Latest / Main Thing Podcast / INSIDE COVENANT | Chet Bergeron Pt.2

Transcript

INSIDE COVENANT | Chet Bergeron Pt.2 · Main Thing Podcast

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Main Thing Podcast with Pastor Steve, equipping you to respond and thrive in the world we live in today.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the main thing the main thing has been a saying that Pastor Steve has told for decades.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: It means no matter what is happening around us, Jesus is what we need to have fruit and sin in our lives.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: There couldn't be a more powerful reminder for us to recall in today's divisive and dark culture.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: From foundational truths and scripture to the hot topics of today's culture, allow this podcast to inspire and motivate you on your faith journey.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: So, so tell me how you ended up as your first senior pastor in Virginia.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that's a that's a funny story.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um I remember Steve coming up to me.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was student pastor for a few years, and he's like, hey, what do you what do you want to do?
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Well, I really want to be in evangelism full time.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and because of him, I was able to do evangelism and student ministry, and I was able to bring the student ministry into evangelism, which was really neat.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Towards towards the end, probably the mid-2018, I had a conversation with Steve, and I said, Look, I want to preach every week and I want to lead a church.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget, Steve said, okay, I'll help you do that.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he helped me put a resume together.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he he told me some do's and don'ts when I'm talking to the small rural churches, what to expect, what not to expect.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I remember one of the things he said, he said, now listen, when you're talking to them, make sure they understand that if you leave your lights on in your house, that no one's gonna bother you about that.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's your house.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's that's your kids in that house.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: No one's gonna try to, you know, uh control what's going on over there.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so just little things like that.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, ask them who's gonna cut the grass.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is it gonna be you?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Are they hiring a company?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, all these little things that you wouldn't think about being hired on.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he helped me.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And gratefully, through the years, every time I wanted to back up a U-Haul to the parsonage when I was there, he helped me get through that.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I am so grateful for the people in Virginia, the ones that came alongside and the ones that didn't.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because God truly did a transformation in my life there.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it has prepared me for what he has for me here.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I wouldn't be where I am today without that five years in Virginia.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I think of Virginia for you as like graduate school.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yeah.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: You you got your bachelor's here as a youth minister, you went off to graduate school and you came back with a PhD and hard knocks.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: What was your favorite thing about Virginia?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite thing was being able, was being the person that many in the church trusted.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is I I believe the Lord has given me up giving me a pastoral heart.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so when someone entrusts me with their deepest desire that they feel God is calling them or their deepest grievance, you know, that I I feel honored about that because it's not easy for people to open up.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So to be able to walk with families through that and then to be able to get in the pulpit on Sunday and shepherd them is something I really enjoyed.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: And to be honest, I thrive and this is this is gonna sound probably not what I want it to sound like, but I confrontation is one of those things that kind of gives me a little energy, not in a bad sense, but when there's confrontation, I don't run away from it.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I like to, I like to head it on so that way we can get through it.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that really helped me in Virginia because there was a lot of confrontation, and I learned how to uh face confrontation head on with a a loving spirit instead of an angry spirit.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that is the hardest thing from my viewpoint as an administrative pastor.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's got to be one of the hardest things as a senior pastor is to confront in love.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, because let's be honest, sometimes uh the person who comes across from you doesn't want to confront in love, you know, and so I imagine that's got to be the hardest thing or in ministry in general.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there's been some times I've had to go apologize and ask for forgiveness because I've I've stepped over the line.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, you know.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: I I always you've heard me tell this story, and I won't tell the whole story, but I can remember times in the past where um that phrase, you know, you might have been right, but you weren't blameless.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I can think of many times I was right, but I knew I wasn't blameless, you know.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'd have handled it so differently.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, and and you I think of James, you know, how we're held to a higher standard.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And to your point, being blameless with that.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that's tough, right?
