Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
087 | Panel Discussion from the 2022 Verity Conference
214 Plays2 years ago
This week's episode is the audio from the Verity Conference 2022 Q/A Panel with Phylicia Masonheimer, Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez, and Jeremy Jenkins. Next year's conference will be in October 2022 in Petoskey, Michigan! Recordings of the full conference will be available for sale on phyliciamasonheimer.com.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Verity Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Verity Podcast. I'm your host, Felicia Mason-Heimer, and I am here to teach you how to know what you believe, to live it boldly, and to communicate it graciously to the world around you. I believe that women are ready to go deeper in their faith than ever before, and they don't have to go to seminary to do it. I am so glad you're here, and I hope you'll join me on this journey because every woman is a theologian.
Impact of Verity Conference 2022
00:00:29
Speaker
Hello, friends, and welcome back to Verity Podcast. We're doing something so fun this week. We are actually sharing with you the recording of the Q&A panel from Verity Conference 2022. This past weekend, November 4th and 5th, was the third annual Verity Conference located in Petoskey, Michigan. 250 women came from all around the United States to join us in person.
00:00:58
Speaker
Over 200 women watched online around the world. We were so excited to celebrate Jesus with you, to talk about theology and evangelism and apologetics, and so far your feedback has been amazing. So thank you for making Verity Conference 2022 an amazing experience for everyone.
Q&A Panel Introduction
00:01:18
Speaker
This recording is from the question and answer panel with myself, Priscellis Perot Dominguez of Full Collective, and Jeremy Jenkins of All Things, All People. It was emceed by Johnny Whitcomb, the next generation pastor of Genesis Petoskey.
00:01:36
Speaker
I hope that you enjoy listening in, and if you would like the full recording of the conference, including all of the keynotes, you can grab that on my website, FeliciaMasonHeimer.com, for $29 for the entire conference recording. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the Verity Conference Q&A panel.
00:01:56
Speaker
First of all, let's welcome to the stage, Jeremy Jenkins, the executive director for All Things All People, which explores the darkest places in worldviews and equips Christians on how to best engage with such worldviews. Did I get that pretty close? All right, awesome, awesome. Now we're gonna have Priscilla, come on up. She is the founder and CEO of the, oh my goodness, the collective. Give it to me.
00:02:26
Speaker
Full collective. Full collective. You almost nailed that one. I almost nailed that one. That's all right. I am so sorry. And then last but not least, certainly, Felicia Mason-Heimer. Who wants you all to be theologians? We'll just leave it at that. And our panel question-asker will be Johnny today. Yeah, I'll ask the question. Mercedes, can you please pray over this, it's a hot mic situation, so.
00:02:57
Speaker
We pray for some grace and some boldness. Yes, yes. Thank you, Father. I'm just really grateful, Lord. I'm grateful that you have placed questions in our hearts and in our minds or that we are willing to acknowledge how big you are and that this journey of knowing you and getting to know you is endless. It keeps going. And so I pray that you would continue to ignite curiosity in us, that we would continue to be people who ask questions. I pray that you would cover us as we minister and communicate and that there would be receptive ears and hearts here today. In Jesus name, Amen.
00:03:25
Speaker
Amen.
Avoiding Savior Complex and Focusing on Relationships
00:03:27
Speaker
Okay, panelists, question numero uno. What? Let's get into it. First of all, how do you keep from the mentality of making someone or a relationship with someone a project? So that makes sense? Is that helpful?
00:03:50
Speaker
Well, they're not a project. So I think I talked a little bit about this in mind, but it's that it's the idea is that we are not saviors. So when we acknowledge that we're not, then we let Jesus do his thing and we serve people and love people to the capacity and to the extent we can. I think we pass our own boundaries sometimes trying to help people and we need to
00:04:12
Speaker
Take a pause and be like, all right, Lord, you got the rest of the road, right? Because there's just certain things we can do. But to treat people as projects is actually not giving them dignity because you're saying that, yeah, that they're less than in some way or that they need to be fixed. We all need to be fixed. That's why we need Jesus.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Anything anybody else would want to add to that? Yeah, clap, go ahead. I think anytime we fall into this savior complex, it's evidence you're not relying on the Holy Spirit because he is the one who's doing the work. I'm just repeating basically what Pre said. So if you are sensing that urgency or that anxiety, like I've got to be the one to do this, I use that as a cue to go, oh, I'm relying on my own strength in this situation.
00:04:56
Speaker
Pre and her keynote talked about remember your testimony and I would encourage anybody who maybe struggles with this idea of like I think about when I was in high school and you'd like I grew up in a really Christian community and you'd hear the term like missionary dating maybe many of you participated in that in some form or fashion I don't know but
00:05:17
Speaker
We have a tendency to do that even in our friendships and those of us who are in ministry whether vocational or you know just a calling and I would encourage you like we said to remember your testimony.
Genuine Interest and Missionary Dating Dangers
00:05:26
Speaker
I remember coming to faith because Dane and Jade Lundgren who were my youth pastors at my church like
00:05:35
Speaker
They just seemed to have a genuine interest in me and most of the impactful moments were not moments that they manufactured but were when I would be like out on a run and I would stop by their apartment and like I would interrupt their life and they would welcome me into their house and if they were eating a meal they would let me sit down and I never realized like as a 14 year old kid like I'm really messing up their life you know but um
00:05:58
Speaker
So I just think about that and like Pre said like remember your testimony and remember how good it felt that someone just genuinely was interested in you and You know do unto others as you would have done to yourself and so don't missionary date don't missionary minister I mean be a missionary but like don't manufacture a relationship so that you can make somebody look more like you I Love it. Okay, so
00:06:23
Speaker
This is kind of the inverse on that a little bit, because I'm sure you guys all do feel the conviction for discipleship, for holy living. So then, what do you do if there's somebody in your life who thinks like acknowledging God, trying to be a virtuous, good person, means, hey, I'm a Christian. Like, how do you speak to somebody who's like, I think I get it, and you're like, I don't know if you do. You know what I mean?
Misconceptions About Christianity
00:06:47
Speaker
I don't know if you're ready to serve in middle school yet.
00:06:52
Speaker
Well, this goes back to the story of my bus driver friend. That was totally his perspective. I think that's most people's perspective in this world. It's like I try to be a good person. And my sister and I were talking about this recently, and it's honestly kind of astonishing how workspace the world is.
00:07:11
Speaker
that they say, I just have to be a good person and then I'll get to heaven. Our default is workspace, right? We often say that with Christians, but even the world is workspace. And so when someone says I have to be a good person, there's a lot of, I'm sure Jeremy and Priya will have other answers for this. There's a lot of angles you can take there. But I try to go back to one of two things. They're talking about the effort they have to put in to get there.
