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When Saying Yes Changes Everything: Trusting God’s Call · Relish: a Christian podcast

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  Relish pleasing or zestful flavor a quantity
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  just sufficient to flavor to be pleased or
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  gratified by enjoy we are hoping that what
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  we bring to your table today might add some spice to your life welcome back
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  to another episode of relish this is don patterson and i am rowan miller how
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  are you doing today don oh real good real good yeah real you're ready for some
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  coming your way Oh, yeah.
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  But let's do this one first. All right.
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  Tell me about a time when you trusted God to do what was best for you.
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  Do you want to see it? Sure.
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  I mean, I think I'll have a big one coming up with college and trying to balance
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  athletics and price and.
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  Golf and academics and whatever.
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  But I might think of, I'll think on this. Okay.
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  I'm just with that. Are you good with that? I think we're good with that.
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  Yeah, we're good with that. Yeah. I'll do a couple of them.
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  I'll come up with an answer, but. Okay. Sounds good. Yeah.
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  We'll start first one here. Why are church services in the morning?
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  We might know, some of us might know some people that would come to church.
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  They would say if it's in the afternoon or evening because they just don't like
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  waking up early. Right. I agree.
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  And a lot of, I think it's more tradition than anything else.
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  The only indication that we would have is that from scripture,
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  that is, that we, most Christians.
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  Go to church on the Lord's day, which would be when Christ rose from the dead,
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  which is a significant event in our Christian witness.
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  And that, that resurrection happened in the morning.
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  And so it's like every week we're trying to celebrate the resurrection of our
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  Lord Jesus Christ and the significance of that in our lives.
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  So that would be the only indications we'd have from Scripture other than convenience.
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  We go to church, then we go to Sunday school, we go out to a nice dinner.
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  Then we get a nice nap, and get a nice nap, and then watch football games, right?
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  And then, you know, eat popcorn for supper, right? Isn't that what we do,
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  folks? Yeah. Popcorn and apples.
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  And so we sort of get into a routine of doing things that way. But you're right.
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  There is a movement, in fact, a fairly good movement to do it of an evening.
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  There are some churches that would do a Saturday evening and then a Sunday morning.
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  So a contemporary service Saturday evening, a more traditional service Sunday morning.
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  And then some of the mega churches are actually doing a Wednesday night service
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  that would be for the believers.
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  So Sunday morning would be more, bring your friend, bring your neighbor,
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  maybe they're not Christian.
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  And so it'd be an entry-level kind of service, a on-ramp, if you will,
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  into the Christian faith.
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  And so it would be visitor-friendly, Very visitor-friendly.
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  Whereas Wednesday night would be that inner core of the church that has been
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  believers for a long time.
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  That service would have their communion. That service would have more of the
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  teaching, the deep teachings of the scripture.
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  And so it's not quite as visitor-friendly.
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  And so some bigger churches are doing it that way.
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  The important thing I think that's about your question is,
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  is who are we equipped as a congregation to meet with our faith?
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  I mean, there are some user-friendly congregations that, you know,
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  might be a community church,
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  where you might have a lot of people of different, you know,
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  Armenians and Calvinists in the same pew together, because you aren't making
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  theology a major deciding factor as to whether you're going to be in that church or not.
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  Because a lot of community churches, maybe your community is not very big,
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  and so you develop a community church atmosphere.
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  So everybody who calls themselves Christian and exhibits Christianity in their lifestyle is welcome.
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  Or college campus. Yeah, college campus ministries are that way.
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  And so, yeah, it's a bigger net, if you will. Yeah.
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  And instead of, oh, this is a Lutheran church, and this is an Armenian church,
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  and this is this, and this is that, and this is that.
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  And you might have six churches on the same street in the same town because
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  you've got this group that wants to go and do this, and this group that wants to do that.
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  That group wants hymns, and that church wants worship songs,
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  and never the two shall meet.
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  And that's all right too but the sunday morning piece,
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  Carrie's tradition, I think it's an all right tradition because it is when Christ
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  was raised from the dead.
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  Yeah. So in a way, it's like we have our weekend, which would have been the
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  time that Christ was on the cross.
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  And then in Sunday morning, we come to church and rejoice.