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: So um so what what if when you walked away from Virginia?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: I say walked away, when you when you came here, um what what'd you feel best about about you know, what do you feel you had what kind of legacy slash ministry accomplishments had you left there?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: I know you left that church in a better uh place than it was when you got there.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think I was talking to someone from the church yesterday that called me and I told him that I felt like I was able to take the leadership, and even though we didn't see eye to eye, we were still able to work together.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we for for a small rural church, this is amazing.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: We renovated in five years, we renovated the whole sanctuary, audio equipment upgrade, everything.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: We expanded the nursery because we were busting out of the seams.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: We um redid the parking lot, which if people don't understand, doing any of these things in a small rural church is a miracle, okay?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because you got to go through, you gotta go through, you gotta have a meeting before the meeting, you got to go through the meeting, then you have another meeting, then you got to go through the meetings and meetings committee, and then you got to go through the church to get anything done.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so to be able to, to be able to navigate those things is uh I think is a big accomplishment.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And just to see, even now, two years later, to see the fruit still there and um still pushing through and still, you know, looking to serve the Lord and build his kingdom is pretty neat.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: I still remember one of your committee members called me as a reference and and he'd ask, uh, he asked something in the effect of uh, and I I want to be fair here, something to the effect of, is he gonna go out and do things on his own?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, like is this are we gonna hire some crazy man who's just gonna do whatever he wants?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember telling him, like, look, Chet, Chet is uh is somebody who's gonna get things done, but I do believe he can work within that framework, and clearly you did.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, but I I can't imagine I one of the things uh I think you and Steve both uh have going for you as far as ministry experience is you've had both of the experiences.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: You've been at the the bigger church, you've been at the smaller church, and and I think that's an important uh experience to have, you know, and one of the things I've God's never brought me anywhere like that, but I I think that's a an experience that's important to have.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, looking back in ministry, what are some of the you had an experience in God they talk about spiritual uh markers, right?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: What what are some spiritual markers in in your ministry journey or uh just in in your journey to Christ to begin with?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: Can you tell us maybe what are some really significant events you can look back on?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: This was probably two years ago, where um I knew I knew that the Lord gifted me to preach, but I never acknowledged it.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew that the Lord gave Nicole the gift of faith, but we never acknowledged it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so we sat down together and and I said, I said, Look, I I believe the Lord has revealed this to me, and I want to talk to you about it to see if you feel the same way.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, I have noticed that when you're praying for me, especially in the preaching event, that people move.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's a response.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, Yeah, I've noticed that too.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Why don't we uh why don't we uh jump on that ship and sail with it?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so from that moment on, um, she has committed to pray for me and support me in those, whether it be I'm teaching something or I'm preaching, she's praying and she's praying.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the crazy thing is, Brent, I think the biggest marker spiritually for me has been when I realized the gift that my wife is to me in ministry because it it wasn't just a companion he brought, he brought us together as companionship and a covenant.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a team to battle the spiritual darkness and to see lives transformed.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was like that was revolutionary to me.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, the Lord made me realize He's like, look, I put y'all together as a team for me and for my glory.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so we've just been jumping on that ship and running with it.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it has been exciting because I joke with her whenever I want something, I ask her to pray for it because God is her dad, God is her earthly dad and her spiritual dad and her heavenly father.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so she he just does stuff for her.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like I it's funny in the home.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: I laugh about it.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, did you pray for that?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: She's like, Yeah, I asked.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Does it feel like when you pray, God's like, I'll wait until Nicole acts.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just get your wife to come ask me.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that that was a big one.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: I I think the other big one was um in Virginia was having two men, three men, that stuck by me and really encouraged me and supported me.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, whenever a lot of people don't realize this because most people are not in ministry or in the past in the pastorate, but for me or you or someone in ministry to open up to someone, that's a big deal because it's like an island that we're on.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so these three men in my life, I felt like I can open up to.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that blessed me to know that even in the midst of trial and even in the midst of just uncertainty that God provides, God works through other people.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's how the church should function and should work.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: My latest marker um was a dear friend of mine telling me that my greatest weakness is impatience.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: 100% right.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100% right.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess the latest one for me was being willing to be teachable, even when it hurts, and being willing to say, you know what?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: What what I'm I'm gonna pray about that and see how I can be better in the ministry, be a better husband, be a better father, be a better child of God in what I do.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let's let's switch gears just a second.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about your your hobbies.