don't

get the flags waving during
service, and maybe that's

because I grew up in Wyoming,
and you know it's more of a

cultural thing, but so there are
aspects of Pentecostalism that,

that, yeah, I mean, I, they're
just, they're just not the place

I want to hang out, doesn't mean
they're bad, but when we talk

about being Christ-centered and
spirit-filled, and, and talking

about spiritual warfare as part
of our existence, I've seen that

go, you know, for towards,
towards the gutter of people

thinking everything is demonic,
or thinking I'm going to cast a

demon out of everything, there's
a demon behind every illness,

every ailment, but at LPU, like
that's not that's not the vibe,

that's not the culture that's
there, right? It's.. it feels

very practical, naturally
supernatural. It's.. it feels

very moderate. It feels very
non-dramatic, like there's..

there's not drama in it. I think
that that might be the word that

I'm looking for.

Angie Richey: Yeah, you know,
and it really.. you know, when

you.. when we're talking about
spiritual warfare, yeah, there's

going to be situations where
there's maybe more prayer and

fasting involved, and I've
watched deliverance, and you

know, by the way, the Catholics
do deliverance pretty well. I

mean, I've learned a lot from
from the Catholics, and even my

parents were saved in a Catholic
church, spirit filled in the

Catholic Church, and within just
a short story that fast forward

a couple of months after my
parents got saved, my dad woke

up, and he had no contacts. He
wasn't raised in the church. He

felt a demonic presence in the
house. I was screaming, my.. and

he goes, "He asked my mom, 'Do
you feel that? And what did my

dad do? He commanded it. He
said, 'In the name of Jesus. He

opened the door and said, 'I
command you to leave right now,

whatever it was. And he.. peace
came. Now that was a thing of

the spirit. It wasn't like,
let's call, you know, he just

read the Bible. It's like, cast
it out, he sent it out, and

there's like, we went back to
bed. And I think that the enemy

wants us to be scared of this,
or think it requires all this

extra, you know what? We just
need the name of Jesus. We need

to be living rooted into the
love of Christ, we need to know

like our authority, and we need
to understand that humans'

participation in their own
suffering. So, when you're

dealing with people that are
living in sin, when they're in

agreements, when they're dealing
with witchcraft, you're gonna

have to really disciple them and
talk to them about participating

in getting out of agreement with
those things, and that's how,

and then once you start
empowering people, and say,

wait, you know, maybe I should
be watching that thing at night,

maybe that's why I'm having
nightmares, or maybe I should

stop following my ex, or maybe I
should have, you know, repent

for like playing with a Ouija
board, where these are all

portals, right, they're all open
doors, when they, when you

understand this, it's rule outs,
you're just handling business,

and so, yes, I think it's, it's
empowerment, it's let's do what

needs to be done, and let's make
it more every day, because let

me tell you, there's people
suffering, and they're coming to

your churches, they're coming to
the counseling center, wanting

to be delivered, they're seeing
things in their rooms, they're

being oppressed, they're hearing
voices, Do you know how many?

You know, I have a lot of
therapist friends, you know, and

a lot of trainees that are
coming into the field. Do you

know how many people they're
getting clients that are witches

or clients that are being
oppressed by by spirit guides

and spiritual things? I mean,
these are like non-faith-based

communities, okay? That, that,
that are coming to counseling

centers that are saying. Help me
with this, so I think the more

aware we understand of spiritual
warfare connected to mental

health and just how spiritual
the world is, I think we can

tackle it both rooted and
grounded, but also clinically

and spiritually. If we don't
have answers, who's going to

have answers for these people?
Jesse,

Jessie Cruickshank: right? Like,
there's a

Angie Richey: lot of need,

Jessie Cruickshank: and I think
that, you know, praying with

somebody is something that you
don't have to have a license to

do, right?

Angie Richey: That's right,

Jessie Cruickshank: teaching
somebody their spiritual

authority and how to recognize,
oh, I think you're in.. I don't,

I don't think that's the story
God is telling, I don't think

that's how God talks about you,
you know. Let's come out, let's

let me help you pray to repent
and come out of agreement. Yes,

like, like, anybody can do that,
you know. I think why you and I

get along so well. I mean,
there's lots of reasons we get

along so well, but you know, for
me, my mother being in the

occult before she gets saved,
because she wanted to be a

spiritual person, and she had a
sense of the Holy Spirit, but

was raised in a church that that
didn't allow for the Holy

Spirit, so we got interested in
the occult, and then, and then

came out of that before we were
born, but as she was raising us,

she would, she would teach us
stuff that they taught her in

the occult, and the agreement
thing, the harassment thing was

just a really big part of that,
the in and like we had weird

things happen in our childhood
and weird things happen in our

house, like movie worthy things,
but my mom would always tell us,

like, as small kids, she'd be
like, you have Jesus, and this

was before we had like given our
lives to Jesus, but she was

like, you have angels, you have
Jesus, it's just trying to

harass you, just say the name of
Jesus, and it has to go away.