00:07:38
Speaker
and the fact that you can't ever perfectly be good, like what's the standard for good, and how can you get there, and then secondly, the rift between us and God, that separation, and that's the angle that I took when I talked with Darren, the bus driver, was I understand that you want to know God and be with him after death, and there's a longing within you for that, but there's a rift there,
00:08:06
Speaker
And that's because of the brokenness of this world and the sin that affects you. But there's good news, right? The rift can be closed. So going from that angle of either, you know, we think we're better than we are, or we think we can get there when we can't, and concentrating on that existing rift have been two angles that I've used. What about
Defining Christianity with Scripture
00:08:28
Speaker
you?
00:08:28
Speaker
I would walk people or that person together through scriptures that describe what a Christian actually is and would be. I think that is a very like what that question is it's very much saying in general like yeah God is just looking for us to be good and nice.
00:08:47
Speaker
Where's the verse that says that? And so whenever we're trying to think about what it means to be, I mean, to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. This used to be called the way, right? Like there's a historical understanding of what a Christian is and a biblical understanding.
00:09:02
Speaker
And so we can have our opinions, right? Because also where a Christian can mean a lot of different things today. And so it's like, well, what does the Bible say is a Christian? Let's go from there. And okay, maybe you're not living out some of these parts. Maybe I'm not living out either. Let's, you know, work on that together.
Self-Evaluation of Faith and Spiritual Fruits
00:09:17
Speaker
But it should be the Bible that defines that for us.
00:09:20
Speaker
Yeah, and to tack onto that too, on the front end, we have a historic Orthodox definition of what it means to be a follower, but then too, I pastor in the Bible Belt, and so much of my experience has been
00:09:34
Speaker
pastoring people who've been a Christian longer than I've been alive. And so sometimes when you ask really self-evaluated questions about, is your faith alive and active? Like, you know, and I use the example of like a ball of dough, like it might not seem like that's alive, but the yeast in there is gonna be what makes it rise. And so calling people and calling ourselves to self-evaluation to say like, yeah,
00:10:00
Speaker
You observe doctrine, and you're willing to say creeds, but do you have a life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control? If you don't, you know, I don't know that it's our room to say this is the diagnosis. When you walked that aisle, it wasn't
Genuine Faith vs. Superficial Displays
00:10:17
Speaker
legitimate. I don't know that we always need to be the people, but we do need to call people to say if you don't meet that definition, then, right, automatically we know the diagnosis, but if you do,
00:10:29
Speaker
You know, nothing in your life looks kingdom. I think we just need to be willing, starting with ourselves, to call that person to self-evaluation that might lead to life-changing repentance. And so I think from the front end to the back end is there are things that are going to de facto happen. It's always gonna look different, but if you are a believer, and if you are part of a community of believers, there are some things that, no matter what culture, part of the country, part of the world,
00:10:59
Speaker
If it's a men's conference, a women's conference, there should be some things that are always present.
Advocacy and Genuine Community in Church
00:11:04
Speaker
And if they're not, then there's a problem. Good. You guys think that's good? Let them know.
00:11:14
Speaker
Yeah, I want to unpack just one more. When you said it's crazy how unbelievable, like even the secular world is very workspace, you know. Where do you see, unpack some of the language that maybe we can use to like, if I'm hearing this, I'm hearing workspace language in our church, outside of our church. You know, how can we be self-diagnostic as to what we're hearing and what that really at the heart of it is. Does that make sense as a question?
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. I think when I'm talking to and discipling someone who's completely not a believer, either not in the church or maybe even have never been in the church, in person, not online, I'm listening for their idea
00:11:57
Speaker
of their value, first of all, as a human, where's my value coming from? And a lot of times it's if I'm kind, if I feel peace with the universe, if I do good things, and a lot of times I'll let them talk.
00:12:12
Speaker
for a bit and then I'll ask, well what defines good to you? Or what does peace feel like? There's a ministry associated with Genesis Church called Start to Stir in the United Kingdom and they do amazing work asking great questions like this. And asking those questions kind of figuring out what is, where are you getting your value and how do you think
00:12:39
Speaker
Your actions have eternal significance. What are you, and once I can nail that down, then I can kind of say, okay, there's another perspective on this. There's a freeing perspective where you don't have to be the one to do the work. God has already done the work for you and you rest in it. Does that answer the question? Absolutely, yeah, thank you.
00:13:01
Speaker
If I can, I wanted to say it also in the world of justice because I think that shows up in protests and in different ways. It's like, well, I've protested. I've done something good. I've stood up for people. But if you don't actually believe that every person you're standing up for has dignity, that you love them, that they
00:13:22
Speaker
can have access to Christ, that they should be loved and seen, then your protest doesn't matter. So it's a very, the works of the world. We can be Christians and protest and do whatever we want, all these different kinds of things, but if it's works based to be in some ways performative, then, and it's not biblically based, then it really has no purpose. It has like no use in some ways, although, you know, we could see that
00:13:46
Speaker
seemingly be effective in some ways, but it shows up in so many different areas of the world where people think they are doing good. Doing good. I think it's absolutely right because we're balancing like orthodoxy, right thinking, right doctrine, and then orthopraxy, what we're actually putting into practice with our lives.
00:14:02
Speaker
And I, you know, I've spent about four years here in Petoskey, but then, you know, I spent the previous four years in Chicago and it's similar. Like I see, I hear, like up here, a lot of good orthodoxy, but there's not a lot of orthopraxy. We're pretty comfortable. Whereas I would say in Chicago, what I saw is lots of good practice.
00:14:18
Speaker
but without any firm faith underneath of it. And so it was really just striving to keep up with, okay, what are they angry about? Okay, I want to be angry about that. Okay, what are they concerned about? I want to be concerned about that. It was interesting to kind of see both sides of that spectrum, kind of what you were talking about last
Church Advocacy for Non-Believers
00:14:35
Speaker
time. Okay, let's dig into the next one. Who has God placed on your hearts as individuals, as people that you want to advocate for?
00:14:45
Speaker
And then what does that advocacy look like? Because this is coming from you and I love that question or that statement that I want to be an advocate. How do we do it? You go first. Lead off. Yeah, I think this is, oh my gosh, this question is so powerful and it's one that we should ask ourselves because we can't be all things for all people. We're not called to all the things because then nothing will get done. So for me specifically, I feel I'm called to those who've been wounded.
00:15:11
Speaker
by the church, and I also feel called to those who, for Christians who really care about the justice God communicates, but perhaps are confused by worldly justice versus biblical justice, and then I'm also called to women who want to grow in their calling and are just unsure what that looks like and perhaps are stuck in it. So those are kind of like the three groups that I like to advocate for, support, help, and create resources for.
00:15:42
Speaker
So for me, it's such a unique question because I've never classified what I do as an advocacy with ATAP, we call all things all people ATAP, but I do find myself growing very frustrated with the church and how they talk about non-believers.
