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The Truth Of The Matter is Episode 171: Special Guest - Neil Matthews
31 Plays2 months ago
'The Truth of the Matter is' podcast is all about providing an honest, contextual, historicized, philosophical and psychological view of the Bible through the use of hermeneutics, while sharing some personal experiences from myself Daniel and on occasion our special guest. Today we speak with Neil Matthews Who has his own podcast called Other People's Shoes. Tune in as we talk to him about the birth of his podcast, how he came up with the name of it, and how he is using his platform to serve the kingdom of God. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you will as well.
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Transcript
Introduction and Listener Appreciation
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to a special edition of the Two For The Matters podcast. I am your host, Jonathan. I'm here with our special guests. But before we introduce and welcome him inappropriately, let's begin by recognizing and appreciating all of our new and consistent listeners.
00:00:22
Speaker
We thank you all in advance for continuing to press play at your own convenience.
Philosophical and Psychological Insights into the Bible
00:00:26
Speaker
The Truth of the Matters podcast is all about providing an honest, contextual, historicized, philosophical, and psychological view of the Bible. Due to the use of hermeneutics, I share some personal experiences from myself, Daniel, and our guests on occasion.
Special Guest Introduction: Nile Matthew
00:00:42
Speaker
After today, I hope that our conversation with our guests We'll leave you inspired, uplifted, to be authentically yourself, while seeing the value of walking in someone else's shoes. On that note, let's welcome our special guest, Nile Matthew. How are you doing this morning, sir? I'm doing good. How are you, sir? I'm doing great. Hopefully that transition was great. I'm working on those.
Origin Story of Neil's Podcast
00:01:07
Speaker
So before we get started with your testimony and kind of understanding who you are, you know, my audience is new to you, but we've connected. I've been on your podcast. ah Can you shout out your podcast? You know, kind of tell my audience a little bit briefly about what it's about. Yeah, absolutely.
00:01:26
Speaker
So yeah, my name is Neil with other people's shoes start about four years ago. The show is as I say is is almost like a my second child to me in some respects because it needs that attention. It needs that kind of love and care. So that's ah that's kind of kind of what I typically say in the in these moments.
00:01:47
Speaker
um but also yeah it started really truly with um an idea for my wife we had a change in in leadership at church and i was stepping away from youth ministry which i had been involved in for a number of years And in that moment, you know, she said, I i think you need a verbal outlet. and And to be honest, I had to go look that up because I didn't quite know what that was. And so as a result, I think the birth of that was was the show other people choose. All right. And where are you? You know, where are you resonated at?
Neil's Connection to North Carolina and Oregon
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's always the fun question is my love affair for North Carolina comes out in, I think, everything I do. and so The University of North Carolina. and so A lot of folks that I've interviewed over the years have thought, quite literally, that I'm in North Carolina. so to To dispel any rumors, I'm actually in Oregon, which is really weird because out west here, you know, North Carolina doesn't make too many trips. And so so my love affair for North Carolina kind of matriculates out to this Oregon area where I reside currently. OK, so you're waking up early for us this morning. Appreciate it. Thank you. so Yeah. Yeah, it's all good.
Prayer for Guidance and Clarity
00:03:03
Speaker
cool So before we get started we be on the Truth in the Matters podcast, we believe in praying first and foremost, where we dive into anything. So.
00:03:15
Speaker
Father God, thank you for waking us up this morning. Lord, may nothing separate us from you today. Through the sound of my voice, I hope that I can help us all walk by your word and not by our feelings. Lord, help us keep our hearts pure and undivided. Protect us from our own careless thoughts, words, and actions.
00:03:45
Speaker
Lord, keep us from being distracted by what we want, what our desires are, what they may be, what our thoughts are, or how things should be, or how they should go. Help us to embrace what comes our way and view it as an opportunity rather than a personal inconvenience.
00:04:05
Speaker
Open up our eyes to see our ears to, uh, ears to hear our hearts to receive and our minds to understand as we listen to Neil. And, you know, as he shares portions of his life with us today,
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, no problem. So I think we can first get started.
The Meaning Behind Neil's Podcast Name
00:04:35
Speaker
When you spoke about the idea of titling your podcast, what was the influence behind it?
00:04:45
Speaker
Boy, that's a great question. I don't think I've actually ever been asked that. um
00:04:54
Speaker
Boy, I think always the the influence is is what you know, what's going to honor someone. And I know for me, you know, I have have struggled quite literally with the idea of being in someone else's shoes at times. And I think that's a little bit of the influence.
00:05:14
Speaker
And, uh, and what led to that. And not to be too funny in this moment, but I i do enjoy shoes and i I have collected shoes for a number of years. Um, I don't know if I'm quite the level of a sneaker head quite yet. People have asked that or thought that I just really enjoy, you know, just wearing different shoes. And I think that's a little bit of the influence as well.
00:05:40
Speaker
um I was in a um networking or marketing group and kind of in the early years of the show in and they were looking at you know people's artwork for the show and then they were critiquing it and you know giving feedback. And so I sent mine up and they they picked it and which I was grateful for that they picked it. And so this panel is looking at it and kind of critiquing and analyzing.
00:06:05
Speaker
And somebody pointed out that my name is very small on most of the artwork that that we use in the early days. That was before I realized you could change it and you know do different things because it's your show. You can kind of do what you want. A lot of people don't know that you can do that once you're in there. They think you're set. That's it. ah You can change anything you want. You're the boss. So on that thread,
00:06:28
Speaker
Somebody pointed out, you know, I should have my picture there and I should have this and I should have that. And my name's really small. And I said, well, that's kind of intentional. I said, I don't want it to be about me. I want it to be about that other person. I want that other person to be elevated and amplified and, you know, center stage than me. So I think that led to a lot of the naming and the influence of that. All that makes sense. I don't know.
00:06:56
Speaker
When you think about being in someone else's shoes, when you look over the landscape, is there anyone that you wish you were in their shoes or you don't think you can fill their shoes?
Walking in the Shoes of Historical Figures
00:07:16
Speaker
I can't hear you. Australia. So is there you're asking, is there someone I wouldn't be in their shoes? Or let me rephrase. Yeah. Help me with that. Yeah. Yeah. When you look over the landscape of life and you see different people's life, and they you know, their journeys and what they've done. Is there anyone that you look in particular? It could be a star. It could be someone you've interviewed. It could be someone you know.
00:07:47
Speaker
Are you fearful or thoughtful to believe that you couldn't be in anyone in their shoes? Or is there anyone you would choose never to be in their shoes?
00:08:00
Speaker
I don't think never would ever be in my vocabulary. I think if somebody's willing, absolutely. i'd I'd walk where they've walked. I've experienced what they've experienced. I mean, there's, there's a few people that I would love to sit with. Um, I mean, if we're looking over the span of history and and time and, you know, I think.
