Podcast episode 3

Two friends discuss their experiences living out their faith as athletes in high school. They talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people and how it can influence your decisions and actions. One friend shares his testimony of how he changed his life by distancing himself from negative influences and focusing on his relationship with God. They also discuss the need to approach sharing their faith with love and not judgment. They both express their excitement for the journey of faith and the positive impact it has had on their lives and those around them. All right, we're into it, you know, Forward from Faithful, Episode 3, super excited to get to talk back. I've got my boy Josiah with me. Yes, sir. Yeah, super excited to have him on here, you know, it's definitely an episode I've been looking forward to. You know, Josiah and I both were athletes at our high school at Venice, and you know, we strive to live out God's Word and live out His calling for us every day at the high school through athletics. That's going to be, you know, a great focus on today's podcast. I'm going to add some stuff. Yeah, man, I mean, this is great, and I'm glad to be on here and, you know, preach the word and the truth, and for, I mean, all the athletes that are listening, like, I encourage you to truly listen to the full thing because there's so much good, I guess you want to call nuggets to take out of this message. It's going to be so good, and even if you're not an athlete, I mean, just to listen and get knowledge, not even just from us, but from God's Word is going to be so good, and I hope that this encourages so many people. Yeah, amen, that's, you know, already a great word right there. So, yeah, just kind of to start off, Josiah, I'd love if you'd like, just kind of maybe give like a, you know, a little rundown on your testimony just for the people so they can learn more about you, and then I'll obviously share some yap sesh stuff about myself like I always do. Yeah, man, so, wow, I honestly kind of have a similar situation to you. I grew up in a Christian home, two loving parents, and they were both pastors for 11 years, so, I mean, the environment I was in wasn't bad, but obviously I was living off their faith for so much of my life, and that's what the problem was. I mean, I went to church every Sunday. I didn't want to be there. I was angry, and I had depressed for so long, especially my middle school years. It was crazy. Like, that's when I started following, like, what the crowd was saying about me and caring what other people thought about me, and that's what led to the bad decisions that I made, and it wasn't, I was never the type of kid that would, you know, smoke, have sex, all that other stuff. I wasn't really much into that, but it was just, my heart was so hard, even towards the Lord. It's like, my parents obviously spoke into my life so much, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't take what they said. It would just go in one ear and out the other, and the things I was watching, the things I was doing weren't honoring and serving the Lord, and that was for so much of my life, and it wasn't until really 8th grade when, like, my English teacher, big Christian, and she was really outspoken about Christ, and one day, I'm just chilling in math class, just doing my math homework, and so she calls my teacher, and she's like, hey, can you send Josiah over? And that's all I got, and she's like, yeah, so I got sent over to her classroom, and there was no one in there. She had a free period, and she's like, hey, can you sit down, and I'm not really freaking out because, I'll tell you, I got in trouble almost every single day. I was the trouble, like, trouble kid. I would always get in trouble, so like, I was like, okay, what is it now? So I'm sitting down, and she's like, hey, the Lord told me to give you this verse, and I'm like, sitting there like, huh? I was expecting something else, but it was Proverbs 13, verse 20, and it says, walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm, and it's spoken to everything I was doing. That's such a great verse. It's so good because that was the main part of what I was doing wrong, is the crowd I was hanging out with, and that's what influences you. Like, for whoever's listening, like, it's so important who you surround yourself with, because the Bible calls us to fellowship with believers, and that's how you grow in faith, but what I was doing is the opposite of that, you know? From anywhere from my lunch table to who I was hanging out with, it wasn't good, and that was influencing all my decisions, like, you know, the words I was saying, things I was doing, it wasn't good, and when I heard that verse, it was like, something changed. There's so many times that, like, we just hear things, and it's like, wow, that was so encouraging, that inspired me, but then 15 minutes later, you forget about it, and you just move on with your life, because, I mean, that's what happens. Things like that happen all the time, but this, it wasn't like that. It just kind of stuck with me, and I was, it was on my heart so heavy, and I just felt the Lord impressing that on my heart so much, and I was like, okay, God, like, it's time. So I literally, bro, it was so crazy, like, I started really, like, praying, and I was like, God, what does this mean, and He kind of, it was so simple, because it's straightforward, you got to watch who you're hanging out with, but like, He kind of revealed that to me in a way I could understand at the time, and then I actually took the step of, like, not being around those people, and not doing that, all that troubled stuff I was doing. Not an easy step to take, that is very difficult, bro, especially in middle school, bro. You're sorry, because in middle school, it's like, you're trying to be the cool kid, you're just trying to fit in. Like, all you're trying to do is, like, not get made fun of, and it's so cliche, but it's so true, because it's like, you want to just fit in, and you don't want to be that one kid that everyone makes fun of, and you're the, you know, you're that guy in class. So I changed, and it was crazy, because that one change, which was so big in my life, led to everything else falling in place, where it was, like, you know, cussing, completely stopped. Everything, the things I was watching stopped, disrespect, and obviously, we all still struggle with many things, but the disrespect even towards my parents was, it was bad, and when I changed who I was hanging out with, it, everything changed, because I was being influenced by them, I just wanted to fit in, so I would follow along with what they do, and that's what they were doing, but I stopped that, it was, it was crazy, and everything else fell in line, and then, I don't know, it's just so, I don't know, freshman year was really, really the time where, like, I was on fire for God, like, when I tell you, like, it's like every, I feel like every new believer has that fire in them, and it was, like, that time in my life, like a year, where it was straight up, like, I was so on fire, and I know I was telling you earlier, like, I'm, I'm the type, I'm the type of guy, if you get to know me, I'm super black and white, and everything I do is just straight forward, and, like, I would, I had to learn to, like, kind of cut myself off sometimes, because I would be telling people about Jesus, but it was, like, man, you're a sinner, you're going to hell. That's, and dude, kind of talking about that, that's something that we'll actually be getting into later, like, when it comes, like, being blunt, but dude, in a sense, like, being able to be blunt, like, on yourself, and on your faith, and just being, like, oh, like, I'm doing this, but this isn't what the Bible says, I'm going to stop, bro, that's a whole gift in itself, because that is not easy, to gratifying what your flesh wants, bro, and just gratifying your spirit out of straight obedience, bro, that is a whole gift in itself, bro. Oh, yeah, absolutely. That's so good, man, and, like, I guess where I was going with that is, like, I would, I would have to stop myself sometimes, because it's, like, I would be preaching the word to people, and I would be so straight up, and be, like, man, I'd be, like, man, you're, you're a sinner, you're going to hell, because you're doing X, Y, and Z, and it was just, it was so funny, not funny, but funny, because, yeah, I was just, like, I was just like that, and I thought that I was doing good service, I was just doing it for the Lord, but really what I was doing, I was provoking people from wanting to pursue Jesus, because it's, like, oh, man, I sin, I go to hell, but that's obviously not the case, that's why Jesus died on the cross, and, you know, there's the free gift of salvation, that's what it is, and I think really around, like, 10th, 11th grade is where God started to, like, tone me, or reform me in the way that I was talking to people about Christ, it would be more, more loving, and obviously I'm still not perfect at all, but it would be, like, it would be a different approach, and I guess that's kind of where I am right now, where I'm just, I'm seeking the Lord, seeking out what He has for me, and it's just, it's so crazy to see what He's unfolding and doing, not even just in my life, but in other people's lives, where it's, like, you know, over the course of, like, six months, like, where