Latest / The Living Waters Podcast / Ep. 223 - How Christians Can Stand Strong for Truth Without Being Harsh and Prideful

Transcript

Ep. 223 - How Christians Can Stand Strong for Truth Without Being Harsh and Prideful · The Living Waters Podcast

• 1:05
  Emeal Zwayne: So, virgil, you're obviously very active on social media, as I alluded to earlier.
• 1:09
  Emeal Zwayne: And I love your posts.
• 1:11
  Emeal Zwayne: I love the way you just speak truth into the noise, if I could call it that, and so I'd love you to comment on how Christians can steward and I think that word is optimal there, it's key steward social media in a way that doesn't bring reproach on the gospel.
• 1:31
  Virgil Walker: Man, that's good.
• 1:32
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, it goes back to kind of what we talked about guarding your life, guarding your heart, making sure you devoted to God.
• 1:37
  Virgil Walker: At the same time, you build a large following, you build a social media following.
• 1:41
  Virgil Walker: There is the natural tendency to say, oh, they're listening to me, but it's the reminder that, no, they're listening for truth.
• 1:48
  Virgil Walker: I love what you said, mark, because it really points to the fact that if I'm into the word of God, I know that there's truth there.
• 1:56
  Virgil Walker: Christ is truth personified.
• 1:57
  Virgil Walker: That I know and understanding that and that I'm going to be lied to the rest of the day.
• 2:02
  Virgil Walker: I love that.
• 2:03
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, I'm thinking about that.
• 2:04
  Virgil Walker: That then becomes your oasis right.
• 2:07
  Virgil Walker: The word of God becomes the way that you disengage from the craziness of culture or at least get energized to know that you can look outright and see, rightly, what's actually happening in culture.
• 2:22
  Emeal Zwayne: Life transformations.
• 2:24
  Emeal Zwayne: Wait, what's going on, guys.
• 2:28
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm not kidding.
• 2:29
  Mark Spence: Seriously, I'm going to take a drink of water and Ray hit my arm and made the water go everywhere.
• 2:33
  Emeal Zwayne: Right as we started the program.
• 2:35
  Oscar Navarro: You're using an illegal device to drink water.
• 2:39
  Mark Spence: I'm not putting it in my mouth A plastic bottle.
• 2:40
  Mark Spence: Have you noticed that I always hide it right behind Mark?
• 2:43
  Emeal Zwayne: why do you do wicked evil, rebellious things.
• 2:47
  Oscar Navarro: I spit cleaned that thing this morning.
• 2:49
  Ray Comfort: This is one of our mugs.
• 2:51
  Ray Comfort: Why won't you drink from one of our mugs?
• 2:53
  Mark Spence: Yeah, Mark.
• 2:54
  Mark Spence: Do we actually trust EZ and Oscar to leave the mugs clean?
• 2:59
  Oscar Navarro: I think Yale cleans them for us.
• 3:00
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, yale, no Yale, someone does.
• 3:04
  Ray Comfort: They use the sock.
• 3:07
  Emeal Zwayne: All right, friends, as I was saying before, I was rudely interrupted.
• 3:10
  Emeal Zwayne: Life transformations you don't have to do that.
• 3:16
  Emeal Zwayne: The first time was better, but that was good enough.
• 3:18
  Emeal Zwayne: My life was recently transformed yet again, and, scotty, you didn't start the clock, so we have no idea how long we've been going, but that's okay.
• 3:25
  Ray Comfort: That's just like 74 minutes.
• 3:27
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, something like that.
• 3:28
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, a new life transformation.
• 3:31
  Emeal Zwayne: Have you guys ever been to Jersey?
• 3:33
  Emeal Zwayne: Mikes, yes, the sandwich place.
• 3:35
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, is this like a new discovery for you.
• 3:38
  Emeal Zwayne: Okay, so I've been going to Subway.
• 3:40
  Emeal Zwayne: Why what?
• 3:41
  Emeal Zwayne: For the great majority of you, I'm not sure that's a step up my life.
• 3:44
  Emeal Zwayne: Wait, are you joking, mark?
• 3:46
  Ray Comfort: Yeah, not a fan, I like Subway.
• 3:48
  Emeal Zwayne: Oh Jersey Mikes.
• 3:49
  Emeal Zwayne: What Of Jersey Mikes?
• 3:50
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, it's a step up, but it's not great.
• 3:54
  Mark Spence: I have to make sure I don't breathe through my nose.
• 3:55
  Mark Spence: The smell makes me sick.
• 3:56
  Mark Spence: What Subway have you been to?
• 3:58
  Mark Spence: Borden Brew, I do like.
• 4:00
  Emeal Zwayne: Borden Brew.
• 4:01
  Emeal Zwayne: That's where the sandwich is.
• 4:01
  Emeal Zwayne: I've been to Borden Brew and didn't do their sandwiches.
• 4:03
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm scared.
• 4:04
  Oscar Navarro: Borden Brew is where you need to go for cold cut sandwich.
• 4:06
  Oscar Navarro: No.
• 4:08
  Emeal Zwayne: Togo says the creepest trommies.
• 4:09
  Emeal Zwayne: No, Okay, but why are you sending it?
• 4:12
  Ray Comfort: Just thinking about what faith you guys exercise when you go and get other people you don't know to prepare sandwiches.
• 4:18
  Emeal Zwayne: Have you ever done that, Ray?
• 4:19
  Ray Comfort: Yeah, I do think about it lately.
• 4:22
  Ray Comfort: Whenever you eat a meal, you don't know who made the meal, how clean their hands were.
• 4:26
  Oscar Navarro: Do you know what's funny?
• 4:27
  Oscar Navarro: I used to go to church with this guy who a really sweet man on the spectrum, he had a lot of needs and he would ask he had these really interesting conversations we would always want to go to.
• 4:40
  Oscar Navarro: He would always want to go to a soup plantation.
• 4:42
  Oscar Navarro: It's the only place he would ever eat.
• 4:44
  Oscar Navarro: He would stack his vegetables all in one spot, he would stack all of his lettuce in another.
• 4:49
  Oscar Navarro: One day we're sitting there eating and I was like hey, why, why don't you ever want to go to another restaurant?
• 4:54
  Oscar Navarro: He goes, well, you know.
• 4:56
  Oscar Navarro: You just never know what they're doing back there with all that food.
• 5:00
  Oscar Navarro: That's true.
• 5:03
  Emeal Zwayne: No, it is pretty scary.
• 5:04
  Emeal Zwayne: Was it you, Ray, that told me you watched a special on what they do with lemons?
• 5:09
  Ray Comfort: Yes, lemons, where they would go to the bathroom and come back and cut up the lemons.
• 5:13
  Ray Comfort: They check the lemon peel to see the feces that are on it.
• 5:17
  Ray Comfort: No, I'm not kidding.
• 5:18
  Ray Comfort: And now they put them in your drink, and so we wonder why we get sick, sometimes in the middle of the night for no reason.
• 5:23
  Ray Comfort: It's got a little grievous From the lemon water.
• 5:26
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah Well, but this is the thing right, we pass up putting the lemon in our water to put our lips to the cup.
• 5:31
  Emeal Zwayne: That's had 10,000 lips, 20,000 lips.
• 5:34
  Emeal Zwayne: And we're trusting the dishwasher that they watched those.
• 5:38
  Oscar Navarro: I told you guys that here's.
• 5:39
  Oscar Navarro: The thing about germs is that they did a test in.
• 5:41
  Oscar Navarro: Your average public toilet seat has less germs on it than the average person's cell phone.
• 5:46
  Oscar Navarro: That's amazing, and you stick this to your face.
• 5:48
  Oscar Navarro: So, ray, you're not going to enjoy that.
• 5:52
  Emeal Zwayne: Ray's not going to use a cell phone ever again.
• 5:54
  Emeal Zwayne: Did you just lick your cell phone?
• 5:56
  Ray Comfort: Ray, no, I cleaned them.
• 5:56
  Emeal Zwayne: Oh man, no.
• 6:00
  Emeal Zwayne: But back to my wonderful story, mark.
• 6:02
  Emeal Zwayne: There's another sandwich place I don't care for, though near my house, right where 24-hour fitness is on the corner.
• 6:08
  Emeal Zwayne: There, sandwiches are us.
• 6:09
  Emeal Zwayne: Do you know what that one is?
• 6:09
  Emeal Zwayne: I thought that was Jersey Mike's.
• 6:10
  Emeal Zwayne: No, no, no, jersey Mike's, that's over there by Chili's Boy.
• 6:14
  Emeal Zwayne: This is really important for our global audience.
• 6:16
  Emeal Zwayne: It is very, very much so.
• 6:17
  Emeal Zwayne: Anyway, the reason why my life has been forever revolutionized and changed is because I think it's the first time I've gone to a sandwich place where they actually cut the meat right in front of you like fresh.