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: How do you unwind?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I love working out.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I actually just did an intense back squat session this morning with dumbbell thrusters, I mean who does it standbite.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And Nicole did it with me.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: She's a trooper.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she always beats me.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I tease her because the women's weights are you know smaller, less.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but that that's what I do.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like when I'm when I'm lifting weights and I'm lifting something heavy, my mind just goes, I just don't think about anything, and and that's my time.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, now I don't have it much energy in the afternoon, which I'm working on taking vitamins for that.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm officially at the age Brent where I need vitamins.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: We all get there one day.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: And pretty soon you're only gonna listen to talk radio.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's already starting to get away.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that and running for sure.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: So you so your knees haven't given out yet, or you got a new knee, or I say a new knee, a fixed knee.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I got a fixed knee, and I'm I'm uh I I've learned through that injury that I need to focus on auxiliary muscles too.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's all a learning experience.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: So so right now, what what are you reading right now?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually reading, I'm still working on Ian Bound's works on prayer.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: I have two more books to read of that.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm listening to Screw Tape Letters.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just finished This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I'm I'm gonna finish listening to C.S.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Lewis Screwtape Letters because whatever reason I've been in ministry and saved for this many years and never read it, which has been pretty cool.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in like I'm on like chapter 20 or something.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then I'm gonna finish the Frank Peretti series of all his books and then jump on something else.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: So you know what's so funny?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about this earlier, um, this present darkness.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: So when I I read that in high school, because uh that's when it started getting big.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: And gosh, if if you that was in the 80s, and so I remember in high school, I was like, oh yeah, man, that's a spiritual reality, that's it.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: And then you grow up and you get cynical and you forget, and you you you move away from that, and or at least in my life, much more you know, in the here and now, right?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: And just man, probably in the last four or five years, that understanding of spiritual warfare has come back so strongly, just with things we've dealt with in our family, uh, you know, and and problems we face, you you realize I think as you get older that spiritual warfare is is real, you know, and a lot of people have criticized Paretti over the years for his depictions, but I don't think he's far off, you know.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: I really don't.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a great book.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I I now that I've finished it, I I it opened my eyes to the spiritual realm, but it also made me aware of it two extremes.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: So there's the extreme of blaming everything on the spiritual war, and there's the extreme of blame blaming nothing on it.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think it's important to have a balanced view, you know.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um one of the things Frank Pretty did great, and I love it, was the depiction of prayer and how that gave the angels strength.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: And when you look through scripture and you see, I mean, oh goodness, goodness, was it um it was Hezekiah where the Lord gave him a curse or a judgment, and Hezekiah bowed down to the Lord and said, Lord, you know, I've been faithful to you, I've been righteous to you.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Can you please, please just, you know, bend your will on my behalf?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord changed his mind.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think about that, and I think about this present darkness and this depiction of angels and demons and and fighting and how demons have a hold on people, and the angels are trying to uh have a hold on the remnant and get them to pray.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like their main goal, the angel's main goal was to get them to pray.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh that was such a powerful reminder for me.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because I think if we're not careful, we think, well, God's gonna do what he's gonna do.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you can take a misunderstanding of the sovereignty of God that God will do what he's gonna do.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter what I what I pray, you know.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's a helpful depiction.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that a scheme of Satan, though?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: To get us not to act, you know?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, that's what we do, right?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: We we we love the extremes.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: As a general, I say a general rule.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: We we're either on one extreme or the other, and we have a hard time finding that that biblical middle.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know, because we what do we try to do?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: We try to take one verse and that becomes our position.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: Instead of looking at the whole of scripture.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let's talk about Thibodeau campus.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: We are, as of as of this recording, we are three weeks away uh from launching.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: And hopefully, like like I said earlier, hopefully, if by the time this uh is published, yeah, we have launched.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: So what's your vision for Thibodeau campus?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have the same vision Pastor Steve has.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one of the things I've learned from Pastor Steve through the years is that an inward vision kills and an outward vision gives life.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: And Thibodeau campus is the embodiment of that vision.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: And to be able to go outside of Homa into Thibodeau and reach the community for Jesus, I think is wonderful.