Latest / HOTLCAST / Small Steps, Big Faith

Transcript

Small Steps, Big Faith · HOTLCAST

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, welcome back to the podcast.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_03: This is Matt and Ryan and Cody and also Mark.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, Mark.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: And Nick's here.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: And he's here, yes.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: And we've already got the Nick.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: All good.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm actually excited.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't been on the podcast in a while.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say, we're excited to have you back.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: It has been a hot minute.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: Listen.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if somebody only knows us from the podcast, you disappeared.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody knows me.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if you don't know, your introduction is I'm here.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so no, yeah, I've been, dude, summer, summer is crazy in at Heart of the Lakes.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's awesome, but it also is also crazy.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: So and I, yeah, between camps and mission trips and everything, I've I've been lots of active activities.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like especially for student ministry.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like there's a lot that kind of goes into that.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and honestly, it's crazy.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: I was talking to a friend who's also in Michigan, and they take the whole summer off of youth ministry.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I listen, I was just like, I don't even like I think my brain shut down.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean he's like, well, we do it to like give everybody a break.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's good.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I it's and you're not growing, right?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, but I like for us, it's like we we just feel like that's when students are available, yeah, and that's when students have time to do stuff.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like during the school year, we actually deprogram a little bit.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like we slow down.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we still do a ton, but like we deprogram a little bit because that's when they're in school, that's when they're busy with other stuff.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: So like the summer's prime time, man.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're just sitting around at the house doing nothing most of the time.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: So so we're very excited for that.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: But I mean, you present opportunities to not be getting in as much trouble, exactly.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I think that's really fun.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, as much trouble without your youth pastor present.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Fair enough.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: So, but yeah, so we're I mean, I I'm just really excited because I feel like I feel like the fall is a great time for heart of lakes because there's so we it's not like we we don't I feel like we just don't ever really let off the gas at our church, but September is such a great time because it's like a deep breath before the plunge.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so like I get to go on vacation, Kyle's in Italy right now.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's just a time where we kind of we do shift gears and we slow down just a little bit.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, but it's also a time where we're we're back to the ramp up to Christmas, and then it's like from Christmas, you're just kind of coast you're like maintaining until you get to Easter.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then there's another deep breath before the summer.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like you know, September is that deep breath, and then it's like April, May is the deep breath before the summer.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: So and people don't really understand kind of the the the flow of how ministry works, where the minute you're out of summer, you're already talking Christmas.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's not even like what stores do and stuff, it's like you're planning things out.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like we're deep in the trenches of trying to figure out what you know the Christmas services are gonna look like and you know, all of that sort of stuff, like casting.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_03: You had two three meetings on Sunday about it, correct?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we had uh in between each of the services, we talked about journey to Bethlehem, we talked about we need set designers, we need extras, we need people.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: So, like that's that's come up in our children's program, they've already started having some meetings, you know, they've already have started to have some practice.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, and I know people are already talking about what are we gonna do for Christmas outreach?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: What are you know?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, when we start talking about the the year, it's like to really care.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's because we care, it's not because we're weird or like we, you know, we're all type A.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not type A at all, but like caring about the people that are in our are we we call it a ministry, like we've referred to it as like a ministry rhythm.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like you gotta get into a rhythm.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and and what happens is like when you get off time, what happens is people fall through the cracks, you don't feel like you're caring for people, you don't feel like you're being intentional enough about things, and like with ministry in general, that intentionality.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: I love this quote, and I I a pastor said it a long time ago at a meeting, and I think he it was original, but um I've just like used it over and over again.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: We've said it before is like if you're not intentional, you're destructive at best.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I just love that because it's like if it it's not saying that you're evil or you're bad, it just means that like when we're not thinking about the things that we need to stay on top of, a lot of times we we people fall through the cracks, programs fall through the cracks, you know, like what we're doing falls through the cracks, and so staying kind of ahead ahead of a lot of those things, being making sure that we're intentional about that is our way of really caring for our people, our community, you know, the people that we've got involved.