00:08:18
Speaker
space-time continuum, whatever that is. I mean, I'd love to sit with Dr. King, truly. um That would probably be my number one, as far as people of history. I just am fascinated by him. um I'm also fascinated by Fred Rogers, famously, Mr. Rogers. um i just I've always been fascinated by those two people. I think of of the curiosity level. Of course, there's big names, celebrities, of course, I'd love to sit with. but Yeah. I mean, I don't, I don't think there's anybody I would ever refuse to sit with. Now through the years, we've had people come on that maybe I didn't feel like it was a good fit. You know, after we started going or after we started recording, um, I don't want to drop names or but anything, but during COVID we we had a young lady come on and she asked me if I was vaccinated. And I thought, I don't, I'm not really prepared to answer for that, you know, especially on an interview that we're not face to face on.
00:09:15
Speaker
But i I had mentioned that I had chosen not to get vaccinated that for my personal reasons and my faith, you know, i I chose not to and She started crying quite literally as we as we started the interview that I was murdering people and then I was a murderer
Interview Conflict Over Vaccination
00:09:30
Speaker
well So those are some shoes. i I kind of politely said maybe this isn't a good fit You know, I i mean like any shoe we go to try on in ah in a physical sense we recognize that Maybe these aren't gonna work for us And maybe they're too small or maybe they're too tight or maybe there's something about them that doesn't seem to fit right in a physical sense. And I think in that moment, I think it was the first time I really encountered somebody where I was like. I'm i'm not going to be called a murderer on my own show. so True story. Oh. Did you ever air it or that wasn't when you aired?
00:10:08
Speaker
um No that we didn't even get off the ground ah the plane had some technical difficulties Unfortunately, everyone had to just disembark the plane and and so we weren't able to take off on that one. So yeah, if you if you had a chance Just for a controversy or Would you would you would you invite them on again and see if you could or your way past that? It just wasn't a good fit.
00:10:33
Speaker
Yeah, I just think at that point, it's not a good fit. We we did have a lady on um through a series of people. I mean, that's to me, and that's how podcasting is. You you meet somebody, they they turn you on to the next person and the next person and so on and so on. It's like a domino effect. Yeah, we did have a young lady come on.
00:10:52
Speaker
through again, through that kind of, well, I know someone, she'd be a good fit, this person, this person. So again, i'm I'll sit with anybody. I'll talk with anybody and if it, if it fits great, we'll move forward. If it doesn't for them or for me or for whatever, you know, we'll politely say, okay, Hey, let's, let's move along. But there was one lady that we had come on that was, um, she had started the, the pride parade here in Southern Oregon. Hmm.
00:11:17
Speaker
for you know gay and lesbians and the LGBTQ, whatever community. I say whatever because it seems like every day there's another letter added and I can't keep track of all the letters. It's not trying to be disrespectful. I just, I can't. I can't. Yeah.
00:11:32
Speaker
but So that community, I think we can follow that thread. um And anyway, she came on and obviously that's completely against my faith, my, you know, experience, but we, we sat there. She was gracious. We were gracious. and And ironically enough, her episode aired right as the George Floyd stuff was kind of coming to the forefront and the Black Lives Matter, you know, that movement was taking off.
00:11:55
Speaker
and that was right smack dab in the middle of that and and somebody said man that was so timely Neil that was such a great episode like how did you know and I was like I that was God I didn't know we didn't plan that we didn't know that it just and sort of happened so yeah right okay so talk to me a little bit about your faith so you said you were exactly where you born So I was born in North Carolina. Yeah. I actually do have a birth certificate from North Carolina. So that a little bit of, of maybe explains the fandom in some respects. Uh, but yeah, I was born in North Carolina. My dad is, is a Marine United States Marine retired. Um, they say once a Marine, always a Marine. So he is in his mind, still a Marine, even though he is retired.
00:12:42
Speaker
My mom grew up you know taking care of people's kids and childcare and doing multiple centers. She's directed multiple like centers type settings for childcare. I have a brother, and a biological brother of two years. He's two years older than I am.
00:12:58
Speaker
and then my cousins came to live with us when we were, when I was in fifth grade. So they became not just my cousins, but really my sisters. And so I say often that I have two sisters and a brother. So that's kind of the family and the rundown. Yeah. and Okay. So was there ever a desire to want to be a Marine also?
Impact of Neil's Father's Military Career
00:13:20
Speaker
Oh yeah, I think naturally I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps and in those boots. And, and, uh, you know, as I got older, I started to realize, um, seeing the toll that type of, of lifestyle like in those days, he traveled a lot. I mean, he was probably gone more than he was home for whatever reason. And, uh, even when he was home, he wasn't there, you know, kind of emotionally, he was there physically, but not emotionally.
00:13:50
Speaker
And so I saw the toll that took and and I realized, you know, I don't want that for my family. And so I, I chose not to, to pursue those paths. Normally you travel with the, with the person where you and your mom and your brother traveling with him, or you guys just kind of stay put and he did the majority of the traveling.
00:14:12
Speaker
So my brother got to go to Cuba. That's kind of cool. Some people are excited about that. He the the movie A Few Good Men. There's a place called Gitmo or Guantanamo Bay. My brother actually got to go there. My dad was stationed there. And so my mom went and and my brother went in and I wasn't born yet. And then um in the early years, they he did a lot of the traveling. And then when we finally settled in Camp Pendleton, California, um he did a lot of the traveling and we stayed put. So that's kind of how that worked out.
00:14:43
Speaker
Okay. So how did the whole element of of Christ take part? Was it always rooted in or that was something that was absent?
00:14:54
Speaker
Well, I don't think we sat down and had family devotions in anything like that. I don't remember that. I remember every now and then we would pray at dinner or we'd pray at lunch or you know something like that. And we went to church. My parents took us to church. That was ah ah was a big part of our life.
00:15:12
Speaker
a little church called ah First Baptist Church of Carlsbad, where I walked the aisle, I was an Awana kid. And so, um you know, I grew up in the church, I grew up going to Sunday school. And then as I you know grew into my teens, and as my dad got out of the core,
00:15:28
Speaker
Um, you know, we settled on, on a church here in Medford and, uh, you know, spent my junior high through high school years at that church and then ended up becoming on staff at that church, uh, in the later years. So would you say when you you were young, before you became part of the church, it was something that you took seriously, or it was it something that you, you participated in and you felt it was a safe space and you enjoyed the environment and the people.
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think I always thought of church as a safe place. I really thought that that was an extension of my family, or maybe a, you know, a placeholder for my family, especially in those later years, you know, my dad ended up separating from my mom and then they ended up getting a divorce. um and And I think the church was always that one place that was constant in my life, the the beacon in some respects, the the place that I knew I could go and be safe and be seen and be heard and and felt comfortable. I grew up in an amazing youth group with about ah nine to 12 kind of core kids, myself being included in that.