Panelists' Personal Advocacy Focuses
00:16:01
Speaker
And it's interesting how often I find myself advocating
00:16:05
Speaker
four lost people to Christians. And just sort of kind of like, no, no, no, no, no. Like, you can't, you know, you can't reduce them. You can't trivialize their concerns. You know, we're all in the world of social media. And just a couple days ago, like I made a real about a question that a really antagonistic non-believer had asked me. And I felt prompted to say, hey, this is a really important question.
00:16:31
Speaker
And so advocating for at least the use of some sort of sympathy for people who don't believe in Jesus. Can you think of any reasons why they might not? And Pre talks extensively about church hurt. And as a pastor, I look at that advocacy work and I kind of for the same thing go, can I think of any reasons why we have a generation of young men and women who have walked away from the church?
00:17:00
Speaker
And so trying to push the church to say, yeah, I guess I can understand it a little bit. All of a sudden, your ministry is a lot more fruitful. And so, yeah, weirdly enough, by no means advocating for worldviews or things like that, but just for the listening aspect of, hey, why don't you actually give them a minute to try and understand where they're coming from? But I've never thought about it as advocacy by any means, but yeah, that's interesting. Well, obviously, I'm an advocate for every woman to be a theologian.
00:17:31
Speaker
But more specifically because that is really broad and it could actually mean a whole lot of things. There's a couple things. I believe personally that I can't teach what I'm not doing. So I've encouraged you all to go be in your local communities and be doing this in real life and that's something that I
00:17:51
Speaker
really am an advocate for is, am I involved in my community? Do I know people in my community that I'm actively discipling who don't know Jesus? Am I friends with people who are not believers? When you're in ministry, in a church or like in paratroops, it can be so easy to become insulated from the very people that you're supposed to be reaching.
00:18:11
Speaker
And I end up just being ministering to you and sending you out to do the work I'm not doing anymore. And I don't want that to ever be the case. So that's one. But then the second one is kind of a subgroup within every woman, a theologian, are people coming out of legalism?
Building Community in New Areas
00:18:25
Speaker
And the reason I'm passionate about this is that legalism is the farm team for deconstruction.
00:18:31
Speaker
And when you have a legalistic, oppressive church environment, you've probably heard me say this, but it creates perpetual lifelong baby believers who have been spoon fed all of this information. And then when they suddenly get out, they're hurt. And then pre is ministering to them down the road.
00:18:53
Speaker
when they're crushed and hurt and wounded, but if we can, way back here, when they're just leaving legalism, walk with them on that road, then we can oftentimes prevent them, well, the Lord can prevent them completely falling apart later on. So people coming out of legalism is, they have my heart.
00:19:16
Speaker
Wow, good. Okay, so this is kind of on that you said, let's do this in the context of community. So we're going to shift gears for this next question. Take a hard, you know, hang a UE. Do they use that everywhere? Is that just the Midwest?
00:19:31
Speaker
I don't know. I'm going to read this whole question because I want to make sure that we're covering all the bases on it. It's kind of an involved one. But it says, I'm new to an area and struggling to make friends. Many people in established groups already. So there's people, they've got their crew.
00:19:46
Speaker
Two years in, and I'm struggling to stay encouraged and keep trying, what are practical tips do you have to keep persisting in finding and building relationships? What should I be examining in myself to consider what might make me seem unapproachable, unavailable, or something else? Well, it kind of goes back to what Michaela said last night when she's like, married people are weird.
00:20:08
Speaker
They like to do things together. I don't know if this person is married or single, but I think we do get comfortable in our groups. And we're like, I don't need more friends, so I'm just not going to open up the group to other people. And during the church greeting time, we just go to the people we know, we don't open it up. And I think for this person in this situation, you can't change those people, right?
00:20:36
Speaker
And this is going to sound super like, oh, Felicia, the spiritual trump card. But I really, truly, I have been in this season and for years been in this season and have prayed faithfully. God, please bring me community, bring me people who share my values, who share the life that I want to live. And he has answered that. But it takes time.
00:20:59
Speaker
It does, it sounds like this person's already being so faithful to try and open their home. But I would also say, practically speaking, if these are the people in their church who are acting this way, you may want to maybe try a Bible study from another church or a community Bible study detached from that church or, you know,
00:21:17
Speaker
any activities or clubs or anything that you're in, inviting people over who maybe are not in these particular circles. Be maybe open to working with other circles or combining circles. So up here in Petoskey, I would say we have a lot of like smaller groups of Christians and non-Christians who get together, but they cross
00:21:37
Speaker
pollinate if you will where we're like well we'll
Hospitality and Welcoming Church Environments
00:21:40
Speaker
invite this person from this group and this one and this so we all kind of know each other and yes you have your deeper friends but you're still connecting across those groups so having that person who's willing to who's not like well you're you're part of the group that goes to that church or that church like there's just
00:21:58
Speaker
Just being above the click and being like, I'm going to have all of you over and we're all just going to make it work. But praying for that and letting him do that for you has been really pivotal for me. Yeah, absolutely. And I think, Jeremy, you said this in your talk, but you were like, is it like, stay fascinated with people, ask good questions, maybe. Yeah. So I'm probably the worst person to answer this question. I'm horrible at making friends.
00:22:23
Speaker
my wife will tell you that and I've been at the same church for 12 years. My best friends are the guys that I serve with and they're like family and so I probably can address this from the other side of those of you who are maybe clicked up you know and my wife Courtney is extremely hospitable and
00:22:43
Speaker
I've seen a lot of fruit from what Felicia talks about, which is hospitality is ministry. And so for me, I have a really small social battery. I get wore out pretty easy. But that thing that I shared that you just mentioned is when I'm struggling,
00:23:08
Speaker
I just, I want to learn people. And so, you know, Courtney laughs about it is like, I had a really great friend who for 10 years was an insurance salesman.
00:23:19
Speaker
And so I know as much about insurance as him, you know, because when we would sit and I didn't feel the urge to be friendly, I didn't feel the urge to, man, I can't do it right now. It's just like, all right, I want to learn as much as I possibly can about you. So I probably can approach this from the questioner's side. I've been there. And I'll say this too, many of you in some form or fashion or in church leadership, you have to combat
00:23:47
Speaker
in your churches and it goes from your children's ministry to the senior adult Sunday school. And that's something that I've become painfully aware as a pastor too. Our church actually in the last few years has really started to fight against this because for a long time we weren't really good at welcoming new people into true, genuine fellowship. And it starts by just getting, like Courtney leads our women's ministry, this is all about Courtney now.