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so like the busyness is not uh a brokenness, it's not like uh we're busy because you know, we're all always busy because we're just no, we all kind of have agreed that like the mission and vision of the church is to reach people, and our job in the modern church is to provide, create, and encourage you know, community and environments that engage community and help people facilitate community.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, that that's really and for us, I mean all church, all sorts of churches have different philosophies, viewpoints, whatever, but for us when we start talking about that, I think that's really important.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: But that also lends to like you know, where did how do we get there?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, like how did we get to the place where that that's our desire and that's our focus?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's like how do we listen to what God is actually pushing us towards, if that makes sense.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because all the stuff that we do is absolutely a choice.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_03: The things that we're doing as a church, the things that we do as pastors, the things that we do as individuals, we are actively looking at our lives and saying, How do I make a choice for God every single day, every single moment?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: And because there are times where for some people, that's all the more that you can help them aspire to is, man, I'm not ready to do this kind of full time all day, every day.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: But if you can get me to the point where you can give me a single moment each day where instead of choosing the thing that I want and the thing that I care the most about, I can put God first.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: That's the moment that you can sometimes get people to.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: That's the moment where you can get them to say, Yeah, I'm willing to make this choice in this particular moment because that's what I know I need to be doing.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: And then it is like the whole dominoes thing that I had up on the screen on Sunday where you want those to be, okay, well, yesterday I did just one moment, you know.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: Today I did one moment.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: Tomorrow I'm gonna try for maybe two moments.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: And it gives people that opportunity to have something to build on.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I'm gonna actually turn to Ryan with this because you get this on a completely different level than what maybe even the rest of us do because of some of the stuff you do with Save a Warrior, where these guys have to make similar choices, maybe not even for God in that moment, but to kind of start lining up the things that they need to do one single day, one single moment, one single opportunity at a time.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: What have you seen with that type of thing?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, lots of things.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess I could probably offer lots of uh uh thoughts on that.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just was having breakfast with with Rob, and and that's something uh a discussion we were talking about is just that that that's exactly what it is.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: It is one, it's one day at a time, it's one choice at a time, it's sometimes one moment at a time, like you know, one second at a time.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and yeah, I do work in that space.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's something that we say, right?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like the only thing you gotta change about your life is everything.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and I love that actually.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: And and because that's really where it is, right?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because generally speaking, if we m in in my experience in life, I chose me most of my life.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't until I I stopped choosing me and started choosing God that my life actually started to change and and God started, you know, really moving in my life.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I think for me on a personal level, you know, in my life now, I'm hitting a point where I see God everywhere.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I I have to I actually have to say no.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And and and that's interesting to to see to to remember the limited nature of me.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: But I I think for a lot of people, um getting to that point is is a challenge.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I and and that's where discernment comes in and and the way we filter our lives.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I know for me, I I I'm never smart enough to figure this out on my own.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I got safe godly men that earn my life that I can trust and lean on.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, yeah, I mean, and that's awesome because there are times where you get to see those people in your life making those choices where you look at them and who they were six months ago, eight months ago, ten months ago, and it's like you would not have made that choice then.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: You would not have made that decision then.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: And it's not only a choice for God, but it's a choice for a better version of you, and being able to see people kind of walk through that is really cool.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's super, it's super cool, man.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, and and that just reminded me like some friends of mine that we've been we did some counseling with and stuff, and uh, you know, this year, and and and God's really moved in their life and and their life is really working in a profound way that it really never has before.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I seen them the other day, and they're like, Man, you know, maybe someday we'd like to give our testimony.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and I don't know, they just it just some I was like, Yeah, yeah, that's that's what's up.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: You should like this, you know, God has really moved, so yeah.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: Very cool.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: I I uh there's a book, um there's a book that our bishop recommended to me, and it was it was about piety, but it was like not in a like piety gets a we we that gets a bad like rap, yeah, right, because you're like pious jury, like because it's almost this this holier than thou.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's perceived as that.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: But piety originally was a focus of self, right?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like a focus of self to be pious, to be um to be uh virtuous and to to really focus on what you were doing, not necessarily to worry about what everybody else was doing.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so the call for pious, like to to be, to have piety was to really say, I'm gonna focus on me and the things that God is calling me to do.