• 6:28
  Emeal Zwayne: Where are you?
• 6:29
  Mark Spence: Well, subway's going to start doing that, because you go to Subway.
• 6:31
  Emeal Zwayne: What are they?
• 6:31
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, Subway's going to start doing that they better, because that's giving them some competition.
• 6:35
  Emeal Zwayne: What do you mean, Oscar?
• 6:36
  Emeal Zwayne: You've never done that.
• 6:37
  Oscar Navarro: I'm saying that that's what your average good sandwich place does.
• 6:40
  Oscar Navarro: Really, it's fresh cut meat.
• 6:41
  Oscar Navarro: Why would you like?
• 6:42
  Oscar Navarro: Subway is an exception to that rule.
• 6:44
  Emeal Zwayne: See, my life has changed.
• 6:46
  Mark Spence: Togo's has the best pastrami sandwiches.
• 6:48
  Oscar Navarro: Togo's, togo's, borden Bru has the best hot pastrami at Borden Bru.
• 6:52
  Oscar Navarro: Are you serious?
• 6:52
  Oscar Navarro: It's so good.
• 6:53
  Oscar Navarro: I'm there, I'm all over it.
• 6:55
  Oscar Navarro: They put, like jalapeno, chilies on it.
• 6:57
  Emeal Zwayne: You guys are making me hungry.
• 6:59
  Oscar Navarro: Give me a nice.
• 6:59
  Emeal Zwayne: Jewish deli Nice.
• 7:00
  Mark Spence: Jewish deli like a Rupen sandwich, good corn, oh yeah, wait, we had a really nice sandwich with Todd Farrill.
• 7:06
  Mark Spence: Wait, duh, you're right.
• 7:07
  Mark Spence: Yes, what was it?
• 7:09
  Oscar Navarro: In Atlanta.
• 7:09
  Oscar Navarro: Oh man, the name of that place.
• 7:11
  Mark Spence: Remember good, Maybe you can look that up.
• 7:13
  Mark Spence: We give that guy a plug.
• 7:14
  Mark Spence: That was a really great sandwich place.
• 7:17
  Mark Spence: That was good.
• 7:18
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, we had some chicken schloponksie.
• 7:19
  Mark Spence: Caprice.
• 7:20
  Emeal Zwayne: Chicken caprice sandwich.
• 7:21
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm getting hungry.
• 7:22
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm getting hungry.
• 7:23
  Emeal Zwayne: I want some fish and chips.
• 7:24
  Emeal Zwayne: Ray, you guys, really, you crave very desperately fish and chips.
• 7:30
  Ray Comfort: And eggs.
• 7:30
  Emeal Zwayne: Oh, that's because we can't have them.
• 7:32
  Emeal Zwayne: Well, why is it not as good here as in New?
• 7:34
  Emeal Zwayne: Zealand?
• 7:35
  Ray Comfort: It's just the way they do it.
• 7:36
  Ray Comfort: It's just the type of fish, the type of batter, the type of chips they don't even call them, not fries.
• 7:41
  Ray Comfort: When you go to New Zealand, you can eat fish and chips.
• 7:45
  Oscar Navarro: They wrap it in newspapers.
• 7:45
  Oscar Navarro: You know what I'm excited about.
• 7:47
  Ray Comfort: They used to, but they stopped because the print would come off.
• 7:49
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah duh, you know what I'm excited about.
• 7:51
  Ray Comfort: Ray, I don't know Meat pies.
• 7:52
  Ray Comfort: Oh yeah, no, it's not meat pies, it's meat pies.
• 7:55
  Emeal Zwayne: No, it's meat pies, you know what else?
• 7:58
  Mark Spence: we have to try.
• 7:59
  Mark Spence: Is the whitebait?
• 8:00
  Mark Spence: No, why we have?
• 8:01
  Emeal Zwayne: to give it a try.
• 8:02
  Emeal Zwayne: No, you're mocking.
• 8:03
  Emeal Zwayne: What are you guys talking about, our friends?
• 8:05
  Mark Spence: are listening.
• 8:05
  Mark Spence: What do you?
• 8:06
  Emeal Zwayne: mean when are we going, what are we doing?
• 8:08
  Mark Spence: In New Zealand there was like a guy on a corner selling these little anchovy fish.
• 8:12
  Mark Spence: Ray's mom made him an omelet filled with whitebait.
• 8:18
  Mark Spence: Did you like it, Ray?
• 8:19
  Mark Spence: I like it, it's delicacy in New Zealand.
• 8:20
  Ray Comfort: I'll eat it, but you think a lot of stuff we eat.
• 8:22
  Mark Spence: I bet you would.
• 8:23
  Ray Comfort: Oscar, oscar, why why?
• 8:24
  Mark Spence: do you eat anything that's like a he's?
• 8:26
  Ray Comfort: going to have some marmite in New Zealand.
• 8:27
  Ray Comfort: It's kind of a spoonful.
• 8:28
  Ray Comfort: We're going to film it.
• 8:29
  Oscar Navarro: I like embedding myself into cultures that are flourishing.
• 8:34
  Ray Comfort: I love that and a part of that is, eating the food.
• 8:36
  Ray Comfort: Yeah, I think that's great.
• 8:37
  Ray Comfort: You love that, ray.
• 8:38
  Ray Comfort: Yeah, I love the fact that we're going to film a meeting.
• 8:40
  Ray Comfort: Spoonful marmite.
• 8:41
  Ray Comfort: I was going to say, oh, that's right we have the marmite challenge going.
• 8:45
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, no-transcript.
• 8:47
  Emeal Zwayne: Oscar, you haven't told our friends about the mug contest in a while.
• 8:51
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, that's right For those as a reminder if you have one of our mugs and if you don't, shame on you no, I'm kidding If you have one of our mugs, go online, post a picture of you doing something fun or funny with it, use the hashtag living waters mug and we'll pick one of those fun ones out and send you something fun Boy.
• 9:11
  Emeal Zwayne: I am blown away by how different a person can look with one mic and two.
• 9:15
  Emeal Zwayne: What have you?
• 9:16
  Oscar Navarro: done to me, oscar.
• 9:17
  Oscar Navarro: For those who don't know, I have a Living Waters customized mug here in my hands and EZ is missing a tooth and Mark Spence has handlebar mustache with some sideburns.
• 9:29
  Emeal Zwayne: Wait, what have you done to Ray?
• 9:30
  Emeal Zwayne: I don't see anything with Ray.
• 9:31
  Oscar Navarro: What else is there to do to Ray?
• 9:35
  Emeal Zwayne: He's already mutilated Ray, what are you doing over there?
• 9:38
  Ray Comfort: I had to send an important text to whom To Trevor About.
• 9:42
  Ray Comfort: What One of your opinion?
• 9:44
  Ray Comfort: Again on the title we're topping and tanning 11 podcasts.
• 9:48
  Ray Comfort: Just do it when you go, yeah.
• 9:50
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm busy, trevor, I don't have time to text as you text Ray.
• 9:53
  Mark Spence: all Ray thinks about, besides whitebait onlets, is his YouTube channel?
• 9:57
  Emeal Zwayne: Yes, of course.
• 9:58
  Emeal Zwayne: Oh, by the way, that's a channel to check out friends 10 million views and 100,000 subscribers 100,000 subscribers on the second channel.
• 10:11
  Ray Comfort: And less than a year, which is wonderful.
• 10:12
  Ray Comfort: That is wonderful.
• 10:13
  Ray Comfort: That's thanks to Tenny and his brilliance.
• 10:15
  Mark Spence: Well, listen, mrbeast said it is to get your first 100,000 subscribers.
• 10:19
  Mark Spence: This is the hardest thing you'll ever do with your YouTube channel.
• 10:22
  Mark Spence: That's DrBeast.
• 10:22
  Mark Spence: Just hit it before a year.
• 10:23
  Mark Spence: Who's DrBeast?
• 10:24
  Mark Spence: Mrbeast?
• 10:25
  Mark Spence: I see DrBeast, mrbeast, mrbeast.
• 10:28
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, and now the Spanish channel.
• 10:30
  Emeal Zwayne: By the way, friends, we have a Spanish Living Waters channel 360 something thousand.
• 10:35
  Emeal Zwayne: That is amazing.
• 10:36
  Mark Spence: See Subscribers.
• 10:37
  Mark Spence: Now I'm going to return.
• 10:40
  Emeal Zwayne: There's not much to say.
• 10:41
  Emeal Zwayne: All right, friends, here's a comment from Kelvin Nunez.
• 10:47
  Emeal Zwayne: I generally listen to the audio on Spotify, but praise the Lord for this ministry and what our friends at Living Waters are doing, so much that I had to rate it there and over here.
• 10:58
  Emeal Zwayne: Let's go.