And so she taught us spiritual
authority as small children,

like I'm talking four years old,
and it wasn't a big deal, right?

So you're like, oh, Jesus says
you have to leave me alone, go

away, stop bothering me. And so
then growing up in in a church

that didn't believe in that, I
came into disciple making, but

that was still part of my, that
was still part of my awareness,

and so you're like, oh, well,
let's just pray that thing out,

I got educated later. So, for
you, how did you encounter you?

It sounds like your dad, you,
you were taught some of this

growing up, like, what has the
Lord taught you through this?

Like, how has this made a
difference for your life?

Angie Richey: Okay, this has
changed my life. I've always..

my parents, just being.. they
came out of the Catholic Church

filled with the Spirit. They
then got connected to a

evangelical, like, Pentecostal
church, the Foursquare Church,

and so it was part of my
upbringing. I just knew that we

had authority, but I didn't, and
yes, we would. We would pray, we

would utilize it, the tools that
we had, but I didn't know enough

about it until probably about
1520 years ago, when I realized,

wow, my agreements. I started
realizing how my agreements -

it's not just an external thing
that's coming at me, or I'm

being attacked from the outside.
There are things that I'm

participating in that's
attracting it, that whether it's

the

Unknown: word

Angie Richey: permissions, yeah.
And that was a game changer. I

also started understanding what
legal rights to the demonic

territorial spirits, and in
places like, there are things

that happen, and you know,
whether you know, if do I own a

home or not, and what happens in
that home, and what happened

before I moved into that home,
and how do I pray and cleanse

that space. So those are tools
I've learned in my adulthood

that has made all the
difference, and that's when I

started realizing there's no
teaching on this anymore, no, a

huge book, or any listeners, is
Charles Craft, a deep wound,

deep healing that really helps
connect the spiritual and the

mental, and how the enemy really
like gets a grip on us early on

in our lives, and our job as
healers or counselors is to help

people get to a point of healing
and confession and repentance,

so we can break that agreement
and do some deliverance, so that

is like a simple read. Okay, two
hours of freedom by Charles

Kraft. Absolutely amazing, but
again, so it has just been a

journey for me, learning this,
and then realizing that I'm

continually being set free
through just these disciplines,

through being aware of my own
story, and where I'm out of

agreement with God. And I'm
telling you, Jesse, I used to

have a lot of pain in my body.
I, I had anxiety most of my

life, nervous system
dysregulated. My dad died at a

very.. I was, when I was 16, was
the oldest of three, and

navigating the world without a
sense of covering. You don't

realize how malformed you
become. The more I have been

delivered and dealt with the
emotional wounds of my life, and

really began to heal my life,
build my attachments, align

with. God cast things out of my
life. I, my body's healed. I

feel I don't deal with anxiety
anymore. I mean, there's so many

things that have been set free,
and I think people are just so

used to suffering. And I don't
know about you, but I don't want

anyone to suffer, and that's my
mission. I'm like, I don't want

anyone to go through what I went
through, and if I have some, if

I can be of help, I want to be
an evangelist for that. I want

to help set people free, so it's
just good.

Jessie Cruickshank: So, what are
the students saying? I mean, so

having this culture on on LP US
campus, having this as as an

environment that they get to
experience and grow in, like,

what do they say? What are their
parents saying? What does this

look like from the outside?

Angie Richey: This is how I
measure it, is one is like,

what's what's the outcomes,
right? Like you said, but I just

saw a young man who came home,
he just came back, returned from

Christmas break, he's, he's,
we're here for the new semester,

and he said, I said, what did
your family see in you, and they

said they couldn't believe how
much more mature I seemed, they

had him do speak in services,
they had him lead a youth

conference while he was there,
and he ministered to so many

youth just in one semester. God
grew him so much. Now, that

isn't just because we talk about
spiritual warfare, but it's the

holistic education, it's the
what he's learning in the

classroom, it's the practices,
it's the culture, it's the

accountability, it's the, it's
the prayer, it's the mindset. So

that was so huge. I have a
student coming to my office

tonight, and she's feeling off.
And when we began talking, we

both had - we both were like our
spidey senses were up. We're

like, I think it has to do with
a relationship she got out of in

the fall, and we need to deal
with that. We need to really -

we're going to do prayer over
her tonight from anything from

that relationship that's
lingering transference from that

that person words that were
spoken, and so we're going to

come and do that, but she, she
approached me. So, what this new

awareness is like now, the
community can heal together. But

if you don't know what's ailing
you, you're not going to even

ask the question. You're going
to just see, think I'm sick, or

I need medication, which, by the
way, do not get off your

medication. If it's, it's, it's
holistic, you know. We got

Jessie Cruickshank: your
medication won't work if you

don't need it, and if it's
working, yeah. And so

Angie Richey: God provides
doctors, and so this, it's just

changed. It's created a culture
where if something's not right,

we reach out and we say, can you
help me process this, or I think

this might be it. What do you
discern? And either they're

taking it into their own hands
and doing it in the dorms, or

they're coming to their mentors
and processing, and it's just a

great, great incubator for
students to learn how to live

life in the spirit and life in
freedom.