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  And that is a difference between the Jews who still celebrate on the Sabbath
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  day, Saturday, have their Sabbath on Saturday.
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  Yeah. Pretty interesting.
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  Yeah. And there are some Christian groups that do Saturday as well. Yeah.
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  Some do just Saturday night. Yeah. Yeah. Is Jesus still human?
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  At this moment yes not at this moment okay so and you say where did you go with
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  that so we'll go to uh philippians chapter 2.
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  There we go,
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  well let's stick our finger in philippians 2 let's go to Acts chapter 1 first.
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  I should have brought my brand new Bible because all of its pages are more crispy and they turn easier.
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  But in Acts chapter one and verse nine, after this, he was taken up before their
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  eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight.
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  And they were looking intently into the sky as he was going and suddenly the two men dressed.
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  So all of a sudden, Jesus wasn't there.
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  But we know as Christians that when we feel the Holy Spirit moving in our midst, Jesus is here.
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  Right. Yeah. So Jesus is in that Holy Spirit.
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  The human part of Jesus is not on earth anymore.
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  I like the piece in Philippians 2, which sort of gives this movement, if you will.
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  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, chapter 2, verse 5, now 6,
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  who being the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something
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  to be grasped, but made himself nothing,
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  which means that Christ in the process of becoming human emptied himself of that divinity.
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  Is that what yours says? Yeah. Okay. CSB says instead he emptied himself in 7. Okay.
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  Interesting. that that is exactly what it should say, taking on the very nature
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  of a servant and being made in human likeness.
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  And so that was a process, and we can liken that to what happened at Christmas,
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  because through the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Almighty God, became flesh among us.
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  And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and was obedient to
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  death even death on the cross and that's of course.
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  Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name.
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  And that's why I think at that point where he was lifted to heaven,
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  he's at the right hand of God.
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  Sort of like what Stephen says when Stephen sees him just before he dies.
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  I mean, he declares that to the guys who are stoning him, that he sees Christ
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  at the right hand of God. Yeah.
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  That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and
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  under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
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  So he's a human right now?
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  Not at this moment, but he was very human at the time. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
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  Uh, I think I'm ready. I think I got my answer. Okay, cool.
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  I'll read it again in case you forgot. Tell me about the time when you trusted
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  God to do what was best for you.
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  And I think actually, um, uh, coming on this podcast as the host was probably
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  one of those times, like it would
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  have been so much easier, so much more comfortable for me at the start.
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  If I would have just said you know what Don I'm not too interested in hosting
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  a podcast with you but I think how much I've learned and how I've been able to help.
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  Maybe some of you guys out there I hope so how we've been able to,
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  spread God's word to maybe a different set
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  of people than we see on Sunday mornings I
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  think that has been the best not only for me but
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  for others also so praise the Lord yeah yeah has
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  it stretched you a bit yeah it's it's
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  definitely more comfortable now definitely more used
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  to it I think we're been doing it for about a year maybe very close to it yes
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  because uh yeah right we started November right so and we started started is
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  definitely not like that so
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  yeah definitely it was yeah we started in my office didn't we yeah we did,
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  Yeah. Now we have this beautiful studio, you know, great stuff.
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  Oh yeah. Yeah. Cool. That's a good answer. Yeah.
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  And it just, you know, challenges me. There's a little bit difference in our age.
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  When I think of what I was doing in high school as a senior and what I'm doing
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  today, challenges me to think what you're doing in high school and what God may do with you. Yeah.
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  When you get about my age, you know. Cool.
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  Do you have an answer for this time that you trusted God for what was best for you? Yeah.
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  Actually, probably when I came here to Kelowna Mennonite, it was,
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  I mean, most churches aren't out there looking for an over 65-year-old pastor.
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  And I'm serious.
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  And then they said, well, we'd be really interested in you if you were 40.
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  Yeah. Yeah. And so then to come on here and then to be here now,
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  it's definitely, was not on my radar, but it's been great.
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  Been very good. I don't think you were anticipating stepping into a lead pastor role either. No.
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  No, but that's, God knows. And I was so blessed to work with Josh. That was good.
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  And I enjoyed my time.
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  And I still enjoy my time.
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  And we are in the search process at Kelowna Mennonite.