• 10:59
  Emeal Zwayne: I like that.
• 11:00
  Emeal Zwayne: Thank you, kelvin.
• 11:01
  Emeal Zwayne: That's a good idea For those of you that rate on different platforms go to the other ones and give us a rating there, although Spotify doesn't allow you to leave comments.
• 11:10
  Oscar Navarro: They just did it.
• 11:12
  Oscar Navarro: You can leave per episode.
• 11:14
  Emeal Zwayne: Did they just change?
• 11:15
  Oscar Navarro: it.
• 11:15
  Oscar Navarro: I'll talk to you about that.
• 11:16
  Oscar Navarro: Wait, what I don't remember.
• 11:17
  Emeal Zwayne: Are you serious?
• 11:18
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, Oscar gave me a call.
• 11:19
  Oscar Navarro: When are others going to learn MrSpotify?
• 11:21
  Emeal Zwayne: listen.
• 11:22
  Emeal Zwayne: When are others going to learn?
• 11:24
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, anyway, he went on to say five stars everywhere for these godly people that have no idea whispers what they're doing.
• 11:32
  Emeal Zwayne: Great, thank you, kelvin.
• 11:34
  Emeal Zwayne: We're blessed that you listen.
• 11:36
  Emeal Zwayne: Brother, this podcast is brought to you by.
• 11:38
  Emeal Zwayne: God has a wonderful plan for your life.
• 11:42
  Emeal Zwayne: All right, this book, it's good.
• 11:47
  Emeal Zwayne: It's got Stephen getting stoned on the front with stones, let's be clear, not with marijuana.
• 11:55
  Emeal Zwayne: This has the potential, I think, to revolutionize the church if people get ahold of that message.
• 12:03
  Mark Spence: Of all the books that we sell and make available, that is by far the most important book.
• 12:08
  Mark Spence: It's a simple reading book too.
• 12:10
  Mark Spence: It's not long.
• 12:11
  Mark Spence: You can get it down in one session, maybe two sessions.
• 12:14
  Mark Spence: Most of you read it the rate of easy, but you have to read it.
• 12:18
  Mark Spence: It's available for free.
• 12:19
  Mark Spence: You can read it online.
• 12:21
  Mark Spence: I highly recommend it.
• 12:22
  Mark Spence: God's a wonderful plan for your life.
• 12:25
  Oscar Navarro: I gotta tell you there's about a stack of seven or eight books that I like to give to new believers 78 books 78 books.
• 12:32
  Oscar Navarro: I'll get it get back to me next week.
• 12:33
  Oscar Navarro: That's one of them, though.
• 12:35
  Emeal Zwayne: It's a really good book.
• 12:36
  Oscar Navarro: I strongly recommend it for everybody.
• 12:37
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, check it out, friends, along with the Living Waters Mug with the new slogan.
• 12:41
  Emeal Zwayne: Don't forget to have it in the study Bible.
• 12:44
  Emeal Zwayne: All livingwaterscom man, oscar, you get better and get better.
• 12:50
  Emeal Zwayne: One of them.
• 12:51
  Mark Spence: One of you guys have to.
• 12:52
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, all right, friends.
• 12:55
  Emeal Zwayne: The G3 journey continues with our brother, virgil Walker.
• 13:01
  Emeal Zwayne: Now, virgil, he's the director for G3, and the guy does a phenomenal job.
• 13:07
  Emeal Zwayne: He's talking about his amazing bowtie he's got an infectious smile, doesn't he?
• 13:12
  Mark Spence: He really does.
• 13:13
  Mark Spence: Just looking at him, he's saying welcome into my presence, come and talk, let's have him.
• 13:19
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, warm brother, kindhearted, and I think you guys are going to be really blessed by this.
• 13:24
  Emeal Zwayne: We talk about how Christians can stand strong for truth without being harsh and prideful like Mark, oscar and Ray.
• 13:31
  Emeal Zwayne: Without any further ado, friends, here is our friend Virgil Walker.
• 13:41
  Emeal Zwayne: Well, friends, as you guessed by the beautiful ambient noise behind us, we are still at G3.
• 13:49
  Emeal Zwayne: And I'm excited about the guests we have with us right now.
• 13:55
  Emeal Zwayne: His name is Virgil Walker, but he should be called Virgil Runner because he's running around like crazy, because he is the executive director of operations for G3 Ministries.
• 14:06
  Emeal Zwayne: And, virgil, it's been a joy to know you, brother.
• 14:10
  Emeal Zwayne: It's been an encouragement to see the platform.
• 14:14
  Emeal Zwayne: The Lord's given you, the doors he's been opening, the voice that you've gained among God's people.
• 14:20
  Emeal Zwayne: It's a delight and we love G3.
• 14:23
  Emeal Zwayne: Mark and I were here in 2021.
• 14:26
  Emeal Zwayne: It was our first one ever and seriously we were mesmerized by all that the Lord was doing and we just sensed a real connection.
• 14:31
  Emeal Zwayne: That's why we're here as sponsors this year and this year.
• 14:35
  Emeal Zwayne: Last year was, I think last time was 6500.
• 14:37
  Emeal Zwayne: How many of you guys have this year?
• 14:39
  Virgil Walker: It will be 8300 when it's all said, and done 8300.
• 14:43
  Virgil Walker: That is amazing.
• 14:43
  Virgil Walker: It is amazing, it's absolutely amazing.
• 14:45
  Virgil Walker: I remember when you guys came.
• 14:47
  Virgil Walker: I remember telling you guys man, it's about time.
• 14:50
  Virgil Walker: These are your people, this is your place, this is your space.
• 14:53
  Virgil Walker: You guys should have been here a long time ago.
• 14:56
  Virgil Walker: I'm glad that you're here.
• 14:57
  Virgil Walker: You've got fans, folks who love you, folks who've loved the work that you've done for years, for a decade or more that I've been aware of the work at Living Waters.
• 15:05
  Virgil Walker: I'm glad you're here.
• 15:07
  Virgil Walker: This is a natural fit.
• 15:08
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, it feels that way.
• 15:09
  Virgil Walker: We're happy that you guys are here.
• 15:11
  Oscar Navarro: Let me say, not that you guys need promotion or advertisement at 8300, but, if I can put words into the difference between listening to the talks online and being here, being here feels like a pilgrimage.
• 15:25
  Oscar Navarro: We all feel like exiles in the current state of the nation.
• 15:29
  Oscar Navarro: And so to gather together what feels like a remnant.
• 15:34
  Oscar Navarro: It feels like we went on a pilgrimage and we're bonding together, meeting people, and it's beautiful man.
• 15:42
  Virgil Walker: Oscar, that's exactly right.
• 15:43
  Virgil Walker: I think people come to G3 for that reason.
• 15:44
  Virgil Walker: It feels in a lot of ways kind of like a family reunion, kind of an oasis, and so you get quite a bit of that as well People out there struggling and dealing with all kinds of issues related to the culture, feeling like they're beat up, feeling like they're isolated, feeling like they're alone, finally coming into a place, a space where all of us are combined.
• 16:01
  Virgil Walker: We have a common love for the Lord, a common direction as far as our stance on Scripture, our desire to be a light in an ever-darkening world.
• 16:10
  Virgil Walker: All of those things are kind of what makes G3 extra special.
• 16:13
  Virgil Walker: The preaching is phenomenal, the fellowship this is kind of part B, and by part B I don't mean like it's not the good part, it's just another aspect of what we do in the exhibit hall connecting with people.
• 16:27
  Emeal Zwayne: And is it true that the ultimate goal of G3 is to get everyone to wear bow ties?
• 16:31
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, that would be a good look bro.
• 16:35
  Emeal Zwayne: Bro, the bow ties are just off the chain.
• 16:36
  Emeal Zwayne: When did you see what I?
• 16:38
  Virgil Walker: had tomorrow.
• 16:38
  Virgil Walker: Bro, we got it all planned out.
• 16:41
  Emeal Zwayne: Huh Well, you know, Virgil, when Mark and I were here last time, honestly we were in shock, and we still kind of are.
• 16:47
  Emeal Zwayne: We figured there may be a few people that would recognize us in the ministry.
• 16:51
  Emeal Zwayne: We were overwhelmed.
• 16:53
  Emeal Zwayne: I mean, there was a point where I think we stood for two hours in the same spot and people kept coming up, and the reason why that excited us is because of the crossover that those that follow our ministry follow G3.
• 17:05
  Emeal Zwayne: And we know they're getting good sound theology and.
• 17:09
  Emeal Zwayne: Mark, wasn't it just a blast?
• 17:11
  Mark Spence: Yeah, I mean this time obviously too.
• 17:13
  Mark Spence: Yeah, I mean there obviously comes a point where you just go, all right, we got to limit the eye contact.
