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Summer Internship Interview
31 Plays3 months ago
Logan Reviews his summer internship!
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Transcript
Brendan's Absence and Solo Hosting
00:00:06
Logan Howard
Hello and welcome to From Dublin to Cleveland. I am Logan Howard. It is just me today. Brendan is off on assignment. He is in lovely England this time of year.
00:00:18
Logan Howard
ah He is at a wedding, so he is on assignment. He is out of town. And so you get to hear the dulcet tones of Logan Howard. ah I guess to begin, i want to go into what...
Challenges of Podcasting During Summer
00:00:31
Logan Howard
Where have we been? right If you look back on the past few years, every summer is really hard for us to get our bearings about us and continue on podcasts.
00:00:44
Logan Howard
It is not that we don't care about the podcast. It's just that summers get busy with vacations and everything. And so that kind of slows things down. Now, this whole year has just been a mess in terms of figuring out how to record podcasts. So I completely understand.
00:00:59
Logan Howard
For those of you wondering where we've been most of this year, as we're trying to figure out our schedules. But we did have a great um chat yesterday about scheduling out some of the next things that will be coming down ah the line.
New Podcast Segments and Bible Integration
00:01:14
Logan Howard
um We've got some Christian debates.
00:01:17
Logan Howard
um We're going to do some ah questions, some answers. We're going to talk about some politics because you know we love politics.
00:01:29
Logan Howard
or at least love to complain about politics. um And one of the things that we're going to see at the end of this episode is we're going to do something new. So every single episode, we end with a Bible passage. That is not changing. We are going to continue to be ending in God's word.
00:01:47
Logan Howard
um At least our our last part of the the lesson will be that.
Interactive Listener Engagement
00:01:51
Logan Howard
um And then before we go, we're going to do shout outs, basically things that we have really enjoyed throughout the week, maybe a song we've been listening to, um any of those kind of things, and it's up to you to check those out. And um if we get enough feedback, maybe we'll, or enough of a um ah connection with you guys as time goes on, we may be um doing some like voting to see which you guys think was the better shout out.
00:02:22
Logan Howard
um And that way we get to shout out some of our friends, some of our things, some of our music we're listening to, and so on and so forth. So, ah Brendan, again, will not be here today for this one. So, I'm actually going to have two shout outs at the end.
00:02:36
Logan Howard
um So that you can check out some of the things. ah One of them will be something one of my friends or ah one of the people I know pretty well or got to know pretty well through this summer.
00:02:48
Logan Howard
um Something he's working on. And you'll also hear... ah my song that I've been listening to. I found this song yesterday and it's it's just awesome. so ah Due to copyright, can't play the song, of course, but I can at least tell you about it and you can look it up.
00:03:07
Logan Howard
So, with that being said, what are we're going to do today, and you've probably seen the title by this point, I don't know, sitting here without having written what the title is, but it's about my internship.
Impact of Pastoral Internship on Podcasting
00:03:18
Logan Howard
um i Got the opportunity this summer to ah be a pastoral intern at my church. And i my church, of course, is Abram Creek Baptist Church in Brook Park, Ohio.
00:03:31
Logan Howard
um So that has been a um has has been what has kept me pretty busy and has kept us not as consistent on our podcasts.
00:03:42
Logan Howard
Going forward, our plan is to have things out um on Fridays or Saturdays. um Depending on how recording goes, we want to record things on Thursdays, so you'll be able to get a hold of this at least by Fridays.
00:03:56
Logan Howard
um So you'll... Hopefully get this later today, which was the 15th because I will be posting this as soon as we're done, but I want to go over some questions so you guys kind of get an idea of what my andship internship looked like this summer um and kind of where I'm going in the future.
00:04:16
Logan Howard
um So let's just get into some of these questions that I have. So the first question, it's on this is on my experience and stuff of how it went, but how would I describe my overall experience in this internship?
Learning Practical Pastoral Skills
00:04:32
Logan Howard
um This has been, it's been a really good experience. um I feel like most of my life I have, at least most of my adult life,
00:04:44
Logan Howard
God has taught me and I've learned a lot of things about the Bible and a lot of things about God's word. And so I feel like a lot of my beliefs are pretty solid and set. um But practicing and doing things of being a pastor are completely different than knowing a lot of details, right?