they were to where they are now, I've just seen, even with my own friends, it's a testimony by itself, it's just so crazy, and that's really the basis of my testimony. Yeah, bro, that's a really, really great testimony, I think there's so many takeaways, you know, I'm a big believer in spiritual gifts, you know, everything I believe is, I mean, you know, it's not always everything I live out, because I'm not perfect, but, you know, if the Bible says it, I believe it, that's kind of how my faith and my foundation works, you know, the church I go to is, you know, we call ourselves a Bible-believing church, so whatever the Bible says, I believe in, you know, spiritual gifts is huge, bro, and I think just, even just hearing, that was my first time I've really heard your full testimony, you know, and just even hearing some of the little things that you've incorporated in, like, like your friends following in your path, and you having that obedience in your faith and knowing what you should and shouldn't do, I think that all, like, I mean, that just sounds like the gift of evangelism to me, bro, and just being able to, like, be so obedient over yourself, dude, is such, I don't know exactly what gift it is, I'm not super knowledgeable on that, that's such a gift in itself, because that's something I've struggled with for sure, bro, with different temptations, you know, I know every teenage guy pretty much struggles with lust, bro, and, you know, and staying obedient with it, bro, is difficult, dude, it is not easy, bro, and with pride, especially as athletes with pride, bro, dude, it is not easy, and just being able to be in, like, such control over yourself, bro, that is, dude, that's pretty remarkable, bro, that's pretty cool, so I kind of wanted to ask you too, so, you know, this podcast, obviously, anyone can listen, obviously, you know, you just got to be D1, you know what I'm talking about, nah, I'm just kidding, I'm not D1, I'm just messing, you know, I'm not D1, but, you know, this definitely is going to hit hard for athletes, you know, we'll just say that, you know, my boy next to me just recently committed to go play college football, if you maybe want to share some about your, like, athletic experiences, you know, doesn't even have to be super driven on the word, but just so you know that people can get a little bit of background on your football, and I'll talk about basketball for me. Yeah, definitely, man, I mean, so, I think there's some people that know, like, I've played soccer since I was, like, 5 years old, that was, like, the main thing for me, and I love, like, soccer is, like, my first love, if you want to call it that, for, like, sports, and I know, like, every single parent puts their child in, like, house soccer, as soon as they turn, like, 4 or 5, everybody, everybody, it's insane, so, like, I was playing, but, like, I kind of have the body type for soccer, I mean, I'm not the biggest guy at all, like, I tell people I play football, and they, like, they laugh, because they're, like, bro, you're 5 foot nothing, and you're 140 pounds, what are you talking about, yeah, dude, so, like, I always had the long arms when I was playing, you know, they're just calling, I mean, I was goalie, bro, every game, bro, I have long arms, I'm tall, they're like, oh, you're, you know, you're the biggest person to put in front of the goal, you're goalie, bro, for real, I quit soccer, that's so funny, bro, but, like, so, I grew up playing soccer, and, I mean, I played for some good teams, I mean, I played for ECNL-RL, for the people that know what that is, it's, like, the second highest, like, league you can get in, in the country, kind of, it's, like, there's ECNL, which is, like, the national, like, soccer league for youth, I don't know. I like the UYBL of soccer, kind of, do you know what UYBL is? No, I'm not familiar with that. It's the Nike-AAU basketball circuit, it's, like, the NBA league, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, similar to that, probably. Yeah, it's similar to that, and, like, there's other things, like, MLS next, and I know some people probably know what that is, but there's some, it's, like, one of the top leagues, so, like, and that was back when I lived in Buffalo, New York, and that was, I moved to Florida about two years ago, or a year and a half ago, but, so, I was playing soccer, and then, freshman year, I decided, might as well try kicking, I mean, I kind of like it, let's see where that goes, and, so, I, and, okay, so, in New York, it's different than Florida, the way it works is soccer and football are both in the fall, it's not football in the fall and soccer in the winter, so I was playing football and soccer freshman year, sophomore year, and junior year, so, it was kind of crazy, I mean, freshman year, I was on JV soccer, JV football, sophomore year, varsity soccer, varsity football, and then senior year, or junior year, then I was on both varsity football and soccer again, and then I moved to Florida, and then I played soccer in Florida, so it was kind of crazy, I played two seasons in one year, basically, playing in New York, and then coming down here, I joined late and played, and then, senior year, I just devoted that, really, to football, and, so, obviously, I kicked for Venice last year, which is an experience on its own, it was cool, so, that's kind of where I am now, and I didn't play soccer this past year, it was just football, and I'm just, you know, prepping for college now, and so blessed to be able to be playing at Bethel, and University in Tennessee, and God's blessed me, and, I mean, I'll be straight up, like, that wasn't really my first choice, it was top three for me, but it wasn't my first choice, I'm that type of kid that kind of wants to be closer to family, closer to home, and that's obviously in Florida now, and I had some offers from teams in Florida, but I really feel like God's called me to be in Tennessee, to be at Bethel, and that place, and I know it's definitely weighing on me a little bit, but at the same time, I know that God's got a purpose, and a reason for me being there, he's not going to just say, hey, Josiah, I just want you to take a little hike up to Tennessee, you know, he wouldn't just say that, he has a reason, a purpose for me, and obviously I can't see the full picture right now, but later I will, and that's the hope. For sure, bro, for sure. Yeah, bro, that's already a great story right there, and just the opportunity to get to play, bro, a collegiate sport, no matter the division, bro, is just, you know, such a blessing, not something that's easy to do. To kind of give you all some background on me, so I too, like you, I grew up playing all the sports, right, basketball, baseball, soccer, a little bit of football, just, I was never a big tackle football guy, because I'm more underweight, I'm tall, skinny, right, I'm the basketball build, you know, I'm your average 2K, my player, but, yeah, I mean, you know, I stopped playing, I stopped playing baseball in second grade, and I stopped playing soccer in sixth grade, I actually played soccer for a decent bit of time, but if I'm being completely honest, for basketball, you know, it was around 2012, 2013, when the Warriors started becoming big, you know, Curry, you know, started going crazy, and that got me really interested into basketball, so I started watching and following the Warriors, and yeah, from there, you know, I've been a Warriors fan ever since, I know you all are probably thinking like, oh, man, another Warriors bandwagon, I'm riding it out, man, I've actually, fun fact, I've actually been to the Warriors' worst basketball game in their history, of the Warriors Association, they were playing against the Raptors, I was at the game, they lost by 70 points. Wait, where was this? So, it was COVID year, and the Raptors were playing in Tampa, so I went, they lost by 70, but I'm a loyal fan, right, I'm a loyal fan, you know, this year was more of a rough year, but you know, I fell in love with the Warriors, and I've stuck with the Warriors, so obviously, you know, I'm a huge Curry fan, because he got me into basketball, but from there, you know, I'm watching him, you know, do all these moves, make all these threes, and I'm like, dang, I wish I could do that, so, you know, I started really taking basketball more seriously, work on my shooting, and then, yeah, middle school, sixth grade, I made my middle school team, only two sixth graders made it, and only two sixth graders tried out, so not all that special, but we had a lot of seventh and eighth graders, so I didn't get to play a lot, but it was a whole new experience, that was my first, like, real experience with, you know, more advanced, higher level basketball, and that was the year I started really taking it seriously, you know, I'm very, very blessed that my family, we have our own, we have our own business that's done very well through God's blessing, so we have a very nice basket here at my house, so I've put in countless hours and so much time on my game, on my craft there, you know, I have what, I'm a very good shooter, you know, I think, I was definitely inspired by Curry, you know, for sure, but that's something I was always naturally pretty good at, so then, you know, since it was my natural gift, and, you know, coaches were telling me to shoot, that's something I trained on a lot, right, so I could be a really successful shooter