00:24:10
Speaker
Our women's ministry, all the guys on our staff joke, they do this thing called table groups and it's basically just a woman opens her home and there's no Bible study. You know, so many people are intimidated by Bible study and people are intimidated by leading Bible studies. It's just, there's like two or three questions I think that each week they ask and for a particular season of table groups. And so that's not just like a programming mention, but also too, just like our church has been changed by that. Every single woman in our church knows each other.
00:24:39
Speaker
And so guess what? Their husbands are changed now. Like their husbands, we have two guys in our church that are like me. They don't make friends really easy like most men, you know. But they're like brothers now. And the other day I said, hey, how did they become so close? And Courtney kind of smiled and she said, their wives were in table groups with each other, you know. And so, you know, looking out and realizing we probably have a lot of people leading in some form or fashion, you really have to contend against that because questions like this are,
00:25:06
Speaker
they have generational impacts. You know, that person's children feel disenfranchised too. And so as leaders, we have to be keenly aware of that. I think when you arrive in a church, it's not like, oh, it's all about me. I'm looking out toward, if I'm established in a church, I'm looking out towards other people. We have a thing here at Genesis that Michaela actually helped start, my wonderful sister, Michaela Whitcomb. I led you guys last night.
00:25:33
Speaker
Called LED, which is look. Be on the lookout for people who are new. Engage them. So L-E, engage them. Strike up a conversation. Extend that hand. Give that hug.
Quality Friendships During Transitions
00:25:45
Speaker
And then direct them. So as you engage them, ask them questions. What are you about? Who are you? What are you into? Are you new here? Have you been coming for two months? And I just spaced out and didn't see you yet? I'm so sorry. And then direct them to other people. It's like, oh my goodness, you homeschool? Let me introduce you to Felicia.
00:26:01
Speaker
You know, so LED, look, engage, direct, you know, whatever it is. And we actually did. We have two new families come last week, and it's like, okay, let me learn about you. Your young couple don't have kids yet. Let me introduce you to me and my wife. Oh, you're a single young lady. Let me introduce you to Michaela, that kind of a thing. Okay, New York City.
00:26:22
Speaker
Break it down. I was going to mention until 2020 happened to all of us. And in New York City, somebody of my close friends left. They're like, it's expensive. We can't do anything. Bye. I was like, hey, I'm here. I'm like, stay. So some of my closest friends left New York in 2020. I thought it was going to be temporary. No, they're gone. And I'm glad for them where they are living.
00:26:46
Speaker
Michigan now So I really learned and I mean, you know, I'm still connected with them But in regards to closeness those who are in person around me, I've learned to really just value the quantity
00:27:01
Speaker
the quality over the quantity. So it was several people, but I didn't have to go out and essentially search for new people. I was like, oh, Lord, I got two. I still got two. We'll see each other as much as we can. Another thing I think about, especially that I've witnessed through my ministry, is that so many women have literally become best friends through coming to my retreats, through coming to things. It's not things I have done. I have just created the space. They've connected in that space, and from there, they've built a relationship.
00:27:30
Speaker
you're here, right? This is a space that this can exist. Last night y'all had introductions to get to know each other, but these kinds of spaces, if you're intentional, I know you can go to every conference, they're all expensive or far away or just time away, but being able to be intentional when you do show up in these spaces on creating community and making friends. There's so many of y'all that I've been chatting that literally live like 10 minutes from each other, or half an hour from each other. So find one another, right? And if you hear about someone, I met two Donnas, I connected them, I was like, hey Donnie, you know Donnie,
00:27:59
Speaker
Right? Like he said, connect one another with each other. That's we get to help one another in that way too.
00:28:06
Speaker
Amen. Okay, so just to lean in, full collective, is that a full-time thing, or do you do, okay, social work a little bit, or not anymore? I just finished working full-time social work, home with my baby, so we'll see if I pick it up again. Pick it up again. Okay, this is a question for you, and then, you know, how many of you raised your hand if you were, like, bi-vocational, you've got, like, something, and then probably, like, ministry of some sort as well? Anybody? Okay.
00:28:34
Speaker
There's lots of areas of our life where we're not sure how to bring our faith into it, and my wife, this is a selfish question, honestly, my wife is wondering how do I engage the people that I'm sitting down with who have no interest in the gospel, but in my own head, I'm screaming, this is what you need, it's
Integrating Faith in Professional Settings
00:28:52
Speaker
Jesus. How do I stir those spiritual conversations for them?
00:29:00
Speaker
This is really hard because it depends where you work. So I was a social worker for seven years working with human trafficking survivors. It was a Christian nonprofit though. So I could say all the Jesus I want whenever I want. The people we served didn't have to be Christian, but they knew that we were. But even there, I had to be very mindful of when I say Jesus or speak the gospel.
00:29:22
Speaker
Because these are human trafficking survivors. They're like, sis, right now is not the time for the gospel, right? Like, I'm disassociating. I'm triggered. It's all these different things. So there's this huge wisdom we need in being able to communicate the gospel in spaces that are either not allowed, not permitted, or just maybe
00:29:41
Speaker
not the best approach appropriate in the moment. So we need the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to give us discernment. Like if I said the opportunity, be mindful of the opportunity and just be prayerful around that person. I can be around someone, not tell them anything about Jesus and pray for them.
00:29:59
Speaker
Like literally I see them and just like, all right, I'm praying for them right now. Like that is ministering to that person. Um, and then I did work in an organization that I couldn't say Jesus at all. And so I just had to show up like Jesus, right? I had to communicate the way I talks, the way I treated my employees, the way I did an integrity, all my administrative work. Like all of those things show Jesus, even when I couldn't actually say his name. Praise God.
00:30:24
Speaker
All right, anybody else have anything to add to that? Spaces where it's like, okay, okay, okay. So let's, let's, let's, you said Sis now is not the time which I like because that's gonna lead us to our next question. How do Christians make following Jesus harder or understanding Jesus harder than it needs to be? Does that make sense? Like how do we over-complicate?
00:30:48
Speaker
We all obviously have opinions. And I work for a church, so be gentle. Well, I mean, there's a lot we could say, but I think I'll start. I'm new to being a Christian social media person. I don't like the word influencer.
00:31:13
Speaker
It is a poisonous and toxic world where now, like, if I went through first tier, second tier, third tier, right, and all that stuff, and now we have made being a Christian so much more about the things that trend and the things that we'll get follows and likes and, you know,
00:31:41
Speaker
You know, I've been so glad to have really, I mean, if I was really the first, one of the first like people that I could sort of look at and kind of go, well, how does she do this social media thing? And so watching her in that like she didn't call out.
00:31:59
Speaker
other Christians that she didn't like take stands on things because she knew that that was gonna get traffic. And so I wonder if we do that sometimes even outside of social media that like I'm not gonna call anybody out but you know like I see so many for me people just make their faith about one theological tenet.