00:16:40
Speaker
And in that, you know, I think a lot of us are still friends to this day because of those years we spent, you know, in high school and in youth group together. I mean, we we would hang hang out in high school, hang out at church, we hang in hung out outside of church. We really were, you know, this this group of kids that really You know, I think in in a lot of respects, loved Jesus and loved being around each other. And Jesus was that kind of constant, you know, you know, in our life that gave us reason to be together. Was there ever a part or a point that you doubted in this process of being there consistently? Or you ran across someone that probably represented the faith in a negative aspect and then you felt
00:17:29
Speaker
wronged or treated unfairly and then you reflected a little bit about things.
00:17:37
Speaker
I think anytime you get people involved, there's, there's always going to be the, I don't, I don't know if I like the word wrong element to it, but I think hurt. Definitely. You know, that can definitely happen. You know, I grew up in again, a ah church setting where, you know, I went through, you know, freshman year to to senior year in youth group. And in those years, we had a youth leader that, uh, that stepped away kind of abruptly and, you know, ended his marriage.
00:18:07
Speaker
and pursued a girl that we went to high school with in our youth group. And so that left you know kind of a hurt for sure. um And you know because of those series of events that happened, you know it led me into the youth ministry. So I think God can even use in the pain of things, God can still use that pain too to create create a new path for a lot of folks.
00:18:33
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose I use the word wrong because some people have this delusional belief that because you're a Christ follower and you belong to Him as as a child,
00:18:48
Speaker
that nothing can ever, you can never be wronged or, ah you know, you can you can never feel like things are going in a direction where you were questioning everything that you're doing from the beginning to the end. And when things don't go as expected, then you you sort of feel like the experience is some sort of co-op to like, this is not what I,
00:19:13
Speaker
signed up for. it This is not how I thought things would be. And ah originally then they start to question God as a result to have the experience or their family or their friends are going through things and they kind of feel helpless or they can't change or or do anything from their position. If there's someone out there going through an experience like that, what would you tell them how your experience happened and how you got through it?
00:19:46
Speaker
Well, i I think for me.
Faith: Feelings vs. Facts
00:19:53
Speaker
My feelings aren't facts. They may be true, but they're not factual, if that makes sense. I know that may seem like a weird paradigm to some, but um my heart is deceptively wicked. Who can discern it? I think the good book says. And so I think that's the hard part for me sometimes that I really wrestle with is in the moments where I'm hurt or the moments that I feel like I've been wronged or I've been, you know, somehow slighted or looked over, passed over.
00:20:23
Speaker
I have to think to myself, okay, is this me? Is this a me issue or is this a them issue? Because God's never gonna be wrong. I mean, let's just face it. He's not. he I think he's like a million and zero as far as being right. So he's he's still undefeated in that regard. But I think for me, I have to kind of take myself out of the equation a lot of times. so and And that's the struggle I run into is the idea of I think this is a me issue. And if it's a me issue, then, then we have a problem. I have a problem because then if it's all sitting around me and what I'm doing and how I'm viewing and how I'm perceiving, I need somebody there to kind of come along and go, no, no, come on now. That's a you issue. That's not a them issue.
00:21:16
Speaker
and Okay. Uh, moving forward. Uh, what do you do? What's your occupation?
00:21:24
Speaker
So currently, I've done a lot of things, but currently at this moment, I was joking, like it could change next week. No, I'm just kidding. um Currently I work for a company called Lithiobody and Paint. We are a auto body you know repair facility. And so I work on the, we have different insurance companies that we work through. So I work with the progressive team.
00:21:45
Speaker
So progressive insurance, so if you were to be in an accident and need progressive to help facilitate in that accident, I would be part of the that process of of helping you walk through that experience of of what that would be for your repairs. What would you say that you've done in the past that has helped you grow personally and that you appreciated, that you did, that you could share?
00:22:16
Speaker
Well, there's a lot of things that I've done ah personally that have that have helped me grow. um But I think there was a period of time a couple of years back, and it's probably been more than a couple now, for whatever reason, I got this wild idea that I was going to run a 5K every month.
Personal Goal: Running 5Ks
00:22:36
Speaker
So, you know, to help, that's 3.1 miles.
00:22:40
Speaker
And I was going to run a race every month. So involving that would be training and, you know, preparing and all that. And and I was on track to to do that goal of of running one a month. And then my family decided that we wanted to go on vacation, which I was like, OK, that's cool. Let's go on vacation. And it was smack dab in the middle of this, you know, goal to run a 5K every month.
00:23:10
Speaker
And my godmother, ah bless her soul, was traveling with us. And she said, um I don't know if you're going to be able to accomplish this in December because you know we're going to be traveling during the holiday time. And I said, yeah, you know that's really sad because I was really was really looking forward to it. And so we were we ended up heading to Disney World area, Orlando area. And so we were going to go to SeaWorld. We were going to do some other things and and mainly go to Disney thereney World.
00:23:40
Speaker
And so lo and behold, she sends me this message and she said, I found a race for you. I said, no kidding. Where is it? And she said, it's in SeaWorld. And I said, well, that's, ah that's amazing. I'll, I'll run it. Yeah. And she said, well.
00:23:55
Speaker
I don't know if you normally do this or not, but it's ah it's a they're having a costume contest with the race. And I said, you're kidding me. And she said, no. She said, in fact, if you win first place in the costume contest, you get you know family passes to SeaWorld for the day. I was like, oh my gosh, I don't wear costumes in races. I think people that do that are dumb and ridiculous and they're drawing attention to themselves. and You're there to run. It's serious. Like race time is serious time for me. And and I get into like a LeBron type headspace. Like, you know, it's just like all business kind of thing. And she said, I really think you should do this with a costume. I said, okay.
00:24:36
Speaker
So lo and behold, I buy a gingerbread costume and I ran through SeaWorld. It made the Orlando Sentinel. I was on live news um for one of their local Orlando stations. I was on live TV. i I was photographed by the Orlando Sentinel in this gingerbread costume. And it's probably at the time, you know, it's like seven in the morning local time. It's like 80 degrees already.
00:25:03
Speaker
And I'm wearing this jacket, you know, gingerbread suit looks ridiculous, of course. But I ran through SeaWorld in the in the gingerbread costume. So yeah, ran it about 20, 29 minutes. So not my normal time. But again, with the suit and the heat, I think it had something to do with it. But I was average at that time I was averaging about 28 minutes for a 5K for those runners out there. Wow.
00:25:31
Speaker
Interesting. So what about ah what about the jobs? If there are a list of jobs you've done, what would you say those jobs have helped you in your development stage as a person?
00:25:45
Speaker
Well, my wife ah would would want to interject here if if she was if she was on this. And she said, um at one point in time, I think I had six jobs in one year. So that's that's not good ah for those that are keeping score at home. yeah um So i I really think in... You know I've done a lot of things I've the only thing I probably haven't done is I have never sold how I have never sold houses or cars so pretty much anything outside of that I've probably done if it's involves marketing I've done that if it involves advertising I've done that I've sold cell phones I've
00:26:21
Speaker
um I've even done landscaping, so um I've run restaurants. I've i worked at Blockbuster for those, you know, way long time ago. Yep, did that too for about two weeks. It's another story for another time, maybe. um i've I've been involved in the church life. I've been hired by a church. So I think, you know, there have been a lot of different things, but I think of every situation, I think i think I've taken something from from somewhere.
