A Crown That Lasts with Demi Tebow and The Heart of The Forge

Intro [Music] good evening and welcome to Good News on entertainment I'm your host Carly Boyette a little later in the show we're going to focus on the hearts of the upcoming film the forge I can't say it enough this movie coming out August 23rd is a movie that everyone needs to see but first tonight a conversation with Demi Leebo about her book that just released a crown that lasts Demi is wearing many hats these days since giving up her crown as Miss Universe after her title run in 2017 among her current roles she is a model entrepreneur and Advocate against human trafficking she's also the wife of of the most well-known athletes and players in college football Tim TBO but her book a crown that last is a beautiful telling of her testimony that encourages people to look past labels and titles that society and culture gives them and instead find our true identity in Christ oh I have the book in my hands Demi Tebow it's a little beat up I it's been on the road with me already this summer uh but I just finished it and I am so excited to get a chance to visit with you a little bit how are you I am doing so good you know I have not even received a first print copy so you are one ahead of me lady well I not only did I read it but I took notes I first my first kind of take on this book is I want to make sure people know this is just not for beauty queens and people that are in the pageant world this is such a good there's so much more to it I think people that are into pageants and and are interested in that are going to like it just as much but you I mean you've done such a fabulous job in sharing your testimony and your story and not only that the second part of why I love it so much are there's these really good take-home kind of after each chapter and really giving people a chance to examine their own lives and some prayers in there I mean it just you really help people digging deep in all aspects of our life oh cly thank you so much it's such such a sweet compliment you know Carly this book uh crown that lost really was written for everyone um people in all different seasons of life um in all walks of life and my main hope with a crown that loss is that my readers will walk away um feeling like they have are able to claim their true identity feeling like they are able to walk in a lasting confidence um because they are able to see clearly the purpose that God has desen for their lives well you've done it you've done it Confidence you've done a great job because I think that is the message that will really uh resonate with people one of the things I wanted to get your thoughts on I loved it so much I'm a mom I have um an 11y old 10y old four-year-old my middle one is very into baseball um travel ball and it's this idea of I said as parents we want our kids to have confidence right like we want confidence but there's a difference in that you um really try to drive the point home of not self-confidence because that doesn't last that's right there's something different that comes with God confidence and when we know who we are when we're Made In His Image and just speak on that a little bit because again I think that's whether you're an adult whether you're you know in your teenage years trying to go through this man if we can get more people to realize our God confidence and that it's all of ours that's true Carly each and every one of us can have a confidence that is lasting and um you know I try to rely on self-confidence for a big part of my life and it it got me a little bit down the road but at some point that self-confidence runs out it runs dry and you're left feeling um you know insecure you're left feeling like you're searching for your worth and your value and you know the reason that I have learned why that self-confidence essentially Runs Out is because the word confidence purely just means by definition to have full trust and if we say that we need to have self-confidence it means that we are saying we need to have full trust in me in I and Carly I don't know about you but man I mess up Time After Time and Time After Time that full trust Isn't So trustworthy in myself and that's why I've learned that you know what in order to have something that is fixed something that is not changing constantly that's not sending me on this roller coaster of um lacking confidence lacking my identity is that I need to replace that word self for God because why his character Lisa turkus taught me Le recently that you know trust is built with time and believable behavior and you can trust God's word why because it is trustworthy with time and with a lot of believable Behavior over and over and over again he is the one that we get to fully rely on and Trust yes and that is when we can walk Season of Waiting in full confidence knowing that who's in charge and who we can put our trust in I love that I love also that you are very vulnerable and talking about your season of waiting I've had personal experiences um I had a a short somewhat short it felt like eternity with uh infertility um whether you are I've had to battle of of waiting for the perfect job and I think a lot of us may be waiting for a spouse and I think so many it's such a struggle and I love you even wrote in your book your season of waiting kind of after you gave up the crown and kind of waiting on what was next it can feel like a failure when nothing is happening and you're you're not sure what's next it does feel like doing nothing or in that waiting season is failure yeah and I just want to encourage anybody um that's that may be in this season as you so perfectly put not it's a period of preparation God so many times is doing something really awesome in that season of waiting which he was for you as well yeah Carly thank you for sharing that and I'm I'm sorry of the for the season that you walk through um I can only imagine how hard that is I'm not a a Mom myself yet but um I appreciate you sharing that you know um my season of waiting was my season when I handed back when I gave back the thing that I thought made me valuable and that was my my Miss Universe Crown it was something that I'd worked for for you know for many years it was a big responsibility that I took on to be able to represent my my home country of South Africa and it was a responsibility that I took on with gladness and it was one of the greatest honors of my life but the day came where you know I had to give it back