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: And in in the book, um, there's this phrase, and I I have loved it, is you can't expect to plant the seeds of your future until you've tilled the ground.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it's the the idea is like you have like it's a process.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: And what they one of the main points was there's there a lot of times, especially in our faith, people get very anxious about the next level of their life.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I've I think we I we probably have all had that.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think I when I talk to people on a regular basis, it's like I don't know what to do.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know it, it's like because it's overwhelming.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's the paralysis of analysis, or it's the how do I eat an elephant, like one bite at a time.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it it sometimes life change is so big and it's so overwhelming, and you know you have to do it that you go, I just don't even know where to start.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I to me, one of the main points that I liked so much was that that it takes time, like it it is a millions of small steps for big faith, right?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's not big leaps, and you it takes time and you have to be patient.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: And that we can get anxious about trying to get people to life change before they have the experience that convicts them towards it.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: And like, because we'll go, oh, we need to do this.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: I I I was like I was just talking to somebody, I was just talking to a student just last night and like just six months ago, like just six months ago, every word, ever probably every other word out of his mouth was a cuss word.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: And like probably ten years ago, I would have been the youth pastors like dude, knock it off.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I just I r I just really felt like with this specific student, like he doesn't know that that's a he didn't grow up in church, like he doesn't know that that's a problem, he doesn't know that that's an issue, like he he's at a completely different walk of life.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: I can't I can't ascribe Cody, who's been a pastor for almost, you know, for 16, 17 years and my understanding of where I should be at in faith to somebody who's just figuring this out.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of times we we rush life change instead of letting life change happen the way God has intended, with good accountability, with grace, with the safety net of godly people, right?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then we go, hey, just so you know, this might be a lifestyle that might not be helpful for you, like and it might not be what you want.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: And here's some things that you can do.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like I do.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like when it comes down to it, those are like those slow and incremental, consistent changes in our faith are the ones that have the biggest impact on the long-term success and the long-term uh maturity of our faith, not the flash in a pan, I sold all my belongings and gave everything to the poor.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Not that that's wrong, but like those big gestures often yield uh smaller results than they're not as deep, the small convictions that are lifestyle changes that happen over time.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and one of the things that Mark and I have experienced in the stuff that we do up at Jackson and with some of the people that are up there is we've had people kind of come along where they are those rough around the edges sorts that you're talking about, like with this student, where you know, they're gonna be dropping profanity from time to time and they're gonna be, you know, saying this or saying that.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: And Kyle had sat both of us down at one point, and he's like, hey, just remember, he's like, every single time there is a Christian in the room that starts getting, you know, kind of upset or bent out of shape about the fact that that's going on, that you are walking down a very particular path with this person or those people.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: And in the midst of learning that and kind of seeing that life change and seeing that growth, you aren't making an excuse for their behavior.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: You're simply explaining they aren't as far down the road as what the person who's offended might be.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: They're on that route.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: They got progress to make, they've got work to go through.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually the point you just made is of what I was talking about on Sunday with the church, where it's like God doesn't just want a one-time huge big thing to happen.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: He wants it to be a lifestyle, a heart posture, a heart focus thing.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like I was at a Bible study yesterday, and I told the kids that your hearts have your heart has eyes, and that's where your life tends to flow, is where your vision, your heart vision is going.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: So like I've used the term heart posture before, but I like heart vision too, because one, it's kind of weird to think about eyeballs on your heart, but it also helps you like it's no stranger than asking Jesus to live in it.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: But it also helps you like because I think that's almost the first step, because the people that are in a place where they want to be faithful with what God has for them and their actions start reflecting it, their heart posture and their heart vision has to be in the right direction towards wanting to get help, towards wanting to do the right things, towards wanting to be faithful.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we had a cool story.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: I had just yet on Sunday, I had somebody share their testimony.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, I had Alex share where he's at because he's a month sober now off of everything that he was dealing with.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that guy.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's so awesome.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: He's a phenomenal guy.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: He shared it with the church, and it was talking about how like he just got to the point where he was just praying and begging God to just help him and to take it from him, and that he knew it wasn't just him that could do it, he knew it wasn't just his willpower, but he needed God to be the one to walk with him through it.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And and I mean, for him, it was a miraculous thing where he was released of it.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like he does not have the addiction, he doesn't have the desire even.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: After spending 15 plus years consuming stuff, having ingesting stuff in his body that wasn't good for him.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: It was a beautiful story of his like now his habits, now he's working through that stuff, his heart's where it needs to be, his life where it needs to be, and he's continuing to grow.