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  So if you know of a pastor who'd like to, we're not bashful about saying,
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  we're ready, ready for a pastor. And we have a committee.
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  Actually, we have a committee that's alive and well and working on that. Formed, yeah.
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  Duly formed and commissioned to do such work. Wow. Yes. And so,
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  yeah, if you know somebody, let us know.
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  Yeah. That'd be great. I think you coming here was probably best for our church
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  also because we would have been left without a pastor for a little while.
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  So, yeah, you've seen it. It was unexpected.
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  It was unexpected. And God works in mysterious ways.
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  His wonders to perform. And I'm not sure that's in the Bible,
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  but I quote it quite often.
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  It's just amazing what God is willing and able to do when we give him permission.
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  I mean, we do have to be willing to allow God to work in our life.
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  And we can say, no, like you could have said no to relish.
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  You could have done that. I'm glad you didn't, but you could have.
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  And we always have that ability to say no.
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  But we'll be blessed if we say yes. I really think so.
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  And at least that's the way I've experienced it. I've been blessed more when
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  I said yes than if I said no. Right.
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  If kind of poking the question a little bit farther, but like we all,
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  do you believe that we all would like, we all have a calling that's kind of set by God? I do. I do.
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  And I think that calling, there's two pieces to it.
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  So I think God has, in the midst of his calling, has done some specific equipping of us as individuals.
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  And so even in our DNA, we will have certain things that reflect that call.
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  And then as we yield to God's hand working in our lives, we're able to do that to the utmost.
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  It's something then that we can live into because it won't be using those gifts
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  and abilities just for our own benefit.
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  God's going to use it for others and for the benefit of his kingdom.
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  That's why we pray in the Lord's prayer, Thy will be done, thy kingdom come,
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  thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
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  Because this is not just about you, and it's not just about me.
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  This Christianity thing is,
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  we need to yield our lives in such a way that God can use us in any way.
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  In addition, he may also equip us where we don't think we're equipped. Right.
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  So we may have certain latent abilities. I mean, people look at me and think
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  I'm an administrator and that I've always been an administrator and that I'm
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  just good at administration. It's in my DNA.
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  I just do it. My dad would be. My dad would have been a good administrator.
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  But my administrative gifts actually come from my wife, Charlene.
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  Okay. Because she has those gifts.
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  I watched her and over the years she nudged me, God bless her,
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  and I then learned those gifts.
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  Right. And they've helped.
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  But in reality, that wasn't my original DNA. I'm sort of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy.
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  And I've worn out gobs of britches that way.
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  The uh the the thing that is possible is the fact that now i'm in a mentoring
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  role in several different circles and that's not someplace i've ever been before okay and uh,
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  sometimes that's appreciated yeah.
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  So, yeah, those things that sometimes God calls you to that you probably would
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  have said no to out of your own flesh, but somehow,
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  well, like in the previous episode that was done on faith, sometimes it's that
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  faith piece that nudges us hard enough,
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  whoops us, if you will, to do something that we, I've never done anything like that before.
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  Like, get on a podcast. Right.
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  Sharing your testimony. Sharing your testimony. Sharing your testimony in Guatemala
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  on a mission trip in a different language. There you go. Yeah.
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  And you've never done that before until this last summer. That was last spring, yeah. Yeah.
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  Service and learning term at Hillcrest. Right.
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  Yeah. S-L-T. Oh, S-A-L-T. Salt. Oh, yeah. That's good on hamburgers too.
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  See, that's not something. you would normally do. Right.
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  But, oh, and you don't usually get on stage.
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  Right. Yeah. Not much. But you've been on stage at Hillcrest in this venue.
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  Yeah. And you've been all right. You didn't pass out or anything.
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  And so God has that way, not only to use the DNA that how he built you originally,
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  not only to use the faith that you've developed over time in your relationship with him, But also,
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  by that faith and what he's already done in your life, he may move you to another
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  spot, totally, that is out of your comfort zone because it serves his kingdom. Yeah.
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  Yeah. What was the question again? It's about a calling. If we have one. Do we have a calling?
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  Yeah, I do think we do. Is it, would it be like, is it possible to say no or
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  like reject God's? Oh my. Yes, it is.
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  And if you want to know what causes trouble in churches, I'll tell you. All right.