Jessie Cruickshank: What you're
describing makes me wish that

all faith communities could have
that kind of atmosphere and

culture. I mean, you don't, you
don't live on campus, the

faculty and the staff don't live
on campus, except for a few,

right? So, so it's not like you
all live together and never

leave students commute, so the
culture is created when you're

together with each other, like,
like, what if faith communities

all over the nation or the world
could be, could, could have

that, like, what, what could be
possible, I mean, I know the,

the wilderness ministry I come
out of, and what it's like to

have a whole town, or at least a
few 100 people in a town like

that, like, like, what do you
think is possible? What would

you, what would you hope for
faith communities? Oh

Angie Richey: my goodness,
across this is why, when I

started realizing that students
from churches are coming here

with no framework at all for
spiritual warfare or spiritual

authority, like I didn't make it
my plan that this was going to

be part of our culture. I just
realized there's a need and no

one's talking about it, like
zero. And I will speak at

churches and conferences, and
they are like they are.. it's

like a breath of fresh air. And
one pastor came to me and said,

Angie, we used to learn this 30
years ago when Jack Hayford

would teach this, but no one's
been teaching it. So, for me, I

started with me. I'm like, I
know what God has done in my

life. I know our Pentecostal.
Let's serve. So, I started

bringing in, I started doing
workshops. I started bringing in

my team that knew how to do it.
Leslie Kegel would come and do

presentations, Ty Austin, and I
started bringing people who knew

how to do and live life in the
spirit and do deliverance, but

also just do a basic teaching on
what spiritual warfare is, Dr.

Marcus Robinson. So, I would say
this will be a game changer,

Jess, but I'm not enough, Marcus
isn't enough, Ty's not enough,

you're not enough. We need to
propagate this culture, and the

only way I feel like the best
work I can do is to train every

student. We do a spiritual
warfare training every semester.

It's open to anyone who wants to
come, and it's embedded in like

spiritual, spiritual gifts, but
not like this. So that's what

we've been doing, and I would
just say it would change the

world, but it starts with one.
If someone has. Set free. I

would just say, could you please
teach other people how to be

free? Like, offer a workshop in
your church, offer to teach a

youth group. You know, the youth
love this stuff, by the way. Gen

Zs, they're all about it.

Jessie Cruickshank: And when
you're young, it's a little less

complicated, totally,

because you're like, oh well,
God said I could pray this so I

can pray it, and you don't have,
you don't have history and

package luggage exactly
experiences, so I wonder, and I

wish when churches or faith
communities do leadership

development, like, like, what if
they actually did this, what if

they actually taught spiritual
authority instead of business

skills, business skills are
fine. I mean, totally not down

on that, but it's not the same.
Like business leadership,

organizational leadership is not
the same as spiritual authority,

right? And you know, I love that
you teach spiritual authority to

the kids before they have a role
or a position, so then they can

operate in that roller position
out of their spiritual

authority, which has nothing to
do with their position. I mean,

it, that I'm, I'm gonna put a
little asterisk near that,

because we all have domains of
responsibility, and, but, like,

they could learn that they have
it without, without the title,

yes, and then they wouldn't
operate poorly, you know, in

those positions, in those roles,
like, like you're equipping

students to go out with that
kind of paradigm. What do you,

what do you hope? Like, what do
you dream? Oh

Angie Richey: my goodness, I
dream that they would never

underestimate the power of
prayer, that they would let God

be powerful in their life and be
glorified, but if you, if they

start leading out of the
business, I got this skills,

I'm, you know, I love skills, I
love peak performers, I go to

all the conferences, teach me
some skills, I want to be the

best, right, the best I can be.
However, that's not going to get

us, that's, we're not going to
win the spiritual war that way.

In fact, we might not even win
the battle of our business that

way. I know, for us here at Life
Pacific, it was the day we

surrendered and said, 'God, this
is your school, not ours, and we

got our egos out of the way, and
we started going into prayer.

That's when everything turned
around. I think it's there's a

famous pastor who, the largest
church in South Korea, he said

this: he said he's passed away,
he said, 'I prayed five hours a

day and the church grew. So, if
we can realize that our power is

in Christ, and our authority
comes from Him, and the power of

prayer, and the power of
agreements, and surrendering to

Him. That's where our success is
going to lie. Skills we can

build skills, but that's the
main thing. So, that's my dream,

that no matter where students
go, what they do, that they

would understand that choosing
God and living according to his

ways, and the power of prayer
will make all the difference,

that will I will feel like I
have accomplished and made a

difference here at LPU. It's all
that matters.