I'm not wearing that Crown today and um I don't know what that you know what that looks like to to to our listeners to the readers maybe you know maybe that's a corner office maybe you have rooted so much of your worth of your value in in your children the last 18 years and now that purpose is packing its own lunchbox and driving themselves to school you know maybe that sports team you didn't make it this time round and that leaves us feeling stranded in a way and I remember the the season after I gave back my crown it felt like a wasted season it just felt messy see I just felt so stuck in this middle of nowhere this messy middle and like I wrote in in my book you know that ended up being not a wasted season um but a waiting season and that waiting season essentially set me up for my winning season it's so true my daughter's middle The Messy Middle name is Faith when we finally were blessed with um with kiddos and it is it's I look back now that season of waiting and it's the it can be your biggest Faith Builder if you will surrender those those wants and your desires and whatever it is that you're waiting for in that season man when you give that up it's so fun to see what God can do later still not fun in the process but there's good you know it's it's not fun in the process and it can be really really hard and that there's a couple things that I write in my book actually I write a whole chapter about this but if I could share two things with you that really help me in that M middle in that waiting season it was in those messy middle that wedding season you can have so much of the focus feel centered on you and you feel like you are carrying so much of that pressure all by yourself um but two practical things that really helped me work through that messy middle was to surround myself with people that love me and that care for me you know we don't always get to choose who speak about our life but we can choose who we allow to speak into our life and we need to choose those people very wisely um so choosing those people wisely and surrounding ourselves with the people that can point us back to the truth but the one and only truth every single time was so pivotal for me and the second thing Karly that I learned that really helped me through that waiting season was to take that pressure off of myself and to go and serve someone I remember living in New York City and just days that just felt like I was just absolutely in the lows of low I would get on the F train and I would go downtown and I would go to a soup kitchen that I love to volunteer at and I would just go and serve people and you know every single time I walked out of that serve kitchen I felt different because I felt like I was going there to go and serve and in return my cup was filled up because that pressure had been lifted off of the All Eyes just on me what am I doing what is you know the thing that I am doing to move forward um so go and surround yourself with people um a community that loves you and go and try and serve someone I love that A Season of Waiting chapter because you actually bring up how Jesus was in a season of waiting and if we look at him right like he kept saying it's not my time yet I'm not meant to go to the Cross yet I'm not so what was he doing in that time period and those are the the things that you brought out which I just loved it was so um you know I hadn't really thought about him being in a season of waiting so great job on that chapter talk about also um I follow your story here a little bit but I didn't realize um man the the trauma I don't want to say the trauma because it was a blessing too but of your sister and your sister passing and there's been a couple things in your life where God has been able to use some things that have can been really really hard for you but it's also given you purpose and God has used those things also for his glory um as well so just touch on that a little bit and I just um man I was brought to te I'm sure you know it's still um I can imagine a little hard for you to talk about but how much you loved your sister and just put your path you know on a complet or your your story and your life on a completely different path as well yeah I learned so much from my I'm actually wearing a little ring I don't know if you can see that Tim gave me on fr's first Heaven anniversary and it's got her name um engraved and it's got her birthstone actually turns around it's got her birthstone on the other side so it's just a little sweet reminder of of my little and you know Kari I had this big dream of being a big sister pretty much most of my life my parents were divorced from a young age from when I was young and um you know they got remarried and I just always dreamed of being a big sister of you know taking my little sister to to dance glasses and learning how to play field hockey and doing hair together and going all the dreams a big sister could have and then the day came where she was born and I was going to be able to go and and fulfill all of these dreams that I've always had of being a big sister and um when FR was four months old she got diagnosed with um a brain dis Genesis that was threefold and one of the parts was that she was born without a sarabellum um it's called Sarah Bella a Genesis and basically what that means is she was born without a small brain and long story short that really left her severely disabled for her whole life and with severe special needs for for fr's whole life she was completely dependent on on us our family for survival and um you know I learned so much she was 10 year I was 10 years her senior but I I truly learned so many life lessons from FR and fr's life um rattled my faith in a big way and that's what I was going to Life Lessons bring up you're very honest about that and I get that I think a lot of people that have had to struggle with any of that in their family or taking being a caregiver and why God would you allow this it just seems it seems so unfair and we're in an unfair World well Carly I had so many why questions and I can't tell you that they've all been answered um at this point and I have made peace that I probably won't have all the answers until one day I get to meet my Meer and get to be face to face with him um fr's life taught me you know I can choose two things I can choose to either question God's plan for the rest of my life or I can choose to trust his plan for the rest of my life and once I realized that I also realized