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  What causes trouble in churches more often than not. And I've seen this more
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  than once. I've seen it a lot more than once.
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  Are individuals who in their heart knew they were called by God to be a leader, maybe even a pastor.
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  And they denied that calling when God gave it.
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  And so back in their minds, they have this affirmation of God that they should have been a preacher.
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  And they didn't, oh, preachers don't make any money.
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  You got to move from time to time and all this thing. And so they deny that and don't do it.
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  And I found that those are the most cantankerous people in any given church
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  that I've ever pastored or, and I probably see it more often now that I'm doing
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  more consulting and those kind of things in congregations.
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  Because then you see those people get on an elder board or something like that or church council.
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  And they think that they always think they know better than the pastor.
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  They always think they know better than the pastor because now they've got life experience.
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  On top of that inner call that they, of course, denied. Right.
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  Oh, if you want to know somebody that'll make a trouble on a committee,
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  those are the individuals that'll do that.
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  Yeah. And it's sad because they could have walked a different way.
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  But it affects your faith. It affects your faith. It affects your way of thinking
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  if you've been called and denied the call.
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  And I just say that as a caution to any of you young people who are feeling any nudge to ministry.
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  If the Holy Spirit's gotten a hold of you, don't dismiss it, please.
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  Take it really serious. Maybe not jump into it with both feet right away,
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  but get a mentor, get someone to walk beside you in the midst of discovering
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  that call and looking it over and saying, wow.
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  Yeah would you think like or would you say that if if God truly wanted it like
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  he would keep pursuing pursuing actually for it some of them I think have been
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  pursued several times okay,
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  and so ultimately he'll because of our free will he'll he'll still leave it
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  up to us but he does he'll God bless him God bless God bless God yeah,
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  he's not going to take us where we're not willing to go yeah and that's,
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  that's nice I guess,
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  But I think I would nudge anybody who's out in the audience and had that nudge
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  before that they've denied.
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  1 John 1 says, if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive
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  your sins and cleanse you from all righteousness.
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  You know, any mistake is that way.
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  Take care of it.
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  If sin is a deviation, a twist, if you will, in our nature and our will,
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  that's a twist. Saying no to God is a twist.
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  It's sin. Let's just be frank about it.
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  If we have done that, let's go to God, find cleansing and forgiveness for it.
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  Put it in the past, move on. And see what God might call you to right now.
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  I don't think God puts us away. I mean, I guess I'm evidence they don't put you away.
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  I think God still wants to use all of us in his kingdom. And there's definitely a need.
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  There'll never not be a need. Right, exactly. Yeah.
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  I'm just glad the church isn't under persecution because we're not developing
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  leaders fast enough to equip churches.
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  I mean, if we were being persecuted and like they are in Nigeria.
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  Nemi was here a couple of weeks ago and shared how it's the pastor that gets
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  knocked off first in Nigeria.
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  And then they kill the young kids, the young guys that are 10 to 15.
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  So that their goal is to eliminate the next generation.
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  Not only spiritually, by killing the spiritual leader of the congregation,
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  but by killing in the congregation all the young boys who will be the fathers in the next 15, 20 years.
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  And, boy, that's genocide. That's a really focused genocide.
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  And if any of you want to get and support that ministry that NEMI is part of,
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  it's Anabaptist Peace Center.
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  And it's centered in California.
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  And Ministers has its work in Nigeria, in the Josh, G-O-S area of Nigeria.
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  Right, G-O-S? Yes, G-O-S. G-O-S. I think that's the name of the town.
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  It's very simple. Yeah. Yeah.
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  All right. Cool. Well, thanks for that, Don.
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  Don't be saying no to God's calling for you. Embrace it. No,
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  it gets you in a lot of trouble. Yeah. Thank you guys for listening.
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  Share it with somebody. Maybe they need to hear that there's a calling for them that God has. Right.
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  Especially young people. Right. Let them know. Yeah. Thank you guys for joining
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  us and we'll see you next time. Lord willing.
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  Thank you for joining us for this podcast. Feel free to become part of this
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  ministry by sharing it with others.
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  Our goal is to help each other grow deeper in our understanding of who God is
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  and is calling to us in our daily lives.
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  Thank you again for joining us and may God bless your day.