Finding Faith's Roots: Grounded and Growing in God's Word
About this episode
Pastor Tony McAfee of Covenant Life Church in Clinton, Tennessee joins Philip Cameron to sound the alarm on one of the most urgent crises facing the modern church: the collapse of biblical literacy and doctrinal grounding. Drawing on research from George Barna, McAfee reveals that only 6% of Americans hold a biblical worldview — meaning 94% are spiritually adrift, picking and choosing beliefs from a spiritual buffet rather than standing on Scripture. "What we've created is a church that is real wide, but very shallow," McAfee warns, describing congregations blown about by every wind of doctrine. The conversation centers on McAfee's new book, Grounded and Growing, a hands-on discipleship resource designed to drive believers into the deep roots of sound doctrine. Using the vivid image of a lone Highland tree whose roots plunge a hundred feet into the earth while its leaves are stripped bare by the wind, McAfee illustrates why depth — not breadth — is the only thing that sustains faith through life's storms. The book is already trending in Amazon's top 10 under educational discipleship titles just two weeks after release. Pastors, youth leaders, and small-group facilitators will find Grounded and Growing an ideal curriculum. Order it on Amazon or join the live Wednesday-night teaching at cllife — Eastern time 6:30 PM. This episode is essential viewing for anyone serious about biblical discipleship.
Part of our Faith collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“Only 6% of America has a biblical worldview. That means 94% don't even know what they believe.”
“The only way you're gonna grow — you can be around the flower pot, you can be around the earth, but until you get your roots into that earth, until you get yourself grounded in it, you'll never grow. Nutrition can only be transferred from the soil into the plant when it's grounded. Growing is the result of being grounded.”
“In Scotland, if you go up the highlands where the wind howls, you'll see trees — a solitary tree all by itself, maybe eight feet tall. Doesn't have a leaf on it because they're all blowing off. But if you got a spade or a shovel and started digging, its root goes down a hundred feet. Because all of its energy has been put into the roots. Ain't no time wasted on a leaf — it's gonna be blown off. But hey, watch my roots go down. And the church has all leaves and no roots.”
What's Discussed
Pastor Tony McAfee of Covenant Life Church in Clinton, Tennessee discusses the alarming state of biblical literacy in America, citing George Barna's finding that only 6% of Americans hold a genuine biblical worldview. McAfee introduces his new book, Grounded and Growing, a fill-in, multi-question discipleship curriculum designed to anchor believers in sound doctrine. He uses the metaphor of a Highland tree — stripped of leaves but rooted a hundred feet deep — to argue that spiritual depth, not surface-level church attendance, is what sustains faith. Within two weeks of release, the book reached Amazon's top 10 in educational discipleship. Covenant Life hosted 354 salvations the prior year and currently draws 200-plus students to its Wednesday-night Grounded and Growing class.
- Philip Welcomes Pastor Tony McAfee
- Biblical Worldview Crisis in America
- George Barna's 6% Statistic Explained
- Dangers of Doctrinal Deception on Campuses
- Grounded and Growing Book Overview
- Highland Tree Roots Metaphor for Deep Faith
- 354 Salvations at Covenant Life Church
- How to Access the Wednesday Night Teaching
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Hey, welcome my friend to Daily Faith. I am so pleased you could watch with us today and be a part of our program. God is blessing Daily Faith. We are growing. I'm amazed — we just started this out as a contact between pastors during the Covid disaster, and it has grown and other folk have joined with us and we are so glad.
Philip:Let me tell you, if you are watching for the very first time, God doesn't make mistakes and he has a plan for you to listen to what the word of God says. We are living in unbelievable times. You're gonna see stuff, I promise you, in the next few months that will blow your mind. And being rooted and grounded in the word is the most important thing, because there's all kinds of doctrines, all kinds of winds of change that's happening in the world today. But on Christ the solid rock I stand — all other ground is sinking sand.
