 I think sometimes just because you assume that you're gifted, that means you're where you need to be. And it's possible to do great things for God and at the same time miss the mark. I believe the mark for us as humanity is to receive the love of God and to return that love to Him, to lay Him. Hello David Diger Hernandez here and you are watching ETV interviews here on the Encounter TV Network. My guest today, Theo Cullianos. Theo Cullianos is an anointed minister of the Gospel who carries a genuine grace upon his life. In a space crowded by hyped events, carefully crafted personas, and culturally sensitive talking points, Theo stands as a unique example of purity and ministry. With the focus on consecration and private time with the Lord, Theo is teaching believers the simple joy of loving Jesus. Rejecting the vice of self-promotion, Theo Cullianos hides himself in the presence of the Holy Spirit and lives a pure demonstration of God's power. His heart is to teach believers to likewise experience the genuine. Theo, my friend, thank you for coming on to Encounter TV. There's a lot we can get into, but I want to first of all say that I appreciate your friendship and you know I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Those of you who don't know, Theo and I actually have known each other how many years now? A decade, yeah. Over ten years, you and I met long before I was in the TV ministry when I was just getting started and in fact you were one of my first guests ever, like in all of the history of any media I've ever done. And this is back when we had two church chairs, a little lighting kit and a couple cameras and we were doing live stream before live stream was a thing. And I just remember and I want to say this publicly just so that I can honor you in this way. I remember even though I was very young, I'm still young now, but even though I was younger, you always believed in me and you always supported me as my friend and you know fellow laborers in the gospel are supposed to do that, but I mean this is just a testimony of how ministries can work together and I'm so thankful for your friendship and this is just a beautiful thing I think that the Lord is doing. But you know even when I called you and this is what I appreciate about your ministry is the fact that you have a true, genuine passion for the things of God and I love the fact that you've rejected some of this unhealthy culture that has permeated the church world, this self promotion, marketing, hype and such things as that. But even when I called you and I asked you to be on the program, I said hey I want to bring you on because I know you know the Holy Spirit. You had nothing to promote, but you had no website, you had no media and that's not to say that those things are bad, but you had hidden yourself in this season of consecration. Just talk to me about that, where you are right now in your walk. Well first of all I want to say this sincerely from the bottom of my heart without crying because then that can just kind of be a mess, but I'm so thankful for you and I have had the privilege of watching this journey along the way. I know you hate when people talk about you in this manner, but I think you just need to receive just what an incredible example you have been to a generation. And so I've had the privilege of seeing somebody who had something that God placed in his heart that he never asked for and believed that God would do what he said he would do with you, but never rushed the process and tried to make things happen. I believe what we're in today is something we talked about over a decade ago and I was absolutely overwhelmed when I stepped into this moment thinking, Jesus this is what we talked about having sushi over 10 years ago. This is it. This is the fruition of it and this is only the beginning, but I just want to honor you for being an incredible friend and somebody who has stayed low and allowed the Lord to call you to the head of the table. I've watched you prefer the towel. I've watched you serve others and be willing to give of anything you have to enhance the lives around you. And that's absolutely rare because a lot of people are trying to make it so bad that they will climb on individuals backs. They're not really interested with the person in front of them as much as the connections behind them. And I've just watched somebody at such a young age keep things where they need to be and I just want to say I honor you for that, I really do. As far as the consecration is concerned, this wasn't a consecration by choice. It was obviously in the heart of God, but it came through great pain and unexpected brokenness. I never saw myself in this season. I had plans. I thought I would be at a different place, but for the last two years the Lord removed us from ministry as we knew it. And he brought me into a place to where I have two responsibilities as tending to the heart of God and tending to my family. And I don't know how long this will last, but I can tell you it's the most fruitful season I've ever experienced in my life. I've learned to prefer the shadows. I've learned to only come out when God calls your name, but to run right back to the shadows when you can. And I think there's great longevity there. But I've found him in a way I never knew was possible. It's almost as though he exposed his heart and he said, Theo, I'm about ready to take you into chambers of my heart that you've longed for, but you never knew even existed. But the pathway to get there is through great crushing and breaking. So a broken man sits here in front of you, but I feel like I'm the best Theo I've ever been in this place where I realize I have the greatest responsibility in all the earth. That's to tend to the heart of Jesus and to tend to my wife and my kids. And I want to clarify what we're talking about here when you say you go into the shadows. You're talking about being hidden in the presence of God and allowing God to bring you out to do things because so many in our culture, they're passing out business cards, they're pushing. And again, there's nothing wrong in and of itself with those things. But the motive behind sometimes those things that people do can be impure. And so this is what you and I are talking about is just hiding in the presence of the Holy Spirit and allowing him to do that work. What's your prayer life been like in this season? Well, I think, you know, first of all, this isn't for everyone. You know, so even when we read the scriptures, everybody had a different encounter that demanded a different experience and a different process. So just because I may be here right now doesn't mean that if somebody feels like now's the time to run and then to do great things for Jesus outside the four walls of their home