00:32:23
Speaker
And so whether it be Calvinist, I'm defined by my Calvinistic belief or my Arminian belief. And so we make second and third issues, not just first issues, but the one issue. And also too, right now there's so much identity politicking going on and we have made, I am as pro-life as they come.
00:32:47
Speaker
but our faith is so much bigger than our one stance on that issue. And so we need to approach our faith as first being a follower of Jesus, not a one particular byproduct of following Jesus. And so if you belong to a Reformed church, don't hear me say that you can't be Calvinist or you can't be Arminian, but that can't be all that you be.
Discipling into the True Gospel
00:33:11
Speaker
And so I think, I mean, there's a billion answers to this question, but that's one that's been on my heart a lot is just like, and I know too, as somebody who's creating content, you know, if you follow me on Instagram, like I didn't post anything for like three weeks because I didn't have anything to say. But every single day, man, I had anxiety just going,
00:33:27
Speaker
I gotta post, I gotta say something, and what happens when you live your life that way? What happens if every time you're in small group, or if every time you're in conversation, you know, well I can tell you what happens, you end up dying on the wrong hills, and you end up taking stands for things that, they're probably worthy, but they're not worthy of everything you have. And so,
00:33:48
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean as a pastor too, you know, I'd say I've seen that in my own life, in my church's life, in the churches that I work around, is just like we become defined by something other than what truly should be defining us. And yeah, that for me, now I could go on and on about that, but I'm sure these ladies have. I just think he should just drop the mic. Yeah, clappable answer right there, right?
00:34:19
Speaker
All right, all right, now who wants to, don't really follow up with that. I mean I do, I think he said it better than I could even say it, but I will add one thing that I think of often, my words for that, that my in-person friends have heard me say, is I always ask, into what am I discipling them? Am I discipling them? What do they think?
00:34:42
Speaker
they're supposed to be believing in? Or who do they think they're supposed to be believing in? Am I discipling them into that one issue? Like, if I take someone who doesn't know anything about Jesus, am I showing them, well,
00:34:55
Speaker
The thing you need to put your faith in is Calvinism. The thing you need to put your faith in is the pro-life movement. The thing you need to put your faith in is X, Y, and Z. If I am saying this is the core issue instead of this is flowing out of your relationship with Christ, then I have actually given them, and this is gonna sound really maybe mean, because I've given them a false gospel.
00:35:20
Speaker
Because I haven't given them the true gospel priority. I haven't given them Christ first, and then sanctity of life, Christ first, and then taking my theology seriously. I'm raising it up above that. And so when I'm on social media, I just think, you know, there's some people who I agree completely theologically. And I can't recommend them or share their work because I can see what they're discipling people into.
00:35:47
Speaker
And I can see even the spiritual formation, the character that these followers are being discipled into.
Understanding Different Belief Systems
00:35:55
Speaker
And when I'm on social media, my first thought is not just am I giving them correct theology, integrations theology, but am I showing them to the best of my flawed ability what it looks like to follow Christ in character?
00:36:09
Speaker
because we make it harder for Christians, I think, to walk with Jesus when we show them a character that is arrogant and rude and unloving and unkind, but also, you know, or passive or, you know, weak or compromised, like any of those things. So it's like that theology and character or the proxy and orthodoxy, like you said. See the fruit. Yeah.
00:36:39
Speaker
Nope. They got it. All right, clap for him. Good job. All right, on a lighter note, are you all familiar with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien? We got it. I mean, it was starred, so we're going to do it. If you were a character in Lord of the Rings, who would you be and why?
00:37:09
Speaker
These are the hard-hitting questions. I know you wanted answers. Is this a specific character, or is this a race of people? You can be a race of beings. Like, oh, you're, oh. So here's the very highlight of yourself. I am all elves.
00:37:22
Speaker
All right, go ahead, go ahead. So I'm going to go ahead and get ahead of this, because people are shocked to find this out. Because I am a Tim Keller fanatic, and I have never actually read Lord of the Rings. Same. Get off my face. I saw rings of power. Wait, wait, wait, wait. He's been on my to read list since I was a teenager, and I have just never done it. And I fear saying that in front of certain. Yeah, raise your hand. On this couch, raise your hand if you were homeschooled.
00:37:52
Speaker
Oh man. That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. That's what that's code for.
00:38:01
Speaker
So this leaves me being the only one answering this question. So I will say when I saw this question and I laughed very hard, but then I was debating, would I be an elf? Oh, and on the list of options, it said, would you be an elf? Would you be a dwarf, a human or an orc? Yeah. Who would choose an orc? How rude. An honest person. I feel so honored because Josh said I would be a high elf. Go Josh! Clap for Josh. Yes.
00:38:31
Speaker
That is the nerdiest question I've ever asked. In spirit, I'm probably a dwarf, though. Yeah. If you're a fan of Tim Keller, you'd be a fan. It's good stuff. Yes, you will love it. Yeah, that's your assignment when you go home. Okay, this is a question for Jeremy, specifically. This person recently moved into an area with a large Hindu population. Is there a resource that you would recommend to help learn their beliefs and culture better?
00:38:57
Speaker
Well, first and foremost, there's this Instagram account at allthings.allpeople. Come on. Plug it. And I spent a lot of time talking about Hinduism. Hinduism is near and dear to my heart. And I recommended this to at least a couple people out there. First and foremost, I recommend this for everybody. Even if you have no interest in cross-cultural ministry or anything like that, there's a very small book
00:39:25
Speaker
by Jason Georges, named 3D Gospel, and it is a tremendous resource talking about different cultures and learning how they perceive reality. And so, specifically within a South Asian context, and actually
00:39:43
Speaker
Far, far larger than just South Asia into East Asia and much of even South American Africa. They, they exhibit a belief in something called an honor shame society, where the idea that what is to be accrued is honor and to be
00:39:59
Speaker
what is to be avoided is shame, and so they're collectivist. And so that wasn't what they asked, but this is just me kinda talking now. But so along with that, there is a great, and this is the professor in me, because it's actually a textbook, but the best Christian resource that I've ever come away from for a just general world religions education is a textbook called Neighboring Faiths, and if you went to
00:40:28
Speaker
Christian college and took a world religions class, you very likely used that. There's also a narrative non-fiction called Death of a Guru, and it's a story of a young man who was being groomed and raised up to be a Hindu guru who came to Christ. And so he wrote his story about that. But yeah, and then honestly, and this is,
00:40:58
Speaker
Just, you know, kind of me talking, I find that the best thing to do, because with Hinduism specifically, and most Asian faiths, is that if there's a billion Hindus on the planet, which there are, there's around a billion Hinduisms. It's a very, it's not individualistic at all, but it changes from region to region, from family to family. And so ask them questions.
