1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,440 Welcome back to another episode of Faithfully Engaged. 2 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,560 Today we have Paul Granger on as a guest. 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,800 So, Paul, it's great to see you and why don't you tell the audience just a little bit about 4 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:21,800 yourself. 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:23,640 Yeah, well, it's great to be here. 6 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,760 I appreciate the opportunity and I'm looking forward to the conversation. 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:33,400 And one of the ways that I like to introduce myself is my role as ambassador of Christ. 8 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,640 So like when we meet somebody new, we want to know what their job is. 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:37,640 What is it that you do? 10 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,920 And we put a lot of stock on that identity. 11 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,560 I've had a number of things in my life that have brought me to the place of realizing 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,680 that my job is ambassador of Christ. 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,800 My identity is someone made in the image of God that's being invited to represent him, 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,880 both in functional and unexpected ways. 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:04,800 And so practically the way that plays out is I am full-time ministry, fully support-based, 16 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,600 and that takes many forms from content creation. 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:14,560 I run a podcast, Where Did You See God, to writing things, to conversations on the porch, 18 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,960 to facilitating a community Bible study, to serving alongside youth with a mission. 19 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:22,760 But the funny thing is, over the last five years, there's been a lot of inconsistency, 20 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:28,880 a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unknowns, because God's basically inviting me to wake 21 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,640 up every day and say, am I willing to seek God first? 22 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,560 Am I willing to step where He invites me to step? 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,880 And then when I do it, I may not know what's ahead, but I know God's ahead. 24 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:39,880 Yeah. 25 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,960 I think that's a fantastic way to describe that, and that's something we are, I think, 26 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:46,360 all pretty guilty of. 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:52,560 Well, like me, I'm a counselor, and that's what I start that introduction by. 28 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,360 So let's start with that of Ambassador of Christ. 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,320 Kind of explain to the audience what exactly you mean by that. 30 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:03,360 What's it mean to be an ambassador of Christ? 31 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:04,360 Yeah. 32 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:09,800 Well, when we think about ambassadorship in general, the idea is that somebody has been 33 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:16,120 given the opportunity, the privilege, the responsibility to represent something bigger 34 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,760 than them, something that that's not themselves. 35 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:23,440 So we think of it often in terms of somebody being an ambassador of their country. 36 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,440 So if I were to be an ambassador of the United States, I would go to some other country and 37 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,720 I would represent the United States. 38 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,800 I would represent what that means to be a United States citizen, the interests, the 39 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,920 desires, the hopes. 40 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:42,560 Sometimes I will be given specific things to communicate to other leaders. 41 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:47,520 And so when we bring that into what it means to be ambassadors of Christ, we are being 42 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:53,080 given the opportunity, the privilege, the responsibility to represent something very 43 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,760 much beyond ourselves, to represent God, to represent Christ. 44 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:04,760 A lot of times what we end up doing is basically just wearing a name tag that says Christian, 45 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,640 but that's the extent to which it impacts our lives. 46 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:14,160 And we're not intentionally doing this, but functionally, the worries of life, the desires 47 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,280 of life become the things that we are predominantly focused on. 48 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:24,680 But an ambassador, a good ambassador, knows that at every moment they are representing 49 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:26,000 their country. 50 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,280 They are representing their leader. 51 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,920 So what they say, what they do matters. 52 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:35,920 And so when we talk about being ambassadors of Christ, there is this idea of recognizing 53 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,320 that whatever life was about, whatever we were pursuing, we are making the conscious 54 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:46,640 choice to say, I'm forgoing all of that for the sake of representing Christ and sharing 55 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,600 Him with whoever God puts in my path. 56 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:55,240 And that could be a tricky thing because like I mentioned, there's a lot of uncertainty 57 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:56,240 in that. 58 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:57,400 Let's look at the disciples. 59 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,600 The disciples knew what their lives were about before Jesus showed up. 60 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:03,440 Peter, I'm a fisherman. 61 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:04,520 My dad was a fisherman. 62 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:05,800 My grandpa was a fisherman. 63 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:07,440 My kids are going to be fishermen. 64 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,400 I know what it means to get in a boat and get the fish. 65 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,400 I get paid for the fish I get. 66 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:13,400 I feed my family. 67 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,160 I get in the boat the next day and repeat. 68 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,400 Then this guy comes up who Peter can tell there's something special about him. 69 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:26,560 And Jesus basically says to him, hey, would you like to be unemployed and follow me around? 70 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:27,560 Right? 71 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:32,080 And Peter was stepping into something that he had no experience of that was beyond his 72 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:33,080 comprehension. 73 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,320 We see him wrestling with trying to grapple with this identity of Jesus, the purpose of 74 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,120 Jesus throughout the three years of ministry and even into acts. 75 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,960 But Jesus continues to invite him to represent him. 76 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,280 He invites Peter to be a representative and ambassador of who he is and what he's doing, 77 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:56,640 both in really functional ways when Jesus sends out all the disciples, all the way up 78 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,120 to when Jesus commissions Peter, basically said, I would like you to be one of the spiritual 79 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:06,320 leaders of what my body, the church is going to look like. 80 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,760 And so we can look at Peter and see all the ways that we can misstep in that and all the 81 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,600 ways that God can work despite our missteps. 82 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:21,240 But the big thing that we see is where Peter lands at the end of his life is nothing like 83 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,760 what Peter would have expected, which is Ephesians 3.20, right? 84 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,720 To him who's able to do far exceedingly more than we could ask or imagine. 85 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:33,200 I don't know what Peter was asking for or imagining for his life, but being a fisher 86 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,720 of men was probably not it. 87 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:41,720 Being an ambassador of Christ who he watched be beaten and crucified and then come back 88 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:47,040 to life and then rise up in the sky like was not on his docket. 89 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:52,960 And yet at some point or more at multiple points, he made the conscious decision to accept 90 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:58,920 that invitation, to accept that opportunity, to accept that responsibility, and then to 91 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,880 learn what it means to live that out. 92 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:02,200 So for us, it's the same. 93 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,680 It starts with us being willing to say, okay, I'm willing to kill him. 94 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,920 Count the cost and step into this unique role. 95 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,800 And then I know tomorrow I'm probably going to have to learn a little more about what 96 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:13,800 that means. 97 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,440 And the next day, and the next day all the way up to the end of our lives. 