1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,360 This is Jim Ann Annette coming to you from the Hill Country. 2 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:37,120 We believe it or not aren't episode 46. So close to a year we've been doing this. 3 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:43,440 52 will be one year. We had one break. One break. One week. The other week that we 4 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,400 traveled when we went to General sabbatical. We took it with us. We took it with us. Not 5 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,720 gonna do that again if I can get out of it because that was a big deal. Well going 6 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,640 through TSA is always a big deal. Oh yeah. Yeah. They're always like what is this? It's a 7 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:04,320 microphone dude. Well you know full body cavity search. That's true. Great. Okay thanks. So 8 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:10,080 welcome to the show. We are Jimmy and Annette and we are living up in a down world. Oh wait and 9 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:18,480 Mr. Chevy. We've got a little dilemma. We do. A dilemma. Well we're moving our office. Our studio. 10 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:24,880 Well our office slash studio to the church. We originally were building a green room. And why 11 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:32,640 are we doing this? Well because when we originally said let's build a green room, the longer it took 12 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:38,000 to build it, the more I saw you needed an office because we don't have office space. I saw that as 13 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,120 well because my office is a backpack. Mine too. I bring it every day. We all sit in a room together 14 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,840 and we don't get anything down. Why do we have no offices at the church? Because we're growing so much. We had to 15 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:53,680 make room for children. Right and we did that during COVID when everything was shut down. We had guys at 16 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,040 the church working that we contracted and man they took out all of our offices. All of our offices. We made more 17 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:06,640 room for students. Only two employees will have an office. Well now three because you will and I can 18 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:14,640 office with you. But then after I was I had this brainstorm. It's maybe this is more than an office 19 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:21,120 because it's soundproof. There's no window. What great sound you could get out of that room. Why 20 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:28,400 not turn it into our studio? So now it's going to be our studio. So it'll be a studio for our YouTube 21 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:37,840 channel which is Meet Pray Love. We have one video up on that. You can look us up on YouTube. 22 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,120 We'll get another one up. We've just not ready yet. Yeah just getting started with that because I mean that was my first one. 23 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:48,320 I really wanted to wait till next week when we're actually in our studio. Me too. We'll wait. It's not a big 24 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,840 deal. Not a rush on that. But it's our carnival world stuff. Yeah. Yes we're getting some new gear. 25 00:02:54,400 --> 00:03:00,160 I'm getting some consult from Adam Lacey specifically. He kind of gave me his rig 26 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,800 run down and then you know we're investigating other things and seeing what we really need. 27 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:10,800 So part one side of the office slash studio will be a studio literally with lighting. 28 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:18,240 You know a table where you and I can sit and talk to each other conversationally. And we can interview 29 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:25,840 you other pastors. Other people in our community. Exactly. Yeah exactly. Some interesting people 30 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:32,640 live in our community that I know I can pull in. That would be really fun to have on a show. You could be 31 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:40,000 the Joe Rogan to Adam Curry. You could have Adam Curry come to your studio and you could interview him. 32 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,520 It would be an interesting interview. I'm sorry I'm trying to get the visual image of me being Joe 33 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:50,560 Rogan out of my mind for a second. You are kind of buff. Not that buff. Of course I'm three feet 34 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:58,160 taller than he is. Exactly. There you go. No. That's funny. You and he have some really fascinating 35 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:06,720 conversations. Me and Adam? Yes. No you and Joe. I don't know Joe yet. Yeah when Adam and I get together 36 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,600 I mean it's God the world and other things. And I mean everything. Everything. We talk about what's 37 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:19,600 going on in the socio-political world. Sociology. Even paleontology. Sometimes we cover such a wide 38 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:28,000 range of topics because he and I even though I'm a pastor in a church and he is a podcaster to you 39 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:35,600 know the world. A million people. We sort of do similar things. We unpack culture. We dissect 40 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:42,800 culture. We exegete culture. And then we bring application of life. And so he does it from a 41 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:49,360 deconstruction standpoint. Deconstructing media. I do it from a reconstruction. So why not you and 42 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:55,360 he do something together. Oh we could have some fun. I mean I know all four of us are going to 43 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:03,680 be doing something but I could just see the way y'all's conversations you know. It's pretty wild. 44 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:09,840 It's pretty wild. I could see it being a very interesting show. God often shows up in the middle 45 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:16,160 of our...no every time we get in these conversations God's in the middle of it. We both get insights. 46 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:21,600 It's an iron sharpens iron kind of relationship. So yeah that could be a lot of fun. And then also 47 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:31,680 you and Tina talking about you know what do we call you? The something twins. Oh I've totally 48 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:36,880 spaced it. Oh my gosh I forgot. Well when we're being snarky it's the terror twins. Right but when 49 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:44,240 we're not I don't remember. Anyway whatever I can't remember. So y'all we want you girls. You're 50 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:49,520 calling it what two girls and one God? Two girls and a God. Well kind of like two guys and what was 51 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:57,040 that movie in a baby or something? Tom Sillick. Three men and a baby. It'd be two girls and a God. 52 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:01,760 Not a God. I don't know it's weird. Two girls and God or something. We haven't talked about it at 53 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,320 length but I am going out of town with her this week. We're kicking things around because we're 54 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,360 gonna do some fun stuff. Yeah so what are you gonna do with Tina this week? Well we're gonna go see 55 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:15,120 Phil Wickham in concert. He is a really really good Christian artist. We sing a lot of his worship 56 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:20,000 songs and so we're gonna go and make a night of it. Spend the night in Austin. So we're not driving 57 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:27,360 back late at night and do a little bit of shopping. Well you know it is Christmas. Oh there's always 58 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:33,040 something. Right although I give Amazon cards to all my kids because they all want. It's easier. 59 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:39,040 I know that's not very fun but I actually enjoy getting that and then I can go get what I need 60 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:46,160 and want. Right same. Yeah but anyway I just told them what they were getting. As if they already 61 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:51,040 know. They don't even listen to our podcast. Well that's true they don't. They're like we're the rents. 62 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,880 You can just tell us in a sentence what you talked about. I'm like you know they've got a they they 63 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:01,760 probably have this attitude I can't believe my parents do a podcast. Right well now Chris said 64 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:09,040 a few months ago that's the only way I know what's going on with you but we talk more now so. That's 65 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:14,080 funny. So now we probably didn't listen. Yeah now that we talk more. Yeah I'm gonna quit talking to 66 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:19,840 my kids. Why? So they'll listen. Hey you want to know what's going on in your parents life listen 67 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:25,280 to the podcast. Oh my gosh. I know it's not gonna work. So we were talking about we were gonna talk 68 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:30,560 about Mr. Chevy the dilemma we have with Mr. Chevy. Right because if we move if we move our office. 