00:41:19
Speaker
What do you believe? Why do you believe that? Don't assume you know anything. And you'd be surprised how much time I spend studying these types of things and how stupid I sound when I talk to people. Because people will be like, I thought you knew all this stuff. Why do you ask such stupid questions? It's like, because I have a pretty good guess. And in fact, like, especially on some of these, you know, older religions, I might actually know more textbook stuff than them about their own faith.
00:41:45
Speaker
I don't know their faith and I don't know I don't know what they genuinely individually believe so if you're in a large area with that with that population and as you make friends which inevitably you will just you know ask them you know what is it that you believe and actually one thing too I'll say this
00:42:01
Speaker
is we are one of the few cultures on the planet that eschews talking about our own faith. It is hugely uncomfortable for us, but most other non-Western, so anywhere outside of Western Europe and the United States and Canada, they're kind of fine with it largely because we divide our culture and our religion.
00:42:22
Speaker
But for a Hindu or a Buddhist, you know, somebody from more of an indigenous background, what have you, their culture and their religious identity are the same. And so in the same way that we have a very easy time, like when you meet somebody, what's the first thing, especially men, you know, what's the first thing they talk about is their jobs.
00:42:42
Speaker
What do you do? We train our children that the most important question they can answer is what do you want to be when you grow up? What we place our value on is our vocation.
00:42:53
Speaker
Hindus, Buddhists, South Asians, they place their value on their cultural identity, which is intrinsically tied to their religion. So don't be afraid of offending them just by simply asking questions about them. And as I said earlier, I promise you, depending on the part of the world or part of the country you're from, there's like a 75% chance you'll be the first person not of their various tribe that takes an interest in them in that way.
00:43:19
Speaker
And so the mere fact that you're willing to ask those questions. So neighboring faiths, death of a guru, three to gospel, read up, study up, and then go be a good anthropologist. Go listen and just, you know, you talk about active listening. Listen and don't listen and go, okay, what parable can I share?
00:43:38
Speaker
You know, like, what, you know, what, what Frank Turek argument can I use to befuddle them? You know, no, just like, just listen and go, wow, that's really interesting. I don't understand that at all. You know, can you unpack that? And they probably will, you know, so. So, yeah. But, you know, A-Tap's a good one, too. So, yeah. Yeah. And I love your rural North Carolina. And Stan, fascinating. It was easy for me when I was in Chicago, but now I am mayonnaise white northern Michigan.
00:44:07
Speaker
Yeah. So it's harder, but you're still finding those people.
Cultural Awareness and Respect
00:44:11
Speaker
Yeah, so if you go to Pew Research, you go to Barna, not everyone in this room has the same ethnicity, the same background, but every single one of us has probably been tricked into thinking that the way we see the world is the way the world is.
00:44:31
Speaker
And I remember the first time, I was telling pre-bought this last night, the first time I got on a plane, and the first time I ever left the country was actually to India, not recommended. And I got on a plane in Canada to fly direct to Delhi, and I realized that everyone was staring at me. And it was because for the first time in my life, I all of a sudden was a minority. And it made me automatically question just the way I had
00:45:00
Speaker
operated for the 30 years before that or whatever it was because you know we are all tricked into thinking that the tribe we run in
00:45:10
Speaker
makes up the whole of our reality and we are tricked into thinking that the way that we see the world is the way not only that the world is but the way everyone else sees the world and so I promise you can look on the census you know and I say this a lot with the work I do with ATAP is like I'll tell stories about running into somebody who's bought into you know Wicca or neo-paganism or the
00:45:32
Speaker
the Hindu, like I live right across the street from a gas station and like I am good friends with the guys there you know and in the censuses and in the peer research stuff and Barnard they all are telling us that if it's if I can find those people in Forest City, North Carolina on the sign when you drive and it says small town friendly right so if I have them
00:45:54
Speaker
you know, if I can look in, you know, it's not just about reaching people of other nations, you know, if I talked about like your First Nation is your family and the group that you run in, but if you walk away somehow from this conference and still think that it would be hard to find people that have a very different worldview than you, down your street, then you were not listening this entire time. And so I've just,
00:46:17
Speaker
I grew up right outside Chicago. I covet living in areas where I just, you know, I'm surrounded by different cultures, you know, and, and yeah, I have to work a little bit harder to find them, but not that hard. Yeah, you know, and so, so yeah, it's, it's, you know, and if you just don't, if you don't ever see anybody who doesn't look
00:46:35
Speaker
If you're never around anybody who doesn't look the same as you, dress the same as you, talk the same as you, listen to the same music, then you are, whether you realize it or not, intentionally surrounding yourself with people who are just like you. And so there's an intentional aspect to this. Amen. OK, so this is springboarding off of that. Can you expound on how loving, respecting, and seeing your neighbor who is different than you is different than affirming or agreeing with them?
00:47:03
Speaker
Does that make sense? And then I'm going to go secondary. How can you see somebody as an image bearer if they're the ones who are causing the injustice or harm? So you're ministering to the church herded. First part of the question. So I think we misunderstand respect.
00:47:23
Speaker
as if it is something that is meant for particular people, in particular situations and circumstances, this respect goes across the board, right? It is me honoring the human being that is in front of me. And whether that respect is through manners or how I talk to that person or how I listen to them, but it has to do with the person, not what they believe, not who they are, none of that.
00:47:49
Speaker
it goes across the board. So if we misunderstand respect as affirmation, then we don't know what respect means.
00:47:56
Speaker
So affirmation is different. And the thing is, most, a lot of people, especially in the world, would mistake affirmation to be loved, right? Like if you're not my ally, and if you don't affirm, you actually don't love me. You're actually a homophobe. You're actually racist. You're actually all these things. And they can say all that, but we get to know and understand, what does the Bible say, right? The Bible says, I will not be an ally with certain ideologies and ways of living. I will not affirm certain things that the world is doing.
00:48:25
Speaker
So respect and affirmation are not the same thing, and we don't need to mix them up. The second part of seeing the image, seeing the person causing injustice as an image bearer, and I talked with a friend earlier, I think, I think she's Carly or Katie, about, yes, hey girl, we're talking about the idea of calling someone who has abused us a neighbor.
00:48:52
Speaker
And so every person right now in the world causing an injustice is your neighbor. I'm not gonna mention a certain person causing a certain war in a certain part of the world right now. He is a neighbor.
00:49:08
Speaker
I don't want to admit that or say that, but he is a neighbor. And so I get to see him as image-bearer first, and then I see, yes, he is causing destruction. He is causing injustice. What can I do about this? Is it who I vote for? Is it what I stand for? It's what I communicate. It's how I pray. It's who I donate to.
00:49:30
Speaker
but the first way I need to see him, because if I don't see him as image-bearer first, and I see him as evil first, or destructive first, then there will be, what I try to do then afterwards, will probably be less effective. So first, he's my neighbor. First, he's an image-bearer.