in game, so kind of going from there, I have made my high school team, I played JV my freshman and sophomore year, and yeah, you know, just good experiences, definitely learning experiences, you know, I'm not, I'm definitely, I've definitely been gifted with some athletics, but it did not come easy for sure, especially with basketball, you know, like I said, I kind of have the basketball build, like, I'm almost 6'3", so I kind of have the height, which is really nice, I've kind of got a little natural advantages there, but all my skill, and my shot, and, you know, my dribble handle, my pat, that came from just straight hard work, I kind of started from level zero and built my way up, so I've kind of, you know, earned where I'm at now, and yeah, just with my game, I'm just, you know, I'm getting better every year, I'm trying to make my teammates better, that's something I strive, you know, to be that, the leader in the locker room, you know, controlling the locker room talk, but then, you know, also the vocal leader on the court, I always, I try to never really be negative, I try not to yell at my teammates, try to always give out the most high fives on my team, I try to do all the little things, you know, and when you, I mean, you know, when you do the little things, you can get, you get to the big things, you know, you gotta do the little things first, shout out Coach Choi, that was his coach, you're a JV basketball player, probably laughing right now, that's an inside joke, but yeah, so then this past junior season, wasn't the greatest season, was really, really great getting to play my first year on varsity, though, and again, dude, I just learned a lot growing in my craft, and I just, I love basketball so much, I probably won't pursue it in college, if I'm somehow granted some sort of a gift or blessing by God, and He wants me to continue my basketball career, then I might, I really want to go to a Division 1 school to probably study ministry, so I wouldn't rather take the, like, smaller college school for the basketball route, just because I don't think that's what God has called me to, for sure called you to it, bro, just hearing your story, I think He's maybe called me to pursue different things, but I mean, as of right now, you know, next year, I'm going into my senior year, and like, basketball, dude, like, you know, I've grown up in this small town, Venice, and like, you know, I grew up going to these varsity games, seeing the seniors play, so just thinking about that, how that's going to be me next year is very surreal, you know, because I mean, 10 plus years, I've been going to these games, just like, just picturing myself on that court, and next year's going to be that time where I'm really out there, getting to shine, you know, so I'm just, I've been putting in a lot of hard work, been with my teammates a lot, and I'm just, bro, I'm just, I'm just getting ready, you know, to prepare, and to be successful, and I think, you know, from there, we can probably start to get more into the message, so obviously, you know, going along with basketball, and going along with your football, it's very easy, especially when you're a varsity athlete, and let's say, you know, per se, like, good, like, you're a pretty, like, good athlete, right, you're a pretty, like, well-known athlete, for a sense, it's very easy to take pride in the fame that you may receive, right, it could be as simple as, like, for you, like, you make a really long kick, or for me, I, like, I make a, I make a three that, like, like, helps us win the game, or sends it out, like, something like that, right, and, you know, people are coming up to you at school, like, yo, like, you know, like, that was fair, like, whatever, right, you're getting, you're getting praised for it, it's really easy to take that, take kind of that, like, fame, and, like, you know, just let it control your pride, so kind of going off of that, this goes really to all athletes, no matter how good you are at the sport, you know, there's a, there's a pride that coaches try and, that coaches try and have you take in your sport, you know, they always tell you, like, take pride in playing for, like, your school, take pride in, you know, playing your sport, and in a sense, I really, this is something I thought about a lot before the message, I don't really agree with that, so I'm being honest. Same here. I think, like, coaches always tell you to take pride in your sport and take pride, like, you know, like they said, Venice, like, they're always, like, take pride in being an Indian, right, and, like, in a sense, man, like, when I'm on the court, I play for the glory of God, like, yes, I play for the name on the back of my jersey, yes, but I'm playing for God, and end of the day, our, our job as Christ followers is to evangelize always, right, so I try not to let my pride of who I play for and who I am overtake my love for the people on the court that I might not even know, because God could be trying to use me, but then I'm covered up in a situation that I was put, that I put myself into, you know? That's so good, and I, I fully agree with that, and, like, I made sure, and, and obviously, I'm not trying to get praise for anything I did, but I made sure to set the example, and that's what we're called to do, is set the example, so, like, you know, every, every game, and, in fact, every kick, I would always point up to the sky and look up and give thanks to God, whether it's a kickoff, onside kick, an extra point, it didn't even matter, because I wasn't playing for myself, you're so right, like, it's great, I'm wearing a jersey, and people get to see me in it, but if a lot of people get to see me in it, might as well use it for God's glory. Amen, bro, amen, that's so, bro, just such a great word, and that was something I thought about a lot recently, was, like, when coaches tell you to, like, take pride, like, is that a good thing, and, like, conclusion, I, I don't think, I don't think pride is the right word, I think taking, um, maybe, like, excitement in the hard work you've put in, and for your team, I think that's a great word, but I think when you're using that word pride, you could be led to a scenario where you're now in a bad position to be there for another person who might be on court, so kind of, so going off of that, as y'all have seen from reading the title, title of, you know, the talk for today, faith is greater than fame. So good, so good, bro. I think it's, you know, pretty, uh, self-spoken right there, and we kind of already touched base on it a little bit, but, um, you know, I kind of, I kind of wanted to start off, so, you know, we're going to be, it's really going to be centered on faith today, uh, this podcast, and just, you know, all the, the little things about faith, and then, you know, maybe some of the bigger, more deeper concepts on it, so to, to kind of get started, I wanted to just kind of, like, throw out maybe two questions that someone, uh, might ask about faith, maybe someone who doesn't, uh, know really what it is, or isn't as strong of a Christian, so the first thing I wrote down was, I just said, what is faith? Like, I wanted to cover what is faith, and I thought I wanted to tell you, I looked it up, and the Google definition says that faith is belief without foolproof, and in a sense, that is, that's, that's pretty much correct, but if we're referring, uh, onto the scriptures, Hebrews 1, sorry, Hebrews 11, 1 says, now faith is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see. Wow. I think that much more, uh, greatly expands it, and again, uh, you know, what the Bible says, I believe, because it's, you know, the Word of God, in a sense, um, so yeah, you know, just going off of it, you know, faith is, it's confidence in what we hope for, it's belief that God is there, and He's going to provide, and we might not understand what God is doing, but God is there, and it's assurance about we do not see, right, we, we haven't ever actually physically seen God, but there are so many ways that, or there's, sorry, not ways, there's so many reasons to believe in Him, you know, through the Holy Spirit, and just through miracles, right, that's what, that's what faith is. Faith is that assurance of God, though you haven't actually ever physically met Him. You can talk to Him through prayer, but He can't, like, directly answer you back with words physically, right, but He can still respond to you so many different ways, so that, that's, in a sense, what, what faith really is. Would you like to touch base on any of that, or do you want me to kind of keep going? Oh, you can, you can keep going. I thought that was really good. Yeah, yeah, for sure. That kind of sums up what it is. So, I think, um, the next, the next question, and if you want, I'll let you answer this first, is someone might come up and say, like, okay, like, I understand, you know, faith is, you know, belief in something that I can't physically see, right? Someone might then come up and say, why should I have faith? Like, why is faith important? So, how do you, what, how would you go about answering that, do you think? Well, I think what goes along with faith is even, you could relate this, purpose, right? Mm-hmm. What's your, what's your purpose? And what's crazy to me, and I don't know about anybody else, but, like, I don't even know about you, but, like, when I think about faith and purpose, it's like, without