69 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:35,920 No excuse me when we move our office next week. A couple weeks. Carpet comes in Monday. Yay me 70 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:43,200 I'm excited about this. So once that's in and he can start the tram we can move in. Well what are 71 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:49,840 we gonna do without Chevy? We can't have a show without Chevy. So I thought about let's just put 72 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:54,800 him on a leash and bring him with us on Tuesdays to the office. Faith used to bring her dog. So 73 00:07:54,800 --> 00:08:00,000 we'll do our staff meeting in the morning and then we'll do a quick lunch. Where's Mr. Chevy 74 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:05,440 gonna be? Like in her lap? My lap? Your lap? Where he always is in a lap. Yeah somebody's lap. 75 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,680 We'll bring his cage. Okay so it's not a cage. Oh sorry hits his bed. It's a crate. It's his crate 76 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:18,320 but we'll bring it so that he'll feel comfortable there and then he can do the show with us. 77 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,840 He can do the show. We're gonna have to try it. We'll try it. We'll see how that rolls. 78 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:28,080 It'll be funny. Who knows right. He'll be excited. He will. So but I'm excited. Yeah I actually had 79 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,520 somebody at church I was telling them about what we're doing on the build out and I said yeah we're 80 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,920 gonna move the studio there and get it out of the house so I can have my office back and got all the 81 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:42,080 wires and microphones and stuff. This office is a wreck right now. Don't look around and it won't be 82 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,800 for long and anyway they were saying well what I mean it's so funny well what about Mr. Chevy? 83 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,320 I know what are you gonna do? I mean she was worried about like what are you gonna do with Mr. 84 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:57,040 Chevy? I don't know yet. It's a good question. So now we have a solution. We do. We'll take him with 85 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,320 us to work on Tuesday. Bring your puppy to work on Tuesday. If everybody does that we'll have a zoo. 86 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:07,760 It would be wild. Yeah this would be fun. This would be a fun experiment right. It will be. 87 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:14,560 So speaking of social experiments well we took a trip. In fact that's why we had to do the podcast 88 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:22,160 early. Right because we went to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. You know it is beautiful. It really is. 89 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:28,480 And you know what you know last week I said you can't go to Colorado and not have snow and we 90 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:36,160 woke up our first night there. We woke up the next day snow covered ground. It was beautiful. It was. 91 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,720 Now I didn't. I'd seen the weather report and said there's a chance. Right and I knew there was too 92 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:46,480 and I also knew that it would burn off or whatever because it's. Which is fun because I still wanted 93 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:52,640 it to be beautiful enough for us to to drive and and not be freezing. Literally the weather was 94 00:09:52,640 --> 00:10:01,520 wonderful. It was beautiful. Perfect for no wind. Yeah and the nights were in the teens. Yes it was. 95 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:07,760 Doesn't feel that cold when there's no wind. So we had the window open at night. Two nights we did that. 96 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,520 The window open and no heat on. And we were still hot in our bedroom. I know. 97 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:17,760 Because they put flannel sheets on the bed. Yeah oh my gosh like sleeping in sweats. I guess people 98 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:26,000 in Colorado like that. I guess so. We sleep with 64 degrees at night even in the winter at our house. 99 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:31,120 We were on our air conditioner year-round at night. Because you're kind of hot. Well you are really hot. 100 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:37,120 Thank you. Really hot. I love you too. With Chevy in the middle of us it's like. He's a heater. He's a heater. 101 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:42,480 He's little but he's a heater. But it but the weather was beautiful there. The scenery going 102 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:49,280 up Wolf Creek Pass. And then just driving from Durango. We flew into Durango. Then the drive from 103 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:56,080 Durango what about an hour 10 minutes. Just beautiful. You're in San Juan National Forest. Well and the closer we got 104 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:03,600 to Pagosa. Yeah. The prettier it became. Yeah felt like you're going up in elevation. Yes. It's just 105 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,360 it brought back a lot of memories for me. It's very nostalgic because that's where we went a lot on 106 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:19,360 vacations. Not Pagosa but we go through Pagosa. Or we do Durango and Ure and Silverton. Right. 107 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:25,440 Silverton. Yeah. Silverton. All that. We did all those mountains and it's all more rural back there 108 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:31,360 than it is like in Denver and Colorado Springs. And so you know we just we did all that growing 109 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:36,240 up. Because we lived in Lubbock. So going from Lubbock the panhandle Texas to Colorado was not that far. 110 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:42,000 So it was a nice and I loved it. So it was very nostalgic for me. Feeling like I get to drive the same 111 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:48,000 roads my dad drove. And my dad and my stepmom lived in Pagosa Springs. Which you've never been. For a number of years. 112 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:54,720 So I knew you know this felt good. Kind of felt neat. And so we had some great experiences. Well and you decided to do an 113 00:11:54,720 --> 00:12:01,200 experiment. I did. So tell us about that experiment. I think I might don't know if I mentioned it last week or not on the 114 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:08,160 show. But I had started it right before we left. I got this idea. I had to be the Holy Spirit because I didn't just 115 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:14,320 I'm not that smart to think up these things. So I thought I love talking to people. Everywhere you know that. 116 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:20,240 Everywhere we go I'm that guy who's going to say hey how's it going you know. I hope you're having a great day. How's your day really going? 117 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:26,960 You know that kind of stuff to clerks and waiters and waitresses. Or I'll ask their name. Or I'll call their name on their name tag. 118 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:34,720 That always gets people's attention. So I came with this idea. Holy Spirit I'm sure. Ask people this simple question. Say something 119 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:45,920 like this. So it's Thanksgiving week. So what are you thankful for? And I started doing that on the way. I mean to. 120 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:56,880 Every restaurant. Yeah. Host. Waiter waitress. TSA. Yeah TSA agent. That was cool. And then also to people who are checking 121 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:06,480 you out at the store. Just wherever people are doing service things and you've got that moment and the results are mind blowing. 122 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:14,320 What I find interesting about this is as the clerks it was obvious a lot of the clerks did not enjoy their job. 123 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:24,000 And you could tell they were tired and just worn out. You could tell they were just maybe needed an attitude adjustment. 124 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:31,120 And you've got a long line of people waiting and you're probably going oh if I could just get off. And then you come up and they're 125 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:39,920 asking you for your order. You and I. And we're giving it to them. And they're just rude. Almost rude. And just matter of fact you know 126 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:48,640 just trying to get it done so they can get to the next person. And then the moment you ask the question it was like they were arrested. 127 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:56,560 And they just looked up and their countenance changed. Their whole look changed. They began to share with you. 128 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:05,360 And then forget they forgot. Yeah several times. The people that were waiting in line because they couldn't wait to continue their conversation. 129 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:12,240 Yeah like Cameron for example. Remember Cameron. Oh my goodness. So I asked Cameron you know how was your Thanksgiving. This was right after Thanksgiving. 130 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:17,760 We were back and I said so how was your Thanksgiving. Oh it was wonderful. I got to be with my family. 131 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:25,040 And I said oh I've asked a lot of people this question over this last week. And almost everybody almost everyone the first thought 132 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:31,680 that comes to their mind is their family. I said that's beautiful. And she said yeah because I lived in Japan for a year. 133 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:38,400 I said Japan we're actually thinking about going to Japan. Which is funny because we've been talking about going with the Curry's. 134 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:45,280 Right. And then next year the day before you said I don't know if I really want to go. I don't know if I want to do a big travel. 135 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:51,760 And I was like well we've already committed and we're going to go. We haven't paid for anything. 136 00:14:51,760 --> 00:15:00,160 But I was like Jimmy please don't change your mind on this. And then the clerk at HEB says what she's thankful for. 137 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:05,600 She said she lived in Japan for a year and when I said well we're actually thinking about going to Japan. 