98 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,960 Because the apostle Paul says not that I've achieved perfection, but I continue to run 99 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:20,960 the race. 100 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,720 We're going to continue to learn what this looks like. 101 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:29,560 But it really is a beautiful invitation because again, abundantly more is waiting for us when 102 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,080 we step into it. 103 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:37,400 You know, as you were talking, my thoughts were kind of going to something we've really 104 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:43,480 been talking about at my church and my small group specifically, of really of about stewardship 105 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,320 and particularly financial stewardship. 106 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:55,400 But really just in general, that when we look at stewardship, it's looking at taking care 107 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,960 of something that is not your own. 108 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:07,520 And being that ambassador, you are intentionally laying down your own life and raising up a 109 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:11,720 life that is way better than anything that you could imagine, like you're saying with 110 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:13,400 Peter there. 111 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:18,200 And same thing kind of goes in the on the financial side of things. 112 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:25,200 If you are a believer and you do your tithe, do your offering, you're intentionally giving 113 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:30,640 up money and the worldly view like, well, why do you do when you could be using that 114 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,600 money for something great? 115 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:38,520 But we look at it as Christians that ultimately that's not even our money. 116 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:44,760 That's like God gifted us that and we are needing to use it for what's best for him 117 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,080 and best for his kingdom. 118 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:54,480 And kind of on that line of thinking on the financial side of things, being an ambassador, 119 00:07:54,480 --> 00:08:04,560 being a steward of money, how does one faithfully use money and be able to really thrive in 120 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:10,640 that condition while not trying to just maximize the amount of money and the bank account? 121 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,320 How does one make sense of that? 122 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,400 Well, and it's tricky. 123 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:21,280 The scripture says that the root of all evil, a root of all evil is the love of money. 124 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:27,760 It's something to that effect, but there is some uniqueness about how it's worded that 125 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,680 I've taken that in the past as meaning greed. 126 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:33,320 So as long as I'm not greedy, I'm fine. 127 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:38,000 But there's something about the implication of it being the love of money that isn't just 128 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,240 like, I love money, give me all the money. 129 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,160 But sometimes it's, I need money in order to survive. 130 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:45,960 So it's hitting on both ends. 131 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,960 And there's this fear of the financial that we often carry. 132 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,400 Because logically, it's a legitimate thing. 133 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,640 We need certain things to exist, food, water, and shelter. 134 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,080 Those things typically aren't free. 135 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,480 So if they're not free, that means they cost money, right? 136 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:08,000 And well, in order to get money, you either have to have a job or get really lucky and 137 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,240 win the lottery or get an inheritance or some other random thing. 138 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,440 But for the majority of the world, it's through employment. 139 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:18,200 So you have to have a job to get the money and you need the money in order to survive. 140 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:24,320 And again, we talked about this idea of Peter had this more or less steady income. 141 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,360 And then Jesus says, come be unemployed with me. 142 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,960 And there were numerous points at which they didn't have enough money. 143 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,080 There is a point where they're walking into the city and Jesus sent a disciple, it might 144 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,880 have been Peter, are coming in and they see a tax collector and the disciples like, whoa, 145 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:39,920 whoa, whoa, what are we going to do? 146 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,240 We don't have money to pay the taxes. 147 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:43,320 We need money. 148 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,520 And so, and there's no way for us to get money. 149 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,400 Wherever you look at the feeding of the 5,000, all these people need to eat. 150 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:52,840 We don't have the money to feed them. 151 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:58,640 What Jesus responds to in that moment is the reality that you don't actually need money. 152 00:09:58,640 --> 00:09:59,640 You need God. 153 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,800 God is provider and God can provide in creative ways. 154 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,280 So for the taxes, he's like, why are you worried about this? 155 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,880 Just go to that fish and reach in and there's money in there. 156 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:10,760 Or why are you worried about the food? 157 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:11,760 Just feed them. 158 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:12,760 And they're like, we don't know how. 159 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:13,760 And he's like, okay, fine. 160 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,040 I've got a couple loaves, a couple fish, give it to me. 161 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:18,040 Right? 162 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:19,040 And he does this many times. 163 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:26,360 In fact, even beyond Jesus, throughout scripture, we see God providing in miraculous, unexpected, 164 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:27,880 impossible ways. 165 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:31,800 And yet we as believers continue to fall back into financial fear. 166 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,080 So I think that's the starting point. 167 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:39,720 We have to acknowledge that we do have a love of money, whether it's greed or a fear of not 168 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:41,400 having it. 169 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:43,920 We have that and it drives us to make decisions. 170 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,720 I want to trust God, but I need to keep this job. 171 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,920 Or I want to trust God, but I have to do this. 172 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,560 Or I want to trust God, but if I do that, I could lose money. 173 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:56,840 Ministries, churches, how often do they make decisions out of fear that that donor might 174 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,600 not give if they do a certain thing? 175 00:10:58,600 --> 00:10:59,600 Right? 176 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,720 We're constantly making decisions out of the fear of the financial. 177 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,440 Well about five years ago, I unexpectedly lost my job. 178 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,600 And I say unexpectedly because it happened in a way that it didn't happen for anyone 179 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:11,600 else. 180 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,720 No one expected it, but God actually gave me a heads up that it might happen. 181 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,600 And so I was able to go in with a piece and an awareness of the spirit working. 182 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,920 There's a whole story around that that I won't tell at this moment. 183 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:29,080 But what I will say is that it happened at really the worst possible time. 184 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,520 We were already tight on our income. 185 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,000 My wife and I both worked at the same ministry and we're working at a ministry, which doesn't 186 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,240 pay a lot, but my wife was pregnant with a third child. 187 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,960 So losing a job, that's not good. 188 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:48,160 I need money in order to pay for all the mortgage and the food for the kids and the kid that's 189 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,200 coming and you need a job. 190 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,360 And God told me, don't operate out of fear of the financial. 191 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:55,960 Trust me as provider. 192 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:04,080 He actually invited me to not job search for that first month and for that second month. 193 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:08,920 And then in going into the third month, the invitation was just to do my due diligence. 194 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,640 To not stress, to not like, oh, I got to get a job. 195 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,640 I ended up being unemployed for six months. 