00:26:48
Speaker
But probably one of the greatest lessons I took, I actually worked for an internet company out here locally called Spectrum. They're kind of national in some respects. So some markets may have that. But Spectrum, one of the things I i took away that I still use, because it just seared into my my brain and in my DNA, it said, we we were always being told, did you earn the right? I thought,
00:27:12
Speaker
All the years of doing sales, all the years of, you know, all these sales conferences, I've seen Zig Ziglar live in person, you know, in in Eugene and, and all the years of all this stuff. I never really heard or or thought about it from this standpoint of earn the right. And so now I've used that in every element of my life. You know, somebody's not willing to talk to me they're like, well, I just haven't earned that right yet to talk to them.
00:27:39
Speaker
somebody's being mean yet? Well, I'm like, well, I haven't earned the right for them to be nice to me or to be mean to me, you know, they haven't earned that right for me. And I'm giving them that right of them, you know, affecting me in a negative way, maybe.
Earning the Right in Interactions
00:27:51
Speaker
And so I've really kind of grabbed onto that, earn the right. So I think that's probably the biggest thing. ah And I just learned that probably, gosh,
00:28:02
Speaker
year and a half ago, two years ago. So still kind of a newer thought in some levels, but but that earned the right is is something that's that I'm holding on to. Okay, that's interesting. So that's a good take on that. When you think about all the jobs that you've done, and we know Romans, because 828, all things work together, for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.
00:28:28
Speaker
Do you ever get frustrated of constantly having to find working, constantly having to do something different and never having a complete steady thing where you can say you've been in it for, I don't know, 10 years? Or do you look at it look ah you know do you look at it as a challenge and something that you can do and you bring a new attitude? Are there ever points in times that you've gone to work and you're like, man, I don't want to do this. or man you know I wish I'd be somewhere else doing it or you sort of embraced it and attacked it as if, you know, scripture talks about, you know, doing things as if you're doing it for the Lord. Like how has your faith intertwined with the different odd jobs that you've taken and what's been your mentality as you've gone through these things, not knowing that this would be something stable and something you would be doing for the long term.
00:29:27
Speaker
Well, there's a lot there. Um, I, I think what I've started to discover, and I actually said this to, to my current manager, um, because he brought that up when him and I were talking initially before I, before I took the position that I'm at currently. And he said, you know, I I've heard through different people that you kind of, you kind of get burned out. You kind of start wanting to leave places and you don't stay anywhere long. Why is that? And I said, well, I think I just get bored.
00:29:58
Speaker
And I think I just get to a point of where im where I don't feel affected or I don't feel seen or I don't feel, you know, appreciated. And I think that falls into those feelings again, being led by those rather than by being led by the spirit. And so I think the thing that I've started to recognize is that when I start feeling like those moments that I need to leave or I need to go or I need to, you know, go go do something else, I think I start to recognize that I need to look at what God is doing where I am and take stock and value in that and look for him in those moments and look for him to say, God, you know, I need to feel valued here. Can you make sure that I'm valued today? Can you bring about the value in that? And learning even in the frustrating moments to lean heavily back to him to say, you're the author and the creator of me.
00:30:57
Speaker
Help me in this moment be seen by you. And I think that's what creates, for me at least, that's what creates the the level of saying, okay, I can be good here. I can be content here.
Moments of Service and Kindness
00:31:14
Speaker
I would say a couple of weeks ago we were on this podcast, we were talking about the importance of doing for others and not necessarily looking for credit. When you look and think about over your life of all the things you've done in regards to serving, can you think of any experience that you served that you felt really proud and and really honored to assist someone in need, whether it was, I don't know, serving soup kitchens or doing some sort of God's work. When we think about Matthew 25, when you, when you look over your life and you look at what you were a part of, can you think of any that you were thankful to be in that moment in that time to help someone that needed it?
00:32:06
Speaker
I mean, there's many, I'm sure. um There's two. I'll give you one from the past and then one from the present. So I feel like it's, you know, kind of Old Testament, New Testament in some respects. So all an Old Testament. So a long time ago, we were on a mission strip to Ensenada, Mexico.
00:32:24
Speaker
And we were in this little, little, little community called Durango. And I remember driving out to this place and it was just a dirt road. You know, no highway, no, you know, nothing. It was just, uh, I don't even think it was paved. It wasn't bumpy per se, but just a, just a dirt road you would see.
00:32:43
Speaker
just out in the middle of nowhere and it it just seemed like we drove forever it felt like you know and maybe it was just because we were on a mission strip and we're tired and this is towards the end of our our week that we had spent in Ensenada. Now up at in this point somehow I'd gotten out of building the house for people um partly because I'm not very you know craft uh oriented like when God handed out the craftsmanship that was something I got skipped over somehow which I don't know why, but I did. you know I still to this day really don't know how to use a Phillips screwdriver correctly. I think you should use it as a hammer, not as a screwdriver. So any anyway, just to kind of give some perspective on on where I'm at. And so again, we're driving and driving and driving. And finally, we get to this opening and this clearing. And I see this just big building in the in the background, almost like an old school kind of elementary school you know type building.
00:33:36
Speaker
it It had ah a two story, so almost like a barn looking kind of thing. And it was it was very run down. And then as we kind of drive into this area, there's this dirt again, dirt everywhere, but sort of patches of grass. And I see two like soccer goalposts and I was like, oh, that's cool. I play soccer here.
00:33:57
Speaker
And the the missionary, who was also our translator, said, oh yeah, they all the kids play soccer here. and And I said, well, that's great. Let's play soccer with them. So we started playing soccer with the kids and they were just stomping us. They were beating us bad. And we were trying, but they were they were just so good. um Little kids just smoking us in soccer, which was amazing.
00:34:19
Speaker
But in that, we we were there to deliver not only this message of of encouragement, message of the gospel, but we were also there to give rice and beans to these families and and come to find out they're migrant workers that kind of hop around, speaking of hopping around jobs,
00:34:38
Speaker
that they will go where the where the crops were, where they could go and and gather those for the rich you know landowners. they would They would go in and collect the crops. So they're they're very proud people. They're very you know hardworking people.
00:34:58
Speaker
um in any event so we're in this line and I took a turn you know handing out the rice and beans to people and I see this guy in the distance not very far from me that's just mean mugging me like the whole time just just staring me down and and everything I did everything I said he's just remacing and just gowling And I was just like, what is the deal with this cat? Like, i I just, I was kind of, kind of bugging me. And so I went over to our missionary, took a, you know, took a pause and went over to the missionary and said, Hey man, what's the deal with this guy? And he goes, I don't know what he was.