138 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:13,120 She. It was like she forgot everybody else that was in line. She literally did. And just said you have to go. And I turned to. 139 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:19,280 God sent you because he was changing his mind and she was like don't change your mind. 140 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:26,640 Actually when you mentioned it in church yesterday Sunday I turned to Tina and told her and she said you aren't going to go. 141 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:33,280 I said well he just balked. Why did he balk? I said just because it's a long travel. It's long travel. 142 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:39,200 We're tired. We're tired. And so I said don't worry don't worry he's still going to go. And I think that sealed it for you. 143 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:45,840 It did. Yeah it made me go OK because Cameron said we should. She lived there a year and she was just. 144 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:53,280 I mean it was wild. And so this happened over and over. Remember Riley. So we met Riley. Riley's 20 years old. 145 00:15:53,280 --> 00:16:01,280 Of course we found out age where people live. There were tears. There were stories. There was tragedy and trauma. 146 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:07,440 But also joy. I mean we. Hope. And hope. So here's the number one answer. 147 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,800 And I actually shared this with off. I'm trying to remember her name. 148 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:22,960 Fabrina Fabriana Fabriana Fabriana. From where? From Hildes today. Fabriana. Fabriana. 149 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:27,200 Anyway beautiful. And she's Italian. And I said you look Italian. She goes thank you. 150 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:36,000 I said oh it is a compliment. You've got that look. And so anyway I told her today I said you know I've done this with you know I don't know 20 30 40 people. 151 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:41,920 I've lost count because I did for today. Talked to four people. Asked those same questions. 152 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:48,320 By far 99 point something percent. The first answer is always family. It was hers too. 153 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:53,120 And I said I said but the second answer is interesting too because it's God. 154 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:59,120 And then I told the guy at I told the lady at the where I was getting the inspection sticker done on the car. 155 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:03,680 I said hey how was your Thanksgiving? She goes well great. Thanks for asking. How was yours? I said great. 156 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:09,280 I said all right. So I'm shifting a little bit. I go all right what's your number one top one answer only. 157 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,520 What are you most thankful for? And I mean I've been doing it like that after Thanksgiving. 158 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,480 Sorry Chevy. I clicked my fingers. You snapped your fingers and he jumped up. It's a signal. 159 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:25,600 Sorry buddy. What are you thankful for Mr. Chevy? So anyway I did that. I said I said number one don't think about it. 160 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:32,160 What's number family? I mean just so I was telling Fabriana that and she said oh that is so cool. 161 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:39,040 And I said number two is God. I said a lot of people. She goes oh yeah. So the lady at where was she? 162 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:45,360 H-E-B the gas station. You know the lieutenant there. She was out and I said hey how's your day going? 163 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:49,840 She said it's going great. How's yours? I said good. How was your Thanksgiving? She's wonderful. 164 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:54,560 I said well tell me the top thing you're thankful for this Thanksgiving season. 165 00:17:54,560 --> 00:18:00,080 She goes my daughter after 28 years is sober for the first time. Can't even imagine. 166 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:05,920 I mean the the weight of that. The fact that she felt so joyful. Safe enough to even just say that. 167 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:13,360 I know people were telling us things about their lives like Riley. Yes. There in Pagosa. She was the first person we sort of met. 168 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:19,040 We pulled into a restaurant. We were having a hard time finding a place to eat because it was a Monday. 169 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:24,400 It's just like Fredericksburg. Where there's like nothing open on Mondays because it's a resort community. 170 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:29,280 So they're open on weekends and they close on Monday and Tuesday. Same thing. We could not find a place. 171 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:36,160 We were hungry. Finally found this place and Riley waited us. She said hey this is my fourth day working here. 172 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,880 So please be patient. We're oh it's no problem. 20 years old little girl. 173 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,560 And I said she came to our table. I said hey I have a question for you. 174 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,080 What are you thankful for? You know it's the Thanksgiving season. So what are you thankful for? 175 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:53,920 And she said thankful for the people that are surrounding me and that love me in my life. 176 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:59,600 And the people I get to love. She didn't say family. That was like one of the only people that. 177 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,400 Because she shared that her mother passed away five years ago. And her dad's non-existent. 178 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:11,440 And he's not really in the picture. She's on her own. But she did say she's taking care of her brother. 179 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:19,680 That's her goal. Yeah right. To get her brother who was adopted from Asia. Somewhere in Asia. 180 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:26,080 He's four years younger than her and she's living for to take care of him. Which is family. 181 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:31,520 Oh my gosh. And as she was sharing her story she didn't have a car so she has to walk everywhere. 182 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:36,560 She's working two jobs and one of them's at a sketchy bar and grill there in Pagosa. 183 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:42,560 And you were like Annette take me out of here before I adopt her and pay for all of her college. 184 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:49,120 And I said oh yeah let's go right now. And so when we left you know we do this on occasion. 185 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:52,880 We don't do it all the time. But sometimes you know you leave a tip for somebody right. 186 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:58,160 But there are moments when the Holy Spirit says leave an offering. And we left her an offering. 187 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:03,280 Yeah. We wanted to bless her. And I mean I literally I came I started tearing up when 188 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:09,120 she was telling us her life story. That two minute elevator pitch moment where she was saying this is 189 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:14,960 what I've been going through. But that's what I found. Oh my I just was pretty remarkable that 190 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:22,640 so many people that we met were just willing to share their story to a perfect stranger 191 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:28,720 because you were kind enough to ask a beautiful question. I know that was the Holy Spirit that 192 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:33,680 gave us that. And so today I did four people because I had to run some errands and did 193 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:38,240 staffing and then I ran and got us something to eat. And then I had to go get your car inspected 194 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:44,320 because it was almost due. You know and it's hard to find a place to do that here. So I've got this 195 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:49,120 one place and the guy came up to me I said hey how's it going. I said how was your Thanksgiving. 196 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:53,760 Man that's another way to get people's attention. How was your Thanksgiving and really mean it. And 197 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:58,240 man they will people will tell you. He said actually it was really good. I said man me too. 198 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,840 He said how was yours? Me great. I said what I said don't think about it. I said what's the 199 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:09,600 number one thing you're thankful for. He goes oh my wife. She's getting her doctorate degree and 200 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:14,960 right now she's doing her pre-med classes and she's doing good and that's why I'm working here. 201 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,680 So I've been a registered nurse for 10 years but I'm working at this oil change place. Is he doing 202 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:24,880 both? I don't know. I couldn't tell if he had let go of one to do the other and I didn't pry. 203 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:29,920 I don't go where I'm not invited but he was just sharing that way. He just gushed all that out 204 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,760 with him and he said oh and you can't get your car inspected because our computer's down. So 205 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:39,280 he said but come back later which I did. And so I saw him. I said hey I'm back. He goes oh I'm glad 206 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,840 you came back. He said it came up right after you left. I said that figures. So we just had this 207 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:49,920 conversation and then I could go on all day because I've had so many amazing encounters with people 208 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:57,040 who are hurting and broken and you need help. Because