196 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:19,440 And yet in that, there is this deep awareness that God was provider, that I didn't need 197 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:21,280 money that I needed God. 198 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,640 God could provide through money, but he could provide in other ways. 199 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:26,920 My wife and I, we worked the numbers. 200 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,320 We knew when our money was going to run out. 201 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:30,840 You know what didn't happen? 202 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:32,200 Our money running out. 203 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:33,560 You know what else happened? 204 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:34,560 Christmas. 205 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:38,840 Me ending up in the hospital, my wife having a child, my cat needing dental surgery, my 206 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:40,720 car needing work. 207 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,200 And not only were all those things covered, but we didn't scale back. 208 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,240 We didn't say, sorry, kids, no gifts this Christmas. 209 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,760 We didn't say, sorry, kids, it's going to be spaghetti every night. 210 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:55,040 Like God invited us to continue to operate as we were operating, not to operate out of 211 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,040 fear. 212 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,920 And at the end of that unemployment, I had job opportunities and this clear invitation 213 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,800 from God to step into something really crazy, which was to work with youth with a mission, 214 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:10,600 which for anyone who knows, they know that nobody gets paid at YWAM. 215 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:11,840 Everybody's a volunteer. 216 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:16,200 You basically, I don't want to say you live off support because that in a way goes against 217 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:17,200 what I'm saying. 218 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:18,360 I don't live off of support. 219 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:19,880 I trust God as provider. 220 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,200 He chooses to provide through people, through the generosity of others. 221 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,320 And he's also provided in unexpected ways, ways that I don't even, I can't even explain 222 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:29,800 right now. 223 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,520 And I just hit the four year mark of that. 224 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,000 Two of those years, by the way, my wife felt like God was calling her to leave her job. 225 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,400 So now we had no income and God continued to provide. 226 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:47,240 And so what I'm trying to drive home here is that we have an unhealthy understanding 227 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,160 of money and unhealthy reliance on money. 228 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:56,920 And it's a logical understanding and reliance. 229 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,560 But the wisdom of God is foolishness to man. 230 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,560 Jesus says to count the cost. 231 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,680 We're being invited to, you know, as Proverbs three, five and six says, trust in the Lord 232 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,480 with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding and all your ways submit 233 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,040 to him and he will set your past straight. 234 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:13,480 God's basically saying, look, I get it. 235 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,240 I know you have your own understanding. 236 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,520 I want to invite you to not lean on it. 237 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,800 You could be aware of it, but don't lean on it for your support. 238 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:21,800 Trust in me. 239 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,040 Fully trust in me. 240 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:24,480 I know what I'm talking about. 241 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:27,920 If you submit to me, I'm going to set your past straight. 242 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,160 And so that's the big answer. 243 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:35,240 Because God has has a proven track record of being faithful as provider and he continues 244 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:36,760 to invite us. 245 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,720 And so when we are finding ourselves fearful or struggling, it's not because God dropped 246 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:47,400 the ball, but sometimes it's because we're not actually reaching for the ball from them. 247 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:52,040 We're trusting ourselves or, and this is a, this is another big thing. 248 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,360 We set in our minds how things should work. 249 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:01,280 And so when God doesn't give us, you know, if I'm a missionary and I know what number 250 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:06,280 I feel like I need to meet and it's not hit, then I can say, oh, God's not providing. 251 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:07,280 Right. 252 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,160 Like, well, maybe God doesn't want to fill your bank account. 253 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,160 Maybe he wants to do like he did with the Israelites and give you manna. 254 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:17,000 He didn't give him a stockpile of manna that then he's like, all right, here you go. 255 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,680 I'll check back in in a month. 256 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,920 Like the idea wasn't that they were getting stuff from him. 257 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,120 It was relationship. 258 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:28,800 It was that by getting that manna every day, they were continuing to remember who God was. 259 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,840 They were continuing to remember that God was providing for them, that they had the opportunity 260 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,160 to trust anybody who tried to stockpile. 261 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,440 So they didn't have to deal with God the next day or they didn't have to risk it just in 262 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:39,960 case it's not there. 263 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:40,960 Didn't work out. 264 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:41,960 It rotted. 265 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:46,720 Now this was magical manna because there is this rule that it would only last a day except 266 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:51,640 on the Sabbath, at which point they could gather double in the last two days. 267 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:52,760 God knows what he's doing. 268 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:58,000 He's doing the impossible, but he's also doing it because he desires that connection with 269 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,000 us. 270 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,360 Do we actually want connection with him? 271 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,440 That's the question we don't always want to ask. 272 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,400 I think that's a fantastic way to put that. 273 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:12,240 And this kind of, I'm going to talk this out a little bit, but leads us to my next question 274 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:22,280 of I hear often, not necessarily intentionally, but practically of different spheres. 275 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,160 And some of this is legitimate. 276 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:29,720 Like how I am at work isn't exactly the same as how I am at home. 277 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:34,480 How I am with my friends isn't exactly how I am with my family. 278 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,160 Some of that is just reality and truth. 279 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:42,720 But what happens is we often have our spiritual sphere. 280 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,640 Here's my church sphere. 281 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:46,600 Here's my prayer sphere. 282 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:48,360 And that stays over here. 283 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:55,200 It doesn't infect my work sphere or my family sphere, it's just its own little bubble there. 284 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:02,600 So to somebody that either explicitly believes that or just practically is kind of believing 285 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,500 that one, what's wrong with that? 286 00:17:05,500 --> 00:17:07,640 Why should they not believe that way? 287 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,760 And two, if they are, what do they do about it? 288 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:12,160 How can they stop doing that? 289 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:13,160 Yeah. 290 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:17,040 Well, I want to encourage everyone that like you said, it's logical. 291 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,960 I mean, we're raised into this idea of how to function. 292 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:21,960 It makes sense. 293 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,960 It's natural. 294 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:31,000 But the reason that it's not a great way to think is because it's not actually how reality 295 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:32,000 works. 296 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:33,520 And I'll put it like this. 297 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:38,520 The way I used to describe it when I ran internships is like you were saying, it's like we have 298 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,760 this table and we have all these components of our life and we have our spirituality, 299 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:43,760 our relationship with God. 300 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:44,760 Yeah, that's important. 