Jesus, like, truly, if you can just even just think about it, without Jesus, what, what is your purpose? What are you, what should you have faith in? It's like, I'm gonna have faith in a theory, or even nothing, and just living out your life, you can even say faithless, but you should have faith, because that's what brings me hope and joy. When I wake up every single day, my faith is what keeps me going, and here's the thing that people, people need to hear this. The world will only bring you happiness. When the Bible says joy, it's not talking about the feeling you get when you win a, when you win a football game, the state championship, or even the Super Bowl. That's not what joy is. True joy is what comes from Jesus, the Holy Spirit. That is the only thing that can give you true joy, and that's what keeps me going. Like, I'm even excited talking about it right now, because I think someone needs to hear that. It's like, faith is obviously something you believe in that you can't even see, but at the same time, everything else is the same thing. But I serve a God that died, but he didn't just die, he rose three days later. Every, every other religion or concept you want to think of is about some, some dude that, that lived, but he, they're not alive, they're dead. I was literally about to say that. That's funny, bro. That, dude, that's, bro, that's a great, I'm sorry, I didn't mean. No, no, you're good. No, expand. Yeah, bro, that was, dude, that, that was very well spoken. That, that's a, you know, definitely like an emotional way of like covering faith. I wanted to give y'all a, just kind of like, kind of just like a basic answer, right? Just kind of think about this. So, so we have, we have the world, right? And we have, you know, our solar system. So let's go back to the very beginning, right? So the Bible says that our God is an eternal figure, right? So if our God is eternal, that means that he has no beginning and he has no end. So that's something so great that like us as humans, we can't wrap our minds, like we can't fathom that thought, right? Like that's just something that we have to understand. That's not like we can't picture someone who doesn't have a beginning, right? That's something we can't physically think about. That's just something we have to believe, right? That's what the Bible says. So then going off of that, people want to say the Big Bang Theory is what created our solar system, right? So people say, you know, matter collided with matter, and then, you know, everything happened from there. But this is, this is the question I would ask you is, you know, what, what you believe in matter matters. That's a quote from Pastor Trevor. That's good. Gotta shout out. Yeah, shout out. Can't just say that on my own. But truly, though, what, what you believe in matter matters. Matter is not eternal. Matter had a beginning. Matter was created. Therefore, even if matter collided with matter, and the Big Bang happened, matter would have had to have had a creation. Therefore, meaning there has to be an eternal being or an eternal figure to create matter, and that's where God factors in. It's that, that's a thought, you know, scientists don't want to fathom this, how was matter created? Notice they're never talking about that. It's because they don't know how matter was created. And then they just go about saying, oh, matter collided with matter, and then, you know, our world was created. Well, if matter collided with matter, how did matter get there to begin with? Exactly. Matter had a creation, right? Therefore, saying that there is a God. And the Bible tells us how the world was created by God in Genesis 1, right? So, therefore, the Bible kind of disproves the Big Bang, in a sense. Like, if you're a Christian and you're a Bible believer, then the Big Bang really isn't what happened. But if someone isn't as deep in their faith as the Bible and they don't believe that, like, you know, it's okay. Like, I'm telling you that's, you know, that's what I believe because that's what the Bible says. And I think that's what, you know, that's what God says. But in a sense, still, like, you know, you just have to understand that thought of, like, matter had to be created by someone. So, matter was created by God. Therefore, if there is a God, that means, right, that there is some sort of afterlife. There is something that happens after you die. And you made the great point that every other religion, the huge figure that's worshiped is dead, died. Jesus Christ rose from the grave three days later, proving Himself God in the flesh. God is the Son, right? So, there is heaven. If there is a God, why would you not want to have faith in Him? Because if there is a God and you're, you know, straight up saying, like, I don't believe in God or, sorry, kind of, that's not really where I wanted to go with that. If there is a God, but then you're saying, like, okay, I'm just, yes, there is a God, but I'm not going to focus on Him. I'm not going to, you know, believe on Him, right? But that's just, like, it's not the right mentality you should have because if there is a God, there is an afterlife, right? So, if you're just straight, not, you know, having a faith in God, then you're just setting yourself up for failure when you die on earth. And, you know, like the Bible says, heaven is eternal. Hell is eternal. The afterlife is forever. Your earthly life is like 80 years, man. But heaven is eternal, you know? It's forever. Hundreds of thousands of billions of years, right? So, why would you not want to set up your earthly life for heaven, for yourself, right? So, and that's a thought that's often, we just, it doesn't really even occur to us, right? But if there is a God, we should live how our God wants us to live. We should serve God for how He wants us to serve so we can set ourselves up for our future, you know what I mean? I also had a, that's so good, and I had a quick little point that I've heard many times and I feel like maybe you've heard of it, but it's like, we're the painting, right? But in order to have the painting, you have to have the painter. Like, it doesn't, painting doesn't just show up one day on a canvas. I don't just buy a canvas from the store and I wake up the next day and there's Mona Lisa sitting right there. That's not how it works. You have to have a designer and the way that that's Jesus with us and the way He created us is so like beautiful and so intricate. It's like, even just, and I know Jesus is real, but even just thinking outside of that for a second, it's like, how? Like, if you're, if maybe you're listening, you're like, but I don't, I don't know about this Jesus guy. Really, like, how, how could we explain the trees, the waters, what's spoken around the Bible? He just spoken in doing existence. Like, how could we just even look around and think this just kapoof together? That's not how it works. I mean, what, what's, what we see around us is existence of God. Exactly. Yeah. And well, let me throw this out there to elaborate on what I was saying. Sorry, I kind of went on a little bit of a tangent on the thing I was saying, but still. So did you know, so matter, cloudless matter, you know, that's what scientists think. Not what I believe. I think God disproves that because matter isn't eternal, but let's, let's just, let me just throw this out there. Right. So matter clouds with matter, and then a perfect solar system is created. If we're talking mathematical terms, the odds of everything being as perfect as it is now is next to impossible. Yeah. Right. So aside from matter, not having a creation, the fact that matter clouds with matter, and you know, the solar system is created in our planet. It's put in the perfect distance from the sun to where if we were just the slightest bit closer to the sun, it would be too hot for human life to be on earth. But then if it was just the slightest bit away from the sun, then it would be too cold to live on earth. The fact that we have our atmosphere, which is just by the way, somehow created by matter. I'm not sure how that works in scientific terms is probably some sort of explanation, but that if gravity was just the slightest bit stronger, we would crush. And if it was the slightest bit weaker, we would just float away. All of these little factors, just the water, all of these little factors of creation that if they were just slightly, slightly tweaked, we wouldn't be able to live. And then just going off of the matter, matter hit matter and you know, everything happened. How was human life formed? Exactly. Human life formed from matter. Like how is that possible? So pretty much right. Matter cladding with matter and everything happening that scientists are trying to say is what happened. It's not like not in mathematical terms. It really isn't possible. You know, the luck we would have to have for all of that to like, it's not possible, right? Therefore, just proving that there is a God and then going back to the first statement or the first question that I said is, you know, why should I have faith? You should have faith because God is pretty clearly real. And if God is real, wouldn't you want to live for him? Wouldn't you want to set yourself up for a good eternity? Right? Because like we said, life on earth is temporary, but life post earth is forever. And you want to set yourself up in heaven, not in hell, knowing that God is real. I feel like that's kind of like the