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it was just it was a beautiful example of somebody who's doing that and trying to live that out and has been making the steps now that he's close with Christ, now that he's passionate about his faith, he's trying to make his life reflect that.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I just love that.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why I was like, hey, would you be willing to like share on this?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because I feel like you're where you're at right now is a really awesome example of this.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to ask kind of around the circle one other question here for us to kind of close with, and that would be what are some of the things that you specifically do to maintain your relationship and your connection to God?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like what are some of the intentional habits that you have?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: And the reason that I'm asking it like that is because as pastors that are preaching, singing, teaching, counseling, whatever, there are things that we do on a regular basis to prepare a sermon or to prepare worship or to prepare whatever, that's not the same thing as spending time with God for your own personal growth.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: Those are two different things.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: So, what are the things that you specifically do in order to try and kind of stay connected to what God has for you?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: We'll start with Cody.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, for me, uh I I think that it's a I think that when we look at our faith, especially uh the more I when I talk to older older followers of Christ, right?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like like seasoned followers of Christ, ones that I really respect.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: The more that I talk to them, it's a lifestyle.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's not necessarily carved away moments.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's like this is a this is just part of my life.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like this is what I do.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so like for me, when I when I started kind of really going, okay, I'm now in a position of leadership in ministry.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like when I was, you know, when I was 19, 20 years old, and I'm like, I really have to figure out what my how my lifestyle can reflect this.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: It was what is how can you can you take five to ten minutes a couple times a day to be quiet, to pray, and to center yourself?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: And that is huge for me.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's not I I there's days where I don't have an hour-long chunk that I can give.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you guys know, like especially now as a dad, and uh like when I was first became a husband and then became a dad, I was every time that I've gone to another level of my life, I've gone, how I had so much time.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: And where how do I have time to do all this?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: But like it really became a okay, can I, can I just before this meeting, can I take five minutes?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Can I close my eyes?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: Can I talk to the Lord and just remind myself like of what my job is in ministry, like in in life and like what I'm supposed to do?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: So it's for me, that's a rhythm thing, right?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's not a I don't I'm not a person that like I'm not gonna I can't sit down in the morning and guarantee, right, that I'm gonna be able to have my coffee and my device.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's amazing.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: There's people that can do that.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: For me, that does not fit who I am.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: For me, it has to be a rhythm that I build in my day.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so for me, I have to take those moments.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: So if at the end of the day, um, if at the end of the day I go, like, hey, I haven't had, I haven't really had that moment yet, or I haven't, or I haven't had enough of those moments, that's where I go, okay.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: I need to just reflect on the day.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: I talk through the things that with God that that went well, that didn't go well, and what what are the things I can improve on tomorrow?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, where was I not patient?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Where was I not?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: Does that make sense?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: So for me, it's not a one, like I I wish I had some like, hey, I wake up at 4 a.m.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: and I get my coffee and I I have my notes, and like I that's amazing.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: People that do that, that's so astute and incredible.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's just not something that works in my everyday life.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: But it's still I still have my time for scripture, I still have my time for meditation, I still have my like, but those are built into and around my day.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: And like making the conscious effort that in my everyday life I'm putting those moments in is more important.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, I it's a just a part of who I am.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like I do it all the time.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'll go into a meeting, and five minutes before the meeting I'm going, okay, God, center me.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: What what do I gotta do?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm just like because that just that simple thing, I'm telling you, it it changed everything for me.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because just that simple little thing directs my attention to where it's supposed to be.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it it's not some big giant gesture, it's just like okay, I'm I'm good.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe that's helpful, maybe it's not.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: But thanks for sharing.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm actually that guy, you know that.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um that I that I I get up an hour before everybody else and and I I meditate and I read my Bible and I pray, um, and I read whatever whatever book I'm currently reading, I read some of that, um, some variation of that every morning.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, of course, of course, you know me.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I I I've struggled a good portion of my life.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, so in my life, I'm a I'm a real addict, and so I'm I'm addicted to everything, parts of me.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so abstinence, abstinence is what I do.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: So like things that I do, I don't do social media.