301 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:51,160 And we have our own center, but also my education or my job or my relationships and my home 302 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:52,160 and my community. 303 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:54,160 And now the table is starting to get crowded. 304 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,080 And well, this passion of mine, this is important. 305 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,560 So I'm not pushing God out the way, but let's put both of these in the center. 306 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,320 But oh, man, oh, no, I'm starting to stress out about this. 307 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:04,800 And so this has got to be the focus. 308 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,520 And we don't notice it happening, but God's getting pushed a little more, a little more 309 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:14,280 to the edge of the table, possibly falling off the table. 310 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,240 And then we're like, oh, man, how did this happen? 311 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:17,240 Or what do I do? 312 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,480 Or we just feel overwhelmed. 313 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:20,480 And that makes sense. 314 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:25,680 We've got all these things in our life and it can feel hard to make space for God. 315 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,560 The problem with that is that isn't actually how reality works. 316 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:31,280 God isn't some part of the table. 317 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,280 The spiritual isn't some thing on the table. 318 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:35,960 It is the table. 319 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,000 Like our reality is spiritual. 320 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:45,080 And so a right understanding is to say that is spiritual and all these things, therefore, 321 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:46,080 on top of it. 322 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:51,920 This is why Scripture talks about the ability in anything you do, you can serve God, right? 323 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,280 Like, and some people will reference it. 324 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,360 So that means if I'm cleaning toilets, I can be serving God. 325 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:02,560 And it could sometimes be a little bit of mental acrobatics trying to make that work 326 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,920 in our heads, because it's like, how does scrubbing a toilet actually glorify God, especially 327 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,040 if it's my toilet and not somebody else that I'm serving. 328 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:15,400 But the thing is, is if the table is spiritual, if our reality is a spiritual reality, then 329 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,400 that means anything that's happening is naturally a part of that. 330 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:25,000 And so that's the first step for someone who wants to break that is to step back and actually 331 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,920 consider that reality. 332 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,560 What if God isn't something that I've got to fit amongst all these things, but actually 333 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,280 is present in the midst of all these things. 334 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:38,200 And so when I am at work, it doesn't have to be this independent, separate thing that 335 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,160 I function differently than I do at church. 336 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,860 I can recognize God's with me in this space. 337 00:19:43,860 --> 00:19:49,720 When I'm doing some menial task, I can recognize, I can do this as a way of honoring God, like 338 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:50,720 as a way of life. 339 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:54,480 God, I'm going to put my best into this as a way to show glory to you. 340 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:59,180 Like, I mean, it could be small things like that, but the bigger thing is our mentality. 341 00:19:59,180 --> 00:20:03,840 Are we willing to actually recognize that all of it is within God's domain? 342 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,280 Or do we want to stay segmented? 343 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,680 And then God is the one to two hours on Sunday. 344 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:15,080 And maybe if we're awake in time and have the energy some amount of time each day or 345 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:19,440 every other day, or like God, God doesn't have to be segmented. 346 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,720 Now the good news is, is it also can be very organic. 347 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,880 I think the other problem is we're kind of raised into this segment in mindset because 348 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,360 we think of engaging God in very stringent ways. 349 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:35,620 So it's church, it's praying, it's reading your Bible. 350 00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:39,320 And depending on your experience of that, those can look very specific too. 351 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,200 It's 30 minutes in your Bible and you have to have your journal. 352 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,800 And prayer has to be quiet and it has to be for this amount of time and you got to have 353 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:46,800 a list. 354 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,800 Well, what happens if you've got young kids and there is no such thing as quiet in your 355 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,000 house? 356 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:57,640 What if you're working like two jobs and there's no such thing as spare time? 357 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:01,480 What if you're working a job that actually puts you on the schedule on Sundays and you 358 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,000 can't go to church regularly? 359 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,240 You can't build that community. 360 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,320 Like there's all kinds of, there are people in the world that are working every day just 361 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,360 to get like one meal on the table for their family. 362 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,360 So are they not able to have a relationship with God? 363 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:21,320 Well, no, actually they can because connecting with God can take many different forms depending 364 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:22,520 on the season of our lives. 365 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,160 It's great if we're in a season of our life where we have ample time to pray or ample time 366 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,560 to read the word or ample quiet. 367 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:33,960 But in the absence of that, God can connect with us even when we have very little offer. 368 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:38,800 We see this with Elijah when he is like at the end of himself and he's like, just take 369 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:44,960 me now, God, I'm just, I'm out of strength and God meets him in that space. 370 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,240 Elijah's offering very little at that point. 371 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,480 Like God is doing the heavy lifting there, but there is still connection there. 372 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,160 And as he builds his strength, maybe he's able to contribute a little more. 373 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,360 And so it can feel hard to seek God in certain spaces. 374 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,040 It can feel unnatural and especially if we feel like it has to look a certain way. 375 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:10,040 Seeking God in my secular work environment, I guess does that have to look like evangelizing? 376 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:11,200 And what if I get in trouble? 377 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:12,400 Or what if it feels awkward? 378 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,200 Or what if I lose relationships? 379 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,840 Well, maybe it doesn't look like that. 380 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,960 Maybe it looks like extending love. 381 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,040 Maybe it looks like interacting with that person that nobody else is interacting with. 382 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:27,760 Maybe it looks, I don't know, maybe it looks like sitting in silence during your break 383 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,040 and just spending time with God. 384 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:34,800 The bottom line is it can take that, take different forms and our starting point is 385 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,440 simply saying, God, I want to seek you, help me to know what that looks like. 386 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,720 Just start simply like that and see what God brings out. 387 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:43,720 I like that. 388 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:51,480 I love the kind of the imagery there of, no, that God is a piece of the table. 389 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:52,480 He is the table. 390 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:53,800 He is all. 391 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:58,160 And we are the ones that are just trying to manage the little life, the little speck 392 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:02,440 of life that we have and really keeping that in context. 393 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:10,160 And I'm big on this just in my counseling practice of break it down to the smallest piece. 394 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:15,800 If I'm working with somebody and they want to start exercising, they are, they realize 395 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:22,720 the physical health, the spiritual health, the mental health, all the benefits of exercise. 396 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:27,800 But they see their best friend that's running a marathon and that guy wants to invite them 397 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,000 to go with them. 398 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,600 That's pretty intimidating. 