to not do it. I applaud it. I cheer people on like, you know, you have a mandate and a call that God has placed in your heart. But my prayer life has just looked less distracted. I didn't realize how ministry can dictate a life and cause you to do something that you love to do that has every amazing intention attached to it. But yet it can also be the very thing that pulls you away from him. It's possible. I'm realizing now that you can do great things for God and not be fruitful. I'm realizing that true fruit has to do, you got to understand this whole thing started off for God so loved that. I love you that I gave Jesus. Everything that Jesus did wasn't that he was trying to reveal how powerful he was. I mean, the majority of his life was hidden in 30 years. He only ministered for three, which would actually kind of say, okay, if we use time as a way of revealing what's significant, then we would say the majority of Jesus's time was growing in wisdom and stature in favor with God and men in the shadows and hidden in the text, three and a half years under the lights per se. So I'm beginning to realize that we are teaching a generation how to go, which is wonderful, but you can't go unless you've come from. The reason the Father could sin the Son is because the Son was coming from a place, a habitation. He's coming from a place with something to reveal and I've just, I've found the joy of being able to start off from scratch and say that in order for me to build my life from this day forward, I need to understand that it started with love, that the sole purpose of creation is to love God, to be loved by him and to return that love to him. Signs, wonders and miracles will follow, of course, but here's the deal. There are a lot of gifted people who are doing great things that aren't living a life where Jesus could look at them and say, you love me because the gifts are without repentance. So unfortunately, I've seen people be gifted and cast out devils and do amazing things and I applaud that when it's done in a sincere and genuine way because I believe in proclamation and demonstration wholeheartedly. But I think sometimes just because you assume that you're gifted, that means you're where you need to be and it's possible to do great things for God and at the same time miss the mark. I believe the mark for us as humanity is to receive the love of God and to return that love to him, to lay hands on the sick and watch them recover because we love him and we love them. It's not about revealing how gifted we are. I honestly think we put too much emphasis on the gifts and we should put more emphasis on the fruit because the fruit reveals the heart, the character of the individual. So for me, it's like I feel like I've almost hit a reset and in this stage of my life, I want my children and my wife to see that it's absolutely vital to prioritize his heart above anything else. So if he calls me to preach the gospel, I'll preach it because I love him. It's just like Jesus said, I'm only going to say what I've heard the Father say and I'm only going to do what I've seen him do. I'm not going to do anything even if the crowd wants me to do something and even if I love the crowd, I'm not going to do anything that the Father has not released me to do because Jesus was extremely fruitful even though he didn't minister in those 30 years the way we see it. He's extremely fruitful and yes, but we have I think changed the lens unfortunately where we look at someone say, wow, look at the impact he's making because look at all that he's doing. I think Jesus made a significant impact in 30 years by his ability to abide. That's why the Father rips the heavens open and says, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm more pleased. I am pleased with your commitment to remain hidden for 30 years. And as a result of that, I'm going to do great things with you in three. And so I just think we need to empower and teach a generation how to come away with God and coming from the presence with something to give a generation that is hungry for an encounter. How dangerous is the performance of power without a private prayer life? It's just a matter of time before it all just implodes. I think of this, but Lord, we did this, depart from me. But Lord is a shock. Wait, I'm shocked right now that you're not pleased with where I'm at in my life. Look at all that I'm doing. Revelations too. You can do all of these wonderful things and it's crazy to think that you can do a lot of incredibly good things as far as the church is concerned and at the same time not be where you need to be with God. Can not be the purpose of your pursuit. Like I was in this time of stepping back and I was thinking all of the altar calls that I've been a part of for the last 17 years. I can't recall people running to the altar to say I want to love God more. I want to love my neighbor more. I want to love my wife and my husband and my kids. I want to be a better husband, a better father. You don't see the passion when you present something like that coming to an altar. But if I said, hey, I want to lay hands on you and receive a double anointing or a double portion and you can do more and you can do more and do more, the desire to do more will cause people to flood the altar. But it's crazy to me to think that you can cast out devils. You can prophesy. You can tell a mountain to move from this spot to another. But all of it's going to fade. And there's only going to be one thing that remains and it's love. If you have not cultivated an intimate personal relationship with love himself, then you are absolutely going to miss the mark down the road. But we have to teach a generation how to respond to the come away with me and not be anxious to run out until the Lord says go. I think of Moses who said to the Lord, if you tell me to go, I'll go. But if your presence doesn't go with me, I'm not going to move. And how will anybody know that I'm distinct? It's that distinguishing factor, the presence of the Holy Spirit. And you know, it's interesting, I love how the Holy Spirit moves. I had a different idea about where this interview would go, but I sense him really taking us into talking about hiding in his presence and really finding that love before we find that ministry. I mean, look, Jesus needed to do it. I mean, this was God, like let's not get it twisted. If anybody could have jumped right into ministry, it would have been him. If he could have started at 17, it would have been him. Like he could have got a lot done in 30 as opposed to three. Can you imagine? Like even if he did 20 of it and he had 23 years as opposed to the three and a half. But there's something there. I mean, I believe there's a perfect blueprint found in his life. Before you go, you