• 17:17
  Mark Spence: You know, I got to kind of put that if you want to get somewhere, you just got to be really careful with that, but absolutely the synergy that's happening between G3 and Living Waters is not something I could have predicted that people coming up I'll see people inside the line to meet someone, to talk to someone and getting out of line to come up to us and say, listen, I absolutely love this teaching over here.
• 17:39
  Mark Spence: I got saved through your ministry.
• 17:42
  Ray Comfort: I got saved through ministry.
• 17:43
  Ray Comfort: Over and over and over again, I got saved through the ministry.
• 17:46
  Mark Spence: And now good theology, yeah, yeah.
• 17:49
  Virgil Walker: I'll tell you this, I'm not surprised.
• 17:51
  Virgil Walker: My first G3 experience in live was here in this particular building.
• 17:56
  Virgil Walker: It was in 2017.
• 17:57
  Virgil Walker: And I kind of came kind of wide-eyed and just kind of figuring it all out, going, oh man, this is incredible, just kind of experiencing it for the first time, and so to be the guy now that's providing oversight for it, I'm just like I can't believe how God, like you mentioned, kind of exploded the platform and allowed me to do some unique things, but I would have told you in 2017, given what I know about Living Waters, about your ministry, about what you've done for the body of Christ in the area of educating people about evangelism I could have predicted that in 2017.
• 18:25
  Virgil Walker: I could have told you that in 2018 when I came back the next year, and in 2019 and in 2020, that you should be here.
• 18:31
  Virgil Walker: So for me, this was a natural kind of connection that.
• 18:36
  Virgil Walker: I thought would be right because of the fact that you guys are educating so many people in the body of Christ about evangelism.
• 18:42
  Emeal Zwayne: Well, bro, you blessed our socks off when you told us the impact the ministry's had on your life in terms of evangelism.
• 18:46
  Emeal Zwayne: I think you do some street ministry and stuff as well.
• 18:51
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, it's in large part due to what I learned from you guys.
• 18:53
  Oscar Navarro: Wow.
• 18:54
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, more than a decade ago, just watching videos from YouTube and kind of connecting that as I continue to think about my walk with Christ, the need to be out doing evangelism, so I got the courage to go out into the street to go to the abortion mill because of stuff that you guys were doing and I was watching online.
• 19:09
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, I would learn from you with regard to apologetics.
• 19:13
  Virgil Walker: And I go okay, I got that tip, I got that tip.
• 19:16
  Virgil Walker: Okay, let me get out here and see how that flows in the course of a natural conversation.
• 19:19
  Virgil Walker: So for me it was more than just trying to get head knowledge and be really kind of puffed up theologically.
• 19:24
  Virgil Walker: I thought if this wasn't a practically of applicable something, practical application where I was going out doing and engaging, it really didn't matter, it didn't make sense.
• 19:31
  Virgil Walker: So I got a chance to use it and experience it and again I love you guys.
• 19:35
  Virgil Walker: Kind of like what people are coming up to you going.
• 19:38
  Virgil Walker: I feel like I know you feel like.
• 19:39
  Virgil Walker: I feel the same way when I first had a chance to kind of get to meet you online in the social media.
• 19:43
  Emeal Zwayne: That's humbling, bro, very humbling.
• 19:45
  Emeal Zwayne: Well, that's a perfect segue into what we want to talk about today.
• 19:47
  Emeal Zwayne: You know you said you didn't just want a bunch of head knowledge.
• 19:51
  Emeal Zwayne: Sure, and I think that you know, as Christians we obviously need to speak to the culture both with strength and with authority.
• 19:57
  Emeal Zwayne: But sometimes I think we can cross the line and end up filling the demonstrate specific biblical characteristics that should really mark us like distinctly as believers.
• 20:08
  Emeal Zwayne: So how can we guard against that, against crossing that line and becoming harsh and violating really principles of Scripture?
• 20:17
  Emeal Zwayne: Second of the two 24 to 26,.
• 20:19
  Emeal Zwayne: You know, server in the Lord must not be Coral's son, but be gentle, able to teach.
• 20:23
  Emeal Zwayne: You know, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition.
• 20:26
  Virgil Walker: I think it begins by making mistakes, truth be told.
• 20:29
  Virgil Walker: I mean, you learn apologetics.
• 20:30
  Virgil Walker: You've seen this, I'm sure, often, mark, where someone learns apologetics.
• 20:34
  Virgil Walker: They've been beat up so much and now they can swing back and they're like, oh, this is, let's get it, yeah, let's get it all and let's do it Right.
• 20:41
  Virgil Walker: So I think you start out doing it wrongly and then, truly, someone who's truly converted man, the Holy Spirit, is going to convict your heart and you're going to feel that sense of you know what.
• 20:49
  Virgil Walker: This is probably not really productive.
• 20:51
  Virgil Walker: I'm winning an argument but losing the opportunity to really share and spread the gospel.
• 20:54
  Virgil Walker: So I think that's a natural part of kind of the growth process of I've been beat up, now I'm swinging back and now, wait a minute, is this about me or is this truly about Christ?
• 21:06
  Virgil Walker: And I think, going through that process, learning that, and then stepping back and saying how can I do this differently?
• 21:11
  Virgil Walker: And again going back to videos, watching you guys, watching you in hostile environments, take on people and recognize that the hostility is not really aimed at you, though you experience it.
• 21:23
  Virgil Walker: Really the hostility is aimed at the message of the gospel.
• 21:24
  Virgil Walker: And recognizing that, disconnecting that, I think, is really, really key.
• 21:29
  Oscar Navarro: I think another huge aspect too is humility, like I don't know because I figured it out, I don't know because I studied.
• 21:35
  Oscar Navarro: Well, I don't know because I'm smarter than you or more moral than you, I know because of the grace of God.
• 21:41
  Virgil Walker: And when you keep that perspective, then it prevents you from getting prideful and arrogant in those moments, not only do I know because of the grace of God, but, man, I continue to understand because of God's grace.
• 21:53
  Virgil Walker: Every day I have to look at me in the mirror and know the sinful individual I am, and so I'm not going to get puffed up, because I need the gospel and its proclamation just as much as the person I'm proclaiming it to.
• 22:04
  Virgil Walker: That's good.
• 22:05
  Emeal Zwayne: You know, virgil, unfortunately we've seen some of the most effective apologists, evangelists, pastors, leaders in the church stumble fall, destroy their ministries, their lives, their families and man.
• 22:22
  Emeal Zwayne: Pride is such a killer when it comes to our place and the culture and being witnesses.
• 22:26
  Emeal Zwayne: And when I was a younger believer, I taught a men's ministry study and I taught a message called Prusty, and it was a combination of pride and lust.
• 22:37
  Emeal Zwayne: Prusty, the two-headed dragon, the devourer of every Christian man.
• 22:43
  Emeal Zwayne: But when it comes to and Oscar mentioned it a moment ago humility.
• 22:49
  Emeal Zwayne: But when it comes to fighting pride in the arena, especially in the social media world, because this is the two-edged sword, right, I mean, what a blessing that we can.
• 22:58
  Emeal Zwayne: We can, at the click of a button, at the tapping of a keyboard, influence thousands, in some cases, depending on the platform, millions of people around the world.
• 23:07
  Emeal Zwayne: But yet how dangerous it can be because of our pride.
• 23:10
  Emeal Zwayne: And there's no filter, there's no buffer.
• 23:13
  Emeal Zwayne: You see something, you get frustrated.
• 23:15
  Emeal Zwayne: In two seconds it's out there in the world, you know.
• 23:17
  Emeal Zwayne: So, brother, how do we guard against pride, how do we walk in true?
• 23:22
  Virgil Walker: humility.
• 23:22
  Virgil Walker: There's a lot of pieces of that puzzle.
• 23:25
  Virgil Walker: One of the things you mentioned are ministries that kind of get out there and get ahead of themselves and are doing things and then they find themselves in a fallen condition.
• 23:31
  Virgil Walker: A lot of that is due to the fact that many of them are more plugged into ministry out there rather than actually being connected to a local church.
• 23:39
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, amen.
• 23:40
  Virgil Walker: Being connected to a local church is absolutely critical.
• 23:42
  Virgil Walker: People who know you like here, folks see me.
• 23:44
  Virgil Walker: Oh, there's Virgil At my church.
• 23:46
  Virgil Walker: Nobody like okay.
• 23:47
  Oscar Navarro: Virgil, I see you, that's so important.
• 23:50
  Virgil Walker: It's huge, you know, and I've got a beautiful wife who at home says I mean, I see you put your pants on one of those, and you know all of those kinds of things.
• 23:57
  Virgil Walker: So I think there's some really practical things that are like that that are incredibly helpful.
• 24:01
  Virgil Walker: But again, the gospel man being reminded of the fact that I am a sinner, it's still in need of a savior, in need of the word of God, in order for my life to be in a process of growth and sanctification.
