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Be the First in Line: Standing Up for Your Faith · My Brother's Journey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome once again to my brother's podcast, my brother's journey podcast.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: On behalf of the dynamic team here, I'm Greg Joseph, Chuck, and with me is Baron Fink.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Baron, great to see you.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Great to see you too.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoyed my time in the UP.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad to report we had no Canadian fire smoke up there.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was actually very beautiful.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that's good to hear.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: So as you know, we usually start in prayer and I'll uh toss it to you.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Dear Lord, we thank you for this beautiful day.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you for this opportunity to share our faith, Lord, to have you come into our lives and to help us and direct us and show us the proper ways.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, we ask for your encouragement and your forgiveness when we stumble.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, and always uh we we seek to do your will.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: In Christ's name, amen.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Our Son and Holy Spirit.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: All right, wonderful.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, so my brother, it's good to see you again.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: What's uh what's on your mind for today?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, Greg, it's interesting.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I I I won't get into too much detail, but this is just something that uh is kind of just popping to my head.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the other day I was actually my my wife had gone to my neighbor to get together with the ladies, they do this about once a month or whatever else, and it's centered around, it can be a craft or whatever.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Usually it's an opportunity to get together and just you know talk and have a glass of wine or whatever.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it could be that, you know.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm not just I think it's all been all good.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: But she was relating something to me that I thought was was interesting, and it and it and it made me ask myself this question I was gonna ask you.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: During her conversation, uh, it um it just one of the lady's there, her daughter, who is suffering from all types of physical maladies of some sort or whatever, but she said her daughter was coming into town and wanted to know if any of the neighbors would be interested in a tarot card reading.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Tarot card reading.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: And her daughter, her daughter does this.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: And um, well, my my wife, her her ears immediately you know, peeked in on this.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, what, you know, um, and so it came around the room, and and uh another woman there who was uh who was born Catholic, but but is no longer uh considers herself Catholic or whatever, she said, Yeah, I'll I'll I'll do that.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it kind of came around the room and it came around back to my wife, and and my wife said, you know, not just in a very polite way, it's not not just no, but no, but here's the reason why.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And and and explained that, you know, because this lady was was whose daughter was doing the tarot card reading, was explained that she's a spiritual person and that her you know her family's spiritual and that they've you know they they they feel like they have power in in in terms of whatever that means, okay.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And my wife said, you know, yeah, we all have power, and you say you're spiritual, and that's great, but but keep in mind that spiritual works both ways.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: There's two sides to that.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a there's a great spirituality, and that's this case is God, and there's the other side of that.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And and that you when you take matters to your hands as as far as you getting some type of influence to predict the future or to explain the situation or whatever else, and that's not God, then it has to be something else.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And and she said, so no, I wouldn't be interested in reading, and this is and and my my future is determined by God, God alone.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's who I put my faith in.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So my my anyway, that so where that came to me was that you know, I I I told my wife I was super proud of her for not only just for for standing up and and explaining it in a loving way, but but saying, you know what, I'm not just against that, I'm for this.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, my question to you, Greg, is that you know, how often do you feel comfortable with defending the faith in in an environment where uh it's uncertain as to who your friends and foes are?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's one thing for us to talk about our faith in a Bible study.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: We do that very openly.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: We feel supported, even if we have brothers who may not see it eye to eye with us on how we feel about things, but it's very, it's a very warming, warm situation.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a very welcome situation.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: We don't feel threatened to take a stand.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: But what about when you're in a cr in a crowd of people that you do not know?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Or in a situation with three three people playing golf and somebody says something, what do you what do you do?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: How do you feel about that?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I would say I don't feel necessarily comfortable.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I guess the question was do I feel I'm gonna change that question or a little variation of it.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe do I feel confident?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because I don't feel comfortable when uh when you know, if the conversation is either about the Catholic faith and and and maybe someone deriding it, um you know, I I don't feel comfortable, but yet I'm I I feel confident enough to I think to speak up and say, hey, I'm Catholic, and you know, let's let's talk about that.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you you know if you'd like to talk.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, were you Catholic or are you just you know repeating something you heard, right?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh but but the broader issue, of course, on this one is is good versus evil spirituality, I would say.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And um again, I think I would I think I'm confident enough to you know kind of speak out uh about that, but you know, I'll tell you what's kind of interesting that you bring the subject up.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um it it seems like it was maybe uh again, I I'm probably off here, but within the last month, I would say, the last 30 days, there was, I believe, a feast day for um I believe it was 12 or 13 men that were martyred somewhere in the Middle East for their faith.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And you might remember they were beheaded, and uh and and the the you know, this uh terrorist group uh videotaped it.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um if if I remember right, um again, I think it was 13 men, it might have been 12, it's 12 or 13, but there was one man who wasn't even Christian, he was from Nigeria, I believe, but I'm not 100% sure of that.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh and because of the faith of the other 12 Christian men, uh essentially, this is what happened.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: The uh terrorists that were holding him said, if you denounce Christianity, we we'll let you go free.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't, we'll kill you, we'll behead you.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And each man, one at a time, as they were being beheaded, the guy in front of them, they would come to him and he'd say, My Lord and my savior, Jesus Christ, and laugh, you know, and uh I mean, just brutal savage, right?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, and then this, I believe this African man, I'm pretty sure he was African, I'm not 100% sure, but uh who was with these other uh men, uh not even Christian, uh at that point, kind of said, No, I believe in Jesus Christ, and he was martyred as well.