Philip:This old song says, I dare not trust the sweetest frame of mind, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And we'll be talking today with my pastor, one of the greatest men of God I've met. I've been traveling in this country now for 55 years. I've been preaching for 50. I know I don't look that old, but that's how long I've been preaching. And I met Tony McAfee — his wife Cindy — decades ago, almost 40 years ago in Florida. I was speaking at a convocation for a Bible college,
Philip:and he was behind me, and his wife was in the audience. And as I spoke, I kept hearing these sobs coming from behind me. And I didn't know that that particular day would change my life, because I just met my best friend. And you know what, in your life, you have no idea what God's plan is for you. And if we can keep our heart open and our mind open and stop building defensive walls, you can see God will take you and lead you into places that you have no idea. Boy, I'm so glad you're with us today on Daily Faith — you're gonna love this.
Philip:I wanna welcome those watching us on Integrity Network, on Journey Network, and also on WGGS Network, that's seen in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia. Also we are seen every week on WCLF in Tampa every Thursday at 6:30. And WFGC in West Palm Beach every Monday night at 7:00 PM. And you can also watch WRXY in Fort Myers on Wednesdays at one o'clock in the afternoon.
Philip:I love Fort Myers First Assembly — you're still one of my favorite churches in the world. And also we are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM both days on WKWHB. Whatever you're watching, God has found this signal to get to your heart today, to share blessings in your life. And I want to tell you that God is good for you and to you all the time. You can watch us on Daily Faith anytime you want — dailyfaith.tv. All the programs we've done are cataloged there, and pretty much anything that you're going through, we've talked about right here on Daily Faith.
Philip:If you've just watched for the first time and don't know us, we have a mission outreach. 35 years ago, the phone rang in my house in Alabama. It was my dad calling me from Scotland. And he opened the conversation with nearly these words: he says, there are babies dying. I says, what? He says, there are babies dying. And he was watching the BBC — he was sick, he had a big cancer cut out of his back and the wound had burst. It was a terrible mess. And all he could do while he was healing was watch the TV. And it was when the Berlin Wall fell down and all the stuff that took place.
Philip:And what he'd seen was the babies in the orphanages of Romania. And I says, what are you talking about, babies dying? Well, every day for a week he called me, and one day he says, well, if you won't go with me, I'll go by myself. And if I die on the way, it's your fault. I had no idea that he was gonna take me kicking and screaming into my destiny. Sometimes God's got to grab you by the scruff of your neck and haul you to where he wants you to be. We drove — our whole town gave stuff — what was gonna be a van became a convoy of trucks.
Philip:And we walked into this orphanage one day, and the smell of human waste was unbearable. There are tears in my eyes because of the ammonia, and I ran outside gagging. And I said, I'm not going back in there. My dad says, you gotta go. I said, no. I said, you want to go to an orphanage? There you go. Leave me alone, I'll wait for you. And he says, these folk live like this — you can't do this. You are humiliating them. I said, look, if I stay here I'm innocent. If I go in that door, I'm guilty.
Philip:And he grabbed me and he hauled me. He said, well, you're gonna have to be guilty. And he was pulling me — I didn't understand it, but he was pulling me towards my destiny. I walked around this place literally gagging, hating every second, went up the stairs. I thought, well, let me get down to every room and get out of the place quickly. Up to salon number five, up the stairs — I can, as I'm talking to you, I can see the door. Went in, there's 30-odd kids. And in the middle of all this mess, a wee boy was standing like he was flooded from heaven.
Philip:And the Holy Spirit said, that's your son. And I picked him up and I said, I don't know where you came from and how you got here, but I promise you, I will not quit until I get you back and make you my son. It took me a year, back and forth every few weeks, to make sure he was okay. And in those weeks I discovered there were no toilets. They sat them on coffee cans, rough open, just with tin openers. And they would sit them on a blanket with these cans, and all the bottoms were cut with the edge of the can.
Philip:So we had to put in toilets, and the beds were painted with lead paint — horse hair mattresses. So I made 200 new ones. What I did was, I didn't realize it, but I was giving myself into a calling. And that was 35 years ago. And today we have young folk from all over Moldova that come to our house. We've got the most amazing place called Vater Village — it's a village of homes right on the largest lake in Moldova. It was built for rich people to have a summer dacha on the lake.