00:49:47
Speaker
And trust me, I don't want to say you don't got to be all the time saying like, they're all my neighbors, you know, like, we don't have to emphasize it all the time, but it's to know it, to know it. You don't have to proclaim it out loud, but know it. Know that they're your neighbor, even when they're causing injustice. This does not mean you accept what they're doing. It's it's the fact that you see who they are in Christ.
00:50:09
Speaker
Yeah, clap for that. That was good. 110%. Can I ask, I want to ask you, Prey, do you think that this thinking in that way changes how you engage in spiritual warfare through prayer?
Seeing Everyone as Image-Bearers of God
00:50:24
Speaker
Because that's what I'm thinking is you're saying that if you see this person is an image bearer who is walking in sin and working with the enemy, not with righteousness,
00:50:35
Speaker
I am more likely when I have that perspective to pray on that spiritual level. Like I'm inviting God's power. I hope that God does what he needs to do to get through to that person. I hope that God raises up the righteousness and the goodness to defeat the evil in understanding that this, as Paul said, is a spiritual war manifesting through human people.
00:51:03
Speaker
I think that helps me to be like, like you're saying, like this is an image bearer who's partnering with evil. And if they repented tomorrow, I would rejoice with the angels that this person has come into the family of God. And there would still have to be restitution and all sorts of repentance, but does that align with what you're...
00:51:24
Speaker
It's also very healing to think that way, right? But again, this neighbor that is a part of the world who is causing a war right now and killing people, if I were not to see him as neighbor first and I were to pray for him, I would probably pray differently. I would probably say, Lord,
00:51:43
Speaker
He's terrible, he's trash, he shouldn't exist. It would be a very angry prayer where I remove the dignity of who he is. But because I see him as neighbor first, then my prayer is, Lord, clearly he's broken, heal him. Clearly he's surrounded by the wrong people, remove them, replace them. Clearly he has wrong ideologies and understanding, convict him. So it's a different prayer when I am able to see him as neighbor first.
00:52:14
Speaker
Yeah, and the one thing, not that I could, I almost hesitate to say anything else, because what they've just said is so amazing, but I'll just say, I've seen this like hypothetical situation played out how many times like these, you know, when we think of the hallmark of like the worst people, or the person who maybe has hurt us individually, and you, you know, somebody says, but if they, like what Phy just said, if they accepted Christ, we would rejoice with the angels, and sometimes we recoil at that, and we
00:52:40
Speaker
We like to play hypothetical and like, what if it was this person? What if it was this person, this person causing a war? And what I think we have to be willing to say about ourselves when we feel that way is that is us being willing to live salvation by grace and faith alone for us, but works for everyone else.
00:52:58
Speaker
And so, you know, Pre speaks so wonderfully about church hurt and being a survivor of injustice and all of these things. And I could never quite understand exactly everything that she has experienced and seen. But, you know, it's such an encouragement to hear her share, like the idea that like we can't
00:53:18
Speaker
like cast faulty theology on our enemies because they're our enemies. And really the most Christian thing about Christianity that you're gonna see when you begin to interact with people who are enemies is that we are called to love them. Like that's a really unique Christian thing. And so yeah, but no, that's just us casting faulty theology onto our enemies because we hate them. Yeah. All right, I have a personal slogan in my life.
00:53:49
Speaker
If we're gonna talk about it, we're gonna pray about it. So who wants to? Go ahead, Felicia. Okay, let's bow our heads. Father, thank you so much for just the truth that Jeremy and Priscilla have spoken. How convicting it is, how inspiring it is, how it draws us to
00:54:09
Speaker
the high standard that Jesus gave to love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you. We forget that so often. It seems like something that we know, but we, like Jeremy said, we often don't live it. We live the theology for ourself and we don't offer that same theology to the lost and needy world. So I just pray that we would allow your spirit to change that in us, that through everything that we have,
00:54:35
Speaker
learned and heard, even if it's convicting or we still need to process it, that you would help us understand how you want to live that out through us in our communities and to the people you've called us to serve. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right, guys, we were in the last little bit, home stretch here. So you got, I think, two of my favorite questions to close out the time together.
Living and Sharing Faith as Young Believers
00:55:00
Speaker
Sound good? OK. You still in it? Brains are still sharp. Does anybody want a coffee refill or anything like that?
00:55:05
Speaker
I hoarded all the cookies in the green room, so can't have those. All right, this is the best one, personal opinion. Hi, I am 11. Yeah, it's really good. And I have really liked learning at this conference. I would like some tips for me as a kid to share the Bible and theology with my friends. Where are you? Are you here?
00:55:36
Speaker
Might be virtual. I love this question. Do you have anything you want to say? Honestly, Johnny is our next-gen pastor here at Genesis, in case you didn't say. Do you have anything that you would say off the top of your head?
00:56:00
Speaker
Yeah, so this is actually there's a second question. It's I'm a middle school teacher in the context of Jeremy's statements. All people are religious. What religion do you see Gen Z being attracted to? So that's kind of in the same vein because it's like, okay, what are my friends living for? And I think this is something I'm thinking through a lot lately just because I'm getting older.
00:56:20
Speaker
I'm next gen, but I think when you're young, it's really easy to idolize so many different things in life, whether it's your freedom, whether it's your community, whether it's your beauty or dashing good looks. There's a lot of things that, can I get an amen?
00:56:37
Speaker
Like, you know, my body's ability to do things, whatever it is, it's like, it's so easy to find these idols, but trying to figure out, okay, what is my heart ultimately longing for that will leave me eternally fulfilled and satisfied? You know, that's a little John Piper on us, but like, for real, like, what, at the end of the day, when I have nothing less, and this is another chapter of my life that I'm going through, is I'm having grandparents who are getting very old. Not just old, but like, very old. And it's like, you know, what,
00:57:05
Speaker
What still matters to them at the end of the day is so fascinating and it brings me so much joy that my grandma goes, you know, at the end of the day, it really is just Jesus. And I just look at my life and I'm like, what are all these stupid things I'm distracted by? You know what I mean? Like, what are all these things that I'm getting worked up about and striving after that at the end of the day, it really is just Jesus. So what's your name?
00:57:34
Speaker
Adelaide, be utterly convinced in your soul that Jesus is enough. And just share Him, you know? In the days that you have anxiety, that you're anxious, how you turn to Jesus is how you can turn others to Him.
Gen Z's Religious Landscape and Interest
00:57:53
Speaker
You know, I'm praying over this test. What are you taking for math right now? All right, you're smarter than I was.
00:58:03
Speaker
I took that in like 9th to 10th grade. My goodness.