00:35:35
Speaker
I was going to ask you the same thing. Did you accidentally say something to him, you know, thinking you were being funny, Neil, and then maybe you offended him. I said, well, I don't, I can't think of anything. I i didn't remember talking to him. I said, but let's go find out. So we go over there and I, you know, through the translator, I say, Hey man, what's going on? And, you know, the guy comes back and says, uh, I want your hat.
00:35:59
Speaker
And I was like, you want my hat? And the ministry said, yeah, hes he's mad because he doesn't have a hat like yours and and he wants it. I was like, well, why didn't he come and just ask him for it? He goes, well, he's he's too proud. he didn't He didn't want to ask for it. And I said, well, that's that's silly. And so it's this bright blue you know North Carolina hat, which You know, I have probably a few of them. And so I took it off and I gave it to him. And I said, here you go, man. You know, I have a lot of these, you want it, it's yours. And man, I'll tell you, the minute I gave it to him, you would have thought I gave him a million dollars. Now, mind you, these people are living in ran down storage units that we have here in the States.
00:36:41
Speaker
but a rundown, they're sleeping in those as, as their rooms. Cause there's a natural divider between the storage units. And man, he was so excited. I've never seen somebody so excited in my life.
00:36:56
Speaker
And I, I mean, I felt good in that moment, of course, but in my heart of hearts, I think, man, there's a North Carolina fan running around Mexico right now, which I was also excited about, yeah but it was just, it's just a cool story. And so fast forward now, now at my current position where I'm at.
00:37:15
Speaker
We have this gentleman that that comes in, ah that came in um and he's Asian from Asian descent. I think he's Chinese by his declaration on that. And he can't speak English very well. It's very broken. And so he has a Google translator that he's using on his phone. So he would write something, you know, give it to me, write it back, you know.
00:37:36
Speaker
I'm not very good in the written form. Like I can barely write text half the time and people write back and I'm like, what? but What did you say here? Like, you know, I don't, I don't know. and I don't have my decoder ring on today to determine what you said here. So I'm not very good in the written form. I'm very verbal. If you can't tell.
00:37:55
Speaker
And so, you know, in that we finally, you know, determined that, you know, he, he needed to go to Costco. Um, we were done with that particular interaction and it was a really hot day. And I said, Hey man, let me get your ride to Costco. And he goes, no, I'll walk, you know, and he writes on his phone. He says, I don't understand why you're being so nice to me. As you said, I've been in the States for two years now and you're the first person that's ever been nice to me.
00:38:21
Speaker
And I was like, that's terrible. And so I said, well, Hey man, let me give you a ride. And he goes, no, no, no. But I remember growing up, my dad said Asian people are very, you know, they want to do it themselves. They don't want to depend on anyone else. They're very independent. They, they want it to be, you know, on them.
00:38:38
Speaker
And so I had remembered that. And so I thought, okay, well, if you're not going to take a ride from me, let me at least give you some water. He's like, what? And so I ran in my fridge in my office and came back out with this water and I said, Hey man, here you go. Here's some water. You know, as you walk to Costco, which is about a mile from our shop.
00:38:55
Speaker
And and I said, hey, you know, let me at least give you that. He started crying like just weeping. And he said, why why are you again? Are you being so nice to me? And I thought, OK, that's twice now. Holy Spirit is now like really promising me like if you miss the first time, here's the second time. Let's try this again. And I said, well, hey, man, I love this guy, Jesus. I said, I don't know where you are in your faith journey. I don't know who you know what you serve, who you love. I said, but Jesus calls me to love people.
00:39:25
Speaker
And I said, and I know this might sound weird, man, but I just I love you and I want to help you because he's calling me to love you and love on you. And here's some water, you know, and it's the little thing. And again, he's just weeping. And he goes, I just I don't understand it. And I said, well, that's OK. You don't have to. But this guy, Jesus, he understands and he wants you to know him. So if you don't, maybe you should. And so that's kind of how our journey ended.
00:39:54
Speaker
at that moment, but little by little, he has now come back multiple times and and just had little interactions with him. And so my the staff at work, they're like, hey, your best friend's here. And so he'll come in and he'll talk to me. And what's cool about it is he's now comfortable enough. He doesn't use his phone anymore.
00:40:13
Speaker
So he'll just talk to me normally and it's rough. I mean, his English is is really rough. So I have to be very mindful and and can't be distracted when I'm talking to him because I miss what he says, you know, cause he's like, again, it's kind of broken. So, so those are two kinds of moments that I, that I can think of that serving and and really, you know, understanding that was, was, uh, was some great lessons there well felt both those stories.
00:40:40
Speaker
When you well you look at your own, when you look at your podcast, before we touch that, let me ask you this. When you look at your gifts, your talents, and your abilities, which ones you think God has gifted to you that you use often and you see how it benefits others while also benefiting you?
Strength in Verbal Communication
00:41:04
Speaker
Well, I think the biggest one is is probably probably my verbal ability. um I have had friends through the years say, you know, I wish I could talk to people the way you talk to people. I wish I could you know paint a picture with my words the way you do.
00:41:23
Speaker
um I have a ah coworker that I just got teamed with and and she has had in the past, from what I've heard from others, ah a kind of a reputation for for being a little different and and being mean at times. And so, you know, I just started working with her and she was telling me through an opening open session, if you will,
00:41:45
Speaker
about how she used to take people on snowmobile rides and and it was like husband and wife kind of thing and her and her at that time fiance now future husband um and they would go together on these snowmobile trips and she said you know Neil was amazing to me these ladies would feel so comfortable with me because I was there and because I could teach them and I could show them and I could you know model for them what to do because you know as ah as a woman you need somebody there for that and I was like yeah that makes sense and I can get that and So anyway, so her and I started working together. And I said, hey, first off, I said, I want to acknowledge that story you told me yesterday about the snowmobiling and how great that was for you and how cool that must have been to teach those ladies. And she goes, yeah. She goes, it made me really think about how great of a moment that was for me. And I said, yeah.
00:42:31
Speaker
said I said, I bet it was. I said, but here's the thing, you and I are still working together and we're still getting to know each other. And I said, there's certain elements of your job that you know really well and I don't know really well still. She goes, yeah, that's true. And I said, treat me like the snowmobile person. She kind of stopped. She goes, what? And I said,
00:42:49
Speaker
Remember, you said that they didn't really know a lot and you had to show them, and you had to teach them and and train them. And she goes, yeah, I said, make me one of those people. Don't assume that I know something. Let's let's work together. And I said, you show me, you be the teacher and I'll be the student.
00:43:04
Speaker
Man, I'll tell you what, her eyes and the light bulb, like you could just see it just click. And she's like, wow. So I was really telling that story to a friend and they go, yeah, and not everyone could do that. How did you do that? And I was like, I don't know. I think everybody could do that. You just take a story that you heard and make it applicable to that situation.