00:05:01
Logan Howard
um So I have really enjoyed the opportunities to do visitation. um It's as a a people person, it is encouraging to talk with senior saints, especially those who are struggling and try to be an encouragement, even if you're only there for 30 minutes.
00:05:18
Logan Howard
um That has been ah but true blessing every week to be able to do. um It's also been a blessing to work with ah Pastor Bate and Jeff Cunningham as they have taken and given me opportunities to just talk and teach as we go places.
00:05:39
Logan Howard
um Running errands with pastor has been awesome. um It has just been ah really good experience. It's not a perfect experience. Nothing ever is, um but it has been ah true blessing.
00:05:53
Logan Howard
um God has worked a lot in my life, and I know that he's not done working in my life. It's not like he just quits as soon as you... ah
00:06:03
Logan Howard
as soon as internship done is done. um But it's been really good to get some of the rhythms of what a pastoral ministry looks like. ah The next question says, what were my initial expectations and how did they align with reality?
Expectations vs. Reality of Internship
00:06:21
Logan Howard
So i don't know. My expectations were, ah well, first of all, i was a I was not guaranteed to be paid. um So I was not expecting to be paid.
00:06:32
Logan Howard
ah given any money. They graciously gave me a couple thousand ah at the end here, and that was quite a blessing. Not something I asked for, or wanted, or demanded, or anything, but it was really a blessing.
00:06:46
Logan Howard
um I also expected it to... At the beginning, I expected to be a lot more detailed of this is what you're going to do and this is what's going to happen.
00:06:57
Logan Howard
And it was not so much that way at the beginning. It was Pastor and Jeff were trying to figure out how they wanted to do it. um So that made it a little challenging. um I also expected to do a lot of...
00:07:10
Logan Howard
detail planning on, um, we, we, and I'll get to this, but we had a, another church is youth group coming in to help us. And I expected like some me to be doing tons and tons of planning and that just didn't really materialize. I kind of, um, got to pivot during the week rather than actually prepare much.
00:07:31
Logan Howard
Um, so there was a lot of that. Um, but like I said, ah it the The meat of it, right, the getting to be able to connect and meet people and those kind of things have been really good and have met expectations. Some of the the finer details, because as a detail person, um I like those. i like details.
00:07:59
Logan Howard
That has been not as up to my expectation, but again, not in a bad way, just in a different way. So... Next question says, what was the most rewarding aspect of your internship?
Involvement with Youth Ministry
00:08:13
Logan Howard
Genuinely, um and I'm not saying this for people who are listening, ah but genuinely it was getting to work ah with the teens this summer, um the week they were here. It was...
00:08:28
Logan Howard
it was like some It was like I was made to do it and meant to do it, right? Because if you if you look back in my history, for those of you who don't know my history, I worked in a youth group for eight years. I was a leader, um whether it was teaching, whether it was preaching, whether it was running events or...
00:08:45
Logan Howard
being there for events. um I was there every single time and investing in our youth group. And so for me, it was, ah that was what I did. And that then transitioned to working in camp, and which I loved working in camp.
00:08:58
Logan Howard
My favorite weeks were always high school weeks because I could always connect um with the teenagers. um But then, Coming into even this week of them being there, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know if this was going to be a group that was going to be difficult to work with.
00:09:17
Logan Howard
um I didn't know if they were going to be um you know on their phones the whole time. I assume they probably wouldn't have their phones since it's a mission strip, but you know are they just going to be distracted the whole time?
00:09:29
Logan Howard
Are they even going to want to... have anything to do with me or any of our staff. um And i was completely blown away that they genuinely had a heart and an interest to get to know us. And that was awesome. um Blew me away.
00:09:48
Logan Howard
um So ah that that was just the most fulfilling week. um Even though it was long week, it was 14, 15 hour days um of just being around and being available, um, the conversations that were had, the, um, friendships that were built, it was just, it was, it brought life to me when, um, I don't know if a lot of this summer, but a lot of my life is not, I don't always feel like it's lived, uh, to the fullest, right. That I,
00:10:25
Logan Howard
um not Not that I'm not living my life to the fullest, right? But it's so easy to get caught up in distractions and and and most of life is just like this flat curve.