00:58:07
Speaker
pre-algebra, and you get anxiety to be out those things, right? I wanna do well on this. I wanna turn it over to Jesus. Jesus, may I glorify you and honor you with how I study, with how I take this test. May I point others to your glory and show them who you are through the way that I conduct myself in the world. And let everything that you do as evangelism and sharing with your community, your generation, just be an overflow of what Jesus is doing in your own heart and life. Is that helpful, maybe?
00:58:34
Speaker
I have some thoughts. Hey, girl. So I grew up in the church. I left the faith, the church, Jesus at 17. And when I think back on why, I was around a culture when I was younger that did not encourage questions.
00:58:53
Speaker
When I asked questions, it was always labeled as doubt. And so I stopped asking questions. I stopped asking questions about my faith, and where did that take me, right? And so I think kids are ready just naturally. I mean, we all should, but kids naturally already have questions. And so I would, as you know, with your friends, it's like encouraging that space of safety for questions. And to also say, I don't know when you don't have the answer.
00:59:21
Speaker
I read recently, statistically, right now in America, 33%, so one in every three teens, identify part of the LGBTQ plus community.
00:59:32
Speaker
And when I think about that, I think of my cousin and I think of people who are asking questions, but some people are afraid to respond or to ask them a follow-up question to that, right? So engaging in conversations around questions I think would be really powerful and would really ground your community of friends around what you believe and what you know.
00:59:54
Speaker
Yeah, and I'll start with the second question and then address Adelaide because I think it's so tremendous that that question is even being asked from that perspective, but I travel to college campuses and I do the
01:00:09
Speaker
you know, the old school Q&A with college students believing and non-believing. And so my own personal experiences are also backed up by statistics that say Gen Z and actually Americans as a whole. While collective belief in Christianity is going down every single year, a collective
01:00:29
Speaker
grouping called the religious nuns, N-O-N-E-S, not nuns like with a hood, but like the religious nuns is rapidly growing, but what's interesting in the misconception that Christians have a lot, like Christians are typically 10 to 15 years behind what everyone else already knows, popularly, really. I mean like we work with straw men until they are absolutely in our lead as proven, so maybe I'll be the first one to tell you.
01:00:56
Speaker
Of that group religious nuns, N-O-N-E-S, only 9% of them are atheists. And the rest of them are what I typically call spiritual agnostics. So many of them have walked away from institutionalized faith, or maybe they just never were part of it, but beliefs in things like an afterlife, belief in ghosts, belief in reincarnation and rebirth.
01:01:24
Speaker
belief in karma. If you follow me on ATAPS, Instagram, you know I talk about those things all the time. And so it's not just, you know, most Gen Z has not bought into Wicca or Neopaganism, but they've also not not bought into those things. They've bought into like these small things and it's this kind of golden corral old country buffet of religion that like, I like crystals. And then also I've shared this with a lot of you out at the table is,
01:01:52
Speaker
We as Christians need to realize, we are just as materialist as the atheists we think we've been debating for the last 25 years. Many Christians have a very undeveloped belief and view of a spiritual world that is actually very real, and it's actually just as real as the material world you can see taste, touch, and smell. And so when we talk to whoever it might be, if it's Gen Z or somebody else, we have to realize that
01:02:20
Speaker
Like those things that we see people buying into, those are effective. They work much of the time. Some of it is fake, some of it's a lie, but some of it works. But we need to be ready to tell people that not everything that works is good, but everything that is good works. And so Adelaine, to bring it to you.
01:02:38
Speaker
When I was a youth pastor, I had plenty of students who were as tremendous as you, and so it's cool to see, is I would just encourage you, as I've said a few times today, don't walk into these situations with your friends, and actually this applies to all of us, thinking that they don't want to hear from you. I was the worst version of myself the years between 13 and 18, and so I think about,
01:03:06
Speaker
like what Pre said, like the people in my life that were willing to talk to me about the things that I wouldn't tell anybody else, like
01:03:14
Speaker
the ones whose outlet was the church and hey, let's look at scripture and let's pray together, they made a huge impact in my life. And so, you know, I would just say like, when you're sitting at the lunch table, when you're at youth group, wherever it might be, don't automatically assume, well, no one wants to hear from me because I'm a Christian. Now, if you ask them, do you wanna hear from me because I'm a Christian, they might say no, right? But when they need you, if you're there,
01:03:44
Speaker
they'll come to you. And so you make yourself known, you don't hide your faith, you very boldly proclaim that I'm following Jesus and you will be blown away.
Prayer for Next Generation and Conclusion
01:03:54
Speaker
I've seen it, unfortunately, I wasn't that kid when I was in high school, in middle school, but I've seen so many young people that I've had in my own life as a pastor now who did that. And I,
01:04:05
Speaker
I'm here because someone invited me to youth group when I was a freshman in high school. That's it. You know what I mean? So yeah, but I think you're probably off to a good start. The fact that you asked that question, you're here, is an incredible thing. Yeah. Amen. I think that's a great place to close. Yeah. Jeremy, can you pray for the next generation and for
01:04:31
Speaker
us as everybody here is a collective group that we would be bold witnesses with a gracious faith in the days to come. Father, I hesitate to do the math on how many generations, future generations are represented by everybody in this room and online. Lord, so many
01:04:54
Speaker
mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and even the men in this room, Lord, we are representative of children and churches that we lead. And there are so many generations that we will never see with our own eyes who are going to be affected by what goes on in this room right now. And so, Lord, let not our desires and ambitions be selfish.
01:05:18
Speaker
Lord, let us leave a legacy of just generational blessing that we do not despise the next generation, that we do not ridicule them to the point where they'll never listen to us. And Lord, for all the Adelaide's that are represented by this room, we just pray that you would embolden them and that you might use us to encourage them, to equip them and to cheer them on. Our time is not over, but one day it will be.
01:05:44
Speaker
And so Lord, let us pass the baton well and just fill us with the Holy Spirit to the point where we can see what's coming and that we can speak prophetically to the younger generations who are drastically, I believe, gonna outdo us in faithfulness. And we see that in this room with Adelaide. So I actually pray a specific blessing on her that you would just fill her, that you would be with her, that she would be somebody that these friends that she's around, wherever she's from.
01:06:11
Speaker
would just look at her and say, man, there's something about her that I really wanna know more. And so Lord, we pray for her and we pray for everything that we've done here this weekend. I believe that it was all pleasing to you. So Lord, just use it, multiply it like the fish and the loaves and just let it change us and then change the people that we're around all pointing more towards you. So Father, we give you everything we have to give and we do it in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and King. Amen.
01:06:39
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Verity Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, would you take the time to leave us a review? It helps so many other women around the world find out about Verity and about every woman a theologian as a ministry and a shop. We appreciate you and I hope you'll be back next week as we continue to go deeper into God's word and the heart of Jesus Christ.