• 24:13
  Virgil Walker: That's absolutely huge absolutely critical.
• 24:16
  Mark Spence: I remember I was just gonna say I remember a Paul Washer tell the story.
• 24:19
  Mark Spence: He got home from a conference and he was telling his wife.
• 24:21
  Virgil Walker: I felt people wanted autographs they wanted pictures and everything she says, oh, that's great, take out the trash.
• 24:26
  Virgil Walker: That was that Take out the trash.
• 24:28
  Mark Spence: But don't you realize, take out the trash.
• 24:30
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, that's good.
• 24:31
  Oscar Navarro: Absolutely.
• 24:32
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, I mean, I think you know I've heard it said before surround yourself with people who are not impressed with you.
• 24:37
  Virgil Walker: Absolutely.
• 24:38
  Oscar Navarro: Because then they're willing to call you out, they're willing to challenge you, they're willing to hold you accountable.
• 24:43
  Oscar Navarro: I think that's a big part of humility.
• 24:44
  Oscar Navarro: I love you right there.
• 24:46
  Virgil Walker: And stop being impressed with yourself.
• 24:47
  Virgil Walker: Amen.
• 24:48
  Virgil Walker: Like bro, I know me.
• 24:50
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, come on.
• 24:51
  Ray Comfort: I know me, I know what I think.
• 24:52
  Ray Comfort: Oh my God.
• 24:53
  Virgil Walker: Right, I know me well, and you know so I'm not gonna get caught up.
• 24:56
  Virgil Walker: It's not.
• 24:56
  Virgil Walker: There's so many great men and women of God that are doing phenomenal things for me to think because I've grown some kind of following on Twitter that I'm now arrived, bro, come on.
• 25:04
  Mark Spence: Yeah, sit out somewhere.
• 25:06
  Mark Spence: Yeah, but what was I saying that we've said for years?
• 25:08
  Mark Spence: Right, you cannot impress people with Jesus when you're still trying to impress them with yourself.
• 25:12
  Mark Spence: Yeah, right, there's no such thing as a cool Christian.
• 25:15
  Mark Spence: Right, you need to get over yourself.
• 25:16
  Mark Spence: God already has.
• 25:17
  Mark Spence: That's exactly right.
• 25:18
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, I summed up my testimony years ago in this little verse I once was but a lump of coal upon a heap of mire, yet Jesus Christ redeemed my soul and saved me from the fire.
• 25:29
  Emeal Zwayne: That's awesome.
• 25:30
  Ray Comfort: And that's it.
• 25:30
  Ray Comfort: You know, that's all.
• 25:31
  Ray Comfort: We were, man, yeah.
• 25:33
  Emeal Zwayne: You know?
• 25:33
  Emeal Zwayne: I think of what Paul says what do we have that you know?
• 25:36
  Emeal Zwayne: What do you have that you didn't receive?
• 25:37
  Emeal Zwayne: Yes, and if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you didn't?
• 25:40
  Emeal Zwayne: Yes?
• 25:40
  Emeal Zwayne: So it's like what do you possess that wasn't given to you by the Lord?
• 25:43
  Emeal Zwayne: And if it was, why do you act like you somehow are the originator of whatever you possess, like you created yourself and then created these gifts and faculties and features?
• 25:52
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, it's stupid you know, yeah, I get it.
• 25:55
  Virgil Walker: I think about that as well for me.
• 25:56
  Virgil Walker: I look at guys like you and what you've been doing for many, many years.
• 26:02
  Virgil Walker: All of this can go in a vapor.
• 26:05
  Ray Comfort: I mean, it really can yeah.
• 26:07
  Virgil Walker: When we think about the opportunity that we have to serve God, it's the thought process that God doesn't need us, he doesn't require us.
• 26:14
  Virgil Walker: We get caught up thinking that being used of God.
• 26:16
  Virgil Walker: The reality is he does not need us.
• 26:18
  Virgil Walker: We get the opportunity to be used of him.
• 26:21
  Virgil Walker: And we kind of have to think about it.
• 26:23
  Oscar Navarro: in that line, I feel like it can be such a slippery slope.
• 26:26
  Oscar Navarro: Pride.
• 26:26
  Oscar Navarro: It doesn't like hit you hard, right, it slides itself in.
• 26:31
  Oscar Navarro: And so somebody might start by thinking like, oh man, I want to grow my social media feed because I want to reach the lost, I want to reach more people.
• 26:38
  Oscar Navarro: But slowly but surely they start to find identity, they start to have pride in it, they start to take pride in like, look at how many people I'm influenced.
• 26:46
  Oscar Navarro: I'm just going to help people know who I am.
• 26:48
  Oscar Navarro: How do we guard ourselves with the social media sphere?
• 26:52
  Oscar Navarro: And I don't think this just applies to influencers, it applies to anybody who's social media.
• 26:56
  Oscar Navarro: How do we guard ourselves?
• 26:57
  Oscar Navarro: How do we know we cross over from wanting to glorify Christ to wanting to glorify ourselves?
• 27:03
  Virgil Walker: I think when you're wanting to win that last argument, like when you find yourself I think you can identify it rather easily You're getting in an exchange with someone on a social media platform and you're pressed to.
• 27:14
  Virgil Walker: You got to get back to that tweet.
• 27:16
  Virgil Walker: You've got to, I got they can't have the last word you know, You're probably in a space where you're missing it.
• 27:23
  Virgil Walker: You've got to allow people to have their say and be quiet and let them do what they're going to do and keep it moving.
• 27:29
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm so glad you said that.
• 27:30
  Emeal Zwayne: In fact, that was connected to my next question and that was what does meekness look like in evangelism and in our witness?
• 27:38
  Emeal Zwayne: And I think you summed it up there right, so you'd see it as restraint, basically.
• 27:45
  Virgil Walker: Absolutely absolute restraint.
• 27:46
  Virgil Walker: When you could do the opposite, you could do the you could lash out, you could say the wrong thing, you could or even saying the right thing.
• 27:53
  Oscar Navarro: In the wrong way.
• 27:54
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, in the wrong way and having a heart that just says I've got to win this argument.
• 27:58
  Virgil Walker: You've just got to watch.
• 27:59
  Virgil Walker: You've got to watch that.
• 28:00
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, I'm not immune.
• 28:02
  Virgil Walker: None of us are immune to that.
• 28:04
  Virgil Walker: I do guard against that.
• 28:06
  Virgil Walker: I think about that.
• 28:07
  Virgil Walker: Okay, did I have to win that?
• 28:08
  Virgil Walker: Do I have to say that last thing?
• 28:10
  Virgil Walker: At the end of the day, god's truth reigns, and so, if I truly believe that, I don't have to be the one that lays it out there, I don't have to be the one that makes the last case.
• 28:19
  Oscar Navarro: You know, what's funny is when I was an atheist through high school and college and my buddies would love like if they saw a Christian handing out a track, they would go get a Mosker and they'd stand around me and be like, oh yeah, you got him real good.
• 28:31
  Oscar Navarro: And when I became a Christian and started to get in evangelism, I did the same thing for Jesus.
• 28:37
  Ray Comfort: I became a jerk for.
• 28:38
  Oscar Navarro: Jesus.
• 28:39
  Mark Spence: Jerk for Jesus.
• 28:41
  Oscar Navarro: And it wasn't until I realized what I said earlier.
• 28:43
  Oscar Navarro: Like man, I didn't come to a new place by my own strength or wisdom.
• 28:47
  Oscar Navarro: This is a gift that I'm offering to others as well.
• 28:50
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, that's real.
• 28:51
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, virgil, I shared before.
• 28:52
  Emeal Zwayne: There was this person I knew who was used extensively in ministry, especially in the Middle East, and people would often sing their praises and they said everywhere they went, they carried with them in their shirt pocket a little plastic bag of dirt Wow.
• 29:06
  Emeal Zwayne: And anytime anyone would come up and praise them they would just quietly without giving any attention, or they'd just put their hand on that bag and clench it and remember what they are.
• 29:13
  Emeal Zwayne: Yep.
• 29:14
  Oscar Navarro: Well, that's similar to the reformers.
• 29:15
  Oscar Navarro: Like, if you ever see the pictures, people don't realize this.
• 29:17
  Oscar Navarro: If you ever see those old paintings of like Luther writing and there's like a skull on the table with a candle in it, people don't realize those were real schools, those were priests that they knew that had died.
• 29:27
  Oscar Navarro: And this sounds morbid to us.
• 29:29
  Oscar Navarro: I get it, but what they would do is they would hold onto their schools to remind them of their own mortality.
• 29:35
  Oscar Navarro: It was a way to humble themselves as they wrote their sermons.
• 29:39
  Virgil Walker: I didn't know that.
• 29:40
  Virgil Walker: That's incredible.