00:10:36
Logan Howard
And sometimes you have little spikes and go up and down. And it felt like that week was like a week I was made for. wow Everything that God has made and has built and has taught me in, I got to use that week.
00:10:51
Logan Howard
And and it was It was a joy. So I was genuinely the most fulfilling week of my summer. And yeah, I can't think of many, many weeks in my life that were more fulfilling.
00:11:09
Logan Howard
um It was hard. there There were emotional ups and downs. There was one night that I did ah have some tears because I had felt like I left everything on the line.
00:11:23
Logan Howard
um But it was and was still good. i can't I can't fault it and I can't say anything bad about that week. Next question, what was the most challenging aspects?
Communication Challenges in Internship
00:11:35
Logan Howard
Oh man, communication is probably the most challenging. um i I don't know what it is We all like to think that everybody is just going to communicate well and um that isn't always the case. And it's it's not because they don't have a heart or they don't care. It's just because life gets in in their face and life gets in their way. And they have they're used to operating a certain way. They don't always say what they're looking for. And so communication is just so important. And it's something you have to continually talk about or bring up.
00:12:16
Logan Howard
Otherwise, your communication drifts apart and then you don't understand why somebody did something and you get upset about it. I think most frustrations and anger that we have with people is just because communication is not done well and not
00:12:32
Logan Howard
the communication isn't there, right? So
00:12:37
Logan Howard
again, you you would think, ah I think one of my expectations was, well, they're pastors and i' working with pastors, right? And they're going to be like ah the most communicative people ever.
00:12:50
Logan Howard
And that was a bit naive on my part, but at the same time, I still had to communicate. And so I guess it was hard at times to,
00:13:02
Logan Howard
have to ask questions or have to say things when um i i don't know I sometimes wish that I was talked to instead of having to ask the question.
00:13:13
Logan Howard
But at the same time, if you aren't told things, ask questions and you'll find things out. So the the communication was at times hard, but I think as we went along, we got better at it.
00:13:24
Logan Howard
um It's one of those things when you first get to know people, it takes some time to build communication. So we did improve as the summer went on, but that was probably the most challenging part. um So can you describe your key responsibilities and projects?
Key Responsibilities in Internship
00:13:42
Logan Howard
Yes. So my key responsibilities were learning, right? That was the big thing. So I was working through a book called The Portable Seminary um that goes through all the doctrines of our faith and what we believe and what other people believe about the Bible.
00:13:59
Logan Howard
Right. And so it was really good. That was most of my days. um And me saying this, I do, I will be in at least two or three days next week.
00:14:10
Logan Howard
And that will be the end of my official serving on as intern. ah
00:14:19
Logan Howard
But, um I also got to again sort of be the quote liaison between um this group that was coming in and our church.
00:14:31
Logan Howard
um And it was not a defined role, but it was a role nonetheless. And I think to the best of my ability, I did what I could to make that happen, to be able to make those connections with the kids and to relay things back to Pastor and Chaplain Jeff when needed.
00:14:53
Logan Howard
Yeah. I'm sure it wasn't perfect and I'm sure there's improvement to be made in the future, but that was a main part of my task. The other part was just going where a pastor goes to shadow and see where um see what he's doing to help where needed to give input and um help out where I could.
00:15:18
Logan Howard
So that was my responsibilities and projects. um What was the biggest challenges you faced in your day-to-day? So day-to-day I was studying, um or preparing messages, going roundabout.
00:15:34
Logan Howard
um I think it was twofold. ah Part of it was... um Part of it was a bit of...
00:15:47
Logan Howard
ah Reading books is boring. um So keeping my brain engaged in what I was learning, I had to do a lot of writing to write down stuff.
00:16:01
Logan Howard
Not because I was technically asked to or anything, but because that's just the only way my brain will catch what i'm reading because I don't necessarily um love reading. I love reading, but I don't like because my brain has been rewired with um technology and distractions, it's harder for me to sit down and read. So I have to like write everything down in order to catch catch the important bits.
00:16:27
Logan Howard
um So that was hard. um I think the other the other part that was more um at at times... I felt more like a burden than helpful.
00:16:40
Logan Howard
um And it's not, nobody ever made me feel this way. It was just my own self, right? um I felt like I was just... ah in the way sometimes. And again, that's not like as as you learn and as you grow, it does, you don't know what to do every time. And so I tried to do my best to learn as I went and to not feel that way and give myself grace.