that I have to go and swap two words out I have to go and swap two ways of thinking out and I have to go and swap the why question out for where because when you're asking God why is this happening why is fr not fully functioning why can't I have this dream of you know doing shopping and going you know just all of the fun things I've dreamed of doing with my sister why am I not um achieving this goal why am not am I not getting that corner office why am I not getting that raise why am I not getting maybe that baby you're questioning his plan but when you swap that out for where and you say God where are you in this you're choosing to trust him you're choosing to seek him you're choosing to draw closer to him and um that was probably one of the greatest lessons that I learned from fr's Life yeah and Demis Matchmaker then I just teared up to too I mean cuz she was also of you call her her your little Matchmaker she's what help brought you to to Tim TBO which I just think is is such a blessing and a gift from her for you guys for sure um like I said you know we're not going to know fr's full plan and purpose um until one day we get to get to go to heaven but 1 Corinthians 13:12 tells us for now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face now I know in part but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known and you know what Paul is referencing in this verse is that when we when we look at life through a Earthly lens we only see it like we're looking in a in a old steamed up mirror in the bathroom in the morning it's a very vague picture we don't get the full picture and fr's life is that to me it's it's just a little Glimpse and you know I I truly believe that meeting my husband meeting my life partner and the work that we get to do now together celebrating and loving people like my sister all over the world together is is just a small glimpse of fr's life purpose one of the things I love in your Building Your Personal Brand book is um again when I go back to you know really helping give people tangible ways to kind of look at their own life and maybe give themselves some goals you say be the the CEO of kind of your own self and what that means still letting God direct right he's the board of directors um but talk about that a little bit the building your personal brand the kingdom way and what all that entails because I love you give some great examples of like know what your non-negotiables are know you know know some things that you aren't going to budge on know your like it's just a great I think everybody needs to do this this exercise that you have in here it was a fun chapter that was chapter five and I I love I love that chapter so much you know I was um I was in Minnesota a couple couple years ago and I was speaking at a conference that was that was awesome and it was hosted at a church and before the the event I got to just be in a in a green room but that was really just one of the pastor's offices that were vacant and um you know this was a Saturday night and I walked in there and there's a big whiteboard up on the wall and there was nothing written on it and I was like it's Sunday tomorrow sir like where's the sermon like do we need a brain sermon or something and um you know but the there was one little small thing written in the corner right at the left hand side corner there was written three words and it said Kingdom over brand Kingdom over brand and in that moment what I really read was Kingdom over self and that has really been um something that I've carried with me throughout the last couple of years because no matter whether you are you know the the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or you are a full-time mama you are the CEO of you and like you said I wrote in the chapter two that that doesn't give you full autonomy we do still have a board of directors just like any company reports to and ultimately that our board of directors as Believers is the Trinity right and we answer to a audience of one ultimately but realizing and remembering that we can put our um the kingdom over ourself and that we ultimately get to build that brand and choose who we are made up to be who Christ says that we are um is what that chapter is all about Fitting In I loved it I absolutely loved how you broke that um down well last here as we kind of close um I also loved and I think you in particular going to have a great voice for this and the difference of fitting in vers belonging and you say fitting in is fear-based belonging is love-based and I just love that and I think in today's culture where you know you have social media all around us we're all trying to fit in we're all trying to be loved and I just thought that was um man just a really I think important message for today's youth you know as well I I so agree with you Cari you know when you when you think of of fitting in you're you're thinking I'm thinking of chipping away changing the mold of who we are and um fitting in reminds me of insecurity of of wanting to to be a part of something that I'm not a part of just yet but like like you said belonging is based in love it is not fear-based and um that is the the one thing that we were created for we were created for Community we were created to be a part of something bigger than ourselves yeah Final Thoughts well job well done on this book I really think um again it doesn't matter what stage in life uh you are or again I just really want to drive home the point this is not just a pageant book or just your story about giving up your crown it is so much more and there's so many good life lessons uh that you know your story and your testimony are allowing other people to kind of grasp on and use so keep using um you know keep Allowing God to use your story and your testimony and I'm excited to see where it goes from here thank you so much Carly it was so fun getting to talk to you y a crown that last is out now and you can find it where most books are sold in stores and online and you can find out more about her book and her future events and projects by just going to her website which is demo.com okay now to another look at the forge coming to theaters August 23rd before we talk with the lead lead actor Aspen Kennedy who does a phenomenal job by the way let's hear about the heart of this [Music] film raise them up Lord raise them up we made Seven feature films we're praying about the eight and the Lord says bring it back here to Albany Georgia and it's like all