I think about all the people that have 209 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:03,360 been that have crossed our path over the years that are in men we're in ministry or are in ministry 210 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:10,880 that say I just don't like people. Oh no I've heard that. Yes and I'm thinking why are you even 211 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:17,760 in ministry right? If you can't if you don't even want to step out and have a conversation because 212 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:24,320 what you did is what we as Christians not just pastors but as Christians. No no this is not Pastor 213 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:30,480 Jimmy. This is the dude Jimmy. But what you did is what Christians should be doing everywhere. We should 214 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:41,440 be constantly in a loving conversation where we actually care about that person and what they care 215 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:47,040 about. You know what I mean? And not just avoid people because we don't want to. Because we're in 216 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:54,880 the people business. Yes. No to me okay so every year we do a word it's called my one word instead 217 00:22:54,880 --> 00:23:02,320 of doing a new year's list. Resolution yeah. We do a one word. I never did good with like 10 resolutions 218 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:07,120 that I lost because we forget a bible or stuck in a book. You may remember one it's always to lose 219 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,760 weight probably at least for females it is. I would say it was mine mine's more to gain weight 220 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:19,280 back in the day. But I never did well with resolutions so I heard about this come up doing 221 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:25,600 one word and this organization actually called my one word. They may still be online. I'd spent years 222 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,440 because I've done this for years. So I started doing it and then you started doing it and then 223 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,280 of course I introduced it to the churches we've been a part of when the year rolls around. Hey 224 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,200 instead of doing a list this year that you're probably going to forget why don't you just pick 225 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:43,920 one word that is a theme that covers kind of what you want to lean into. Why don't you pray and ask 226 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:49,360 the Lord to give you a word for the year. And I've done we've done this for years. Gosh at least eight 227 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:54,720 years here. I remember last year about November you know usually around Thanksgiving I started 228 00:23:54,720 --> 00:24:01,200 thinking about it and last year I had a hard time coming up with one for some reason and so I just 229 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:07,760 picked love kind of randomly because I thought well that covers everything but I for whatever reason 230 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:13,120 I it didn't really resonate. Not that love doesn't resonate but you know as my one word 231 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,640 in fact there's a couple times this year I had to go you know what was my word. I had to think about 232 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:24,000 it. Never have had to do that. No. This year I mean as I started doing this little social slash 233 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:30,480 theological experiment of just asking people about what they're thankful for it just blew up inside 234 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:36,960 of me and the word engage. Which we've had that. I had that word back when we were in Tennessee 235 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:42,720 actually. I think we've had it here and the reason why I say that is because for several years 236 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:49,680 we had a plaque made or we found a plaque with a word that was our word and we remember we we made 237 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:55,120 a wall of words. Wall of words yeah. Which we don't have anymore. We kind of outgrew it. It was 238 00:24:55,120 --> 00:25:00,560 getting too much. It's too much. Trying to scale down. After 20 years it starts to get. But I'm 239 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:05,760 pretty sure we've had that. We had that word. I remember having it in Tennessee because I was 240 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,840 it was when we were starting to look at getting back into ministry while I was working for Dave 241 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:15,840 Ramsey. I was really feeling called back to the pulpit back to the ministry church ministry and 242 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:22,960 it was like this is the year of engagement. So that's that was like 20 what 16. So it would 243 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:30,000 have been probably 2015 when I was going through that. Maybe 16. So yeah that sounds about right. 244 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:36,880 But anyway that this blew up in me this last week as as I was having fun engaging people 245 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:42,080 and asking I really want to know what they're thankful for. And now you mentioned it. Well how 246 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:47,360 are you turning that towards Jesus. And I have it now and it worked with the lady when I made the 247 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:52,800 comment. I said no this was the guy at the car wash. They had a free car wash today. They got a 248 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,240 brand new car wash here in the city. Big news in Fredericksburg. New car wash. So we're gonna give 249 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,720 you a free car wash which is amazing. Which I did. So because I was in your car. Your car needed it 250 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:06,000 as bad as mine. So I ran it through big long line. Guy comes to me he's trying to sell me you know 251 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,640 subscriptions and stuff. I said hey I got a question for you. I said first of all how was 252 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:17,360 your Thanksgiving. He goes I mean man just asking that question people just shift. And he said sorry 253 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:22,880 and he said uh it was great actually. I said how was your without Phil everybody asked me back. 254 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:30,480 I said oh it was amazing. I said so real quick one answer top question or top answer. What are 255 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:37,680 you thankful for. And he he's man it just like arrested him. He goes I'm thankful for my newborn 256 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:43,440 baby. My family. I have a I have an infant. A newborn. I said bro I'm so happy for you. 257 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,320 And he said yeah I'm new at this job. Now didn't they start telling you stuff. Yeah I'm new at 258 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:54,640 this job and this is I'm I actually live in Tyler Texas. And they sent me here to train and do this 259 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:59,520 because you know they're training me to do this. And I said man that is so often. I said you know 260 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,360 what the number one answer is. This is my angle now. You know what the number one answer is. He 261 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:08,480 said what I said family. I said you know what number two is. He said what I said God. He goes 262 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,960 oh that's cool. And I said you know what number three is. He said what. And I said it could be 263 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:21,520 anything. I said it could be any. You know my job. I get to work here. My doggy whatever Mr. Chevy. 264 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,840 Whatever it could because we got a lot of answers. But the top two first was family 265 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:31,840 and the second was God. Only one said God first. But most people it was just an immediate. Because 266 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:38,240 that's a reaction. Almost like Melva. She's an American Indian who was working at the Durango 267 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:43,040 airport in the little coffee bar. And so I said how's your day going. There were people. It was 268 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,440 jammed. People were waiting in line. And I just said you know it's a week of Thanksgiving. What 269 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,920 are you thankful for Melva. I called her by name because I saw her name tag. And she said I'm 270 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:57,920 thankful for my family. And she said and of course God. I said me too girl. You know it's just fun. 271 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:04,320 And it engages people on a personal level instead of just you know I'm checking you out. Get your 272 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:09,280 groceries and go. You know I'm tired. How's your day going. It'll be good in 15 minutes because 273 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:17,440 that's when I get off. So I've had fun doing this. I mean it's engagement. And I'm sure the Holy 274 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:23,120 Spirit will give me more creative ideas as things go along. You know but the gratitude thing is a 275 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:27,040 big one. It is. And you can do that year-round. It doesn't matter if it's Thanksgiving. You can do that 276 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:32,080 any day. What do you think for it? I've been asking people that. Do you want to know what the top 277 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:40,000 answers are? You know it's interesting because that is a question that people are quick to answer. 278 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:48,320 It's an easy answer. But they're not going to say well I don't know. Or I really don't care. 279 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:53,120 Sometimes it'll stump them just because they're not used to a customer or some random stranger 280 00:28:53,120 --> 00:29:00,720 asking them that. But for the most part you've had such great success with that because for one 281 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:06,800 I think you're not a creepy guy. Thank you. I mean think about it. No I'm a creepy guy asking. 