Jessie Cruickshank: I love it.
Yeah, I love it. May it be so.

May it be so. And I love, I just
love the idea of equipping a

generation to do this, because
it has been, it has been

neglected for a while, so well,
I'm excited. I love economy with

Angie Richey: people like you
that get it. I mean, you and I,

being a part of LPU and
understanding spiritual warfare,

I think that's why the giants
have been slayed, because

honestly, we've approached our
leadership very differently. I

approached it very differently,
like especially the last few

years, it's.. it's changed my
life, the way that we're

leading, and the way I am. I'm
literally leaning into God more

than I ever have, and I
realized, wow, this is.. this is

where the victory is. Let me
just stay here. I want to stay

here. So, right, yeah. So,
Laura, whatever you say, I'm at

your service.

Jessie Cruickshank: I mean, I
think I think learning to lead

out of your identity in the
spiritual.

Unknown: Yes,

Jessie Cruickshank: like for me,
my mantra was always I want to

spend 50% of my leadership in
the spiritual, like listening to

the Lord, praying, intercessing.
So, if it takes me, you know,

two hours to prepare for a
presentation, I want to spend

two hours in prayer over that
situation. Yeah, so leading from

from my identity in the
spiritual first, and and then

you don't get talked into the
game of the world, and hey, my,

and competition, and you know,
business organizational worldly

wisdom, that sounds good, but
it, it doesn't actually lead you

to where it promises to take
you.

Angie Richey: No, and it will
not protect you from the

unexpected twists and turns that
the enemy throws at us. I mean,

we are like opposed by the end.
I mean, we, we are people of

God. There is an assignment on
our lives, and I might like

that. Doesn't mean that we're
better than anyone else, but we

have to understand this. This is
a battle, Ephesians six. We

don't wrestle against flesh and
blood, right? So, if we're not

spiritually grounded and
equipped to deal with that, the

physical, that's the secondary
thing. So, so we have. Many

fronts where we have to lead
from, and boy, if we can win

this spiritual war, there's so
much good that can be done for

Christ, and He will be
glorified. Wow, and we're seeing

that in the lives of our
students, and they're going

home, ministering to their
parents, and teaching their

kids, and their, their, their
youth kids, and it's just

beautiful. So that's what we're
committed to the next

generation, and Jesse, I love
what you said, like what could

the world be with faith
communities that live like this,

live like this, ordinary,
normal, ordinary,

Unknown: exactly in their jobs,
in their

Jessie Cruickshank: lives. Yes.
Well, close us out with, like,

an exhortation to our ordinary
people, who may or may not be

leaders in their faith
communities, but you know, dream

these dreams with us. What would
you arrange them?

Angie Richey: I would just say
God uses the ordinary. He uses

the ordinary, and you don't need
a title, you don't need a

position to be functioning in
the authority and power that

God's given you, and I just want
to encourage you and exhort you

to one, is you can find freedom
through again a simple approach

to spiritual warfare and mental
health. Deep wounds, deep

healings, a great place to
start, but the world needs you

to also disciple the next
generation. Like, we don't have

time, we don't have enough
people, we're short over upwards

of a half to 755 a half a
million to 755,000 clinicians

just in the mental health space.
Talk about the spiritual space.

If we help had people that
understand mental health and

spiritual warfare, we could
change the world. And mental

health matters to God. So, so
churches that don't talk about

it, churches are coming to
people are coming to your

churches expecting the church to
meet this need, and so we got to

get to it, all of us, and vision
for all.

Jessie Cruickshank: I love it.
Thank you so much, honey. It's

always so great to talk to you
and be with you. Thank you for

being my friend. Thank you for
being a prayer, a fellow prayer

partner for me.

Unknown: Yes,

Jessie Cruickshank: I am so
blessed because you are part of

my journey and story. So, thank
you.

Angie Richey: And ditto, ditto.
You, wow, we have, we've gone

through some fire, but the
victories have been so, so

sweet.

Jessie Cruickshank: Yeah, yeah.

Angie Richey: And more to come.
Thank you, Jessica. You do

Jessie Cruickshank: more
celebration. I don't know,

right? It's the hard to
celebrate,

Angie Richey: exactly.

Jessie Cruickshank: All right.
Thank you. Oh my gosh. Well, you

have been listening to the
Ordinary Discipleship Podcast.

Thank you so much for joining
us. You can always find out

more. Check out our other
podcasts, or check out our

resources, training online
discipleship class for ordinary

discipleship, and all that
is@hoology.co that's w h o o l o

g y.co See you next time.

Unknown: Bye.