399 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:35,480 But what's not intimidating is going and walking to your mailbox. 400 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:36,480 You could do that. 401 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,800 It's kind of the same thing here. 402 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:44,800 It'd be great to pray an hour long a day and read an hour long a day. 403 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:45,800 Fantastic. 404 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,840 And if you can get there, great, but do something. 405 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,520 We don't have to over complicate it. 406 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,040 Just seek God and do something. 407 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,920 And I think that makes that really practical the way that you explain that. 408 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,640 I had a pastor that the way he worded it is the low hanging fruit. 409 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,880 When you're in a season of war in your life where just it's really hard, just go for the 410 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:07,880 low hanging fruit. 411 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,840 That is a simple way that you can connect with God. 412 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,840 Does music, does worship music help you connect with God? 413 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,160 Okay, then start there. 414 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:16,160 Play some worship music. 415 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:17,160 Is it prayer? 416 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:18,160 Is it the word? 417 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:19,560 Whatever it is, just the low hanging fruit. 418 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:26,280 And the reason that doesn't seem like enough is because we have built this idea that only 419 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:27,800 the best is enough. 420 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:34,480 Like, we'll look at that ministry worker who's started this phenomenal nonprofit is doing 421 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,880 amazing things or this pastor that's speaking eloquently and knows all these scriptures 422 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,640 or this person that prays for 20 hours a day or this, right? 423 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,200 Like those are our metrics of success. 424 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,480 That's not God's metric of success. 425 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,840 God's not saying, all right, I only want the best because you look at scripture. 426 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,000 He didn't choose the best most of the time. 427 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:58,040 He intentionally chose the least chose the people who are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, why 428 00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,440 are you choosing me? 429 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,120 Moses is like, I can't talk well. 430 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:04,640 Gideon's like, I'm the least of the least of the least. 431 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:06,720 Jonah's like, I don't even like those people. 432 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:13,320 All right, like he chose people that didn't bring a whole lot to the table because at 433 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:18,720 the end of the day, it was their willingness to step despite all their reasons, not to step 434 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,040 that made the big difference. 435 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,800 And so yeah, that low hanging fruit, those small steps, those small things, like in our 436 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,960 minds, they look small, but in God's eyes, they're huge. 437 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,360 Right, again, like five loaves and two fish, small. 438 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:33,360 That's small. 439 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:34,800 Nobody thought anything could happen with that. 440 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,600 The woman who gave the two mites is her contribution. 441 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,240 Everybody looked down at her. 442 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,000 That's a small donation. 443 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,120 Jesus looked at both those things and was like, y'all don't even know how big this is. 444 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:50,840 So like, yeah, don't feel shame about your minuscule offering to God. 445 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:55,760 Like if it's an authentic offering to God, be like the woman who gave the two coins and 446 00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:00,480 recognize that Jesus is looking at that and is like that, look at that. 447 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:06,360 So and so had no strength left, no desire left, and they gave those two minutes or they gave 448 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:13,280 those two smiles to that person or that Jesus sees that and knows how much bigger, how much 449 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,920 fruit that can produce. 450 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,880 Even if we can't see it, doesn't mean God can't. 451 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:19,880 Absolutely. 452 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:25,920 And another thing that kind of comes to my mind when you're saying that is, well, really 453 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:26,920 two things. 454 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:33,320 I've had this conversation with several people recently about something that my church does. 455 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:39,040 Once a month, we kind of have a potluck and one quarter, every quarter we end it with a 456 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:44,680 business meeting, but the other first Sundays of the month, we just do a potluck and then 457 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,720 somebody from the church shares their testimony. 458 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:56,000 And I really love it because we're generally not great at sharing our own testimony or what 459 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:01,160 happens is a lot of people that grew up in the church and this is kind of how I was. 460 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:07,560 I grew up in the church and about the age of six, realized I was a sinner, realized Jesus 461 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,080 died for my sins and I accepted that. 462 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:16,000 And sure, there's other valleys and mountains throughout my life, but by and large, that's 463 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,000 the story. 464 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,120 God saved me at a young age and I'm super grateful for that. 465 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:28,480 And as I grew older and I heard some of these incredible stories, I was this motorcycle gang 466 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,160 member doing hardcore drugs and God saved me from that. 467 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,400 I'm like, well, what's my testimony? 468 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,320 My testimony is weak. 469 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,760 And the older I've gotten, the more mature in my faith I've gotten. 470 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:44,440 I've realized how silly that is that it's not about us. 471 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,240 None of us can save ourselves. 472 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:47,600 It's about who saved us. 473 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,880 That's where the testimony gets its strength from. 474 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:55,480 So that's one thing that I was kind of thinking through of don't doubt your testimony, no 475 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,520 matter how insignificant you might think it is. 476 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:00,520 It's not. 477 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,520 It is very significant. 478 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:11,240 The other thing that came to my mind of just the kind of the significance, I'm pretty big 479 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:17,960 on not demonizing technology, which is kind of a trend and some Christian circle sometimes 480 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:23,000 of chat, GPT is going to take us all down and that mentality. 481 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,600 Now, don't get me wrong. 482 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:26,960 Technology can be used for evil. 483 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:32,000 I won't say otherwise, but technology is fairly agnostic. 484 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,520 It can be used for good or for bad. 485 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:43,960 And I see this on social media that great things on social media of old sermons or you can 486 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,040 listen to some of the big guys out there. 487 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:51,880 Maybe you listen to a John Piper sermon or John MacArthur, whatever. 488 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,720 And there's great resources out there. 489 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,200 And I love that. 490 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,480 But that kind of goes back into like, oh, I'll never be like them. 491 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,960 Those guys, they got it all figured out. 492 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,160 I'm just this insignificant little pawn scum. 493 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:07,720 I'm not like them. 494 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:11,080 And you're missing the point. 495 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:12,320 They're not great either. 496 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,280 It's who they're pointed to. 497 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:19,720 And I guess that kind of leads into this next question there that somebody that feels like, 498 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,880 oh, my testimony is nothing. 