00:17:06
Logan Howard
um But at the end of day, i am so I am one of my own worst critics. which I'm still working on, um but I can be pretty hard on myself. And so there's a lot of situations where I felt like I was being more of a burden than a help.
00:17:21
Logan Howard
um And i I think though, I ended up being more of a blessing than burden. So that is at least from other people's words, and I trust their honest opinions that I was more helpful than not. But at the beginning, it felt like I was a bit of a burden.
00:17:40
Logan Howard
um
00:17:43
Logan Howard
What new skills or knowledge did you inquire? um
00:17:50
Logan Howard
New skills. i think I think communication and I think um just always being ready to communicate and take the step necessary um was something I learned.
00:18:06
Logan Howard
Always being willing to ask questions and being bold in starting conversations. um Again, i am I am a nervous individual. I don't always want to do that. And this ah internship helped me to be more intentional with asking questions,
00:18:24
Logan Howard
um even when it might be a bit uncomfortable or it might be something I don't necessarily want to talk about or I don't want to ask.
00:18:34
Logan Howard
So yeah, that that was probably the big the big thing I learned, I think some of the bigger words and defining them in theology and um ah like ecclesiology, which is the study of last things.
00:18:52
Logan Howard
The ology things are not words that I am terribly familiar with. I know the concepts. I just ologies had confused me. And so I learned some of those. um and ah And yeah, it's been a lot of lot of learning book-wise and being reminded of things book-wise and beliefs.
00:19:14
Logan Howard
So, um do you did you feel the internship met your expectations regarding work-life balance?
00:19:28
Logan Howard
Yes, I
Work-Life Balance and Schedule Flexibility
00:19:29
Logan Howard
think so. The pastor has been very gracious in not demanding a lot of me in terms of being there every single day or any time or letting me come in when I can.
00:19:42
Logan Howard
um So in that in that aspect, yes. And I think even that week that I was there for 14 or 15 hours, that was not necessarily – That was just the law of the duel, right? That was the week that it was.
00:19:58
Logan Howard
um But I wouldn't trade those hours for anything. I wouldn't have said, oh I'll work less hours or anything. That was an enjoyable week. um So yes, I think the balance was good.
00:20:10
Logan Howard
um It's crazy how quickly the the summer went. I had Fridays off mostly. And that was, that was good. It gives a good opportunity to work on other tasks around the house and um get some other things that I don't normally get done.
00:20:30
Logan Howard
So that was good. But yeah, I think the balance was good. I don't think it was off any um What are your perceived strengths in this role?
Connecting with Youth and Personal Strengths
00:20:42
Logan Howard
Genuinely, um i think my strength is communication and it was definitely in being able to connect with teenagers. um
00:20:53
Logan Howard
I've met a lot of people who are interns or who are pastors or who are um whatever, and they are not able to always connect with teenagers.
00:21:05
Logan Howard
um And that that feels like something that God has given me a special gift in. And I didn't really feel it till this week that I felt very confident in my ability and ah not in an arrogant way, but in a way that I could see what needed to be done and what needed to be said and what conversation needed to be had. And God gave me and a lot of wisdom and his spirit was working through a lot of our conversations. And I don't even know the long-term impact of all the conversations. I know there was um a lot of appreciation, but um I don't even know how long or how far that impact goes.
00:21:46
Logan Howard
So
00:21:50
Logan Howard
so yeah, that that was cool. That was cool to be able to see that and to experience that. Yeah.
00:22:06
Logan Howard
What are some areas of improvement that you identified during the internship?
Trusting God's Plan and Personal Growth
00:22:11
Logan Howard
um I think for me, it's, I need to continue to live in the spirit.
00:22:18
Logan Howard
um I think a lot of my own, i think a lot of my issues come from my head space and um how I treat myself.
00:22:32
Logan Howard
I think I have a lot of expectations of what I want out of life. um And you've if you've listened to this podcast in the amount of time, um Brendan and I both deeply want to be married. We do.
00:22:44
Logan Howard
um But it's hard when it isn't happening in our timeframe. Yeah. And i think one of the biggest things was how important and how much I need to continue to develop my trust in what God is doing. um i deeply know, like I know God can do a lot of things. I know he can work stuff out. I know he can bring um my future spouse into my life and it could happen at any time, any moment.