• 29:41
  Virgil Walker: That's incredible.
• 29:42
  Emeal Zwayne: You know, Virgil, I love getting to the root of things and going to the foundation, and so I'd love you to speak to the indispensable role of a vibrant devotional and prayer life that's good For the believer, to help us in how we communicate and represent the Lord.
• 29:59
  Virgil Walker: I mean, I think, first of all, going back to the very topic of pride, that's foundational Having a time in the word, having time in prayer, having a real devotional life, having time set aside early in the morning that's kind of my time early in the morning, about four to five in the AM, of just spending time with the Lord.
• 30:16
  Virgil Walker: And again, it's not a lab, but I don't want to make it sound like it's some big deal, it's just me, the Bible, prayer and on my day I think that helps to maintain dealing with issues of pride.
• 30:28
  Virgil Walker: You know, you're reading the life of David or you're reading the life of someone in the Old Testament who got caught up in something or someone who was supposedly strong and God saw that they did the wrong thing.
• 30:39
  Virgil Walker: Those kinds of things are incredibly, incredibly helpful as it pertains to the indispensable role that that plays in the life of the believer.
• 30:45
  Virgil Walker: If you love the Lord, if you love God, if sanctification is real to you, if you really want to grow in your faith, to me it goes without saying you have to be connected to the Word.
• 30:56
  Virgil Walker: I used to do I mean I do podcasts now.
• 31:00
  Virgil Walker: I used to.
• 31:00
  Virgil Walker: Back in the day, I used to do a lot of radio and I would.
• 31:04
  Virgil Walker: I would represent the kind of conservatism you know.
• 31:06
  Virgil Walker: I was the black conservative.
• 31:07
  Virgil Walker: I just kind of loved that.
• 31:08
  Virgil Walker: I was the black conservative fighting for truth and justice.
• 31:11
  Oscar Navarro: the black conservative Did you have that song I should have right I should have.
• 31:17
  Virgil Walker: Well, I thought this was great, that the challenge with it was, when I was doing that, I was lifting up conservatism rather than the cross of Christ.
• 31:24
  Virgil Walker: And it wasn't until I got, a a biblical worldview and B a devotional life.
• 31:31
  Virgil Walker: That was real right.
• 31:33
  Virgil Walker: That wasn't just we're in a group and hey, I read mine and you read yours and you know it was.
• 31:38
  Virgil Walker: It was real to me that I began to say A I'm not gonna defend conservatism, I need to lift up the cross of Christ.
• 31:45
  Virgil Walker: And B this faith that I have is real.
• 31:48
  Virgil Walker: It's real.
• 31:49
  Virgil Walker: It's not some gimmick, it's not something that I can kind of show people so that I can look cool.
• 31:55
  Virgil Walker: This is real.
• 31:57
  Virgil Walker: I've got to walk it out and that's how I want to interact with God.
• 32:00
  Oscar Navarro: So you know, a big part of it, too, is just not forgetting what it is that changes lives which is a renewed heart, new loves as.
• 32:08
  Oscar Navarro: Augustine put it right.
• 32:09
  Oscar Navarro: He said that we had to.
• 32:10
  Oscar Navarro: Sin is ultimately a form of disordered love and what we need is our, our hearts to be rearranged for the glory of God.
• 32:16
  Oscar Navarro: And I bring that up to say is because they think about Psalm 51, where David starts out realizing he's a sinner.
• 32:22
  Oscar Navarro: Then he moves into a place of repentance, then he moves into a place of joy, then his joy becomes an overflowing joy that he shares with others.
• 32:30
  Oscar Navarro: Right, let your name be known in Zion as one of the translator puts it, and so I think about like it is in our nature to share about the things that we love.
• 32:40
  Oscar Navarro: You go to a favorite new restaurant.
• 32:41
  Oscar Navarro: The first thing you don't do is call somebody.
• 32:43
  Oscar Navarro: You got to go here.
• 32:44
  Oscar Navarro: Like their burgers, their tacos are amazing, right, you watch a new movie, you read a new book.
• 32:48
  Oscar Navarro: You're gonna want to share it because it's how God designed you.
• 32:53
  Oscar Navarro: And so if we're aiming from for the heart, from the heart, it moves away from intellectual pride into an act of devotion in which you're overflowing with joy.
• 33:04
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, somebody turned up a Hammond beef Oscar right about now.
• 33:09
  Virgil Walker: That's good stuff.
• 33:11
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, and Mark two and a half years in.
• 33:17
  Emeal Zwayne: And Mark, that kind of life.
• 33:19
  Emeal Zwayne: I'd love you to speak to this, virgil.
• 33:22
  Emeal Zwayne: Wouldn't have heard you say this before, but that kind of life of devotion in our pursuit of the Lord leads to a yearning to want to serve Him.
• 33:30
  Emeal Zwayne: And you talk about how every morning you get up, you go to your sliding glass door in your bedroom and you salute and say reporting for duty right Isn't that it's that connection, yeah you know, I hear people say when do you have devotions?
• 33:42
  Mark Spence: Do you have them in the morning, at 4 to 5?
• 33:43
  Mark Spence: am Do you have them at night?
• 33:45
  Mark Spence: Do you have them in the afternoon?
• 33:46
  Mark Spence: Yeah, and the idea is this right, no, we're just devoted because he's devoted.
• 33:50
  Mark Spence: Right, he's not part of my life, he is my life, as Colossian says, I'm not just putting on the Lord, jesus Christ, I'm engulfed by Jesus Christ.
• 33:59
  Mark Spence: I want to eat, drink, sleep, jesus Christ.
• 34:02
  Mark Spence: That's what I want.
• 34:03
  Mark Spence: I want the outflow to be the overflow I want.
• 34:06
  Mark Spence: If you were to cut off my hand, I would bleed, jesus.
• 34:08
  Mark Spence: That's what I want, right?
• 34:10
  Mark Spence: So the idea of that is to know Him better today than I did yesterday.
• 34:14
  Mark Spence: Right, it's not a race, there's no competition.
• 34:16
  Mark Spence: I just want to know the one who set me free.
• 34:17
  Mark Spence: He legitimately put my feet on solid ground.
• 34:21
  Mark Spence: I have no idea why.
• 34:22
  Mark Spence: I'll never understand why.
• 34:24
  Mark Spence: He did it for his own name, his own fame, his own glory, but it'll be for my good.
• 34:27
  Mark Spence: So it is a delight to draw near to him.
• 34:33
  Mark Spence: Where am I going to go, right?
• 34:35
  Mark Spence: When I first became a Christian for three years, nobody sat next to me in church.
• 34:40
  Oscar Navarro: That makes sense, it really does and it still does.
• 34:42
  Mark Spence: It's called deodorant.
• 34:43
  Mark Spence: Yeah, it still makes sense why they wouldn't do that.
• 34:46
  Mark Spence: But I remember here, and I would blow it and I would have nobody to go to.
• 34:49
  Mark Spence: I wasn't a disciple, I didn't know how to read, I'd never heard of the word commentary.
• 34:53
  Mark Spence: I was an island out of myself, couldn't get enough of the word.
• 34:56
  Mark Spence: Going from church to church just because I couldn't get enough.
• 34:59
  Mark Spence: And then I remember the scripture when am I going to go?
• 35:04
  Mark Spence: He alone holds the words to eternal life.
• 35:07
  Mark Spence: So when I would blow it I'd go.
• 35:08
  Mark Spence: Well, where am I going to go?
• 35:10
  Mark Spence: I'm not going back to Egypt.
• 35:11
  Mark Spence: I mean, going back to Egypt is not an option, right.
• 35:14
  Mark Spence: So now it's like my desire is Lord, I will go anywhere, as long as it's forward, yeah, but wherever the highways, the byways, the gutterways, if you're in it, I'm there.
• 35:24
  Mark Spence: No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much I kick and scream, I never want to be out of your will.
• 35:28
  Mark Spence: Whatever you want to do, yeah.
• 35:31
  Virgil Walker: All right.
• 35:31
  Emeal Zwayne: Let's go.
• 35:32
  Mark Spence: I love it, that's great.
• 35:33
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, and Virgil, you know, our devotional life should really be the catalyst for a life of devotion.
• 35:40
  Emeal Zwayne: So in other words, I have my devotional time with the Lord in the morning so that I can be devoted all day long.
• 35:46
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, that sets the tone.
• 35:48
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, I mean really, if our true devotional life consisted of the hour or two or three or whatever, and the remaining 20, whatever hours are just kind of whatever, then there's a disconnect there too as well.
• 36:00
  Emeal Zwayne: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 36:01
  Virgil Walker: When you think about what you just shared, those two things are connected.
• 36:04
  Virgil Walker: I'm having a devotional because I'm truly devoted to God.