fundamental point. And I guess that's so good. And one last thing I wanted to say is why should you have faith? Think about this. You need to have faith for yourself, but what about your friends, man? Like we all go to, you know, me and you obviously go to Venice, but you know, people listening, I go to other schools. What about the people in your class, man? Like when you walk in, if you truly have faith in Jesus and he has touched your life and your heart, you will walk into that room and there will be a different presence. I promise. It's like, it's so crazy that you could have so much faith and wake up and know that there's a purpose for today being present in what God has for you. And you walk in the room and someone's like, man, there's something like different about you. What is it? And then you go, oh, I know what it is. I'll tell you right now. And you just start going, going off. But your faith is contagious to other people. And I think that's what we need to live like. We don't, all this lukewarm stuff that is in our culture, so prevalent in our culture is, it's so wishwashy. Like I just, I, when I see it, it's just like, ah, and it's like, obviously, you know, not to judge, like that's not our position, not my position at all, but it's like, man, we need to be that light in the darkness. That's what we're called to be. The Bible says that we need to be the light in the darkness for others. Our faith is contagious. Yes, dude, dude, that's such a great word, bro. Just like you were saying, I'm pretty sure it's in Matthew 5 where it's talking about the, the, uh, the salt, right? And it's like, what good is salt if it's lost its flavor, right? Like what good is, we have to, we have to maintain our salt. We have to maintain our faith to serve the Lord because it's so important. So I kind of started to go into more points too. The foundational point, I think, of this whole episode, just want to throw it out. So as an athlete, you should seek faith, not fame. And that goes for more than just as an athlete. That's as a individual on earth, you should seek faith, not fame. I just threw in the word athlete because it will be able to relate certain athletic experiences to that. And then kind of going off that from my first like little side point, I said, favor comes from faith, not fame. God is pleased through our faith. Hebrews 11, six says, and without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. I think that's such, that verse fully sums up, you know, the fact that favor comes through faith, not fame. God's favor. So that's, you know, the, oh man, like, you know, I just got really lucky. No, you didn't get lucky. God favors upon you, right? God's favor is something so essential that we, that, you know, we're blessed with, but we really do need, you know, in our day-to-day lives, just, you know, the favor of God upon us over situations and just when that, whatever it is, you know, if you're living in God's favor, you're living within an, in an advantage over everyone else who isn't. And that's why, you know, I'll get into more of this later. That's why we're called to spread and preach the word so others can experience the Lord in his favor as well. You want to kind of touch base a little bit? Wow, I think, I think that's so good. And wow, I think you, you really, you did a good job. Thank you. We can, we can go on if you don't want to go again, but yeah. Yeah, I think, I think moving on. So I think I just, a little point is just, I mean, living in the Lord's favor is what you should seek as a Christian, because I know that it, the Lord will bless you for what you do behind closed doors. And I think that relates somewhat. And it's a big thing for Christians. It's like, sometimes we put our, you know, game face on outside when we're in school, try to look good. But like what you do in your bedroom when the door is shut is what God will reward you with in public. And it's so real. And I see that with Christians so much. And it's like, I have friends who seek God so much and what he's doing in and through them and their workplaces in public, even in private and, you know, small groups that we have is so crazy and contagious. And that's what we need. Yes, dude, that's again, super, super well said. And just like, just do just touching base on that. Like, if you're, if you're a Hollywood star, and you know, you've dedicated your whole life to earthly success, you're not in receivance of God's favor. You're, you're reason for life, your purpose is to evangelize, right? And I have, oh my gosh, I'm just thinking of all these points I'm about to cover later that's going to relate to that statement, right? That our calling is to evangelize on earth, wherever it is, whatever situation it may be in, and no matter whoever you are, our, we're not called to seek fame. In a sense, seeking fame is sinful. Like it's okay to have fame. But if fame is what controls your whole life, if faith isn't number one, if fame is over your face, then in a sense that that's a sin and that's separating you from God, you're not going to receive any sort of godly favor from receiving earthly fame for everything that's controlled of the flesh and here on earth is from the devil, you know, God controls, God controls, you know, the heavens and God provides us with the spirit. So, you know, if you've accepted Christ and God, God controls your spirit, but the earth is, I mean, in a sense, especially in today's day and age, is just controlled and ran by the devil. So, in a sense, if you're seeking, if you're only seeking fame, if you're only seeking earthly things, then you're serving the devil. And I know that's a pretty, that's a pretty harsh statement, but end of the day that that's the truth. And again, it's okay to have fame, but if fame is the only thing that you're seeking out and you don't have faith, then you are serving the devil. You know, faith has to be first and that's how you will receive favor. That's so good. Wow. And I fully agree. And the Bible, I'm so far above this right now because this is so big in society. The Bible says that like, if you, if you do something and seek earthly glory, that's all you're going to get. But the Bible does say you do something here on earth for his glory, but you don't seek that reward from people or that praise. God's got a reward for you in heaven. And it's so real. It's like, you know, Austin staying after FCA and picking up all the chairs and, you know, putting, putting the chairs away. But then he goes around. It's like, man, yeah, I, I was late to class because I did all this, man. And people like, wow, you're so cool. That's all you're going to get. Yeah. But like you go about your day. You don't say anything. You, you do it and you just go along knowing that you're doing a good service for Jesus and you're serving him. Yeah. The Lord is pleased with you. And when, once you get to heaven, once you pass through those pearly gates one day, it's going to be a party. Like God's got something in store for you. The fact that you just focused on heaven and you just covered that, bro, the Holy Spirit is moving, bro. Cause that is literally what this next verse in battery is fully centered on, bro. It's about heaven, bro. Did not know that. Psalms 49, 17 says for when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth, right? So wealth can be replaced with, with fame in a sense. Their wealth will not fall them into the grave. I know when I wrote down that verse, I think I wrote it down from the NIV because I believe the NIV actually, it uses the word fame, uh, not wealth, but in a sense, that same thing, their wealth will not fall them into the grave. When you die, when you go to heaven, if you go to heaven, because you have your faith and you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, your fame doesn't come with you. Well, you know, when, when I'm in heaven, me and I'll just, I'll use him as an example. Again, Steph Curry, we're like, we're, we are the same person. No one's going to be going up like, oh my gosh, like Steph Curry, Steph Curry, like me and Steph Curry are seen at like the same level, you know, like there's no populator. There's fame isn't brought with you into heaven. And you're like, when you go into heaven, if you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you're going to heaven. Like if you truly do believe that, um, but God judges you based off of your faith, right? That's the strongest and the greatest people in heaven are the ones who had the greatest faith, right? The ones who were closest to God are the ones who are in a sense, like seen as like, like the most, um, like honorable, but in heaven, we are, we are all equal, right? The people who had earthly fame are seen as the same as us who were in heaven. And in a sense, you know, I, when I, when I go to heaven, I want God to look at me and say, you know, well done my good and faithful servant. Those are that probably the strongest, most powerful statement you could ever receive in your whole life. But you know, that that's what you want to hear because you know, you setting up your spiritual life, it's like, just like, like what I just said, it's so much important than you just seeking your earthly fame, you know? Yeah. I think, you know, it's so crazy. It's like, this is crazy. Like, since I was a kid, like you go to a sporting event, like, uh, you know, watching Steph Curry play, you, you like, idolize that person. It's