282 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,360 And let me caveat this in case somebody wants to go do this themselves. Which I would encourage 283 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:18,880 you to do. But be wise about who you're talking to. You know I'm always discerning a person. You know 284 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:23,440 there's some that you know you just don't go there. You know just the Holy Spirit will tell you. Right. 285 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:29,200 He won't tell you in words but you'll sense. Is this someone? There have been a couple that I was 286 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:33,760 on the border of asking and I did it anyway and it turned out to be a beautiful experience. So 287 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:40,160 so far I've not had a negative person one. The only person that made me lift my eyebrow a little 288 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:45,680 bit was a TSA officer. Not just the typical TSA workers but I mean like the guy who's got a gun 289 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:50,320 and a badge. Because I thought man all they do is sit behind that little glass shield 290 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:57,520 and you know get check people's you know. It's just how redundant is that. And so I said hey 291 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:05,120 do you have a good. Now this was before Thanksgiving. It was. I said hey it's Thanksgiving week. I said 292 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,000 you're gonna have a good Thanksgiving. He goes yeah I think I am. I said good. But he was still a 293 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,960 little stern. I said I have a question for you. He goes okay. And you know just real strange you 294 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:21,760 know. Like okay this dude's sketchy. You know and I said so what are you most thankful for? You know 295 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:27,760 moving into and thanks again. What are you grateful for? He goes I'm grateful for short lines today. 296 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:33,760 Any minute. I said brother me too. Trust me on my side of things. It was the day before 297 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:38,000 thanksgiving. Yeah because you can imagine. But anyway he was and then we laughed about it. He was 298 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,480 super cool. He's the only one that made me go oh I hope I shouldn't have gone there. But he was cool. 299 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,840 He was actually cool with it. So anyway I would I would invite you to take a chance. Take a what's 300 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,320 the worst thing that can happen? Somebody go I don't know. Okay well have a great day. I mean 301 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:59,280 have a good day and move on. But so far I don't know how many I've asked. You know it's adding up. 302 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:06,800 I think it's just about slowing down and preferring people over yourself. And not just 303 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:13,760 whatever you're you know doing at that establishment where you meet that person 304 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:21,600 taking that extra second to prefer that other person by asking a question like that to me 305 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:29,200 is special. I think I just see God pleased with us when we when we treat people like that instead of 306 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:36,640 you know just serve me take care of me. You know you're I'm here to give you money so you can 307 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:43,840 you know give me service. And instead wait staff like a servant instead of like a human being with 308 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:51,360 great value and dignity. And that's why it shouldn't be just at Thanksgiving. Although it was good for 309 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:57,680 you to start it because obviously gratitude was on your mind. But it's a good experiment to continue 310 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:02,800 as the Holy Spirit shows you the people to do that. As it goes along I can I can even like I did today 311 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:07,120 I say I've been asking a lot of people this question. What are you most grateful for? What 312 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,920 comes to your mind first? That way they know it's not a long conversation. You know like oh family 313 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:18,880 or oh this job you know. And I you can do that year round. Anybody's gonna go wow thanks. I'm 314 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:26,960 just telling you it it breaks the ice. It opens hearts. And several have shared deep stuff with 315 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:32,000 us in a very short amount of time. I mean just you're standing there going I can't believe this 316 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:37,920 person just opened their heart to a total stranger. But here's why. Because when you really truly 317 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:43,760 connect with another human being there's something spiritual that happens. Jesus in you is reaching 318 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:48,240 out to maybe Jesus in them if they're if they're Christians. But if they're not he's reaching out 319 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:54,720 to them through you. And connection is protection. I've said this for years. Connection is protection. 320 00:32:54,720 --> 00:33:00,800 People feel safe when there's a when they can you can tell there's a healthy connection with somebody 321 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:06,160 else. Right. And that's that's living a gospel life. Good news kind of life. The gospel of Jesus 322 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:12,160 Christ. When we're living up in a down world and that's really what we're about. People can pick 323 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:18,320 up on that. They hear your positivity. They hear there's you've got something going on. You've got 324 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:23,760 the it factor. What is the it factor? It's Jesus. The x factor. It's Jesus. That's what's going on. 325 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:29,680 It's not it's not a self-confidence. It's a Christ confidence. And people feel safe with that. I'm 326 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:35,680 just finding just when you connect with another person and you're asking them excuse me that was 327 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:41,520 me hitting the microphone. You're asking them an honest question. Man it just cracks their heart 328 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:49,520 open. And so I'm super excited. I just I was fascinated again by the countenance of people. 329 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:56,560 How much it changed them. It was I've never seen anything like that where it was just as if 330 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:02,320 they did you know a total I was like you were talking to a totally different person. Yeah. It 331 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:09,040 was it was really beautiful. Yeah. It was. Well so I would encourage you to try that. Again what's 332 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:13,760 the worst thing can happen? I don't know. You know that's it. No one's going to be mad at you for 333 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:20,160 caring. And if they are then shake the dust off your feet and find the next person. And I don't 334 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:25,040 just spend the whole day looking for people. Just these these opportunities present themselves just 335 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,720 as you're going about your business. Today I happen to be running some errands out in town. So 336 00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:34,400 just happen to be talking to a lot of people. That it's not every day. But I I'm making this 337 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:41,360 a commitment to engage. That's that's my word for the year. So on another note what is your word for 338 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:48,320 the year? Well we usually stay with the same word because it. Yeah. You and I together. We we end up 339 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:54,960 merging. Right. We had separate words and then in the last three or four years. But you know 340 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:59,360 it was funny because I didn't know your word was engaged until you told the church. Yeah. Well it 341 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,640 just been percolating. You didn't even tell me first. I'm sorry baby. I heard it last. I failed 342 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:08,560 you. So now I have to. No you didn't hear it last. You heard it with everybody. Right. Well that's 343 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:15,040 true. Technically not last. So yeah I'm I like the word. I think it's a great word. So I'll have to 344 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:21,680 incorporate that into my thought processes. So hey do us a favor as you're listening to the show. If 345 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:26,560 you like what you hear go to our website livingupandadownworld.com and hit the subscribe 346 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:31,600 button. You can also fill in your email address and that gets you on a mailing list. We send out 347 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:36,240 one email a week. That's it. And as a short one I throw a lot of pictures in there. I'm a picture 348 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:41,920 guy. Right. Thirty two thousand pictures on my phone. I know it's crazy. I'm the I'm the family 349 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:47,200 doc you know historian. But I document everything with pictures. So I always throw a lot of pictures. 