00:23:16
Logan Howard
I know that, right? Right. But believing it will happen is a different choice. um It's that whole thing between faith and trust, right? We can believe that God is going to do something, but not necessarily, or that he that he could do something, but not necessarily that he will do something.
00:23:34
Logan Howard
um But I do know that God has put that desire in my heart and it will come to fruition at some point. It could be another 30 years for all I know, which even saying that a little exhausting, but um It could be.
00:23:50
Logan Howard
And that's okay. god God knows what he's doing. I don't.
00:23:55
Logan Howard
I think that just that trust thing, trusting that God has ah good plan for me, that his way is going to be better, that he knows what he's doing and he's going to bring the right person when it's supposed to happen. I can't manufacture it.
00:24:11
Logan Howard
I think most of my life I've thought if I just tried harder or just tried enough that I could convince somebody that they would say, oh, yeah, I'll marry you. You're great. um And I do know what the value I have and and who I am and that i would fit well with somebody.
00:24:28
Logan Howard
um But
00:24:32
Logan Howard
I don't think I can just overbearingly convince somebody. They have to want to have that relationship and it has to be God's guidance and direction. And yes, I can do the right things and ask questions and offer and say, hey, I want to get to know you or hey, I want to go out on a date with you. I can do all of those things and there'll be a time for those things.
00:24:51
Logan Howard
But I can't just overbearingly convince that. So in my relationships, there's that. um that I just struggle with, will it happen?
00:25:03
Logan Howard
you know I've got this desire and I want it to happen, but will it? and I'm almost 30 years old. I turned 30 in And may um and that's 40, 50, 40 to 50% of my lifetime.
00:25:19
Logan Howard
Um, if I live to 60 or I live to 70, it's a big portion of my life that I've already spent. And I don't, I don't have that. Um, but and that's no excuse for not building and developing a deep relationship with God. So I'm still working on it. I still will be for the next rest of my life is building my relationship with God. But, um,
00:25:41
Logan Howard
But yeah, that was a big conviction for me this summer was working on my faith, um that knowing that God can do something and actually believing that he will.
00:25:55
Logan Howard
And so he's still working on that and I still have work to do in it. um But it's just like any other process. It takes time. God ah wants to see step by step. Do we do we trust him?
00:26:09
Logan Howard
And so I'm working on that and building that deeper. So yeah, that that has been one of the biggest learning things. um How did you handle pressure or tight deadlines?
00:26:26
Logan Howard
Uh, at this point I have seen it all. I've been in high stress environments. Um, I, nothing bats an eye. If somebody told me tomorrow, you're going to preach, uh, we need you to preach.
00:26:38
Logan Howard
Or if somebody told me even tonight, like five hours, three hours from now, you need to preach. I could do it. If they asked me in five minutes, I could do it. Um, high pressure. I'm, I think I still feel the stress, but it's,
00:26:53
Logan Howard
not as stressful. It's not like, oh, I have to figure it out. I just let God take it and lead it. And that's just another growing thing that five years ago is not something I could do.
00:27:05
Logan Howard
Working through COVID, I was a stressed out individual. But God is slowly working on me. Like I say, and I've said before, I don't want to be the same person ah that I am today, i don't want to be that same person 30 years from now. I want to be a better version of Logan, a better version of, and not better in terms of always smarter wiser, but better in terms of integrity, better in terms of wisdom, better in terms of learning, better in terms of my relationship with God. And I want to grow.
00:27:38
Logan Howard
And I want people in my life who will help me grow, people who I can help grow. um And that's that's my mission. That's where I want to be. So pressure, bring it on.
00:27:54
Logan Howard
um
00:27:59
Logan Howard
Let's go with two more questions here.
Career Aspirations in Ministry
00:28:02
Logan Howard
What is your career goals? Or let's do three. Sorry. What are your career goals and how has the internship influenced them? um My goal, and i as this comes out of my mouth, I know that it could sound across as arrogant. It's not.
00:28:18
Logan Howard
um I've spent most of my life not necessarily running away from being a pastor, but knowing that God had to bring me into it. And he still does. He still has to open a door for me to walk into it, right? To get a job in this field. But I feel like I can't do a regular nine to five job.