499 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,880 I don't have this big strong ministry like they do. 500 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:32,240 What should they do to kind of look at their own heart and not downgrade their role? 501 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:33,240 Yeah. 502 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:34,240 Yeah. 503 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,440 What's hilarious about that is we keep forgetting what actually makes a good story. 504 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:40,440 Right? 505 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,480 Like, you've got the superhero movies now, right? 506 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:46,080 That are all about big action. 507 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:53,360 You know, there's the cost is huge and what could go wrong if they don't save the world. 508 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:58,080 But if we're honest, like, we know that that's one type of movie. 509 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:03,640 And most of us also like movies that don't, the stakes aren't so high. 510 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,920 So most of us like certain movies that it's kind of a chill pace, right? 511 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:13,040 So we are aware that stories can take different forms, but you're right. 512 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:17,800 When it comes to testimonies, we're going for the Marvel testimonies, right? 513 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:23,240 We don't want the simple coming of age story testimony. 514 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:28,320 We don't want the simple like buddy fun movies. 515 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:32,640 Like we don't want that because we want the big one because that's the one that, you know, 516 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,360 just breaks the box office. 517 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:40,120 But I think we got to remind ourselves who writes the story. 518 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,560 And if we're honest, we don't write the story. 519 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:43,800 We know that. 520 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:46,560 We will say, oh yeah, God writes the story. 521 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,960 And so when we're dismissing the story, we have to remind ourselves it's kind of like 522 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,040 we're going to God and saying, God, that wasn't a good story. 523 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,000 We didn't write a good one there. 524 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:01,520 Like there are people in our lives, if we know writers and if they're good writers, we won't 525 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:06,080 go up to them and necessarily just like dismiss all their work if it doesn't fit one thing. 526 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,040 Like we'll recognize they could write different forms. 527 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:14,240 There's a novel, here's a haiku, here's, you know, a short essay. 528 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:16,560 Like we, a good writer can write in different ways. 529 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,760 And in the same way God can write different types of stories because he knows the purpose 530 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:22,720 of the stories he's writing. 531 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,680 And there are stories that he's writing to be big and attention grabbing. 532 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,640 And there's other stories that he's writing for other purposes. 533 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:35,160 The other thing that we had to recognize is in that moment we can feel really isolated 534 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:40,320 and alone because it seems like everyone else has a good testimony, but I don't. 535 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:46,080 Well, are we really going to assume that we're the only ones with a seemingly simple testimony? 536 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,840 The truth is you were not because I've been there too. 537 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,440 For a long time I was like, I've got a boring testimony. 538 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:58,520 And but the thing is, is that there are things that are a part of my story that were also 539 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,480 a part of somebody else's story. 540 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:05,080 And when I'm willing to share that, it may not be the attention grabbing thing, but that 541 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,240 person's attention is going to be grabbed because they're going to be like, that's me. 542 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:09,240 I get that. 543 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,200 I was in the church all my life too. 544 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,200 I felt like things are really simple too. 545 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:17,020 Like I felt like I always just kind of knew God and my journey was coming to know him 546 00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:19,480 deeper, like suddenly there's a resonating. 547 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,880 Some of my favorite movies are just simple ones. 548 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,240 The world's not ending. 549 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,200 There's no big score or anything. 550 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:26,200 It's just very simple. 551 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,480 It's a beautiful, simple story. 552 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:30,760 Maybe that's what God has for us. 553 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:36,640 And you know, the other piece of it too is we we treat testimonies as like a one and 554 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:37,640 done thing. 555 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:39,520 It's written and boom, there it is. 556 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:40,520 All right. 557 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:41,520 I got it on the shelf. 558 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:42,520 I got a bunch of books behind me now. 559 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:43,520 There's my testimonies right there. 560 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:50,800 Now, like what I've come to realize is that my testimony is continuing to be written. 561 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:56,440 There may be pivotal points where I made decisions to trust God or follow God or do this, that 562 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:57,760 or the other. 563 00:32:57,760 --> 00:32:58,920 But I'm continuing to learn. 564 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:03,800 Peter had a pivotal point where he said, I'm not going to live the same way I have been. 565 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,160 I'm going to follow this Jesus guy. 566 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:07,840 That was his decision moment. 567 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:09,080 That's not his testimony. 568 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,080 That's a chapter of his testimony. 569 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:16,240 He had many other chapters leading up to being martyred. 570 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:22,860 And so now when I think of sharing my testimony, man, it takes so many different forms depending 571 00:33:22,860 --> 00:33:27,320 on who I'm talking to, depending on what I feel like they've experienced. 572 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:32,120 And I'm able to actually share parts of my life almost as like independent testimonies. 573 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:37,520 Because again, like you described, I don't have that one singular date. 574 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:44,640 This is the day that I got off my Harley through the drugs in the toilet and stopped killing 575 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:46,320 people and said, Jesus, I'm yours. 576 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,040 Like I didn't have that. 577 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:52,060 But what that meant is I had, and everyone has this, but I've had so many moments of 578 00:33:52,060 --> 00:33:57,360 consciously making a decision where I could go this way, but I'm going to choose God. 579 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,720 And now there are so many stories, so many chapters. 580 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:05,280 And it's exciting and also a little daunting that there are so many chapters ahead. 581 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:10,000 And so God is writing a story for everyone. 582 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,320 God is a good author. 583 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:14,480 He is a really good author. 584 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:19,640 And if the story doesn't make sense to you now, maybe that's because it's not done being 585 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:20,640 written. 586 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,160 Maybe the chapter's not done being written. 587 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:26,120 And I can guarantee you there will come a point where you will look back at a season 588 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,860 and you will see it differently than you did in the midst. 589 00:34:28,860 --> 00:34:33,440 What seemed like an incoherent stringing of words together, you'll see the beauty, the 590 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:38,160 artistry, the intentionality around how God phrased certain things. 591 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:42,200 But it all starts with, are we willing to trust God as the author? 592 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,200 And the humility to say, often we don't. 593 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:46,880 And that's okay. 594 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:52,680 Are we willing to choose to trust now and then choose to trust again tomorrow? 595 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:58,120 I've really been getting into the idea of storytelling. 596 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:03,320 That's a big part of why I have this podcast, to hear other people's stories. 597 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:12,520 And my brain typically isn't the more artistic type, like my mom and sister. 598 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:13,520 They're better at that. 599 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,480 They can draw better and write more eloquently. 