Philip:And they poisoned the lake with chlorine and all the algae and everything else died, including this project. And it sat for nine years, and we managed to buy it. And we have it now filled with young folks. Every girl you look at on that video — if a trafficker finds her and catches her and captures her, she is worth $300,000 a year to a trafficker. It is unbelievable. And we just want you to understand that you can be a part of this miracle.
Philip:Every year they go to villages and have outreaches — all kinds of crazy things they do. It's amazing. And they sent me a video of what they've done this last year. I think it'll bless you. Watch this.
Philip:You are looking at miracles. These kids come to us broken, having lived a life that you can't even understand and conceive — rejected by their own mothers and fathers. Then they're sent to an orphanage where the workers go and tell them every day, you're garbage, you're nothing. Your mother didn't want you, your father didn't want you. And waiting at 16 years of age is a guy that will offer them a fake job in Italy or Germany, or a woman that will say, I'm looking for a babysitter for my grandkids. And innocent, naive kids get in the back of a car and they're never seen again.
Philip:They use them 30 to 50 times a day until they kill them. And we have a way to find them before they get on that street, before they get into that car. And Vater Village, as I told you, is the most amazing place. They come to us, hear the gospel, and these kids have turned from orphans to sons and daughters, into missionaries. And every year they go all over the place. As you've just seen, they have youth camps. They rebuild old folks' homes or poor people's homes. Widows have their gardens dug and planted for vegetables. I mean, it's a whole ministry of these young folk, and people that said they're nothing are amazed at what God has done.
Philip:All of that takes place by someone giving a dollar a day. $1 a day. You can change a life for a dollar a day. And if you'll help me, I can take in more. We just bought two new houses and we're gonna build our own youth camp. And every one of those houses needs 300 people to give a dollar a day. And I believe that God would have you be one of those. If they're worth $300,000 a year to the trafficker, aren't they worth a dollar a day to someone in the church?
Philip:And you can help me by giving a dollar a day or a one-time gift to help us buy these buildings. And our address is really simple — it's either Daily Faith or The Orphan's Hands, PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. Real simple. The quickest way is to go to dailyfaith.tv — so easy, there's a giving page there, you can give right online. Or you can go to 833-Daily-Faith and a real live operator will be waiting for you to call, to speak to you, to be a part of a miracle.
Philip:Listen, there's so much darkness in the world and so much hatred in the world. Why don't you help me light a candle in these days? I'm so excited to have my pastor and bishop with me today. His name is Tony McAfee. He pastors a great church called Covenant Life in Clinton, Tennessee. And I love him with all my heart. I met him, I believe, under divine appointment. And I moved my entire family to be here, to be under his ministry and be a part of his great church.
Philip:And in fact, where we're sitting right now used to be the stage of the church that they had before they moved to the new building. Tony, thank you so much for being with me today. I love you and I am so excited to have you to talk about your new book.
Tony McAfee:Well, Philip, we're honored to be here. And it never gets old sitting here on the set, listening to you talk about how we met, because isn't that crazy? It just brings all the memories back to that day I was sitting on the platform while you were speaking and, like you said, sobbing. And that's not an exaggeration. And then I look out and my wife is sobbing out there in the audience. And that was one divine appointment for my life.
Philip Welcomes Pastor Tony McAfee
Tony McAfee:And I find myself very grateful to you. You know, it's just a privilege to be a part of what you're doing. And you mentioned the church giving — it would be awesome, I'd like to just challenge the churches to make sure they have you guys, if they really want to treat their congregation. But man, to get involved in the missions program — you've been to Moldova several times.
Philip:Yeah, and going back in June. We're going back in June. You know what I'm telling you — all the stuff I'm saying is actually the truth. It is God's truth.