350 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,680 But we also just let you know kind of what's happening what's going what's coming super short 351 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:57,360 to the point. But that is a gentle reminder that we're having a podcast the next day. So I usually 352 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:02,400 send that out on Mondays. And so we record on Tuesday afternoon unless we're traveling or 353 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:07,120 something like we did last week. So go to our website livingupandadownworld.com. Also we're 354 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:14,400 pastors of Bridge Church in Fredericksburg Texas. An amazing amazing church where God is doing 355 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:20,640 amazing amazing things. We're actually experiencing in a very real sense reformation which is a 356 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:26,720 back to the Word of God which leads to repentance which leads to revival the presence of God. And so 357 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:35,120 we're in an amazing season of growth and there's energy and man this it's a good season right now. 358 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:40,800 It is very so you can check us out online at bridge fbg.com. We'd love to have you come. You 359 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,480 can see our hope with fact we do include the worship we have the whole service on the front 360 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:50,400 page. All you have to do is scroll down. So bridge fbg.com or just google Bridge Church 361 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:56,080 Fredericksburg Texas and you'll find us and we'll talk a lot about this stuff. Right. 362 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:59,920 You did you did talk about this before you blasted the church. 363 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:11,760 I didn't. I don't blast our church. No but you were very strong so this was kind of like the 364 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:20,240 how how do you put this it's kind of a coming out like a capsule that went down real well and then 365 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:27,600 you manned then you felt it. I mean because you were so let me tell you let me just say why I came 366 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:33,280 off very strong you did which was needed is needed in our culture. You know anyone who's 367 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:39,200 got a screen in their hand that would be everybody or a screen on their desk or their laptop 368 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,200 knows that this world's in chaos right now. Our world is a major crisis. I've talked to people 369 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:53,280 we have a historian in our church a legit professor historian who's genius he's retired now but still 370 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:58,000 he's forgotten more and I'll ever learn probably about our history. I've talked to him I've talked 371 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,880 to other elderly people in our church who will say these same things that they have never in 372 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:11,360 their lifetime witnessed the chaos and the division and the sense of imminent threat that our world 373 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:17,040 poses right now and nation rising up against nation wars and rumors of wars. Well it sounds 374 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:22,800 biblical doesn't it. Yeah I mean we're living in I don't know if it's the last day it is the last 375 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:28,960 days technically. I don't know if it's the last of the last days but there are so many signs. 376 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:34,720 We read the seasons and the signs we won't know the day or the hour even Jesus said he didn't know 377 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:41,040 that but we can read the seasons so we may not know the hour the day any of that but we know 378 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:47,360 seasons and we discern that and there's a reference to the sons of Issachar in the Old Testament says 379 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:54,400 the sons of Issachar who discerned the times and knew what to do. Oh that's what I want to be is 380 00:38:54,400 --> 00:39:01,440 the son of Issachar who discerns the times and knows what to do and so all of that's percolating 381 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:07,520 in my heart right now and what I'm realizing and this is not to put down churches I'm a church guy 382 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:13,280 I love the bride of Christ but there are a lot of churches in the world right now that are not 383 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:18,320 addressing the relevant issues because they won't talk about abortion they're afraid they're going 384 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:22,800 to lose people transgender and all the they're going to lose finances they're going to lose 385 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:30,720 their popularity and you and I've made us a decision that we're going to please God before 386 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:35,840 we're going to please people that's right so you have to address the things that God addresses 387 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:42,080 in His word and you chose to do that this Sunday. Well what has really hit me is I have to ask an 388 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:47,360 honest question because I tend to be a people pleaser because I do love and adore people 389 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:53,040 so it's hard when people come against you and they do yeah I have a very tender heart yes so 390 00:39:53,040 --> 00:40:00,240 it hurts me deeply but I power through it because I know what I'm called to do and so my tendency 391 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:05,760 in the past has been to keep my cards close to my chest play my cards close you've always been that 392 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:11,920 way so I want to be the nice guy I want to be the guy you want to be everyone likes I do because I 393 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:17,840 like everyone so I think everybody should like me and as I'm growing up here finally at 61 years 394 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:24,640 of age I'm realizing that's not reality especially in the world now especially if you're a follower 395 00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:29,520 of Jesus if you're a committed Christian now if you're you're just play the game Christian yeah 396 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:34,720 you can play both sides of the aisle both both sides of the fence but if you're all in with Jesus 397 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:42,720 Jesus told us you will be persecuted you will be hated on my account on my for my sake you will be 398 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:48,240 persecuted you will be brought before judges you will I mean there's some scary stuff in the Bible 399 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:54,720 for those of us who have made a commitment to be all in with Jesus and I heard a pastor say this 400 00:40:54,720 --> 00:41:00,240 this week and I feel the same way he was talking to his congregation as a large congregation 401 00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:06,240 and he said I I feel like I need to apologize to you and he has a church of thousands of people 402 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:11,360 he had very transparent he said I feel like I need to apologize to you because I have not 403 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:21,360 prepared you to be hated by the world and that went off on both you and I like what oh my goodness 404 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:28,160 thunder in my soul where it's like we've got to prepare our people that there is coming a day and 405 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:32,720 a time in an hour and it could be and it is in other parts of the world it is where if you are 406 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:39,520 a Christian you are hated for your faith you're already happening here people already hate 407 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:46,000 Christians the the thing is so many people who say they're Christians are not acting like 408 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:50,880 Christians they're acting like the world so they're not playing it's hated yes so that's kind of what 409 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:58,000 for me I've tried to be Mr. Nice Guy I've tried to be be that guy who everyone is going to be 410 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:04,160 everybody likes I've tried to be the pastor that everybody likes I want I want peace I do not like 411 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:10,480 conflict I'm allergic to negativity and I'm very allergic to negative people and yet and yet God 412 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:16,640 calls us to engage the fight you decided to engage the fight well here's what I had to come to the 413 00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:22,240 realization I have two choices do I want I have to answer this question and it is do I want to be 414 00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:28,800 liked or do I want to be respected and I have chosen to be respected instead of liked now 415 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:33,920 obviously I still want to be liked don't get me wrong it sounds really dramatic but the truth is 416 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:42,720 as a pastor and one who's called to be a herald a clarion a trumpet so to speak of of calling out 417 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:47,760 and holding up the standard of God in the world through a biblical world lens then I have a 418 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:53,840 responsibility to speak the truth in love but definitely speak the truth both love and truth 419 00:42:53,840 --> 00:43:01,200 at the same time the Bible says that Jesus was full of grace and truth and grace in in terms of 420 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:07,840 Jesus isn't isn't just unmerited favor that's it's power power power strength ability and favor to 421 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:13,840 do what you cannot end up yourself do so Jesus is full of that so that's the that's the call and I 422 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:18,320 just shared that with