• 36:08
  Virgil Walker: I'm devoted to his work, I'm devoted to his will, I'm devoted to seeing sin minimized in my own life.
• 36:12
  Oscar Navarro: Yeah, amen.
• 36:13
  Virgil Walker: I'm devoted to walking in a way that honors him.
• 36:15
  Virgil Walker: I'm devoted to my church family.
• 36:17
  Virgil Walker: I'm devoted to pursuing godliness in every single aspect of my life, absolutely.
• 36:21
  Mark Spence: Yeah, you know Art Can Hughes.
• 36:22
  Mark Spence: He said the reason why I start off with the Word of God, the reason why I start off with that truth coming inside of me, is because I know I'm going to be lied to the rest of the day.
• 36:31
  Ray Comfort: And this is what he attributed to why he's written 22 commentaries.
• 36:34
  Mark Spence: He said the Bible for me, became my ultimate source of sanity and I knew that I could approach God's Word.
• 36:40
  Mark Spence: I could put my guard down because God was going to tell me the truth Mark that's good.
• 36:44
  Mark Spence: Yeah, art Can Hughes for you.
• 36:46
  Mark Spence: That's good stuff.
• 36:47
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, so, virgil, you're obviously very active on social media, as I alluded to earlier.
• 36:53
  Emeal Zwayne: And I love your posts.
• 36:55
  Emeal Zwayne: I love the way you just speak truth into the noise, if I could call it that, sure.
• 37:01
  Emeal Zwayne: And so I'd love you to comment on how Christians can steward and I think that word is optimal there, it's key Steward social media in a way that doesn't bring reproach.
• 37:13
  Emeal Zwayne: Good question.
• 37:14
  Virgil Walker: Man, that's good.
• 37:15
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, it goes back to kind of what we talked about Guarding your life, guarding your heart, making sure you devoted to God.
• 37:20
  Virgil Walker: At the same time, you know, you build a large following, you build a social media following.
• 37:25
  Virgil Walker: There is the natural tendency to say, oh, they're listening to me, but it's the reminder that no, they're listening for truth.
• 37:31
  Virgil Walker: I love what you said, mark, because it really points to the fact that if I'm into the Word of God, I know that there's truth there, christ's truth personified.
• 37:41
  Virgil Walker: That I know and understanding that I'm going to be lied to the rest of the day.
• 37:45
  Virgil Walker: I love that.
• 37:46
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, I'm thinking about that, that.
• 37:48
  Virgil Walker: That that becomes your oasis, right, the word of god becomes the way that you you disengage from the craziness of culture or at least get energized to know that you can look outright and see, rightly, what's that actually?
• 38:00
  Mark Spence: happening in culture.
• 38:01
  Mark Spence: Yeah, you know, people say, yeah, I went to the word of god last week, on to the whole bible in a year, I think it's.
• 38:06
  Mark Spence: Thomas watson said, yeah, you went to the word, but did the word go through you?
• 38:09
  Mark Spence: Uh, right, so we need that's.
• 38:11
  Mark Spence: That's the sale of broke right, that's the moment where you just need to stop and go.
• 38:14
  Mark Spence: Is the word of god coming through me in such a way where I could say search me and try me, see if there be any wicked way in me.
• 38:22
  Mark Spence: Leave me in the way of relasting almond open book.
• 38:24
  Mark Spence: Do you need to expose?
• 38:25
  Mark Spence: Do you need to inform?
• 38:26
  Mark Spence: What do you need to do?
• 38:27
  Mark Spence: It is well with my soul.
• 38:30
  Mark Spence: Yeah, god, whatever you want to do, career glory.
• 38:34
  Emeal Zwayne: That's an open heart and is, and is good yeah and you know, coming face to face with god every day, uh, being what I call recalibrated is so essential.
• 38:44
  Emeal Zwayne: You know, I, I've got, I've got this atomic watch that links with the thomas cc.
• 38:50
  Mark Spence: We go with the car we have a lot of they do the same thing.
• 38:53
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, that's way better share and so you know that every day there's a recalibration.
• 38:59
  Emeal Zwayne: That happens around midnight, relinks, and even if it gets off a fraction of a second I during the day, day after day, if that's not recalibrated it's gonna be minutes behind or ahead or whatever, and so that recalibration is so important it is a space, is the lord is.
• 39:15
  Oscar Navarro: I love that, love that man is incredible encouragement now I have to give me an atomic watch man I don't know, it's not a lot, just to use the, that's it well what I got from him last time.
• 39:28
  Virgil Walker: I gotta show you this when we get, when we wrap up, you gave me a business card.
• 39:32
  Mark Spence: That was so hit uh, I don't know, it was so cool to see the blue one.
• 39:36
  Mark Spence: Yeah, have you seen this new one?
• 39:37
  Mark Spence: I got it, you can.
• 39:38
  Mark Spence: You see it, you can?
• 39:40
  Emeal Zwayne: you be.
• 39:40
  Emeal Zwayne: I got to show it to me.
• 39:41
  Virgil Walker: I got to upgrade now I got to follow in your footsteps.
• 39:44
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, I got to upgrade.
• 39:45
  Emeal Zwayne: No, I know, when I gave you that card, you were mesmerized oh, yeah, yeah, yeah his next move is to get a qr code tattooed onto his neck.
• 39:53
  Oscar Navarro: Is that what you're doing?
• 39:54
  Oscar Navarro: The forehead, the forehead.
• 39:56
  Emeal Zwayne: There's no room next to the six-section so, virgil, you also have an amazing podcast with our brother Darrell Harrison.
• 40:04
  Virgil Walker: Tell us about that, man yeah, it's a lot of fun, man.
• 40:06
  Virgil Walker: We've been doing it for six years.
• 40:07
  Virgil Walker: About six, seven million downloads of that thing.
• 40:10
  Virgil Walker: We're overwhelmed, blown away by how God's used it.
• 40:13
  Virgil Walker: It started out as something that I really wanted to take a backseat to and help this brother.
• 40:17
  Virgil Walker: He was a writer, I was more the guy, more vocal, more you know, and so I thought this would be a great combo.
• 40:22
  Virgil Walker: He writes, he thinks, he's a thinker.
• 40:24
  Virgil Walker: This would be good.
• 40:24
  Virgil Walker: It just exploded and we were overwhelmed by the response and have just kind of been walking it out, incredibly humbled by you know how God's used it and people's response to it.
• 40:34
  Virgil Walker: And again, for me it's just I'm like wow, like that's really my response, kind of like wow, and we love it.
• 40:42
  Virgil Walker: Just thinking, the just thinking podcast.
• 40:43
  Virgil Walker: We'll continue to do it.
• 40:45
  Virgil Walker: He's moving around.
• 40:46
  Virgil Walker: God's moving him has leveraged just thinking to expose me to folks who have me now in different and unique environments of ministry.
• 40:55
  Virgil Walker: So that's been a lot of fun.
• 40:56
  Emeal Zwayne: It's been a lot of fun to do.
• 40:56
  Emeal Zwayne: Isn't it neat how the Lord takes something that you just thought, lord, we're going to give this a shot, you know, and he does something.
• 41:03
  Emeal Zwayne: I mean, when we started our podcast, in the first episode I said, look, we have no idea what we're doing.
• 41:09
  Emeal Zwayne: We're just people are telling us, do a podcast.
• 41:10
  Emeal Zwayne: That became our tagline, you know.
• 41:13
  Oscar Navarro: We would end every episode where we have no idea what we're doing I'm pretty sure the first episode starts out with uh oh, we're recording, okay now.
• 41:19
  Emeal Zwayne: Well, it's kind of like that uh, okay, so yeah, but it's a joy to see God breathe life and something like that you know, so.
• 41:27
  Emeal Zwayne: So, brothers, we wrap up.
• 41:28
  Emeal Zwayne: What's next for g3?
• 41:29
  Emeal Zwayne: I mean, you guys started out as well.
• 41:32
  Emeal Zwayne: Give us a history real quick and then tell us where it's headed.
• 41:35
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, history real quick.
• 41:36
  Virgil Walker: This was a.
• 41:36
  Virgil Walker: This was a ministry that really started out of a local church praise meal, baptist church.
• 41:41
  Virgil Walker: That had to explain it's.
• 41:42
  Virgil Walker: It's a pry.
• 41:43
  Virgil Walker: Apostrophe s it was a man who gave the meal.
• 41:46
  Virgil Walker: His last name was pray, so it's praise meal.
• 41:51
  Virgil Walker: People think it's praise like praise the Lord.
• 41:52
  Ray Comfort: Yeah, I thought yeah something charismatic.
• 41:54
  Virgil Walker: It's not, it's just pry apostrophe s praise meal baptist church.
• 41:58
  Virgil Walker: It started there about six, seven hundred people.
• 42:00
  Virgil Walker: When, when, uh, when pastor josh kind of got it started, uh, josh bison, the founder and president of g3 ministries.