00:28:41
Logan Howard
um God has called me into ministry, um that I am built for ministry. And That's what I want to do. um And it might not be a pastor.
00:28:52
Logan Howard
It might be something else. But this is what I want to do. I want to do ministry. I want my life and my mission and my job to point back to God. And that's what I do at my teaching job. um This is going to be my last year teaching because I want to open a door for God to move me somewhere else.
00:29:08
Logan Howard
And it could be anywhere. It could be the other side of the world, it could be down the street. um But I want to in the next year um be following where God wants me to go.
00:29:22
Logan Howard
Because I feel like my time at as teaching is coming to an end. And I've been doing a lot of praying, but it just it just feels like this isn't forever. um And a lot of the details of the school are making it feel like this is the end for me.
00:29:39
Logan Howard
um And so I want to give them an opportunity to find, to be able to move on um as well as for me to be able to do what God wants me to do.
00:29:53
Logan Howard
So he wants me back for this year, but that's as far as I see in the future. um So with that, be praying for what God has for me. It could, um I don't know.
00:30:06
Logan Howard
I don't, I'm not going to make plans until God opens doors. So just pray that God would open doors. um Because I'd like to know that before I get cut loose in the summer.
00:30:21
Logan Howard
Because I want that security. But at the same time, the security is found in God anyway. So he's got this. um I said two more questions. ah recommend Do i recommend internships to other people?
00:30:38
Logan Howard
um Yes, I do. I think pastoral internships are great. I think you need to see the practicality of being a pastor. um I think it depends on who you go with.
00:30:50
Logan Howard
ah Find a pastor whose heart is in ministry and has been in ministry um and is still active and alive in his ministry. Don't um Don't tie yourself to somebody who isn't as as focused on his ministry as he was. Somebody who's passionate about it. Find that passionate people because passion ah shows where people's hearts are.
00:31:17
Logan Howard
So I would recommend that. um And scale of one to five,
Overall Internship Experience Rating
00:31:25
Logan Howard
how satisfied? It was Five out of five.
00:31:29
Logan Howard
Honestly, it was great. um I'd do it again if I could. um I would stay there if I could and be a pastor if they'd let me. um It was great. I love the church. I love the people.
00:31:41
Logan Howard
I love the opportunity. I'm going to be able to preach once a month going forward, which is going to be great. um i One of my deep loves is preaching and teaching God's word.
00:31:53
Logan Howard
So I'm excited about that. um But yeah, it's been good. It's been good. So let's get into our Bible passage. I'll go through that quickly, do our do my two shout-outs at the end, and I'll send you on your way. So thank you for listening so far.
00:32:12
Logan Howard
I want you to, if you have your Bibles with you, if not, you can just listen. um We're going to be in Psalms 20 today. That is where I read this morning. um And this morning's been an up-and-down day. I've...
00:32:29
Logan Howard
The old saying of idleness is a devil's playground is is very true. There's a lot of temptation that happens when you have a day off. um We need days off, but we need them in a healthy way. And so I was ah struggling a bit this morning just with my thinking and where my thought processes were and you know wanting stuff or wanting God to answer in certain ways, and he hasn't done it yet.
00:32:54
Logan Howard
And so I came across this in Psalms 20, and it said, "...may he grant you according to your heart's desires and fulfill all your purpose." We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners.
00:33:08
Logan Howard
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. So this is Psalms 20, verses 4 through 5. um Psalm of David, ah assurance of God's saving work.
00:33:19
Logan Howard
um And verse 4 just struck me this morning, that God would grant our hearts desires. um I think a lot of people think desire is a bad thing.
00:33:31
Logan Howard
We shove desires down. We just say, well, don't desire things. ah But God gives us desires. He gives us godly desires. I would say that wanting to be a husband and a father is a godly desire.
00:33:43
Logan Howard
That is something that comes from God. um Because most guys, if we were in our flesh, would just desire um desire sex or desire just
00:33:56
Logan Howard
passion or desire um money, right? We would just desire these things that are that that are good in the proper context, but are we we want to manipulate them, right?
00:34:07
Logan Howard
But when God gives desire that we want to be dad or a father, we want to be a better person or be someone who is has a deep relationship with God. When we desire these things, these are desires come from God.