my church I said you know well you read a scripture that was really interesting 423 00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:25,120 yeah it's in timothy and and it talks about what you as a pastor are called to do this was Paul 424 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:30,800 talking to timothy who was a young who was a young pastor and I believe that that was put in the 425 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:38,160 Bible for a reason because pastors need to heed that verse that verse is for every single person 426 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:45,760 claiming to be a teacher of the word of God but most people we we kind of look over that verse 427 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:50,160 yeah well here's the verse it's second timothy four says in the presence of god this is apostle 428 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:54,800 paul talking to young timothy the pastor in the presence of god of Jesus Christ who will judge 429 00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:58,960 the living and the dead and in view of his appearing in his kingdom I give you this charge 430 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:06,560 man that's get anybody's attention preach the word be prepared in season and out of season correct 431 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:13,280 rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction he says here's why for the 432 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:19,840 time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine we're there now instead to suit 433 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:25,840 their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching 434 00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:32,080 ears want to hear see if somebody doesn't like what what I say is a pastor they go down the street 435 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:36,880 and then the first time that pastor says something like they go down the street exactly and you see 436 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:43,360 this in communities and cultures where people at church hop they go they go until what because they 437 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:48,720 have that honeymoon period when you're in a new place it's discovery and everything's new and fresh 438 00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:54,720 and then the first you know time someone says something to you that doesn't scratch your itching 439 00:44:54,720 --> 00:45:00,960 ears you go down the road and we see that a lot in american churches right now and it says this time 440 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:04,560 will come people not put up a sound doctrine they'll suit their own desires they'll gather 441 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:09,200 around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear they will 442 00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:17,120 turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths or fables and he says but you 443 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:24,400 timothy keep your jimmy keep your head in all situations endure hardship do the work of an 444 00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:31,200 evangelist discharge all the duties of your ministry i shared that i unpacked that with the church i 445 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:34,880 thought that would be the introduction to the message that became the message it did become 446 00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:40,640 the message because i had to let my church know that i love them so much that i have to be okay 447 00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:45,680 with being respected over being liked and that they're not going to speak the truth and they 448 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:52,320 might not enjoy what you're saying because it's not going to tickle their ears i will say they 449 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:56,320 enjoyed sunday because there was a lot of hooting and harlaring going on because they do because 450 00:45:56,320 --> 00:46:00,880 there are people that they want to strong what needs to be said yes they want a strong leader 451 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:08,080 and um a lot of people too they don't even know what they want until they hear it and then they're 452 00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:15,680 like it resonates it goes off in yes yes and i i could feel that in the room and it was it was 453 00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:28,560 it was quite an unbelievable what the the sounds i heard from behind me the the chatter the the 454 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:33,280 voices it was just it was unbelievable it was really beautiful resonate with it and that's what 455 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:37,200 i love about our church you can tell our church is ready for reformation they're ready for 456 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:42,000 repentance they're ready for revival they're ready for outpouring and renewal so they're there and 457 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:46,880 that's what's exciting about being a part of a church that's kind of got that momentum and that 458 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:52,880 energy and um the thing that i'm calling us to which which will land i'm going to talk about 459 00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:57,520 nehemiah this next week and the rebuilding of the wall and all that's part of reformation and revival 460 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:05,120 but then i've got to go to to joshua chapter 1 verse 9 when young joshua was serving moses 461 00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:11,200 all his life all he thought was i'm gonna i'm gonna serve moses and then i'm gonna be moses 462 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:17,440 servant i'm gonna follow him over the over into the promised land he had no idea that he was 463 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:22,640 actually would be the one to take them into the promised land right and so when moses basically 464 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:26,960 fouls out of the game because out of anger and striking the rock that's a whole other thing but 465 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:33,360 and so god said you're not going to take them over joshua is so joshua finds that out and all of a 466 00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:40,720 sudden it's like what me i thought i was just his assistant now i'm the man and god speaks to joshua 467 00:47:40,720 --> 00:47:48,800 as this baton this gets gets you know passed on to the next generation of joshua god says this to 468 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:57,520 joshua have i not commanded you listen to these words be strong and courageous do not be terrified 469 00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:04,960 do not be discouraged for the lord your god will be with you wherever you go why would god say 470 00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:10,640 have i not commanded you it's because he had to remind him of what he had said before because 471 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:17,280 apparently joshua was terrified he was nervous he's probably thinking i'm not qualified for this 472 00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:22,800 we all feel that moses felt that way remember he had a stutter he had a speech impediment his brother 473 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:28,800 erin had to had to help him out you know and speak for him at times and so none of us are 474 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:35,360 are qualified god doesn't call the qualified he qualifies the called so if god calls you to do 475 00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:41,920 something then the qualifying comes right and so this is what i see here he must have been scared 476 00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:47,840 because god says have i not he's like i'm reminding you to be these things strong and courageous 477 00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:53,920 and don't be terrified he wouldn't have said be courageous if he was courageous that's right he 478 00:48:53,920 --> 00:49:00,320 had to be scared yeah yeah and i feel like that's a call to our generation i feel like god is saying 479 00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:07,440 have i not commanded you be strong and courageous do not be terrified don't be discouraged time to 480 00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:14,400 stand up for what you believe but stand up you know when we stand up for god's word we're standing 481 00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:22,720 up for god when we when we know what his word says and we let it be known god is pleased with 482 00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:31,440 that that's all he wants is us to to get his word out and instead what what's happening is we're 483 00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:37,840 allowing the world so many of us are allowing the world's word to come through and then we're 484 00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:44,080 acquiescing to that and we're ditching what we knew and saying oh well it's not relevant right 485 00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:49,520 our world's so different we're we're we have so progressed since the bible came out we're so 486 00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:55,920 we're so civilized now and so progressive we've progressed so far we've we've left god behind 487 00:49:55,920 --> 00:50:01,040 i'm telling you that happened in in the book of genesis in the early part of the scripture 488 00:50:02,080 --> 00:50:08,240 mankind decided to ditch god and they began to build this tower called babel and the tower of 489 00:50:08,240 --> 00:50:14,160 babel the goal of that you have origin and you have telos telos means it's the end it's what they're 490 00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:20,160 going for so the origin was we started with god the end telos is we're gonna we're gonna do it on 491 00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:26,160 our own without god we don't need god and that's what culture is saying today and you would think 492 00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:30,880 well they just imply it no they're saying it now i mean it's literally like we don't need god hates 493 00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:37,120 god and the world economic forum the world health i mean organization all these different entities 494 00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:42,160 and organizations