600 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,680 Their brain just works a little bit more in that way. 601 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:25,880 And my dad and I, my dad's more of an engineer type, so it's kind of a little bit more structured, 602 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,520 not as much on the story side. 603 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:35,160 But I'm starting to realize that stories are, they're not just a nice little book that we 604 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,400 read every once in a while. 605 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:38,400 It's life. 606 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,200 All of our lives are stories. 607 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,000 You put there, God is the author of these stories. 608 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:50,760 We can look at, I don't just have to look at a piece of art being hanging on a wall, 609 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:52,280 although that is art. 610 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:53,880 I can go look at a mountain. 611 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,960 That's incredible art. 612 00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:02,800 But something that my wife and I really enjoy about mountains is because everyone is completely 613 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:03,960 different. 614 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,800 And we live in rural Oklahoma. 615 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,760 Every sunset is completely different. 616 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,400 And that is beautiful. 617 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:22,720 So art stories, even if you are not an artistic type individually, you need to learn the beauty 618 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:28,000 of that because it's more than just a left brain, right brain thing. 619 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:29,000 That's life. 620 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,920 Life is a story. 621 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:38,760 And we're forgetting the, in Acts, Jesus says, I got to go, but I'm going to send a 622 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:39,760 helper. 623 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:43,480 And there's this idea of this helper that actually equips the disciples to do things 624 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:49,200 that they couldn't do, that wasn't in their mindset or skill set to do. 625 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:56,840 And we forget the reality that our ability to serve God isn't contingent on our skill 626 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,400 set. 627 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:04,000 And so there are ways, like if somebody feels like they're not creative, first, we're made 628 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,040 in the image of God and God is creator. 629 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:11,600 So we're made in the image of the creator, which means that there are elements of creating 630 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,400 that are a part of our design. 631 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:20,400 But the other pieces is when we do not feel like the creative type, who's to say God can't 632 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,440 choose to create through us? 633 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:31,440 You know, there's this, I've gotten compliments on my ability, my abilities as a podcaster 634 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:36,320 and I always laugh when somebody gives me a compliment because the secret is it's not 635 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,320 actually me being good at it at all. 636 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:43,120 There are certain skill sets that I might bring the table like being quick on my feet 637 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:47,240 or like being able to have the podcast voice or something like that, right? 638 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:54,040 But I am keenly aware that the podcast episodes that get the most positive feedback weren't 639 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:58,400 because I had done a lot of work crafting the questions and this, that and the other, 640 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:03,640 like every single one begins with prayer and inviting the spirit to work. 641 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:08,480 Because what I know is there is no matter how good I am at something, there is a limit 642 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:10,360 to how good I can be. 643 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:15,600 And that's based on knowledge and skill, but also mood, also how well I slept, also on 644 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:20,600 how well technology works, also on all these factors is a lot that I can't control. 645 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,200 God's limitless. 646 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,920 And so God can do things. 647 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:30,720 God has often worked through podcast episodes in ways that I'm like, that was not me. 648 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:31,720 That was God. 649 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:33,960 And yet I had the privilege of being a part of it. 650 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:35,320 I'm an introvert, right? 651 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:41,600 Like I hate small talk, but one of the ways that God's invited me to serve and equipped 652 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:46,480 me to serve is I live in a neighborhood with a lot of foot traffic on my street and God's 653 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:50,000 invited me to be accessible and get to know neighbors. 654 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,720 And that is typically small talk. 655 00:38:52,720 --> 00:38:55,880 If somebody's walking, you're not having a deep conversation. 656 00:38:55,880 --> 00:39:00,800 And I remember talking to a woman that I had met maybe a month before. 657 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,400 God brought her name back to my mind and I was able to call her by name and she was 658 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:08,160 so excited because she was like, I didn't, nobody ever remembers my name. 659 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:09,160 Like remember my name. 660 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:10,320 And we're having this conversation. 661 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:14,880 I remember having this moment where I'm like, this is like, what I'm doing is extrovert 662 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:15,880 stuff. 663 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:17,920 Like how in the world is it me that's doing it? 664 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,160 Because this is not something I would have chosen, not something I would have been good 665 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,800 at because there are times where I'm not good at small talk. 666 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:25,440 You get me at a wedding reception. 667 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:27,560 Man, it's awkward. 668 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,240 But it was natural and it was because it wasn't me. 669 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:32,240 It was God working through me. 670 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:34,200 And so if someone doesn't feel creative. 671 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,680 If someone feels limited, great. 672 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:40,240 That actually means you're better poised for God to work through you because you're going 673 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:45,240 to be less geared to be prideful about it or arrogant about it because you're going 674 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:48,480 to, you're going to know it's not you. 675 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:50,000 That's a really good point there. 676 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,760 And again, it's been convicting. 677 00:39:52,760 --> 00:40:03,280 I've had some recently had an artist on her name is Hailey from sweet sequels and she, 678 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:08,800 incredible artist, just skill way beyond my comprehension and actually really appreciate 679 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:09,800 that. 680 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:12,600 And part because I don't have that same skill set. 681 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,560 It doesn't make sense in my brain. 682 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,880 Like I don't, I don't understand how that comes from your hand. 683 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:19,520 It doesn't make sense to me. 684 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:25,600 And it is convicting from a conversation with her and from what you're saying though, that 685 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,320 we come from a creator. 686 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:35,120 So we all have creation ability and what's great too is when it comes when you know it's 687 00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:41,640 not something from your own like incredible abilities, those of you that are listening 688 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,040 that that our parents, I know we both are. 689 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,920 Look at your kids. 690 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,320 That is the coolest creation ever. 691 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:50,920 How incredible that is. 692 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:56,640 And I mean, yeah, we, I think everybody listening knows the process of that being made. 693 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:01,680 But we know we didn't do anything incredible to make this child. 694 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:05,320 God made that child and it's awesome. 695 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:10,240 Sure it can be frustrating, but it's the best creation we will ever have. 696 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:16,800 So understanding our limits is actually quite an asset because yeah, we are limited, but 697 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:24,160 God isn't and being able to point to the true creator is really the end all here. 698 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,920 Because I think we have to remind ourselves that we don't have to be all the things. 699 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:33,040 So we'll look at someone and be like, I'm not as good at such and such as them. 700 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:35,280 You know, you talked about the artist. 701 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,280 Well not everybody needs to be an artist. 