• 42:05
  Virgil Walker: They did that for about three years, from 2013 to 2016.
• 42:09
  Virgil Walker: Uh, in 2017 they came.
• 42:11
  Virgil Walker: They came to the building that we're in, uh, mainly to highlight the reformation.
• 42:15
  Virgil Walker: It was, you know, it was the 500 anniversary of the reformation.
• 42:18
  Virgil Walker: So the thought was, hey, in 2017 we'll do it here.
• 42:20
  Virgil Walker: Their goal was to go back to the local church, because it's really the focus of everything we're doing is back to local church.
• 42:25
  Virgil Walker: Yeah, well, at the end of the year they usually open up a kind of an early bird ticket.
• 42:29
  Virgil Walker: Well, within three hours they had sold out of every seat at the local church and so they were trying to figure out.
• 42:36
  Virgil Walker: What do we do?
• 42:36
  Virgil Walker: Do we tell you know 3000 people that it's not going to happen?
• 42:39
  Virgil Walker: Uh, they decided not to and bit the bullet to come here again for the for the first time.
• 42:44
  Virgil Walker: So in 2017 I came.
• 42:47
  Virgil Walker: I was, like I said, kind of wide eyed and bushy tailed, like this is absolutely amazing.
• 42:50
  Virgil Walker: I would come back every single year, just kind of get filled and go back and till about 2020.
• 42:55
  Virgil Walker: We came down and I the podcast.
• 42:57
  Virgil Walker: That exploded by then and we got asked to do our podcast live on the platform.
• 43:01
  Virgil Walker: And then shortly thereafter, kind of covid hit, josh bison reached out to me and said man, I love what you guys are saying, I love what you're writing on on in social media, would love for you to write for g3.
• 43:12
  Virgil Walker: And I said absolute man, I'd be humbled, honored, to do that.
• 43:15
  Virgil Walker: So began kind of putting some things together and writing.
• 43:18
  Virgil Walker: As that took place, he asked me what are your plans?
• 43:20
  Virgil Walker: I said at the time I was a pastor in Omaha, nebraska, an associate pastor, discipleship pastor at a traditional sbc, trying to figure things out, learning theology, still going through seminary and just kind of thinking through things.
• 43:34
  Virgil Walker: I have an mba, was working on my mdiv.
• 43:37
  Virgil Walker: And he said well, listen, if you don't have plans to be a pastor of a local church, give me a shout.
• 43:42
  Virgil Walker: And I said well, I'm giving you that shout.
• 43:44
  Virgil Walker: Long story short, I got an opportunity to come here, be the executive director of operations.
• 43:49
  Virgil Walker: The skill set that I have and you know in a lot of different areas, from recruiting to sales to you name it management, leading people all of that was just a perfect fit for what we do here at g3 wow, and, and what a blessing.
• 44:01
  Emeal Zwayne: Again, eighty three hundred people this year made the Lord continue to build it for his glory and continue to impact his people.
• 44:07
  Emeal Zwayne: So so tell people how they can connect with g3, with you, your ministry, your podcast.
• 44:11
  Emeal Zwayne: Give them all the info, yeah go to g3 men dot org.
• 44:14
  Virgil Walker: Everything's there.
• 44:15
  Virgil Walker: You can download the g3 app.
• 44:16
  Virgil Walker: We just upgraded this g3 plus.
• 44:18
  Virgil Walker: You can, wherever you download your apps from, you can get the app there and kind of connect with us there.
• 44:23
  Virgil Walker: For me, at Virgil Walker oma, virgil m a, virgil Walker Omaha, that's my kind of tagline on twitter.
• 44:29
  Virgil Walker: I find me on facebook, twitter, I g that kind of thing and so, yeah, I'm always open to engage folks and, you know, and hopefully in a way that honors God.
• 44:38
  Emeal Zwayne: So that's right.
• 44:38
  Emeal Zwayne: Well, brother, what a joy.
• 44:39
  Emeal Zwayne: Like you said, this is a long time coming down we love you, we appreciate you, brother we're so honored to be partnered with g3 thank you for your partnership.
• 44:48
  Virgil Walker: It really means a lot to us.
• 44:50
  Virgil Walker: It really I mean again, this is full circle for me.
• 44:53
  Virgil Walker: For for more than a decade, guys, I've been enjoying the ministry of living waters and have grown from it, so to be at a table with you, man, and get a chance to kind of chop things up, man.
• 45:02
  Virgil Walker: It's a blessing yeah, it's a blessing to us, bro.
• 45:04
  Emeal Zwayne: It means a lot to us and we're looking forward to continue partnership and friendship.
• 45:09
  Emeal Zwayne: Yeah, in Christ so thanks again, bro.
• 45:11
  Oscar Navarro: Mark's actually got an interpretive dance he wants to show you that maybe we can incorporate in the g3 next year, just whatever, you know what I mean.
• 45:17
  Virgil Walker: We'll talk about that we'll talk about that yeah, complete with streamers all right brother, god bless you.
• 45:22
  Virgil Walker: Thank you, man, thank you so much.
• 45:23
  Emeal Zwayne: God bless you know mark, you said at the outset just how contagious, infectious, I think maybe it was a word.
• 45:31
  Emeal Zwayne: A virginal warm fizz.
• 45:33
  Mark Spence: What a neat brother, huh oh, I, I, I love him dearly, I wish we lived closer is one of those few guys that you know and admire from a distance now, and when you hang out with them you think yourself why are we not next door neighbors?
• 45:47
  Mark Spence: Totally, I would absolutely love to be inside your life 24, 7, yeah.
• 45:51
  Mark Spence: And he says, nah, I like the distance please keep that guy away.
• 45:56
  Oscar Navarro: I was really moved by how it was very clear that the living waters had, you know, affected him like he was blessed by the ministry, which was really cool to hear.
• 46:05
  Oscar Navarro: Does that?
• 46:06
  Mark Spence: surprise you guys.
• 46:07
  Mark Spence: I mean getting the feedback that we get.
• 46:09
  Mark Spence: I really encourage you, continually encouraged and surprised by the reach that we, that we have yeah, I think it does surprise me and and refreshes me at the same time.
• 46:19
  Emeal Zwayne: It's because we know ourselves, you know and we know we're just a bunch of goofballs, right ray mm-hmm y'all are, y'all are.
• 46:28
  Oscar Navarro: Side note while we're at g3, we got approached by people who listen to the podcast and watch the show and see us on youtube and it was such a blessing.
• 46:37
  Oscar Navarro: Number one lady was yeah, she gave me a hug and she's like I didn't.
• 46:40
  Oscar Navarro: I didn't know if I should come say hi or not.
• 46:42
  Oscar Navarro: I don't want to bother you.
• 46:43
  Oscar Navarro: It is never a bother.
• 46:45
  Oscar Navarro: No, we love hearing you guys, we love meeting you and getting to know you and so if you ever see us out there, come say hi.
• 46:54
  Oscar Navarro: We would be on ray ray.
• 46:56
  Emeal Zwayne: You've been at this a lot longer than us.
• 46:57
  Emeal Zwayne: It never grows old, does it?
• 46:58
  Ray Comfort: no, no, absolutely thrilled to hear from people.
• 47:00
  Ray Comfort: I thrilled, thrilled to call people up and have a chat with them.
• 47:03
  Mark Spence: It's just wonderful yeah, there's a lady.
• 47:05
  Mark Spence: They got saved by watching our movie exit, the movie on depression and suicide.
• 47:10
  Mark Spence: Yeah, it was so encouraging to listen to her testimony.
• 47:13
  Mark Spence: And people you notice they come up and they they feel like they have to speak really, really fast because our time is valuable or we have some more and I've got nothing to do.
• 47:21
  Mark Spence: There's nowhere else I need to go.
• 47:23
  Ray Comfort: Yeah, talk to the I've got nothing to do.
• 47:25
  Ray Comfort: I love it.
• 47:25
  Ray Comfort: I love it.
• 47:26
  Ray Comfort: We need t-shirts to say talk to me about nothing to do.
• 47:28
  Emeal Zwayne: I'm lonely yeah, and and so many people share testimonies of getting saved through that's amazing it means a lot to us.
• 47:34
  Emeal Zwayne: All.
• 47:34
  Emeal Zwayne: Right, friends, there you have it.
• 47:35
  Emeal Zwayne: We hope you enjoyed that.
• 47:36
  Emeal Zwayne: Don't forget, god has a wonderful plan for your life book the living waters mug and the evidence study bible, all at living waters dot com.
• 47:42
  Emeal Zwayne: Thank you for joining us, friends.
• 47:44
  Emeal Zwayne: We'll see you here next time on the living waters podcast.
• 47:49
  Emeal Zwayne: The ultimate cure for insomnia.