00:34:19
Logan Howard
So we can't say that desires need to be killed. They need to be redeemed. they need to be given to God continually. um In verse 4, it continues that it says, and fulfill all your purpose.
00:34:32
Logan Howard
We want to be useful and fruitless are fruitful people, right? We want to be fruitful people. I want to be fruitful. I want everything I do to touch to gold. um I want people, not not because I want them to just worship me, but I want them to say, you know, Logan does good work, that what he does is valuable and we want him and we need him.
00:34:50
Logan Howard
I want God to say that, that Logan is valuable. We need him and he's well done, good and faithful servant, right? We want our purpose to be found in him. And so um that is where we have to have that God would fulfill our purpose, that he would fulfill what he wants us to do. He'd show us, he'd guide us, direct us because he wants to.
00:35:09
Logan Howard
But it's a step-by-step, day-by-day thing. it's not a ah We don't always get these visions of what it's going to be or who we're going to marry or how many kids we're going to have.
00:35:20
Logan Howard
We got to step by step, day by day, fulfill our purpose. Do what we're supposed to do today. Do the right things today. um Verse five, it says, we will rejoice in your salvation and the name of our God.
00:35:33
Logan Howard
In the name of God, we will set up our banners. May the Lord fu fulfill all your petitions. When we accept Christ, we're to rejoice with others, rejoice in our salvation. God saved us.
00:35:44
Logan Howard
You know, today um i am set free from my sin, even though I struggle with my sin, even though I'm tempted to sin. um I'm set free from it. I have the ability to choose. um I think a lot of people think when we struggle with sin or we fall to sin and we're just, we beat ourselves up about it, especially as Christians Christians,
00:36:04
Logan Howard
You know, there is a need for confession and repentance, but um Satan wants to keep us in that guilty place where we are saved. We are set free. We now have the ability to choose whether to do right and wrong. When we struggle and we fight through sin and we choose against it, or we are fighting it and want to choose against it, against the sin, um that is a ah reflection that the Holy Spirit does live within us.
00:36:31
Logan Howard
And that's a good thing. The name of our God, we will set up our banners. um I think at camp we did a year where we had flags.
00:36:43
Logan Howard
Well, all years I was there at different camps, we did flags. We had the kids paint paint flags and carry them around and um you know do all any kind of game with this flag, bring the flag, plant your flag, all this stuff.
00:37:00
Logan Howard
um Our banner is God's. ah We should set our banner, set our hearts in God. Let him rule our hearts. Let him rule our lives. let are That God is the our banner that we hold up wherever we go.
00:37:14
Logan Howard
When we walk out in the streets, we point to God. When we're um alone by ourselves, we point to God. When we're um at work, when we're at home, when we're out and about, we point to God.
00:37:28
Logan Howard
Everything is pointed to him. Our banner's in him. And then lastly, in verse 5, it says that the Lord will fulfill all our petitions. When we pray, when we go to God, that he would fulfill our asks, that he would answer us.
00:37:41
Logan Howard
um And again, that goes back to that faith and trust thing. Do we trust that he'll actually answer our prayers? Well, throughout the Bible, it talks about that God will answer us when we call. We can believe in that. We can trust in him.
00:37:53
Logan Howard
um Is he always going to do what we want him to? No, he's not. um But he does want us to trust him. He knows what's best. And so if we can pray, um even changing our prayers to the point where we're able to point us out, Lord, of what is where is what are we supposed to be looking for? Help us to find the good in our day.
00:38:13
Logan Howard
um That is way more valuable than saying, Lord, give me exactly what I want. And I tend to pray like this. I do pray for what I want, right? To say, I want this thing to happen. I want someone to do this or I want um healing in this way.
00:38:30
Logan Howard
But Lord, if you don't, help me to know that your plan is better. ah Remind me that your plan is better. So...
Reflections on Psalms 20
00:38:41
Logan Howard
Let me close in prayer and then I'll do our shout outs and then we'll send you on our way. So Jesus, thanks this day. Lord, I'm thankful for each and everyone listening. I'm thankful for their hearts and their time this morning to listen to just a guy in his room um who has a heart for Jesus. I just pray that you would be with them, that you would encourage them this week. Whatever is going on, the busyness of their lives, that ah they would speak to you. They would put their desires in you. Whatever it is they want, they would put their lives in front of you and let you lead them where you'd have them.