like, you're God. And it's like, oh my gosh, if I just get to meet him, I just get to touch him. If I get to just go near him, you just will do anything. Literally. And then it's like, now, once you grow more with Jesus, it's like, well, hold up a second. He's the same as me. He, that's, that's awesome. He could shoot a three pointer better than I can. But what makes him different? What makes him higher? It's like, it's so crazy. And it's such a battle in your mind that you gotta pursue with the Lord and be like, Lord, help me to change my heart, soften my heart. Because it's something so crazy. Like, even a couple years ago, don't go into a, I'm a Buffalo Bills fan. I'm from Buffalo, Buffalo Sabres fan. I went to one of their practices and like, I got a, I got a signature from one of the players. But like, after, it was like five minutes after, I'm like, all right, like, what, what is this going to do? Like, it's still sitting in my closet today. And I'm thinking, I'm just like, man, like, what makes me more special now than before I got that signature? Before I slapped Josh Allen's hand, gave him a high five. Like, what makes it different? And it's so crazy to think about how, like, the shift that happens before Christ to now. It's like, it's crazy. Yes, dude, that's, dude, that's a, I love that analogy with the Bills, because that's how I used to be. I met Zach Levine in eighth grade at a Bulls game. But dude, after I met him, still, it's like, now it's like, I don't think about that every day. You know, it's like, it's like, well, like, I met Zach Levine, like, don't get me wrong, like, really, really cool getting to talk to him, like, you know, like a big NBA all-star. But still, it's just like, it's like, okay, like, you know what, what's next? Kind of, you know, that sounds a little bit greedy, but legit, it's like, what's next? But then once you find your contentment through Jesus Christ, you're set off. You don't need anything else. That's all you need, right? And so kind of moving on from that, it is such a gift for us to even be allowed to receive God's grace, and right, to be allowed to have faith, because due to our sinful nature, we should be separated from God, because we are not holy like the Lord is. But Jesus came down, and He died for us on the cross, so we would not be caught up by God's condemnation, Romans 5, 9, but that we would, you know, have, we could have a relationship with God, kind of, you know, this is what my second episode is about. So kind of with that, you know, Romans 5, 2 states, because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege, where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. I think the strongest sentence there, that even us as Christians overlook so often, is, you know, right here where it says, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege. We really don't even deserve the faith that we get to possess. It's such a gift, and it's such a blessing from Jesus, that we can even have faith and have our close relationship with the Lord, and that's something that we need to be in constant thanks with Him about, and just going back to the title, faith is greater than fame. Faith isn't just greater than fame, like, faith is so undeserved, like, we're, we're lucky, like, people want to, like, on earth, people want to seek fame over faith, but if you really look at it, like, we're lucky to even be allowed to possess faith. Anyone can try and possess fame, but just to have faith is a blessing. To have fame, there is no blessing there, right? So faith through Jesus is, it's such a gift to be able to know God, knowing that He's the All-Holy One, you know, He's the King of all kings, the Alpha, the Omega, and we're just your average earthly person who sins every day, yet we get to have faith and know our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my gosh, dude, that is, like, that's crazy, like, just, like, even for me, even now, like, I get emotional sometimes with this, because it's, like, we're, we're so, you're right, we are so undeserving. It's, it's crazy to think, like, think about this, every single day we, we sin, right? And it just, it's, like, how, sometimes you could just, it's, like, God, how could you still forgive me after everything I've done? And I think that's a huge thing now, nowadays, where it's, like, people are, like, oh, I don't want to go to Jesus, because, you know, you don't know what I've done, but it's, like, well, you don't know what I've done, either. It's, it's the same thing, but we are so undeserving, yet He still did it, yet He was spit on, on the cross, yet a thief was, like, Jesus, He repented, He turned to Jesus while He was on the cross, a thief, a murderer, someone that was so, you could say, evil, right? The last seconds, it just shows how, how undeserving we are, that Jesus would say, truly, today, you will be in paradise with me. It's crazy, it's just, even with the people that crucified Him, He still loves and will forgive. It, it's so, I just, I can't even put it into words, because it's just, God is so great, man, you know, you're, what, Psalms 119, 105, I've got on my wrist right now, you know, I just looked at it, and I realized it's pretty applicable to what we're saying. Your word is a light to my feet, and, or, I'm sorry, your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. God is so great, and God is light. God is there for us. He is exuberant, right? God is there to brighten up our days, and God has given us heaven. God has given us a perfection. He's given us the new Jerusalem, the perfect afterlife, even though we are so undeserving of it, and I want to say, faith is so undeserved, and along with that, with faith, you can, the Bible says in Matthew 21, 21, that faith can move mountains. Your faith is so strong that you can move mountains, which just shows, like, in a sense, I'm not trying to say this in, like, a bad power-hungry way, but talking about faith and fame, faith is so much more stronger and meaningful than fame is, like, with what I just said. The Bible says that with your faith, you can move mountains, so I want to clear this up. You literally, even if you have a very strong faith, you literally probably can't move a mountain, because God, God calls you to what you need to put your faith into. Like, when Peter walked on water, he walked on water because Jesus said, Peter, come to me. Peter called him to walk on water, so he walked on water. If you believe, if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, yes, that's a very, very good thing, and you can, you are able to do those great miracles, move the mountains, walk on the water, but God has to call you to do that, so in a sense, what this verse is more saying, that faith can move mountains, it's saying that with your faith, God can use you in ways that you haven't even, like, fathomed possible. God can use you in ways, like, that are, like, scientifically shouldn't be possible, right? God can use you in so many different ways, and with faith comes power of the Holy Spirit, and comes that authority into your life, and that's how God can really, you know, take your life, you know, from here, from below, right, and take your, just fully flip it upside down, you know, do a full 180, and take it into the high. Wow, yeah, yeah, you know, I think it's crazy, too, it's like, Peter was like, Lord, if that's you, call me out in the water, and I will surely walk, yeah, and I was like, all right, come on out here, dude, and he just, he just started going, but then when his faith was lacking, when he stopped believing that Jesus was who he said he was, and what he would do, that's when he started to sing, yeah, but then, you know, you know, it's funny and crazy, even though we're so undeserving of his grace, and his favor, Jesus pulled him up out of the water, and brung him back into the boat, and even when we drown, Jesus will pick us back up. Amen, I think this is a great literal verse to cover it, this is one of my favorite memory verses, I have it written on my basketball shoes when I play, Isaiah 41 13, for I hold you by your right hand, I the Lord God, and I say to you, do not fear, for I am here to help you, wow, that's like the hand lifted, that's like the literal, him picking up Peter out of the water, and a couple verses before that is a very famous verse that you've probably heard, says Isaiah 41 10, fear not for I am with you, that is actually the fear not for I am with you, that phrase is the most repeated phrase in the whole Bible, like you just said, the fact that God is always there with us, right, we have our faith, then God is always there with us, no matter what happens, or no matter what we do, as long as we acquire and obtain our daily faith, fear not for I am with you, he is always with us, we are not called to live fearful lives, we're called to fear the Lord, but we're not called to live lives of being scared, or being regretful, even being prideful, being really just sinful in a sense, we're not called to worry, you know, fear not for I am with you, it's the most repeated phrase in the whole Bible, and that's Jesus telling us that not only has he just given us the gift of faith, now our faith, our faith is so strong in that with our faith, just with that belief in God, even though we've never physically seen him, he is always with us, no matter what it is, and I just, I don't, I kind of feel a bit convicted to talk about this, I just