702 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:42,960 It's great that certain people are gifted are passionate about art, but it's okay if 703 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,320 somebody's not that doesn't mean they're lesser. 704 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:51,120 When I was running internships, I used to feel guilt around the fact that I would bring 705 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:55,960 certain speakers in and they would just clearly be better teachers than me. 706 00:41:55,960 --> 00:42:01,040 Like something about the way that they could see information and bring it together and 707 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:02,040 convey it out. 708 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:05,640 They were just able to do things that I couldn't or I'd have to work really hard to do it. 709 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:10,560 And I felt shame because partly because of me and also externally there are certain individuals 710 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,840 putting pressure that I had to be all of those things. 711 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:19,640 One of the beautiful moments of release and peace was when I realized I don't have to 712 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,080 be a great teacher. 713 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:27,120 You have the the A Pest gifts, the five fold gifts, the apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, 714 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:28,120 teacher. 715 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:33,280 I remember there was one specific individual who just very much is a teacher, very gifted 716 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:34,280 at it. 717 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:38,440 Like he could see information a certain way and bring it together and convey it out. 718 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,760 And I remember thinking it was actually such a beautiful, I was so grateful that he could 719 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,120 be there to live into that gift. 720 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:50,080 And it's okay that I am not living in that gift because he's living into that right now. 721 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:55,320 But I fall very heavily in shepherd, the pastoral care element, the walking alongside to be 722 00:42:55,320 --> 00:43:00,240 being able to see sheep in certain situations and know how to get them to the water or how 723 00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:01,520 to protect them from the bear. 724 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:06,800 Like that's where I felt like I was uniquely equipping me and positioning me. 725 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:11,320 Well, this individual, like he would name that that was one of his weaker spaces. 726 00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:14,200 And so like I was able to fill a gap that he wasn't able to fill. 727 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:16,160 He was able to fill a gap that I wasn't able to fill. 728 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:20,440 And this is why, because we're not designed to operate in silos. 729 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,440 We're called to function as a body in unity. 730 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:27,400 Scripture is very clear that we're called to function as a body. 731 00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:30,600 The arm needs the leg and the elbow needs the ear lobe. 732 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:35,360 Like all of those parts are important and those parts aren't meant, the arm is not meant 733 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:37,360 to be an ear. 734 00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:40,420 But we can read that scripture and say, yeah, that makes sense. 735 00:43:40,420 --> 00:43:45,240 And then go back into our life and lament that we're not as good as this other person 736 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:49,360 at that, or we're not gifted at that, or my gift doesn't matter. 737 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:55,080 Well, no, like God has actually put certain things within you that he's inviting you to 738 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:56,080 live out. 739 00:43:56,080 --> 00:44:01,320 And he wants you to do so willing to do it, even if you don't see the fruit, even if you 740 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:06,760 don't get a claim, even if it doesn't look like the most amazing thing. 741 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:08,880 Because some things are hidden. 742 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:13,720 Some things, the apostle Paul says, I planted the seed, a polished water, and God made it 743 00:44:13,720 --> 00:44:14,720 grow. 744 00:44:14,720 --> 00:44:17,240 There are some things that God's inviting you to do that you're not going to be the 745 00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:20,600 one to water or make it grow. 746 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,120 If you don't plant a seed, there's no plant. 747 00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:27,720 So it's like you are an vital part of how God's working. 748 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:32,240 It's just we have to be willing to not be the spotlight. 749 00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:36,560 Or there's a flip way of saying, because some people desire spotlight. 750 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:39,120 I've never been one to desire spotlight. 751 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:44,160 But what gets me is if negative perceptions are put on me. 752 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,520 So I don't need you to lavish me with praise. 753 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:48,920 But if you're speaking negative things, that's where it gets me. 754 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:52,920 Well, we have to be willing to be in a place where we're OK, not getting the spotlight. 755 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:56,460 And we're OK if people see us inaccurately. 756 00:44:56,460 --> 00:44:59,000 People saw Jesus inaccurately, right? 757 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:00,360 Doesn't make it easy. 758 00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:05,120 But that's part of what we're being invited to is to not to worry more about what God 759 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:08,800 sees than what others see. 760 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:10,400 Very, very well put. 761 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:14,120 Well, Paul, I think this has been fantastic. 762 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:19,600 And I really enjoy a lot of the kind of the theoretical here, but also the practical things 763 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:21,800 that the audience can do. 764 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:26,680 And that's really what the show is about, is to have people engaged, that to actually 765 00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:31,280 live life and not just sit back and say, well, the world's stupid. 766 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:32,280 I don't like it. 767 00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:35,100 And just be angry that that doesn't do us much good. 768 00:45:35,100 --> 00:45:40,920 So for the audience to be able to continue to stay in contact with you and kind of check 769 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:43,960 out your own show, where can they find you? 770 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:44,960 Yeah. 771 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:50,320 So what God's invited me to is to create authentic, accessible spaces to process him, to process 772 00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:55,240 life, to process Christianity, to process all these things that we have questions about. 773 00:45:55,240 --> 00:46:00,720 And so I've tried to compile all that at wheredidooseagod.com. 774 00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:05,080 So you can find the podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts, but you can also find it there 775 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:07,800 you can also find things that I've written. 776 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:16,080 But my goal is less to like show people my content and more to create those spaces because 777 00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:21,280 God is difficult to understand sometimes life is difficult to understand sometimes. 778 00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:26,780 And too often we're trying to do that on our own, but we can do this as community. 779 00:46:26,780 --> 00:46:31,080 What you are doing here what you've created in this space is an example of how we can 780 00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:36,040 navigate this together as community, as that body that Scripture invites us to. 781 00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:40,120 So wheredidooseagod.com that's one place you can go. 782 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:46,480 But really I would just invite people to cultivate these spaces themselves to invite God to cultivate 783 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:52,320 these spaces because it could be as simple as scooting up next to that person during 784 00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:55,680 the lunch break or opening your front porch. 785 00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:59,800 And what God can do in those spaces really can be abundantly more than we could ask or 786 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:01,280 imagine. 787 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:09,240 Again, I accidentally put there so I will I'll include all that down and the show notes. 788 00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:12,800 It was great having you on today having this great conversation. 789 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:18,080 And I think that's a good place to end it on is maybe a challenge for listeners. 790 00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:20,240 Go do your own conversations with somebody. 791 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:22,120 It doesn't have to be a podcast. 792 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:28,640 Go find a neighbor, a friend, a church member, whoever just just go and talk about some of 793 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:29,640 these things. 794 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:30,640 It's really important. 795 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:33,840 So, yeah, again, great having you on. 796 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:38,160 For those listening, thank you so much for for listening again to another episode and 797 00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,640 just continue to go out there and fight for truth. 798 00:47:40,640 --> 00:48:00,160 All right, you guys take care.