00:39:17
Logan Howard
I just pray that, Lord, we would live ah out our salvation. we would find our purpose, that we would be the men and women that we need to be for you. Lord, that are ah where our banners and everything we do and we say always points back to you.
00:39:35
Logan Howard
And, Lord, that you would answer our prayers, that you would answer the things that are deepest on our hearts, that you would give us our heart's desires, the things that are good that come from you. Lord, Lord, if there are things in our hearts that are bad desires or things that are leading us away from you, pray you would take them away, that you would give us and replace them with healthy desires and that we would focus on what you have for us.
00:39:58
Logan Howard
Give us a good day today. Jesus' name, amen.
Shout-Outs and Music Recommendations
00:40:02
Logan Howard
So shout outs. I get to do two today. i cheekily doing two. um So the first one i want to shout out is ah ah song I found the other day.
00:40:15
Logan Howard
ah This song is called Skal. S-K-A-L. It's by Miracle of Sound. It is a Viking song. ah It's awesome.
00:40:27
Logan Howard
It makes you want to go run through a brick wall. um And was just really encouraging when I found it yesterday. and um just it's not a Christian song. It's not anything.
00:40:42
Logan Howard
I don't think it has any alcohol references or anything like that. It's just a fun song. It makes you get up and get out of your chair and, you know, pretend you're Viking. um My other shout out, and this is the last one for today, ah is one of the kids that came on our, um,
00:41:03
Logan Howard
on our trip ah to visit us from ah Columbus, um he has his own YouTube page and he's created an album recently.
00:41:14
Logan Howard
So um what i what my shout out is, is this YouTube page. It is called Andrew Manwheeler. um That is Ethan's dad, but Ethan is the one who has made a an album of songs. And so my shout out for you all listening today is to go and check out his YouTube channel. youtube channel um You can find it on YouTube.
00:41:48
Logan Howard
ah And it is Andrew Manwiller. So A-N-D-R-E-W, Manwiller.
00:42:00
Logan Howard
M-A-N-W-I-L-L-E-R. He's got a whole album um and different songs and his goal and purpose is to point everything to God.
00:42:11
Logan Howard
He's a great young man. I've told him multiple times that he should start his own um his own ah comedy soccer league um because he'd be great at it.
00:42:26
Logan Howard
i He comes up with some great watch jokes. It, it does like the jokes can be sometimes ridiculous at times, but it, He does have some good ones. So ah check that out if you would.
00:42:40
Logan Howard
um I'm sure he would appreciate the views um because he does and does a good job with that. So that's my shout-out this week. um more Hopefully, maybe one day, we can have him or his dad or both of them on our podcast um because that would awesome.
00:42:55
Logan Howard
So shout-out to both of them. um Thank you guys for putting that stuff out, putting your – your heart's on the line, right? Because whenever you put things out, you're putting your heart on the line.
00:43:07
Logan Howard
um So good job with that and support them. So those are shout outs for today. i again pray for all of you as you ah go throughout the rest of your weeks.
00:43:18
Logan Howard
ah The rest of your weeks, this is a Friday that finishes well. that ah you would find your desires in God, find those healthy desires and ask God to fulfill them um in specific ways ah while also realizing that he knows what's best. And so trust him as you go.
Listener Engagement and Support
00:43:39
Logan Howard
um You can reach out, of course, to me ah from Dublin to Cleveland at gmail.com is where you can get ahold of us. Send us an email. We'd love to hear from you. ah Let us know what you think about our, uh,
00:43:51
Logan Howard
new segments, um, and what's going to happen in the future. Maybe leave a guess of what our future, some other future episodes you think we should do. Um, you can also contact me. Uh, I am on Facebook and Instagram. Uh, it is banana man 17 on Instagram, Logan Howard on Facebook.
00:44:10
Logan Howard
Um, Brendan, you can find, uh, Brendan Thomas Merritt at Facebook and Instagram. Um, so reach out to us. We'd love to hear from you. Um, We're always plugging that.
00:44:22
Logan Howard
Go buy yourself a shirt. I've got it mine on today. We'd love for you guys to support us ah by buying shirts. And I think that's all I have for you. So have a wonderful day.
00:44:33
Logan Howard
Thank you for listening. We'll see you all next time. Bye, friends.