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, really, it's an extension of what we already do in HOMA.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's not complicated.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the main thing is obviously we're gonna start with worship services, but over time, we're gonna obviously we're gonna have co-kids, we're gonna have preschool, eventually we'll have student ministry, eventually we'll have an outreach ministry.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's exciting because Thibodeau is booming.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: The parish inspector came by yesterday and he's like, man, he said, every time I come in Thibodeau, it's the busiest.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I'm always inspecting in Thibodeau because there's growth.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think the Lord has positioned us there at a unique time to reach people.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think our niche as a church, you've said this before, is to reach our Catholic brothers and sisters who are ready to go deeper in their faith or don't have faith and are ready to hear the gospel and accept Jesus.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Thibodeau is even heavier Catholicism than Homa, just with all the mind-numbing statistics I've read through the last couple of years.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I I we have a few research study that shows that Lafouche Parish is one of the absolute least evangelical communities, counties, parishes, and the whole United States.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so it is a is a feel white for harvest.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, one of the things we were in uh chicken salad chick the other day, and they've got they've got one wall that's just beautiful black and white photos of different old HOMA stuff.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's really it really looks sharp.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: And God brought Kelly and I were sitting there talking, and God brought to mind the the verse where go out to the hedges, go out to the highways, compel them to come in.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think that's gonna be our our centerpiece uh there is that verse, and then just some pictures of of Thibodeau and Lafouche and where we want to go out and compel them to come in, you know?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and and be that kind of church uh where people are loved.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's right, and so and welcomed, yeah.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I you know, as long as the Lord tarries, I pray that the church as as a whole can can understand that vision.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, um Thibodeau is not a competition, it's a harvest.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said pray for laborers because the harvest is plenty and they are few.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so us going to Thibodeau is everything and a blessing to the body that's already there trying to reach the harvest.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's 55,000 people within an eight to nine mile radius of the campus.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's a and all those people are not in church.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: So there's, you know, there's a lot of people to reach.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, look, we uh I was for a long time selling it short.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: I I was given the number 8,000 homes within, you know, a five, six mile radius.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then we get the latest demographic, and we'll do 20,000 homes.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we're gonna be more excited.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny how God has worked on what you say is your weakness and patience because he's giving you an opportunity to be patient.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, in this, it's we'll it's now been a two-year journey.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and it's been a long journey.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: It and yeah, I look back on that too, and I am so grateful Pastor Steve has given me opportunities to preach because I love to do that, but I'm also grateful that it's been a time of waiting.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and I the Lord knew that I needed that for way more reasons than just one.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm I'm excited.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: It it makes it even more, even sweeter now that the time has come.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so I'm gonna get personal with the hot seat questions, okay?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: You ready?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: Shoot.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: What's your favorite verse?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite verse right now is uh Psalm 39, 14, where the righteous will face many adversities, but the Lord will deliver him from all of them.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Either, either that that promise either means here on earth or in heaven, either way, it's gonna it's gonna be true.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh let's see here.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: What's your favorite podcast?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh goodness, besides the wild thing podcast, of course.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Besides main thing.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I'd probably I would say Carrie Newhoff is still the top just because of the the wide range for church leaders.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, one podcast can he can be uh interviewing you know the CEO of Walmart.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: The next one, he could be interviewing uh a pastor of a large church or a pastor of a small church.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think I I like the man look that guy's impressive.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: He has been he's been bringing it strong for a long time.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: You would think at some point he'd be like, I don't have any more ideas, right?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: He is he's strong with everyone, absolutely, and he's been around a long time.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: He has, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Favorite movie.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's a tough one.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean, my favorite series right now is The Chosen.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's only because we're about three episodes and we're gonna be done with with season five.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: All-time movie, I always go back to the Goonies, but I watched that again a couple of years ago and I thought, why do I like this so much?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was just a childhood memory.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: Boy, yeah, your adulthood can ruin the movies you loved as a kid, right?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, it's crazy.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: I I showed Brad one day.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: I was so excited, uh, because he has a similar sense of humor that I do.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Brad, we're gonna watch Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: This was an incredible movie.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: We sit there and we watch the whole thing.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: He done say a word, and then I was like, Man, wasn't that great?