they're like no we're smarter than anybody they're trying to cut god out of 495 00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:47,280 everything which means they're trying to build their own tower of babel and that is to build 496 00:50:47,280 --> 00:50:54,480 a utopian culture without god right leaving god out because we are gods unto ourselves 497 00:50:54,480 --> 00:51:01,040 we we are in innately good we we've got it all again we don't need god and the old god is dead 498 00:51:01,040 --> 00:51:08,160 kind of thing and and nitchie said god is dead but here's the deal as land is on the move god 499 00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:14,240 is not dead god will have the last word he had the first he'll have the last and we it's time for us 500 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:21,040 to be reminded by god that we are to be strong and we're to be courageous what bothers me about 501 00:51:21,040 --> 00:51:27,840 christianity in america this season is that we've we've left evangelism which is the the ability to 502 00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:32,560 share your faith with other people because we don't want to offend anyone why because we want to be 503 00:51:32,560 --> 00:51:38,640 liked more than we want to be respected and i have found that if i will speak the truth in love 504 00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:45,600 they may not like me but they'll respect me and someone will listen to somebody they respect 505 00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:51,680 more even than sometimes somebody they just like because they're a nice guy or a nice girl and so 506 00:51:51,680 --> 00:51:57,440 i would rather be respected than liked what means i'm taking this literally for my life god is 507 00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:03,760 reminding me to be strong and to be courageous and not to be terrified or discouraged why because 508 00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:10,240 the lord your god will be with you wherever you go i want god to be with me which means i need to 509 00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:15,440 step into this call and i'm challenging anybody in my orbit it's time for you to be strong and 510 00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:21,360 courageous it might be learning ways to talk to people and engage like saying hey what do you 511 00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:26,720 think before oh family that's awesome let me tell you what the top three were number one family 512 00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:32,080 number two god there you go you've brought god into the conversation because when i did that today 513 00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:37,680 we perked up and said that's cool and then the third it could be anything but you know finding 514 00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:42,080 creative ways to engage people why we need to be strong and courageous we also need to be that 515 00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:47,840 strong and courageous in our spheres of influence the water cooler conversations at the office that 516 00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:54,320 get weird that somebody tells a really off-camber joke or really and we need to be able to stand up 517 00:52:54,320 --> 00:52:58,880 and say you know what i didn't really appreciate that yeah speak the truth in love yes but say you 518 00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:04,560 know that's yeah no i don't watch those kind of movies right no i'm not into that or no i'm not 519 00:53:04,560 --> 00:53:09,840 going to go have drinks with all the all the girls after work because it's not good for me then 520 00:53:10,560 --> 00:53:15,360 i like you but i love working with you but no i can't go do that it's not not good for me 521 00:53:15,360 --> 00:53:22,800 and we've got to begin to be bold and strong and courageous again and not back down just because 522 00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:29,440 you may not be accepted or you may even be hated but you know what i'd rather be hated and respected 523 00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:35,440 than liked and not given the time of day well and our ultimate goal is to please god not man period 524 00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:42,480 period period yeah well said wow covered some territory today we did we hope you're encouraged 525 00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:47,200 that's our heart and we're talking bold and big but only because god's bolder and bigger than 526 00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:53,520 anything we want to we want to be in alignment with him and with his heart especially in this time in 527 00:53:53,520 --> 00:54:00,720 this season of history in the world we need brothers and sisters followers of jesus to stand 528 00:54:00,720 --> 00:54:08,160 up and be counted and to not back down not acquiesce not sit back and wait for somebody else to speak 529 00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:13,360 up god is calling you to speak up in your sphere of influence that doesn't mean you have all the 530 00:54:13,360 --> 00:54:18,960 answers it just means you know the person who does and his name is jesus christ so we wouldn't 531 00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:24,080 encourage you to do that hey if you like what you're hearing do go to our website livingupinadownworld.com 532 00:54:24,720 --> 00:54:30,400 click subscribe sign up for our newsletter we'll get that out to you and if this is helpful for you 533 00:54:30,400 --> 00:54:36,320 and you know somebody that it might be helpful for pass this link on to them just share it with 534 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:42,320 somebody let other people know that hey there's this crazy pastor and his wife talking talking 535 00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:47,120 and talking about real stuff you know and we would we would really appreciate that's one of the ways 536 00:54:47,120 --> 00:54:52,640 you can add value to us and so anyway i've got some thanks i want to give just just a couple 537 00:54:52,640 --> 00:55:01,040 few things here i'm tiling it up as i speak here it is um we had a beautiful review left on our 538 00:55:01,040 --> 00:55:10,160 website this one came through um apple um podcasts you know apple um this was beautiful uh it's from 539 00:55:10,160 --> 00:55:16,160 um who's a guy that's become a dear friend of mine adam lacy yes uh he has a carnivore channel our 540 00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:20,960 channel on youtube called carnivore today his name is adam lacy he interviewed me he's one of the 541 00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:28,000 sweetest dispositions i've ever seen in a man he's a great guy really beautiful man a good brother 542 00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:33,600 in the lord too and he and i have been having some great conversations and he says this as a 543 00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:39,040 review he says uplift your spirit with living up in a down world jimmy and net's living up in a 544 00:55:39,040 --> 00:55:44,480 down world is a beacon of positivity each episode is a master class in turning challenges into 545 00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:49,600 opportunities to grow your faith he's a good writer they're insightful conversations and 546 00:55:49,600 --> 00:55:54,480 genuine warmth to make you feel like you're a part of their family subscribe for inspiration 547 00:55:54,480 --> 00:56:00,000 and to be a part of a journey that is full of joy inspiration and strengthens your faith a must 548 00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:06,800 listen for anyone living in a down world that is so beautiful fantastic thank you adam lacy we love 549 00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:11,520 you brother excited about doing some stuff by the way we got invited to do something share that real 550 00:56:11,520 --> 00:56:18,240 quick well we got invited to be part of a carnivore documentary that's gonna be airing they're hoping 551 00:56:18,240 --> 00:56:25,600 on netflix in the next year and so they're gonna come out here and film us yeah next may june be 552 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:30,960 fun and uh they're gonna be they're gonna have some episodes as well and so they want us to be 553 00:56:30,960 --> 00:56:38,560 part of the episodes yeah so we have to stay strong in carnivore over the holidays and this 554 00:56:38,560 --> 00:56:43,120 is when people have a hard time but we killed about 24 ounces of steak this evening yes we're 555 00:56:43,120 --> 00:56:48,400 doing we're doing well i'm feeling good i'm feeling like a lion that just ate a water buffalo and i 556 00:56:48,400 --> 00:56:53,600 feel amazing so but anyway yeah i mean we're doing the carnival we've talked about that we'll go into 557 00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:58,400 it now just for time's sake but it'll always be a part of our show because it's a part of our life 558 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:05,200 mind body spirit total life wellness and being carnivores is part of that for us so um here's 559 00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:11,360 oh man i love adam curry adam curry gave us a stropper boost which he is all about so 560 00:57:13,040 --> 00:57:20,560 at 77,777 sats thank you my brother my dear brother and friend he says the crossover 561 00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:24,480 meetup was wonderful yeah we did the meetup that was so cool we talked about in the last show 562 00:57:24,480 --> 00:57:29,440 so many living up and down world listeners connection is protection it is my brother love 563 00:57:29,440 --> 00:57:36,000 you and then also from someone they didn't put a name in them but it's tof4471 they gave us some 564 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:43,120 sats boost for christ i love that i have no idea how i made it all the way from adam's first joe 565 00:57:43,120 --> 00:57:50,400 rogan experience appearance to no agenda to curry and the keeper to here wow he says it could only 566 00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:59,200 it could only be one reason and that's all part of the plan so tof brother thank you that our sister 567 00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:04,080 thank you for sharing that and i'm glad that you did find your way to living up in a down world and 568 00:58:04,080 --> 00:58:11,360 so we love you guys hey it's been fun today and we hope that you're having an amazing week hey by 569 00:58:11,360 --> 00:58:16,400 the way what do you think before what comes first to your mind get out there and share that good 570 00:58:16,400 --> 00:58:23,760 news and start living up in a down world god bless you bye bye 571 00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:46,900 you