Tony McAfee:And it is life-changing. Just going and being in the presence of those kids — there's something supernatural that you feel and sense when you're there in their presence. And so the most noble thing — and I tell people this all the time — the most noble thing I've ever done in 40-plus years of ministry is connect with The Orphan's Hands and all the different ways to connect. And I'm just so moved by that and it's amazing.
Philip:Thank you. Well, we love what we're doing. And I know someone watching today — you can literally change your life for a dollar a day. It's the greatest bargain you've ever had in your life. And you waste how many times a dollar just goes away. In fact, a penny's not even being made anymore. We're devaluing the dollar.
Tony McAfee:That's right.
Philip:But there are young girls sitting just now in despair, young boys in despair, little kids that are waiting for you and I to get together and say, we're gonna do this for the kingdom. My God, I am excited about this new book. And we talk all the time — we're buddies as well as you being my pastor and me being under your ministry. But we talk all the time about the state of the church regarding what we know as pastors. How does that make you feel, the concern for how little grounding there is in the church?
Biblical Worldview Crisis in America
Tony McAfee:Well, what we've noticed over the last several years is all the deception — and doctrinal deception about the church. And now it's like it's perpetuated, it is snowballing — all the crazy stuff that you hear today and that people believe. And what I've just recently learned is that only 6% of America has a biblical worldview.
Philip:6%?
Tony McAfee:6%. That means 94% don't even know what they believe. And there's a name for it — I can't think of the name at the moment — but there's a name for where most people find themselves. It is a category of its own. And what it is, is they knit or pick a little here and a little there of different things.
Philip:Like a grazing, a hodgepodge — a grazing.
Tony McAfee:Yes, a graze. And statistics show — and you can find this from George Barna, who's a church numbers cruncher — he says that the college campuses are the worst because of the impact and the influence of the professor, the atheistic, agnostic professor. And you know, hopefully Trump might change some of that.
George Barna's 6% Statistic Explained
Philip:What concerns me — I have a granddaughter coming up now. Allie's just turned 16, and college is on the horizon for her. And her dad says, I'm not gonna put her in college to be turned heathen by these godless people. And so what's happened is these colleges — Harvard, they were all Christian schools and they've lost the faith. And they're not only — if you have no faith, okay, just keep your mouth shut. But when you start evangelizing for the devil and evangelizing for all the garbage that they stand for, we are living in a terrible time. And church-wise, church has got such a small impact on our kids' lives.
Dangers of Doctrinal Deception on Campuses
Philip:We need to be able to have an answer for this world we're living in. And this book you wrote is just amazing. It's called Grounded and Growing.
Tony McAfee:Grounded and Growing. The only way you're gonna grow — you can be around the flower pot, you can be around the earth, but until you get your roots into that earth, until you get yourself grounded in it, you'll never grow. Nutrition can only be transferred from the soil into the plant when it's grounded. Growing is the result of being grounded.
Philip:And the church is not grounded. I've told you this — we've raved over many a cup of coffee over the years — that if pastors were to stand up this weekend and preach a message out of Mormonism or out of Jehovah's Witnesses, 90-odd percent of the church would be saying, amen, brother. Because we've lost what we know anymore.
Tony McAfee:Yes, sir. And what we've created, Philip, is we've created a people — a church that is real wide but very shallow. And what happens is they're blown around, as the scripture says, by every wind of doctrine. And you know, just before God went silent for the 400 years before Christ came on the scene — after Malachi, 400 years of silence — the last thing he said before going silent, which I think is critically important, what did he say before he went silent? He talked about the sanctity of the marriage institution.
Tony McAfee:And the reason why he called it an institution and sanctioned the marriage was because of the offspring — meaning that the children would be raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And that they would know what they believe. And if the parents don't teach their kids and find out what they know before they are shipped off to a college or university, then we're in trouble.
Grounded and Growing Book Overview
Philip:It's terrible. And the church is in trouble today. And that's why we have so many church fights and there's so many baby Christians — they've been in the church for 50 years and they're still babies.
Tony McAfee:Still babies. Because they've never been rooted and grounded.