want to really, really quickly mention this, this is off topic from the sermon I kind of have written down, a question that some people may arise, and I actually just kind of had to recently deal with this, but it's okay, is someone may say, if God is always with you, then why is there tragedy in this world? Like, say someone lost, let's say someone lost their uncle, they're like, okay, well, if God is always with me, then why did my uncle pass, right? I want to make this statement real quick, and this is so, so super, super important. One, God does, God is not putting you through all that pain and suffering, he hates you having to see you go through it, and yes, there are times where if your faith is strong enough and you truly do believe that God will heal and God will do the miracle, if God is willing, God is able, right? But God, like I said, if God is willing, God is able, but then there might be times where, you know, like Jeremiah 29 11 says, you know, I know, like, you know, I know the plans I have for you, there might be times where, you know, he knows our plans, but we don't understand the plans, even like, you know, the memory verse, Proverbs 3 5, trust the Lord with all your heart, we might not always know the plans he has for us, we, if we call him the name and we ask him to perform the miracle and it doesn't happen, that's not him not being there for us, that's not him not being there with us, we just have to trust in his plan, and I want to say this in a sense, God created a perfect world, Adam and Eve came and sin entered the equation, therefore the world is not perfect anymore, Jesus Christ came down on this earth to save us from the world we live in, therefore, right, the statement I want to make, when someone is struggling, like I said, say your uncle passed and you're saying, like, why did my uncle pass, like, why is this fair, how is God always with me if this just happened, God is not here to give you and create a perfect world always anymore, God is here and God came to save you from the world we live in, yeah, so God's not here to give you a perfect world, God's here to save you from the world we live in, and that's something that's very misinterpreted, you know, like I said, when someone goes through loss, like, they don't understand, you know, God, why do I have to go through this, and you know, God hates seeing you have to be in that sorrow, be in that grief, and God is able to perform the miracle, and sometimes he does and it's such a beautiful thing when it happens, but we just have to understand that we just have to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and we have to know that he has great plans for us, plans that we might not know or understand yet, but that no matter what, we just have to understand that Jesus Christ came to save us from the world we live in, not create a perfect world, that's something I just kind of wanted to touch base on real quick, and yeah, wait, just to even touch on that, too, people are like, I hear this sometimes, where it's like, well, if I grow closer with Jesus, will everything just stop? And I'm like, man, no. It gets harder, man. Yeah. Honestly, it gets harder. Yeah, it really does, and the Bible promises that you will go through trials and tribulation, that's what helps increase your faith, and what I would say to that is, what about Jesus? Like, Jesus lived a perfect life here on this earth, yet he went through more suffering than any of us could ever imagine. What about Jesus' disciples? What happened to them? They lived, they lived their lives listening to Jesus, and they devoted themselves to him. Think about even us, we devote ourselves to him, but then they were actually with him and listened and followed him wherever he went. What happened to 11 out of the 12 of the disciples? They died, they got martyred for Christ. What about Peter? He died on a cross upside down because he said, I am not worthy to die the way my Savior died. That was Peter. He died upside down because he was like, the way my Lord died, my Savior, Peter, but he said, he was like, I'm not going to die the way Jesus did because I'm not even worthy. He died upside down. Dude, that's a crazy story. Again, I say this in every podcast, you know, we are not pastors, we do not know everything. I thought that was Paul. I'm just going to be completely honest. That story, I have not gone through a Bible college. I am still kind of a year new into my faith. I'm still learning every day. So there might be times that I say something and I'm wrong. So, you know, I just want to kind of really quickly throw that out there. But yeah, sorry, not trying to take away from the, you know, the emotional, you know, impact and the power of that story. Dude, that's such an incredible story, both Peter saying that he is not worthy because of how, because of how great God is. Right. And yeah, I think I kind of want to, I think we've kind of, you know, through the Holy Spirit moving through us and just, you know, through biblical truth, I think, you know, we've made it pretty clear that faith isn't just more important than fame and kind of even steering away from fame. Faith is a gift. Faith is the most important thing in our lives. And through faith, we have our strong relationship with Jesus where he can move through us. Yeah. And I wanted to kind of state one of my last verses on this topic, Matthew. Yeah. Here, you can continue. I just wanted to fact check real quick, just to make sure, because I like just to say, I am by no means even close to perfect. No, you were confident in it. I was not very confident about that. Yeah. I mean, me and Austin are just literally on here just preaching the word and, you know, we're just the same as everyone else. Listen, I don't like being wrong about those things, but I understand. I'm still a 17-year-old junior. I'm going to college and I'm studying ministry and I'm following whatever God wants me to do. I think I have a gift in preaching, but. Yeah, you definitely do, man. You are so gifted. Thank you, bro. I appreciate it. You too, bro. Was it Peter? Oh, yeah, it was Peter. All right. But kind of to wrap up this little part, I want to say Matthew 5, 16 says that us as humans, we should desire influence, not fame. Right. So we've established how important faith is and not just how important it is, but how great of a gift it is to even be allowed to have. But that we should desire influence, not fame. We should desire speaking of our faith, not our fame. So not only should we have our own faith, but like I said earlier, we should evangelize and we should share our faith to others to make new disciples of Christ, which kind of this gets me into the second last part of this podcast episode was, man, I just, I wanted to give you all some steps, you know, some steps on sharing faith. But before we do that, I just, you know, like I just kind of summed up, you know, we must share our faith. You don't have to be chosen to preach the gospels. You know, look at Moses, right? Look at David, look at Paul, like you don't, you don't have to be chosen to preach the word of God. Anyone is capable to it, right? It's not about, it's not about if you're chosen to preach the word, you're not in a sense, chosen, you know, in quotations to preach. It's just about if you're going to pick up the call that God has given to you, you know, it's not everyone's, you know, we've all received the phone, like we've all received, you know, our calling and faith out. Every human being's calling is to preach the word in whatever shape or form it might be for, you know, just Jesus centered in Bible believing. But so you've received the call, but are you going to pick up the phone? Are you actually going to do it? Right? So we're all called, like literally you can think of that, the phone analogy, we're all called, but are you going to answer the call? That's so good. And I think going along with that, it's like Jesus doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called in the funny thing is like, even all of you guys listening, we are all called to spread the good news. And that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I mean, if you look at the disciples go from fishermen, which were not, if you want to call good people by any means, they were fools to tax collectors, Matthew, a tax collector, which in that time, in a sense, they're stealing money from people. And they were the most dishonest people you could think of did things that you couldn't even imagine. But yet Jesus looked in the eye and said, come and follow me because I have a better life for you. So for you guys listening, why wouldn't Jesus be knocking on your door and say, hey, I want you to come and follow me because that's what he's doing. And what I know me and you both had to do was answer the call and say, be like, Hey, Jesus, it's me. I'm ready. Let's do this. That phone, man. It's not no telemarketer scam call. It's got, but uh, yeah, yeah, bro. You know, we, we have to share our faith and we know how great our lives are because of Jesus. Like we said earlier, you know, with Jesus, you're going to experience more trial and tribulation, but it's tests of your faith and you're so much more well gifted in your future, like your eternal future and just on life to be able to preach the word and preach the good news. But kind of along with that, um, what Romans 10, 14 says, but how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them, right? This