right here we go let's see what God does I always enjoy working with the Kendrick Brothers mostly because I know whatever's going to happen is going to be an adventure the forge is a story that follows a young man he has talents and gifts and abilities where he going he's gotten out of high school but he doesn't have clear direction for his life you got two guys coming in I see him y Jamal where you at I'm just trying to figure out how to balance helping him know I understand him but still pushing him to become an adult you on the right track girl he's got to step up and step out cuz you can step in and speak up about him not stepping up but you don't want to overstep the main step of loving him and you see this older man Joshua Moore step into his life whoa whoa whoa whoa wo I want to ask you a few questions first what kind of man do you want to be and what do you want people to think when they see you coming your training starts on Monday please be on time Joshua UA is first mentoring Isaiah treat others the way you want to be treated Joshua then says this is the reason I live according to these truths you've got this I'm going to let you run with [Music] it I know what it's like to be angry in Luke chapter 9 Jesus says something that's pretty startling he says to the people around him if anyone wants to be my disciple he must deny himself take up their cross daily and follow me take up your cross daily what does that mean that means something's going to die this is what discipleship is it's when someone opens their life up to another person and says come and walk with me come sit in my home come watch how I treat my wife let me show you what Christ is teaching me let me show you how I'm growing let me show you how I pray to God the mistakes that I've made that I can be honest vulnerable about how I reconcile with people who I've wronged it exponentially increases their ability to learn because they're right there with us when we follow Jesus he bears fruit through us that's the kind of man I want to be ain't never seen nothing like this the message of prayer that was featured in war room is interwoven in the Forge Karen played the role of Miss Clara in war room my God is good and she resumes that role playing Miss Clara in the Forge am I in the right place Miss Clara yes you are the women in warm that pray for each other and invest in the younger generation you've got to teach other people to seek the Lord matches up to the men of the forge praying together keeping each other accountable investing in the younger generation I want to introduce you to a small group of men that mean the world to me in the midst of the forge you get to see men that have been forged now imparting it to another group that are younger men this is a good day we grow together we eat together it's one of the most important things I've ever done in my life I believe the church right now in this generation needs to get back to what Jesus did with his disciples the body of Christ the bride of Christ is supposed to be about turning all of our Attention our Ambitions our Focus fixing our eyes on Jesus we are devoted to Jesus and we will do anything he calls us to do I pray for you that you not be one in a million but one of a million we need more believers who are wholeheartedly following Jesus Isaiah welcome to the forge [Music] oh what a treat now to be uh talking with the lead of the forge and I can't imagine let's start here Aspen here you are your career is taking off this is your first kind of big breakout role and this team that you have around you I'd imagine you're setting the bar really high I'm just assuming that but tell me more yeah it was it was amazing to work for the Kindra Brothers uh it's truly Testament to see how successful they've been in the past like truly allow to lead them the word came second and the Lord was first and you can just feel that in every scene and every encounter and every uh and everything we did so we start the days off with devotion and I feel like it really made the difference it was just it was a pleasure to I mean the Kendrick brothers and you have Priscilla Shire and then Cameron Arnett I mean these are like I mean not only spiritual leaders but you know what they've done in the entertainment industry as well what a blessing item imine to kind of yeah they're like family now and you learn so much from them in every moment like if you're having a conversation at lunch or they're talking about a scene is just like you just want to be a sponge around one of the themes um in this is about reaching the younger generation reaching men you know young men talk about the importance um from your perspective I mean you were living it right now and seeing the state of the world that it's in um talk about the need you know for a message like this right now abely it's a huge need because for me personally and similar to Isaiah and in his journey in life in the Forge um you know I grew up my mother I was RA my mother I didn't grow up with my father so I didn't have that Father Like Father we died to I mentor to kind of keep me not that I was off the path but important to me from the things that I didn't know I need them uh so just to be able to say you know God's word is true I will be a father as that the father that seems been that to me for me and it's been Indescribable to the point I'm just like Lord you're real you're beyond the opportunity Beyond an Open Door you literally you can do anything not because it's just material things or an opportunity but like hey can I find a willing vessel that to get my message through to reach to people to like like you said you exalt Jesus he draws people to you not for your own glorification but to say hey I want to get my message through you know so that's been the that's been the journey for me yeah especially with uh TI into the film with Isaiah too but there's definitely a need for discipleship MIP and just to be able to you know allow the Lord to pour into our hearts to be able to not just keep it to ourselves but to be in abundance to overflow to someone else to help him in Dr too so it's definitely an important eem oh I can't wait to see what is next for Aspen in the meantime go see him in the Forge again it's August 23rd and you can always find more info about the movie by going to the forgem movie.com I hope you enjoyed tonight's show I'm kly Boyette and I look forward to seeing you next week right here on your Christian television network h [Music]