The Leader’s Cut with Preston Morrison

What's your part when God starts moving? Most of us think the answer is a plan. Lonnell Williams has the plan: he's the Executive Pastor of 2819 Church, the strategist in the room and sharpened in corporate America. And he'll tell you the plan isn't what's doing it. In this conversation, Preston sits down with Lonnell to talk about what it looks like to steward something only God can build, what it costs the people closest to it, and why consecration doesn't earn what God is doing; it just keeps you from getting in the way. In this episode: Spirit Over Strategy — the assimilation plan, the graphics, and the man who got saved in the parking lot before he ever walked in Clean Hands & A Pure Heart — why Psalm 24 is the foundation of everything 2819 does Thinner Oxygen — the higher the Lord takes you up the mountain, the harder it gets to breathe Chipped Bricks & Bent Nails — what it's like to be misunderstood by the people you love most Anything, Everything, or Nothing at All — the philosophy Lonnell picked up at 22 The Cloud Moves — why the more comfortable you get with God's curveballs, the more you'll see Him move If My People Will Pray — the story behind filling AT&T Stadium with nothing but prayer Jesus is building. We're stewarding. And the only way to stay in step with Him, pray.

What would you give up to keep God close? Preston has walked with Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe Carnes for more than 25 years, going back to the early youth ministry days. In this conversation, the three of them sit down to talk about Psalm 24, what it means to have clean hands and a pure heart, and what it has costs to protect that. Cody and Kari describe purity of heart as something closer to a garden, tended every day, one small weed at a time, because once you've felt God in the room, you never want to feel Him leave it. They're also honest that it costs you. The higher He takes you, the more it's going to cost. In this episode: Pure In Heart: the plaque on Kari's childhood wall, and the CD her dad felt from the kitchen God's Going To Ask You For Something: the decision Cody made the summer before his senior year When God Leaves The Room: what Cody calls one of the scariest things he's ever felt You're Not The Gardener: who actually tends the garden of your heart Walking The Other Direction: how Kari got comfortable with the price of saying no to the crowd The 10-to-1 Ratio: Cody's caution to Gen Z about where they get their revelation The Staring Day: what God is doing when He says nothing at all Purity of heart is not a rulebook, and it isn't something you settle once. It's a daily yes to keeping Him close, even when that means being hidden, misunderstood, or walking the other way while everyone else heads toward the lights. Cody and Kari have been paying that price for decades, and they'd tell you the same thing Preston does: blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So keep climbing the hill.

Is it strict… or is it romantic? Most people hear the word "consecration" and think legalism—a list of rules for pastors and the overly serious. Maybe it’s something else entirely: an invitation. Because the God who is searching the whole earth for a fully devoted heart isn't sitting back on His throne deciding whether to move. He's on the edge of His seat, saying, give me one. In this conversation, Preston sits down with Luke LeFevre, a pastor & revivalist, to talk about the price of the set-apart life, why the Western church stopped teaching it, and what God does when someone finally pays it. In this episode: You Can't Be Hungry For What You've Never Tasted — why some people aren't hungry for God (and why that's not their fault) Strict Or Romantic? — the reframe that changes everything Move The Fence In — why we should never play close to the line, and where the gray area actually leads You Don't Have To Feel Convicted To Be Convicted — how to know the voice you're hearing is God and not you He'll Just Use You Less — the line that puts the cost of consecration in one sentence Consecration was never about earning something from God. It's about making room for Him—and refusing to compromise the intimacy that comes when He draws close. It's costly, it isn't getting cheaper, and Luke and Preston both say the same thing about it: no matter what it costs, it is always worth it.