Philip:That is true. And I'm telling you, there are several thousands of scripture references about sound doctrine. What I like about this book — if you're a pastor watching, or if you love your youth group and want to go through this — you can get a bunch of these books. And it's a teaching book, so they literally have places to fill in and it's multi-question. So they are going through the book and as they're going through the book, they are becoming grounded. And unless — this word is just screaming in my head right now — unless you get your kids with their roots going down, we are living on a precipice right now.
Philip:The scripture says, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Unless you know who you have believed, you'll believe anything anybody tells you.
Tony McAfee:That's exactly right. And Philip, that's a travesty in the church. And it's got to stop. It has to. Or like I say, it's getting thinner.
Philip:No depth. And you know, even the front of the book has the plant in it. Nothing can survive a storm unless it has depth to it. In Scotland, if you go up the highlands where the wind howls, you'll see trees — a solitary tree all by itself, maybe eight feet tall. Doesn't have a leaf on it because they're all blowing off. But if you got a spade or a shovel and started digging, its root goes down a hundred feet.
Philip:Because all of its energy has been put into the roots. Ain't no time wasted on a leaf — it's gonna be blown off. But hey, watch my roots go down. And the church has all leaves and no roots. And our kids today have access to information — they can click a couple of clicks, way better than I can, and they get information. But I'll tell you what, that's knowledge. Information tells you if you fall down you're gonna hurt yourself. Knowledge is having fallen down and hurt yourself. That's knowledge and wisdom from what happens. And the church is empty of that right now.
Philip:And unless you can do something about it — and that's why I am recommending this book for your church group. Get it for your pastor. But I believe you could buy 50 of them at a time and say, listen, we're gonna make this a project for our youth group, we're gonna make this a project for our women's group. And by doing so, you are going to give your church shovels to start digging down into the good earth of God, to bless and expand the vision and purpose of your church.
Tony McAfee:And you know, Philip, last year we saw at Covenant Life 354 people come to Christ. And we set a challenge — let's believe God for 340 to get saved this year. And we broke that in October.
Philip:About by October?
Tony McAfee:We broke that in December alone — we saw 25, 27 people come to Christ in four Sundays. That's counting Wednesdays and Sundays. But right now, since the book came out — it's been two weeks — there are over 200 people on a Wednesday night coming, out of the 300, bringing their shovels.
Highland Tree Roots Metaphor for Deep Faith
Philip:They're bringing their shovels, and they bought their books and they're going through this class with you. Can they go online and watch the teaching for every chapter? Can they?
Tony McAfee:They can actually go online. And listen, it's happening tonight. Hey, here's the thing — whatever you are in the world, if you're watching this right now, whatever you are in the world, you can go online tonight and watch Pastor Tony go through this. And I suggest you order the book.
Philip:Can they get it from Amazon?
Tony McAfee:Yes, amazon.com is the fastest way to get it — two-day Prime. And it's also trending there.
Philip:It's also trending? It's trending?
Tony McAfee:It's trending. It's in the top 10 under educational books, under education for discipleship. And I think that's pretty amazing, and it's only been out two weeks.
Philip:There you are — that's a screenshot of it right there. That's what it looks like. And if you use your QR code, you can literally go and order right away. That's beyond my wisdom, but that means something to somebody. What I'm saying is, get the book. Join on Wednesday nights — it's 6:30 Eastern time, so it'll be 5:30 Central all the way back across the country. And if you're in Europe — and I know a lot of European friends — you need this teaching. Because I'll tell you what, we are pretty thin on the ground and we need to get ourselves dug into the water of God.
Philip:And hey, this is my pastor and he speaks to my life. Whenever I'm not in church myself preaching, where am I? Right there at Covenant Life. And what do I do? I'm in the early morning service and I take notes.
Tony McAfee:And he texts me an idea or an illustration.
Philip:So the second service on Sunday, he's always better than he is on the first service because I've added my two cents' worth. I love it.
Philip:And I want you to understand that God has a purpose and a plan for your life. And if you wanna get in contact with my pastor, it's really simple — it's cllife. CL Life. And that's where you can watch the program tonight and every night and get your Grounded and Growing book. Because I believe it'll strengthen you. It'll strengthen your house, because we are living in horrendous days.