00:43:27
Speaker
They were like, no, not everyone can do that. Neil said,
Love Story: Meeting His Wife in High School
00:43:31
Speaker
well, then that's God because that's not me. If you don't mind sharing, how did you and your wife meet?
00:43:40
Speaker
No, not at all. So we met in high school. I actually skipped a class. So I do promote skipping if it involves love um classes. That's true. i do I do promote that. So I skipped a class to ask her out. We were juniors in high school. So we've been together ever since then. And yeah, December 12th, 815, my world changed when she said, sure. I said, do you want to be my a girlfriend? and She's like,
00:44:10
Speaker
I mean, yeah, sure. Whatever. I don't really have a lot going on. And then fast forward into 2020 or sorry, 2000, I was messed that up 2000, not 2020 2000. Um, I asked her to marry me and she said again, sure.
00:44:28
Speaker
And then I said, sure. I mean, you sure about that? And she goes, well, yes, of course I am. I was like, oh, that's the word I was looking for. Yes. How has she made you a better man when you think about it?
00:44:43
Speaker
Wow, that might be the hardest question I've ever been asked. That's two now, man. You got me on two. um I think every day she makes me a better man. I think her tremendous level of patience. I think her tremendous level of, you know, I think of myself as kind of an encouraging person at times. She has it in spades over me.
00:45:04
Speaker
I think she has made me better organized, which is really hard because I'm not a very organized person sometimes. I think she's caused me to strive towards Christ. I think she has challenged me to be that spiritual leader that I think we as men all should be. um And I think she just has a ah level of filling in my inconsistencies with her abilities, which I think was what which makes us a perfect match. and How do you think you help her out?
00:45:40
Speaker
I'm still not sure how I help her out.
00:45:45
Speaker
um I get gas in the car. That's probably how I help her out. She hates soon. um i'm Man, I don't know. That's a great question. I i don't know. I think I help her with. Um, boy, I don't, I don't know. I'm sure there's something, um, I, I know that there are times, this is silly perhaps, but there are times she just doesn't want to talk to people, you know, like on the phone or, you know, dealing with our our business and when it involves us as as far as, you know, our business matters, like, you know, calling customer service or figuring out the tech stuff. Like I do that stuff pretty well for her. Um, but you know, for me, I, I just try to, to serve her you know whatever she needs, whatever she wants. I try to try to serve in that respect. um But i yeah, I don't know. that's ah That's a really hard question too. So that's three now. You got me on three. Did you both go to college together, or you both went to two separate colleges? Because I know you mentioned high school, but how did you stay together?
00:46:46
Speaker
Yeah, so um i I technically never really went to went to college. In the traditional sense, my church blessed me with an opportunity to go through a program called the Missionary Studies Program through our denomination, the Christian Missionary Alliance. And so I i went through that. It was a three-year program. I did it in four years because I'm not a very fast learner.
00:47:07
Speaker
um So that's really, quote unquote, the college that I went to. I went to to some local, my you know, ah community college, took a couple of classes, nothing, nothing really to write home about. And then I took um Old Testament survey, which was part of my licensing process through like a local kind of ah Bible college kind of community, Bible college kind of thing.
00:47:32
Speaker
But yeah, my wife actually never went to college. Um, that's kind of a, was a sore subject growing up with her, with her grandmother because her grandmother was so convinced that she needed to go. And my wife didn't end up going, I think probably because of me and our relationship. That's what we were told. At least that's what she was blamed for or I was blamed for.
00:47:53
Speaker
um But no, my wife has just worked her way through where she is now um and become a ah partner at her firm where she's at in and all just hard work, putting in the work, putting in the time to to achieve those things. So neither one of us went to a quote unquote traditional college. Okay.
Podcast as a Reflection of Empathy
00:48:15
Speaker
When you think about your podcast, how do you serve God through it?
00:48:22
Speaker
Well, I think I serve him through just my heart of empathy, my heart of understanding, my heart of really listening to someone. um I think those are attributes where he really shows up and really shows out.
00:48:38
Speaker
um People have asked, is my show a Christian show? And I i always kind of steal a little bit from John Foreman from Switchfoot when they are asked, hey, is Switchfoot a Christian band? So I kind of stole this from him. He says, well, no, we're not a quote unquote Christian band, but there are Christians in the band. So does that make us Christian?
00:48:58
Speaker
And I was like, I like that. i mean I'm going to go ahead and take that, John. And so I kind of say that too. Is is the show a Christian show? i I would say some would say no. And I would say, well, there's probably elements to it that have faith in it. I mean, I do bring up Jesus um quite a bit, you know, if if if it's applicable in those moments.
00:49:19
Speaker
where somebody's talking about maybe a journey or a struggle or something that they walk through, I might ask like, hey, how did you get through that? What, what, you know, higher power or what, what led you through that? And then let them kind of define who that is. And then at times I may have pushed on that a little bit and say, so are you, are you referring to Jesus in this moment? And then let them tell me what that is. When you think about
00:49:50
Speaker
You know, the work that it takes to sustain your podcast, what keeps you going?
Motivation: Discovering New Stories
00:50:01
Speaker
Oh, man, what keeps me going? Yeah. um That's a hard one because there are times that I want to quit.
00:50:12
Speaker
There are times I want to stop and there are times I want to, you know, um go back to that and and and i I think what keeps me going is is sometimes I just have to tell myself one more step.
00:50:29
Speaker
You know, there have been times, especially over the last four years, that it's been hard um between work and and the other commitments of life that I've really had to had a ask myself, do I want to keep going?
00:50:43
Speaker
um I wanted to, I made a silly goal um when I started. I wanted someone from from every state um in the United States. And so this last um season that we're in right now, we're in season 14, working on season 15 right now. So that's exciting. And the entry state, or the preliminary stages of that.
00:51:07
Speaker
But in that, I went through and I counted all the states that we've been in, and we're about nine states shy, eight states shy of meeting that goal. And I said, okay, well, once I hit that, then what? You know, because that was one of my big goals was I wanted somebody from every state. I said, and then when that happened, I would stop. I thought, that's kind of an easy goal. It's been a little harder than I thought. Because sometimes it's really hard to get somebody from like Vermont or New Hampshire or something like that.
00:51:35
Speaker
but um But yeah, I think what keeps me going is just trying to find that next story, that next person. I think that's what what pushes me forward is every time I think I'm done, I come across somebody like, man, that's fascinating. I want to know more about that. I wonder if I could get that person to come on and share more about that. So I think it's the next person that that pushes me forward.
00:51:56
Speaker
Yeah. What are some wrinkles that you've added from each season that you can share that you said, this could be cool moving into the next season. So I think the big thing I was doing or that I started to do was I started to do my outro live. A lot of podcasters will record that after the fact. They'll say, well, hey, wasn't that such a great interview? And, you know, I really had like these five takeaways, but blah, blah, bla blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:52:27
Speaker
Well, I always do it. I was doing that for for a while too. And what I started to do was as I was finishing the the episode with a person, I was in this moment, this synergized kind of euphoria. And I i really was like, you know what? I'm just going to do it right now.