is such a powerful verse explaining if, if our, like our job is as Christians is to spread the word and in a sense, you know, well, let me just go. I just don't want to make sure I'm not fully wrong. Luke 14, 23 tells us to make the house full, make heaven. Heaven should be populated, right? We want to make it as populated as possible. Get as many people in heaven as possible, right? Because we don't want people to end up burning in hell for eternity, right? That's such a horrible way of life. And you're separated eternally from God. We want everyone to be with God so we can live the great lives that we are called in that we have been blessed with, uh, to live because of Jesus Christ. Right. But how can someone who's an unbeliever go to heaven and believe if they haven't heard the word, man, you know, you, you never know there could be, God could put it on your heart to preach the word to a random person. And if I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but if you don't preach that word to him, there's a chance he could never hear about Jesus ever again. Oh yeah. So preaching the word and just sharing your being open to sharing your faith. And I'm not saying like, you know, that's kind of an intense example, but it is a possibility, right? Sharing your faith is so important for the future eternal lives of others. And like Luke 14, 23 says, we are called to populate heaven, right? How can they believe? How can people believe in them if they have never heard about him? So this means that someone has to speak the word, someone has to speak on their face, right? So how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? So we are called to share our faith. And when you share your faith, you should feel, don't feel like nervous or don't feel anxious in a sense. Yes, I, this is kind of what I think about, right? Going up to someone who you think, you know, if you, if you're ever walking in public and you just get this, this like very great feeling and you're like, Oh, I feel like I should go up and talk to this person. That could be, you know, that's probably God telling you like, Hey, like, you know, go, go pray for this person. Go talk to this person in a sense. Like it's a little bit awkward. Like it's not something we always want to do. And there'll be times you'll mess up and it's okay. But when God has called you to do something, follow that calling because let's think about it like this is a, you know, a quick five second scenario of awkwardness and then a quick, you know, maybe minute vulnerable and also awkward conversation. Like a conversation like that, like, yes, that's not desire, the awkwardness and, you know, the conversation being about it because end of the day, like sharing our faith can be difficult, but that conversation, that minute of awkwardness could give someone eternity in heaven. So in a sense, us not sharing our faith is blasphemous. You know what I'm saying? Like if we're not sharing our faith to the others around us because we're nervous, we're anxious, we should be willing to have that 30 minute conversation that, you know, hits our anxiety so someone, so we can populate heaven like Luke 14, 23 tells us to do, right? So in a sense, we might not always want to share our faith, but if God has called you to sharing your faith, just kind of think about that. Like, man, like, yes, this might be 30 seconds of like awkwardness, but God may use me to preach the word of Jesus for the first time to this person. And this person now might like, you know, have their literal life flipped upside down, changed for Jesus, just because of that little 30, 30 second awkward conversation I just had. So I always want to say like, when God calls you to something, put your emotions aside. And like something, you know, like I was saying earlier, I think Josiah is very gifted at be obedient to what God calls you to do. If you feel the feeling like, oh, like, oh my gosh, I don't know. I feel the need to pray for this person. Go pray for them. Put your emotions, put your anxiety, whatever it is, put your wellbeing to the side and just do what God calls you to do. That's so good. And like, we are living in a life on mission. And that's so important. And like, one thing that's been on my heart lately, it scares the crap out of me. And I hope just like everybody that's listening, just take this to heart because like, once it's judgment day, you can't, we can't go back. And I'm not perfect at this by any means, but this has been on my heart. It's like, when we get to judgment day, let's just say you did not preach to your best friend, or maybe you mentioned God. I posted a video about, oh my, that's crazy. It's so like, just, just getting there and your best friend that isn't saved yet looks you nice, like, like screaming, crying, man, why didn't you say something? Why didn't you say anything? We were friends for years. We hung out every single day. Why didn't you say something that would absolutely break my heart in half? Hypocrisy. Yes. And it's like, it's like, great. I'm going to heaven. But it's like, why wouldn't you want to go to heaven with your best friends? Like, those are your boys. Like, why wouldn't you want to go? It's like, dude, that video, that is so crazy. That video changed my life. That it was Pastor Cliff Nectal. And someone I posted it, actually, I posted a TikTok with this audio in the background. And it was like, why you share the word about Jesus so much? It was that same scenario. Imagine you're going up to heaven and your best friend looks and he says, like, you knew that this was the end to eternity. And you didn't have the guts to tell me. You didn't have the guts to tell me that this is where we gonna, you couldn't have that 10 second conversation with me because you were afraid. And now I'm going to be burning in hell. Like, thanks, man. That that's hypocrisy, bro. And I'm not even kidding. That is my greatest fear too, bro. For someone to look at me that I didn't even go. You knew this was the end to human history, but you didn't have the guts to tell me. So we could populate heaven. And I think that that's a really, really deep message. And it's that that video from Pastor Cliff Nectal changed my life. And he's one of my favorite preachers. Because that dude, that verse hit me. So I heard that, you know, during my basketball season, actually. And I just thought back to it. I was like, I was like, there's people on my basketball team who don't know Jesus and don't believe. Like, what if I'm going into heaven and I see the my old teammates, not make like, not passing God's judgment and being sent to burn in hell, like that would break me literally. You know, so I have to, I have to share the gospel. I have to, right. So kind of going off of that, taking a little bit of a step back, you know, that that's very deep, very emotional. I want to, you know, I want to give you all steps and like tips on how to share your faith. So I kind of dove in a little bit of research. Pastor Josh at the Bridge Church of Venice here down in Florida, he preached such a great message on this. And one thing I loved was he gave this this analogy. And it's picture, picture a Wi-Fi bar, right? So you've got the center circle at the bottom, and then you've got the three lines going up, right? So with different Wi-Fi levels, there's different power and different connection to your phone, right? It's the same thing in your walk with Christ and in another person's faith. Someone might be more willing to accept or to receive faith because we're all at different points and sections to our life. Think of the circle of Jesus, right? On how close we are to Jesus. Not everyone is as close to Jesus as the people around you, right? So when it comes to sharing the word, we must meet people where they are. We must be relatable. And one really, really big thing is we must be inviting about Jesus, not forceful about God. Because end of the day, we don't save the non-believers. We can preach to the non-believers, but it's God and the Holy Spirit who does the saving. Yeah, think about it like this. You have the Wi-Fi bar, right? You have the circle at the bottom, that's Jesus. The top level, that is the level of resistance. Someone who is maybe not willing to think about Jesus or is just in a great denial of God. So again, this goes back to we have to meet people where they are, right? So to be able to effectively share your faith and evangelize, you must understand that this person is in a stage of resistance so that the way you preach to them must be different so you can relate and still have an effect on them. The second bar is receptive. Someone might be open to hearing the word, but they don't believe in the word at all. Sorry, I hear my brother screaming in the background, he's going crazy. So someone might be receptive but not open. So again, I think that's where you can be a little bit bolder in sharing the word, but you still kind of have to be a little bit laid back. Like there are certain things you probably shouldn't mention that might be a little bit harsher about God then or whatever it may be. You have to understand where a person is to be able to relate to them and evangelize. And then the third bar, right, is someone who is seeking God. This is someone who you can preach to deeply when it comes to sharing your faith and evangelizing. You can go on to those deep topics. You can go on to those deep topics.