354 Salvations at Covenant Life Church
Philip:And I just pray for you in the name of Jesus, that every storm you have, every battle you have, I come against it and I plead the blood of Jesus that no weapon — listen to me — no weapon formed against you is going to prosper. It may form, the devil may have a plan, but it's not gonna work, because God's on your side. Amen.
Philip:Pastor Tony, we're almost done. Thank you for being with me today.
Tony McAfee:My privilege.
Philip:And I'd love you to come back. The address of the church is 151 Sycamore Place in Clinton, Tennessee. If ever you wanna go to a great church, you might even get to see me there if it's a Sunday that I'm not on the road. Listen, we love you so much. Thank you for watching Daily Faith. We are in this together. God is on our side and he's gonna cause us to triumph, because we're gonna be grounded and growing. Get the book. We're so glad you're with us today. Pray for Ukraine and Moldova and our ministry work, and together we can change the world. We love you. Bye-bye.
How to Access the Wednesday Night Teaching
For over 25 years, the Cameron family has been changing the lives of orphans in Romania and Moldova — from providing running water, flushing toilets, and clean wells, to coal for heat, new windows, as well as food and clothing. They champion the physical needs of the orphans in these broken and desolate countries. Many of Moldova's orphans are saved from the horrors of trafficking through homes founded by the Camerons. And in the process, orphans become daughters and sons.
They come to know their heavenly Father and are forever changed by the love of Jesus. God helped the Camerons lift these amazing young men and women out of darkness — now no longer orphans. They want to return and invade that very same darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. The Orphan's Hands equips these daughters and sons to become missionaries. Your monthly gift of $31 will allow us to rescue and take in more girls and boys, saving them from the hell of human trafficking.
Your monthly partnership will allow us to care for those in The Orphan's Hands homes in Moldova and Ukraine. If you want to join Philip and Chrissy in taking care of these precious young people, please contact us today by calling 833-Daily-Faith. You can also give by going online to www.dailyfaith.tv, or by writing to Post Office Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. So many lives depend on what we do. Thank you for loving the lost.
Common questions
What is Tony McAfee's book 'Grounded and Growing' actually about?
Tony says the book is about getting rooted in God's Word as the foundation for any real spiritual growth — his core idea being that nutrition can only transfer from soil to a plant once the plant is grounded, and that growing is simply the result of being grounded. It's designed as an interactive teaching book with fill-in questions so readers are actively building that foundation as they go through it.
How bad is the biblical literacy problem in American churches, according to Tony?
Tony cites George Barna's research showing that only 6% of Americans hold a biblical worldview, meaning 94% don't have a clear sense of what they believe. He says most people in that majority are 'grazing' — picking bits from different belief systems rather than being rooted in Scripture — and that the problem is especially acute on college campuses due to the influence of atheistic and agnostic professors.
Why does Tony think so many long-time churchgoers are still spiritually immature?
Tony argues the church has become 'real wide but very shallow,' producing people who are easily blown around by every wind of doctrine because they've never been truly rooted and grounded. He says people can sit in church for 50 years and still be spiritual babies if they've never dug deep into the Word.
Where can I watch Tony McAfee teach through 'Grounded and Growing' online, and when?
Tony says anyone in the world can watch him teach through the book live on Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM Eastern (5:30 PM Central) through Covenant Life Church online at cllife. The book itself is also available on Amazon, where Tony says it was already trending in the top 10 under educational discipleship books just two weeks after release.
What does Tony say is the most important thing parents can do before sending kids to college?
Tony points to God's final words before 400 years of silence — the call in Malachi to uphold the sanctity of marriage so children would be raised knowing what they believe — and says parents need to find out what their kids actually believe and ground them in it before they leave home. If parents don't do that work first, he warns, the influence of secular universities will fill that vacuum.
Topics
tony mcafeebiblical worldviewdiscipleshipsound doctrinegrounded and growingcovenant life churchchristian education