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so that feast day, I believe, was in the last 30 days.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that kind of kind of sparked the thought in my own mind back then was like, would I have been strong enough to have literally been beheaded for my faith?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I I guess you never really know until you're in that environment of total fear and losing your life and thinking, you know, I mean, I think human nature is to preserve our our our our life, right?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's the whole fight or flight kind of scenario.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I would hope and pray that I would be strong enough to be willing to be martyred for my faith, but I honestly don't know if I am that strong.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I just don't know.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the example you just brought up, and I think it's interesting because this is what I was really telling my wife about, is that you know, this this this 12th person who came up and was maybe not even a Christian, but said Well, no, I he saw he had the benefit of seeing 12 other people be willing to take that stand.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and the the question isn't the being the last person outline, the question is being the first person that line.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and I told my wife, I said, you know, you making that stand, you know, it's gonna be the people that are around there that and some of them not feeling as confident as as you did with with actually making that stand, will be somewhat emboldened by that, hopefully.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: And and would say, you know, it's kind of a safety in numbers thing, saying, Well, I'm not bold enough to say that, but I do agree with that.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden you get, you know, then you get two people and you get three people, and then all of a sudden you have people who are are are again maybe not that competent uh with being the first person to do it, but with then we'll we'll join in.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that to me, what that kind of said to me was that I need to be willing to be the first person so that you can be an example or uh uh an advocate for Christ so that others can join in who are maybe are just a little bit more timid.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, again, this kind of goes I I keep thinking this be you've heard me say it, and it's probably even on this podcast I brought it up, but this one priest that I besides of course Father Bernard, who I love dearly, uh, but a priest who is no longer with us, but fortunately a lot of his homilies are preserved on YouTube called Father Mark Beard.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh his whole, you know, again, one of one of the messages that I've seen him kind of be consistent about is as a Catholic man, or as a just a Catholic follower, excuse me, uh, of the faith, uh we're not we're not born to be fence sitters.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when we wake up each day, we either intentionally move toward Jesus or we move away from him.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And um and when you start thinking about you know this kind of question about would you stand up and be the first?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, one of the things I remember Father Mark saying, Father Mark Beard saying is, you know, are you willing to break out you know the hay the the cross and and and at a at a at a meal in front of everyone?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And and I have found myself doing that more.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, people I was amazed.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: I we have good friends of ours, and I um they're not Catholic.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, I I I don't know, I don't I don't suspect that they're regular churchgoers, but I do know that they're Christian.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I now for the last probably year or so, whenever we go out to dinner or have them over for dinner or whatever, one of the things is uh I always ask them is are you okay?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to bless the meal under.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And they've been very warm and encouraging about that, which is great to see.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, and again, I remember Father Mark saying, you know, if if you're asked to pray, will you break out the Hail Mary in front of a group that's you know, and so it's those kinds of things where you know, are we willing to stand up for our belief?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Are we willing to acknowledge Christ in front of others?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And and again, what does Jesus say?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't acknowledge me in front of others, I won't acknowledge you in front of my father, which is holy cow.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like if there's ever a reason not to be silent, that's a pretty doggone good one, right?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so I guess you know, hey, if you remember our very first podcast that we ever did was after the Super Bowl.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: You remember this?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the and the theme of that one was why is it, right?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: As Gomet, as horse, you know, you were cheering and we're encouraging our team.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: We're willing to talk about everything about that team, good or bad, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: But where are we with our faith?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's a recurring theme, and I think that we we will find ourselves in situations all the time, um, in new situations.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so I'll I'll bring this back around actually, Greg, to today's to Father's family today.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think it it helps to put things in proper perspective.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: And he was talking about uh, you know, basically going back to search for his grandfather's grave with his father, yes, and how you know he couldn't find it.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: But but his point is that it will all be forgotten.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, I've I think about the people who are important to me who have since passed many, many years ago, uh and you know, beyond uh an occasional thought or something like that or a conversation about oh, I remember when dad did this or grandpa did this, whatever.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we don't go back, we this that that is forgotten.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's just that's just this that's humanity, and it's just the way it is.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so our focus should be on our our our divine future and not our human future.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I I totally agree.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I think you know, I think that's true.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think that sometimes sometimes we worry so much about building a legacy around our family name that we lose we kind of lose uh sight of the prize, right?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah the prize is heaven, and that's his point.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: It is not the prize is heaven, and so the leg if there's a legacy that we should be building, it should be to encourage our family members to not so much worry about dad's gravesite or mom's gravesite, but maybe right maybe your own future one.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, right, exactly.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right, but you know, let you know, let's uh you know instill in them that the big prize for all of us is to get to heaven.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that you know, that's uh and and to help our brothers and sisters.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: To help our brothers and sisters, certainly to think it comes back to being willing to to uh make stand.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I like this.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mean this was uh and I can't, you know, once again, we've done uh done a great job of getting a podcast segment down here.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: So uh all right.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hey, great topic.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh to to those of you that are listening, we we thank you.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh thank you for tuning in and being part of my brothers in journey.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, seek Jesus and all you do, and be fishers of men.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you, and please join us again.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Viva Jesus.