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: He goes, Dad, that was about the stupidest movie that's ever been made.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm thinking, yeah, it probably is.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I I get that.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: One time my dad came in my room.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: This was like right when I started doing drugs, and he didn't know it.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Hey, you need to watch this show.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: And he turns it on.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: We had an old turned dial TV and he puts it on Cheech and Chong.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you're trying to tell me something.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: What's going on here?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one more thing.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so you got family of four.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: I say family of four, family of six, but four kids.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: What's it like balancing ministry in a bunch of kids?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Man.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's put it this way I laugh at singles and couples with one kid that say they're busy.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean that mean.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just perspective, right?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Raising for four kids all around the same age has proved to be one of the greatest challenges in my life, but also one of the greatest blessings.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is difficult.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: I remember, I think it was Grant.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: We were like, we had to go to church for something.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, are we going to the Thibodeau campus again?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, buddy, I'm sorry.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: I just need to go make sure there's no packages at the door.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: We just go drive by.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: And we pulled in the other day.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: We pulled into Rouse's park a lot.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: And Gracie's like, Oh, we go into the Thibodot.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like anytime we go close by the Thibodal campus, they're like, Are we going there again?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't even bring them much anymore.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying, I'm trying I try my best not to make them feel like they have to always be in church.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like we're about to take vacation.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I know this is gonna probably people are gonna think I'm unspiritual, but I doubt we're going to a church service when we go.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because I just want my kids to be able to like enjoy their weekend.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: They never get to do that.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Other kids get to do that, they get to travel and go do other things, but my kids are on a seat every Sunday, you know, without fail.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um a challenge, but very rewarding because I get to see them like Wesley at a fall retreat last year.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: I went speak there and can and Pastor Caden invited me to speak, and Wesley came with me.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And for the first time, I don't know what spurred him to do this.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: He just started worshiping, like raising his hands and singing, and that was a blessing for me to be able to see that as a as a father.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that's one of the things over the years is um making sure your kids uh can enjoy it and not be on a correct on a stage.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and that's a hard thing to balance.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I imagine, and and forgive me if I ask two personal questions here.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: I imagine that's really hard in a small church.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: In a glass jar.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Look, it's funny, I I love my wife.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: She she people see her as the sweet, nice, gentle Nicole, which she is, but she's also a mother hen.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: And what she would do was there were sometimes she couldn't even come into church because the kids were having meltdowns.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: But she would walk in the back of the church right before service time and sit in the very back row.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh people would come up to me and be like, Where was Nicole and the kids?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: I said, they were here in the back, you know, and it's like because they didn't see them in the front row with me, it's like they weren't there.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I just through the years, I've become protective over them because they're not hired to do this job.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: I am.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's one of the things I always have to remember.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: Being being very careful.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: I always knew in our house it was we expect this behavior not because you're a minister's kid, but because you're a follower of Jesus.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, exactly.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: Last thoughts.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: If there was anything you could tell our church, what would it be?
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think it would be let's go.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is coming soon.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get off the sidelines, get involved in ministry.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: And um, if you're not sure about where to get involved, come see us and we'll help you get engaged in the ministry.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds good to me, man.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: Well, look, uh, you've survived uh sitting in the guest chair.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: You did a great job.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: You did a great job, host.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: Good job.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate that.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate that.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I appreciate you guys listening uh to our latest podcast.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you would hit the subscribe button.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're gonna keep asking even though nobody is.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody hit it.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Write a review.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Chet and I want to be known as big podcasters.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: So thanks for again for listening.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next time.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: God bless.