need to come. How does someone know that they're ready to move out? Because we have two extremes. We have those who are waiting out of fear and who struggle with going. And then we have those who are fighting to get out before it's their time. So what in your experience has been that, that plumb line, that foundation, that, that direction to know when to go? Well, first of all, nothing would get done if everyone stayed in the prayer closet, but nothing will get done if everyone removed that aspect of the process. So when I say what I mean is this, when you create a relationship with someone, when you understand who they are, when you know his voice, when you're able to even know the rhythm and the cadence of his heart, he begins to express his desires with you. Our responsibility is to forever say, yes, Lord. He's longing to say like he's always said from the beginning, I think the disappointment that he had in Adam in that moment was the fact that he wanted to walk with Adam and just Adam wasn't present. But then we hear it in the songs, come away with me, my darling. You can hear the verbiage. You can hear the loving vernacular and the way in which he communicates to us. So he's, he's desiring to do great things in the earth, but before he wants to do great things in the earth, he wants to establish a great intimate personal relationship with you and with me. And so I can exit my house now, knowing exactly what my wife expects of me outside of the four walls of my home, simply due to the fact of the time and of the relationship we've cultivated within the four walls of my home. So I don't think just because we look at the scenario and say, well, nothing's gonna get done if we stay inside. So let's teach them how to run first and then teach them how to come. And I think that's backwards. Our life is a response. Jesus said, I only do what? Therefore, you gotta think, Jesus walked by a lot of sick people when he was at the pool of Bethesda to find that man who was on the mat for 38 years. He didn't stop and pray for every man. He went to just that one man. It makes our ministry so much more significant when we're willing to tend to the heart of God, only doing that which he has revealed to us in the place of secret and coming back to that place to receive what's necessary. He went up to be with the Father and down to be with the people. Up with the Father and down with the people. And that's the model. There's someone watching right now. They're passionate about doing something for God, which is a wonderful desire. 100%. I want you to speak truth to them that will help to lay a foundation that their future might be protected. Sure. You will never go wrong with prioritizing the place of secret. You can go wrong with prioritizing the place of public. That's the truth. If you learn from now how to cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus by simply making yourself available, and it just looks like in the same manner in which you would establish and build a relationship with any person, which takes time and being intentional, designating moments in your day to prioritize the person in front of you. God will begin to do things in you and say things to you that he longs to reveal through you. It has to be that way, because what happens is is that you begin to live from the outside in, and nothing in life, according to the ways of the Spirit, moves from the outside in. It always moves from the inside out. When you learn to allow your life to be a place that Jesus can turn into, that Jesus can begin to abide in and talk with, and he can have a friend and somebody who's willing to do whatever it is to put a smile on his face, then you will find yourself being fruitful. It might look different than the person you're watching on TV, and that's okay. But all of us need to be true to who God created me to be. I need Diga to be Diga. I need Theo to be Theo, because that is exactly who God created me to be. But in the end, if you prioritize the place of secret, you prioritize His heart, and you live tending to the heart of Jesus, longing to put a smile on his face, I promise you there's longevity there and great fruitfulness there. Pray with them. Father, I thank you for everything you've done in our life. And I just pray that we would stop everything and understand that it all starts in the place of secret. So I pray, Lord, that you would draw us back into that place. And I pray that we would just kind of start off all over, that we would just learn who you are. I like children just coming to receive from a loving Father. I speak right now to the person under the sound of my voice. And the Lord says, come away with me. Come away with me, my son. Come away with me, my daughter, my beloved. In that moment, as you respond to the tug of God, everything you've longed for in your life is found as we yield to the place of secret. And Jesus, I pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would protect their future. Yes. Lord, cause them to have a foundation laid in you. Cause them to find their foundation in your presence. Hide them in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Protect them from presumption. Protect them from opportunities that are not from you. And I pray, Lord, you would raise them to be used by you that souls might be saved in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Wow. I really do sense the anointing on this. And I really believe that someone is watching this, that what they just heard is going to protect their future. What they just heard is going to upset the plans of the enemy. I see it profitically. There was somebody that was on this ambitious road and now God just reset them. I really believe that by the Spirit, somebody watching online. So my friend, thank you. I know you are in the season right now where you're kind of just seeing what the Lord has for you but there's still that great message that the Lord has placed you. There's still a great anointing on your life. I know we talked about a YouTube channel. Have you set that up? I need your help. Okay. So go check out what he has there. I know that he has some teachings that he's going to be putting out. This is just a genuine, genuine voice in the faith and I'm so thankful to be your friend. I love you, man. And thank you, my friend, for coming on and doing this. I appreciate you. Well, that is it for this edition of ETV interviews here on the Encounter TV Network. Until next time, remember nothing is impossible with God. If you enjoyed this video and want to see more from Encounter TV, subscribe now. We have hundreds of videos, including worship clips and inspiring messages on topics like the Holy Spirit, healing, spiritual warfare, prayer and more. 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