00:52:47
Speaker
And I think I did it one time on a whim and I thought, man, that that seemed really good. And the person, you know, I paused them or, you know, mute them and I say, Hey, um I'll be right back with you in just a second. I'm just going to kind of wrap things up and then I'll be right but with you in there. And they respect that. And they kind of like to kind of decompress after what they just experienced too. I've noticed because we're doing a lot of these video things, even though I don't use video.
00:53:11
Speaker
And so, you know, like I said, I started to to do the, the outro live, if you will, like while they're still there. And I'd come back on and sometimes some of the guests would have like tears in their eyes. And I was like, what's going on? And they go.
00:53:27
Speaker
But what you said right there was so powerful. Like, how did you just wrap that? So again, going back to my snowmobile story, how did you do that so fast? Like you processed all that through and then you just blip. And I was like, yeah, i I don't know how I did that. I i just did. And they go, man, that was so good. Like that was so good. That was such a you know great into to what we just did together. And so I thought, OK, I'm going to start doing that.
00:53:55
Speaker
Uh, the other thing we've done is we do this silly thing at the end of the show called senseless. I've changed the questions, uh, repeatedly throughout the years. My wife hates it. She wants me to go back to the original one. She thought the original ones were the best ones. Um, and then I think I've just, you know, even though people want me to read this monologue of their intro, Hey, I'm this person and I've done this and help me welcome in. I don't do that. I stopped doing that because I just thought, no. I'm not going to do that. This is my show. I'll do what I want. And so, you know, what I do is I read a little bit of it, but I weave my own, you know, I kind of write my own monologue and I don't write it. I just go with what, you know, comes to me, what, you know, I think I did it with you. And I just started doing that too. So I think those kind of three things are probably what I've changed along the way. But I had a friend say to me recently,
00:54:48
Speaker
He had gotten a job where he was driving a lot. And he said, man, I i started listening to your show. And I was like, cool, what season are you on? He's like, season? He's like, there's seasons? Like, oh, yeah, there's there's seasons. you know Every season has a different theme. And he goes, oh that's kind of cool. And he goes, yeah, man, I started back on the pilot. I was like, the first one, the the very first one, he goes, yeah, I'm just going to work my way through. And I was like, Dave, start now. Just start where I you know go back to where I started this season and then go.
00:55:18
Speaker
He goes, no, man, I wanted to hear the early years. I was like, oh, don't don't do that. That's that's painful. I don't even go back in the years. They were bad. Yeah. OK, so it will be remiss if I don't ask this. ah When you. You know, your your relationship with God and and your relationship with your Bible.
00:55:44
Speaker
any passage of scripture that you're reading right now that's that's got you like man never saw this before man this is this is deep stuff any passage of scripture that you're you're on right now or a book that's got you reflected a little bit deeper than you did before Well, there's there's definitely a pass as it comes to mind and it actually happened a couple of weeks ago at a men's retreat. but Well, I should say men's advance because our church doesn't ah believe in men retreating. They believe in men advancing. So whatever people want to laugh on that because I still after that.
00:56:19
Speaker
it's It's still a retreat, but anyway a Retreat that you're getting away to
Engaging in Worship and Acknowledging God's Presence
00:56:24
Speaker
yeah anyway um But there was there was some that we had a speaker come and he shared the the story of David and Goliath, right? Which you know, we all know that stories famous story, you know and David going to the battle lines and his brothers kind of razzing him, you know, you're just here to see the blood, you know, you're just here for this. And, you know, then he hears Goliath, you know, making fun of a mocking God. And David's pissed. I think that's fair to say he's mad and he's ready to go, you know, take down Goliath. Well, you know, he's solo boy. And anyway, the the speaker had brought out this passage that I i actually look as he's sharing it and kind of camping on this point.
00:57:05
Speaker
I went to five different versions as he's sharing because I was like that's that's not in there. He just he's just like looking at my neighbor like he just he just made that up like I'm gonna go I'm gonna go fact check him on on the spot yeah and it's the passage where it talks about how and I and I'm gonna probably mess it up so I probably should look it up but it's the passage that talks about when David's trying on the armor and he's trying to walk around And he says, you know, none of this fits me. This isn't this isn't what I'm used to. And Saul says, yeah, but you're you're this. And the speaker brought out, he said, who says you're that, men? Who says you're that? You're just this shepherd boy. You're just this. You're just that.
00:57:57
Speaker
And I was like, that's, that's never been in there before. He he added that in and it, and it just got me really wrapped around. My friend, Tom always says wrapped around the axle. And and it really did. Like I thought, well, who's been saying that about Neil?
00:58:12
Speaker
that you're just this. You're only going to be this. So so that's one that that is really resonating right now that's just still in the headspace. And um I might do a show on it like who says you're this. yeah I don't know. yeah we're We're working on that. We got the we have the think tank team on it right now. NASA called me the other day. Hey, we got your email like the next season. ah We're working on that. I'm like, OK, great. Let me know when you're ready, NASA. I know you got a lot of other stuff going on. Make this top priority, please.
00:58:42
Speaker
Yeah. But the other one, the classic one for me is one of my life verses. Um, and that's, you know, acts 2024, which says, you know, if I consider my life worth nothing to me, if I may just finish the race and complete the task, the Lord Jesus has given me the task of testifying to the gospel.
00:59:01
Speaker
That to me is always going to be in my heart, in my soul. um And I really love if I was going to narrow down a book. I know there's 66 of them. We shouldn't have a favorite. People tell me that. But I think if I was going to have a favorite, it would probably be James. i've I've really gotten a lot out of James. I love the mirror analogy. I love the the tongue being, you know, a forest of flames. You know, if we consider anything, consider it pure joy, you know, when in every circumstance it's like.
00:59:31
Speaker
What pure joy? No, I don't think so. So I mean, those are those are just a few of of the ones. But the big one I probably apparently is is the who says you're that. What do you like when the aspect of praise and worship comes on? Like, what is your your mindset, your your emotions?
00:59:59
Speaker
And that when that happens for you. So that's probably the hardest part of my faith journey is for years um when I was involved in youth ministry, especially at camps or anything like that involving kids, we would always have a worship team or a worship band or or somebody. And so I would spend that worship time in my own kind of prayer time about my talk, whatever I was going to be speaking on.
01:00:27
Speaker
And I was really kind of trying to remember the points I really wanted to stress. and And so I spent a lot of that worship time really in reflection on what was going to happen next, not in the moment. And so for me, I grew up, I think I would accurately describe as malformed in that respect, um because now I really have a hard time, even to this day, really letting go and worshiping truly in the true sense of of a worshipper.