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't, I don't watch the news.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, I don't, I don't take part in any worldly stuff.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I try really hard to not take part in any worldly stuff that is going to take my attention off of the main thing.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because for me, I got those squirrels in my head, they get, they get, they see those shiny things and they run after them.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just the reality of my life.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm with you, Cody.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: I pray all the time too.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I'm always talking with God, going, yeah, yeah, I don't know, you know, because I because I because this this brain I have is kind of goofy.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so it says all kinds of crazy things.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm constantly going to God with that.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think other things I do, I got lots of discernment tools, you know.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I got I got the culture of honor, so that helps me all anytime I ever have conflict.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have to sit and think about how I feel about it.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I got a template there.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I can go, hey, I got some conflict.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know so and so is upset with me, I hurt their feelings, I gotta go talk to them, make it right.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Or I'm upset with so and so, I gotta go talk to them and make it right.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, one of the discernment tools I use from one of my mentors is is does it need to be said, does it need to be said right now, and does it need to be said by me?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if the answer is no to any of that, I shut my mouth.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like that's it, that's another way that I I remember to remember that I'm not God and that I have God with me.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um But yeah, I I think a lot of it is something another thing I do is I make a point to have a a personal interaction with somebody in which I talk about God every single day of my life, and it's worked into my life now where every day of my life I I have a meeting or a phone call or or some iteration of that than which I am going to sit down with somebody who who them they and I both connect on on God, how we understand God.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think that it's it's like that sermon you gave a while back where you said, Hey, you you're you're you're choosing something.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and for me in my life, I I have to say no, because otherwise when I say yes to the world, I I say yes in excess.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I I recognize that I just say yes to God and I do that in excess.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: And and God rewards me in in in such a beautiful way.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I got for you.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh one thing that I love is the 330 alarm.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um my I have my 330 alarm that goes off every single day, basically.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of a cool thing for me because then it's not just about because I know we had it as a challenge for our church, which I know not everybody does it still, but I know there's still people that do it with me.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it's almost like a weird, like we're two or more gathered kind of headspace that I have.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like I know it might just be me alone in a room, but I know that there's other believers, other Christians from our church that are also praying with me in that moment.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of uh, I don't know, a comforting, we're all looking to God, we're all reflecting on God, God's present in the moment.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you're kind of getting distracted and forgetting that and focusing on your own efforts, your own discrepancies, your own issues, then you go, well, God's over this, God's over it all.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like a weird recentering point for me.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Even in the moments where I'm like busy and in the middle of something, it's still like that like snap of a ooh, yeah, that's right.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget God's presence in this, don't just focus on yours.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's like a habit I've realized I've developed informed was that 330 alarm.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because I was thinking, I was like, what do I do regularly?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm in a similar vein, and that's one that I'm appreciate the grounding that I have on, like in the middle of the day.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: That like, how's it going?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think that for me, the some of the bigger things specifically would be I love using my time in the car when I'm driving from point A to point B for whatever it might be.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I know this goes against the Kyle Young philosophy if you use that time for phone calls and meetings, but I tend to look at that where I'm like, if I'm not using at least some of that time for prayer and worship, then I've wasted that time on the drive.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: And that is one of the areas where I'm like, it doesn't necessarily have to be a deep, profound prayer because you're behind the wheel of a car, which I promise that that has not been the result of any of my accidents, but the prayer time still happens that that sort of stuff is going on where you know you're just having that conversation.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's not head bowed, eyes closed, Cody.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: Come on.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_03: But it's it's one of those things where that is the thing that I use that for the most is to be able to take those opportunities and take those moments to be able to, you know, take something to God.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, maybe it's I just left a meeting or I'm heading into a meeting where it might be, you know, a little bit stressful for whatever the reason might be, whatever it is we're going to be talking about.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm able to take that moment kind of like you, where you know, you take those moments where you can get them and you use that as an opportunity to recenter, because that's what it's all about is trying to find that time and find those moments to be able to lean into the tenets and the practices of your faith to be able to deepen that connection that you have with Jesus.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I hope that as you guys were listening to this today, that maybe if you are trying to figure out what some of those habits could look like or how to fill that void of those negative vices that you've had before, that maybe you've got an idea or two here.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_03: And until next time, we hope to have you join us next time here on the Hotlcast.