01:00:58
Speaker
Um, and there's a song right now that's pretty famous that a lot of churches saying Good good father My friends would would really be mad if I didn't bring this up and and they would probably call me a little bit of a liar I can't stand that song when it comes on. I want to leave wherever we're at like The building's on fire and i'm trying to get out, you know truly and and so for me um i struggle I really struggle with worship. Now listen, when I'm in my car and it's just me and the cars around me, man, I can worship all day long, but I think there's just such a disconnect when I'm in the sanctuary of God of really letting go and worshiping. So worship still is is an element that i that I need some training on, I think, and some reforming in my heart towards it. Now listen, I'm not against it. I think we need to have it and it's important
01:01:52
Speaker
I just have a trouble engaging in it and being really focused on it. Yeah. I'll share this with you. There's there's a passage that actually we just released. It speaks about, you know, examining your faith, like, you know, examining yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. And I believe it's the gospel of John, chapter four, verse 24, that speaks about that God is spirit.
01:02:21
Speaker
So we should worship him in spirit and in truth. And I would say last week, I stumbled across this passage in Revelation chapter one, verse 10. And it talks about how John is worshiping God and the spirit. And suddenly he heard behind him a loud trumpet blast. So I said for a second there like, okay, well if God is spirit,
01:02:48
Speaker
And it's suggested that we should worship him in spirit and truth. And here you have John here worshiping God in spirit. And I've come to believe that there's two realms of existence. There's this room and then there's the spiritual realm. That John, who's in the current realm that we're in, in this reality, to hear something in a completely different reality was something I thought was powerful.
01:03:17
Speaker
And I've raised, I've raised this in my park, my, my, my group on Facebook called I'm a believer. And I suggested that, you know, maybe next time, uh, when you do praise and worship, ask yourself, how much are you holding back? And are you concerned about the people around you? Are you concerned about what?
01:03:40
Speaker
They may think that you're doing, are you concerned that what you're doing may set a precedent? Cause you know, I don't want to mention the nominations, but there are things out there where people believe that the committed aspect of praise and worship, some think it's a game, some view it as what's going on as not truly being sincere, right? There's a lot of speculation surrounding around that.
01:04:10
Speaker
But I just urged, you know, the people in the group that, you know, praise and worship is for you and God. And if you're holding out on him, maybe you shouldn't hold out him. Maybe there's a possibility by not holding out your connection with God can be a lot more stronger. You know, I would say the same thing for reading scripture and making time for God, right? This is all a process. I don't think any of us are perfect.
01:04:37
Speaker
when it comes to this thing. So I just want to throw it out at you and and and get your thoughts and ah we'll close here pretty soon. Yeah, no, i I think you're right on with that. And I appreciate you sharing that because I i think I know for me, um that has been been a little bit of the challenge too, is the idea that You know, who am I there for? I think going back to kind of a little bit of what I was talking about earlier is the idea that if I'm there for just me, I'm there for the wrong reason, you know? And I think that's the part that I really have to engage in.
01:05:15
Speaker
You know, like it almost like i I think most of us have probably seen the movie Mavericks now, maybe, you know, and and maybe even a long time ago, Top Gun, right? Where they engage in the in the battle with the MiGs. They engage. They don't just stand off. They they really engage in that battle. And I think spiritually speaking,
01:05:36
Speaker
um I think I have to engage and I think others need to as well as we have to engage in that moment of worship is that God's drawing us in and if we stand off and we're not engaged, we could be missing out in a very rich blessing that he has for us. so just to Just to close on that thought, I did find the the part I was talking about. So it's in 1 Samuel, because I know you're a Bible guy. 1 Samuel, ah chapter 17, verse 32 and 33. It says this. It says, don't worry about the Philistines, David said. David told Saul, I'll find him.
01:06:14
Speaker
And then he says in verse 33, Saul says, don't be ridiculous. There's no way you can fight the Philistines and probably win. You're only and this is the part that I was that I'm really focused on. You're only a boy. And he's been a man of war since his youth. You're only what? Who says that? You're only this. You're only that.
01:06:42
Speaker
So anyway, yeah. Yeah, that's a great point. I get asked all the time, well, you're only an athlete, right? We got that right. Shut up and dribble. Right. That was definitely a theme at one point. But we're starting to see now and in society, you have multiple people doing multiple things and they're spreading their wings and showing their capabilities and using their gifts and talents.
01:07:10
Speaker
and abilities to be a blessing for others. So I think a lot of us have gifts and talents. And I would say sharing this reason why I started my podcast is because I believe God gave me a gift as well.
01:07:26
Speaker
And I don't wanna bury my gift, you know? Like in the parable, let's not bury the gifts that we have. Let's utilize them so that there could be profit off of it, right? God told us to go out and and do business so and occupy. So I felt like, okay, well, if that's the case, let me get out there and share what I feel and what I think on the podcast and and see if it can be a blessing from somebody else. So now that we're coming to the end here, if you don't mind, can you share with my audience where they can find your podcast and listen in and maybe they can be a potential guest. So
01:08:09
Speaker
Absolutely. we're We are always on the hunt for a guess. I've said that from the jump and and I will continue to say that. People ask me all the time, but who are you looking for? Well, I'm looking for the next person. That's what I'm looking for. So if if that's you, definitely reach out. We'd love to love to have that conversation with you.
01:08:25
Speaker
So probably the easiest way to find us, to look us up is opspodcast.com is a great place to listen each and every week. You can listen straight from the site. We do post every week, every Wednesday. So we're getting ready for another episode this week. And so, yeah, so people can check out their socials pretty easy. It's at O.P.S. podcast show a little different than the website, but that's on the major three Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
01:08:52
Speaker
I am on TikTok. I don't I've done like two things on TikTok. So I think we're at four O.P.S. podcast show. So I don't know. We had to change it because TikTok wouldn't let me have O.P.S. podcast show. So anyway, but I don't do anything on TikTok. I should be because that was my commitment is to try to learn that platform. And I just it it plagues me to learn something new sometimes. So but no, those are the those are the big three. I hang out on Instagram a lot. So they're rare.
01:09:22
Speaker
Okay, sounds good. So if you don't mind, close us out in prayer. Not at all. ah Father God, thank you so much, Lord, for Jonathan and his heart. Lord, I just pray that that whatever is of you would would just rise to the top in these moments and whatever is not would just ah fade away into the is it existence of life that just would would leave someone's ears. And Lord, i I would pray for the person listening right now that is stuck maybe where they are. If they're not sure the direction of where to head and maybe they're still kind of on that journey of
01:09:57
Speaker
of where they should be or where they should go, I would pray that they would come back to the truth of where things are and they would seek the truth and they would seek you. And I think in those moments of quiet and instill, they would definitely find where they need to go and where they need to be. And Lord, again, I thank you for this opportunity. And I just pray for my brother that he would continue on this journey. And if I can be of a source in any way of encouragement and of help, Lord, that is there as you've equipped me to do again. Thank you for this time. We ask these things in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen.